Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1888-10-26

! OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Replies LIE
/ girl in triumph, and shuts the door in his
| face
I Poor Eustace! he had gone to London to
[ try and get some employment, and having
! after some difficulty succeeded in obtain
/ ing a billet as reader in Latin. French, and
| English, to publishing house Of good re-
pute at the salary Of ESQ year, he had
! hurried back to Birmingham for the sole
purpose Of seeing Miss Augusta Smithers,
with whom, If the whole truth must be
told, he had, TO his credit be it said, fallen
deeply, truly, and violently in love. In
deed so far was he in this way gone that
he had determined to make all the pro-
! gre.s that he could, and, il he thought
that there was any prospect OF success, to
I declsrs bis passion This was, perhaps,
/ little premature; bu. then in these mat
tiers people are apt to be more premature
! than is generally supposed. Human ma
! ture is very swift in coming to conclusions
| in matter. in which that strange mixture
/ we call the affections is involved, perhaps
! because, although the conclusion is not
/ altogether pleasing one, the affections,
/ at any rate in the beginning, are largely
/ dependent on the senses.
| Pity a poor young man! To como from
! London to Birmingham to WOO ones gray
/ eyed mistress, in third-class carriage, too,
| and find her gone to New Zealand, whittier
! circumstances prevented him from follow
! ing her, without leaving q word or line,
! or even an address behind her! 1t was
! too bad. Well, there was no remedy in
| the matter; so he walked to the railway
station, and groaned and swore al the way
! back 10 London.
Augusta, on board the kangaroo, was,
/ l. e = .
| devotion on the part of her admirer; indeed
| she did not even know that he was her ad
mirer Feeling g. curious sinking sensa-
! ton within her, she was about to go below
! to her cabin which she shared with lady's
maid, not knowing whether to attribute
| it to sentimental qualms incidental to her
! lonely departure from the land of her birth
| or to other qualms connected with a first
| experience Of life upon the ocean wave.
| About that moment, however, a burly
| Quartermaster addressed her in gruff tones
and informed her that if she wanted to
see the last Of "hold Halbion," she had
| better 20 aft bit. and look over the port
| side and she would see the something or
! other light. Accordingly, moro to prove
| to herself that she was not seasick than
| for any other reason, she did SO; and,
| standing as far aft as the sec0nd-ClasS
| passengers were allowed to go, stared at
| the quick flashes of the lighthouse as, sec
| ond by second, they sent their message
| across the great waste Of sea.
AS she stood there, holding on to a
| stanchion to steady herself, for the vessel,
large as she was, had begun to get bit of
! o roll on, she was suddenly aware of a
! bulky figure Of q man, which came run
! ming, or rather rceling, against the bull
! warEs alongside of her, where it-or rather
! he-was instantly and violently sick, Au-
! gusta was, not unnaturally, almost horri-
fed into following the figures example,
when, suddenly growing faint or from
some other cause, Il loosed its hold and
| rolled into the sCupPers, where it lay feebly
swearing Augusta, obeyinG tender i'm
! pulse Of humanity, hurried forward and
! stretched out tho hand of succor and
! presently, between her help and that of
| the bulwark MEETINGS, the man struggled
! to his feet As he did SO, his faca came
close to hers, and in the dim light she re-
| cognized the rat coarse features, now
| blanched with misery, Of Mr.. McesOn, the
| publisher. There was no doubt about it,
it was her enemy; the man whose behavior
| had directly, a5 she believed, caused tho
! death Of her little sister. She dropped his
! hand with an exclamation Of disgust and
! dismay, and az she did SO he recognized
| who she was,
"HulIo!" he said with faint and rather
| feeble attempt to assume his fine old
crusted publishing company manners.
| "Hullol Miss Jemima-Smithers, Imean;
what on earth are you doing here?"
II am going to New Zealand, Mr.. Nee
son" she answered, sharply; "and 1 GER
tainly did not expect to have the pleasure
Of your company on the voyage"
Going to New Zealand" he said, ARE
! your Why, so am l; at least, 1 am going
| there first, then to Australia. What do
! you mean to do thcre-try and run round
! our little agreement, eh? 1t won't be any
| good, tell you plainly. We have our
! agents in New Zealand, and o house in
Australia, and if you try to get the better
of Nelson's there, Nelson's will be even
with you, Miss Smithers-Oh, Heavensl
feel as though were coming to pieces"
! Don't alarm yourself, Mr.. Meeson,"
| she answered, II am not going to publish
any more books at present"
THAT is q pity" he said; because your
! stuff is good selling stuff Any publisher
would find money in It. 1 suppose you
are second-class, Miss Smithers, so we
|
haps, if we should meet, it might be as
well if we didn't seem to have any &C
| quaintance. 1t don't look well for man
in my position to know second-class pas
sengers, especially young lady passengers
who write novels"
you need not be afraid, Mr. Meeson; I
! have no wish to claim your acquaintance"
| said Augusta
At this point her enemy was taken VOL
emily worse again, and, being unable to
| stand the sight and sound of his writhing
| and grooming, she fed forward; and, re-
| necting on this strange and awkward
| meeting, went down to her own berth,
| where, with lucid intervals, she remained
| helpless and half stupid for the next three
| days On the fourth day, however, she
re-appeared on deck, quite recovered and
with an excellent appetite She had her
! breakfast, and then went and sat forward
| in rs quiet place as she could find. She
| did not want to see Mr. Neeson any more.
| and she aid want to escape from the
| stories Of her cabin mate the lady's maid
| This good person would. after the manner
of her kind, insist upon repeating to her
a succession of histories connected with
members OF the families with whom she
had lived, many of which were sufficient
| 10 make Ine nalr OF q respectable young
lady like Augusta stand positively on end
No doubt they were interesting to her in
her capacity of novelist; but rs they were
all OF the same color, and as their ten
dency was absolutely to destroy any be-
lief she might have in virtue as an inner
ent quality in highiy-developed women,
or honor in man, Augusta soon weared of
these ChrontQltes scGRdO}cuSCS. So she
went forward, and was sitting looking at
the white horses" chasing each other
across the watery plain, and rejecting up
on what the condition Of mind OF those
ladies whose histories she had recently
heard would be If they knew that their
most secret, and in some cases disgracefuI
and tragic, love affairs were the common
talk OF q dozen servants halls, when sud
denly she was astonished by tina appear
ance Of splendid official bearing q book.
At first, from the quantity of gold lace
with which hi. uniform was adorned, Au-
susts took him to be the captain; but il
presently trsnspirsd tbss he was only the
chief steward.
PLEASE, Miss, " he said, touching his hat
and holding out the book in his hand to-
ward her, the Captain sends his compli-
meGts and wants to know il you are the
young lady who wrote this"
Augusta glanced at the work It was
copy of "Jemima's Vow" Then she re-
I