Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1888-10-19

ana Ilen he lell 10 tNlHhIAS VI LIS
nephew, the only son of his brother whom
he had once loved, before he lost himself
in publishing books and making money,
and sighed. He had been attached to the
lad in his own coarse way, and it was a
blow to him to cut himself loose from him.
But Eustace had defied him, and-what
was worse-he had told him the truth,
which he, of all men, could not bear. He
had said that his system Of trade was dis
honest, that he took more than his due,
and it was so. He knew it, but he could
not tolerate that it should be told him,
and that his whole life should thereby be
discredited, and even his accumulated
gold arnished-stamped as i'll gotten;
least of all could he bear it from his de
pendent He was not altogether bad
man; nobody is He was only a coarse.
vulgar tradesman, hardened and defiled
by a long career of sharp dealing At the
bottom he had his feelings like other men,
but he could not tolerate exposure or even
contradiction; therefore he had reyenged
himself And yet, as he sat there in soil
tary glory, he realized that to revenge
does not bring happiness, and could even
find it in his heart to envy the steadfast
honesty that had defied him at the cost Of
its own ruin.
Not that he meant to relent or alter his
determination. Mr.. MeesOn never relent-
ed and never changed his mind; had he
done so. he would not at that moment
have been the master of two millions Of
money.
CHAPTER UI.-AUGUsTA's LITTLE SISTER.
When Augusta left Nelson's she was in
a very sad condition Of mind, to explain
;ah nil Ia, fn word
or two about that accomplished young
lady's previous history. Her father had
been a clergyman, and, like most clergy
men, not overburdened with the good
things Of this world When Mr. Smithers
or, rather the Rev. James Smithers-
had died he left behind him a widow and
two children-Augusta, aged fourteen,
and JEANNE, aged two There had been
two others, both boys, who had come into
the world between Augusta and JEANNE,
but they had both preceded their father
to the land of shadows Mrs. Smithers
had, fortunately for herself life interest
in a sum of seven thousand pounds, which,
being well invested, brought her in three
hundred and fifty pounds year; and, in
order to turn this little income to the best
possible account and give her two girls
under the circumstances, she, on her hus-
bands death, moved from the village
where he had for many years been curate,
into the city of Birmingham. Here she
lived in absolute retirement for some seven
years and then suddenly died, leaving the
two girls, then respectively nineteen and
eight years Of age, to mourn her loss, and,
friendless as they were, to fight their way
in the hard world.
Mrs. Smithers had been a saving woman,
and on her death it was found that after
paying all debts, there remained sum Of
six hundred pounds for the two girls to
live on, and nothing else, for theirmother's
fortune died with her Now it will be
obvious that the interest arising from six
hundred pounds is not sufficient to sup
port two young people, and therefore Au-
gusta was forced to live upon the prinCi-
pal. From an early age, however, she
Augusta had shown strong literary
tendency, and shortly after her mothers
death she published her first book at her
own expense 1t was a dead failure, and
cost her fifty-two pounds, the balance be-
tween The profit and loss account. After
while, however, she recovered from this
blow and wrote Terminals Vow" which
was taken up by Nelson's, and, strange
as it may seem, proved the success of the
wear OF the nature of the agreement into
which she entered with Nelson's the read.
er is already acquainted and he Will not
therefore be surprised to learn that under
its cruel provisions Augusta, nOtWith.
standing her name and fame, was abso
lutely prohibited from rcaping the fruits
of her success. She could only publish
with Nelson's, and at the fixed pay of
seven per cent on the advertised price
of her work. Now, something over three
years had elapsed since the death of Mrs.
Smithers, and it will therefore be obvious
that there was not much remaining of the
six hundred pounds which she had left
behind her. The two girls had indeed
lived economically enough in a couple of
small rooms in a back street, but their cX
penseS had been enormously increased by
the serious illness from a pulmonary
complaint of the little girl JEANNE, now a
child between twelve and thirteen years
of age. On that very morning Augusta
had seen the doctor and been crushed into
the dust by the expression of his conviction
that, unless her little sister was moved to
warmer climate for period of at least
year, she would not live through the win
ter, and might die ut any moment.
Take JEANNE to a warmer climate! He
might as well have told Augusta to take
her to the moon. Alas she had not the
money, and did not know where to turn
TO get it! OH reader, pray to Heaven that
1t may never be your lot to see your best
beloved die for the want of few hundred
pounds wherewith to save her lifel
1t was in this terrible emergency that
she had-driven thereto by her agony of
miud-tried to get something beyond her
strict and legal due out of Meeson'S-Mee-
sons that had made hundreds and hun
dreds out of her book and paid her fifty
pounds. We know how she Jared in that
attempt. On leaving their office Augusta
bethought her of her banker. Perhaps lie
might be willing to advance something.
1t was n horrible task, but she determined
TO undertake it; 50 she walked to the bank
and asked to see the manager He was
out, but would be in at three o'clock. She
went to shop near and got a bun and
glass Of milk, and waited till she was
ashamed to wait any longer, and then she
walked about the streets till three o'clock.
At the stroke of the hour she returned. and
was shown into the managers private
room, where a dry, unsympathctic-lOo
little man was sitting before a big book.
1t was not the same man whom Augusta
had met before, and her heart sank pro-
portionatcly.
What followed need not be repeated here.
The manager listened to her faltering tale
with few stereotyped expressions of
sympathy, and when she had done IRE
GREETED" that speculative loans were con-
trary to the custom of the bank, and po-
htclY bowed her out.
1t was nearly four o'clock upon a damp
drilling afternoon, n November afternoon
that hung like n living misery over the
black sluSh of the birmingham streets. and
would in itself have sutficed TO bring the
hghtest-hearted, happicst mortal to the
very gates of despair, when Augusta, wet,
wearied, and almost crying, at last entered
the door of their little sitting She
entered very quietly, for the maid-of-all-
work had met her in the passage and told
her that Miss Jennie was asleep. She had
been coughing very much about dinner
time, but now she was asleep
There was a fire in the CRATE, a small
one, for the coal was economical by means
of two large firebriCks, and on a table
(AuguSta's writing table, placed ut the
further side of the room was a parafline
lamp turned low. Drawn up in front. but
a little TO one side of the FIRE was n sofa
covered with red rep, and on the sofa lay
a fair haired little form, so thin and fragile
that it looked like the ghost or outline of