Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1888-09-27


there in one of the revolutions, but his
side was out of power at last, and he had
realized" and left. He spoke exceed
ingly good English, without particle OF
foreign accent, and had acquired some
Americanisms of speech. He was very
agreeable and popular. He was gallant,
too, in spite of few gray hairs in his
beard and hair, and used to come into the
| parlor, which was for the common use of
lodgers and their visitors, and chat for an
| hour or SO with Miss Bysshe or Adela, if
he found them there, and tell stories OF
adventures in Peru always entertaining,
and though told in the third person these
were evidently his own. He was particu-
larly polite to Miss Adela, though not
quite so much at ease with Miss Bysshe.
The elder sister thought him the most
delightful. as well as the most polished,
gentleman she had ever met And then
he paid nearly third of the rental the
house brought and gave no trouble.
Bit by bit the general slid into kind of
'friend of the family" position. Miss
Bysshe had more or less trouble at times,
and she grew into the habit of consulting
him. Suddenly a notion entered into her
head. Adela was only 1S, it is true, and
the general was AZ, as she had heard him
say. But he hadn't a wrinkle and looked
some years younger. He was most ex-
cellent man, even tempered and exceed
ingly rich. Why couldn't she engineer q
match between these two? For Miss Bys-
she never thought of herself. She was
80, and though her glass told her that she
was still beautiful and looking younger
than her age, yet she felt that her marry
ing days were over and she could end her
life as a respectable old maiden lady. She
had her bit of romance too-most women
have. She was very young at the time,
just out of her fifteenth year A young
civil engineer was marking the boundary
line of property on which she was stay
ing for visit in the country, and between
her and the good looking young gentle
man an acquaintance sprang up. They
were, or thought they were, very much in
love with each other Her father, in spite
of his folly about his will, was sensible
man. He neither stormed nor even
groaned, but said he would think it over
He sent for young Brenner-John NJ
Brenner was the young surveyors name
and had friendly talk with him. He
told him there were two objections to the
match, one disparity of means and the
other the youth of his daughter. Now"
said he, young man, hear nothing but
good of you. Your character, your habits
and your family are irreproachable. You
must have money enough to support
wife, and think you have independence
enough to disdain living off
father-in-law. Go to some place
where you can rise. In five years. time,
if you have bettered your condition, re-
turn. If you and Cornelia are of the
same mind then I shall make no opposi-
tion. But this is on the condition that
there shall be in the meanwhile no CORE
spondence. I shall then know whether
my daughter is under girlish fancy or has
serious attachment. 1t will test you
also" After some demur Brenner agreed,
and he and Cornelia parted with sighs
and tears after exchanging fragments Of
broken ring. But five years passed and
ten and fifteen, and Brenner never re-
turned and was never heard of, except
that he had gone to Mexico and had left
there. Possibly he was dead. He and
the romance faded from Cornelia's life,
though she always carried the bit of ring
in locket. 1t had grown to be faded
memory. But her heart was wrapped up
in the future of Adela. It was on her
account she rented the rooms. All she
made over their expenses went to the saw
ings bank to furnish dot for her sister.
And If she could engineer match with
Gen. Martinez so rich, so irreproachable,
so noble in thought and word, what a
great thing it would bel She thought
him the best of men. She almost wor-
SHIPPED him. AS husband for herself
she could see that that was impossible; but |
as brother-in4aw, ah
The general undoubtedly admired Adela |
very much. While the rest of the dodgers |
were kept at arms length and treated |
with freezing politeness, the general was
allowed to slide into an easy familiarity |
He got in the habit of going less to the |
club of evenings and staying oftener at
home, passing a deal of time in the par
lors, where he admired Adelas embroid-
cry and chaffed her about it and other
matters. He was not so well at ease with
Miss Bysshe, and had an awkward habit
of blushing like schoolgirl when she
addressed him. Frank Peters, as par
ocular friend Of the general, grew into
.he habit of coming in also. But Corneia
lidn't mind him. He was nice young
fellow, but mere boy-not much over
%. He was down town until 4, and then
lis dinner consumed time, and he never
got in till dark. Cornelia was glad to see
lin come in and spend an evening at
lome 1t was better than rambling
lround town. The general, who was
yreat book worm, read always for four
lours in the morning in the library, and
found perpetual delight in the departed
Mr.. Bysshe's books.
Without a particle of warning the
keleton popped from his closet and threw
lis bony arms around the neck of Miss
3ysshe.
Savings banks are excellent institutions
% long as they save the deposits and pay
interest promptly to the depositors. But
vhen the officers use the savings to in
rease their private fortunes by specula-
ion in stocks savings banks become de-
usions and snares. The cashier of the
security and Fidelity Savings institution,
4 which Miss Bysshe deposited her yearly
urplus, had fondness for puts" and
calls" and such things. He put large
mount of the banks funds in Wall
treet, and when he made call for it it
7as not there. When he was called for
o was not to be found. A smooth shaven
entleman, who bore striking resem-
lance to him, barring the whiskers,"
urned up on the other side of the line, in
be Botany Bay of the United States. In
ix hours the bank was in the hands of a
eceiver. r. .-.
That evening when Gen. Martinez
ropped in the parlor he found Miss
ysshe looking very unhappy indeed. He
new of the defalcation, and also that she
'as depositor, and he undertook to COM
ort her.
"You had some funds in the Security
nd Fidelity" he said
ssYas GENERAL. oil hava E.irhf fhnn. |