Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1888-10-07

uaAuo y Ctcou sWcoPVh euo WnoAoO Wy 1920
hierarchy. She smashed their alters, pull
ed down their statues, and after she had
completed her malicious work, found that
she had, vulgsrly speaking, been cutting
OF her nose 10 spite her face, for she. too,
became an object Of derision and disbelief.
and was forced to retire to the same OBJ
scurity to which she had ielegated the
other deities. Men, however, found ont
that she had not been altogether useless as
q scape- goat upon which TO lay the blame
Of their own shortcomings 90 they created
q new deity called Fate, and laid airy mis-
fortune which happened to them TO her
charge. Her worship is still very poI ulsr,
especially among lazy and unlucky people,
who never bestir themselves, on the ground
that whether they do 30 or not their lives
are already settled by Fate. After all, the
true religion of Fate has been practiced by
George Eliot, when she says that our lives
are the outcome Of our actions. Set up
any idol you please upon which to lsy the
blame of unhappy lives and baffied am
biticns, but the true cause Is to be found
in men themselves. Every action, good
or bad, which We do has its corresponding
reward, and Mark Frettlby found itso, for
the sins of his youth were now being pun
ished in his cid age. No doubt he had
sinned gayly enough in that for-of time
when LIES cup was still brimming with
wine, and no asp hid among the roees; but
Nemesis had been an unseen spectator OF
all his thoughtless actions, and now came
10 demand her Just dues. He felt some
what as Faust must hase felt when Me-
phistophtles suggested visit to Hades, IN
rspayment of those years Of magic youth
and magic power. 80 long ago 1t seemed
since he had married Rosanna Moore that
he almost persuaded himself that 1T had
been only q dream-a pleasant dream,
with a disagreeable awakening. When
she had left him he had tried to forget her,
recognizing how unworthy she was of a
good mans love. He heard that she had
died in a London hospital, and with
passionate sigh for a persisted love, had
dismissed her from his thoughts forever.
His second marriage had turned out o
happy one, and he regretted the death Of
his wife deeply. Afterwards, all his love
centered in his daughter, and he thought
he would be able to spend his declining
wears in peace. This, however, WAS not to
be. and he was thunderstruck when Whyte
arrived from England with the information
that his first wife still lived, that the
daughter of Mark Frettlby was illegitimate.
Sooner than this, Frettlby agreed to any
thing; but Whyte's demands became too
extorbitant, and he refused to comply
/ with them. On Whyte's death he again
breathed freely, when suddenly second
| possessor of his fatal secret started up in
the person of Roger Moreland. As the
murder of Duncan had to be followed by
that of Banquo, in order to render Macbeth
safe, so he foresaw that while Roger More
land lived his life would be one long
misery He knew that the friend OF the
murdered man would be his
master, and would never leave him during
his life, while after his death he would
probably publish the whole CHASTITY story,
and defame the memory of the widly-res-
pected Mark Frettlby. What is it that
Shakespeare says
GOOD name in man or woman
Is the immediate jewel Of their souls"
And after all these years Of spotless iv-
| ing and generous use of his'wealth, was he
to be dragged down to the depths ofinfamy
and degradation by man like Moreland?
| Already, IN fancy, he heard the jeering
cries of his fellow men, and saw the finger
of seorn point at him-he, the great Mark
Erettlby, who was famous throughout
Australia for his honesty, integrity and
generosity. No, it could not be, and yet
this would surely happen unless he took
means to prevent 1t.
The day after he had seen Moreland,
and knew that his secret was no longer
safe, since it was in the power of man
who might reveal it any moment In a
drunken fit, or out of sheer righteousness,
he sat at his desk writing. After a time
he laid down his pen, and taking up a
portrait of his dead wife which stood just
/ in front of him, he stared ut it long and
earnestly As he did so, his mind went
/ back to the time when he had first met
and loved her. Even rs Faust had entered
into the purity and serenity of Gretchen's
chamber, out of the coarseness and pro-
fligacy of Auerbach's cellar, so he, leaving
behind him the wild life of his youth, had
entered into the peace and quiet of a do
nestle home. TIE old feverish life with
Rosanna Moore, seemed to be rs unsub-
stantial and chimerical as, no doubt, his
union with Lillith after he met Eve, SEEM
| ed to Adam in the old Rabbinical legend.
There seemed to be only one way open to
him, by which he could escape the relent-
less fate which logged his steps. He would
cut the Gordian knot Of all his difficulties,
/ and then his secret would bs ssfe-safe-
no, it could not be while Morslsnd lived.
When he was dead Moreland would see
Madge and embitter her lite with the story
Of her fathers sins-yes-he must live TO
protect her, and drag his very chain OF
bittsr remembrances through life, always
with that terrible sword of Damocles
hanging over him. But still, he would
write out his confession, aud
after his death, whenever it may happen,
it might help, if not altogether exculpate,
at least to secure some pity for man who
had bseu hardly dealt with by Fate. His
resolution taken, he put it in force at once,
and sat all day at his desk filing page sfl Ell
page with the history of his past Gfs, which
was so bitter to him. He STATED at first
lsnguidly, and as in the performance of an
unpleasant but necessary duty. Soon,
however, he became interested in it, and
took peculiar pleasure in putting
down every minute ciIcustance which
made the case stronger against him
self. He dealt with it, not
as q criminal, but as prosecutor, and
painted his conduct much blacker than it
really had been. Towards the end Of the
day, however, after reading over the early
sheets, he experienced revulsion Of feel
log, seeing how severe he had been ca
himself, so he wrote o defense upon his
conduct, showing that fate had tesn too
strong for bin. 1t was weak argument
to bring forward, but still he felt it was
the only one he could make. 1t was
quite dark when he had finished, and
while sitting in the twilight, looking
dreanily at the sheets scattered all
over his desk, he heard q knock at his
door, and heard his daughters voice ask
ing il he ives coming to dinner. All day
long he had closed his door to everyone,
but now his task beng ended, he collected
all the closely writtsn sheets together,
placed them in Q drawer of his esciisoirs,
which he locked, and then opsned the
door.
"Dear papa" cried Madge as she en-
tered rapidly, and threw her arms around
4 - H. ln,nr, kar