Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1888-09-27
CHAPTER XXI.
TIE ZINE

II
When the remains of John Trainor We're
Dorne to the grave, the memory of his faults
we're buried with him. "Poor fellow!' WAS
he general ejaculation in Wal street-at
)nce his requiescat and epitaph. But the
great wheels of business moved on; bulls and
kept up their eyer-renewing conflicts
secret Vaccination; new gladiators
into the ring; new crowds waited the
.nTn of the wheel OF fortune; and new Train
Drs were ready to sacrifice themselves, If need
we're, for the Trillions of the exchange. Who
believes in the efficacy of lessons! What
public execution ever deferred the murderer
rom his design! What spectacle Of drunk
ever restrained the youthful debauche3
What accession, however notable, 20 the
of "the unfortunate" ever made the
fascinated woman pause i'll her first steps
ruinl
No-human nature remains the same; and
the erriug ones, predeStined to sin by their
own unrestrained passions, wait only for the
overmastering circumstances to yield and
fall. When any of these solemn warnings
are held up TO the yet callow sinner, what
does hi propose to do! To stop and repent;
No-to be a little more careful and not be
Not that precepts and examples are use
less. All together go to make up the moral
of the world-pervading like
tie atmosphere, and like it resting with the
uniform pressure upon the earth. Crime
ard folly will always have their ~exomplafs,
but retribution furnishes the restraining IN
luences that keeps evil down to its average.
AS locks and bolts are made for honest men,
not for thieves. 50 the moral law and is
penalties are for those who have never
openly sinned.
If Mr.. 1rillion had been ten times the
Shylock he was, he could not have disre-
garded the last injunction Of Trainor. The
turn in the market enabled him to make al
~gantageous sales of his stocks, and in less
than a week he resumed payment.
The first thing he did was to pay
over to trustees the notes he had given
Trainor, thereby securing the widow at least
a decent support. lie also sent Major &c Co.
the $4,000 for which their clerk had paid
such a terrible forfeiture. After di~scharging
all his obligations, there was still ample mar
gin left-a large fortune, in fact. Mr.. Tril
lion could now retire with ccmfort-could
look forward to many years; 50 ha Battered
himself. His viii was made, his children
provided for; and some unsettled accounts,
accounts, not remembered by any save him
self and the recording angel, We're adjusted
as well as the lapse of tims would allow. Sc
he thought of purchasing country house for
the next season, and of giving the rest Of his
days to the enjoyment of life.
But it was not so to be. A swift and sui
den stroke smote him down. In the dead OF
night, and alone, he met the angel for who's
ummons all of US are waiting, and went his
way without a struggle, The morning sun,
as its rays shot in between the blinds, lighted
the scanned and careworn face Of an old
man, resting, as in e serene, dreamless sleep.
Mr.. Sponsor found, on consulting the best
legal authorities, that he cauld not maintain
his claim upon the notes be had recei we'd Of
Norcross; and, rather than subject himself tc
the expense OF a lawsuit in which he was GER
tain to be beaten, he relinquished them TO
Jameson, and filed his claim for the money
against Norcross' estate. Ten per cent was
the amount Of the dividend lie received; the
remainder was charged to Profit and Loss
Experience being duly credited with the same
amount.
1t was with the greatest difficulty that tic
judicious Palette prevented his friend from
making a second visit in the evening of the
same day. Oakhurst had coma t. a full Goa
~yiction, in his own mind, that his d ference
with Agnes ought to be settled, and he could
not conceive that it might take time to bring
her TO the same conclusion. Some people
adapt themselves to circumstance instantly;
the aversion OF one hour becomes the delight
Of the next; but those who are guided by rea-
soning, especially where there is d shade OF
resentment-who are fortified b. pride Of
opinion, and by the iiea CT consistent SELF
respect-such persons Gro SLOW to change 4
eattled conviction: the course Of feel;nF IS rtoo
powerful and too constant 70 be arrested and
turned backward. Palette thought-and per-
maps rightly-that Agnes needed only time TO
become accustomed to the new view Of the
sass; and lie believed that any precipitation
might be fatal to his friends hopes.
"Give her the opportunity to think about
It" he said; "if she loves you, depend upon
1t, the wine will change with her. Due east,
to-day, according to all you nave told me;
and the violets won't blossom till the sun
comes out of the sullen gray Cloud and the
south wind breathes on them-Tho very
contact with a lover, you see, makes me poet-
ical."
"But her thoughts may take another direc-
ton. Who can tell what impression that
malicious vixen has made upon herl7
"Agnes, | fancy, is a sensible young
woman; and Miss NorcroSS, in her rag must
have shown her hand too freely. To be sure,
Agnes might wonder how you could ever
have been captivated; but she coull not
blame you for getting out Of reach Of such a
Tartar. Besides, the exemplary willow is
your friend, you know, and Ill warrant that
she will set the matter right. Irene won't
trouble you again; such a %mischance Couldn't
happen twice. You are as safe as the sailoI
who put his head into the hole whore n can
non-shot had just come through, Lightning
doesn't strike the same tree twice in ong
shower
Oakhurst was at length persuaded to wait
and let events take their course. II he 10
NAMED inactive, however. Palette did not
from Mrs. NorcroSs he heard daily the pro.
gress Of affairs, and at length intimated "a
his friend that it might be judicious to cad
again.
Once more Oakhurst was seated in ths
d-rawing-room Of the b~oarding-houso. al
every distant f~ootstep his heart beat almosi
audibly; and when Mt last the breezy rusti,
of a woman's robes came in from the hall, b.
thought, as many a man has, before an
since
She is coming, my life, my fate!
She entered, not with the welcoming smil,
he VIC ave liked to see, nor with the for
bidti TT Of sadness which yelled hei
face lays before. But how lovely
Tims ILLNESS and perfection to her
beau o. fleet Of the trials she he,
under seen only in the look o
woula and se,f-coutrol she hat
acquire. IS the freshness Of glrlhoo,
joined to la ace of maturity.
Nothing IS more inscrutable than the work
ins Of the human will; argument does no
reach it, nor does persuasion overcome it
It holds cut against reason, against interest
against passion; no sufficient motive can b
found with which to control it. On tn
other hand, it sometimes stoops Ia a way tina
defies prediction; pride is ~vanquished or dis
armed, resentment melts away like frost
and the resolution that at first seemed firm
as the everlasting rock proves to be no bar
| rier. Non is this uncertainty confined to til,
sex at whose foibles the ~satiristS have beel
wont to let fly their arrors.