Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-07-19

He tried to speak calmly, but it was
easy to see that he was terribly excited.
Mr.. Ford was more domonstrative.
You have done the wisest and most
sensible thing you ever did in your life"
he cried. Let US see the letters, Thorpe,
at once"
The man fastened from the room, and
returned with bundle of letters in his
hands. He laid them before Lord Carls-
wood
They are all in order, my lord" he
said; lust as / received them; they have
never been touched. This was the first
and that was the last"
And then. discreetly, Thorpe withdrew.
Mr.. Ford went over to the table where
Lord Carlswcnd sat
You must open them, Ford cannot,
he said. His face was white, his hands
trembled. MY daughter-oh, my daugh-
terl' he said to himself, and Mr.. Ford OPP
ened the letters.
He was hard man, a cool, shrewd, cal
culating lawyer, whose life had been spent
amongst deeds and parchments, but as he
read, the tears rose to his eyes, and more
than one deep sigh came from his lips.
Katrine's first letter was a girlIsh gay
composition. treating the whole matter OF
her elopement and marriage as a jest, ask
ing her father if he would not be well
pleased to find his daughter married with
out any trouble to himself Yet e. the
end there was little prayer for p rdon.
She asked him to forgive her. and lot to
feel annoyed. She had done that which
would make her happy all her Ii e. She
would write again from London she said.
The second letter was full of praise Of
her husband He was so kind so good, so
clever; there was no one liFe him. The
next contained an implorin prayer that
her father would write. She had not
meant to anger him so de ,ply, and she
would not believe that he ltended to cast
her off. Then came des pairing letters,
telling him how hardly the world was
using them, but always peaking well of
her husband, and alway praying for par
don. The next letter came from Liver
pool, and told Lord Carlswood of the birth
of a little granddaughter.
1--WE shall call her Ismay," wrote the
hapless young mother; land 1 am sure
She has my face and my hair. Dearest
papa, forgive me for my little daughters
sake"
written from Chester. They were starry
ing, Mrs. Cameron said, and her husband
was ill. The lawyers strong voice trem-
bled as he read the heart-broken supplica-
ton that followed. If Lord Carlswood
would only send them bread to eat-if he
would but give them the crumbs from his
table-the aims that he would throw to
the poorest beggar.
"She must indeed have changed" said
the Lord of Bralyn. Shea Carlswoe d
to beg for breadI'
Another letter told him that her hus
band was dead, and prayed him to let her
come home to die.
81 have parted with everything / had III
the world" she wrote, except the Httl,
gold locket that you gave me with YOU
portrait and the little ring that you took
from my mothers finger for me; l shall
have those buried with me-"
The last letter but one said she was
about to start from Chester, and would
walk to the town of AShburnham, where
she would wait and rest for a few days.
The last letter of all came from Ashburn-
ham, and was dated July the ninth. Sure
ly there was never a more pitiful petition
presented: there was an appeal that would
have touched the hardest heart and Lord
CarlswOod covered his face with his hands
as he listened. katrine wrote from q
small statiOner'S shop, and the last penny
she had in the world was to pay for the
postage Of the letter. She besOught him
for her dead mothers sake, for the love of
Heaven, to send her a little mOney-to
save her from starvation and death-'ever
so little" or she must take her child in
her arms and lie down by the roadside
and die
This was the last-there the tragedy
ended.
"If you had received that letter." asked
Mr. Ford, would you have refused her
helpf"
MAY Heaven be merciful to be-" he
Bald, with deep sigh, Il believe that l
should have done So"
"What can have happenedf" questioned
Mr.. Ford, musingly. She never wrote
another letter Did she die in Ashburn-
ham, l wonder?"
Lord Carlswood's face grew white as
with the pallor of death.
Die" he said-"die of starvatIonf Do
not even hint at anything so terrible. For
Heavens sake, let us see about this at
once. Shall we gos I shall never resG
againr'
The lawyer was justas anxious, but he
foresaw difficulties. He knew how hard
it would be to discover what had happened
to a poor and lonely woman so many years
600
II will go to Ashburnham myself" said
Mr.. Ford; Il will lose no time l will go
at once, and the moment l discover any
thing will send a telegram to you"
Lord Carlswood could hardly control his
impotence
"You think it BETTER" he said, that 1
should not go?"
Decidedly" replied Mr.. Ford. 81 can
act more quickly, more promptly, and
more energetically if go alone"
He went that same day, and the result
OF his journey was more satisfactory than
he had ventured to hope it would be. He
took up his residence-not at the principal
hotel-that was not a likely place to OBJ
tain such information as he sought-but
at an oId-fashioned inn: and, at night
when he had invited the landlord to join
him over glass of wine, he cleverly
turned the conversation on the subject of
strange and sudden deaths.
Then he heard the whole story-how a
certain poor lady that had come to the
town had died without telling her name,
or saying to whom she belonged, or any,
thing that could throw any light upon her
history
''She really died in that strange wayt"
questioned Mr.. Ford, breathlessly; and the
landlord all unconscious of the great in
terest at stake, answered-"Yes, that was
how she died"
"And the child" pursued the lawyer
'.what became of the childf"
He could hardly bear the moment of
suspense before the landlord answered
him.
1.-THE Hopes adopted her, and she is the
prettiest girl in the whole countryside.
Ismay Hope they called her."
The lawyer started as the familiar name
fell upon his ear.
"Ismay," he repeated-'thatis strange
name"
Her mother called her by it before she
died, and she has kept it ever since"
She is beautiful. you say; and what age
NAV she be7"
THAT cannot tell-she was quite young
when she married"
Mr.. Ford interrupted him somewhat
when she marrled-wnom od sne
marry"
Paul Waldron, who is the steward of
Squire Sc iofeld; but. if the matter inter
ests you, sir, you can see Mrs. Hope. She
is great friend Of my wife's, and she is
never tired of telling the story"