Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-05-25

1850 'oo NhO AAS
and that was the last"
And then, discreetly, Thorpe withdrew.
Mr.. Ford went over TO the table where
Lord Carlswood sat.
You must open them, Ford-I cannot"
he said. His face was white. his hands
trembled. MY daughter--oh, my daugh-
teri he said to himself, and Mr.. Ford OPP
ened the letters.
lie was Il hard man, q 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 q jest, ask
ing her father if he would not be well
pleased to find his daughter married with
out any trouble TO himself. Yet at the
end there was a little prayer for pardon.
She asked him to forgive her. and not to
feel annoyed. She had lone that which
would make her happy all her life. She
would write again from ndOn, she said.
The second letter was full Of praise Of
her husband. He was SO kind, SO good, Sc
clever; there las no one like him. The
next contained an implOring prayer that
her father would write. She had not
meant to anger him SO deeply, and she
would not believe that he intended to cast
her off. Then came despairing letters,
telling him how hardly the world was
using them, but always speaking well OF
her husband, and always praying for par
don. The next letter came from liver
pool, and told Lord Carlswood of the birth
| Of n little granddaughter.
w shall call her Ismay," wrote the
| hap1acc 4, nathan, ss~nI ~
that you would love her II you saw her.
She has ~ face and my hair. Dearest
papa. forgive me for my little daughters
sake"
Then came a most despairing letter,
written from Chester. They were starry
ing, Mrs. Cameron said. and her husband
was i'll. The lawyers strong voice trem-
bled as he read The heart-broken supplica-
ton that followed. If Lord CarlswOod
would only send theni bread TO eat-if he
would but give them the crumbs from his
table-the aims that he would throw TO
the poorest beSgar.
she must indie d have changed" said
the Lord of Bralyn. SHEA CarlswooAH
to beg for breadv'
Another letter told him that her hus-
band was dead, and prayed him 10 let her
come home TO die.
II have parted with everything I had In
the world" she wrote, except the little
gold locket that you gave me with your
portrait and the little ring that you tosk
from my mothers finger for ms; 1 shah
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, whepe
chm yvnDld wait and rect for n faxu l.vo
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 bcsought 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 aud 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
help"
May Heaven be merciful TO be-" he
said, with a deep sigh, Il believe that |
should have done 80"
What can have happened?' questioned
Mr.. Ford. musingly. 'She never wrote
another letter. Did she die in Ashburn-
ham, | wonder?" ,
Lord Carlswood's face grew white az
with the pallor of death.
Die" he said-''die OF starvation? DO
not even hint at anything so terrible. For
Heavens sake. let us see about this at
snce. Shall we go, I shall never rest
againT"
The lawyer was Just rs anxious, but he
foresaw difficulties. He knew how hard
ii would be to discover what had happened
to n poor and lonely woman SO many years
ago.
Il will GO 10 Ashburnham myself" said
Mr.. Ford; II will lose no time. ! will %
ut once. and the moment | discover any
thing | will send a telegram to you"
Lord Carlswood could hardly control his
impatience.
You think it better" hs said, "that I
should not gor'
Decidedly replied Mr.. Ford. * a
act more quickly. more promptly, and
more energctictlly If | go alone"
He went that slme day, and the result
of his journey was more satisfactory h
he had ventured to hope it would be. lie
took up his residcncc-not at the principal
hotel-that was not n likely place TO OBJ
tain such information IA he sought-but
at an oid-fashioned inn; and, at night
when he had invited the landlord TO join
him over a glass of wine, he eleverly
turned the conversation on the subject OF
| strange and sudden deaths.
Then he heard the whole stoTy-hsw .
certain poor lady that had come 10 the
town had died without telling her name,
or saying 10 whom she belonged, or any
thing that could throw any light upon her
history.
she really died in shat strange way7"
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,7 pursued the lawyer
"'what became of the child?"
He could hardly bear the moment OF
suspense before the landlord answered
f,N,