Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1890-08-06
RETRIBUTION.

You wanted to see Miss Celia West
leigh? Goodness gracious, she was
buried yesterdayp
q The landlady of the shabby, out-of-
the-way boarding-house, stood at the
, door of the close little parlor, into
which she had just ushered two ele-
gantly dressed ladies, with an awful
enjoyment of the dramatic nature of
her announcement.
iDeadI' exclaimed one Of the visit
ors, in a shocked tone. And we only
heard OF her illness the other dayi Poor
thing! So young. too! How does her
sister bear it? She had a sister, i
think?'
'Yes'm. She's taken it very hard
tIley hadn't nobody but themselves,
them two. Per'aps you'd like TO see
Miss Helen?'
L don't know. Mrs. lennoxr
turning to her companion, with look
of embarrassed appeal, and rising
flush. we are strangers TO Miss West
leigh, you know, and If you prefer not
to meet her
If | prefer not to meet her, Mrs.
Thurlow? | am not aware of any rea-
son why l should object to meeting
Miss " estleigh,' said the second lady,
who had a voice of almost masculine
depths; voice in perfect keeping with
her handsome, obstinate, massive-feat-
ured face; and she turned to the land
lady, saying:
Inform Miss. Westleigh, if you please,
that two ladies are waiting to see her
Mrs. Lennox and Mrs. Thurlow.'
The landlady vanished.
You must not be offended, dear, ,
Mrs. Thur!ow ventured TO say, Il, /,
was really afraid that to meet Miss
Westleigh under the circumstances
might be-a little-don't you thlnk-for
some people, at least-awkward-'
If you refer TO my having dismissed
Miss WeStleigh's sister from my house,
j can understand its being an awkward
meeting for her. SAID Mrs. Lennox,
with look of cold astonishment. But
am at a loss to know i'll what manner
your observation can apply to me-
That WAS what meant, of course,
eagerly exclaimed Mrs. Thurlow. To
spare the poor girls feelings, for-CelIa
washer sister
& am very glad to hear that that was
what you meant, Mrs. Thurlow,' said
Mrs. Lennox. not relaxing her injured
air For you must be aware that there
is nothing | regard so highly rs duty.
And in this case of Celia Westleigh's IS
above all. l have the satisfaction of
feeling that l have never, for a mo-
ment, evaded duty
TO be sure, my dear-how consol-
ingl'
when L remember the unprincipled
way in which she took advantage of
! her position as governess In my house,
actually to inveigle my poor, weak
headed brother-in-law into the folly of
offering her his hand; when l remem-
Der that she left my house in a cloud of
disgrace, consequent upon her having
secretly worn aud ruined valuable laces
of mine; when l remember all the trou-
ble size caused me, from first TO last;
| then, Mrs. Thurlow, L positively Won
der at my own presence here to-day.
said Mrs. Lennox.
"Of course you do, my dear
But the moment L heard OF the poor
erring girls illness, l determined 70
visit her at once, and endeavor to rouse
her TO some sense of her miserable
state. You. yourself. heard me say
repeatedly, Mrs. Thurlow, that l should
not finch from the duty of reminding
her of the past, and pointing out, to the
best of my poor ability. that the way
of the tranSgreSSor must necessarily be
hard; 50 that, if she chose to shut her
eyes to the lesson conveyed by these
things, and persist in denying her
Iwrong-doing, no shadow of hIISgiying
might rest upon my conscience
Yes, yes; and your strength Of char
acter is wonderful. 1 couldn't have
| done it,
However, we have come too late,
said Mrs. LennoN, shaking her head.
we shall never know what effect a
few strong words of warning and coun-
sci might have had upon her. We
must be charitable, and remember this.
How magnanimous!' said Mrs.
Thurlow.
Yes said Mrs. Lennox, we must
make many allowances. We must not
be surprised, if We should find Miss
Westleigh, as your words seemed To
imply, preJudiced enough to cherish Ill
feelings against me; for people will be
unreasonable. But she need not fancy
that, If she Is herself sensible and re-
spectacle, her sisters memory would
ever, in my mind, he regarded for a
moment as reproach TO her.
Her sisters memory is the most
sacred thing left to her on this earth.
Can you not let your victim rest even
now. when her broken heart Is hushed
in the graye?'
The two ladies arose simultaneously,
as the challenging words, uttered in a
clear, thrilling voice, rang through the
room. On the threshold stood a tall,
youthful figure. clothed IN black; it
advanced few steps; and they beheld
before them a pale girl, with one of
those wonderfully expressive faces that
, do not need to be beautiful To stamp
/ themselves in our remembrance. 1t
was Helen Westleigh. Her dark eyes,
| burning in the deep, purple hollows
worn by long watching and much
weeping, flashed upon them a greeting
anything but concIliatory. Before 1t,
the two startled women stood silent,
and involuntarily quailing, for a mo
Eent, as if they had been confronted
by something unearthly.
But Mrs. Lennox soon recovered her
self.
You have a strange way Of receiving
visitors, who come to you with kind
intentions, young lady, she said. haugh-
tily. What do you mean by 'victimp'
Il mean that Celia's death lies at
: your door. Mrs. Lennox.'