Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-10-29


confident and resolute as everAat lasst, ne
seemed to be. To himself he NaS1kk,
| and allowed the spurious confidence, that
| in these times tries hard to dupe us, no
| footing in the cold chamber Of his mind,
| Weak folk like to take the whole parish
| into their confidence. The strong man,
| somebody has finely said, is strongest
alone. Blarnaby gloried in his bearing his
| burdens silently, secretly, burying them, II
| he might, deep in the sepulcher of his own
| heart.
He looked out upon the gray dawn Of
each newborn day all wistfully to discern
the signs of its promise. He saw vague
clustering clouds, that might gather into
one black, threatening mass, as pail Tor
the dead hopes of yesterday; or they misSt
dissolve into a filmy veil for the. bkfdal q
joy and success. The Scheme, th3 Scheuje
how are the fates dealing wi5h that vi5hl
matter now? Those provoking paragrafhs
in the Patriot, ever harping Upon the great
Scheme, nice to the eye, yetSwith asomes
thing between the lines that NaSeSsA a.
favor-are they really meant to hehsof to
hinderl
Hogg-is he scheming scheme of his
own! Is it possible he is running counter
plot beneath the surface, trying, perhaps,
to brighten the English investors out Of
confidencef
Blobbe-is Blobbe tickle or faithful out
and-out friend or half-and-half traitor
Fotneringham, the Indispensable, the all
powerful man of affairs-can he be only
playing for his own handl
Euphemia Shicksper, good woman, sore|
tried martyar, and diplomatist withal-s
surely, surely she will never turn and rend
me, nOws
Lady Ossulstone. dear lady mine !-ahy
she is my goddess of fate!
Blarnaby's thoughts flew wide afield n
these blustery days. Many devious chase
they led him, but they unfailingly brought
him back to her. Halt distrustful of his
Judgment now, as he felt himself growing,
more and more did he come tosbe convinced
that she, and she only, was the solution of
the crisis now impending. Political vic
tory, as he saw it. involving in his case the
higher triumph of large craftsmanship, de-
pended upon commercial and social status,
and the social conquest he was so near
achieving was bound to command the sue
cess of the others: To win her ladyship
now would be to win all along the line.
The play is hazardous, but the stake is
tremendous.
They had seen very little of each other of
late, The opportunities for even a mo-
ment's exchange of greetings had been very
rare. Writing was out of the question.
Yet it was not only important, but abso-
lutely essential, that he should meet her,
and that right soon.
He made up his mind to see her at once.
A hundred devices he thought of, and dis
missed. The occasion was not of d kind
that any of the familiar schemes of young
lovers would serve. The gravity OF it de-
manded the fullest dignity and deliberate
ness of circumstance. There was nothing
for it but to call openly at Miss Benndison's
and trust to luck. So he would have lightly
phrased il, but underneath there would
have been in his tone q grim consciousness
that luck, however good, would need full
backing-up by his trustier henchmen, Tact
and Determination.
Good luck may snatch the fateful inter-
terview. thought he, but what if love gladly
vouchsafes it? So may it be!
He paced the streets that morning with
an Observation-Disclosures wholly new to him
He was not absorbed in wistful contempa-
ton of the paving-stones. On the contrary,
his eyes amused themselves by quizzing
things, anything and everything, as never
before since school-boyhood. They were
having holiday. Even such absurdly COM
monplace objects as the patterns of iron
ratings, the shapes of the sham stone
mOuldingS on house tops, the exercise of
finding out which fronts We're real brick
and which Were painted stucco; these, and
every conceivable variety of impish activ-
ity, gave his eyes plenty of occupation all
to their bright selves; but their master was
otherwise employed. He looked through
windows at the near objects, but saw them
not. His vision pierced far beyond all these
things, right into the mysteries to come. yet
without seeing any more clearly there.
Some of US think we do our thinking or
what we fatter ourselves is our thinking,
best in solitude or in darkness. Doubtful,
very, if we do; we who have not trained
our thoughts to jump when ordered. There
is solit de of silence, solitude of the
surging sea, solitude of the sick room, a
solitude of the enthrallIng book. Each to
hot ,x-nf ,b fArct ~
end but for ME the solitude of the roaring
city street. Darkness, silence, loneliness,
so overwhelm the unaccuStomed brain with
the reverberations of its quickened throbs
that calm self-possession is hard to COM
mand until too late. In the rushing crowd
there is double spell that engages the
outer faculties sufficiently to secure the in
ner consciousness unhindered liberty to
dive or soar.
Passers-by saluted the Hon. De Witt
Blarnaby as he strobe their way and he
returned their civilities, but purely auto
matically. They were swelling with the
proud qualification of having their minor
selves recognized by the great man of the
hour. How would they have WINGED if they
had known it was only the motion of the
great mans self-acting machinery. Yet
where would beloved conventionality be
without its automatic signal makeshifts for
honeSty2
NOW lie COilieS near tue HOUSE. L lie O1uen
was favorable. Miss Bennison and the two
young ladies We're just coming down the
stoop, bent on shopping expedition.
$50 delighted to have another and prob
ably the last, opportunity of receiving your
good wishes before the battle" said he,
gaily enough, in response to their stimuli
taneouS greetings. THANK YOU, no: I
really am quite unable to stay for more
than single moment, even if l had the i'll
grace to intervene SO long between any lady
and her mission to the dry goods heathen''
Miss Bennison smiled a gentle rebuke to
the rather ill-chosen sarcasm, and the girls
smartly rallied their teaser on the still
stronger weakness some otherwise in
nocent men have for political wares.
Mr.. Blaruaby felt he had been unskilful
this time, and quickly pleaded the spelling
effect of these wares upon anyone doomed
to dabble in them, and passed adroitly on
to the business of the moment
1.-THE fact is, l have torn myself away
from all-important engagements to confer
for three minutes with Lada Ossulstone
upon telegram have this very hour re-
ceived. 1t is from her ladyship's broker in
London, and may affect the price of stock
in which she is Interested
On this supposedly veracious assurance
Miss Bennison and her merry charges saw
Mir. Blarnaby into the hall, and proceeded
on their errand.
Lady Ossulstone received her unexpected
visitor with cordial greeting, though she
wore jaded look, which she off-handedly
accounted for on the score of trying weather
and practical politics.