New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-06-19

ing a message Tor lis quondam cashier TO call
upon him ON urgent business the following morn
ing. Ii was dark, with q heavy snow lallIne,
as he departed homeward laughing 10 scorn tlie
advice rendered by his foreman as 70 avoiding
the treacherons ravine l'y mornlng, the snow
lay to the depth of three feet, while, IN the
gorge below. the white wrack had drltted ih'9
huge banks and valleys till even the ruined
cottages had disappeared But, worst OF all Mr.
him was George Atwood, who, returning home
along the road, was cheerfully accosted by MS
late employer with the information that gool
news awaited him on the morrow. with which
Of mem Hsls'' '"'' '"s .,,
across the TAGGED kitchen and waImeI h,a
numbcd hands al the grateful blaze \ night
as makes us thankful TO know as we've Iooi
| tea, for Eve been standing By the mere Till In
| nigh frozen.
An extremely pretty girl, seated knitting in The
ingle nook rose from her seat and plnccd lncia
teapot on the white tablecloth. Rose Atwood
| was after George, tie apple OF her fathers eye
| a cottage Venus clcar-cycd and rudy OF COM
| pcxiOn, as most of the hands in the valley knew,
TO the confusion of their peace OF mlnd b9t
| Rose coquettc; and moreover, the mana,
some, taciturn head clerk at roJamDes apltareo
| 10 have monopolizcd the belle of the district,
| though. be il said, the course OF true love ma
not hitherto run with the smoothncss Rupert
Vaughan cond have wished.
| He rose from the other side of the fireplace,
| wiz" he had been contemplating Rose IN his
usually moody fashion, and joined the party
| at their evening meal. lAtltrIN HIS pitNHpt
seemed to be an understood thing, though grim,
| watchiu silence his natural manner, seemed
| to check all attempts at cheerfnlness W no ne
and w9Snce he oc e%e were ho ccn,cd 10 hs
cool, logged appropriation of the pretucst ana
| most popular of their maidcns;,
1t was more than usually silent parry as
George Atwood sat modify in the most secluded
corner, and Vaughan was more watcllfnl and
cat-lle than usual, Rose, demurely knitting,
listened TO her fathers well-mcant attempts At
l con Npra0 IpfcrnOt1tlnO "A
and then.
Heard nothing of MIR. roliamhe. l sl>pose ?"
He addressed VAUGHAN, hear that "ihe Port
just ike those newspaper fellows" Eaaehan
sncered Never mind what lies you invent
long as you sell your paFers, is their motto"
interest. and with far more attention than he
had hitherto paid to the desultory conversation.
The night before Mr. Foljambc Disappeared he
came here specially 10 me And what did ne
tel ne when | met him afterwarl? That he
had some good for me in the morning and
the only good news that ! could he1r was that my
name was cleared. Suppose the real cnlprit had
discovered that his crime hal come ont, and
was an old man and feeble. don't suggest any
thing. but the task would have been easy"
Why not have done il Yourself" Vaughan
returned, with deeper scowl. "You were the
alive: YOU met him in lonely spot, and for all
we know to the contrary, he might have come
here that night with fresh proofs against YOU
Goodness knows, l believe You innocent hut
tie theory of foul-play is a dangerous one-ior
you"
How rapidly You draw your dcluctions,"
George replied, striving in vain To speak calmly
II would he equally sensible to point 10 you as
The murderer. You have the place held. the
place You coveted. Before SmithSOn went 10
America, you and he laid your heads together
to convict me BY some means or other Mr.. Fol-
jambe discovers the truth and, by some means
ako, you know that he has done so. Then you
fellow him. and Wpll the l. tir-
cumstances soon multiply themselves, suspicion
once aroused Hcrc is one rready-lnade: Why did
months on the very night that my late employer
had disappeared ?"
. This is q. poor Jest" Vaughan said hoorsely.
Yes, close on II o'clock. S'in, ] Do but
jest, though you take it so seriously. Still, YOU
lnsnltc1 Inc first anil" -
With an authoritative wave Of his pipcsem,
BENJAMIN AuwoC1 PIT an end to the ARGUMENT.
Ii is a sore subject, and gains nothing by dis
cussion," he Observed sentcntousy. "Nou are both
talking nonsense and dangerous nonsense too.
Change the subject"
Bnt with this expiring effort, the Pickering con-
and ng his 9q hat Wsed lis rens an
good might as he passed out Rose rising 10 open |
the door for his departure u his own mastery |
into the moonlight. Yon will FORGET all that" |
he said Gercey. THIS pain gel at my heart |
makes me almost mad ut timcs.-Rose. how much |
Se do Se as 0 tn ks fe e4 b Wi e g r
hastily away. thin laze crossed the moon. and |
puff Of wind from the vest brushed her check |
1t was as well that she did not see the lurid light
in her companions eyes.
Very WELL" he said. Goodnight: and remem- |
Der that the time will come w'en | shall make
Rose feft an almost wild sense Of relief as her
mpctuous lover disappeared. She did not care
for him; her heart told Der that, though she
shrank from giving pain by direct refusal. She
fingered q moment in the open, conscious Of Il
mlder breath in the air. and listening to the
sough of the wind in the woods Presently, as the
clouds seemed to thickcn she felt the rain-spray
on her checks.
There is heavy weather on the hills Atwood
ssid as he drew his chair nearer to the wood
fire. Il thought ii seemed warmer Rles, me
Is that rain ? a burst of wind dashed the
sheeted water against the easement, and caused
the fcathery ashes TO dance and whirl OH the
hcarthstone. :" 4 sudden change the old nlau
continued. There will Ike no skating on the
Swire tomorrow. A night Of rain with all this
snow, and before morning we Shall see a food
the like Of which Portside people have never wit
messed before
AS the cottage lay still and silent with. the
heavy downpour roaring Oh the roof, the groan-
Ing and crcaking lee the river rose higher and
higher. Morning was still struggling with night
az crash louder than the rest rou,'d Benjamin
Atwood. who hastily assumed hi- clothes and
wrapping himself III heavy macintosh walked
toward the river. The vast sheet of ice, like a
thing of lfc tremb,ed and yibratcl, and then.
with a report like the roar Of artillery, broke
into million pieces. Suddenly released The
rushing flood-watcr rose with marvellous speed.
creeping mp the banks, till within the hour the
elstwhile solid plain was creamy SETTLING mas,
Of green foam and floating cc-focs.
Eight feet in an honr" exclaimed Strahan,
who had also come ont 70 watch the wonderful
sight, and thirty mile, of ice TO come down yet
No chance Of that GETTING through the portsdc
stone Bridge. What with the rain in the night
and the snow on the Black Mountains. tbcre'll
he twenty feet of flood water, not icck onng the
ice at all"
As the day went on, it. seemed probable that
Strahan's prophecy would be bc fulfilled. With
ala hnupi al, L. 9
ice, until, almost imperceptiblv at first the
current began 10 slacken. while the water itse
sinister prophecies had been fulfilled and the Ice
had jammcd about Por'sde Bridge
Along The embanlmcnt by Foliambr's factory |
the immense mass BEGAN ~ collect pressing in |
an inclined nlanc agnlnst the hunk nNrr .uLinL |