The morning call., 1893-12-10

a staple of Cape trade. George was de-
lighted to find himself in the saddle. rid
Ing over the rolling veldt and among the
rocks and brush. on the lookout for birds
and their eggs. and the old Boer made him
welcome in his primitive though comfort
able home, around which he had planted
vines and fruit trees, and laid out shrub
Dery. all signityipg that he had done with
inspannlng migratioDs, let come wnat
would. and that he and his long bowi pipe
were on terms of contentment and i'm
timacy. Mrs. Koopsten had one daughter
living with her and two married to Beers
on farms adjacent, which means that on
the yeldt they were quite fifteen miles dis
tsnt. Her only son had teen Killed IN an
ARRAY with natives over iaoor uls-
pute. and the young Englishman was
heartily welcomed in household so shut
out from contact with the world and yet
not tuniEterested in its events.
Two years ran past, and Rigby had be-
come thoroughly initiated into the mys-
teries OF ostrich-farmlng and was quite
prepared to begin the enterprise for him.
sell. Peter KOopsten had surmised that
this might be the result, and thought 1t
prudent to make gift of large slice of
land. jn the hope that his assistant W 1uld
cast In his lot with the family. Frau Koop-
stem gave every sign OF approval to this
generosity. and Martha koopsten had
deeDer sensiblities on the subject than she
chose to express, though she could not
quite screen from her mother an awakened
attachment and dlscernmeDt OF superior
qualities In the young man, VINO differed
so much from the ordinary settlers of the
Transvaal. Round the parlor table, with
Peter pOring over a Cape newspaper, Mrs.
koopsten knitting or mend!Dg, and Martha
showing a sophisticated taste in elaeorat-
ing some finery, George at times relieved
his own feelings aud charmed the circle by
stores of London and its life. carefully
avoiding, however. any revelation OF him.
self. No probing by art or subterfuge oil
the part of Martha could get him In the
least degree interested in his own history.
The utmost they could infer from his still
thoroughbred hands and polished manner,
which he in vain took pains to shake off,
was that his upbringing was gentle. but
they were quite baffied as to his profession
and why he had drfted out of Ii into a
frontier colony.
Mystery invested him in Martha's imagi-
nation with some of the attributes which
distinguish the nohle-minded and heroic,
but Tor this he could not be neld respoD-
sibie, and in truth he gave not the smallest
encouragement to any symptoms Of dev0-
ti0n more tender than friendship. That
he had inspired any infatuation was not
brought to his consciousness until long
aftefWard during some hot words with
hans Moot1en, young BOer. who some
times rode to the farm on Sunday, and
from being coldly received WAS thrown
into rage by suspecilng the cause.
Stephen Aldridge read the letters from
George IN the family circle. or such por-
tio1s Of them as were coDs0latOry to the
pride of success. The postscrpts he kept
10 himself. They contained no hallueina-
tiODs about the brilliant manner In which
business was progressing and con nfidence as
to bright future, but they gave the naked
truth with an openness as delightful as pn-
expected. His nephew was changed man.
Years passed and the reformation con-
tinued. BE had thrown uff ms dissOlute
| tendencies, abandoned his reckless drift
ing into a career of pleasure and Incidence
and was striving To be independent and
manly. The change and the hope that it was
not ephemeral caused Aldridge to yearn
for a return Of the prOdigal, and yet he
dare not be precipitate in sending the mes
sage which would turn his nephsw's lace
again toward old England. Ii was well
that be was happy, living down shame and
degradation, although ban lshed from all
he had known the greater part Of his life
Mrs. A Aidrdge and Agnes aud Beatrice at
least had reason TO know that George was
al the Cape, for at times presents arrived
of ostrich feathers, the most magnificent
that London could exhibit, and these
adornmenIs being overabunuant they were
shared with friends Of the family. The
letters and Enclosures he received from
England caused George to tingle with a
joy that he had never known when his
existence was that OF a roue, and he felt a
glow of atonemeDt buoyng him I'D when
he found his uncle surprised that he W as
not making use of the funds at his COM
mand.
A grand turn of great fortune came to
George and to the k0opstens. Only five
miles to the north Of the farm gold reel
was laid bare, ana ii proved rich to an ex-
traordinary extent. The discovery led TO
George prospecting for more than eggs,
and he had the luck to strike an auriferous
ledge on his own stretch Of land, and to
trace 1t across the 10. psten tract. The
spectators were soon eager to purchase.
and the more they studied the assays
and the dimensions of the reef the more
ger were they to acquire IL at price
which made Rigby aud the Koopstens
wealthy at a bound. with 9S0.0O0 In cash.
The mines on that reef have since cut a
great figure onthe Stock Exchange and are
yielding famous profits.
Old Konpsten was somewhat disturbed
| by the rush Of miners and the uprearing of
town with mushroom rapidly. and If
younger he would have tTekked again to
some quiet wild where struggling humanity
would not ruffie his placid life. The effect
on George was transforming. On a visit
to Capetown he RENTED to his uncle,
| without a word of explanation. 910.000 TO
be invested for Agnes and Beatrice Aid
ridge and presented TO them at such time
as their parents should think fit. This vas
the purport Of postscript.
| Words fail to fathom the feelings of
| fervent gladness which overcame Stephen
Aldridge ss he thought oflhis nepbew's re-
| turn TO well doing aid recovery of charac-
| ter. His errors had long been forgiven,
| and now was the auspicious moment to
summon the prodlgal home. The message
| OF reconciliation and endearment went
forth, and precious to George was the con-
vlction, now testified to by his uncle, that
he had Kept on the right path. But
| the stab of his errors had sunk too
deep in his regenerated nature to rem
der him otherwise than shsme-stricken
when he thought of residence again in
England. 1t could not be. Better the life
| in the new land where what was known Of
him was only good. Better home with
the good. simple people who had shown
affection for him when in distress, and
| had made him one OF themselves.
His bearing of respect and friendship
for Martha ripened into tender regard.
| With sweetness and solicitude unspeak-
ably devoted, she had nursed him through
fever, and had read to him during those
days of convalescence when depressed ma
ture is s0othed by little gentle acts of kind
ness. His illness brought him the ben
4 tcrr ~ ~ k.sx 4 -