Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-06-28
CHAPTER III.

CHATTER Ill.
Behind a belt of leafesS trees i
| wintry sun was sinking one afternoon
in February when the newly installed
master Of GOrst Abbey left his stately
home, TO which he still felt strange
and unaccustomed, and sauntered
! slowly through the grounds in the di-
rection Of the Dover house.
Until three months before Geo: &C
Severn had been second in command
of Bengal cavalry regiment, and had
in consequence spent the best part of
his life in India. AS a subaltern he
had married on his pay, and, though
| his wife had not lived to see the an
niversary of their wedding day, she
left him an infant son for whom it was
necessary to economic and amass as
many rupees as pra cticable. His devo-
ton to his child had been touching to
| witness. He taught him to walk and
| talk, and by and by to ride on d mill
| iature pony: and, when he needed to
! learn more than these simple acquire
ments. it was the devoted father who
taught him still.
y
most imperceptbly merged into a tall
pale boy some nine years old before
| Colonel Severn began to realize that
they, hitherto inseparable, must part
not for a few months, as had been the
case before, when it was necessary
that the child should escape from the
burning heat of the plains, and his
father had not been able to get leave
but it might be years.
The blow, terrible as it was at first
grew harder for the lonely man to
bear as little by little they drifted
further and further apart in spite Of
| the constant correspondence they kept
UP. After a few years at a-prepara
tory school. The lad had gone to Har-
row, and had made many friends
there, while amongst new interests he
had half forgotten the love which had
colored all his life before
! The father felt with a twinge of pain
, that he might meet his son in the
street and not recognize him. though
his whole soul yearned for him and
he was never absent from his thoughts.
/ He had given him the love Of life
time-the deep strong love of a man
which in most cases is divided. but
in this case had been shared by none
other; for his wife he had married
I from pity, because they told him she
loved him, and would waste away if
he offered no return. So he cared for
the little fragile thoughtless child as
tenderly as a woman could have done
during the few short months she was
with him, and even felt a faint sense
of loneliness when she was gone. But
that passed away; the one abiding pas
sion Of his manhood was to lavish all
! his love upon his son.
Then a cousin died-a man whom he
/ had never met-indeed had scarcely
heard of in the years he had spent
away from home, but who had never
theless left him the property Of Gorst
Abbey.
1t was splendid estate, but the last
owner had led wild eXtravagant life,
and at present it was heavily mort
gagged. George Severn's first thought
the property might recover itself and
be at it's highest value when it should
descend to his heir. To this end he
had devoted all his savings, for this
reason he had resolved to let the
Dover House, and since his accession
had been living as quietly as possible
in his new home.
HIS son had left Harrow q year he
FORE and was now abroad With !
tutor; eventually he was to become a
barrister-for Colonel Severn was too
wise to allow him to lead an aimless
life. Father and son had met once
since their first parting, now twelve
years back; but to George Severn the
meeting caused at first an even deeper
feeling of sadness than the separation !
had done They were utter strangers
to each other, the very effort to be at
ease one with the other OccaSiOning !
greater restraint. The young fellow ,
had made no allowance for the change !
sure to be effected by so long a resi- |
dence in an unhealthy climate: he !
was disappointed and sensibly chilled !
at meeting one SO much older and
graver than the father he reme1n-
bered: while the elder man looked in !
vain for those traits of character, the
little tricks Of expression, that he had !
noted and been so proud Of before
He was proud Of his son still and
had good cause for that pride-thank |
Heayen!-but there was a barrier be-
tween them that nothing could re-
move. His love for him was as great
as ever, for it was too strong to be
easily uprooted, but the love no longer
filled his life, was no longer all-suffi-
Gent. He felt lonely and sorrowful-
lonelier than he had ever been when
shut up in his Indian bungalow day
after day through the long hot
weather, and more sorrowful even
than when he had sent away his child.
Then he had had hope to sustain him,
and fond iniaginings to take the place
of reality. Now he knew the truth
knew that the fruit whose growth he
had so eagerly anticipated had, in