Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1894-08-03
CHAPTER VII.
n,1r np1vATE sECRETAEY.

happiness.
CHAPTER VII
THE PRIVATE SECRETARY.
The night of the hcrri le accident had
passed. The new day had come, with It's
heavy burden of cares and sorrows and
pains. -,
of another pi5ht fe'l, and deerened more
and more the gloom that pervaded the
Iich but spirit-depree sing library OF the
Hon. Sherwood Ellis'an.
Presently the door opened, and woman
stood upon the threshold of the room,
A Glance into the apartment caused
frown to settle on her glorious brow.
The servant hal neglected to Light the
She took step forward and touched
the bell. A foot-man appeared with sur
prising celerity.
"A light" she said, pointing TO the ar
gand burner, and then sank wear y into
the great easy chair that some time before
had been occupied hy her husbands
nephew.
The lamp was lighted, the porcelain
shade properly adjusted, and the servant
retired. Then Cora Elliston turned eager
ly to the evening PAPER she held III hel
hand.
1t did not take her long 10 find the
heading she was in search of.
ANOTHER HORRIBLE RAILWAY
ACCIDENT!
"A REGULAR TRAIN RUNS INTO SPE-
CIAL, IS TELEsCcpED, THROWN
DOWN AN EMDANKMENT
AND TAKES FIRE!
"Twcnty- three Passengers Entcd ana
Burned! As Wdny None WOunded!
A Conf lete List of the Victims
1t was This list that fixed the ladN's at
tention, and eagerly she scanned the
names.
Yes, it was there!
Mildred L. Cleveland, wife of Eugene
Cleveland"
Dead! Ahl that was more than she had
hoped for That was almost too good to
be true. Where was Oscar Slyme? How
dare he stay away so long, when he must
know sho was dying to learn exactly what
had happened? =.
once moro she looked at the heading,
and then slowly and carefully read the
article through from beginning to end;
IF there is no mistake-if the glll -
reilly dead, nothing could have happehed
better" she mu1mured. Luck will nave
nlayed into my hands wonderfully;
b tt"
A discreet knock at the door attracted
attention.
Come in" she called eagerly, and the
stranger of the Grand Central depot, OF
the tram. and of the scene oft accident,
sl!d, rather than walked, into the room.
Oscar SlYme was the lriydte secretary
of the Hon. Sherwood E!liston. lie was
a man Of it may be, thifty-five years of
ace. He had been called handsome, and
by some even distinguished looking, and,
perhaps, in a certa IL degree, he was SO.
He. at least believed in his own good
looks. and secretly Gaitered himself on a
certain resemblance to the august person
age whose secretary he was. Partly from
nature, and partly from the constant iml-
tation TO which lie submit ed himself, thu S
idea had some foundation, for he re-
sembled the stately Mr.. Eiliston as muc1
as @ vulgar man can resemble one OF high
polish.
He was the son Of a small manufacture
in Connecticut; had received from his
father an honestly acquired fortune, and
had dlssipated it in the various enter
prises of his adventurous life
The influence Of his college, however.
obtained for him place in the Depart
ment of State a, Washington. He left 1t
to come to New York and study law
placed himself W tn an attorney; attempt
ed literature without success; gambled at
one of the most fash.onable dens, and
lost there.
He had successfully knocked with fever
ish hand at all the doors of fortune, and
none had opened TO Linn, because though
his ambition was great, his capacity was
| limited.
The subordinate positions, for which
alone he was fit, he did not wont. lie
would have made a very good schoolma5-
| ter. He sohed TO be poet.
He would have been respectable vii
lage rector. He pined to be a bishop.
Fitted for an excellent private secre-
tary, be aspired 10 be a member OF the
! Presidents Cabinet. In fine, he wished
to be great man, and consequently was
a failure as little one.
But he made himself a hypocrite; an(
that he found much easier. He fortified
himself on the one hand by fraternizinG
with the free thinkers Of the Ingersol
school, on the other, by joining The
orthodox people of certa IL very religious
community.
By these influences he contriyed TO Sc,
cure the secretaryship to the Hon. Sher
wood Elliston, who, in his efforts 10 bring
about his election to the United State!
Senate, needed the services OF a persOl
possessing certain qualifc ations, and IL
his general contempt Of the human
species lie judged Slyme would answe
his purpose quite as well as another.
Now, as doubtless the reader under
stands, Sherwood Elliston was anything
: but what is called a really good man
hence, familiarity with him was morally
fearfully prejudicial to the secretary. |
had. it is true, the effect of stripping OF
his devout mask, which he seldom put OIL
before his employer, but it terribly in
creased in venom the depravlty whicl
disappointment and wounded pride haC
secreted in his liberated heart.
Of course Mr.. EllistOn never took thu
trouble to demoralize his secretary; bu
contact, intimacy and example sutficed tt
do this.
A secretary is always moro or less
confdant. He divines that which is no
revealed TO him, and SLIME could not b'
long in discovering that his employer
success in life did not arise, in morals
from too much principle-n politics
from excess of conviction-in business
from a mania for scruples.
ITO BE CONTINUED.