New-York tribune., 1895-09-01

fulp
au ros,octs what We had believed him to be. and
% entertain suspicious concerning him that were
,,,,od N receive a speedy confirmation.
,s,, weeks after these occurrences we began
,,oLaoninR at n place about a mile from Cap
tain Rarnham's house. Among the advantages
u,,,ch we enioyed in our new home were an ex-
celIent orchard and piece OF land large enough
IN furnish US with good Kitchen gardeh' which
7 had been allowed 10 cultivate carry III the sea-
SON Fltz often came to see us. ana IN spite oi
our somewhat changed feelings toward MIN we
always made him welcome ana ieasteo MIN WIN
the best we had.
O,,r babv was a week old and my wife was still
oorared to her room when Fitz paid us what
oa 20 bs his last visit After he had dined
,,h mo 7 took him TO my wifes apartment to
see her and the new addition to our family. Fitz
appeared TO be delighted with the cniid' ana
begged the privilege Of holding II In MS own
arms | was in the act Of handing IL 10 MIN
when saw a strange change In his couhtehahce
that vanished almost the instant II appeared. IL
was like the shadow OF dark cloud with a "iiu
g,eam from his eyes like a flash of lightning. 1t
had so great an effect upon NE that paused IN
handing him the child. and, making some excuse
placed It again beside its mother.
Fitz soon left. and after he had gone my wife
exr
the baby. as he had wished to do, and wanted to
know why | had SO suddenly changed my NINA
about doing it, When | told her what had seen
IN the hov's face and the fear it gave me that he
might in some way injure the little one, she was
more surprised than convinced. For the next
few hours I had to be very busy In my study
When returned to my wfe's room she told me
that she had heard some one chopping in our
harm did not think that this could be the case,
as there was nothing there but a number OF bar
role of fruit and vegetables ready to be put into
tho cellar for winter use. But on listening al the
window for moment found that she was right
and that some one was chopplnB IN lhe Daih' anu
that In a most vigorous manner
Wondering what this could mean. ran GOWN
stairs and oDened side door, and as was smut
ting IL again from the outside heard the SOUND
of skurrying feet. Looking around, saw fltZ
and another boy. whom recognized as one Oh
our cunday-schOol scholars, climbing over the
fence called 10 them, but. without needing me-
they both quickly disappeared down pacK
street went 10 the barn ana iouia ne h u1Ga n14
fastened on the inside. Going around 10 the side
from which FitZ and his companion had appeared
to issue | found one Of the boards uniastehed az
the bottom AMI pried open with a plnet Oh "oou.
Entering by this opening, sa" that ABOUT d
dozen barrels OF apples and potatoes had Deen
empted on to the floor and chopped up Win
spade and hoe that lay on the top OF 'he Heap 50
maliciOusly destroyed. | proceeded al once 10 the
home of the boy who had apparently been helping
FHtz to destroy my winters supply OF fruit ana
vegetables. He made a clean breast OF IL. fII
had bribed him with piece 3i axe s,oe Sol hi,, iroi III
our table when no was looking. to help MN IN
his spiteful work. at which they had oeeh INDUS
triousy employed for about three hours.
Yes" said the hoy. and what's more IL was
Fitz that taught Fido TO do them things In churcn
on Sunday. ! used TO help him; ana fido ana l
hiding in one Of the ews that evening wne,i
you came to the church window and found flz:
All this soon became public news, ana was told
to the Barnhams. who paid us visit OF conaoi-
ence. Concealment Of the true character OF fl.I
was no longer possible. Ii had reVealeu ltse'l
to the boys uncle and aunt In many ways very
soon after ne had come to live with tnem MIS-
Barnham. though she dressed very plainly ner-
self loved to see children beautifully clad Sne
found it impossible TO continue to gratiy thlS ms
taste upon the person OF Fitz. for however pretty
or costly his clothes he would wantohiy destroy
them. There was In the house an Ola soiu watcn,
valued very highly as an ancestral relic ShortN
after Fltz became member OF the barnham
household this heirloom mysteriously disap,
peared-a circumstance that caused great ueal
OF perpleXty and unpieasantness IN the laIiiii!:
Both the children declared their ignorance OF
what had become Of the watch. A good servant
left the house because she felt that she was un-
Justly suspected Of theft More than year had
passed away since the loss OF the watch, when
one day. as the captain was rummaging among
lot of old ship stores in the loft OF his stable, he
came upon the remains of his lost watch, when
had been placed upon piece of iron and beaten
with a hammer until it was utterly destroyed
the only part left of any value being the case
which was worth its weight as gold
Fitz when accused of this iniquitous deed,
frankly confessed his guilt. For the first and
last time his UNCLE whipped the boy. He bore
this severe punishment without a murmur or a
tear; and when the captain stopped beating MIN
he asked in his usual tone:
Are you quite done. uncle?'
Yes" said the captain, that will have to do
for this time"
MAY | put on my coat?" asked Fitz Being
told that he might do So he said; on, thank
you" This was too much for the capita n, When-
fna hl,t- iDp
duct tempted his uncle TO give him another
thrashng the remembrance OF that "Oh, thank
YOU" and the fear Of its repetition made him
conscious that he could not again 90 through the
operation with due seriousness or with any nope
Of its being a benefit 10 the boy.
\ full report of all that the Barnhams told us
Of the past eri deeds Of their precious nephew
would occupy too much space. II they had pet
bird dog or cat he sure 10 kill H. II they had
a valuable plant or beautiful Hover ne was sure
to destroy II. 1t was Fitz that had left the gate
open for COW to come In and destroy the garden.
1t was Fitz that had taken the cover off a bar
rel Of meal and let a fevorite horse gorge Itself
to death. II was Fitz that. In addition to hun
dred other atrocities, had brought in a shoveful
OF offal dropped on the road from cart
and had thrown II on the carpet in mis- aunts
drawing room the evening Of her party. AS
we listened to all this and great deal more of a
similar nature were convinced that If this
strange boy had most occasions the deport-
mcnt Of an angel, and in some particulars the
habits of a saint, he also had Deneath III all the
disposition of a fend.
The only visible effect arising from the ex-
pOsure Of the misconduct of Fitz was an In
crease In the number and variety OF his niquties.
Knowing that every one in the place believed
him TO be a sly, malicious pest. he seemed TO be
determined that every one should have a good
reason for this faith. He became so great
terror not only to his relatives. but TO many
others In the town, that Captain Barnham de-
cided that it no longer safe for him when
he went To to leave the boy at home. lie
took him on board the vessel on his next voyage
For a time Fitz behaved himself exceedingly we'll
He obeiieni to the officers, civil TO the men,
quick to learn and apparently pleased 10 be Of
service. On his return home the captain had
nothing but good TO report OF his nephew. and ex-
pressed MS belief that change for the better
had taken place IN the lad. who he thought
would grow up To- be good and useful man.
During the early part 0f his second voyage all
went well with Fitz. But when the ship was off
the Bahamas a thing occurred that made her