Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-02-23
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l have done it when sober had shown him possessed of kind of maliciouSnoss and cynicism almost Pardonablc, but to do it when tipSv proved him merely weak l and foolish But the fact is he was less tipSy at the time than was imagined, and he could have ;,msW cred to more malice and cyniCiSm thai Nrt T" credited to him.
 To those who kuuW tic world it is not singular that of t..r two Armour was thought to have n...i,' the mistake and had the misfortune ,r that people vast ed their pity and their scurn upon him alone. Apparently they did not see that the woman was to be pitied. He had | married her, and she was only an Indian girl from Fort Charles of the Hudson's Bay company, with little honest white blood i'll her veins. Nobody, not even her own people, felt that she had any thing at stake or was in danger of un- happiness or was other than person who had ludicrously come to bear the ] name of Mrs. Francis Armour. If any one had said in justification that she | loved the man, the answer would have been that plenty of Indian women had loved white men, but had not married them, and yet the population of half | breeds went on increasing.
 Frank Armour had been q popular man in London. His club might be found ill the vicinity of Pall Mall, his | father's name was high and honored in the army list, one of his brothers had served with Wolseley in Africa, and himself, having no profession, but with taste for business and investment, had gone to Canada with some such inten- tion as Lord Selkirk's in the early part of the century. He owned large shares i'll the Hudson's Bay company, and when he travelled through the north west Country prospecting he was receiv- ed most hospitably.
 Of an inQuiring and gregarious turn of mind, he went as much among the half breeds-or metis, as they are called and Indians as among the officers of l the Hudson's Bay company and the white settlers. He had ever been credit ed with having a philosophical turn, and this was accompanied by a certain strain of impulsiveness or daring. He 1 had been accustomed all his life to make up his mind quickly, and because he was we'll enough Of to bear the con- sequences of momentary raShness in ] commercial investments he was not counted among the transgressorS He | had his own fortune. He was not draw | ing upon common purse. It was a l different matter when he trafficlled rash | ly in tho family name, so far as to mar | " the daughter of Eye the Moon, the 1 Indian chief
 He was tolerably happy when he went to tho Hudson bay country, for Miss | Julia Sherwood was his promised wife, 1 and she, if poor, was notably beautiful and of good family. His people had not looked quite kindly on this engagement
 They had indeed tried in many ways to prevent it, partly because of Miss Sher- l wood : poverty. and also because they | knew that Lady Agnes Martling had long cared fer him and was most hap | oily endowed with wealth and good 1 lOOks also. When he left for Canada,
 they were inwardly glad (they imagin- | ed that something might occur to end the engagcment)-all except Richard, the wiseaCre of the family. the book man, the drone, who preferred living at | Greyhope, their Hertfordshire home, the | year through to spending half the time | i'll Cavendish square. Richard was very fond of Frank. admiring him immense | ly for his buXom strength and clever ! ness and not little, too, for that very rashness which had brought him such 1 havoc at last.
 Richard was not, as Frank used to say, perfectly sound on his pins''- that is, he was slightly lame-but he was right at heart. Hewas an immense reader, but made little use of what he read He had an abundant humor and | remembered every anecdote he ever heard. He was kind to the poor, walked
 much, talked to himself as he walked and was known by the humble sort as
 "a centric. " But he had q wise head,
 and he fOresaw danger to Franks happi
 ness when he went away. While others
 had gossiped and maneuvered and were
 busily idle, he had watched things. He
 saw that Frank was dear to Julia in
 proportion to the distance between her
 and young Lord Haldwell, whose father
 had done something remarkable in guns | or torpedOes and was rewarded with a
 lordship and an uncommonly large for
 tune. He also saw that after Frank left
 the distance between Lord Haldwell and
 Julia became distinctly less. They were
 both staying at Greyhope. Julia Sher-
 wood was a remarkably clever girl.
 Though he felt it his duty to speak to
 her for his brother-a difficult and deli
 cate matter-he thought it would come
 better from his mother.
 But when he took action it was too
 late. Miss Sherwood naively declared
 that she had not known her own heart
 and that she did not care for Frank any
 more. She wept little and was soothed
 by motherly Mrs. Armour, who was
 inwardly glad, though she knew the
 matter would cause Frank pain, and
 even General Armour could not help
 showing slight satisfaction, though he
 was innocent of any deliberate action
 to separate the two. Straighrway Miss
 Sherwood dispatched a letter to the
 wilds of Canada, and for a week was an
 unengaged young person. But she was
 70 doubt co4iso:ed by the fact that fo,
 Ume time past she had complete con.
 trol of Lord Haldwell's emotions Al
 Ehe end of the week her perceptions were
 Justified by Lord Haldwell's proposal,
 which, with admirable tact and obvious
 eemureness, was accepted.
 Now Frank was wandering much in the wilds, so that his letters and pa. Pers went careering about after him.
 and some that came first were the lasi
 to reach him That was how he receiv.
 ed a newspaper announcing the mar. riage of Lord Haldwell and Julia Sher.
 wood at the same time that her letter.
 written in estimable English and witt sanirabls feeling game begging feE- :