The Wilmington daily Republican., 1895-04-08
A CHAPLATN'S STORY.


as curates for his diocese. Here our paths
separated for some years, and when next
we renewed our old frlendshipI was the
vicar Of tho town, still single, at "a, and
Jim was tho chaplain of the famous Jail
In the same town and married
Wewere talking In my study as in oldcn
times. Somehow the conversation drifted
to the subject of recent newspaper article,
"Ought Married People to Have Any
Secrets From Each Othcr;" said No"
Jim said Yes" We both smilingly stuck
to our text. 1t was not often We differed
In opinion, but this was one case anyhow.
why, Jim, said /, ''you would have
been the last person should have expect
ed to take that line, for l am sure, from
what l have seen, that If ever two folks
were happy and loving they are Ella and
yourself. u can't conceive Of you having
any secret which you would not wish Ella
to know"
"Ah," retorted he, with peculiar
smile, that's just it. Well, Howson, III
tell you one If you like though, he add
ed, sit must remain a secret between us
two. have never spoken of it to any one
in the world and never shall except to
yourself. :"
Thanks, Jim. You need not fear me,
ms you know I'm only curious to know
the case And / assumed an attitude of
eugor attention to Jim's story.
- was the chaplain at Lowmarket, as
you are well aware, before came here. 1t
is pretty place, and one wonders what
ever made the government build jail
there. However, there it is, and there was
/. The amount of society that ono got in
Lowmarket was perfectly astonishing.
Had the time and inclination for 1t 1
might have turned out regular society
Clergyman. AS it was, / had a full amount
of lectures, snirees, parties and entertain
mentS. Among the people / got In with
none were nicer than the Iurks. Miss
York, a maiden lady of 90, lived In large
and beautifully furnished house, called
'Ihe Cedars, In the best part of the town.
She was known all over the district for her
charity, kindness of heart and pure life.
Everybody had a good word for her. Nor
was her niece, Ella York, any less popu-
lar. People in Lowmarket fairly wor-
SHIPPED both Of thom.
Il was 2s when ! first saw Ella York
and at oncc succumbed to her charms. For
weeks her praises had been in my ears,
and now on acquaintance l found hor
beauty, her manners, her kindness of
heart, not one whit less than report stated,
l loved her. OF course 1 could not say so
at once, Hnd whether, after two or three
meetings in the course of my work-for
Miss York the elder took great interest in
our sphere Of labOr-she guessed my love
and reciprocatud it l could not then say.
l found, from judicious inquiries, that
Miss York-Ella-had lived with her aunt
from childhood; that she was now n; that
her mother was dead and her father lived
on tho continent for his health; also that
shc was her aunt's solo heiress These
facts were, of course, only learned by de-
grcCs, as one cannot 60 to the fountain
head for such information,
"AftCr much heart searching and de-
batting within myself thought | saw that
Ella York was not wholly indifferent to
me, and l resolved to ask her to be my
wifo, [ need not go into details as to how
l did IL beyond saying TINT it was one
summer morning rather more than five
years ugo when, having gone to see her
aunt, who was out, l met Ella in the
grounds, and after talking as we walked
along on various subjects somehow it came
out unexpectedly and almost before could
comprehend what il all meant Ella York
had promised to be my WIFE, subject to her
aunt consent.
But her aunt didn't consent re-
cciEed IA dainty noto that night-how ten
dcIly | II gaTdpd 1t, HuwSun!-frnm Ella
saying that She had spoken Of my visit to
her aunt and had told her | was coming
tomorrow for her approval; that Miss
York had been very kind, but acted rather
strangely and said she would see me, but
she could not consent, as She did not wish
to loso Ella. My dear girl went on to say
that she had in vain tried TO get from her
any moro than this
ttrou in T,f Ind 7
went next morning to see Miss York.
What could her objection really hcf Sure
" not to inc! My position, my family, my
life, We're, l hoped, beyond reproach. Even
II 1t were question of money, | had
enough private means. as you know. As
for Miss York. we'll, of course il would he
lonely without Ella at first, after so many
years canpanionship. but surely she
didn't expect her mover to get married. 1t
was prcpostcrous.
Il was destined not to know hcr 0bjcc.
tiun. As approached the ledge the por,
toress met mo
/" Oh, MIR. Bourn, this is shockingp
Il was more puzzled than ever Why
my engagement to Ella should he shock
ing | couldn't see, aid l no doubt ex-
pressed it in my looks.
$50 sudden too sir!' said the woman.
Nobody expected it!
'Whutevcr's the mattcrH said I.
why, haven't you heard that Miss
York is dead2 No? oh, dcarl Poor
thing Had fit in the night, doctor says;
! was quito unconscious when Miss Ella got
there and died at o'clock this morningp
My heart sank. l felt faint and giddy.
/ 1t was some minutes before l could move.
! You Will never know how it feels, How
! son, unless you should have such blow,
which hope you mover Will. But l am
bound to say my one thought was, My
| poor, lonely, darling EllaH
There were no more details to ba
/ learned about Miss York death She was
buried in LoWmarket churchyard. Ella
was i'll for weeks and could not sec oven
me. When sho was we'll enough to attend
| 50 business, it was found that she Inherit
cd all her uunt's money, and AS sho lad
already accepted mo we were married "a
twelyomonth afterward She had boon
aNfully lonely, she said, since Miss York q
| daafa, but no couple have ever lived hap.
| pier and been nearer and drarur to oach
| other than Fila and ]. May Tod bless
! her,
"AmGnm said sOlcmnly and reverently.
Ella and l." pursued jim, could
never give the remotest guess as to her
aunt's objection to our engagement and
! it would probably have remained a mys-
! tory to me, as it has 10 Ella, even now,
had ii not been for the following circum.
stance: Some time ago / was sent for ut
the prison to see u rather desperate char
acter whose end was very near. He had
been sent to seven years penal seryilude
some three years before for forgery, and
after serving two years at Portland had
! been transferred to Luwmarkut. Ills ap-
pcaIance was superior 10 that Of tho ofili-
nary convict, even when a forgcr. Al.
1 though had seen him several times and
certainly been struck with his face and
| appearance, we could net 10 said to be
friendly as he had been Indifferent to all
my adVancrs.
i found him lying in the hospital, and
I soon saw he would not live very long
o ..sa... 7 I'll