Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-07-23


i"Hdpe you bad ncirsf''
o bottle hnd put it on the table beside
Armour! together with glass and some
water. Armour poured ont stiff
draft, aided very little water and
drank il! He drew great sigh and
stood lo, king ut the paper.
is hire anything can do for you.
Mr.. Arm |oury" urged the trader.
Nothing thank you, nothing ut all.
Just leaYe the brandy here. will you?
feel knocked about, and have to &c
through he rest Of these letters
He raul his fingers through the pile,
turning Il over hastily, as il searching
for something. The trader understood.
He was i cool headed Scotsman. He
knew thilt there were some things best
no, inquired into, and that men must
have thel bad hours alone. He glanced
at the bih hndy debatingly, but presently
turned aid left the room in silence. In
his own jmind, however, he wished he
might haEe taken the brandy without
being disIourtcous Armour had dis
covered Miss Shcrwood's letter. Before
he opened il he took little more bran
dy. Thth ne sat down and read is de-
liberatelJ The liquor had steadied
him. Thl fingers Of one hand even drum
med on the table. But the face was
drawn, the ewes were hard, and the look
Of him W is altogether pinched. After
he had fitished this ho looked for Others
| from the lsame hand. He found none.
Then hel picked ont those from his
mother Ind father. He read them
grimly.
Once III paused as he read his moth.
er's lcttol and took great Sulp Of plain
| brandy. There was something very like
q sneer oh his face when he finished il.
| He read the hollowness Of the sympathy
extended b. him. He understood the far
| from adrlit references 10 Lady Agnes
Martling He was very bitter. He read
no more lIttors, but took up The Morn
ing Post again and read it slowly
through. 1.-The look Of his face was not
pleasant. There was a small looking
glass oppbsite him. He caught sight
Of himself in il. He drew his hand across
his eyes and forehead, as though he
was in n miserable dream. He looked
again. He could not recognize himself.
He then bundled the letters and pa
pers into his dispatch box. His atten.
ton was |rawn 20 one letter He picked
IL up 1t WAS from Richard. He started
10 break 1.-The seal, but paused. The
strain of Jhe event was too much He
WINGED. BE determined not 10 read it
then, 10 'Eait until he had recovered
himself. he laughed now Siinfully. Ii
had been better for h.m--it had maybe
averted What people used 10 term his
tragedy had he read his brothers let
ter ut thEt moment, for Richard Ar.
mour wal q sensible man, notwith-
standing Ills peculiarities, and perhaps
the most sensible w.rds he ever wrote
were in tllat letter thrust unceromoni-
ously intol Frank Armour's pocket
Armouh had received terrible blow.
He read his life backward. He had no
future. The liquor he had drunk had
not feyerell him. IL had not wildly ex-
cited him. Ii merely drew him up to a
point whete he could put sudden i'm
pulse intj practice without fiincbing
He was bitter against his people. He
credited them with more interference
than was lctual. He felt that happi-
ness had gone out of his life and left
him hopeless. As we said. he was q
man Of quick decisions He would have
made dbshing but reckless soldier
He was ndt without the elements Of the
gamester. IL is possible that there was
in him alsb strain Of cruelty, unde-
veloped, bht radical
Life so lar had developed the best in
him. He bad been CHEEKY and candid
Now he trtveled back into new avenues
Of his mind and found strange aborigi.
nal passions fully adapted to the present
situation. Vulgar anger and reproaches
were not after his nature. He suddenly
found sourfes of refined retaliation. He
drew uponl them. He would do some
thing to himiliate his people and the
girl who bbd spoiled his life. Some one
thing! 1t Would be absolute and lasting.
II would show how low had fallen his
opinion Of women, of whom Julia Sher-
wood had bnce been chiefest to him. In
that he wchld show his scorn Of her.
He would bring down the pride Of his
family, WHO, he believed, had helped
out of mete selfshness to tumble his
happiness Into the shambles.
He was blder by years than an hour
ago. But Ie was not without the facul-
ty of humdr. That was why he did not
become veH excited; it was also why
he determined upon o comedy which
should have all the elements Of tragedy.
Perhaps, hbwever, he had not carried
his purpos.s to immediate conclusions
were it nod that the very gods seemed to
play his ejlme with him, for while he
stood there looking out into the yard OF
the fort Protestant missionary passed
the window. The Protestant missionary,
as no is fo,Ind at such places as Fort
Charles, is mot strictly superior person.
A Jesuit might have been OF advantage
to Frank Armour at that moment The
Protestant missionary is not above COM
Portable ASSURANCES Of gold. So that
when Armbur summoned this one In
and told h.tIm what was required Of him
and slipp9d generous gift Of the
Queens coin into his hand he smiled
vaguely arh was willing to do what he
was biddcH. Had he been Jesuit, who
Is sworn 10 poverty and more often
than not man Of birth and education,
he might have influenced Frank Ar
mour and prevented the notable mishap
and scandal. As it was. Armour took
more brandy.
Then hd went down to Eye-of-the-
Moons lodge. A few hours afterward
the missiodary met him there. The next
morning Lkli, the daughter Of. Eye-of-
the Moon tlnd the chieftainess Of por-
ton of hel, fathers tribe, whose grand.
father had been white man. was IN