The record-union., 1896-02-22

ment preparing to follow our evil ex
ample, and we can but use such meth
DDS as experience has suggested to US
TO save them from themselves. Plead
/ ing and preaching are useless; swift,
sharp punishment is the only argument
to which young blood will yield; he
who holds the reins and the whip must
use both, or else he may as we'll throw
| them away. So, at least, Mr.. Morgan,
who had himself been a spoiled child,
had believed, and upon that principle
he had acted BY renouncing all save
the bare necessaries of life he had con-
trived to send his son to Elton and Ok
ford; but he had never been tender with
the boy, he had kept him upon a ridicu-
lously insufficient allowance of pocket
money, and had sternly forbidden him
under any circumstances to owe a
penny to a tradesman. Perhaps it was
scarcely to be wondered at that bills
had been surreptitiously incurred, that
payday had come, and that Dick had
been packed off to seek his living in a
distant colony, with the memory of a
paternal rebuke somewhat more severe
than his duplicity and extravaganza
had merited. But then Mr.. Morgan had
intended all along to make atonement-
his life, indeed, ever since Dicks early
childhood, had been one long atonement
for the se1f-indulgence which had de-
prived them both of their home-and If,
upon occasion, he had seemed to be un-
bending and unsympathetic, that had
been only because he knew better than
anybody what is apt to be the result Of
misplaced leniency.
| All this, and a good deal more, he ex-
planned in the letter which it took him
a full hour to write, and which begged
| his dear boy to return 20 England inn
mediately. His dear boy, who had long
been his own MASTER was now going to
be a comparatively rich man; the past
was to be forgotten, the future was
bright with promise. Only Mr.. Morgan
made no reference of Flo. Leighton; be-
cause that had been a stupid youthful
affair which belonged to the past, and
| the Leightons, though decent people
enough in their way, were not quite in
| the social class whence the owner of
Ridge End might be expected to select
| a bride 1t had been extremely silly or
| Dick to talk about marrying the girl
when he had not means adequate to
his own support; but young fellows will
do these silly things, and too much inn
portance should not be ascribed thereto.
For some days after the notable de-
parture from his customs which has
been recorded, the habitues of the club
to which Miser Morgan belonged
watched him as the islanders of Melita
watched ST. Paul, but their curiosity
went unrewarded Port wine was one
of the many things for which Mr.. Nor
gan had lost all taste, a cigar is not
necessarily good because it costs
shilling, and to the comments and opin-
ions of his acquaintance he was ut
terly indifferent He made no change
in his manner of life. nor did he wish to
make any All he desired was a reply
from South Africa, and for that he
must needs wait, he knew not how
many weeks 1t was without the small
est expectation that it would contain
anything of personal interest to him
that he picked up the newspaper from
his breakfast table one morning, and
read the following paragraph, which
CHANGED to catch his eye:
Loss of a passenger off Cape Verd.-
A telegram from Madeira announces
the arrival of the homeward- bound mail
|
Captain reports that, during heavy
weather off Cape Verd, one of the pas
sengers was swept overheard by a green
sea, and that all efforts to effect rescue
proved unavailing Richard Morgan.
the unfortunate young gentleman whose
career has thus been brought to an
untimely end, was believed to have been
singularly fortunate in recent mining
/ o,11 h hfc,x inirl
his father in London, bringing, 1t is
stated, large sum in cash with him.
His death is much deplored by his fell
low passengers, amongst whom he had
made himself universally popular
A stag with bullet through his heart
will often go far before he drops. Mr.
Morgan quietly laid down the paper
beside his untouched breakfast left the
club, and walked back to his lodgings
with steady step. Nature supple
mented by circumstances, had made
him something of a Stole, yet it was by
no conscious effort that he maintained
an unmoved exterior beneath the stroke
of the thunderbolt which had thus fallen
upon him out of a clear sky. There are
calamities 50 complete and so utterly
irremediable that they scarcely touch
!
occurrence, and are frequently met
with sheer disbelief
Well, there was room for incredulity
! in the present instance, at all events,
seeing that Dick (although, to be sure
he had not written for a long time) had
given no intimation of his intention to
return to England, and that neither his
Christian name nor his surname could
be called uncommon. There are, of
course any number of Richard Morgans
in the world. The old man kept re-
peating to himelf in a dull, bewildered
way that there were plenty of Richard
Morgans, and that it must have been
some other Richard Morgan who had
taken passage from the Cape and had
been such a fool as to- stand on deck
during an Atlantic gale.
( He said as much later in the day to
two or three freiends Che had but two or
three left, and they not very intima ate
ones) who were kind enough to look him
up and assure him of their sympathy
II am not alarmed about my son." he
told them; things of that sort don't
happen. I might telegraph to Madeira.
but it would cost lot of money. and the
chances are that / should receive no
! trustworthy information. In few DAYS
the ship will come in; then shall see the
Captain and make sure. However, l
really feel no anxiety"
But his freedom from anxiety, which
scandalized his friends and caused
them to remind one another what a
harsh. unnatural father Miser Morgan
had always been, did not enable him
to sleep or to show himself at the club,