The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1897-10-22

speak in detail. 1t was a combination
of hard work, which soon led to pro-
motion, and such sports as are to be
found in the island. Having been a
"blue" at Oxford, was soon well to the
front in cricketing circles; and, singu-
larly enough, it was my interest in
cricket which led to consequences-to
Bertha and myself-as far-reaching as
they were sad. | had been chosen as
one of the eleven to represent Hong
Kong against Shanghai, upon the sad
and memorable occasion when the Box
lara was wrecked on the return voy
age, and, with Il few exceptions, all
hands were lost. By what seemed to
me the merest fuke at the time, man
aged to cling to a plank, and after be-
ing tossed about, till nearly dead. by
the surf, was thrown ashore thorough
ly exhausted. The news of the catas-
trophe cast gloom over the entire Eu-
ropean population, and it was cabled
home that all were lost. Before the
news was corrected Bertha was mar
ried-and married to Royal Phelps.
Her father, shortly after the death
of mine, had succumbed to pneumonia,
and Bertha with her mother had
greatly to their surprise-been left in
comparative poverty. So that when
Royal renewed his suit Bertha had
yielded, and to gain a home for her
mother, had consented to an early mar
riage. And when the news reached
England that 1 with two others had
been saved from the Bokhara, Bertha
was already the wife of another. |
shall never forget the effect upon me
of the news that she was no longer
free. The meaning seemed to have
been taken out of life, and for me there
was no joy in the present. no hope in
the future.
Two dreary years passed away, and I
came home, having resigned my ap-
pointment in the east, resolved to set
tie down in England, and devote my
self to those literary pursuits for which
I believed myself to be better suited
than for public service. 1 had no in
tention of settling in B-n. The
place was too full of sad suggestions
to prove inviting to me. l was COM
PEELED to go down there, however, short
ly after my arrival, to attend to the
disposition of certain family belong
ings, and it was then, for the first time
since that fateful afternoon, that l
again saw Bertha. How changed she
was! Not that she was less beautiful;
but her proud face was, oh! so sad. 1t
seemed as though she,had gone through
world of sorrow since l last saw her.
Her greeting was one almost too pain
full for either of us, and when she said:
''We all thought you were drowned;
you are as one risen from the dead"
I realized that she would never have
been the wife of Royal Phelps but for
the news of my death. What saw and
learned in B--n made me resolve to
stay there, for the present at least. l
do not know how I came to suspect it,
but the suspicion grew. and at last be-
came absolute knowledge, that Royal
Phelps was turning the life. of the only
woman / had ever loved into misery.
| had always known him to be of a
reckless disposition. but l had not
dreamed that he was addicted to gam
bling, drunkenness, and Gebauchery.
did not see him often, and scarcely
ever saw Bertha; when l did, her face
was so sad-so silently and uncom-
plainingly sad-that it was all l could
do to look at it and remain quiet. AS
for Royal. he had grown gross in per-
son and coarse in manner, and scarcely
ever seemed quite sober. And so the
days passed; from a distance l watched
my proud, beautiful darling pine and
fade, till / feared that death might
step in to interfere where l was pow
erless. Thus things went on, till one
night 1 was summoned by a message
from Bertha's mother: Come quick
ly, we are in great trouble"
went, and found the doctor there be-
fore me. and learned that an hour be-
fore Royal had come home drunk, and
upon meeting his wife had first abused
her, and then struck her a cruel blow,
which had left her senseless at his feet.
lie had then sailed forth again, leav-
ing his wife, for all he knew, dead.
There was little / could do but creep
back to my solitary misery and spend
the night in agonizing reflections upon
the past. But, when the day at length
broke, had resolved that the man who
had robbed me of my darling, only to
maltreat and make her miserable, must
answer for his brutality to me.
There is, however, a higher power
than any we can WELD, which often in
tervenes in the affairs of man when
least expected; and, before ! ever saw
Royal Phelps again that power had
placed him forever beyond the reach of
earthly retribution. While still half
wild with drink, he had mounted TO
follow the hounds. and few hours
afterwards was carried home-dead.
We never speak of those dreadful
days, now long passed. In the old home
to which Bertha clings with tenacious
effection-we are living life as nearly
perfect in happiness as ever falls to
mortal lot. The old light has come
back to my darling's eyes, the old-time
buoyancy to her step. AS write these
lines, upon lifting my eyes see her and
a smaller Bertha laughing and pl ying
upon the lawn together, and know
that if the news of my death was the
beginning of misery for her, she is, at
least, happy foreyer.-St. Paul.
One Reason,