Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1897-12-23

s.PublishsfS readers are sonstimee
wrong; three or four Of the tribe re3ected'
Miss Bronte's :Jans Eyre and II b saia
that Vanity Fair went Z begging; but
this gentleman was very positive. Take
my word for II, this book viii co. he said.
1t has all the FIRE and freshness OF youth,
and the grace OF Z highly cultivated style.
The writer must have fed her fancy with
the very finest order Of intellectual food.
There II no faint Of garbage from the FIRST
page to the last Knowing how Stella
had been trained by your brother and poor
old Werner, l thought this criticism ar
gued some power of judgment on the
part Of the publishers reader"
Yes, she has been fed on the best food.
] have laughed at seeing her porting over
Homer or Virgil. My mother told me
that girl knew Milton better thar any one
she had ever met, except John Bright,
and that she had Shelley and Keats inter-
woven In her memory. She has an extra
ordinary power OF memory, my mother
says, and q fine ear for melodious combi-
nations OF words. Perhaps she has some
thing to thank her ladyship for in her two
years drudgery as a reader. My mother
never cared for inferior writer's, and the
mill in which Stella worked ground only
the finest corn.'
Fate weaves in a loom whose mcchan-
ism we know not" answered Nestorius
gravely. THE education of submission
may have been the best education for
genius; but it was not a joyous expert
ence."
mo, she has been badly treated. Do
you think that l shall deny that after my
free confession this morning. asked
Lashmar bitterly.
II think you are full Of generous in
stincts-marred by perverted PRIDE" an
swered Nestorius, with his nn~f1inching air.
II think you have treated that girl abom-
inably; I think you have made her suffer;
and that by way Of revenge she will make
you the noblest wife an English gentle
man need ever hope to win for himself"
"You think she will ever be brought to
forgive me?" faltered Lashmar excitedly.
Il think you are both passionately in
love with each other, and that it needs
but one look and one word from you to
heal every wound you ever inflicted upon
that pure and generous heart"
"Oh! it is you who are generous, it 10
only o who are NOBLE" cried Lashmar.
Il have lived twenty years longer than
you, and I have learned one Of the lessons
that time teaches" answered Nestorius
gravely. Il have learned the wisdom Of
remuneration. Not another word, Lash
mar. l am too old for sentiment"
CHAPTER XXI.
Lashmar found his mother sitting by
the fire in her morning room, with her
book table and reading lamp beside her,
but with no appearance OF having been
reading. She was seated in a Respondent
attitude, gazing dreamily into the fire.
She started at her sons entrance.
"Well, have you heard Of her?" abe said
at once.
mot a word. She has disappeared ut.
terly. Both Nestorius and I have hunted
for her all through Brumm. The police
can do nothing to help U.S."
Then I suppose We must resign our
selves to the idea that she has gone for
ever" said her ladyship. ''She has been
very ungrateful."
"Oh, mother, what cause had she for
gratitude-except to my brother7 What
kindness have you or / ever shown her7''
I'VE have given her such q home % she
could have had nowhere else. We have
given her the opportunity to educate her
self to the highest point. But for our
kindness she would have had to earn her
bread by the sweat of her brow. She
must have been a domestic servant or q
factory girl"
"She would never have remained q ser.
van or q factory girl. She il a genius,
mother"
And then Lord Lashmar told his mother
about the proofs that he had read and of
Nestorius' and the publishers praise.
what thenY" asked her ladyship.
''That book is the fruit Of refined sur
roundings, Of years Of elegant leisure. Do
you suppose that in service, her genius
il you please to term It genius-could ever
have been developed? De you think there
are no gifts strangled and blighted by
adverse circumstances-no great intellects
among servants and factory girls? / tell
you she had the strongest reasons for
gratitude-and yet knowing herself use
full, almost invaluable to me-to me, a sick
woman-she leaves me without compunc-
ton. without a word of regret"
''Then you do miss her, mother; you are
fond Of her" exclaimed Lashmar, with
flushed cheeks and Frightening eyes.
The dowager looked up from the fire for
the first time and scrutinixed her son
keenly.
(To be continued.)
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