Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1897-07-03
CHAPTER IIy.

you how pleasantly you remind me Of my
dear old friend.p He took her hand and
kissed her as he might have kissed a daugh-
ter of his own. do you remember Inc at
home, Sydney, when you were a child? No;
you must have been too young for that"
She was deeply touched. In faint, trem-
bling tones she said: II remember your
name; my poor father often spoke OF YOU"
A man OF true sympathy is never in dam
ger OF mistakiDg his way to a woman's heart,
when that woman has suffered. Bennydeck
consoled, interested, charmed Sydney, by
still speaking Of the bygone days at home.
II well remember how fond your father
was of you, and what a bright little girl you
WERE" the captain went on. You have
forgotten, / dare say, the old-fashl0ned sea
songs that he used to be so fond OF teaching
you. IL was the ~strangest and p%rettiest con-
trast to hear your small, piping ckild's voice
singing OF storms and shipwIecks, and
thunder and lightning. and reetiDg sails In
cold and darkness, without the least idea OF
what IL all meant. Your mother was strict
in those days: You never amused her as you
used 10 amuse your father and me. When
she caught you searching my pockets for
sweetmeats, she accused me of destroying
your digestion before you Were 5 years old.
/ went on spelling it, for all that. Ire last
time | saw you, my child, your father was
singing The Mariners of England and you
were on his knee trying 10 sing with him..
You must have often wondered why you
never saw anything more OF me. Did you
think | had forgotten you?'
Il am quite sure 1 never thought that!'
"You see | was in the navy yard at the
time, the captain resumed; and we were
ordered away to a foreign station. When l
got back b England miserable news was
waiting for me. | heard of your fathers
death and OF that shameful trial. Poor fell
low! He was as innocent, Sydney, as you
are OF the 0ffense which he was accused Of
committing. The first thing | did was 20 set
inquiries on foot after your mother and her
children. 1t was some consolation to Inc to
feel that l was rich enough to make your
life easy n agreeable to YOU. | thought
money could do anything. A serious mis-
take my ~dear-mOney couldn't ind the
widow and her children. We Supposed YOU
were somewhere in London: and there. 10
my great grief, it ended. From time TO time
long afterward, when we thought we had
got the clew in our own hands-I continued
my inquiries, still without success. A poor
woman and her little family are so easily
ingulfed in the big city! Years passed more
of them than like 10 reckon up before /
heard Of you at least by name. The person
from whom / got my information told me
how you were employed and where"
'Oh. Capt Bennydeck, who conld the per-
son have been?'
"A poor old broken-down actor, Sydney.
You were his fayorite pupil. DO you re-
member him?'
II should be ungrateful. indeed, If l could
forget him. lie was the ouly person In the
school who was kind to me. Is the good
old man still livingr'
"No; he rests at last. | an glad TO say ]
was able to make his last days on earth the
happiest days of his life."
II wonder" sydney confessed, ''how you
met with him."
There was nothing at all romantic in my
first discovery of him. / was reading the
police reports in a newspaper. The poor
wretch was brought before a magistrate,
charged with breaking a window. His one
last chance of escaping starvation in the
streets was to get sent to prison. The magis-
trate questioned him and brought to light a
really heart-breaking account of misfortune,
embittered by neglect on the part of people
in authority who were bound 20 help him.
lie wa remonded. so that inquiries might
be made. l attended the court on the day
when he appeared there again and heard his
statement confirmed. / paid his fine and
contrived to put him In a way Of earning q
little money. He was very grateful and
came now and then to thank NE. In that
way | heard how his troubles had begun.
He had asked for a small advance on the
wretched wages that he received. Can you
guess how the schoolmistress answered
him?'
VI know but too well how she answered
him. Sydney said; II was turned out of the
house, too"
"And | heard Of it," the captain replied,
''from the woman herself. Everything that
could distress me she was ready to mention.
She told me OF your mothers second mar
slage, OF her miserable death, OF the poor
boy, your brother, missing, and never heard
of since. But when l asked where you had
gone she had nothing more to say. She
knew nothing, and cared nothing, about
you. IL / had not become acquainted with
MI. Randall Linley 1 might never have heard
of you again. We will say no more Of that,
and no more OF anything that has happened
in the past time. From to-day, my dear, we
begin a new life. and please God a happier
life, Have YOU any plans OF your own for
the future?''
Perhaps, il l could find help Sydney
said, ~resignedly. Il might emigrste. Pride
wouldn't stand in my way; no honest en-
p~loynsent would be beneath my notice. Be-
sides, II 4 went 70 America, | might meet
with my brother"
my deer child, after the time that has
passed, there Is no imaginable chance of
your meeting with YOU brother-and you
wouldn't know each other again If you did
meet. Give up that yaip hope and stay here
with me. Be useful and be happy IN your
Own country"
"Useful?' Sydney repeated, sadly. "Your
own kind heart Capt. B~ennydeck, is deceiv-
ing you. To be useful means, / suppose, to
help others. Who will accept help nom
me?'
Il Will, for one.r the captain answered.
"You?'
"Yes. You can b OF the greatest use to
you shall hear now"
He told her of the founding OF his home
and Of theg good 1t bad done. you are the
very person" he resumed. Ito be the good
sister friend that ] want for my poor girls;
you can say for them what they cannot al
ways say to me for themselves"
The tears rose in Sydney's eyes. ut Is
hard to see such a prospect as that" she
said. land to give it up ~ soon as IL is seen"
why give IL upf'
Because I am not fit for IL You are rs
good as q father to those lost daughters Of
yours. III you give them a sister friend, she
ought to have set them q good example.
Have l done that? Will they listen to q Girl
who Is no better than themseiyesy'
sGladlyi Your sympathy win ind it, way
to their hearts, because It 10 animated by
something that they can al feel In common
something nearer aud deaser 10 them than
a sense OF duty. You won't consent sgd
ney, for their sAkes? Will you do what /
ask Of you, for my sakeY'
She looked at him. hardly able % under
~stand--or. as Il might have been, perhaps
afraid 70 understand him. He spoke 10 her
more plainly.
Il have kept it concealed fr0m you" he
continued. ssfor why should | lay my lad 81
suffering on . friend 80 young - you are, 50
crt,nlIv triad alvys~dvY LET ma 0nlv cav