Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-06-19

Ing tne poSltiol vi Ills diu, TIC BChci "a
suspected that he had been reading
the document over his shoulder, and
instantly demanded,-
How dare you, sir, venture upon the
liberty Of reading a paper in my
hands?"
Already goaded to the extreme limit
of endurance, this second insulting
suspicion was more than the high
spirited soldier could bear. Drawing
up his slender form, and looking his
commander full in the face, he sternly
REPLIED
when your excellency puts to me
such a question In such a tone, the
only reply that self-respect permits
me to make is, that Aaron Burr dares
do anything"
| Then, turning on his heel, he sought
his own quarters, for the purpose Of
drawing up and rendering his resigna-
tion. There he found a letter from
Governor Hancock, protesting against
his leaving the service, and offering to
procure him a more agreeable situation
on the staff Of General Putnam. Under
the circumstances, Governor Hancock's
proffer was gladly accepted, and Burr
and the commander-in-ch chief parted
with feelings Of mutual dislike that
were never eradicated.
The first blow, and a mighty one, had
been struck. Dealt by an unseen hand,
1t fell with crushing power on the vic
tim at which 1t was aimed. Hamilton
had accurately calculated, from the
known strictness Of Washington's
principles, that the surest method Of
bringing down his displeasure upon
any individual was to blacken his NOR
al character. His own base designs
upon Adelaide Clifton furnished him a
hint that he was not slow to improve.
It Is probable, also that he really be-
,ieved Burr's intercourse with the fair
girl had not been guiltless But wheth-
er such was his own belief or not, 1t
was the chord he knew would vibrate
most harshly In the bosom Of the COM
mander- in chief; and to that he ad-
dressed himself with skill that Tai
leyrand, at a later day, might have
envied. Dark hints and innuendoes.
charges, and these were supported by
an array Of circumstances that would
have astonished Burr, II he had been
inclined to enter a defense Of his
character. This course he refused to
take, partly from personal pride, and
partly because another was implicated,
whose sensibilities must be deeply
wounded by learning that her chastity
had become the subject Of public dis
cussion.
This honorable care for the feelings
Of an outraged woman turned out to
be only a temporary mercy. No socie-
ty Is free from the tale Ade-
laide Clifton was not long kept in ig-
norance that her name had become a
kissing and a reproach. Her delicate
nerves were shattered by the shock.
Reason tottered on its throne, and the
lovely and innocent one was borne
back to her home raving maniac. In
| the paroxysms Of her delirium, her
burning love for Aaron Burr found ut
terance. Sometimes she would fmag-
inc he was seated by her side, and for
hours she would lavish erdearing ca
resses upon some object t.oat she had
mistaken for the idol madness had no
power to drive from her bosom. Then
again. when fancy changed the picture,
and he appeared to her distempered
mind cold or unfaithful, agonizing sobs
| would choke her utterance, and scald-
| ing tears blister her faded cheeks.
Now she saw him returning victorious
from the battlefield, and proud and
lofty were the words that welcomed
the coming of her glorious hero Now
she was straying with him beneath the
mighty elms where she had played In
childhood, and recalling ali the inno-
cent memories that made It holy
ground to her. At last sadder vision
settled permanently on her mind: she
imagined that he had been struck down
| In his early youth, that she could see
| the crimson. stains upon the white
shroud that covered him, and busied
herself in washing out the sorrowful
tokens They tore her away from the
stone bench she had mistaken for a
death couch, and tried In vain to dispel
the Illusion. Whenever their vigilance
relaxed she flew to that one spot, and
throwing herself on her knees pressed
thousand kisses on its cold and
senseless surface. Refusing all susie
nance, she gradually wasted away, un-
| til death, In mercy, touched her with
his icy dart.
Not one word did she utter in her
rawlings to inculpate Burr; yet the
devilish ingenuity Of malice seized up
on her most innocent avowals Of affec-
ton, and tortured them into damning
evidence of his guilt. The dreadful
wrong, which had blighted the reason
and withered the frame Of one of the
loveliest of her sex, drew from the
ruin 1t had wrought new weapons for
future mischief. The dark penalty or
crime fell upon the innocent. The
guilty contriver, the unprincipled In
triguer who had created this waste OF
wretchedness, was unsuspected, and
went unpublished so far as human
penalties extend.
n,un n 4 iftIe Dirt