Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1906-03-23
for The Term of Ills Natural Life
BY MARCUS CLARKE


| taken the BelSize road. Oh, Richard!
pray heaven they may not meet"
''Tush! They will not meet. You are
pale, you faintr
"A terror of l know not what coming
evil OverpOwers me. l tremble for the
future. Oh, Richard, Richard! forgive
me! pray for mep'
Hush, dearest! Come, let me lead
you in. | will write. l will send you
news of me once, at least, ere l depart.
So, you are calmer, mother"
Sir Richard Devine, knight, ship
builder. naval contractor and million
aire, was the son of a Harwich boat
carpenter. Early left an orphan with a
sister to support, he soon reduced his
sole aim in life to the accumulation of
money. \ shrewd man of business, a
thorough master of his trade, troubled
with no scruples of honor or of delicacy,
he made money rapidly, and saved it
when made. He married his sister to
a wealthy Bristol merchant, one An
thony Frere, and married himself to
EllinOr Wade, the eldest daughter of
Col. Wotton Wade, an uncle by mar
rage of remarkable scamp and dandy,
Lord Bellasis. At that time, what with
lucky speculations in the funds, and the
legitimate profit on his government con-
tracts, he had accumulated a princely
fortune, and could afford to live in
! princelv magnifccnce But the burden
of parsimony and avarice which he had
voluntarily taken upon him was not to
be shaken off, and the only show he
made of his wealth was by purchasing
on his knighthood, the rambling but
comfortable house at Hampstead, and
ostensibly retiring from active business.
His retirement was not a happy one.
lie was stern father and severe
master. His servants hated and his wife
fesred him. His only son Richard APP
peared to inherit his fathers strong will
and imperious manner. Under careful
supervision and just rule he might
have been guided to good; but left to
his own devices outside, and CALLED by
the iron yoke of parental discipline at
home, he became reckless and prodigal.
| The mother-poor, timid Ellinor, who
had been rudely torn from the love of
her youth, her cousin, Lord Bellasis-
tried to restrain him, but the headstrong
boy, though owning for his mother that
strong love which is often a part of such
violent natures, proved intractable, and,
after three years of parental feud, he
went off to the continent, to pursue there
the same reckless life which in London
had offended Sir Richard. Sir Richard,
upon this, sent for Maurice Frere, his
| sisters son, and bought for him a com
mission In a marching regiment, limiting
darkly of special favors to come. His
| open preference for his nephew had gall
ed to the quick his sensitive wife, who
contrasted with some heart-pangs the
| gallant prodigality of her father with
the niggardly economy of her husband.
Between the houses of Devine and long
descended Wotton Wade there had long
been little love. Sir Richard felt that
the colonel despised him for a city
knight, and had heard that Lord Bella
| sis and his friends had often lamented
the hard fortune which gave the beauty,
| Ellinor, to so sordid a bridegroom.
Lord Bellasis visited at Sir Richards
house during the first year of his cous-
| ms marriage; but upon the birth of the
son he affected a quarrel with the city
hhiSht' anu Nul SlllS lOE u IllSeTly
! cuImudgeon, departed, more desperate
| ly at war with fortune than ever, for
his old haunts. He was now a hard
| ened, hopeless old man of sixty, bat
| tered in health and ruined in pocket;
but who, by dipt of stays, hair-dye and
courage, yet faced the world with un-
daunted front. OF the possessions of the
| house of Wotton Wade, this old manor
| timberless and bare, was all that remain
| ed, and its master rarely visited it.
On the evening of the Sd of May
Lord Bellass had been attending a
pigeon match at HOrnsey Wood, and
having resisted the opportunities of his
companion, Mr.. Lionel Crofton, who
wanted him to go on into town, he had
avowed his intention of striking across
Hampstead to Belsize. 81 have an ap.
pontment at the fr-trees on the Heath, "
he said, with a parson."
"a parson"
"Well, he is only just ordained.
met him last year at Bath, on his vaca.
ton from Cambridge, and he was good
enough to lose some money to me''
And now waits to pay it out of his
first curacy. l wish your lordshlp joy
with all my soul. Then we must push
on, for it grows late"
Thanks, my dear sir, for the we
but | must go alone" said Lord Bella.
sis, dryly. Tomorrow you can settle
with me for the sitting of last week
Hark! the clock is striking nine. Good
night"
At half-past nine Richard Devine quit
ted his mothers house to begin the new
life he had chosen, and so, drawn to-
gether by that strange fate of circum
stances which creates events, those two
approached each other.
AS the young man gained the middle
of the path which led to the Heath
he met Sir Richard returning from the
village. 1t was no part of his plan tC
seek an interview, and he would hav,
skunk past in the gloom, but seeing hin
thus alone returning to desolated
| home the nrodigal was temntad 70 ut