The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-04-17
CHATTER XIII
n, q ! 7I7ls :
"A Great Purpose.

b. 81 "A Great Purpose. ",
H Late springtime In; old Virginia. The,
climate was! not unlike that Of the Is
land during the,cooler portions, Of the
year, thought the man. standing on the
porch Of the ,highpillared old brick
house set;upony a hill overlooking the
pale green waters Of Hampton Roads,
which stretched far eastward past
Newport News: and Old Point Com.
fort'to the blue Of the Chesapeake and
far beyond that to- the deeper blue Of
the ocean. Back Of him a thousand
leagues OF land and more than a thou,
sand leagues Of sea interviewed be-
tween him and the object Of his.
thoughts. Not for ia day, not for an
hour, scarcely for. moment even was
that island out Of his mind. There;
was pleasure and pain: in the recollec-,
ton Of 1t.
! Upon the mans face a stern mel.
,ancholy had settled. Not-the melan.
choly OF ineptit,lde and Indifference.
not the melancholy. that made him do
nothing. ;unmindful Of the large Issues
OF life. in which he had been suddenly.
plunged. not the melancholy that par,
alyzed his activities. but the melan,
cholya that comes from the; presenceSin
the heart, Of an lunplucked sorrow that
neither time nor, chance nor occupation
could nproot;; a melancholy that came,
from the sense Of bereavement eyer.
growing, more, keen and more poig-
nant as the period OF bereavement
lengthened and which, sprang. from a
Consciousness OF dhperfectionsjf and
failures for WHICH no after achieve.
msrt could atone. ~ y So w ~
II had not been din cult TO establish
hiss rights. Whitaker and the; chap.
laina ;armedf ssit h.tha gdap OFT ions:s Inadl
taken the man across. the continent
when the ship had been put out OF
commission at San Francisco. and pre-.
scented him to his uncle, the Charnock
in residence I'm that great house on
the Nansemond shore overlooking. that
estuary OF the James by Hampton
Roads. The old man, childless and
alone, had welcomed him gladly. The
newcomer was OF the Charnock blood.
1t was a strange moment for the lis.
lander when they took him into the
great. drawingroom and showed him
the pictures Of his father aud Of his
mother. Heswas the living image OF
the man, tempered with some OF the
mothers sweetness, This remarkable
;llkeness-indeed he was not unlike
his uncle as well-coupled with the
material proofs. the ring. the Bible,
the evidence Of the ship, together with
what. was known, removed every lin.
geringl doubt from the minds OF those
most concerned. i &
4 The family was reduced to those
two. the, uncle and the nephew. The
.;old man formally and legally recog.
9nized the relationship and offered to
transfer the property rightfully his;
which since the discovery OF coal had.
Increased enormously in value. to the
newcomer; but charnock would have
none ofsit then. He recognized HIS
,unfltness to deal with such things. II
the older man would retain 1t, he
could give It to him at his death.
Meanwhile he could teach and train
him how to use 1t. Bereft Of his one
guide. his one inspiration in life, he
would need wise counsel and careful
leading indeed. Z aSglss "a y
In addition to the formal recogni
Ition, the elder man legally adopted the
younger and constituted him the heir
to his own property which was almost
as extensive. and as valuable as. that
which rightly belonged to the. nephew.
And then these formallties being com.
;pleted, the lieutenant.commander and
the. chaplain Summoned elsewhere BY
their duties. babe the two farewell
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