Year: 1869




allude mvsteriously to certain PROPOSAL


that had all but been made to her by thos,
distinguished heroes. Failing the military
| Miss Jane Blewitt had finally become th,
| wife of Theophilus Jones, the well. knowr
drysalter, to whom, in his old age, sh,
! bore son and heir. In remembrance o
/ the brilliant fortune that had almost beer
hers, she bestowed upon the offspring o.
her matured affections the name of hel
two youthful admirers, and fattered her
self that they sounded not only genteel
| but quite aristecratic. Gentility was the
rock on which the good woman split
Her chief anxiety was to ensure the gen
| tility of her darling Grenville Tremaine
Indeed, the only redeeming point about
| for her boy, which, to his credit be it said


he reciprocated with as much warmth as
his feeble nature was capable of feeling
for anybody or thing. He was, therefore
much grieved at her death, which left
him, at the age of four and-twenty
absolutely alone in the world. SO he
resolved to travel for year or two, in
the hope of picking up some genteel
acquaintances but never got further than
Paris, where he lived for six months in a
clearinghouse entirely frequented by
English families. Here he became init
mate with young barrister, named Blake,
who attached himself to his fortunes, and
indOctrinated him in the art Of ordering a
dinner with the appropriate wines. AS
soon as he had acquired this amount of
useful knowledge. his friend Blake carried
him back TO London and, in fact, took
possession of him and all that was his
1t so CHANGED, however, that in the early
part of September, when this .fdus Achates
was away, the feeble and tickle Jones
plucked up heart of grace to intimate to
his absent tyrant that he could not again
receive him as an inmate in his house.
Surprised at his own audacity, and fear
ing lest Blake might reply tn his letter in
person, Mr.. Jones hurried off to Hastings,
where he amused himself, when the tide
was out, by looking for sea-anemones in
the hollOws of the low, shelving rocks.


One day, while engaged in this harm
less amusement, he observed that the rising
tide had almost surrounded point some
what higher than the others, on which a
young lady was half sitting, half reclining,
apparently absorbed in one of Nude
novels, and totally unconscious of the ap-
proach OF the waves. In vain did the
timid swain endeavor to catch the maiden 8
eye, as he pointed to the advancing foam.
The nymph remained distracted in the for
tunes of an imaginary hero, or heroine,
and paid no heed to the increasing We
hemence of his warnings At length,
when the rock was completely cut off from
the mainland, she slowly raised her eyes,
and seemed in an instant to take in the
whole danger of her situation. For one
moment she gazed upon the deepening
waters with well-simulated terror, then
suddenly threw herself on her knees in the
attitude of supplication-tirst contrlving,
however, by dexterous feminine move
ment, to knock off her hat, thereby causing
her hair to fall loose in a perfect deluge of
gold over her shoulders and down to her
waist For the first time in his life Mr..
Jones was moved by generous impulse,
and, without once thinking of his patent
leather boots, he splashed through the
water up to his knees, snatched up in his
arms the trembling little Venus, and car
ried her far above high-water mark before
he would suffer her to put her foot to the
ground. Even then, he insisted on seeing
her safe to her own door, in spite of her
mild remonstrances. She was sure he
must be fatigued with carrying her all
that distance; he would catch such a
dreadful cold: she should never forgive
herself if he did. Mr. Jones not only saw
her into her own house, but extorted,
without much difficulty, permission to call
and inquire after her health on the NOR
row. After that, they met every day,
and were together the whole day, either
sauntering along the esplanade, roaming
about Fairlight, or looking out over the
sea from the heights of the Castle. By
degrees Mr.. Jones extracted from the art
less damsel as much Of her history as he
cared to know. Her name was Clara
Knyvett; she was the daughter of an In
dian officer, an only child, and an orphan.
She had been brought up by her aunt as
a governess, and was seeking a situation,
when ill health compelled her to proceed
TO the seaside. With men of ordinary
nerve and selfcomplacency the affair
would soon have been brought to mat
rimonial issue, for the little lady took no
pains to disguise her feelings; but Mr.
Jones diffidence refused to see In her de-
monstrative frankness anything more than
a childlike reverence for strength and
courage-the qualities in which he hap
pened to be singularly deficient.


Still, time, that overcomes all difficult
ties, would, probably, in the long run,
have overcome even the imbecile reserve
of Mr.. Jones, had not circumstances have
occurred of quite different character.
His charmer met him one morning in a
state of painful depression. Now and
again stihed sob would burst forth or
the handkerchief would be furtively
raised to the eyes. If good man, strug-
Cling with adversely, is a spectacle agree
able to the gods, tears and sigbs are by no
means pleasant, or even safe, for men to
witness in pretty woman. Poor Gren-
Vile was deeply touched and, at length,
after much entreaty, he discovered that
she had received q letter announcing the
serious illness Of her kind aunt, and sum
moning her to what would probably prove
a death bed scene; but, alas her quar-
ter's pension, as the child OF an Indian
officer, would not be due for some days
and she was already indebted to her land
lady for weeks rent and board. In an
instant, the portemonnaie Of Mr.. Jones
was pressed into her hands. He would
hear no denial She could return the
money at her own convenience, and, per.
haps, during her sorrowful attendance
upon her sick relative, she would spare O
kind thought for the lonely bachelor upon
whose solitary state she had cast a ray ol
ioy and hope. The gentleman was clearly
becoming affected, and the now sobbine
Clara cannot be accused of tearing her
self away from him with timorous precipi
tancy. She gave him abundant time fol
saving anything more that he NIGH
like to say, or even for venturing upor
some demonstrativeness by arm or lip
But Mr.. Jones courage failed him at thi:
crisis; and they parted. Weeks passed