Newspaper Page Text
the flowers COUECTOM
VOL. IV.
J. H. &w B. SEALS. traoPHurroiis
ATLANTA, GA., ATDRDAY, JULY 27. 1878.
the little grave in the forest
by bvelyh hope.
There's a low little g^^eath the sycamore tree
«rSB. w C'a
SSS£S“;r^3ts-'E«.»’
Sweet, in the dim old forest.
One year, since we pillowed the golden head
So low In the lonely forest
SsiSsIsrs-
O’er that little grave In the foresi.
We buried our darling, and journeyed on,
B as u d ° ne
Z e s“dlywe r fh nk n of hirVsfeeping alone,
°>Cth the sycamore tree In the forest.
t* is manv and many a mile away,
I Vhi™ lone little grave in the forest,
Tint all the long and sorrowful 1 1 • 1 y
W^iereth'e'wfldhe^-'^^und'theb^ri^dn birds play
O'er the little low grave in the lore, u
THE "way
— OF —
the will,
By Capt. Charles Howard.
<ied Ak-itle Reft.
. „ta His brother Goswald and wife, Hen- j
SSik .nd . nil b»,d,d m.» oucu-
pl 5da* Sk i, tb..t. »»' J i
5S |
Krai»»v»” r-SskasMs i
are the cloaked person who tried 8 night.
”oide». ward of the ho.p.«l^b. otb« o.g^
What bad you on your person i there at
Duke-knife or poison . Ay ^ q oa are .
-er cross its
kks riu -«-sr ,h “
tbo wi* bt. f.c. buried bet.eeu .be erma
of « in ” bioh
brother triumphed. be CI j e d, when
•I boldly proclauu it now n riddeE the
i Robert Duke, the hired BPy’ce a (j lovg Marfa
) house of bis obnox ?.; t h 0U t a stain—whose
' Blew, '- b »“,.‘‘7,'e.“bS ekooereted »iue of
father, on bis death b ao i d for money,
guilt, and took ‘ p]ftce npoa
I care not for tb b dwelHn the circles that
are broken by ^be Jove of a poor girl. I .ball
,u?‘e”,S“.e B » ‘be b.u.e aud A.eido
Rett and his brother were gone. bQ
k„T“ b«Tt, /«. day Marfa Bl„ .» »•
fal vr br l d rA a will Of bis own, and the way of that
H l,d?h‘oogL Vhe love of ooeof aoo.e.y . on.-
COMPLETE IN ONE NUMBER.
CHAPTER I.
V * T do not ear 0 fot tbe.idl^3^4Mr^ c4atxJ&Ji '
Lf o,„. t.HUMiff Ucl LaHO 'o-ilU *
give this matter 1'
‘ Alcide ? ’
'I repeat rov words ; Ido not care!”
‘ This beggared syren must have infatuated
yon. She ”
•A beggared syren, eh? Will you listen to
« Xow, leave the House.
k t next my heart It contains my
Hie look aeemed «o..y : ‘ * b.i.b- do you j ^ b = =S^^ ££ I ft**
-IMrU that the aariooufatued auob ! ^7% 22* ^ ^ %
a paper,' Abide -b ,. „„ irSr'Afe: ^38^^ Wbol
•i' sc j.-.w - v’t?S4ffep-®ik« wnm i th ,; w.«. m *-*» Am
will
casts—Marfa Blew. for£ . iven his brother, for
tb.—hauu'
S/e. are favorites ioupto»» “_ c, “ y '
-,.’50-: - j-L!-: ?}.
test the consistency of L.s t-fe *•'• b „_ f :r
r-to ere at-
•A-*V
i nv. Dies this please you Y'J^ u >wUU ^ {/J .
norbf*|his city was found dead in his library.
Our father and he were old foes. On tbe fatal
night, father, at the enemy’s request, visited
him. They settled all difficulties in the latter’s
! house. ‘ Three hours alter father's return home,
Mr. Raynor was found dead there—murdered.
He continued the practice of law
until 1821
the story that fell from her wan lips last night But I am repeating a story that is old to you,
while I watched over her couch.’
‘In tbe hospital ? '
‘ In the hospital ! Does it shock you ? '
‘I have misjudged you, Alcide Reft. I ex
pected better Jrotu you.’
A laugh cold, cutting, and sarcastic.
‘It seems, then, that you Lave let the gilded
lights of upper tendom ruin your eyes. You
seem to forget that we are brothers.’
Alcide.
•Go on !' cried the younger Rett. ‘Of course
father did not kill the moderate banker. Tell
me how the confession fell into his hands.’
‘ Nicholas Blew was father's enemy. He
caused much suspicion to be attached to him.
Father stood in au unenviable light ; but he re
solved to demonstrate his innocence. He turned
upon this man Blew, who had, I recollect, one
1 No ! no ! your action brings the matter pain- 'child,—a daughter with whom he lived over his
fully to my recollects
‘ Painfully ? I am sorry ! ’
‘ There, that will do, Alcide. You know my
temper. I do not want to quarrel because we
are brothers.’
‘Neither do I, but
‘What?’.
‘But I do -stiy that some silly people have a
wonderfuflftioLtroI over yon, Goswold. Is it
business of theirs if I save the life of a poor
girl by tearing her from beneath iron hoofs on
the public street? 1 am jeered at already be
cause I could not stand by e.Dd see her perish
poor bank. He—father, Alcide—brought Nich
olas Biew’s crime home upon him, and after
wilting the confession which I have just read,
hd fled taking with him his child, Marfa—who
watched while he committed the darkest deed
on orime's decalogue.’
Vleii'e Rt f: was silent.
‘This is the past life of the girl whose face has
bewitched you,’ continued Goswold, as if deter
mined to force an irresistible argument home
upon his brother. ‘She is an accomplice to a
dreadful crime which was thrown at your fath
er's door. Now, Alcide, do yon not regret that
when my arms were strong enough to arrest the ! you have saved the life of this woman ?
... ‘No
career of the tierv horses. This is the verdict
of s >ciety, Goswald : ‘I am a fool.’ Let the ver-
•!u' be r corded, brother, and let the years con
firm it -if the;, will.’
This speech softened the will cf the single
auditor and he asked quietly.
‘ But who is this girl, Alcide ? ’
‘ Her name is Marfa Blew.’
The eldest brother started.
‘The child of Nicholas Blew?’
‘ I think she said that her father’s name was
Nicholas ; but I do not speak positively on this
subject. At all events, I think he used to be a
feankf r on a limited scale—’
‘ The same !' interrupted Goswald Reft.
It was Alcide's turn to start and look excited.
‘Explain yourself!’ he cried. 'Ey and by
you will make me believe that you know more
about this Marfa Blew than I do, though I listen
ed to her life's story but last night.’
Goswald Reft darted his brother a look of
Diinpled score and contempt, and returned the
confession to the iron pigeon hole in the count-
mg-ioom and safe.
You may punk headlong over the precipice
of disgrace !’ he said, angrily, as he shut the
door aud turned upon his brother. ‘Every word
of that confession is true. I read it to save
you.’
‘And I ought to express obligations for your
consideration,’ replied Alcide, with a sarcastic
smile.
‘ Y'cu are inclined towards insult to-day. Has
thin beggard syren—this lone: missing Maria
Blew -so completely turned your bead?’
‘ Who says that I have fallen in iove with her?’
demanded Alcide Reft.
‘She has infatuated mu.'
1 What if she has ?’
' I know her as the little girl of seven when
„„ iU
u'Wimu trail lately tu
millionaire banker’s oulV child, while it was
supposed that Alcide would soon offer his hand
to another hcress as fair and wealthy as his
brother’s bride.
'Thus affiirs stood when occurred the accident
which the reader has gathered from the conver
sation which has passed between the brothers.
Alcide Reft, young, warm-hearted, and impetu
ous, was not the man to stand on the safe pave
ment, and see a poor girl crushed beneath car
riage wheels.
No ! He snatched Marfa Blew from beneath
the very hoofs of the horses, and watched over
the couch of suffering in the city hospital, until
daylight again rev aled the streets. Then he
left the hospital to learn that the morning pa
pers were scattering Lu courageous deed far
aud wide.
‘ I don’t care who nor what Marfa Blew is !’ he
muttered, when he had left his brother Goswald
in the counting room. ‘I believe that I did my
duty last night. I would do it again.’
The remembrance of kis act did net lash Al
cide Eeft's mind.
If you should be ill from this
. ( theui-’ he said.
kti""a' marriage with a he placed the writing behind his pieture. anal :
i made me promise that I would not open itunti'*
I was nineteen. Last night the time came, and
I drew the locket forth. It is under my pillow.
Will yon not get it. Mr. Reft?’
With gentle hands the young merchant lifted
the pillow, and revealed the gold locket which
he felt contained some great secret.
■Ton see I cannot open it,' Marfa Blew said,
glancing at her bandaged arm.
•I therefore commission yon to remove the
piotnre, and then read what is behind it—fath
er's last writing.’
neu uib i d cc’
k-t, after delivering a poem entitled Agnes
wb \": iC/f Vbi K inni Society at Cambridge
‘*J£ow Could She Fancy Hiui.*’
With ej es brimful of curiosity, and wildly a trade.
They say he isnot worth a cent in the world,
and eyerybody knows his kin are poor enongk.
Indeed, they say that he supports his parents,
even now they are so infirm and badly off. She
could not have married him for his beauty- to
be sure, be looks well enough, but then he is
not handsome—fine-looking, aud that’s all yon
can say. They say, too that he educated him
self; suppose he has a very fine education, but
then, how did he get it ? Taught school—
kept books—and they say he served his time at
Goswald Reft did not vouchsafe an immediate -
reply. He stepped to the private iron safe that she watched while her father committed ruur-
filled one corner of the elegant counting room der—this is all.’
and opened the massive door. His brother,
with eyes ablaze with curiosity, watched him
narrowly, wondering what he was going to do.
Into one of ike numerous iron pigeonholes
Aitide’s reply was a contemptuous curling of
the lip.
‘ Well, well, love or no love,’ he cried, 'I am
going to be independent of this matter. If I
revealed by the opening of the door, the elder cbost to marry this very Marfa Blew, why, I will
brother thrust his band and grasped a tiny do it. The sneers and jeers of the whole world
packet of papers. This he held up with an air could not turn me from my purpose.’
of :ii mph as he turned upon the almost bewil- j ‘ I relieve that. Y’ou are the impersonation
dered Alcide.
* Let.n • father died he placed these papers in
my hande,’ Goswald said. ‘They tell something
about the very girl for whom you risked yon/
life last night— risked it foolishly, you would
say, it you could but read them.’
Alcide Reft, with eyes fastened on the packet,
did not reply.
‘ Must 1 read them 7
‘ Yes !' said Alcide, almost fiercely.
His voice was defiant.
With the air of a scheming man who has won
a triumph, his brother Goswald loosened the
blueish twiDe that encircled the papers and
opened the first one that fell into his bands.
‘Now listen,’ he said, glancing over the top of
the document at his brother, aud the next mo
ment he was reading as follows :
‘Koow all men that Jasper Reft is not guilty
of the crime charged ; that I, Nicholas Blew,
struck John Raynor, the deceased, in his libra
ry, and that 1 have tried to cause the conviction
of Jasper Reft. 1 am the murderer. My little
daughter Marfa, watched at the gate while I
went in and committed the crime."
Goswald Reft lowered the document and
looked into his brother’s pale face.
of ra-hress.
Alcde Reft smiled, and picked up the hat
and tl ue which he had evidently deposited
upon he counting room desk.
‘IT going to the city hospital,’ he said to his
i broth'a, and then passed from the room with a
' sniilelurking beneath his auburn moustache.
‘St'dent life in Germany spoiled him, as I
fearec it would do,’ Goswald Keft exclaimed
when he door cf the counting room had closed
! upon aik brother’s retreating form. ‘This gill,
old BWs daughter—is back again in the city,
1 and h has probably saved her life. With a
brides home, and believing that our bouse was
to be dlied to tbe Brascombe’.s by Alcide's mar
riage fo Miss Henrietta, this disgrace comes,
and t rns summer to winter. I bate you, Marfa
Blew the murderer’s child—and if my brother
naarr-s you, I’ll brand you such in the face of
the Vjoie city. I wish he hud been squares
away when the horses struck you down. I
wishou were dead!'
Th speaker’s lace was flushed with emotion,
and .is hands were tightly clenched as he stood
in th middle of the counting room J and hurled
the Qoicest maledictions upon Marfa Blew. He
hatec the name which he feared—proud man
CHAPTER II.
THE LOCKETS SECRET.
Beside a neat and narrow cot in the ‘accident
ward’ of the city hospital sat the young end
prosperous merchant. H\s face had grown pale j monev.
and almost haggard with long watching, and
great anxiety, and his gentle blue eyes were
fastened upon the occupant of the cot—a fairy
faced young girl who seemed to be sleeping as
dreamltssly as the little babe.
One of her arms, well bandaged and guarded
by splints, lay upon her breast, and the head
that rested lightly upon the pillow, was ban
daged like the unfortunate arm. The faultless
face was quite pale, aud the casual observer
would have pronounced the girl dea 1.
Aloide Reft was the only person at the bed.
He seemed to have grown weary with watching;
but his eye was not closed. He was dwelling,
as it were, upon the spirituelle beauty of tfce
face before him.
At last the girl opened her eyes naturally, for
the sleep had ended, and caught sight of the
face that was smiling above her. For the young
merchant was welcoming her return to life with
a joyful smile.
•Yon are getting stronger each day !’ he said
to her. ‘Do you not feel better?’
•Yes, yes,’ she replied, with a wan but satis
fied smile. ‘It was dreadful. I cannot shut it
from my sight.’
‘There M.trfa,’ Alcide said, with admon
ishing tenderness. ‘Do not let it disturb vou.
Let your mind go beyond that mad night.
Where is your father?’
A look of surprise filled the girl’s blue orbs.
•Father is dead !’
•Ah ! yes; you told me so that night; but I
had forgotten,’ the merchant said. ‘Did you
ever hear of a Mr. John Raynor?’
Alcide looked s^archingly into Marfa Bl6w’s
eyes as the interrogative fell syllable by syllable
from his lips. " •
‘I have heard cf him,’ the girl said, after a
moment’s silence.
‘Did you ever see him ?
T think not. You must know, Mr. Rtfc, that
father and I left New Y'ork twelve years ago. I
was bat seven then,’ and the girl blushed at the
self-revealment of her age.
‘You did not know Mr. Raynor then ? was
never at his house?’
■No,’ and Marfa Blew appeared nonplussed at
the young merchant’s singular interrogatives.
After awhile she continued.
‘Somehow or other the name of Raynor sounds
familiar to me, though I cannot think of any
Raynors I ever knew. Bat I want you to do me
a favor now—will you not?’
‘Certainly, Marla,’ cried Alcide Reft. ‘Is not
your head too low ? Must—’
‘No, not that,’ and the girl smiled. ‘Yon are
very kind. For eleven years I have been wear
beating heart, the merchant opened the locket
and removed the picture as Marfa bad bidden.
A piece of paper was revealed. He laid the
trinket upon the cot and proceeded to unfold
the time-colored manuscript, watched anxiously
hdd tearfully by the occupant of the ward.
‘Read it! she said, impatiently. ‘Tell me
what father wrote just before he died in the
Eternal City.’
Alcide Re ft’s bosom was heaving with emo
tion, and Ite glance ! from the paper to the girl
with nr, un! :gned expression of delight.
•Thank God, Mirfal’ he exclaimed. ‘Now
listen and I will read :
‘I want the world to know that I did not mnr-
der John Raynor—that the confession now in
Jasper Reft’s possession was purchased by
I sold my honor for tbe gold of tbe
man who was my enemy. Jasper Reft did not
commit tbe crime; but he has relieved himself
ot suspicion by my confession—a lie. a slander
to myself and child. I write this as a dying ,
man, ebat the world may know that my dtiugh- i bespeak for him indomitable c
ter Marfa is the child of a man, who, though he ! iug self-reliance and unfalterii
has sold his good name, never imbued his hands
in the blood of his fellow man.
Nicholas Blew.’
Marfa Blew looked into the young merchant’s
face a long time before either spoke.
‘I can face him now,’ the merchant said.
‘To whom do you refer?’ she innocently
asked, for she had caught his words.
His facsd flushed and he stammered a reply
that confused him.
He was thinking about his brother Goswald.
Then the girl closed her eyes and her lips
moved as if in prayer. Her face seemed to have
assumed new loveliness sinoe the revelation so
long kept imprisoned by the locket, and when
she looked up again the impulse to touch his
lips to her pale cheek was irresistible.
•No stain against you, Marfa !’ he passionately
exclaimed. ‘I can now boldly give the lie to
every assertion flung at me by those whom I
have offended.’
He said no more, for the ward surgeon was
approaching, aud he left Marfa in his experi
enced care.
A load seemed to have been taken from Alcide
Reft’s breast as he hurried towards the great
mercantile establishment in which he was in
terested with Lis brother.
A week passed since his heroic action, and
he had spent much of the time with Marfa at
the hospital. A tinge of romance had thus been
thrown over the accident, and already gossip
was saying that the affair would end like all
romances—with a wedding.
EleuiitUa Biascombe, the heiress, to whom j
rumor had engaged the young merchant, had :
become the object of much conversation, and
found her place in society quite unenviable.
She listened to rumor until, maddened beyond
farther endurance, she wrote a note that drew
from Alcide one equally as terse and galling.
She thought she saw it. The merchant had
turned from her.
Alcids Reft did not find his brother in the
counting-room after leaving the hospital with
the confession of Marfa Biew’s father safely
ensconced in his pocket. From the store he
hastened to tbe elegant uptown residence which
he occupied in common with his brother Gos
wald.
Having entered with his key, he heard voices
in the parlor, and a moment later surprised its
Poor thing—she’ll have a hard life of it; she
never knew what it was to want anything; her
parents thought all the world of her, and they
must feel mortified that she should have thrown
herself away in that manner. It was not for
lack of better chances, for everybody says that
she once had an offer from the lion of the town
—but she was so scrupulous about his drinking
a little, that she refused him. She’ll regret it
someday—no doubt she has many times already.
Such is tha reasoning, and such are the con
clusions of a foolish, proud, false—opinionated
herd of money-worshippers. Such is the esti
mate which the devotees of wealth and name,
place upon real merit, and genuine worth. Bat
tbe truly wise and good, the really virtuous,
view things in an entirely different light.
Those very traits of character which the devo
tees to fashionable lollies affect to despise and
contemn, are in fact the highest credentials
which a young mad could possess—they are the
nnmistake-tide marks of real exccdlence, they
courage, unjield-
mg seit-retiance aaa unmitering perseverance;
traits which must of necsessity crown his lite-
cHurts with unbounded success, and give,him a
position which the proudest might envy. A
position for which he has no one to thank, but
bimself—no monied influence, or interested
friends can claim the glory which his own hard
toil has achieved.
Wonder not, then, that a sensible, high-toned
woman should fancy just such a character, and
choose him, with his poverty rather than vast
wealth unaccompanied with these inestimable
traits.
How to Tame a Woman.
Yesterday morning, a man whose every look
proved how hungry and penniless he was, hnlt-
ed before an eating-stand at the Central Park to
let his mouth w r ater for awhile. The woman
knew his worth aud called out:
‘Come, be jogging along. You wont get any
food here unless you have the cash.’
‘My dear woman,’ he confidentially began as
he drew nearer. ‘I am not hungry; I just left
the breakfast-table, after the heartiest meal I
ever ate. 1 was nor, looking at your beautiful
meats, year lovely cakes, your rich and juicy
pies, but at yourself.’
‘Wbat you locking at me for?’
‘I was wondering,’ he said, ‘if you were any
relation to Lady Clare, of England. You have
the same brown eyes,same beautiful hair—same
sweet accent.’
‘I never knew her,’ replied the woman, as her
face began to clear up.
‘Didn’t eh! Well, I never saw two faces near
er alike in their sweet expression. I wish I had
your portrait painted on ivory—I really wish I
had.’
She handed him half a pie and a piece of meat,
and as he sauntered off she began hunting
around for a piece of Broken mirror.
Young mother, deeply interested in a novel,
but preserving some idea of her duty as a moth
er, to her oldest born—‘Harrietta, where is your
little sister V
Harrietta—‘In the next room, ma.’
Young mother, turning over a page—‘Go and
see what she’s doing and tell her to stop it this ,
minute. q