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SOUTHERN BANNER: FEBRUARY 26, 1878.
AROMANCE.
Mr. Steele had never married ; he
enjoyed his riches withont compan
ionship ; he had not a relative in the
world; A liftrd, selfish, grasping man,
beloved by none, and respected only
because ef .his great wealth. Spite
of bis power to do good, the world
was mono the better for Richard
Steele’s existence.
No one in Milford remembered M*
Steele as other than the miser he was
to day J for fifteen years he had been
a citizen of the town, and no change,
either for better or worse, had come
over him, in a moral poiut of view.
His gardens of Ireton Hall were the
finest for scores of miles; the yellow
pears and luscious nectarines mellowed
on its walls, the ungathered grapes
purpled on the trellises, and no school
boy’s daring bands disturbed the ripe
treasures. Mr. Steele’s great dog,
Pluto, was as selfish as his master, and
his cruel teeth were always ready to
inflict summary punishment on all
depredators.
One quiet afternoon, as Mr. Steele
sat on the piazza gazing out on the
broad acres of Ireton, his eye fell on
two little children who were coming
down the road hand in hand. They
arrived in front of the gardens, and
cast a wishful look at the damask
roses which bung over the quaintly
carved gate, for a moment they
conversed together in subdued voices,
and then they turned in at the iron-
guarded gateway, and went slowly
up the avenue.
An angry scowl contracted the
brow of Mr. Steele at this unwonted
intrusion, and he half arose from his
seat as if to drive away the unwel
come guests. They were the first
children who had ever dared to tres
pass on the estate of Ireton Hall.
They came fearlessly up to the
piazza, still holding each other’s hands.
The eldest was a boy of perhaps
twelve years, a noble, brave little
fellow with brown eyes, and dark,
glossy hair. The other was a girl;
she could not • have been more than
nine eiunnjers old, and beauty like
hers is seldom seen, save in some
old, rare picture.
The sight ol her face struck a
strange thrill to the heart of Richard
Steele, and involuntary lie bent
down to look at her. She was fair
as a water lily, and the red leaped at
intervals to her white cheeks.
Her eyes were deep blue, and her
hair like ripples of molten gold
touched by sunbeams Both the
children wore mourning garments,
cheap and coarse, but neat as human
hands could make them.
The little girl spoke first.
“ Please, sir, will you give my
brother and me some roses ?”
The tone was musical and sweet
as harp notes, but the rich man’s
countenance hard and cold. He
pointed to the highway.
“ Be off!” ho exclaimed; “ I do not
raise flowers for beggars.’’
IIow the dark eyes ol the boy
flashed ; and he was about to make
some sharp answer, but the pressure
of the girl’s fingers on bis arm checked
him.
“We are not beggars,” slic said
calmly; “but our mother is dead,
ami we are orphans. She loved the
roses, and we love them too. Please
give us one apiece. It will 6eem so
good to smell flowers once more.”
The hard face did not relax—the
long thin finger still pointed to the
gate; but"The blue-eyed petitioner
did not move. She was regarding
him with an expression strangely
tender and pitying, and it annoyed
him more than anthing else to be
pitied.
“ Why do you look at me in that
way ?’’ he demanded, harshly.
“ Because I am sorry lot yon,” she
said, sweetly. “ You are,old, and sad,
and all alone. Where are your chil
dren.
“ I have none,’’ he answered, and
wondered at the same time why he
(lid so.
“ None ! Have you no little girl
to sit upon your knee, and call you
papa? I’m sure I pity you very
much!’’
“ Humph!’’
“ But I do! Iudeed I do! It must
be dreadful not to love' anybody.
Did you never have anybody to love
you ?”
A spasm of pain shot athwart the
rigid face of* Richard Steele, and,
life tali flame 'quivered; it might be
with agony or anger, one could not
decide from his words. He pushed
the child away.
“ Not another word! I \Hll not
listen! Good heavens ! that lips like
those should ask me that question l’’
“ Pardon nie—T'didn’t mean to
hurt your feelings. You loved some
body and heaven took her away.
Was it your sister ?”
Ah, yes! and memory flew back to
that gentle, fair-haired child who had
epised all women because of me, and
I have stiffe^d you to go on in igno
rance, while all the time my heart
has been slowly breaking for the
want of your love. When you left
me to go out into the world in search
of fortune, my love for you wronged
Heaven 1 I was an idolater, and you,
Richard, were my idok But if ,my
love was strongs my pride was
stronger,-and when your letters, after
growing less frequent, ceased alto
gether, I sought no explanation of
your silence.
Georgia Dale, my stepsister, was
my counsellor, and because I listened
to her, my whole life has been ship
wrecked. She it was wIiq-first wfiis-
Cotton Fertilizer
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clung with soft arms to his neck, and pered in my ear the story of your
kissed with warm lips his cheek, devotedness to a fair h4hw$i*; she it
His little sister May ! How well he
remembered her, ns she looked the
last time he saw her lace, lying cold
and calm, like marble, In the shadow
of a coffin. Yes, he remembered
May, and his eye grew moist with
something like a tear, but it was a
strange visitant, and be dashed it
away. Yet that tear was not given
to May ; she had been for years safe
in Heaven ; it was given to another,
whose blue eyes seemed to be look
ing at him out of the orbs of the lit
tle girl before him. He bent down
over her, and scanned her features
closely. Then he asked, “ My child,
\yhat is your name ?*’
“Violet Gray.”
The man smothered a cry of
suprise, and his lace grew' strangely
pale even in the ruddy light of snn-
set. It must have been a strange
emotion, indeed, wbich could thus sti^
the hard heart of Richard Steele.
Presently be said: “■ And w’liat was
your mother’s ivaiuo before she mar
ried?” - . • .*■ ■... * V
“ Violet Dale.” , qo t,
“ And she is dead
He spoke the words ill a deep
whisper, as though fearing to utter
them. /
“ She is with the angels.” < '■ I
A silence fell upon the group,
broken only by the suppressed sobs
of the girl and the heavy breathing
of the man. ' ’<■ / : •-
When he again addressed her, bis
voice had taken a softness which
none in Milford had ever heard in its
measured cadence.
“And the boy is your Brother ?”
“ Yes, my brother Richard.”
“ Richard! For whom was he
named thus?”
Mr. Steele asked the qnestion
breathlessly, with an earnestness very
strange and foreign nature.
“ For a schoolmate of my mother’s.”
“ And this schoolmate’s surname—
do you remember it ?”
“ If was Richard Steele, sir.”
How the eold face lighted up, and
the stern mouth grew almost tender
as this proof of the power of the old
love was given him.
“ Did Violet—did your mother
ever mention this Richard Steele to
you?”
The undersigned lias just had manufactured to Tiis own order a large and
fresh supply of the well known * ' tut ' '
4^? " . ... ■
Excellenza Guano and Dobbs Chemicals for Composting
which he offers to planters of Northeast Georgia and sunounding country, at the same price as last year
cis, per
ti»
The boy came forward and replied:
“ His name was the last on her lips
when she died ; and, two days before
she left us, she gave me a letter which
I was to put into liis own hand ; and
wc are searching for him, my sister
and I, and, when we have found him,
we are going to live with a cousin of
my father’s in Portsmouth.”
“Yon need look no farther for
Riehard Steele, my boy; lie is before
you! Come into the house, and give
me the letter.’’
The children followed him into the
great parlor, and calling his aston
ished housekeeper, he bade her pre
pare them some refreshments; then,
receiving the packet from the boy, he
went upstairs to bis chamber, closed
and locked the door, abd sat down in
the arm-chair by the window. He
held the letter some time in his band,
gazing intently on the superscription,
which he could scarcely discern for
the mist that dimmed his eyes. At
length he kissed the writing and
gently broke the seal, wbich the
fingers of the dead had fixed. The
contents of the sheet were as fellows;
Richard Steele:—Now that I
am dying, it will wrong no one to
confess what has hitherto been kept is
a secret in my own bosom. You be
lieved me false and fickle; you de-
was who brought me the jetted Con
taining the tidings of your marring
Oh, Richard, Richard! who shall
picture to yon the days of agony
which succeeded ? But for my pride,
I should have lost my reason!
Well, after that, Chari* s Gray
sought my favor; my stepmother ap
proved of him, and I perjured myself-
at God’s altar. Too IhtipjSj learned'
the truth ! It was all a yjlc plot of
Georgia Dale’s-; I stood between her
and you ; but for me, she hoped to
win your love. You know her result;
her plot was a failure. You fled from
the country, hating me in your heart,
and never guessing that the smiling
bride of Cliarlefe Gray cast out a
thought after you. •—.
Seven years ago my husband dud,
and dnring these intervening years, 1
I have earned my own and my chil
dren’s bread by the labSr of nty
hands. Only once in that time have
I looked on your face; and then.yo\»
thought me hundreds of mires away ;
but mv love was potent, and I jour
neyed, on foot mul alone, to see you
once more.
You were walking in the garden,
and the woman whom you turned
away when she asked lor a draught
of water, was Violet Dale. I would
not reveal myself to-you ; it is better
as it is. And now,’ Heaven bless you,
Richard Steele! I have loved you
long, and you only;
Heaven where I am goinjj£ tj|eri is
neither marrying nor giving in"innr-
riage. Meet me there.
Violet Gray.
He finished the manuscript, and
bowing his (ace on the open shvot,
the long pent sorrow of liis heart
burst forth in tears—tears sneh Us
only one like him can shed. The
closed chamber was opened at last,
the double granite doors were rolled
back, and the angels of tender
memory flew in and took un their
. • it * ■ . r.. * : '
abode there.
Violet Dale! the soft-eyed' girl
whom he had loved with all the
fervor of liis manhood ; Violet, who
had made liis whole life a failure!
And yet, she had been innocent;
before the tribunal of liis judgment,
she was blameless. Yet, she was
dead—what mattered this long de
ferred discovery? It was too late,
now ! Too late for her, but not too
late for her children. They should
be liis, and lie would be their father.
And it was even. so. Richard and
Violet Gray went forth no more from
Ireton Hall; henceforth, their home
was with the early friend of their
mother. 1 f
Unbounded was the surprise in
Milford when it was known that Mr.
Steele had adopted two strange chib
dren; but still greater was the aston
ishment when, on the following Sun
day, the rich man walked into church,
leading the orphans, one <fii either
side. The good work was begun,
and it went on until Richard Steele’s
nature was revolutionized.
These.Fertilizers have been inspected by authority of the State and found to be up to former stand-
anl aurt above. All persons desiring to purchase in Athens, wi 1 call on the undersigned at his store
Tltuy C»u also lie obtained from the following agents.
S. M. SHANKLE, / Harmony Grove, Ga.
BOON & ALEXANDER, Maysvillc. Ga.
MeWHORTER & YOUNG Antioch, Ga.
P. II- BOWERS, ..Franklin Springs, Ga.
W.A.RQYSTQN “ “ Ga.
M. tM. JOHNSON, Bowersvillc, Hart county, Ga.
A. R. ELLIOTT,. . 1 / Grove, Elbert county, Ga.
R. II. KENNEBREW, Lexington, Ga.
S. C. DOBBS, Athens,
jan2t?iu.
GUANO! GUANO!
HOUSE, BETTS & CO.,
, . • . \ l V ' t .
NO 6, BROAD STREET, ATHENS, GEORGIA-
• GENERAL AGENTS FOR
v Y -.fnf.
Carolina Fertilizer
. •- r •
Eagle Ammoniated Bone Phosphate.
AND
Eagle Compound Acid Phosphate.
•' The above Fertilizers are offered to the planters of Northeast Georgia with the assurance that
their commercial value is equal to any in the market. Thousands of Farmers in Carolina, Georgia,
and Alabama are ready to attest their value, and we have no hesitancy in recommending them to our
friends and customers. v
Prices as Low as other Standard Fertilizers.
junS3m. HOUSE, BETTS & CO.
PLANTERS’ HOTEL,
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA.
rSTEJ-W
Bates Reduced to. $3 per Day.
HAVING LEASED THIS WELL KNOWN HOTEL, I enter
upon its management by Reducing Rates, and asking ot the Travel
ing Public, especially my friends of Carolina and Georgia, a contis: a
ance ot that liberal support they have always given it.
B. DF 1 . BROW1M,
juu2S-5i:i FOKMEK..Y OF CHARLESTON, I'ROI'RIETOK.
Wando Fertilizer
AND
Wando Acid Ph.ospto.ate,
MADE BY
Years afterwards, while be lay on
his death-bed, loving and grieving
friends were around him, and at the
last, he fancied he saw’ his lost Violet
hovering above the conch. At liis
funeral, there were few dry eyes, for
the poor had learned te bless his
bounty, and the sick and distressed
offered up his name in their prayers.
And, therefore, say not that be
cause men are harsh and cold, there
is no oasis in the desert, for in every
human heart, however strong, there
is a fountain of sweet water, and
happy is he w’ho breaks the flintv
barriers and allows the stream to gush
forth.
GEORGIA
STOVE
and Tinware
Wando Phosphate Company
OF
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
Our Fertilizer and Acid Phosphate rank among the highest grades in
the market. Sold for
li V* * ! ; : • ■ I ■ i !
Middling Cotton at 15 cents per pound,
STANDARD GUARANTEED.
Send for Circulars with Analyses and Terms. For sale by
J. H. HUGGINS, Athens, Ga.
feb.12.2m.
Atlanta, Georgia.
The proprietor of the MARKAM HOUSE takes this method ol
informing the traveling public, that notwithstanding the great Euro
pean war, his hotel will continue to entertain with its usual hospitali
ties and first-class accommodations, such as he flatters himself has
given great popularity and success to his house, and general satisfac
tion to those who have honored him by becoming his guests. Board
reasonable and accommodations first-class.
DEPOT.
ATHENS, GEORGIA.
We
SUPERINTENDENT.
jar.S Cm