Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, September 01, 1870, Image 1
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VOL. 16. * YOEKVILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1870. ;;U NO, 85.
?&f #t0*g Idler.
A PLOT IN PRIVATE LIFE.
CHAPTER VI.
On the third appearance of ray mistress and
myself before the justice, I noticed some faces
in the room which I bad not seen there before.
Greatly to my astonishment?for the previous ;
examination had been conducted as privately
as possible?I remarked the presence of two J
of the servants from the Hall, and of three |
or four of the tenants on the Darrock estate,
who lived nearest to the house. They all sat
together on one side of the justice-room. Opposite
to them, and close at the side of the
door, stood my old acquaintance, Mr. Dark,
with his big snuff-box, his jolly face, and his
winking eye. He nodded to me, when I looked
at him, as jauntily as if we were meeting at
a party of pleasure. The quadroon woman,
who had been summoned to the examination,
had a chair placed opposite to the witness-box,
and in a line with the seat occupied by my
poor mistress, whose looks, as I was grieved
to see, were not altered for the better. The
lawyer from London was was with her, and I
stood behind her chair.
We were all quietly disposed in the room
in this way, when the justice, Mr. Bobert
Nicholson, came in with his brother. It might
have been only fancy, but I thought I could
see in both their faces that something remarkable
had happened since we bad met at the last
examination.
The deposition of Josephine Durand was
read over by the clerk, and she was asked if
she had anything to add to it She replied in
the negative. The justice then appealed to
my mistress' relation, the lawyer, to know if
he could produce any evidence relating to the
charge against his clients.
"I have evidence," answered the lawyer,
getting briskly on his legs, "which I believe,
sir, will justify me in asking for their discharge."
"Where are your witnesses ?" inquired the
justice, looking hard at Josephine while he
spoke.
"One of them is m waiting, your worship,"
said Mr. Dark, opening the door near which
he was standing.
He went out ef the room, remained away
about a minute, and returned with his witness
at his heels.
My heart gave a bound as if it would jump
out of my body. There, with his long hair
cut short, and his bushy whiskers shaved offthere,
in his own proper person, safe and
sound as ever, was Mr. James Smith.
The quadroon's iron nature resisted the
shock of his unexpected presence on the scene
with a steadiness that was nothing short of
marvelous. Her thin lips closed together convulsively,
and there was a slight movement
in the muscles of her throat. But not a word,
not a sign betrayed her. Even the yellow
tinge of her complexion remained unchanged.
"It is not necessary, sir, that I should waste
time and words in referring to the wicked and
preposterous charge against my clients," said
the lawyer, addressing Mr. Robert Nicholson.
"The one sufficient justification for discharging
them immediately is before you at this
moment in the person of that gentleman.
There, sir, stands the murdered Mr. James
Smith, of Darrock Hall, ative and well, to
answer for himself."
"That is not the man!" cried Josephine,
her shrill voice just as high, clear, and steady
as ever. "I denounce that man as an impostor.
Of my own knowledge I deny that he is
Mr. James Smith."
"No doubt you do," said the lawyer; "but
we will prove his identity for all that."
The first witness called was Mr. Philip
Nicholson. He could swear that he bad seen
Mr. James Smith, and had spoken to him at
least a dozen times. The person now before
him was Mr. James Smith, altered as to personal
appearance by having his hair cut short
and his whiskers shaved off, but still unmis
takably the man he assumed to be.
"Conspiracy!" interrupted the prisoner,
hissing the word out viciously between her
teeth.
"If you are not silent," said Mr. Robert
Nicholson, "you will be removed from- the
room. It will sooner meet the ends of justice,"
he went on, addressing the lawyer, "if
you prove the question of identity by witnesses
who have been in habits of daily communication
with Mr. James Smith."
Upon this, one of the servants from the
Hall was placed in the box.
The alteration in his master's appearance
evidently puzzled the man. Besides the perplexing
change already adverted to, there was
also a change in Mr. James Smith's expression
and manner. Rascal as he was, I most do
him the justice to say that he looked startled
and ashamed when he first caught sight of his
unfortunate wife. The servant, who was used
to be eyed tyrannically by him, and ordered
about roughly, seeing him now for the first
time abashed and silent, stammered and hesitated
on being asked to swear to his identity.
"I can hardly sayf&r ceitanr, sir," said the
man, addressing the justice in a bewildered
manner. "He is like my master, and yet he
isn't If he wore whiskers and had his hair
long, and if he was, saving in your presence,
sir, a little more rough and ready in his way,
I could swear to him anywhere with a safe
conscience."
Fortunately for us, at this moment Mr.
James Smith's feeling of uneasiness at the situation
in which he was placed changed to a
feeling of irritation at being coolly surveyed
and then stupidly doubted in the matter of his
identity by one of his own servants.
"Can't you say in plain words, you idiot,
whether you know me or whether you don't ?"
he called out, angrily.
"That's his voice!" cried the servant, starting
in the box. "Whiskers or no whiskers,
that's him."
"If there is any difficulty, your worship,
about the gentleman's hair," said Mr. Dark,
coming forward with a grin, "here's a small
parcel which, I may make so bold as to say,
will remove it." Saying that, he opened the
parcel, took some locks of hair out of it, and
held them up close to Mr. James Smith's
head. "A pretty good match, your worship," !
continued Mr. Dark. "I have no doubt the
gentleman's head feels cooler now its off. We
can't put the whisker's on, I'm afraid, but
they match the hair; and they are in the paper
(if one may say such a thing of whiskers)
to speak for themselves."
"Lies! lies!! lies 1!!" screamed Josephine,
losing her wicked self-control at this stage of
the proceedings.
The justice made a sign to two of the constables
present, as she burst out with those exclamations,
and the men removed her to an
adjoining room.
The second servant from the Hall was then
put in the box, and was followed by one of
the tenants. After what they had heard and
seen, neither of these men had any hesitation
in swearing positively to their master's identi- j
ty.
"It is quite unnecessary," said the justice,
as soon as the box was empty again, "to examine
any more witnesses as to the question
of identity. All the legal formalities are accomplished,
and the charge against the pris- {
oners fall to the ground. I have great pleasure
in ordering the immediate discharge of
both the accused persons, and in declaring
from this place that they leave the court without
the slightest stain on their characters."
He bowed low to ray mistress as he said
that, paused a moment, and then looked inquiring
at Mr. James Smith.
"I have hitherto abstained from making i
any remark unconnected with the immediate
matter in hand," he went on. "But now that i
my duty is done, I cannot leave this chair i
without expressing my strong sense ot disapprobation
of the conduct of Mr. James '
Smith?conduct which, whatever may be the j
motives that occasioned it, has given a false '
color of probability to a most horrible charge 1
against a lady of unspotted reputation, and i
against a person in a lower rank of life whose !
good character ought not to have been imper- t
iled even for a moment Mr. Smith may or t
may not choose to explain his mysterious die- i
appearance from Darrock Hall, and the equal- ]
ly unaccountable change which he has chosen 1
to make in his personal appearance. There 1
is no legal charge against him ; but, speaking i
morally, I should be unworthy of the place I <
hold if I hesitated to declare my present con- i
viction that his conduct has been deceitful, i
inconsiderate, and unfeeling in the highest i
degree. i
To this sharp reprimand Mr. James Smith j
(evidently tutored before hand as to what he i
was to say) replied that, in attending before i
the justice, he wished to perform a plain duty ]
and keep himself strictly within the letter of j
the law. He apprehended that the only legal <
obligation laid on him was to attend in that e
court to declare himself, and to enable competent
witnesses to prove his identity. This t
duty accomplished, he had merely*) add that
he preferred submitting to a reprimand from f
the bench to enteriug into explanations which <
would involve the disclosure of domestic cir- t
cu instances of a very unhappy nature. After ?
that brief reply he had nothing farther to 1
say, and he would respectfully request the 1
justice's permission to withdraw.
The permission was accorded. As he cros- (
sed the room he stopped near his wife, And i
said confusedly, in a Very low tone, f
"I have done you many injuries, but I never ?
intended this. I am sorry for it Have you *
anything to say to me before I go?"
My mistress shuddered and hid her face, ?
He waited a moment, and, finding that she ?
did not answer him, bowed his head" politely ^
and went out. I did not know it then, but I t
had seen him for the last time. t
After he had gone, the lawyer, addressing c
Mr. Robert Nicholson, said that he had an i
application to moke in reference to the woman I
Josephine Durand. *
At the mention of that name my mistress >
hurriedly whispered a few words into her re- i
lation's ear. He looked toward Mr. Philip c
Nicholson, who immediately advanced, offered s
his arm to my mistress, and led her out. I I
was about to follow, when Mr. Dark stopped e
me, and begged that I would wait a few minutes
longer, in order to give myself the pleasure
of seeing the "end of the case." 1
In the meantime the justice had pronounc- i
ed the necessary order to have the quadroon t
brought back. She came in, as bold and con- y
fident as ever. Mr. Robert Nicholson looked i
away from her in disgust, and said to the law- t
yer, 1
"Your application is to have her commit- i
ted for perjury, of course ?" 1
"For perjury ?" said Josephine, with her ]
wicked smile. "Very good. I shall explain 1
some little matters that I have not explained |'
before. You think I am quite at your mercy s
now. Bah! I shall make myself a thorn in i
your sides yet." '
"She has got scent of the second marriage," 1
whispered Mr. Dark to me. t
There could be no doubt of it. She had i
evidently been listening at the door on the i
night when my master came back longer than ;'
I had supposed. She must have heard those i i
words about "the new wife"?she might even ?
have seen the effect of them on Mr. James c
Smith. i
"We do not at present propose to charge J
Josephine Durand with perjury," said the I j
lawyer, "but with another offense, for which j y
it is important to try her immediately, in or- j 1
der to effect the restoration of property that (
has been stolen. I charge her with stealing t
fmm hpr mistress, while hi her service at Dar- i
rock Hall, a pair of bracelets, three rings,
and a dozen and a half of lace pocket-jhand- t
kerchiefe. The articles in questron were ta?
ken, this morning, from between the mat- (
tresses of her bed ; and a letter was found in 1
the same place which clearly proves that she ?
had represented the property as belonging to j j
herself, and that she had tried to dispose of (
it to a purchaser in London." While he was j
speaking, Mr. Dark produced the jewelry,, 1
the handkerchiefs, and the letter, and laid ' i
them before the justice. 1
Even Josephine's extraordinary powers of i t
self-control now gave way at last. At the . i
first words of the unexpected charge against. f
her she struck her hands together violently, ; j
gnashed her sharp white teeth, aud burst out' j
with a. t?rreut ot fierce-soundinrr words in <
"""" "" * * O ? (
some foreign language, the meaning of which 1
I did not understand then, and can not ex- I
plain now. j
"I think that's checkmate for marmzelle," I
whispered Mr. Dark, with his invariable <
wink. "Suppose you go buck to the Hall, j i
now, William, and draw a jug of that very j'
remarkable ale of yours ? I'll be alter you j
in five minutes, as soon as the charge is made j
out."
I could hardly realize it when I found my-1
self walking back to Darrock a free man j
again.
In a quarter of an hour's time Mr. Dark
joined me, and drank to my health, happiness i
and prosperity in three separate tumblers, i
After performing this ceremony, he wagged
his head and chuckled with an appearance of
such excessive enjoyment that I could not
avoid remarking on his high spirits.
"It's the case, William?it's the beautiful
neatness of the case that quite intoxicates
me. Oh Lord, what a happiness it is to be
concerned in such a job as this!" cries Mr.
Dark, slapping his stumpy hands on his fat
knees in a sort of ecstacy.
I had a very different opinion of the case
for my own part, but I did not venture on
expressing it. I was too anxious to know
how Mr. James Smith had been discovered
and produced at the examination to enter into
any arguments. Mr. Dark guessed what was
passing in my mind, and, telling me to sit
down and make myself comfortable, volunteered
of his own accord to inform me of all
that I wanted to know.
"When I got my instructions and my statement
of particulars," he began, "I was not at
all surprised to hear that Mr. James Smith
had come back. (I prophesied that, if you
remember, William, the last time we met ?)
But I was a-good deal astonished, nevertheless,
at thp turn things had taken, and I can't
say I felt very hopeful about finding our man.
However, I followed my master's directions,
and put the advertisement in the papers. It
addressed Mr. James Smith by name, but it
was very carefully worded as to what was
wanted of him. Two days after it appeared,
a letter came to our office in a womants handwriting.
It was my business to open the letters,
and I opened that. The writer was short
and mysterious. She requested that somebody
would call from our office at a certain
address, between the hours of two and four
that afternoon, in reference to the advertisement
which we had inserted in the newspapers.
Of course, I was the somebody who
went. I kept myself from building up hopes
jy the way, knowing what a lot of Mr. James
Smiths there were in London. On getting to
;he house, I was shown into the drawing room, ;
and, there, dressed in a wrapper and lying on
a sofa, was an uncommonly pretty woman,
who looked as if she was just recovering from
an illness. She had a newspaper by her side,
and came to the point at once: 'My husband's i
lame is James Smith,' she says, 'and I have
ny reasons for wanting to know if he is the
jerson you are in search of.' I describe^^qur i
nan as Mr. James Smith, of Dorrock Hall, 1
Cumberland. 'I know no such person,' says (
ihe?"
"What! was it not the second wife, after .
ill ?" I broke out. <
"Wait a bit," says Mr. Dark. "I mention- i
id the name of the yacht next, and she start- i
id up on the sofa as if she had been shot. 'I ;
,hink you were married in Scotland, ma'am,'
ays I. She turns pale as ashes, and drops
jack on the sofa, and says faintly, 'It is my i
lusband. Oh, sir, what has happened?? i
fVhat do you want with him? Is he in j
lebt ?' I took a minute to think, and then i
nade up my mind to tell her every thing, i
eeling that she would keep her husband (as
(he called him) out of the way if I frighten-; j
id her by any mysteries. A nice job I had, i
iVilliam, as you may suppose, when she knew I
ibout the bigamy business. What with <
tcreaming, fainting, crying, and blowing me 1
ip (as'if I was to blamet), she kept me by 1
hat sofa the best part of an hour?kept me i
here, in short, till Mr. James Smith himself ]
same back. I leave you to judge if that ]
nended matters. He found me mopping the I
>oor woman's temples with scent and water, J1
ind he would have pitched me out of the ] I
vindow, as sure as I sit here, if I had not j
net him and staggered him at once with the ]
:harge of murder against his wife. That j
topped him when he was in full cry, I can
jromise you. 'Go and wait in the next room,' I !
ays he, 'and I will speak to you directly.' " 1
"And did you go ?" I asked. i
"Of course I did," said Mr. Dark. "I i
mew he couldn't get out by the drawing- I
oora windows, and I knew I could watch
he door; so away I went, leaving him alone 1
vith the lady, who didn't spare him by any ]
nanner of means, as I could easily hear in i
he next room. However, all rows in this i
vorld come to an end sooner or later, and a i
nan with any brains in his bead may do wnat >
le pleases with a woman who is fond of him. '
Before long I heard her crying and kissing 1
lim. 'I can't go home,' she says, after this. 1
You have behaved like a villian and a mon- 1
iter to me?but oh Jemmy, I can't give you 1
lp to any body! Don't go back to your wife !r I
No fear of that,' says he, 'my wife wouldn't ]
lave me, if I did go back to her.' After <
hat I heard the door open and went out to J
neet him. He began swearing the very mo- i
nent he saw me, as if that was any good. ]
Business first, if you please, sir,' says I, 'and i
my pleasure you like, in the way of swearing, j
iftervard.' With that beginning, I mention- 1
;d our terms to him, and asked the pleas- <
ire of his company to Cumberland in return. <
Eie was uncommonly suspicious at first, but I 1
iromised to draw out a legal document (mere 1
vaste paper, of no earthly use only to pacify 1
lim), engaging to hold him harmless through- '
jut the proceedings ; and what with that, and 1
;elling him of the frightful danger his wife 1
vas in, I managed, at last, to carry my point."
"But did the second wife make no objection i
e his going away with you ?" I inquired^ !
"Nnt she." at"d D"rk "f stated the i
tn i?or tiiat n9 it. strwf. nod soon satisfied :
't*OV VKf UVi JMW* MW . ~""7
ler that there was 110 danger of Mr. James
Smith's first wife laying any claim to him.
\fter hearing that, she joined me in persua- 1
ling him to do his duty, and said she pitied 1
four mistress from the bottom of her heart.
iVith her influence to back me, I had no great
'ear of our man changing his mind. I had
;he door watched that night, however, so as
;o make quite sure of him. The next mornng
he was ready to time when I called, and
1 quarter of an hour after that we were off together
for the north road. We made the
ourney with post-horses, being afraid of 1
jhance passengers, you know, in public conveyances.
On the way down, Mr. James
Smith and I got 011 as comfortably together
is if we had been a pair of old friends. I
told the story of our tracing him to the north
5f Scotland, and he gave me the particulars
m return, of his bolting from Darrock Hall.
They are rather amusing, William: would
j'ou like to hear them ?"
I told Mr. Dark that he had anticipated the
very question I was about to ask him.
"Well," he said, "this is how it was: To begin
at the beginning, our man really took
Mrs. Smith, Number Two, to the Mediterranean,
as we heard. He sailed up the Spanish
coast, and, after short trips ashore, stopped at a
sea-side place in France called Cannes.
There he saw a house and grounds to be sold,
which took his fancy as a nice retired place
to keep Number Two in. Nothing particular
was wanted hut the money to buy it;
and not having that little amount in his possession,
Mr. James Smith makes a virtue of
necessity, and goes back to his wife with private
designs on her purse-strings. Number
Two, who objects to being left behind, goes
with him as far as London. There he trumps
up the first story that comes into his head
about rents in the country, and a house in
Lincolnshire that is too damp for her to trust
herself in; and so, leaving hor for a few days
in London, starts boldly for Darrock Hall.
His notion was to wheedle your mistress opt
of the money by good behavior; but it seems
he started badly by quarreling with her about
a fiddle-playing parson?"
"Yes, yes, I know all about that part of
the story," I broke in, seeing by Mr. Dark's
manner that he wait.likely to speak both ignorantly
and impertinently of my mistress'
unlucky friendship for Mr. Meeke. "Go on
to the time when I left my master alone in the
Red Room, and tell me what he did between
miduight and nine the next morning." .. ?
"Did t" said Mr. Dark. "Why, he went
to bed with the unpleasant conviction on his
mind that vnur n&ftress had found him out,
J
and with no comfort to speak of except what
he could get out of the brandy bottle. He
couldn't sleep; and the more he tossed and
tumbled, the more certain he felt that his
wife intended to have him tried for bigamy.
At last, toward the gray of the morning, he
could stand it no longer, and he made up his
mind to give the law the slip while he had the
chance. As soon as he was dressed, it struck
him that there might, be a reward offered for
catching him, and he determined to make
that slight change in his personal appearances
which puzzled the witnesses so much
before the magistrate to-day. So he opens
his dressing case and crops his hair in no time,
and takes off his whiskers next The fire was
out, aud he had to shave in cold water. What
with that, and what with the flurry of his
mind, naturally enough he cut himself?"
"And dried the blood with his night-gown!"
says I.
"With his night-gown," repeated Mr. Dark.
It was the first thing that lay handy, and he
snatched it up. Wait a bit, though; the
cream of the thing is to come. When he had
done being his own barber, he couldn't for the
life of him hiton a way of getting rid of the loose
hair. The fire was out. and he had no match
es, so he couldn't burn it As for throwing it
away, he didn't dare do that in the house or
about the house, for fear of its being found,
and betraying what he had done. ?o he
wraps it all up in paper, crams it into his
pocket to be disposed of when he is at a safe
distance from the Hall, takes his bag, gets out
at the window, shuts it softly after him, and
makes for the road as fast as his long legsrwill
carry him. There he walks on till a coach
overtakes him, and so travels back to London
to find himself in a fresh scrape as soon as he
gets there. An interesting situation, William,
and hard traveling from one end of France
to the other, had not agreed together in the j
case of Number Two. Mr. James Smith i
found her in bed, with doctor's orders that she j
was not to be moved. There was nothing fat,
it after that but to lie by in London till the
lady got better. Luckily for us, she didn'f
hurry herself; so that, after all, your mistress
has to thank the very woman who supplanted <
ber for clearing her character by helping us j
to find Mr. James Smith."
"And, pray, how did you come by that1
loose hair of his which you showed before the '
justice to-day ?" I asked.
"Thank Number Two again," says Mr. j
Dark. "I was put up to asking after it by
what she told me. While we were talking
about the advertisement, I made so bold as to j
enquire what first set her to thinking that her
husband and the Mr. Jaines Smith whom we !
wanted might' be one and the same man. i
Nothing,' says she, 'but seeing him come J
home with his hair cut short and his whiskers ;
shaved off, and finding that he could not give j
me any good ieason for disfiguring himself in j
that way. I had my suspicions that some- i
thing was wrong, and the sight of your advertisement
strengthened them directly.' The |
hearing her 6ay that suggested to my mind I
that there might be a difficulty in identifying j
him after the change in his looks, and I asked 1
1 I ? -.1 il _ 1 *_. I
turn what he had aone wild uie loose nair uefore
we left London. It was found in the ;
pocket of his traveling coat, just as he hud
Jled it up on leaving the Hall, worry and
fright and vexation causing him to forget all
about it. Of course I took charge of the
parcel, and you know what good it did as well
as I do. So to speak, William, it just ?ompleted
this beautifully neat case. Looking at
the matter in a professional point of view, I
lon't hesitate to say that we have managed
aur business with Mr. James Smith to perfection.
We have produced him at the right
time, and we are going to get rid of him at
the right time. By to-night he will be on his
way to foreign parts with Number Two, and
lie won't show his nose in England again if
lie lives to the age of Methuselah."
It was a relief to hear that, and it was
almost as great a comfort to find, from what i
Mr. Dark said next, that my mistress need
fear nothing that Josephine could do for the
future.
The charge of theft, on which she was about
to be tried, did not afford the shadow of an
excuse in law any more than in logic for alluding
to the crime which her master had committed.
If she meant to talk about it she
might do so in her place of transportation,
!... nl>n i?nnlrl nnl liova fho olifftifMf nhariPA nf
UUt OlIC TTUUiU UVV ilHfV VMV uaigMWHv vi??miw v? j
being listened to previously in a court of law. >
"In short," said Mr. Dark, rising to take his
leave, "as I have told you already, William, I
it's checkmate for marrazelle. She didn't,
manage the business of the robbery half as!
sharply as I should have expected. She cer-1
tainly began well enough by staying modestly
at a lodging in the village to give her at'!
tendance at the examinations, as it might be !
required; nothing could look more innocent1
and respectable so far; but her hiding the j
property between the mattresses of her bed? .
the very first place that any experienced man j
would think of looking in?was such an araa- ^
zingly stupid thing to do, that I really can't
account for it, unless her miud had more
I
weighing on it than it was able to bear, which,
considering the heavy stakes she played for,
is likely enough. Anyhow, her hands are
tied now, and her tongue, too, for the matter
of that. Give my respects to your mistress,
and tell her that her runaway husband and
her lying maid will never, either of them,
harm her again as long as they live. She has j
nothing to do now but to pluck up her spirits ;
and live happy. Here's long life to her and
to you, William, in the la,st glass of ale; and
! here's the same toast to myself in the bottom
of the jug."
With these words Mr. Dark pocketed his
large snuff-box, gave a last wink with his
bright eye, and walked rapidly away, whistling,
to catch the London coach. From that
time to this he and I have never met again.
A few last words relating to my mistress
and to the other persons chiefly concerned in
| this narrative will conclude all that is now
j necessary for me to say.
For some months, the relatives and friends,
; and I myself, felt sad misgivings on my poor j
| mistress' account We doubted if it was pos- [
I si hip with Rimh a. nuink. sensitive nature as !
hers, that she could support the shock that
had been inflicted on her. But our powers
of endurance are, as I have learned to believe,
more often equal to the burdens laid upon us
than we are apt to imagine. I have seen
man^ surprising recoveries from illness after
all hope had been lost, and I have lived to
see my mistress recover from the grief and
which we once thought would prove
fatal to her. It was long before she began to
hold up her head again; but care and kindness,
and time and change wrought their effect
on her at last. She is not now, and never
will be again, aa she was once; her manner is
altered, and she looks older by many a year
than she really is. But her health causes us
no anxiety now 5/her spirits are calm and
equal, and I have good hope that many quiet
years of service in her house are left for me
still. I myself have married during the
long interval of time which I am now passing
over in a few words. This change in my
life is, perhaps, not worth mentioning, but I
am reminded of my two little children when
I speak of my mistress in her present position.
I really think they make the great
happiness and interest and amusement of her
life, and prevent her from feeling lonely and
dried up at heart. It is a pleasant reflection
to me to remember this, and perhaps it may
be to you, for which reason only I speak of it
As for the other persons connected with
the troubles at Darrock Hall, I may mention
the vile Josephine first, so as to have the
sooner done with her. Mr. Dark's guess,
when he tried to account for her want of cunning
in hiding the stolen property, by saying
that her mind might have had more weighing
on it than she was able to bear, turned out to
be nothing less than the plain and awful
truth. After she had been found guilty of the
robbery, and had been condemned to seven
years' transportation, a worse sentence fell
upon her from a higher tribunal than any in
this world. While she was still in the county
jail, previous to her removal, her mind
gave way, the madness breaking out in an attempt
to set fire to the prison. Her case was
pronounced to be hopeless from the first. The
lawful asylum received her, and the lawful
asylum will keep her to the end of her days.
Mr. James Smith, who, in ray humble opinion,
deserved hanging by law, or drowning by
accident at least, lived quietly abroad with
his Scotch wife (or no wife) for two years, and
then died in the most qui?t and customary
manner, in his bed, after a short illness. His '
end was described to me as a "highly edifying
one." But as he was also reported to have
sent his forgiveness to his wife?which was as
much as to say that he was the injured person
of the two?I take leave to consider that he
was the same impudent vagabond injiis last
moments that he had been all his life. His
Scotch widow has married again, and is now
settled in London. I hope her husband is all
her own property this time.
Mr. Meeke must not be forgotten, although
he has dropped out of the latter part of my
story because he had nothing to do with the
serious events which followed Josephine's perjury.
In the confusion and wretchedness of
that time, he was treated with very little ceremony,
and was quite passed over when we
left the neighborhood. After pining and fret- ,
ting some time, as we afterward heard, in his
lonely parsonage, he resigned his living at the (
first chance he got, and took a sort of underchaplain's
place in an English chapel abroad. ,
He writes to my mistress once or twice a year
to ask after her health and well-being, and ,
she writes back to him. That is all the com- ,
munication they are ever likely to have with
each other. The music they once played together
will never sound again. Its last notes
1 * 3 aL? L.t
nave long since iuueu away, auu me itust
words of this story, trembling on the lips of
the teller, may now fade with them.
Papal Infallibility Defined.?VicarGeneral
Starrs delivered an address in St
Patrick's Cathedral, New York, a few Sundays
ago, in explanation of the recently adopted
Roman Catholic dogma of papal infallibility.
He said it does not mean that the
Pope cannot err in what he says or does,
for, being human, he is just as fallible as
as other men. But when he speaks officially
as head of the church, declaring anything as
to matters of faith, he is infallible. The
speaker illustrated his idea as follows :
"In the United States we have a Supreme
Court, with a chief justice and associate justices!
Many cases are"referred from the lower
courts to this. But after a case has been decided
in the Supreme Court there can be no
appeal. These final decisions are as near
like those of the Pope as any secular matter
can be like a spiritual one. When the Chief
Justice is not on the bench his opinions only
pass as those of an ordinary citizen ; when he
presides in the court his decisions are final,
and the whole country submits to them. And
so in the church, now that the great dogma is
announced from the Papal chair there is no
appeal from it."
?
Jte?*The Paris correspondent of the New i
York Times writes: "An impression prevails,
both in England and America, that the war
will not be of long duration. This idea is
founded on the marvelous improvement in
artillery and arms of all descriptions, and is
partly justified by the rapidity or the Prussian
conquest in the war with Austria. But
I can assure those who entertain the idea
that it is a fallacious one. The present war is
undertaken under very different oiroumstan-ces
from any previous one. The point at i
issue is the supremacy in Europe, and the
two nations which are now face to face are
the first military powers in the world. The '
contest must, therefore, bo a rude one. The
Emperor indulges in none of the illusions
which the official bureau of publicity would
fain encourage in the public mind. He says
plainly in his proclamation that the war now
commencing will be long and trying. At the
same time his confidence in the success of the
French arms is unwavering."
fpsttllanwuis jUtirtw.
For the Yorkvillc Enquirer.
A SKETCH.
"I do not know what it is! I do nt>t be
lieve there is such a thing!" bunt impetuous
ly from the lips of dark-haired Bessie Vane
"I have heard you?I have heard others?
speak of love; but as the world is now, I d<
not believe it exists."
"You have never felt its magic power,'
was the sad response, in low tones of heart
broken anguish. "Farewell, forever 1 Yean
hence you may learn the value of the tru<
heart you have wantonly crushed." A mo
ment?and he was gone.
George Amesly had met Bessie Vane but i
few moments before the conversation of whicl
we have given our readers a glimpse. Throwi
continually together at a quiet watering-place
* * - - ? .i a
he had yielded, heart and son J, to tne iasci
nation of her bright, gay disposition, whicl
gleamed in every sparkle of her rich, browi
eyes, and seemed entwined among the locb
of the waving curls that fell over shonlden
which sculptors might have sighed in vain U
copy.
Tall, stately, handsome, with all the wealti
and accomplishments that heart could desire,
he had laid all at the feet of his 'idol, thinking
it was golden; but now, alaftl bad found
it was only dross.
What a change for him, from floating softy
by the light of the moon on Heiowee's fair
bosom?from wandering by the Bide of her
he loved best, where the cascade's merry play
seemed to laugh in unison with his own too
happy heart, the laurel and the cleinatis adding
new fragrance to the air, which seemed
already too sweet, to return once more to the
hard life of reality amid the rush and whirl
of the world.
And Bessie, what of her ? She had lost,
she knew not what
After his departure, she remained seated on
the marble steps where they had parted.
How beautiful she looked! One fair hand
supported her head and gleamed through her
dark ha^y, like ivory, seeming whiter than the
marble on which it rested. For a while an
arch smile curved her rosy lips as she thought
of his farewell words, and she murmured,
"He will come again ! he loves me too well
to thus part."
But when she recalled his sad, impassioned
manner, and thought what light words she
had spoken, the smile faded from her lips,
and her heart trembled; for now she knew
that she had loved and lost . y
Months rolled on. The rich, golden lighte
of summer faded into mellow autumn; wintei
put on her hoary garments; spring onoc
again returned, bringing joy to every heart
but one, and that heart knew not joy, for "he"
had not returned.
She lived, it is true; and amid the gay
crowd that filled, her father's halls, few would
have thought that she, the envied possessor of
such wealth, of such beauty, surrounded bj
every luxury wealth could command?with all
the handsome, the noble, the wealthy, at her
feet?on whom she had but to smile, and they
were but as slaves before her?could be broken
hearted. "Ah! if I could but forget!"
she often murmured; but still her heart replied,
"Ob, for the touch of a vanished hand.
And the sound of a voice that is still J"
For she knew that George Amesly, disgusted
at the levity which had destroyed the hopes
that had entwined themselves around his
heart and had become the fibres of his being,
seeing that he could do nothing for his native
South, (whose people groaned under an 'oppression
scarcely exceeded by that inflicted
on the Turkish slave) had left his native land,
determined to seek among the stirring scenes
that Europe promised to offer, oblivion of
the past. For he was a born soldier, and for
over four years had borne his country's flag,
unsullied, against the thousands that threatened,
and, alas! who overpowered his native
land; and had but furled it?furled it, did I
say ??there were few rags and tatters of that
war-worn flag to furl?at the command of a
chief whom he had always loved too well to
disobey.
But his broken heart soon found rest; for of
that noble band that sailed?all but one so fell
of hope and life?none ever returned. The
deep blue sea, and He who holds the winds
and the rains in the hollow of his hand, only
can tell where the winds sing their last
requiem
"O'er a heart so true and soul so noble."
The spring and summer glided once more
into winter, and all the world seemed the
same. But ah! what a change had passed
over Bessie. No longer roved those tiny feet
through hall and grove.; no longer floated
her bird-like voice at eventide toward the
heaven she soon hoped to reach. Murmuring,
"Oh! if I knew that he had forgiven
me!" she passed into the unknown world (4
death, relying on those blessed promises He
has given to those who ever and truly repent.
For the YorkvUle Enquirer.
NORTH CAROLINA "CORRESPONDENCE.
Swaicnanoa Cheese Factory, \
August 20,1870. j
Mr. Editor : I promised you some account
of my visit to this place. It is situated on
? - ? ? 11? /i
Swannanoa river, two and a halt miles trom
Asheville, and a half-mile above the bridge
leading to Greenville and Hickory-Nut Gap,
This establishment commenced operations
on the 23rd of May, of last year?late in the
season, as summer is the only time of the
year in which cheese can be made.
I will describe the method of making cheese
as well as I can, The machinery is very
simple. We first notice a vat of four hundred
gallons oapacity, whioh is lined with tin
and fiirnished with flood-gates and a heating
apparatus. The vat, in which floats a
basin containing milk, is so constructed that a
flood of cool water from a spring near by, can
be turned on. Into this vat the milk is emptied,
night and morning, by a simple arrangement,
from the wagons ooming in from the
pastures. The milk-wagons are driven to a
window, near which stands a large can on
scales. Into this can the milk is flowed from
that containing it in the wagon, and after
being weighed is then conducted to the vat
The water in whioh the milk-basin is immersed
during the night is kept to a temperature of
61 degrees, Fahrenheit, and the cream of the
milk is prevented from rising by keeping it
constantly in a gentle motion by means of a
wheel and rake which traverse, twice per minute,
the entire length of the vessel.
In the morning, after the morning's milking
is emptied into the vat, by the same means
above described, the current of cool water is
shut off, and a gentle fire raised in the far
nace, by which the milk is heated to a temperature
of eighty-two degrees. The rennet
is soaked in whey and poured into the vat
- The coloring is done with anotta, which is
- also poured into the vat, and in from fbrty;
five to sixty minutes the milk is in a curdled
state. An instrument about ten inches wide,
> containing thirty steel knives, is next passed
gently through the curd, from end to end,
' outting it up. This cutting separates the
' whey from the curd. Another system of
? knives is passed at right angles, across the
3 first After a time the curd is stirred and
cut by the hands, cut again with the knives,
and agitated once more by the hapds, when
t heat is applied to raise the temperature. This
i latter operation is performed slowly, and oc>
copies a long time. The writer thought of
. nntnocflinrr (Iia whnln niwratinn t?> the end.
- but time and patience gave oat The card in
i dae time is removed to the press. The press
I. is a tab of galvanized metal. The power is
? a hand-screw, working in a stationary head or
* ram which fits the press. The power is grad>
nated nicely and easily by the hand. I contrasted
the superiority of this arrangement
i with that I have otteia witnessed and assisted
i in about King's Mountain, which was by
* means of one end of a pole under the houseI
sill, and the other end weighted down with
rocks, rails, Ac. In this factory the cheeses
' are kept in press from twenty-four to thirty'
six hours.
I learn from Mr. J. 6. Becker, the pleasant
gentleman who superintends this establish1
ment, that the cheese and dairy business is a
very profitable one in the North, and might
be made so in the mountainous districts of the
1 South. He informs me that in Oneida county,
whence he came, the laboring population
are wholly occupied in this business, and that
factories there make from one to five thousand
pounds per day. From the information I
i gained from him, we of the South do not pay
sufficient attention to our breeds. It would
pay well to improve our stock?and pay
upon every hand to give more attention to the
dairy. land in Oneida county, N. Y., which
i a few years ago sold for $20 or $30, now sells
' for $1Q0 per acre.
Today I leave the Swannanoa* rivOr?a
pretty name?meaning "nymph of beauty."
Why don't some one who has a fancy for
pretty and high-sounding names, call a lovely
1 daughter "8wann,-\noa ?'?and when she gets
1 age enough, or gets off to the seminary, they
may nickname her "Swanand if it is a white
swan it is no less lovely and significant of
) beauty and purity. - The day is hot, and the
sky is sweetly blue. R K B.
' Orange Peel Poisonous.?The Pacific
Medical and Surgical Journal says: Now that
oranges are in every child's mouth, it is well
' enough for parents to know that fatal conse1
quences may follow the swallowing of the rind.
* Many years ago we had in charge two little
' girls, sisters, four and six years of age, who
' were seized with violent inflammation of the
' bowels from.this cause. Qne of them died in
' convulsions, and the other had a narrow es
cape. Since that time quite a number of instances,
similar in character, have come un*
der our observation.
Quite recently we have seen a child, something
over a year old, that was attacked with
violent dysenteric symptoms, for which no
, cause could be assigned. The attack came on
, during the passage of the steamer from San
Diego. The symptoms were so identical with
those which we had previously noticed to
arise from poisoning by orange peel, that we
woe induced to inquire particularly if the
child had had an opportunity of getting this
' substance in its month. We were informed
* that it bad been playing with an orange and
nibbling at it just before the attack of the
disease. The discharges from the bowels were
frequent, and consisted of blood and mucus.
After a week of severe enteric inflammation,
the child died. We have no doubt that the
disease was brought on by the rind of the or- ,
ange. Though but a small quantity must
have been swallowed, yet a very small quantity
of snch an indigestible and irritatinor sub
t stance will often prodace most serious consequenoes.
The oil of the rind is highly acrid, and adds
greatly to the noxious quality of the indigestible
mass. We learn that it is a common
practice among the children of some of our
public schools to eat therind, and that juvenile
merchants have been known to trade off
the inside of the fruit for the skin.
Congressman Morbjbsey's Gambling
House at Saratoga.?John Morrissey's famous
gambling house is one of the great lions
of Saratoga, for the great public. A correspondent
writing from that plaoe says:
"The average number of visitore there for
the week ending August 8th, was over one
thousand for each day, and of this number
some three hundred are ladies from the hotels
and boarding houses! The motive, I presume,
is one of pure curiosity. Even clergymen
go and take their families to see the gaming
tables, the cards, the balls, the dice, and
the elegant and spacious dwelling, justoppo'
site the famous Congress Springs. The appointments
are superb, though about all in
the way of furniture and furnish are of na1
tive make and from the city of New York.
Everything is grand, showy, expensive, ind
1 startling, even to the lota of $70,000 by one
1 unknown party, who the same night turned
' the tables upon his antagonist ana won $iZ4,000.
I hear of another quite distinguished
1 citizen in his way, who loet 113,000, and then
ran his loss up to $24,000, and all in one
' night The losing is easy enough, and the
winnings, I presume, are the exceptions, al*
' though the always, courteous and intelligent
' attendants of the so-called bank will tell you
1 that the bank can only make a small, though ,
generally, very certain per centage. And
' this certain per centage is certainly necessary
to keep up the splendid tables, wines, segan (
1 and attendance, all of which are as free as
Congress water to those who play and to the
invited.
Hard Study Kills Nobody.?Thought is
the life of the brain, as exercise is the life of j
the body. There can be no more such thing
as a healthy brain, as to the mental depart- i
ment, without thought, study, than there can
be a healthy body without exercise. And as.
physical exercise preserves the body in health,
so thought, which is the exercise of the brain,
keeps it well. But here the parallel ends; we
may exercise, work too much, in the way of
i expressing ourselves, for both writing and i
talking are a relief to the mind; they an in
a* nine its play; its diversion. Foot np
thoughts may kill, as pent up steam wrecks
the locomotive. The expression of thought
is like workipg off the steam from the boiler.
When clergymen break down, or public men,
or professors in colleges or other literary institutions
get sick and die, the universal cry
is "over study," "too much mental application."
It is never so; not in a single case
since the world began; we defy proo? and
will open our pages to any authenticated
case. If a man will give himself enough
sleep, and will eat enough nutritious food at
proper intervals, and will spend two or three
hours in the open air every day, he may
study, and work and write, until he is as gray
as a thousand rats, and will be still young in
x_T j i. flva
uieuuu vigvr tutu ucmuob.
man of renown who lived plainkj^Vflgularly,
temperately, and died early 7?HcJPe Journal
of Health. ,t ,
Germans and Dutchmen.?A correspondent
calk attention to what he terra a frequent
mistake of Americans. He says Dutchmen
in * this country are very often called
Germans, and Germans are called Dutchmen,
while the difference in nationality and language
is almost as great as between English
and French people. Dutchmen are Hollanders,
natives of that industrious and illustrious
little nation, from whence came the first settlers
in New York city and State, and in portions
of Pennsylvania. Holland, or the Netherlands,
is a kingdom, independent from any
other power, governed now by William HI of
Orange. Holland has never been a part of
Germany. As for the language, the correspondent
says: 'Though there are a few words
in the German language that are the same or
sound like the same in Dutch, a German cannot
understand the Holland language, neither
can a Dutchman the German, unless he has
had the neoessary instruction."
J&~If any poison is swallowed, drink in*
stantly half a glass of cold water, with a
heaping teaspoonful each of oommon salt
and ground mustard stirred into it This
vomits as soon as it reaches the stomach.
But for fear some of the poison may remain,
swallow the white of one or two eggs or drink
a cop of strong coffee?these two bring antidotes
for a greater number of poisons then
any other doxen articles known, with the advantage
of their being always at hand; if
not, a pint of sweet oil, lamp oO, drippings,
melted butter or lard, are good substitutes,
especially if they vomit quickly.4--American
Housewife. :.<> n: v
Hoxs CHRERFULKEsa?Many a child goes
astray not because there is a want of prayer
or virtue at borne, but simply because home
lacks sunshine. A child needs smiles as much
as flowers and sunbeams. Children look little
beyond the preepnt moment If a thing
displeases, they a^ prone to avoid it. U
home is the plaoe where fhoes are sour and
words hanh, and fault finding is ever in the
ascendant, they will spend as many hours as
possible 'elsewhere. Let every father aad
mother, then, try to be happy. Let them j
look happy. Let them talk to their children,
especially the little ones, in such a way as to
make them happy. ...
We a&e Still Ahead.?South Carolina j
sent the first negro to West Point, and will
probably send the first black nogro to Con
gress in the person of R. B. Elliott, if ho is a 1
genuine negro. We give the convention some 1
credit for nominating three negroes, Wimbush,
DeLarge and Elliott, for Congress, instead
of ^he carpet-baggers who have heretofore
represented Sooth Carolina at Washington.
This shows that the negro is elbowing
the carpet-bagger out, and he deserves credit
for it. Hoge, Bowen and Whitteniore will
have to hunt some other locality in order to
obtain office. We advise than to pack their
carpet-bags and "git"?Winnsboro News.
Who is Kirk ??The Detroit Free Press
says, that the wretch, Kirk, who is executing
the atrocious orders of Orant and Hoiden in
North Carolina was a land pirate during the |
lafc as. Tf aara Iia nlonv) Kimsfilf at *Vta S
i(?w ttwi av owjg ?iv |inr<^vu mmuwva* h? ?uv *m
head of a band of deserters from both the I
rebel and Union armies, and wentaboot plundering
the people.. In one locality he plan- 1
dered rebelb as a Union man, and in another I
he plundered Union men as a rebel. He I
traversed the border counties of Tennessee 1
and North Carolina, committing murders and ' 1
other outrages upon the people, and is, really, J|
at present, a fugitive from justice.
Death op Hon. John P. Kennedy.?
are called upon to chronicle the death of Hoi^^H
John Pendleton Kennedy, which took plac^^f
on Thursday evening last at Newport, R. 1.^^
while on a visit with his family to that plac^^
for the benefit of his health. Mr. Kennedy
had a national reputation as statesman and
author which reflected credit upon the city of
his birth. He was born in Baltimore, October
25,1795. He was the author of "Horse
Shoe Robinson," "Swallow Barn," Ac.; was
a member of the Legislature and of Congress,
and once Secretary of the Navy.
What is a Mile??The following table,
showing the length of a mile in different nationalities,
will doubtless prove of interest to
a number of our readers daring the contest
now progressing between France and Prussia;
Yards. Feet.
English mile 1,760 5^06
Russian mile 1,100 3,900
Italian ,. 1,407 - 4,401
Irish and Sootch .2,200 m > 6,600
Polish 4,400 13^80
German 5,866 * 17,508
Swede and Danish 7,233 21,099
Hungarian 8,830 26,490
French league. ..3,668 10,998
J?- A poor fellow begins' to go down hill,
and, as is usual in such cases, he keeps on till
he reaches the bottom, lhen people begin to -m
say, "God's hand is very heavy on ?o a*d x>," I
when, in fact, God has no hand, nppn hoa at> fl
all. It is only the feet of certain harddieait* I
ed rascals, who ought to be Ms friends, that I
have been kicking him from step to step
downward.
J?" The Chinese determine whs&fr ' thy
fear will be good orbed by placing at the;
commencement of the year a measure of sesd fl
in an earthen vessel, and leaving the vessel H
in a dark cellar fifty days. 'They then re- H
measure the seed, and as fh6 bttjfc he* it- fl
creased or decreased, the season wSTtie good H
or bad. ? .
. I ' OliUj A
J?" It is estimated that the whole number jH
of cod fish caught annually oh Newfoundland
shores is one hundred and forty millions. H
&-&&&
* , - ^^H