Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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i-ewis 3>i. grist, Proprietor.j |nbepenbent Jfamilg Uetosgnjjer: Jfor % promotion trf % |)jlitieal, Social, Agricultural anb Commercial Interests of % Sou% |terms?$3.00 a tear, lit advance. VOL. SO. YORKYILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, J.AUSTTTARY 15, 1874. NO. 3. - | ? - ^ ~ JUt (Original Jriotn. Written for tho Yorkvillo Enquirer. DESTINY; OR, HOUNDED DOWN. BY NELLY MARSHALL McAFEE. CHAPTER IX. The warning of old Mrs. McDonald had made Gertrude mad with jealousy. Had she coolly watched the process of the amour between Mrs. Vaughn Fessenden and her husband, she could not have failed to notice that it was a one-sided affair ; that Mrs. Fessenden betrayed not a shadow of interest in the man; that she treated him with marked coldness and disdain?indeed, too marked discourtesy, considering the fact that she continued to be a guest at McDonald Manor. It mfglit also have been noticed that she seemed always to be wrapt in a silent and profound melancholy. Poor Gertrude perceived nothing of all this; but consumed by jealous doubts and anxious fears, her nights were passed in sleeplessness and tears, and her days were weary and joyless. Her beauty, too, waned with her health, which rapidly gave way, uuder the pressure of sorrow upon her over-burdened heart. Her home still continued to be the resort of the gay company Irving McDonald had brought with him from Boston, and she was proud enough "to die, if need be, and give no sign" to the careless hearts and curious eyes around her. But matters could not exist thus forever. Soon the dcnoument came about, and set the wondering world agog. It happened one night, on the event of a masquerade at McDonald Manor. Contrary to his usual luck, Col. Vaughn Fessenden lost heavily. He had taken his seat at the table, expecting to win largely; but his luck turned, and his money vanished like ^ magic, until, at last, he drew out his check book and made assignment after assignment, all of which passed into Irving McDouald's pocket. But the winner was as haughty and indifferent as he had shown himself when his own thousands had gone "by the board." In her pink domino, and closely masked, Gertrude stole out of the crowded drawingrooms into the conservatory, to quietly enjoy froah mnl ?ir She sank down on a divan in the shadow of a huge laurel bush, all in bloom, with its white flowers a foot in circuit, shiniug through the dark, glistening leaves, like stars in the gloom. Suddenly, her ear caught the sounds of two voices, mingling in conversation, upon the balcony. One was the voice of a man?the other that of a woman. Listening attentively, Gertrude detected the accents. The speakers were her husband, Irving McDonald, and his beautiful guest, Mrs. Vaughn Fessenden. They, too, had sought refuge from the whirl of the ball-room, the music and glaring lights, ostensibly to enjoy the cool shade of the leafy balcony. Gertrude's heart beat loudly, and she involuntarily held her breath, as she sat, motionless and absorbed, straining her ear to catch every word that passed between them. "Mr. McDonald," Gertrude heard Mrs. Vaughn Fessenden say, "I have solicited this interview that I might crave at your hands a very great favor." "A favor, madam ? You confer an houor upon me. In what way can I serve you ?" "I have also resolved to remonstrate bitterly against your cruelty?" "Why, cruelty ? What mean you ?" "Yes; your cruelty in seekiug to wound me by ruining my busnana. iou nave enuceu him to the gaming-table, and he has lost immense sums!" "Mrs. Vaughn Fessenden, I am not the keeper of your husband's morals. He is just as welcome to gamble his money away as any other man. As for bis losing immense sums, it is my impression that until to-night he has been invariably the winner in every game. If you care to inquire among my guests and his friends, you will find my statement is correct ; and more?they will tell }*ou that I usually throw the game into his hands that he may be successful." "Mr. McDonald, I can fathom your treachery ! You long ago resolved to ruin and utterly degrade my husband. You have cast him into an abyss of destruction. Not one man in a million, entering it, comes out without wearing a dishonored name and being a pauper for the rest of his life. He sits at your gaming-table, and every day the tarnish upon his escutcheon grows darker. Were it not for his sake, I should never have crossed your threshold. I came here to watch over him? if I might not Bave him?as I have more r?-? - than once tried to do, by persuading him to cut your acquaintance. But my presence has not influenced you to show pity toward him. The time of his undoing is almost upon him, and I warn you that it will be marked by - --A. -P A.l J him wun some act ot awiui nuu ucopciuic rashness!" "I ara a delighted listener, Mrs. Vaughn Fessenden. I have not lost a word of your forcible and eloquent argument," answered Irviug McDonald, in a voice, the intonations of which were musical and suave; "I do not hold myself amenable for the omissions and commissions of your honorable and distinguished lord, Colonel Vaughn Fessenden, of the United States army. He is no longer a minor; but has arrived at the age of maturity, and I am not enough older than he to assume the part of mentor toward him." "But you are responsible for his errors," she cried out, reproachfully; you lost your money to him that you might lure him on to play, and finally wiu it back with interest. I tell you, sir, you cannot blind my eyes. You cannot dupe me! You, and you alone, have instilled this poisonous passion into his blood and into his brain! You want to ruin him. It has been your undying effort for six long years !" "If I do," he answered, with a light and scornful laugh, "you have nobody to blame but yourself! Why did you marry him, beautiful Cecelia ? If he is a fool, and you find it out too late, that is not my fault! You know how deeply?how devotedly?how passionately?I loved you. Why did you cast me and my love aside, and marry the old dotard ? You alone are answerable for all that happens?let it be good, or let it be evil." And so saying, Irving McDonald laughed? a loud, hard, sneering, mocking laugh?that made the warm blood curdle in the listener's ' heart. And so laughing, he turned to leave | her, when the sharp report of a pistol was heard, and his merriment ended in a sudden cry of pain, as he fell forward on his face. I The confusion that now took place was in! describable. Gertrude sprang through the open window out upon the balcony, with shriek after shriek of consternation and alarm; ; for the bullet that had found lodgment in her i husband's breast had whizzed past her own j head, through the laurel boughs, and she had ! seen the steady white hand holding the silver ! pistol in its deadly aim. Mrs. Vaughn Fessenden had disappeared into the crowded ballj room again, and left Irving McDonald lying j prone upon the floor, with a red wound in his i breast. Gertrude's cries brought nearly every guest j in the house to her side, and among them, old i Mrs. McDonald, senior, who said, with great i calmness and forethought? "The expose of this affair will cause great : scandal and excitement, ana i impose suerice ' Upon you all. Remove Irving to my apartment. I can tend to him better than any j surgeon you can find in this country?having ' studied surgery in Paris, years ago. If I find that I overrate my ability, doubt not I will j summon medical aid quickly enough. Carry ; hirn carefully," she added, turning from the awe-stricken guests, and addressing the menials who were lightly and tenderly raising | him ; "I will follow you." "But who did it ? Who could have been ' so cruel?so treacherous?" cried several guests, j in a breath. j "It was her husband?Mrs.?" j But before Gertrude conld fiuish her sen| tence, old Mrs. McDonald caught her savage; ly by the arm, and hoarsely whispered in her ear? "As you value your life, not another syllaI ble! Go to your own rooms?" "Never?never," cried Gertrude, breaking ; away from her mother-in-law. "I will go with j Irving !" and she followed the retreating ser| vants, who bore their bleeding and speechless ! master away from the awe-stricken, wonder! ing crowd. I An Virmr nflarward. the house was eloomy and silent. Not a voice was heard ; not a footstep echoed along the galleries; not a light was to be seen, save the shaded night-lamp in the sick-room of the host, who still lay speechless and pallid, with the red wound in his breast, which his mother and his young and beautiful wife, all through the night, watched beside him, giving him soothing driuks and bathing the wound with fresh water, until the day light came. CHAPTER X. T 1 /-IntAnn/] iflOD O A Q nCTflV- \ ATVlUg luwuuaiu a nuuuu ,??o u u?u^i ous?almost a fatal one?yet the queer old mother, who had studied surgery in Paris, was the only physician who probed it, and dressed it, and healed it. But for many and many a day he lay, without the faintest hope of recovery, with Gertrude on one side of his couch, her eyes seldom undimmed by tears ; and the old mother on the other side, cool, constant, prompt and attentive. No expose of the would-be-assassin was made; but Gertrude never, for one instant, doubted that the man was Colonel Vaughn Fessenden. She was so engrossed in the conversation between her husband and the beautiful Cecelia, that she did not observe that another than herself had sought the shadow of the laurel tree, until just before the she? was fired, when she heard the rustling of the leaves near her, and turning in a quick, star tied way, she saw, for an instant, the sturdy form of a man in full evening costume. His hair was gray, and she noticed distictly the hand that held the pistol. It was ghastly white, and the muscles of it were teneioned like whip-cord, while the grip upon the deadly weapon was steady as if it had been moulded, enfer fondre. She recoguized it instantly, > as the hand of Colonel Vaughn Fessenden. I She had noticed it a hundred times before, and marveled at the strength it showed. She did not doubt, that he, too, had overheard the conversation between his wife and her husband ; and infuriated by his jealous feelings , and his losses at gaining,.he had, on the iu- J ; stant, striven to be a homicide. But Gertrude never breathed a word of all 1 this, after that first night, when her mother i in-law so peremptorily silenced her. She j kept her kuowledge to herself, and let her heart gnaw upon itself in secret. | The bitterest of all to her was the memory j of Irving's confession to Mrs. Vaughn Fessenl den, that he had loved her devotedly ; and Gertrude never doubted for an instant that he loved her still. She could not understand how he could uproot and kill outright passion once felt for so beautiful, so brilliant a woman. But this indescribable torture of her soul'was hidden under a face of impenetrable calm ; and never the slightest sign of ! uneasiness or doubt was shown to him or any ! other living being. She watched beside his sick couch with per| sistent devotion. She scarcely ate or slept j enough to keep life in her body. She mur| mured loving words in his ear, moistened his j parched lips and fevered brow, aud smoothed I his weary pillows. One afternoon, old Mrs. McDonald com| plained of being tired out, and insisted she i must go to her room and rest. Irving was ! asleep ; Gertrude sat down in the deep bay j window of the room, the heavy curtains drawn I ornnrwl hpr ehnttinnr (int. nvorv rav of liffht j (tl VUMM 11 | ^ " " """" J ~ J O j i from the apartment, and completely obscur| ing herself from view. Opening a book, she tried to read ; but she could not engross her j mind, and soon the volume fell from her 1 nerveless hand to her lap, and her dark, un| happy eyes looked out upon the parterres of i flowers without a ray of appreciation of their '-beauty. They could not brighten the gloomy i depths of her eyes, and her thoughts recurred ' again and again to the recent scenes through J which she had passed. | She had been thus lost in reverie for half I an hour, perhaps, when she heard the knob of ; the door turn softly, and listening closely, she f knew by the almost noiseless step that the in! truder was a woman. To draw away the wini dow drapery and flood the room with light, j was to expose herself; so Gertrude sat still! j and listened attentively. Irving was restless. | Her acute ear heard him turn on his pillow, j and then she knew by the faint exclamation ! that broke from him that he had wakened ! also. j "Cecelia!" "Yes ; it is I," answered a soft voice, in a I hushed and tremulous whisper ; "I cannot tell , you how much I have dared to come to see j fo: : you!" wi j "0! Cecelia, Cecelia !" moaned McDonald, J : in a voice of passionate tenderness. : he She knelt down by the bed, and put her 1 si: | white hand on his feverish forehead, while she 1 en murmured piteously? i hi "I was the unwitting cause of all your trou- le: hie?all your paiu?I will tell you some day, he I in atonement, why I married Colonel Fessenden. I believe now that he lied to me, to of . alienate me from you. His mad jealousy has j lii : almost killed you. 0! Irving, Irving, can j pi i you forgive me ? Will you pardon me for all j ^ ^ j the pain and sorrow I have brought upon you? j ] ' Answer?for God's snke, answer me !" ' ?a . ' he "Mv darling, tnv darling," groaned McDon-, 1 aid, "I have nothing to forgive." l And worn out with anguish of soul and (!0 weariness of body, he hid his face upon her Jjj j shoulder and sobbed, with her, like a little I ta ! child. I \y | Fearing his agitation would cause a relapse, J wi j Gertrude rose with a gasp; aud.drawing aside j the velvet hangings that covered the arched j te? window, she stood silent, immovable, fully ! exposed to the two weeping occupants of the vo apartment. She stood there like an avenging angel. Not a word passed her lips; not a co sign?only she stood there?statuesque, impos- ot ing, grand?unapproachable. At her unex- de pected appearance, Mrs. Vaughn Fessenden bi drew the heavy cloak and hood around her tie head and person with which she had disguised ac herself, previous to her entrance, and in an instant had disappeared. | lei "I am sorry I frightened away your visit-1 fri or," said Gertrude, with fixed eyes on the I nr door through which Mrs. Fessenden had ; wt passed. Her voice was soft and calm, and ra after she spoke, she advanced toward the n'i couch. m Trvintr pvnpntincr to be overwhelmed with m -- ' - *&? ?I o ? - reproaches, vouch-safed no reply; but turning gn his face to the wall, pretended to be sleepy, mi He was mistaken. He had never dealt with ! do a woman of the spirit and character of Ger- j op trude Fairleigh. She had no intention of tri troubling him with a single question, or dis-1 co turbiDg his repose by one unkind remark. It mi was her husband's request, in the early days of his illness, that not a guest should leave sa his house; and so they all remained, enjoying ag themselves in a quieter way than was usual de among them, accustomed as they were, to ban- an quetiug and dancing. But beyond this change bl in their entertainment at McDonald Manor, in: everything went on as it did before the fatal hi shot was fired at their gracious host; and to Gertrude, at times, when she could leave her husband, appeared among the company, srail- eti ing?as affable and hospitable as ever. She mi was a magnificent actress, and upou the boards (^a she would have met with the most signal suecess. tei A few days after Mrs. Vaughn Fessenden's lo' visit, Gertrude sat in her boudoir with her th queer mother-in-law, who was full of asperity wl and experience as usual. Gertrude was very an much perplexed with this persistence of her j th husband's in keeping the house full of com-1 pany, and especially Vaughn Fessenden and J wi j his wife, and through all his illness never j fr< 11 ! L: i ! ?? : Olice allowing a puysiciuu iu euiei Ilia npuit- au raeut. She finally determined to question her "si mother-in-law. ' ga "I cannot understand all Irving's whims wl about these people, madame," she said ; "can st( you explain to me? I fancy were I an in- an valid, their presence would greatly trouble j St me." | bii I Mrs. McDonald flushed and shrugged her j all shoulders. She was well aware why they re-! fa< raaiued there, but she had no idea of telling \ Di Gertrude, or any one else. j tri "I know nothing about the matter," she ! gr; said, when Gertrude persisted in receiving a b], reply to her question; "if you are curious and want explanations you had better address yourself to Irving. You are his wife and ni< have a right to know all about him that you ! pa desire to know." | sal | "No," said Gertrude, with a sorrowful sigh, | Mi "you are mistaken, madame, I have no rights un as a wife. You prophesied truly to me, j Dc months ago. Irving no longer loves me ; we 1 Gt are divided in heart and life, and will never I do be bound again. Mrs. Vaughn Fessenden is j mc - mistress of his affections. That fact is clear j enough to me now." "Did jealousy open your eyes, child ? If not how came you to see at last?" Oi "No matter how I learned ; I am wiser than ces I was wont to be. I can never be blindfolded again. I know more than you dream I do!" in< Mrs. McDonald started, and visibly pallid, ho asked eagerly? "Do you mean about your husband ?" wc "Yes; about my husband." of "What have you learned of him ?" he "That is the fact I do not intend divulging his to you, or any one else, at present." Mrs. McDonald frowned ominously and fastened a questioning gaze upon Gertrude's i quiet face, as though she wanted to read her ' very soul. But the young wife bore the scru- ch ' tiny dauntlessly, and the mother-in-law was ed j left in the dark as to the extent of her suspi- D< j cions or of her knowledge. aa ' Gertrude's heart was slowly breaking ; but su] j no one noted -her misery or even suspected it. tri j The crowning pang came soon, and complete- \va j ly crushed her. Oneday she saw Mrs. Vaughn he Fessenden slip a note into the nana or one or j?e her household servants, with a sign which she wl instantly interpreted as Masonic between them, ser "Horace," she said, deliberately advancing sa^ toward them, "come to my boudo??;" and j to there she stood waiting his attendance. Notb-i or 1 ing was left for Mrs. Vaughn Fessenden to do j frc , but pass quietly into the drawiug-room. Hor-: ha ' ace had deftly concealed the note entrusted to lie; 1 him, and with suave obsequiousness followed ! after his mistress. in j Arriving at her room and entering, she j no | closed the door and locked it. ! to "Horace," she said in her most imperious j sto | manner, "deliver to me the letter Mrs. Vaughn J Vi ; Fessenden gave you just now." I ale "Letter?" answered the servant, looking j sui ! dazed and idiotic; "I have no letter, mistress." "Do not tell me a falsehood !" Gertrude's: na ! voice was resolute and severe. "I saw her j | hand it to you. I know it is meant for your ! pu I master. Deliver it to me this moment!" 1 hie She fastened her penetrating eyes upon the frc trembling servant, and he instantly yielded j art to her command. She then went to her es-; in| critoirieaud counted out his wages. j hu Handing them to him, she said? ! ser "Your services are no longer needed in my j his house. Consider yourself dismissed, and take j bei my advice; go away from Bristol on the first tin train?up or down?and never cross Irving ste McDonald's path again ; for he will kill you lea r your treachery to liira. If you remain, I 11 kill you for your treachery to me." In her grand wrath, which culminated with :r last words, she fairly towered above the c-foot menial?such is the surpassing influce and majesty of true dignity?and treming in his boots, he received the money and ft the apartment, soon .after quitting the iusc forever. Once more alone, Gertrude broke the seal the delicate, perfumed note, and read these ies, penned in Mrs. Fessendcn's chirogra?y: "Bki.ovkd IrvinTj:?Wg must not 111 net again, aimot eomo to you; you must not seek mo more, nave come to this decision, not only for my own ke, hut for the sake of your beautiful wife. Her sart is breaking. My womanly nature can ugo hers ! She is too proud to show it; but hor os tell that she is unhappy, all thesame as if her is avowed it. You will lie out to-morrow as a nva!ascent. Bo careful; be warned. Col. V. is tter and implacable. Ho will endeavor, over id over again, to accomplish the purpose of king your lifo by violence. He seems positivenourished by his hatred of you. Do not, by ard, sign or deed, show that you are aware he us the man who shot you ; and do not now engo it. Avoid me.Ail eyes will be upon us. hen you meet him be just as affable and eour3us as you always were, else he will accuse me betraying him, andlwill.ntjfcr. O, Irving, my ve, niy love, be warned?be wary ! An rcir. C.M Gertrude put the letter away, making no niment about it to anybody. She was aware, course, that her husband and Mrs. Fcssenm knew exactly what had become of it; it they were reticent as she was, and no no:e was taken even of the dismissal of Hore. The next day after Gertrude intercepted the Lter, Irving made his appearance among his ends, and that very hour festivities comenced agaiu at the Manor. The old life is resumed. Music and dancing, and the | ttle of dice, filled the hours of day and ght. Just as soon as his health would perit it, Irving McDonald joined in this magficent style of living, and frequented the ming-table oftener than ever, and playing are recklessly than he had been known to i hitherto. Col. Vaughn Fessenden played iposite, as of yore, and Irving McDonald ?ated him with the same grave, undeviating urtesy that marked his intercourse with all en. Every night, for two weeks, these two men t opposite, pitting their skill and strength ainsteach other, and Col. Vaughn Fessen' - 1- 1 _ lL- 1 4.^ n was lnvariauiy inu nisei tu nuiuuiw uounts. It made his temper perfectly terrie. He was rude to his associates, dornincerg to his inferiors, and autocratic and unnd to his wife?one day even using oaths ward her. From the time that he made this breach of iauette and decorum, Irving McDonald's anner changed to one of cold and high disin ; and the day that it happened, it was lispered among several that McDonald mutred : "Brute!?scoundrel!" and then folwed up his execration with a ringing oath at made the hair stand on end. No man io heard it, doubted that Irving McDonald d Col. Vaughn Fessenden were enemies to e death, and beyond the grave. One day Fessenden sat do?vn to the table thout a dollar, and commenced to borrow >m his companions. He borrowed and lost, d borrowed and lost, until they declined to take" him, and then Irving McDonald be11 pushing piles of money toward him, all of lich he re-won; and still Fcssenden played ;adily on and on, until the dark came down, d the night passed, and the day dawned, ill Irving McDonald sat liira out to the tter end. Everybody else ceased to play ; 1 eyes were fastened on thein. Fessenden's :e was haggard and hollow-eyed ; but Mconald wore a mask that none could peneite?only his lips seemed to close with a im and malicious satisfaction, and his terri2 eyes said to the gamester : "I will beggar you yet!" Gertrude marked Irving's strange excite;ut; and quiet and pale, she passed and rcssed the apartment in which the gamblers ;. Fessenden was full of dogged despair. cDonald's face fairly blazed with cruel trijph. The last toss of the dice came. Mc>nald held the cups; it was his throw. ;rtrude, shivering with horror, stood at the or gazing, half dazed, at her husband's do >niacal expression of exultation. The die was cast. McDonald won ; Fessenden lost. And the excitement died out as if by magic. ie man was ruined; but another was suc3sful ; and the winner was the host. Fessenden's head fell on his arms. "Rujd !?ruined !?ruined !" he murmured, in arse and broken tones. "Satisfied !?avenged !" were the only two ?rds that escaped through the clenched teeth McDonald; and only one or two who ard his terrible oath, when Fessenden cursed i wife, knew what they meant. CHAPTER XI. After the events recorded in the previous apter had closed, all the company adjournto the banqueting hall, where Irving Memaid did the honors of the board with his customed well-bred courtesy. From the pper they adjourned to the dance. Deride never went far from her husband. She .tched every movement; saw every glance ; ard every word. She noticed that Mrs. ssenden disappeared after supper; and icu the evening was well advanced, she ob ved a servant go up to Mr. McDonald and / a few low words. Her husband nodded ! him, and quitted the salon without excuse j apology. Instantly disengaging her hand J ?m the arm of her attendant cavalier, she j stily followed him, with a wildly beating j art. McDonald went to his own private room, | which he never allowed his wife to enter? | r any one, indeed, save his valet. He failed : close the door after hira, and Gertrude od near it, an excited listener. Mrs. uighn Fessendcn was within, and McDon1 greeted her with a loving exclamation of rprise? "My darling, why were you so importute ? What is the matter ?" Gertrude grasped the door, and softly ! shing it open, stood within the room, but Iden by the velvet drapery which hung im each arched doorway, as well as each | died window, at McDonald Manor. Drawr the hangings slightly aside, she beheld her sband standing close to Mrs. Vaughn Fesiden, with his arms clasped about her, and i face bent down to hers, blazing with a mtiful light of tenderness and admiration, it refined and softened every feature of his rn, majestic face. Seeing this, her heart ped to her throat, as if it would choke her; but she curbed herself with awful resolution. "Oh ! Irving, my own, my very own !" murmured Cecelia, in an imploring voice ; "I was importunate because I knew your danger. You have ruined Vaughn Fessenden, and he has sworn an awful oath to be avenged. I would save you from his cruelty ! I am willing to bear anything?only save yourself? for if you are harmed, it will kill me. You are my life, my love?my one hope on earth! Fly! Do not delay a moment! There is safety for you only in immediate flight." "Will you go with me, Cecelia?" She wrung her hands and cried piteously? "Uo?go?go !" "Not without you !" he answered, firmly. "You will lose your life if you linger!" "It is not worth saving without you are mine!" and he pressed her to his breast.with passionate vehemence. "0, McDonald! You are cruel to tempt me in an hour like this ! Iam a wife ! You are a husband ! Fly, fly, while there is yet time to save your precious life !" Mrs. Vaughn Fcssendeu no longer attempted to control herself. She fell upon her knees, and sobbing aloud, hid her tear-blotted face in her trembling hands. "Come with me then?if you would save me!" said McDonald, attempting to raise her from the floor. "You ruined my husband," she moaned? let that suffice! Spare my soul! Were you the same man I once knew and adored, you would never seek to drag me to the depths of infamy for one hour's passion, and as recompense give me a whole life-time of despair. Oh ! listen to me. Restore to Fessenden the money you have won and fly?fly for your life, while yet there is a chance to save it!" McDonald laughed scornfully, and whirled off on his heel. Cecelia sprang to her feet. Her face was white as marble; her eyes dilated ; her nostrils quivering?her lips trembling, with emotion. "McDonald, doubt me not! You are betrayed. Vaughn Fessenden?I?the whole world?has unmasked you at last! Everybody has learned, in the last hour, what you are I" Pier voice was impressive ; her pronunciation of every word slow, distinct, incontrovertible. Irving McDonald staggered back, as though he had beeu shot; but regaining himself in a moment, he advanced dose to her and eaid bitterly and haughtily, striking his hand on his breast as he spoke? "Know me, then, for what I am ! I have not a blush?not a regret?for my course ! I tnUof ainii mnrlo mo! All mon O TO wllflt. C*111 T? IICIU yviv IIIUUV UIV iuv*a m? v > ??>? women make them ! You wanted wealth ; I went out to seek it?if not to win it by honest labor, to gain it by magnificent fraud. If it was the crime for which I will yet suffer death, you, and you alone, are accountable for the blood that will be spilled! I have been a counterfeiter for years. I have triumphed ; have held the good, the great, the brave, the beautiful, at my feet. I have lived like a king ; I can die like one 1" "0, God !?O, God !" cried a voice, in anguish. The velvet hangings rustled?there was a fall, and Gertrude McDonald lay prone at her husband's feet. He looked down upon her, as, white and still, she lay in Cecelia's arras, who sprang forward when she fainted. His face was corrugated with pain ; his eyes terrible, in their darkness and fire, as he uttered? "She loved me better than her life ; but I was ungrateful. I never appreciated her?do not now?and yet to lose her, causes me a pang; for she is the truest friend?the faithfulest love?my wretched life has ever known !" Stooping, he kissed her, and with a reproachful glance at the face of Cecelia, passed out of the room. "Not a word of farewell! And yet I loved him?madly?passionately?must love him so forever!" Cecelia exclaimed, softly putting Gertrude from her arms to the floor, and ris ing to ring the bell for assistance. When the servant appeared, she pointed to his mistress and left the apartment. He fled for Mrs. McDonald, senior, who came in, flushed and anxious. She did not comprehend the scene ; but then was not the time to ask questions?it was the time for immediate action. An hour later, when restored to consciousness, Gertrude lay quietly sleeping the dead, dreamless sleep of exhaustion and excitement, a servant brought the old lady a note from her son. It contained only a few words: "Gertrude knows everything. I flee for 1113' life! Destroy cvory proof?every line?every paper. I sleep to-night in the vault, where the engraved plates will be buried. Guard Gertrude against saying a word, Ry hor love for me, I ask it. Aet quietly and promptly. Trust the rest to me. Know nothing. Resent everything. I. McD." This was all; but it was enough. Calm, impenetrable and imposing, this wicked old woman, whose love for her unworthy child raised her above ordinary mortals, sat there, awaiting the issue of events, ready to die, if need be, in defense of her son and his property. She sat there stern, haughty, repcllaut, and mysterious as the sphyux that glares, unmoved, across Coptic sands at the vastuess of Eternity. ? . CHAPTER XII. After Irving McDonald left Mrs. Vaughn Fessenden and his wife, he went immediately to his private anartment. and stood there for some moments, immovable as a statue of stone. His face was livid ; his lips colorless and compressed ; his brow lowering and meditative. After a while, he threw up his hands wildly, and a fire of unquenchable resolution shone in his wonderful eyes. "I can't avoid it," he muttered; "she is frivolous and weak ! I dare not trust her; my mother must manage her. But Cecelia! Cecelia! my beautiful?my own. Any fate would be acceptable that gave her to me, to have and to hold, until death parted us! 11 mus* write to my mother. She is the anchor that holds my ship steady in the waters. 11 cast my faith on her! And then?then?I must secrete myself." So saying, he caught up a pencil aud scribbled the note to old Mrs. McDonald, which we read in the previous chapter. The night passed away calmly, contrary to expectation, and the warm sun shone out once more to brighten and beautify the world. Mrs. McDonald, giving out the information that Gertrude had been taken suddenly ill the evening previous, aud craving that the "goodliecompanie" would excuse her and her son, as their duty was owed first to the perfect wife and excellent daughter with which they had been blessed by the kindest Provi-! a dence, silence again reigned in the festive d< halls. hi | Col. Vaughn Fessenden was the only guest pi ; who absented himself; and he leaving his wife ; as hostage for his return, had driven into rn Bristol, for McDonald Ma^or was over a 1 ei I mile in the suburbs of the town. He had j ei been absent two or three hours, when old Mrs. re McDonald, leaving the apartment of her daughter-in-law and carefully locking the d; i door after her, wended her way through intri- n cate passages and down numerous flights of fl stairs, into the basement of the house, and p from thence to still another story underground, se and finding herself in a dark, narrow hall, a she closd the door after her, through which o she had passed last, and striking a match, lit " 1 ? ? * ?U-J U: !,?*/? fl a small ciarK-ianieri], wmuii bug uuu uiw?w m carried concealed in the ample folds of her tl dress. Going along this hall, she paused at a r< low stone-door, and made three distinct raps fl upon it with an iron wedge that was lying near, when, after a few moment's delay, it "i was pushed aside, and Irving McDonald's stern, paleface confronted his mother's aux- li ious eyes. She stepped in, trembling as she v moved, her agitation rendering her almost st breathless. ai "Irving, my son,'' she said, "you must fly c< from here through the secret passage. Re- d< member, when I warn, you are in danger, and ai must not resist me 1" ui Instinctively, he thrust his hands behind aj him and drew from his pockets two magnificent silver-mounted revolvers. "I can defend h: myself pretty well with these friends on either ir hand," he said, with a cruel smile." m "They will help you most when you turn fe them against yourself; for if you do not obey h; me, you will be lost. Fessenden has gone to n Bristol, and I know he has gone to betray you ! 01 The whole town will come against you in tc force, and the very people you brought here, w who have grown fat on your generous hospi- tc tality, when they find you are 'down,' will d trample on you?stab you to the heart?mur- h t . - a x n der you ! uoey me. i must return to \aertrude." ir "About Gertrude, mother; can she be u trusted ?" he asked, earnestly. b "She loves you, my son," she replied. st "I am answered; but she knows that / love c< Cecelia," said he. d "A woman never goes back for reasons when she loves. Gertrude has concentrated b her soul upon you," answered his mother. k "Might I trust her to join me? Or do you believe Cecelia loves me well enough to share ray fortunes, good or ill ?" questioned Irving, anxiously. Mrs. McDonald's lip curled scornfully. C) "Cecelia cares too much for the world and a its good opinions. Had she not cared, she ? would never have wed Vaughn Fessenden. e( He betrayed you to her, and it was that in- J formation that turned her against you ! Do not expect her constancy, therefore, in an C( hour like this. She, even yet, does not know ^ that at one timo he was implicated with you. j? I have withheld that vengeance for the last 8j grand stroke 1" "How? What mean you ?" sc "If he betrays you, he betrays me; and I ft will turn State's evidence, and he shall fall ? with us!" said the mother, setting her teeth ,1 hard. jj' Irving was silent for some moments and l then answered her in a positive voice? r? "I will never consent to it. Cecelia shall e\ never feel a pang of sorrow through me or b( mine. If she cares more for the world and ra the world's opinions than for my love, I have no wish to live." His voice lost its firmness, and the sentence was finished in a whisper. jn Just then continued blows were heard on w the hall door, which Mrs. McDonald had so in carefully closed ; and before the heavy stone w could be pushed against the aperture that led ^ into the vault they occupied, a crowd of men rushed into the hall and pressed about the entrance. Not a man dared enter. The old m mother had thrown up her arms despairingly, is and staggered back against the wall, over- gf come with a sickness of soul that seemed like di death itself. ar But Irving McDonald stood confronting the new-comers, firm and hard as a rock. In each hand he held a revolver, their glittering silver mounting shining in the light the company wi carried, to show the way. They never imag ined he would be prepared to resist them; but gjJ thought he had sought the cellar of the house ja in which he was hiding, like the criminal he was, afraid of the light of day and the voice th of justice. But here he stood, haughty and undaunted as ever, in the hour of peril. Vaughn Fessenden had gone in search of a sheriff; had betrayed McDonald, and return- p( ed with the officer to arrest the criminal; but pS now that he was here with nCarly fifty men at m his back, he dared not fulfill his duty. E McDonald bad no idea of being trapped se like a frightened and timid hare. At the ra first rap on the door, he had drawn his revolvers, and held them levelled, but did not fire te at the entrance around which the excited crowd had gathered. He had infinite tact, and saw, in a moment, the drift of the people opposing him. jp There were no arms visible. The sheriff j? and Vaughn Fessenden led the van. Mc- Qr Donald fixed his eyes upon them, and cried out in a ringing voice: th "The first man who dares to draw a weapon pi on me, I will shoot him down like a dog I" 19 They all heard the ominous click of the m triggers, and stood appalled. His eyes were ^ blazing; his mouth resolute ; his hands firm; W( his wrists like iron; and the very position in cli which he stood, imbued him with more than ni ordinary strength, desperation, and courage, do In spite of his danger and his defiance, his ca manner, as he confronted them, still displayed 33 all the perfect finish of a brave, high-born $ eomo monnnr thnf. fnrftflHA. nir gCIl LiCUJcVli tnu oauiw IUMUUV4 VIIM* ?V4VW?.VJ I V/i^ in his prosperous days, that any man should ed ask of his antecedents. |!? There he stood, holding them at bay, when . his mother, becoming suddeuly imbued with her olden, dauntless spirit, raised herself from col her leaning posture against the lichened wall, tot and advancing steadily to his side, said in a on low voice, as she drew two revolvers from her re] breast, where she had held them concealed ^ for his defense? Pe "Go, my son, through the passage. I will g hold them as they are, and will fire on the a 1 first man who mores. Nevermind mel My lai mother was a French woman." tra For one moment he hesitated. Then, step *r< by step, he receded to the other end of the room, with his eyes still fastened on the sher- a f iff; and there pausing, lowered one pistol, and an putting his hand behind him, pushed against I tin well-known spring. Xtie neavy sione recc2d, and, with a backward bound, McDonald ad passed out of immediate danger, and ushed the stone in its place. He paused a moment to listen?only a molent?then, "bang! bang!" went the revolv s, one after the other. He knew his moth had fired upon the crowd, and that it was seeding before her. He laughed loudly, as he stood there in the arkness, which was so intense that be could ot see his hand before his face; and then, eet as the wind, he sped along the secret assage, heedless of everything but his own ifety. Once in the hills, and from thence to great city, he could defy all the myrmidons f the law. Again ho laughed; for he heard once more ie report of a pistol?no louder, now, than le crack of a toy torpedo?but he knew his solute mother was at her post, pursuing the j eeing crowd. ( "Bless her! Bless her!" he exclaimed; she is worth all the women in the world." But the exclamation had hardly passed his ps, before he stumbled and fell?having adanced, sooner than he expected, upon the eps that marked the ascent of the passage? . nd as he fell, he groaned ; for one of the jcked pistols he still held in his haud, accientally discharged its contents in his hip, ad there he lay?all a heap of pain?and nable to move an inch, without extreme ?ony! "Oh ! God, I am lost 1" he cried out, through is clenched teeth. "I cannot move, and I lust lie here and die like a dog. Not even ly pistols!" he cried in despair, for when he ill backward after receiving the wound, he ad dropped them from his grasp and he was ow out of the reach of them. He could aly grope around as far as his fingers would )uch, in the hope of finding them ; but they ere not near. There he lay?either doomed ) starve ; to die of his wound; to bleed to eath ; or be at the mercy of his enemies, when is poor old mother wassubdued and arrested. He lay there in this utter despair, mutterig oaths, and then calling on God for mercy, utii at last, exhausted with sheer waste of ? i .1 i ^ i ^ ream ana ineiossoi uiouu, u? ueuaujo ijunc ill, and waited, with dogged resignation, the sming of those who would yet hunt him own eagerly and unmercifully. And so waiting, and so despairing, insensiility stole over him like a deep sleep, and he new no more. [to be continued next week.] An Indian Legend.?The new Indian gency between Grand River and Fort Rice, illed Standing Rock, derives its name from large boulder standing out alone upon the rairie about three miles from the river, here is a strange Indian superstition connect3 with this rock, and the Sioux City (Iowa) ounial thus tells it: "We made a visit to it a short time ago in Dmpany with Major Palmer, the agent at lat agency, who told us the legend of the jds regarding it. Many years ago a poweril band of Indians made that section their imping grounds. The chief of the band eserted his old wife for a young squaw. This > grieved the old Queen that she went back ora the river and sat upon the ground and lourued for several days. Upon the ninth ay of her grief she turned into this large sulder. The Indians at that agency all beeve this story to this day, and worship the Dulder as a God The rock has been decoded with ribbons, pieces of red flannel, and rery high colored piece of cloth they have jen able^ to get hold of since time out of iud. These decorations are replaced as ten as they become decayed or blown away j the winds. At the time of our visit it was immed in the most gorgeous trappings imagable. Every portion of it was covered ith either ribbons, or rags or paint Witlia few inches of the sacred stone is a pail of ater, which is never allowed to become erap; for it is the belief of these igoorant people at the old Queen of their ancestors frelently assumes the form of a squaw and inks the water. In former years she drank uch more than at present, they say, but this easily explained. Then there was more ime there, which, in wandering to the pail, ank the water. To disturb this bucket or ly portion of the trimmings of the petrified uaw is considered a great offense against the reat Spirit." The Bankrupt Laws.?The hot haste ith which the House of Representatives ished through the repeal of these laws, inices the suspicion thatsome individual hard* ip or some particular odious feature of the ws, must actuate this action. We hope that e U. S. Senate will be more deliberate in eir action. The financial crisis, from which we are st emerging, makes this a most inopportune no 6-ir tlia rAnAn.1 nf the BankruDt Acts. bere are features that might be amended, ourteen days non-payment of commercial iper, and the involuntary suffering of judgent ought not to be causes of Bankruptcy, xemptions ought to be uniform, and expen9 of proceedings less. Let proper araendents be made, but let the bankrupt laws be permanency ; like in England, where a peranent system has existed since 1842, a sysm, too, of which ours is almost a copy.? rinn$boro News. ? ? The Heart.?The Boston Jourmal of hemislry, in speaking of the heart, gives the llowing facts: The average weight of this ;tle mechanism is a little over half a pound, to be exact, 9:39 ounces. The work done r the human heart in a ^iveri time exceeds at done by the muscles in a boat race in the oportion of about 20 to 15 ; but this work ^ unceasing during life, while that of the uscles in a boat race can be continued for ily a few minutes. Helmbolt showed that e heart exerts force enough to raise its own jight 20,250 feet in an hour. An active imber can accomplish only 9,000 feet in ne hours (?), or one-twentieth of the work me by the heart, while the best locomotive n only raise its own weight 2,700 feet in the me time. OTUen. rincKney, our minister 10 rrauce, ;hty years ago, has commonly been regardas the originator of the expression, "Milns for defense, and not one cent for tribute." has been said that he used the expression reply to a statement that a certain sum of mey would settle the troubles between this untry and France; but a citizen of Charlesi, South Carolina, now shows that Pincknev, being asked if he ever made such remark, jlied : "No; my answer was not a flourish :e that, but simply, 'Not a penny, not a any.' " There is a singular natural curibsity in akein Vermont, consisting of 150 acres of id floating on the surface of the water. The ict is covered with cranberries, and there 3 trees fifteen feet high. When the water raised or lowered at the dam of the pond, 3 island rises and falls with it. It affords ine shelter for fish, large numbers of which 3 caught by boring a hole and fishing down if ugh, as through the ice in winter.