Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, January 11, 1883, Image 1

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

lewis m.'gbist, proprietor. | Inbtpnbtitl Jfamiip fUtospajitr: Jfar % promotion of % fnlitical, facial, Agricultural anb Ctrimntrriai Interests of t|e ?rat|. |TERMS--$2.50 a year, in ADVANCE. 1 i , i "" VOL. 39. YOEKYILLE, S. C., THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 1883. jSTO. 3. I ^elected fuctrg. ! SUNSHINE. j Broad and bright the sunshine On the terrace lay, * i Touching with an equal ray, In equal gladness to illume Violet-bed and yew-tree gloom. 1 Yet within the silent room ] Dimly rose the day. Merrily the sunshine j Caught ihe upper pane, But as yet it strove in vain, * With its glitter to surprise i The yearning in the lady's eyes, Who, lonely, 'neath the* sweet Spring skies, ? Fought life's long fret and strain. , Lower crept the sunshine Down the lattice tall, Till it saw its radiance fall N All along the silent floor, Past the noavy close-shut door, Through the room that knew no more Light step or cheery oall. The triumphant sunshine, Flooding all it saw, Laughed at hist her gaze to draw, From where the phantoms of the past An eternal sluidow cast; And her glances fell at last, As in breathless awe. Where the glorious sunshine, Danoed, and shone, and glowed, Where the treasured picture showed The tall cross that stood above All her best of life and love, And 'mid her bitter sorrow strove To point the higher road. "And," said the happy sunshine, "Oh! heavy eyes that mourn, Oh! heart/from its chief moorings torn, Look at the joy with which ho dowers The wakening earth and budding flowers; Trust to the God of sunny hours, Nor dare in griefs keen scorn "To turn away from sunshine; Nor in the sense of loss, With reckless hand aside to toss, The comforting through nature given, The trials of our way to heaven. See how the brightest gleam from heaven Clings longest round the cross." ALL The Year Round. HER OX? C1IAXC E; AXD HIS. A CHARMING ROMANCE. ' There she is," said Dot, as a tall, slight figure with a trailing black dress and a scarlet shawl came around the corner by the lime trees, and walked slowly toward thera. "That.'a Miss Maverick?and ok. Reginald ! she's lovely." "Is she ?" said Reginald, a little dubiously. "I shouldn't?" but the near approach of the strauger kept back the remainder of his sentence, and with his lowest bow he expressed himself "delighted" at meeting Miss Maverick when Dora introduced him. "My cousin, Mr. Lanster, Katherine." Miss Maverick bowed in answer, took a calmly critical survey of the young geutleman, and after saying a few words to him and his companion, walked toward the house. "So that is Reginald Lanster," she said to herself. "Dot's fate !?lucky little goose !" "You think she is 'lovely,' do you V" debated Reginald, when the tall figure had passed by. "Not very good taste on your part, I think, Miss Dora ;" but, oddly enough, he ? turned his handsome head and looked after her, for all that. "What did you say she was, Dot ? A music mistress V" "Yes," answered Dot ; "our music teacher at school. When papa was calling the other day to see me sne was in me iuum giving uic ? my lesson. He heard her name and spoke to her, and it came out that he and her father were great friends in early life, and he invited her to come home with me for these holidays. Mr. Maverick was a Colonial merchant, or something of that sort, and his affairs got bad with him and he died." "And so the daughter has to teach music V" "Yes ; such a pity ! Such toil it is ! And she is so nice I" ran on Dot. "I am sorry you do not like her." "I did not say I disliked her," contended Reginald, who liked to have everything his own way, conversation included. "IIow can I like or dislike her, Dot, when I never before set my eyes upon her ? She is a grand young woman ; I concede that, and perhaps she will improve upon acquaintance." . "There ! Improve 1" Reginald laughed ; he was fond of teasing little Dot. She was but eighteen this month, and had come home for good ; he was twentyone. Both of them were wealthy, and according to family plans and projects, in two years more they were to become man and wife. "Never mind," said Reginald, loftily. "I say she may improve on acquaintance ; meanwhile, let us talk of something else," But still when a turn in the path brought the graceful figure, with its scarlet and black draperies into view again, he turned his head and looked at her once more. "She walks well," 1 said he, "like a Spaniard, and they are the 1 most graceful race of women I know." l "How was it you only got here this morning, Reginald ??and are you come to make a s long stay ?" 1 "That's as may be," answered Reginald, passing the first query over. "Depends perhaps, nj>on how you treat me." # "Oh !" exclaimed Dora. "Why we always treat you well. Papa and mamma are always glad to see you." "What a dear, simple child it is !" thought the young man, superior in his three years elder wisdom. He made better acquaintance with Miss j Maverick in the evening. Her dark, oval face J looked well by gaslight ; her eyes were large and lustrous ; her heavy black hair, braided in a coronet and destitute of ribbon or orna-1 ment of any kind, w.is a wonder in itself ;und , although her dress was so plain that, on an- j other woman, it might have seemed almost! "dowdy,"?her tall, graceful figure made it j seem a garb fit for a princess. Her manner pleased Reginald. She was la-1 dy-like, quiet and dignified ; brilliant, too, he ; found in conversation when he heard her talk-! ing with his uncle. Mr. Lanster, a pleasant; well-informed man, seemed much struck with j her. "A fine woman," commented Reginald to ' himself. "I rather admire her." But the : "one woman." anuarentlv itmorant of his kindly feelings, was unapproachable an4 distant all the evening. The next day it was the same, and the next, ; and so on, until at last Reginald Lanster? handsome, petted, conceited fellow that he ! was?became fairly piqued by the singularly | chilly manner of the "poor teacher," toward whom he would have been unusually suave and amiable. Katherine Maverick, never thinking to of- j fend or slight him, looked upon him as a boy. Little more than a boy was he.yet?only twenty-one, a handsome, idle, good-natured good for nothing boy. He had left college before his time, had come to his property, and felt very much disposed to have a "regular good time" of it. He was vain ; he had been made much of all his life, and he had been falling in aud out of love continuously since the remote period when he had first donned a pair of boots. He had been deeply in love with no less than three young ladies since coming down from college, but when he started on this visit to his uncle's he made up his mind to devote himself to Dot only during his stay. Rut he found Dot rather much of a baby, or a schoolgirl, yet. And several days went on. "Dot is a darling" he said meditatively, as he strolled down to the beach alone one afternoon, Dot having been borne off to make some "stately calls," in which Regy flatly refused to participate. "Such a dear, little, kittenish thing, so different from that Miss Maverick. Still she's hardly?Halloa!" for a sudden turn, around a jutting rock, caused trim almost to fall over a (lark-robed lady, who iat there gazing out to sea. "Iam sure I beg your pardon," he said lifting his hat. "I didn't know you were tere." The soft dark eyes were turned slowly upon tiim. "Ah, it is you," she said, with a smile, tvhich made Regy wonder how he had ever thought her plain. "I often come here?I ike to watch the sea." The slender hand drew her dress away slighty from the other end of the rock on which ihe sat, and Reginald, emboldened by the smile, gallantly asked permission to seat himself beside her. It was astonishing how quickly they became icquainted, Miss Maverick, on the sands done, and all to himself, was very different Tom Miss Maverick in company; and Reginald soon found himself talking and laughing vith her freely, as though they were quite old :'riends. Not until the slanting beams of the sun .varned them of the flight of time did they hink of returning homeward, and then, as diss Maverick, drawing her shawl around ser, rose to go, he said, with boyish directless,* "1 like you a great deal better than I thought I did. * I hope I shall have a chance ;o talk with you again." "Thanks for the wish," she answered, aughing softly, and then they separated, she joing slowly toward the house and he waiting lehind on tiie beach to indulge in a cigar, and, V>r n wnmlwr t.hinkinnr "By Jove, she's a splendid girl ! That ittle stupid Dot's nothing beside her. I must mltivate my friendship with Miss Maverick. What a shame that she should be a teacher n Dot's school. She's a true lady, if ever .here was one." After that they met often; by accident, as t seemed to Katherine. Sometimes on the )each, or in the shady garden, or .in one or )ther of the quiet rooms of the pretty little louse?for this was only Mr. Lanster's seaside residence. "Regy seems to be very studious all on a sudden," observed Mr. Lanster one day. "lie loesn't care to go out with us at all; he is ilways strolling out in solitude with a book." Alas for Regy's "solitary studies!" The look which accompanied him was generally ised as a hasssock for Miss Maverick's trimy booted feet, and Regy himself was studyng quite another volume. Mrs. Lanster di'* lot often invite the teacher to accompany serself and her daughter on these visits ; the ittle open carriage held but two besides the soachman, and Regy was sure to find her on the >each or among the rocks. Then perhaps they ....1 .. TIt-fl,. oftliofnf ?nmA ?P<1 llf* utu a nine otuuj vnuv v* wv^v iive book of poetry. This was all very nice and pleasant; still t w;is dangerous. Regy knew it; perhaps Miss Maverick knew it. Regy knew perfectly veil that if the real state of affairs was dis:overed he would be sent home to his mother n disgrace, and that there would be, as he expressed it, "a devil of a row all round," md Miss Maverick suspected that her stay vitli Mrs. Lanster might be of extremey short duration, should the full extent of ler intimacy with the young heir become mown. Both knew this, and yet perhaps this knowedge was partly that which made the situa,ion so pleasant?a spice of danger is always fascinating; and so, as the days passed, liegy ound himself doing precisely the thing which le ought not to have done?falling tremulousy in love with this tine girl, fathoms deeper ,han he had ever gone before. And Katherine Maverick! She laughed it him, petted him, scolded him, .and called lim a "foolish boy," unconscious that she laily made the net stronger. She was not a ichemiug woman, not a hard-hearted woman, )ut she was poor and siok to death of hard ife, and perhaps this rendered her less scrupu-' ous than she would have been. Besides, vhy did they think her not good enough to >ay visits with them i that stung her; why lid they leave her alone to liegy's society V [f Reginald Lanster some fine day asked her ,o marry him?ah ! what a prospect it would )e! She should say "Yes!" It seemed to be ler one chance of lifting herself out of her indesirable life. One consideration would be i drawback to it, and that was Dot. The child was so honestly fond of her, she lonfided all the secrets of her innocent heart to ler, and the chiefest of these was about her :ousin Regy. Katherinefelt a little conscience stricken as the girl talked to her on this subect. "I love him so dearly," Dot said one lay ; '*1 wouldn't tell anyone else in the world nit you, you seem like a sister now, and I enow you can be trusted." And thus with ler curly head on her friend's shoulder, she you Id talk of Regy and herself and of the 'some day" which was coming in the near 'uture. One Saturday afternoon, when Mr. Lanster eturned from town, he brought with him a friend, Mr. Sarmiento. Dora observed that (he supposed it must be a Greek name, as Mr. sarmiento was a Greek merchant; very rich md and powerful. lie lived in a beautiful louse near town, and had one little girl, but 10 wife, for she was dead. A tall fine man >f some six and thirty years, sensible, well nforined, with a pleasant voice and manner. lie sat next to Katherine at dinner, and seemed greatly pleased with her, and was with ler afterwards during a good part of the evening. "That's a very nice young woman you have ivitli you, Lanster," he remarked to his host ivlien they went out together with their cigars for a short stroll, the last thing. "Ay; so I think," warmly replied Mr. Lander. "You remember Maverick, who was in | the Colonial trade seven or eight years ago." j - J G "And made that fiasco in it ueiore ne uieu r Ves." "Not his fault, though. John Maverick was as honest as the day." "His misfortune, then, I dare say it was so. Well, what of him ?" "This is his daughter " "No!" exclaimed Mr. Sarmiento, in surprise. "His daughter?and teaching in a school!" "What would you?" quietly returned the host; "Maverick's means died with him?and his wife died of grief soon afterward. The poor child had nothing left to live ujH)n, so she remained in the school where she was being educated as a music mistress, and I fancy?as general drudge." "Poor girl, indeed V She seems to me to deserve a happier fate," concluded Mr. Sarmiento. It was Thursday, the sixth day of Mr. Sarmiento's stay. Other visitors also had been coming and going. Most of the leisure time of that gentleman seemed to be devoted to Miss Maverick, when he was obliged by courtesy to devote it to others. He certainly enjoyed talking with her, their conversation often turning on her late father and the years gone by. If she went on the oeacn, ne wcnuu join her there ; if she sat by the shady nooks of the garden, he would be sure to find her. At night she sang the songs he liked and asked for, and she sang very sweetly. Reginald Lanster felt that he should like to drown Mr. Sariniento. Reginald had fallen deeply in love with Miss Katherine, but never he thought as much in earnest as now. He wandered about in a torment of mind inconceivable ; partly caused by jealousy, partly by indecision?for he could not quite decide whether to brave his mother and all the Lanster family and offer Katherine his hand ; or whether to let his love die away by and by, as it had died out for all his former flames. On this day, Thursday, watching Katherine, his aunt, and one or two more ladies, attended by Mr. Sarmiento, start off to walk to some ruins in the neighborhood, the young man felt especially bitter. "Why don't, you come also, Reginald V" called out Mr. Sarmiento, as he ran*past him at the door to catch up with the ladies ; not, however waiting for any answer. "Hang him !" muttered Reginald, considering himself unreasonably ill used. It was not altogether about Katherine, his grievance; j it was on the score of neglect as well. Formerly he was all in all in the household ; now nothing was cared for but this old Sarmiento. In a frightful temper he vent olf to the i beach. Dora followed, slipping her hand, j cousinly fashion, within his arm ; all unconscious, poor child, that he no longer saw in her "the sweetest little girl in the world," but an emissary of unkind fortune, whom he could not help showing temper to. It was hard upon her, altogether hard. Regy put it more strongly, and called it, in selfreproach, "devilish mean." But there seemed to be no help for it, and would not be until that wretch was gone. "How long does that fellow intend to stay, Dot ?" he cried. ""What fellow ?" asked Dot. "That Sarmiento." "Till Tuesday next, I think. I fancy he and papa are going up together. Don't you like him, Regy ? "We all do." "I should like to shoot him!" ferociously avowed Reginald. "fVV* 1 lmw onn wAit V Whv Via ic varv niPA I v/ii ? iiun i/c*u juu 4 i* ii j , iiv iu ? ?.?j ?w looking. His hair is as bright as gold." "Hang his hair!" growled the young man, as he shook off Dot's gentle hand and strode away from her. Poor Dot, not understanding matters, in the smallest degree, sat down on the sands and cried a little. What was it that she did, that she had been doing for days past, to offend Reginald and make him so cross and captious? Evening came. Reginald was its much out of sorts as a fairly well-behaved gentleman cThTlcrbe. What, with one impediment or an- 1 other, two whole days had passed since he had spoke to Miss Maverick?save in the ordinary commonplaces of the family circle?and he ; was feeling decidedly savage. To add to his annoyance, Miss Maverick seemed in no wise j to sympathize with his discomfort, or even to notice his state of mind. He sat moodily in a corner, watching her with jealous admiration, for she was looking her very best. The soft white dress that she wore was perfection, with the scarlet fuchias drooping at her throat and in her back braids, ; sinH iinr iwlpfapfl wasmade even more brilliant and striking l?y contrast with the fair red and white dames around her?and Reginald was driven almost to desperation by a well meant 1 word from his aunt. "Miss Maverick looks wonderfully well to- ! night," said that smiling matron. "I should < not be surprised if Mr. Sarmiento were grow- i ing really interested in her. What afortu- 1 nate thing it would be !?and he is a good 1 man." "I wish you'd not talk nonsense, aunt!" 1 was the peevish retort. "Well, it may be nonsense; I dare say it t won't turn out to be anything else," laughed i Mrs. Lanster ; "but the best of us are match- i makers, you know. Have you a headache tonight, Regy ??you seem out of sorts." "Yes," he nodded, "an awful headache." 1 Headache and heartache also, he might have < added, had he dared. Mrs. Lanster moved away, leaving him in a fever of impatience. 1 There, at the opposite end of the room, stood i Katherine, in her stately beauty, and Mr. Sarmiento at her side talking with her. 1 "How is it that you shun me ?" abruptly demanded the young fellow, accosting her, when he got an opportunity. "But I do not shun you," she answered, ] smiling. ] ' "You do.' You art ever with?with somebody or other," retorted Reginald. "Why it's days and days since we had one of our pleas- i ant walks by the sea." ] "Is it?" i "Don't you mean ever to go for a walk with me again r" ' "Indeed, yes?if you wish me to go. I will 1 go for a walk to-morrow morning if you like, the first thing after breakfast." I His brow cleared a little ; his tones, grew i smoother. "That is a bargain, mind you, Miss Mav- i erick ; a promise." . 1 "To be sure it is. I will keep it, weather ! 4-AnnK{n/? f Kof ??Aiin ct 1 iiULllil^* 1/Ul ? lUULllllJ^ niau jwuiijj ** dv's aj-un-a^gho was approaching Katherine with a utessage from her mother?"will go " with us." # 1 This was not exactly what Mr. Reginald wanted ; but he coidd not decently object to i Dot's company. Katherine was called upon to sing and no more was said. In the morning they took the walk, the 1 three of them, the weather being all sunshine ; and sweetness. Rather a long walk they made of it strolling hither and thither, and did not : get home until close upon one o'clock. There 1 news awaited them ; Mr. Sarmiento was gone. 1 "Gone !" exclaimed Dot. "Why, what's he gone for ? lie said nothing about going at breakfast." "No," saj^Mrs. Lanster, "I do not think < he decided Until later. lie had some business 1 letters this morning, and was uncertain whether to go or write. He made his mind up all at : once ; and he left his best adieux to you all." i "Much obliged to him," returned Regy, in a semi-sarcastic, semi-jesting tone. "Is he < gone for good ?" i "Oh, yes," said Mrs. Lanster. "Quite for I good." ! At which assurance Mr. Reginald went into the seventh heaven. ! "Miss Maverick," began Dot, that same day when the two girls were alone together, < "do you know that mamma is disappointed ?" i "At what ?" innocently asked Katherine. ] "At Mr. Sarmiento's going off in this ab- i rubt way, without saying anything to you." Katherine, who was leaning half out of the ' open window, thoughtfully twirling a carnation about in her lingers?they were in her i bedroom?turned to look at Dot. "But, wliy V lie could not help it. wnat should he have to say to me more than to you < and Reginald ?" 1 Dot laughed. "Don't be angry, Katherine, 1 but mamma has been privately nourishing a ! little romance. Mr. Sarmiento was so greatly * taken with you ; he seemed to like so much to : be with you and to talk to you, that she 1 thought he might have some intention of?of I proposing to you." Katherine Maverick stared like one puzzled. "Oh, Dot !" "Have I offended you?" breathed Dot, for ' the tone was half an angry one. "I did not ; mean to." : "Xo, my dear, you have not offended me, I was only surprised," spoke Katherine Maverick. "Believe me, Dora?and I hope you will I repeat this to your mother?that neither by | word nor by look did Mr. Sarmiento ever hint;; at such a thing. Such an idea would not have < crossed ills brain for a moment, and I am sure it never crussTd-mine. The whole world might have heard every word he said to me. He used to converse with me on general topics?and ; about my dead father?and sometimes he would speak of his little girl?Emma." "Well, it was a notion mamma took up. But, Katherine, could you not see that he I liked you ?" "The word 'like,' has various bearings, Dot, j my dear. Mr. Sarmiento liked me as an ac- j j quaintance ; I feel sure of that ; and I saw | that he did, rather, seek to converse with me. j Once or twice a yery ambitious idea did creep j i in, in regard to the why and the wherefore;! I but not the outrageously ambitious idea that! you hint at, child." "And what is your ambitious idea, Kathe-; j rine ?" Katherine blushed. "I know I must be very | j foolish, Dot, but I fancied it just possible that! he miglit be thinking I should make a suitable 1 ; governess to his child. And what a change it 1 ; would have been for me from that scl 1 That is the only notion that ever entered my j : mind upon the subject, Dora, upon my honor." "Yes, that would have been nice for you," sighed Dot. "It is all at an end now." "(^uiteat an end, and I was silly. Xo harm is done, my dear." Katherine Maverick spoke the truth. Mr. j Sarmiento seemed as far above her, in regard ; to any closer connection, as the sky, and she { : had never glancedat anything so preposterous. | ; A grave, sensible, good man, rich and grand and great, and good looking withal, and she a poor music mistress I She hated the prosi)ect of returning to the j school with its feaiful drudgery, from which there was never any intermission from Monday morning until Saturday night, no eleva! ting companionship, no interchange of higher 1 thoughts. If she could but escape it ! Iler heart felt faint at times, at the very hopelessness of the wish. i A few evenings after the departure of Mr. 1 i Sarmiento, when the stars were beginning to j peep out in the heavens, through the deepening twilight, Reginald betook himself to the j terrace with his cigar, and sat down there out of humor. The house was very silent. Dors was spending the day with a young friend, anc1 Mrs. Lanster retired to her room when dinnei was over, complaining of indisposition. Miss Maverick disappeared also?and that was the sore point with Reginald. "She might have been civil enough to stay with a fellow," he grumbled, tilting himsell back in the light chair. "Did she fear I should eat her ? There's the moon now!" What harm the unoffending moon could do him, rising above the trees in its beauty, he best knew. But his meditations were none oi the pleasantest, his mind was on the rack. Tc be or not to be was the momentous question he was always debating with himself. The leaves rustled gently in the cool night breeze ; beyond that no sound was audible. The cigar finished, Reginald folded his arms and fell into a waking dream. Light footsteps aroused him from it. Miss Maverick was coming up the garden, her scarlet shawl folded round her shoulders over her white dress. "You out here!" exclaimed Reginald. Ilia face, illuminated by the moonlight, showed his delight more plainly than words could have done. "I was thinking how awfully solitary it was. Do sit. dsjjRrn a minute ; here's a chair." "I was so restless," she answered, smiling, as she took the chair. "I think I must have felt like Herodias' daughter?compelled to wander; and so I wrapped myself in this great shawl and went out." ' What was it aunt hinted at during dinner, just a word or two, about your going away ? What did it mean ?" "I did not hear it. But I am going to-morrow." "To-morrow 1" echoed Iiiginald. "Was it purposely kept fi#m me." "It has not been 'kept1 at all from you, that I am aware of. I only knew it myself to-day." "I thought you had another week to stay here V" "To-morrow is the day I am due. Mrs. Lanster wrote to Miss Poole to beg for another week for me, and I had her answer this morning?no, I miist go back to my duties at the time appointed. Your good aunt did not tell me until just after dinner." "It's shameful!" cried Regy, much dis curbed. "It was worse for me than for anybody else," said poor Katherine. "After all these pleasmt days here, to have to return to Purgatory." "That's a strong word," said Reginald. She smiled faintly. "It is what the girls have christened the school. Shall you think Df me sometimes when I am gone V" "Think of you!" repeated he, with feeling, [lis young face painfully earnest.* "Katherine, must you really go ?" "Why, of course, I must," she answered, her own face full of pain. "You must not go." "Rut I must go. What else can I do V" "You can marry me," he replied, so suddenly that he was almost startled at himself. "I love you, Katherine, and you know it." "No, no," she whispered, in agitation. "Rut I say yes, yes. Katherine you cannot think of leaving me to despair. What would life be worth to me now, without you. Oh ! my love, be mine !" She turned to him with an impulse of tenlerness, took his hand and clasped it between both of hers. "You are very generous, Reginald, and I thank you, I thank you truly. Rut it must not be. Think of your family." "Rother my family I" was the energetic response. "I want you for my wife, not my family's." Nevertheless, a qualm of conscience took him as he spoke, in spite of his bravery and his defiant feelings. She slightly shookJier head; she knew. Reginald had released his own hand and imprisoned hers. ' "Resides" rather hesitatingly?"our ages ire incompatible. I am older than you." "I am twenty-one, I am my own master." "I am twenty-five," she quietly rejoined. "You?forgive me, Reginald, for saying so? you are but a boy." "Iam not a boy," retorted Reginald. "I im master, I tell you, of myself and of my fortune. It is two thousand a year ; it will be more, later." Two thousand a year versus her life of toil! What a visit it was!?what a temptation ! "At twenty-five a woman seems quite old, compared with a boy of twenty-one. The world knows it to be so, Reginald." UT or,-, ol.l Annnrrl) trt 1-linil' TT1V flWTl minil L (UII U1U ClIUU^II \j\f JW?VSW lam j w .. .. .... ind heart, and I love you, Ivatherine. Oh! my dear one, I cannot give you up 1" She had risen ; one slender hand lay on the dhow of the chair, with the other she held her ihawl together at her throat ; and Reginald, tiis handsome face full of entreaty, stood beside her. "Katherine, speak to me," he said. But 3he was silent. It was her one chance, she told herself; the mly chance she should probably ever have In life. Here was Reginald Lanster willing, pleading, to make _ him his wife in love; no more dreary teaching, 110 more worrying care. It was an overwhelming temptation ; but still Katherine Maverick stood silent. On the soft hand which rested on the chair \ gold band with a sapphire stone gilstened ; if rtrou <1 vitlnr TvlilV.ll hnrl orivPTl llfT Illlfl it brought the loving, innocent little girl forcibly to her remembrance. She thought how the child had opened her heart to her in perfect and entire trust when whispering of her love for Ilegy. She thought how fragile and delicate the girl was?how cruel would be the shock to her when she learned the extent of treachery enacted against her by the two beings she esteemed most in all the world; "and she loves him," added Katherine. "No, I cannot do this." The warm pressure of Itegy's hands fell on hers, hiding the ring from view. "Why do you hesitate, Katherine ?" he breathed. But she stood yet in silence. . It had not quite passed, tho temptation. IIow strong it yet was she never afterward liked to recall. "Treachery, and worse than treachery," she thought; "treachery in more ways than one, and to others beside Dot. Shall I thus requite Mr. and Mrs. Lanster?who have been kindness itself to me ??worse than all, shall I store up for myself before Heaven a remorseful conscience that never would be at rest: No, no, no. Painful days and weary nights to my life's end rather than that." "Katherine!" he murmured softly?and then his face came nearer, bent closer, and for a single moment he drew her head down 011 his shoulder, and pressed his lips to hers. "Don't, Reginald," she faintly cried, drawinn -nviiv nnrl ufui-iriinfr prppt. hpfnrp him. "It was a great temptation, but my better angel was with me and I have conquered. What you ask can never be?do you not see what treachery we would botli be guilty of?1 especially:' I have been very pleasant here, pleasanter, I dare say, than any time for me will ever be again, but to-night ends it." "Can you be so cruel," he burst forth, lib eyes tilling. "You may think me cruel now, but yoi will know better in time, and then you may thank me. Perhaps in the days to come when you and Dot are a happy husband am: wife, you will invite me to stay a week witl you. But I shall never come here before that We will say good-bye now?and I thank yoi for all, Reginald. Some feeling in his own heart told hiu she was right. lie clasped her to him witl a great sob and took another kiss from hei lips. And so, the next day, Katherine Mavericl went away, back to "the dreary school, witl the good wishes of Dot and all her friends but with a lonesome weary ache in her heart "I shall never forget you," breathed Regi nald as he saw her into the carriage; "yoi might have made my life's sunshine, Katlie rinc." She smiled faintly as she waved her ham to him in the distance. "It was my om chance," she thought again ; "but I am thank ful my resolution held out not to take it. Am now for Purgatory I" She had been back in Purgatory only a weel or two, when one morning a servant came t the class-room with a message: A gentlemai h?ul called to see Miss Meverick, i Very much surprised, Katherine, pencil in I hand, and black stuff apron on?as all the : teachers were required to wear?to the par5 lor and saw Mr. Sarmiento. He had come 5 to ask her to be governess to his little daughter. "O, I should like it ; I know I should like ' it," she said, her face beaming with pleasure. I But I'm afraid?" "Afraid of what V" asked Mr. Sarmiento, i smiling. > -"I do not think Miss Poole will release : me." > "Supposing Miss Poole does release you?is it what will suit you ??what you seem yourself fitted for?the charge of one little girl V" ; "I truly think so,"answered Katherine. "She is rather a rebellious child and requires i firm management. My good old aunt, who lives with me and has much indulged her, con: fesses that Emma is getting beyond her con[ trol. But dear Aunt Rachel is just as mild as s mild, and Emma knows that quite well." "I do not fear being able to train her," i spoke Miss Maverick with a beaming face, i "I shall begin by making her love me." ! "Just so ; make her love you," returned Mr. Sarmiento in a pleasant tone. "I need , not say, Miss Maverick, that you will be entirely as one of ourselves in my home ; regarded as a visitor, not as a governess. And with , regard to remuneration, Rachel thought a , I hundred a year?if you would consider that t suHicient." "A hundred a-year! cried Katherine, breathlessly. "For me ! Why, I only get twelve * pounds here. That is why I have to dress so plainly." "Then we will say it is settled," returned Mr. Sarmiento. "Oh, if it might be !" sighed Katherine, her ardor damped. "But there's Miss l'oole." "Kindly leave Miss l'oole to me." "I should not like to seem ungrateful?and she has just raised ray salary," debated Katherine. "Two pounds more. Until this term 1 have had but ten." "I will settle matters with Miss l'oole," he , answered, laugiuug. Two years later. Reginald Lanster and his young wife are on a visit to Mr. and Mrs. Sarmiento. "What geese we were in those old days, Katherine !" exclaimed Reginald, in a moment of confidence; for he was just as outspoken as ever. "So silly and foolish." "Speak for yourself, if you please, sir," said Mrs. Sarmiento. "I think the contrary. Ah, Reginald, fate and fortune judged better for us than we were inclined then to judge for ourselves. Had I been the goose implied, you might be a less happy man now than you are. We should never have suited another you and I." "Well, no, I dare say not," candidly acknowledged Reginald. "You would have been too clever for me ; too sensible. Hot is the dearest little wife in the world, but she has not a bit of cleverness in her ; she : she gives in to me in all respects." "Just so," said Katherine. "And I should have lectured you and kept you in order? which you'd not have liked. What ever is, is right, you know. There is a far wider truth in that assertion, Reginald, than the world generally realize." "Yes, I thought of Katherine as my possible wife when I was staying those few days with your father and mother." answered Mr. Sarmiento to Dot, when they were conversing together of old times. "I was very much taken with her. I came home and talked it over with Rachel ; she was always telling me I ought to marry again ; and we agreed to invite Miss Maverick here as the child's governess, that I might have the opportunity of seeing more of her and deciding for it or against it." "And you decided for it," nodded Dot, approvingly. "I did : and shortly, too. Dear Katherine ! I often think it was heaven itself that threw the chance in my way." WIIY THE CoxFKI)RATE SOLDIER FAILED. The following interesting and truthful sketch of the difficulties and dangers with which the Confederate soldier had to contend, and the cause of his final failure, is taken from McCarthy's "Soldier Life in the Army of Northern Virginia." "The Confederate soldier opposed immense odds. In the 'Seven Days' Battles' around Richmond, SO,000 drove to the James River 145,000 of the enemy. At Fredericksburg, in 1802, 78,000 of them routed 110,000 Federal troops. At Chaucellorsville, in 1863, 57,00q under Lee and Jaekson whipped, and but for the death of Jackson, would have annihilated 1 an army of 132,000 men?more than double their own number. At Gettysburg, 02,000 of them assailed the heights manned by 112,000. At the "Wilderness, in 1804, 63,000 met and successfully resisted 141,000 of the. enemy. At Appomattox, in 1865,8,000 of them surrendered to the host commanded by Grant. The United States Government .at the end of the war, mustered out of service 1,000,000 of men, and had in the field, from first to last, 2,000,000. If the Confederate soldier had then had only this disparity of numbers to contend "'Dli L? wnnld h:ive driven everv invader from the soil of Virginia. "But the Confederate soldier fought, in addition to these odds, the facilities for the transportation and concentration of troops and supplies afforded by the network of railI ways in the country north of him, all of which I was subject to the control of the Government, I and backed by a treasury which was turning | out money by the ton, one dollar of which was i equal to sixty Confederate dollars. ! "It should be remembered also that, while 1 the South was restricted to its own territory i for supplies, and its own people for men, the I North drew on the world for material, and I every nation of the earth for men. I "The arms and ammunition of the Federal 1! soldiers were abundant and good?so abun-1 dant and so good that they supplied both armies, and were greatly preferred by ConfederI ate oflicers. The equipment of the Federal i armies was well nigh perfect. The facilities | for manufacture were simply unlimited, and 1 1 j the nation thought no expenditure of treasure I | too great, if only the country, and the Union ! i! pnniii hp saved. The factory and the foundry I i chimneys made iv pillar of smoke by clay, and I of lire by night. The latest improvements were hurried to the front, and adopted by ' i both armies almost simultaneously, for hardly i! had the Federals bought, when the Confederj ates captured and used the very latest. 1 "Commissary stores were piled up all over Virginia, for the use of the invading armies. 1 They had more than they coukl protect, and i their loss was given to the hungry defenders ! ' j of the soil. ' | "The Confederate soldier fought a host of ills > ' occasioned by the deprivation of chloroform ! ; j and morphia, which were excluded from the | ' Confederacy by the blockade, as contraband of j ' war. The man who has submitted to ampu-' i tation without chloroform, or tossed on a j ? couch of agony for a night and a day, without) sleep, for the want of a dose of morphia, may , 5 possibly be able to estimate the advantages I which resulted from the possession of the Fed-1 i: eral surgeons, of an unlimited supply of these. 1 I "The Confederate soldier fought bounties , 1 and regular monthly pay ; the "Stars and | I Stripes,' the 'Sta; Spangled Banner,' 'Hail i Columbia,' 'Tramp, Tramp, Tramp,' 'John ; . | Brown's Body,' 'Bally Round the Flag,' and i' all the fury aud fanaticism which skilled minds j could create?opposing this grand array with i! the modest and homely refrain of "Dixie, 'supi j ported by a mild solution of 'Maryland, my , r: Maryland.' lie fought good wagons, fat I horses, and tons of quarter-master's stores ; t pontoon trains, of splendid material and coni struction, by the mile ; gunboats, wooden and i j iron, and men-of-war ; illustrated papers to : cheer the 'Boys in Blue,' with sketches of the - j glorious deeds they did not do ; Bibles by the | i car load, and tracts by the million?the first, - to prepare them for death ; and the second, to j urge upon them the duty of dying. 1 i "The Confederate soldier fought the 'Sanie tary Commission,' whose members, armed i - j with every facility and convenience, quickly j i ! carried the sick and wounded of the Federal! ! army to comfortable quarters, removed the i k ' bloody garments, laid the sufferer on a clean o and dry couch, clothed him in clean things, ii and fed him on the best the world could afford 1 and money buy." Ipswnatteflusi finding. HOW TO GROW CARP. Hon. D. Wyatt Aiken in News anil Courier. Chicago, December 14.?I was latterly called from duties to the Northwest, and returning through this beehive this morning I concluded to spend a day in attendance upon the National Agricultural Association, which I knew was in session here. The day has been one of much interest to me, and the most interesting portion of it was spent in listening to an hour's talk on the subject of fish culture by one Captain Pearce, of Pennsylvania, and while waiting to-night for my train, with his speech fresh in my memory, I thought the time might be well spent in dotting down for publication those ideas most essential to your readers who are attempting to grow fish, many of whom I know live in the third district. The speaker, Capt. Pearce, seemed to intimate that he was master of his subject, and what he did not know about fishes was not worth knowing. He said, let those who have the time and spare money attempt to grow nuut ?uu uma fishes, but the masses must grow only the carp. This was the fish for the people, and about which the people knew but little, and were attempting to practice the culture of without knowledge, and consequently going directly in the face of what was correct. The carp is a native of Asia, where it has been cultivated grown and fattened, even in w.ish tubs, for centuries. Six hundred years ago it was introduced by Jesuits into Austria, thence into (iermany, Prussia and Italy, in which countries to-day hundreds of thousands of acres of ponds were devoted to their culture, and upon which almost millions of people subsisted. The carp is a timid fish and should never be in a pond with other fishes. Big carp never destroy little carp. They hybronate at the first cold weather in the fall and come out when the sun grows warm in the spring, exactly the same size they were in the fall, having lived through the winter with their whole body buried in the mud head downward. They grow only when the water is warm. They should never be fed but "pastured" upon the natural vegetation of the pond. They do not spawn in sand beds as other fishes, but the female spawnsjipon growing vegetables and the males lash these growing plants with their tails throwing the milt over them. There are usually three males to one female. They grow more the second than * - J . X x!11 the first year, and siioiua not De eaten tin they are three years old. when they will vary in length from a foot to eighteen inches, and in weight from six to nine pounds. They can be grown as cheap food for the million, while it will cost nearly a dollar to grow seventyfive cents worth of any other fish. There should be three ponds, immaterial whether they are together or not. They may be miles apart. One for the spawn and yearlings, one for the two year olds, and one for the eating fish. The pond should be as shallow as possible, never more than five feet deep in the South, and as much shallower as possible. An average of two feet is the best depth. The bottom should be mud if possible, and if the pond is in a ravine with precipitous sides it should -be filled up to prevent deep water. The dam should be so constructed as to enable the owner to draw off the water from the bottom, and all water escaping from the pond should go through a grate at the bottom of the dam, so as to let off the cold water, there being at least twenty degrees of heat difference between the first and the fifth foot of water in a pond five feet deep. There should be no shade trees near the pond, and every encouragement given to the growth of all kinds of mud or water grasses. There should be a planked vat about two feet deep and ten feet square just inside the dam in the deepest portion of the pond, so that when the water was drawn off to catch the fish they would all seek that vat, and could be dipped from it in a basket or net. ARE TOADS POISONOUS I In answer to this query, propounded by Mr. Herbert Brown in a recent number of Knov:led<je, a decided affirmative may be returned. The toad is venomous, though not in the way that is implied by the general acceptation of that term, as is commonly believed. Nothing can be more harmless than the bite of a common toad?if it can he said to bite, for it has no teeth. But the glands contained in the papilla; and rogosities of the skin covering the back, in the form of two bead-like eminences just behind the head, secrete a milky, highly acrid fluid, which is exuded profusely on irritation. Indeed, if it were not for this poisonous secretion the poor toad would fall an easy victim to many enemies, having the agility of the frog or lifczard to enable him to escape, nor the teeth nor claws of other reptiles wherewith to defend itself. Cats, which are eager hunters of frogs for food, spit and foam at the mouth when they pick up the wrong batchian by mistake, and are often affected in a similar manner to Mr. Brown's St. Bernard. Frog-eating snakes, too, detect the difference and will not eat toads, as a rule. When a snake, greatly pressed by hunger swallows one, it usually rejects it again immediately afterwards, and not unfrequently dies. Those frogs which prey j ? ----- /no mnuf fi'nnfu /ln^ I upon LIIL'II U\VJ1 ftlim iiiuoi/ uxjfjv uuf v>vu pite their ugly relative from an alimentary i point of view, and, curiously enough, certain [ toads which devour frogs share the same an-1 tipathy to their race. Except with very small ; animals, the poison appears to act rather as j a local irritant than a toxiemic agent; it has j no effect upon the sound skin, but will cause | any abraded surface to inflame to extensive I ulceration, while great pain results from its application to the conjunctive or internal mucuous membranes. Anyone who can over-' come his repugnance to the creature sufficient-; ly to put his lips or tongue against the skin of an angry toad will experience an intensive acrid taste ; he should shut his eyes in mak- j ing such an experiment, as the post occipital glands sometimes emit their secretion in a jet. ! Mr. Frank Auckland quotes a case which oc- j curred in Oxfordshire, where a drunken brute I bit a toad's head off. Happily, his teeth went: right through these glands and immediately ; became swollen and inflamed to such an ex- j tent that his life was in jeopardy for some ; hours. These characteristics are much more ' strongly marked in many of the tropical Bufon-1 id;c. My giant toads (bufa aqua) used to swelter venom when they were taken in the , hand in such abundance that it would pour j off their backs and drip from them, before : they became tame; and 1 was thus enabled | to collect a large amount. This species feeds j on rats and it is possible that this copious exu- i dation may serve to prevent their prey from j biting them when seized by the leg, or other- j wise awkwardly caught. 1 once put a ' cribo'' i snake (dromieus fugitives) into a box with three of these toads for a single night, for lack of other accommodation ; it was a fine, active specimen, five or six feet long, and its movemonf-a iinriiHir t.ho nicrht so disturbed them in the morning I found the llocr box all awash with fluid. The snake was lying on its back j apparantly dead: ?u.d, though it recovered ; somewhat on b.'ing plunged into a bath, it j survived only a few days. A "Wondeuful Invention.?The Legge patent sends as many words over a single wire ! in a minute as the most skillful Morse opera- j tor can send in an hour, delivers at the receiv-! ing station a fac simile of the copy furnished, . and does it all without the help of a skillful! operator. Anybody who can turn a crank can : send a message, in his own handwriting, with any private marks or other devices he pleases, | simply by first writing his message on a chem- j ically prepared piece of paper furnished by the : company. Practical trials of this apparatus i ...f O Vlft wnrrla ;i miimtfi j lliive 3I1U?V II >1, ojiccu ui -,'JW itwauu .. ...... , | but it can be enlarged so as to do even letter, i A morse operator who can send or receive ! 2,000 or 2,500 words an hour can command the j highest salary, and even then there is nothing to guarantee him against making a mistake?a thing which by the Legge process is impossi-! ble. Pictures can be transmitted in this way, i and an enterprising reporter can send, not only the words, but the music of the new opera by wire; but the great advantage the company claims for it is the transmission of correspon donee. It is expected that tne energeuc uusi- m ness man who has an important letter to send to a distance will no longer drop it in the postoffice?unless, indeed, an arrangement can be effected by which the postoffices will be made receiving and delivering stations for the postal j telegraph?but will bring it to the company's office, place it with his own hands in the machine, and send it humming in a moment to its destination.? Philadelphia Tims. LIGHT AND THE EYES. Professor Pickering, of Harvard observatory, points out in Nature that the color of gaslight has nothing to do with its painful 4-1.^ rt# r.i-n/lAMfo onH nflinra S t'UL'UL upon Lilt; t*vc.-> ui aiuucuin miu wuwviu. To test this question he had a tin lamp-shade constructed consisting of a tube six inches in length. One end was closed by a reflector, and the other by a piece of light blue glass. Two holes were made in the side, through which passed the glass chimney of an Argand gas-burner. By experimenting with a photometer. a position was found where the light received on a book was of the same intensity and very similar color to that from a window in day time at a distance of about six feet. A few minutes1 reading, however, was sufficient to convice him that the new light was far more trying to the eyes than an ordinary gas flame would be, the ill-effects being due to the intense heat thrown down by the reflector. And this he thinks, is the source of the whole trouble in the ordinary gas burner. The heat radiated by the flame, the heated chimney and shade, reflected from the printed , page and all other white paper lying on the s table dries the eyes, the lids, the forehead and | temples. Temporary relief may be found by | bathing the face and eyes in water, bnt it is m only temporary. The hot, dry air from the ^ a lamp is also harmful, and no doubt contributes its share of its injury to the vision. These evils may both in part be remedied placing a pane of glass so as to intercept the rays about the lamp before they strike on the ^9 book or the face. But it must be placed at ^1 such a distance from the lamp as not itself to j become heated. The hotter the flame the whiter it is, and the more light is thrown off in proportion to J the heat. Hence occulists are recommending j* such lights as the students' and moderator I lamps, which burn with a small, hot and very % brilliant flame, as compared with that furnished by the argand and fish-tail burners. rjiausucs, saiu x'ruieaaui xriuitciiug, ouutt how alarmingly prevalent near-sightedness has become of late among students. Hence, anything which will tend in the future to prevent this wide-spread defect will be a boon to mankind. He has great hopes of the electric light in this respect. In it there was a maximum of light with a minimum of heat. The ever-varying intensity was an objection, but he thought we might look forward to the success of the light from the incandescent carbon strip, in the near future, lis a remedy for "the most widespread evil that afflicts the human vision." Tins Year's Cottox Crop.?The cotton returns mailed to the Department of Agriculture at Washington, December 1st, relate to the product in comparison with the production of last year. There will be one more at the close of the season estimating the actual number of bales and acres of the present crop. Last month's return of the yield per acre indicated 0,036,1)00 bales of 400 net pounds of lint each. The December report makes an aggregate approximating 0,700,000 bales. It is not presented as statistician's estimate of the crop, but as the result of a careful revision of consolidation of county estimates. The influence of December on the views of the correspondents may somewhat increase or may decrease these figures. The estimated increase in Florida is 8 per cent., or in round numbers 58,000 bales, Mississippi 8 per cent, or 061,000 bales, North Carolina 10 per cent, or 421,000 bales, Alabama 10 per cent, or 768,000 bales, Georgia 11 per cent, or 885,000 bales, Louisiana 20 per cent, or 571,000 bales, Tennessee 22 per cent, or 329,000 bales, South Carolina 26 per cent, or 625,000 bales, Texas 52 per cent or 1,322,000 bales, Arkansas 60 per cent, or 085,000 bales. In South Carolina, Texas and Arkansas last year's product was greatly reduced, which accounts for the large percentage of increase. Virginia, Missouri, Indian Territory and other districts may make 60,000 bales. Serious injury is justly apprehended from the lateness of the crop, and vigor of growth did not occur. Killing frosts were everywhere later than usual, yet the loss of immature bolls in some districts estimated at 10 per cent., resulted in parts of North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas and Northern Texas, and in a less degree in other States of the cotton belt. In Northern Mississippi frost was reported twenty to thirty days later than in average years. The weather has been geufirnllv favorable for nickintr and at many points exceptionally good. The reverse has been true in portions of Louisiana and Northern Texas, in some counties of Arkansas- and other parts of the Southwest from continued wet weather. Losses from the boll worm continue to be reported, mainly west of the Missippi. This insect has probably caused as much damage as the caterpillar this season. Dangerous Companions.?When a young man has made up his mind to walk on the edge of a precipice for the sake of seeking prospects, he always iinds plenty of company. There are abundance of people with strong heads, who, having walked these paths until they, are quite certain of their foot hold, are ready to go out with new beginners. If they accidentally lose their heads and fall over, whose fault is that? Not theirs, of course. They never fall. They look where they step, and their heads do not turn. It is not drunkards and thieves who are dangerous companions to the green boys just in from the country. Oh, dear, no! It is your respectable young men emit iv.tvo loomed to sin discreetly in all sorts of forbidden fountains, and nibble here and there carefully of the forbidden fruit. They are held as a pattern. They drink, but are never drunk. They have exactly the knack of seeing and knowing all that is to be known, in the ways of wickekness, and yet keeping every step with the righteous. Some of them are church members and Sabbath-school teachers; some are regular shrewd business men. They are never going to hurt themselves they tell you, but they believe in a certain freedom. They never could see the sense of temperance pledges. For their part they don't need them, and if there is anything they abominate, it is your radical, straight-laced people, who keep always in the dusty turnpike for fear of the precipice. . Tiie Influence of Gkeat Example.? One communion Sunday an old Kentucky soldier who fought under Gen. Jackson at New Orleans, and knew well what manner of man he had been in his lighting days, attended the Hermitage Church and saw the aged warrior kneel reverentially before the altar. He was transfixed with astonishment. After the service was over he was observed to be unusually silent and thoughtful, and upon being questioned, related what he had seen. lie concluded his narrative thus: "When I saw the man who had fought armies, parties, cabinets and had never fought without conquering, get down 011 his knees in that church, I said to myself, 'Well, when General Jackson kneels, I tell you, boys, I think it about time for me to knock under.'" Four weeks after, ne joined the church, and lived and died a pious, exemplary member. SrvsmxE and Sleep.?Sleepless people? and there are many in America?should court the sun. The worst soporific is laudanum, and the very best sunshine. Therefore, it is very plain that poor sleepers should pass as many hours as possible in the sunshine, and as few as possible in the shade. Many women are martyrs, and yet they do not know it. They shut the sunshine out of their houses and their hearts, they wear veils, they carry parasols, they do all possible to keep off the subtlest and yet the most potent influence which is intended to give them strength and beauty and cheerfulness. Is it not time to change this, and so get color and roses in our pale cheeks, strength in our weak backs, and courage in our timid souls V The women of America are pale and delicate; they may be blooming and strong, and the sunlight will be a potent influence in this transformation. i