Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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CHAPTER IX. During the last few dmyi a aerenity al most remarkable under the circum stances has settled down upon the in habitants of Cedarcliffe. It may be ex ternal merely, but such as it ia it is marked. John is grave and undemon strative, but not lugubrious, and them is a gentleness in his demeanor that seems strange in him. He drinks scarce ly at all and appears to have lost his taste even for smoking. He is hard hit, 1 fear, but he is bearing it like a gentle man. I think I can perceive that he avoids being'alone with Sinflre. And his bearing toward her, when hsee them to gether, is friendly, but abstracted. He has made up his mind that she is lost to him, and the conviction has quelled his stout spirit—whether temporarily or per manently time will show. I am sorry for him, but it is better so than if he had married her. You might as well harness an English dray horse under the same yoke with the winged steed Pegasns. Henry, on the other hand, wears an as- pectof contented indifference which can not but be assumed. His manner to Sin- fire has an undertone of easy gallantry which is far from being offensive or even pointed and would be natural enough as the attitude of a man of the world to ward a pretty girl, bnt is extraordinary in a lover toward a former mistress whom he had abandoned and whom he intends probably to ensnare again. What inducement he can hold out to her to condone his conduct and return to him can only be conjectured. Is it possible that, knowing or suspecting the uncer tain tenure cf John's life, he counts upon becoming himself the heir of Cedarcliffe? It is a repulsive idea, and 1 mention it as a solution of the riddle not likely, but barely conceivable. Henry is so im penetrable in his apparent frankness that one cannot help being provoked to spec ulations which a leas subtle character would never suggest. I As for Sinflre, I know not what to say about ber. If she were as unimportant to me as 1 once thought she was, I might imagine that she felt as she appears to feel—happy, thoughtless and high spir ited. But of course I know better. Bhe is passing through a crisif, in her Ufa She is on the brink Of doing or forbear ing to do something momentous and ir- revocabla I wish I could advise or help her, but it is impossible under the cir cumstances either for ber to ask or for me to volunteer such help. When she has decided, then my opportunity may come, not till then. She is more than ever a superb object to contemplate. She is full of excite ment and restless energy, says brilliant things and laughs often, but her laugh, though musical as a peal of bells, has no mirth in it It is defiant, mocking and cold. Deeply as I sympathise with her I cannot say I understand her, nor do 1 understand myself. What do 1 wish to dof | Sometimes 1 am sure that she cares for me; at other times 1 doubt it But say aha doe*, am I willing to take to myself a woman of whom 1 know nothing bnt that ifae has beauty and a great soul—a woman who it ia probable is sailing un der false colors and who has been wronged, either morally or niatehaUy, by another man? As regards the last however, I cannot look at her and be lieve that she has ever lost what women hold most dear. She is too proud, too Inaccessible for that And yet I must confront that poesibUlty too. Well. then, if It were so, oonld I excuse itf I have alwxy* held myself superior to the conventionalities of life. Even when 1 outwardly conform to them it is but to •void remark and neerring the freedom of my own thought ft has always been my belief that dvthwtlon is unjust to women. Whatever is best In human oa- tnxa Istheirt, and it ia by taking advan tage of tboaa better qualities that oppress and degrade them. It will ba w«0 with the world until woman rules it—not with the strong band, bnt with love. Love is the basis of her na ture, and it la by giving all to love that sha falls; but, were men true lovers, fall she never would. It la by her generosity and by bis selfishness that she suffers. nevertheless, once fallen, she is capa ble of becoming more dangerous and wished than awn himself. But this is beosuae she knows by the long sad Utter experience of her sex Hut tee world la thenceforth against ber. We call her a sinner, bnt how wide is the difference between her sin and the crimes of meat Her sin, at tee wont; h a sin against hetself, and she is the sufferer. Man sins against his fellow men for tea sake of his own gain. Yet the thief and the murderer are not punished more re- morseleasly than is she, for death itself ia a light penalty compared with the lingering tortures of a life of teams. If tee were tnads the objec* of compassion and protection instead of scorn, tee would atUl remain good and pure—yes, pure, for Impurity begins only after love has bean profaned and obliterated. Sinfire's fault has sorely been a gener ous one, bnt though she may have made a tragical mistake all is not ^et lost for bar. Levs has led her astray. May not love redeem her also? She stands now at the point of peril One step more, and H is too late! If I can win her now, ahonld I cherish her or reverence her km than if she came to me freehand unbreathed on from ber mother's bosom? Tbs world may doubt it, Sinflre herself might bmitate, bnt in my own mind there Is no doubt at all If tee loves me, then that love condones all And should any one sneer, let him beware! Who am I indeed that I should judge her? ••There is no crime,’’ said Goethe, ‘•teat I might not have committed.” 1 go further and say that I do not hold criminal many of the things that men far tea specious interests of society have arbitrarily adjudged to be such. Actions ■hcnM be estimated not in themselves, but aooording to their motives and con- •equenoea. A lie may be wrong, bnt not the Ue that saves a friend from un merited disaster. A theft may be wrong, but not the theft teat derives the drunk ard of bis fatal draft A murder may be wrong, but not tee murder that re- movas* monster from the garth- The tof nmsnandfcwse— may be wrong, hut not If the bond be an interior, a voluntary and a loving one. There is nothing in me that need cause me to shrink from Sin fire were tee as wicked as tee is beautiful If her eyes have looked upon hell, yet there can be no heaven far me where tee Is not, and that dark experience of hers would only unite us more absolutely. Is it 1 who write in this way? Am 1 in earneetT Is not this a mere intellec tual passion—diversion, rather—which 1 cultivate for the sake of variety and oc cupation? I have never kissed Sinflre. I have never told her that I loved her. I have no reason to suppose that tee loves me—quite the contrary! And what, after all, is this mystery of intrigue that invests her but a sheer Invention of my own? 1 have seized upon I know not what hints and innuendoes and appear anoee and have welded them together with the ardor of an impassioned imag ination into an ingenious chain of oir- onmstactial evidence. A tenth rate lawyer in a frontier vil lage would poll it all to pieces in five minutes of cross examination. He wonld prove to the eatisfaction of the dullest jury that there existed not the slightest reasonable ground for my suspicions and inferences; that i was wantonly maligning my ancle, my brother and my Innocent cousin, whose supposed gypsy extraction was dne solely to her happening to be a good looking brunette. The jury would bring mo in guilty of malicious libel without leaving their seats, and I should be sentenced withont having a word to say in my own defense. And this ia Fbank Mainwaring, Esq., M. D.l At all events 1 ought henceforth to entertain a profound respect for this im agination of mine, the power of which 1 have never until now appreciated. It is certainly the most effective feature of my character, apart from which I possess no life or activity worth mentioning. It is not only my imagination that has made me fall in love, bnt were the at tributes which I have imagined to invest my lady love proved to be nonexistent I should undoubtedly cease to feel the slightest interest in her. It is not her self that I love, in other words. It is something that I have endowed her with —something proper to my own mind— fo short, myself i And cannot I love my self withont going into raptures and he roics and I know not what more and worse? Decidedly, Frank Mainwaring, Esq., M. D., yon are neither more nor lees than a fool! »••••• Sinflre has just left me. She did not stay long, and 1 do not know that either ef us said much, but it has made a great difference. She enter ed abruptly and swiftly, with s stealthy, ophidian movement that somehow re minded me of Sapranl All the flush and the mockery and the brightness were gone out of her face, which was ivory pale and with a sort of rigidity in its beautiful lines. All her life seemed to be In her eyes, but they did not flash or sparkle. They absorbed light and gave none forth. \ 1 was sitting in the big armchair at my writing table, and before 1 could rise tee was at my side, and her hand, light ly pressed on my shoulder, kept me down. I put up my band and took hers in it Presently she half seated herself oo tee arm of thee hair. She was breath ing deeply, bnt for several moments she did not (peak. Her hand was cold, and Its grasp upon mine nervously tightened and relaxed and tightened again with out bar appearing to be aware of it I bad never felt her so near to me. I do not mean physically. I felt as if we ware living one life. “If I am mistaken In yon, tell me nowf were her first words. Hooked np and received her down ward gase. I don’t remember making any verbal reply. We were in a mood to speak withont speaking. Suddenly tee began to sob. “Oh, bow helpless I am!” she moaned broken ly and passionately. *1 meant to make him pay the uttermost farthing. I prom ised myself! I swore itl Why did I ever see you' He is your brother! He is your brother T “1 have no brother, Sinflre,” I said. “1 do not trtte ttl t eonftet bear ttT She took her band from mine and it over her eyes. "1 dW not lapis coming here,” she said after a moment below her breath. "You seemed to understand— I don’t see how you oonld, though,” she broke off. "Because I know him and love yon,” said L At tee last words, spoken with all the manning of a man, her cheeks flamed, and teat strange feeling of being one with her seemed for a moment to become absolute. But no; she stood back with repelling hands and said: "1 do not wish Rl I cannot bear it!” She was trem bling, and no wonder—standing between love and hate! Something tweet, but terrible, bloomed in my heart. A veil was withdrawn from eyes, and I saw my way clearly to the end. spilled, and worrying will not restore It to the pitcher. I must keep qniet and hope for better ttings. At all events I have abundant opportunity to indolge my hobby of writing. The topic of special interest at present is the burglars. From information u e have received, as the newspapers say,we are in a position to state that there is a probability of our being their next vic tims. No doubt they see a skillful gang of rascals, but even an amateur thief might operate in this neighborhood with comparative security. Wt have two or three infirm and erratic constables to take charge of 30 or 80 square miles of territory, and the facilities for escape and concealment afforded by the topog raphy of this region are all that the moet fastidious could desire Accordingly we hare seriously made up our minds to de fend ourselves, end not only that, but if possible to bag the burglars into the bar gain. The Cedarcliffe estate k two or three milee in circumference, and the surface is a good deal diversified—rocks, woods, ravines, cliffs, cultivated lands and gar dens. The force available to guard this frontier consisted of four persona—John, Henry, Tom, the groom, and my self—hot my own involuntary defection reduces it to three. Still with proper arrangement three ought to be enough. Sinflre wants to come in, but that is hardly practica ble. She would unquestionably do her part, however, should any chance bring her in contact with the enemy. She not only has no fear, but tee is very clever in suggestions, and in fact it was she who first proposed the scheme which will probably be put in operation. The theory upon which we are pro ceeding is that our robbers are members of the community and probably among the most zealous of those who are clamor ing to have the villains caught. They have shown such competent knowledge of the locality, of the obstacles to be en countered and the facilities to be de pended on, they hare made so few mis takes and their success has been so uni form that it is difficult to suppose them strangers, unfamiliar with the ground. This hypothesis being granted, it follows that although our task is mads harder in one way it is simplified in another On the one hand, they will be able to ar range their attack with more certainty and confidence, bnt on the other we Shall be able to play off with them a bit of strategy that might else fail of Its effect. Let me explain. We are in the habit every summer of making a party to go to Pebble lake and camp out there a night or two. The lake lies some 10 miles to the southward and is surrounded by woods which have stood beyond the memory of living man. In former years we built a small log hut there for the ladies of the par^y or for refuge in case of storm, and we carry tents, cooking apparatus and all other paraphernalia with ns. Father bought the lake, with the sur rounding woodland, at the time of our first settlement here. Perhaps he Intend ed it for a fishing preserve, or possibly his motive was merely aesthetic. At any rate, there it is, and there is not a pret tier sheet of water within 100 miles. It is about 200 acres in extent and remark ably deep at one end, where Mount Sa chem descends, rocky and precipitous, sheer into the water. At the other end it is comparatively shallow, and the shore slopes gradually. Pebble brook enters It at this point, and on its banks the log cabin stands, commanding a view of the whole stretch of the lake and of Mount Sachem reflected in it The fishing k very good, for the place is so secluded that few people find their way there. 1 have caught pickerel there 8 feet long Of perch and bream there is no end, and there are very good trout to be found in Pebble brook. The shooting is also ex cellont in tbs season. Duly last year John actually bagged a deer. \t ell, we had been diseussing the feasi bility of going out there this summer be fore the burglars were heard from, and John had been looking forward to it with particular good will; but as he remarked a night or two ago at the dinner table; No use thinking of that now. Those fellows would be sure to hear of it, and they’d have the house gutted before we could get back.” 'Maybe we can catch them before the summer's ov ar,” remarked Henry. “And after all it would be as good fun hunting them as stalking deer.” “Pm sure I hope you will let the police attend to that,” said mother. “Let us pretend to go, and then come bock and surprise them,” exclaimed Sin- fire “By George, a good Wear cried John. “The only trouble would be to make sure they beard we were going. We’d be certain of them then.” “That’s easy enough,” rejoined Henry. “We are all agreed that they are native here and to the manner bom. I'll tell you how to do It Drive into the vil lage and go shoot in the shops, buying a whole lot of things and letting every body know that we are going out to camp at the lake on a certain day. Give the news time to spread, then load up a couple of wagons and drive off just be fore sunset, singing and blowing horns, so as to leave oo doubt in the minds of their spies if they're on the lookont Then back again after dark with our shooting irons, and it'll go hard, bnt well see some four “Bnt what do yon expect Sinflre and me to dof demanded mother in some consternation. “Spend the night in the woods in a wagon?” “We can arrange to have yon go quiet ly and put np at one of the neighbors'.’' said L “I want to bo barer exclaimed Sin- fire. “Let me stay in the bouse.” “My dear, you would be murdered in your bed!" mother said. “1 shouldn't go to bod," she returned. “I should be perfectly safe; and I might be of some use." “The house doesn't need ventilation, or you might shoot holes through the doors with your derringer,” said Henry, laughing. “I should open the door before shoot ing," said tee, laughing back at him. “Otherwise I might happen to bit John or you!" “I wish you wouldn't all talk in this wav," put in mother seriously; ‘It makes me feel very uncomfortable. Of course it’s out of the question that yon should stay here alone, my dear. And none of the servants would dare stay with you, or would do any good If they did. Bnt really, John, 1 don't approve of the ulan.in anv war.” [TO B« OOimWUXD.I A Solid Oak Sait of Toa Pieces for S35.00! Biggest Value in the Country, OB’S TURKEY had to lean against the fence’to gobble—You can gobble a great bargain by buying this suit of ten pieceiTlor $3S, and lean upon our guarantee that you have gotten big value. We believe in variety. New designs please better than old. Strong Furniture is better than poorly made. The stylish and neatjbetter than the common. For all good kinds come to us. have it that is beautiful, durable, stylish, new and at prices that are extremely low. We -P. S.—You will find me next to the Jail.” J.D. BHIRD. The Darlington Shoo Store We are receiving daily our stock of Shoes for the Fall and Winter! [MEN’S, LADIES’, MISSES and CHILDREN’S] And beg an inspection of the same when in need of nice Footwear. Our stock is bought in large quantities direct from the very best manufacturers, which ensures new fresh goods, and we propose to sell them at a very small margin. We call special attention to our $3.00 Shoe for Men, made by the ROCKLAND Company; genuine calf, Goodyear welt, all styles in congress and lace. Rubber Goods of every description, consisting of Mackintosh Garments for Ladies and Men, also a complete line of Rubber Shoes for Men, Boys, Ladies, Misses and Children. We sell the MARVEL RUBBER a TRUNKS, VALISES, SATCHELS, UMBRELLAS AND SHOEFINDINGS OF EVERY DESCRIPTION. NEWEST STYLE HATS. Sep i4 4m "Woods *So 3VXillin.g-_ HU Own Maks. Travere—Look here, there shoes you made me creak. Shoemaker—They always creak at the CHAPTER X. It i* decidedly Irritating to be laid on one’s beck in thti way jurt when one j en( i 0 f go days, air,'if the bill Isn’t paid. 1 York Her>ld - li hen all the World's on Wheels There ll be no sorrow here below— For all the world’ll be happy, and there will be health and good digestion every where and the best part of the world will ride For Columbias are sound, one-priced, beau tiful to look upon, of lasting durability. vs. STEED l There’s more economy in steel than horse flesh—no oats, no stable, no stableman— the world’s arwheeling—saving money, gaining healtlifulness, enjoying the best of recreation. The Columbia Bicycle is made for those who appreciate standard quality hacked by excellence. Folks who know bicycle buy Columbias. For descriptive circulars and terms, address J. D. BAIRD & CO., DARLINGTON, S. C. Agents for Darlington County. July *0—3m IS NOW A complete line of every thing usual to a first-class Hardware Store, Also a full line of « ipltunl Impliuti, Iijiitm’ Sifpliis, Mickiifij, ta -A.lSriD TITTWARE, And will sell at the very lowest prices for cash. Tinning, Roofing & Plumbing Octe—tf -A. SEEOI-AJLTTr. Insure Your Property WITH IF. E. IISrOiRIMIElSrT, Who represents the un m we mm n tie mi 2 Satisfaction Guaranteed. Represents Twelve First- class Comnaniee. September 11,1890 A Profitable Investment, The following U self-explanatory; “On tee 14th day of October, 1882, we insured our lives in tee Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, of Newark, N. J., for $15,000. When our second premiums fell due, we re ceived over 26 per cent, dividends ou our money. We can safely say to all wanting insurance that this is the safest and moet profitable and liberal company in the United States. “8. Marco, “I. Lkwksthal." Call on G. W. YOUNG, Agent, Dar lington, 8. C. W. WITCOYER Wishes to inform the public that he has opened In the ALEXAHDER BUILDIHG -next door to Sanders’ bntoher shop, where he is prepared to pay the high est cash prices possible for all kinds of Country Prodoce and Furs of all kinds, such as Otters, Minks, Coons, Foxes, Wildcats, Mask rata, Opossums, as well as Cowhides, Sheep. Kiu, Goat and Deer skins, etc. Also Beeswax and Wool. Highest prices paid for poultry, eggs, and all country prodace.