OUR NOVELLETTE. THE MARSHALL FAMILY COAT-OF-ARMS.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 167, 24 November 1883, Page 10

OUR NOVELLETTE. THE MARSHALL FAMILY COAT-OF-ARMS.

'■ "M i' . By One op Them.

*' l!fflte6em9 to me, Charley, that you could find aomjfebetter . entertainment for a holiday than \rail»g those stupid letters," said Sophie, as she ' d^ewiieih needle in and out of the gold-coloured aati||bn which she was picturing the story of Bed Bidjipffood and the Wolf. "Why need you €are||& much about your old ancestry, and who _your*pr'eaVuncles were, and how many sons and daughters they had, and where they went to ? If our great-granclfather had handed down to us a million or so, tHere might be some appropriateness' in.it. But Jliere you are wasting valuable, time and stamps writing to ' every Marshall you <san hunt up, , and, all for nothing." j'? Let's see,r said Onarley, reflectively, as .he gathered his Tetters into a packet and tapped the -ends ou the table, how much , did I pay you for th"at l£st batchof sjftjs stuff you are sewing up ?" " Oh, you need not commence. a sermon on the «xtravlagance of fancy-work. I shall have something to show for it when lam done. Won't it, i>e lovely ?" and she'held it off admiringly. *"' CHiess so," said the unappreciative !y oung man, "If ybii. won't make a tidy of it ; I got off two Mocks the other day with one sticking to my coat. I shouldn't have known it then but for a crowd, of admiring urchins, who followed me, and passed remarks on my new style of coat trimmings. One of them asked me if I was not Oscar Wilde. I have the thing somewhere about me now," and he^began ransacking .his pockets. "'Chprles Marshall, you horrid boy^ !" exclaimed his sister, as she took" back the crumpled bit of satin and lace.. " Who but a man would ever be so stupid as to wear off a tidy, and then cram it into hjs pocket in such a state ?" " Luckily, I didn't cram it into the gutter at the point of my cane. I was mad enough. But, to come back, Sophie, I have found out just -where XTncle Cristopher settled in California, and I am writing to him to get the particulars of Arphaxed Marshall's family. He was a very distinguished man." " I should judge so from his name. Is he ever likely Jo leave me anything ?" "Not much, I guess. He has ten children of Ilia own." "lhave no interest in Mm," said Sophie, as she pierced the needle through the wolf 'a nose And surveyed the effect critically. "Is that Mary and her little lamb?" asked Charles, innocently. " No, it isn't." Charley's eyes twinkled as he picked up his letters and shut his desk ; but he asked meekly : "Is there anything I can get for you as I go down town ? I pass Westcott's place on my way to the post-office." "No, I thank you. Seems ibo me you are getting awfully obliging. I suppose it is to make amends for that tidy you spoiled." "Bemorse has not yet gnawed to any great extent on that point. I rather sympathize with a man whose house blew away and a good deal of money with it. But he had never been to look for the money, for fear he should find tue tidies and pillow-shams." With which parting shaft, Charley hurried to take himself off. Sophie went laughingly on with her work, .aayirig to herself, "Men are the most unsesthetic creatures 1" Charley's pastime was a little peculiar for such a stirring young business man. Though few people would claim with the jovial Bobert Burns to have " descended in a line of scoundrels frooi the flood j" nobody but Mark Twain ever found liis man "weeping, over the grave of Adam." The main interest in ancestry is apt to be a little like Sophie's, of a rather mercenary character. Fancy never consults the " utilities," and it was for the love of such research that Charley persevered in tracing out his family line in all his leisure hours, rather than from any profit he ' expected to reap from it. " But they are a very creditable family, Sophie," he remarked ; " and the more I know of them the better satisfied I am to belong to them.' Thanksgiving Day came around, and the Marshalls, two dozen strong, were all gathered at Emily's, and had passed a very happy day. Sophie and her husband, and her brother Charley, of course, were of the party. It was evening, and the children were playing merry games in the sitting-room, while the others were placidly seated in easy chairs, about the cosy parlours. All were in that contented quiet frame which is apt to follow a Thanksgiving feast, when Charles drew from his pocket a neatly written manuscript, and asked "if anyone felt an interest in their family history. " Have you got it there, Charley ?" asked Uncle Jeremiah, "I heard tell you were making researches. I am sure we should all be glad to hear it read." "Second the motion," said Clifford. "Come over here, Charley, by the light," and he wheeled an arm-chair into place, under the chandelier. "Thank you," said Charles,. .dropping into it before his sister could fairly begin her protest. " Atiy ijhildren who wish can retire before we begin,"lne said, waving his hand toward Sophie and a; giggling group of cousins by the baywindow. " Gk> ahead, Charley," said Ned. "If we find you getting too slow we can skip out softly so as nob to disturb the meeting." Sophie smilingly, concluded to "go out and help the children play a little while," and Charles cleared his throat and proceeded to read the history of the Marshall family, and the day that the original Joseph, from Bristol, England, landed upon the far-famed Plymouth Bock. It made quite interesting leadings to suclx a comfortable audience, seated so cosily in easy chairs, and sofas, and listening was less laborious, even, than thinking in their, present tnood. Aunt Jemima, it is true, fell fast asleep over lier knitting work, but. she always did by eight o'clock, , so nobody considered that any reflection on the narrative. ■When Charles drew from his pocket-book the . opat-of -arms the r family' had Used in England '■'i'tittp hundred years , before,, there, war, quite a y^flufit^r, among a few'dfehis ypung.ilady cousins. &i^**liet f B see that, -Charley," th*ey said^as they

gathered about hiß chair. "You don't say so ! Minnie Lyman has their old family coat-of-arms all embroidered on satin, ever so fine, and framed and hung up in the parlour, between the front windows. She is awfully set up about it. It's a real homely thing, too ; no prettier than that. Let's work ours, and have it framed. Will yon give me a copy, Charley ?" " I guess so, if I get time to copy it." "Florence could copy it for us. Couldn't you Florence ? She can beat you all to pieces drawing, Charley." " That would be a very easy task," said Charley, looking up admiringly at the beautiful girl. She was not a Marshall, .but Charley had often wished she was, and if he was only a richer man he felt he would try hard to induce her to become one."

The coafc-of-arma finished the history, and then the old folks fell to talking over the old memories the story had brought up, and the young folks studied heraldry in a mild way, with Charley for' instructor. He' made an engagement' to come, over the next evening and help Florence .withvh&r. " copy," while the girls chattered like Sparrows over the best colours and materials for embroidering the wonderful work' of ,art. " Their old ancestry " had contributed not a little to the 'evening's entertainment. A coat-of-arms was a 7 very simple work of art to look at ; a good .deal like those pictures children draw on slates,; and under which they think it needful to wiite "this is a horse," for the , benefit of those not in the secret. It seems sur-. ' prising, therefore, that it should take so long tp\; make this copy satisfactorily, and that Charley' set himself up, all at ,once, to be such an art critic Perhaps not less surprising was the fact that' Florence took such criticism so cheerfully, and was so very ready to try a new copy whenever a new suggestion made it seem, appropriate. It bid fair to hang on like a plumber's job, until their came a sudden tuni in the tide, and those bright evenings came to an end. - Charley must pack his valise and start on business for his firm, away to Nevada, and their no time to spare either. If he only dared " speak out " before he wont I But there was his poverty, and Florence in her home of wealth and luxury ! A thousand a year would be penury to her, and he felt he had no right to bring her down to such privations. But the world is wide and youth is full of hope. Charley felt that he would yet return with a fortune and joyously lay it at her feet. It is easy to form plans with great prudence and high notions of what would be honourable and suitable. But, if " Love laughs at locksmiths," he is also apt to smile in his sleeve at these providential considerations. When Florence asked in such tremulous tones and with half dewy c3 r es, about the dangers from wild Indians in these i: misty mid-regions," Charley's self-com-mand was of but little service to him. Then and there the " old, old, story " was told over again, with variations so trifling as not to be worth mentioning. On the whole, the evening of parting was about the happiest he had ever spent, paradoxical as that may seem. With what anxious eye 3 Florence scanned the papers for the next few mornings, looking first of all on the list of casualties by railroads, though it was hardly worth her while, for every mail seemed to bring" her a brief message, posted on some flying train. A few weeks had passed away quite pleasantly, when all at once a silence seemed to fall on the p»stal service generally. At least so it seemed to Florence, though others went and came with their budgets of letters the same as usual. Only the western mail had any attractions for her, and that, as far as she was concerned, was a blank. Days dragged their slow length along, and the anxiety became almost insuppportable. Sophie was away on a vi3it or Florence would have conquered her reserve and gone down to make enquiries. Direful visions of poor Charley in the hands of scalping Indiana haunted her sleep, though probably one was rarely seen in fcho thriving town, where he was located. Her next guess was not so wide of the mark. A western fever had prostrated him, and for a fortnight at least, outside >rares and interests were of little moment to him. We can live through a good deal of personal history in a few weeks' time, when the mind and heart are kpenly awake, and opened with deep anxiety. At least so it seemed to Florence, though all her anxieties were deeply buried in her own bosom. Bub all is well that ends well, and she rejoiced and wept over the first feeble scrawl Charley was able to send her, and lam not siu*e but she kissed it. GHrls have been just as foolish. A little later Charley wrote to his sister, " My fancy for family research served me a good turn in this land of stranger's. I chanced to recollect that uncle Christopher had a son, an M.D., in these parts, and I wrote him a letter a few days after I came here. He called on me the first time he came to town, and found me tossing, delirious with fever. "Under Providence, I think I owe my recovery to his skill and good care. So at last you see, sister Sophie, my researches have been of some ' use/ despite all your prophecies to the contrary." Business was brought to a rather summary conclusion, and Charles turned his face toward the sunrising with somewhat mingled emotions of gladness and disappointment. "The fortune" seemed still far in the distance. His enfeebled frame demanded rest and quiet rather than hard work, which he felt to be so imperative in hi 3 circumstances. Listlessly, as the ears rolled on, lie glanced over the columns of a Chicago morning paper, and there seemed so little news stirring he even looked at the advertisements. A curious coincidence, it aeemedj that the name of Marshall should meet his eye among the "personals." Inquiries were made for the heirs of one Hezekiah Sylvester Marshall, by an attorney at Melbourne, Australia. In all the line he knew of no one bub his father who had borne that name, and a quick hope sprang up in his heart that his father's relative, who had been known to go to Australia, might have left him and his sister a bequest. Hope in the Heart of youth grows -with the rapidity of Jack's famous ijean stalk, if you give it but a foothold of earth, and 'cattVqtiiekl^ reach to the moon. By the time (3hariey : £i&olied 'home ; he' was/.in effeotj Vfitek possessor of a i fine estate, and 3?lorencJe aa'cr. .Sophie it with, him. .; | He was a prudent young man, however, and -kepf^Ms by l ■ lor ft'timfe . iLotirig.'svin-'

pathy and tender care were very grateful to the convalescent, and Sophie made no protest to hia writing letters to Lis heart's content, so that he did not weary himself. At last, one^ morning, he asked to read a family; letter aloud, in which he was sure, for once, she would' take an interest. She was not quite so suro in her heart, but dear Charley must be humoured now-a-days in all his. whims. So she composed herself to listen to what looked like a most uninteresting letter, written in a very crabbed hand, and tied around with red tape. But, wonderful to relate, her interest speedily grew to.such-a degree, that* she^ dropped her precious ianfty^ work on the floor and let the kittefn run off with her floss, and, finally, she stopped Charley square off to ask in her excitement if he " was making up all this." When assured that it was sober family history, and she took in the fact that she was really an heire33, and could put in as mtteh. money as she pleased into poor Joe's business, she did^-what most impulsive young women W,ctMd;h9,ve. done, .burst into tears, and had a good cry. But'vpharley>though he sympathised, only laughed, and pretty soon went over to have a talk with. Another little^girl, about the Australian branch -of his family. Ijis past researches had made it easy, to establish his identity as the very man wanted, and legal'delayfc had been' very brief. In due time, the honoured family tree . "was .engraved, in fitting style"; and one small right":fharid branch bore in close proximity the names of Charles and Florence, lif'the'.f ulness of hi» joy, Charley sent a copy to every; Marshall who had kindly helped to give him the data for his great undertaking. = But the beautiful satin screen, with the family coat-of-arms upon it, in the original gold and azure, was to Florence the very pride of her house — her " Lares and P.enates," for into every curve and line she Had stitched a happy memory of " love's young di'eam.:"