A GOLDEN SORROW.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 255, 30 December 1873, Page 2

A GOLDEN SORROW.

COAPTBB XXIII. — FJUKNDLT' OFFICES.' It wfttild ' be difficult to de»cribe the feelings with which* Florence rend this letter. They amounted "to "positive horror, • and included some of the very keenest sutferiijg through, • . which she had ever'paßsad: The'shock'of^the disfcOTeryjthat she was suspected of a'derfgn/whifch not 'all the force of, her J reasoning upon the absolute ighcfrance\of her true Vjitoryf', by air Wound would caiido her » think <o£ wh)ho.ut a horrible sense of its outrageous nature; was ' much increased bj£ Miriam' 3 mode' of treating it. There was something so - koenly hurtful to her delicacy, to her feelings of every kind, in this cruel rumour, and Miriam could regard it only in (he light of a jokek She felt as if sue must needs link under this trial, as if it%ere quite too much for her, the filling, up of her cup with, a draught too latter to be drunk. She shut herself up in her room, and yept the bitterest team that had over fallen from her eyesjifceara which had an unreasonable kind of humiliation' in 'them*. She dould not possibly bear this, she thought, and yof, what could she do? To gd" away would be to lose alt She hud 1 striven for ; and yet, to remain under such a suspicion, watched by the servants, every action imputed fo a" motive which the " shudderod to think of, notwithstanding its absurd impossibility—could she do that ? She was-turning these things in her mind, and was feeling quite §ick with crying, when ihe was told that Mr ' Martin wished to' see her. She wont down • stairs quickly, without giving a thought to her red and swollen eyelids and -pale chceksv ' Mr Martin glan«ed sharply at her, at the entered the study, where he was alone. Mr Clint had not yet risen. The doctor had had a hint from Mrs Dixon on the* preyiom evening, that he' was in one of his very bad fits. These had recurred 1 of late more frequently, and he now made few attempts at concealment, and no efforts at all at self-control. 'H — m,' etid Mr-Martin audibly, adding- i» his thoughts*: c she has heard it, and has been crying her pretty eyes out.' Ho asked her a few qUeltions about his patient, and tben saw: ' I have not met many sensible women in my life, but you 'are one of tho most sensible women I have met. Now,* I -am going to speak plainly to you.- Sclmo "foolish people herd liavo been telling lies about you, prompted by idleness and ignorance, and in some degree by jealousy.' Florence sobbed. ' You have heard this, and you were in doubt about what you ought to do. lam right, am I not ?' ' Yes, sir.' • Now 1 , this is what you ought to do. Yeu arc of incalculable value here, you are doing your duty admirably, and no reasonable person who hojk ever spoken ten words to you could believe one wbrd df tins nonsense. If jou allow it to influence you, you will bo very unkind to Mrs St. Quentia, and very cruel to this unhappy rnnn, who has nothing but increased suffering 1 before him. I took it for granted you • would act consistently with your character, before I «aid • anything to you ; and I have effectually prevented your"' being annoyed, by'informmg'-Mrs Ritchie that the gossip had come to rayenrs; and that if it reached Mr Clint's ever so • faintly, it would cost every servant at tho Firs their place. I believe they are thoroughly ashamed of themselves, and that you will haVe no afanoyance whatever You will promise me to thinic-no more abont it ?' ' I will try,' said Florence simply. ' That's right. I will go and see Mr Clint in hit room ; I'cannOt wait for him any longer.' Mr Martin came out from that visit to his patient looking ■tcvj serious. Their interview had been lonir and unpleasant. The doctor had never before told Retinal Clint in so many Words that he was drinking himself to death, surely^qSa now by no means slowly. He had told him so on this occasion, and in the plainest and most emphatic terms depicted the sufferings to which he wbuld inevitably subject himself. Tho man's appearance was more gha9tly on this occasion than he had ever seen it. A fixed yellow hue pervaded Ms skin, and hard red blotches marked his sunken cheeks. He" had made an attempt to dress himself,- but had been too sick - and giddy to succeed, and Mr Martin found him lying ont his bed in his shirt/nntP trousers; exhausted, feverish, ahd in one of his most sullen and dangerous moods. But heh%d to deal with the only person who had never 'been afraid of him. 'I suppose you mean that I 'can't recover, in any case?' asted Mr Clint, with a fierce glance at Mr Martin, then instantly turned awfty. ' I do moan just that j but your life-might be greatly prolonged, and youi* pain much alleviated, if you would use the ~ reason Which you' still refain, and give up drink. If you • would even moderate your indulgence in it, it would make a great difference to you duting the remainder of your life.' Reginald Ulint raised himself up, hitched his back against the bed, and turned towards Mr Martin, griping the bedclothes iir his course bony, yellow* hand. Hrs voice was hoarse, partly from illness, but still more from passion, as lie sai^l, scowling the while as few but he could scowl :- ' What is it that possesses you to talk such cursed nonsense to me ? You know me long enough and well enough to - know the folly of it. Give up drink ! Do you know what drink has been to me ?' ' I think I 1I 1 do. The destruction of your body and mind.' ' Don't trouble yourself about my mind, that's not your business. It has' served my turn, and it will serve it yet. - You can't maklkrae-out a madman, you".know.' ' Not yet, perhaps,' said Mr Martin, with grave and de- - liberate emohasis ; 'but you avo coming to that. Youcertainly will como to it, if you have a few more such fits as - this has been.' ' So'thatl'shall not be able to arrange my affairs, eh ? and - your worthy favourite, my good and dutiful ' son, who has not sent me a line for nearly two years, will come in for my property, without any trouble. Is that your meaning ?' ' Not exactly. You are a long way off the state of mind in which a man ceases to be competent to make an unjust will. Tho power to do wrong lasts long, unhappily. But you are day by day dosfroyiifg your judgment, -deadening your conscience, and redu6ing yourself to a lower level of intelligence.' ■%■ * * ' Hah ! Well,- as you are Concerned onlvwith my body, let me tell you, once for all. arid pray remember it practically, for you will be spared a deal of talk, and I a deal of listening; I will not give up drink, and I'will not drink less, so ldhg rfs I feel disposed to drink as much. There is nothing else I'care for ; there's no man, woman; child, animal, or thing of value to me, in comparison with drink, or, indeed, of any value at all, and life without drink would be a rotten bargain. You won't get me to make it.' ' G-bod-bye,' said Mr Martin abruptly, and he turned toward^be door, without the least effort to disguise his disgust. Late in the evening, Mr Martin received a note from Mrs - Dixon. She was directed by Mr Clint to request that Mr Martin wbuld edme tcf the Firs at twelve o'clock on the following day without fail. She added a few words on her own account, to the effect that Mr Clint had been very ill all day, and had eaten nothing. At noon, the next das. Mr Martin presented himself at the Firs. He found Mr (wit in his study, seated at his writ-ing-table, ori'wliicli lay- a large folio of foolscap, covered with writing in law-hand. Mr Standish was in the room, and he bowed to Mr Martin, who was surprised by a certain formality in the appearance of both gentlemen, without speaking. 1 Hotir do you do, Martin ?' said Reginald Clint, looking up at him with a queer expression. 'I am all right to-day, you sfee, and have sent for you quifo in a friendly way. No cursed doctoring to-day. I've taken your-advice, though, it*" one inspect, if I've neglected your physio j in fact, I had had the same bright idea myself, and I have sent for you to • ask you to witness my will.' Mf Martin looked incredulous and uncomfortable. Mr" Slandish Sjjoke. < 'Yes, Mr Martin 1 ; this is Mr Clint's will, for which he devoured me with instructions some little time ago. He' particularly wishes for your signature as one of tho witnesses.' 't f any other friend 'Mr Martin- began, but Mr Clint interrupted him. 'Curse it, mart, don't yoirknow I haven't a< friend in tho world but yourself? What objection^Can you have ?' ** I have none,' said Mr Martin, with a mental calculation • on the use of codicils in case he should find out that Walter' was ill-treated by this doe'uu'iont, and gain the chance of influence by his complaisance. • Why couldn't you saj so rit first?, then ? Now for tho other witness. Mrs Ritchie will do.' 1 Hadn't you better employ Mrs Dixon, if you don't want this taked about ?' suggested Mr Martin. ' Mrs Dixon. No — I— l think not,' answered Mr Clint. His tone was cmbarrdsrfed, and a.quick glance passed between him and the lawyer, who slightly shook his heat}. ' I prefer to cmploj Mn Jnitcbic' ' Ac you choose",' said Mr Martin. The bell was rung, and there was- an embarrassed pause. Mrs Ritchie cfamc, and bad the service which was required of her elaborately explained. She complied with her master's request, with that amusing mixture of pride and apprehension 1 of mysterious consequences peculiar to persons of her class who are called upon to r 6igh ' anything, and in a few minutes the proceedings were completed. Then Mr Martin went away at once, on the pleiiof business, lear ing the lawyer and hid client together.

Another cure for IJlijHo»era, fne new insect vine scourge now making excessive Jrarages in Europe, is mentioned in the Garden as Laving been communicated by the Abbe Boland to s French paper, v hich after tiro years trial he le- | commends ' wifh confidence 1 to Tinegrowers: "*lt consists jit inoculating tbe vine w ith the pure essence of Eucalyptus globulus (the blue gum.) A broad incision it made through, the bark at the neck of the vine, in which a> few drops<6f the essence are deposited by meatw ol' a tm«H camel's hair brush. The result is th»t in about thive days the Fhybloxera entirely disappear*, while the vine it not in the least degree injured by the operation. The incision may be made through any other part of the baric with success, bub-the result ii more speedily attained the nearer it is- made to the roots. If 60^ simple a remedy ii really efficacious, .the introduction of thel dreaded peit need not be much feared. However, we will witbold our credence until others have tried. th» tirerimon J

, a projecting beam at "- wmin hbourho od. •• er£u.>» at v Lugo buildms in the^n q .oral excitement caused b>H> ' fi . ftture!> ? htc..cJ ulun it • « ob*m* bUnce t0 a .jßortnnate d-ceased bore a stu^ o j k)iown own and lughlj . re^octoc i ut« . c soubrupict ut 'ihoß i-hop, a.n f , bourhood £ -..quires ma deb y; hlBge f' c "; t 't m e past in low ; .eased had been for some \ u §ltuattou rr one kno« my hltlo game * i'fo m swor s lc^ ,use of so miwh oscitement was nothing more than a rJSLf?oS£T«f cold has now attained conbie importance in various industries, and . c J^d Mes air into the reservoir to between 2 and J ITei The air expands in the other pump and is ? S3" eai" at 35 to 40 degrees below the »urGeneral yon Moltke, who ia as bald ullurd ball, is much annoyed by applications iiom n ladies lor locks of his hair. „ •ndfgroom sent an account of his wedding to the village , a«d wt^mortified when the " wedding troutseau Out in ptm " tlie wedding trousers." •Me calculation of angles described by the impingement ■«rie»l»isllces*-ttrT.U« wnj » Chicngo clergyman got H the word ' billiards ' on a recent Sabbath. Hfestern critic, noted (or Ins softness of style, speaks of Hdian poet who was recently sent to the penitentiary >e»rs for plagiarising a horse.' nian has christened Ins daughter Ghcerme. it will be cosy to prefix ' Nitro ' ii her temper reher mother's. _. ..— — J-- '