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fportnj.
GOING HOIIB.
lb .-,!. aids in the door of his cottage—
Him with the silver hair—
Thinking of youth's lost summer,
Whin life sc. mod bright and fair.
I'll tn < s an. folding their branches
AJ und that gray old roof,
Mai the sunbeam merrily mingles
lis gt-lti with their sombre woof.
lb- thinks as he stands in the doorway,
Oi ; sweet ami pure young life
I h, i hi had fondly cherished- -
His thirling, trusting wife ;
W In vviui her in her girlhood.
Mid praised her beauty rare ;
vntl her silver laughter cheered him
When his soul was racked with care.
lie thinks of the angels at midnight,
St. nlitig o'er the threshhold stone,
Taking las treasure from him,
And leaving him all alone ;
lit thinks of the graceful willow
Tin t waves above her form ;
And wonders why he lingers,
Smce the loved one is now gone.
*
1 v.ilight is fast approaching,
And closed is the cottage door ;
He with the links of silver
\\ ill s ami in its shade no more.
Like golden drops id music,
Like the echo of silver Lt lls,
Through tin- trees the wind's low murmur
A tide of sadness tells.
Aii in in the watches of midnight,
Oft r that threshhold stona,
Has the Angel been with a message
To hi sir the old man home—
Hume, where his bride is waiting ;
ib me. to that beautiful clime,
Where love shall outlive e'en time.
THE CHEST WITH THE SILVER
MOUNTINGS.
was sailing out of Madeira, the good i
P,. | > Ml tli Star, a line, trim British vessel, |
! It more lor cargo than for passengers, j
.' i v:i'g the latter when she could get |
tin-in duller way hoifle from Brazil she
! ,I> is untered a succession oi' bad wea- j
i: a, ami had put into Madeira for repairs j
i: on visions. Some ol the crew quitted j
IHT ineie, and whispers went about that j
! y uvit- afraid of her. Two passengers i
Ely had come in her from Bio de Janeiro, j
igi nth-man and his servant. At Aladeira j
- took on board a Major Gore, his wife, j
H\- i-it-gant young ladies, and their maid !
-tiv.int, ail in mourning. The Major's!
no aiis wt re straitened, and the moderate j
cli.u -of s of the sailing vessel, as compared j
wiiii ti.i: papsage-iiioney of the regular
pickets, hat I been the inducement to choose j
lis > a.th Star. Tiiey had come on board I
..i ill.- ia-t iiiuiifiit and the usual confusion j
prevailed.
a i down liiere, please; that's the state j
c;d-.ii, ok: n belongs to the Don," cried a;
. in - t y. ii: a sort of uniform, whose du- i
"y m i int tl n. be to show himself in all parts '
i t ship at once. " The Don doesn't I
- f-r anybody to go into it"
■ w.t - liie elder-looking of the two young j
f : - whose descent he thus interrupted. '
' Mu d her imperiously handsome face j
1 ' the Lt.y, and lu-r fine dark eyes Hashed ;
1 on the haughty questions, just as plainly \
t> 111 i tollgUe.
I a Dun ! \\ ho is the Don? \\ hat do
1 IF- .'ill, hoy ?"
it. it's him," said the boy, pointing to a |
: i iit oi the deck. "He is as rich
MA mines of Brazil knocked into one, j
• :. ■ a- good as master of the ship, lor j
- v law. If he had nothing else but j
' 1 ! in his cabin he'd be richer than lie
i e-'Uiit, for it's full of gold and dia- j
Ootids."
I -pile of her hauteur, which was nat- '
> h'-r, slie gazed in curiosity. Lean- ;
- Mil tlx over the side of the ship was a ;
- • nitei man, with a pale line face, and j
r |> tbuk eyes. .She remembered to!
: - jV ' -ten him there when they came on.
0 : and she had noticed that he never j
II turned his eyes towards them, but re- i
"t'.i.n! nuerly indifferent to the new com-j
- u.tl iln ctimnititioii they were causing '
• u.i- (Kir only cabin passenger,"con- 1
lib'' speaker, "until you come on |
We brought him from Kio. He's j
- -h horn. >w's his servant Vincent ; a
that's always larking. The Don can j
' 'k liiin, though, with half a turn of his ;
' ly'velids You must get a sight of;
' Mich a big one ! It is of carved
"i.e. w til silver mountings."
d y is he called the Don ?"
dt-t ause he's so rich, I suppose. He j
*' s wife and child out there, they say, !
1 1 • s coming home for good. She was i
i -.,.-ti or l'oi iugese, and there was some-:
.' - | "ld about her, 1 fancy. The sailors,
' ki:>,\v whisper about it, but they won't
"■'II IN.-." |
-And pray w ho arc you ?" demanded the |
' ■- lady, resenting the familiar manner.!
() I|, I'm a middy. That's what they
'is, at h asi ; and a precious sham it is, !
vwe don'i kieiw it before we sail. The j
s kipper—
lo tiie temporary surprise of his listener,
>"U"g gentleman suddenly vanished. ■
•' f-uig 11 quid, she saw the "skipper" ad- 1
1 ' ii g, along with the gentleman passen-1
ilit; captain stopped as*he came up, j
•d ly thinking it was his duty to intro
"h i tLein to each other.
-Ir. \ aleiicia ; Miss Gore."
1 \ ah-neia raised his straw hat and
Ihc Ikuilfttd Ikpvfct',
K. O. GOODRICH, Publisher.
VOLUME XXVI.
bowed. Sin- bent also, but haughtily, as
if in resent incut of what the captain bad
done, and her voice carried a sound of scorn
to that huietionary's ear, as she corrected
his mistake :
" 1 beg your pardon, sir ; it is as well to
be correct. Mrs. Glytton, not Aliss Gore."
" I beg your's, ma'am," replied the cap
tain. " 1 had understood you were the Ma
jor's daughter."
Vouchsafing no explanation, Mrs. Glyt
ton turned away, drawing her flowing
black-and-white muslin gown around her
slight and stately form, and carrying with
her the remembrance of a stern face when
in repose, nut of a wonderful attractive one
when a smile illuminated it —the face of
Mr. Valencia She was accosted by the
maid.
What do you want Simms ?"
"If you plea e, ma'am, Aliss Auta is
waiting to know which of the two berths
you would be pleased to choose?"
Airs. Glytton descended to 'he cabin, one
with two berths in it. A young lady,quite
as elegant in form as herself, hut with a
lace of little beauty, save what lay in its
lair blue eyes and its sweet expression,
stood there, patiently waiting.
" Geraldine, will you be so kuid as to
choose your berth ?"
" Which is the most comfortable ?"
" I think that one ; it seems more airy
than this."
" I'll take it, then," said Mrs. Glytton.—
And the younger lady meekly began to put
her own things upon the other.
For a few days there was no great ap
proach to intimacy, Mr. Valencia holding
himself aloof, lie was deferred to in every
way, the new passengers found ; and per
haps if there was one thing held in more
reverence on board than Air. Valencia Liim
self it was Mr. Valencia's ebon}' chest that
he kept secluded in his cabin, and before
which a handsome curtain was generally
drawn It was of curious value in itself,
that chest with its elaborate carvings and
the adjuncts of silver.
The Gores had left their only son in a
grave in Madeira, whither they had gone a
year before, hoping to prolong his life. So
much depended on it. Had he lived but
two months longer he would have come in
to a large fortune, and could have willed it
to his family. He died, and it went front
them ; and the Major was returning to En
gland a bitterly disappointed man ; return
ing to poverty aud debt, and all sorts of
humiliations, for he had fully counted on
this coming money for years, and had lived
accordingly. Mrs. Glaytton, his only
daughter, had been a wife for six months
only, and had been back under her father's
roof, a widow, these three years. She was
five atid-twenty now, and had no fortune
whatever, but plenty of pride. Auta Gore,
an orphan and the Major's niece, lived with
them ; she possessed about a hundred a
year, ninety of which the Major and Airs.
Gore took, leaving her the rest for clothes
and pocket-money. Tolerated as a depen
dant more than a relative, poor Auta had
been taught the lesson of humility, and had
learned it effectively.
Certainly the ship did not appear to be
a lucky one. Contrary weather pursued it
after quitting Madeira, just as it had pre
viously ; violent head-winds one day, utter
cairn the next ; and the voyage promised
to be unusually prolonged. It seemed to
Mrs. Glytton, who was a remarkable
shrewd observer, that some sort of dissat
isfaction reigned amidst the sailors which
was not allowed to transpire beyond them
selves. Meanwhile an intimacy sprang up
between the Gores and the Anglo-Spaniard,
rather remarkable from his previous cold
ness. They were together always ; be
paced the deck with one or other of the
young ladies—generally Mrs. Glytton—at
his side, or sitting under the awning in the
autumn sun, while he told them tales of
Brazillian life. And Geraldine Glytton had
begun to think the wealthy Don worth her
notice. The hidden treasures of that chest,
filled to its lid with diamonds and jewels,
floated before her in a dazzling vision by
night and b}- day. Simms had craftily
thrown out delicate questions on the sub
juct to the servant, Vincent, and he respon
ded without reserve. They were almost
priceless jewels, he affirmed ; necklaces,
rings, armlets, all lit for a queen ; one tia
ra of diamonds was said to be worth eight
thousand pounds. Geraldine Glytton turned
half faint with delirious hope as she gath
ered this, and made up her mind, in the
consciousness of her irresistible charms, to
be George Valencia's second wife. Nor for
himself did she care ; but to be the mis
tress of such gems she would have well
nigh bartered her soul. The chest was ol
curious shape, beautiful as it was, very
long and narrow ; and Mrs. Glytton some
times saw the sailors look askance at it,
more in dread than admiration. That some
mystery, and not a pleasant one, was con
nected with it in their minds was evident,
and she wondered greatly. Did they fear
temptation? Not-so she. "1 would give
all 1 am worth to lift the lid !" she passion
ately murmured, gazing in at it one day
from the cabin door, as it stood revealed
behind thu undrawn curtain. " And I'd
not go aiiigli it to be made skipper to-mor
row," slmdd' red a passing sailor, in whose
hearing she had unwittingly spoken.
" Have you been long in the Brazils?"
asked Major Gore one day, as they were
all, except Mrs. Gore, who suffered from
sea sickness, sitting on deck, Mr. Valencia
leaning over the side in his customary man
ner, while he watched the waves.
" Ten years."
"Teu years of exile! A short while,
though, to make a fortune in ; which you
have done, I believe?"
" A larger fortune than I shall know how
to spend," said Mr. Valencia. "We were
originally Spaniards ourselves, and have
j connections still in Brazil, so that 1 went
out under good auspices. The lady I mar
ried was also very rich."
" She must have died young. You can
not be more than forty."
" I am thirty-six; 1 dare say 1 look forty.'
Geraldine Olytton's lips parted as she
i waited for more. She had become anxious
Ito know somewhat of his first wife. Major
Gore continued :
" What did your wife die of, Mr. Valen
-1 cia."
Mr. Valencia extended his arm. "See!
Is that a petrel ? We shall have bad weath
! er again "
Major Gore took his glass. " I think it's
j only a sea-gull. Your wife, Mr. Valencia—
! has she been dead long ?"
TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., FEBRUARY 22, 1866.
Mr. Valencia turned round and faced the
Major ; his countenance stern, his lips
drawn in. " Pardon me, Major Gore, but I
would prefer to speak on some other sub
ject. That is a petrel."
Major Gore stared and bowed. He was
not gifted with superfluous delicacy, and
he presently entered on his questions again.
" Why do the sailors call you the Don ?"
Mr. Valencia burst into a laugh. ''They
know, I suppose ; 1 don't. Perhaps they
take me for a Spaniard."
"Nothing less than a Don—whatever
that important title may imply—would t *av
el with a chest of jewels such as yours," in
terposed Geraldine Glytton in a tone be
tween jest and earnest ; as <he moved to
his place at tha ship's side, and looked af
ter the bird, the harbinger of storm.
The words seemed to surprise Mr. Valen
cia.
" Who told you I travelled with a chest
of jewels, Mrs. Glytton ?"
" Who told mef Oh, it's the talk of the
ship. That large, beautiful ebony chest,
you know, in your cabin."
Had his face turned pale? or was it only
Mrs. Glvtton's fancy, as she closely watched
him. It changed ; and the next moment
sarcasm was pervading its every liue.
" Joking apart, though, Air. Valencia,"
she persisted, " does the chest contain jew
els ?"
"It does. Valuable jewels."
" And what shall you do with so many?"
"Bestow them on my wife when I marry
again," he replied, looking full into her
handsome face.
Had he divined her seeret thoughts? For
once Mrs. Glytton showed that she was an
noyed ; she turned to her cousin, speaking
tartily, " Auta, how neglectful you are !
Poor mamma keeps her cabin, ai d you sit
here, never looking after her !"
Auta Gore, meek as ever, and lovely in
her meekness, was hastening away, when
Mr. Valencia offered his arm. She blushed
as she took it.
" Your cousin is curious as to my jew
els, Miss Gore. It does seem strange, I
suppose, for a single man to possess so
many. They were my wife's. Had my
child lived, they would have been hers; but
she likewise died. Aly wife had a passion
for costly gems. Many of them were heir
looms."
" But do not talk of your wife if it pains
you to do so," said Auta simply, remember
ing the recently passed scene. "We ean
uot always bear to speak of the lost when
they have been very dear to us."
"True. But my case is an opposite one.
I did not love my wife, Aliss Gore. Her
memory is painful to me ; I had almost
said hateful."
" Oh !" exclaimed Auta.
" She gave me cause to hate her," he con
tinued, iu a low tone. "It was not a hap
py marriage from the first ; she was older
than I by some years, and we did not assim
ilate. 1 married her for money, not for
love, more shame to me ; still I—l—tried
to do tny duty by her. There's a confi
dence for you, Aliss Gore. But I'm sure 1
don't know why I've told you ; unless it is
that you seemed to belong to me since 1
knew your name was Auta ; it was my
child's ; let the confidence rest between
us."
She blushed again in the prettiest man
ner possible, byway of answer, and glanced
up an assent from her blue eyes, as Air.
Valencia resigned her at the stairs leading
to Airs. Gore's cabin.
And the contrary winds continued, inter
spersed with dead calms ; and the sailors
looked gloomy as death. How long was
the voyage to last ? One thing it favored
—and that was the close and ripening in
timacy betwen the passengers ; and Airs.
Glytton might always be seen by the side
of Air. Valencia. For hours together they
would pace the deck, her arm in his.—
Whispers went abroad in the ship that he
surely meant to make her his second wife.
It might be so. Air. Valencia was not the
first man who lias succumbed, spite of will,
to the charms of an attractive woman.
Was it a dream ? Mrs. Glytton sat up in
her berth, the drops ot horror gathered On
her brow. The ship was tossing about in
a fearful storm, and she suspected they
were in danger. Not at that was her ter
ror awakened, for she was constitutionally
brave, but at the whispered words of two
of the crew who had comedown to secure
something or other that had broken from
its fastenings close by her head. Snatches
of wolds, at the best, but tfieir import all
distinct and terrible. The ebony chest
which had been the subject of so much
covetousness to her, did not contain jewels
but the wife of Air. Valencia ; the wife who
he was stronglv suspected of having mur
dered The remains had been smuggled
on board in that chest, out of the way of
the South American authorities, and he
himself set afloat the false report that it
held jewels: There had lain the cause of
all the ill the ship had encountered ; it had
led to the desertion of most of the crew at
Aladeira ; and these two sailors lamented
in rather strong language that they had
not deserted too ; and tiny spoke mutin
ously of the captain for not hauling the
chest overboard, instead of keeping it there
to curse the ship and put their lives iu dan
ger. Geraldine Glytton's hair stood on end
as she listened, and her face turned cold
and damp with faiutuess.
The storm subsided. Not so the tu
mult in the brain of Mrs. Clytton. Over
and over again she asked herself, did she
really hear BUCII words, or were they the
fancies of a troubled dream ? In the broad
light of day, in the reassuring bustle of so
cial life, she laughed at the utter absurdity
of the strange tale ; nevertheless, down
deep in her heart lay a doubt —true or un
true? Aud she saw the sailors exchange
discontented whispers one with the other,
and heard them say, as they glanced around
with ominous faces, that they should never
see land again.
" I cannot stand this suspense,"she mur
mured 011 the evening of the second day.
"Yet how end it ? It is not a thing I
can speak about. The ship would conclude
that the fright of the storm had turned me
mad —"
" A regular gale, ma'am, that last, was
it not? llut we shall go along well, I hope
now. The weather seems to have cleared."
" Vincent, tell me !" she cried out, lay
ing her hand upon the man's arm in her fe
verish impulse—for the interruption had
come fiom him, as he was passing her.
" Tell me truly, as though you were speak-
REGARDLESS OK DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER
ing for your life, what is it that your mas
ter really has in that ebony chest ?"
"My m ister has jewels in it, ma'am,"
was the ready and evidently truthful ans
wer. " Beautiful gems that belonged to
his wife. They were to have been her
child's but the little lady died too. When
Mr. Valencia was packing them in the
chest lie said he had half a mind to leave
them Behind, so little does he care for them.
Only there were no relatives to leave them
to."*
She heaved a sigh of intense relief. " I
heard the sailors whispering the night of
the storm, Vincent. They said the ship
could not get along for what was in the
chest ; ihey spoke of a dead body. Of
course I knew it was nonsense."
Mr. Vincent swayed himself to and fro in
a perfect delirium of laughter. It was some
moments before lie could beg pardon for it,
or speak at all.
" That was my doing, Mrs. Glytton.
When we were getting on board at Kio it
somehow came out to the sailors that the
chest had jewels in it. Knowing what a
light-fingered lot Jack is ou occasions, I
thought it well to put them on another
scent, and confided to them, as a weighty
secret, that the chest really contained the
ashes of Mrs. Valencia, which were being
brought home for interment. Aud they
have believed it all this while. What soft
fellows sailors are."
Entirely reassured, thoroughly convin
ced, Mrs. Glytton forgave the man's famil
iarity and laughed with him, forgetting her
dignity. She dismissed the subject from
her mind from that moment. Vincent en
tered on a description of some of the treas
ures of the chest, and she listened until her
pretty mouth watered Two whole hours
that evening was she chatting by the side
of Mr. Valencia.
The ship did arrive in port, aud safely, in
spite of the prognostics of the sailors ; and
the passengers parted at Southampton, only
to meet again early in December, for Mr.
Valencia had given a cordial invitation to
the Major and his family to meet him in his
paternal home in Norfolk—his, now—and
spend a long Christmas with him. And
they arrived early in December, nothing
loth, finding a home replete with every con
venience,every luxury,and a worm welcome
from Mr. Valencia, who in his turn hail
been wariuly we.coined by old friends
around, lt was an old-fashioned house,full
of winding passages, in which Mrs. Glytton
and Auta Gore hist themselves perpetual
iy
" It is a perfect home 1" cried the Major,
in a rapture of admiration. " You have
given it everything, Mr. Valencia, that can
assure happiness and comfort."
" Not quite perfect yet," dissented Mr
Valencia. "It wants one thing more, Ma
jor, which I suppose I shall have to give it
-- a mistress."
" Shall you add that ?" inquired the Ma
jor, his eye resting, perhaps unconsciously,
on his daughter.
" I hope so. The happiness denied me
me in my first wife may be mine in the sec
ond. What do you think. Miss Auta ?"
Auta Gore colored so vividly at the un
expected question, that she was glad to
escape in very self-consciousness ; aud
Mrs. Glytton, full of contemptuous pity,
said Auta was growing more absurdly shy
every day.
The days went on for all parties in a sort
of Elysium. Alajor and Airs. Gore had nev
er been so luxuriously off' iu their lives ;
Geraldine was indulging blissfull visions,
their whole basis, gold ; and Auta was in
the mazy depths <>f a first love-dream,whose
idol was George Valencia. Her heart had
gone out to him in those days when they
were on the broad sea, when he had talked
to her in low tones, unexpected by any
body, and gazed into the depths of her blue
eyes.
And the ebony chest ? It was in Air.Val
encia's private rooms in the west wing of
the house, its contents (as was understood)
as yet undisturbed. Geraldine Clytton's
desire to see those priceless jewels, so
shortly, as she hoped, to be hers,was grow
ing ii resistible, fevering her spirit with its
excitement. Why could he not show them
to her ? The question began to torment her
more than was good for her equanimity,
ami it gave rise to tiioughtsnot justifiable.
But, let us hope that accident alone led
to the step she finally took. Oil Christmas
Eve they were sitting out of door, when
Air. Valeucia in taking something from his
pocket, let fall a key, with a small silver
chain attachedlo it. He did not perceive
the loss, and Airs. Glytton steathily secured
it It was one of the mildest days ever
known at that season, thu sun shilling, the
air balmy as in spring,the violets ami prim
roses raising' their modest heads. Nothing
of the unusual beauty saw Geraldine Glyt
ton ; that key, lying unsuspected in her
hand, was obscuring her vision physically
and mentally. Instinct had told her it was
the key of the chest, and she had resolved
to take a siv peep for herself, like Blue
beard's wife.
She had to wait for the opportunity, and
some delay there must necessarily be ; yet
her mind was in that feverishly excited
state that brooks it not. At the dinner ta
ble that evening an excuse was made for
Mrs. (Jlytton ; she was " lying on her bed
with a violent headache, and must on no
account be disturbed." Half an hour of
impatient waiting yet, that they might be
fairly settled into the dinner, and then she
stole away on her expedition. She hated
to lose her dinner : but what was dinner,
even though taken by the side of George
Valencia, compared to the gratification of
that irrepressible longing-the sight of those
glorious gems.
The moonlight was streaming in at tin
corridor windows as she made her way to
the opposite wing of the house, shielding
with her hand the candle she had brought.
Iler heart was beating, her veins were
throbbing : not at the dishonor of the act
she was about to commit; not at the dread
of detection, but with the morbid eager
ness for the sight she had so long and ar
dently coveted. Of detection there was
little fear at that hour. Mr Valencia was
heading his own table, and Vincent was
safe behind his master's chair. Opening
the green baize door that shut in the wing,
and closing it softly after her, she turned
into the second room on the left. There i*.
was 1 the long, beautiful ebony elms! ; it
stood against the wall, opposite the large
; window, in the moonbeams, which glittered
jon its mountings of silver. There was no
I time to go to work deliberately ; for inter-
ruption, involving the awful agony of de
tection and shame, was not impossible,
though unlikely ; and she hastily put the
key into the lock. Even as she did so a
tremor shot through her whole frame ; for,
in that moment, she knew not how or why,
the whispers of the two sailors, that mem
orable, stormy night on boaid the South
Star, flashed into her mind. What if the
chest should contain, not jewels, but ?
As she turned the key the lid shot back
with a spring, startling her well nigh to
death. Surely so large a lid had never so
shot back before ! But Geraldine Glytton
was not one to yield needlessly to supersti
tion, und she took a good look in at the
chest. It was about three parts filled, and
evidently hud been unpacked, perhaps set
in order, since its arrival at its present rest
ing place Numbers of small parcels, cov
ered respectively with paper, with cotton
wool, cardboard boxes, as the case might
he, completely lined the chest all round, to
the width of some inches ; they were, no
doubt the jewels ; but Mrs. Clytton's atten
tion was caught by what was lying in their
midst. Nearly all down the middle of the
chest was laid a snow-white damask cloth,
lightly covering what might be underneath.
Futures of diamonds no doubt ; and she
picked oft'this cloth with so impatient a
jerk that the current of air whifl'ed against
the candle, and put it out But not before
she bad eaugnt a glimpse of what looked
like a human face lying there, with wide
open, flashing, black eyes. At first, she
could see nothing, the moonlight being so
faint as contrasted with the recent light of
the caudle, and a superstitious terror as
sailed her, and turned her heart to sick
ness.
" What a fool I am !" she ejaculated, in a
few minutes, "I am thinking of what the
sailors said. Those two things that looked
like eyes must be gleaming jewels. And
the candle out !—and I not to have the
sense to bring matches with me !"
She put out her hand ; she meant to pull
them forth, those gleaming jewels, and
look at them ; hut her lingers came in con
tact v ith—what? A face. A dead face,
beyond a doubt, for it was cold and stiff.—
A cry of awful terror broke from her, echo
ing in the silence of the dead room ; and
Geraldine Glytton flew away, she knew not
how or where. Instinct took her towards
her own chamber, and near it she ran
against Simms, the maid
" Ma'am ! whatever is the matter ?"
Seizing the astonished servant by the
arm, she pulled her into the chamber, and
closed 'he door. She clung to her as though
she would never let her go again. She
crouched down in the warmth and light of
fire, her teeth chattering, and her breath
coming in gasps.
"But what is it ?" reiterated Simms, more
and more amazed : "has anything frighten
ed you, ma'am ?"
" I—thought—l—saw something in the
corridor," came the evasive answer, "Per
haps an owl had got in, Simms."
She caused uerself to be dressed ; she
was alive to the importance of diverting
all suspicion from herself, when Air. Valen
cia should come to discover the raid on the
chest : and she descended to the drawing
room. Mrs. Gore, its only inmate, was
asleep by the fire ; the Major was sure to
be in the dinning-room, for he liked to sit
long and enjoy a private cigar ; but where
were Auta and Mr. Valencia? A soft, sil
very,'happy, laugh seemed to answer from
the conservatory, and Geraldine Glytton
turned to it ; the mirrors, as she passed
them, reflecting her own seared face, into
which the warm bloml hud not come.
Auta was indeed there, with Mr. Valeii-j
cia. But how ? Her hands were clasped j
in his ; his face was all close to her bent j
an<l blushing one. For one blissful moment j
Geraldine Clytton truly thought she saw
some deceptive vision that had no place in f
reality—that could have none. The next, j
she had awakened to the truth, and stood j
there spell bound. She had never dreamed i
of this. Auta his love ! when she had |
surely thought—But whispered words were |
stealing distinctly on her ear : words that \
well-nigh drove her mad, and turned the I
current of every pulse she possessed into '
one living anger. j
" My hear! went out to you from the first, j
Auta ; and I think you Could not have mis- j
vnderstood me. Geraldine? Nonsense I <
She sought nie ; 1 did not seek her. i nev
er had a thought of love but for you. My j
darling ! My darling !"
Auta Gore started from his arm with a. '
cry. That angry woman, with inflamed face J
and haughty mien, was bearing down upon Jj
them like one possessed of an evil spirit.— 1
Auta never distinctly remembered what 5
followed. There were raised voices, recrim
j mating words and some strange charge jj
that lifted her very hair from her head. Ma- |
jor Gore stood holding his daughter back - r r,
and Mrs. Gore, only half awake, was star- j
ing with her cap hanging to one ear by a. j
single string. Mr. Valencia alone remained j
calm and cool. The first consecutive words !
came irom him.
" 1 do not understand it any more than. !
you do, Major. 1 do know that this is j
the happiest hour of my life, for your niectr j
has promised to become my wife ; but what ;
it is Mrs.Clytton would accuse me of I real
ly don't know."
" She can never be your wife," retorted
Mrs.Clytton. ' You marry again ! Would j
you take a second wife, to murder her as
you did your first ?"'
Mr. Valencia's sleepy eyes for once were
! opened as wide as his antagonist's.
" Murder in/ first wife !" he quietly re
joined. "Thank you. I was not aware that
I had done anything of the sort."
" You know you did," came the panting
answer. " You know that you have got
tier concealed in that ebony chest ; that
you had her in it on board while falsely
pretending it was filled with jewels. The
sailors knew what was in the chest, and
nearly broke out in a mutiny ; they said it
I brought a curse on the ship. 1 accuse you,
George Valencia, though you have escaped
accusation from others. I have seen the
chest and its horrible burden ; 1 have
touched it—the cold dead face of her you
keep concealed there."
The bewilderment in Mr Valencia's coun
tenance gave place to a sudden smile ot
light, as if the puzzle had cleared itself.—
We will go and Bee this dead face, if you
please. Major, all of us. Mrs. Clyttou, 1
must particularly request your company.
it will not alarm you, believe me, Mrs. Gore.
Auta, my dearest, do not tremble so ; 1 will
! take care of you."
pei* Annum, in Advance.
It lay in the ebony chest, exposed at
once to their view—cairn, peaceful, infinite
ly pretty. Not the dead face of a once liv
ing women, but the waxwork model of a
lovely child, its dark eyes wide open, and a
rose-leaf color on its smooth cheeks.
" When my child died, my little Auta, —
! who was more precious to me than any
thing I have yet possessed on earth—l was
fond and foolish enough to have a wax mod
el taken of her," said Mr.Valencia, in a low
tone. " I brought it home in my treasure
chest. As you may perceive, 1 have not
yet disturbed it. Mrs. Clytton ; she died
peacefully in her bed, surrounded by .ser
vants and friends, and she lies buried in
Brazil. May Ibe allowed to inquire, mad
dam, what can have given in your mind
to so extraordinary a delusion ?"
Ah, they were soon to know. The culprit
was Vincent. The explanation he had giv
en to Mrs. Clytton,on board the South Star,
was the simple truth, though not quite all
the truth. In his propensity for joking—
and perhaps really wishing to guard the
chest from sacrilege—he had whispered the
foolish invention(of the body, not the ashes,
and hinting at foul play) to the sailors, as
the ship sailed out of port at Rio Janeiro ;
hence the disaffection and fear that arose
among them—Mr. Vincent himself being
perfectly aware of the state of things, but
enjoying the joke too greatly to contradict
it. Geraldine Clytton listened to the man's
shamefaced explanation to his master, and
rather wished the boarded floor would give
way and let her in.
And those were jewels, the parcels lining
the chest ! And as Mr. Valencia took them
out, parure alter parure, and tried their
glittering beauty upon the shrinking, timid,
happy girl, so soon to be his wife, she —
tiiat other one—had to stand and bear it.
"But what shall you do with them all,
Mr. Valencia ?" asked Mrs. Gore. "I never
saw so many precious stones in my life !"
" They are Auta's irom this hour," he re
j plied. "I did not intend to give them to
j her until our wedding day. Mrs. Clyttmi
| has obligingly caused me to forestall the
j gift. Some of them must be reset."
j " 1 don't believe they are so very valu- j
| able, after all," burst forth Mrs. (Jlytton.her
agitated voice vascillating between a tear
: and a sob ; and—no, munnna, there's no
necessity for you to say it ! it's not a case !
! of sour grapes."
| "Of course not," said Mr. Valencia, the j
j faintest shade of a smile at the corners of
j his sleepy eyelids. " But the next time
j you accuse a man of murder, Mrs. Clytton,
! I'd make sure beforehand, if I were you,
' that it did not end in wax work."
"SOME FOLrS FAILINGS."
| " Mercy knows," said Aunt Jerusha, as
i she settled herself in her small rocking
5 chair, and wiped her steel bowed specs on ;
j her apron before placing them astride her
j nose, " mercy knows I never slander my
j neighbors I've enough to do to take care
iof uiy own afiuirs. Now there is Dorothy
•' Ann, always knows just what every one ,
jj has on at church ! The idea of looking at
! people's dress in church ? But that is some
folk's failiugs. We all have our failings, 1
J s'pose," and a sigh finished the sentence,
j Whether this harangue was addressed
; to the world in general, or was for the es
' pecial benefit of a tall young lady seated at
: : a table near by, inserting a sharp pair of
i shears into a piece of cloth, we do not j
j: know. The young lady made no reply, but
J i mischievous smile flitted over her face,
j and a silence followed, unbroken save by
i the vengeful snap of the shears as they
closed over the cloth, and the loud tick of
] the clock in the corner Suddenly Aunt
; Jerusha peered out of the u uidow.
j "Look, Minerva Jane-- ain't them the !
j Carpeuter girls going by
" Yes." was the laconic answer.
"Do see how they are dressed! They j
j came sailing into church during prayer
j time last Sunday, looking like peacocks.
II watched them down the aisle clear to their ;
seats. They wore green silks, velvet cloaks, '
arid their bonnets looked like flower gar
f dens. 1 notic '<l their furs in particular, ;
j they were new and fashionable. Much ;
' cause they have to be proud ! 1 should
j thuik a glance at home would lower their !
j feathers some. But there comes Mrs. l>a- j
i ker 3 Oh dear ! She is a regular gossip, j
i and we shall have to listen to her !<mg j
yarns all the afternoon. W hat a bore sh< i -1" ;
i A vigorous knock at the door was follow
;ed by tie entrance of the lady in question.
I Aunt Jecusha rose with a beaming face to
j greet her.
I "My dear Mrs. Baker, how do you do?
f 1 was just thinking about you. Lay aside
jj your things and spend the afternoon. Min
* erva Jane, bring out tlie rocking-chair for
jj Mrs. Baker."
j The two ladies were soon seated with
r, their sewing, and Aunt Jerusha asked :
J " Have seen Mrs. Nase recently ? I
| wonder if her husband is as bat? as ever ? j
\ 1 declare, that woman has a time of it 1
f s'posi you know he stole the pork from Mr. j
j Brien's cellar a few weeks ago ?"
" Yes I heard of it."
" Have you seen Mrs. Slocum riding with
the young doctor ?"
"To he sure ; some folks say lie's her
cousin, but 1 don't believe it."
" Well, now, 1 do say," replied Aunt Je
-1 ruslia, "I don't slander my neighbors; but
| that's pr-eUy doings anyhow. Did you ever
; hear what a wild girl she was before she
| was married ? My sister's husband's cous
j in used to know her before, and she said
' she was perfectly independent ; didn't care
what folks said about lior. But 1 suppose
j you have heard of Mr. Este's failure? For
i my part I don't wonder at it, his wife was
so extravagant ; you've no idea how much
i wasto there was in that house ; 1 don't
slander my neighbors, but I do say I'm not
surprised that her husband has tailed.
They say he drinks ; 1 should think Mrs.
Smith would feel dreadful bad to have Su
, sau marry hinj ; they're engaged, I'm told,
j I wouldn't have him courting Minerva Jane
for anything ; but then Susan aint any bet
ter than she should be ; I don't slander my
neighbors, but I must say I should not
want a daughter of mine doing as she does.
Why, Mrs. Baker, you aint putting up
your work ; do stay till after tea. Well, it
you can't, good-bye ; come again soon,
continued Aunt Jerusha.
" There !if I aint relieved. Did you
ever hear a woman go on so about her
neighbors ? The idea of slandering every
body as she does ; to be sure, 1 have to
talk with her when she's here ; but mercy
knows 1 don't slander my neighbors !
THE ONE SPOT-
One single spotou the fair face of a sheet
of the best letter-paper will cause its rejec
tion when the manufacturer assorts it for
"ale. In obtaining recruits for the army, a
single blemish in the eye, a little defect in
hearing, the loss of a linger or toe, the
slightest limp or halt in the gait, is the one
fatal spot which causes rejection, however
perfect the health in other respects. A
faultless specimen of m. Ny vigor offers
himself lor examination, lor the purpose of
obtaining au insurance on his life, but at
the very first trial of the pulse under the
surgeon's finger, the certificate is perempt
orily deli ed, because there is a fatal heart
disease lurking under that fair exterior.—
Here is a man who for a life-time has had
uniform good health ; never dreamed but
that he was perfectly well, but noticed for
the first time, an hour before, a little white
pimple about the mouth, surrounded with
several red ones giving a dull hurting,
cuasing, however, not the slightest appre
hension ; but meeting the family physician
accidentally en the sireet, he inquires very
carelessly : "What is it ?" On a close in
spection, the experienced practicioneer de
tects the existence of a "malignant turber
cle," which he knows will rapidly spread
with a discoloration, and end in death with
in twenty-four hours ! as in the case ol
Miss M. A. B last week ; of Mr. Hen
field, six months ago ; and of Mr. Casey,
awhile before that, all of Brooklyn.
NUMBER 39.
These, are spots physical and fatal, all !
There are moral spots just as fatal to char
acter, health, and life itself. I know a
young wife, first at Rockaway, who could
boast of family, fortune, education, health,
i and great personal beauty ; fascinating in
; her intercourse with society, and of a be
j nevolence so hearty and so free, that it was
: impossible for her neighbors not to love her
! with their whole hearts. But there was
j one spot, only one ; that not known, even
i to her husband ; she would take opium,and
i died of its over-ute at 28. I have beeu de
lighted by the hour in listening to the reci
! tations and reading the manuscript poetry
| of Mrs. L , of Kentucky. Neither beau
tiful nor ugly, but the spoiled and educa
ted child of a rich father. She had a ge
| uius and a power which won all hearts,
purely. One morning I learned she was
, dying, although in perfect health the day
j before. At intervals of a year, the dem n
of a drunken debauch came over her. It
' killed her husband, one of nature's noble
j men. The one spot ! I knew a wife, liv-
I mg yet I think, a model of personal purity,
j of domestic industry, system, order and
( thoroughness. A slave to the care of her
\ family of healthful beautiful children, there
! was no sacrifice, no sell denial which she
i was not ever ready to make or practice for
j their comfort. Her husband, as the world
| goes, was all that could be desired as to
j industry, system, temperance, regularity,
i and order. It ought to have been a su
: premely happy family. It was wretched,
j The one spot was her insufferable ill na
| ture. It would be untrue to say she seldom
! came to the table without some expression
lof dissatisfaction. In twenty-six success
! ive weeks, during which 1 daily sat at the
i same table, she never failed once to emit
I some venom either against the children,
the servants, the food, or the weather, or
something else. The whole house was
kept in a turmoil; no single day ever pass
led without it ! Her only son was driven
to an engine-house, did not sleep at home
" once in two years thence to the gutter;
her daughters married for a home, and she
went to an asylum in her old age. There
are many young men with whom you can
not help being pleased, frank, courteous,
magnanimous, and kind; they always meet
you with a smile and a welcome, and you
knew it is cordial and sincere. On inqui
ry, they "drink." The one spot ! It blasts
all things else. The daughter is beautiful,
amiable, and courteous : in all she says or
does there is nothing to hang an adverse
criticism upon. The moment she passes
from her father's door, dressed in faultless
tast", go to her room, and every article it
contains has impressed upon it the one
spot of an incorrigible sloven.
Let the reader this moment inquire,
What spot have I ? and begin on the in
stant to wash it out at any and every sac
rifice, for they only who are admitted to the
| mansions of the blessed are those " not
having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing "
Hall's Journal of Health.
FUN, FACTS AND FACETIJE.
A RICHMOND paper says matrimony is as
i prevalent as measles and whooping eongh, and
seems to be twice as contagious.
A MICHIGAN soldier, arrested for stealing
i a goose, said he found the bird hissing at tje Am
' eriean flag and arrested him for treason."
A BURGLAR was once frightened out of his
; scheme of robbery by the sweet simplicity of a sol
| itary spinster, who, putting her night-capped head
1 out "of the window, exclaimed: "Go away! ain't
' you ashamed ?"
MRS. GRUNDY is opposed to gambling 1 . She
; calls for a Red Sea, like that of old, to destroy
Faro and all his hosts.
! THE sugar wedding, thirty days after
! marriage, is the newest thing out.
ONE OF THE MAXIMS OF BAKIN'. —WI en
does a baker's wife become one ol the fixtures of
his shop?— When she is a littie-loviu' little ov
en.)
A BARBF.R in England durinsr the preval
ence of the cholera, expressed the opinion to a
customer on which he was operating, that after all
. cholera was in the hair. "l'lieu, jam ought to be
I very careful what brushes yeu use." "Oh. sir."
! replied the barber laughing, "I didn't mean the
! 'air of the 'ead, hut the hair of the hatmosphere."
" WHY, Bill,what is tin- matter with you ?
i You look down in the mouth." "Well, Pete, I
I guess it you had been through what I have you'd
| io v k so too." What's the matter?" "You know
Sarah Snivels, don't you, Pete?" "Yes," "Will,
| I discarded her last night." "You did ! What ?"
"Well, I tell you. She said she wouldn't marry
I me. and I'd discard any gal that would treat me in
j that sort of way."
A BOY'S idea of having a tooth drawu
' may he summed up as follows : The doctor hitch
i eit Vast on to uie, pulled his best, and just before it
j killed me the tooth came out.
A GOOD deacon making an official visit to
i a dying neighbor, who was a very unpopular man,
| put the usual question : "Are you willing to go
;my friend ?" "0, yes," said the dying man. " I
! am glad of that," said the deacon, "forall the neigh
| bors are willing."
A WRITER beautifully remarks that a man's
I mother is the representative of his Maker. Mis
i fortune and mere crime set no barriers between her
i and her -on. While his mother lives, a man has
1 one friend o l earth who will not desert him when
;he is needy, ller affection flows from a pure foun
tain, and ceases only at the ocean ol eternity.
THOUGHT IT WAS A CONUNDRUM Tlie last
effusion of the renowned Artemus, we have not vet
■ seen in print. It is said that A. W., being at one
of the New York churches, recently edihed the au
" dieuce by his very unexpected reply to the preach
' | ers text which was. "How are the mighty tallen.
- After a short pause, Artemus looked up inquiring
: ly, and said meekly, "1 11 R lv o R nP
t WHAT is the use of sighing and weeping
as we float down the stream of time? Why make
i ' the voyage of lite a ttxtiling voyage ?
1 Ir you were obliged to swallow a man
' ! whom would you prefer to swallow ? A little Lou
j don porter.
THE Russian telegraph through Liberia
will be ecouomical on account of the number of
Poles on the ground.
ADAM'S wife was called Eve because
when she appeared, man's day of happiness was
drawing to a close.