I
A. 1
FRANK MORTIMER,
Editor and Proprietor.
Vol. IV.
Ia Published Weekly,
At New Illoomfleld, renu'a.
BY
FRANK MORTIMER.
fiCBJiCI'.irTIO.N" TERMS.
ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR !
THE UNTRIED GOVERNESS.
A Step-Daughter's Experience.
CONCLUDED.
StiENTLY, Noddy. People don't
like to see much of this sort of
thing in any but the rich."
" Then people are wrong, and must . be
shown so. But what I want to say is this :
if you have lost all your money, you may
have expenses to meet, and one thing and
another that may harass you, and prevent
your beginning clear."
Mr. Frank nodded. " Quite so," he said,
nd shook his head gravely.
" Well, would you mind that is, if I
lent you twenty pounds of my property,
would you be certain sure to pay it back to
me again somewhere ? I can't spare more
very well, as I want ton pounds of it to get
myself ready for the situation I am looking
for. But I thought it might come in
handy."
'Just so," said Mr. Frank, and shook
his head again gravely j " there's no doubt
about it."
"You see, I should not have proposed it,
but I should charge you interest and that
would do away with all obligation."
"Entirely," Mr. Frank coincided; "that
would be a regular commercial transaction.
And the interest would be?"
" Three per cent. the samo as the bank
gives."
"And you would require my note of
hand for the amount?"
"No," said Noddy, laughing at the idea
as absurd ; " I can trust you for that."
" What 1 for nearly all your property ?"
" Yes ; because it would not ruin me if I
lost it."
" Well, I will take your money, Noddy
It will bo very acceptable and I won't
cheat you."
"No," said Noddy ; " I hope you won't,
for I look upon it as safo as tho bank."
Mr. Frank laughed.
So it was settled that Noddy should draw
her money from the bank ou tho following
day.
" You are a good little friend, Noddy,"
Mr. Frank said, as they -walked homo.
"No," Noddy said; "I hope I should
have done as much for any one."
Noddy meant to tell the truth. May bo
she "hoped" she would; but I am not at all
certain she would. However, she had nev
er before felt so rich as at the prospect of
helping Mr. Frank. Her twenty pounds
seemed to her quite a largo property, and
she almost jumped to the conclusion that it
would go a good way towards making a
prosperous man of Mr. Geogagan again.
Mrs. Muciller and Julia returned from the
picnic party rather bored. It was "awfully
slow," Julia decided ; and "so many stuck
up girls that it was quite horrid."
Mr. Geogagan spent the evening listen
ing to Julia's music with as much apparent
appreciation and interest as though he had
not been unsuccessful in his attempt to
raise tho loan he wished from Mr. Sharing.
One day passed two days three days,
with little worthy of remark. Then Mrs.
Muciller, bocoiuing impatient at receiving
no replies to tho advertisement respecting
Norah Cray, made a call on Mrs. Sharing
who imparted tho bit of news sho had beon
AN INDEPENDENT FAMILY
burning to tell, but yet treasured un for her
last communication namely, that on the
most reliable authority her Indian nephew
was not worth a dozen rupees ; and that ho
had actually attempted to raise a loan on
his prospects of marriage with Miss Mucil
ler. " Quite absurd, you know," said Mrs.
Sharing; "but it just shows what ho is
worth."
"But I know ho hajiioney," Mrs. Mu
ciller protested indignantly. " I am certain
of it. That Reclamation Company is a
wonderfully good thing, and I know his
money is in that. I have made every in
quiry." "Exactly. But that is the very reason.
The Anglo-Waddy Company has gone to
entire ruin. My husband 6ays the shares
are not worth a sixpence."
This was a great blow for Mrs. Muciller,
especially remembering that she had only
herself to blame for promulgating the re
port of Julia's engagement to this adven
turer. Tho one little bit of comfort she
had remaining was, that Mr. Geogagan had
been as much deceived in thinking. Julia
had expectations as she had been with him.
But that did not mend tho matter, which
presented itself to her mind in the light of
a most atrocious take-in, and she said so.
"Well, but," said Mrs. Sharing, "tho
Company was prospering when ho left In
dia, and there is no reason to suppose he
has been guilty of intentional deception."
"What has that to do with it? How
does that make any reparation for the in
jury it has caused to my daughter's pros
pects .bveiybody knows of tho engage
ment, and people will talk. O, how they
will talk I It is abominable ! It will be
most prejudicial to Julia to break it off
now ; but it must bo done at any cost.
And a most fortunate escape it will be."
Mrs. Muciller returned to tea at Braith
field Villa, outwardly calm and cool, but as
may be imagined, in not the most placid se
renity of mind. She made not the slight
est alteration in her behavior to Mr. Geoga
gan, who appeared in very fair spirits, and
entirely unsuspicious of the coming storm.
Mrs. Muciller was a woman of quick ac
tion ; a course once resolved on with her
was put into execution immediately. When
tea was finished she blandly requested Nod
dy and Julia to leave the room. Her man
ner of doing this was so marked that had
Mr. Frank not been deeply interested in a
book he was reading on tho sofa, he might
have had his suspicions aroused.
When they were alone Mrs. Mucillor com
menced : "Mr. Geogagan, will do me the fa
vor to pay attontiou to a few words I have
to say ?"
"I am all attention," said Mr. Frank,
dropping his book and drawing himself
comfortably on the sofa-cushion.
" When you invited yourself as my guest
I had not tho slightest idea that you would
place mo in a false position."
" Nor I," said Mr. Frank resignedly, his
hands languidly crossed, with the air of a
martyr.
" I had no idea that you would avail your
self of my hospitality to betray tho confi
dence naturally reposed in a visitor."
Mrs. Muciller paused expecting an an
swer; but Mr. Frank was silent.
"Or," she continued, "I should not have
extended towards you that hospitality.
You will excuse my being plain, but it is
my duty to be so."
Mr. Frank extended his hands and bont
his head, as deprecating such an anolotrv.
"Your conduct towards my daughter
Julia has been most heartily cruel."
"Excuse me," said Mr. Frank.
" Pardon mo ; I don't wish to bo inter
rupted. Most heartlossl cruel. You havo
paid her marked attentions at homo and
abroad, and have given currency to a most
undesirable report that you were engaged
to her, without any reference whatever, to
my wishes and feelings. I do not, of courso
pretend to know the extent to which you
have influenced her mind, or tho. hold vou
may have succeeded in obtaining over her
Ncw I31ooiulioll, T., -A-iig-nst 1G. 1870.
affections ; but I must say you have no
ght to promulgate a report that, in mv
, vj ' t
opinion, is injurious to my daughter's pros
pects.
"I have paid your daughter no more at
tention than ordinary courtesy to a relative
would dictate. As to an engagement, I
have not thought it necccssary to make a
reference to you on tho subject, Mrs. Mu
ciller, not having had the slightest notion of
such a thing, until I heard the renort von
allude to, which certainly did not orignato
irom me."
It is most singular how such a rcnort
could have obtained currency had vou civ-
en no occasion for it," said Mrs. Muciller.
There I agree with you : and sifrnifl.
cant also' said Mi Frank.
And significant also. Had vour atten
tions to Julia been restricted to home cour
tesies, it might have been less so. But
hen you seek, on strength of such a re
port, previously disseminated by you, to
uso your rumored engagement as tho secu
rity on which to borrow money, it becomes
sun moro man significant; it becomes con
clusive of something that is detestably dis
graceful." Mrs. Muciller paused, wishing for an an
swer to a shot that combined truth flnrl
falsehood so deftly that she kuew it would
tell; but there was only one answer Mr.
1 .
r ranic coum Havo given at the moment. If
it had been a man who had stung him like
this, Mr. Frank would have knocked him
down ; but as it was a lady, he was silent.
"In entering my . household," she pro
ceeded, "you led me tacitly to understand
that you were at least in as prosperous a
position as l liau reason to believe vou wore
some years ago. It is useless to say you did
not actually state this in so many words ;
you led me to believe it, and took no pains
to dissipate such a belief. Such conduct I
can only characterize as the basest dunlio.itv.
You then sought, by the cunning artifice of
a hinted engagement with my daughter, to
mortgage her expectations as well as to in
jure her prospects. Such proceedings I can
only stigmatize as contemptible and syste
matic vimany. your future course whilst
you remain in my house "
But Frank just walked into the hall, took
his hat, and scribbling a pencilled address
on an envelope, gave it to tho servant for
Miss Cray, and walked out, leaving his lug
gage and personal effects to be sent after
him." ,
Tho note contained only an acknowledg
ment of the sum of twenty pounds borrow
ed from Norah.
Peoplodid talk; and the bitterness of it
to Mrs. Muciller was that it was all her own
doing. However, she was equal to the oc
casion. She had made one attempt to bring
Julia out at eighteen with indifferent suc
cess. As a shop-keeper, whose goods have
been exposed in his window for a few
weeks, and becomo a triilo soiled, will re
move them to the back of his shop, that
they may come out fresh again by and by,
so Mrs. Muciller, whoso daughter had bo
come a trifle ily-blown by the exposure, re
solved to send Julia to Franco to finish her
education for the second time, to como out
Iresli at eighteen in another twelvemonth
It took a few weeks to completo the neces
sary arrangements for Julia's departure,
during which time Mrs. Mueiller's attention
was distracted from Noddy's affairs. The
only Mntiment of emotion at tho contri-te.m-n
exhibited by Julia consisted in a renewed
expression, in sonjj, of something like i
gret that the " two leaves were parted in
tne stream ;" but as to any feelino of emo
tion, sho probably had about as much as
the "other leaf," that "floated forward all
alone."
Towards the closo of September.
few days after Miss Julia had become a pen-
ttonnatre of a Parisian establishment, M:
nr.. ...mi i i
uiuuuim jjuuueuu upon an auvcrtisomeut in
the local paper.
"At last!" she exclaimed to Noddy;
" here is tho very thing for you. It soonis
like a providence, llore have we linnn trv
ing tho London papers for weoks, and the
NEWSPAPER.
very identical thing turns up in our own
little print. I'll read it :
" 'Wanted, a Goveuness Tim nrivpr-
tiscr wishes to obtain instruction for a child
turned eight years old. Pnglish only re
quired. Address W., Pinewood, Lynd
hurst, Hants.' "
"Just what you want, no accomplish
ments whatever, mentioned ; so write di
rectly." " Yes," said Noddy, " I will. I like the
look of that advertisement. There is not
too much said, and not too much required."
Noddy wrote three or four notes before
sho could manage one to suit the con
ciseness of tho advertisement. The one
sho sent was this :
" To W.
September 20, 18
"I think I am competent to undertake
the situation. Nora Chay."
Return of post brought the following re
ply :
September 20, 18.
"To Miss Noka Cray.
" If Miss Cray is of that opinion, she is
requested to be at Lyndliurst Station at
7.15 r. m., to-morrow. Carriage will be
sent. W."
"P. M. ?" Mrs. Muciller remarked. "Not
a very suitable time to engage a governess.
However, this is not my affair."
Noddy was so really anxious to secure a
situation for which she thought herself
qualified, that she would have gone had it
been m. m., twelve o'clock at midnight."
" You will not make any frivolous ob
jections about accepting this situation,"
Mrs. Muciller said. "The family whoever
they are seem evidently disposed to engage
you, and you will understand I have no
farther occasion for your services with me.
Should you be engaged at once, I do not
even see that it would be needful for you
to return. You forgot yourself more than
once in your demeanor to a visitor of mine ;
it is not my wish you should have another
opportunity of making a similar mistake.
If you return at all, it will be your own
fault ; and if you suffer for it, it will be a
consequence of your own folly."
"I will really try," returned Noddy;
" for indeed, I am in earnest for employ
ment. But you will not be angry if I re
turn unsuccessfully ? You would not turn
me away?"
" If you return I do not think I could
turn you away.. Peoplo might talk. I
should not turn you out of doors ; but if,
after Once showing you a separato path
from my own, and you refuso it, there
should bo a way I have not yet tried to
make you feel my resentment, I will try
to find that way. Until yon had the pros
pect of a situation, I have restrained myself
because to exhibit my feeling would be
useless and purposeless. . Now, let me tell
you that I know something of your deceit
and treachery. Tlianks to your poisoning
Mr. Geogagan's mind against my daughter
Julia, he left in tho sudden and disgraceful
manner he did. You need not pretend to
innocence. You woro walking with him
tho day he went to the picnic, and your
lies havo brought all this disgrace about."
" I assure you it was not so. I never
said a word to "
" You own you walked with him, then?"
" I did," said Noddy, quietly ; " but"
"O, you did! Vastly fine! You did 1
Mrs. Mueiller's upper-servant and parlor
maid walked out for an airing with Mrs.
Mueiller's guest ! Indeed. Cat 1" and Mrs.
Muciller bent herself forward, the better to
project her indignation. " Leave the room
without a word, or I may forget my own
interest, and, once out of the house, may
be fool enough to forbid your return, even
to such a reception as I can give yew
Go I"
Noddy was too angry to cry. Sho went.
Mrs. Mueiller's words were too unjust to
stab. No one knew their' injustice better
than Noddy. The one bit of truth that she
had taken a walk with Mr. Geogairan, she
was not ashamed of. Mrs. Mueiller's deduc
tion from it, about it's being the means of
breaking oil Julia's expected match, noed
Terms: IN ADVANCE.
One Dollar per Year.
ISTo. 33.
ed no contradiction. Noddy knew that
and what is more, that her step-mother,
knew it too. Tho mistake of women's div
putcs in their predilection for hanging a
quarrel on any peg but the right one. Had
Mrs. Muciller confined herself to saying
sho hated Noddy, and always had done si,
she would have been completely justified,
and would have succeeded in making her
victim cry.
The 7.15 train set Noddy down at a liw
tlo country station, in the middle of the
New Forest, amid a wilderness of tree
beauty, with no other habitation in sight,
for miles than tho station-master's house
and the long red roofs of Lyndliurst Union
peering out from the distant green. The
air was scented with flowers, and musical
with bird-voices, and tho golden evening.
haze lay on all the sombre trees, and burnr
cd them into a red misty glory. A few
minutes, and a shaggy pony became visible
drawing a small phaeton out of tho forest
shade. The man drove up, and asked for
Miss Cray.
" No luggage, mum, I think ? No. Per
haps you won't mind sittin' by ' me. The
road is roughish, and the front seat is more
springy."
80 Noddy perched herself beside the
coachman, and tho shaggy pony began
shuffling sort of running trot, and the "car
riage" began to glide and bump over the
grassy forest-path.
" How far is Pinewood ?" Noddy inquir
ed. "A matter of five mile, mum, miss, I
should say, "but the road Is a rum un."
So it seemed. Over humps and bumps
m the lawny way, and the forest-path twist
ing and winding about among the majestic
trees ; the wheels singing pleasantly on th
grass, grating a stone here and there, Or
going over a bougn yonder, but the pony
shuffled along over everything with a hap
py see-saw swaying of his head.
" Are they at home ?"
" Yes'm, leastways, miss."
" Who did you say your master was?"
Noddy wanted to know something of the
folks she was going to.. .-.. V , ,
"I didn't say he was no one. did I? Ha
thought this too sharp, however ; for- he
added, "lie's tue govenor, that's whath
is." . . .-
"And the child?" asked Noddy, a lit
tle rebuffed. " A girl, I suppose ?" . ,
The coachman looked at her severely.
"No," he said, doggedly ;."it ain't a girl.
Como up Peg, can't you 1" tho last re
mark being addressed in a surly tone to
the pony.
It was getting dusk when Noddy ar
rived. She was shown into a spacious room
comfortably furnished, but plenty of room
to walk about. - ,
Tho windows looked out on the billowy
forest, now fading into purple gloom, all
save the nearer trees, which stood in a
silhouette of black lackwork against the
twilight sky. Presently, an old lady in
black silk entered the room. Not the lady
of the house, Noddy judged, more like a
motherly housekeeper than that ; but there
was a comfortable smile on her face as she
said, "Miss Cray, I beliove, iu answer to
tho letter? Will you follow me, my dear?"
Noddy followed her out of the room,
and along a cool white hall, to a door. The
old lady knocked. " My master is within ;
please to enter."
Master 1 thought Noddy, and trembled at
tho prospect of the approaching ordeal ; but
tho housekeeper had opened tho door,' and
Noddy had to go in. The room was larger
than tho other; it was also darker,
inasmuch as tho blinds were half-way down
and no lights to enliven tho gloom. ' Noddy
could only distinguish dimly the figure of a
man, in a great ' chintz-covered easy -chair
at the far end of the room. She judged
him to be elderly by his reclining as if with
gout, his legs making two great bolster like
parcels in front of him. Tho hair that
strayed out beneath his velvet sk.ill-cap
appeared white, and he addressed her in
a slow voice of some firmness. " Be seated
Miss Cray, if you please." 1
Nora took a seat. - ' " '
CONTINUED ON SECOND PAOS,