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VOL. XII.
NEWBLOOMFIELD, 1P.A., TUESDAY, OCTO!3Eli 1,1878.
NO. 40.
-'itaT 1-Lni It Is 1 1 1 1 a 113 n Ml 1:1111 OTV.
THE TIMES.
An Independent Family Newspaper,
IS PUBUSBBD BVBRT TDKSDAT BT
F. MORTIMER & CO.
8 UBBCltll'XIUM 1 U X C E .
(WITHIN TUB COUNTV.
One Year , (1 2ft
8U Months, 73
(OUT OF THS COCNTT.
One Year, (PnstHRe Included) II 50
Bix Months, (1'onlage Included) 85
Invariably lu Advance I
W Advertising rates furnished upon appli
cation. JOCK'S WIFE.
CONCLUOKI).
" (U, IUCHAltD, you have far more
J need of a wife when you are
poor and blind : I could keep a Bchool
and you could help me; you could be no
end of help. Think of it."
" I don't understand it," he said.
" You were quite ready and willing to
part with me because some person told
you a foolish story ; you Burely could
not have loved rue then 1"'
" I thought I should have died."
. "If I had known or Buspected it,
Lizzie, I would not have let you go, but
I was poor, and I believed your love
would not stand the strain of poverty ;
and your readiness to break the engage
ment made me sure of it. But now I'm
what's called a rising artist, and besides,
had a legacy lately ; so if"
" Do you mean to say that the blind
ness and the tea is all a sham?" ex
claimed Lizzie, starting from her chair.
"You made the blindness: I never
spoke of it"
" You said your sight was getting
dim."
" So it was at the moment, but my
handkerchief could have cleared it. I
own to the tea, and it has served ray
purpose. I wanted to judge if you cared
for me at all, and how much."
"It was a foolish trick cruel and un
worthy of you."
"Not cruel, feurely."
" Yes, cruel and unjustifiable. What
will my friends think r that you are a
romantic fool ; and they are sufficiently
.angry and embittered against you al
ready." " Let them think me a fool ; I don't
object."
" But I object ; they must know
nothing of this tea business. I mean
my father and John and Kelly, and,
above all, Jock."
"Who is Jock?"
" My brother, whom I dearly love and
who loves me ; but he Is awfully wise
and prudent, and could not do a foolish
thing if you were to pay him for it. If
he heard of the tea-trlck,I don't know
what he would think not that you
were fit to be his brother-in-law, I am
cure."
" Well, what am I to do ? where
or when am I to turn up in my own
colors ?"
" I can't tell ; it's like a dream. Have
you had your bread and milk ? Hebe
said you ate like a famished crea
ture." " Hebe ? that's a classic. When a man
is hungry and has good food placed be
fore him, he would be a greater fool
than even I am if he didn't seize the op
portunity. I had been out sketching
since early morning. Is Hebe that girl's
name? I made a sketch of her when
I went in."
" We have got into the way of calling
her that : it was impossible to call a
creature like her ' Janet' always."
" Does Jock not think it silly ?"
" Most likely he does ; nobody can see
any attraction in her but myself."
" I did. Did she not tell you I asked
her to stand for her picture ?"
" No ; she would not know what you
meant. I should like to see her in a
picture."
" I think I'll call on your father to
night,'' said Mr. King.
" This is Monday," she said ; " let It
be Thursday. He'll be from home to
morrow and Wednesday. I'll give aunt
the tea; what am I to charge for it ? I
believe you bought it coming through
the village?" ,
" Yes, I did. Oh, make her a present
of it ; say I always give my customers a
sample free."
" I'll ask four shillings sixpence, and
ay I told you not to come back."
"As tea-man, but when may I come
as myself ?"
"I don't know; I must have time to
think., Where are you living V"
" Six miles from here, at Grasshill."
" Grasshill ? Do you know Mr.
Stenhouse there ?"
" Very well."
' "Then get him to drive you over
when you go to my father's you could
not have a better introduction and do
not say anything about me at all. The
thing is to make a favorable impression
before they know what Mr. King you
are. I could talk my father over, and
even ray uncle and aunt, but I am
afraid of Jock; he'll stand out against
you. He sees every side of anything,
and he never was In love ; when he Is it
will be with a woman made to order.
Now you are to go away ; as tea-man
never come back."
Jock came over to Stonylea the same
evening; he had been from home for
some weeks, and had only returned that
day.
"Well, Lizzie," lie said, " what have
you been about all this time ? You are
looking well a trifle pale maybe, but
bright."
"I am very well Indeed," she said,
and then relapsed Into silence not usual
with her.
" And how is your pupil Hebe getting
on?"
" Well," she said, " It Is very uphill
work teaching her; I'm thinking of
giving her up."
" I wouldn't do that if I were you,"
said Jock : " I would persevere. You
would not master a foreign language
yourself in a few months, and
book learning is a foreign language to
her."
" But I would find out if she had any
aptitude for mastering it, and go on or
give it up accordingly. People can't do
everything, and why waste time on
what they have no taste for, and may
never need ? I don't mean ever to part
with Hebe If I can help it, but I throw
up the sponge about her education."
" That's always the way with worn
en," said Jock. "They begin a thing
with no end of enthusiasm, and if it
does not succeed In a moment, down
they throw it."
He spoke with displeasure in his
voice.
" But, Jock, be reasonable," said his
sister. " Hebe is a first-class servant,
and as bright and happy as a human be
ing can be : she'll be of far more use in
a house than a score of people who can
read and write to perfection in fact, lit
erary servants are a bore and what's
the use of forcing the little creature to
what she doesn't care for ?"
" Was it not your scheme to make her
a companion for yourself ?"
" Yes it was, but I have changed my
mind ; I think she'll be as happy and
more useful as she is."
"There's something now In the wind ;
what's your next hobby to be? If I
were you I would go on ; I would drive
pegs into her mind to hang information
on, so that she wouldn't forget. Bee,
there's some gloves I brought for you ;
If you were to give her a pair of them
and tell her they were bought in Lon
don, that would be another peg. I
think I could be a good teacher."
"I don't doubt you would. Many
thanks for the gloves a whole dozen
but they are too fine for Hebe ; we
must remember her station."
" To be sure," said Jock. " I didn't
think of that."
Mr. King Improved his introduction
to the Elliots Into a pretty intimate ac
quaintanceship, and as he was densely
ignorant of Dresden, he was not for a
moment suspected of being the original
Mr. King, so that prejudice did not ar
ray itself against him ; and thus, having
a fair field, he soon won plenty of favor.
Jock and Sibyl took him over to Stony
lea and introduced him to Lizzie as an
acquaintance they were rather proud to
have made, and he and Miss Elliot went
through the Introduction with a gravity
that left nothing to be desired.
Mr. King was of opinion that the time
was ripe for revealing their plans, but
Lizzie thought differently ; she was still
afraid of Jock, and she felt that by meet
ing as strangers she and Mr. King were
getting deeper In the mire than ever.
Her brother would think the artist pos
itively silly and not capnble of con
ducting the ordinary affairs of life, for
Jock was not romantic, and would have
no patience with stratagems In love,
whatever he might approve of in war.
Mr. King, however, not being possessed
by the same love or fear or reverence
for Jock as his sister was, things
were likely to come to a crisis, whether
she approved or not,when a light thrown
suddenly up revealed her brother to Liz
zie as a man who could commit an error
of Judgment, and who was subject to
weakness like his fellow-mortals.
She had been pondering matters one
artcrnoon, and feeling very happy and
a little perplexed, when she went to the
kitchen to speak to Hebe. She stopped
at the door and in half-dumfoundered
tones said, " Jock 1"
There unquestionably was the pru
dent, wise sub-inspector of mines stand
ing on the hearth, his arm lying over
Hebe's shoulder and his face bent down
over hers.
" Jock ! Hebe I Maud Muller I it Is,
and hadn't ought bel" hurriedly ex
claimed Lizzie all In a breath.
" It had ought to be, and It is," said
Jock determinedly.
Hebe in her gown and white effect
and her crimson ribbons was looking
down at her little hands, anxiously
pulling the corner of her muslin apron ;
the round open face was perfectly pale,
where in general it was roBe pink ; her
under Hp hung down slightly and quiv
ered ; her big blue-black eyes were dewy
she suid :
" It wasna me, Miss Elliot: I've often
told him I was no mutch for him."
Lizzie thought she had never Been
her look half so attractive; the grief
and joy and fear blended In her face
were a sight which she only wished Mr.
King could have seen, having an eye to
her lover's reputation.
" You are a match for any man in the
county, Hebe," Jock said, drawing her
close to him. "And you are mine as
sure as my name is Jock Elliot; and
'wha daur meddle wl' me'?"
"I would not take him, Hebe, If I
were you : he'll do nothing but drive
pegs into your mind, and bother you
with spelling and grammar. You'll
carry on her education, Jock?" said his
sister, laughing.
At that moment the back door opened
and Uncle John entered : he stood an
instant and surveyed the group, then
passed Into the parlor without a word;
but after tea he asked his nephew to go
out and look at something with him,
and then made use of the opportunity
he had made.
" Now,Jock," he said, " what I saw in
the kitchen is to go no farther : it is to
stop at once. That girl is no wife for
you."
" I am the best judge of that," said
Jock with hauteur.
" No, you are not," his uncle said:
"you are no Judge at all. If you were
to marry that girl, you would repent It
to the end of your days. Take her
youth from her, and what have you
left? Be prudent and be advised."
" Time will take the youth from her
and me too, and prudence may be car
ried too fur," said Jock.
His uncle winced. " Why," he said,
" she Is nothing but a bright little ani
mal : if she were a kitten she would run
round after her tail. I'll never consent
to it, Jock."
"So be it," said Jock. It's a point
on which no man shall dictate to
me."
When Nelly heard of the matter from
her husband she said :
" Impossible 1 Jock marry a little
vain, silly, flirting servant-girl I I'll set
her to write a letter to him, and it will
give him a fright : It will hardly be the
thing he would like to see from his
wife's hand. But his father and mother
will prevent it : he can't be allowed to
ruin himself."
Jock was the favorite nephew of John
and Nelly. Hebe did not write, how
ever : she had had sense enough not to
commit herself where she knew she was
awfully wanting ; but if she had, the il
llterateness of her production would on
ly have seemed to Jock another claim
for extra tenderness ; there was actually
not the shadow of a crevice in his mind
through which the imprudence and fol
ly of his intentions could gain admit
tance. Except Lizzie, all Jook's kindred to a
man and1 woman opposed his wishes ;
and her consent was negative ! she said
nothing she would not take the respon
sibility of encouraging him,although she
could not see the matter in the ruinous
light that the others did but then she
was fond of Hebe. Beside this the tea
trick looked rational a thing which, if
it had come to Jock's knowledge, nhe had
felt sure he would have thought betray
ed a romantic silliness incompatible
with the the steady earning of a respec
table livelihood.
And there is no doubt that this aflalr
of ills smoothed her own way consider
ably ; the opposing iorces were all en
gnged in doing battle with him ; and
when Mr. King, having used every
means to gain the suffrages of her kin
dred and wipe out the past, revealed
himself and his proposals, the decision
upon them was left to Lizzie herself,ond
she having already decided he had no
further trouble or anxiety.
Jock merely looked at his sister and
said :
" The new hobby."
"See that you don't tire of the old one,
Jock," she said.
"Never, Lizzie," he said "never."
"But, Jock, three, five, ten years after
this, how will you enjoy phonetic spel
ling and grammar not quite what it used
to was?"
"They'll be dear to me for her sake,"
Bald Jock with strong feeling.
"Amen I" said Lizzie.
Jock did not think of lifting the lowly
flower out of its bed and sending it to a
hot-house, where the growth of the
nearly-Invisible shoots of learning might
be forced to a kind of maturity; he meant
that to be a gradual, natural process, ac
complished by himself ; but if he had,
he would have found that Hebe had a
mind of her own .and had decided to ful
fill her engagement with Mr. Elliot ;
which might indicate that she had a
sound conscience or groveling tastes.
Jock did not like it, but his sister per
suaded him not to interfere. " Just let
Hebe and me jog on together for the
time: we have always been very good
friends, and we'll be better ones now,"
she Bald.
The other relatives hoped that his
submitting to this was a sign that the
thing might possibly be broken off yet.
His uncle John was so moved by the
distress of the parents, and so sure that
his nephew was preparing misery for
himself by this mesalliance, that he
privately offered Hebe five hundred
pounds if she would refuse to marry
him and go to Amerlca,where a brother,
her only near relative, was settled, and
had repeatedly asked her to come to
him."
Poor little Hebe was hard pushed :
her color came and went which from
much practice it was pretty good at do
ingand she said,
" I'm not marrying him for money,
and I'll not refuse him for money;
money is nothing to me, not if It were
five thousand pounds."
Could anything more be done ? No.
pecuniary lever could be brought to bear
on Jock: he was independent.
Lizzie's marriage day was fixed fop
the 11th of December, but as Hebe could
neither stay at Stonylea when her time
of service was ended, nor be received at
his father's house, Jock determined that
his marriage should take place on the
eleventh of November, the day that his
bride would leave her " place" with her
little wooden chest, and her half year's
wages In her hand. It was to be a mar
riage stripped of all externals, such as
trousseau, presents, wedding-garments,
bridesmaid, wedding-guests, speeches,
congratulations, old shoes, etc Jock
laughed these things to scorn ; it was
the first time he had ever given his
friends a moment of anxiety, and he
was sorry for it, but he could not help
it if they were unreasonable.
Hebe went about her duties as usual,
doing everything well and neglecting
nothing, but she did not sing as had
been her wont, and her face was not so
blithe as it was its nature to be.
Her master and mistress were noi
magnanimous towards her; if there
was blame in the matter, surely it be
longed to their own nephew, and not to
their servant-girl, but they made her feel
the weight of their displeasure; not
John so muoh, who merely ignored her
entirely, as Nelly, who snubbed her at
every turn. It was not like them, but
good pYople can do unworthy things.
The bustle of the harvest-time had
been got over, and Miss EIMo-t had gone
to pass some days at her father's house,
Mr. King being there also. It was a
dark, murky Sunday night; John and
Nelly had returned from ehurch, and
Hebe had taken the dinner-tea which
was the Sunday fare Into- the parlor,
and had sat down at the- kitchen fire
with her feet on the fender and her
thoughts on Jock. She had not seen
him for a fortnight, and she was sad;
she was thinking if It were for his good
to marry her. Would she be a drag on .
him? and in time wouldihe tire of her
and despise her for her low origin and
want of education, as bin-uncle had told
her ?. Her eyes filled with tears, and she
took the cat upon her lap-and stroked It,
if so she might find comfort; and pussy
hnd a very soothing effnet on her and
she on pussy : it climbed up and rubbed
its fur on her face and, purred as much
as to say :
"You and me against the world,
Hebe I" then in loving trust it curled
itself up on her knee aud composed itself
to Bleep. She drew Jock's last letter
from her pocket and read it over the
cat's head; it was written, or rather half'
printed, in big round text, for the writer
knew if he wrote in his usual way Hebe
would not be able toread it ; and what
will a man not do who Is infatuated audi
shuts his eyes to causes and conse--quences?
It was-slnort, for when a let-,
ter is half printed in big, distinct type Ifc
checks the Indulgence of imaginative
flights or poetical quotations, and even
assurances of undying affection, were
the writer ever so inclined to these.
Jock's letter-was short, hut it appeared ,
satisfactory- to the person to whom it
was written, for her face cleared and
she kissed the paper on which ito was
written ; which must be a genuinely
natural thing to do, for Hebe hod never
read a novel in her life, nor ever had an
opportunity of seeing a similar action
performed.
She was still meditating on its con
tents when the back door opened with
out causing her to look up, as the man
who attended to the horses came every
night for the key of the granary, and
she did not doubt that it was- he as usu
al ; but she started up and pussy fell
from her lap in a hurry when a heavy
hand grasped her arm and i two men
with cuape over their faces- stood beside
her.
" What do you want ?" she asked, for
so ignorant was she of the- usages of
housebreakers that the crape on their
faces had no meaning for her.
" If you are quiet aad say nothing
we'll not hurt you," said one of the
men, " but speak a word and I'll blow,
your brains out," and he showed a re-,
volver.
" Bring her with ycu, Jim," the other,
man said, striding out of the kitchen
into the front lobby; and Hebe found
herself hurried into the dining-room,
where Mr. and Mrs. Elliot were still sit
ting at the table. They both rose in
alarm.
" Has anything. happened ?" Mrs. EU
Hot asked.
"Not yet," saUlone of the men. "Now,
old gentleman, tell me where your
money is or I'U shoot you where you
stand," and he held his pistol near Mrs.
Elliot's head.
" Very well), shoot," saitd John. quU
etly.
" Oh, good-, men," cried Mrs. Elliot,,
taking out her purse, " what will you
take to go away ? I'll give you" The-
man snatched the purse- from, her hand,
while hla. mate secured her husband's
watch.
" Tie him In his, chair, Jim,"' the
leader said, " and I'll hpld the two
womm."
The man produced strong Cord and
bouad John haul and, foot, he making
no. resistance.
"Tie the old lady, Jinx,' said the
utan, keeping hold of Hebe.
Nelly was powerless with terror by
this time.
" You'll pay for this night's work yet,
you villains 1" said John when he Raw
his wife secured with cords, and writhed
at his own helplessness.
" Keep a civil tongue in your head,"
said the ruffian. " Now," he said to
Hebe, " lead on to the old gentleman's
rooms. We'll break open the desk if
we can't find a key, and if you try to