'flA2N n 1 .TV VOL. XIV. NEJ'W BLOOMFIELD, 1J-A.., TUESDAY, OCTOBEIl 5, 1880. NO. 40. iili; ' THE TIMES. in Independent Family Newspaper, IS PUBLISH II D BVERT TUBSDAT BT F. MORTIMER & 00. TEKMS t INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE. ne year (Postage Free) II so Bix Months " ' 80 To Subscribers In this County Who pay In Advascr. a Discount of 25 Cents will oe made from the above terms, making subscription within the County, When raid In Advance, $1.25 Icr Tear. Advertising rates furnished nponappll eatloD. THE GYPSIES' CAPTIVES. AT the close of a Rummer afternoon, in a cozy room of a small cottage but a few miles from London was seated a solitary person. The .full and rounded chin told of pride and determination that it would be hard to thwart; but the soft lines, that time had formed about the well-cut lips, told, too, of struggles that had been undergone, and battles fought by that resolute character; and the sliver threads closely interspersed among the heavy waves of dark hair suggested -sorrows that had been experienced and perhaps not yet subdued. She sits quietly in the calm twilight, until the lengthening shadows and in creasing darkness cast a gloom over her -spirits, and she is about to rise and strike a light, when the sound of voices falls upon her ear. Familiar voices too, those of her niece, Alice Hall, and her affianced lover, Edward Barry. The gathering darkness prevents them from seeing her, as she stands concealed -by the muslin folds of the drapery cur tain that partially conceals the window. They pause within ten paces of the ,place of her concealment, and Alice fin ishes the sentence that first fell upon her aunt's ear : " Then if that is your opinion of her, of course you have no longer any regard for mel" Edward laughed; a good-natured laugh that jarred on the excited nerves of his fair companion. " O Alice, how can you allow yourself to run on so ? You know I would never have said she was pretty if I had known it would make you jealous." "Jealous! Bo you mean to insult ne ? What woman would not be jeal ous, I should like to know, to have her lover, yes, sir, her affianced lover (but I presume you will not consider that bind ing), devote himself wholly to a girl, a perfect stranger, whom he never saw before, as you did this afternoon to Ida Summers, entirely forgetting your be trothed, whom you left to take care of herself the best way she could 1" "Now, Alice, you know better. Didn't Mrs. Bummers, my mother's old friend, ome to me and say she must introduce me to her daughter ? As if I cared a traw about her daughter 1 Come, Alice, let's make up, and be good friends again." He made a step toward her and was about to draw her to his side, but she held him off with a quick gesture. " No, Mr. Barry, I can never become the wife of a flirt. It is better to part now than to live the life of misery that would ensue if we were mad enough to marry. Miss Ida Summers will perhaps have no objection to a husband who transfers his affections to every pretty face be sees, and then you know she is an heiress, while I am poor and of no account," " I never beard such nonsense in my life ! What do I want of Ida Summers ? I asked you to be my wife, and you said you would. I have not wished to re tract, but if you do not wish to marry ne, Alice, why not say so at once, Instead of saying such disagreeable things ? Are you tired of your bargain, Alice ? I know I am a good-for-nothing fellow, but you might have found that out before. Come, Alice darling, don't you love ine any longer?" . He caught her hand and looked be seechingly into her face. She almost gave way under that tender look, so full of honest and devoted love, but she could not fight down the wounded pride and jealousy that were so strong in her, and recovering her8elf,8hedrew her hand from his, and answered coldly : " No, I am not tired of my bargain, but I know myself well enough to feel that I could not endure the fate of a neglected and unloved wife." At those cruel words his patience de serted him. "And I, Miss Hall, am sufTlcleutly acquainted with myself to feel convinced that I could never live with a jealous and fault-finding wife." He stepped in front of her, and look ing into her face kissed her forehead. " Good-by, Alice. I can't leave you in anger. The time will come when you will see how cruelly you have treat ed me, I know it will come, for you have a conscience and a kind heart, although your pride and jealousy are in the ascendency ; but I hope you may never suffer as you have made me to night." He turned and left her without a word more, and she heard his retreating foot steps die away in the distance. Nat until then did she move, but as the last echoes ceased, she slowly entered the house, and found her aunt seated by the table with a book in her hand. " You 'are late, Alice," said her aunt, looking up. " Did you enjoy the pic nic? You had a lovely day of it." " No, that is, yes. It was very pleas ant." Her aunt looked up at her. There was a bright flush on her pretty face, but it was not the glow of pleasure, and the little mouth was drawn down at the corners, as if it had hard work to keep back the grief that was rising into the white throat. Her aunt took her hand, and drew her to a seat beside her. " What is the matter love ? Can't you tell your tronble to your old auntie?" "O Aunt Margaret," said Alice, throwing her arms . about her aunt's neck and hiding her head on her shoulder. " I am very unhappy. I have quarreled with Edward and we are not engaged any longer, and" Tears prevented her from finishing her sen tence. " I know, my dear, all about it. I heard It all, as I sat at the window. But, Alice, do you know, I think you were very unjust to poor Edward." "Aunt Margaret, you don't know all about it," said Alice, raising her head and talking very fast. "He did very wrong Indeed, to-day, and flirted all the time with that hateful Ida Summers. Such a homely, pale, conceited-looking thing, tool" " If you think her so unattractive, I wonder you should fear her power over Edward," said her aunt quietly. " I do think her very unattractive and plain, but Edward was not of my opinion, but I told him I would never consent to be his wife while he retained such opinions." "Alice, my dear child, you surprise me. I did not know you possessed such bad passions. Edward is not a flirt. No more honest or truer soul God never made, and the woman who throws away such a gift as that is not worthy of it. O Alice, you little know what you are doing 1 Jealousy is the meanest vice a women can possess, and the most dan gerous one. It will be an incubus on those you love best, and heap misery on your own head. It will make you ex acting and unforgiving, suspicious and revengeful, and, to conquer it, will bring you premature wrinkles and gray hairs like mine. Yes, Alice, you may well start. The jealousy you now feel Is nothing to that which once possessed me, and the yielding to which cost me a life of sin and misery. I shall tell you my story, Alice. Humiliating as it is to expose myself to your eyes, I muBt do it in order to save you from a life of wretchedness. Go to bed now, dear, and in the morning you shall read my story, fur I cannot tell it. I shall write it out before I go to bed, for no sleep will come to me to-night." The next morning Alice's waking eyes rested on a roll of paper that her aunt had placedon.her bed while she slept With eager eyes she tore it open and read the following : At an early age I was left an orphan, with a sum sufficient for my support, but not large enough to gain me the reputation of an heiress. I was at once taken into the family of my father's brother, and became the playmate and inseparable companion of his only child, Herbert. He was a beautiful boy, epliited and full of life as became a boy, and at all times tender and affectionate to me. My uncle, and indeed the term was adopted by all the household, always called me " Herbert's little wife," and many a time we exchanged solemn vows that no human power should ever part us. At last came the time for Herbert to leave home for boarding-school. Many an hour I wept over the pocket-handkerchiefs that my jealous love would not allow anybody but myself to hem; and a real labor of love It was ou my part, for sewing was my great aversion, and every stitch of the patchwork my aunt required me to make gave my heart a twinge of agony. The few short days we had together passed rapidly, and the gloomy morn ing of departure came. I was too proud to cry before witnesses of my grief, so I sat quietly at breakfast, not trusting myself to speak, for fear of breaking out into the bods that were swelling in my throat. I could not Bay good-by when the Inst moment come, but Herbert knew what made my hand so hot and trembling, and my face so pale. As the carriage passed down the avenue, carrying away my idol, my aunt turned to me and told me kindly not to grieve so for Herbert, that in a few months we Bhould have him back, and enjoy him more than ever for this separation. But I could not reply to her kindness, so I pushed by her and rushed into the garden, bent only on finding some secluded spot where I could give way to the grief that I had been carrying about with me for so long. I threw myself among the tall grass, damp with the dew of early morning, and sobbed out my sorrow until I be came calmer. It was my first grief, the first drops my young heart had sipped of the cup of bitterness that comes so surely to us all, sooner or later. I gradually got used to my lot. That is, accustomed myself to living solely in the future, counting the days that would elapse before Herbert came. When he did come, we two children roamed about hand In hand, discussing our plan for the future, I never weary ing of the stories, that I learned to know by heart, of his school-life. " Was there ever such a hero?" I thought In my pride of the handsome boy beside me. " How proud his school mates must be of such a companion I" Those happy days, too, were taken from me. In the course of time there was talk of sending Herbert to college, and then a Paris education was decided upon. Four years ! Would he not be lost to me? Herbert was now fifteen, and I two years younger. Would not four long years draw an impenetrable barrier between us ? I will not enlarge on our parting. I thought my heart was broken, little fool that I was I Bitter experience has taught me that the human heart, like the giant that regained strength by each blow that sent him to Mother Earth, rises from each sorrow with redoubled capacity for endurance. Those four years passed, and the time came at last for Herbert to arrive. I dreamed night and day of his arrival, and yet when the carriage that had been sent to the depot for him returned, and the commotion in the hall told me that he had come, I stood in my chamber irresolute, dreading, now that the mo ment had arrived, the meeting that I had looked forward to for four years. Of course my girlhood's first instinct said to me, " What Impression shall I make on him?" and true to that Instinct I stepped before my bureau. The faith ful glasB presented a dark, somewhat grave face, pale at that moment, with large, dark eyes that glittered with ex citement. That the lines were correct I knew, for I had often been told so, and I was artist enough to know that they spoke the truth. But was it a face that a man would love ? Did it indicate that gentleness and amiability that a man instinctively chooses in a wife ? Wife ! what had I to do with that word ? A deep flush dyed my cheeks, and I quick ly withdrew from my glass as a knock at the door of my chamber surprised me. " Please, Miss Maggie, Master Herbert has been inquiring for you," said one of the house-maids. I at once descended to the hall, which was filled with the traveling-boxes of the young master of the house. At the door of the library he met me. A tall, handsome young man of nineteen, with a soft moustache above the full red lips I remembered so well. He looked at me earnestly, and I felt, to my vexation, my face flush beneath the gaze of those handsome, searching eyes. " Why, Maggie, how handsome you have grown," he said gayly. " I hardly dare to kiss you I" He bravely overcame his fears, how ever, for he pressed a kiss on my lips; the first kiss I had ever received from any man but my uncle, the touch of those soft bearded lips Bent the warm blood tingling through my veins. I tried to talk of commonplace sub jects, about his Journey and his life in Paris, but the conviction that I had disclosed the love that had grown with the years that had elapsed since our separation embarrassed me, and frus trated my attempts at conversation. That my love was returned I soon found. As In the days of our infancy, so now we were inseparable companions. No avowal of love ever passed his lips, but I felt that he loved me with his whole heart. Thus a happy year passed, and the second summer of Herbert's return approached. My aunt's health was rather delicate, and her physician recommended gayety, so she Invited several families of her acquaintance to pass the summer with her. Among them was a lady by the name of Lee, with her daughter, a pretty girl with no great strength of character. Herbert took very little notice of his mother's guests at first, but I soon noticed that Mrs. Lee always contrived to have him ride by her daughter Minnie's side during our horseback excursions, on the ground that Minnie was timid and felt insecure on her horse. I was not timid, but at last I began to chafe under Mrs. Lee's determined efforts to separate me from Herbert. At last, I hardly dared to believe even the evidence of my own eyes, even Herbert himself avoided me. I tried in vain for an opportunity to see him alone, but he always had some good exouse to evade me. One day I took a walk in the woods that belonged to my uncle's estate. I paced rapidly up and down, trying vainly to quell the heat that was con suming my heart and brain. In the midst of my restless promen ade, I heard steps approaching. I had not obtained sufficient control over my. self to face the Intruder, so I quickly concealed myself behind a spreading fir. There were two. I heard a voice, It was Minnie Lee's but so low I could not catch the words, but my heart gave a bound within me when I heard Her bert's voice answer : "Am I sure I shall be happy with you ? Yes, little one, I know you will make the sweetest wife that ever a man was blessed with." "It seems like a dream that is too beautiful to be real," said Minnie slm ply. But to tell the truth, Herbert, I loved you the first moment I saw you." A kiss, that served only to add fuel to my flaming brain, was his only reply ; and encircling her waist with his arm they passed out of sight. I sprang into the path they had just left. Was I mad ? I must have been not far from madness, for I clenohed my hands, and muttered in audible tones, " You loved him the first moment you saw him, little fool ? What is your weak love to mine ? I have loved him all my life! But you have robbed me of him, and my blood be on your head I" With these rash words I turned to ward the river that flowed calmly with in a few paces of where I stood. For an instant I looked at its plaold ripples. Would not its quiet bosom soothe the fire that raged within me? I clasped my hands above my head, but Instantly two arms were thrown about my waist, their strong grasp holding me fast. I turned qulokly on the intruder. The brown, wrinkled face of an old gipsy woman met my eyes. I recognized her as one of a tribe of gypsies that were encamped on my uncle's estate. " What right have you to interfere with me?" I said fiercely. "Is it any of your business what I do with myself? My life is of no account in the world, and If I choose to dispose of it, no one need trouble himself about It." She looked at me shrewdly, with her sharp black eyes that Indicated an intel ligence above her condition. "I know, my young lady, what the , trouble Is. I saw it all as I was gather-' ing leaves behind the hedge." She drew close to me, and in a whis per that startled me to horror, said, " Do you want her to disappear and never cross your path again ? Gold will do It, young lady. Say but the word, and you shall have him all to your self." " Wretch 1 Do you think I would lend a hand to murder ? Begone, or I will order the keeper to drlveyour whole tribe off. Begone out of my sight, old hag!" ' She glared at me while I spoke with the fury of a wild animal, but in a mo ment she had resumed her former Insin uating tones. "Did I say the word murder? My meaning was this. To-morrow night we strike our tents and start for the north. If yonder young lady goes with us no harm will come to her, you will be happy once more, and no trace of her . will ever be found ; for you will be the .1.11 ix . a 1 , 1 1 . vu.j trull? nibucoBUl bUO UU ttliU I1U glpBy ever betrays his tribe 1" I reflected a moment. It seemed to my deluded mind too fortunate a chance to throw aside. Once rid of her, my rival, I felt that I could win back Her bert's love. My mind was made up. " I consent," I replied firmly. " It will take gold," cried my com panion. I caught my watch from my belt, and handed it to her. "That is not enough," she added, pointing her lean forefinger to the pin that confined my collar. I tore it off. The brilliant gems that flashed from it seemed to scorch my throat, as I thought of the tender words that accompanied Herbert's last gift to me. " How shall we arrange It ?" I asked. " Leave all to me," replied the bold gypsy. "The young lady will follow me fast enough when I offer to read her fortune for her. When once out of hearing the rest is easy. But it is not safe for I1H to fjillr lnno-pr T hoar ittna approaching." Putting her finger on her Hp to pre vent me from replying, she was out of sight in an Instant. Several seconds elapsed before my duller ear detected the sound that had w&rntvl hAr nt Han. ger. Some of my aunt's guests were approaching, and not wishing to en counter them I slipped back to the house by a path known only to members of the household. The next morning there was a vacant seat at the breakfast-table, and a servant was sent to Inquire If Miss Lee was unwell. His retreated knock brought no answer, and trying the door he found It unlocked. The room was empty, the bed had not been slept In, and not a trace of the missing girl was to be found ! In a moment the whole household was in commotion. Every corner was searched, and guests and servants sent in all directions. Her mother's groans and hysterics failed to excite sympathy in me. I believe I took a fiendish de light in witnessing them. At last a servant brought back a shawl that was at once recognized as belonging to Minnie. He found it hanging to a bush that grew on the bank where the river ran fastest and the water was deepest. At once orders to drag the river were given, but of course it was useless. O treacherous gypsy, you made your precautions doublysure! I shall pass over the first days and months that elapsed after Minnie's dis appearance. Instead of winning back the love I had lost, I found, to my dis may, that Herbert avoided me. Some times I fancied that he even regarded me with horror, as if he suspected the part I had played. Meanwhile his health declined. A settled melancholy fell upon him, the proud beauty that had once delighted all beholders disappeared, and his face grew pale and haggard. My aunt's disease, too, rapidly pro-
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