OCR Text |
Show i! The Bow of Orange Ribbon f A ROMANCE OF NEW YOR.K I By AMf.LU C. BARR J A.h .1 -Twi Olivia- -X Th and ,h. CHh Or,..- r. t CwrrtsM, im. oy DM14. Hrvl Oomw t CHAPTER VII (Continued.) "Disgrace Tho worrt gi os nut with our rmnio, p.itnvlut; am) what mean you, then? In one word, apcuk." "Well, then, Nell Hemple anil Capt. Hyde hava fought a duel. That Is what comes il k'vIiik way to pnsalon. I never IoukIiI a duel. No one should make me. I! 1 a ftpd principle with me." "Poor Nell' Ilia fault, I am aure. It wan not." "Joanna! Nell la nearly dead. If he had been In the right ho would not be nearly dead. The Ixird does not forsake a persoo who la In the right ray." In the hall behind them. Katherlne tood. Thn pallor of her lace, the hoprleas dioop of her white ihoulder and arnui, were visible In Ita ghsimy ahadnwa. Softly aa a spirit abe walked, an he drew nearer to them. "And the Kngllshman? la he hurt?" "Killed, lie haa at leant twenly wounds. Till morning he will not live. It waa the councillor himself who asperated asp-erated the men." "My good Jorla, It waa like him." For a moment Kalhorlnos consciousness con-sciousness reeled. Thn roar of the ocean which girds our life round waa In her eara, tho feeling of chill and eollapie at her heart. Hut with a supreme will ahe look poiaeaaloa of heraelf. "Weak 1 will not he. All I will kuow. All I will Buffer." And with these thoiiKhta ahe went back to the room and took her place at tho table. In a fow minulea the rent followed, fol-lowed, Batavlue had anticipated madam'a amazement and ahock. He had felt a Jjst satisfaction In the suf- faring he waa bringing to Kutherlne. But nothing had happened aa be ex-' ex-' pected. The meal, Inatead of being pleasantly lengthened over auch dreadful dread-ful Intulllgence, waa hurried and el. lont. It waa lumo comfort that after It Joanna and bo could walk In the garden gar-den and talk the affair thoroughly over. Kalherlne watched them away, and then ahe fled to her room. And oh, bow ahe wept! Bho took from their hiding place the few letters her lover had written ber, nnd ahe mourned over them aa women mourn In auch extremities. In the full tide of ber anguish, l.y-ibet atood at the door. Hho hearu the Inurtleiilate worda of woo, and her heart ached for her child. Hho bad followed her to I give bur comfort, to weep with ber; but abe felt that boor that Katharine I - waa do more a child to lie tool lied ' with her mother i kiss. Bho had be come a womnn, and a womnn'a Mirrow bad found ber. It waa near ten o'clock when Jorla came home. Ilia face was troubled, bla clothing disarranged and blood-atalned; blood-atalned; and Lysbot never remembered remember-ed to have Been him an completely ox-taunted. ox-taunted. "Ilrnm la with Nell," bo aald, "he will not bo home." "And thou?" "I helped them carry tho oilier. To the 'Klng'a Anna' we took him." "Live will ho?" "HIi left lung la pierced through. A bad wound lu the throat be has. Hut tl.cn, youth bo baa, and a great aplrlt, and hope, I wish not for bla death, my (lod knowa." "Nell, what of blm?" "Uncouacloue be waa when I left him at hla home. Does Kutherlno know?" i "abe knowa." "How, then?" "(J Jorla, It In her room thou could have beard bor crying! My heart for her achoa, tho aorrowful one!" "Hoe, then, that tbla lesson alio mlaa not.' It la a hard one, but learn It ahe num. If thy love would paaa It by, think thla, for her good It la." The next morning waa tho aahbath, and many painful questions suggested ttiemselvea to Jorla and l.yabet Van Heemaklrk. Jorla felt that he mint not take hla aeat among tao k-acone until he had been fully tolerated of all blame of blood-Kulltli.csa by tho dominie and hla eldera and deacons lu full kirk session. Madam could hardly hard-ly endure the thought of the gluncea that would bo thrown at her daiignter, and the probable bIIrIiIh ahe would receive, ao Kiitlicrlno'a plteoua en-treaty en-treaty waa listened to, and aha waa allowed to remain at home. The kirk that morning would haw been the pillory lo her. Hho waa un-apeakably un-apeakably grateful for the aolltudu of the house, for apace and silence. In which ahe could have I he relief of onroatrnlned weeping. About the middle of tbe morning, ahe beard Bratu'a footsteps, Ilram had not thought of Kntherlne's staying from kirk, and when ahe confronted him, so tear-stained and woe-begone. hla heart waa full of pity for her. Within With-in the laat twenty-four hours he had begun to understand the temptation In which Kalherlne had been; begun to understand that love never aaka. What la thy name? Of what country art thou? Who la thy father?' He felt tbat so long as be lived ha must remember Miriam Cohen as ahe atood talking to him In tbe shadowy store And thla memory of Miriam made him Tory pitiful to Katherlne. "Every ouo la angry at me, Dram, ven my father; and Batavlua will Itot alt on tho chair at my aide; and Joanna aaya a great disgrace I have made for ber. And thou? Wilt tbou also scold me? I think I shall dia of rlef." Scold thee, thou little one? That I i niw mmimmm'.w j.)""' .jawpW'""1"" a III not And those that are angry with thee may lie angry with me also." "Ilram! my Ilram! my brother! There la one comfort for mo, If I knew that be still lived; If one hope Itoti could glvo mo!" "What hope there la, I will go and see, and. If (hern la good newa, I will tx, glad for thee" Not half an hour was Pram away; and yet, to tho mlsernhle girl, how grief and fear lengthened out the momenta! mo-menta! When Ilram came hack. It was with a word of hope on hla lips. "I have teni," he anld, "who dost thou Uilnk? the Jew Cohen. He of all men, be bua sat by Capt. Hyde's aide all night; and he haa dressed the wound the Kt gllsh surgeon declared beyond mortal skill.' And he aald to me, 'Three times. In tho Persian dee-crt, dee-crt, I have cured wounds still worse, and the Holy One hath given me the power of healing; and. If Ho wills. tho )oung man shall recover.' That la hat he aald, Kalherlne." "Forever I will love the Jew. Though he fall, I will love him. Ho kind he la, oven to those who have riot apokon well, nor done well, to him." At tbla moment the family returned from tho morning aervlce. and Ilram rather defiantly drew hla sister to hla aide. Jorla waa not with them. He had atnpped at the "Klng'a Arma" to BFk If ('apt. Ilyiln waa still allvo; for. In aplte of everything, tho young man 'a heroic cheerfulness In the agony of Uie preceding night had deeply touched touch-ed Jorla. No one apoko to Katharine; even her mother was annoyed and humiliated hu-miliated at the aoclal ordeal through which they had Just passed, and ahe thought It only reaaonahlo that tho erring er-ring girl should be made to share the trial. Aa the time went on poor Katherlne Van Heemaklrk shivered and sickened In the presence of averted eyea and up-lilted up-lilted shouldr-re. and In that chill atmosphere at-mosphere of disapproval which sop-n sop-n rat oil her from tho aympatliy and confidence of hor old friends and ac qualntancca. "It la thy punishment," aald hor mother, "bear It bravely and patiently. In a llttlo while. It will be forgot." Hut we.-ka went on, and the wounded men slowly fought death away from their Pillows, and Katherlne did not recover the place lu social estimation which she had lost through the ungovernahlo tempera of her lovers Hut nothing 111 lasts forovjand In three month. Null Hemp's waa In his olllce ssnln. wan end worn with fever and suffering, and wearing bis aword arm In a sling, hut still docldodly world-like nnd lifelike. It was evident evi-dent that public opinion waa In a large measure wlib him. and though In the .Middle Klik (he atfalr waa euro to be I ho subject of a reproof, and of a suspension sus-pension of Its highest privileges, yet it was not dlhVult to feel the sympathy sym-pathy often given to dcede publicly censured. Inn privately admired. Jorls remarked this spirit with a Utile as-ti.iilKliuieni as-ti.iilKliuieni and dissent. He could not llnd in Ills I, art any excuse for either Noll or II, , and, when the elder enlarged en-larged witu acme acerbity Uhiu the requirements of honor among men, Jorls offended blm by replying: "Well, then, elder, little I think of that 'honor' which mna not with the lows of (iod and country." "Let me tell you. Jorla, the 'vole of tbe people, la the voice of God,' in a measure; and you may aee with your Bin e'en that It malr that acquits Nell o' wrongdoing. Man, Jorls! would you punlBt) a fair aword-Ught wf the hangman?" "A better way there la. In the pillory I would aland these men of honor, who of their own feelings think more than of the law of Ood. A very quick end that punishment would put to a custom wicked and absurd." "Weel, Jorls, we'll hae no quarrel nnent the question. Here comes Nell, and well let the question fa' to the ground. There are wiser men than rilbcr you or I on lialth aides." Jorls nodded gravely, and turned to welcome the young man. More dan ever he liked blm; for, apart fioni moral and prudential reasons, It was ry for the father to forgive an unreasonable love for his Katherlne, Alsu. he was now more anxloua for a marriage between Nell and his daughter. daugh-ter. It was indeed tho best thing to fully resloro her lo the social esteem of ber own people; for by making hor bit wife. Nell would most emphatically exonerate hor from all blame lo the quarrel. Juat this far, and no farther, had Noll'a three months' Buffering aided hla suit. ne had now the full approval of Jorla, backed by the weight of thla aoclal justification. But, In spite of theso advantagei, he waa really much farther away from. Katherlne. Hhe bad heard from Ilram the atory of the challenge and tbe fight; heard bow patiently Hyde had parried Nell's attack rather than return re-turn It, until Nell had ao passionately refuaed any satisfaction lesa than his life; heard, also, how even at the point of death, fainting and falling, Hyde bad tried to protect honrlbbon at hla breast. She never wearied of talking with Bram on the subject; she thought of It all day, dreamed of It all night. And she knew much more about It than her parents or Joanna supposed. Bram had eaally fallen Into tbe habit of calling at Cohon'a to ask after hit patient. At first he saw Miriam often; and, when be did, life became a heav- dll V only thing to tlrem Van Heemaklrk, ! Kalherlne very sisin suspected how matters atood with her brother, an4 gratitude led her to talk with bin) about tho lovely Jewess . Hut for some weeks after the du she could not hear to leave the house, I It was only after bolh men wen known to be recoverlrg, tbat ahe ven. lured to kirk; nnd her experlcncj there was not one which tempted hei to try the streets and the stores. How. over, no Interest Is a living Interest Ii a community but politics; and far1 more Important events bad now tht public attention. During the previous March, the Htomp Act and the Quartering Quar-tering Act had passed both houses of Parliament; and Virginia and Mass. , chusetis, conscious of their (latieroui character, had routed the tears of thai oilier Provinces: and n convention of their rielegatea was appointed lo ment during October In New York. It wat thla Important session which drew Nell Heinplo, with acarcely healed wounds from hla chamber. The atrcett were noisy with hawkera crying tha detested Acts, and crowded with groups of stern looking men dlacuaalng them. It waa during tbla time of excitement excite-ment that Katherlne aald one morning, at breakfast. "Ilram. wait one minute for me. I am going to Kip's store for my mother." At th store, flrsni left her, and aft-er aft-er selecting tho gnoda her mother nreded, Kalherlne waa going up Pearl atreet, when she heard heraelf called Ii: a familiar and urgent voice. At the same moment a door was flung open: and Mrs. flnnlon, running down the few ateps, put her hand upon the girl's shoulder. "Ob, my diwr, this Is a piece of good fortune past belief! Come Into my lodgings. Oh, Indeed you shall! I will have no excuse. Surely you owe Dick and me aome reward after the pings we have Buffered for you." She was leading Katherlne Into tha house as she spoke; and Katherlne had not the will, and therefore not the IMiwer, to opiMiso her. Sho placed the girl by her side on the sofu; she took ber hands, anil, Willi a genuine grief and lovo, told her all that "poor Dick" bad suffered and waa still suffering for l.er sake, Katherlne covered her face, and sobbed with a hopelessness and abandon aban-don that equally fretted Mrs. Gordon. "If I could only seo Kl hard, only soe him for ono moment!" "Tbat Is exactly what I am going to proposo. He will get better when be has seen you. I will call a coach, and we will go at once." "Alas! (lo I daro not. My father and my mother!" "And Dirk, what of Dick, poor Dick, who la dying for you?" Hhe went to the door and gave the ordor tor a coach. "Your lover, K.itherlno. Child, havo you no heart? Put on your bonnet bon-net again. Here also are my veil B4"j cloak. No one will perceive that 7 la you. It Is tho psrt of humanity, 1 1 assure you. Do so much for a poor soul who Is at tho grave's mouth." I While thus alternately urging sod persuading Katherino, the coach came, the disguise waa asauined, and the two drovo rapidly to the "Klng'a Armi." Hyde waa lying nion a couch which had beeu drawn close to the window. Hu waa yet too weak to stand, too weak to endure long tho strain of company com-pany or books or papers. Ho heard hla aiiul'a voice and footfall, foot-fall, and felt, aa he alwaya did. a vague pleasure In her advent. Whatever or life came Into hit chr.mbcr of suffering came through her. Hhe brought him dally auch Intelligences as ahe thought conducive to his recovery; and It must be acknowledged that It waa not always al-ways her "humor to be truthful." For Hyde had so craved newa of Katherlne, Kather-lne, that she believed ha would dla wanting It; and ahe had therefor fallen, without one conscientious scruple. Into the reporter's temptation, tempta-tion, Inventing the things which ought to hava takon place, and did not (To be continued.) |