After Twenty Years

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 371, 18 June 1903, Page 8

After Twenty Years

by

{Oasr**SS*j ss.^a'aniljaaasv) M\J. GILLESPIE, "was. distinctly old-fashioned. "OM-f ashioned and •«t of data and irritable and cranky, fc %m flaorge, sir," said ha to hdxaaelf a a Jjajrsfehed th« bins flames struggle smvascssefully to map into something Un cheerfulness. ~E*en-tay fire won't bora. T>e Jawed rrery man in the •face to-day, quarreled with «*ery ufiks*. I hare seen, bullied 'the Janitor •ad spent the (atcrVettlag'tinle in hat» lag myself. I guess'Xaatmania right. I ought to take a Taeatfon, and aee-lf I can't get into some sort of harmony with things in gtneral." « What was H all worth, : "anyway-* these days and night* af toil? To be •are, he waa successful, far beyond the measure" that eomaa to the average man, his reputation' waa 'high in the profession—the greatest eases came / to him, *nd he generally won" them: His name stood high in the comzaaaity, aad honors cm the bench or in political life waited him at any time he would accept thomi' But these things hald ao fascination for hitn. "Tot *0 ▼sara his' life had 'been centered in •mis old : fashioned back office. He had an Joyed no social life and little companionship wKh bis fellows, excepting hi* relations with hi* partners, his •Stent* aadhia opponents in the courtroom. He trembled to think of the result should he lose interest in hia work. Aad yet it had not beea always ao. Hor~ Wars he by nature designed for a life apart from his fellows. In his younger days he had been a prince of good fellows, and had numbered his friends by the score. But this waa before the brokenchaptar in his life, and that broken chapter had changed all the rest of the • lory. He thought as he tried to ooax ferent it all wight haTs been. He arose and locked the door leading to the outer office, and then he went to the old-fashioned safe, and. unlocking a drawer, took from it an old daguerrotype. Going back to his seat, he contemplated the portrait long and earnestly. It was the face of a beautiful, high-spirited, impetuous girl. This wa* the face which had caused the broken chapter. As he looked at the old daguerrotype his features soft•nad and he lired oyer again the old . days when all the horizon was rosecolored. This was away back when he was a boy. He was accounted a smart hoy and was makrngirtrides in hisrprofession, and every effort and eTery am-

hition^wis" centered upon Amy Lester. She liked him, too—there was no doubt 6d that. fives now, e( a distance of 2<T years and* *rii& tLe Keenest knowledge

of men and affairs, he did not doubt .that she loTed him in the old days. c < * They had been youthful aweethearta •ad had built all the air'castles of two Uvea upon a united future. Then came the firing on Sumter and the call to anna by President Lincoln. The blood of the major quickened a Httle~even at thia distance of a quarter of a century as ha recollected the thrill with which that call had been received. A delirious .month or two and he had - found himself at the front. There rolled before the memory of the major alt the excitement, the dangers, 'the deprivations, the hefoiama ol those dreadful -four years; his steady advancement until he was mustered out a major of volunteers. The perspiration r6lk d from "Ma face as he remembered his homecoming and found that Amy had plighted her troth to another—one far richer than he and the choice of her family. He had never asked her to marry him. He had alwaya supposed It to be understood. They had written continually, and although her letter! had grown more formal he had been so engrossed in his soldierly profession that he had scarcely had the lame to wonder what the cause was. So the full knowledge of the truth, When he arrived home, nearly took him off hia feet. Hit great pride kept him trim doing anything to prevent her marriage, even had it been possible, and so she had faded from his life, and with her all the joy aad all the hope he had ever cherished. Then followed the weary years in the profession to which he had turned. A knock aroused the dreamer, aad hastily stuffing the picture in hia pocket he opened the door. It was a eard from one of hia moat profitable client*, for- whom he had recently won a hardly-contested lawsuit. "Show hia in," grunted the major, grudgingly. Accordingly la bustled Peter Vandelmeier, prosperous, pushing, sect* eomplaeeat, but apparently somewhat worried. "You hare got to get possession of that Fletcher property, that'a all there Is to it, major," said Vaadelmcler, as ha seated himself aad mopped hia brow. "Oh, I know you are net a sheriff or a marshal or anything of that kind,* he went on, as he obaarvsd the major's rising ire. "but what good w.il oar decision do us unless we get possession of the property? There is a funny condition down there. A chit ef a girl—grandchild of old mas Fletcher—ia in possession, aad she seems to be too mueh for the osßeers. They have failed utterly to get her out and heya ifeput given ft ap as a bad Job. W* have' but two more days, according to \h* verdict. Now, I wast you to go to f&errydale yourself. Toa will have all the officers you want, but they are frightened aad need somebody to dircctVthaav. Name your own fee, of euurseAtat you've got to go. Tan know how important it la to our general alaa the" "*« *•* poaacasioa." ■hat MaJ. QaUcspaa Will KM* bt* reariy to it that they hare Im>. The M'Cormier eking Oough at ' Great Pepper, j jlttia,* J

foand I himself the next afwrnoou hj the depot of the little town of Cherry 4*l*, «om« 40 miles irom home. After makint£«"om'e inquiries at •'. country t*Tem he decided to beg:i< t •ration* at once, so at to end the disagreeable task as Mton.Al possible, and was driven to the Fletcher homester on the aa t skirt* of the town. He wen ■ to get tie lay of the'larid and left the . Pilfer*. aont with. him. at the t*T*rn. Mm feundT-** old-fashioned . country place i big, homelike house surrounded with great tree* in the midst of * farm of greet natural baauty. wtMtf%WMBHw and fruitful field. tr*T«raed by * rippling brook. In response to Hhe knooker a grim •id woman opened the front door far enough to l«t the .major see that it waa itiUMJ with a chain insids, and in response to, kin request to *«• I MissFletehar ni told toTwait on the porch and ska wculd tee hitn ther*. Aa the major stood smiling at the crude attempt to thwart the.edict of the law, aad inwardly fumjng at the tririal necessity for taking'him so far frpin hir •naff bachelor apartments, tha ..door opened aad immediately he heard the chain rattle tarte place again. Turainf, h* lifted hi* hat to the girlish-fig-urs type of-budding womanhood, -the major, noted briefly, Just'Wfortf his eyes rsstdl oh her face. Then with a start tha hat dropped from his hand, aad In fCetped ths railing for >ujport, fAmyl" ha gasped, hie hand seeking hm brow with a gestureW h*wiidermeat. For thera flesh stood Amy 0 *•**«*• the ;"**eet- : heart of hi* boybood, jnst as~sh« had looked on tha day he had left her to' go to the war. Vq£ a day older, not a feature changedlOiAnd he knewshe had died these ten yeara ago. Had he lost his mind? him in the prime of life? He»«tood transfixed, with tremblingMixnb* and •taring eyes. . _ . "Amy Fletcher, if-yoa'pfcease; sir;'' replied the young woman, with some, spirit. "And what is youi^business, here, may I ask?" '

**l must beg your pardon,'' said he. with courtly f / gr*cel me ao strongly of tin bid end verytlear friend." . " 7 0 "You were'a friend of mimma'j. 1 then?" inquired the girl. "Her .name) mi Amy?3Gester." . "Yea; ahe «u rise* a-'rerySdear friend' of "mine," replied the major, gravely. The girl, who had been standing de«antly, with eyea flashing, softened Tiiibly. "Oh, I'm so. glad you came. I'm in the moat dreadful trouble, and they are trying to take the old place away from me; but they wonH.do ft.. I'll; never let them. TIF-THe firat. Grandpa told me never to let them do it, and that they had no right, and I won't. But ft'a ao hard'for who don't know anything, about.business or law or anything to combat all those, men... I need; a friend. Indeed I do.and if you were a friend of mamma'a you will be my friend; I know you wjlL rYou will help ma, won't you?'-You are so'big and atrong. And you know all about theae horrid business'things; f know yotf do.' 'Aad^Hifioryo'u—you are kind —and honeat; I know you are. Tell me—tell me What Wdo."

"Tell me ail about .IV he said, with a tremor in hia voice.

They aat down on-the rustic bench together—and the major's r tall, soldierly figure thrilled a* Itrhad'not for 20 years, and he could ■not-walixe <that it'was not the other Woman of 20 years ago—who was eeatefl beside him, as she had been so often In the old daya.' She told him her- pathetic story—how ahe had bean' left as orphan to her grandfather's cart, and how he had died a-year ago in the midst of s quarrel with a big land syndicate that sought to acquire his property, and had.told the.negotiations had not been closed, although some papera had passed/ 1 fit warned her never to -yield possession of the t property. Then there had. been Taw-," suits, aad now they ware trying . to eject her from the house in which she was born snd to deprive her of all she had in the world. Gomgvfuriber into the matter, the major learned many things that had puzzled him dvriajjthe trial of the casa involving the,property, and discovered how a great injustice had been wrought.

"Do not be afraid," said acv rising abruptly. "You will be >hcr*esed •no more." o <

'He weat straight bash to the eity,' and there was ah interview with'Vandelmeicr —the stormiest, ft is .said, that ever occurred ia the major's old-; fashioned back roomrt-end the--result -was that eertain checks' bearing}the major's signature phased to Vandelmeitr and the deed to the Fletcher estata passed to Amy Fletcher. "' There was the glow of long-deferred youth on his face and the agility of a boy in his soldierly carriage as he sprang up the steps with the deeds ia hia pocket. She did not entertain him oh the veranda this time; and before the day was over ahe invited him to enjoy a short season on the estate he ban ( saved for her—ahe did not know ar', what cost. He remembered Eastman's' admonition that he needed a vacation, abd he decided to spend it.

There really ia no need of tejlingthe reat of this story, for the major wasin the very prime of life, despite his iron-gray hair, for a life of moderation and regularity had left him in perfect health, and ahe had been dr&wn to him from the first by that subtle,attraction alwaya felt by d.iughtera for the unsueceaaful suitor ?..r the mother's hand. Aa for the major* he never could -realize that it was n? t hia Amy of old to"whmm he was payinjr court. It might ba added that after the wedding the major, greatly to the d.light of his partners, abandoned the oldfaahioaed oifice and the firm nioreu into palatial quarters in the newest building in the oity.