LITERATURE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3563, 11 September 1879, Page 3

LITERATURE.

LOVE AND FAITH.

(Tinsley'a Magazine.) A fair soft day in the old-fashioned garden of an old-fashioned house, located in tbe very midst of the business portion of the lar^e and busy town of Manchester. It had onco been quito an elegant residence, the old house, and had stood on the outskirle of the town, with charming hills and pleasant valleys, waving woods and green fields sweeping up to the Tery verge of tho garden. But, Ichabod ! the glory had departed — at least to a great extent; all around the domain now flowed a busy tide of trade ; warehouses and mills rose on either side, waggons and drays rattled past unceasingly ; in tho rear a huge smithy belched out black smoke, while engines screamed and trains rumbled heavily to and fro at all hours of the day and night. I It was by no means a pretty house, as beauty is reckoned now a-days ; but there .

were p ane fl e4 and rich cnrT j ngs) ftnd nooKs .and „ pjmepj, and! odd rooms stored away v, a i j. tor t ß of unaccountable places,, that fa ? , a c^wm« that the most commodious iC , gf ,ntly a™ Bl^^ mansions rather lack S, 7^ ''f 9s ' then tliero wa9 " ft ni9t * c ?h« «r nd B TOrandah all! wreathed wiih anH -C ln ? D bufc Bcented Horeveuckle ; lee ' '° B k' was «]"> eeai of th ° wh °^ in fron' * «'* fßßhl ° ned gardisn, shut hroS ' »» 8 ° ulep world by a high wall, wh?ch g l wh,cU ' n ° e y?. c°«ld peer, and over when no one oould ohmb-a square full of in7wi ff fr W t Wlbh flmver8 > and aboundhav« »brub*tliafc a century before might of IV w t T'? e 1 lnto the formal regularity o* art. (b^ wbloh , lmd now OFe ww e 1 Q > n K with, fche wild' luxuriance of. nature It lITnli 1 1 ?"" ga ,^ n that fche ' Pokering April IZv *? i"| ark ! d 12 °' block on a sT-n-dial, 2 °^ .i by three mutila ted dryads, »hich occu pied the centre of a crass plot, round the Wo T n M Ch , spr j n « flow eia-wore brightly dra £?*' whllß . bard 1 by was *small arbour, i Within thij Mbour, framed as ifc ™ re by green tendrils, safe m young j , J» Bily engaged in- drawing, Wnder S c £3? W ? circ r Bta / cc9 ' 8^ was no dbub fi ly'SSS l^ d^Hkeoyesof dark I ,Klf Ck ? IaEBCB , of 80ft brown hair:: ' S-i D ° W Bh^ lookßd P alb «""* weary. Jer dress was careless, Her hair pushed off he P temples and gatheredf into a^Lvy knot &rf»Jftfs-_r ftwI '- d wasdra ™ into a frown that did nob suit her t T pe of physiognomy.. Onfche small table beforeher IT iS L, theSe , Bt,Bbe "orked-traeing " f al °i. deS '^ , » of a ° a PPorently mechanical character,, on, a- large Xefc of cardboard, and. now arri.fcben Sting do* certain numericaLresr.il q^t. « , ■ vllu * aoyi b I near at hand ,reX * B:0n a P»«> of pop, [ ! It seemed weary work,; and when at la, £ 6 la «^Ot the hour, o^.the Tun dial a ! Jf 1 ™!""? gQ Ke cb6nt tlinner >" »be so! half aloud ; ond she took up a large portfoli from the ground beeido.l^r, and b!g£ top. JlS „n« ' aw ?>. Whife she was thu ?"£-,.. a clear ™gingJ«>ice calledwatk^? BlUr i 7 Bounded on the g™«l to. no- ™ r ° Hnd "■ gIWII> 0l 'bododendrons - Cf i 1 Came • Oto Bi^ k ' b » ™ "ot regu liMmh S f . ra^ lea^ n '' faee-sunburnt-wl,o£ K J *.*"" blue eyes ; and hi whole . bearing djaaacdeueb an air of mora h '^ that JS vWaStJia wonder that j parted and fled fr»m.th» girl's white foreheai at once. . m ilf aCk! 'i' Bh * , : c n^ eagerly; and then smiling, she sdded, ia a tone of absurd! weak reproof, "^u provoking boy ; how yoi startled me; what or- earth brings you her, atthwh-mra.lthb.dayP-" ' "Kiss me, m*. sweefc, and I'll tell you," h, said gaily. !>«,. having planted half a dozor fervent kisscs^on her red lips, without iuour «"?? au^" I . relm fee* he went on moro gravely Ui, dorlirg^ congratulate me ; my.fortum is made; if:- tour father say, yes,. we can lx married tlaa^ay moath-porhaps Bboner." A delicato.«we colour flashed into the girt, face, mAjg her absolutely lonely; sh« gasped- "-TeU) mo whafc you mean, Jaok-. tell me ajftahoufc it." Jack 'Jacvers kisaed her again, pat sionatel* : ho was ardently glowing with , triumph almost tosule himself with joy, and, aoawl.lv bolincf - exultation Wifchin modSsnt. " I aw» exaotly what I say," hoanswored ; but aa^fortelbngjou all about it— l oan't do tkftU my. dariing, for I, am bound tc Becrc_y,;,l can only tell you „his-.ha_ m_ torttoe-omr fiortune— ia made, andiyou are mio^jinne^Bi; do you heor P^x^-osm!'* "■H was always that," she cried, witf. some tri»n & bßtw©ea a ]augh anda sobj bufc surely Jtuk, you can tell me a little more- thai, this if. it is to ba our fortune, surely I. haw a righj ta.anow all about it? " ■ '' Can't you have faifch in me^ltf ?- " "•Faith in jou-yes; evor and alwoysj nothing could take owoy my faith from you i but,Jaok,you know we are pledged nofc ta i keep any secrets from eacli other."- , " Only such as honour demands; and tlrit jis a case of honpur ; however, I can tell you | a httle— a general outline of the matter ; you •know, Di, I have alway* had a rathei mechanical talent, atd, thank B to yom lather s kindness, I have, acquired some aptitude in turning it to aooaunt." " Yes," eaid Di, with.a.rueful glance ot hoi portfolio— "yes, I Jp 0 w you have ; and 1 know you will end by being as bad as ho ia if you don't stop yourself in timo." " Stop myself J" he replied with a ringing laugh ; " why, tfwling ljtftlo simpleton, the science of mechanics is tho leaver of the world now-a-dfcye ; ; apd, in all the world there is no batter or more direct road to fortune than thafc which, ifc opens ; if we are married aocn it will be thanks to mechanics." Dis face, fell a little, but she oaly said, "How?* 1 " By means, of a greafc invention," Jack told hea- gravely, wifch a crimson colour rising in hia face, and light flashing from his blue eyes — '•' an, invention which will be the greatest since steam, and which will go far to revolutionise tho wholo system of mechanics as ino,wn to tlio world at present. I wish I couid chow it to, you, Di ; I wish I could tell yau — but what is the matter ; why do you look at nio just as if— as if you were disappointed ? " " Becauso I am disappointed." The girl spoke out frankly, ond before hs could know what she was about sho had laid her head on the table, ond was Bobbing bitterly, poor thing, it was hard on both of thom — hard ou tho bearer of the good newa to see it thus received ; harder still on fclio girl, who had been bo flushed with hopo, s to have it dashed by that word to her of fatal omen — invention. " I fchoughfc you meant something realsomething to be relied on, Jack," she sobbed, "how could you disappoint me so cruelly. I am sorry to say that this fever — God knows I am almost tomptcd to call it madness— 'has seiz.d you too. Jack deal, for heaved sake put it from you ; trust to the steady results, of honest labour, and not fco these wild schemes of a fortune lo be made at one stroke. Look at my father, let him be a wanning to you ; sco how his lifo has been spent in the service of this wrotched tcionce. How many inventions that were to benefit the world he has made, and where and how is he to-day ? Oh, I had so hoped that with you I should bo free from this weary toil that comes to nothing ; this eager counting on dreams that aro shadowy as air ; ond now, Jack — Jack, you will break nay heart ! " "Darling, I hope not," he said, half concerned, yet half amused, " you don't properly appreciate your father Di ; you don'fc know whafc a great man he is — what a greafc man he yet will be, in the face of that world which has treated him as from the beginning it has always treated genius — has robbed him and laughed at him and refused to hear him ; but it will hear him yet j there never was a great mind that did nofc have fco pass through this ordeal j there never wa. a great diec.vcry fchafc was not met by this opposition ; thero never was a greafc achievement that did not have to triumph over theße difficulties ; still tho triumph comes at lost • it has been hard on you, my poor pet, but I trust the hardest is over at lost ; apart from my pood fortune, your father tells me he is working on an invenlion which he thinks the greatest he has ever conceived, and the patent right of which he doeß not intend to pufc oufc of his own hand." " Yob, he is working at ifc," Di said wearily ; " I hove been making out some of tho drawings, but ho has forbidden mo to show them even to you ; he has been robbed so often of tho ' children of his brain,' os he calls them, that ho has grown very suspicious now. Sometimes 1 believe hi is frightened to trust me. Oh, Jack, its bu -.h fad work • and to fchink that you have started on the same ruggpd path." " I have only made a beginning j and os for vay being a great inventor, you may let your mind be at rest on that point. Nature has not favoured me wifch the rare gift of original conception. I can only work out other men's thoughts, and sometimes bring them to a practical issue. This is all I have done. Even now a man, a friend of mme — I cannot tell you his name, because he desires it to be kept secret — conceived a new ideo in mechanics, but, lacking practical knowledge, ho could not work it out in practical form. So ho brought a rough draft of tho invention to me, and told me if I could perfect it I might take out the patent and share half the profits. I saw at once what a magnificent thing it would bo if it could bo perfected, so I fell into tho idea forthwith and went to work. Waking or sleeping, I thought of nothing else, dreamt of nothing

else, saw nothing <l<e ; ond when at lv i .»■•»■ " day the solution of my difficulty came t i , like o flash of inspiration, 1 shouted uin.i peoplo would have voted me a madman. I— want d then to Ihrjw down paper and pencil „ and rush to you ; but the man I spoke of ' hold me bound to absolute secrecy, ond he did not relax this requirement even when all the specifications were made out and forwarded to the Patent Office. But ono thing is certain, my darling— our fortune is made, . and you are mine." Jack Travers caught her in his arms at the last words, and pressed kiss after kiss on her lids and cheeks and lips ; while she could only lay her head down on his shoulder, and indulge in an hysterical combination of laughter and tears. " * tt ™ ha PPyi Jack, and grateful— so grateful I she said as plainly as she could in her agitated condition j "but, deor, I Bhould be still more hoppy if the fortune had come to you m any other way. It seems to me just like gambling— like something that meana prosperity for a little while, hut ruin in the end. I may be very fooli.h, bufc that is the light it bears fer me. And then, Jack, do you know I bave a presentiment that ill-luck ~ is in Btore for us." Jack Bmifed afc this, bufc he did not attempt anything like reason in reply. He stroked her soft brown hair caressingly, looked with sunny blue eyes right into ber own, then changed the subject by asking if her father was at home. "I did not see him as I came through the house; and- 1 am on thorns untd Ihave told him oFmy good fortune and got his promise that I may take you as soon as I please." "He-ean't give that promise without consulting me, Jack," she whispered archly. " Clint He P Well, let ub go and see." They went* accordingly, sauntering side by side •down the garden paths bordered trimly with besr, and enEvened here and there by tall fragrant lilacs. They entered aide by Bide— his- arm round 1 Ber waist ; her cheek, now bright with liappibef.} close to his breast —a narrow dark passage, and then passed into a room that resembled an amateur macSinesbop. Mathematical ami mechanical designs lined ■he walta: models in Miniature of •machines. 5 . coaaeofcion with which steam ha. ever been sec? as a' moUre- powor, occupied' every ,ilaW_* space, excepting tbat which" was fill.-d by a-huge locked cabinet, an_3 in tbe midsfc e# tins apparent disorder steed I'a1 'a table, littoed' over with paper and drawing material*. Di IbokeeP round and sheok her head. "Plipaisnot here,. You'll have- te* remain o* thorns a little ldagerj- Jack." "Pfe^haps he ie-Bomcwhcre in fcha-hofc-e P " "No, hb is out.. Don't yousee his hat is gsne? He has-, gone oufc machine-seeing somewhere. He. gee*, on Bucli> excursions for what he calls « practical suggestions.' Ltt iia go back to the gatden ;? this old' room i» so dork and cold, eve** oh a sunny day,, that it alHvayß mokes me shirei*." ' (To b.!OontinuedJ)>