Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1886 — FOUND HER AFFINITY. [ARTICLE]

FOUND HER AFFINITY.

BY SABA B. ROSE.

There was a restless, uncertain light in Allies' big blue eyes that day that I had never seen there before, and I was at a loss to account for it. She has always appeared to enjoy our rides together so much, and always averred that my span of blood bays, Tom and Jerry, were the finest span in the city, and wondered how Jerry would look attached to a dashy dog-cart which had been on exhibition for some days at the most popular cap-iage shop in town. And now 1 had gratified this latest whim of hers—what would I not do to gratify the wishes of my promised wife?—and the remit was that she appeared totally indifferent. Jerry had not disappointed me as to his appearance. I felt assured that I had a most stylish turnout, his silken mane thick and glossy showed to greatest advantage beneath his silver buckled overcheck, and the silver and blue plush linings of the dog-cart were calculated to show off Allie’s fair beauty as the green leaves of the rose tree show off the half-opened flower. I had thought that Allie Would be delighted, but not so. She turped her lips aside when I would have kireed her, and said that she had rather be excused when I reminded her that she had promised to drive with me that morning. “What is the matter, Allie, are you ill?” I asked in astonishment. “Allie is very distraite this morning,” her mother, who was in the room answered for her. “but there is nothing which would be better for her than a ride. Go and get your hat and parasol. Allie, and not keep .Cyril waiting; you-.* will feel very muchbetter when you are in the open air,” Allie smiled up at me a little perplexing smile as she glided from the room, and when her auburn curls had vanished her mother said: “The rolling skating arid dancing of the past winter have had a very injurious effect upon A liie’s health. lam glad that the summer is here, and that picnicking and driving will take their places; they are far pleasanter amusements to my thinking.” Even as shdWas speaking Allie returned and held up her chubby little wrist for me to button her glove. I then helped her into ray new carriage, which she did not ap- ' Pear By word or ,look to notice, unfastened Jerry from the post, brushed off his bangs caressingly, and took my seat by her side, and instead of picking up the lines I waited for her to do so, for she was very fond of driving. I waited in vain; she did not notice them. Grasping them firmly, I touched Jerry with the whip, and we dashed along the avenue and out into the country before I trusted myself to speak. ■ “Allie. what do you think of my newsingle turnout,” I asked M last. out over the fields where the farmers were yist beginning their haying. “Allie, would you be any ■ better pleased with it if I were to present it to you, Jerry, dog-cart, and all?" “Mr. Milborne, Cy. I mean, please do not, I could not possibly accept it,” “Allie,” I cried, in desperation, “what is this which over yon all at once?” “Oh, I do not know myself,” she replied with attemp' od lightness, but I could see the tears starting in her bine eyes. „ “Perhaps I will tell yon some time. May I drive a little while now?”

I gave the reins into her keeping, sank back in my corner and was silent. In silence -we rode for an hour longer, but at length, when- we were en route for home, Allie gave me back the reins and nestled down by my side, saying: “Cy, do you believe in this much-talked-of personal magnetism?” “To some extent, Allie, I certainly do.” “That is what has been troubling me,” ■she said confidentially. “I have been thinking what a dreadful thing it would be as, after a time, one or the other of us two •ahonld meet with someone who could expert this power over us—” She paused, unable to find words to just express herself. “You mean.” I retorted jealously, “What if yon shonld find some man whom you liked better than you do me. Isn’t that it?” “Why, no, Cy, bnt it all seems so wtrange— * Again she hesitated, and I broke forth: “Allie, you have been reading some trashy article, or listening to some half•crazed lecturer upon this subject—that is, what has influenced you, and I believe you iatend'to throw me over.” : ; “Cyril, Ido not, bnt I thought perhaps if we should test our love before we took

Any Irrevocable step-—I don't believe in •agageiuents, anyway. Suppose we suspend Dur engagement for a while, say three months, and then next' fall if we are satisfied that we really love each other—” “Your wishes are my law in every thing,” I cried, angrily. "I see how it is, there ie some other man you wish to exert you* arts upon. You shall have vour three months’ freedom, and so will I, and if in that time you find someone in whose company you are happier than you are in mine, or 1f I Should do 80, why then our engagement shall l>e as if it had never been." “You are very kind, Cyril,” she said, looking at me doubtfully with her big blue eyes. “But dp you believe you will find anyone you will like better than you do sfUfSm. —— ■ i -i - i-f [ “I might,” I replied, secretly elated by the question. “For if there is any truth in this affinity question, there arc heights and depths to this passion of love which you and I have never reached. Fancy being conscions of tho presence of the being you love, although that being be hidden entirely from your sight, or even after death has occurred. Fancy, Allie, the strength of this feeling which we are to tost this summer.” I was inwardly laughing, but Allie persisted soberly: “But, Cyril, do you really believe yop will find anyone that you will like better than you do me?" “Yon-commenced the subject Allie. “Bo yon not really wish to follow ont your plan?” “Yes, I do Cyril, bat I did not suppose that yon—” “Yon did not think, Allie. that this is a game which two can play, did yon? You wish to indulge in some flirtation this summer, to go free while I am still bound. But I shall certainly flirt too, if I get an opportunity—perhaps I, too, shall find my affinity.” “ Yon have full liberty to do so,” she said, a little tremulously, I thought, and then, after assuring her that she must not look for me again until the three months were over, I parted from her at her mother’s door. r I had known Allifi Norton all my life, and the fondest hope of my heart was to some day make her my wife. We had been engaged for several months, nUd her other admirers, as was but natural, had since that time fallen away from her one by one, for our wedding day was weekly expected by our friends and acquaintances.There had been times before when I believed that she regretted her bondage, and secretly wished that she was free to once more accept the attentions of her old admirers, but this was her first spoken wish upon the subject, and I must own that, in spite of my aseomed nonchalence upon the day of our ride, that it troubled me very mnch more than a little. I should have been altogether an idiot had I not known that I was considered “a catch” in the matrimonial market. Had the mother influenced her daughter when she made her matrimonial choice?

It seemed more than likely. I must satisfy myself upon this point. I shut myself up in my library for three days, during which time I read up upon the subject of magnetism and thought out a plan, t It was not a very original one. I would leave town for a time, and cause a report to be circulated that I had invested my property in a shaky speculation and lost. I would return at the end of the three months, and Allie should decideovhat my future should be, for. although 1 had acceded to her wishes with such apparent readiness, my heart was very sore when I reflected on what the result of my test might be. 1 • My arrangements were soon made, and I started westward, nor did I 6top until I reached San Francisco, Once fairly settled there I began to prepare t the way for my little game by writing Allie the following somewhat unfeeling note: Miss Alice Norton. ; Mr Dear Friend : The past woek I have spent in getting accustomed to this lively seaport of the Pacific, but I find time this morning to inform yon of my whereabouts and assure you of my welfare. It is a very fascinating place here, with many tilings which are novelties to a stranger like myself. I have found several fair business openings and shall possibly settle down here as a permanent resident. There are many beautiful ladies upon the promenades here. Who knows but that among them may be found my affinity? I will now close, hoping that you will enjoy the summer as hugely as I am sure to do. —Very reapectfutiy-yours; Feeling somewhat relieved after penning this epistle, I posted it, and then wandered down to the shores of the bay where ships land crafts of all descriptions and sizes were at anchor, and where many grimy and seemingly quarrelsome little tugs plying back and forth emitting shrill shrieks and lugubrious noises in every key and of every kind. As I was standing there musing, the fortress at the opening of the Golden Gate came into my mind, and acting upon the impulse of the moment, I stepped into a boat-house near by, hired a small boat and began to row myself out in the direetfoiY of the fort. “Keep out of the way of the shippin’,” shouted the boatman as I made off. - I did not think this advice worth paying attention to, and proceeded on my way, indulging in reflections upon Allie’s conduct as I leisurely plied the oar. The sound of rattliDg chains, the hoarse shouting of strange voices, a great splashing of the waters, aroused me from my reverie, and wondering if Leviathan himself was upon me. 1 turned to behold the slimy prow of an ocean steamer within twenty feet of me, and the next instant the waters rushed over me. When I came to my full senses again I found myself on board a steamer bound for Yokohama, which was miles out at sea, and steering straight for the flowery land of the Celestials.

That I was vexed mat be readily imagined, but there was no help for it, I could not return to my native land until we touched at some port in Japan or India. The Captain and officers advised pe to make the trip with them, but this I would not listen to for a moment. I must return at the first opportunity. * And my rashness again led me into adventures far more unpleasant than an enforced ocean voyage could have been. When we were off the Japan Islands ~a violent storm arose, in which I became thoroughly frightened. The steamer seemed almost a wreck to me, and &6 we were in sight of land I begged my friends to allow me to go on shore. They endeavored to dissuade me from this, bnt I was firm, and at length the sailors, spiked together a small raft and set me adrift. They kept an eye on me, however, and when I really did reach shored I knew that they were aware of it, for not until then did they proceed on their way. ’ I found myself, as the sailors had told me I certainly would, in a land whose inhabitants had a shrewd eye to business—shrunken, yellow, miserable little J*ps they were, but they were too many for me. Undoubtedly thinking, from, my manner of coming among them, that I was a runaway sailor, ior perhaps a criminal, thev made no effort to understand my explanations, but immediately laid violent hands upon me and forced me at the point of a dozen knives into a be* of mortar-like con-

sistency, which I was obliged to mix with my bare feet, and the only remuneration I received for my treadmill labor was food enough to Snetain me—cakes made of corn, seemingly broken but once or twice, and sometimes a bowl of puppy soup. , This I was forced to swallow in ordfil to sustain life,) while my masters regaled themselves “Upon roast dog and goat and an occasional fricaseed rat. v 1 found after a time that I was one of the lowest laborers of a large porcelain factory—the articles were very beautiful' when finished, but not of absorbing interest to a man whose only thought was of escape and return to his native land. Under other circumstances, too, I plight have been interested in the heathen practices of Boodhism which were carried on all about me, but now it was impossible, for my mind was filled with apprehensions of a long life Of slavery here m this dreadful place. Two years went by. In this time it seemed as if I had lived a thousand years of misery, and I would gladly have embraced death in nny honorable manner. Escape seemed impossible—the undersized villainous inhabitants swarmed the island like innumerable vermin, and each individual manikin seemed to be the guard set to watch my every movement. But wheu I leaßt expected it I was freed. A wealthy Englishman, with a half dozen servants attending npon himself and family, had penetrated to this far-off place in search of pottery which he knew to be real, porcelains which were made and glazed by the Japanese themselves. From afar I saw him coming, and with straining eyes I watched him, as through his interpreter he bargained for Imari or Satsuma. Faience or Hirado poroelains. What being Upon earth shonld be more thankful for the porcelain craze than I? Every almond-shaped eye was turned upon the traveled foreigner, and gaining courage from their abstraction, I sprang from my accustomed place among the laborers, and, grasping his arm in a vicelike grip, I told h m my story before they could tear me from him.

Then arose a clamor of voices, but the interpreter, who was himself an Englishman, placed himself by my side, and replied to my captors in their own tongue, and ten minutes later I Saw the stranger—a stranger to me no longer—place a roll of bills in my master’s hand —the price which gave the slave his liberty 3 Closely I clung to my new friends after this, and in their company I found my way to Nagasaki, where, fortunately, I found a steamer ready to start for San Francisco. I expressed my gratitude to my rescuers in as forcible terms as my command of language would allow, and with my heart filled with conflicting emotions I started on my journey. When again I touched the soil of the United States I telegraphed and then wrote back to my old home. I became the hero of the city almost instantaneously, and for a week they feted me; at the end of that time I was surprised in my room at the hotel, where I had been interviewed by the reporters of every paper in the place, by the entrance of my half-brother, who had mourned me as dead. More than once the tears arose in his eyes as he listened to my story and gazed at my emaciated form, and eagerly, too, I listened as he told me of home and of my business, which I had left in his care, and which had nearly doubled during my sence. Before we set ont for home a check,fully discharging the cash debt—nothing/could repay the debt of gratitude—which 1 owed my generous benefactor across the sea, was sent by the mail steamer. Neither did I forget the interpreter without whose aid I should have undoubtedly ended my life as a slave. In all this time I had not once spoken of Allie, although I had not for one moment forgotten her. I was sure that the dreadful test to which we both had been subjected had separated us forever”, therefore I could not ask for her.

My romantic story had preceded me, and many of my old friends gathered at the depot to welcome me home, and among them I saw the genial face of Mrs. Norton, seemingly not a day older than when I parted from her. I made my way to her side, and gave her my hand, she pressed it warmly and said in a low tone. “We 6hall expect you soon; it has been a sorrowing time for us all.” Still 1 coilld not speak, but when at last I was free from my demonstrative friends I took the old familiar walk around to tho home of-the one who had otree been my sweetheart. Mrs. Norton opened - the door for me, walked along the hall with me for A few paces, and then left me. The drawing-room door opened softly. Surely this was no ball-room belle, no nymph of the skating-rink which greeted me, but a woman, with almost as much pqf sorrow imprinted upon her countenance as there was upon my own. “Allie,” I said, “then you are not married?" The dimples and the olden blush crossed the lovely face as. my arm .crept, around her. “Oh,.Cyril, no, no!” * • “Then vou have not met your affinity yet?” “I hare,” she returned, smiling up atme. “I never yet believed that you were dead or false to me. I knew that spme time you would return, the same as of old.”