Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 November 1875 — MABEL’S RIVAL. [ARTICLE]

MABEL’S RIVAL.

“Hush up!”' «■ “Can’t do it, old fellow; anything to oblige you but that. Must tell somebody, •or I’ll burst.” * “ Well, what about her?” “ What about her! “ Why, man, she is mine own. And I as rich in having such a jewel As twenty seas, if all their sands were pearl. Their water nectar, and the rocks pure gold.” “ 0 dear!” “Sorry you don’t like Shakespeare. " And they no sooner looked but they loved: no isooner loved but they sighed; no sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy, and in these degrees have they made a pair of stairs to marriage. And now, my sweetly sympathetic friend, you know all about it” “What a fool you are, Harry!” “I say, Joe, if there is any medal awarded for politeness at that university of yours, you’ll be sure to get it. She’s just the sweetest, dearest ” “ If there’s any more of that to come, would you mind retiring to your own room?” “Joe, you’re a beast. You never saw ranch a darling little- ” “ What will you take to clear out?” “ I don’t know. Will you give me a lock of your hair if I’ll go ?” “If you open your mouth again I’ll •pitch you out of the window!” and Joe got up from his chair with an impatient jerk, and a look of positive annoyance came over his ugly but good-natured countenance. “ Don’t be cross, Joe; I didn’t mean to bother you, old fellow,” said Hany, peniterrtlyr ~“l’il ~go“HW r ;’’ T and the handsome boy picked himself up from the bed where he had been lying, and made his way down-stairs to his own room. Joe crossed over to the mantel-piece when he was gone, and leaning his elbow against it, gazed long and earnestly at the sweet face of a picture that hung there. “ Sweet little Mabel, should I have made such a fool of myself if you had loved me ? What a weary world this is, my poor little girl! You are far away in the country, with your soft eyes dim with tears and your warm little heart worn with fretting for that handsome scamp I have just sent down-stairs; and I, who know your tender little secret, and would have shielded you from all sorrow at the sacrifice of my own life, must sit still and listen to his raptures over another woman. By the vjay, who is she? All that row, and he never told me her name. Well, what matters it if she be called Smith or Jones or Montmorenci? You will suffer all the same, my gentle little darling, and I cannot help you.” Joe turned moodily away and sat down at his desk, and, drawing toward luma ponderous-looking volume, proceeded to immerse himself in the difficult mathematical problems that Harry’s rapture had interrupted. But the chain of thought had been broken. Calculus seemed to have lost all power to engross his attention, and differentials and infinitesimals had suddenly grown as uninteresting and unimportant as they are small. After half an hour -he gave it up, and, lighting a cigar, let his thoughts wander whither they would. Finally they lit upon Harry. “ I wonder if I was unkind to the boy to-night?” he asked himself. “I was busy,, and he irritated me, and he did make such a fool of himself. Then all the time he was raving so absurdly Mabel’s eyes seemed to be looking down so sorrowfully, I suppose I imagined it, but it made me rude to him, and I fancy I managed to hurt his feelings. I think I’ll go down to hi| room and see what he is about. After all, I am fond of the youngster, though he does make such a nuisance of himsolf.” Joe knocked twice at Harry’s door, and then, receiving no answer, opened it and entered the room. The gas was burning dimly, and there were no signs of occupation. “ Gone out, I suppose. Does the idiot leave all his letters open for the inspection of his landlady?” said Joe to himself, as he saw an open note and a photograph lying on the bureau. “ Wonder if this is the fair object ofo his adoration?’’ and Joe turned up the gas and proceeded to examine the imperial type. "Suddenly he started, and the bushy eyebrows contracted fiercely above the deepset eyes. With a steady, searching look he examined every feature of the expressive face before him, and then turned the picture about in search of a name. There it was, just as he had expected to find it, in the firm, flowing characters. which ho knew so perfectly well— “ Sincerely yours, Alice Remson.” “Good God!” muttered Joe. “what does that woman know about sincerity?” Then he took up the note, written in the same hand: ~ At home to you, dear Harry, to-night at seven. With love, Alice. “ Then that is where he has gone. Oh, Harry-! Harry! God help you”’ ' Joe sat down off the side of the bed, and.-brushing the falling hair back with his big, awkward hand, set himself steadily to work to find out where his dffty lay. “All of us!—Harry, Mabel ana me. Bah! I think the fiends exhausted their ingenuity when'they invented the torment called loving. Poor boy! poor Harry! How can I tell him? how make the wretched story sound less horrible?” Joe

looked at his watch. Harry could not reasonably be expected to return for two hours. He would probably remain as long as Miss Remson would permit him, thought Joe, bitterly; until the fascinating young lady wearied‘of his ardent devotion and dismissed him with a.yawn. For the next hour Joe paced steadily up and down Harry’s room, his heavy footfall sounding through the house with a dull, monotonous regularity, and the longer he thought of the task before him the greater became the dread of it. He dreaded to see the change come over Harry’s bright face, the brilliant light fade from his happy eyes, and the rigid lines of suffering replace the laughing curves about his mouth. Poor Joe! his trouble was always about somebody else. He thought his own powerful limbs and clumsy features were adapted to labor and sorrow-, but he would have liked to claim immunity from suffering for those he loved; and Harry held a very Warm place in his heart, perhaps because he was Mabel’s cousin. Finally he scrawled a single line upon a card, and left it where Harry should see it when he entered the room: Come-up to my room as soon as you return. Joe. Then he went quietly up-stairs to his own apartment, and unlocking a heavy desk that stood in one corner took from it a bundle of letters tied carefully together with a small piece of black crape. Placing the package on the table within reads of his hand, he sat quietly down to wait. It was a bitter hour that he passed—sit--ting there waiting for the return of the boy- to w hose briglit hopes and happiness he was preparing to deal such a deadly blow. Would Harry’s friendship for him survive the revelation he was about to make? he asked himself bitterly, and then an angry feeling rose up in his heart that his should have been the hand selected to deal out such misery to his friemT. Joe shivered when the cloek struck twelve, and simultaneously with its solemn sound he heard the rattle of Harry’s latchkey. _ _i__—— “ It must come,” he muttered below his breath, “ and the sooner the better. If I put it off until to-morrow it will be no easier to tell or to hear.” In a moment Harry’s light step sounded on the stairs, and, flushed with health and happiness, he burst into the room. “What’s the row, Joe? Thought y-ou didn’t believe in burning the midnight oil ? Surely your exciting researches into Newton and Leibnitz haven’t kept you up till this hour ? You ought to be dreaming about our landlady’s muffins and all the dear delights of to-morrow’s breakfast. Phew! I’m tired,” and Harry- resumed his "old -position on lite Ue<r. Tr “ “I was rather rude to you this evening, Harry-, and I thought I’d like to tell you ” “Oh, bosh! is that what’s the matter? You dear old boy-, do you suppose I remembered it for a moment? I shy, Joe, do you know, Uthink you the best fellow in the world; there never was anybody quite so—quite so—l don’t know w-hat I want to say. When a feller is spooney- on a girl there’s a million ways of telling her of it, but when it is another fellow, w-hy—-let’s shake hands,” and Harry rolled over and placed his hand in Joe’s enormous paw. “God bless you, Harry!” “Why, what on earth is the matter? You’re as solemn as if you were assisting at the funeral of all your friends and relatives in a bunch.” “Harry, is Alice Remson the girl of w hom you were telling me to-night ?” “Of course she is. Sweet little Ally! There couldn’t be two like her in the world. Why, you don’t know her, do you ?” “ I know of her.” “ Then you must know that she’s the sweetest, dearest little O Lord! I forgot. I’m an awful bore, Joe; I know it.” “ She is two years older than you are.” “Y-e-s.” “ And a wbman is older than a man at the same age. Alice Remson is twentyfive.” that a woman is decrepit at twenty-five, do you?” “ Alice Remson was a belle in New York society before y-ou had entered college.” “What of it?” “ I have a story to tell y-ou to-night, Harry. Will you try and listen patiently, and not hate me when I have finished ? Shake hands once more, will you? You may not be willing to when Thave done,” and Joe’s strong hand inclosed Harry’s more delicate one for a moment in its firm clasp. Harry was startled by- the quivering, tone in Joe’s voice and the gentle w ay in which he laid his hand back on the bed when he ceased holding if. “ Did you ever hear of Charley Howard ?” “ Yes, I think so. The man who was found drowned in the bay, wasn’t he? There was a great fuss about it in the papers. I was in the country- then, you know,” “ Yes. You were at home with your mother and Mabel but I was boarding heye in the sarnie room where I am. now and Charley Howard was on the "floor above us. He was something like you, Harry; frank, open and noble-hearted, generous-and affectionate. Unlike you, lie was poor, relying entirely- upon his own exertions for a living and working hard as a clerk in the banking-house of Huntley & Co., in Broad street. Wherever Charley went he was a favorite. His unusual ~ beauty and winning manners seemed to charm everyone w ith whom he associated. I have known a great manymen in a long course of university life but I have never seen a handsomer or noblerlooking young fellow than Charley Howard. His bright, laughing eyes were of a soft brown color, matching the hair that curled over his low, broad forehead; his mouth was as softly curved and gentle in its expression as that of a woman but redeemed from all suspicion of effeminacy by the long, thick mustaches that shadeci it. He was tall and well-proportioned, graceful in build, though not possessing much appearance of muscular strength. Charley was very fine-looking although he always gave an impression of elegance rather than power and his face showed a quick intelligence but not a strong intel.

lect. Poor fellow! had he been endowed with less beauty and more mental force he had not ended so miserably. I have told you that he was a great favorite in society. It was during the second year that I knew him —we had been living here together for about eighteen months—that he came into my room one night about nine o’clock in evening dress and told me that he was going to a large party at the house of Mr. Huntley, his employer.»lt was there that he met for the first time Alice Remson.” “Who?” said Harry, in a sharp, constrained tone. He began to see where Joe’s story was tending, and a hot, bitter feeling of hatred toward his friend surged up in his heart. “ Forgive me, Harry. I would spare you the horrid story if I could. It is as hard for me to tell as for y-ou to hear. It is only the hope that the present pain I am inflicting may save you years of future suffering that enables me to go on;” and Joe’s voice trembled as he spoke. “He met her for the first time at Mr. Huntley’s; .but after that, as the winter went on, not a week passed that he did not spend one or more evenings at her side. At balls, parties, or receptions Charley was her constant attendant; he was her escort at the opera; he walked with her in the mornings, and later in the day rode with her in the park. Their names were always coupled together in the current gossip of drawing-rooms, and people would pause to admire the handsome couple as they passed them on the street or avenne. Charley’s attention was in a great measure drawn away from his business; hisTSalary was exhausted with opera and concert tickets, carriage hire and hot-house flowers; and his devotion to Alice Remson absorbed his time and attention to the exclusion of every other thought or interest. All other admirers fell away from Alice’s train to devote themselves to some one less preoccupied, and society began to look upon them as belonging to each other, although no engagement was ever announced.” Harry’s face w-as turned away from Joe, but the latter saw a slight shiver convulse the boy’s frame, while one hand was tightly clinched in the pillow under his head. “ One night Charley came home, and passing my room on his way to his own stopped for a moment. I missed the usual buoyancy from his quick, elastic step and the pleasant whistle that nearly always announced his coming. Looking up at him, I saw a sad, troubled look in his handsome eyes, and struck by the change in his manner asked him w-hat was the matter. It was something so unusual to see him anytliing-but cheerful and happy. “ ‘ I don’t quite know, Joe,’ he answered, in the low, sweet voice that was one of his greatest attractions. ‘ Ally promised to be at home to-night, and when I went to her house she had gone out —“with a gentleman,” I was told.’ “‘lsthat an engagement, Charley?’ I asked. “ 1 1 suppose I may tell you, Joe,’ he replied; ‘but the little lady will not have it announced publicly.’ “ ‘Why notr„l asked him. “ 1 1 don’t know. You—you don’t think she can mean to break her promise, do you, Joe?’ he asked, in a troubled, hesitating tone. ‘ She hasn’t seemed quite the same lately.’ And a heavy sigh broke from his Ups, and there was a slight evidence of tears in the depths of his soft brown eyes. “ That was the beginning of the end. From that night a change came over Charley. The brilliant light in his eyes faded away, the sound of his footfall grew heavy and weary as he dragged himself hopelessly about, and his merry whistle never woke the echoes in the old boardinghouse again. Alice Remson’s falsehood and treachery had broken his heart, and a few weeks afterward cost him his life.” “It is false —as false as hell!” With a sudden bound Harry sprang from the bed, his eyes glowing with the fury of a maniac. With a sudden jerk he seized -Joe by the shoulder, and, dragging him to his feet, threw him forcibly back against the wall with _a resistless strength born of the madness of passion that ingulfed his soul. “ How dare you tell me such a wild, false, wicked lie? D «you stand there with such a vile, base falsehood on your lips and think that I shall not kill you?” Joe warded off the fierce blow that would have fallen on his head with his left arm, and, exerting the full strength of his heavy muscular frame, pinioned Harry's arms to his side and lifted him back to the bed, where he held him by the force of one powerful hand. “Are you mad, Harry, that you would strike your best friend? control yourself instantly;” and Joe’s stern gaze" looked into Harry’s passionate eyes with a calm, determined force that would have subdued a nature even more violent than poor Harry's. The boy- winced under the severe glance bent upon him, and twisting himselt'away from the resolute grasp that held him buried his face among the pillows, while a deep groan came from his lips. “ Harry,” said Joe, while the tearsgathered in his eyes and his voice qiiivered_ai_ the sight -of the pOor boy’s suffering, “ here is a package of letters, the evidence I have to offer you of the truth of the sad story I have told you to-night. Among the first you will find Alice’st confession of love for Charley, her sweet expressions of devotion and affection tor the man she afterward ruined; then the cruel letter that blighted his hope affd destroyed his ambition. Next a few cold, business-like lines from Mr. Huntley, informing him that his services are no longer of value to his employers and regretting the necessity of discharging him. Last of all, a few disjointed words in Charley’s own handwriting, in which he announces his intention of self-destruction and begs me to break'the story of his death gently to his mother, and shield his memory-, it possi- ! ble, from the obloquy that attaches itself to the name of a suicide. Then, Harry, here is a newspaper. In one column you will find a paragraph headed ‘ Fatal Accident—Found Drowned,’ and a description of how poor Charley’s body was discovered when the w aters gave up their dead, and all that remained of the beautiful form and gentle soul that so many had known and loved was a mass of blackened and

swollen corruption, cast by the waves on the harsh stones of Staten Island beach. In another column you will see a descrintion of Miss Rem Son’s elegant toilet as she appeared that evening at the grand chari-ty-ball at the Academy of Music.” Joe might have spared him this last pang. He had done his work thoroughly. He bad tom the veil of romance and purity away from Alice Remson’s life and character, and exposed her to , Harry’s gaze as a woman guilty of the crime of driving a weak and gentle soul to destruction by her heartlessness and perfidy. ' s When Joe ceased speaking Harry lay for a few minutes motionless. His fierce pawton had subsided, and w-ith a noble effort he rallied his powers of endurance and self-control ti> enable him to face in a manner becoming a man the misfortune that had fallen upon his life. Then he raised himself from the bed in a weary r laborious manner, like an old man. He took the package of letters from the table,, and shuddered as his fingers came in contact with the black band that held them together; his brow contracted with a sudden spasm of pain as he saw the name “Charles Howard, Esq> r ” traced in the same delicate characters that had so often written his own. When he spoke, his voice had a harsh and unfamiliar sound. “ I will take these, Joe,, and read them.” Then he turned, and with), a feeble, uncertain step made his way toward the door. But before he reached it his eyes caught the uneasy; anxious look with which Joe regarded him, and turning back he laid one hand on his friend’s shoulder, and leaning his head upon it said, in a broken, faltering voice: “ Don’t woriy, Joe. You couldn’t help it. I will be all right in the morning.” Joe’s grasp tightened on Harry’s arm as if to detain him, but the boy pushed his hand gently aside. “No; lam better alone. Let me go now.” '■ - Then he went slowly down-stairs, and the door of his room closed tightly, shutting him in—all alone with his sorrow. But Joe’s door remained open all night, while the wakeful ears of the faithful friend listened anxiously during the long hours for any sound that might reach hun from the room below. When morning came, Harry was the first to appear. However severe thestruggle, it was ended; however fierce the battle, it was won. Th ere was - sterner look about his brow, the frolicsome laugh was silenced forever; but there w-as a calm, steady light in the blue eyes, and a quiet manliness in his bearing" that had never been there before. The eager words of sympathy with which Joe was prepared to greet him died beforethey were spoken, and Harry was the first to break the silence. “ I could not write her, Joe,” he said, passing his hand quickly across his forehead? ‘‘ I have inclosed the letters I have received from her, together with the last one- she wrote Charles Howard. She will receive them this morning. I think she will understand what they mean. One question, Joe, and we will never recur to the subject again. Who paid Charles Howard’s debts of which he speaks in his letter to you?” Joe made no reply. “ Who takes care of the widowed mother he left? Where is she? ’t ; “In Connecticut.” "jU-J TV “ Who takes care of her? ” “She is under the impression that Charley left some money behind him, of which she receives the interest.” “ Through you ? ” Again Joe made no reply. - If Joe had looked at Harry that moment he would have seen in the glance of the younger man, as it rested on his clumsy frame and uncouth features, an expression of admiration that amounted almost to reverence. “And out of your meager salary as a tutor at the college you have for years supported that poor old woman. Joe,” said Harry, relapsing for a moment into his old boyish simplicity of manner, “what makes you so good?” With a far-off, earnest look in his homely eyes the older man replied: “ I am, as you know, Hany-, no religionist ; I have no creed; I never attend church. But hundreds of years ago there wandered about on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea a Jewish carpenter’s son. and the words that fell from His lips possessed such a wonderful power and sweetness that the people who listened' to Him said He was divine. Once, in addressing His disciples as they assisted Him in His efforts to succor the sick and helpless, He said: “ Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto Me.’ If there be another world beyond this; where we shall find each other again, I would, like to. meet and know Him. there.” For a few- minutes there was no other word spoken. Then Joe looked at Harry’s sad features and-4eary frame as he rested against the mantel-piece, and looking up at the little face above them said: “ Christmas is coming. Let us go and spend it with the mother and Mabel.” And they did so. And Mabel cried bitterly when she heard Harry Is story from Joe’s lips, jmd. th© tears were half for Harrj'nnd half for herself. Then the little girl set herself resolutely to work to coax back the old smiles to the stern and gloomy countenance. And she did it, too—did "it so well that w hen the flowers bloomed in the following summer there was a wedding, and the bride was given away ,by a gigantic jirofessor'of mathematics, with unkempt hair and ponderous feet. ' '-k Joe’s rough mustache scratched Mabel’s sweet lips most ferociously when he said "good-by” to the little wife and surrendered his darling foreveVinto Harry’s keeping. Then, with a carpet-bag in one hand and a volume of Leibnitz under his other arm, he took his solitary way up to a little cottage among the hills of Connecticut where a little old woman received him with loving arms, and kissed him and blessed him in the place of the son she had Weekly. —A wash composed of a teaspoonful ot powdered borax to a pint of water is most excellent to keep on the dressing-table for dandruff and all sorts of eruptions of the skin.—Cor. Prairie Farmer.