A heroine of charity and other stories

Contents

I- A Heroine of Charity. . .

II. Farmer Carson’s Sons. . . i2tf

III. The Brown Ctrl. ... . 212

CHAPTER I. “On Christmas eve the bells were rung

On Christmas eve the mass was sung;

That only night in all the year Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear.

The hall was dressed with holly green;

Forth to the woods did merry men go To gather in the mistletoe.

Then open’d wide the baron’s hall To vassal, tenant, serf and all;

The fire with well dried logs supplied,

Went roaring up the chimney wide;

Then was brought in the lusty brawn,

By the old blue-coated serving man;

Then the grim boar’s head frowned on high,

Then came the merry maskers in And carols roared with blithsome din.

England \vas merry England, when Old Christmas brought his sports again.

’Twas Christmas brewed the mightiest ale;

’Twas Christmas told the merriest tale;

A Christmas gambol oft did cheer A poor man’s heart through half the year.”

Sir Walter Scott,

/CHRISTMAS eve had come, and with it had come ^ one of the severest storms that had visited southern England for years. All day the sky had looked dark and threatening, but very little snow T

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

had fallen until just before dark, when a wild storm had set in, and in a short time great drifts were piling up everywhere around the village of Torrence. Torrence, for such I have chosen to call the place, was the home of Lord Ashleigh, the only surviving son of a large and aristocratic English family . The western part of the village was composed mostly of cottages, and standing in the midst of these, like a huge giant was a stately old mansion, the home of the lord Most of these cottages, and also many in other parts of the village, belonged to his estate.

As night drew on the fury of the storm increased, and the darkness was something that would fill with awe any one who chanced to be out alone very late. It was one of those dreadful nights on which so many dark deeds are committed, and the criminal finds such easy meaas ©f escape, often never to be found.

Driving from our minds all thoughts of the gloom outside, let us take a peep in at some of the windows as we pass the cottages on our way to the mansion. While the chill December winds are blowing without our eyes are greeted by many merry scenes inside. Bright fires are glowing upon the hearths and in many of the cottages the Christmas candle has been lighted in anticipa-

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

tion of the midnight visit from the Infant Saviour, while the people seem to know nothing but happiness — and why shouldn’t they be happy for these simple peasants have for many weeks looked forward to the morrow, first, because it was the greatest holiday in all the year and second on account of a great event in the history of their village which it was to bring near. Some of them have retired for an hour or two’s rest, before it is time for midnight Mass but most of them sit up to wait for that hour. The children have all gone to bed after having lisped their simple evening prayers and are now sweetly dreaming of the little Infant Jesus about whom they have heard so much for the past few weeks or of Santa Claus and their stockings hanging by the chimney.

As we near the mansion, our ears are greeted by the sound of music mingled with Christmas carols and now and then amerry peal of laughter, which tells that all is mirth and joy inside. The large old fashioned hall from which these sounds of merriment proceed is brilliantly lighted. A huge yule log is brightly burning upon the hearth, the mistletoe bough hangs over the main entrance, wreaths of holly and evergreen adorn the walk with here and there an old fashioned portrait of some honored members of the family perhaps long

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

since departed. Two or three of these had made their names almost immortal by victories won on the battle field and above their pictures hung the weapons which they had so gallantly used-

The hall is thronged with many noble guests, relatives of the family and a few very intimate friends, for Christmas was a time when Lord Ashleigh always gathered together everyone to whom either he or his wife could claim any tie of relationship, and Christmas eve at his home was always the merriest night in the whole year. He wished to spend this night in old time English style and nothing was too good for his friends who always received the heartiest welcome.

The most prominent person among that gay throng was the lord’s only daughter, Inez, a lovely, fair-haired, blue-eyed girl of twenty -one It was on her account that great pains had been taken to make the festivities of this Christmas eve greater than they had been for many years, for the day after to-morrow she was to be married to Walter Tracy, a young army officer just home from India.

Although six years older than herself, the young man had been one of her dearest friends in childhood, having been brought up with her, and as they grew older, w r hat had once been only a

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

mere childish attachment, ripened into a mutual affection Walter’s parents, who had always been very intimate friends of the Ashleigh family, dying when he was only ten years old, had left their only child in the lord’s care, and Inez soon learned to look upon him as an older brother No brother and sister could have been more attached than were these two children during the years that they spent together. She was fifteen when he left home to spend a few months in southern Europe and Egypt. She parted with him as she would with a brother, begging him not to forget his sister when he was so far away, and not to remain very long. He told her that he would think of her often, and would return home in a short time.

For a while after his departure she missed him very much, but as the weeks and months went by she began, like a child, to count the days that would elapse before his return; but poor Inez; she did not dream of the disappointment in store for her, and only those who have watched and waited for the return of some dear one — who is far away — and who, it sometimes seemed would never return, can know how lonely she felt when the day of the expected arrival drew near, and she learned that he was not coming home. Their

14 A HEROINE O £ CHARITY.

correspondence had been like that between an affectionate brother and sister, and in some of their letters they had addressed each other as such. Inez had one only brother at home, but he was not yet nine years old, and had never been the companion to her that the absent one had been.

The day before Walter was expected had come and she was very happy in thinking what a welcome she would give him and hoping that he was coming home to stay when a letter came from him post-marked at Calcutta. His last letter had been written from Athens, and now when she believed him to be so near home, she could hardly understand the meaning of this letter coming from India. Her worst fears were confirmed when she read that he had enlisted in the British army and would not be home for some time. This had been one of his reasons for going away, but knowing how attached Lord Ashleigh’s family were to him, he had refrained from letting any of them know of his plans excepting the lord himself to whom he disclosed them a short time after his departure asking advice of him as he would of a father and requesting him to keep his secret until after he had enlisted.

Alone in her own room that night, Inez shed many lonely tears over the letter from her brother

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

'who was so far away and who, perhaps, would be killed in a foreign land where she would never again see him. Oh, why did he do it and would he ever return home, she asked herself again and again, thinking not of the honors after which he aspired but of the dangers surrounding him.

Four years passed after Walter’s enlistment, and having received a few weeks leave of absence, he arrived home quite unexpectedly one bright summer’s day bringing with him high honors which he had won by faithfulness to duty.

Many and true were the friends that the young soldier had made while abroad, but none were as dear to him as those he had left in dear old England. All the old friends seemed unchanged to him excepting the tall fourteen year old boy whom he met at the gate as he was entering the grounds and the little sister, as he loved to call Inez, about whom he had thought most. Her image had been uppermost in his mind during the five lonely years of his absence and it was mostly to see her that he now came home . He had noticed the change gradually come over her by her letters which had grown fewer and shorter than they were at first and he sometimes wondered as he read them over and over again if some proud rival was the cause of this apparent strangeness. ‘‘No, it cannot be so,” he would say to himself for he could only think of Inez as he had last seen her, and he was hardly prepared to find her changed as much in appearance as she had. No longer the merry laughing child of fifteen that he had left her, our heroine had grown to a beautiful and dignified young lady who was already beginning, to win many brilliant friends and who bade fair to become one of England’s fairest and most adored queens of society. Despite of all her rare advantages she was not spoiled for she possessed a noble intellect combined with a loving disposition.

Had Walter returned home when he was first expected four years before, Inez would in all probability have run to meet him with open arms, telling him how glad she was to see him. Now she met him almost coldly, (so it seemed to him,) but told him he was welcome home and she hoped he had come to remain. Her dignity at first almost grieved him, but in a few days it seemed in part to die away, and she became more like the Inez of ©Id. They were once more the companions they had been in those days. Together these two often drove through the country, and rowed on the river that crossed the Ashleigh estate, visited the scenes so dear to them in child-

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

IT hood, sometimes accompanied by friends or members of the family, together they strolled by moonlight through the grounds during the long summer evenings, or joined the family on the veranda, or in the parlor. These were bright and happy days for the two young people, but they were not of long duration, for before the summer was over Walter was obliged to return to his’ post of duty but not before he had won from Inez a promise to become his bride. This promise was sealed by the consent of her parents, whose one great hope had been to see their daughter married to the son of one w 7 ho had been one of their dearest friends. Before Walter had been left an orphan, the two fathers had planned this wedding,, hoping in this way to join two of the oldest and most aristocratic families in England, Walter being the only heir of the Tracys, while Inez, then the lord’s only child, was the only descendant of the Ashleigh family.

Little over a year later, Walter’s time in India having expired, he hastened home to claim his bride, and great preparations were made for the wedding which was to take place during the Christmas holidays. It was talked of everywhere that the Ashleigh or Tracy families were known, and many looked forward to the great is

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

event. Not only were the preparations being tnade at the home of Lord Ashleigh, but also in a beautiful mansion on the suburbs of London, which, for many years, had been in possession of the Tracy’s, but had been closed since a few months before the death of Walter’s father. It Was now opened and being refurnished for the young couple who, after a short honeymoon in southern Europe, were to make their home there during the winter, while the summer months were to be spent at the old Tracy homestead, an old fashioned but pleasant place a few miles from ToireUce.

The young officer was almost a constant companion of his affianced during this Christmas eve and many were the admiring glances cast upon them, and the compliments paid them as they passed through the great hall. She, fair and slight, the picture of maidenly grace and beauty; he, tall, dark, and stately, a handsome man and a perfect soldier in every respect. How well fitted they were for each other everybody said, and what a happy event their marraige would be. Lord Aehleigh heard all of these remarks and listened to them with no slight feeling of pride. Even the bride elect herself could have been scarcely happier than he, for in her marriage

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

was to be accomplished one of the greatest dreams of his life, namely, to have his child bear the honored name of Tracy.

The evening was quite far advanced when supper was announced, and the party were soon seated around a well-filled table, Walter and Inez occupying places near the head of the table on the right of Lord Ashleigh. The meal was a very pleasant one, for all present did their utmost to contribute to the mirth of the evening; toasts for the happiness of our young friends were drank by all present, and there was not one who did not join in wishing them many years of undisturbed bliss. Not one, I said, but still even in that, select circle of dear friends and relatives, a Judas sat and drank with the others — drank the happiness and long life of his own intended victim.

The meal was over but the company had not left the table when the bell in the tower of the neighboring chapel began tolling for midnight Mass. All arose at the sound and left the hall soon returning arrayed in hats and wraps A procession was formed and they marched to the chapel which, on entering, they found nearly half full of peasants from the neighboring cottages. Among a profusion of flowers many of which

Lady Ashleigh had sent from her own conservatory t«o adorn the altar, burned scores of wax tapers, and one glance at the crib, (Inez’s gift to the church), would almost make one believe they beheld the stable at Bethlehem. The image of the divine child lying on the straw in the manger, his blessed mother and foster father, the three kings from the far east and the shepherds looked as if they were living, while the animals had on their faces aD almost human expression of tenderness and sympathy for the infant. Figures of angels suspended from the ceiling of the cave too were there and the soft rays of the candles and different colored lights gave it a very beautiful aspeot.

The old parish priest soon appeared on the altar robed in white vestments and behind him walked his assistant, a newly ordained priest, and several scarlet robed altar boys. The deep rich tones of the organ resounded through the edifice and the singing mingling with it tilled the hearts of all with joy and gladness, especially the “Gloria,” that dear old hymn first sung by angel voices on the night that Christ was born. There was not one present whose heart was more thrilled with joy by these words than the young girl who so soon was to bid farewell to her maidenhood days.

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

i ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus borne voluntatis,” Gloria be to God on high, and on earth peace to men of good will). How these words resounded again and again in her heart, and in her happiness she felt that in the whole world there could not be a person who knew the meaning of them that could have anything but the most sublime feeling in their hearts, especially if they could hear them sung as she had just listened to them. Alas, poor Inez, little did she dream of the cold hard hearts that could not be moved even by the most sublime words for m he»r happiness she thought of nothing but peace and love. As the sweet words the “Adeste Fideles” sounded in her ears, she sank deeper and deeper into her reverie until it seemed as if angel voices were singing as the shepherds had heard them from the plains of Bethlehem eighteen hundred years ago. All, all, was forgotten by our young heroine now and as she knelt there, almost unconscious of the presence of any one, with her eyes fixed upon the tabernacle, she wondered how any one could feel such undisturbed bliss as she now enjoyed.

When the Mass was over the assistant priest spoke a few touching words on the birth of the Saviour, who, for the redemption of mankind, had

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

come into this world, leaving the joys of Heaven,, to be born in a manger on a cold December night, and to live and die as one of the lowliest of Hi& creatures. The congregation was then dismissed, and when, after a farewell prayer they left the holy place, they almost felt as if they had seen the Infant Saviour and received his blessing.

The company returned to the hall, where they stopped for a few minutes to exchange a merry Christmas before retiring to their own apartments. Walter Tracy was standing in front of one of the windows talking with a friend named Sir Edward Sarsdale, when the report of a pistol was heard. Walter staggered and would have fallen had he not been caught in the strong armsof his friend. The ball, which had been fired by some one outside had struck him, and he had every appearance of death. Inez had been in a distant part of the hall, but she was at his side in an instant, and as Sir Edward was about to lay him on the floor she lifted his head on her lap. The crowd gathered about him, and it was with much difficulty that a physician who was among the guests made his way to him. It was whispered that he was dead, but Inez, who had wonderful control over herself, insisted that he still breathed. The doctor motioned them to keep back and be

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

silent; then putting his ear to the victim’s breast said that he still lived, but the room must be cleared or he would smother.

£ ‘ Let two of you carry him to a bed, ’ ’ he said, “and the others must leave the room.” The order was obeyed, and Walter was taken to one of the servant’s rooms, a little chamber just off from the hall. On examining the wound the physician found that it was a fatal one, and although there was little chance of the patient’s living more than a few hours, he hardly dared to tell the truth to the dear friends anxiously waiting for him to speak. Beside him stood Lord and Lady Ashleigh and their son with white and anxious faces; but saddest of all was the sight of the young girl, whose pale blue dress was covered with stains of fresh blood.

W alter had been unconscious since he fell, but a few minutes after the examination he opened his eyes and asked what had happened, but before anyone could answer he began talking as in a delirium: “Yes, I know how it was now,” he said, “I am very badly hurt. I have been dreaming that I was back in India and had been on the battle field all day. Scores were falling on every side of me and my own horse fell dead from under me, but I, as if possessed of a charmed life escaped

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

unhurt. I was sitting outside my tent in the evening talking over the day’s victory with a few surviving comrades when a murderer coming from behind shot me and I fell.” He ceased speaking for he was very weak from loss of blood and the great drops of perspiration on his forehead told only too plainly that death was near at hand. 4 ‘He is failing fast, ’ ’ the physician whispered to the lord, “and we had better call the priest at once.”

“Yes, send for the priest,” said Walter, who had overheard the doctor’s words despite of the precaution he had taken to keep them from him, and I would like to have a lawyer to draw up my will.” Inez turned deathly pale at these words but she neither spoke or shed a tear.

The priest who had been called in and was waiting outside the door for the summons now entered and the young man was left alone with him to make his peace with his creator. In a few minutes the physician and the family of Lord Ashleigh, the only ones permitted to see the dying man, were called in to be present when he received the last sacred rites of the church. They all knelt and Walter himself joined in answering the prayers said by the priest. He seemed to have gained a new strength and had no fear of the approaching end. This over, the village attorney who in the

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

meantime had been sent for was called in to draw up the will in which the entire Tracy estate with the exception of a few hundred pounds given to charitable institutions was bequeathed to Inez. The young girl would have protested against receiving his property but she knew that he was dying, and to argue with him besides being useless would only cause him pain; furthermore Walter being the sole owner and only heir to the estate it would necessarily go to - strangers after his death.

Walter now called Inez to his side, and as sho knelt at the head of his bed he clasped her right hand, which he held firmly until after death, when his stiffened fingers were unlocked from around it. “Inez,” he whispered, “there is one thing I wish to ask you, a promise I want you to make. Will you make it?”

“Yes, ” she said, “I will not refuse anything you ask.”

‘ ‘It is this , 5 ’ and his voice grew fainter, ‘ ‘ that you will forgive my murderer with your whole heart, as I forgive him, and hope that God will forgive me; pray for him that he may repent, and God may forgive him; not only that, but if he is ever found and tried, promise me that you will never appear in the court against him.”

It was a hard promise to be made.by one who had

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

been robbed of so much by a cowardly assassin, who appeared to have no motive for his crime, for she knew well that Walter was honored and loved by all who knew him; but who can refuse to comply with the last request of a dear friend whose lips, as he asked that favor, were already stiffening in death? With a trembling voice Inez said ‘ 4 Walter, for your sake I promise all you ask.” A look of joy covered his pale face, and he pressed her hand to his lips. Before he could speak she whispered something in his ear. No one knew what it was, but it caused that bright look to again light up his features. “Thank you, Inez,” he said, i ‘ you are a brave girl, and may God bless and give you happiness.” Turning to the rest of the family he said, ‘ ‘and you too, I could never thank you enough for all your kindness to me since the death of my own dear parents, for you have been all to me that you could have been. May God bless you, and grant that we may all meet in Heaven.”

The priest, seeing that the end was near, commenced the prayers for the dying. All joined in answering them, and Walter’s voice might be heard now and then in broken accents as he tried to join them. The prayers over, Walter said in a low but distinct voice, while his eyes rested upon a crucifix on the wall. “May God forgive the one who has caused my death.” These were his last words, and in a few minutes more his soul was with its Creator, where it still continued pleading for forgiveness.

i i He is dead, ’ ’ said the doctor, advancing toward the bed, to lead Inez away; but with his last breath she had swooned, and her head lay on his pillow. What a melancholy picture it was, that the first grey streaks of light on that Christmas morning fell upon, as they stole in through the window. Side by side were these two, who, less than eight hours before had been wished many years of happiness; he, cold in death; and his bride elect, kneeling senseless at his side. Tenderly they raised her and carried her to her own room, where all day she lay in a stupor, realizing nothing that passed around her.

How sad it was for this brave young soldier who had been in the fiercest of battle seeing comrades fall on every side and still escaping unhurt to die now at the hand of a cowardly murderer far away from the field of battle with no laurels to cover his grave. Not from his country, but we doubt if there are many in his position who have received brighter laurels of immortality above, than the soldier who in all things had remembered what he owed to his God as well as to his country. Although his position had exposed him to many

■28

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

dangers and temptations, he had led a very exemplary life and was always prepared to meet his Creator, for as he often said the life of a soldier is full of dangers and he knew not at what moment he might he called from this earth.

He died not on the battle field,

Nor by the sword he fell,

But he was murdered by the side Of the maiden he loved so well.

For five long years he’d bravely fought Upon the battle field.

He’d led a gallant English band To the foe he would not yield.

A shining light he’d been to them,

To those soldiers strong and brave.

While they were thinking of this earth His thoughts to God he gave.

He left them for to claim his bride The one he loved so dear,

Little dreaming while by her side That the hand of death was near.

But jealous eyes were on him bent As by her side he stood,

And ere their wedding day had dawned For her he shed his blood.

No laurels crown his earthly tomb To tell of battles won,

But wreaths of immortality By angel hands are spun .

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

CHAPTER II. 8 soon as Walter had been removed from the

^ hall after being shot, a party of the gentlemen guests started out in search of the one who had fired the shot. The band was headed by Sir Edward Sarsdale, the young gentleman who was talking with Walter when he fell. His home was in London and he was one of the lord’s most intimate friends, one who always took a prominent part in all the social gatherings at his home and was considered a very important personage by all of the family excepting Inez, who, while for her parents sake had always treated him well, had from her very first acquaintance with him. When she was but a mere child she felt a secret dislike for him which she could not fathom and she had often wondered how her parents could be so attached to him. Although always very cordial and pleasing in his manners, he at times seemed to her to be cold and unfeeling and she sometimes thought this was why she dreaded him so.

The place just outside the window where the assassin had probably stood when he fired the shot was first examined but the snow had already drifted

A HEROINE OF CHARITY.

so as to nearly fill the tracks which could be traced but a short distance then disappeared in the drifts. To add to the difficulty the night was very dark and the wind blew in such gusts that the torches could not be kept burning. The whole of the grounds and all of the out-houses on the place were searched but to no avail. The party also went through the entire village visiting many of the cottages to see if the murderer had taken refuge in any of them but with the same ill luck. The day had already dawned when after raising great excitement all over the village the party returned to the mansion to report the fruitlessness of their search and to learn that Walter Tracy was dead. •