Hilda's Mascot Part 34

"It was the same to me, and the perusal of the two letters sent by request of Jerusha was a great grief to my husband. I will tell you of them.

"The mother of Jerusha and Horace Flint was the only daughter of Father De Cormis, and was several years older than her two brothers-Rev. Horace De Cormis, of Woodmont, Ohio, and Robert De Cormis, my husband.

"She was beautiful, but self-willed, and in spite of the threats of her father and the entreaties of her mother persisted in receiving the attentions of a young man named Archibald Flint, who was visiting Philadelphia from San Francisco.

"He was handsome, cultured and amiable, but without knowledge of business of any kind.

"To break off this intimacy Miss De Cormis was sent to a distant boarding school. Mr. Flint followed, she eloped and they were married, and for several years her parents heard no word of them. Not knowing that during this time her mother had died, and being in abject poverty, Mrs. Flint wrote to her parents from her poor home in Baltimore, beseeching them for the sake of her little daughter, Jerusha-named for Mother De Cormis-to send relief.

"My father-in-law was a man of implacable temper; he wrote commanding her never to communicate with him again. He reproached her as being the cause of her mother's death, and added that her ingrat.i.tude and disobedience to her parents was being visited upon her children. He concluded his letter by saying that he disowned her as a daughter, had disinherited her, and had commanded his young sons, Horace and Robert, under the same penalty, never to see her or communicate with her in any way.

"In this letter he returned the one she had written; and these were the two letters which Jerusha had requested her brother Horace to send their grandfather; but he being years before in his grave, we, who are living in his old home, received them."

"Poor Jerusha had these letters,-her mother's to grieve over, and her grandfather's to sour her against the world," sighed Hilda. "Her poor young mother was severely punished for her disobedience. I wonder how long she lived after receiving that letter?"

"It must have been several years, for Horace Flint mentioned in our conversation to-day that Jerusha was ten years of age and he was six, when, after the death of their mother, they were taken by their father to the orphan asylum."

"I wonder what became of the father?" questioned Hilda.

"We always supposed that he died years ago, our reason for thinking so being a letter found among the papers left, by Father De Cormis. It was written to him by a nurse in the hospital in Baltimore, saying that a man was lying there dangerously ill of brain fever, and in his pocket they had found a letter which, being addressed to Father De Cormis, the nurse had written to enclose it. But Horace informed me to-day that his father recovered."

"I wonder if Father De Cormis gave any attention to the letter of the nurse?" questioned Hilda.

"I think not, nor to the one Archibald enclosed in it, which was so pathetic in its appeal that, so well as I knew my father-in-law, I wondered that he could steel his heart against it.

"It was written at the bedside of his sick wife, and in it Father De Cormis was implored to send relief to the suffering woman and her little children. The writer added that he was ill, and exhausted from watching, and from a long walk of several miles to ask a.s.sistance of his brother-in-law, Joshua Farnsworth, of 'My Lady's Manor,' who was willing and able to a.s.sist him, but who had died suddenly, so that hope was extinguished.

"He wrote that he had no expectation or wish to live, but while able to write, and with a clear mind, he wished to state the incidents of his visit to his brother-in-law, Joshua Farnsworth, at 'My Lady's Manor,'

which, with his many anxieties and insufficient food, had brought on the fever from which he was then suffering.

"In order to make his statement plain, he dated back to his boyhood in San Francisco, where he and his sister were the only children of wealthy parents who indulged them in every wish. He grew up without knowledge of business of any kind, his parents lost their property, and this was followed by their death.

"His sister married Joshua Farnsworth, who at that time lived in San Francisco, and at the age of twenty-one she died, leaving an infant son-Reginald-whom Mr. Farnsworth placed in the care of a friend and left for Maryland and became owner of 'My Lady's Manor,' now your home.

"Archibald wrote that being without home or kindred-except his little nephew, Reginald Farnsworth-he left San Francisco for Philadelphia. At this point in his letter he implored pardon-as he had done many times before-for the elopement, and added that they had wandered about seeking employment, until compelled to remain in Baltimore owing to the ill health of his wife. They were reduced to want, when he heard incidentally that his brother-in-law, Joshua Farnsworth, was living here, and he walked from Baltimore to see him, ask for help and then return the same night. He saw Mr. Farnsworth at the post-office and walked with him to 'My Lady's Manor' and up to the seats upon the roof, where they could converse undisturbed. There Mr. Farnsworth agreed to take him back to Baltimore that night in his carriage and provide liberally for his family.

"He had scarcely finished speaking when he placed his hand upon his heart and fell back lifeless. The shock to Archibald was so great that for some time he sat motionless; then, realizing the danger to himself if found there alone, he resolved to escape from the house. When he reached the corridor he saw the open door in the wall of a back attic room. He crept through it into a meat room, closed it after him and went down a flight of steps and out a door which he locked and took the key, unconsciously. He walked back to Baltimore, where at the bedside of his wife he wrote the letter to Father De Cormis, closing it with a heartfelt pet.i.tion for a.s.sistance, and taking all the blame of the daughter's disobedience upon himself.

"The letter was never mailed by him, for his wife died that night. The next morning he took Jerusha and Horace to the orphan asylum, then went to the hospital, where the letter was found upon his person."

"Does Horace Flint say that his father is yet living?" asked Hilda.

"Yes, but he has no home, but wanders about, his mind nearly a blank since his attack of brain fever."

"It surely is Archie, the Archie who saved my life!" exclaimed Hilda.

"No one in the neighborhood knows his last name, for he has forgotten it."

"Horace mentioned that he sees him frequently, as did Jerusha, but without making themselves known to him. I think there is no doubt but he is the Archie you speak of; and, my dear, I am sure you will be surprised to know that Jerusha was the great-granddaughter of a French n.o.bleman-the Marquis De Cormis. He was a noted officer in the French army, but owing to a sudden ebullition of temper was forced to flee from his native land."

"Is it possible?" exclaimed Hilda. "I wonder if Jerusha knew it!"

"Yes, her mother told her of it in the letter which Jerusha sent to her brother Horace, and which Horace forwarded to Philadelphia. He also showed me a slip cut from a London newspaper of that date which gave all the details of the affair which made a refugee of the marquis."

"Do you know what it was?"

"Yes, my father-in-law told us of it a short time before his death, and we also found a full account of it among his papers and those of the marquis, which he had kept. The substance of it was that the young Marquis De Cormis was at one time summoned from the frontier by his superior officer, and when he upon a dark, stormy night arrived at the tent of the officer, cold, wet, and exhausted from a long ride, he was severely and insultingly reprimanded for his delay in reaching there.

"The haughty spirit of the marquis could not brook the injustice from one whose social position was inferior to his, and seizing a boot which the officer had just removed, he hurled it at the head of its owner. It struck him upon the temple and he fell to the ground unconscious.

"The marquis rushed from the tent and with the help of his aides escaped to England, and from thence sailed to America, where he lived in the strictest retirement. He married in Philadelphia and my father-in-law was the only heir to the property in France, and to the t.i.tle, neither of which he made effort to claim.

"In my father-in-law's will was a request that my husband should go to France and lay claim to the property, and divide it equally between himself and Horace, which has been done."

The two ladies had walked slowly toward "My Lady's Manor" during the conversation, and upon reaching it found that Archie, who had come the evening before, was still there; and after Hilda had shown Mrs. De Cormis to her room she returned to have a chat with him.

"You have never told me your last name, Archie," she said gently as she took a seat beside him. "Every person has a last name, and it would please me to know yours."

"Archie forgets; he has tried, and tried, and cannot think," and a look of sad perplexity came into the worn face.

"Is it Flint? Archibald Flint?"

A gleam of glad recognition came into the eyes of the wanderer, and he clasped his hands in delight.

"That is it! Archibald Flint! Archie has never heard it since he had the fever. Archibald Flint! Yes, that is Archie's name."

From that time he made no effort to leave "My Lady's Manor." He said he was tired of looking for people in the snow; he must rest. So he remained in that comfortable home, frequently saying to himself, "Archibald Flint! Yes, that is Archie's name," and the home of the one whose life he had saved was truly a haven of rest to his weary feet.

Lives of usefulness, peace and happiness were enjoyed by the Courtneys and their loved Mrs. Warfield; and Mrs. Ashley's prayer had, in G.o.d's own time and way, been fully answered; for Hilda was a consistent Christian, and her home and that of Sarah Warfield was one and the same.

THE END.