The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

vt thedesertedfarm a tragic story of old canada chapter i costikokd after some persuasion m desjarniers contented to bis cons desire and felix with many kind wishes on the part of bis parents and louise and many regrets that be was to leave them even for so short a time set forth immediately halfregretting himself when the hour oi departure arrived that he would be so long parted from his betrothed he had been absent but a few days when m de lavigny the lord of the manor who jbot visited his property for several years aisved with his nephew m le capitaine de lavigny a young french officer who had lately come to canada on a visit to his nncle m de lvrigny expressed his intention to remain at st claude for several weeks to enjoy the sports of hunting and shooting with bis nephew and tow a great difficulty arose as to where the distinguished visitors should find suitable lodgings certainly there was no accommodation for them in any of the cabins of the small farmers and fishermen the seigneurs ten ants m desjarniers house was the only one within many miles where they could find rooms and m desjarniors held his form in independent possession m de lavigny held no authority over him whatever the honest kindhearted farmer however no sooner heard of the awkward dilemma in whioh the two gentlemen found themselves than he hastened to assure them that he and his wife would be happy to place the best rooms in their house at their disposal which offer was thankfully accepted my story oontinued m le cure which has hitherto been all hppiness now begins to partake of sadness captain de lavigny had hardly taken possession of his lodgings ere ho was at tracted by the exquisite beauty and naive innocence and simplicity of louise accus tomed to the open coquetry and inane fri volity which at that period prevailed asked her to accept his hand and share bis fortune then louise had honestly assured him that she was betrothed to her fosterbi other- whom she sincerely loved and that within three months she expected to become his wife as yet she had not swerved even in thought from her duty and her heart was still trne is the absent felix she hid however listened to the voice of the tempter and thus the young french officer hd gained an advantage of which he was not slow to avail himself he pioturei in plowing language the numerous charms and delights of the aris tocratic society to whioh he sought to ic troduco her and to which he assured her she was fitted by nature to become one of its fairest and brightest ornaments he pic tured in contrast a life wasted as he termed it in a remote district of a dependent colony in the society of boors and hinds with whom she was ill adapted to associate and though he might not have won her love he fired her latunt ambition and awakened her inherent love of admiration instead of shunning his society now that she knew his object as she ought to have done she sought it more than ever and listened with telltale blushes and sparkling eyes to the flatteries with which he assailed her what wonder then that at length she succumbed to his flatteries for alas poor child she had no one to warn her of the dangers to which she voluntarily exposed herself m do lavigny was ready to return to quebec but his nephew had made up his miud not to return with him the yourg officer professed to have derived much benefit from the pure air of st claude and expressed his i ntentlon to remain yet a few weeks longer promising to rejoin his uncle at qaebeo early in the autumn and so blind were monsieur and among females of the highest ran in the madame djsjarniers to the dangers which frenoh capital there was something irresis- i threatened their domestic happiness and so tible to the young man in the manners as i oh pleased were they with the young well as in the appearance of the young officer a sooiety that they listened to his canadian he thought her the lovolieat i decision with satisfaction and assured him creature he had ever beheld and lost no 5 th would do all in their power time in the endeavour to establish himself j to make his longer sojourn agreeable to in her good graces i hm 1 if monsieur would but honour ns by the only son of one of the oldest and rema5nidg onr gueat untiu tho return of and heir to a i our son an won graciously assist at the proudest families of france large fortune he imagined that his conquest welding oi our dear felix and louise said of the heart of the unsophisticated country j madame desjarniers our satisfaction would girl would be an easy one in this how ever he was greatly mistaken he was a handsomo young man though far inferior to felix in true manly beauty his gay clothing and easy insinuating manners however set off his natural good looks to advantago and while louise acknow ledged to herself that felix was taller and handsomo and bettor formed she could m t help admiring him and wish ing in her secret heart that her betrothed husband possessed something of the officers personal graces in addition to his own man ly beauty still alarmed at the young french mans ardent admiring glances she sought in every way to shun him for several days and until at length madame desjarniers told her that she was sorry to see her behave so rndely to their stranger guest ah poor innocent unbupicious madame desjarniers apostrophised m le curo if you had but had a little more knowledgo of the world and bad been aware that this ap parent coldness and rudeness on the put of your adopted child was but tho instinctive modesty of outhf ul womanhood and tho de fence against libcrtineous advances with which nature has endowed the pureminded of the sex i madame desjarniers however con tinued m le cure resuming the thread of his narrative was long past the age at whioh femalo innocence and beauty has to dread the arts of the- wouldbe despoiler and having in her own original lowly sphere known no temptation she had no idoa in her ignorance of the world of the dopravity which could lead men to seek the destruo tion of her sexs modesty nor could she conceive it possible that a betrothed bride oonld forget tho ties by which she was bound to her lover she was heraolf pleased with the manners of her youthful gueat and she wished her adopted daughter to aid her endeavours tj render him comfoitablo the young officer too perceiving that louise was frightened at bis advances as sumed a more retirod mannor in her pro- sence and in a ihort time tho young girl losing her fears began to think that they had been groundless and to treat tho young man with greater cordiality suffice it to say that in the course of a fortnight the young captain and louise became mutually pleased with each other and though louise had not yet swerved for one moment from her duty and offeotion for her betrothed huabaml she found a atrango fascination in the offi ors conversation and especially in his descriptions of tho perils and dangers ho had encountered tor ho had already seen service during his brief mili tary career many of these perils might have been exaggerated or invented pro bably they wore still he showed proudly tho scar of a wound ho had received while fighting at the head of his regiment and if louise did not yot lovo him she admired him for the dangers he had passed simple and ignorant however as were tho villagers they were not altogether blind to the growiog partiality ofloriso and they oung french captain to eachothers socioty not that they imagined that any groat barm would come of it but they thought it a pity that felix who was a general favourite should have absented him- solf at this ospoclal period all however were too innocont and ignorant of the worlds ways to anticipate any evil and so mattors proceeded until two months had expired and m de lavigny was intending to return to qaebeo mattors however had proceeded much further than any one in tho village had any rjdeaof f to do tho captsra duo justice what- evei may have been his original intentions he had quite given up any idoa of working evil towards louise he had in fact bc- como perfectly fascinated by her rare grae and beauty and regardless of tho jeers to which he would expos himself from his gay friends in france careless of the opposi tion of his aristocratic relatives to such an alliance heedless of the worlds opinion he had resolved if possible to make the jarniers affectionately when ho cam to fair canadian his wife and had already her good night be complete and the captain expressed his deep regret that the necessity of his return to franco before the winter set in would oblige him to quit st claude a few weeks before the expected return home of m felix what need continued m le cure to bo more explicit with my story suffice it to say that within a few weeks of the depar ture of m de lavigny his nephew had suc ceeded in tho accomplishment of his wishes louise dazzled by the brilliant prospects opened out to her in the future and forgetful of her vows before heaven and of the duty she owed her earthly protectors heodlees alas i of the misery she would entail upon her more than parents and her teo trusting lover and fosterbrother had promised to become the wife of the highborn frenoh officer and to return with him to paiis it was arranged that their marriage should take place at quebec and a plan was laid out by which louise was to follow the captain to that place the day after his de parture from st claude the day appointed for the departure of the young fficer arrived and amidst the regrets and good wishes for his future wel fare of his simple minded host and hostess the young frenchman embarked on board the vessel which was to convey him to qae- bec he on his part promised to send a handsome present to madame desjarniers from france as a mark of his regard and as a slight return for the many kindnesses ho had recoived from herself and her husband little did they poor simple honest pcoplo imagine that their troaoherous guest was about to rob them of their great est treasure i louise had for some time past lost much of her former cheerfulness and her fosterparents had noticed the change in hor and had attributed it to indisposition and to the absence of felix they had sought to console her by remindiog her that the day when hor lover would return to claim her aa his brido was drawing near poor child 1 said madame to hor hus band sho ib naturally anxious as tho day of her rtoce approaches i remember how it was with me when i was about to become thy wife but whenonce tho wedding is over our beloved louiso will be herself again what a pity ic is that our late guest could not remain to assist at the wedding festivities i oa tho very day on which tho french officer took his departuro a letter arrived from felix in which ho spoke of hie oxpeot ed return that day week and expressed his ardent desire ooce more to embrace his paronts and his darling betrothed louise and his longing for tho day on whioh he should claim her as bis bride louise was on that day very dull and distressed she did notseem to know what sho was doing and when madame desjarn iers aftor reading tho letter aloud placed it in her adopted daughters hands the un happy girl burst into a passion of tears and hastened to shut herself up in hor own room poor child 1 said tho old lady how deeply she feels i west lovo she bears in her heart for our noblo boy 1 bat tho youth ful pair will soon be rcunited and our louise will be nil smiles and happinosi again perhaps even at that late moment had loniso possessed a confidante from whom sho might havo sought advice and consola tion the impending blow bad yot boon averted and sho might havo been restored to her fosterparents and her lover but this alas i was not to bo all that day louise kept her room complaining in rcaponso to the anxious in quiries of madame dujarniers of a sovere headacho which howover she assured her loster mother would no donbt be hotter on tho morrow when at length madame desjarniers was abont to retire tor tha night louise kissed her several times and clasped her in her embrace and contrary to her nsnal habit she also kissed m des- bld the worthy unsuspicious farmer and his wife rota in the morning at their usual early hour louise did not make her appearance and when madam desjarniers fearing that she was still suffering from headache enter ed the young girls apartment she found j that ic w untenanted it was thought that louise had risen early and gone for a walk and madame desjarniers assisted by her domestics prepared for breakfast anti cipating her adopted daughters return by the time the meal was ready still ouiso came not and supposing that she had prolonged her walk the farmer and his wife sat down to their morning meal when however hours passed away and still louise had not returned her foster- parents began to feel some acxiety and to wonder what had bcome of her and when noonday had passed and the yonng woman was still absent and the servants and sever al of the villagers on being queatioued de clared that they had seen nothing of her the acxiety of the old folks was changed into alarm though this alarm took no definite shape since they could not cone jive that any accident conld have befallen their child in the quite village and neighborhood m daj armors however set forth in search of her and returned late in the after noon without having heard any tidings of the absent one and hoping to find her al ready at home when he discovered that such was not the case he knew not what to think hei room was searched and it was seen that she had gone abroad in her ordinary garments nothing was missing with tho exception of a large doth cloak whioh she would prob ably have wrapped around her if about to take an crdinary walk at an early nour in the morning a s orah was immediately instituted throughout the night and the greater portion of the following dayand though every foot of ground for miles around was oarefully examined ro traces of the lost louise were discernible no suspicion of the truth entered the villagers minds and and in their simplicity they began to at tribute louises strange disappearance to some supernatural cause vain would it be for mo to attempt to describe the grief of monsieur and madame det jarniers intensified as it was by their knowledge of the agony of grief and distress into which their son would be plunged when ho should hear of his betrothed brides my sterious disappearance the searoh was continued at intervals i for three days but on the evening of the third day oertain news was brought to the village which threw some light npon the matter a fisherman belonging to a village some eight miles distant along the river shore had been plying his vocation near capo st anno on the night of louises disappearance and this man now came on a visit to a friend at st claude of oourse he very soon hoard of the sad affair which was the almost sole talk of the village three nights ago do you say said he to his friend that will explain something whioh struck mo at the time as being very strange listen old comrade it was about throe nights since and i had lowered my sail and was lying to under the cape when i saw a sohooner coming down the river close in shore there was nothing in that but when she arrived opposite st claude she was hove to and a boat was lowered from her deck into which descend ed two sailors and a tall man wrapped in a large military cloak the ooat was pulled to the shore and the tall man sprang ont on to the beach ha ha i thought i to myself this is strange why should a passenger land at st claude at this late hour t who or what can he be i wonder i i thought the boat would return to the sohooner but no it remained where it had landed its passen ger my curiosity was aroused by jove 1 i exclaimed to myself i will watch and see the end of this it wasafairly bright moonlit night so that though i was some distance orl i could see everything that occured almost as well as though it had been daylight while my boat lying in the deep shadow of the cliff i could not be seen perhaps ton minutes elasped and then the tall man who had the bearing of a gentleman reappeared with a female also wrapped in a cloak hanging on his arm at length the man partly led and partly oarried his companion to the boat put her on board and got on board himself as soon as ho had taken his seat in the bternsheots the woman hid her faco in his bosom and now i oould plainly seo that she was greatly agitated and was weeping bitterly while the man sought in every way to soothe and console her the boat was speedily pulled back to the schooner the passengers and siilors climbed to the dock the woman being lifted on boardby her companion the yards were braoo j forward and tho sohooner returned up the river in the direction whenco she had come some mischievous work going forward thought i to myself but it is nonbusiness of mine and i couldnt prevent it if i would my good friend it strikes mo very foreibly that this narrative has something to do with the disappearance of the pretty louise djj- jarniors i i so thought the listener and others to whom the story was told and gradually the truth forced itself uprn their minds they recollected the friendly intimaoy that had existed between louise and the military officer and soon arrived at the conclusion that loniso bad eloped with the young and gallant frenchman r i pass over tho conflicting foolings of grief andrgretof monsieur and madamo dtj irniors and tho agonizing pangs which tore tbo breast ol the unhappy betrayed felix when on bij return homo only a few days later all eager to embrweo his betrothed bride ho learnt how basely and cruelly ho baa been wronged fit is enough to eay that gradually after a time his distracted miud became more tranquil all ho thought of was vengenco his very naturo eeomed suddenly to have undergone a complete change it is too late now to think of redress ho said moodily to his sorrowing parents i havo torn tho imago of the unfaithful louise from my breast loathing has taken fie place of lovo and i livo but for rovenge as for hor base seducer he and i cannot live upon this earth together oao or other of use must perish louise i will yot live to spend a long life of remorse and misery ho declared his intention to go im mediately to qaebcc seok ont the man who had wronged him and challenge him to mortal combat nor could all the entreaties of bis almost heartbroken parents swerve him for one moment from his resolve ha made immediate preparations for his departure when shortly after midnight on tha very day on whioh he intended to em bark for quebec a large ship bound to some port in france came down the river and hove to foi a few minutes opposite the vil lage several fishermen were plying their vocation in the neighbourhood and one of thesejmen was signalled by the captain of the ship i wish you my good man to carry two tetters on shore to the village of st claude said th o ptaio as soon aa the fisherman stepped on to the ships deck one is for monsieur and madame the other for m felix desjarniers doubtless you are ac quainted with the parties everybody hereabouts knows those good people replied the fisherman good 1 then delirer these letters as soon as possible they are not from me but from ladypassenger of mine madamo do lavigny i am directed to recompense you well for your trouble and as the captain spoke he placed five gold louis in the fisher mans band d flighted at receiving such an abundant reward for such a small service the faher- man faithfully promised to deliver the let ters with his own hand at daybreak and thanking tho captain of the ship and send ing bis grateful thanks to the generous lady he returned to his boat the ships yards were immediately braced forward and she went on her way towards the broad at lantic the fisherman saw no passengers while he was on board the ship but he said after wards that he had no sooner quitted the vessels side than a lady and gentleman appeared on tho quarterdeck the former supported by the latter and the lady con tinued to gaze earnestly towards the shore as long as tho ship remained in sight of st claude these letters were of course from louise who was now indeed madame de lavigny they were very long and so blotted with tears that they were scaroely legible louise wrote that she was lawfully mar ried to captain de lavigny within two honrs of her arrival at quebec by the bishop of that place the vast influence of m do lavigny the elder having been sufficient to cause all the preliminaries to be arranged ready for tho immediate consummation of the marriage ceremony yet though she was now the wife of a distinguished gentle man she averred with many loud protestat ions that if all the woalth of the world were at her disposal she would give it all freely gladly conld she but blot out the past four months from hor existence and bo once more what she was when she had bidden her betrothed ond betrayed fosterbrother and lover farewell ere he sailed for nova scotia she vowed that she would have gone back home even at the last moment if it had not baen too late and had she nob been carried on board the boat by her tempt er who acoording to previous arrangement had only proceeded a short distance up the river after he had taken his departure from st claude instead of going directly to quebec as m and madame desjarniers had supposed it had been arranged that she was to meet the captain at midnight en the day of his departure and that sho was not to enenmber herself with luggage but was to carry nothing with her but the clothing she wore though she was now in duty bound to lovo and honour her husband she averred that sho had never loved him nor could ever love him as she loved felix whose memory alas 1 it was now her duty to banish from her bosom this however she felt was impossible lether strive asshe might even tbo moment after she had given the fatal promise to become the wife of cap tain de lavigny sho would have recalled it had it been in her power but she was fasci nated drawn in spite of herself by some irresistible power as a bird is fascinated by the fatal gaza of the serpent until she falls into its grasp and is lost for ever she prayed felix and her beloved fosterparents to forget that such a vile wretch as sho so base so ungrateful so cruel had ever ex isted and then with a strange inconsis tency that they would sometimes think of her as she onoe had been and would not altogether forget hor she begged that when their first righteous indignation had subsided they would at least remember hor in their prayers as she would ever ever remember them though her letters in this portion wore so blotted with tears that it was dif ficult to trace a single word she expressed a hope that her everbeloved felix would in course of time take to himself a wife whoso lovo and goodness would tender him happy and who might horsolf live long to enjoy the happiness whioh she had wanton ly and wickedly cost from her hor husband she said was kind loving and generous ho had permitted her to write as she pleased withoutasking to knowwhatshohad written the fault was all bersnot bissinco he oould not help the fatal fascination with which he had drawn her from tho paths of lovo and anty and she only wished that ho bad a wifo who could love him more devotedly that she could ever love him and who would be more worthy of him than sho was or ev6r could be her letters abounded in fact with evidently heartfelt expressions of fervent lovo for her deoeived and betrayed foster- brother and for her kind fosterparents while she made no endeavour to spare her self bat was on the contrary vehement in her denunciations of her own ingratitude and oruelty bat indeed indeed i she repeated time after time i was bewilder ed tempted i was not myself i knew not what i was doing until i had gone too far to rotraot oh why didst thou permit those fatal strangers to come to our dear happy and rotired st claude at such a time t oh my own muchloved felix why wort mou absent when thy presence was moat needed but why do i ask thsao questions why do i endoavour to cast blame npon ethers when tho fault is mine mine alono may heaven forgive mo 1 and thon my beloved felix and yo my cherished fosterparents my moro than father and mother try oh try in oourso of time to pardon your poor lost lousio and to think of her as she once was in her innocence and happiness now lost for ever i the letters concluded with expressions of ardent affection and that addressed to m and madame dzsjarniers contained a cer tificate signed by tho bishop of qaobeo and properly witnessed of tho marriage of captain de lavigny of paris france to mademoiselle loniso legris of st claude district of st anno lower canada m and madams desjarniers wept bitter tears over their litter and that of their son which ha permitted them to read my son at length sobbed forth mart- ame desjarniers heaven hath interposed to prevent thy departuro from qiebeo with tha deadly purpose thon hadst lu view let as try to forgive oar poor lost louise for my part i most freely forgive her the sorrow she has caused and will continue to cause me fori cannot forget her lac her and her husband be in peace and let us pray that they may be happy with a grim smile felix received back his letter from his mothers hands and crumpling it up threw it into the fire where he watched it in silence until it was reduced to tinder then he spoke my notber said he you may forgive louise and her husband if you will but i cannot it is trne that a j jurney to qaebeo weald now be useless i shall go to francs instead i shall never seek rest until my projeot of revenge is consummated until then you will not see me again then per haps if i survive i may return to st claude never before it was in vain that m and madame desv jarniers with tears prayers and entreaties- besought their son not to leave them deso late and alone in their old age in vain that madame desjarniers said that the loss of both her children would soon bring her gray hairs to the grave that if felix left her though he returned ever so soon he would not and her living vainly they assured him that the vengeance he contemplated was wicked and would recoil npon his own head be was as if his heart had been turned to adamant nothing could move him from his stern purpose equally in vain did the distressed parents call in monsier ligny the then oure of st claude to their aid in response to the observation of the cure that vengeance alone belonged to heaven the young mac said impiously ay good father but heavens vengeance is too slow tor mo the revenge i seek must and shall if i live be inflicted by my own band will be the instrument in the hands of heaven felix desjarnierrj speedily embarked for france having previously taken a fond farewell of his heartbroken parents and registered a solemn vo to heaven that he would never return to st claude nor hold any correspondence with any one in st claude uatil tae vengeance he contemplat ed had been fully and completely wrought what was the nature of this vengeance if indeed he had yet made up his mind on that point he kept a secret in his own bosom the words of poor madame desjarniors were alas but too prophetic i daprivod of both her tenderly lovo i children sho fell into a state of utter despondency and within six months of the date of her sons departure she was laid in her grave her husband thus left alone in the world after many years of happiness and prospei ity buoh as aro rarely accorded to mankind sank into a condition of apathy from which all tho efforts of his friends were unable to arouse him ho lost all interest in his farm and in the affairs of the village and parish was seldom seen abroad except on the sabbaths when be never failed in his attendance at mass and the once active and energetic farmer heocoforth lived tho seclud ed life of a hermit here monsieur le curo who had ti iked long gave himself a brief rest and refilled his glass perhaps monsieur i havo wearied yon ho said it is a story that cannot be told in a few words and the most exciting por tion has yet to come if you feel weary say so and we will postpone tho narrative of the concluding portion of this affecting history until our next meeting on tin contrary monsieur i replied i have become every momont more- interested in your narrativo as you proceeded with it and i will willingly listen to its con clusion it is you who must foci fatigued therefore if you wish to poatpono the conclu sion to some other day i must rest content but i confess that i would rather hear it now if you are not too tired to proceed by no means returned tho cure it shall be as monsiour wishes i have too sel dom a friend with whom i can converse- on equal terms to wish to get rid of him help yourself to some wine you find it good eh lis the best i can procure we will sit qniet awhile and refresh ourselves and thon i will continue my story my story to be continokd king milan the abdioaton of the king of servia again stirs up the balkan question ond may be tho cause of fresh eastbrn- complications tho event but for this possibility would not bo moro important thiii the fiaal act of rt foolish career king milan has no doubt ben supported to a certain degree bv bis people in the aggressive oourse pursued by servia since its establishment over t years ago as an independent kingdom but hiiu un happy dispute with qacen natalie tho ar bitrary actions committed by him through out that trouble and hij recent conflict with the committee of state engaged in framiog a now constitution for servia wherein ho de clared that if the alterations rocoramended by him were not adopted he would rule without any constitution have thoroughly alienated tho sympathy of his subjects the king after his quarrel with his wife applied to tho servian synod for a divoroe on the gr jund of irreconcilable mutual an tipathy which is reoogoizad as a valid cause lor dissolution of marrirgj ir siivij whon tho qacen refuted tne principal charga brought egainst hor king milan had rocourso to thcodosius tho metropolitan whom ho induoed to pronounce hiin divoro- cd and whf n two bishops ohjeoted to this highhanded proceeding tho kiug suspended them siocq then other active measures of reentrient have been undtn taken ogainst tho qacen whioh havo not redounded to tho royal credit and following upon thia his quarrel with the representatives of the peo ple has put tho finishing touches to his break with public favor unless tho change of rulo throws all parties into great confusion it is important to remember that the radicals or pro austrian party are largely in tho ascendant in both tho greater and lessor parliamentary bodies and russias opportunity for active interference mny not yot havo come tho ballot pantomime the boiio sofia now bolng produced at cassel pictures bul garia and introduces tho emperors of austria and russia the sultan tho kings oi greece and italy and bismarck in the nnal scene the emperor of germany sits on his throne surrounded by dancing beantios with bismarck by his side i