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CIHM/ICMH 
 
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■^" v:'^" ■;,?!:. 'ii 
 
CyRIL WHYMAN'S MISTAKE. 
 
 BY 
 
 CARRIE J, HARRIS. 
 
 Author of '' Mr. Ferhins, of Nova Scotia; 
 -■ ^^ A Bomantic Bomance^^^ etc. 
 
 
 »» 
 
 .>»<ii4lR>o<J. 
 
 i 
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 \ 
 
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 TORONTO: 
 
 If II.LIAM BRYCE, PUBLISHER. 
 
 1. 
 

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 Entered according to Act of Parliament of Canada, at the Department 
 of Agriculture, by William Bryce, in the year one thovMand eight 
 
 hundred and ninety-four. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 % 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CYRIL'S DECISION 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 QUEENIE SYLVESTERE 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 QUEENIE'S RESOLUTION 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 IN THE FAR WEST 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FAIR AND FA^SE 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CYRIL'S NEW HOME 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A STARTLING DISCOVERY 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 QUfiENIE'S STRATAGEM 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MARION'S MARRIAGE 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HOME AGAIN 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 MARION'S DEFEAT 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ^' '^O BE OR NOT TO BE 
 
 \ 'S TRHJMPH 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 9 
 
 • • • • t • 
 
 20 
 
 30 
 
 35 
 
 45 
 
 56 
 
 64 
 
 .70 
 
 85 
 
 94 
 
 104 
 
 111 
 
 119 
 
r- \ 
 
 
' I ' .. , 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CYRIL 8 DECISION. 
 
 1. ,A 
 
 |0U are wrong, Cyril. It is beyond all reason 
 for you to expect any woman to be true to 
 you year after year, unless she is aware 
 her affections are returned. I know Queenie 
 is a true little darling, but she is only human, and 
 I think you will quite agree with me when I say she is 
 also a very much admired and dainty bit of humanity. 
 Still you are her girlhood's lover, and likely to succeed, 
 if you are not too much of a laggard in your wooing, where 
 many a more fortunate man in some respects would be sure 
 to fail; but I feel almost certain, if you go out west without 
 first making known to her the true state of your feelings, 
 that you will find on your return some more daring, 
 though less conscientious, man has stepped into your 
 place during your absence." 
 
 " Then let it be so, my dear sister. If Queenie's 
 heart is so easily won from its first love, it is scarcely 
 worth the trouble of winning, and I wish the fortu- 
 nate possessor, whoever he msy be, joy of his bar- 
 gain. However, I do not altogether agree with you, 
 
 2 • 
 
10 
 
 CYRIL WIIYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 Marion. I have more faith in Queenie's constancy, 
 and she knows I love her, though I have never yet 
 told her so in plain language. She never said she 
 cared for me, but I feel as certain of the fact as that 
 the sun is now shining in yonder sky. Still, 1 am not 
 so utterly selfish as to seek to bind her with vows which 
 may never be kept. It may take years for me to obtain 
 a fair start in life, and I shall never ask her to share 
 my home till I can provide her with as comfortable a 
 one as that she will give up for my sake. To boldly 
 face poverty ourselves is one thing, but to force those 
 we love into such a hard life is another matter. Oh, no, 
 Marion, believe me, it is far the better plan to leave her 
 here unfettered among her friends, and if she can in time 
 forget me, she will be far happier with some well-to-do 
 husband who can provide her with a comfortable home 
 and an untarnished name." 
 
 " Your love for her cannot be very deep, Cyril, if you 
 can thus calmly picture her the bride of another," 
 exclaimed Marion, passionately. 
 
 ** If you cared for her one-half as well as she cares 
 for you, you would never leave her in this heartless 
 manner. She will be wretched after your departure for 
 a time. Then she will probably consider herself deserted 
 and turn to 'the first man who comes her way, be he 
 ever so unworthy, for the sole purpose of showing the 
 world that she no longer cares for you. 
 
 '* Cyril, think well before you place her in such 
 a position. Tell her you love her, and let her know 
 your chief ambition is to make a comfortable home, in 
 order that you may ask her to share it. You will then 
 have something to look forward to which will encourage 
 you to persevere in the weary struggle you must undergo 
 while endeavouring to reach the summit of your ambition. 
 You need not fear opposition from her parents ; for 
 although they might reasonably be expected to look 
 pretty high in the social world for a mate for their peer- 
 less daughter, I know they will willingly consent to her 
 
Cyril's decision. 
 
 11 
 
 engagement with you when they learn it is really • 
 necessary for her happiness." 
 
 " Enough has been said, Marion. When I have earned 
 a luxurious home to offer Queenie, then, and not till 
 then, will I ask her to be my wife. You cannot turn 
 me from my purpose, so it is useless for us to discuss the 
 subject longer. 
 
 ** There is nothing so detrimental to the success of a 
 struggling young professional man as for him to find 
 himself burdened with a delicate wife for whom he can- 
 not provide the necessary comforts of life. 
 
 " I have always had the impression that had our 
 father waited a few years before he married he would now 
 be living happy and respected, instead of lying in a dis- 
 honoured grave. He married before his practice was 
 large enough to support his family, and, with an invalid 
 wife to provide for, he was obliged to find the necessary 
 means for the support of his household. He turned to 
 speculation, and that it ended disastrously, was, I con- 
 sider, his misfortune, not his fault. 
 
 " I will go to this ball to-night and dance with Queenie, 
 as I shall with my other young lady acquaintances, then 
 I will banish myself to the far west, where I will stay till 
 I have made a success of my life. 
 
 " If, when I have succeeded in wresting a prize from 
 fortune, I find on my return to Nova Scotia she has 
 cared enough for me to be true in the absence of vows, we 
 will spend the rest of our life together. If I find she has 
 forgotten me and become the wife of another, I know I 
 shall always possess the love of my devoted sister, and 
 and with that I shall be content." 
 
 Marion turned from her brother with a weary sigh, 
 and gathering her arms full of his clothing she went 
 back to her occupation ; while he wandered over the 
 sunlighted hills of picturesque old Digby, bidding 
 adieu to his many friends, for that day was probably 
 the last he would spend in Nova Scotia for many years. 
 
/ 
 
 12 CYRIL WHYMAN's MISTAKE. 
 
 " The terrible tragedies in Marion's life have made 
 her awful visionary," he thought, as ho walked slowly 
 away from their humble home. *' She has brooded 
 so many years over her love for Wilmer Morton that 
 I suppose she now considers it would be treason 
 to her womanhood to think of any other man. I 
 do not imagine there is another woman in Canada 
 who would ever have thought of being true to a 
 dead lover all those years, but I dare say she takes as 
 much pleasure in grieving for the past as a more 
 practical wom.an would find in the society of her' husband 
 and children. ' Constancy, thou art a jewel,' but it is a 
 good thing for the masses that you are rare enough to 
 be considered a very precious gem. If every woman 
 died broken-hearted over the loss of a defective lover, 
 there would not be many maidens left, I am afraid, to 
 console us poor bachelors when we felt the need of 
 consolation." 
 
 But let us leave this youthful philosopher to go his 
 way unattended, and return to his heart-broken sister, 
 who we find lovingly folding her brother's garments, as 
 she places them in the great travelling trunk which 
 stands ready to receive them, while bitter tears are 
 slowly coursing down her pale cheeks as she works. She 
 had made a last appeal to Cyril before his departure. 
 Too well she knew the sorrow which would be felt by her 
 darling friend when she learned she was deserted. She 
 had made her appeal and failed, frie7iidship could do no 
 more. 
 
 At length her task is finished, and she seats herself by 
 the open window to await her brother's return. She 
 wondered in a dreamy way if the sun shone ijaore brightly 
 upon the happy pedestrians who wero waudering around 
 the dear old town in search of pleasure, than it did 
 upon her lonely solitude. 
 
 Though only thirty years of age, life seemed very sad 
 to her, this beautiful autumn afternoon. For years 
 Cyril and she had lived their life together, for the two 
 
CYRILS DECISION 
 
 13 
 
 were orphans, and her brother '^as all she had left in 
 this world for her to love. Now he was going to leave 
 her. Going to the far Novth-West, the land she 
 regarded as the paradise of gamblers and outlaws of 
 every description, the land where gambling dens and 
 whiskey shops flourished, and where churches were 
 almost unknown. And irdolent, pleasure-loving Cyril 
 was going to this barbarous land. He was to be thrown 
 among all those dangerp^ and temptations for years to 
 come. 
 
 Would the prayers und tears of a loving sister be 
 sufficient to keep him from harm ? Ah, no ! She felt 
 some stronger tie was needed to keep his feet from stray- 
 ing far from the path of rectitude when he reached that 
 howling wilderness of sin, the great North- West. 
 
 She knew of stvonger men than he who had gone 
 astray in that fearlul land. Would the dear God, in His 
 tender mercy, keep him pure and bring him safely home 
 at last ? 
 
 If only Queenie*s loving hand could be at the helm to 
 guide the dear wanderer in his search for fame and gold 
 how it would mitigate her fears for his future ; but Cyril 
 had just told her it was not to be. The little sweetheart 
 of his boyhood days was to be banished from his life till 
 he had won a luxurious home in which to place her. 
 Would thali time, she wondered, ever come ? 
 
 How sh'3 shuddered as she thought her brother, like a 
 dear one, long ago, might give up the weary struggle, after 
 a few famt efforts, and sink into the yawning pit which 
 western sharpers have ever ready to entrap their 
 unwary victims. 
 
 Hev thoughts went slowly backward over the years 
 which had flo\i n. What a proud and happy maiden she 
 had been the iay Cyril graduated from the high school 
 of his nativf, village. He had stood at the head of his 
 classes, and she almost fancied she could still hear the 
 cheers of hii classmates as he went forward to receive 
 
14 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 his honours. When the exercises were all over they 
 had taken Queenie with them, for in those days nothing 
 was complete for Cyril which Queenie did not share, and 
 gone home to be petted and congratulated by their 
 darling mother. Then had come the quiet tea-drink- 
 ing in their invalid mother's room, with pretty 
 little Queenie seated at their mother's feet and Cyril 
 telling them all what he meant to do when he graduated 
 and becamo a famous lawyer. What wonders he 
 was going to achieve in the legal profession. Of course 
 his future home was to be in their own beautiful Digby, 
 for in their eyes no other spot in all the world 
 was half so fair. How the three had listened to his 
 chatter and implicitly believed every word of his prophecy. 
 It is so easy for us to place our faith in those we love. 
 Alas, that we should be so frequently compelled to 
 change our minds ! 
 
 After a happy hour spent with their mother, she had 
 sent them away to seek amusement elsewhere while she 
 rested. 
 
 Cyril and Queenie had wandered away together in the 
 beautiful summer gloaming; and when the clear full 
 moon rose from her watery bed, the old historic Basin 
 of Annapolis, and threw her mellow light over the grand 
 old hills, woods, and streams, her own true lover came 
 to her side. Then the sweet old story was told once 
 again, and vows were made which the happy girl fondly 
 believed would last till death. Oh, the sweet and bitter 
 memories of that fatal night ! Would time ever cause 
 the picture to grc-"^ more dim ? There had been but 
 one short hour of perfect happiness, the full cup of bliss 
 of which we poor erring mortals are permitted to taste 
 but once, and then the fearful blow had fallen. Oh, 
 that her father, the father she loved and revered almost 
 as her god, had not been the one to crush her. She was 
 listening to- her lover's pleading for an early wedding 
 day, when she was sent for to hear the long story of 
 deceit and wrong-doing which had killed her girlhood, 
 
Cyril's decision. 
 
 15 
 
 When Dr. Whyman finished the terrible recital of his 
 wickedness, his unhappy child staggered from his 
 presence, and throwing herself upon the floor of the 
 deserted drawing room, she bitterly bewailed her lot. 
 
 Why must such a fearful burden be placed upon her 
 young shoulders ? She had done no wrong in her brief 
 life that she should be so cruelly punished. There 
 would now be no happy wedding day for her, for Wilmer, - 
 her darling Wilmer, would take back his vows when he 
 learned who she was. He would *tiever mate with the 
 daughter of a felon. And her own dear mother, how 
 was she to tell her all? Would it kill the gentle v/oman 
 when she learned her husband, she thought so good and 
 true, was a forger and a thief. And Cyril, happy, high 
 spirited Cyril, how would he bear the change ? There 
 would now be no college course for him. 
 
 Then suddenly her moans had ceased. It was but to test 
 his daughter's faith and love, that her own dear father had 
 told her this fearful tale. She would return and ask 
 his forgiveness for having doubted him for even one 
 short hour, but before she had accomplished her 
 purpose, jthe sound of a pistol rang through the 
 house, and rushing to her father's office, followed by the 
 frightened servants, she found him dead upon the floor, 
 the weapon with which he had committed the fearful 
 deed still firmly grasped in his lifeless hand. 
 
 What words can describe the bitter shame and sorrow 
 which had been their portion when his frightful act was 
 known. 
 
 For years in the eyes of the world no one 
 had been more highly respected than Dr. Wliyman, 
 but when his hidden life was brought to light, 
 as is ever the case, friends quickly fell away, and the 
 stricken family were ieft almost alone to bear their 
 burden of sorrow and shaiAe. His own mad act 
 had debarred him from Christian burial, and in addition 
 to their other sorrows, they were compelled to search for 
 a spot in which they could lay their beloved dead. After 
 
16 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 I 
 
 some delay he was laid to rest in a secluded glen a few 
 miles from his native town, where his faithful heart- 
 broken wife was soon sleeping by his side, and their 
 orphans were left to face the world alone. 
 
 Among others who had been ruined by her father's 
 misrepresentations were the local bankers of the town, 
 who were also the employers of Wilmer Morton. A 
 bogus Mexican silver mine, of which he was a promoter, 
 had swallowed all their gold, and they were obliged, in 
 the face of numerous difficulties, to close their doors, and 
 he was thrown out of employment. A few days 
 after the failure he came to say good-bye. He was 
 going to the North- West to seek for position. 
 
 ** We have decided at home it is better for me to go 
 Marion," was his answer when she begged him to 
 remain. " It will probably be months before I will 
 be successful in obtaining another situation around 
 here, and the enforced idleness would almost drive me 
 to despair. Besides we will both be far happier for a time 
 where our history is not known. 
 
 " I wish it was in my power to take you with me now, 
 but you know I have lost nearly all my savings by this 
 wretched failure. However, I will send for you and Cyril 
 as soon as it is possible for me to do so. Meanwhile I 
 leave you in my mother's care. She has promised 
 to be very kind to you, my darling, and will assist you 
 in obtaining some music pupils ; but you must promise 
 me not to work too hard while waiting for me to send 
 for you." 
 
 Then he had gone ; and the struggle for their daily 
 bread had begun. 
 
 His mother, true to her promise to Wilmer, had been 
 the means of procuring her plenty of employment ; but 
 teaching music was weary work for the spoiled and 
 pampered daughter of Dr. Whyman, and she who all 
 her life had been accustomed to having servants at hand 
 to^do her slightest bidding, was now forced to do all the 
 work of their humble household. But she was compelled 
 
CYRIL S DECISION. 
 
 *--. 
 
 17 
 
 to persevere in spite of drudgery, for her own and Cyril's 
 bread depended upon her exertions. 
 
 The frequent letters from Wilmer kept hope alive in her 
 despairing heart, and a year after his departure came the 
 welcome news that he had begun to prepare a home for her. 
 
 " It will be but a poor affair compared to what you have 
 been accustomed to in the past," he had written, " but I 
 feel you will be much happier even in this humble home, 
 if we can only share it together. I can hardly realize, 
 after our cruel separation, that it will be only a few 
 short weeks before we will once more meet, never to 
 part I trust again on earth. It seems almost too good 
 to be true." 
 
 She had made her simple preparations for her 
 journey, but before the summons came she was told 
 her Wilmer was no more. Shot in a gambling den on 
 the far Pacific coast, it was said, but no further explana- 
 tion was ever given the true-hearted girl, who had borne 
 her burdens so bravely, and for whom all hope in life 
 was now ended. 
 
 ' There had been a few days of wild despair, and she 
 had then roused herself for Cyril's sake. She had her 
 brother yet to think of, and her life should be devoted 
 to his advancement. If for herself there was nothing 
 left to live for, Cvril needed her. He must have the 
 education for which he longed ; and she had kept her 
 vow. How she had toiled that he might go through 
 college, and she was rewarded for her efforts by seeing 
 him graduate with high honours. • 
 
 He had recently been admitted to the bar of his 
 native province, and now she was doomed to suffer 
 another pang. He had decided to go west to make his 
 fortune. Would he be successful in his undertaking, or 
 would he also perish in that dreadful land, as her Wilmer 
 had done years before ? 
 
 She was awakened from her dream of the past by 
 Cyril's return, and hastening below she joined him in 
 their tiny parlor. 
 
18 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN's MISTAKE. 
 
 ** I am late, Marion," he exclaimed when she entered. 
 "I meant to get home in time to help you with my 
 packing, but I was expected to stand and talk with 
 every one I met." 
 
 " The packing is completed. Did you go in to say 
 good-bye to Mrs. Morton ?" 
 
 ** Yes, I did ! But I can assure you it was much 
 against my will. If you only knew how much I 
 detest that womaa you would never have asked me to 
 enter her presence. She thinks I am making a great 
 mistake in going west. Some of the Atlantic cities of 
 the United States, she declares, is the place for me. 
 Some civilized place, where I can exercise my talents 
 and make a home for my sister. I have no right, 
 she tells me, to separate myself from my only sister, 
 who has done so much for me. I ought to remember 
 that I was leaving her alone while I went selfishly 
 wandering off on a wild goose chase I knew not where. 
 I told her the separation would be a short one, and that 
 as soon as I was fairly established in Kamloops, I 
 planned to have you join me there. Kamloops, she 
 repeated the name after me, and words cannot describe 
 the scorn with which she uttered it. Was I aware that 
 Kamloops was a wretched little mountain hamlet, 
 containing about a dozen shanties ? What was a 
 lawyer going to do in a place like that? She under- 
 stood I was going to reside in Victoria, which was 
 quite bad enough, but to take my sister, who had been 
 reared in the lap of luxury, to Kamloops. 
 
 I informed her you had not been occupying a seat in 
 luxury's lap of late years, and that I did not despair of 
 providing you with as comfortable a home as that one to 
 which you had been accustomed recently. 
 
 That, if I did not succeed as a lawyer, I would shoulder 
 my pick and start for the Cariboo gold mines, where I 
 would dig my fortune out of the earth as many a better 
 man had done before me. When I told her that, the old 
 lady fainted, and I took myself off before she came 
 
CYRILS DECISION. 
 
 19 
 
 around. She evidently has some serious reason for 
 wishing us to keep away from the west. What can it be ? 
 H;.ve you the least idea ?" ' • 
 
 " That her darling son has lost his life in that wild 
 land, would, to me sufficiently explain her endeavours to 
 keep her friends from following his example." 
 
 "Friends ; yes, her friends. A friend of yours she may 
 be although I very much doubt the fact ; but she never 
 managed to make me think her a friend of mine. How- 
 ever, we shall not agree about her friendship, so we will 
 have no discussion about her; but let us have some tea, 
 for my walk has given me quite an appetite ; and then it 
 will be time to dress for this gorgeous ball. You will 
 go'; will you not?" ■^'■ 
 
 " Yes, I have promised to play some for them, so I 
 suppose I shall have to go." 
 
 " How I should enjoy seeing you waltz once more. 
 I heard a- man say to-day, you used to be called the 
 finest dancer in Digby. Will you waltz with me just 
 once to-night Marion ?" 
 
 " No, Cyril ; ask me anything but that. The last time 
 I waltzed was with Wilmer. Oh how many years ago. 
 I shall never dance again. Indeed, I do not suppose I 
 could dance now if I really tried to do so." 
 
 Cyril turned impatiently away and went to his room 
 to dress. ' i > 
 
 "If," he thought, "Marion would lay aside those 
 eternal black dresses and fix herself up like other girls, 
 she might, even at this late day, make a fairly decent 
 match. She is not bad looking, but I do not suppose 
 she ever will. I wonder what Queenie will wear to-night. 
 Something pretty of course. 
 
 ''Mere Sylvestere will always see that she is becomingly 
 dressed. I declare I forgot to ask Marion if she had a 
 decent flower for me to wear. I do not suppose she has 
 thought of it, for Queenie has always supplied me 
 before on those occasions," 
 
20 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 •- y 
 
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 . CHAPTEK 11. 
 
 
 m 
 
 QUEENIE 8YLVEBTERE. 
 
 UEENIE SYLVESTERE was the only child of 
 one of the wealthiest and most influential 
 families of Digby. From her cradle she had 
 never known a wish ungratified or a want 
 unsupplied. That she was not completely spoiled 
 was because her sweet unselfish disposition was one 
 that could not be spoiled by any amount of flattery 
 and indulgence. Perhaps were the winds of adversity 
 allowed to blow too roughly agpinst this delicate, fragile 
 flower of humanity, she might in time become a peevish, 
 disappointed woman ; but her life was as sheltered as 
 that of some rare hothouse plant. 
 
 Was it to be wondered that Cyril should hesitate 
 before asking this dainty little lady to share his life ? 
 
 That she loved him with all the love of which her 
 warm, unselfish heart was capable he did not for a 
 moment doubt, but that she who had been so tenderly 
 reared could be happier with him in poverty than she 
 could possibly be in her own comfortable home without 
 him, he did not believe. 
 
 Could he have been assured of her parents' willing- 
 ness to sanction her engagement with a poor young 
 man like himself, he would have revealed his love for 
 her before leaving his native town, but his pride revolted 
 at the thought of their opposition. 
 
 " It is better," he reasoned with himself, '* for the dear 
 little girl to sufifer a fe"' heart pangs which she will aoon 
 
 \ , ■ , 
 
QUEENIE SYLVESTERU:. 
 
 21 
 
 a 
 
 get over, than for Cyril Whyman to be treated to a grand 
 burst of eloquent scorn from the lips of pere Sylvestere 
 for daring to aspire to the hand of his cherished daughter 
 and heiress." 
 
 In this he was mistaken. Could the old couple have 
 been assured of their daughter's happiness, they would 
 willingly have consented to her union with the man of 
 her choice, were he ever so poor, providing he was not 
 unworthy of her love. 
 
 Cyril had always been a favorite of the old people, 
 and they were much disappointed when they learned he 
 was determined to seek his fortune in the west, for the 
 great El Dorado of Canada was regarded by them with 
 almost as much horror as by Marion. Her parents dis- 
 cussed his prospects and determined that on no account 
 would they consent to their daughter's settlement in the 
 west. 
 
 If he wishes to marry (jueenie, her father firmly 
 declared, he must make his home in Digby ; but they 
 are both young and it will not hurt him to go away for 
 a year or two. A young man is always better for knock- 
 ing around the world a bit before he takes upon himself 
 the cares of a family. 
 
 Mrs. Sylvestere, as the day of Cyril's departure drew 
 near, was almost in despair. Could it be possible that 
 he intends going away after all, without first speaking 
 to Queenie ? Contrary to her usual custom, for she had 
 always insisted that a young girl's attire should be very 
 simple, she had yielded to Queenie's entreaties and given 
 her consent for a grand ball dress to be prepared for her 
 daughter. 
 
 " If anything more is needed to make the dear child 
 attractive in his eyes, she must certainly have it," 
 thought the fond mother. 
 
 But the afternoon of the day fixed for the ball had 
 arrived, and Cyril had not come near his little sweet- 
 heart. 
 
22 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 " I really think, William, you ought to sound him to- 
 night regarding his feelings for Queenie," she said to 
 her husband, with her eyes fixed upon Cyril as he rapidly 
 passed their house. 
 
 " It is no use, Margaret," was his answer. ** I shall 
 not throw our little girl into his arms. If he does not 
 care enough for her to come boldly forward and ask for 
 her, he does not deserve her, and he shall not have 
 her," 
 
 "But, perhaps, the poor fellow is afraid to ask with- 
 out some encouragement," pleaded his wife. 
 
 "Afraid to ask; what can he be afraid of? * Faint 
 heart never yet won fair lady.' My private opinion is 
 the young men of the present day are afraid of nothing 
 requiring cheek. I was not afraid to ask for you, was 
 I ? And I had a far more stern parent to face than 
 Cyril has." 
 
 " It will break Queenie's heart if he goes away without 
 first speaking to her." 
 
 ** Just like a woman," he growled, getting up from the 
 lounge where he had been reclining. ** If everything 
 does not go smoothly a heart is going to break some- 
 where ; but give the most of them a fine establishment, 
 plenty of pretty dresses, and all the rest of the tom- 
 foolery which they happen to fancy, and I notice they 
 generally manage to pick up a cement somewhere with 
 which they can glue those smashed-up hearts together 
 again. Dress the girl up in her finery to-night, and 
 take her to this wonderful ball. Of course, the young 
 popinjay will be there. He always does manage to be 
 on hand when there is any fun going, but if she is not 
 attractive enough to make him open his mouth, let the 
 fellow drift. There are as good fish in the sea as ever 
 were caught, and Queenie does not want for bait with 
 which to catch hers." 
 
 Mrs. Sylvestere bent over her sewing with a heavy 
 heart, as her husband left the room. 
 
QUEENIE SYLVESTERE. 
 
 23 
 
 "William," she murmured, "is like every other man. 
 They all think we women only require a few of the 
 comforts and luxuries of life to make us perfectly happy 
 and contented with our lot, whatever it may be. How 
 little any of them really know us. The majorityof us would 
 be far happier to live a life of poverty and toil in some hut 
 with the man we love by our side, than to become occu- 
 pants of a palace away from him. How much happier 
 tie world would become if the lords of creation could 
 only be made to understand that a luxurious home and 
 a substantial bank account are but secondary considera- 
 tions with a true woman. And yet what can be more 
 noble than to see a man striving for years to amass a 
 fortune in order that he may lay it at the feet of the 
 woman he loves. But * man's love is of man's life a 
 part, 'tis woman's whole existence.' It is no such hard- 
 ship on their part to leave us as it is for us to see them 
 go. Queenie ! how you startled me creeping into the 
 room in that fashion." 
 
 « 
 
 I am very sorry, mamma. I had no idea I was 
 creeping," answered her daughter humbly. But my 
 dress has arrived. Will you come and see it ?" 
 
 ** I suppose so," said her mother, rising, " I expect 
 you will be so fine to-night, you will be turning the 
 heads of all the village beaux, and sending all the 
 maidens home dying of envy." 
 
 Queenie was silent. She had also seen Cyril as he 
 hastened past her home that afternoon without once 
 glancing in the direction of the window, where she was 
 seated. 
 
 What could have changed him so ? she asked herself. 
 There had been a time, she thought, not so long ago, 
 when he would have found it almost impossible to pass 
 her by without stopping for a few minutes to have a 
 little chat. 
 
 She shed a few bitter tears over his present neglect, 
 and then bravely brushing them away, she consoled 
 
24 
 
 CYRIL WIIYMAN'S MISTAKE. 
 
 herself with the thought that the evening would bring 
 them once more together and all would be well. 
 
 *' Your dress is certainly lovely," exclaimed her fond 
 mother, as they entered the room where Queenie had 
 carefully laid it out for her mother's inspection. " If 
 Cyril does not surrender himself unconditionally to- 
 night," thought the elder lady, " he must be as blind as 
 a bat regarding Queenie's loveliness. She will be the 
 belle of the ball to-night." 
 
 And she turned trom the delicate pink-tinted silk and 
 dainty lace to admire the fair form it was to adorn. 
 
 But the belle of the ball, Miss Queenie, was considered 
 by far less impartial judges than her loving mother, as 
 she entered the ballroom a few hours later, ** looking, 
 as a stately old dame remarked to the gratified Mrs. 
 Sylvestere, ** like a half-blown blush rosebud in her 
 sheeny silken robes." 
 
 However, it is not of her appearance she is thinking, 
 as her eyes wander so restlessly around the room, till at 
 last they rest upon Cyril and his sister in a secluded 
 corner. And she sees with dismay that they have not 
 noticed her entrance. To-night she feels her fate will 
 be decided, for Cyril leaves to-morrow, and if he does 
 not speak to-night and confirm the vows made in their 
 childhood, she knows he never will. But he will not be 
 so cruel, her own true Cyril, as she calls him in her 
 thoughts, for she knows he loves her truly, though he 
 does not tell her so. Of what can he be afraid ? Not 
 her parents, for they have ever treated him with much 
 kindness. What then can be the obstacle which keeps 
 them apart ? There is no one else for Cyril, though he 
 is always very polite to the young ladies of his acquaint- 
 ance, never bestowing upon any of them attentions 
 beyond the demands of ordinary politeness. But to- 
 night she feels all mysteries will be explained, be will 
 never go so far away and leave her in this dreadful un- 
 certainty. 
 
 IUM 
 
QUEENIE SYLVESTERE. 
 
 25 
 
 And the happy girl moves up the room, receiving the 
 greetings of her friends, and watching for Cyril to come 
 and claim her for the first waltz, as has been his custom 
 since they were children attending the juvenile parties 
 of the community together; but her programme is 
 nearly filled when he at laet comes to her side. For, if 
 he has been oblivious to her entrance, there were plenty 
 of others who quickly discovered the fact that she was 
 there, and formed a circle round her, clamoring for her 
 favours. But she resolutely determines to keep the first 
 waltz for Cyril, who at last appears, and with a careless 
 greeting, and asks if he is too late to secure a waltz with 
 the charming belle of the evening. 
 
 His flippant manner annoys her more than she cares 
 to acknowledge even to herself ; but bravely concealing 
 her disappointment at his neglect, she coolly replies 
 that she has one or two dances left. 
 
 Her indifferent manner nettles him, and he makes 
 an attempt to apologize by saying, " I really tried, you 
 know, to reach you before, but the circle formed by your 
 devoted admirers was too strong for one man to break." 
 
 " Yes, 1 noticed how hard you were trying to break 
 the circle, and pitied you much," she answered, with a 
 mirthless laugh ; " and to reward you for your exertions 
 in my behalf, I have kept the first waltz for you." 
 
 " Thank you, darling," was his whispered answer, as 
 he took her programme and inscribed his name upon 
 it. *' I see you have one more left. May I have that 
 also?" 
 
 " You may have them all, if you wish," was the reply 
 of the happy girl, and in an instant he realized what he 
 had said. 
 
 ** No ; that would not be quite fair to the rest, to say 
 nothing of the danger in which I should be placed. I 
 should not care to be mobbed by the infuriated gallants 
 who would be left. It would not suit me to carry a black 
 eye with me on my journey" west. There would be danger 
 
 3 
 
26 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN's MISTAKE. 
 
 i 
 
 llillli i 
 
 of my being taken for a representative of the prize ring 
 inHtoad of a peaceful legal gentleman, which, you know, 
 would never do. But there goes the music, come ! " 
 
 And gravely placing his arm around her he whirled 
 her among the revolving couples which were fast filling 
 the floor. 
 
 ** I will be careful not to forget myself again," he 
 thought. And when the music ceased he led her to her 
 mother, and, with a dignified bow, he hastoiiod away. 
 
 But he had called her darling once more. He had 
 not ceased to love her ; and Queenie, happy Queenie, 
 danced with all the commonplace young men whose 
 names were inscribed upon her card, and wished the 
 evening ended, for at its close Cyril was to dance with 
 her again, and she knew he meant to tell her once more 
 how dear she was to him, and ask her to share his life ; 
 and she, the happiest girl in all the world, would grant 
 his prayer. 
 
 There would be the sorrowful parting on the morrow, 
 but a year or two would soon pass, and then Cyril would 
 come back to her, each loving the other all the more for 
 their brief separation. Then they would be united to 
 part no more in this world. joyful thought ! 
 
 Mrs. Sylvestere, from a secluded corner, watched her 
 daughter anxiously. Could Cyril have spoken to her 
 to-night ? But no, that could not be the cause of her 
 gay spirits, for he had not once approached her since 
 they danced that first dance together. Was she really 
 trying to show him she could be happy in her own way 
 without his aid. If such was the case, her little girl was 
 stronger than they thought her. 
 
 " We must go soon, Queenie, my child," she told her, 
 as she seated herself by her mother for a few moments 
 towards tlie close of the evening. ** You look very tired. 
 I fear you have been over-exerting yourself to-night." 
 
 *' No, Mamma ; please do not ask me to go home yet. 
 I am to dance the last danqe with CyriL And it may be 
 
29 
 
 QUEENIE SYLVESTERE. 
 
 Son her 
 years before we dance together again. You will stat any 
 the very last just this once, will you not ? " 
 
 " Very well," answered her mother, touched by thi 
 pleading look upon her daughter's fa^s. ** I will stay as 
 you so much wish it. But I am acing wrong," she 
 thought, ** for Cyril has shown by his conduct to-night 
 that Queenie is nothing to him, and she is doomed to 
 sufifer another disappointment when he leaves her. No, 
 Mr. Walton, you cannot dance with Miss Sylvestere 
 again to-night. I have insisted upon her resting," she 
 said to a would-be admirer of Queenie's who had just 
 appeared to claim her. 
 
 ** You do look tired, upon my word, you do," he em- 
 phatically declared, " though I had not noticed it before. 
 It takes a mother's eyes, you see, to discover facts. 
 Allow me?" ^ , 
 
 And the effeminate little dandy took the fan from the 
 hand of his fa'ir companion, and began to wave it 
 languidly, as he sank into a seat by her side. 
 
 " I do believe I am really tired too. Miss Sylvestere. 
 But this has been a most delightful evening. Do you 
 not think so ? A perfect success, in fact. Good floor, 
 good music, and also good lights. What more could be 
 wished, except lots of pretty young ladies ; and by Jove, 
 we have them also. Digby ought to be excessively proud 
 of her beautiful young women. I have never yet met 
 their equals. Upon my word, I have not." 
 
 At another time, this brainless chatterer would have 
 furnished the mischievous Queenie much amusement, 
 but to-night she found his attempts at entertainment 
 most unendurable. At last, to her unspeakable relief, 
 she saw Cyril coming for her. 
 
 In her anxiety to escape, she found it an effort to treat 
 her tormentor with common politeness; and, with a 
 hurried "Excuse me, Mr. Walton, but I am engaged to 
 Mr. Whyman for this dance." 
 
 She grasped Cyril's arm and almost dragged him 
 away. 
 
26 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 v 
 
 III 
 
 
 Wi 
 
 f » - . -• > 
 
 jjjpf (/bat is the matter?" be asked, much surprised at 
 
 y.. excited manner. * ' v 
 
 ** I think if I had been compelled to remain five 
 minutes longer in Walton's society, I should have 
 strangled him," she replied, trying to laugh. " I had 
 no idea he was such an intolerable bore." 
 
 ** What a pity I came when I did. You would have 
 won the eternal gratitude of all Digby for ridding the 
 place of such a nuisance ; but Marion is going to play 
 our favourite waltz for us, and I feel reluctant to lose a 
 single bar. So put poor Walton out of your mind and 
 let us be happy while we may." 
 
 The old familiar waltz, heard so often and danced 
 together in the sweet long ago, caused them to forget 
 they were surrounded by a gay crowd, and Cyril drew 
 his companion closer as they floated round and round 
 to the sweet and dreamy strains. At last' the music died 
 away, like the distant echo of some vesper bell, and the 
 band, with a noisy clash, struck up ** Auld Lang Syne," 
 bringing them back to the realities of life as suddenly 
 as we are sometimes awakened from some beautiful 
 dream. 
 
 The evening was over, and Cyril silently led his 
 companion to her mother, nerving himself to say the 
 parting words, which he determined should be said to- 
 night. 
 
 ** I shall Lave to say good-night, and also good-bye, 
 Mrs. Sylveetere," Queenie heard him saying to her 
 mother, v 
 
 It was Cyril's voice, but how far away it sounded. 
 She felt as if she was being slowly turned to stone Was 
 this the way in which they were to part ! With all 
 those eyes upon them, how could she say good-bye? 
 Cyril might have spared her this. 
 
 " Shall we not see you in the morning ? You do not 
 leave till afternoon," asked Mrs. Sylvestere, with a 
 pleading look at the young man. 
 
 m 
 
QUEENIE SYLVESTERE. 
 
 29 
 
 y 
 
 She could not bear the look of agony upon her 
 daughter's face. Cyril's eyes must be opened at any 
 
 cost. . :- V 
 
 But his reply killed the last hope. . ' 
 
 ** I am afraid I shall not have time to call. I shall 
 be so very busy during the morning." 
 
 " I am sorry you could not spare a few moments for 
 the purpose of saying farewell to your old friends, Mr. 
 Whyman. I trust you will have a pleasant journey. 
 Queenie, we must go at once." 
 
 And, without noticing his outstretched hand, she 
 calmly drew her hand through her daughter's arm and 
 rapidly led her from the spot. 
 
 Cyril stood for a moment irresolute. 
 
 "Shall I follow and make my peace?" he asked. 
 But no, 'tis better so ; she will forget me sooner if we 
 meet no more." 
 
 And, with a heavy heart, he bade farewell to his 
 friends ; and, seeking his sister, he left the ball-room. 
 
 
 ■-Y\ 
 
30 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 I . . 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 '""" I 
 
 V III! 
 
 iiii 
 
 !)(! 
 
 QUEENIE S RESOLUTION. 
 
 HE Bay of Fundy steamer was calling her 
 passengers on board as Queenie mounted the 
 attic stairs of her father's residence the morn- 
 ing after the ball. 
 
 Could it be possible that this pale and sorrowful little 
 maiden, in her sombre robes, was the brilliant belle of 
 last night's entertainment? How could a few short 
 hours have changed her so completely? Taking her 
 stand by an open window looking seaward, she raises 
 her opera glasses, and sweeps the deck of the vessel as 
 her moorings are cast loose and she turns her back upon 
 the town. ^ 
 
 She will have one last look at the object of her young 
 heart's love before he vanishes from her sight for ever. 
 
 There he stands, her idol, waving his hand merrily to 
 his friends on the pier, who have assembled to see him 
 off, and who heartily cheer as he is swiftly borne from 
 them. 
 
 " There is no sorrow in his heart," she thinks, as he 
 bids adieu to his native land, perhaps for years ; and 
 bitter anger for a time takes the place of grief. For an 
 instant she stands undecided. Then, with a look of 
 settled determination upon her fair face, she once more 
 lifts her glasses and takes one last look at the loved 
 form, then turns away. She must, she will forget him. 
 
 Love's young dream is past for her. Her idol is de- 
 throned. But Cyril Whyman would yet be called upon 
 
 111! 
 
i 
 
 .f^^ 
 
 QUEENIE S^HESOLUTION. 
 
 31 
 
 to pay a heavy penalty for the sHght he had put upon 
 her. 
 
 What were those lines she had read a year ago in an 
 old romance ? They had troubled her much at the time. 
 She understood them now. 
 
 " Heaven has no greater rage than love to hatred 
 turned, 
 Nor Hell a fury like a woman scorned." * 
 
 She repeated the words slowly, she was a woman 
 scorned. 
 
 She had laughed incredulously once at the idea of 
 love ever turning to hatred, or a scorned woman becom- 
 ing a fury. She knew better now. 
 
 But though a scorned and deserted woman, those who 
 looked at her so pityingly were much mistaken did they 
 imagine she was going to turn her face calmly to the 
 wall and die of a broken heart. She was going to make 
 the best of her life. She would marry some day ; but 
 when that time came she would endeavour to secure a 
 brilliant position in the social world. Her prospective 
 wealth would enable her to make an excellent match : 
 but there was ijo hurry for her to enter the bonds of 
 matrimony. 
 
 Her mother's hopeful prophecy that Cyril might one 
 day return and ask her to become his wife, had no weight 
 with her. Did he ever now return and ask her to share 
 his life, she felt she could never be contented with what 
 affection he had to offer her in return for her loving 
 woman's heart. She had never been more to him than 
 a pleasant companion, or he would not have left her 
 thus. 
 
 She was accomplished, young, and beautiful, and 
 there was still sunshine lo be found in life's pathway. 
 Though the fairest flowers in her garden now lay 
 withered and dead, other flowers would one day bloom, 
 perhaps not so fragrant and beautiful as those, but 
 
32 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 1' i 
 lililll 
 
 lib 
 
 i: 
 
 ! i 
 
 i 
 
 better fitted to endure the chilling winds of coldness and 
 neglect, > ' 3 
 
 She had made a mistake in showing her preference so 
 openly for her young lover; a mistake she was not 
 likely to repeat in the future. She would never wear 
 the willow for Cyril Whyman, but make the best of her 
 life ; and as the steamer bore her heartless lover out 
 upon the restless waters of Fundy^s Bay, she ordered 
 her pony, doned her riding habit, and started for a mad 
 gallop over the distant hills, the rapid motion bringing 
 back the roses to her pale cheeks, and balm to her 
 aching heart. 
 
 During the next few days she was constantly on the 
 lookout for fresh excitement. The gentle Queenie of 
 old was no more. She was continually organizing boat- 
 ing parties, picnics and dances, and was always the life 
 of the gay company which composed them. 
 
 Her mother could not understand this lively, restless 
 girl, who had changed places with her loving Queenie. 
 
 At length, to the astonishment of both her parents, 
 she voted Digby dull and slow, and declared she needed 
 a change. 
 
 Her mother, full of consternation, opposed her wishes, 
 but her father v/armly supported his daughter's latest 
 whim, aud promised he would take her to spend the 
 winter with her cousins in New York. 
 
 She was soon engaged in her preparations for her visit 
 to that gay city, much to the disappointment of all her 
 young friends, who were charmed with their new social 
 leader and were looking forward to a gay winter in their 
 little town. 
 
 In spite of their remonstrances, her preparations were 
 completed, and she was soon launched on the full tide 
 of New York city fashionable life. 
 
 Her father, although he much regretted his little 
 girl's absence from home during the long winter months, 
 consoled himself with the reflection that she would 
 
QUEENIE S RESOLUTION. 
 
 33 
 
 return in the spring stronger and better fitted to face 
 the future. 
 
 To his wife's complaint that she would be spoiled by her 
 winter residence with his silly nieces he paid no atten- 
 tion. He trusted to Queenie's natural good sense, which 
 he knew would soon enable her to perceive the hollow- 
 ness of the life they led, and although the novelty might 
 charm her for a time, he felt confident she would soon 
 tire of their butterfly existence. 
 
 Her relatives were delighted with their country cousin, 
 and were never weary of eulogizing her to their ac- 
 quaintances. Her taste was pronounced exquisite, and 
 her manners charming. 
 
 When it was discovered she was the only child of 
 William Sylvestere, who was well known in New York 
 business circles to be a very wealthy man, she soon had 
 a devoted band of admirers gathered around her, each 
 endeavouring to outdo his neighbour in paying her the 
 most marked attention. 
 
 The compliments and flattery of which she was the 
 recipient was sufficient to turn the head of a far more 
 experienced person than our innocent little Nova Scotian, 
 but she insisted upon declining all the excellent offers 
 she was constantly receiving, much to the distress of her 
 New York relatives, who were very anxious to have her 
 settled among them. 
 
 The rejected ones, for the most part, took their dis- 
 missal quietly ; but one, more persistent than the others, 
 declared he would shoot himself if she would not con- 
 sent to reconsider her decision. . 
 
 Qaeenie was so much distressed by his declaration, 
 that she resolved to take her cousin Mattie into her 
 confidence as to what she had better do under the 
 circumstances, and was not a little surprised at the 
 evident merriment with which that young lady regarded 
 the situation. 
 
 ** You dear little goose," she exclaimed, with tears of 
 laughter running down her cheeks, ** to think you should 
 
 
 
 i.'i 
 
34 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 "'I 
 
 I" 
 
 take it so seriously. Do you not know the fellow is an 
 acknowledged fortune-hunter, and long before this he is 
 on the look-out for a fresh heiress to capture. Think 
 no more about him. But tell me what is your opinion 
 of those lovely samples of silk ? Would you choose the 
 pink or the old gold if you were in my place ? " 
 
 Queenie goodnaturedly assisted her cousin in selecting 
 her ball dress, then went to her own room, resolving to 
 write to her father that she wished to go home 
 
 She was disgusted with the attentions of her would-be 
 lovers. If Mr. Dayton's distress at her refusal was not 
 genuine, he was certainly an admirable actor ; and if she 
 could be so easily deceived, how was she ever to dis- 
 tinguish between the true and the false. 
 
 The best place for her, she decided, was with her 
 parents ; but before her letter was dispatched, her plans 
 were upset by her uncle Tom, who proposed taking 
 them to Europe for the summer. And, after obtaining 
 her father's consent to the arrangement, they sailed for 
 the Eastern Hemisphere. 
 
 Like a flock of bright birds, they flitted from one 
 European capital to another for some months; but con- 
 stant sight-seeing palls upon even the inost inveterate 
 explorers, after a time ; and as the summer passed they 
 all began to pine for home. A steamer soon bore 
 them westward, and Queenie, after nearly a year's 
 absence, was gladly welcomed home again. The same 
 Queenie who had left them the preceding autumn, but 
 yet how changed ; and none mourned the change more 
 truly than her old friend Marion. 
 
 II 
 
 ;■■,■!'■.■' 
 
IN THE FAR WEST. 
 
 35 
 
 CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 IN THE FAR WEST. 
 
 YEIL'S journey west was uneventful, and he 
 arrived without mishap in Victoria, where he 
 was met by an old college chum, who warmly 
 welcomed him, and speedily introduced him 
 to one of the fastest sets to be found in the city. By 
 his advice he was induced to open a law office in the 
 capital of the island, instead of going inland, after 
 passing his examination, as he had at first intended. 
 
 Herbert Spencer, the friend who took charge of him 
 on his arrival, helped him to procure a couple of rooms 
 in the central part of the city for his office. 
 
 ** There is nothing," he declared, " like being next door 
 to everywhere. If a man is in a hurry to find a lawyer, 
 and that is the kind of clients which come first to a new 
 man, he is not going to waste his time hunting around 
 obscure streets for one, but usually bolts into the first 
 door, which informs him that a barrister is to be found 
 within. So here's the spot for you, old man." 
 
 The rooms were gorgeously fitted up, and Cyril was- 
 soon surrounded by a gay set of companions, with whom 
 he managed to have a very jolly time, while waiting for 
 the vlucrative practice which was to make his fortune. 
 
 Those who frequented his office were not, however, 
 gentlemen requiring the services of a legal adviser, 
 except Herbert Spencer, who was a land speculator, 
 doing a large business, and was therefore able occasion- 
 ally to provide a bit of employment for his protege ; but 
 
 A - 
 
 Bi 
 
 ni: 
 
 :;is; 
 
 
no 
 
 CVRIL WHYBJANS MISTAKE. 
 
 li! I 
 
 r 
 
 ii'i 
 
 Hi i'i 
 
 Jij 
 
 iiiiiiiii 
 
 I 
 
 be was almost the only client, and, in his case, the 
 writing was, whenever possible, given to the young lad 
 who acted as office boy, and who was kept at a desk in 
 the outer room for the sake of appearances. 
 
 As for Cyril, cards were more frequently to be found 
 upon his desk than legal papers, and the rattling of 
 billiard balls heard more often than the scratching of 
 his pen. - * 
 
 His boy, or clerk, as he was pleased to call him, was 
 supposed to be on guard at all times when his master 
 was absent, as was frequently the case during office 
 hours ; for society soon recognized him as one of her 
 most devoted adherents, and as he had acknowledged 
 his willingness to worship at her shrine, no gathering of 
 note was considered complete without him. 
 
 Marion had struggled hard to provide him with the 
 necessary funds to establish himself creditably when he 
 reached his destination, but her hardly earned gold was 
 rapidly disappearing before the he?."y demands which 
 were now made upon the little hoard. 
 
 He boarded at the most expensive hotel of which the 
 city boasted, drove the fastest horses to be procured, 
 wore clothes made by the most fashionable tailor, and 
 was a constant attendant at all popular places of amuse- 
 ment. « 
 
 He was voted by both his male and female acquaint- 
 ances as a real jolly good fellow ; and in addition to his 
 other occupations, he was soon engaged in paying 
 vigorous court to the only daughter of one of the great 
 financiers of the city, and, although looked upon with 
 disfavour by the head of the family, it was quite evident 
 that the father's sentiments were not shared by his 
 charm.ing daughter, for she appeared to keep her 
 sweetest smiles for the young exquisite. 
 
 Those were jolly days for Cyril, and were often after- 
 wards looked back upon with much regret by that young 
 gentleman in the less prosperous times which followed. 
 
 11 
 
 iU 
 
IN THE FAR WEST. 
 
 37 
 
 Herbert used to sometimes remonstrate with his 
 friend on the folly of the course he was pursuing. 
 
 " You are bound, Whyman," he said to him one day, 
 when more than usually annoyed at his friend's reck- 
 lessness, ** to bring up in a bankrupt court, and the end 
 cannot be far off either. Nothing short of a large private 
 income could stand the pace at which you are now 
 going ; and I understood you to say, did I not, when 
 you first arrived, that you had nothing except what you 
 earned ? " 
 
 " Do not fear for me, my dear fellow," was Cyril's 
 answer ; ** I shall be all right when my clients begin to 
 come. Meanwhile, I must do something to pass time. 
 It is beastly slow work, you know, sitting at your desk 
 all day with nothing in the world to do." 
 
 *' But how, in the name of common sense, may I ask, 
 do you propose to obtain clients, if you are not on hand 
 to receive them when they do come ? " 
 
 *' Oh, I always leave Stubbie on guard when I am 
 away during office hours. He is always informed of my 
 whereabouts, and if I am wanted, it is a very easy matter 
 for him to telephone. But I am sorry to say a message 
 rarely ever comes." 
 
 '* You would have received one yesterday had your 
 faithful Stubbie remained on guard ; but, as is generally 
 the case when your back is turned, Stubbie turnod his 
 also upon his duties, and took himself off on his own 
 pleasure bent, and there was neither master nor man to be 
 found when wanted. I called three times, for I bad an 
 important paper to be copied, but I was at last compelled 
 to carry it over the way to be done, for it was somethinj^' 
 which could not wait your pleasure. Now, do vou not 
 see that this kind of a thing is going to injure you ? It 
 is pretty well known that you transact my legal busi- 
 ness, and if it gets around, as it surely will, that I am 
 taking my work elsewhere, it will give people the im- 
 pression that you are not to be trusted, and the result 
 will be that others will give you a;wide berth. If you 
 
 
38 
 
 CYRIL WIIYMAN8 MISTAKE. 
 
 I!l!ll 'I! 
 tl 
 
 
 
 are going to make an effort to succeed here, you must 
 manage to be on hand more during office hours in the 
 future." 
 
 " Really, Spencer, I think you have mistaken your 
 vocation. I had no idea you would be able to preach so 
 fine a sermon." 
 
 " I had no intention of preaching a sermon, I can 
 assure you. I have as many faults as the average 
 man, I presume ; but I know it does not pay to neglect 
 business for pleasure. When your work is over for the 
 day, then take your recreation in any form you please, 
 but keep the two apart. I came to this country two 
 years ago, and when I landed here I had just twenty 
 dollars left in my pocket, not a very large capital with 
 which to begin life, yuu will admit; but by strictly 
 attending to my affairs, I have managed to accumulate 
 a fair portion of this world's goods. Of course, the 
 times were better here then than now; but if I had not 
 watched for opportunities, and been ready to grasp them 
 as they went by, I feel confident they would never have 
 drifted into my hand. 
 
 "A good smart lawyer is needed here, but you have 
 got to attend to your business, and be prepared to push 
 yourself, or you will wake up some fine morning to find 
 you are not in it. 
 
 " However, enough has been said to set you thinking, 
 and if it does not, and to some purpose, hours of talking 
 in the same strain will not have the desired effect. So 
 now, let us get to business. 
 
 *' I want a couple of deeds drawn up at once. Here 
 are the boundaries and other instructions. The great 
 Cariboo gold kings, Morton and Armstrong will be 
 here at five to sign them, so do not fail to have them 
 ready. If I give them twenty- four hours for con- 
 sideration they will be wanting to go back on their bar- 
 gain, and I have no wish to lose my land." 
 
 " But I have promised to drive Lucy out of town this 
 afternoon. How ^^i going to manage that ? " 
 
 il : 
 
IN THE FAR WEST. 
 
 39 
 
 t\ 
 
 "Lucy be hanged ! Business before pleasure, I 
 should say, every time. You are surely not fool enough 
 to throw away fifteen or twenty dollars for the pleasure 
 of spending an hour or two in Lucy Waddle's society ? 
 If you are, I have done with you. Send the faithful 
 Stubbie up town with a dainty note, pleading important 
 business, which keeps you from fulfilling your engage- 
 ment. If she takes it in good part, all well ; if not, let 
 her go, she will be no loss to you." 
 
 **Iam not so sure about that. She is one of the 
 most wealthy heiresses of the city." 
 
 ** Ah ! so that's your game, is it ? Well now, I have 
 already given you one piece of advice to-day Now listen 
 to some more. Give Lucy Waddle a wide berth, or you 
 will get left. That is plain English, is it not ? She is 
 old Waddle's only chick, I know, but she will have to 
 marry a walking gold mine if she ever falls heir to his 
 fortune. Besides, your chances are slim with the girl 
 herself. She is a most fearful flirt, and has jilted more 
 men than all the rest of Victoria girls combined." 
 
 " Are you one of her victims ? " 
 
 ** No ! Thank goodness ; but it is not her fault or 
 mine either that I am noti I had a lively dispute with 
 her revered papa about a piece of land of mine which 
 the old villain was determined to gobble up, and because 
 I would not consent to such a robbery, I was forbidden 
 to enter his doors again. I had too much love for the 
 gold which the land represented to sacrifice it for Miss 
 Lucy's smiles ; consequently, I was spared the humilia- 
 tion of being jilted by her later on ; but she has never 
 forgiven me for my desertion. However, as I have 
 already remarked, enough has been said on the subject. 
 Be sure you do not disappoint me about those deeds. 
 Good afternoon." ■^- - 
 
 Although Cyril was compelled to hide his anger before 
 his friend, he was not the less highly incensed at the 
 advice which had been given him. He not only con- 
 Bidered himself competent to manage his own affairs 
 
40 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 mm 
 
 without the interference of outsiders, hut he was ex- 
 tremely disappointed about breaking his engagement for 
 the afternoon. He could not afford, however, to offend 
 Spencer ; so he was obliged to submit. 
 
 His affairs were in a desperate state, for although he 
 had been but a few months in Victoria, his debts already 
 amounted to several hundred dollars, and. he knew not 
 which way to turn to raise the money. His creditors 
 were pushing him for payment, and at any moment the 
 crash was likely to come. Lucy Waddle was his only 
 hope. If she consented to become his wife, he felt all 
 would be well j but if, as Spencer so confidently asserted, 
 she was only amusing herself by accepting his attentions, 
 he was ruined beyond recall. 
 
 He intended making her a formal proposal during 
 their drive that afternoon, had not fate, in the 
 form of Spencer, interfered with his plans. His pocket 
 book was quite empty, but he would willingly have 
 sacrificed what he was to receive for his afternoon's 
 work in order that he might take advantage of such a 
 favourable opportunity. But his orders had been im- 
 perative, and he dare not disobey them." 
 
 " When I am once old Waddle's son-in-law," he 
 muttered, ** I won't have that prig interfering with my 
 private affairs. He gives himself too many airs on the 
 strength of our old acquaintance. 
 
 " Because he happens to'possess a larger bank account 
 than myself is no reason that he should look upon me 
 as his slave. 
 
 ** I daresay he wants Lucy himself, and is jealous of 
 her preference for me. He might know, if he was not 
 so awfully conceited, that a girl like Lucy Waddle would 
 never take a fancy to a fellow of his calibre. 
 
 " It does seem odd that I should be fortunate enough 
 to have the choice of two heiresses. I expect old Waddle 
 is worth a half dozen of Sylvestere, and I am sure Lucy 
 is worth a dozen of his daughter. 
 
 
IN THE FAR WEST. 
 
 41 
 
 ti 
 
 I 
 
 Queenie is a nice kittinish little thing, of course, 
 l)ut she is BO fearfully insipid. No one wants to be con- 
 iined to a constant diet of peaches and cream, although 
 they are well enough in their way." 
 
 Ah, master Cyril, no wonder your sister, who knew 
 your disposition so well^ should fear for your future. 
 
 ** What a lucky thing for me I did not follow Marion's 
 advice and propose to Queenie before I left Nova Scotia. 
 There is nothing like showing people you are able to 
 manage for yourself. 
 
 ** Now, there is some go about Lucy. Her conversa- 
 tion is spicy enough to season a bowl of punch, and 
 when she talks to a fellow for a few minutes she manages 
 to put as much life into him as if he had been drinking 
 a glass of first-class wine. 
 
 ** I expect she has a temper of her own, but there 
 will be some fun in taming her if she exhibits it too 
 frequently. 
 
 " I must not forget that I owe her an apology. Con- 
 found it ! Why could not that fellow have selected a 
 more convenient day for the writing of his documents '? 
 However, there appears no help for it, so I might as 
 well yield with as good a will as I possibly can. Hero 
 goes." • • 
 
 And, snatching his pen, he dashed off a tiny note, 
 which he dispatched to his fair cTiarmer, by the hand of 
 Stubbie, who soon brought an answer back to his master, 
 which caused that gentleman considerable disappoint- 
 ment and not a little consternation. 
 
 The lady was extremely angry at his non-appearance, 
 and did not hesitate to tell him so in rather plain 
 language. 
 
 "However," he thought, **like every otber woman, 
 she will come round sooner if she is left to herself; and 
 I shall leave her alone for a few days. I shall be more 
 dure of her if I do not go begging upon my knees for her 
 favours. 
 
 4 
 
42 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 I'liii' 
 
 The money I will receive from Spencer for this work 
 will help me some. Thank goodness, he always pays 
 the cash for whatever he wants done. 
 
 "But I must stir myself, or I will not have those 
 deeds ready by five. Let me see, where was I ? 
 
 '* Between W. E. Morton and J. E. Armstrong of the 
 firsu part. Morton ! Great Scot ! Cariboo gold mines. 
 Here's a go ! I am beginning to see why Madam Morton 
 01 Digby wished me to give that district a wide berth. 
 He must be one of those Mortons. Probably a brother- 
 in-law of her ladyship. But what possible harm could 
 there be in our meeting ? Does he know anything about 
 Wilmer's death that she does not wish brought to 
 light ? 
 
 " I have always thought there was something fishy 
 about the account she gave to her friends. Can it be 
 possible he left property to Marion which she has 
 gobbled up ? 
 
 " It has always been a mystery to her friends how 
 she could live in the style she does upon her slender 
 income. 
 
 " I have always felt that Marion was not quite satis- 
 fied with what she was told about the affair. 
 
 ** Come to think of it, she wanted me to tr^ ^- ?id learn 
 something more definite. I do not wish to acknowledge 
 that my sister is spending her life grieving for a defunct 
 gambler ; but if I can manage to learn anything from 
 Morton without bringing her name into it, I shall be 
 extremely delighted to score one against old Lady 
 Morton. 
 
 '* This Morton must be rich, for Spencer called him a 
 gold king ; and if he is one of the same lot, perhaps he 
 helps to support the crowd down there. 
 
 ** Madam has likely misrepresented things to him in 
 some way, and she might have feared I would expose 
 her if we should happen to meet, as I certainly shall, if 
 I have an opportunity. At any rate, she had some 
 
IN THE FAR WEST. 
 
 43 
 
 reason for keeping us apart which I am determined to 
 discover sometime." 
 
 Cyril worked with considerable energy, in order that 
 he might have the deeds ready at the appointed time ; 
 but when the hour arrived and his preparations were all 
 completed, Morton failed to put in an appearance. His 
 partner came alone, and informed them that Mr. Morton 
 had gone home, and that the deeds must be sent down 
 for his signatare. 
 
 Our hero was intensely disappointed ; but he did not 
 
 ' despair of one day solving the mystery ; for a mystery 
 
 existed here, of that he was certain, or why did Mrs. 
 
 Morton act so strangely when he told her he thought of 
 
 going to Cariboo ? 
 
 Afterwards, when all was discovered, he often won- 
 dered at his stapidity in not suspecting the truth at that 
 time. 
 
 But his own affairs required all his attention, and that 
 was probably the reason for his want of penetration. 
 
 Banished from Lucy's presence, and fearing he might 
 meet some of his creditors, who he wished to avoid, if 
 he went out, he amused himself during the evening by 
 writing a long letter to Marion, in which he instructed 
 her to discover, in a secret manner, if any of the Morton 
 family could possibly be living in British Columbia. * 
 
 Her answer informed him that none of the name 
 except Wilmer had ever left Nova Scotia. 
 
 " Marion has blundered, as usual," he thought, as he 
 folded her letter. 
 
 " I am firmly convinced he does belong to that lot ; 
 but I might have known better than to trust a womaji 
 to learn anything requiring secrecy. However, I will 
 find out some day, or my name is not Cyril Wbyman. 
 
 " Spencer says he knows that he is a Nova Scotian, 
 but he is also pretty ^ure that he has lived in British 
 Columbia for over twenty years." , ^ 
 
 11 
 
44 • 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 /■ 
 
 r •' 
 
 il 
 
 In Marion's letter there was also enclosed a post-office 
 order for forty dollars. 
 
 *' I can spare it just as well as not," she wrote ; 
 •'and after you get nicely started, you can invest it 
 for me out there. It will not be a bad idea for me to 
 have a few dollars laid away for a rainy day." 
 
 " It is a beastly shame to take the poor girl's money 
 she works so hard for," thought Cyril, as he placed the 
 order in his pocket-book ; " but what is a fellow to do ? 
 I will pay her back, with good interest, when I am the 
 husband of Lucy. 
 
 '* Meanwhile, I will invest it in paying a pressing bill. 
 I wish I could add another cipher to the amount. It 
 would go quite a distance towards helping me out of 
 this snarl. • 
 
 " By George ! things are getting hot. I must manage 
 to get Lucy by herself sometime to-day, so as I can have 
 a talk with her, and settle matters. 
 
 '* I will find myself in a corner before many days if 
 something does not soon happen to put me straight. - 
 
 " Anderson told me to-day he would have his money 
 this week or I would have to march minus my kit. I 
 suppose I can stop his mouth with Marion's donation 
 for a short time. I do not want to change my boarding 
 place at present. m 
 
 " Then here's Billings howling about his rent. It 
 does beat all; when a fellow gets jammed, how ready 
 every one is to shove him to the wall ; but it is the way 
 of the world, I suppose. 
 
 " If Lucy says yes to the all-important question 
 which I am determined to ask her to-day, I will soon 
 make the whole lot of them feel pretty well ashamed of 
 themselves." 
 
 'iltiiii 
 
 iiii 
 
 illl! i 
 
 lllai' 
 
■:,. 'I 
 
 / FAIR A.ND FALSE. 
 
 46 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FAIR AND FALSE. 
 
 -^r^A-f^QP^ a few weeks after Cyril received such whole- 
 some advice from his friend, and while he was 
 under the ban of Miss Lucy's displeasure, he 
 devoted more of his time to his profession, 
 and even in that short period his prospects visibly 
 brightened ; but being again received into favour by his 
 ladylove, he soon found plenty of excuses for neglecting 
 his business, and his new clients sought other legal* 
 advisers in whom they could place more dependence. 
 
 For several weeks his enslaver compelled him to 
 dance attendance upon her continually, but never once 
 since the day when he broke his engagement to drive 
 with her had she permitted him to see her alone. 
 
 His infatuation for the young heiress had become a 
 town topic ; but he was perfectly indifferent to the 
 storm of chaff with which he was often assailed. 
 
 "Take care, old fellow," a youthful dandy remarked* 
 one evening while the two were awaiting the appear- 
 ance of their charming hostess in the drawing-room of 
 the Waddle mansion. 
 
 "You have got it bad, but it will be all up with you 
 some day soon. The fair Lucy values her freedom 
 too highly to voluntarily place the matrimonial yoke 
 upon her neck. You will soon be forced to go the way of 
 all flesh, or, speaking more correctly, the way all the 
 masculine flesh which has hung too persistently around 
 those quarters has been forced to go. Her rejected lovers 
 would form a regiment." v ^ 
 
 
46 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 / 
 
 illil 
 
 illi 
 
 " Including yourself, I presume ? " 
 
 " Yes ; and we will be compelled to admit you to our 
 ranks before many days." 
 
 " Thanks/* answered Cyril, loftily. 
 
 ** I have heard somewhere that misery loves company, 
 and according to your account I shall have plenty to 
 sympathise with me in my sorrows ; but it strikes me 
 as rather strange that you should linger around the 
 light after getting your wings so dreadfully scorched 
 by the il.'^me. Are you hoping that the fair lady will one 
 day relent / " 
 
 " Ah, no ! but she promised to be a sister to me, the 
 same as the rest of them," answered the other airily. 
 
 " It is a way the little dears have, bless them. Besides, 
 as you have just remarked, misery loves company, and 
 it is some satisfaction to see other fools rushing straight 
 at the flame which has already scorched you." 
 
 ** You do not appear to have taken your disappoint- 
 ment very seriously," said Cyril. 
 
 " Oh, I suffered badly enough at the time, I can tell 
 you. My poor heart still bears the scar of the wound 
 I received during the conflict ; but old Father Time is 
 an excellent physician. He makes a specialty of broken 
 hearts, and has never yet been known to fail when he 
 flittempted the treatment of that disease." 
 
 " Cyril impatiently wondered how much more elo- 
 quence he was to receive from the lips of this beardless 
 philosopher ; but his discourse was interrupted by the 
 entrance of Lucy, and in listening to the chatter of the 
 gay crowd of gentlemen who soon filled her drawing- 
 room, his would-be entertainer was speedily forgotten. 
 
 He was considerably surprised to notice that her 
 chaperon was absent this evening, for Lucy, although a 
 very independent young lady for the most part, was 
 always careful to appear in public under the wing of the 
 elderly female who acted as her companion. 
 
 Mlllll'iii; 
 
FAIR AND FALSE. 
 
 47 
 
 It was quite evident he was in disfavour this evening 
 with the reigning power, for, beyond the formal hand- 
 shake which he had received from his hostess when 
 she entered the room, he was completely ignored by 
 her. 
 
 The post of honour, a seat by her side, which was 
 usually reserved for him, was to-night occupied by an- 
 other and newer claimant for her favour. 
 
 Feeling a disinclination to enter into the idle conver- 
 sation indulged in by his companions, he withdrew into 
 a corner, and amused himself with an album of views- 
 which represented scenery in his native province. 
 
 So absorbed had he become in looking at the old 
 familiar pictures, that he did not notice the entrance of 
 some new comers, and the voice of Miss Waddle's com- 
 panion, who was speaking to him, was the first to arouse 
 him from his abstraction. 
 
 He was much surprised at the old lady addressing 
 him, for she rarely engaged in conversation with the 
 gentlemen who frequented Lucy's rooms, but always 
 retired into an obscure corner when she entered, and 
 amused herself with a bit of fancy work during her 
 stay. 
 
 She was voted a model chaperon by Lucy's friends, 
 who appreciated the old lady's discernment, for, as a 
 matter of course, none of the gay gentlemen who fre- 
 quented those gatherings cared to spend their time in 
 conversation with Lucy's companion ; but to-night she 
 seemed very anxious to show especial attention to Cyril, 
 who felt much annoyed at the' old lady's persistence. 
 
 He answered her questions at random, and in seeking 
 some way of making his escape from her neighbour- 
 hood, he discovered for the first time that the room was 
 full of young ladies. 
 
 He was much surprised at the discovery, for although 
 Lucy was always to be seen at the fashionable gather- 
 ings of the city, he had never yet met any of her lady 
 acquaintances at her own house. 
 
 1 I 
 
 '■I--J, 
 
 ■i I 
 
 ■ill . 
 
 ■':i-;^ 
 
48 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 I I 
 
 
 111 ' 
 III 
 
 .jliliil i|i 
 
 ; |i!i!tp ■ 
 II 
 
 He had often wondered why it was. A general 
 favourite with the gentlemen she certainly was, but was 
 that a sufficient reason for her being cut by the female 
 portion of the population ? ' 
 
 Indeed, it could not be said that she was cut by them, 
 for he had noticed that most of the young women rather 
 courted her notice when they met in public. 
 
 A snarling old cynic had once declared in his presence 
 that the girls all hated her because the men all loved 
 her, but they would go down upon their dainty knees to 
 her all the same, if by that means they could manage to 
 secure invitations to her receptions, where men were 
 always to be found in plenty: and Cyril at that time 
 was willing to believe the old fellow spoke the truth, and 
 that Miss Lucy was keen enough to see through the 
 wiles of her sex, and despised them as thoroughly as 
 they did her. 
 
 He could not know by what means they had at last 
 managed to secure invitations, but here they were, and 
 the very cream of Victoria city fashionables. 
 
 Could it be possible — and his brow grew black at the 
 thought — that there was to be a large party here to- 
 night, and he, who had not received an invitation, was 
 looked upon as an intruder ? 
 
 Was that the reason for Lucy's cold greeting when she 
 entered the room ? Did it also account for Miss West- 
 more's kindly attentions ? She pitied his position and 
 was trying to do all in her power by treating him as 
 politely as possible. 
 
 If such was the case, he would apologize to his hostess 
 for his intrusion and take his departure at once. He 
 would be no unwelcome guest at any gathering, no 
 matter how select the persons who composed it. - ■ 
 
 When he had thus decided, he turned to his com- 
 panion with the remark, 
 
 ** I was not aware that there was to be a party here 
 this evening." , > v 
 
 
FAIR AND FALSE. 
 
 49 
 
 " Nor is there one," was her reply. 
 
 ** Lucy, as you probably are aware, is a little singular 
 at times, and this afternoon she took it into her head to 
 send invitations for the evening to a few of her lady 
 acquaintances, and, wishing it to be a very informal 
 affair, she did not think it worth while to invite her 
 gentlemen friends, but trusted to the coming of a suffi- 
 cient number to assist her in entertaining the ladies." 
 
 Cyril was much relieved at her information, but he 
 could not help smiling at the old lady's discrimination. 
 
 Lady acquaintances and gentlemen friends, he was 
 thinking, as his attention was attracted by Lucy, who 
 had seated herself at the piano and was playing a gay 
 waltz. 
 
 Looking around, he noticed the servants were remov- 
 ing the rugs from the floor of the inner drawing-room, 
 and a number of couples were soon revolving over its 
 polished surface. 
 
 Instead of obeying her signal to follow their example, 
 he excused himself from Miss Westmore and sauntered 
 leisurely to the piano. 
 
 " Miss Waddle, Lucy," he murmured, bending over 
 her as her fingers rapidly swept the keys, " will you 
 grant me a few moments' private conversation this 
 evening after your guests have departed." 
 
 " Really, Mr. Whyman," was her answer, without 
 removing her eyes from her music, " this is a very 
 strange request." 
 
 '* Is it ? Well, perhaps it may seem strange to you ; 
 but will you do me the favour to grant it ? " 
 
 '* Yes, I suppose so. Go into papa's office. You 
 know where it is. You will not be likely to find it 
 occupied at that hour. If you will wait till I come I 
 will give you just five minutes ; not a second longer, 
 mind. Whatever you can possibly have to say, of such 
 vast importance, and requiring such secrecy, must be 
 said in that time. So mind you have it well condensed. 
 
 i\ 
 
 ! 5 
 
 I 
 
 :i.' 
 
 1 
 
 ■i i 
 
 i i 
 
50 
 
 CYRIL WTFYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 liU^i 
 
 iilj 
 
 lijiiitip'' 
 
 r 
 li 
 
 Go and dance now. And remember you are not to 
 approach me again during the evening." 
 
 And looking up from her music for the first time . 
 during their interview, she bestowed a bewitching smile 
 upon him that quite turned his head. 
 
 With a light heart he hastened away, and, obeying 
 her orders, he selected a partner, and was soon whirling 
 with her around the impromptu ball-room, the happiest 
 of all the happy crowd in that brilliant assemblage. 
 
 *' She must certainly know what it was he had to say 
 to her," he thought, "and she must intend to accept 
 him, or she would never have given him that look when 
 she sent him from her side. 
 
 "How proudly he would announce his engagement 
 in the morning, and how he would be able to laugh at 
 those croakerswho had so impudentlypredictedhis failure , 
 to his face. But, best of all, he would enjoy the cring- 
 ing manner of his numerous creditors, when they 
 learned he was soon to make a wealthy marriage. 
 
 The evening at length wore away. The guests were 
 beginning to take their departure, and making his escape 
 from a lively little brunette, who seemed bent on making 
 a captive of him, he shut himself into Mr. Waddle's 
 office, and with a triumphant heart awaited the appear- 
 ance of his lady love. 
 
 With his watch in his hand, he counted the minutes 
 as they crawled along ; but at last she appeared. 
 
 Closing the door behind her, she came forward, say- 
 
 ** Remember, I give you but five minutes. Now, what 
 is it you have to say to me ? " • , . ;, 
 
 Cyril hesitated for an instant ; then gathering courage," 
 he calmly said, ^ 
 
 "As I am forced to be so brief, I will simply tell 
 you, Lucy, that I love you, and now ask you to be my 
 wife." 
 
FAIR AND FALSE. 
 
 61 
 
 "And I will as briefly answer, that 1 must (lochue 
 8ach an exalted alliance." 
 
 The young man turned white to the very lips as he 
 heard her answer. 
 
 She could not mean it. It was too cruel. He made 
 an effort to speak, but the words would not come at his 
 bidding. 
 
 At last he hoarsely murmured, 
 
 " You cannot mean what you say." 
 
 ** I can assure you, Mr. Whyman, I do mean it," was 
 hei haughty reply. 
 
 ** You must be mad, to think I should so forget my 
 position. I shall never stoop so low as to wed with a 
 pennyless lawyer." 
 
 The taunt was enough. Striding forward, he caught 
 her wrist in both his hands, as he hissed in her ear, 
 
 " You have given me good reason to think you would, 
 at any rate, you fair, false woman. I curse the day I 
 met you ! " 
 
 Even in his excited state, he could not fail to admire 
 her self-possession. Not a muscle of her beautiful face 
 moved as she calmly replied, 
 
 '* Mr. Whyman, no man has a right to suppose a 
 woman is willing to marry him till he asks her the 
 important question and he is her accepted lover. The 
 five minutes I granted you have now expired. Good 
 night." 
 
 And she swept from the room, without deigning to 
 glance again in the direction of her victim. 
 
 How he left the house and reached his hotel he never 
 knew. He had no recollection of anything that happened 
 after Lucy left him till he awoke in his own room the 
 next morning, with the single word " ruined " ringing 
 through his brain. 
 
 His infatuation was over. He felt nothing except con- 
 tempt for a woman who could so cruelly deceive him for 
 the purpose of adding another name to the list of her 
 rejected suitors. • 
 
 I! 
 
 t 
 
 jr 
 
 r*^ 
 
 ■*' ■■ 
 
52 
 
 CYRIL WnVMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 He had been told on more than one occasion that she 
 was always anxious to become a sister to the disap- 
 pointed ones ; " but ahe evidently does not wish to enlarge 
 the fraternal circle at present," thought our hero cyni- 
 cally, ** for she has not even offered me the consolation 
 of becoming a brother. 
 
 ** However, it is just as well she did not, for it is 
 extremely doubtful if I would find much pleasure in the 
 relationship. 
 
 " But there, I have done with her for all time. A 
 much more important question for me at present is, 
 What in the world am I to do with my creditors ? " 
 
 And truly the poor fellow was to be pitied. Turn 
 which way he would, ruin stared him in the face. How 
 he cursed his reckless folly when he found it was too 
 late. 
 
 Why could he not see when he deserted his business 
 to dance attendance upon that heartless syren, what a 
 suicidal course he was following. He might have known 
 no true woman would ever ask the man she loved to 
 sacrifice his prospects in order that he might be at 
 liberty to minister to her own selfish gratification. 
 
 How differently Queenie would have acted had she 
 been in Lucy's place. 
 
 Poor little Queenie, who had loved him so truly in the 
 past. He wondered where she was this morning. His 
 heart felt very tender towards her as he realized how 
 dear she was still to him, and that he probably had lost 
 her for ever. 
 
 He had heard nothing of her since he left home. 
 Marion never mentioned her name in her letters. 
 
 ** I wonder why it is ? " he thought ; " but it is useless 
 for me to think of her now. By ny own mad folly I 
 have placed an effectual barrier between us. I can 
 never retrieve my position here ; it is useless for me to 
 attempt it. 
 
FAIR AND FALSE. 
 
 63 
 
 ** Poor Marion ! how grieved she will he when she 
 hears of my failure. The knowledge will almost break 
 the poor girl's heart. 
 
 " If I had only listened to Spencer and kept away from 
 that heartless jilt. I wonder if it will be possible for me 
 to obtain a position somewhere near, where I can earn 
 my bread. 
 
 The clang of the breakfast bell sounding through the 
 the corridors at last decided him to go down. He felt 
 too sick of heart to eat, but resolved to keep up an 
 appearance as long as possible. 
 
 He knew there was no way of avoiding a settlement 
 with his creditors, but he wanted time to decide what he 
 was to do in the future before he was compelled to give 
 up here. 
 
 When he had partaken a slight breakfast, he con- 
 cluded to go down to his office. 
 
 He knew there would be nothing there of greater 
 importance than a parcel of duns ; but he wanted some 
 place in which he could sit down quietly and think.. 
 And possibly Spencer might drop in sometime during 
 the morning, and would be able to tell him what was 
 best to be done. If he would put him in the way of 
 obtaining some humble employment how thankful he 
 would be to his friend. 
 
 As he had foreseen, when he reached his office he 
 found a number of duns piled upon his desk. 
 
 These were all of a more or less threatening nature, 
 and in each case showed the patience of the writers to 
 be about exhausted. 
 
 There was, however, a few brief lines from Herbert, 
 asking Cyril to meet him there at noon. 
 
 He was only too glad to comply with this request, and 
 after their business was transacted, he poured into the 
 sympathizing ear of his friend an account of his woes. 
 
 "It is a bad business," Herbert remarked when the 
 other had finished a recital of his wrongs. 
 
 
 .i I 
 
 i 
 
 :.:i 
 
 i! I'i 
 
 ) { 
 
54 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 mm 
 
 ** I scarcely know bow to advise you. That female 
 fiend has been pursuing you with more than her accus- 
 tomed amount of malignity. I suppose she looked upon 
 you as a friend of mine, and partly for the sake of 
 conquest, and also to spite me — for she has never for- 
 given me for taking myself off before she had the pleasure 
 of saying, ' No, thank you ' — she went out of her way to 
 ruin you. She is certainly at the bottom of your failure 
 here. 
 
 Now, let me seo what can be done. I suppose I might 
 assist you in paying your debts ; but that would hardly 
 be fair to myself or you either. ' 
 
 To be honest with you, I do not think you are likely 
 to succeed here after what has happened. You see the 
 public have lost confidence in you, and it would require 
 years of strict attention to your profession before you 
 would regain it. We must think of something else for 
 the present. 
 
 " I believe there is the making of a man in you, but 
 you have got to work before you make a success of 
 •anything in this world. Have you ever taught school ? " 
 
 "Yes, for one term, while I was attending college. 
 That was why I was out one year and dropped behind 
 the rest of my class." 
 
 " Then I suppose you hold a teacher's certificate ? " 
 
 " Yes, a provincial grade B. But will it be of any 
 use here?" 
 
 ** I really do not know ; but I fancy it will be a help. 
 You would probably have to pass some kind of an exami- 
 nation before ^aking charge of a school here. They 
 want a teacher for the high school at Vancouver. One 
 of the board was looking around here yesterday, but 
 failed in finding the right man for the position. Now, I 
 think you would suit them. If I can manage it, I will 
 secure the situation for you. I have considerable influ- 
 ence with some of the members of the board, and I 
 think I have good hopes of success. 
 
FAIR AND FALSE. 
 
 56 
 
 "If T fail there* I will look around for something 
 else for you. I am going to start for the mainland to- 
 night. You had better make what arrangement you can 
 with your creditors, and close up here while 1 am gone, 
 for if you obtain this situation you will have to leave 
 here at once." > > ' 
 
 If Cyril had indulged in a hope that Spencer would 
 assist him in settling with his creditors, it was now 
 dispelled ; and, after some reflection, he was obliged to 
 acknowledge to himself that his friend was right. 
 
 It was much better for him to leave the city where all 
 his acquaintances were, an idle, extravagant lot, who 
 had managed to obtain a great deal of influence over 
 him. 
 
 *• Vancouver," he thought, " bids fair to soon be far 
 ahead of Victoria, and after I have those awful debts 
 squared, and something to start upon, I can again turn 
 to my profession. 
 
 He found no easy task in settling with his creditors, 
 but at last everything was satisfactorily arranged ; and 
 Spencer, returning from Vancouver, where he had been 
 successful in obtaining the situation he sought for his 
 friend, the young man departed for the scene of his 
 labours, firmly resolving to devote every dollar of his 
 earnings, beyond what he required for the barest neces- 
 saries, to the payment of those luckless debts. 
 
 I ! ■ 
 
 I If 
 * i 
 
 I 
 
56 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 !'illi' 
 
 
 CYRIL S NEW HOME. 
 
 N direct contrast to his way of beginning in 
 Victoria, he passed by the expensive hotels as 
 a place of abode, and hired a tiny cottage for 
 his home. This he furnished with only the 
 plainest of furniture, and began housekeeping u^, n a 
 very humble scale. The front room was set apart for 
 his office, where he might be found poring over his law 
 tomes at all hours when his academical duties did not 
 require his presence elsewhere. 
 
 A placard in the window informed the public that C. 
 E. Whyman, Barrister, might be found within at any 
 hour from four p.m. till ten ; and often a stray client 
 drifted into his office when all other legal temples of the 
 city were closed for the day. 
 
 In this way he managed to add nuite an amount to 
 his income, and began to hope that at no distant day 
 he would be free from debt. 
 
 One of his first acts, after settling in his new home, 
 was to write to Marion, informing her of the change he 
 had made and giving her a detailed account of his 
 circumstances. He expressed deep contrition for the 
 life he had led for the past few months, and also 
 expressed a firm determination to retrieve his mistake. 
 
 He declared his intention of declining any help which 
 she might be tempted to offer him. She had done 
 enough for him in the past ; but he knew her so well, 
 that if he did not put a stop to her doing so she would 
 deprive herself of every comfort in order that she might 
 assist him. ^, 
 
CYRIL'S NEW HOME. 
 
 67 
 
 His debts were the consequences of his own folly, and 
 he must be allowed to liquidate them without assist- 
 ance. 
 
 li this letter caused the faithful sister considerable 
 disappointment, she also found much comfort in perus- 
 ing its pages. She was more than ever convinced that 
 her brother needed the constant sympathy of a loving 
 woman to protect him from the perils he must daily 
 encounter in his journey through life. 
 
 And what was to prevent her from being by his side ? 
 There was no tie to bind her to her native land. By 
 going west she could watch over Cyril and often keep 
 him from temptation. She could take some of his 
 burdens from his shoulders by sharing the expenses of 
 their little home. 
 
 She would probably be able to procure pupils enough 
 in a city like Vancouver to supply her modest needs. 
 
 Her resolution was quickly formed ; and with Marion, 
 to decide was to act upon her decision at once ; and a 
 very short time elapsed before her preparations were 
 completed, and everything in readiness for her western 
 journey. 
 
 The few heirlooms which she had saved from the 
 wreck of their old home were carefully packed, together 
 with her piano, which she decided must also accompany 
 her. The rest of her household effects were sold to 
 defray the expenses of her journey, and nothing re- 
 mained except to tell Cyril she was coming. 
 
 The • evening before her departure she was much 
 surprised to receive a visit from Mrs. Morton, who had 
 been absent from Digby for some time ; and it had been 
 one of Marion's chief regrets in leaving Nova Scotia, 
 that she would not be able to say farewell to this faithful 
 friend before her departure. 
 
 ** What is this I hear, Marion, about your going 
 west ? " she asked in an excited manner as she entered 
 the room. 
 
58 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 '* Have you taken leave of your senses ? What do you 
 exnoct to do out there ? " 
 
 *' What 1 have always done here, Mrs. Morton," 
 answered Marion, with some dignity — 
 
 " Look after my brother's home, and spend my leisure 
 time in teaching." 
 
 " Your brother's home," repeated the elder lady, 
 scornfully. 
 
 *' Your brother must have improved vastly since he 
 left Digby, if he has managed to secure himself a home. 
 You will find a large number of persons anxious to learn 
 music in a place like Vancouver. And how are you going 
 to manage to support your good-for-nothing brother in 
 any other way ? 
 
 *' He is ashamed to come back so soon and acknow- 
 ledge his defeat in that glorious west, and he has sent for 
 you to come out .there and make a home for him, little 
 caring how you do it, providing he can manage to escape 
 necessity of working for his living. If you have one 
 atom of sense left you will unpack your trunks and 
 remain here, where you have friends to look after you, 
 if at any time you are unable to care for yourself. Let 
 the young reprobate either come home or stay where he 
 is and starve, if he is too lazy to work, which would be 
 a good thing for you, for he has always been a heavy 
 burden to you, and of course always will be." 
 
 For the first time in her life, Marion was really 
 angry, and, with flashing eyes, she turned to her visitor, 
 saying, 
 
 *' Mrs. Morton has forgotten that she was speaking to 
 Mr. Whyman's sister." 
 
 The calm, though cutting reply seemed to goad the 
 other to a pitch of frenzy. She appeared to have lost 
 all control of herself for a time. Springing to her feet, 
 she hissed in Marion's ear, 
 
 ** Mrs. Morton has forgotten nothing of the kind, but 
 it was for your own good that she ventured to advise 
 
I'-; 
 
 CYRILS NEW HOME. 
 
 59 
 
 you ; but now listen to me Marion Whyman, and re- 
 member my words. Supposing you do start for tbe 
 West to-morrow, as is now your intention; do you 
 imagine you will ever reach your destination ? Have you 
 forgotten that all your preparations were made once 
 before for that toilsome journey, but that your plans 
 were defeated by death ? Take my advice, the advice of 
 the best friend you ever had, and be contented at home." 
 
 ** I cannot, Mrs. Morton; Cyril needs me. Kemember, 
 he is my only living relative, and I will never desert 
 him. My preparations are all made, and my journey 
 will begin to-morrow. I will place my trust in that kind 
 Providence who watches over all. If it is the Divine 
 will that I should not reach the end of my journey, I 
 will endeavour to be resigned to my fate. But I cannot 
 now give up my undertaking. I must*start." 
 
 " Then, take my curse with you," the wicked woman 
 replied; and, without glancing at Marion, to see the 
 effect of her words, she swept loftily from the room, 
 slamming the door behind her. 
 
 Marion sank wearily upon the lounge as her visitor 
 departed. 
 
 "What does it mean? "the poor girl asked herself 
 many times. ^ 
 
 " Why is Mrs. Morton so bitterly opposed to Cyril and 
 myself going to British Columbia. Some reason must 
 exist, but what could it be ? Could it be possible that 
 her Wilmer was not dead, but living there still, and 
 Mrs. Morton did not wish them to meet ? " 
 
 For an instant, a wild hope surged through the breast 
 of the lonely woman ; but it was as quickly banished. 
 Her own noble Wilmer would never have deserted her 
 while there was a spark of life remaining in his warm 
 and loving heart. 
 
 Some reason might exist for her false friend — for false 
 she now knew her to be — wishing to keep her from the 
 land where her lover had lost his life, but she never 
 would doubt her dead Wilmer's honour. 
 
 / ' 1' 
 
 ■1 
 
llllMI 
 
 60 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN .S MISTAKE. 
 
 ** Will I ever know the truth ? wailed the poor girl, 
 and, burying her face in the cushions, she wept as only a 
 faithful woman can weep, when she finds the person she 
 has loved and trusted for long weary years, is unworthy 
 to bear the sacred name of friend ; and to a nature like 
 Marior what can be more bitter than to discover that 
 the revered name of friend is a mere empty title. 
 
 When her paroxysm of grief was over, she felt a 
 gentle touch upon her arm, and, looking up, Queenie 
 Sylvestere stood before her. Not the brilliant society 
 belle she had known of late, but the gentle, affectionate 
 Queenie she had loved in the sweet long-ago. 
 
 " Why, Marion," was her exclamation, with a look of 
 compassion on her lovely face, which was balm to the 
 other's wounded heart, *' what can be the matter ? We 
 have left you too long alone, my poor darling. You 
 must come home with me at once. Now, no refusal, 
 please," as she gathered from the expression of Marion's 
 face that she was going to decline the invitation. 
 
 " If you have anything more to be done, I will come 
 and help you in the morning ; but you must come home 
 with me now, and rest. Here are your coat and hat ; 
 put them on at once." 
 
 Too much upset by her recent interview with Mrs. 
 Morton to resist, she silently obeyed the commands of 
 her impetuous friend, and arrayed herself in her out- 
 door garments. She was led to the comfortable pony 
 carriage which Queenie had left at the gate, and a few 
 moments rapid driving brought them to the residence 
 of Mrs. Sylvestere, where she was soon receiving a warm 
 welcome from that motherly woman. 
 
 The last evening of her stay in Nova Scotia was as 
 pleasant as those kind old friends could make it, and 
 they sent her on her way loaded with good wishes for a 
 speedy and pleasant journey. 
 
 " What message shall I give from you to Cyril," she 
 asked of Queenie, as they were parting on the deck of 
 the steamer v.hich was to convey her to St. John. : • - 
 
t — 
 
 CYRILS NEW HOME. 
 
 61 
 
 The little lady drew her diminutive form to its full 
 height, as she proudly answered, ** Tell him I expect to 
 soon hear of him as a western judge, wearing a wig and 
 silken gown." 
 
 The contemptuous tones in which the words were 
 uttered were more than sufficient to tell the devoted 
 sister that all affection for Cyril was completely ban- 
 ished from the heart of Queenie; and, with a bitter 
 regret for what might have been, were it not for Cyril's 
 own folly, she parted from her friend and went to the 
 cabin. 
 
 She could not control herself to take a last look at 
 the beloved shores she was leaving, probably for ever. 
 
 Arriving at St. John, she hurried herself and luggage 
 to tl\e C. P. R. depot, and, securing a berth on the 
 sloe[ .ag car attached to the train, she soon retired, and 
 when she awoke the next morning she found they 
 were rushing through the eastern part of the State of 
 Maine. 
 
 Montreal was reached in a few hours, and her journey 
 west was fairly begun. 
 
 Through the provinces of Quebec and Ontario she was 
 swiftly whirled, past busy manufacturing towns and 
 populous farming districts, the constantly changing 
 scenery furnishing endless entertainment for the lonely 
 woman ; but soon all civilization was left behind, and 
 they were rushing through the almost trackless forests 
 of Western Ontario. 
 
 These were also left far in the east, and the bleak and 
 barren territory of Kewatin was traversed. 
 
 At length Winnipeg was reached. Then came days 
 of prairie scenery. Marion soon tired of gazing at the 
 treeless plains, and turned for the first time to the books 
 which Queenie had provided to relieve the tedium of her 
 journey. 
 
 Day after day of perpetual sunshine passed, and one 
 morning was heard the welcome intelligence that the 
 Kocky Mountains were in sight. 
 
 * 't I 
 
,«*> 
 
 62 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 Kiiiiii:!ii 
 
 II 
 
 It was hours, however, after this announcement be- 
 fore they began to climb their rugged sides. Up wearily 
 toiled the gigantic iron monster, pulling the long train 
 of cars behind him, sometimes with the rocks which hid 
 the sky high above their heads, as they steamed through 
 a deep gorge. Again, dashing by a frail trestle over some 
 seething torrent, which lay hundreds of feet below them, 
 and into which they might be hurled without a moment's 
 warning, were a fragment of those vast masses towering 
 above their heads to become detached and fall upon the 
 track below. 
 
 Marion gazed with a feeling of awe as she thought of 
 the triumph which man had achieved in building a 
 highway for his iron horse through this wild region and 
 the magnitude of the undertaking occurred to her for 
 the first time. 
 
 At length the highest point of the road bed was 
 reached and the downward grade began. The Selkirks 
 were next surmounted, and soon left behind; and still the 
 tireless monster, with his weary human freight, rushed 
 westward. Forest, country, towns, were all passed in 
 rapid succession. 
 
 At length the conductor gathered the tickets for the 
 last time, and, with a wild scream of triumph, and a 
 noisy clanging of the bells, the train glided into the 
 terminal city, and came to a standstill in the great 
 C. P. K. depot. 
 
 Marion's journey was finished, and dreamily she 
 watched her fellow-passengers as they gathered to- 
 gether their belongings, and took their departure from 
 the cars, which for so many days had been their home. 
 
 At last she was left alone ; but still she made no 
 attempt to follow the example of her recent companions. 
 With her head resting on the cushions of her seat, she 
 was only conscious that at last she was near the spot 
 where her dead lover slept the sleep that knows no 
 waking, and exultantly she thought she would soon be 
 resting by his side. - ; 
 
 ELI 
 
CYRIL S NEW HOME. 
 
 63 
 
 At length she saw Cyril coming through the car, and 
 she made a violent effort to overcome the numb feeling 
 she felt slowly creeping over her ; but a buzzing sound 
 was in her ears, and before he could reach her side she 
 sank fainting upon the floor. 
 
 Much alarmed, he raised her in his arms and bore her 
 swiftly from the car. 
 
 Was he to lose his devoted sister, who had come so far 
 to join him, at the moment she had reached the end of 
 her weary journey ? 
 
 Hastily summoning a cab, he placed her inanimate 
 form upon the seat, and giving the order for home, he 
 sprang in by her side ; but scarcely had they begun to 
 move before she opened her eyes and smiled upon her 
 brother, much to his relief. 
 
 "What is the matter, Marion?" he asked, anxiously 
 bending over her. " Have you been ill ? " 
 
 " No ; only so very tired," she answered wearily. 
 
 And she felt she was repaid for all her tiresome 
 journey by that look of anxiety upon her brother's 
 face. 
 
 " I shall be all right again after a few days' rest." 
 
 And she closed her eyes and leaned her head upon 
 his shoulder, feeling that she had at last found a 
 protector. 
 
 In spite of the assertion that she was better, he 
 insisted upon having a doctor when they reached home. 
 But the medical man, in a cheery manner, confirmed 
 her own opinion that she only wanted rest. 
 
 She found before she had been long in her new home, 
 tha^ Cyril had improved in many ways during his resi- 
 dence in the west, and a wild wish that he and Queenie 
 might meet again, and he could retrieve the wretched 
 mistake which he had made, was ever uppermost in her 
 kindly heart. 
 
 .\ 
 
G4 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 i 
 
 A STARTLING DISCOVERY. , 
 
 JHREE years have passed away since Marion left 
 her Nova Scotian home — three years of quiet 
 contentment, after her storm-tossed life. 
 
 To-night, we find her still a resident of our 
 western capital. Kesident of Vancouver, but she no 
 longer occupies the humble abode which opened its doors 
 to welcome her v/hen she first arrived among us. 
 
 She is now mistress of a lovely cottage in the suburbs, 
 the door of which we find, as we approach, adorned with 
 a plate bearing the name of C. E. Whyman. 
 
 At the end of the first year, his debts all paid, he 
 gave up the situation* he held in the city school, and 
 turned to his profession, where he soon won golden 
 opinions from the public, who declared him endowed 
 with more than an average anjount of talent. 
 
 His friend Spencer came often to visit them in their 
 comfortable home, where he soon found himself a wel- 
 come guest, and became a warm friend of the gentle 
 mistress, who, after she learned what he had done for 
 Cyril, gave him a place in her heart second only to that 
 occupied by her darling brother. ' 
 
 He has just arrived from Victoria to-night, and as 
 they surround the cheerful supper table, he gives them 
 an account of a fashionable wedding which has recently 
 taken place in that city. 'V - 
 
 ** The bride is an old flame of Cyril's," he explains to 
 ^ his hostess. 
 
A STARTLING DISCOVERY. 
 
 65 
 
 ** That is why I have taken the trouhle to hring a 
 full account of the affair. I thought he would find it so 
 very interesting. I have not told her name, but he, of 
 course, has already recognized the portrait of Miss Lucy 
 Waddle. I do not suppose you have ever heard of 
 her ? " 
 
 "And, when I think of it, he also knows the groom. 
 You remember Armstrong, Cyril, one of the Cariboo 
 gold kings, as we used to call them. Their courtship 
 was quite a romantic one. He met her for the first time 
 a few months ago, and fell violently in love on the 
 spot. Her father encouraged his suit. I told you once 
 he would manage to secure a walking gold mine for a 
 son-in-law. And the fair Lucy, whose power has been 
 steadily declining for some time, thought it best to 
 make hay while the sun was shining. They are a model 
 couple, and have already created quite a sensation in 
 Victoria society." 
 
 " I was told some time ago by Armstrong's partner 
 that the wedding was soon to take place, but I was not 
 interested enough to enquire the particulars," said Cyril, 
 coldly. 
 
 " The elder man appeared very much annoyed about 
 the affair, and has resolved to dissolve the partnership. 
 Indeed, I have already prepared the deeds of separation', 
 and they only await Armstrong's signature. 
 
 " Talking of weddings though, reminds me that I have 
 a piece of news for you, Marion. Cards are now out for 
 a swell affair in our own city. Your rector is about to 
 lead to the altar one of Vancouver's wealthy belles." 
 
 Cyril spoke rapidly, and Herbert, thinking he wished 
 to change the subject, skilfully led the conversation into 
 another channel ; but the young man's manner troubled 
 him much during the evening. 
 
 "It cannot be possible," he thought, " that the poor 
 boy stills cares for that heartless woman. But if he has 
 
 forgotten her what is the 
 
 meaning 
 
 of his disturbed *** 
 
66 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 m- 
 
 manner to-night. He was gay enough before her name 
 was brought up." 
 
 Herbert was so much disturbed by his discovery, that 
 he bade his hostess good-night at an early hour, and 
 retired to his room, where he was soon followed by 
 Cyril. 
 
 ** If you are not too tired and sleepy, Herbert, I should 
 like to have a few words with you," said Cyril, seating 
 himself by the side of the bed. 
 
 *' I saw by your manner to-night, how surprised you 
 were because I changed the subject when you were dis- 
 cussing the Waddle wedding. Yoa thought the topic a 
 distasteful one to me, and I confess it was, but not in 
 the way you think. 
 
 ** When Lucy Waddle refused to become my wife, my 
 love for her, if it could be called love, died on the spot. 
 It was not on my own account that I wished to avoid 
 the subject. You remember, do you not, my asking you 
 some time ago if you knew anything about Wilmer 
 Morton — who he' was, and where he came from?" 
 
 " Perfectly. I could tell you nothing at the time 
 except that he was a Nova Scotian, who had been in 
 British Columbia for a number of years. I had forgotten 
 your anxiety to know more about him, or I should have 
 enlightened you when I learned his passed history ; but 
 I shall be pleased to relate it to you now, if you care to 
 hear. It is quite a thrilling romance." 
 
 ** There is no necessity for doing so. I have already 
 learned far more than I cared to know about this worthy 
 gentleman. But I do not wish my sister to know he is 
 living. She has long believed him dead, and mourned 
 his death as only a true woman can mourn the death of 
 the man she loves. It is much better for her 1>o think 
 of him as lying in his grave than for her to learn he 
 still lives, and has been false to her all these years. 
 Since I have discovered the truth, I have endeavoured 
 to keep it from her, and I feared a chance word of 
 
 I'll 
 

 A STAUTLING DISCOVERY. 
 
 67 
 
 yours might at last set her upon the right track, when 
 further eonceahnent would be impossible. 
 
 ** About a year ago, ho came to me on business, and 
 I instantly recognized in the man before me one who 
 years before had been the betrothed husband of Marion. 
 For some vile purpose, I care not what, he had allowed 
 a false report of his death to be circulated in his native 
 land, thus destroying my sister's happiness and ruining 
 her life. 
 
 a 
 
 " I was too busy at the time I made the discovery to 
 ask him any questions, but I impatiently await his 
 reappearance in order that I may learn the reason for 
 his so cruelly deceiving my sister. He has a heavy 
 account to settle with me for the vile way in which he 
 has treated her. 
 
 ** He has not concealed his existence from his mother, 
 for he is constantly sending her large sums of money. 
 She is also a party to the fraud which has been practised. 
 Although she has spent hours in mourning with Marion 
 over the loss of their darling VVilmer, she violently 
 opposed, first myself, and then my sister coming here. 
 She probably feared we should meet and would learn of 
 their wicked deception. 
 
 " I shall soon learn the truth now, for he will be 
 compelled to meet Armstrong here before this business' 
 can be settled, and then I shall tax him with his villainy, 
 and force him to explain why he has thought proper to 
 conceal his existence from us. I do not think he recog- 
 nized me, for I was only a boy when he left Nova Scotia, 
 and of course I have greatly changed since then." 
 
 " I feel positive, Cyril, that there has been some 
 fearful mistake made. Wilmer Morton is the very soul 
 of honour. He is not the man that would play fast and 
 loose with a woman's heart. 
 
 ** Years ago, he nearly lost his life in an effort to save 
 a man who tried to ruin him from the den of some vile 
 gamblers. . 
 
 I?? 
 
 m 
 
68 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN's mistake. 
 
 " A man who could act so nobly towards an enemy 
 would never voluntarily desert a woman who had loved 
 hhn, and to whom he was bound by honour's tie." 
 
 ** Impossible ; there can have been no mistake. Why 
 has he concealed the fact that he still lives ? 
 
 ** But, in my selfishness, I am forgetting how tired 
 you must be. Good night, and pleasant dreams." 
 
 And Cyril departed, carefully closing the door, and 
 leaving Herbert, who was never more awake, to digest 
 the news which be had been told. 
 
 " It is a strange story," he at last murmured, after he 
 had tried in vain to account in some way for Morton's 
 conduct, " and altogether passes my comprehension. 
 However, I feel assured that Morton is not the guilty 
 party, whatever Cyril may think to the contrary. De- 
 ceived in some way he must have been, but he never 
 deliberately wronged Marion Whyman. 
 
 " I will have to see him proved guilty before I can 
 bring myself to believe him a villain. 
 
 " When this tiresome business, which will chain me 
 ^ here for the present is finished, I will go to Cariboo and 
 solve this mystery myself. 
 
 " Poor Marion ! I have often wondered what was the 
 * terrible sorrow which you had been forced to encounter 
 during your journey along life's road. It will be for me 
 a happy day if I can be the means of bringing back some 
 sunshine to your pathway. I shall have one good deed 
 recorded in the book of fate." 
 
 With this pious conclusion, he sank into peaceful 
 slumbers, from which he awakened in the early morning 
 to hurry through the business that had brought him to 
 Vancouver. 
 
 A few days, and everything was arranged to his satis- 
 faction, and he started for the mining fields, to inter- 
 view Wilmer, and learn, if possible, the secret of his 
 past life. 
 
A STARTLING DISCOVERY. 
 
 ' 69 
 
 On reaching Cariboo, he found, greatly to his disap- 
 pointment, he was one day too late. The man he 
 sought had left the preceding morning, for the pur- 
 pose of ^'oining his mother and a party of friends at 
 Montreal. 
 
 ** Just like my luck," he growled, as he returned to 
 his hotel. ^ 
 
 " Here I will be forced to wait for hours in this beastly 
 place, before the stage starts for any point where I will 
 be able to catch the Pacific express. To think I should 
 be fool enough to come away out here for nothing in the 
 world except a bit of sentiment. 
 
 ** If I knew where I should find him, I would follow 
 him to Montreal, for I feel anxious to see this mystery 
 cleared up, and I should like so much to meet him 
 before Cyril has had an opportunity of seeking an 
 explanation. 
 
 " I suppose I could write, asking for the truth, but a 
 personal interview would be much more satisfactory to 
 all parties. But there is nothing to be done at present, 
 so I may as well go home and patiently await further 
 developments." 
 
 Ui 
 
 . ) 
 
 ■^y 
 
70 
 
 CYRTL WITYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 QUEENIES STRATAGEM. 
 
 JN the days of Dr. Whyman's prosperity, Mrs. 
 Morton, the mother of Wilmer, had left no 
 means untried to bring about a marriage be- 
 tween Marrion and her only son. On the 
 evening of his engagement, when he came to his mother 
 for congratulations, she felt her triumph was complete, 
 and declared she was that night the proudest and 
 happiest mother in Digby. 
 
 Marion, she said, was a young lady who any woman 
 in the country would be proud to receive as a daughter. 
 She was good as she was fair, a perfect treasure for any 
 man to win, apart from the countless thousands she 
 would one day inherit from her father. 
 
 But, alas for human hopes ! How ofien do we find 
 the glittering treasure we have followed, when at last 
 we have it all secure, it has suddenly collapsed, like an 
 empty bauble. 
 
 Mrs. Morton's exultation was short-lived. The down- 
 fall of the Whymans, which speedily followed Marion's 
 engagement, well nigh drove the scheming mother 
 frantic. 
 
 Instead of the brilliant match she had planned fcr 
 her son, she was asked to receive the daughter of a 
 bankrupt into he: family. This she declared she would 
 never do. 
 
 She ordered Wilmer to break his engagement at once. 
 There was nothing, she told him, to prevent his retiring 
 in an honourable manner. 
 
 •'-7' 
 
queenie's stratagem. 
 
 71 
 
 She was not going to receive the daughter of a 
 defaulter, who had cowardly ended his life rather than 
 face the consequences of his crimes, as a member of her 
 family. 
 
 Dr. Whyman's designing daughter thought, no doubt, 
 that she had skilfully played her cards, but they would 
 soon show her the name of Morton should never be linked 
 with one so disgraced as that of Whyman. 
 
 Wilmer turned a deaf ear to his mother's ravings and 
 entreaties. 
 
 ** He was not a villain," he told her, when at last he 
 felt compelled to answer, " to desert a woman who 
 loved and trusted him as Marion, in her hour of bitter 
 need." 
 
 At last, the woman, seeing how fruitless were her 
 efforts to bend him to her will, made a pretence of 
 retiring from the field, trusting to time to aid her in her 
 scheme for their final separation. For it was her firm 
 determination that they should, in some way, be parted 
 in the future. 
 
 When it became known that Wilmer had lost his 
 situation, together with the savings which he had care- 
 fully hoarded, the news was joyfully received by her in 
 secret. 
 
 His wedding day would now have to be postponed for 
 a time ; and, advised by her, he immediately decided on 
 going west, to seek his fortune, for the wily woman knew 
 she would more easily accomplish her design if the 
 lovers were for a time kept apart. 
 
 She made a pretence of relenting towards Marion, 
 and promised her son to be very kind to the doubly 
 bereaved girl during his enforced absence from her 
 side. 
 
 A year after his departure, she was still vainly trying 
 to find some way in which she could bring about their 
 final separation, when she heard with dismay that 
 Marion was preparing to join her lover in the west. 
 
72 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 7'n 
 
 The faithful girl would listen to nothing which com- 
 pelled her remaining away from Wilmer; and Mrs. 
 Morton, seeing she was powerless to prevent her going, 
 yielded to the inevitable, and gave up the contest. 
 
 But the sad intelligence soon reached her that her 
 darling son had lost his life in a western gambling den. 
 
 Then the proud mother felt the bitterness of her 
 punishment, for such she considered the terrible be- 
 reavement sent to her. 
 
 For a few days, she sincerely mourned, and freely 
 mingled her tears with those of his betrothed. 
 
 Then came another letter, telling her he still lived, 
 though his life was even now hanging by a thread. He 
 was, however, in the hands of kind friends, and if 
 human aid could help him, his precious life would be 
 saved. 
 
 The writer had explained that he had received his 
 wound in endeavouring to remove his employer's son, 
 who had previously tried to ruin him, from a den of 
 gamblers, and who had cowardly shot him in the back, 
 as he was leaving the building after accomplishing his 
 design. 
 
 The wicked mother felt her hour of triumph was at 
 hand, and here was her opportunity for accomplishing 
 her fell purpose. 
 
 Marion should still believe her lover dead, and she 
 would succeed in some way of making him think her 
 false to her vows. 
 
 She destroyed the second letter, dressed herself and 
 daughter in deepest crape, and wept such bitter tears 
 when she met the bereaved bride elect, that Cyril was 
 the only person who ever ventured to hint a word of 
 disbelief in her sincerity. 
 
 A letter soon went west informing the invalid that 
 Marion, on the evening she had heard of his death, had 
 eloped with a wealthy stranger. She had not learned 
 his name, but the two, she was informed, had been 
 carrying on a desperate flirtation for some time. « 
 
QUEENIE S STRATAGEM. 
 
 73 
 
 A year passed before she heard from him, and she 
 began to regret the sending of that false letter, most 
 bitterly, when she again received a few lines from him, 
 informing her he was at present engaged in quite ex- 
 tensive mining operations, in which he had been fairly 
 successful. 
 
 He expressed a wish to hear from her, occasionally, 
 but he did not care to hear about any of his old acquaint- 
 ances, nor did he care to have them informed of his 
 whereabouts. 
 
 " If it once becomes known where I am," he wrote, 
 ** there will be no end to the applications I shall receive 
 from Nova Scotia, to provide employment for those 
 desiring to come west, and I have no wish to meet with 
 familiars, or assist them in securing their fortunes. My 
 faith in all my old friends is dead." 
 
 The letter then went on to say he was willing to 
 provide his mother and sister with the means to live in 
 a more pretentious manner, if they wished to do so. As 
 for himself, it would be many years before he returned 
 to Nova Scotia. Indeed, it was more than probable that 
 he should never return. 
 
 With a feeling of triumph, she carefully locked the 
 letter away wl: "^re no eye except her own would be able 
 to read what was written therein. 
 
 Everything had turned out for the best after all. 
 Marion would certainly marry some day soon, and all 
 would be well. 
 
 Ambitious to become a leader of fashion in her little 
 town, she immediately secured one of the handsomest 
 houses to be obtained, and, filling it with costly furni- 
 ture, she established herself and daughter therein. 
 
 Here she began housekeeping in such a manner as to 
 surprise her old friends, who, one and all, agreed tliat 
 she was going at a rather reckless pace ; for it was 
 known her means were rather limited, and that it 
 
74 
 
 CYRIL WllYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 required niuch skilful management on her part to make 
 both ends meet. Now, although she had received no 
 visible addition to her income, she had branched out 
 into such a style of magnificenee, as to rival the most 
 wealthy families of the town in her mode of living. 
 
 Every one predicted a grand failure soon ; but, as the 
 years passed, she went on as she had begun, and paid 
 her bills promptly as they fell due. 
 
 Her neighbours decided she had received a legacy 
 from some distant relative, and decided to accept her as 
 a person of importance in their community. 
 
 Her hopeful prophecy that Marion would marry soon 
 was not destined to be fulfilled, for the years went by, 
 and she sti" remained faithful to her dead lover. 
 
 Mrs. Morton at last lost all patience. She invited her 
 constantly to her elegant home, and threw eligible young 
 men in her way, who were anxious to take the dead 
 Wilmer's place ; but it was of no avail. 
 
 Marion would sit for hours at her grand piano and 
 furnish music for the amusement of her guests, but she 
 could never be induced to take any other part in their 
 gayeties. 
 
 In vain she remonstrated with her on the folly of her 
 course. 
 
 ** You are very foolish, Marion," she said to her, on 
 more than one occasion. ** Do you never intend to 
 marry ? " 
 
 ** Never, Mrs. Morton. Please do not ask me to 
 discuss the subject." 
 
 The elder woman turned away with an impatient 
 exclamation. 
 
 Would Wilmer return and marry her some day after 
 all ! But no, she vowed that should never be. 
 
 When she heard that Cyril was going to British 
 Columbia to seek his fortune, she was nearly frantic. 
 
I • 
 
 '■*■ 
 
 QUEENIES STRATAGEM. 
 
 75 
 
 What if Le and Wilmer were to meet ? The contem- 
 plation was too dreadful. It must never be. Some way 
 must be found to prevent his going there. 
 
 But she soon found this was something she was 
 powerless to accomplish, for Cyril, unlike Marion, had 
 no respect for her or her opinions. 
 
 It was a random shot that he fired when he told her 
 he was going to Cariboo ; but the guilty woman thought 
 her crime had been discovered. 
 
 As time passed, and Wilmer's remittances still came 
 regularly, she began to breathe more freely again ; but 
 she was soon destined to undergo another shock. 
 
 Marion, she was told, was preparing to follow her 
 brother. 
 
 Hurrying home, for she was absent from Digby at the 
 time, she resolved that this naust be put a stop to at all 
 hazards. 
 
 For the first time for years, Marion refused to be 
 advised by her friend. 
 
 Dropping her mask she had worn so long successfully, 
 she cursed the girl as she left her presence. 
 
 In her despair, she felt all must soon be known. 
 Wilmer would be sure to hear of her arrival in Van- 
 couver, and seek her there to learn the truth. 
 
 But three years had already passed, and she is still 
 undiscovered. 
 
 She had formed a firm belief in her infallible good 
 luck, when she one day received a letter from Cyril 
 Whyman, enclosing a draft for a large amount from 
 Wilmer. 
 
 By the way in which the letter was written she knew 
 that Cyril was in possession of the secret, and she pre- 
 pared herself to meet the worst at once. 
 
 But a week after, much to her surprise, she received 
 a letter from Wilmer, written in his usual strain, and 
 informing her he had recently sent her a large sum of 
 money through his Vancouver solicitor. 
 
76 
 
 CYRIL WIIYMAN S MISTAKE 
 
 ^,:.V 
 
 She immediately concluded Cyril must be the solicitor 
 who had charge of his affairs in Vancouver, but who, 
 for some purpose of his own, had not yet betrayed her. 
 
 That he would eventually do so she felt certain. 
 There had never been any love lost between them, she 
 thought. If she could circumvent him in some way. 
 It would be a triumph to defeat his plans whatever they 
 were. If she could only entice Wilmer from his adopted 
 home, and accomplish his marriage with some eligible 
 young lady before he discovered the fraud which she 
 had practiced. 
 
 She felt she could bear exposure much better could 
 she know she had effectually parted him and Marion. 
 
 Full of her project, she immediately set to work to 
 mature her plans. 
 
 The first step was to select a young lady worthy of 
 the honour of becoming Wilmer's wife. He was not 
 only her son, but he was also rich. 
 
 After much deliberation, Queenie Sylvestere was the 
 one chosen to fill the place of honour. Queenie and he, 
 she reflected, will make a splendid couple. 
 
 Next, where cc 'Id their meeting take place ? It would 
 never do to bring uim home before she had accomplished 
 her object, for the surprise of his old acquaintances 
 when he appeared among them would lead to awkward 
 explanations. 
 
 Queenie, she felt, could be easily hoodwinked with the 
 account she would give of his resurrection, but older 
 heads would surelv discover the truth. 
 
 Queenie had expressed in her presence, a few days 
 before, a wish to attend the cagiivai in Montreal, and 
 loudly lamented her father's or mother's unwillingness 
 to leave home during the winter. 
 
 What would prevent her from taking the girl under 
 her protection, and going on the coveted journey ? 
 
QUEENIE S STRATAGEM. 
 
 77 
 
 She would write to Wilmer, after they had established 
 themselves in Montreal, to join them there. When once 
 she had brought them together, she felt almost certain 
 of accomplishing her design. 
 
 She pictured to herself, with almost fiendish glee, the 
 despair of Marion when the truth should become known. 
 
 It would be some compensation for the odium which 
 would be cast upon her for the course she had followed. 
 
 It is difficult to understand why this wretched woman 
 should so bitterly dislike such unoffending mortals as 
 Marion and Cyril ; but it is said we always hate those 
 we injure, and Mrs. Morton's conduct bore ample testi- 
 mony to the fact. 
 
 When once ner plans were fully laid, she lost no time 
 in putting them into execution. 
 
 Queenie was delighted with her kindly offer, and, 
 after obtaining her parents' consent, she lost no time in 
 preparing for her journey. 
 
 Aware that time was precious — for any day the sword 
 which hung quivering above her head was likely to fall — 
 our wily plotter dispatched a letter to her son, beseech- 
 ing him to join her and his sister in Montreal. 
 
 "You told me years ago, my son, that you would 
 never return to Nova Scotia," she wrote; ** but Oh, 
 Wilmer, what have I ever done that I should be so 
 bitterly punished ? You forget I am rapidly growing 
 old. 
 
 (Oh Madam ! if some one else were to tell you so.) 
 
 " You have not seen the terrible changes which time 
 and grief have wrought. If you ever felt one spark of 
 love for your despairing mother, prove it by letting her 
 see your face once more before she closes her eyes for 
 ever on this cruel world. 
 
 " It will be but a few more years before the grave 
 vv'ill hide my face for ever from my dear ones. And, 
 Wilmer, I long to see you more than tongue can tell. 
 
 m 
 
 B.I b,!z, '! 
 
78 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 m 
 
 
 m^ 
 
 ** I am going to take Lilly to Montreal. She wishes 
 to see the winter carnival ; and I live but to make her 
 happy, for she has sacrificed all a girl's bright dreams 
 for the sake of remaining with her lonely mother, and 
 cheering her declining years. 
 
 ** Can you not meet us there for a few days ? Surely 
 you can spare a week or two from your all-absorbing 
 business, for the purpose of making your wretched 
 mother happy." 
 
 ** There," exclaimed the triumphant woman, regarding 
 with a complacent smile the finished epistle before her. 
 
 - " If that does not reach his heart, nothing on this 
 earth ever will. v . 
 
 ** I shall have to invent some little fiction about heart 
 disease or something of the kind, for he will never 
 imagine I feel myself growing old when he sees me." 
 
 The letter had the desired effect. A tender chord 
 was touched in the heart of her son, and he decided at 
 once to grant his mother's request. 
 
 He would only, he reflected, be absent two or three 
 weeks. Surely he could spare that much of his lonely 
 life for the purpose of giving his mother pleasure. 
 
 So, packing his grip sack, he left his affairs in the 
 hands of his trusty foreman, and the next morning he 
 was on his way to Montreal. 
 
 He was greatly annoyed, on meeting with his mother 
 and sister, to find they were accompanied by Queenie 
 Sylvestere ; but, concealing the dislike he at first felt at 
 meeting with any of his old acquaintances, the two soon 
 became warm friends. 
 
 Queenie was much surprised to learn that Wilmer 
 Morton still lived; but, apparently accepting his mother's 
 explanation of the facts as correct ones, she firmly 
 resolved to learn, if possible why her dear friend Marion 
 had been led to believe him dead. 
 
:,-,■'■■ 
 
 QtJEENlE S STllATAGEM. 
 
 79 
 
 Could it be possible that he was aware of the shameful 
 fraud which had been practiced upon her. 
 
 The task she set herself, she soon found, was a most 
 difficult one, for Wilmer would never be induced to 
 speak of the past. 
 
 Mrs. Morton was radiant at the apparent success of 
 her scheme. Wilmer seemed much attracted by the 
 lovely woman, who evinced such a decided preference for 
 his society ; for Queenie, bent on accomplishing her 
 object, always declined the attentions of other gentle- 
 men, whenever he was present to act as her escort. 
 
 He soon begaH to feel a decided repugnance to 
 returning to his lonely life, and at last resolved to follow 
 his mother's advice, and ask the fair girl to share it. 
 
 One afternoon, he received a telegram from his busi- 
 ness manager at the mines requiring his presence at 
 once; but, before he left for the west, he determined to 
 learn Queenie's feelings regarding himself. 
 
 If she was willing to become his wife, he resolved to 
 return home and settle in Digby. 
 
 His mother persisted in declaring she had given her 
 heart into his keeping, and he had assured her if such 
 was the case, he would not prove unworthy of the 
 precious gift. 
 
 Accordingly, he took her fu. a sleigh drive that after- 
 noon, and, when they had left the city behind, he 
 calmly turned to his companion, and laid his hand and 
 fortune at her feet. 
 
 Queenie, who was not a little startled by this un- 
 looked-for proposal, managed to conceal her surprise, 
 and calmly answered, 
 
 ** Believe me, I feel very much the honour you have 
 done me, Mr. Morton ; but I can never consent to build 
 my future upon the ruins of another woman's life. And, 
 were I willing to become your wife, I would first know 
 
80 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 ''fililSl 
 
 m'i-' 
 
 
 fe«*" 
 
 why you have so cruelly destroyed the life's happiness 
 of my dear friend, Marion Whyman ? " 
 
 " Destroyed the happiness of Marion Whyman ? " he 
 repeated, in a bewildered manner, 
 
 " What have I to do with Marion Whyman's happi- 
 * ness ? Bather ask why she destroyed mine. 
 
 ** She deserted me years ago for a wealthier lover. 
 Deserted me at a time when I was too poor to provide 
 her with the luxuries to which all her life she had been 
 accustomed. 
 
 " She had tried poverty for one short year, and if she 
 found it too hard to endure longer, who can blame her 
 for bettering her condition when she had the oppor- 
 tunity ? 
 
 " She killed my faith in the constancy of woman's 
 love ; but 1 have long ago forgiven her the bitter sorrow 
 she has caused me." 
 
 ** Which is certainly very magnanimous in you, 
 considering all the suffering you have caused poor 
 Marion," replied Queenie scornfully. 
 
 " Why have you left her all these years to believe you 
 dead." 
 
 " Did Marion think me dead when she married ? 
 Was she not told the truth ? " 
 
 ** What can you mean ? Marion has never married. 
 For years she has mourned for you as only a true 
 woman can mourn the death of the man she loves. 
 
 ** Who told you she was married ? " 
 
 " My mother. Oh, Queenie, explain this terrible 
 mystery or I shall go crazy. Can it be for some vile 
 purpose my own mother has deliberately parted us ? 
 But no, the thought is too horrible, it cannot be< I will 
 not believe her guilty of such an act. 
 
 ** Where is my poor Marion now ? " ' ' 
 
QUEENIE .S STllATACJEM. 
 
 81 
 
 Wilmer will never forget the look of compassion on 
 Queenie's lovely face as she listened to him. 
 
 When he finished she laid her hand upon his in 
 sympathy as she answered : 
 
 ** Marion is at present living in Vancouver with her 
 brother, who is, I understand, quite a successful lawyer 
 there." 
 
 " Lawyer Whyman," he exclaimed with a start. ** C. 
 E. Whyman. He is my own solicitor. How many 
 times have I been near discovering the truth before 
 to-day? And Marion is still free. She was not false to 
 me after all." 
 
 " No, she has never married, but has devoted her life 
 to her brother. She educated him by teaching, and 
 afterwards started him in business in the west, and when 
 three years ago she left home to join him, I am firmly 
 convinced one of her objects in going west was to find 
 your grave. If ever two persons were deceived in this 
 world you have been those two." 
 
 " I cannot understand the object of the one who has 
 practiced this vile deception, but they have only been 
 too successful in their infamous plot." 
 
 *' I am afraid Wilmer your mother is the guilty party. 
 Years ago she spread a report of your death in Digby, 
 and she and Lily wore the deepest mourning at the time 
 it was said to have taken place. Marion was deceived 
 with the rest of the world. 
 
 ** If your mother had not explained that you were 
 alive before she presented you to me a few weeks ago, I 
 fear I should have disgraced myself by fainting. As it 
 was it took me some days to convince myself that I was 
 not talking to a ghost whenever you and I were convers- 
 ing. 
 
 " I trust you will forgive me for saying I suspected 
 her of some duplicity when she made her explanation, it 
 was so highly improbable, and I resolved to learn the 
 truth before we parted.^' 
 
82 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 it&:: 
 
 ** Queenie, we must lecarn the truth now, but not a 
 word of our discovery to my mother. I must not forget, 
 however much she has smued against us, she is still my 
 mother. . . 
 
 ** I am obliged to return to British Columbia. I must 
 start in the morning. Can we not arrange some plan 
 by which she will ])e induced to accompany us ? I 
 would bring her and Marion face to face before I accuse 
 her." 
 
 " I will try and persuade her to go. I will make her 
 think I wish to visit the west, but if I cannot succeed 
 you must return here as soon as possible, and I will 
 arrange some plan which will secure Marion's presence." 
 
 " We will do our best," he answered, and starting the 
 spirited horses they swiftly returned to the city. 
 
 As Queenie had foreseen they had considerable diffi- 
 culty in persuading Mrs. Morton to undertake the 
 journey to British Columbia, but being unwilling to lose 
 flight of her son before her object was accomplished she 
 at last gave her consent to their departure in the 
 morning. 
 
 From Montreal they went directly to Vancouver, 
 for Wilmer, after he was once assured of Marion's con- 
 stancy, determined she should learn the truth without 
 delay. 
 
 As Mrs. Morton was a stranger in the country they 
 were enabled to keep their destination from her till they 
 were within a few miles of the city. Her consternation 
 when she found she was rushing into the lion's den, as 
 she mentally called the place where Marion and Cyril 
 resided, was beyond description, and when Queenie 
 maliciously informed the docile Lily, in the presence of 
 her mother, that they would hunt up their old friend 
 Marion Whyraan while they were in the city, her 
 chaperon was furious. 
 
QUEENIES STRATAGEM. 
 
 83 
 
 She resolved to put a stop to such a danprerous pro- 
 ceeding without delay. She bitterly roproatjlujcl her- 
 self when it was now too late, for her fooliahnesa in 
 allowing herself to be persuaded into visiting the Pacific 
 coast. 
 
 She felt like one standing upon the verge of a fearful 
 precipice, when the ground beneath her feet was likely 
 at any moment to give way, and she would be precipi- 
 tated into the depths below. 
 
 First looking around, and ascertaining that WilF» '^»* 
 was not within hearing distance, she began : 
 
 ** Excuse me, Miss Quoenie ; but, if I may be par- 
 doned for using a bit of slang, I must say your motive 
 for seeking your friend Marion is a little too thin, and 
 one as well versed in your past history as myself cannot 
 help seeing that it is a sight of Miss Whyman's villain 
 of a brother which you are anxious to obtain." 
 
 Queenie bit her lip savagely, to prevent the angry 
 answer which she felt tempted to give this insolent 
 woman. 
 
 "Your scornful denial will avail you nothing," she 
 continued, with a crafty smile, as she perceived the 
 indignant flush upon the young girl's face. 
 
 ** I have suspected your motive for coming west for 
 some time, but consoled myself with the thought that 
 where we were going we would not be likely to meet the 
 Whymans. However, I shall keep my eyes open during 
 our stay here, and you shall not be permitted to leave 
 me. Your parents trusted you to my care, and they 
 shall have no occasion to complain that I did not fulfil 
 my duty, as they certainly would did I allow you to run 
 after an idle,*worthless fellow who has already jilted 
 vou." 
 
 Although bursting with indignation, Queenie listened 
 in silence to this harangue. She felt that by her im- 
 prudence she had brought it upon herself, nor could she 
 deny in her inmost heart that there was not a few grains 
 of truth in the assertion. 
 
•w!,^ 
 
 84 
 
 CYRIL WIIYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 Cyril, she bad told herself, scores of times since he 
 left his native land, was nothing to her, and if he ever 
 returned to claim her love, he would soon learn how she 
 scorned him ; but although she felt she had long since 
 banished his image from her heart, she also knew no 
 other man could ever fill the void thus left vacant. 
 
 To-day, as she faces her tormentor, she again registers 
 the vow, that, no matter how humbly he might one day 
 come seeking her love and forgiveness, she would ever 
 turn a deaf ear to his prayer. 
 
 The lines she had quoted on that memorable Autumn 
 morning, four years ago, when she watched him sailing 
 away, were still unforgotten. 
 
 But to her vow of vengeance against her old lover, 
 she now added another, which was to punish Mrs. 
 Morton severely for her insolence. 
 
 Per thoughts were here interrupted by the conductor 
 caiiing for tickets. And Wilmer appearing, they were 
 soon in the bustle attending the departure of a number 
 of females from the cars, after a long journey. 
 
 One of the magnificent palace hotels, of which the 
 city boasted, opened its doors to receive them ; and their 
 escort, .^3eing them comfortably installed therein, left 
 them at once, to begin his search for Marion ; while 
 Queenie, worn out with her journey, and also anxious to 
 escape further con\ersation with Mrs. Morton, retired 
 to her private u.partraent soon after his departure. 
 
MARIONS MARRIAGE. 
 
 85 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MARION S MARRIAGE. 
 
 JFIEN Wilmft left the hotel, he proceeded to 
 Cyril's office, which he found, as he had 
 expected, closed for the day. His next step 
 was to procure a directory, from which he 
 endeavoured to learn the young lawyer's private address, 
 and failing in this, he was forced to hunt for hours 
 before he obtained what he sought. 
 
 When at last the coveted address was placed in his 
 hands, he started, notwithstanding the lateness of the 
 hour, for the cottage where Cyril and his sister resided. 
 He felt that it would be impossible for him to rest till he 
 had seen Marion. 
 
 Arriving at their home, he rang the bell and sent his 
 card, on which he had scribbled a few hasty lines as he 
 di ive to the house, pleading urgent business and implor- 
 ing Cyril to see him without delay. 
 
 *'I am not accustomed Mr. Wilmer Morton," said 
 Cyril haughtily, as he entered the other's presence ** to 
 transacting business with my clients at my pri ^e 
 residence, and 1 must request you before hearing wLu.t 
 you have to say, not to repeat your visit here." 
 
 " There is no necessity for me to tell him who I am," 
 thought Wilmer, " He has already recognized me." 
 And turning to his compan "Dn he began : 
 
 ** Under ordinary circumstances Cyril, if you will per- 
 mit me to so call you I should apologize for my intru- 
 sion, but my object in coming here to-night Was to see 
 
86 
 
 CYItlL WllYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 Marion, and fearing the effect upon her if she was not 
 prepared for my appearance, I asked to see you first. 
 But tell me does she know I am still living ?" 
 
 " No ! Nor will she ever learn the fact if it is possihle 
 for me to keep the knowledge from her. 
 
 ** Be content with the wrong you have already done 
 her Wilmer Morton, and go your way leaving her to end 
 her life in peace." 
 
 ** If I had knowingly doncw her wrong, I should 
 endeavour to follow your advice, out Marion and myself 
 have heen the victims of the hasest fraud that ever 
 destroyed the happiness of two living mortals." 
 
 " You do not believe me," he wildly exclaimed, seeing 
 the incredulous look upon Cyril's face. 
 
 ** You would not condemn the most depraved criminal 
 unheard, yet you would judge me without giving me a 
 chance to defend myself or prove my innocence. Do 
 you call this justice ? " 
 
 " Yes ! In justice to Marion, I would keep the know- 
 ledge of your existence from her. As I have already 
 told you your heartless desertion of her in the past has 
 spoiled her life. 
 
 ** What would you have now ? Why have you kept 
 silence all these years if you meant to deal fairly by her 
 at last ? C your way and leave her in peace." 
 
 ** I have already told you we are both the victims of a 
 vile plot to part us. For years I have been thinking of 
 Marion as the wife of another, and it was only a few 
 days ago I learned from Queenie Sylvestere that she was 
 still Marion Whyman." 
 
 " Queenie," what happy inspiration induced Wilmer 
 to use that magic name, which he soon found was a key 
 sufficiently powerful to unlock Cyril's obdurate heart. 
 
 ** Call to-morrow," he said at length, ** and I will 
 endeavour to prepare Marion for the interview." 
 
MAIIION'S MAIIRIAGE. 87 
 
 ** Not to-morrow. Oh Cyril, as you one day hope for 
 mercy, show mercy now and let me see her to-night. 
 This suspense is unendurable. I cannot wait until to- 
 morrow." 
 
 The look of misery on his face at last touched Cyril 
 with a feeling of pity, and rising, he said : 
 
 ** Very well, call again in half an hour. I dare not 
 admit you sooner. My sister is far from strong. May 
 heaven grant that your impatience iilay not lead to 
 serious harm." 
 
 He opened the door and bowed his visitor out, then 
 went to seek his sister. 
 
 Entering the room he seated himself and began to 
 converse in his usual manner, feeling he had a difficult 
 task before him. 
 
 After a time he managed to introduce the subject of 
 their old home. 
 
 ** Marion," he suddenly asked, feeling the "precious 
 moments swiftly slipping away. 
 
 " Did you ever have positive proof of Wilmer Morton's 
 death ? " 
 
 " Wilmer's death," she excitedly gasped, springing 
 forward and clutching her brother convulsively by the 
 arm. 
 
 *' What do you mean ? Cyril, tell me the truth now. 
 Wilmer lives ! I feel it. I know it. 1 have felt ever 
 since I came to this country that Wilmer was somewhere 
 near m.e still in the liesh." 
 
 ** Wilmer lives," said a voice at her side. 
 
 And Cyril saw his arms opened to receive the senseless 
 form of his sister as she fell forward. 
 
 ** You have killed her," he cried in anguish, springing 
 to the bell. 
 
 ** I warned you not to excite her. Lay her upon the 
 sofa, and give her air." 
 
r :, 
 
 88 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 A doctor was quickly on hand and she soon recovered, 
 but he sternly forbade any further excitement, when told 
 what had occurred. 
 
 ** She must be kept as quiet as possible, or I will not 
 be answerable for the consequences," he declared. 
 
 And Marion was dimly conscious of being borne up- 
 ward still holding Wilmer's hand, which she refused to 
 relinquish. 
 
 Everything was unreal and she felt she was drifting 
 off, she^inew not where. 
 
 She was certain of nothing except Wilmer was by her 
 side. 
 
 This was death and her lover had come to her across 
 the wide waters to guide her to the other shore. 
 
 Who can describe the bliss of thao moment. He had 
 come for her to take her to his heavenly home, where 
 they would p' ' no more. 
 
 She heard a voice far away in the distance saying : 
 
 ** She will rest now." And then the deep waters of 
 oblivion closed over her ; but she felt no fear, for was 
 she not still holding her dead lover's hand ? 
 
 When she again woke to consciousness the sun was 
 shining into her own pretty chamber, and Queenie Syl- 
 vestere was bending over her. 
 
 Could what she had gone through have been only a 
 dream ? she asked herself. Or was she just recovering 
 from a long illness. But how came Queenie here so far 
 away from her home ? 
 
 " Now, Marion," said the little lady in a commanding 
 tone, ** I see you are dying to begin your questions but 
 before I will answer you a single one you must eat your 
 breakfast." 
 
 And she drew forward a tiny stand vpon which she 
 had already a?:r;inged a tempting repast. 
 
 /-- 
 
 «^» '.'. 
 
4 ' N ' 
 
 MARION'S MARRIAGE. 89 
 
 Marion managed to dispose of enough to satisfy her 
 nurse, and pushing hack her plate she looked up with a 
 smile, remarking : 
 
 ** Now, Queenie, go ahead." 
 
 "All right," laughed the other, '* but first you must 
 tell me how much you remember of what occurred here 
 last night." 
 
 '* I have a dim recollection of Wilmer appearing, and 
 he seemed to be taking me away so far. I thought I 
 was dying and he had come to show me the way to the 
 other world. When we plunged into the cold river I 
 knew nothing more till I awoke to find you standing by 
 me." 
 
 " Which was real enough. When Wilmer came you 
 fainted, and the doctor had to administer some powerful 
 opiate to quiet your nerves, which, I suppose, accounts 
 for your fanciful delusions about dying. 
 
 ** Now, if you feel strong enough, suppose you allow 
 me to assist you in dressing, for Wilmer is all impatience 
 to see you again, poor fellow." 
 
 Her dreaming languor vanquished at the mention of 
 Wilmer's name, and she was soon arrayed in a dainty 
 morning gown, and escorted by the triumphant Queenie 
 into his presence. 
 
 Here she was left alone with her lover while her com- 
 panion wandered into the garden and amused herself in 
 gathering a few belated flowers which she found blosom- 
 ing in a sheltered corner. 
 
 A long explanation followed, and when Wilmer fin- 
 ished he insisted that their marriage should take place 
 at once. 
 
 "I cannot allow you out of my sight again," he 
 emphatically replied, when she pleaded for a few days 
 in which to prepare her wedding gown. 
 
 7 
 
/ 
 
 ♦ 
 
 90 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 "I must have you made my wife at once. There is 
 no telling what the next move of the enemy will be, 
 when they find we have met. Besides what does a few 
 pieces of finery signify. You can go shopping every 
 hour in the day if you wish, when the ceremony is 
 once performed. 
 
 ** I have stolen Queenie away from my mother for an 
 hour or two, but the police will be on her track if she is 
 not returned soon. 
 
 " You surely can find something to put on while you 
 stand before the parson. 
 
 ** The arrangements are all made and only the con- 
 sent of the bride is necessary before we can carry them 
 out. The license is procured, the parson notified, the 
 ring bought and the church opened. Cyril will give the 
 bride away and Queenie and Spencer, who arrived this 
 morning, will support us through the trying ordeal. 
 
 ** We have been parted long enough, my darling, why 
 should we waste the few years of our life yet remaining ? 
 Say yes, my darling, and let us have the ceremony per- 
 formed at once." 
 
 Her lover's tender pleading coupled with Queenie's at 
 length prevailed and Marion at last consented to be 
 arrayed for her bridal. 
 
 " Now, Marion," chattered Queenie when she shut her 
 into her room, " let us see what you have in the shape 
 of a dress suitable for this important event. Some- 
 thing besides those awful black robes, which Cyril, your 
 brother," she added quickly, perceiving the slip she had 
 made in mentioning Cyril's name, ** used to hate to see 
 you wearing in Nova Scotia. 
 
 *' Oh, here is just the thing," she cried exultantly, as 
 she pounced upon a delicate gray cloth suit trimmed 
 with seal. 
 
 " Ofif with your wrapper miss and let me envelope you 
 in your bridal robes. 
 
MAEIONS MARRIAGE. 
 
 91 
 
 " By the way, what a handsome fellow that Spencer 
 is, who is to act the part of right hand supporter. I 
 shall set my cap for him if I have time, and he is not 
 already married. We will make a handsome couple. 
 Don't you think so ? " 
 
 " Oh Queenie, don't," implored her friend, " I cannot 
 bear to hear you joking on such a subject." 
 
 ** Oh don't imagine I am joking," answered the other 
 coolly. ** I am in sober earnest, I can tell you. The old 
 folks are very anxious to see me spliced, and I promised 
 before I left home to consider the matter during my 
 absence. 
 
 ** I suppose they are afraid I will soon be losing my 
 good looks, and they do not want an old maid on their 
 hands. 
 
 ** Now, this Spencer has taken my fancy and you 
 need not be surprised to see me making desperate love 
 to him before a week. 
 
 ** No I do not mean that of course, do not look so 
 horrified, but I will be having him making desperate 
 love to me. You need not look so incredulous. I 
 learned the art of attraction during my visit to New 
 YorJi three or four years ago, and I have been practicing 
 ever since. 
 
 " They gave me the name of being an awful flirt at 
 home, but I do not think I am deserving of that title." 
 
 Marion looked wistfully at her friend, as she acknow- 
 ledged to herself, how wide was now the gulf which 
 separated her and Cyril. 
 
 She had not seen the chilling greeting which his old 
 love had given her brother that morning, and which had 
 sent poor Cyril to prepare for his sister's nuptials with 
 an aching heart, but she gathered from her manner and 
 conversation that all love for her youthful sweetheart 
 had long been crushed from out Queenie's bosom. 
 
,t > 
 
 92 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 
 Her meditations were interrupted by a summons from 
 Cyril and in a few moments the wedding party were on 
 their way to the church where the ceremony was to take 
 place. 
 
 They were all much surprised on entering its portals 
 to find that quite a number of the bride's friends had 
 assembled to witness her marriage, for the story of her 
 life had already began to spread and * obers were 
 anxious to be present at the romantic wedding. » 
 
 As the party passed up the aisle the organist and 
 choir, who were in their accustomed places, started a 
 bridal hymn and at its close the words were spoken 
 which united the lives of Marion Whyman and Wilmer 
 Morton. 
 
 When the bride and groom had received the greetings 
 of their friends, for Marion found that her husband 
 appeared well known in her own circle, they entered a 
 carriage and, followed by the rest of the party, they were 
 driven directly to the hotel where Mrs. Morton was 
 residing, for it was Wilmer's intention to confront the 
 guilty woman and tax her with her crimes in the 
 presence of his wife and her friends. 
 
 Without a moment's warning they were ushered into 
 the room where she was sitting. 
 
 Her look of relief when she saw her son changing to 
 absolute fear when she discovered who was his com- 
 panion. J 
 
 She had reluctantly given her consent to Queenie's 
 ilriving out alone with him that morning. He had 
 given his mother to understand that he had something 
 very important to say to her which could not be said in 
 the presence of witnesses. 
 
 She had instantly concluded that something, was to 
 ask the girl to become his wife and they were permitted to 
 depart without further opposition. 
 
 m 
 
MAlllON S MAllUIAGE. 
 
 93 
 
 Their prolonged abseuce bad filled ber with a vague 
 alarm, which became a certainty when she saw Marion 
 leaning upon the arm of ber son with such a look of 
 happiness upon ber face as had been a stranger there 
 for many years. 
 
 All she knew, was now discovered and the stern look 
 upon' the face of her son told her that from him she 
 could expect no mercy. 
 
 She took one backward step as they came toward her 
 and with a wild shriek she sank senseless at the feet of 
 the two she bad so bitterly wronged. 
 
 Medical aid was soon on the spot, but all efforts to 
 restore her were unavailing. She had been summoned 
 to a higher tribunal, and only her lifeless clay was left 
 for her earthly judges. 
 
 lliGISf 
 
94 
 
 CYllIL WllYMAN.S MISTAKE. 
 
 CIlAPTEli X. 
 
 '*il!il 
 
 HOME AGAIN. 
 
 HE tender heart of Marion could not cherish 
 hatred for the dead, and her tears were mingled 
 freely with those of the hereaved dauj^hter who 
 so hitterly hewailed her darling mother's un- 
 timely end. 
 
 Lily pleaded hard for her brother's consent to their 
 mother being laid to rest with her kindred, and Marion, 
 seeing how it would comfort her new sister, joined in her 
 prayer. 
 
 Wilmer could not refuse Lily's request when it was 
 coupled by his wife's eloquent pleading, so he reluctantly 
 consented to their wishes. 
 
 Their preparations were quickly made, and, clad in 
 deepest mourning, they began their tiresome funeral 
 journey eastward. 
 
 Cyril and Queenie parted as they had met, and Marion, 
 with a heavy heart, commended her brother to Spencer's 
 care as she bade him good-bye. 
 
 A telegram announcing Mrs. Morton's tragic end was 
 sent by Wilmer from Montreal, and, on their arrival at 
 Digby, they were met by nearly one-half the inhabitants 
 of the town. • 
 
 Marion and Queenie were received by Mr. and Mrs. 
 Sylvestere, with open arms, and the surprise and delight 
 of that worthy couple knew no bounds when they found 
 Wilmer was still alive, and also that he was the husband 
 of Marion. . 
 
HOME AGAIN. 95 
 
 Mr. Sylvestere, who had always been a warm friend 
 and champion of Marion's, and had often been heard to 
 declare her equal did not exist, was charmed beyond 
 description over the change in her fortune. 
 
 " I always knew, Marion," he told her on the evening 
 of her arrival, ** that nature never designed you for an 
 old maid, and as there was no one who could fill Wil- 
 mer's place, he had to be resurrected in order that 
 you might be able to have Mistress carved upon your 
 monument ; but where in the world has he been buried 
 all these years ? " 
 
 ** It is a long and painful story, Mr. Sylvestere, which 
 we are too tired to relate to-night," answered Marion 
 with dignity, as she perceived the flush upon her hus- 
 band's face. 
 
 The recent bereavement in her husband's family 
 prevented Marion's appearance in society; but the 
 numerous calls made upon her testified to her popularity 
 during her former residence in Digby. 
 
 Mrs. Sylvestere insisted that they should all make Her 
 house their home during their stay in their native land, 
 which Wilmer declared should be 'long enough for his || 
 
 wife and sister to recover from their fatigue, before they 
 started on their return journey; for Lily, he decided, as . 
 she had no near relatives in Nova Scotia, must accom- • 
 pany them to their western home. 
 
 In the interval, he dismantled his mother's old home, 
 sold the furniture, and gave up the lease. 
 
 ** If we should ever return to Digby, which is extremely 
 improbable, he told Marion when she endeavoured to 
 remonstrate with him for disposing of everything, ** we 
 will want nothing to remind us of the past." 
 
 The surprise which Wilmer caused by his appearance 
 among his old friends, who all thought him dead, was 
 unbounded, but as Marion had begged that his mother's 
 treachery should not be exposed to her old acquaintances, 
 
 
 
 
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96 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 he endeavoured to gratify, their curiosity without expos- 
 ing the deception which she had perpetrated. 
 
 A month passed pleasantly away before he considered 
 them sufficiently rested to return to the land of their 
 adoption. 
 
 The day before their departure, he requested Marion 
 to accompany him to the place where her parents were 
 buried ; and as they neared the secluded spot, she was 
 much surprised to find the wooden pailings, which en- 
 closed their graves, had been replaced by a handsome 
 iron one. 
 
 The interior, where, in summer, roses shed their 
 fragrant perfume above the hallowed dead, had been 
 left undisturbed, but a beautiful monument had been 
 placed at their heads. 
 
 She lent over the railing and read the appropriate 
 inscription carved upon the marble tablets, then turned 
 to her husband, with glistening eyes and outstretched 
 hands. 
 
 " Wilmer, how can I ever thank you ? " she murmured 
 tremulously. 
 
 " How could you know that this was one of the dear- 
 est wishes of my heart ? I did not think it could be 
 done during the winter, but I intended asking Mr. 
 Sylvestere before I left to have it attended to next 
 summer," 
 
 " I knew my Marion would wish to have her parents' 
 graves cared for, though she would be too far away to 
 visit them; but your thanks should be reserved for 
 Cyril, my darling. I have simply carried out his wishes 
 here." 
 
 " Dear Cyril," exclaimed Marion softly, " He has so 
 little to make him happy." 
 
 " I always thought that he and Queenie would one 
 day marry. What has parted them ? " 
 
HOME AGAIN. 
 
 97 
 
 " Cyril would not ask Queenie to share his poverty, 
 and I fancy she has resented his desertion. I think 
 he still loves her dearly, hut she has evidently long 
 ceased to care for him. " 
 
 ** I am not so sure of that. I have a fancy that in the 
 inmost recess of little Queeme's loving heart there is 
 still a corner reserved for Cyril ; but she is too proud 
 to acknowledge it even to herself, and Cyril is also too 
 proud to boldly storm the fortress and enter into pos- 
 session." 
 
 "If my opinion of the girl is correct, she must be 
 wooed before she is won. But will Cyril ever be brave 
 enough to persevere in his wooing ? 
 
 "I observed them closely when they met in Van- 
 couver, and they gave me the impression of still being 
 warmly attached to each other ; but all their skill was 
 called into play for the purpose of deceiving each 
 other." 
 
 ** Cyril, you must remember, has seen such a living 
 example in the person of his sister of what a woman's 
 constancy can be, that he has lost faith in Queenie. He 
 forgets that there are few mortals who would be true to 
 their heart's affections through life and death. 
 
 "Queenie possesses an affectionate disposition as the 
 average maiden and is well worth the trouble of winning, 
 but Cyril expects too much, and will, I fear, never 
 endeavour to learn the truth, which she seems deter- 
 mined to conceal. 
 
 "But we must not stay out here longer my wife. 
 You must try and think of this spot, not as desolate as 
 it now appears, but picture to yourself the loved dead 
 as sleeping beneath a coverlid, of roses, with the happy 
 birds singing in the leafy branches above their head8, 
 and yonder brook softly murmuring as it flows gently 
 by their bed, seemingly fearful of disturbing their 
 repose." 
 
 I 
 
98 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 Marion pondered well over what her husband had 
 said during their rather silent homeward drive. 
 
 Could he be correct in his opinion ' of her brother and 
 her friend ? 
 
 That Cyril still cared for Queenie she felt no difficulty 
 in believing, but that the girl still cherished an affection 
 for her old lover she felt could not be true. And if it is 
 really so, she thought sadly, what can ever be done to 
 bring them together again ? 
 
 The North American continent is an effectual barrier 
 in their case. Queenie is sure to marry soon, for her 
 parents are so anxious to have her settled, and when 
 she does there will be an end to Cyril's happiness. 
 
 As they neared the town, Wilmer roused himself from 
 the fit of abstraction in which he had been indulging 
 since they left Dr. and Mrs. Whyman's graves, and 
 claimed his wife's attention. 
 
 ** I would, Marion," he said, as they passed by his old 
 home which was situated on the outskirts of the village, 
 ** have kept Digby sacred from the depredations of that 
 ruthless invader of old historic spots, vhich they call 
 modern improvement. It was such a quaint old place 
 in the past, with its old fashioned homes nestling 
 among the hills, it seems a sacrilege to destroy such a 
 picture of rural beauty. 
 
 " It should have been kepi as a place to come for rest 
 when one is tired of the .constant strife in the selfish 
 outside world. 
 
 ** But now behold the change. The streets are brilliant 
 with electric light, rivaling the beams of golden moon- 
 light, which, no where else, has ever seemed to shine 
 with half the radiancy as upon our beautiful Digby. 
 
 " The numerous fashionable residences, which sqar 
 their lofty heads above the old fashioned cottages of our 
 ancestors testifies to the fact that worldly ambition has 
 to a certain extent crept into this almost earthly Eden. 
 
HOME AGAIN. 
 
 99 
 
 ** She may have become a fashionable watering place 
 in recent years, but those who knew her long ago can 
 feel no pleasure in the change^ 
 
 " The American tourists who annually visit her and 
 rave over her picturesque beauty as she is, knew her 
 not as she was before steam and electricity established 
 themselves upon her shores/* 
 
 " And would you keep her in the back-ground when 
 her sister towns and villages are striving to keep abreast 
 of the times?" asked Marion, much surprised at the 
 melancholy view which he had taken of Digby, and the 
 numberless improvements which had been made in her 
 midst during the past decade — improvements of which 
 she well knew the modern Digby6nian was not a little 
 proud. 
 
 ** By no means if I could see any good resulting from 
 the change. But what enterprise is to be found here 
 that will support all this luxury ? With all her display, 
 I find she is compelled to look for outside aid to support 
 her in her splendour." 
 
 " You have lived so long among your bustling west- 
 ern millionaires, laughed Marion, " that you despise the 
 day of small things. You have forgotten that we cannol 
 carry on great enterprises here because the materials 
 with which to start them are not available. 
 
 ** Oh, there is Queenie looking for us." 
 
 ** You look as grave as two owls,'* cried Queenie from 
 the doorway, as they dismounted from their buggy. 
 
 ** Where in the world have you been all the afternoon? 
 Lil and I were just starting for the police station to 
 report you missing." 
 
 " For a drive," answered Wilmer curtly, noticing the 
 troubled look upon his wife's face as Queenie questioned 
 her. 
 
 y 
 
 fi 
 
100 
 
 CYRIL WIIYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 "Marion and I," he went on, in a lighter strain, as he 
 saw the shadow disappear, " have had our first quarrel. 
 She has mounted upon her dignity because I am not 
 prepared to go into raptures over Digby's modern im- 
 provements." 
 
 "You rebel," gaily answered Queenie, ** If it were not 
 ^or Marion, we would have you annihik^^ed for daring 
 to disparage our wonderful town. You should visit here 
 during the summer, when it is fairly bristling with 
 tourists. I guess you would be compelled to acknow- 
 ledge that we are a progressive people. I confess it is a 
 little dull here at this season of the year." 
 
 *' Like the bears, you retire into winter quarters and 
 rest till the spring and American tourists awake you 
 from your slumbers." 
 
 ** Not anything of the kind," she replied with a charm- 
 ing little pout. 
 
 " We are a very wide awake people here in the winter, 
 I can assure you. We have dances, skating, sleigh - 
 driving, and lots of other amusements, to make the time 
 pass pleasantly. It is a lovely place to hibernate in." 
 
 "A lovely place for pleasure, but how about the 
 profit? Does it not cost money to enjoy all those 
 pleasures ? " 
 
 *' Oh, western millionaires and American manufac- 
 turers scatter their wealth here during their summer 
 visits, and we have the happy faculty of taking care of 
 what we gather. Besides, you have forgotten that the 
 white wings of our fishermen bring countless stores of 
 gold to our shores. 
 
 " You must not imagine because we do not have a 
 gold mine in our midst that we never see the precious 
 metal. Our railways and steamboats are constantly 
 pouring the treasures of other lands into our laps. 
 
 *' There goes the teabell. Lil and I have an engage- 
 ment this evening. You have managed to exist all the 
 afternoon without our aid, so you will, no doubt, be able 
 to get through the evening in some way." 
 
HOME AGAIN. 
 
 101 
 
 Marion glanced at her husband with a mischievous 
 smile as Queenie finished. 
 
 Her expression seemed to say, You have the worst of 
 the argument. 
 
 And Wilmer, good-naturedly accepting his defeat, 
 drew the young lady's hand through his arm and led 
 her into the dining-room. 
 
 ** I tell Lil," she merrily exclaimed, as she seated her- 
 self at the table, " that she is not to have anything to 
 say to Mr. Spencer, for I have set my heart on him for 
 a husband. 
 
 " Do you think, Mr. Morton, I can induce him to 
 transfer himself and his millions to Digby ?" 
 
 "I am afraid not. He would not think there was 
 room enough for him to exercise around here." 
 
 "Then, I shall have to go west," — with mock resigna- 
 tion. " Marion, you will have me for a neighbour after 
 all." 
 
 " I hope so," answered Marion earnestly, as she looked 
 steadfastly into the girl's glowing face; and Queenie, 
 perceiving the mistake she had made, quickly changed 
 the conversation. 
 
 Mrs. Sylvestere'waylaid Marion as they left the supper . 
 room, and carried her off to her private apartment for 
 a quiet chat. 
 
 ** Do you think, Marion," asked the elder lady, as she 
 drew a couple of comfortable lounging chairs before the 
 glowing grate, for herself and visitor, " that Queenie 
 and Cyril still care for each other?" 
 
 " It is hard for me to say, my dear Mrs. Sylvestere," 
 answered Marion. " That Cyril cares for Queenie, I feel 
 assured, although I am not in my brother's confidence 
 in the matter. But I am not so certain about Queenie's 
 affection for Cyril." 
 
 "Who is this Spencer she talks so much about ? " 
 
 I. 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 
 %" 
 
102 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 '* A friend of Wilmer's, who stood with her when we 
 were married. That is only a bit of her nonsense. She 
 cares nothing about him." 
 
 ** I would give much, Marion, to see Queenie happily 
 married, but she seems extremely hard to please. 8he 
 has refused some most excellent matches, both in Nova 
 Scotia and New York during the past four years. I 
 cannot understand what she wants or what she is wait- 
 ing for unless it is Cyril." 
 
 " She certainly is not waiting for Cyril," said Marion, 
 decidedly, ** for she scarcely treated him civilly when 
 they met in Vancouver. 
 
 " I know the poor boy felt very much hurt at her 
 manner, but he made no complaint." 
 
 " Then, if it is not Cyril, who can il be ? " she asked, 
 rising, with a troubled look, and Marion could only echo 
 her question. 
 
 The next day, they bade an affectionate adieu to their 
 kind entertainers, and turned their faces once more to 
 the distant west. 
 
 Wilmer insisted that their homeward journey should 
 be made in easy stages, and a considerable halt was 
 made at Montreal, where a large quantity of furniture 
 and art treasures were selected for the adornment of 
 their western home, which he declared should be one of 
 the finest residences in Vancouver, where he purposed 
 for the future to reside. 
 
 Marion, seated in the elegant palace car which bore 
 her onward, and surrounded by every luxury which her 
 husband's thoughtful care or money could procure, could 
 not help contrasting the present with her former lonely 
 journey. 
 
 The various amusements which he was constantly 
 providing on the road, caused the time to pass like 
 magic, and almost before they were aware of the fact 
 they had arrived at Kamloops, one of the principal 
 inland towns of the western province. 
 
HOME AGAIN. 
 
 103 
 
 Here they were soon joined by Cyril, for whom 
 Wilmer had telegraphed when they left Calgary and in 
 whose care he left .them while he departed for the mines 
 at Cariboo, after instructing him to take them to Van- 
 couver when they were sufficiently rested, where he 
 planne'^ to join them in a few days. 
 
 T^j eeting between Marion and her brother was a 
 
 wai. ie, and as she looked upon his handsome face 
 
 where lines of care were already beginning to appear, 
 
 she resolved to try and bring about a match between 
 
 .him and Lily. 
 
 " Queenie," she reflected,* ** is probably lost to him 
 forever, and Lily will make him an excellent wife. 
 
 She had developed quite a taste for match making 
 during the past few weeks, and it was amusing to watch 
 the little matronly airs which she had assumed, and 
 which became her so well. 
 
 After Cyril was disposed of she resolved to see what 
 she could do for Spencer in the way of providing him a 
 wife, but Cyril, she thought, must be her first care. 
 
 The parties in question being fortunately unconscious 
 of the plans formed for their mutual benefit, became 
 excellent friends during the time they were thrown 
 together, and Marion was delighted to note Cyril's atten- 
 tions to her sister-in-law. 
 
 Her old servants, who still retained their places in 
 Cyril's household, were much pleased to again welcome 
 their beloved mistress, and their life fell gradually into 
 the old groove, while Wilmer was engaged in settling his 
 business in the interior so that it could, in future, be 
 left almost entirely to the management of his subordin- 
 ates. 
 
 liii'-i 
 
104 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MARIONS DEFEAT. 
 
 N Wilmer's arrival in Vancouver, his first act 
 was to select what he considered a suitable 
 home for his wife. ' 
 
 He resolved that no expense should be 
 spared to make it one of the most elegant homes of the 
 city. 
 
 After much deliberation, a beautiful suburban resi- 
 dence, which the owners were anxious to dispose of, was 
 purchased, and the work of furnishing began. 
 
 This occupied some little time, but at last everything 
 was completed to their entire satisfaction and the owners 
 quietly walked in and took possession. 
 
 Marion could hardly realize for a time, as she passed 
 from one beautiful apartment to another, that this 
 splendour was all her own, but after a while the charm 
 of novelty was worn off, and she gradually settled down 
 to enjoy her new possessions. 
 
 She felt very badly at first about again leaving Cyril 
 alone, but reflected that it would probably be for only a 
 short time. Everything seemed in her eyes to be pro- 
 gressing favourably and she thought it would not be 
 long before Lily would be his chosen companion and 
 helpmate. 
 
 But the best laid plans for the comfort or enjoyment 
 of our fellow-mortals are more frequently interfered 
 with by the parties most interested than in any other 
 way, and Marion's proved no exception to the general 
 rule. 
 
MARION S DEFEAT. 
 
 4 
 
 105 
 
 One of the first to visit them in their new home was 
 Spencer who soon appeared much attracted hy the fair 
 Lily. The attraction was soon discovered to be mutual 
 and in a short time an engagement was announced 
 between them. 
 
 Marion accepted her defeat bravely, and after a time 
 was really glad of the girl's good fortune. She felt 
 assured that Spencer would make a model husband and 
 next to Cyril he was the one of all others she would 
 have chosen for her husband's sister. 
 
 When the prospective bride's year of mourning had 
 expired preparations were begun on an elaborate scale 
 for the grand wedding which was to follow. Before 
 this, however, an infant daughter had been presented 
 to the house of Morton, which, in the eyes of the devoted 
 parents, was looked upon as one of the most wonderful 
 infants ever sent to this earth to gladden the hearts of 
 erring mortals. 
 
 When Queenie had been informed of Lily's engage- 
 ment she had, in mock despair, written to say her fate 
 was now decided, and that the only happiness now, 
 remaining for her in this world was to know that 
 Marion's daughter would bear her name. Accordingly 
 with great pomp, befitting such an auspicious occasion 
 the youthful heiress had been christened Queenie Syl- 
 vestere, Cyril and Lily acting as sponsors, much to the 
 disgust of Herbert Spencer, who did not relish the idea 
 of his bride elect being in that position with any other 
 man. 
 
 The affair, however, was a great success and Marion 
 the next afternoon had just begun a letter to Queenie 
 giving her a detailed account of the proceedings when 
 she espied Cyril sauntering leisurely up the avenue. 
 
 The peerless infant was reclining in a bassinet at her 
 feet, for it was rarely she allowed it out of her sight. 
 Others might leave the care of their luckless offspring 
 to careless hired nurses, but the heiress of the house of 
 
 8 
 
106 
 
 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 Morton was far too precious a parcel of humanity to be 
 allowed for long far away from her mother's watchful 
 eye. 
 
 Cyril smiled good naturedly as he entered the room, 
 and saw the interesting picture. 
 
 " You are still occupying the position of head nurse 
 ill the Morton nursery, I see Marion, can't j'ou find a 
 competent woman to take your place ? " 
 
 " I have a nurse, thank you," answered his sister 
 c )ldly, as he came towards her. 
 
 " Indeed, she is eating her dinner, I suppose. Are 
 you writing more invitations for to-morrow's celebra- 
 tion ? " 
 
 " No, I am writing to Queenie.". 
 
 ** Why not wait until after the wedding, and have 
 some news worth writing about ? " 
 
 ** I have the christening to write about," answered his 
 sister with some asperity. 
 
 ** Oh, so you have," and another provoking smile 
 accompanied the exclamation. 
 
 Then seeing Marion was really offended he hastily 
 added : 
 
 ,** I have just met Spencer down town, and upon my 
 word I think that worthy gontleman is in doubt whether 
 he is walking on his head or his heels. He seems to 
 think that the only interesting topic of conversation in 
 Vancouver to-day, is his wedding. I shall be truly glad 
 when it is all over, but I just helped him to select some 
 splendid jewelry for the adornment of the bride." 
 
 ** Lily is a very fortunate girl," said Marion, thought- 
 fully, glancing at the occupant of the lace and ribbon 
 bedecked basket at her feet. 
 
 * ■ Do you not think, Uncle Cyril, that our little Queenie 
 resembles her ? " 
 
 " Well, I don't know, I am sure," dubiously answered 
 Cyi'il, as he bent his head to conceal a smile. 
 
MARION S DEFEAT. 
 
 107 
 
 ** Fact is, Marion, I guess all young ones look alike 
 when they are the age of that kid." * 
 
 ** Young ones ! kid ! " she repeated scornfully. " Both 
 black and white, you mean, I suppose ? " 
 
 ** I could not really say, never saw a white one to my 
 knowledge. All that I have any recollection of meeting 
 were red." 
 
 "It is quite plain to be seen that you are a bachelor, 
 wait till you have a family of your own, then see if you 
 see any difference," exclaimed Marion angrily. 
 
 *' We will not stay in the same apartment with such 
 a wretched man, will we, my pet ? What would papa 
 say if he heard him ? " and stooping, the adoring 
 mother, lifted her precious burden and bert a hasty 
 retreat. 
 
 ** Such is life," cynically muttered Cyril as she care- 
 fully closed the door behind her, so fearful was she of 
 awakening her offspring. 
 
 ** Women are all alike, and men too for that matter," 
 he added, as the infatuation of hia friend Herbert 
 occurred suddenly to him. 
 
 " I wonder where I can find a rational being with 
 whom I can enjoy a few moments conversation to put a 
 little life into me for to-morrow's ordeal. I will not find 
 one in my own family that is quite evident,, so I might 
 as well go home." 
 
 And taking up his hat he quietly made his exit from 
 the house. 
 
 The following day the marriage of Lily Morton and 
 Herbert was solemnized in great splendour. The bride 
 was radiant in shimmering silk and glittering jewels and 
 the groom radiant with happiness, but at last all was 
 over, and much to Cyril's relief, he watched the steamer 
 for Victoria leave the pier with Mr. and Mrs. Herbert 
 Spencer on board, and then silently wendod his way 
 back to his lonely home. 
 
 But a spirit of unrest had taken possession of him 
 and he began to wish for a companion to share his soli- 
 
108 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 tude. Marion's quick eye soon perceived that some- 
 thing was wrong with her brother, and insisted that he 
 should make his home with them for a time, but he 
 son became tired of being forced to daily undergo an 
 unlimited amount of baby worship, and quickly returned 
 to his own humble fireside. 
 
 At last he became so nervous and irritable that he 
 declared he could not stand Vancouver longer, and 
 resolved to have a change. 
 
 A warm letter from Herbert and his wife inviting him 
 to pay them a visit soon decided him, and throwing his 
 business cares upon the shoulders of his partner, who 
 had recently been admitted to the firm, he sailed for 
 Victoria. 
 
 **Their honeymoon has probably expired by this time 
 and they will have begun to act like rational human 
 beings," he soliloquized, leaning over the railing, as the 
 steamer rapidly crossed the gulf. '* And thank good- 
 ness there is no wonderful baby in the house, that 
 one will be expected to go down upon one'f? knees before, 
 morning, noon and night. I wonder if I will find the 
 place much changed, and if there are many of the old 
 set left. What Jolly times I have had there, but it came 
 near finishing me socially and financially. 
 
 Herbert, with a beaming countenance, met him at 
 the pier on the arrival of the steamer, and he was soon 
 receiving a warm welcome from his friend's wife in their 
 elegant home. 
 
 As Cyril had predicted, their honeymoon was over, 
 and he at first found a real pleasure in his visit to his 
 friends. Although they were evidently still warmly 
 attached to each other, they were by no means what 
 mi^t be called a spooney couple, and Mrs. Herbert pos- 
 sessed the happy faculty of making her guests feel very 
 much at home in her cosy mansion. 
 
 Had she permitted Cyril to go his own sweet way 
 undisturbed he would have enjoyed himself very much, 
 but like all young matrons she had imbibed a decided 
 
MARION S DEFEAT. 
 
 109 
 
 taste for match-making, and she looked upon Cyril as 
 her legitimate prey, consequently every eligible young 
 lady in her circle was produced for his inspection. 
 
 He soon began to invent various excuses for absent- 
 ing himself from her receptions, and Herbert was begin- 
 ning to feel very much concerned about his friend's 
 desertion. 
 
 " Could it be possible,'' he asked himself, " that the 
 old fast set which still held sway in the city was attract- 
 ing him as they had done in the past ? If such was the 
 case he felt he could never forgive himself for putting 
 him in the way of temptation. 
 
 He began to watch him more closely and one morn- 
 ing, when he found on Cyril's plate a dainty tinted note 
 in the well remembered chirography of Lucy Waddle, 
 now Mrs. Armstrong, he feared his suspicions were well 
 founded and he mentally resolved to remonstrate with 
 him at the first favorable opportunity. 
 
 ** You must try and hold yourself free for to-morrow 
 evening, Mr. Whyman," said his hostess entering the 
 breakfast room a few moments after her guests, " for 
 I particularly promised Mrs. Archibald that we would 
 bring you with us to her at home. She says she once 
 knew your mother and seems very anxious to meet you." ' 
 
 " I am extremely sorry,"||said Cyril who had finished 
 his letters, ** but I have already accepted in a manner 
 an invitation from Mrs Armstrong, and I do not feel at 
 liberty to break it." • 
 
 **Mrs. Armstrong," said husband and wife at the 
 same time. A dead silence then followed the exclama- 
 tion which Mrs. Spencer at length broke by saying " No 
 one feels any compunction at breaking their engagments 
 with Mrs. Armstrong." 
 
 " And why not?" queestioned Cyril. 
 
 " She has always been a leader of one of the fastest 
 sets of the city, but lately she is not recognized by the 
 best circles." 
 
110 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN'S MISTAKE. 
 
 " If that is the case I shall not hesitate to accompany 
 you," said Cyril, who had perceived that his friends did 
 not approve of his visiting at Mrs. Armstrong's but he 
 quietly resolved to make his escape from Victoria as 
 soon as possible. 
 
 He returned home and endeavoured by working 
 unceasingly at his profession, to content himself. But 
 he soon found he was not to be left in peace. 
 
 Marion had made up her mind that her brother must 
 have a wife, and that it was also her duty to assist him 
 in procuring one. So engaging a trusty nurse for the 
 youthful Queenie, she devoted all her energies to the 
 accomplishment of her purpose. 
 
 Cyril, much against his will, and in spite of protesta- 
 tions, was dragged from one ball room to another till at 
 last in his despair he resolved to fly from the country, 
 in order that he might escape from his persecutors. 
 
 The fact that he had recently been appointed to the 
 bench of judges increased his popularity among the fair 
 sex, and a large number appeared willing and even 
 anxious to share his honours. But their efforts to cap- 
 tivate the youthful magnate were in vain, for he had 
 resolved to make a desperate effort to win his old sweet- 
 heart. 
 
 Accordingly he suddenly announced his intention to 
 the Mortons of going to Nova Scotia for a brief visit. 
 
 Marion was delighted upon receiving this intelligence, 
 and immediately wrote a long letter to Mrs. Sylvestere 
 informing her of Cyril's promotion, and also his con- 
 templated journey to the Atlantic coast. The letter was 
 received by that lady with much secret satisfaction, but 
 she wisely resolved not to acquaint Queenie with the 
 fact that Cyril was coming. 
 
 "He has a hard fight ahead of him, poor fellow," 
 thought the sagacious old lady, **but if he possesses 
 sufficient patience and perseverance he will conquer her 
 in the end." 
 
TO BE OR NOT TO B3 
 
 111 
 
 CHAPTEK XII. 
 
 ce, 
 ere 
 on- 
 vas 
 
 >» 
 
 ises 
 
 . TO BE OR NOT TO BE. 
 
 IEEE'S news for you Queenie," said Mr. 
 Sylvestere, looking np from his paper, as 
 his daughter entered the breakfast room, 
 one lovely spring morning in the early 
 part of May. 
 
 *' What is it papa?" she asked in a languid manner* 
 as she seated herself. 
 
 " Has the house of parliament dissolved ? " 
 
 ^ " No, something far more important to* th^ female 
 portion of the population than that. His Honour 
 Judge C. E. Whyman, of Vancouver, B.C., is at the 
 Halifax. What a swell he will be. You girls will have 
 to get out all your prettiest finery for there will be a 
 grand stampede for the great legal luminary when .he 
 arrives among us." 
 
 ** Oh, we have had just as important people in oin- 
 community before, and they managed to avoid capture," 
 answered his daughter coldly, as she slowly broke her 
 
 egg- r 
 
 Her mother looked at her anxiously. Dare she 
 remonstrate with Queenie? 
 
 *' But no," she thought, " i| is best to let matters 
 take their course. If she will, she will, and if she will 
 not, no power on earth will force her to accept him. 
 Interference can do no good here." 
 
 But although outwardly so calm Queenie's heart was 
 beating so violently while she made a pretence of eating 
 
112 CYRIL WHYMAN'S MISTAKE. 
 
 her breakfast, that she almost feared her parents would 
 hear it. 
 
 "At last," she exclaimed triumphantly when she 
 reached the seclusion of her own room. ** He is coming 
 at last, and I — what shall I do ? Fall into his arms 
 when he deigns to open them for me, and promise to 
 be his submissive and loving wife till the end of the 
 chapter ? Or — " and an angry light sparkled in the 
 beautiful eyes as she hesitated over that one little word. 
 
 ** No, Master Cyril," she said at length, " You think 
 with all your ? onours fresh upon you, you have but to 
 come in order that you may conquer, but you have come 
 nearly five years too late. However, you shall have the 
 pleasure of asking the question." 
 
 Her meditations were here interrupted by an infantile 
 voice at the door clamoring for admission and hastily 
 throwing it open, the three year old son of her cousin 
 Mattie, who had been left in her care while his parents 
 made a tour*of the province, entered the room. 
 
 Queenie made a great pet of the little fellow and he* 
 spent most of his time in her company while he resided 
 with them. 
 
 " Nursie said dat you didn't want me dis morning," 
 he sobbed as he clambered into her lap. 
 
 " You rlo want me don't you Aunt Queenie ? " and the 
 cArly head dropped upon her shoulder and two chubbie 
 arms clasped her tightly around the neck. 
 
 ** Why of course I want you darling," answered 
 Queenie, as she returned his loving caress, and endeav- 
 oured to rock him. 
 
 But Master Willie had come for a purpose, and he 
 promptly made known his wishes. 
 
 ** Det your hat, Aunt Queenie, and take Willie out for 
 a walk, nursie said it was too fine to stay in the house." 
 
 " You little rebel you," laughed Queenie as she obeyed 
 the command of the young autocrat, " I guess Nursie 
 wanted you to go with her." 
 
TO BE OR NOT TO BE. 
 
 113 
 
 "Yes, but I diss I sooner go with you." 
 
 ** Very well, come along, we will go and look for May 
 flowers.*' 
 
 The two spent the morning in the woods, only return- 
 ing home in time to dress for dinner. 
 
 As they mounted the steps, their hands filled with 
 the fragrant flowers, the door was suddenly opened and 
 Cyril Whyman, accompanied by her father, stood before 
 them. 
 
 The meeting, although unexpected at the moment, 
 was not altogether a surprise to Queenie, for she had 
 felt all the morning that they would meet before the 
 day was over. She knew he would not be long in his 
 native town, before he came to call upon them, but she 
 would much have preferred postponing the meeting for 
 an hour or two till she was in a more presentable attire. 
 
 She could not read Cyril's thoughts at that moment, 
 therefore she did not know that in his eyes she never 
 looked more lovely. 
 
 ** Here you are Qaeenie," cried her father gaily. 
 ** Now perhaps we can prevail upon Cyril to take dinner 
 with us. I have exhausted all my eloquence, but in 
 vain. It takes a woman to manage this sort of work 
 properly. Where is your mother ? " 
 
 " I have not seen her since breakfast, but she will be 
 here sodn, She has probably gone to visit some of her 
 old pensioners. 
 
 "Mr. Whyman — or, begging your pardon — Judge 
 Whyman, you must really dine with us, for mamma will 
 be awfully disappointed on her return, if she has had 
 the misfortune to miss seeing you on your first visit." 
 
 "There, Cyril, you cannot be heartless enough to 
 refuse that," said his host with a loud laugh. 
 
 " Did I not tell you it takes a woman to invite one in 
 a proper manner." 
 
 " I should like very much to see Mrs. Sylvesters," said 
 Cyril wavering. 
 
114 CYRIL WHYMAN'S MISTAKE. 
 
 *• Well, here she is to add her requests to papa's and 
 mine. You cannot refuse the trio. I must deliver 
 Willie up to his nurse. I will see your Honour again at 
 dinner, I trust," and she swept him a mocking courtesy, 
 as she vanished up the stairway with Willie in her arms. 
 
 **You appear to have received an addition to your 
 family since I left Digby," said his Honour as he 
 watched Queenie disappear. '' Is it too late for congrat- 
 ulations ? " 
 
 '* No, but rather too early," answered the other with a 
 hearty laugh. 
 
 ** Not a word to Mrs. Sylvestere. Let us see if she 
 will recognize you." 
 
 The caution was a useless one, for as soon as she 
 saw him she hurried up the flower-bordered walk, 
 exclaiming, 
 
 " I expected you to-day, Cyril Whyman. Welcome 
 home again. You aite not a bit changed. I should have 
 known you anywhere, but you are going to take dinner 
 with us," grasping his arm and pulling him through 
 the door-way. 
 
 ** Come right in William. Where is Queenie ? " 
 
 ** She has just come in from the woods with Willie, 
 and both were loaded with flowers and freckles," was 
 her husband's answer. 
 
 ** Cyril has an idea," chuckled the old gentletaan as 
 he followed his wife and their guest into the parlor, 
 *' that we have been treating ourselves to a son and heir 
 since he left home." 
 
 His wife's merry laugh filled the room like the tink- 
 ling of a silver bell. No one who heard her could fail 
 to appreciate Mrs. Sylvestere's musical laugh. It was 
 so hearty and unaffected, and she evidently enjoyed 
 immensely Cyril's mistake. 
 
 '* Did 3^ou explain ? " she asked when the fun had 
 somewhat subsided. 
 
 *• No, I have not yet had an opportunity. The little 
 man is a grandson of my brother Tom. You remember 
 
TO BE OR NOT TO BE. 
 
 115 
 
 him do you not Cyril ? You was quite a lad when he 
 left here for New York ? " 
 
 Then, without waiting for Cyril's answer, he con- 
 tinued : 
 
 " His father and mother left him with us while they 
 went on a gigantic Mayflower expedition through Nova 
 Scotia, hut 1, for one, heartily wish they had taken him 
 along, for Queenie has neither eyes nor ears for anybody 
 else while he is around. 
 
 The old gentleman apparently had a grievance which 
 
 he intended to air, had not the entrance of Queenie 
 
 prevented him, and the ringing of the dinner bell just 
 
 , then called them all to the dining room, where they were 
 
 soon engaged in animated discussion over their soup. 
 
 ** How did you leave them all in Vancouver ?" asked 
 Queenie as soon as the opportunity presented itself for 
 inquiring after her friends. 
 
 ** All well, thank you. Marion managed to rob that 
 wonderful baby of enough time to send you all heaps of 
 love and good wishes." 
 
 ** I expect you are all very fond of that baby ? " said 
 Mrs. Bylvestere. 
 
 ** Fond does not half express it. Marion and Wilmer 
 consider that the world was created for the express, pur- 
 pose of forming a home for the peerless infant." 
 
 " How about the wonderful babies that have lived 
 before this one ? " asked Queenie mischievously. 
 
 *' Oh, they were probably sent to render the earth a 
 more perfect residence for this especial youngster." 
 
 ** Does Lily and her husband live near the rest ? " 
 inquired Mr. Sylvestere changing the subject. 
 
 ** No, they live in Victoria, where Lily has already 
 become one of the social leaders of the city." 
 
 " I thought the people in the west were too busy to 
 bother their heads much about society,'* said Mrs. Syl- 
 vestere rising. 
 
 "You should have taken a trip out there. You would 
 not be long changing your mind. I think I saw more 
 
116 CYRIL WHYMAN'S MISTAKE. 
 
 style while I was in Vancouver than I ever saw in any 
 other city of twice its size/' said her daughter. 
 
 The weeks which followed Cyril's arrival in Digby 
 were gay ones in the little town. Invitations were 
 poured upon Judge Why man from all quarters, and 
 dances, balls, parties and picnics followed in rapid suc- 
 cession. 
 
 Queenie often smiled scornfully to herself as she saw 
 the village belles pluming their feathers for the purpose 
 of making a conquest of the great Western celebrity. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Sylvestere's hopes that Cyril had 
 returned to his native land for the purpose of carrying « 
 away Qaeenie was soon apparent to all. At the gay 
 gatherings he was her constant and devoted attendant. 
 
 But did the girl mean to accept him ? That was the 
 question which troubled her mother. 
 
 True she seemed to have no eyes for anyone else 
 when he was by, but there was no telling what freak she 
 might take into her head. She had become such an 
 arrant coquette during the last few years, that she 
 would think no more of throwing Cyril over, after all the 
 encouragement she had given him, than she would 
 hesitate to throw aside a pair of her worn out gloves. 
 
 She was so anxious to have Queenie married that she 
 felt she could even cheerfully consent to her residence 
 in Vancouver, for she well knew it would be useless for 
 them to ask Cyril to give up his position in the west and 
 return to Digby. True it was hard to have their one 
 darling living so far away from them, but she would 
 occupy a very exalted position in her Western home. 
 Besides, was not Marion there, and they well knew if all 
 others failed, Marion would take excellent care of their 
 loved one. 
 
 The first of June came all too soon for Cyril, who had 
 been enjoying himself among his native hills as he had 
 not done since he was a boy. 
 
TO BE OR NOT TO BE. 
 
 117 
 
 
 He knew he must soon return to his western home, 
 but he dreaded unspeakably to disturb the hours of quiet 
 enjoyment which he and Queenie were spending together, 
 by venturing to ask for more. He felt that if she 
 refused to answer yes to the question he almost feared 
 to ask her, that one of the brightest hopes of his life 
 would be forever crushed. 
 
 But he could afford to delay no longer, so he awoke one 
 fine June morning resolving to know his fate before the 
 sun, which was then smiling in his face, sank to rest 
 beneath the western hills. 
 
 That day there was to be a small picnic among the 
 beautiful groves upon the opposite shore, and it was in 
 this sylvan retreat that he decided the question should 
 be asked. 
 
 Accordingly, when the party landed from the boat 
 which brought them over, and began to break up into 
 couplen and groups, he led Queenie to a retired spot, 
 and, throwing himself on the ground at her feet, he 
 earnestly begged her to return with him to Vancouver, 
 and become the dear companion of his future life. 
 
 Queenie's heart beat rapidly with mingled pain and 
 triumph as she listened to her impassioned lover. 
 
 The revenge for which she had longed \^as at last 
 accomplished, but she felt no pleasure in her victory. 
 For one moment she was undecided. Could she deliber- 
 ately send him out of her life for ever ? But she hesi- 
 tated only for a moment. There came the recollection 
 of all he had caused her to suffer in the past, and her 
 heart was instantly steeled to the pleading look which 
 she saw upon her lover's face, as he waited patiently for 
 his answer. 
 
 " I am aware, Cyril, that the position you offer me 
 is an exalted one, but you have forgotten the sacrifice I 
 should be compelled to make were I to accept your offer. 
 I should be an exile from my native land and also from 
 
118 CYRIL WHYMAN'S MISTAKE. 
 
 my beloved parents, who would be almost heart-broken 
 over the separatipn. No, I fear I cannot become your 
 wife. The sacrifice is too great a one for me." 
 
 ** I did not ask you for a sacrifice. It was your love 
 which I wao seeking," he exclaimed indignantly. 
 
 Then, seeing the distressed look upon the girl's face, 
 he laid his hand upon her arm, as he tenderly asked, 
 
 " Queenie, have you forgotten what we once were to 
 each other ? " 
 
 ** Pleasant friends and companions, as we have also 
 been the past few weeks," she answered brightly, with- 
 out daring to look at him, however. 
 
 ** Shall we rejoin our friends?" 
 
 Silently he offered his arm and led her back to' her 
 gay companions, then quickly disappeared into the 
 solitudes of the dense forest. 
 
 He had accepted his defeat bravely, but not yet could 
 he meet any of his young friends. All was over, he 
 thought, and there was nothing for him to do except 
 return home. He had made the long and tiresome 
 journey for nothing. 
 
 He wandered back to the boat as the party were em- 
 barking for home, and, quietly seating himself in the 
 stern, he grasped the tiller. 
 
 The day, which had been so dreary for him, had also 
 been a long and tiresome one for Queenie ; but at last it 
 was over, and she was alone in her own chamber. 
 
 ** "What will papft and mamma say when they learn 
 what I have done to-day ? I wonder will they curse me 
 for my folly?" 
 
LOVES TIUUMPII. 
 
 119 
 
 CHAPTER Xllf. 
 
 LOVE 8 TRIUMPH. 
 
 I 
 
 HEN Cyril awoke the next morning, lie 
 decided that his wisest course was to re- 
 turn to his home at once. He now knew 
 that Queenie was lost to him for ever, and 
 he had never realized how much he loved her till he 
 discovered she was not for him. How could it be 
 possible, he thought, that the sun was shining so 
 brightly, and the birds singing so gaily, when he was 
 so miserable. He felt it would be torture for him to 
 endure the dreary monotony of the long railway journey, 
 but he longed unspeakably for home and the tender 
 sympathies of his sister Marion. 
 
 If he could only go by water he felt he could stand it, 
 l)ut to sit day after day in a railway car in his present 
 frame of mind would be simply impossible. 
 
 He would go by water. He would take the steamer 
 from Yarmouth to Boston, thence to Aspinwall via New 
 York, across the Isthmus to Panama, then steam to San 
 Francisco, and from there it would be a pleasant sail up 
 the Pacific Coast to his home. 
 
 He would start at once. Consulting a time table, he 
 found a steamer sailed to Boston that day, and he 
 instantly decided that he would sail in her. His pack- 
 ing was soon completed, and after breakfast he resolved 
 to walk out and visit his parents' grave. He was in no 
 mood for leave-taking, and he felt that this would be the 
 most effectual way of passing the remainder of his stay 
 
 li 
 
120 CYRIL WHYMANS MISTAKE. 
 
 in Digby» if he wished to avoid meeting any of his 
 acquaintances. His train did not leave till two, and he 
 felt he must do something to pass the time, or he should 
 go crazy. 
 
 He hurried past the residence of Mr. Sylvestere, and 
 soon struck the country road which led to hisi destina- 
 tion. 
 
 He had not gone far, when he heard cries of distress 
 in the distance, and, quickening his p^ee, he soon came 
 upon a scene which almost froze the blood in his veins 
 with horror. 
 
 Upon the topmost branch of an old and rotten tree, 
 standing by the roadside, and which was still remaining 
 in an upright position, was clinging a little child, who 
 was crying piteously to be taken from its perilous 
 situation ; while, beneath, Queenie was beseeching a 
 young man to go to the rescue of her little cousin. 
 
 " It is impossible for you to think of such a thing. 
 Miss Queenie," Cyril heard him saying, as he rapidly 
 neared them. 
 
 " Those rotten branches would not bear one-fourth of 
 my weight. How in the world did the little villain ever 
 get himself into such a predicament?" 
 
 " How is be to be rescued, is, I should say, a vastly 
 more important question at present," scornfully replied 
 Queenie. 
 
 " He cannot be rescued. No human power can reach 
 him. It would be tempting Providence to try to climb 
 that tree.^' 
 
 " Would you leave him there to perish ? Is this all 
 the regard you have for the life of a human being ? " 
 
 " I have more regard for my own life than to throw it 
 away in such a foolhardy undertaking. Perhaps he will 
 come down himself if he is left alone." 
 
 " You know he will never come down without aid I 
 but as you are such a cowp*rd, see if you cannot procure 
 
LOVE S TRIUMPH. 
 
 121 
 
 other and more effectual help. Too much time has 
 already been wasted in useless conversation. You should 
 have no trouble in finding plenty of brave men in 
 town." 
 
 And she deliberately turned her back upon the 
 offender, as she wondered if it would be possible for her 
 to reach the child herself. 
 
 But just then his wild scream for help was answered, 
 and with a glad cry she watched Cyril rapidly divest 
 himself of his hat and coat and spring among the de- 
 cayed branches. 
 
 The two spectators watched him with breathless 
 interest as he quickly made the ascent. 
 
 A tiny, helpless child was above him, and it must be 
 rescued at any cost, he thought, as he toiled upwards. 
 
 At last the top was reached, and they saw him firmly 
 grasp the child and draw it carefully towards him. 
 
 At that moment Queenie realized her wickedness in 
 sending her noble lover from her; but. she felt it was 
 now too late for her to rectify her mistake. She loyed 
 him, but by her own folly she had lost him for ever. 
 
 But not for long did she allow herself to dwell upon 
 her own misery. Her attention was fixed upon his peril. 
 Encumbered as he was with Willie, would he ever reach 
 the earth in safety. 
 
 More than aalf the descent has been safely made, and 
 she begins to hope that the worst is over. When, with 
 a wild scream of horror, she sees the limb upon which he 
 is resting parting from the trunk, and, in an instant, he 
 is lying senseless on the ground at her feet. 
 
 Even in his rapid descent, he has proved his presence 
 of mind by firmly grasping W^'Uie and endeavouring to 
 break his fall, and beyond the fact that he was slightly 
 stunned when his protector struck the ground beneath 
 him, giving him a violent shock, he appeared little the 
 worse for his adventure. 
 
 9 
 
 //*, 
 
122 
 
 CYRIL WHYMAN S MISTAKE. 
 
 But not SO with Cyril. All Queenie's efforts to restore 
 him are unavailing. 
 
 At last, in despair, she seats herself, lays his head 
 upon her lap, and, in piteous accents, begs her com- 
 panion to go for help. 
 
 "What ? and leave you here alone with a dead man," 
 he remonstrates. 
 
 That word drives her nearly frantic ; but she quietly 
 raises her arm and points in the direction of the town, 
 uttering the single word, ** Go." 
 
 ' He silently turns to obey her commands, awed by the 
 look upon her face, and she is left alone to pour her 
 unavailing tears upon the face of her motionless 
 lover. 
 
 Is he really dead ? she thinks. Oh Heaven ! it can- 
 not be. That Supreme Power who orders all things 
 aright would never be so cruel as to snatch him from 
 her in this fearful way. 
 
 After what seems ages to the waiting girl, help 
 arrives, and he is carefully borne to her father's house, 
 where she finds medical aid is waiting, and she is at 
 last told that he still lives. 
 
 With a murmured prayer of thankfulness, she listens 
 as they tell her he lives, but he may never recognize his 
 friends again. The doctor fears the blow upon his head 
 has injured his brain. Still he may be mistaken. His 
 arm, which has been broken in two places, has been 
 splintered and bandaged, and the impatient Queenie is at 
 last admitted to the room where he lays, and where for 
 days, unless compelled by her mother to rest occasion- 
 ally, she never leaves his side. 
 
 At last her vigilance is rewarded by seeing him open 
 his eyes with the light of reason shining in them. 
 
 "Where am I?" he asked, looking at the beautiful 
 face bending over him. 
 
 Without vouchsafing him any answer, Queenie quietly 
 raised his head, and in a commanding manner bade 
 
LOVES TRIUMPH. 
 
 123 
 
 him swallow every drop of the contents of the glass 
 which she'held to his lips. 
 
 Without a murmur he did as he was bid, and almost 
 instantly he was sleeping calmly as a child. 
 
 " He will do nicely now, if he is kept from all excite- 
 ment," the kind old doctor told her, as he watched his 
 patient sleeping so peacefully. ** But he owes his life to 
 his devoted nurse." 
 
 ** He risked it to atone for my almost criminal care- 
 lessness," answered Queenie, humbly, as she turned 
 away to hide the tears. " Could I do less than I have 
 done under these circumstances ? " 
 
 "Come, young lady, no hysteiics, or I shall banish 
 you from this sick-room," said the doctor grimly, as he 
 watched her efforts to subdue her agitation. 
 
 ** How in the world came the little rascal to be in such 
 a plight ? " 
 
 " It was owing to my neglect. I took h\ n out for a 
 walk, and he slipped away from me while I >vas gather- 
 ing some flowers, and I only knew of his frightful danger 
 when I heard him crying for help." 
 
 I should advise his parents to koep a sharp look out 
 for him in the future ; such an adventurous spirit is 
 bound to come to grief. You must now take some rest. 
 Your patient is out of danger ; but if it will be any 
 satisfaction to you, I will promise to watch here till your 
 return. Be off with you, and don't let me catch you 
 back here for an hour at least." 
 
 Queenie dutifully obeyed him, and in a short time she 
 was enjoying a brief and much-needed repose, from 
 which she awoke, feeling refreshed, and returned to the 
 sick-room to And her patient awake, and the kind old 
 doctor just taking his departure. 
 
 " They tell me I owe my life to you," Byril exclaimed, 
 as the door closed ; and grasping her hand in his un- 
 injured one, he kissed it reverently. 
 
124 CYRIL whyman's mistake. 
 
 " Will you not accept the life which you have saved 
 as part payment of the debt which I owe you ? '* 
 
 **Yes, Cyril," she whispered softly, as she saw how 
 anxiously he awaited her answer. 
 
 " Then, let us be married at once. I shall never rest 
 contented till I know you are irrecoverably mine. If 
 my right hand is helpless, I can manage the wedding 
 ring with my left one. Say yes, my darling, and we 
 will have the ceremony performed at once.** 
 
 " Oh, Cyril," she protested," it will be such a strange 
 wedding." 
 
 ** Ours has been a strange wooing, you must remem- 
 ber; but you will consent to my wishes, my own 
 Queenie ? ** 
 
 **Yes,** she murmured almost inaudibly, but not too 
 low to escape the ears of her impetuous lover. 
 
 ** Then send your father to me." 
 
 Mr. Sylvestere gave his unqualified consent to their 
 marriage, and an hour afterwards Cyril and Queenie 
 were made one. 
 
 That evening, as her husband was calmly sleeping, 
 the bride wrote a long letter to her new sister Marion. 
 
 " It was a left-handed wedding," she told her, ** but 
 we feel assured that everything will be all right in 
 time.'* 
 
 THE END. 
 
 M*. 
 
POPULAR B00K5 
 
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