mmmmm:m& rx pSQ) mm ' * ■• ■ : / ' NO NAME SERIES, A DAUGHTER OF THE PHILISTINES. \ I\ NO NAME SERIES. • It thb Gentleman Anonymous? Ishba great Unknown?" Daniel Dkronda, Daughter of the- Philistines. p$Ktff< W^Ujl W^V Bo^M* ) -■ fljpp V 1 BOSTON: ROBERTS BROTHERS. Copyright, 188S, By Roberts Brothers. DUOPAGE Reproduced by XEROGRAPHY by Micro Photo Inc. Cleveland 12, Ohio Vi CONTENTS. . dt^t Lova Chapthi I. A Vital Problem «.,»««, II. Fragments of Western Experience III, Metamorphoses , , * . » IV, " Simon is tour Man, Mees m V, The Wellingfords , , , , VI. Alma takes a Risr; 8 .. , VII, HOW TO PROVE TI1AT ONB IS NOT VIII. Wbllinoford's Totem , , , IX. Simon snows his Teeth , , X, Small Feet rsnsua Heroism XI. A Pleasant Crisis , • , , XII. Matrimonial Preliminaries XIII. A Marhiaom A la Mops , « XIV, Love and Business • • . ♦ XV, ** Darwin" in the Honeymoon XVI The Eve of the Passover , XVIL "Old Man LbogbttV , , , XVIII. Walter flats the Sultan , XIX. Jeunesse doreb , , , « , XX. The Trail of thb Serpent , . XXI. A Critical Decision vi CONTENTS. CiuKn J PAtn XXII. A Tropical Incident .......... 227 XXI1L Serious Results of Walter's Eloquence . 237 XXIV. Wolves and Lambs .242 XXV. Bluebeard's Closet .......... 251 XXVL Whither away 1 ........... 207 XXVIL A Haven of Rest . ...» ...... 275 XXVIII. " There is mo Friendship in Poker H ... 281 XXIX "What is the Row?" ......... 289 XXX. "A Sea of Troubles" 297 XXXI. Tub Citizen of the Twentieth Century • . 802 XXXII. "Descensus Averni". 800 XXXIII. Exeunt Hampton and Son ....... 315 XXXIV. "Marguerite" .....»*..».» 318 A DAUGHTER OP THE PHILISTINES. CHAPTER I, A TITAL PROBLEM, THE question of marrying or not marrying is an exceedingly momentous one in a woman's life ; and in a man's too, for that matter, Preliminarily, I believe, every young lady, unless she has been to Vas* sar, settles it in the affirmative, but leaves the choice of date and victim to Providence and Mamma. If either of these authorities (who in a well-regulated family are nearly synonymous) fails to give satisfaction, the time comes for asserting individual preferences, Papa is called in for consultation (which in well-regulated fami- lies is a very rare occurrence), and rebels mildly against Providence, or rather its synonym ; there is weeping and wailing, and perhaps even gnashing of teeth, offensive and defensive alliances are formed, and perhaps in the end — but I am anticipating; Miss Alma Hampton, whose agitation I am presently to account for, was as yet far from the end. She was seated on a velvet cushion in the stern of a great cat-boat, — a sort of cross between a clipper and a Chinese junk, — thinking, thinking, thinking, until her cranium seemed in danger of exploding. She knew no reason in the world why 8 A DAUGHTER she should not accept Mr. 1 Cunningham. She liked him in a mild and general way ; she admired the severe elegance of his coupe, in which he took his daily airing in the Park with both the windows closed ; and she posi- tively adored his bay trotter Islam, who made more of a sensation on the Avenue than the reigning belle of the season. If Mr. Cunningham's conversational powers were not remarkable, why, it is a well-known fact that in the best Murray Hill societ}* intellect in men is at a discount, and conversational brilliancy is not 4< good form." Moreover, Wall Street men have other things to do than to polish up epigrams and borrow profundity from the British reviews. Mr. Cunningham's personal appearance, too, was irreproachable ; he had a majestic mustache, set off to excellent advantage by rather a neutral face. His eyes, which were his weak point, reminded one remotely of boiled fish-eyes ; but they had a decidedly shrewd and yet good-natured expression, and indicated a flexible and easy-going disposition. Finally, Mrs. Hampton, Miss Alma's mother, had virtu- ally accepted Mr. Cunningham as a desirable son-in-law, and had already begun to treat him maternally. In view of all these weighty considerations Miss Alma was ■trongly inclined to bestow her hand, and as much of her heart as could be reasonably demanded, upon the above-named suitor ; and she would in all probability have whispered a tremulous "yes" in his ear fifteen minutes ago, when such a response would have been in order, if — well, if she had not been so mortally afraid that he would kiss her or in some other disagreeable way demonstrate his affection. She had therefore de- manded time for consideration, and had requested to be left alone. OF THE PHILISTINES, 9 The night was calm and starlit, A dense sea-fog had rolled in toward the Newport harbor early in the evening, and had now settled upon the water, while the air only ten or fifteen feet from the water-line was trans- parent. Here and there under the vast vault of heaven a tiny star seemed to be kindled, to twinkle for an in- stant, and from sheer modesty to go out, having perhaps been stared out of eountenanco by the bold mascu- line gazers who lay on their backs on the decks of the becalmed yachts that dotted the outer bay and the entrance to the harbor. It was pretty to see the mast- tops and the idly Happing sails looming out of the fog, and the red, blue, and green lights of the New York steamer which just then was ploughing its way through the motionless waters and making a grand commotion in the nebular universe. Miss Alma, who, as I have hinted, had been absorbed in matrimonial meditations, was suddenly aroused from her reverie by some one crying, "Ship ahoy!" and in the next moment she found her face very near that of a man who had sprung forward in his boat, and with his hands was endeavor- ing tc break the shock of the inevitable collision. u Par- don me if I am intruding," he said, laughing; "but unless it is the Flying Dutchman I am bumping into, do toll mo who you are." Three gentlemen, who, after having exhausted their powers of entertainment, had taken refuge in smoking and silence, jumped up at the sound of the shock, and ran aft to learn the cause of the disturbance. Three or four ladies gave dramatic little shrieks and struck becoming attitudes of consternation, but consented to be soothed by the masculine assurances that* there was really no danger. 10 A DAUGHTER 44 Hallo, Harry," some one shouted, holding a lighted match up to the face of the stranger in the colliding boat, M is it you who are groping about in the fog here, bumping into innocent crafts and frightening our dam- sels out of their wits? As a penance for your reckless- ness, you shall come on board and help us entertain these ladies, some of whom I suspect were asleep when you knocked into us. Ladies and gentlemen, this mysterious individual, whose countenance you cannot sec because my match has gone out, is a very Intimate friend and former classmate of mine, and I think ho needs no further credentials. In order to redeem my sailing party from being a complete failure, 1 resort to the cheap device of presenting my friend anonymously nnd leaving to ouch one to find out who ho is ; for I warn you he is a celebrity. He is not Tweed ; but whether he is Darwin or John Morrlsscy or Matthew Arnold or George Francis Train will be left to your ingenuity to discover." This speech of Mr. Daniel Timpson failed to arouse any perceptible interest among the gentlemen, each of whom, however, yielded languidly to the attractions of some particular lady in the company, whose charm was suddenly heightened by the possibility that the stranger might find her charming. Only Cunningham remained seated among the debris of the despoiled luncheon baskets, like a second Marios brooding over the wreck of his hopes. lie was leaning against the mast, with his long legs outstretched before him, and gazing with melan- choly intentness at the vaguely outliued form of Miss Hampton, who seemed to be looming up in the fog and growing to gigantic proportions. A very unpleasant sensation took possession of him, as he saw the anouy- OF THE PHILISTINES. 11 mous individual lingering at her side and evidently endeavoring to make himself agreeable, lie could hear the murmur of their voices, and occasionally a single tantalizing word would fly toward him and pierce like an arrow through his suspicious heart, He was wild with jealousy and impatience, When finally, at the end of an hour, — it was then past ten o'clock, — a light breeze began to rufllo the surface of the water and to stiffen the slack sail, Mr. Cunningham saw the un- known man slip over the gunwale into his own boat ; he heard him shout a cheery •' good-night " to the company, and the rhythmic plash of his oars and the click of the rowlocks grew fainter and fainter, and were lost in the vapory distance. The fog broke into largo fleecy islands, which moved visibly before the wind and then, scattering into misty fragments, whirled skyward and vanished. Out toward the ocean it still stood like a thick gray curtain. As it slowly receded, it caught a palo illumination from the inverted crescent of the moon, which, under the cover of the twilight, had stolen unobserved into the sky. To Alma it was an intense relief to see once more the grave nocturnal blue, which spread softly from the zenith downward and afforded unfathomable azure depths for the stars to peep out from. During her conversation with the strange gentleman, who had laughingly insisted upon preserving his incognito, her mind had undergone a change similar to that which ha(T taken place in the sky. She seemed to have been lifted above the foggj r stratum into the clear space of the upper air. It appeared inconceivable to her that she could ever have hesitated ; the resolution which had now come to her like an inspiration seemed -.,-..„„— - - - - n . tmt lt ULI L 12 A DAUGHTER to have deep roots in her being, seemed organic and inevitable* How the stranger could have affected her in that potent way she did not pretend to under- stand, lie had not uttered a word bearing even re* inotely upon the subject of marriage. She had not seen his face except very indistinctly and for one brief instant ; she had only heard his voice, and this voice was still vibrating in her memory and filling her with subdued agitation. 1 That it bespoke refinement, was the first conscious conclusion at which she arrived ; that it had a ring of manly resolution and courage, was her next inference ; that it vas the voice of a hand- tome man who took admiration as a matter of course, was perhaps a hazardous hypothesis, but nevertheless one which she fondly cherished. Then there was some- thing in the atmosphere of his thought which made her eager to breathe it, and which awakened responses from that part of her own nature of which she had been, by turns, proud and ashamed, because it was by her sur- roundings accounted queer or affected. This man had in one short hour made her feel respect for this •* queer- ness " of hers, which had often longed sorely for recogni- tion and which she had timidly divined represented her best and noblest aspirations. She was interrupted in her meditations by Mr. Cunningham, whose approach she had not observed, lie stood balancing on his toes, with his hands in his pockets and his chin on his breast. "Well?" he said, with an attempt at indifference which was not wholly successful. "I am very sorry, Mr. Cunningham,** she began, "but — ** "I know the rest,** he answered brusquely; "you need n't trouble yourself further." He wheeled about OF THE PHILISTINES, 13 on his heel and joined a laughing group at the other • end of the boat, STho breeze now swelled the sail, and they shot through the starlight in zigzag courses, now careening heavily to the starboard, now to port, hearing the rush and hiss of the waves as they lapped the gunwale and sank rapidly to mingle in the swirling wake of the boat. It was midnight when they reached the wharf at Newport. 14 A DAUGHTER CHAPTER H. FRAGMENTS OP WESTERN EXPERIENCE. THE Hamptons hailed from the far West. They had been great people in Saundersville, but had gradually come to perceive that Saundersville did not constitute so important a fraction of the universe as at first they had supposed. Mr. Zedekiah — or, as he ■was known in bis early days, Zeke — Hampton emerged into public view in a tannery, but was said at a still earlier period to have occupied a position of responsi- bility in a candy store. At the ago of twenty-one he bought out the tannery at a bankrupt sale, and with that sublime trust in the future which is peculiar to the West, married promptly the belle of the village, to whom he had devoted his leisure moments for some months previous. Miss Delia Pitcher was then a slender and undeniably pretty girl, who gave, however, decided promise of the estimable peculiarities which in later 3'ears she developed. Her thoughts revolved chiefly about the Methodist church, in which she had already reached a conspicuous position, and the social equipment of her three sisters, who she was determined should marry well. She conquered vicariously the hearts of three or four men of good business prospects and transferred them promptly to these sisters, beginning with the one who from a matrimonial point of view seemed least desirable, and ascending in the scale, until fiuallv her OF THE PHILISTINES. 15 own turn came. It was astonishing what an authority sho wielded in the small community of Saundersville, and it was positively amusing to observe how meekly men allowed themselves to be bartered, betrothed, and married at her command. She was too diplomatic, however, to assume the imperator style, which she knew was prejudicial to a girl's prospects, while eminently becoming to a matron. Nor did she coax, and far less plead; she merely led her male victims by the nose, making them all the time believe that they were being guided by their own unassisted intellects, It is not unlikely that she married Mr. Zeke Hampton because at first sight of him she cast his mental horoscope, and foresaw at onco that he was destined to become a pros- perous man. And when they had established their headquarters under a common roof, she set vigorously to work to make out of him what she had determined he should bo, She stimulated his ambition in a huu- dred ways, now by flattery, now by protended contempt ; she stung him into renewed activity the moment ho showed tho faintest disposition to repose on his laurels ; she gave him no rest night or day, It was, so to speak, essential to her happiness that she should have some- thing to be unhappy about ; and when the fate of tho three sisters had been satisfactorily settled, there were naturally a multitude of other things which demanded her active interference, Tho mere enumeration of them would fill a separate volume, Mr, Z. K. Hampton was a blond, irritable, but at heart good-natured man, and a little given to bluster- ing when his wife was not by. His manners in middle lifo were those of a retired steamboat captain, whose kid gloves hide rod and horny hands, and who has boon 16 A DAUGHTER accustomed to converse with an accompaniment of Boreas. Mrs. Hampton had a curiously subduing effect upon him, and he never spoke of her except in a half- whisper, as if he were afraid of being overheard. lie professed the most unlimited respect for her, and se- cretly believed that she was a woman whose genius ^Svould have found its proper function in the manage- ment of a railroad or a transatlantic steamship com- pany, but was slightly inconvenient within the limited sphere of a private family. He never breathed this conviction, however, to any mortal man, but only con- fided it to his pillow in rebellious moments, when a little peace seemed more precious than the wealth of Cali- fornia or the presidency of the United States. If Mr, Hampton could have had his own way, he would in all likelihood have remained a tanner, or at best a prince of tanners ; but, as I have insinuated, he was rarely permitted to have his own way, unless it happened to coincide with that of his better half, whose restless social ambition goaded him on to new and, it must be admitted, invariably successful ventures. Wheu he had amassed a considerable surplus capital as a tanner, and had abandoned the habit of sitting in his stocking feet and shirt sleeves on the front piazza of a summer evening, he was induced by his wife to take an army contract, the profits of which had the effect of making him Mr., instead of Zeke, Hampton, and a director and, later, president of the local bank. At that time people began to speculate in the undeveloped lumber lands of the West ; and Mr. Hampton, who made repeated jour- neys to the border States, was led, this time by his own shrewdness, to invest all his unemployed capital in the lumber trade. A great square brick mansion suddenly OF THE PHILISTINES, 17 ■ ■■ i ■ ii i i i !■ i 1 1 1 ii ^— -^— i i sprung up on the site of the old two-story frame house, Mr. Hampton became Colonel Hampton, and was hence- forth never seen without cuffs and collar, oven on week days and in his own ofllce. When he entered the Saundersvillo National Bank at half past ten o'clock in the morning, prosperity seemed to beam from him like a silvery halo, His glossy silk hat, the cut of his coat, and his portly bearing, which had kept exact pace with the growth of his bank account, were but the external indicators of a self- respect which was a true reflection of tho admiration with which Colonel Hampton was regarded by his fellow-citizens. This consciousness of being an object of universal regard was very gratifying, to him ; and probably it was a sourco of gratification to his wife too, although to a far less degree, Every achievement was to her merely a step to another and a more brilliant one. She had made, up her mind that the time had come for their removal to a place nearer the centre of the world's arena. It did not satisfy her to shine among crows ; she was anxious to cut a figure among the peacocks. Her own plumage, as well as that of her daughter, seemed to justify daring aspirations. Not that she desired for herself any additional con- quests of masculine hearts ; the masculine heart being in her opinion like the colored glass balls on Christmas trees, which appear very precious as long as they hang on the tree, but whose light weight you discover the moment you touch them. It was one of her favorite maxims that any woman could marry any man she chose, if she only set about it in the right way ; but those anxious sisters who were eager for a hint as to the right way she only answered with a contemptuous silence, Nevertheless it must not be supposed that 18 . A DAUGHTER Mrs. Hampton was indifferent to the pleasures of mascu- line society. Men had to her the fascination that chess- men have to the skilful player. They had what might be termed a strategical interest ; they suggested matri- monial campaigns, problems, and manipulations. Men were born to be managed, and women to be their managers. Id a large city there were naturally finer opportunities for a strategical talent like Mrs. Hamp- ton's than in a rural village like Saundersville. Miss Alma was sixteen years old, and her brother Walter eighteen, when the family removed their house- hold gods to a fine brown-stone mansion on Fifth Avenue. Mrs. Hampton had had in all nine children, seven of whom had merely taken n brief survey of Saundersville, and, mistaking it for a specimen bit of our planet, had returned in disgust to the Nirvana. Some had stayed a year, and one even eighteen months ; but for the majority a much briefer period had sufficed for the negative decision of the question to which Mr. Mallock has devoted some four hundred pages of inge- nious discussion without arriving at half so satisfactory a result. The fact was, Mrs. Hampton was too much occupied with investments, schemes for her social ag- grandizement, and even active speculation, to have much time to devote to her children. The Lord gave them, she said, and the Lord took them away ; she left them entirely to the Lord's care, and bore with resignation every affliction which he was pleased to send her for the purification of her heart. That Alma did not form as rash a conclusion as her small predecessors had done, regarding the undesirableness of our earth as a place of habitation, was due chiefly to the accident that her nurse was less ignorant and less vicious than the majority of OF THE PHILISTINES, 19 her kind, Sho went through tho whole catalogue of children's diseases (taking them, as her mother asserted, in alphabetical order) during the first four years of her life, but seemed always to be left with a small margin of vitality sufficient to carry her through her next attack. Her earliest recollections were connected with the Epis- copal church, toward which her mother (for social reasons) had begun to gravitate, and which also in later years remained to her thought a place of mysterious sanctity, She remembered being severely reprimanded for calling tho altar the church mantelpiece, and mis- taking the sacerdotal vestments for a robe de nuit ; and it was in the little cellar-like basement under tho Saun- dersvillo Episcopal Church, where tho Sunday school was held, that sho had her first experience of sorrow. She had observed that on all the cards that were dis- tributed on Christmas day the angels had a luxuriant growth of yellow hair, It occurred to her that yellow hair might bo an essential qualification for becoming an angel ; and as her own was not yellow, she rationally concluded that her place would bo with tho black sheep in the outer darkness, She inquired anxiously of her teacher why there were no black-haired angels ; and when that young person, finding tho question a M poser," failed to satisfy her, the poor child hurried home and crept under her nurse's bed, where her imagination con- jured up wild scenes of horror and made her endure all the torments of damnation. Her mother she rarely saw except in an official way, when a reprimand was to bo administered or a new dress tried on. It was on such an occasion that it was forcibly impressed upon her that there were two things which she must under no circum- stances neglect to do just before going to bed, namely, 20 A DAUGHTER Baying her prayers «ind brushing her teeth. She pondered on it, and in her grave childish way reasoned about it ; and, having a dim notion that both acts were devotional and equally meritorious, she hit upon the plan of alter- nating, saying her prayers one night and brushing her teeth the next. Her brother Walter, who cherished a lofty ambition to become a stage-driver, and showed a great predilection for the persons engaged in that honorable profession, was very little company to her ex- cept at night, when he deigned to devote the hour before bedtime to teasing her or exhibiting his manly accom- plishments, such as walking on his hands, standing on his head, turning hand-springs, etc.' Ho professed a hearty contempt for her, as M nothing but a girl," but was yet not above being flattered by her admiration, which was freely bestowed, or "posing" in various heroic characters, which never failed to fill her with amazement. He was in the habit of remodelling his aspirations and his behavior, at frequent intervals, in accordance with the last blood-curdling dime novel which had happened to fall into his hands. He affected a rolling gait, procured a pea-jacket, wore a leather strap about his waist instead of suspenders, and strove to make his hands tough and horny, after having perused "Bill Price; or, The Rover of the Deep," and "The Phantom Cruiser ; or, The Oath of the Twelve." Stones of Indian and mining adventures produced fresh meta- morphoses, with top-boots and rowdyish-looking slouch hats ; and there was even a time when a criminal career excited the boy's imagination and made him go to great trouble to procure a set of burglar's tools. Happily, his own zeal and his sister's indiscretion betrayed him before he had attempted to make any use of these OF THE PHILISTINES, 21 dangerous possessions ; and his father, who had been in the habit of chuckling to himself and winking to his friends across the table when the hoy was ill-mannered and gave clever but impudent answers, now suddenly had a rude awakening. The possibility that his son might become anything but a solid and respectable citizen had never entered his head, even though he had never communicated a single idea to him as a guidance for his conduct, nor ever tried to influenco him in the direction in which he expected him to walk. He was now thoroughly aroused, and, not knowing exactly what else to do, sent Walter away to a school in New England, which was exclusive, expensive, and of rigid High Church proclivities. It pacified Mr. Hampton's conscience to think that he was giving his son the bene- fit of the most expensive thing in the market, Alma remembered long, in the agony of her penitence, bow Walter shook his fist and made a horrible face at her, vowing that he would never speak to her in bis life, when his friend Si Hawkins drove off with him to the depot. When he returned, however, at the end of a year, for a brief vacation, ho had forgotten all his san- guinary threats, and was more gracious than ever in his readiness to accept her homage. He even suffered dis- dainfully her caresses, until she felt that she was the most favored of creatures, and cudgelled her small brain to devise somo act of devotion that might adequately express her gratitude. Only she was so afraid of being 11 soft," and thereby forfeiting again the esteem which for the moment made life glorious. As for Alma's own bringing up, it was hardly better than Walter's. Ail the child's physical needs, to be sure, were amply supplied. She was abundantly fed, often - - -- — " r— " 22 A DAUGHTER with sweets and pickles and whatever else she wanted. She was clothed like a young princess, and at an early age became conscious of the admiration she excited in church with her costly laces and plumes and satins. Although naturally a romp and fond of boyish sports, she was possessed of a strange dramatic adaptability which made her feel at once the character of a costume and bear herself accordingly. By temperament she was intense, headlong, and generous, easily wounded and easily consoled, but still capable of that keen absorp- tion in her own griefs and wrongs which is not an in- frequent accompaniment of a sanguine disposition. She could be one moment statel}', even in pinafores, and in the next heedless, joyous, rollicking, or in a passion of tears and wrath. Her mother did not pretend to understand her, nor did she make any special effort to fathom the mysteries of her daughter's nature. She was simply to her M a queer child," and if she was bad, the only thing to do was to leave her alone until she came to her senses again. If, as some people maintain, being left alone is an essential condition of happiness, Alma ought to have been swimming in bliss ; for after she had emancipated herself from the control of her nurse, there were few who troubled themselves about her thoughts or actions. She had a French governess, Mademoiselle Beauclerc, who was afraid of her, and compromised everything except her Parisian accent. u Zc American Mees is so capricicusc," she asserted, 11 and nod at all ligue «o shenteel young ladies in France." She was probably right. Gentility was not included among Alma's ideals at that time. She aimed rather to be heroic, her ideas of heroism being chiefly derived OF THE PHILISTINES, 23 from Walter Scott. Everything that was written, in- vented, or devised for the special use of young ladies she detested and despised. The dainty gilt-edged books in black Russia leather, with a gilt cross on the cover, which in her church mark the various stages of a young girl's development, had no attraction for her, and were rarely opened except as a special act of pent* tence. At the age of thirteen sho had discovered the attractions of her father's library, a very elegant apart- ment in oak and leather, which was rarely invaded "by any one but herself. Mr. Hampton had ordered his books in the bulk from his booksellers in New York, leaving the selection to them, making no stipulations except in regard to color and cost of binding. lie liked to do things grandly, and imagined that he was cutting a superb figure when he gave this indiscriminate order. His daughter was the first who had taken pains to ex- plore the miscellaneous collection of histories, poetry, and novels, in tree calf and morocco, which chance had thus thrown together ; and it is needless to add that sho made some very astonishing discoveries. As long as she rode in fancy on milk-white steeds and treated adoring knights, with magnificent disdain, her vagaries were quite harmless, and had only the effect of making the pose of her head a little haughtier, and her general demeanor more dignified. Perhaps her contemptuous treatment of her governess was also due to the vehe- mence with which she espoused Lady Rowena's and Rebecca's hostility to the Norman representatives of the Gallic nation. But when she made the acquaintance of Dumas Fils, Feydeau, and Flaubert, she was on dan- gerous ground, and it wajpnly the natural purity and innocence of her mind which made her blind to all cor- rwinnuMwiiwinwnrinw m n nil nun liimlil nil r urn i uni ■«■■«*■«■» ,. .mn.m , , 24 i4 DAUGHTER ■ i ii h C^— <— — — ■<— » rupting knowledge. Her mediaeval enthusiasm soon reasserted itself, and her ever active fancy was so stimu- lated by her reading that she found herself at all times plotting adventures and daring escapades, one of which she came within a hair of executing. I am ashamed to confess that at the ago of fifteen she secretly made the acquaintance of an unknown and strikingly handsome man (of the type with banditti eyes and inustachios) , and met him two or three times at the outskirts of the village. There was a delicious excitement in the whole affair which made it irresistibly fascinating. The beau- tiful hero, who gloried in the exquisite name of Alfonso, expressed such lofty sentiments and had such chivalrous manners that she could have no hesitation in granting him the favor of a moonlight ride on a certain evening which he appointed. She started out after supper, and would undoubtedly have carried out her design if the moon iiad not had the unkindness to shine with un- wonted brilliancy. At the edge of the woods she saw a man with a horse and buggy waiting for her, and cautiously and with shudders of rapture she approached the spot. She was hardly fifty steps away when sud- denly she heard a clatter of hoof-beats behind her. Alfonso jumped into the buggy without awaiting her arrival and whipped up his horse with furious lashes. Three men on horseback dashed past her and plunged along the road into the woods. It was all the work of an instant. She had hardly time to collect her senses. Reluctantly she turned alxnit and retraced her steps homeward. The next day she learned by accident thut Alfonso had been arrested for horse-stealing ; and if the Saundersville Gazette could be relied on, he had had an eventful Jiml bv no means nnromnntie pureei*. some- OF THE PHILISTINES, 25 times within the walls of a state prison and sometimes without, This incident effectually cooled her romantic ardor, For six weeks she was distrustful, bitter, and cynical, though no one except Mademoiselle took any notice of her changing moods. The poor little governess reasoned with her on the enormity of her sentiments, which were so unbecoming to a young lady of good family, and afforded her much satisfaction by the seriousness with which she combated her misanthropical utterances, The adventure with Alfonso remained, of course, a profound secret, and Alma, although she was at heart ashamed of it, yet felt at times slightly heroic for having had the courage to step so close to the edge of danger. Sho looked upon Mademoiselle with a sense of pitying superiority, and took pleasure in imagining the sensation she might produce by confessing how narrowly she had escaped a perilous adventure, The real nature of the danger to which she had been exposed she was fortu- nately not yet aware of, and there was no one in the great brick mansion who, if he had been acquainted with the affair, would have cared to enlighten her. \imi\\\\\\\\u\fimmmmmimmmttmmummtmm^mmm 26 A DAUGHTER CHAPTER m. METAMORPHOSES. IT was three weejcs after the arrival of the family In N New York that Mrs. Hampton by accident made a startling discovery. She discovered that her daugh- ter was beautiful. It happened in this wise : they were driving about in their carriage, visiting fashionable milliners and dressmakers, when they happened to read on a sign the name, Madame Lalouette, Modiste, and remembered that some such person had been warmly recommended by Mademoiselle Beauclerc. They had hardly entered the store when Madame, who was stand- ing behind the counter, struck a charming attitude of apologetic admiration, and exclaimed, k ' Dieu, Mademoi- selle, que vous ties belle ! Mais, zit corsage, c'est horrible ca / Eef you vill pardon me, Madame, oo zat is zat mague your daughter ce corsage ? Id is, id is — immoral* Ze beautiful taille, id is parfaitement mine." The result was that, after much parleying) Madame Lalouette contracted to furnish Alma with a complete toilet constructed on the principle of gently assisting and emphasizing nature where it showed an intention to be beautiful, and suppressing it where it failed to conform to the fashion plates. From having been that product of Nature called a " pretty girl " (of which Nature on this continent is so fatally lavish), she became a product of art. and as such, one which immediately commanded OF THE PHILISTINES, 27 attention, There was something rich and rare about her when she had undergone her transformation at the hands of Madame Lalouette, and something which apparently had not been there before. I might call it remoteness for want of a better term, It made men swear ecstatically about her, while yet viewing her with respectful admiration. It was something much finer than hauteur, although on a superficial observer it made perhaps the same impression ; but, coupled as it was with a sweet and natural cordiality, it made her seem tenfold precious, Her air and her every motion seemed to say, Noli me tangere; and perhaps for that very reason a mere touch appeared to many an inestimable privilege, Madame, who had been instrumental in bringing out all these delicate effects, went into par- oxysms of rapture at every new costume which sho fitted on, and at last convinced the young girl that she was, after all, an exceptionally fine piece of work as sho came from Nature's hand, and that her physique was full of hitherto unappreciated beauties. Alma had always longed to be thought exceptional, and she was grateful to the modiste for having helped her to a subtler kind of self-respect than one can feel for one's self as a mere common member of the human family. Mrs. Hampton, too, began to discover, more by the sensation Alma made in the Park and on the Avenue than by personal observation, that she had been hatching a swan instead of a duckling, and she was not slow in computing the advantages which the possession of a beautiful daughter would bring to her in the social campaign which she was about to open. It is astonishing what a woman will do and endure for the sake of having the card of Mrs. Van P., the mi i nn inn ii in i ii in nnii ■ ill A DAUGHTER acknowledged leader of society, upon her card-receiver, and having her name printed in the papers among the guests who were present at the reception given to Lord M. It was touching to behold the spirit of Christian humility with which Mrs. Hampton accepted the snubs with which the high and mighty ladies of the Knick- erbocker circle from time to time honored her. She fumed in the privacy of her boudoir, and vowed that she would pay them back when she had reached the goal of her desires, but In the meanwhile she would play the obtuse and amiable, and pocket her snubs smilingly. Her parties and receptions presented at first, from a fashionable point of view, a motley appearance ; but young people enjoyed themselves there, and the hope of dancing with Alma lured many a young snob from his aristocratic reserve and made him court the favor of her mother. Mrs. Hampton, who like a skilful general had studied the weak points in the enemy's de- fences, speedily took advantage of the willingness of this youthful advance guard to surrender, as soon as Alma appeared with the flag of truce ; and with rare diplomatic tact she made them her partisans, and knew henceforth that they would consciously or unintentionally further her plans. Her grand stroke, however, she made when a certain foreign prince visited the city, and actually accepted a breakfast, given in his honor by Mrs. Hampton, and at a ball given by himself on board his flagship danced three times with Alma, The prince had also been heard to express his admiration of her beauty aud her esprit in some very emphatic superlatives, which flew from one end of Murray Hill to the other, exciting a variety of comment and criticism. From that time forth it was absurd to ignore either Miss OF THE PHILISTINES. 29 Hampton or her mother, and they took their places, without dispute, among people whom it was correct to know. Strange to say, Mr. Hampton did not find himself as happy in New York as he had expected. He even con- fessed to himself, though to no one else, that he would have been better off if he had never left Saundersville, In the club of which he had become a member he found, to his astonishment, that his brilliant commercial repu- tation was utterly unknown. His inconspicuousness made him fidgety and discontented, and the polite indifference with which his sententious utterances were received exasperated him. In Saundersville these very maxims of practical wisdom had never failed to make a sensation, and their author had been looked upon as an intellectual prodigy. The professional loungers of the corner grocery (which was the Saundersville sub- stitute for a club) had had a high opinion of him, and he had felt that their tributes to his '• smartness" had been nothing but his due, He had not known, however, how essential it was to his happiness to be the centre of public discussion. In his house every chair was so artistic that ho feared to sit down on it, and the rugs and carpets were of such delicate tints that it seemed a pity to step on them. As ho frequently remarked in tho seclusion of his bedroom, where he sometimes had a mild " swear " all to himself, he felt as if ho were a visitor under his own roof, and not a welcome one either. If he happened to be in the room when fashion- able ladies called upon his wife and daughter, he felt himself de trop, lounged about uneasily, and uttered solecisms which made his ears burn for weeks after, whenever he thought of them. Alma, who, in the popu- 30 A DAUGHTER ■ ' ■ ' " ■ ,l " ■'■■' " ■ ■ ■! ' ...... i , i , lous solitude in which she lived, had often longed to establish a relation of confidence and affection between herself and her father, approached him again and again with timid tenderness, but was always repelled by some unintentional coarseness which grated upon her finer sense. And he, having always been accustomed to exercise his criticism upon others, but never upon him- self, thought her heartless and capricious, and expressed to the first acquaintance he happened to meet on the Avenue his inability to comprehend the workings of the feminine mind. Of course the fault was with the feminine mind, which was illogically constructed, and not with his own, which was as open and rational as the daylights Nevertheless Mr. Hampton was not entirely without appreciation of his daughter's fine qualities. To be sure, neither he nor his wife had detected that sho was in any wise remarkable until New York had taken it into its head to go mad about her ; but since then her value had risen proportionately to the increase of the world's admiration. As she was his daughter, he logi- cally concluded that she must owe her fineness chiefly to him ; and although ho did not pretend to be a connoisseur in such things, he accepted her beauty as an established fact, and referred boastingly to it when in the company of his social inferiors, who were the only ones with whom lie felt perfectly at home. Such friends Mr. Hampton found chiefly among the curbstone brokers in Wall Street, who, having taken the measure of both his purse and his vanity, showed themselves eager for his company and treated him with the consideration due to a great financier. In obscure down-town restaurants, where the sun struggled through \ OF THE PHILISTINES, 31 dusty window-panes, he might be 6een any morning, surrounded by Jewish-looking individuals in more or less advanced stages of shabbiness, expounding the financial gospel and discussing the fluctuations of tho market. Conspicuous in this company was a fat and round-shouldered Hebrew, named Simon Loewenthal, who seemed especially to appreciate tho humorous in- tentions in Mr. Hampton's exposition, Ho slapped his leg, doubled himself up, and nearly choked with a kind of wheezy, asthmatic laughter. Tho others, who evi- dently regarded Simon as a man of sense and genius, immediately followed his example, and seemed all on tho point of exploding with mirth; while Mr. Hampton looked around benignly, and was agreeably impressed with his own importance, While this mood lasted, the company usually dispersed, leaving Simon behind ; and the end was always that Mr. Hampton took a 4t flyer" in Lake Shore or Old Southern or Erie, "Simon is your man, Meestcr Hampton," the Jew would remark, "chuckling, as he folded up the check and stuck it into his greasy pocket-book. * 4 Simon neffer sold out a friend yet, Simon vould radder sell his own skin } shust a leedlo radder, Meester Hampton, Ha' ha!" ** Ho is an honest old soul, even though ho is a Jew," Mr. Hampton would remark to himself, as he stood watching the broker, who, with a bustling, eager gait and his tall hat hanging on the back of his head, elbowed his way through the clamorous throngs that aro ever pouring into Wall Street. It may have been due to his own foresight, or possi- bly to Simon's advice, that Mr. Hampton's first flyers brought handsome profits. Some trifling losses only stimulated his eagerness to rehabilitate himself in his 32 A DAUGHTER own eyes, as he expressed it, — to redeem his self- respect. Thus it sometimes happened that he had four, five, or six ventures afloat at once, one intended to off- set the other in the case of possible loss. It gave a new zest to "existence to watch the rise and fall of the different stocks in which he was interested; and as his risks were as yet trifling and could in no way affect the bulk of his fortune, his innocent speculations gave him the amusement he needed without in the least disturb- ing his tranquillity of mind. There was, however, an agitation in the atmosphere of the Street which soon communicated itself to him. It wounded his vanity to bo looked upon as a mere outsider^ who had no power to affect the fluctuation of values one way or another, when he knew so well that if ho were to launch his whole fortune upon the market, ho might be a fair match for the Commodore himself. It may have been this temptation to make his power felt, or it may have been the mere tedium of fashionable life, which finally induced him to hire an office in Wall Street and, to use his own words, " take a hand in the game instead of merely betting on the cards of others." Mr. Hampton accord- ingly disposed of some of his safest Western mortgages and railroad securities, and with a gambler's zest in the mere hazards of play, prepared himself for daring plots, antieipating with an intense enjoyment the sensation he would create when he should suddenly make himself felt as a force in the market. OF THE PHILISTINES. 33 CHAPTER IV, ** SIMON IS YOUR MAN, MEES," MR. HAMPTON was, according to his own notions, a methodical man, of strict business habits, and hated nothing so much as irregularity. He had made his wife and daughter each an annual allowance (and, it must be admitted, a very liberal one), had placed it to their credit in his bank, and had given them to un- derstand that he did not wish to bo bothered again until next New Year, Alma, to whom this sense of pecuni- ary independence was a novel and delightful experience, felt as if her resources were boundless, when she saw the largo sum placed on the credit side against her name, Sho found tho drawing of checks a most fas- cinating occupation ; it gave one such a business-liko air, and a vague but agreeable senso of superiority to the person to whom the check was made payable. Ac- cordingly she was very lavish with that funny little back-handed autograph of hers, and entangled herself in various scrapes by her failure to adhere to any fixed form of signature. Originally she had no middle name ; but as she held this to be duo to a culpable neglect on tho part of her parents, sho added, of her own accord, her mother's maiden name, Pitcher. After her arrival In New York, however, sho caught a suspicion that this name had a plebeian sound, and Alma P. Hampton was promptly transformed into Alma 0* Hampton, the 0. 8 34 A DAUGHTER being a reminiscence of Ottilia in Goethe's Elective Affinities, which, in the opinion of many wise people, little girls ought not to read. But when, one fine day, Alma O. Hampton became further disguised as Alma A. Hampton, a new romance having inspired her with an enthusiasm for the name Adelaide* the teller of the bank lost his patience, and requested that Miss Hampton would have the kindness to make a final se- lection of a middle name and cease to experiment with the alphabet in such reckless fashion. This mild rep- rimand was extremely humiliating to Alma, who in handling her check-book (wherein the stubs, by the W-ay, gave no evidence of the amounts drawn) had de- rived the proud impression that fur a woman she pos- sessed remarkable business capacit}*. A still ruder awakening she had when, on her return from Newport, she received a printed slip from the bank informing her that her account was overdrawn. I am loath to con- fess that this slip had a very unfavorable effect upon her temper, and made her vow with many tears that she would never henceforth have any dealings with such a hateful bank, that she would Alt the cashier dead when he bowed to her, nnd be cold and haughty to the pres- ident at the next reception where she should meet him. She had a dim notion that all the officers of the bank had entered into a conspiracy for the purpose of annoy- ing her. What made the situation especially embarrassing was the fact that there were yet three months left of the year, and these the gayest and most expensive of all the twelve. How to keep the world at her feet with empty pockets for so long a time, was a problem which would have puzzled the seven sages, provided these OF THE PHILISTINES, worthies had depended upon Parisian toilets for their successes, Madame Lalouette, with all her rapturous exclamations and attitudes, was strictly a business wo* man, and had an aversion for long credits. It might have been a simple thing for Alma to appeal to her father ; but in the peculiar relation which existed be- tween them sho found the very thought of it so repug- nant to her, that she concluded rather to spend the three months until New Year's in a convent than to endure a homily from him on the error of her ways. He had always liked to show his power over her by tormenting her, She knew that in the end she would probably ob- tain what she wished, but she made up her mind that she would not buy her pleasure at so high a price. Amid all these perplexities a conversation sho had once had with Mr. Cunningham occurred to her ; he had offered to make a couple of thousands for her in tho Street, and even to advance her the margin if she did not happen to have it. She had then indignantly re- fused, not because she found tho proposed transaction in the least reprehensible, but because she resented the impertinence of tho broker, whoso relation to her did not warrant him in conferring pecuniary favors. She was now, for one moment, weak enough to regret the peremptorincss with which sho had dismissed him, be- cause it precluded all possibility of her availing herself of his services. There were, however, other brokers in Wall Street, and if Mr, Cunningham could make a couple of thousands for her so easily, there was no reason why any other broker should not be able to do tho same. She was well aware that ladies sometimes took flyers in stocks and no one seemed .to think the less of them for it. For all that, she trembled lest -- - - - -■- -■- - I 36 , A DAUGHTER - ■ - - , Mrs. Hampton should divine her intention of imitating their example. It was therefore necessary to take extraordinarj' precautions. To drive down to Wall Street in her carriage, to enter the office of a broker, transact her business, and then depart, would perhaps be the simplest way ; but in that case she would be sure to be recognized, and the next day all New York — that is, that part of New York which makes and blasts social reputations — would be discussing her escapade, and she would be set down as a person with a defective sense of propriety. Clearly she must devise some more ingenious method or abandon her plan. The name of Simon Loewenthal came to her like an inspire* tion. She had frequently heard her father comment on the eccentricities of this worthy Hebrew, and had de- rived the impression that he would be just the man to employ as a confidential agent where secrecy was to be part of the bargain. With this in view she carefully arranged all the details of her plot and fixed on the 3d of October for its execution. It was about eight o'clock when, with a wild sense of adventure, Alma stood under the little Corinthian por- tico which projected slightly over the front steps. Her father was at his club, and her mother at some fashion- able entertainment. She had feigned to retire for the night, locking her door and giving her maid a ticket to the theatre. She had, during the morning, ascertained Simon Loeweiithal's private address from the Directory, and had resolved to pay him a visit, offering him as margin a pair of diamond ear-rings for which her father had paid three thousand dollars, and as further security, in case of need, a rare pearl pendant, valued at two thousand. She hoped, however, that Simon OF THE PHILISTINES. 37 would bo merciful and content himself with the ear-rings. With rapid steps and with a sense of being borne along by her excitement, without any physical effort, she has- tened down tho Avenue toward Madison Square, where she hailed a cab and gave Loe wen thai' s address to the astonished driver. The night was warm and soft and delicious. The glaring green of early summer had been subdued into a darker and mellower tone, and here and there a gilt or flaming edgo set otf the neutral tints of tho leaves with a startling effect, The moonlight, however, which takes the life out of most colors, steeping them all in its vague, incorporeal haze, broke in a silent shower over tho vast city, and made those little fragments of Naturo — which tho city fathers maintain for tho benefit of nursemaids, policemen, and other loungers — look to tho girl's eyes ethereally remote, like enchanted groves. Her intense agitation made her see everything as through a veil, and even the ceaseless rattling of wheels and tho clatter of hoofs upon the pavement fell witli an undulating rhythm upon her ears and a rush as of distant cataracts, $be took no note of time, but was suddenly startled at having tho driver stop somewhere in tho upper region of Second Avenue, where she never remembered having been before. She peered cautiously about her before stepping from the cab, but soon bo- cama convinced that there was no danger of her being confronted witli an acquaintance in this plebeian locality. With a singular disposition to shiver, she mounted a flight of dimly lighted stairs, having first requested tho driver to await her return. Tho dingy oil-cloth in the hall and the stale smells of departed luncheons and dinners sickened her, and. made hor seize in despair tho 33 A DAUGHTER little gold viuaigrette which depended in a chain from her waist. The walls had a ragged and sooty look, and the banisters were covered with half an inch of dirt. Alma gathered her precious garments about her, for fear of setting in motion the little heaps of dust and rubbish which had been swept up into the corners on each land- ing. On the fourth floor she read with "difficulty on a printed card the name Simon Loewenthal $ Co., Dealers in Government, State^ Municipal) <$r Railway Bonds* Stocks Bought &r Sold at all Ezcfuinges* She heard a con- fused murmur within as of two men talking earnestly together. One voice, which she concluded must be that of the Jew, seemed to be pleading in the most insinuating and persuasive tones, while another only interrupted now and then with an emphatic monosylla- ble. The young girl, with her heart in her throat, knocked cautiously at the door. No one answered. But Simon's voice rose in tones even more pleading, imploring, caressing, until at last she concluded that he must be weeping. She knocked again, and supposed she must have been heard ; for the pleading voice, a9 by an abrupt summersault, dropped into a harsh busi- ness tone which, however, became gradually more ear- nest and confidential. 44 1 dell you vat, Meester Vellingfort, you vant to be a ridge man, eh? Veil now, you dink Simon is a sheat unt a fraut, eh ? I dell you vat I vill do. I vill gif you dirty dousand dollars' vort of stock in de 4 Maid of A tens,' if you vill bublish your assay off de ore vich I gaf you." 44 How can I know," replied the other voice (and Alma gave a start at the sound of it), 44 that the ore you gave me to assay was taken from the 4 Maid of A *1 I5>» OF THE PHILISTINES. 39 "You must dake my vort for it, me friend, — unt — unt — dirty dousand dollars." "Ah! now I understand. You want to buy my scientific indorsement of a piece of villany for thirty thousand dollars* worth of stock which in the end may, and probably will, prove to have no value whatever." 14 Veil, dat is your own pizness. You can make it vort vat you like." An irresistible shiver shook Alma's frame, and she drew her wrap tightly about her, wondering whether she should still summon courage to enter. The voice which had so startled her, could it be that of the strange, anonymous boatman who came, like the 44 Flying Dutch- roan,** out of the fog, to warn her without a word of warning and to vanish into the fog again ? Alma, in her headlong eagerness to seo the face that went with such a voice, hardly considered the consequences to herself of a meeting in so strange a place. She had, during the last weeks, constructed a hundred faces, and all beautiful, which might be possible appendages to a soft and sonorous voice. But she longed for certainty, if merely to check the futile energy of her imagination. Without reflecting further, she gave a sharp rap at the door and, without awaiting an invitation to outer, turned tho knob. The door did not yield, however, being evidently bolted within. A quick whisper ensued, a few words of remonstrance from tho visitor, then the creaking of hinges and the click of a lock. In tho nest moment Simon Loewenthal stood respectfully bowing on the threshold, and with all the oily affability of his race apologized for having kept the lady waiting, and de- clared that his happiness would be greatly increased if he could bo of any service to her. Alma entered hesitat- — ..,., . ... ^r. . ■ M . ■ i i i „ ..,. , rmr i nn . ■ i . ir .■■ ■■■»■■■ r n.ri i ^.T, n 40 A DAUGHTER — — p— — l — W i— ■ — i i < iii ^mmmmmmmummmmmmm* ingly ami to her astonishment found herself alone with the Jew. The room was stiflingly warm, and furnished with odds and ends of second-hand furniture. On the wooden mantelpiece stood two rudely painted vases (also of wood) filled with artificial flowers ; and on the centre-table, which was covered with oil-cloth, was a dish filled with waxen imitations of fruit, hard-boiled eggs cut in halves, and sections of sausages. Before one of the windows stood an open writing-desk, which was covered with letters, printed prospectuses, and specimens of mineral ore ; and under it two sides of a small, green-painted safe were visible. Simon himself was a stout man, rather under middle height, with light brown eyes in which the white was yellow, stiff whiskers which enclosed his fat features in a black semicircular frame, and a thick, hooked nose which, when he was Berving a profitable customer, gave to his face the expression of an amiable owl. This conspicuous nose, as well as his broad, receding forehead, was preternat- urally shiny ; above the latter there was an extensive territory of bald scalp, which was, however, surrounded by a wreath of curly black hair. " Seed down, Mees," he was saying, bowing himself nearly to the ground ; " if you are in drouble, Mees, den Simon is your man ; Simon has helped many grade ladies oud of deir droubles." 14 1 am not in trouble, thank you,'* replied Alma haughtily, putting her hand lightly on the desk, at the corner of which she was standing. M I am merely momentarily embarrassed — and — and — H 11 You vant some gash, eh?" Simon continued, breaking into his soundless, asthmatic laugh. u Veil, vhen you vant gash, den Simon is your man.'* OF THE PHILISTINES. 41 The repetition of this odious phrase irritated Alma beyond endurance. She had never imagined that any human being could be so repulsive as this Jew, and the idea of making a confidant of him seemed so revolting that* she wondered that she could for a moment have harbored it. The look and the whole atmosphere of the room had a most depressing effect upon her ; the bare, smoke-begrimed walls, which had no other decoration than a gaudy chromo of Jephthah killing his daughter, and the brown oil-cloth on the floor, gave her an impres- sion of dreariness and desolation which came like a positive shock to her finely attuned nature, Simon, in the meanwhile, seeing that his facetiousness was not well received, devoted himself to making a more ap- proximate estimate of her wealth and social position than at first glance he had been able to do, although, to do him justice, not a single visible article of her costly toilet had even then escaped his notice. lie put her down mentally as a customer who must bo propitiated, as her indirect resources were undoubtedly inexhaustible. If she got into a scrape, it was safe to conclude that she had connections who would rather loosen their purse- strings than leave her to suffer the consequences of her follyg 44 Simon is nod so pad as you dink, Mees," he said with his most insinuating smile. 44 Dere is koot Shews unt pad Shews, Mees, unt Simon is von off de koot Shews, If you haf any pizness — " Here a lovely soprano voice, with a subdued piano accompaniment, broke out in a sudden ttaccato from the next room ; — Sul mare luccica V