i
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY, 
 
 OR 
 
 UNDER THE BAN. 
 
 A NOVEL, 
 
 BY 
 
 VKKN IOGO., * 
 
 " Your little tattlers and those who listen to slander, by my 
 good will should all be hanged: the former by their tongues, 
 the latter by their ears." Plautus.
 
 COPYRIGHTED, 1888, 
 By the Author. 
 
 ST. PAUL: 
 GEO. C. POUND, 
 
 1888.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In a grandeur-vaunted city, 
 
 Where the water giant glides 
 Like a belt of burnished silver 
 
 Through a gorge in its rocky sides, 
 Where the pictured hills and valleys 
 
 Dotted are with palace homes, 
 The blue arch of heaven bending 
 
 Down to meet her climbing domes, 
 Named for a saint in glory, 
 
 Worshipping a golden god, 
 Cluster, 'mong her oak trees hoary, 
 
 Castles proud to gem her sod. 
 Tapering towers throng her air-lofts, 
 
 Shimmering like swords of fire 
 Brandished by cohorts of churches 
 
 Challenging high heaven's ire ! 
 Pity, O Christ, the mock worship 
 
 Breathed in Thy consecrate aisles, 
 With Love and Charity banished, 
 
 And hatred dressed up in their smiles. 
 
 The earth lay like a flower garden, 'neath her June 
 tent of unclouded blue. The sun, midway on its de- 
 scent, threw slant bars of gold along the deep river 
 banks, flooding the low, projecting wharves with 
 sheets of splendor. 
 
 Upon one of these deserted berths, seemingly 
 afloat, so nearly parallel was it to the water's surface, 
 two little girls were playing. That they had escaped 
 the vigilant eye of their attendant, or that they were 
 
 2136412
 
 4 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 representatives of a multitude of unattended street 
 waifs, the nurslings of Mother Earth and Father 
 Chance, might have explained their unprotected 
 condition, but for their bright, frank faces and their 
 fresh, sweet wardrobes, the unmistakable insignia of 
 loving maternal watch- care. 
 
 A stranger might have passed the younger of these 
 two girls with only a casual glance. Not so the elder 
 one, who already claimed the homage of an earnest, 
 oft-repeated gaze from every passer-by, not infre- 
 quently accompanied with exclamations of admiration 
 and surprise, with an enthusiasm, too, which sent the 
 rich, warm blood to her cheeks, though why she could 
 not tell. 
 
 The two children, named respectively Pearl and 
 Fra La Grange, whose ages ranged from five to eight, 
 were little run-a-ways. 
 
 Venturing nearer the water's edge, the children 
 hovered upon the verge of the wharf, charmed with 
 the grotesque figures they cut on the surface of its 
 mirror-view below. At length they stretched them- 
 selves upon the rude planks, leaning dangerously over 
 the edge and swinging their sun-hats, while they prat- 
 tled to the measures of the circles thus made. 
 
 The younger of the two, whose arms were begin- 
 ning to ache in keeping up with the gyrations of her 
 sister's practiced hand, indeed already dizzy with its
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 5 
 
 routine whirl, and puzzled to distinguish the real 
 o'erhead from the reflected sky which lay world-deep 
 below their shadow pictures, dropping her little tired 
 head heavily, was, by her chubby weight, suddenly 
 capsized headlong into the clear depths below. 
 
 Pearl, who until this moment was absorbed in the 
 swift revolutions of her mimic pin-wheel, hearing a 
 loud plash, and seeming the little form of Fra strug- 
 gling in the water, quickly commanded herself, and 
 seizing her baby sister by the hair, dragged her out 
 with a force which sent both of them rolling over 
 together upon the wharf. 
 
 The strange incident was enacted so quickly that 
 neither of the children realized the peril which both 
 had miraculously escaped. 
 
 To Pearl the river had proved itself the great water 
 giant her mother had so often warned her against, 
 and which, to punish her for her disobedience, had 
 opened its jaws and tried to swallow little Fra. The 
 fact of having successfully snatched her back inspired 
 Pearl to give the giant a defiant glance, and seizing 
 Fra by the hand she bade her look and see the great 
 hole they had left; but to her astonishment the river 
 ran on as smoothly and unbrokenly as ever, and only 
 the sad face of little Fra and her sopping wet garments 
 remained to tell the tale. 
 
 To Fra the sensation of being rescued was quite as
 
 6 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 shocking as the unpremeditated plunge, and both of 
 the children grew thoughtful and reticent. 
 
 With Pearl, whose soul already trembled and vi- 
 brated, tossed upon the rough winds of adversity, 
 there were many grave questions to settle at the bar 
 of her tender conscience. Love and fear were battling 
 in her heart, the love of mother drawing, and the 
 fear of father repelling, her steps homeward. She 
 had left an invalid mother's presence joyous, antici- 
 pating a quick return with a full basket for her hand- 
 ful of pence; but, intercepted by their father, who, 
 with oaths and threats, extorted the money which was 
 to be exchanged for a birth-day treat, the frightened 
 children left the basket upon the market steps, and 
 ran till their feet were descending the graded thor- 
 oughfare leading to the boat-houses. Here, attracted 
 by sails and skiffs, playing like dolphins upon the 
 river's surface, they had loitered hours, oblivious to 
 everything but the entrancing scene before them. 
 
 The adventure recalled Pearl to her senses, arid a 
 sharp pain shot through her heart as she remembered 
 how very much weaker her mother had seemed that 
 morning, and the eager, wan look in her tender eyes, 
 as she pleaded for their quick return. 
 
 In all the world there was nothing to Pearl so 
 lovely as her mother's face. Her eyes had sought and 
 drank in the beautiful in everything, and her imagi-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 7 
 
 nation was ever busy surrounding this being of her 
 heart's worship, with all the gathered treasures of her 
 fancy. Now conscience was lashing her into a tem- 
 pest of regrets. She saw herself in the light of truant 
 and betrayer of a fond mother's confidence; and not 
 the least of her miseries, was the sight of Era's ruined 
 frock, as much her province to protect, and second 
 (in consideration of their poverty) in importance to 
 the life she had so bravely saved. For be it under- 
 stood, though a child in years, Pearl was a remarka- 
 bly cogent reasoner. Close association and compan- 
 ionship with a refined and intellectual mother, would 
 have advanced a less tractable mind beyond the ordi- 
 nary standard; but her ready genius, and marvellous 
 intuition, placed her beyond her years, making her a 
 child in no sense, save in her freshness of heart, buoy- 
 ancy of spirits, and love for play, which her superb 
 physical vigor demanded. 
 
 Fra, accustomed to the still, rapt moods of her sis- 
 ter, kept silence in concert, merely pulling apart 
 Pearl's clasped hands, and gently insinuating between 
 them her own little palm to reassure her. 
 
 How long the young dreamer might have continued 
 planning for the redemption of this misspent day is 
 impossible to say, had not the full rays of the sun 
 looked straight into her face, and an impression of
 
 8 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 the dying day, and the long climb up the steep bluff, 
 prompted her to return home at once. 
 
 Springing to her feet, she caught Fra in her bare 
 and beautifully rounded arms, making as light of her 
 burden in plump flesh, as though it consisted of wax 
 and sawdust. The bluff was precipitous, but Era's 
 feet did not touch the earth till the entire ascent was 
 made. 
 
 "Now," said Pearl, "we must walk quickly, and you 
 must not go into the house, till I have told mamma 
 all about your being drowned and your spoiled birth- 
 day dress." 
 
 Before them in all directions within the scope of 
 vision, stretched the architectural reaches of a mighty 
 city the proud namesake of a renowned apostle. 
 High-browed summits stood out like emerald brack- 
 ets, supporting their marble palaces; castles, embow- 
 ered in ivy, rose like huge marble vases dripping with 
 blossoms from beds of flowers. The river, in serpen- 
 tine curves, wound like a crystal necklace these cas- 
 tellated heights, and Gothic and Swiss cottages peeped 
 from the deep umbrage of mottled green. 
 
 Beside such pictured loveliness, such heaped and 
 concentrated wealth, and in the same cherubic ele- 
 ment, God's air, huddled the lowly tenements of the 
 forlorn and despised poor. 
 
 Pearl halted and gazed upon the entrancing picture
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 9 
 
 before descending into the depths of the more popu- 
 lous but less pretentious neighborhoods of the city. 
 Suddenly recalling her trip to the forbidden river, 
 and shivering as she remembered her father's aager, 
 she urged the nagging footsteps of little Fra, and the 
 two children pursued their way in silence. 
 
 Let us anticipate their arrival by entering the 
 home, yet hallowed by a mother's love. The build- 
 ing, which hung over an alley, had a tumble-down 
 expression. It had two apartments, in the most com- 
 modious of which, upon her dying bed, lay the fond 
 mother of Pearl and Fra. The ceiling was low, but 
 the walls shone white and clean, and an air of refine- 
 ment pervaded the place. 
 
 This effort to hide the horrid skeleton presiding 
 over the drunkard's home had sorely taxed the in- 
 genious brain and deft fingers of the devoted mother. 
 At last her gentle heart was breaking, and the shadow 
 whicji hung over Kobert LaGrange's home on this 
 night was the visible shade of death. 
 
 With her expiring strength the mother had occu- 
 pied the morning in assisting her children to don 
 their holiday attire, entrusting to Pearl money 
 and errands for the embellishment of the day, accord- 
 ing to their innocent desires. 
 
 Since the expiration of the hour allotted them her 
 eyes had wandered vainly toward the open casement.
 
 10 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 The little table which Pearl had drawn up to the bed- 
 side, spread with its grateful morsels, had been her 
 only nurse and companion through the long, weary 
 day. 
 
 At last she heard footsteps, but they were slow and 
 uncertain, and, recoiling with a sigh of disappoint- 
 ment, she saw the reeling figure of La Grange enter 
 the room. And who, once familiar with the erect 
 form, elastic step, frank and handsome face of Robert 
 La Grange, would have recognized in the bloated fea- 
 tures, downcast eyes and shambling tread the wreck 
 of such youthful promise! But some of the brightest 
 morning-stars of manhood that have risen upon the 
 world have been lured by the social glass down to the 
 abysmal hells of the Rum Shop. None ever dragged 
 with them a purer life or gentler heart than the one 
 now beating out its last faithful pulsations on that 
 altar where is written the mutual pledge, "till death." 
 
 " Where is Pearl? " growled the wretched bloat. 
 
 "I know not," said the dying woman. 
 
 " Perhaps she is looking for the money I took from 
 her at the market steps," confessed the chattering 
 drunkard. But his words making no visible impres- 
 sion, he settled into an arm-chair and instantly drop- 
 ped off into the dead stupor which locks the senses of 
 the liquor-pickled inebriate. 
 
 Again the life-forces rallied, and the yearning eyes
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 11 
 
 were at last rewarded by seeing Pearl enter. At the 
 sight of her wretched father the child shrank, but 
 seeing that he observed nothing, she stealthily ap- 
 proached her mother's bedside. Pearl had never 
 been in the presence of death, yet the awful pallor, 
 the pinched expression, the glazing eye all told her 
 that something terrible was impending. 
 
 Maternal love and fear spoke through the tender 
 eyes. 
 
 "Where is your little sister?" faintly whispered 
 the dying woman. 
 
 ''Drownded!" said Pearl, not perceiving the mis- 
 chief in the word, and referring to the wilted garment. 
 
 "Drowned! " gasped the trembling lips, upon which 
 the breath of life yet fluttered. Pearl hastened to 
 explain her cruel words. 
 
 "No, mama, dear; Fra is not dead. I caught her 
 by her hair and dragged her out alone. And she is 
 here, close here, sweet mama! Oh, mama, speak to 
 Pearl!" But the staring eyes retained their fixed 
 expression. 
 
 Pearl ran, and seizing the astonished little Fra, who 
 sat patiently outside awaiting her forgiveness, bore 
 her swiftly into the presence of what? Her mother? 
 No! for the cold angel had set his seal. But 
 the children comprehended it not, and Pearl, holding 
 Fra up before the rigid face, cried piteously.
 
 12 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 " Here is little Fra, mama. She only spoiled her 
 frock. I thought you would forgive all when I told 
 you how God helped me drag her out O, rnama! 
 Do not look so strange! Tell me you forgive! " And 
 Pearl kissed the icy lips again and again, and buried 
 her face in the long, disheveled hair that lay in coils 
 upon the snowy pillow. 
 
 Lifting her mother's hand, she strove in the old 
 way to get within the encircling arms; but the hand 
 fell back stark and pallid, 
 
 " Father! " shrieked Pearl. 
 
 The drunkard lifted his head, opened his bloodshot 
 eyes, and taking in the group upon the bed, slowly 
 comprehended that something had happened. He 
 essayed to rise, but fell back. At length, sobered by 
 an awful apprehension, he staggered to the bed, thrust 
 the children aside, placed his ear over the heart of his 
 wife, and turned ashy pale. 
 
 "Annie! Good Wife!" he cried. But the lips 
 which had gladly responded to such words a few 
 hours before, moved not. 
 
 Pearl watched him, impressed as profoundly by her 
 father's manifestation of feeling as by her mother's 
 apparent indifference; and, venturing nearer, she 
 tremblingly asked: 
 
 "What is it, father? Please, may the doctor come? 
 And may I go to bring him?" And Pearl stood
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 13 
 
 affrighted, gazing imploringly into her father's face. 
 
 "O, tell me, father, may I go? and will dear mama 
 speak again? " 
 
 Holding his wife's hand, La Grange again placed 
 his ear over her heart. 
 
 "Dead ! " said he; and the conscience-smitten hus- 
 band fell upon his knees beside the remains .of his 
 wife. 
 
 Pearl caught the awful word "dead," and, with a 
 shriek which might have recalled the departing spirit 
 and pierced the ear of God, the child fell upon the 
 bosom of her lifeless mother and swooned away. 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 Among the heath-clad hills 
 
 Of Scotia's verdant plains, 
 A letter comes, whose presence thrills 
 
 Where deathless love remains. 
 
 The world has its strong prejudices. One of these 
 will probably cling to it as long as it makes its revolu- 
 tions, and teems with the life of its thinking millions. 
 
 To be well-born is the prerequisite to individual 
 stamina of character, and the full confidence of the 
 world. To be well, or meanly born, does not imply to 
 be richly or poorly ushered into life. Neither does it 
 refer to the accidents of rank in the kingdoms of the
 
 14 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 universe; but, having a far deeper signification, it 
 may be compared to the good seed planted in the 
 fallow earth, which rarely betrays its promise of an 
 abundant harvest. 
 
 There are, however, well-born people, like professed 
 followers of Christ, who are the Peters of their disci- 
 pleship, fallible and prone to lapses from virtue, as 
 the sparks to fly upward. Yet even here does the in- 
 tegrity of their birth assert its supremacy and, like 
 the anchor to the vessel, while permitting a variety of 
 deviations to the lead of enticing winds, tugs ever at 
 its heart strings, and forever holds it back from enter- 
 ing upon the highways of total destruction. 
 
 Bobert La Grange was well born, in the true sense 
 of integral creation. He was of French extraction, 
 and the ascent of his family tree upon both sides, 
 could be made from base to apex, without stepping 
 upon a rotten branch. 
 
 His grandfather, was a native of Gascony, France, 
 and claimed direct lineal issue from the house of La 
 Grange the nobleman, whose too faithful genealogical 
 record cost him his head during the French Revol- 
 ution. 
 
 His family, thereupon impressed with the wisdom 
 of the axiom, commending discretion as the better 
 part of valor, fled before the shadows of the guillotine, 
 and Anthony La Grange, third in lineal descent,
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 15 
 
 settled in the beautiful vale of Monteith, among the 
 hills of Campsie, surrounded by the most romantic 
 and picturesque scenery in the highlands of Scotland. 
 
 In this favored spot, hemmed in by grand and 
 rugged hills, and skirted with the softer and richer 
 elements of rural vegetation, Kobert LaGrange first 
 saw the light. His wife, Annie Boyd, was the third 
 daughter of an eminent Scotch clergyman, whose 
 devout humble-mindedness, never seemed to gather a 
 tarnish of vanity through its claims of having been 
 veined from the royal blood of the patriots and 
 martyrs, the brave-hearted covenanters of Scotland. 
 
 It was ever the good man's delight to rehearse those 
 thrilling scenes in Scottish history, which transpired 
 in the dark days of persecution under Charles the 
 first, and his faded gray eyes would rekindle their 
 youthful fires when relating stirring incidents handed 
 down through a long line of noble ancestry. 
 
 Indeed, history has poorly haloed the heads of 
 those illustrious souls who kept alive in Britain the 
 light of gospel truth, when that light was well-nigh 
 extinguished, stemming the torrents of temporal and 
 spiritual tyranny. 
 
 "From scenes like these auld Scotia's grandeur springs, 
 That makes her loved at home, revered abroad. 
 
 Princes and Lords are but the breath of Kings; 
 An honest man's the noblest work of God." 
 
 In sight of Sterling, a fine old Scottish town near
 
 16 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 the river Forth at the base of the Ochil Hills, stands 
 a little thatch-roofed house, known throughout that 
 rich and cultivated plain as "The Boyd Cottage." 
 
 Before entering, let us ascend the ledge of rocks, 
 which present in their ragged edges, a circuitous 
 staircase, leading to the cloud-capped summits over- 
 head. The view from these heights is sublime, and, 
 if in time to witness a sunrise, you have spread out 
 before you one of the rarest pictures in a world of 
 universal loveliness. The sun, from these altitudes, 
 seems as though rising out of a deep, emerald sea, 
 and his ardent glances, as they pierce the dewdrops 
 upon the heather bells, set them twinkling like a 
 thousand stars at your feet. You hear around you 
 the scream of the eagle, the bleating of the lamb, the 
 merry song of the shepherd and his shrill whistle as 
 he calls to his faithful collie, the companion and 
 assistant in the watch of the fold. 
 
 Amid such scenes, it is no marvel that strong, manly 
 attributes, and sweet womanly refinements, character- 
 ized the youth who took root, budded and bloomed 
 on its soil. 
 
 Sixteen years had passed since Annie Boyd, young- 
 est child and the pride of the old cottager, becoming 
 the \jife of Robert La Grange, had bidden adieu to 
 her native vale. Not long do the old birds hover 
 around the empty nest, unless a wounded fledgling
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 17 
 
 returns, to nestle again in its brooding warmth; for a 
 childless home is but a sepulchre for memory's ghost 
 to haunt with taunting visions of the past an empty 
 vase, a goblet drained, and broken! Eemember this, 
 O fond and happy mother, while trundle-bed and crib 
 are full, and dimpled arms encircle your neck, and 
 busy fingers toy watonly with the order of your rooms, 
 pull at your skirts, and throw in sweet confusion all 
 your careful elegances; while yet the velvet lips and 
 rose-leaf breath of infancy, with downy head, is pil- 
 lowed on your heart; remember, these are life's ripe 
 and golden hours, which are winged with the spirited 
 flight and brilliancy of a meteor's march through 
 heaven. Even now, the cooler months are trailing 
 with pale blossoms at the dainty skirts of your sum- 
 mer robes, and gliding stealthily apace; December 
 looms with icy breath, and hoary locks, weaving his 
 frost-spangled garments, airy and filmy as the veil of 
 a bride, and why not ? She is bringing in heaped 
 hands, the wedding garments of death! Night is 
 shutting down over the rocky cliffs, and the old Boyd 
 cottage seems less a dwelling than some torn, weather- 
 beaten, and deserted bird's nest, hanging upon its 
 ragged sides, sad-faced and gloomy, in the sombre 
 shadows of a moonless eve. 
 
 One lonely occupant remains, the widowed sister 
 of Annie La Grange. She has lighted her lamp,
 
 18 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 drawn a little table near to the dull-burning peat 
 fire, and, seating herself, proceeds to open a letter 
 (in size, a package), whose sudden arrival at the 
 hands of her kind neighbor seems more the presence 
 of an angel visitant, than written words, weeks old; 
 but the stamp is a foreign one, and the emotional ex- 
 citement within is telegraphed through the nerves, 
 and outspoken in the trembling fingers, as they hasten 
 to break the seal. 
 
 The handwriting was not familiar, since the news 
 of Annie's death, the sister had heard nothing of the 
 family remaining to Robert La Grange. Her heart 
 beat audibly, as she unfolded the package of closely 
 written pages. 
 
 The letter was from Robert La Grange, and it read 
 as follows: 
 
 ST. SAUL, Mar. 1st, 18 . 
 My Dear Sister! 
 
 After years of silence, this letter 
 will greet you in the character of a surprise. I have 
 been determined upon writing it for some time. My 
 failing health admonishes me I am likely to be 
 ushered into the presence of God at any hour. I 
 have much to say to you before this supreme moment 
 is upon me, and much, very much more to ask of you, 
 after enlisting your patient indulgence with me, in the 
 reading of this letter to the end. 
 
 Annie, your sister, and my faithful, angelic wife, 
 died of a broken heart. This is the figure, the literal
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 19 
 
 of which is I murdered her ! It was death by 
 slow torture, as much so as if I had bound her to the 
 stake and applied the burning fagots, keeping up the 
 fires day and night. 
 
 In the Gallery of Art in Milan is an immense 
 painting, a representation of one of the modes of In- 
 quisitorial punishment. The figures are bound to 
 wooden crosses, and under the nail of every finger 
 and toe, sharp lancet quilla are deeply driven, through 
 which the life-blood continually trickles away, until 
 the heart breaks in its effort to draw back the receding 
 flood. 
 
 For months after Annie died, this picture was pre- 
 sented to my vision, awake or asleep. It is an illus- 
 tration of the cruelties of which I have been guilty, 
 but which the law took no cognizance of; hence I was 
 left to the scourging lash of that stern monitor of the 
 soul, CONSCIENCE ! which, after a lethargic sleep of 
 ten years, "awoke to vivid life at the death-bed of 
 Annie, and only since my partial expiation, has it 
 given me the respite of a tranquil heart. 
 
 The steps which carried me down were few, but 
 precipitous. You gleaned from Annie intelligence of 
 the rough voyage we had in crossing over to America. 
 Much was kept back of this voyage, which ended in a 
 shipwreck, and the loss of all we had, save my money, 
 which I belted around me before going on board ship. 
 Annie must have suffered bitterly the loss of all cloth- 
 ing and bedding, but I never heard her murmur, and 
 her love for the old folks spared them the unhappy 
 details.
 
 20 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 This secretiveness at the outset from motives most 
 tender and pure established the precedent, after- 
 wards deemed justifiable and expedient, of withhold- 
 ing through a decade of years, all further recital of 
 our domestic miseries. 
 
 It was, however, reserved for my punishment to re- 
 view this army of spectres my misdeeds each one 
 rising up separately in judgment against me, in the 
 handwriting of my victim. 
 
 In this recital I am profoundly impressed with the 
 inscrutable ways of God's providence. Through his 
 mercy we were saved from the wreck of the sinking 
 Europa. The men secured and loaded our boats with 
 many casks of choice liquors, which our exposure 
 demanded we should use freely. It was then that the 
 accursed taste* for the demon drink took first and full 
 possession of me, and its hold was as unrelaxing as 
 its rule was demoniac. I felt as powerless as one 
 might in being carried over Niagara, and my way 
 out looked as impossible. 
 
 I loved my wife and our children, and had lucid 
 intervals of regret, and seasons of attempted reform- 
 ation; but no sooner did I come near a dram shop, 
 and catch its fumes, than I was set upon by the 
 persuasive muscular powers of a thousand devils, who 
 seized upon me, and dragged me again into the pres- 
 ence of the wretch who clutched for my money as 
 eagerly as Satan and his accomplices did for my soul, 
 when the hellish draught was first presented me in 
 the disguise of a stimulant. 
 
 I descended rapidly, until I was thoroughly besot- 
 ted, blind, and incorrigible; my whole nature was
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 21 
 
 warped, my soul smothered in a sea of liquid fire! The 
 home, purchased on locating in St. Saul, I mortgaged 
 to assuage the thirst of the despot raging within, and 
 goading me on to destruction; and the mortgagee 
 could only collect rent of me, by watching his chances 
 to follow me into saloons, and seizing the money on 
 its way to the counter. This he did, with the double 
 purpose of saving Annie the annoyance of a dun, and 
 the sufferance of my inebriated presence, for that 
 night at least. 
 
 It would have been a mystery to me to the end of 
 time how Annie supported herself and the children 
 during these years, had she not bequeathed me from 
 under her dying pillow, the record of their sufferings 
 and support. 
 
 You know Annie was a good musician. Her old 
 Scotch guitar was strapped over my shoulders, and 
 saved with our lives, from the ship's wreck; "for who 
 knows," said the then light-hearted Annie, "but I may 
 have to earn our bread with this when we get to 
 America." 
 
 How more than verified were her words, spoken 
 cheerily under the shadow of the sinking Europa! 
 
 This guitar is still in my possession, and, after my 
 beloved Pearl is the dearest and saddest relic left me. 
 
 But I must hasten to the sequel of my strange fall 
 from the proud heights of manhood, and my regained 
 position, morally, as you must realize I am a ruined 
 man financially; not because I am too old to acquire 
 wealth, but because I am far gone in consumption, and 
 restoration to health is impossible.
 
 22 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 To Pearl, the angel of my home, I owe all that I 
 am; the hope of reconciliation to Annie in heaven, 
 and the forgiveness of Jehovah! Pearl was never a 
 child. She seemed to become a woman at the death 
 bed of Annie. Her appeal to me, in the presence of 
 her dead mother, sobered every faculty of my soul. I 
 shuddered before her innocence and wisdom. It was 
 like the breaking up of the fountains of the great 
 deep, and Satan fell from under. I sprang to my 
 feet as a captive from whom the fetters are suddenly 
 broken, a man once more, and the father and pro- 
 tector of the daughter who knelt at my feet, with the 
 eyes of Annie imploring me. 
 
 A dark shadow hung over our home, but it fell to 
 lift a greater shadow, and in Heaven there was double 
 cause for rejoicing, over the released prisoner from 
 sorrow, and the reclaimed prisoner from sin. 
 
 I have been able to keep Pearl in the Mozart 
 School of Art, and to supply the money for oar modest 
 wants. The circle of our acquaintance is not large, 
 but select for the poor may choose their friends 
 and Pearl is only seen, to be admired and loved. She 
 will soon complete her studies, and has already an op- 
 portunity to take pupils in music. This reassures me 
 regarding her financial independence when I am gone. 
 But this is not enough for a girl whose extreme youth 
 and beauty, exposes her to the unsparing comment of 
 a censorious community. She must have a guardian. 
 
 Now, my sister, have you not already divined the 
 secret wishes of my heart, and the mission of thi/s 
 selfish letter? You are alone. Pearl soon will be.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 23 
 
 Why should the ocean divide us ? I cannot die and 
 leave this child's pure presence unprotected. The 
 shield of some great, strong and deathless love must 
 guard her youth, and ward from her the faintest shade 
 of harm with which the world is all familiar. Her 
 loveliness would be delightful to me could I live to 
 shield it. It saddens now, and makes me wish she 
 were not half so beautiful. You have been a prudent 
 girl, and a mother, and know how sensitive to soil is 
 virtue. Surely, if living still, you will not let Pearl 
 be alone, when I lie down to die. So come, and make 
 me glad before the heart-strings break. The voices 
 of our dead, as mine in dying, call upon you. I have 
 reserved a sum sufficient for your journey, if you 
 need. Reply by return steamer, and believe me 
 Your unworthy brother, 
 
 ROBERT LA GRANGE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Who IB this being, in whose face 
 A more than mortal beauty beams ? 
 
 Woman or Angel, she hath grace , 
 To live the loveliness she seems. 
 
 Eight years had elapsed since the death of Annie 
 La Grange; eight important years to the surviving 
 members of her deserted home-circle. To one, its 
 vanished hours had brought Youth's complete crown 
 of wealth, in a full-rounded, healthful existence; to
 
 24 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 the other, the gentle admonition of waning powers 
 which, like so many storm-birds alighting upon a bil- 
 low-tossed ship, announce in advance the journey 
 closing, and, through the misty veil above the breakers, 
 the grateful verdure of new, untraversed shores 
 beyond. 
 
 In all these years memory had kept faithful watch , 
 and the modest niche in the old Taglewood Cemetery 
 was just as conspicuous for its dainty floral decora- 
 tions, as it was before its freshly heaped sod had come 
 under the green counterpane that nature spreads with 
 impartial hand over all her sleeping children. 
 
 Another grave had been made in the virgin turf 
 close beside, a little grave, which nestled so nearly 
 abreast with the mother's, that the flowers above them 
 clasped hands, placed their rosy cheeks together, and 
 swinging their bright censors of perfume, continually 
 pointed with soaring incense, the mourner's faith 
 toward Heaven. 
 
 In the presence of imposing monuments and tab- 
 lets, these isolated flower-banks, tenaciously preserv- 
 ing their original curves, with no other badge of dis- 
 tinction to protect them from falling into the foot 
 aisles of the cemetery, were never passed unnoticed. 
 No flowers within its hallowed precincts bloomed like 
 these; yet heaven alone watered them. They were 
 known by frequenters of these grounds as "the myst-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 25 
 
 erious graves." No one but the old Sexton had ever 
 seen their faithful visitor and adorn er; and he was 
 incessantly plied with questions concerning them. The 
 answers to these so excited the youthful romancers of 
 the town, that many strangers could be seen in the 
 long summer evenings, sauntering over the yard in 
 search of the "unknown graves, and the young girl in 
 white." 
 
 Profoundly impressed with the notoriety and im- 
 portance this unshared secret gave him, about which 
 the world seemed daily more curious to unravel, Pat, 
 who was not a little superstitious, would roll his 
 Hibernian blue eyes upward, cross himself before 
 his questioners, and " 'By the Holy Saint Pathrick', 
 declare her to be 'An Angel,' and no ither, who 
 tended those graves." 
 
 Only on Sabbath evening could she be seen. "Niver 
 one word does she spake to me" said he, "but with 
 the Virgin Mary's smile she goes by me, her white 
 gown fluttering like an angel's wing intirely; and 
 faith", said he, "I. fall, as Saul did before the blissed 
 light, and I never roise, till I've counted my ivery 
 bade." 
 
 The reader has already guessed the individuality of 
 this grave-yard apparition, and, assuming the guess 
 tb be a correct one, let us drop the curtain upon this 
 city of the dead; not however, until we have com-
 
 26 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 mended it, with all kindred cities, to the care of the 
 angels, who keep a sacred watch, and very night 
 delight to brim their urns with holy light! 
 
 The city of busy life swarms near, where the erec- 
 tion of twenty miles of building annually, is seemingly 
 but a mere pastime for the ambitious artisan. 
 
 Bordering the picturesque grounds of "Tangle- 
 wood," and raying out like so many sunbeams escap- 
 ing from a dense forestry of shade, forked the broad 
 carriage drives of Rural heights. It was the closing 
 of a midsummer's day, and the earth lay under a 
 canopy of iridescent clouds. That it was the world's 
 leisure hour, no proclamation w'as required to estab- 
 lish, but the positive edict of vision. 
 
 The motley crowds were out in full force; eren the 
 wide avenues were blocked with vehicles of every des- 
 cription, from the shining equipages and equestrian 
 trappings of the monied aristocracy whose ruling 
 dictum is a golden sceptre down to the modest 
 chaise, and donkey cart, and the rude, unpretentious 
 rigs of the countrymen. Pedestrians were sprinkled 
 thickly through, who cautiously picked their way 
 among prancing steeds, enveloped in blinding clouds 
 of dust. 
 
 Conspicuous among the grand turn-outs, was a 
 chestnut span, drawing the elegant cabriolet of Gover- 
 nor Kellogg, a man whose royal, intellectual gifts
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 27 
 
 adorned the gubernatorial chair, as confessedly as 
 his universal popularity, socially, made him the cyno- 
 sure of every eye, when exposed to public gaze. 
 
 Beside this brain-king among men, sat his wife, 
 whose countenance, from only a passing, casual glance, 
 might have impressed one ( poorly visioned ) as come- 
 ly, but upon close study and careful scrutiny revealed 
 an ugly collection of facial corrugations, that told but 
 too plainly the fierce warfare of contending passions 
 within. 
 
 Her build was coarse and angular, and her nature 
 selfish and irritable in the extreme; yet her social 
 diplomacy was such, that she concealed this moral 
 warp of hers from the world, and when she left her 
 boudoir, as completely laid aside her real, reptilian 
 self with her domestic habiliments, as though she had 
 exchanged souls with some delightful being, and re- 
 veled in the recreative effect, as pleasing to herself 
 as to her noble consort. 
 
 Now, I do not believe the world contains many such 
 two-fold existences; but a "fallen angel," now and 
 then at the fireside, is sufficient proof to the most 
 skeptical, that none but a Christ could redeem and 
 restore such Eves to the despoiled realms of their 
 lost Edens. 
 
 With her consummate tact, masked in smiles, and 
 her suavities, haloed in the beauty-embellishments of
 
 28 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 satin, lace and diamonds, and under the escort of a 
 princely man, it is not marvelous that she shared, 
 scarcely second to her husband, the admiration and 
 esteem of all. 
 
 At the junction of the avenues, the carriages entered 
 Circle Park, bright with blooming shrubbery, frolic- 
 some fountains, royal foliage beds, and spirited music. 
 Here a strife among the coachmen resulted in a seri- 
 ous blockade of rolling vehicles, putting them at their 
 wit's end to steer clear of each other. Coaches col- 
 lided, wheels locked, drivers screamed out terrible 
 oaths, and ladies fainted. 
 
 Suddenly, above the confusion and din, came the 
 shrill cry, "Halt ! You are running over women and 
 children!" 
 
 All but the Governor's team obeyed. The excited 
 animals, plunging and rearing, dashed forward with 
 mad precipitancy which threatened to sweep every- 
 thing in their path. 
 
 The Governor's hands were now holding the reins, 
 but to no effect. The mettle of his thoroughbreds was 
 up, and nothing short of a very miracle could save the 
 precious lives they dragged after them. 
 
 Rapidly clearing the circle of the Park, they 
 plunged into the crowded thoroughfare leading city- 
 ward. 
 
 With incredible swiftness the avenue was cleared
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 29 
 
 in advance of them as on they flew with dauntless 
 speed. The danger attending an attempted rescue of 
 the beloved Governor and his lady seemed as great as 
 to await the ominous results of the accident; and he- 
 roes and heroines are not made of common stuff, so 
 the gaping crowd looked on. 
 
 At this juncture, a poor little hunchback, trying to 
 effect an impossible escape in crossing, hesitated, 
 as if undecided which way to move, or paralyzed 
 with fear. To the consternation of every beholder, a 
 young girl, with a face as white as her spotless gar- 
 ments, threw herself in front of the horses and seiz- 
 ing the trembling hunchback, had nearly dragged 
 him out of the path, arresting the attention of the af- 
 frighted horses which now wheeled, striking the curb- 
 stone and upsetting the cabriolet and its occupants. 
 
 In the blinding clouds of dust which enveloped 
 everything around them, it was impossible to 
 comprehend the extent of the catastrophe. The horses 
 were captured, and like wildfire the news was spread 
 over the city that Governor Kellogg and his lady had 
 been picked up senseless. 
 
 The carriage of his private secretary, which had 
 kept as closely in the wake of the runaway as possible, 
 had borne the insensible forms of the Governor and 
 his wife to their residence. Surgeons and physicians
 
 30 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 and particular friends had followed; and that was as 
 much as the world could glean. 
 
 The excitement was beyond description. Curiosity 
 ran at fever heat concerning the name and rank of 
 the intrepid girl who had fearlessly thrown herself 
 in the path of the flying steeds, had checked their 
 course, saved the lives of the august pair, and had 
 attempted also to save the life of an unfortunate 
 hunchback who, trampled under the horses' hoofs, 
 was supposed to have been killed outright. 
 
 Some one who claimed to have known the girl 
 when the pupil of the Maestro conducting the Mozart 
 School of Art, said "she was a young music-teacher, 
 enthused with her art, very poor and saintly beauti- 
 ful;" and "certainly," added her earnest advocate, "has 
 proved herself an American heroine with a Greek 
 soul!" 
 
 The secretary's carriage had hardly rolled away 
 with its sad burden in the direction of the Governor's 
 mansion, when a genial-faced gentleman with an anxi- 
 ous expression of countenance, nervously questioning 
 every passer-by, hurriedly walked in the direction of 
 the Park. The man was in the meridian of life, very 
 erect, of slight but symmetrical build and dressed in 
 a professional suit of black broadcloth. 
 
 He was a physician and a stranger in town, and his 
 business may best be explained by perusing the fol-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 31 
 
 lowing notice, which enlivened all the lamp-posts and 
 was placarded along the thoroughfares leading in and 
 out of the city in all directions : 
 
 A MEDICAL INSTITUTE. 
 
 "A meeting of the Medical Institute of the great 
 Northwest and Canada will be five days in session, in 
 the parlors of the Y, M. C. A. Lectures on Cliniques 
 a specialty. Eesident physicians and medical students 
 especially invited to attend. 
 
 By order of # * # * 
 
 ( Then followed a list of names, comprising many 
 of the most distinguished M. D.s' of the continent, 
 who, it was set forth, would be present. ) 
 
 Upon reaching the suburbs the stranger quickened 
 his pace, and, passing through a dense grove of map- 
 les, stood before the massive gates of St. Mary's 
 Hospital. 
 
 It was deep dusk, and the swinging porch-lamp 
 impressed him cheerfully, as it flashed over the granite 
 pillars, and lit up the graveled walks with a thousand 
 tiny sparkles. 
 
 St. Mary's was strictly a charity institution. Con- 
 trolled by the laity, and conducted by the Sisters 
 alone, it was regarded universally for its pure, unsec- 
 ular benefactions. Upon the poor, broken in spirit 
 and^health, it poured out the oil of healing with one
 
 32 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 and the same impartial hand with which it administ- 
 ered to the rich and rumerative. Stranger and citi- 
 zen alike repaired to its peaceful wards, to bask in the 
 restful shade, and be brooded for a lustrum of days 
 in an atmorphere of soft speech, and under the liberal 
 nursing of anticipating care. 
 
 Over its grand entrance, in luminous characters, 
 was the Latin motto, "Bes Est Sacra Miser" "A 
 Suffering Person is a Sacred Thing"; and never had 
 the testimony of its inmates compromised the grace 
 and dignity of this noble paraphrase. 
 
 "Am I right?" asked the physician, as soon as the 
 usher answered his portal ring. "Is there a young 
 lad here who was run over by the Governor's carriage 
 this evening V " 
 
 ''Yes sir: if you mane a little hunchback." 
 
 "Ah, yes," said the courteous stranger, as if solil- 
 oquizing to himself. "I had forgotten that ! His 
 mother and I never think him differently formed from 
 other children, he is so good, so gentle, so dutiful !" 
 and the usher, blushing at the rude bluntness of her 
 words, hastened to repair, by adding: 
 
 "Indade and indade, sir, he's as amiable a lad as 
 one would wish to see ! And your son it is ? Troth ! 
 He's as like to you, as two pays in a pod!" 
 
 "My name is Carlisle and Hugh is my only child, 
 answered the dignified stranger, who had now risen
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 33 
 
 and stood nervously tapping his cane upon the marble 
 floor of the reception-room, as his anxiety to know 
 the worst gained full ascendancy, and the tedious 
 blarney of the usher grew rasping and offensive. 
 
 "Tell me," said the stranger sternly, "is the child 
 hurt badly, and can I not see him at once ? " 
 
 "Och sure ! and you can sir ; for it's niver a poor 
 widder loike me, who would be afther kaping a fine, 
 rich gintleman like yourself from his only lad. The 
 poor little cratur looks more like wanting a good male 
 of praties and buttermilk, than the loikes of the bitter 
 thrash the doctor has been choking him with." 
 
 Carlisle, physician as he was, could scarcely sup- 
 press an audible smile at this parting shot of the gar- 
 rulous Biddy, as she left him at the door of the con- 
 valescent ward. * 
 
 The apartment was as spacious, sunny and immac- 
 ulately clean as though it had just been let down from 
 some dustless realm, where sunshine and sweetness 
 alone had homes, and the marring elements of dirt 
 and darkness had no affiliating properties. 
 
 The keen and practiced glance of Dr. Carlisle 
 had, in one sweep of vision, taken in every appoint- 
 ment of comfort, noted the number of convalescents 
 and nurses, and discovered the object of his visit be- 
 fore he himself had been observed as an admitted 
 guest.
 
 34 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Seeing his child wrapped in sleep, he moved a chair 
 up lightly to the side of the cot and gently pressed 
 his fingers upon the slender girl-like wrist. 
 
 "How long has he been sleeping?" was the whis- 
 pered inquiry of the nurse. 
 
 "An hour just," said the placid-faced sister, con- 
 sulting the clock upon the mantel, which, in the im- 
 pressive stillness of the room, seemed to be slashing 
 out the moments with hammer and tongs. 
 
 " I am the boy's father," pursued Dr. Carlisle. 
 "Are his injuries serious? His pulse is a trifle flighty, 
 but his skin is moist and natural." 
 
 " No, sir; our hospital surgeon thoroughly exam- 
 ined him, and beyond a few bruises he has escaped 
 physical injury. The doctor, however, thought he had 
 sustained a severe nervous shock and perhaps a slight 
 concussion of the brain; but he has talked incessantly 
 since coming out of the faint, and until the adminis- 
 tered narcotic took effect, the beautiful young girl 
 who saved him from a violent and terrible death was 
 all his theme." 
 
 "Who is this youthful beauty?" said Dr. Carlisle. 
 
 "Well, really, I could not tell you, sir; there are so 
 many conflicting rumors regarding her identity, 
 whether mortal or celestial. She may be human; she 
 may be an angel. Really, I deem the tale a mythical 
 one from beginning to end. The old sexton of Tan-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 35 
 
 glewood cemetery seems to have her genealogy right 
 from St. Peter's holy lips; and he has booked her 'an 
 angel.' However, if the sexton's angel and the girl 
 in white who rescued your son, are one and the same, 
 I am ready to discredit the statement regarding her 
 ethereal origin." 
 
 "She certainly rendered material aid in the instance 
 of saving three precious lives, and I, for one, am her 
 debtor henceforth," said Dr. Carlisle. 
 
 Here the sister, at the suggestion of Dr. Carlisle, 
 withdrew, and the fond father established his watch, 
 insisting upon taking the entire care of his son till 
 able to be removed. 
 
 Having obtained the necessary material for letter- 
 writing, Dr. Carlisle proceeded to post his wife, who 
 was several hundred miles to the eastward, regarding 
 the accident to their son, his happy escape, and mat- 
 ters of mutual interest; but we will take the liberty 
 of looking over his shoulder before leaving St. Mary's, 
 and perusing for ourselves this remarkable letter. If 
 it does not refresh our memories it may stimulate our 
 anticipation of future events. 
 
 St. Mary's Hospital, 
 
 ST. SAUL, U. S. A., 7-20-18 . 
 
 My Dear Wife : 
 
 I am unavoidably delayed in this saintly 
 [ ?] realm. Hugh met with a very narrow escape this
 
 36 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 evening, but give yourself no uneasiness. He is not 
 seriously hurt. I shall watch over him from this on 
 very closely, not permitting him to be on the street 
 save under my escort. 
 
 This is a city of unbounded wealth and enterprise, 
 but, like all new places, its extreme youth involves it 
 in many weaknesses, and society is in a crude, chaotic 
 state. The standard of one's social status is wealth. 
 Wealth gives position; position merit, independent of 
 brains or culture. The people holding the money are 
 largely sporting characters, uncultured, ambitious 
 only to accumulate wealth and out-dazzle their neigh- 
 bors, snobbish, boorish and unrefined; their women 
 coarse, shoddy, flashy and silly. A successful entree 
 into Madame Grundy's "elite" circles (which seem to 
 be guarded with the rake of jealousy and the pitchfork 
 of malevolence ) depends entirely upon the conduct of 
 your purse, not growth of soul or cultivation of heart. 
 There are true people here good, kingly men and 
 queenly women; but I am speaking of the dominant 
 class, who hold the money and wield the social baton. 
 Soto voce; express to me instanter the medalion 
 locket. If I have not seen the veritable original, my 
 memory illy serves me. Not the spirit of revenge, 
 but the demands of "poetic justice" require that this 
 life purpose of ours should not be abandoned. This 
 human monster, who thought to make her record 
 white, and with her gold tempt poorer souls to steep 
 their hands in blood. Ah! Was it not a wonderful 
 interposition of Providence that we could stand be- 
 tween her and that crime? Yet, spiritually, she is as
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 37 
 
 guilty of its commission as though her order had been 
 executed, and dead or living, conscience loops the rope 
 around her throat. I shall keep Hugh in the arms of 
 the hospital nurse until he is entirely restored. I had 
 nearly forgotten to say that we owe his life to the he- 
 roic efforts of a young woman, who, with the double 
 purpose at heart of saving the State's beloved Gover- 
 nor and his lady, when dashing down the avenue be- 
 hind their runaway horses, and our darling from being 
 trampeled under hoofs and wheels, threw herself in 
 the path of the maddened animals and diverted them 
 from their course, which resulted in the saving of 
 every life and the capture of the horses. I have just 
 examined Hugh's pulse. It is regular. He looks a 
 shade paler. I will enclose his love and kisses with- 
 out arousing him from his delicious and now all-im- 
 portant recuperating repose. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 Louis CARLISLE. 
 
 CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 October comes the ruddy Maid 
 
 With sun-bronzed cheek, and nut-brown hair; 
 With eyes, which, like Chamelion shade, 
 
 From dusky gray, to pale sapphire. 
 
 The rustling autumnal winds were sighing over their 
 fallen splendors. The air had that first suggestion of . 
 frost which stirs the pulse, left languid from sum-
 
 38 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 mer'8 too fervent heat, restores the lost balance of 
 physical and spiritual powers, and lends one a rapt- 
 urous sense of existence only an experience of pure 
 delight. 
 
 It was Saturday, the holiday of the busy school- 
 room. Col. Veen's residence on Grand avenue looked 
 unusually attractive, and well it might, since land- 
 scape gardeners had been occupied over a week in 
 preparing the magnificent grounds for this eventful 
 date the eighteenth birthday of his only daughter, 
 Cecile Laurene, one of the most brilliant pupils in the 
 graduating class of the Mozart school. 
 
 The mansion looked like a huge piece of statuary, 
 wreathed in vines, with brilliant exotics dripping their 
 blooms over its snowy window seats. On either side 
 of the grand entrance, and peeping out between the 
 Corinthian pillars supporting the open vestibule, were 
 tall Parian flower vases, loading the air with the "sweet 
 incense overflowing their velvet cups. Each floral 
 dainty throughout the grounds had been coaxed into 
 a farewell bloom, and luxuriant foliage beds deepened 
 the unbroken carpet of green like gorgeous Persian 
 rugs. 
 
 From a polite morning hour till past midday the 
 scene had been one of enchantment. A band of music 
 stationed at the gates welcomed the guests, and con- 
 gratulations, flowers and gifts were showered upon
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 39 
 
 the modest head of their young recipient with a sin- 
 cerity of manner which left no doubt in Col. Veen's 
 mind of the love and esteem and social popularity of 
 this daughter of his house. 
 
 Cecile's companion-guests numbered an even hun- 
 dred, and nearly all of them were the sons and daugh- 
 ters of wealth. Col. and Mrs. Veen were the superi- 
 ors of the majority of the wealthier class of St Saul. 
 
 The Col. was a popular politician, a devoted consti- 
 tuent of Gov. Kellogg' s, a man of liberal views, cor- 
 rect principles, large-hearted and devoted to the loves 
 of home. Of his two children one only son and 
 daughter he was most justly proud. 
 
 His wife, a handsome showy woman, had fair intel- 
 lectual gifts, was clever in housewifery arts, good- 
 hearted in the main, but possessing no deep religious 
 convictions upon any subject; led by impulse and 
 ordinary vanity, she was as a leaf tossed upon every 
 passing breath of air sure to mount and fly away in 
 a gale, with all the light rubbish aimlessly playing 
 over the surface of solid and rooted things. As long 
 as she held back her children with her in the idle 
 pursuit of shadows, she lavished love and embel- 
 lished their way with glittering splendors ; but as soon 
 as they outgrew the follies and hollow vanities which 
 narrowed them down, and perceived the difference 
 between the shadow and substance of things, they
 
 40 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 were that moment introduced to the tree of life in the 
 spiritual gardens of God; and no unconsecrated hand 
 had power to pluck them back. 
 
 Col. Veen's home was palatial in every sense, and 
 artistically furnished throughout. After the lovers 
 of the beautiful had made the rounds of its luxurious 
 appointments, viewing paintings and statuary, they 
 joined the out-door groups, engaged in games of cro- 
 quet and archery until the sweet hostess announced 
 the tables in waiting, when as by magic, the company 
 in pairs filed through the marble porticos and into 
 the dining salons. 
 
 Cecile'seyes searched narrowly the long procession 
 through. The search was futile! Pearl La Grange 
 and Stanley Veen were not there ! 
 
 " Where can they be?" mentally queried Cecile; 
 but proudly determining that no one else should miss 
 them in the crowd, she hastened to place herself in 
 the midst of her friends, where the munificence and 
 elegance of the edibles absorbed the attention and 
 gastrononlical abilities of all, and, surprising as it may 
 seem, the handsome brother of Cecile was not called 
 for. Only Mrs. Veen came around to Cecile's chair^ 
 asking for her brother; and Col. Veen noting the ab- 
 sence of both Stanley and Pearl, concluded that they 
 had strayed through the park and missed the banquet 
 call which had been played by the band.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 41 
 
 After the birthday feast, the palace was invitingly 
 thrown open, from the four sides of its marble en- 
 trances, to the grand out-looking galleries surround- 
 ing the observatory, all aflame in the direct rays of 
 the descending sun. 
 
 The guests now flocked like so many chirping birds 
 around their companion and hostess, taking affection- 
 ate leave with the fresh and sweet sincerity of exu- 
 berant girlhood. Cecile stood inclining her beautiful 
 head, and smiling with all the frank heartiness of her 
 sincere and artless nature, gazing from the porch 
 through the wreathed gateway, where in merry groups 
 her friends passed out and disappeared along the 
 shaded avenue. 
 
 At last realizing herself alone, she turned in the 
 park, where the sunlight was throwing its good night 
 kisses, and where she remembered to have seen Pearl 
 and Stanley last. She had not proceeded far before 
 she heard their voices and concealing herself behind 
 the thick shrubbery which guarded the path, she 
 waited till they were within reaching distance, then 
 darting down the walk, she threw her arms caressingly 
 around her sister-friend, and giving Stanley a re- 
 proving glance the studied severity of which lost its 
 force in the eyes' glad tenderness she cried: 
 
 "Ah yes; you tried to foil me, Stanley Veen, when 
 Pearl is mine, all mine to-day, and if I get so small a
 
 42 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 third in this sworn trinity of ours, the bond shall be 
 dissolved to-night and you shall be cut off from our 
 close fellowship." 
 
 "Pearl shall decide that question, sister mine," and 
 Stanley, gently parting their crossed hands, divided 
 them and placed himself between them, looping his 
 arms about them both in such a brotherly fashion 
 that the serious proposition just made by Cecile, to 
 break their circle, leaving Stanley out, seemed so pre- 
 posterous, so impossible an act akin to their own 
 severance from each other that the two girls, im- 
 pressed alike with the absurdity of the thought, 
 laughed loud and long together; indeed they did not 
 cease their mirthful melody till Stanley, turning away 
 from them said: 
 
 "I'll anticipate my orders now; not wait as silly, 
 passe actresses have done, to be hissed off the stage." 
 
 "Cast Stanley off, indeed! " said Cecile, throwing 
 her arms about her brother's neck and dragging him 
 back. "We'll discuss that grave alternative when 
 fairyland returns and darling brothers just like him 
 are picked from every bush," and the sister kissed 
 away the frown which a moment before sat like a 
 cloud upon the clear heaven of his brow. 
 
 "Come now," said Cecile, "we've had nonsense long 
 enough. The sun disgusted threatens to desert us 
 and the ugly witch of darkness will not bring the
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 43 
 
 moon to-night, to iron out her frowns. I hate these 
 moonless nights! But tell me cruel truants, where 
 were you and what were your engagements let me 
 see between the hours of twelve and five ? I've 
 really had no perfect hapiness since first I missed you 
 but in looking forward to our union; and this I've 
 kept in store as one holds back their best sense 
 through the dinner for the dessert. Come! Now for 
 Komance, Strategy, and Spoils ! My appetite is keen 
 and whetted with the steel of woman's curiosity." 
 
 "Be seated then right here," said Stanley, "and you 
 shall have my story. I too, await Miss Pearl's for by 
 the good St. Mark who stands in bronze upon yon cu- 
 pola breaking the arrows of the sun, I - 
 
 "No oaths" said Cecile "Truth ungarnished now." 
 "Well, here you have it in epitome. Pearl and 
 Ruby Clark were in the grotto. I saw them enter 
 and I followed. Just then I heard three shots fired 
 quickly, one after the other. You know the law is 
 strict upon this point and papa cultivates the wild 
 birds just as much as trees and shrubbery in these 
 grounds. I ran in the direction of the shots and it 
 seems Pearl kept up with me, for when I called her 
 name and turned she answered from the thicket near 
 the bank and the tone of her voice alarmed me. I 
 found her bending over the limp form of a boy, whom 
 I thought dead and she declared had only fainted.
 
 44 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 I ran to the fountain, dipped and returned with my 
 hat full of water which no sooner had I dashed over 
 his face than lo ! two staring eyes, first questioned 
 Pearl then me. 
 
 "Where's your pistol? " said I, supposing he carried 
 concealed weapons. 
 
 " I - I - I ha' n't got any. Those men shot at me." 
 
 "What men ? said I; and then in his poor stutter- 
 ing style he told us he lived on the Dakota side of 
 the river ; that his father had sent him over to the 
 fort for a doctor in a little skiff and just as he was 
 landing, two deserters from the fort ordered him to 
 bring them to St. Saul ; that he had pleaded with them 
 telling of his dying mother and the great need of 
 instant help for her, but they only answered by push- 
 ing him into tho boat and commanding him to row 
 them quickly to St. Saul or they would drown him 
 then and there. 
 
 "He heard them tell of their escape from the guard- 
 house and how they would hide themselves under 
 'Steeple Cliff' till night and then, said they, we'll 
 forage for citizen's clothes and money to get off on 
 the daylight train with." 
 
 "As they landed, the lad would have returned at 
 once but the men forced him up the bank into our 
 park woods their shortest route to the cliff promising 
 the poor child money. As soon as they reached the
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 45 
 
 woods one said to the other: 'This brat will put a 
 blood-hound on our track and dead men tell no tales,' 
 and pulling out a revolver from the inside of his shirt 
 he fired. The boy ran stumbled and fell upon reach- 
 ing the opening and was then abandoned by the men 
 who supposed they had killed him, but who had for- 
 tunately given him only a slight flesh wound." 
 
 "The fright and excitement of the strange incident 
 and the sorrow he felt when he thought of his poor 
 mother perhaps then beyond help completely 
 crushed him. Pearl chafed his temples and with her 
 handkerchief bound up his bleeding arm." 
 
 "Now, said I to Pearl, you stay here till the boy is 
 able to walk up to the house and I will go at once for 
 officers to apprehend these men for they may do some 
 bloody deed to-night, if not at once arrested." 
 
 "I did my errand and the men are now behind the 
 bars. When I came back I thought to find Pearl with 
 you at the house but had no sooner reached the lower 
 Park than she appeared just in advance of me and 
 moving as though she too were pursued. I had only 
 caught up with her and told of my successful capture 
 of the men when you sprang out in the fashion of an 
 officer and seized us both." 
 
 "Now, Miss Pearl, it seems you have been missing 
 too, till now. Really, the mysteries multiply ! No 
 doubt Madame Grundy has us booked together as
 
 46 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 romancers, so deeply interested in each other that we 
 lost our way in a two-acre grove through which we've 
 rambled since its trees were saplings, and, search be- 
 ing instituted, were found aping the 'Babes in the 
 Woods' under a coverlet of buff leaves indulging in 
 an afternoon siesta; and I for one plead not guilty 
 and to-morrow will insert a card in the papers to that 
 effect for this city's fame for gossip is a current 
 topic in the moon." 
 
 Pearl would have been glad could her story have 
 been related by another and she beyond its hearing. 
 She had no self-esteem other than a certain nobleness 
 of dealing with herself which inspired a deference 
 amounting almost to the homage one unconsciously 
 bestows upon an object of universal sacredness; nor 
 would she deal in personalities. The record of her 
 life was kept as one would keep a volume choicely 
 bound. Its leaves were never to be turned and criti- 
 cized, dog-eared and thumbed by hands which only 
 minister to curious eyes. 
 
 Now for the first time, Pearl was forced to speak of 
 herself as she saw the false light in which she stood 
 before Col. and Mrs. Veen and all the grand, great 
 company who honored Cecile's birthday, and she 
 trembled visibly as she began : 
 
 " Cecile and Stanley, my true hearts, I only did 
 what I thought right. As soon as strength returned
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 47 
 
 to the boy's limbs he burst into an uncontrollable fit 
 of crying. I could not pacify him unless I took him 
 home; so I promised him if he would stop crying and 
 be a brave good boy, that I would go back with him 
 to the fort, get the surgeon and go into his father's 
 presence, explaining the whole affair, and so ward off 
 the ' terrible licking ' he insisted was in preparation 
 for him ; and really, I saw quite a respectable wood- 
 pile of lithe willow sticks all trimmed, which the boy 
 assured me as he pointed them out lying by the door- 
 step of his shanty, ' were all to be broken up over 
 him.' 
 
 "I luckily was able to do a little more by way of 
 insuring his poor, starved looking little body from 
 abuse. I had my half-term's tuition money from 
 Ruby Clark received last night and I gave his 
 father the amount, telling him the money was for the 
 boy's great service to the country in securing, as he 
 did by going to St. Saul, the arrest of these wicked 
 men. I should be glad to know the sticks I saw were 
 burned, and no others to be gathered for such inhu- 
 man purposes, for the child looked worthy of a better 
 fate and a better father. 
 
 " When the doctor had examined the woman and 
 given her medicine, the boy was left in charge, and 
 his father took the surgeon to the fort and landed me 
 on these very banks. I never thought of the time ab-
 
 48 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 sorbed in this unexpected journey of mine; nor did I 
 flatter myself that I should be missed, save by my 
 own dear Cecile. No one has suffered but the little 
 boy. 
 
 "It makes me wretched to look into such a home- 
 less home as his is, and then see the lavish hand of 
 wealth conferring on itself these superfluities they 
 rack imagination to invent, and class among their 
 wants." 
 
 Stanley and Cecile both agreed with Pearl, that 
 when the privilege of handling money in great sums 
 should come to them, the world would be lit up in the 
 dark corners first, regardless of the heartless crowds 
 who sunned themselves by centralizing the life forced 
 of heaven's commonwealth, and seizing the handmaid 
 of nature to warp the royal purposes of God. 
 
 Silence fell upon the trio after Pearl, finishing her 
 story, had asked Cecile' s forgiveness for the unpre- 
 meditated anxiety she had caused her ; and now while 
 the glories of the setting sun are framing them all, as 
 if by angelic permission in sheets of golden splendor, 
 illuminating each pure face with that peculiar spirit- 
 ual light which only now and then irradiates a human 
 countenance, their pictures shall be given in true word- 
 painting. If the world had been searched over to 
 find three models of physical beauty, each in graceful
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 49 
 
 contrast to the other, the selection could not have 
 been more pleasing to the eye of an artist. 
 
 Stanley Veen was just twenty; manly, without being 
 coarsely masculine in that absolute sense which would 
 have drawn the line of sex too strongly to admit of 
 that exalted companionship existing between himself, 
 his sister Cecile and Pearl LaGrange. The tie was 
 so inseparable which bound the three, that the girls 
 had never been capable of leaving Stanley out of their 
 fond thoughts of each other; and the fact of his being 
 a separate entity, in any shape than that which made 
 them all individuals, never dawned upon their minds. 
 So their lives flowed on as peacefully and as delight- 
 edly as the union of three singing rivulets in one all- 
 beauteous stream, within whose clear depths the hea- 
 ven of stars lay mirrored, and upon whose surface 
 the storms of life have never beaten, to wash down 
 from its frowning shores, one earth stain, one dark 
 shadow. 
 
 Stanley was very tall, with that slenderness which 
 follows rapid growth, yet well proportioned. His hair 
 of raven blackness in its abundance did not conceal 
 his well shaped head and closely chiseled ears. His 
 forehead, broad with its reflected forces, introduced 
 most pleasingly the frank face with its brown, Italian 
 tint and fiery dark eyes. There was an impression of 
 power and strength those latent forces one conceives
 
 50 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 of shudderingly in looking through a cage which holds 
 a sleeping lion in scanning closely the face of Stan- 
 ley Veen. Yet, with these elements of moral great- 
 ness so grand in manhood, there was in his presence 
 and manner and in his rich melodious voice, unmis- 
 takable evidences of a delicacy and refinement in soul- 
 texture, which puzzled greatly the true analysis, and 
 left one always doubting if they knew the man. Upon 
 his real character and nobleness, the reader shall pass 
 judgment soon. 
 
 Cecile, his sister, shared his stronger qualities to a 
 degree which made her presence a magnet of power 
 if there was anything to be decided upon demanding 
 instant action; and her clear-sightedness never misled 
 herself or her friends. 
 
 These qualities gave both sister and brother that 
 self-poise, independence and correct thinking and act- 
 ing, which are the necessary concomitants of symet- 
 rical souls. 
 
 Cecile' s complexion though fairer than her broth- 
 er's was not pure blonde, but had a marble smooth- 
 ness which with its extreme palor, made her dark eyes 
 flash with starry splendor, and the choral red of a 
 most perfect mouth a very Cupid's bow seemed 
 formed for words of love only; and when they 
 parted in merry laughter, it was like the opening of a 
 ruby casket to display its double row of pearls. If the
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 51 
 
 ripeness of her lips stirred not the most indifferent 
 nature to its depths, her smile and rippling laughter 
 were positive enhancement, leaving upon the beholder 
 a refreshing sensation, such as follows the quaffing of 
 some health-giving draught 
 
 Her hair seemed just the shade of Stanley's, save 
 when, as now, set shimmering in the sun, when it re- 
 vealed its gold and auburn strands, betraying the rich 
 nature and warm passions of the soul. 
 
 Col. and Mrs. Veen were justly proud of these two 
 children, who seemed to have inherited the stronger, 
 better qualities of both, only in greater measure than 
 belonged to them combined. Wealth courted, and 
 the ruling circles of fashion claimed them, but res- 
 pectfully acknowledging the supremacy of both, in an 
 ephemeral sense, they were controlled by neither, but 
 soared above as eagles may in a flock of cawing crows. 
 
 Both stood heart-whole against the fawning briber- 
 ies of the world, yet without haughtiness that ele- 
 ment of snobbishness which erects its brainless head, 
 flaunts its pride-inflated person against the plainer 
 skirts of good society, and screams, fish-woman like, 
 for homage. 
 
 It would have pleased the mother of Cecile and 
 Stanley Veen if they had toned their towering aspi- 
 rations somewhat within the utmost limits of her tol- 
 eration and where society could revolve somewhere
 
 52 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 around their garment's hem; but the children mani- 
 fested wonderful tact in avoiding an open rebellion by 
 steering clear of both extremes, and holding firmly to 
 the middle ground, the golden mean where wisdom 
 leads, and "all her paths are pleasantness and peace." 
 
 Thus had they grown up side by side together, and 
 now were towers of strength. They won their fath- 
 er's sympathy their mother's awe. 
 
 Pearl LaGrange was heart and soul their counter- 
 part, yet with none of the moral combative element 
 so largely developed in her beloved associates the 
 shining qualities which were so soon to be tried for 
 her sake in that fiery crucible which never fails to eli- 
 minate solid gold from sordid brass. 
 
 Pearl was a mirror of sweet innocence and loveliness, 
 in which the good and pure and true and child-confi- 
 ding could forever see themselves finding no contra- 
 diction, no passion plague-marks; none of the little 
 festering pimples of envy and jealousy; no conscious- 
 ness of being anything more than a dutiful daughter 
 and a devoted friend ambitious to advance herself 
 and to carry with her all she loved. 
 
 To say that she was beautiful conveys no adequate 
 expression of her loveliness. Her presence inspired 
 the most elevated sentiments which the human soul 
 is capable of entertaining. There was a complete- 
 ness about her which would have satisfied the most
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 53 
 
 fastidious devotees of beauty, and in the ripeness of 
 her personal charms the " solid curves of healthful 
 strength and painless nerves." 
 
 Fair skinned, the rich bloom of her cheeks and lips 
 reminded one of ripened peaches which the sun and 
 air alone had toyed with, and which at slightest touch 
 of finger tips, would shed their blooms and bathe you 
 in their velvet atmosphere. 
 
 Her eyes were large, full orbed and never to be 
 named in color; but changing with the shades of 
 thought and feeling, were chamelion windows for the 
 soul to flash unlanguaged volumes through all the 
 pent fountains of a woman's tenderness and tears; 
 her dreams, her worship in the ideal realms of human 
 love and happiness; the spell of music, poetry and 
 art; a most unselfish nature, full of sacrificial strength, 
 silent endurance all spiritual emotions which like 
 sunlight on clear streams, sparkle the heaven of wis- 
 dom. 
 
 Pearl's hair was a rich chestnut, warm with bronze 
 gold glintings in the sun. Glossy and waving, it had 
 but to be released from bondage of the comb, when it 
 would fall in ringlets to her belt. 
 
 Her form just matched the glory of her eyes; and 
 in the faultless features of her face the stamp of an- 
 gelhood still lingered as though on guard, to say to 
 all rude gazers and skilled wordlings armed with f ul-
 
 54 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 some flatteries, which often mask unholy purposes at 
 heart: "If you would worship at this shrine of purity, 
 shake off the vulgar dust of promiscuities; wash in 
 those waters known to cleanse from sin. The temple 
 of a woman's honor is as holy as God's altar, and he 
 who would profane the sacred casket, planned for 
 God's begotten germs of immortality, first desecrate 
 the altars of His sanctuary, that the descent may be 
 less shocking to His wisdom's ordering." 
 
 As in a garden of choice shrubs and in the bloom 
 of roses, there is to the trained eye room for selection, 
 so amid a multitude of women, young and beautiful, 
 Pearl would have shown resplendent, the ripe color of 
 her cheeks and lips and the harmonious blending of her 
 simple dress and gentle manners, making her a queen 
 among the regal beauties of the place, from the crown 
 of her Greek head to the soles of her well arched feet. 
 
 Slender, yet fully developed, and with an air of vol- 
 uptuous strength, she trod the earth unconscious of 
 her wealthy womanhood. 
 
 Yet she was human and her weakness was that she 
 had love's divine capacities, and could not live, no 
 more than fountain play without this vitalizing wine 
 of life. 
 
 The lovely group chatted on together till the sun 
 left them and lingering twilight faded, and the drop-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 55 
 
 curtain of night hung portentiously above the horizon's 
 rim. 
 
 As the bells of St. Mark's rang out for vespers, Pearl 
 started, leaped to her feet and said: 
 
 " What! Have I been dreaming? I must go home 
 instantly. The vesper bells never found me away 
 from my father since sweet mother died." 
 
 "I think you called him better to-day, did you not?" 
 said Stanley. 
 
 "O no!" said Pearl, "he has bright days, but he 
 has failed most signally since auntie came." 
 
 "Indeed!" said Cecile, "I am sorry. Poor dear! 
 He's so patient too." 
 
 "My father! "said Pearl. "My blessed father! 
 The angel of patience could take new lessons at his 
 bedside daily." 
 
 " What can I do for you dear Pearl? Stanley and 
 I, you know, can come at any time," said Cecile. 
 
 "Nothing!" said Pearl. "The doctor told papa 
 yesterday he had exhausted every remedy and he must 
 now look to the Physician of Souls." 
 
 " But we must help you Pearl; and we shall by dint 
 of anticipating your needs, if you will not command 
 us." 
 
 "Love me," said Pearl, "for when my father is 
 gone, all of us are in Heaven but me. Good night."
 
 56 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 "Good night sweet angel," said Cecile. " The 
 heaven reserved for you is the heaven I'm aiming 
 for." 
 
 " The day was done and the darkness 
 
 Fell from the wings of night, 
 
 As a feather is wafted downward 
 
 From an eagle in his flight." 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 Home! The spared jewel of lost Paradise! 
 
 How is the pure gold of thy setting marred, 
 When love her absence fills with the disguise 
 
 Of broken images, defaced, and scarred! 
 
 The hour is midnight, intensly chill with dashes of 
 sharp sleet driven before the wintry blasts. 
 
 The streets, under a deep fall of snow, sparkle and 
 shimmer like shivering life beneath a winding sheet. 
 
 A wild and crazy night, when the lulls in the storm 
 seem even more pitiless and dreary along the life- 
 deserted avenues than the wild paroxysms of unrest 
 now lashing into a passionate fury of wailing and 
 weeping and anon suddenly dashing out into the 
 abysmal recesses of darkness leaving an emptiness of 
 sound which fills one with a sense of the vastness of 
 atmosphere beyond the encircling breath of silent 
 ether.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 57 
 
 It was a night to make home-loving hearts thankful 
 for blazing hearth, and sideboard cheer. 
 
 Vainly the storm hurled its missiles of hail and 
 dashed its mighty gusts of wind against the solid 
 casements of the rich. It only made weird music 
 in the wakeful poet's soul or rocked in slumbers more 
 profound the peaceful sleepers who occupied their 
 silken couches and passed the hours in dreamless rest; 
 and yet, dear reader if you have tasted life and have 
 not realized that wealth and poverty are relative terms; 
 that one man's affluence may be another's penury and 
 that the choicest gathering of treasures, the most 
 skilled 'outlay of \vealth in visible surroundings of 
 pomp and grandeur may hide but stalking skeletons 
 of abject misery, presenting so many rasping mock- 
 eries to the slow death of their life-imprisoned in- 
 mates, you have seen little of the inner and real 
 experiences of this two-fold existence of ours end 
 reasoned less upon its infinite dissimilarities and 
 phases. 
 
 But the night is too inclement to parley longer 
 within its freezing altitudes. 
 
 The solitary figure of a man bravely facing the 
 elements on such a night and at such an hour, and 
 threading the more retired and palatial aisles of St. 
 Saul justifies our pursuit at a respectful distance. 
 
 With quick elastic steps, leaving Prospect avenue
 
 58 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 behind him, he passes through the pillared gateway 
 and into the spaeious grounds of Terrace Hill. Solid 
 walls of snow flank the marble walks leading to the 
 castle which stands grandly distant looming in solemn 
 splendor and ghost-like as an isolated tomb amid tall 
 naked forest trees. 
 
 The winds have swept the marble staircase clean. 
 Introducing his night-key, the massive carvings of the 
 rosewood entrance part, and, making ingress with 
 him we will share for the remainder of the night the 
 courtesies tacitly conceded an invisible guest. 
 
 The hall is roomy; the ceiling lofty and richly de- 
 corated. On either side are marble busts of the 
 greatest men of the Roman world. The furniture of 
 the entire ground floor is antique in style and in its 
 elegant simplicity and harmony with the architecture 
 of the building would honor the abode of a Roman 
 emperor. 
 
 Ungloving his small white hands and raising the 
 gas jet to a generous blaze, the man proceeded to re- 
 move his outer wrappings in their stratified order for 
 he was closely enveloped in fur, from the sole of his 
 aristocratic foot, to the crown of his Napoleonic head 
 and only his eyes had been exposed in the trip from 
 his office door to his home. 
 
 At last the arctic outfit being entirely removed the 
 fine presence of Governor Cassius Kellogg presents 
 itself for the reader's inspection.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 59 
 
 Tall, proudly erect and perfectly proportioned with 
 just the slightest hint of embonpoint, sufficient to 
 arrest the tendency of any abruptness in outline the 
 Governor in review impresses one as a host within 
 himself. 
 
 His dress is rich though simple. The deep and 
 meditative stillness of the dark eyes, the endless good 
 feeling and friendliness in the lines of the handsome 
 mouth, as well as the air of culture about the whole 
 man, has an effect upon you harmonizing exactly with 
 the impression made by the appearance of the abode 
 just entered. 
 
 Before his official distinction, Cassius Kellogg had 
 won laurels as a jurist, was a brilliant orator and had 
 made some notable accessions to the classic literature 
 of the day. 
 
 While but a callow youth he became matrimonially 
 inveigled, as many equally brilliant men before him 
 have (as many gifted men who come after him are 
 likely to be), by being thrown unguardedly into the 
 society of older and experienced women, rendered ex- 
 pert in carving out their destinies as are all gradu- 
 ates from the school of divorce. 
 
 No fond ear was listening for his step, no voice 
 greeted him at the threshold; no encircling arms, no 
 salutation kisses these most natural and grateful at- 
 tentions due a man of genius and heart, and which
 
 60 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 ever bespeak the loving appreciation of a worthy com- 
 panionship and trust. 
 
 Silence and silence only was his welcome home. 
 Even the fire had burned to ashes in the grate, and 
 the stillness and coldness of death had settled upon 
 every inanimate appointment of luxury and comfort. 
 Those household gods instinctive with lif e,and so many 
 ministering agencies of delight in the willing hands 
 of tireless love, looked down upon this weary man, 
 pitiful and neglected as themselves, from their shad- 
 owy niches veiled in cobwebs and dimmed with dust. 
 
 Was the palace empty? No! Except of love! In 
 her flower-lined boudoir, under a canopy of lace, on 
 satin pillows, slumbered the nominal wife of this 
 lonely man. 
 
 We will not awaken her. The process would be too 
 tedious and discouraging, and the advantages of an 
 introduction under the happy spell of Morpheus must 
 compensate for the informality and discourtesy of 
 entering a lady's bedchamber during the small hours 
 of a winter morning and when that lady is locked in 
 profound slumber. 
 
 Hector Kellogg was eight years the senior of her 
 husband, and yet more advanced in that knowledge 
 of the world which ages and scars both soul and body. 
 
 She lived a dual existence. One side her better- 
 was presented to the world; the other her worst
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. (51 
 
 always with her, though masked for occasions she 
 resumed in the home, with certain embellishments of 
 detail, such as is developed in the wasp, upon the es- 
 tablishment of personal familiarities. 
 
 Gross and plethoric with high living, dull and brain- 
 less and empty-headed, she slept as profoundly as the 
 blaze of her extinguished night lamp, and as thought- 
 lessly and soullessly as the china mug on the hearth 
 rug. The steps over the staircase that passed her door 
 disturbed her not. There was not a sensitive nerve 
 nor an affectional link which put her en rapport 
 with sentient life anywhere. 
 
 She loved ease and luxury, laces and diamonds and 
 could yawn out orders to the servants and complaints 
 to her husband and was mortally jealous of every spe- 
 cimen of feminine loveliness in youthful guise who 
 crossed her flowery pathway. 
 
 There is a familiar proverb that " love is full of 
 jealousy." In this case the proverb was not applica- 
 ble, as the image of love was broken leaving jealousy 
 alone intact. 
 
 Devoid of affection and too coarse and stolid for 
 sentiment, the wife of Governor Kellogg indulged 
 her jealousies from a sort of fiendish selfishness and 
 dog-in-the-manger gluttonness, to monopolize and ap- 
 propriate everything the law gave in possession, 
 whether it suited her needs or not.
 
 62 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Obtuse and inert mentally she exhibited an amount 
 of energy and bestial cunning in conducting her social 
 intrigues and shrewdness in the concealment of her 
 cloven-footed motives therein, which kept her ever 
 upon the alert, lest inadvertently, she should compro- 
 mise her own position in her eagerness to unsettle 
 another's 
 
 To say this woman had no redeeming traits of 
 character would be subscribing to the horrible belief 
 in "total depravity." 
 
 She lived as many of the children of wealth and 
 vanity do, upon a purely animal plane and the spirit- 
 ual side of her nature so indispensable in the bal- 
 ance of all true womanhood was darkened (let us 
 hope not lost. ) 
 
 Her associations were similar in type and mental- 
 ity with herself. Her masculine strength was matched 
 by powerful influential qualities amounting to absol- 
 ute magnetism while her position, as the wife of Gov- 
 ernor Kellogg gave her the leading role in a "society" 
 whose polished corner stone was wealth and snobbery 
 and whose rule was nothing less than civil despotism. 
 
 Growing wider and wider apart daily, the uplifting 
 companionship of her husband of which she might 
 have availed herself was without effect upon her. 
 
 It was impossible for refined and unsuspicious 
 natures like Cassius Kellogg to appreciate or antici-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 63 
 
 pate the capacities for ruin which crouched like a lion 
 in its lair, when this woman reclined upon her downy 
 couch. He felt the chains of the law which bound 
 him to her, but his official duties and the congenial 
 associates of his profession kept him in an orbit of 
 his own; while his wife with her nebulous retinue, 
 trailed the earth-edges of the horizon below. 
 
 Morning broke over the city, clear and gloriously 
 bright. The Governor upon entering the dining-room 
 at an early hour observed a note addressed to his wife 
 with the underscored words in the corner of the en- 
 velope : "In death haste." 
 
 Thinking this justified his breaking the seal before 
 disturbing his wife and perhaps thus sparing her the 
 rude shock of its contents he hastily tore the wrapper, 
 and read: 
 
 MRS. Gov. KELLOGG 
 
 Honored Lady: 
 
 You will perhaps pardon 
 
 another intrusion upon your ladyship's time and at- 
 tention regarding the terrible scandal connected with 
 the loss of a $100.00 note at the Governor's mansion 
 a little more than one year ago, when I tell you my 
 daughter is dying and implores me to make this last 
 appeal for justice at your hands. Since the affair 
 gained notoriety, Celia has been able to earn but lit- 
 tle, save solicited work among strangers. Had you 
 mercifully spared my poor girl's name withholding
 
 64 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 your suspicions from the public until thorough search 
 had been made (or accepted her proposition to restore 
 the money to you as she earned and was able to spare 
 it from her living expenses,) gladly would she have 
 rewarded you with the free labor of her hands. The 
 withdrawal of confidence and the published account 
 of her disgrace bandied from lip to lip in families 
 whose patronage had been her support and the sup- 
 port of her aged mother entirely crushed her. 
 
 The French modiste, recently in your employ, as- 
 sured me she had found the note (embedded in dust, 
 yet unhurt) behind your marble dresser. 
 
 In the name of humanity's God, and as you value 
 your immortal soul, I beseech you to exonerate her 
 now if peradventure it be not too late to bring her 
 back to life. A simple word declaring her innocence 
 which I can read to her upon her return to conscious- 
 ness is all I ask. Oh grant it, that her death may 
 not rest like a shadow upon your happy threshold! 
 
 In distress I am 
 
 Tour obedient servant, 
 
 HANNAH WARD. 
 
 The Governor stood as if riveted to the spot for 
 some moments and an expression of pain passed over 
 his fine face and trembled upon his sensitive lips. 
 
 "Poor, innocent girl!" said he. "I wonder how 
 many more struggling victims like her are dangling 
 upon the end of Society's uplifted pitchfork ready to 
 be dashed into the Hades of disreputable rubbish, at
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 65 
 
 a given caterwaul from Madame Grundy's elect par- 
 agons severely virtuous and severely ugly. This 
 persecution bears investigation. The girl is pretty 
 and youthful, which is ample testimony for her con- 
 viction of any and all crimes in the decalogue with 
 that trio of old maids over the way and the Madame 
 too, if I mistake not." Ringing the bell for the 
 chambermaid, the Governor pushed the note under 
 his plate and drew up to the breakfast table. 
 
 "Mary," said the Governor, "tell Mrs. Kellogg I 
 wish to see her on particular business before I go to 
 the Capitol. If she will postpone the details of her 
 toilet, and breakfast with me this morning, I will 
 greatly appreciate it." 
 
 The servant disappeared with the unusual request, 
 and Mrs. Kellogg and the breakfast were announced 
 together. 
 
 Holding out the note to his wife and explaining his 
 motives in its interception, the Governor watched her 
 countenance closely, which paled and flamed alter- 
 nately as she perused the touching appeal. 
 
 The feelings uppermost in her heart and visibly 
 portrayed in her changing color, were entirely those 
 of disappointment and rage, that the letter should 
 have fallen into her husband's hands, and with it, one 
 of her society escapades, which she supposed strangled 
 and disposed of eternally.
 
 66 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 " The ridiculous thing! " said Mrs. Kellogg. " The 
 idea, that I should identify the discovered bank note 
 from underneath my dresser, as the money lost one 
 year ago, which I am positive Celia Ward niched from 
 my pocketbook lying on my bureau, the last day she 
 sewed for me." 
 
 " It was the same denomination, I believe, was it 
 not?" quietly asked the Governor. 
 
 " Yes ; but that fact establishes nothing!" retorted 
 Mrs. Kellogg, with a wanton toss of her head. 
 
 " It strikes me further " said the Governor, " that 
 this room in which the bill has just been recovered by 
 the French dressmaker, lias not been occupied by 
 either of us till you returned to it on the day prior to 
 the finding of the money not since Celia Ward pre- 
 pared your wardrobe for Washington. Do not do 
 such great discredit to your memory. The Ward fam- 
 ily are poor, but I believe highly respectable. I think 
 it would be better to give the poor girl the life-lease 
 she is yearning for. It will only be rectifying a cruel 
 wrong, and as my wife I request you to do this at 
 once, and I will post it on my way down town." 
 
 "Never! Let the girl die! The affair is none of 
 mine. I should look well going around among my 
 friends and posting hills for her reinstatement. She 
 belongs to a notorious class of painted courtesans 
 kept by
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 67 
 
 "No, no! You cannot fasten another crime upon 
 this defenseless girl who never wronged you! I knew 
 her father, and I know the widow Ward, and I will 
 defend her purity against all your society slanders." 
 And the Governor arose and paced the floor excitedly. 
 
 " Write the note at once as I dictate, or I'll close 
 my doors upon this ' bon ton society ' of yours and 
 expose its hollowness and professional intriguing from 
 A to izzard. It is a banded aristocracy of homely 
 ill-shaped women, crusaders upon beauty, loveliness 
 and innocence." And the Governor, pale with passion, 
 rang for the servant. 
 
 " Tell Charlie to come to me at once," and turning 
 to his wife he said: 
 
 " Make haste Madame, and repair this wrong before 
 death makes the effort futile. The foul slander has 
 hung about your skirts so long that the castle smells 
 of rotting corpses! Here, I'll write the affidavit for 
 your full signature. Read this and sign. I dare not 
 trust your pen to copy truth ! It is as dead a lang- 
 uage on your tongue, as love-smiles on your lips." 
 
 The woman uttered not an extenuating word. Si- 
 lently, and like a statue she obeyed the man whose 
 frown made her very soul tremble. Her name affixed 
 she withdrew, and the Governor's coachman appear- 
 ing, the note was sealed and directed in the Gover- 
 nor's official envelope.
 
 68 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 " Take one of the horses and carry this note to No. 
 30 Kirk street. It is well in the suburbs. You will 
 bring back an answer, so dismount and warm your- 
 self." 
 
 The boy disappeared and the door bell rang. The 
 Governor's perturbed state of mind caused him to or- 
 der the girl from his presence and answer the bell in 
 person. It was the postman, and among his letters 
 was one bearing a foreign stamp. It read as follows: 
 
 "To THE HON. CASSIUS KELLOGG, 
 
 St. Saul, U. S. A, 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 In one of our western exchanges I noticed some 
 time ago an advertisement, dated from the Executive 
 Chamber at St Saul, offering a reward for informa- 
 tion concerning the young girl who so miraculously 
 and bravely saved the lives of the Governor and his 
 lady, and a young stranger, but who disappeared from 
 that moment and eluded further publicity. As my 
 beloved son, Hugh Carlisle, is the stranger alluded to, 
 I have taken no little pains to ascertain the identity 
 of the fair heroine whose modesty was only equaled by 
 her courage, and I have the honor of transmitting you 
 her name just obtained after a year's industrious ef- 
 fort. 
 
 I am sir, with high respect, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 Louis CARLISLE, M. D. 
 
 Stratford, Ontario, Can.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 69 
 
 At this juncture Mrs. Kellogg came into the library, 
 and passing her husband who seemed absorbed with 
 the contents of a letter spread out before him, stooped 
 and picked from the carpet by his chair, a card unob- 
 served, and disappeared with it through the library 
 door. 
 
 "Well, this is surely a most extraordinary letter! 
 If it were the first day of April I would consider my- 
 self the best fooled man in America," said the Gover- 
 nor aloud as he sank into an easy chair to await the 
 messenger. 
 
 After a lapse of thirty minutes in which the Gov- 
 ernor was occupied vainly endeavoring to solve the 
 mystery, the library door again opened and Charlie 
 appeared with a note from Mrs. Ward, thanking the 
 Governor and his lady, but regretting the coveted 
 words should have come too late to save the life of her 
 child who had just expired. However, the note should 
 be laid upon her bosom that all might know that she 
 died above reproach. 
 
 Stanley Veen was here announced, and being shown 
 into the library drew his chair close to the Governor's, 
 and taking a small package from the inside pocket of 
 his coat, proceeded to unwrap it very carefully. 
 
 "To-day is a day of surprises," said the Governor. 
 " What have you brought me ? Some more geologi- 
 cal specimens I suppose. You have really contribu-
 
 70 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 ted some of the finest fossils I have in my collection. 
 
 " I have something entirely different to offer you to- 
 day my dear Governor, and for the first time in my 
 life I am a peddler of choice goods, something in the 
 line of real gems such as your wife has a decided pen- 
 chant for, and which an indulgent husband like your- 
 self, will delight to purchase for her I know." 
 
 " Why, my dear boy, when did you adandon the 
 study of your profession to become a jewel merchant? " 
 
 " If you are too curious," said Stanley, " I shall 
 take them where no questions will be asked." 
 
 "Ah! Then they are smuggled goods," said Gov- 
 ernor Kellogg playfully. 
 
 " They are nothing of the kind," said Stanley, un- 
 locking an elegant plush casket and exposing a satin 
 lined tray upon whose gorgeous tinted ground a su- 
 perb set of diamonds and opals flashed forth like a re- 
 gal coronet nestling within the velvet heart of a rose. 
 
 "Dazzling!" said the Governor. "They look as 
 though they had never seen the light before, and 
 might devour and reflect its rays till the atmosphere 
 exhausted itself in keeping up the exchange of bril- 
 liant courtesies." 
 
 " They are beautiful," said Stanley, "and they are 
 for sale. How much will you bid on them." 
 
 " Really, one has to feel amiable to purchase luxu-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 71 
 
 ries, and niy mood is a most unhappy one to-day," 
 said the Governor. 
 
 " Then see here, dear Governor, these jewels must 
 be sold to-night. Suppose I leave them with you, and 
 you advance a sum upon them ? I do assure you that 
 my object in asking this favor is in every way worthy 
 your acquiesence." 
 
 " I doubt it not, dear Stanley. I would give much 
 more than the price of these diamonds to solve a mys- 
 tery, now hunting me like the ghost of some restless 
 grave-yard sleeper. To whom do I owe my own life 
 and the Madame's? For that day both seemed 
 doomed to a violent death but for the intercession of 
 an unknown hand? Not to our guardian* angels', 
 surely! miraculous as the rescue was; for more than 
 a hundred eyes distinguished the form of a young 
 girl afterwards lost in the crowds who flocked around 
 us." 
 
 Stanley's face flushed, observing which the Gov- 
 ernor immediately followed up the clew by saying: 
 
 " Stanley Veen ! If this secret which has cocked 
 every ear in St. Saul and baffled the ferreting noses 
 of the three old spinsters over the way, is in your pos- 
 session and the heroine is obscure in name and po- 
 sition, you wrong the best instincts of your noble 
 charities to keep back the deserved reward." 
 
 " Governor, I beg you not to deem me all ungrate-
 
 72 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 ful for your valued kindnesses, advice and rare com- 
 panionship, if I refuse, point blank, to give the name 
 of the modest angel for she is more than human 
 who was God's instrument in saving our beloved Gov- 
 ernor and his good lady. Some time I may tell you 
 all that I'm pledged to keep inviolate to-day." 
 
 "Ah! Then the name and jewels are not strangers 
 to each other. It is well ! Here is enough to keep out 
 hungry wolves from any door and in these times, God 
 knows the poor must suffer bitterly," said Governor 
 Kellogg, as he placed in Stanley's hands a roll of bills, 
 
 Stanley's starry eyes fairly danced with joy and 
 gratitude, and the moisture of glad tears gemmed their 
 long lashes as he proudly and carefully folded the new 
 bills, placed them in a sealed envelope and tucked them 
 into the depths of the pocket which had been but a 
 few minutes before the repository for the casket of 
 jewels, and his voice trembled perceptibly as he ex- 
 tended his hand and said: 
 
 " O how I thank you, good, dear Governor! Yes, 
 from my heart, I thank you. The jewels are all yours. 
 I could not ask for more! And for the blessings you 
 unconsciously confer in this transaction may God's 
 faithful witnesses make full recompense! "Tis safe 
 to trust to Heaven the debt reserved for Heaven alone 
 to pay!"
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 73 
 
 " No thanks, my boy. My prayer is answered well. 
 I should not like to see the sun set on to-day as on a 
 common day of office toil to me, unless I felt I had 
 in some small way made one of God's poor wretches 
 the happier for my living. Good bye ! Give your fair 
 sister and your mother my best compliments, and 
 come again when you have kindred missions to ful- 
 fill; for in the grove of selfish aims, one quite loses 
 sight of the beatitudes of grace and charity. It makes 
 one live again in the true sense to breathe the pure air 
 scenting these good memories which you have brought 
 me. Really I'm glad my official labors are so soon 
 to end. The work is onerous and restoration to my 
 profession looks second only to the reservation of a 
 place in Heaven to me." 
 
 " But you forget. Another term awaits the State's 
 good Governor, beloved of all!" 
 
 " Never! " said Kellogg. " My name is in advance 
 withdrawn, and in such a manner as forever shuts out 
 all controversy. Goodnight," and Stanley Veen passed 
 out as though his feet were winged and floated him. 
 Not once (as was his wont) glancing upon picture or 
 statue framing his rich path through the grand draw- 
 ing-rooms. On to the hall he passed, the glad light in 
 his eyes emitting sparks like some charged battery. 
 
 Quickly donning overcoat and hat he walked rapidly
 
 74 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 down the avenue and disappeared in the direction of 
 the LaGrange cottage. 
 
 Hector Kellogg upon reaching her room took the 
 card from her bosom, where she had hastily thrust it 
 on discovering its noiseless fall upon the tufted 
 floor at the side of her husband's chair, in the open- 
 ing of Dr. Carlisle's letter. Her mad jealousy only 
 wanted a hint here and there out of which to weave 
 her dark machinations and torture the home-life of 
 her husband imaginary horrors which fruit in the 
 idle convolutions of a sterile brain, and upon which 
 vicious and animal natures gloat and feed. 
 
 She found it now, and was angered and chagrined 
 with herself that the source was entirely unanticipated. 
 
 Ashen shadows chased each other over her dusky 
 face frightfully corrugated and transformed with 
 rage such colors as pass, wave-like over snakes when 
 winding their coil for a deadly spring. Her eyelids 
 contracted and quivered, and glints shot, lizard-like 
 from their dilated pupils, and through her teeth she 
 fairly hissed the name (painstakingly written upon 
 an embossed white card) "Pearl LaGrange! "
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 75 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Alone! Her soul took refuge in its God, 
 And the three angels lent her innocence 
 
 Truth, love and purity with these she trod 
 Where honor led, and wrought its own defense! 
 
 The curtains were drawn at the LaGrange cottage 
 and the house looked asleep and deserted. As the 
 yard was very small the gate only swung open upon 
 a little vestibule of earth the merest margin of pro- 
 tection against the turning of the white door knob, 
 and ingress through its casement from the street. 
 
 The look of gloom and desertion so changed the ex- 
 terior of this humble domicile, that passing strangers 
 who had been in the habit of taking in the fresh, 
 sweet picture of its window- garden blooms from the 
 street, looked wonderingly towards the closely drawn 
 curtains and the apparent absence of all life within. 
 
 Homes are the earth centers of the universe around 
 which revolve in their celestial order as planets 
 wheel around the sun the heart-graces and sacred 
 affections of the human soul. 
 
 No home is so humble, so circumscribed by the 
 limits of poverty as to shut out the domestic joys of 
 Eden or cut off its inmates from fellowship with the 
 angel world; indeed the domestic relationships of the 
 poor are proverbially happier and there is less in-
 
 76 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 fidelity and family wretchedness to contend with in 
 its rank, than is found elsewhere. 
 
 But there is one guest whose unwelcome presence 
 is alike manifest in the homes of both wealth and 
 poverty; who is no respecter of persons. One who 
 comes omitting the civilities of a ring at the portal; 
 whom we would gladly bar out could mortal hand 
 forge bolt or bar sufficient. 
 
 There were sincere lives, and true devoted piety to 
 be found among the inmates of theLaGrange cottage; 
 and now, as one of its number was hovering upon the 
 threshold of the two worlds its visible doors seemed 
 opening out into the invisible gardens of God! 
 
 For weeks the life of Robert LaGrange had hung 
 upon a thread and the shaded lamp had burned the 
 long night vigils through. The aged sister and the 
 devoted daughter now never left his bedside. 
 
 Though Cecile and Stanley, her noble friends, stood 
 ever ready to relieve her in the watch, the yearning 
 love and tender anxieties of Pearl, lest her father 
 should die at an unexpected moment, kept her ever in 
 his presence. 
 
 Since her father had given up his chair at the front 
 window Pearl had not left the house. To surround 
 the sick man with the best influences and most cheer- 
 ful within the province of the humble tenement to 
 offer, his couch had been moved out of the little
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 77 
 
 bed-room into the one only commodious apartment 
 of the cottage, and so located as to command a perfect 
 view of the busy thoroughfares. 
 
 Through its sunny south windows he could see the 
 gay world as it whirled by in the gilded trappings of 
 wealth and fashion. A panoramic view of which the 
 old time mirror gave back reflectively, when his eyes 
 weary of the light, turned toward the solid casement. 
 
 The deep window seats were literally banked with 
 flowers from among which delicate vines shot out and 
 met in airy drapery above a life size portrait in oil of 
 Pearl's sweet mother, Annie Boyd LaGrange. 
 
 There was something indescribably pensive in the 
 expression of the face of the picture, and to Pearl's 
 poetical imagination it answered her in all her moods. 
 In gazing upon it she wandered off into space, follow- 
 ing the lead of her fancies as she traced the beauty 
 paths through which her mother walked in paradise, 
 and clothed her in the robes fit only for her angel 
 loveliness to wear. 
 
 The picture had jiot robbed her of that spirituality 
 of expression, lost sight of by some artists in their too 
 accurate lines for the delineations of beauty alone. 
 The face was the embodiment of youthful vivacity 
 and gentleness and so soft in its outlines that the oval 
 of the cheek and swan-like curving of the throat, blent
 
 78 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 and diffused their warm tints melting away mistily 
 into the swell of the snowy bust. 
 
 The portrait was executed by Powers and expressly 
 to adorn his prize collection. He had seen Annie 
 LaGrange with the infant Pearl in her arms sitting 
 upon the rickety doorsteps of the old tenement house, 
 which Pearl and her father had abandoned with all 
 its sad memories upon the death of the mother and 
 little Fra. Evening after evening did the infatuated 
 lover of beauty stroll by that doorway till the picture 
 was memorized and the sketch perfected. Years 
 afterwards, during the early weeks of Robert La 
 Grange's illness, Pearl, Cecile and Stanley strolled 
 into a gallery but just thrown open to the public for 
 the exhibition of masterpieces in oil. 
 
 Upon an easel confronting Pearl as she entered this 
 gallery was the portrait of her idolized mother. There 
 could be no mistake in those eyes which looked into 
 hers with the same old tenderness she had missed so 
 long! She stood transfixed, and, though Stanley and 
 Cecile passed on and Stanley returned again and 
 again for her to join them in their, rounds she heard 
 them not until they forcibly seized and dragged her 
 away from the picture, when, recalling her surround- 
 ings and pointing to it, she introduced them to her 
 mother ! 
 
 Cecile and Stanley saw quickly the resemblance to
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 79 
 
 Pearl, but assured her it must be accidental; however y 
 Stanley promised he would learn its history and if the 
 picture was traceable to any but an ideal source. 
 
 One evening Pearl returned to her home to find the 
 precious relic hers - the united gift of Stanley and 
 Cecile Veen. In this remarkable manner had the 
 living likeness of Annie LaGrange been restored to 
 her family and the shadow of her angel presence come 
 as if commissioned to sweep out another shadow, HOAV 
 falling like the black wings of night across the 
 threshold. 
 
 The world again presented its dark side to Pearl 
 LaGrange and fortune the second critical turning 
 point in her destiny. 
 
 Since establishing herself at her father's bedside 
 Pearl had given up her class and the last earnings of 
 Robert LaGrange were slowly melting away under the 
 pressure of such daily needs as the filling out of the 
 doctor's prescriptions the comforts which Pearl anti- 
 cipated and obtained never counting the cost since 
 it was her father's money which procured them. In- 
 deed it was not until aunt Meg warned her of the 
 limits of an already depleted pocketbook that Pearl 
 realized the possibility of not being able to keep up 
 the little table of luxuries which had stood at her 
 father's bedside so long, tempting the failing appetite 
 and delighting his child to supply at the self-sacrifi-
 
 80 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 cing price of her own and her old aunt's physical 
 needs; for Pearl always insisted in her heart that 
 her father, who was still young might yet be saved by 
 the ministrations of love a comforting thought she 
 repeated to herself mentally while assiduously main- 
 taining her sleepless watch. 
 
 It was upon the total dark of such a night-sorrow 
 that daylight streamed in, enveloping the cottage, its 
 mournful watchers and the white face of the dying La 
 Grange in its generous flood of sunshine. 
 
 In the morning of the day on which Stanley Veen 
 made a business visit to the Governor's mansion, the 
 expressman brought to the LaGrange cottage a pack- 
 age addressed to Pearl. Upon turning and scanning 
 the mysterious thing before breaking its foreign seal, 
 Pearl's imagination fairly danced as she thought of 
 the wonderful inheritance aunt Meg had assured her 
 some day would fall to her share from the old manor 
 house estate at Gascony; that this might be the first 
 installment in answer to her father's claim of heir- 
 ship, gave her heart a thrill of delight. 
 
 She broke the seal and when she had torn off the 
 wrappings, and with its enclosed key unlocked the 
 casket containing the jewels already inspected by the 
 reader as they sparkled upon the library writing ta- 
 ble at the Governor's mansion, she was sure her pre- 
 monitions were correct. The note, however, dispelled
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 81 
 
 her illusions, and Pearl's eyes filled with tears of 
 mingled disappointment and puzzled surprise at the 
 strange answer to her prayers for help, and the sud- 
 den dash of these, her most sanguine hopes for inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 Not until she had submitted the casket with its con- 
 tents to Stanley Veen's inspection did she appreciate 
 its value or the possibility of turning it into any prac- 
 tical good whatever. She was tossed upon a limitless 
 sea of speculation to know who had given her name 
 to Dr. Carlisle, and why he should have honored her 
 with so costly a gift. 
 
 It was the most natural thing in the world for her 
 to have saved the life of the poor little helpless hunch- 
 back just as she did, and the most inhuman spectacle 
 she had ever witnessed was furnished in the indiffer- 
 ence manifested by the crowd regarding the four im- 
 periled lives on that memorable day. 
 
 While Pearl meditated upon these things the sick 
 man slept and she awaited Stanley Veen. At last, 
 placing her head upon the pillow beside her father's, 
 overcome by extreme weariness and anxiety, she joined 
 him in the realms of forgetfulness; nor did she hear 
 the light step of Stanley, who stood gazing upon the 
 picture of the two faces resting upon the same pillow. 
 It was wan death and rosy health; and the contrast
 
 82 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 made Stanley Veen shudder, young and strong as he 
 felt himself to be. 
 
 The pale messenger had lingered long and love had 
 been so tenderly alive to every need, the spirit could 
 not break faith with its clay save by that insidious 
 letting go of the life-hold which rather aggravates than 
 spares the shock of death. And thus the urgent hour 
 had come unrecognized. The strange, deep calm ; the 
 unusual clearness of the mind; the freedom from 
 pain, had all been construed into so many favorable 
 intimations of rallying life powers. 
 
 Aunt Meg had repaired to her room for the night 
 and Pearl's heart beat lighter than it had for many 
 weeks. 
 
 Before Stanley Veen took the jewels to the Gover- 
 nor, however, he had a long conversation with the doc- 
 tor, and knew a few hours only remained to Pearl of 
 her father's presence. 
 
 While planning in his mind just how he should 
 break the news to Pearl, a look of extreme weariness 
 and pain passed over the face of the dying LaGrange. 
 He opened his eyes and turned his head upon the 
 pillow. Pearl leaped to her feet, crimson with con- 
 fusion. 
 
 " Why, Stanley Veen! " she said, "when did you 
 come? How long I have beeen sleeping! " 
 
 " Not long, dear heart," said Stanley, "your father
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 83 
 
 has this moment wakened, and I have watched you 
 both. You slept as though the lapse was novel to 
 you, and you look so dead tired, Pearl." 
 
 "But I am not," Pearl said. " It was sheer stupi- 
 dity in me to fall asleep. See! How much brighter 
 father looks for his rest. I call him so much better, 
 too, to-day! " 
 
 Stanley shook his head, and motioning her into 
 another room, he said, very tenderly and in low tones: 
 
 " I shall not leave you, Pearl, to-night, unless you 
 drive me out. It is our place Cecile's and mine to 
 help you to the end." 
 
 "Whatl" said Pearl, paling as she caught the drift 
 of Stanley's meaning, "you don't mean you do not 
 think my father worse?" 
 
 "I think," said Stanley, "really a great change has 
 come over your father since yesterday, and greater 
 still since my errand and return just now." 
 
 Pearl sank into a chair and buried her face in her 
 hands, while Stanley continued: 
 
 "Dear Pearl, forgive my frankness!" You must 
 be prepared to-night." 
 
 "Oh, Stanley! My father will not die. He cannot 
 leave me alone. No, no! If father dies then I re- 
 nounce the world; I have nothing more to live for." 
 
 " Say not so, Pearl. Aunt Meg is left and Cecile 
 and your brother, Stanley Veen."
 
 84 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 " Forgive me if I repeat the ingrate thought. I 
 Jiave nothing more to live for." 
 
 Stanley moved towards the door and Pearl roused 
 herself. 
 
 " You will not leave me, Stanley?" 
 
 " Only to bring Cecile," he answered. 
 
 " I want you both," said Pearl. 
 
 " And both shall come," said Stanley, as he closed 
 the outer door softly behind him. 
 
 And Pearl, realizing the necessity for self control 
 in the presence of her father, bathed her face off 
 quickly, and with a forced smile on her lips entered 
 his presence. 
 
 Extending his wasted hand and feebly beckoning 
 Pearl towards him, he said: 
 
 " Come, Pearl, my child, are we alone? " 
 
 "Yes, father." 
 
 " I have something I must say to you before I go. 
 No other ears must hear it." 
 
 " But father, my own father, you are not going," 
 and Pearl, unable to control herself, burst into a par- 
 oxysm of weeping and moaning. 
 
 " My child! You will unnerve me. I need all my 
 strength now, for the final moment is upon me, and 
 my work done, or so nearly so that you may finish it. 
 So bear up cheerfully sweet child. You quite forget
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 86 
 
 old aunt Meg is here when I am gone, and with your 
 class and health, and your pure trust in God, I give 
 you all a father's confidence that you will live worthy 
 the good name of both houses now bequeathed you at 
 my death. It is your only fortune, and it will never 
 take wings and fly away, as bags of gold have done. 
 Pearl! Quickly! While I have my mind, get pen 
 and paper and jot down verbatim what I have to say. 
 Make haste, my daughter!" 
 
 With streaming eyes Pearl obeyed, and soon an- 
 nounced herself in readiness for his dictations. 
 
 A sealed package was brought addressed to the 
 Governor which Pearl sacredly promised her father to 
 deliver herself, it being a matter of life and death to 
 the parties concerned. 
 
 With this sealed document LaGrange dictated the 
 following note addressed to his excellency, Governor 
 Kellogg, Executive Chamber, St. Saul. 
 
 " I, Robert LaGrange, in dying, deem it my duty to 
 submit to the Governor of our state the enclosed 
 papers, entrusted to me for this purpose and to pro- 
 mote the ends of mercy. I furthermore pray that the 
 innocent man who has suffered years of imprisonment 
 for a crime committed by another, be set free, and 
 permitted to reestablish himself and his former claims 
 to respectable citizenship. The paper has been in my 
 possession some weeks, awaiting the results of my last
 
 86 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 prostration; that I might present it in person to your 
 excellency. I am, sir, 
 
 With great respect, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 ROBERT LAGBANGE." 
 
 This note being signed in the trembling hand of the 
 dying man, and Pearl having promised to carry the 
 important package to the Governor immediately after 
 the burial of her father, she carefully returned the 
 papers to her father's desk, and thinking she discov- 
 ered a new cause for alarm in his countenance, she 
 poured out a glass of cordial, raised him in her arms 
 and urged him to drink. 
 
 It was not possible. He had exhausted the last 
 spark of vitality in his effort to execute the trust 
 which had been committed to him, and which had 
 hung dependent upon this last thread of his existence, 
 and would have been lost but for the rallying energies 
 of a faithful heart. 
 
 Pearl rushed into her old aunt's room and seizing 
 her frantically, cried: 
 
 " He is going, auntie! Father is dying! Oh, come 
 quickly! " and by the time the poor flustered old lady 
 had roused herself, draped a blanket hastily around 
 her shoulders and entered the apartment, Pearl had 
 taken her father up into her arms on the bed, as one 
 would take a little child. His dying head was pil-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 87 
 
 lowed on her bosom, and her face pressed close to his, 
 as if she could thus ward off the impending stroke 
 and detain the spirit by the same power which ena- 
 bled her to encircle the precious form within her 
 strong and loving embrace. 
 
 The countenance of the dying man was lighted up 
 with a supernatural brilliancy of expression, and his 
 large kind eyes beamed as though already feasting 
 upon the restful verdure of the evergreen hills. 
 
 Smiling tenderly upon old aunt Meg as she knelt at 
 his bedside he said: 
 
 "Sister, you will guard my poor orphan child?" 
 
 "Aye, brother; as ye pit your trust in the Laird, 
 you may count on your auld sister to watch over the 
 bairnie Pearl. It has a' come to me what maun be 
 done. Gude will guide us aloon in the warld as we 
 maun be, when ye gang to the land o' the leel." 
 
 " Pearl, sweet child, remember all I have told you. 
 Be good; confide in and consult your auntie in all 
 things, and may the God of the fatherless and of the 
 poor watch over my lamb. Remember your duties 
 are best performed in this life by ever keeping and 
 holding close to your heart a knowledge of the life 
 and love in the world to come. I go! God protect 
 you both! " 
 
 The wasted hand which had caressingly stroked 
 Pearl's hair the while he spoke, dropped suddenly.
 
 88 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 " He's wi' your sainted mither and our ain bairnie 
 Fra, a luking down on ye fra heaven," said aunt Meg. 
 
 Pearl lifted his head, gazed long and earnestly upon 
 the features now settling into the rigid expression of 
 death. 
 
 " O father! Speak once more to me! Just once! " 
 she cried. 
 
 But the spirit had taken its flight, so gently releas- 
 ing itself from the embraces of love, that Pearl might 
 have said she carried her father in her arms to the 
 very gates of Paradise. No angel would have contra- 
 dicted her statement. 
 
 A half-hour passed. The fire burned low. The 
 night winds lashed the naked grapevines against the 
 outer casement as they beat out their mournful meas- 
 ures to departing time. 
 
 Another half -hour passed. The fire had burned to 
 ashes, and the atmosphere of the cottage put on the 
 temperature and stillness of death. Aunt Meg's face 
 was yet buried in the bed-clothes and she had not 
 risen from her knees. Pearl still clasped in her arms 
 the lifeless form of her father! If the mourners had 
 turned to stone they could not have been more motion- 
 less, more silent; and the darkness which enveloped 
 them was equally profound. 
 
 Neither of them started at the clicking of the gate 
 or the opening of the street door.
 
 A .SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 89 
 
 " Stanley," said Cecile, " what does it mean, this 
 darkness ? Are you sure this is the house ? " 
 
 " Wait, Cecile. till J strike a match," and Stanley 
 held up the tiny flame while they both peered through 
 the darkness of the room." 
 
 " Why yes; we are right. This is the little kitchen; 
 there is Pearl's hat, just where she hung it last time 
 we went together for the doctor; but listen! " 
 
 " I hear nothing, Stanley. You make me tremble. 
 Are you going in? " 
 
 "I have turned the door-knob. All is darkness 
 Cecile, I never was afraid before. I cannot hear a 
 sound. Where are the lamps ? " 
 
 " I have found a candle," whispered Cecile. 
 
 " Light it quickly, and let's find out what the matter 
 is." 
 
 Stanley lighted the candle and Cecile followed him 
 into the room, holding on to his arm and walking close 
 behind him. 
 
 Reader, can you imagine the picture? The room 
 was an oblong, with low ceiling, a bed in the centre, 
 and beside it the little table and a few chairs, which 
 completed the furniture of the apartment. 
 
 As Stanley held the light a little in advance of them, 
 the central figure of the dead man propped up in the 
 arms of Pearl was ghastly in the extreme. Cecile 
 could hardly suppress a shriek of horror at the sight,
 
 90 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 aunt Meg seemed moaning and praying, and did not 
 lift her head; while Pearl made no sign whatever, but 
 seemed staring on vacancy. The expression of her 
 eyes, and her deathly pallor startled Stanley. 
 
 " Take the candle," said Stanley; "there is some- 
 thing worse than death here. Look at Pearl!" and 
 Stanley unlocked her arms and literally dragged her 
 off the bed, letting the dead man fall back upon the 
 pillow. 
 
 "Quick! Give me something. Pearl is faint and 
 cold" said Stanley. 
 
 This roused aunt Meg, who bringing the cordial 
 bottle, held it tightly corked to her white lips. 
 
 "Ou, wae's me ! She's unco' ill ! Hadna we better 
 sin' for the doctor? Wae's me ! An she was to dee!" 
 And the old aunt fairly wrung her hands with grief. 
 
 Stanley bore Pearl to her room and, laying her 
 gently, as if she had been 8 babe, upon her pillows, 
 he said to Cecile: 
 
 " I will go for the Doctor; though I think it is only 
 a faint from exhaustion. No one knows better than I 
 what this poor girl has gone through with in these long 
 sleepless weeks of constant nursing and anxious watch- 
 ing. The tension has been too great. It would have 
 broken an ordinary girl into strings. But Pearl is 
 not made of common stuff. If you can rouse her, give 
 her a wine-glass of that cordial; but don't raise her
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 head. I wonder how long she has been in this dead 
 faint, sitting bolt upright? Horrible! Thank God 
 we are here, in spite of all the obstacles thrown in our 
 way. Now, Cecile, do not look so frightened. Pearl 
 will come out better for this enforced rest. I dreaded 
 so the shock her father's death would give her! She 
 will return to consciousness and calm, you see!' 
 and Stanley after building the fires, went out of the 
 street door. 
 
 The physician employed by Pearl for her father 
 lived near and was in a few minutes at the girl's bed- 
 side. Pearl had come to her senses and it was even 
 as Stanley had predicted. She was calm and rallied 
 rapidly under the new regime of cordials and dainties, 
 Stanley had brought with him, anticipating the ripe 
 needs of their most grateful services. 
 
 Stanley Veen was a born genius. His head was so 
 well balanced by his heart, that he never erred in an- 
 swering the accord of their dictations. 
 
 In the delicate situation in which he was now placed 
 at the LaGrange cottage the moral strength of his 
 character shone out. He assumed every responsibil- 
 ity, took charge of every detail connected with the 
 funeral and burial of Robert LaGrange conducting 
 the entire affair with a judgment, dignity and decorum 
 which would have done honor to a man of twice his 
 years. Happily for Pearl, her lapse from conscious-
 
 92 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 ness, at the moment of her father's death, left a long 
 blank in which her imagination included all the steps 
 of anguish leading from the winding sheet to the 
 .newly made grave in Tanglewood. So it was wisely 
 decided by Stanley that Pearl should, under the in- 
 structions of her physician, keep her room for a few 
 days. 
 
 The procession which honored the remains of Rob- 
 ert LaGrange, included the hearse, and one carriage 
 in which were the the minister, sister Meg, Cecile and 
 Stanley Veen; and the dead man was as tenderly laid 
 to his rest as though the representatives of pride and 
 pomp had honored and followed him, with miles of 
 shining carriages. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Take him again, Oh Mother, to your heart; 
 
 His wrists are free as thine from prison scars. 
 For sixteen years, from world and friends apart 
 
 Now take him back and crown him. Heaven, with stars. 
 
 While the funeral cortege of Robert LaGrange was 
 slowly entering the gates of Tanglewood Cemetery, 
 John Durant, the reformed arsenic eater, lay dying 
 in a miserable hovel on Clay street.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 93 
 
 At his bedside, in garments of wealth, knelt the 
 good wife of Roland Clifford, the charity angel of St. 
 Saul, a lady perhaps fifty years of age. She looked 
 much younger and had been very beautiful. 
 
 In her rounds among the poor, huddled together 
 like so many rats in their uncanny holes, she had 
 found John Durant and taken up his pitiable case 
 just where the good LaGrange had been compelled to 
 leave it; and now, in his last moments she was stimu- 
 lating his faith with the wonderful story of the thief 
 on the cross. The man seemed suffering from some 
 terrible mental depression the infliction of burdened 
 conscience. 
 
 Suddenly wandering off in delirium, his exclamations 
 startled her. She listened closely, rose to her feet, 
 leaned her face closer to his lips to catch the whis- 
 pered words; on he rambled, now raving, now whis- 
 pering, and much was lost. The woman looked around 
 her, placed her hand upon her heart as if to still its 
 clamorous beatings; bent again, catching the words 
 "Alfred Clifford a felon's cell innocent man!" 
 She turned deadly pale and staggered towards the bed 
 for support. The man raved on. She went to him, 
 seized him by the shoulders, shaking him most harshly; 
 " tell me man," said she, " tell me do you know Alfred 
 Clifford? What you know of him? Oh, for the love
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 of Jesus tell me! I am his mother! Tell me again, 
 Oh tell me! You know him to be innocent?" 
 
 He answered quickly back: "Who says I knew 
 him? Ha! It is true! I saw" him handcuffed; led 
 away between two British officers. His face was white 
 and rosy as a girl's; and he scarce over twenty. Oh 
 mercy, mercy! How I lothed his fiendish wife! The 
 widow who entrapped him into marriage; and Oh 
 God! who fastened on his pure untarnished name 
 the brand of murderer! Will God forgive the part I 
 played in this most awful crime!" 
 
 "What part? Oh tell me man! I shall go mad! " 
 and the lady seized the dying wretch with both hands, 
 raised him from his cot and tried to fix his gaze and 
 force his wandering reason back. It was too late. 
 His eyes were glazing. His voice grown husky, and 
 his words inarticulate. 
 
 The lady was now beside herself. What could she 
 do to stay the hand of death and bring this man to 
 full confession? Surely this was the secret she well 
 knew existed in some human breast, the secret of her 
 son's innocence. 
 
 A woman in rags, untidy in the extreme, and with 
 dishevelled hair, entered the room and called out in 
 hoarse tones: 
 
 " The doctor is here Ma'm; shall I sind him oop? "
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 95 
 
 " Quickly! Yes," said the lady, still hovering over 
 the dying wretch as though the words of life hung on 
 his lips. 
 
 The physician, a cheerful looking gentleman wear- 
 ing the professional broadcloth, entered, greeting 
 Mrs. Clifford cordially and thanking her for sending 
 her carriage. 
 
 " I thought the man might perhaps be saved for 
 future* usefulness. He has had a remarkable con- 
 version," said Mrs. Clifford. 
 
 The doctor took his temperature and pulse, the man 
 remaining very still the while. Shaking his head he 
 said: 
 
 " I will leave this powder. If he sleeps do not dis- 
 turb him; it will do no good His time is up. I have 
 a very important case for consultation and must leave 
 you to see this patient comfortably over the river. I 
 do not think, Madame, a poor soul in the circle of our 
 parish work has suffered from cold or starvation this 
 winter, and I can safely add, they never will while 
 Roland Clifford's wife is spared. Good morning." 
 
 Again alone, the lady bathed the temples of Durant 
 with spirits and tried to rouse him, calling to him 
 gently. His eyes opened; he muttered, "I've made 
 my peace with God; so let me go." 
 
 " You have no peace with God until you tell me all
 
 96 A. SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 you know of Alfred Clifford." And the lady forced 
 a powder through the lips of the dying man. 
 
 " I know no more," he said, " LaGrange Robert 
 LaGrange knows all." 
 
 "Who is LaGrange, and where does he live?" 
 wildly inquired the lady. 
 
 " His home is not much better than a dog's kennel; 
 but he is good. He lives here in St. Saul." 
 The last words were rather gasped than spoken, and 
 the man fell back a corpse. 
 
 The lady opened her purse, took out a roll of bills, 
 and upon a blank card wrote, repeating to herself, the 
 name " Robert LaGrange, St. Saul." 
 
 At this juncture the mistress of the hovel appeared 
 and Mrs. Clifford, dreading the detention of a blarney 
 over the dead man, thrust a roll of bank bills into her 
 dirty fingers, gave her some instructions, hastily threw 
 on her wraps, drove to the nearest drug store, con- 
 sulted the directory, and disappeared in her carriage 
 down the crowded avenue. 
 
 The miseries of human life afford one of the high- 
 est proofs of a future state, since it cannot be imag- 
 ined how infinite benevolence could create a being 
 capable of enjoying so much more than is here to be 
 enjoyed, and qualified by nature to prolong pain by 
 remembrance and anticipate it by terror, if he was 
 not designed for something better and nobler than a
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 97 
 
 state in which many of his faculties serve only for 
 his torment. There must surely come a time when 
 every capacity for happiness shall be filled, and none 
 shall be wretched, save by his own fault. 
 
 If our present state were one continued succession 
 of delights, one uniform flow of love and tranquility, 
 we should never willingly reflect upon its end. Afflic- 
 tion prepares us for felicity, and we may confidently 
 console ourselves under its pressure, by remembering 
 it cannot be a particular mark of divine displeasure, 
 since all the distresses of . persecution have been suf- 
 fered by those "of whom the world was not worthy," 
 and the redeemer of mankind, himself, was a man of 
 sorrows, and acquainted with grief. 
 
 The Queen's bench which sits four times a year at 
 Quebec for the purpose of hearing appeals, was in 
 session, and the most important case under consider- 
 ation was one presented by his excellency. Governor 
 Kellogg of State, U. S. A., a correct understand- 
 ing of which involves the reading of the following 
 papers, procured on the evening after John Durant's 
 death, by the banker's wife of St. Saul, Mrs. Koland 
 Clifford, who attended his last moments, and who, 
 after listening to his astounding confession, repaired 
 to the LaGrange cottage, and received from the hands 
 of Pearl the document already referred to, which was 
 presented to the Lieutenant Governor of the Dominion
 
 98 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 in council, assisted by his executives, in person, by 
 the mother of Alfred Clifford, then a prisoner in the 
 penitentiary at St. Vincent de Paul, under the control 
 of the Dominion. 
 
 With this official greeting, Governor Kellogg added 
 a strong letter for mercy, believing from a careful ex- 
 amination of the papers that the young man con- 
 victed of homicide, upon circumstantial evidence 
 alone, should, upon the strength of the enclosed state- 
 ment, be immediately restored to liberty and the pur- 
 suit of happiness: 
 
 ST. SAUL, U. S. A. 
 " To the Lieutenant Governor of Canada, 
 
 And his August Executive Council: 
 
 I have the honor to enclose for your 
 careful inspection, the following affidavit, which^has 
 been made ex parte upon oath, before au authorized 
 magistrate ; and further to petition of your Excellency 
 an immediate action upon the same, for the release 
 from imprisonment of an innocent man: 
 
 In Testimony Whereof I have caused the Great 
 
 Seal of the State of to be affixed on this 18th 
 
 day of April, in the year of our Lord, 18 . 
 CASSIUS KELLOGG, 
 
 Gov. of State." 
 
 The following is a copy of the affidavit enclosed in 
 the foregoing letter:
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 99 
 
 AFFIDAVIT OF JOHN DURANT. 
 
 State of } 
 
 > ss. 
 County of ) 
 
 John Durant, being by me duly sworn, deposes 
 and says: 
 
 Through evil associations from early boyhood I have 
 led a long life of shame and iniquity. I am about 
 to die. Robert LaGrange, well known among the 
 poor of St. Saul as a man of small means and large 
 charities, has provided a comfortable place for me to 
 die in, and visited and prayed with me from his own 
 sick bed. I am sincerely repenting of my sins and 
 trusting to the mercy of heaven. In testimonial 
 whereof I make full confession of the only wrong I 
 am able to repair in the short space of time now al- 
 lotted me. Sixteen years ago in the City of Quebec 
 in Her Majesty's dominion, I was employed as porter 
 for several months in the Frankfort Hotel. A young 
 married couple were boarding at this hotel by the 
 name of Clifford. The husband, Alfred Clifford, was 
 an industrious, courteous gentleman, and a most pop- 
 ular man socially and among business men. He was 
 a traveling salesman for a large house in New York 
 and his headquarters had been established a little less 
 than a year at Quebec.
 
 100 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Mrs. Clifford was very unpopular at the hotel, hav- 
 ing shown a violent temper, and upon one occasion 
 seriously injured a bell boy by throwing a toilet 
 bottle at his head for having innocently delivered one 
 of her letters to her husband. After this no one 
 cared to wait upon her but myself, and I was drawn 
 to her presumably as evil-disposed people are usually 
 attracted toward each other. 
 
 One morning when passing her door she called me 
 into her room and asked me if I would help a lady in 
 a strait for good pay. I replied that I was her man 
 and eternal secrecy should be my motto. She then 
 related to me a long list of serious domestic troubles 
 between herself and Mr. Clifford; how she had clan- 
 destinely become aware of his devotions to another, 
 her plans for thwarting him in the same, and finally 
 she revealed the demoniacal scheme at heart for his 
 utter ruin, and her coveted and complete revenge. 
 
 It was understood at the hotel that the relations 
 between Mr. and Mrs. Clifford were most unhappy, 
 and he Clifford, had been advised to obtain a 
 divorce. This she anticipated, but she knew no steps 
 would be taken before a domestic event transpired, 
 then imminent. She therefore resorted to a most 
 desperate expedient, and one I sincerely regretted my 
 own complicity with, when I realized the magnitude 
 of the crime involved.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 101 
 
 Everything was arranged awaiting the return of 
 Clifford to Quebec. The third night after his arrival 
 I assisted Mrs. Clifford in disappearing mysteriously, 
 leaving Mr. Clifford under the effects of a strong nar- 
 cotic with his clothes blood-stained and a bloody knife 
 concealed upon his person. Our plans were so in- 
 geniously carried out that no clue whatever could be 
 obtained in clearing up the mystery. I had left the 
 Frankfort two weeks before, and was not even ques- 
 tioned upon the arrest of young Clifford. It was as 
 thoroughly a mystery as though the woman had evap- 
 orated, save the unmistakable evidences of crime 
 which were thrust upon the innocent man when his 
 room was broken into late the following day, and he 
 aroused from an apparent drunken stupor,and marched 
 off to a felon's cell without even a hearing. I have 
 understood since, he had influential friends in the 
 United States who tried to liberate him, but it was 
 impossible while the impenetrable mystery of his 
 wife's disappearance remained unsolved. 
 
 I could die happy if I knew this innocent man had 
 been delivered, or that he lived to be benefitted by 
 this confession. 
 
 The last I knew of Mrs. Clifford she was convales- 
 cent at the lying-in hospital of St. Elizabeth, at Strat- 
 ford. If Clifford yet lives, he languishes in the old 
 Canadian prison at Quebec. 
 
 [Signed.] JOHN DURANT.
 
 102 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 The April sun looked down upon the walls of the 
 city of Quebec the Gibralter of America flashing 
 over its metallic roofs and dancing over the waves of 
 the St. Lawrence and St. Charles twin rivers, con- 
 fluent at its base as unconscious of the crimes and 
 miseries which hid themselves like so many lizards in 
 a wall under its magnificent edifices, as the playful 
 freaks of a summer's wind are innocent of the mad 
 sweep of the ruthless cyclone. 
 
 The officer in charge of the Si Vincent de Paul 
 prison created a profound sensation among the pris- 
 oners on the morning in question, by speaking in a 
 peculiarly distinct and significant manner the follow- 
 ing words: " Prisoner Alfred Clifford! You are ordered 
 to report at once to the Commissioner's office upon 
 matters which pertain to your restoration to liberty." 
 
 There was a stir among a company of men sitting 
 engaged in various occupations around a long table in 
 a narrow room looking out upon an iron balcony. 
 
 The men were none of them in prison attire, nor 
 did their movements and freedom of social intercourse 
 with each other, indicate they were controlled by any 
 restrictions whatever. As the announcement was 
 made, a tall, pale, youthful looking man rose to his 
 feet, bowed and smiled a respectful acquiescence. 
 
 " By Jove! " said the companion next to him, a good- 
 natured looking man engaged in some ingenius and
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 103 
 
 delicate manipulations, " Clifford, I congratulate you! 
 St. Vincent never had any legitimate business with 
 you anyhow. Why man! What is the matter? 
 You tremble as though you had received the sentence 
 to hang by the neck till dead, when it is liberty, sweet 
 liberty, that calls you to her arms! You ought to be 
 the happiest man in Canada!" 
 
 " Comrade," said Clifford in a low tone of voice, 
 "imagine an eagle who had once prided himself 
 upon soaring into the face of the sun, suddenly cap- 
 tured and pinioned down by both wings in the depths 
 of the slum of some unverdured plain and there kept 
 in duress for sixteen years ! Then imagine the effect 
 of the same power as suddenly and unexpectedly un- 
 binding those fetters, would it be marvellous if the 
 bird lay still awhile, or fluttered distrustfully and 
 tremulous, as if it had forgotten quite the play of 
 feathered oar in ambient air; the glorious throb of 
 freedom's pulse in freedom's native element? Nay, 
 more, would you not look with alarm upon him if he 
 suddenly and aimlessly darted upwards, expecting to 
 see him at the first instance of fatigue, drop lifeless to 
 the earth? I am like the blind man whom Jesus re- 
 stored to sight. My vision is unsteady. ' I see men 
 as trees walking.' Possibly if I get free and attempt 
 to pass the compliments of the day with an old friend 
 I shall begin with a synopsis of prison reforms. Here's
 
 104 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 my last unfinished work, which, if restored to liberty, 
 I enjoin upon you to complete. It may be the means 
 of ameliorating the condition of things, or it may do 
 more." 
 
 Here a messenger came saying: "Perhaps Alfred 
 Clifford prefers serving out the full term of his sen- 
 tence; the friend who is waiting to see him is growing 
 impatient." 
 
 "Friend?" said Clifford, "I had forgotten the 
 music of that word! It must be some one from the 
 States! Well, I give you th;s precious manuscript 
 and commend you to the God who has heard my 
 prayer. If I had forgotten him he would not have 
 remembered me to-day! Farewell to you all." 
 
 The men rose to their feet, showing much emotion 
 in bidding him farewell. 
 
 Among the inmates of the penitentiary, Alfred Clif- 
 ford was not looked upon as a fellow prisoner; nor 
 did he in any sense share the fate of criminals under 
 the same sentence. His influence had been deeply 
 felt, and his words of kindness and smiles of pity 
 were dispensed impartially, sending sunshine into the 
 sepulchral gloom of the felon's cell. It is no marvel 
 then, that the news of his liberation was received with 
 strong expressions of gladness for him and sorrow for 
 themselves. Throughout the cellular recesses of the 
 prison, the words "Clifford is free !" electrified the
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 105 
 
 miserable inmates, who fell back shudderingly upon 
 their iron beds with a renewed sense of their hor- 
 rible abode. 
 
 When received at St. Vincent, Alfred Clifford, a 
 mere boy in years, could neither comprehend the 
 crime ascribed to him, nor the sentence attaching 
 thereto. His very presence carried with it the pure 
 atmosphere of his innocence, and at once enlisted for 
 him the sympathy and respect of his keepers. 
 
 The lack of any positive evidence to convict him, 
 together with his unaffected sincerity of manner, and 
 his courteous submission to his fate, won for him the 
 confidence of the officers, and the freedom of the 
 building and grounds. 
 
 His health had naturally suffered impairment from 
 the effects of the great mental strain imposed in a 
 continual consciousness of the cloud hanging over him, 
 and his natural buoyancy of spirits had lapsed into a 
 state of dejected melancholy. 
 
 Hence he evinced little enthusiasm in responding 
 to the officer's message, though it brought him the 
 first intimation of liberty and a return to the world he 
 had received, since his incarceration a little more 
 than sixteen years ago. 
 
 As hope had long since died out in his heart, his 
 step had lost its elasticity, and he passed through the 
 winding corridors as one moves in a dream, the me-
 
 106 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 chanical effort being the only visible sign of emotion. 
 
 His rap at the officer's door was quickly answered by 
 the peremptory words " come in," and now he had 
 paced the whole length of the apartment to the com- 
 missioner's desk without observing the unusual pres- 
 ence of a lady, closely veiled, or bethinking himself 
 of the " friend " announced as awaiting him. 
 
 The entire corps of prison officials surrounded the 
 desk, and the important documentary evidence of his 
 innocence, together with his liberty papers, were pre- 
 sented him for his perusal and signature, after which, 
 turning to the lady who had not recognized her son in 
 the entrance of the prisoner, the commissioner said: 
 
 "Madame, I have the honor of restoring to you 
 your son He was prepared to say much more but 
 was overcome by the scene his words had produced. 
 
 Throwing her veil aside with an expression of in- 
 effable tenderness shining through her tears, as the 
 sun may glance through falling dn drops, Mrs. Clif- 
 ford opened her arms to receive her martyred son. 
 
 " My mother! " said Alfred Clifford, as his head fell 
 upon her breast. 
 
 " My son! " said his mother, and they were locked in 
 that embrace of pure love, which plants its deathless 
 image in the human soul from the first hour of exist- 
 ence, and which death itself can never efface. 
 
 There were many preliminaries to arrange before
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 107 
 
 the happy mother could bear her son away triumph- 
 antly from the gloomy walls of St. Vincent de Paul, 
 to her home in the States. " The world was all before 
 him where to choose." Yet the noble-hearted Clif- 
 ford could not turn his back with cold indifference 
 upon the human associations of nearly half a lifetime. 
 
 He felt great compassion for those who were to re- 
 main behind, who had neither the self-consciousness 
 of innocence to support the hope of a restoration of 
 their liberties to them here, nor encouragements to 
 see beyond the rewards of this world the opportuni- 
 ties and possibilities of a life to come whose hearts 
 lay smouldering in the wreck and ashes of a ruin both 
 absolute and irredeemable. 
 
 " Sweet are the uses of adversity! " Forgetful of 
 himself, and of the unknown future opening at his 
 feet, Clifford occupied the day in his leave-taking of 
 the wretched beings entombed for life in this colossal 
 confine, nor could ho see the invisible ministering 
 spirits who leaned above him and hinted comfort to 
 his heart, and caressed him as they ever do those who 
 have done much through great tribulation for their 
 fellow beings. 
 
 He saw them not; but he heard within his soul the 
 soft, sweet prelude of immortal harmonies and knew 
 not whence it came. 
 
 The evening skies flamed bright with promise for
 
 108 ' A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 the fair to-morrow as the carriage containing Clifford 
 and his mother rolled away from the sombre shadows 
 of St. Vincent de Paul, and a bright star sank out of 
 sight in a bed of thick clouds, whose light would 
 never more illuminate this dark corner of the world. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 As dying embers mount on tongues of flame, 
 When by the faintest breath of ether blown; 
 
 So feeds the jealous heart upon a name 
 A simple name where nothing more is known. 
 
 Human love has a variety of manifestations accord- 
 ing to the elevation of its object, the quality of its as- 
 pirations and the capacities of its subjects for indul- 
 gence in this divine passion of the soul. 
 
 Jealousy has been called the hypochrondria of love. 
 Having a thousand eyes, each of them quick to see a 
 great deal more than there is to be seen, it never stops 
 to inquire into any of those little particulars which in 
 reality make all the difference " 'twixt tweedle dee and 
 tweedle dum;" but having as many phases as there are 
 shades of green, it follows the blind lead of its suspi- 
 cious fears and the crooked paths of its disordered 
 imagination and evil impulses. 
 
 There is a sentiment which passes for jealousy with 
 the superficial observer, but which is no more than
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 109 
 
 righteous indignation, such as a loyal and devoted 
 wife might naturally indulge upon the discovery of 
 her husband's inexcusable infidelities a crime dif- 
 ficult to condone if conducted within a halo of deceit- 
 ful attentions and apparent exclusiveness of affection 
 for the party wronged. 
 
 Distinct, yet scarcely less criminal than these radi- 
 cal deviations from virtue and right, are the adulter- 
 ies of the heart; those mean and contemptible society 
 vices, those lapses from manly dignity and womanly 
 purity, which permit an endless variety of idle dalli- 
 ances around the " ragged edges" of crime, examples 
 pernicious and deadly to the young and inexperienced, 
 and the most prolific sources of evil and crime in the 
 world. 
 
 The Almighty Father has said: " I will have no other 
 God before me ; for I, the Lord, thy God, am a jeal- 
 ous God;" and the true wife, she who is fitted to re- 
 spond to man's utmost needs as companion and help- 
 meet, may echo this sentiment regarding her husband's 
 domestic fealty without offensiveness or blasphemy. 
 In contradistinction to this, however, is it not pitiful, 
 when plenty of crime exists outside the realms of 
 fancy, that the foul bird jealousy is capable of lay- 
 ing and hatching her uncanny broods in the lofty 
 chambers of the immortal imagination? 
 
 The jealousy manifested by Hector Kellogg had no
 
 110 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 
 
 foundation whatever in the reality of things. It was 
 
 the grotesque and fantastic conjuring of an imagina- 
 tion exercised only upon devising mischief and wicked- 
 ness. 
 
 Since the discovery of the innocent card upon the 
 library floor, Hector Kellogg had either shadowed per- 
 sonally, or bribed the stableboy to dog the every foot- 
 step of her husband. Wherever the Governor re- 
 paired within the limits of St. Saul he found his car- 
 riage always within call. His mind was deeply oc- 
 cupied with the affairs of state, with library labor, 
 and a multiplicity of cares; and close as was the 
 watch maintained over his movements day and night, 
 he had not observed anything peculiar or extraordi- 
 nary in it. 
 
 This was particularly rasping to Lady Kellogg, who 
 eagerly longed for a complaint from the Governor on 
 this source that she might confront him with her 
 fresh testimonials of his infidelity. Had he mis- 
 trusted half the accumulated " documentary evidence" 
 secretly stored up against him, or the multitude of 
 little traps set in his path, he would gladly have faced 
 and bearded this lioness and all her snooping frater- 
 nals in their several dens. He had nothing to hide, 
 and could have answered his slanderous accusers, as 
 did the great Napoleon, the base accusations of his 
 court: that he had "no time for dissipations."
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. Ill 
 
 With every human apology a man could desire to 
 cloak sin in, Governor Kellogg had that nobility of 
 soul, that purity of heart, which no persuasive power 
 on earth could divert, no favoring circumstances turn 
 into paths of shame. He had no comprehension of 
 those guilty pleasures which are compelled to skulk 
 around the -world to find a hiding plage "Tiltonian 
 sins" which men and women have tried to dress up 
 in white garments and make respectable word pict- 
 ures of, but which are invariably recognized from 
 their mustela putorious odor, and hunted back to their 
 holes. 
 
 So much a pandemonium had his home become to 
 him, that Governor Kellogg was rarely to be found 
 within its walls, save when locked in his library. He 
 snatched his meals alone, and most of his nights were 
 spent in the executive chamber. This baffled and 
 infuriated his wife beyond all bounds, arousing a horde 
 of suspicions yet blacker in criminalmagnitude. She 
 literally foamed with rage when she heard his ap- 
 proaching footsteps, and believing the extreme mo- 
 ment for action had come, took into her private coun- 
 sels a number of her most intimate friends who were 
 exceedingly lavish with their sympathies and as gen- 
 erous in advice. 
 
 This is the fatal step with man or woman under %
 
 112 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 marriage bond, and must sooner or later lead to the 
 complete disruption of the marital tie. 
 
 Discreet men and women with real causes for sep- 
 aration, have remained nominally united through life, 
 suffering in silence and alone, and without sympathy. 
 With children it would seem an imperative neces- 
 sity; without them, the dignified attitude of self res- 
 pect and personal decency may require the sacrifice. 
 
 When poisonous reptiles have been wounded and 
 cannot turn upon their assailant, they have been known 
 to recoil upon themselves, fastening their deadly fangs 
 into their own bodies and dying from these self in- 
 flicted wounds. It were well if all serpents could be 
 driven out of earthly Edens in this fashion, or better, 
 if the cruel slanderers could thus perish before prop- 
 agating their vile slanders. 
 
 It had been over a week since Hector Kellogg had 
 seen the Governor. He had been called out of the 
 city on official business, and she knew not the hour of 
 his return. Of late the library door had been kept 
 locked, and anything unusual, however trivial, which 
 raises the mercury of a woman's curiosity to boiling 
 point, is a dangerous expedient, and one sure to bring 
 its projector to grief, if practiced in the domestic thea- 
 tre of home. 
 
 Hector Kellogg had just obtained a duplicate key, 
 *made from a wax impression she had taken of the
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 113 
 
 keyhole, and was now prepared to explore the myster- 
 ies of the Governor's sanctum. 
 
 Telling her servants she would be out for the day, 
 and taking all necessary precautions, as she thought, 
 to secure herself against surprises, she entered the 
 library through the drawing room door. 
 
 "At last!" said she to herself. "The precious se- 
 crets he thought so cunningly to bar from me,. are 
 compelled to divulge themselves," and breathing out 
 defiance and scorn in a mocking laugh, which had 
 neither a mirthful or human tone to it, she passed 
 through the door, secured it from the inside and com- 
 menced her search. 
 
 From floor to ceiling she ransacked with the method 
 of fanatical madness. Books were overhauled, statuettes 
 removed from their pedestals, and every dark nook 
 exposed to the strong morning light in the careful 
 search instituted. 
 
 Unremittingly the work continued till morning 
 waned to noon, and until the sun flamed directly 
 through the western windows, lighting up the massive 
 cases of brilliantly bound volumes which lined the 
 four walls of this sumptuous apartment, gilding stat- 
 uary and pictures and throwing the superb head of 
 Madame Roland in a halo of sunset glories. Still the 
 work continued with indefatigable zeal. The elegant 
 furnishings of the oblong writing table which occu-
 
 114 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 pied the alcove spaces of the bow window were most 
 minutely inspected ; yet after all this laborious search, 
 thorough as it was, the lady looked haggard with dis- 
 appointment. She actually had nothing to repay her 
 critical explorations; and pale with the day's excite- 
 ment and fast, she stood defeated and irresolute. 
 
 " Must she give up the coveted secrets she believed 
 within reach, yet eluding her as if consciously on guard 
 and determined to keep inviolate the trust reposed in 
 them?" 
 
 Recalling vision and thought from their vacuities, 
 and rousing herself to a last inventory glance over the 
 entire field of her researches, suddenly, and as if by 
 demoniac inspiration, her eyes fell upon a faintly out- 
 lined seam across the base of the Governor's private 
 escritoire, and a gleam of satisfaction darted over her 
 . scowling visage, fierce as the play of lightning over 
 the dark brow of a storm cloud. It was the moment 
 of triumph when she discovered a secret spring be- 
 neath. Only a slight pressure and the sensitive 
 mechanism responded, pushing out a deep drawer, 
 orderly stored with papers. These she quickly un- 
 packed and examined, under the rear files of which, 
 carefully protected, lay a bright plush casket. 
 
 " Ah-ha! " said she, scarcely believing her eyes, and 
 seizing it with the avidity with which a hungry mastiff
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 115 
 
 seizes upon a well fleshed bone. " This looks as though 
 it had a history." 
 
 The casket was locked but the gold key attached 
 to the handle soon revealed its hidden treasures, 
 at sight of which Hector Kellogg' s idolatrous vision 
 fairly danced in delicious delirium, and something of 
 the expression of the Hindoo worshipper in the pre- 
 sence of his golden images lent a transient gleam of 
 softness to her hard set features. 
 
 " After all," said she, " I may have undervalued the 
 hold I have upon this man an.d his attachment to me. 
 These jewels I believe he has purchased for my birth- 
 day, for who else could wear such gorgeous sparklers 
 in St. Saul, and he knows I love them. " And there was 
 a general settling of the lines, and a purring expres- 
 sion lent to the thin compressed lips. 
 
 " I will replace them now that I know of their ex- 
 istence. If they disappear mysteriously, Hector Kel- 
 logg will demand both explanation and redress. " So 
 saying, she returned the casket as she found it, pre- 
 pared to trust the kind suspicions so newly kindled in 
 her breast, when another thought flashed over her. 
 
 " I cannot swear to these unless I put a private mark 
 upon them," and the jewels were again dragged to the 
 light and a peculiar and distinct mark made upon the 
 back of their richly wrought setting. Before replacing 
 them, doubtless at the suggestion of the same in
 
 116 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 spiring fiend, the tray was removed from its satin 
 bed for the first time since it was packed in Canada. 
 "What was it beneath which made Hector Kellogg turn 
 ashy pale dropping box and jewels upon the floor, 
 and recoiling as though she had suddenly thrust her 
 hands into a bed of live coals? 
 
 In the box below the tray, upon an oriental parch- 
 ment, in illuminative lettering was the despised name 
 of "Pearl LaGrange! " 
 
 " So this wealthy gift is for that low-born hussy, is 
 it?" and the woman looked as though reinforced by a 
 fresh army of plotting demons. 
 
 " I will trample her, and these, under my feet into 
 a thousand atoms first! " and she moved as though 
 about to execute one part of the threat, when she heard 
 the front door close, and knew none but her husband 
 could enter unannounced. 
 
 Her blood fairly curdled in her veins to think of 
 his finding her here ! a discovery which must lead to 
 the utter overthrow of all future plans for tracking 
 him out; and, hastily securing and concealing the 
 jewels about her person and thrusting the papers back 
 in mad confusion in the drawer, she closed it by its 
 secret spring. 
 
 At this juncture the folding doors of the drawing- 
 room slid back and the quick nervous step of the Gov- 
 ernor approached the library door.
 
 . A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 117 
 
 " Great God! " she exclaimed in an audible whisper, 
 "what shall I do?" 
 
 To escape unnoticed seemed impossible; and the 
 jewels inspired and rather courted a personal en- 
 counter, much as she deplored the necessity of being 
 discovered in this sacred sanctum of her husband. 
 
 As the door opened lady Kellogg concealed herself 
 behind it, ingeniously meaning to slip out unobserved 
 if the Governor should leave it thrown back and move 
 as was his habit with his back toward it directly to 
 his writing table and tHe bow-window opposite. 
 
 This time his movements were eccentric ; he turned 
 to close the door and started shudderingly upn con- 
 fronting his wife, whose face was horribly distorted 
 with passion, and who turned upon him with the eyes 
 of a tigress and from whom he involuntarily recoiled, 
 so shocked was he upon discovering her presence and 
 formidable attitude. 
 
 "Why Hector Astore!" (the Astore was the 
 
 
 
 cherished title of her widowhood and was emphasized 
 by the Governor in a conciliatory way) "how came 
 you here and what new devil's scheme have you been 
 concocting in my absence? Did I lock you in by mis- 
 take when I went out the other night, or have you 
 forcibly entered and through what aperture? The 
 castle is quite large enough I think to permit of one 
 private apartment for its owner," and with a sigh of
 
 118 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 weariness, Governor Kellogg wheeled his chair up to 
 his writing table and gazed thoughtfully through the 
 clear glass pane, out upon the restful green of a 
 freshly mown lawn, whose verdure had a peculiar 
 tender loveliness only known to spring. 
 
 Still his wife stood sullenly surveying him and act- 
 ually speechless with rage. He was sure he was 
 poising upon the edges of a volcano which any moment 
 might burst forth, scattering the hot lava of its pent 
 up furies; and he was endeavoring to be as calm and 
 imperturbed as possible, hopin*g thereby to withdraw 
 the charge noislessly and before the percussion cap 
 exploded. 
 
 " How much will you ask me to vacate? " said the 
 Governor. " I have writing which will occupy every 
 moment from this time on to midnight, and you will 
 oblige me by closing the door from the outside." 
 
 " It is a free country and I propose to stand here 
 until I know why the drunkard LaGrange's daughter 
 is permitted to flaunt her name all over my house, and 
 how much the State appropriates in 'hush money ' to 
 its Governor for the support of such wanton creature s 
 that they may be kept in finery and jewels? " 
 
 The Governor answered with peals of laughter. 
 " Surely this must be some huge joke perpetrated 
 upon the idiotic credulity of this insanely jealous 
 woman! " thought he.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 119 
 
 " Pray, who is LaGrange's daughter? I never heard 
 of the name before. She mast be some new bird you 
 preying vultures have discovered soaring above you, 
 and which your fowling pieces foul as their charges 
 are have failed to bring down. LaGrange? The 
 name dawns upon me vaguely. However, I never knew 
 a woman by this name. Tell me ; is she young and 
 pretty; or of what kindred crime is she accused? By 
 all the saints, if she is fair in face, her character is 
 foul; and if she's young, well formed, and fresh as 
 rose-blooms culled in June, her name is blacker than an 
 Ethiope's skin, and the graces of her soul are hag- 
 gled into atoms, rolled in the mire of green eyed envy, 
 and foot-balled through the streets (unless wealth 
 stand on guard, brandishing her golden club.)" And 
 the Governor lighted his cigar, elevated his feet and 
 proceeded to brace himself against the next poser. 
 
 " It is all very well for you to plead innocence con- 
 cerning this new protege of yours. I am not the only 
 one aware of your clandestine interviews," and the 
 thin lips almost disappeared as the jaws closed upon 
 this biting sarcasm. 
 
 The Governor's good nature triumphed again, as he 
 replied in the rhetoric of Paul : 
 
 " There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the 
 messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be ex- 
 alted above measure."
 
 120 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Resolved to introduce the jewels, Hector Kellogg 
 continued: " The Tongueworts give a reception to 
 General Evans' son a few evenings hence; the Gover- 
 nor's wife requires a new set of jewelry for the occa- 
 sion. How much will the good state appropriate for 
 this respectable claim?" 
 
 A rap on the library door, and a card announcing 
 " Louis Carlisle, M. D.," interrupted the interview. 
 
 " Show the gentleman in, Mary," said the Gover- 
 nor; and Hector Kellogg was compelled to withdraw 
 after having vainly sought some vantage ground from 
 which she could hurl a shot which would make a visi- 
 ble wound. She had the coveted secret and its proof, 
 the jewels. She would keep these till the opportune 
 moment for using them as a weapon of moral defence, 
 and in the event of any personal emergency which 
 might arise. Thus solacing herself, she passed out 
 of the door as the new physician of St. Saul entered 
 the presence of Governor Kellogg. 
 
 The day was in the gloaming, and although Dr. 
 Carlisle and lady Kellogg brushed by each other 
 quite forcibly, neither one would have been able to 
 recognize the other again from this brusque introduc- 
 tion. 
 
 " I believe I am expected at the Governor's this 
 evening?" said the affable physician, as Governor 
 Kellogg extended his hand.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 121 
 
 " You are; and I am glad for an interval of rest from 
 the threadmill of official work. Be seated and have a 
 Havana," said the prince of hosts, as he proffered 
 the doctor his selection from a box of fragrant cigars ; 
 while the servant lighted a cluster of gas burners and 
 withdrawing, left host and guest in the quiet possess- 
 ion of the apartment, which only a moment before 
 had given promise of being both heated and illumi- 
 nated by an entirely different class of combustibles. 
 
 The two gentlemen then entered into a conversation 
 upon a topic just then very near the Governor's heart, 
 the declining health of his beloved sister, who was an 
 inmate of the insane asylum at St. Saul. 
 
 After an exhaustive professional consultation, the 
 conversation lapsed into social themes. Many of the 
 most influential families were mentioned, and among 
 these, Col. and Mrs. Veen and their talented children 
 were enthusiastically discussed. 
 
 "Your remarks," said Dr. Carlisle, "concerning 
 young Veen, as being constructed out of the timber 
 from which heroes and reformers are made "bold, 
 daring, ready to sacrifice himself for a principle or a 
 cause, reminds me I have seen our heroine." 
 
 " Pardon my obtuseness, but this mutual heroine of 
 ours must be a sort of ethereal essence; a being too 
 ideal to locate and too angelic to name. I am skepti- 
 cal as to her reality," replied the Governor.
 
 122 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 " Not at all," quickly responded the doctor, " she is 
 the most perfect child of nature I ever met; and her 
 history is very touching. Stanley and Cecile Veen 
 are devotedly attached to her; and grouping this 
 youthful trio, you have three royal studies for an as- 
 spiring artist to build a reputation on. I must con- 
 fess Pearl LaGrange has a radiating loveliness about 
 her, which must eventually throw the most brilliant 
 and beautiful women in the shade, but wherein her 
 great attraction lies, no one can define. Perhaps 
 merely in her being natural and without pretentious; 
 claiming neither praise nor applause nor homage from 
 anyone. I enthuse over her, since I find it a family 
 failing, in which my wife and son more than keep 
 pace with me." 
 
 " This is an agreeable state of affairs, certainly," 
 said the Governor, " and quite novel in St. Saul 
 could it become epidemic. It is the rarest music to 
 hear praises of woman from woman's lips. I've met 
 and chatted with the masses and there are a few ex- 
 ceptions. One is notable, our banker's wife, Mrs. 
 Roland Clifford, the main pivot upon which the mighty 
 church, St. Mark's, revolves financially; the head and 
 front, or rather the alpha and omega of its charities ; 
 a woman who puts her name to good causes, without 
 questioning their popularity and gives her strength 
 to any work that is work for humanity. We are fas-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 123 
 
 cinated by the fountain of water, admiring the crystal 
 jet as it pushes up towards the skies, flashing in the 
 sunlight; but it is the turning point which makes the 
 culmination of its beauty when the column bends 
 over dispersing itself in showers of dew, clothing 
 every blade of grass with diamonds that the foun- 
 tain becomes really beautiful. The perfect life, after 
 all, is the life of love, if only the world could see it. 
 The fact that God serves; that he is the universal 
 servant, is the testimony to his perfection. Mrs. 
 Clifford is very handsome, but no longer young; there- 
 fore her beauty is tolerated. However, by the strength 
 of her purse alone she holds her own in that idolatrous 
 church. She is very popular and universally beloved 
 particularly among those of the male persuasion; 
 and if this does not eventually send her gray hairs to 
 the block it will be because the holy 'Sorosis' can 
 neither make nor execute the laws of the land," and 
 Governor Kellog smiled with a contemptuous curl of 
 the lips. 
 
 " You are a trifle severe, Governor, with a wife who 
 enjoys universal popularity in our ' bon ton circles,' " 
 said Carlisle. " By the way going back to the memor- 
 able summer which unites our families sympatheti- 
 cally, on the very evening of the accident, I caught 
 sight of a lady's face through a carriage window, a 
 face I have searched the world over to find. There
 
 124 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 can be no other face like it and I was rude enough to 
 follow in the wake of her carriage until I obtained a 
 second look which assured me I had made no mistake; 
 but the next moment carriage and woman were lost." 
 
 " Yet you are not a susceptible young man? " inter- 
 rupted the Governor playfully. 
 
 " Not at all ! " said Carlisle. " This woman and I 
 have, entre nous, a very grave conscience fund to 
 adjust. She is really nothing to me, and I am doubt- 
 less a forgotten atom in her past history ; yet am I 
 unwittingly made the Nemesis of her destiny; and 
 sooner or later, according to the eternal fitness of 
 things our life stars must enter the same orbit, and 
 when the conjunction takes place there will be com- 
 motion among the neighboring planets, or I am no 
 astrologer." 
 
 "I see you are a student in modern mysticisms, I 
 would lend assistance as companion in its vast fields 
 of research, had I the leisure. At present the expira- 
 tion of my term of office is the goal. Then to the 
 delights of my profession, and for the aesthetic liter- 
 ary dishes which garnish the sideboard of intellectual 
 dainties! All is now under the grinding wheels of 
 this political juggernaut!" 
 
 " You do not understand me, Governor. My flight 
 into the celestial regions was a little premature. Lit- 
 erally speaking, I am in pursuit of a moral leper,
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 126 
 
 whose freedom is unconstitutional, whose breath is 
 pestilential, and whose life belongs no longer to herself 
 to cultivate, but to the emissaries of justice." 
 
 " There you are again," said the Governor, jocosely, 
 " off at the antipodes, while I am left to limp behind 
 in the fashion of an unfledged bird in the track of an 
 aerial navigator. Now, my dear sir, I have no itching 
 ears, no inordinate curiosity regarding the life mys- 
 teries toward which you so vaguely hint; but when my 
 neck is out of this official yoke of bondage, and you 
 require the aid of keen scenting blood hounds to track 
 the foul stream to its fountain head, I should enjoy 
 nothing more than this lusty race, with the profes- 
 sional laurels it promises." 
 
 " 'Tis well. Can you carry a face in your memory 
 after looking at its shadow? " said Carlisle, as he 
 opened his vest and went down into the depths of a 
 secret receptacle for something. 
 
 " My memory of faces rarely fails me; while I can 
 loose a name as easily as beauty notes are dropped 
 out of musical compositions in the indifferent rendi- 
 tion of a smattering performer," said Governor Kel- 
 logg, as he took from the doctor's hand a gold medal- 
 lion locket, set in a filigree crown of delicate ara- 
 besques and flowers. 
 
 " Look critically now. I never before entrusted it 
 to any mortal's gaze since fate, like some determined
 
 126 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 minister of truth and equity, consigned it to my keep- 
 ing." 
 
 Governor Kellogg rose, holding the portrait under 
 the central burner of the chandelier. His countenance 
 changed. The locket fell from his hands; his brain 
 whirled and he grew deathly sick. 
 
 Doctor Carlisle sprang forward and helped him to 
 the sofa, offering him a glass of water. 
 
 " Why, Governor, you are ill ! I fear I've wearied 
 you to-night, and that most selfishly. Let's see, 
 your pulse lies deep, and that is a good sign for long- 
 evity. How is the heart?" 
 
 " Deep and inscrutable as is my pulse," replied the 
 Governor, affecting a sangfroid not manifest in his 
 blanched face and agitated manner, as he returned the 
 half drained goblet to the doctor's hand. "Oh it is 
 nothing. I am overworked. One cannot always keep 
 up, tensioned as I have been for months," and he rose, 
 yet pale and trembling. 
 
 Doctor Carlisle stooped and picked up the medal- 
 lion, saying as he did so: 
 
 " This looks like a bad omen for my lady's pros- 
 pects in your hands." 
 
 " I beg pardon, doctor, but a soulless face has some- 
 thing shocking in its shadow merely." 
 
 " You have perhaps seen the lady? " suggested the 
 doctor eagerly.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 127 
 
 Now there are moments with the best disciplined 
 hearts, no matter how strong or how good they may 
 be by nature, when one wishes, almost, for a handful 
 of Jove's thunderbolts, that he might hurl them at 
 the world and blot it out of being. 
 
 "I have seen Socrates' Xanthippe, Perdition's 
 Queen, and Hell's three Furies. What more have 
 you to offer?" said the Governor with a bitterness of 
 tone which touched Carlisle most sensitively, and the 
 latter consulting his watch, exclaimed: 
 
 " Why, is it possible the night is bordering on to- 
 morrow? I owe you a thousand apologies for making 
 such a bore of myself; and, unless I can do something 
 for you professionally, I will best prove my regard by 
 bidding you good-night and commending you to that 
 rest your complete exhaustion requires." 
 
 "Come again," said the Governor sadly, as the phy- 
 sician quietly withdrew, leaving him with his head 
 bent and his face buried in his hands : and thus he 
 sat when the gray dawn looked through the library 
 windows with its cold face, reminding him his hours of 
 work pushed on apace, regardless of his broken rest, 
 and this last blow, which had shattered forever the 
 already undermined palace of his trust. He had 
 heard enough; the sword had fallen and the sun 
 gold had all faded out of the day for him. Now in the 
 wreck and ashes of its ruins, his heart lay smouldering.
 
 128 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Yet such a spirit as Kellogg' s never forgets that 
 man in spite of all his circumstances and relations 
 through the might of his own free will, is still his own 
 master; creator of his fortunes and of his destiny. 
 
 Standing now in the bloom of his years, with broad- 
 ened culture, swift blood, keen nerves and an all con- 
 quering imagination, the falcon wings of his genius 
 bore him far away "above the dust of trivialities." 
 
 But later on how is it then? When the autumn 
 has but a few daisies left? It is another thing to see 
 the scattered darlings trodden down. And later still, 
 dear reader, when the shadows have grown long, and 
 the twilight falls earlier then, far as our eyes can 
 
 reach, stretch the ice-fields of winter, under whose 
 
 
 
 snowy shroud lies the quiet burying ground of all our 
 hopes. 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 What is the meaning of the word 
 
 Society? Take this charade : 
 A hodge-podge, human hash well stirred 
 By Madame Grundy on parade: 
 
 An upper tendom, " tony " flock 
 Of self plumed birds, fro m common stock 
 In short, a beau monde rank, chaotic, 
 Whose reign is pomp, whose rule despotic. 
 
 Society has certain fundamental principles under- 
 lying its delicate superstructure, as essential to its
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 129 
 
 health as the roots to the forest tree, and without 
 which it can bear no fruit. 
 
 The corner stone of this edifice is virtue, around 
 which cluster all the elements of its strength. 
 
 Various organizations are framed under this name, 
 some so radically divergent they cannot be considered 
 as belonging to the same genesis. 
 
 The best society in the world must have for its basis 
 religion, and though there are as many religions as 
 societies, it is becoming to have a system of faith. 
 
 The community of St. Saul claimed to be composed 
 of those Christian and moral elements most desirable to 
 unite into an organized society; yet was it the most 
 conglomerate mass of humanity ever collected into 
 one corporation. 
 
 Its concentrated wealth had erected magnificent 
 temples for the worship of God, edifices built in 
 the name of Christ and charity, while the majority 
 of the members had as feeble an idea of the meaning 
 of the words love and charity, as a snail has of speed. 
 
 The moral warp of its ruling classes will be best 
 understood, asjwell as the real motive actuating the 
 votaries of wealth and fashion, by an entree into the 
 elite circles on an occasion when these characteristics 
 shine forth in their true colors. 
 
 It was two weeks after Easter. The spring opened 
 genial and promising at St. Saul. The moon was at 
 the full, and the nights superbly clear.
 
 130 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Invitations had been issued for a " drawing-room " 
 at the elegant residence of the Misses Tonguewort, 
 given in honor of the return of the Secretary's son 
 from Cambridge, young Lucien Evans. 
 
 The soiree was to include all ages. The rich dresses 
 expressly gotten up for the occasion, the diutinguished 
 persons who were to lend their grand presence, and 
 the anticipated tete-a-tetes of the sentimental youths, 
 had paraded their brilliant visions around bewitched 
 pillows since the cards were issued. 
 
 The Misses Tonguewort were three single ladies, of 
 uncertain age, conventionally thin and angular and 
 entirely indebted to the arts of their Parisian Modiste 
 for the forms they prided themselves upon. Being 
 tall and square-shouldered, they were able to carry an 
 incredible amount of dress displayed ( and concealed ) 
 and the more drapery they disposed about their crane- 
 like necks, the greater the illusion. They had an 
 erect carriage and enjoyed that peculiarly wiry, tripe- 
 like tenacity of life, which passes for health. 
 
 They were the neighbors and intimate associates of 
 Mrs. Governor Kellogg; belonged to one of the oldest 
 and wealthiest families of St. Saul and their social in- 
 fluence was huge. Their entertainments were among 
 the most recherche given at the state capital, and 
 were graced by the presence of the Governor's family, 
 the state officials and their families. The officers and
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 131 
 
 their ladies from the military post gave what the 
 artist in describing his picture, would call " tone," to 
 the affair. 
 
 St. Saul was remarkable for its fine looking men 
 and ill-favored women. A beauty real when un- 
 adorned was the exception ; but as society here as- 
 sumed that " fine feathers make fine birds," and the 
 ladies produced such superb effects with ther toilets 
 that the connoiseur could find no fault, the paradox 
 seemed established. Shades were pledged to blend, and 
 tints to harmonize with the dark or fair countenance. 
 So here one art, at least, the art of facial decoration, 
 had attained perfection under the sun. 
 
 O the bondage and the care 
 In what these bodies wear, 
 And how we dress our hair, 
 The hauteur style and air 
 Would drive one to despair, 
 But for the hope and prayer 
 To Heaven, where all is fair, 
 To keep out fashion there! 
 
 The moon full-orbed, climed up the dome of night, 
 trailing her ethereal garments and flashing out her 
 brilliant train of stars, as a conscious queen might 
 tread the royal tapis of her throne, and shake out the 
 rich folds of her sparkling robes. 
 
 At the fashionable hour the mansion, brilliantly 
 lighted, was thrown open to its invited guests. Ladies 
 and gentlemen alighting from their carriages swept
 
 132 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 over the marble-floored vestibule, through the spacious 
 halls with their jasper paneled wainscotting into the 
 grand salon, whose rich furnishings were lighted up 
 in a manner to display the collection of rare paintings 
 and statuary and bric-a-brac to the best advantage. 
 
 Until a late hour the guests were arriving and 
 making the delightful tour of the rooms, filled with 
 the select cullings of St. Saul. 
 
 Young Lucien Evans was the. center of attraction, 
 and around him, in animated conversation gathered 
 a coterie of youths and maidens. A familiar counte- 
 nance has just been added. 
 
 "Mr. Veen," said Rubie Clark, extending her del- 
 icately gloved hand, "where do you keep yourself? I 
 supposed you were off to your Eldorado, long ago." 
 
 " O no," said Stanley Veen, smiling. " I have not 
 yet located the delightful place you mention. How- 
 ever my plans are developing rapidly this evening 
 since I find the programme has all been mapped out 
 for me by my friends. Had I taken them into my 
 counsels my movements could not have been more 
 accurately anticipated. Really, one will soon share 
 with society his very thoughts." 
 
 " Is this a colony scheme Veen 1 ? " said young Evans, 
 
 "Most assuredly! I will not establish an Eden 
 alone," said Stanley. " The folly of that was de- 
 monstrated over five thousand years ago."
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 133 
 
 " I understand you are thoroughly revolutionary in 
 theory, and I suppose that St Saul will lose all of her 
 pauper element, the poor house be abolished, no more 
 home missionary work be done ; and no more charity 
 funds raised and disbursed. Why boy, you will pre- 
 pare the earth for annexation to Paradise; solve the 
 social problem deeper than Soloman's riddle, and in- 
 augurate the Millenium ! Give me a few days notice 
 in advance. I want a bit of a spree on an aristocratic 
 scale before we are all colonized, ground up together 
 and put on plebeian diet with only one plate between 
 us." 
 
 " My good friends," said Stanley Veen, "you are all 
 at sea on this social question, and are firing shots with- 
 out definite aim. Settled as our ideas of aristocracy 
 and plebeianism seem, they might be improved by be- 
 ing milled again and run a few times through a seive. 
 The true distinction might thus be given the eye, if 
 too abstruse for mental digest. 
 
 " If there are those among us who still value life, 
 liberty and advancement, let them act now; for those 
 who counsel destruction in North America under the 
 existing state of affairs are incapable of construction. 
 Those who urge revolution do not understand evolu- 
 tion. A war between classes means national chaos, 
 and out of the smoke from the ashes of your cities, 
 some brute man would arise, with armed fiends around
 
 134 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 him, that he might crush into abject slavery every 
 man and woman who has a thought above mere exist- 
 ence. Thus may history repeat itself. 
 
 " The one way we urge is this : The produ cers must 
 incorporate to employ themselves; to own their own 
 lands; to control their own services; to exchange their 
 own products; to issue their own money, and to put 
 every head of family into his or her own home, free 
 from tax, rent and interest. This is the direct and 
 business way of solving the problems of to-day. 
 
 " It is amusing how absurdly people ruminate upon 
 things they have never taken time to study; and how 
 disordered one's imagination becomes, narrowed down 
 into prescribed limits, or made to run in a particular 
 groove. 
 
 " Pity the souls who live by rule, 
 Whose hearts are like a stagnant pool." 
 
 " Our Republicanism in not the idle, foolish, slip- 
 shod principle which says: 'Everyman for himself 
 and the evil one catch the hindmost.' It is the spirit 
 of humanity which prompts the most intelligent, cul- 
 tivated and prosperous to go to the help of those who 
 have sate hitherto on the ground. Religion, too, 
 must retrace its steps towards nature and man. Noth- 
 ing counts but service; and that counts always. It is 
 ready to say, not only that he who ministers is the 
 greatest, but that ministering is the end of religion,
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 135 
 
 not alone a manifestation of it. Character is not a 
 means to perfection; it is perfection. Nor is it enough 
 to call it a passport to felicity; it is felicity itself. 
 Men and women can never be good until they are use- 
 fully and agreeably employed. 
 
 " Those who belong to the inductive school deplore 
 the waste of enforced idleness, and plan to incorpo- 
 rate and to systematize employments, so that there 
 cannot be a willing arm and a kindly brain unoccu- 
 pied, or a useful labor which is not honorable. The 
 subject is an immense one. I hope I have made my- 
 self clear." 
 
 "Yes," replied young Evans, with a pompous 
 shrug of his shoulders, "clear as mud. But we will be 
 charitable enough to believe you understand yourself." 
 
 "As for charity," responded Veen, "I have not 
 found it in St. Saul, outside the lids of a dictionary. 
 The word sounds fresh. Did you import it from Cam- 
 bridge? I certainly ought to feel flattered that my 
 life plans interest the public so deeply; but I could 
 understand it better if I had ever taken the dear scan- 
 dal mongers for my spiritual confessors and advisors." 
 
 "Now, Veen," said young Clark, " you are not going 
 to take umbrage at anything we have said. I'm sure 
 we all wish you success; and though we may not see fit 
 to invest in your utopian enterprise, we will bid you 
 God-speed, in honor of your level headed sire."
 
 136 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Stanley Veen bowed courteously and turned to greet 
 General Evans, an intellectual, thoughtful looking 
 man, who had just entered. 
 
 "Where is Governor Kellogg?" said the General. 
 " I have elbowed this entire crowd in search of him> 
 and might have imagined myself at the races, if I had 
 not met you." 
 
 " I called upon the Governor to-day," said Stanley, 
 41 but it did not occur to me I might see him here this 
 evening. In truth, he was so much indisposed I did 
 not think of anything but his changed appearance." 
 
 "Ah! I was not aware of his being out of health, 
 though I've noted his distraught air of late, and the 
 absence of his usual high spirits. In almost any other 
 person the change would not be so pronounced. I do 
 not wonder he is fatigued. He has held one unbroken 
 levee at the executive chamber for politicians all the 
 fall. And next comes the senatorial contest. With 
 his new book and demands of society I am surprised 
 the man keeps a level cranium." 
 
 " Have you known the Governor so long," said 
 Stanley, "without observing his indifference to so- 
 ciety? He is fond of his friends, and loves nothing 
 better than to give them a feast at his own table; but 
 I have not met him at an entertainment the past win- 
 ter, and such a man as he cannot afford a crush like 
 this every evening. It is a waste of ones best forces."
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 137 
 
 "And the net receipts come next morning in the 
 shape of a dull headache and ennui poor capital for 
 the bread winners to work upon." responded the Gen- 
 eral. " How do you manage to fritter away your time 
 with these chattering magpies." 
 
 "I make a sacrifice of myself one evening in the 
 year to appease my maternal ancester, and put Cecile 
 and I 'square' on the Grundy record. We recreate 
 usually in the open air, and enjoy boating and riding, 
 choosing our associates. We have neither of us im- 
 bibed the false notions of life we are compelled to 
 subscribe to." 
 
 " How did you and your sister become such utter 
 reprobates, with such a stiff, aristocratic parentage?" 
 inquired the General. 
 
 " I think everyone misunderstands my father," re- 
 plied Stanley. "Then this word 'aristocracy ' is capable 
 of so many interpretations. I cannot understand why 
 it should be made equivocal any more than the word 
 'virtue.' What do these people know of true aristoc- 
 racy? They have no breeding, and the majority of 
 them no culture. Their conversation betrays their 
 stupidity. Their ideas of life are stilted and vapid. 
 Wealth is their standard. Style is God, and a union 
 with wealth the goal!" 
 
 " But this cannot last always," said General Evans. 
 " It is the social chaos which inevitably follows rapid
 
 138 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 growth. There will be crystalization and order after 
 we pass through these pangs of transformation! The 
 curtain will drop upon these mammoth puppet shows. 
 There are solid men and women here, and they will 
 come to the front. At present they are smothered 
 with horse jockeys and hen heads. The man who has 
 money is king." 
 
 " Even though he may be the son of a squaw, or 
 have for the angel of his household a dusky-browed 
 Commanche," said Stanley. 
 
 "Whist!" said the General. "You will make me 
 ashamed of myself for consenting to an entertainment 
 in honor of my son. If I drop out suddenly, please 
 suggest to Mrs. Evans and Lucien that I may be with 
 the Governor, and they can call for me en route 
 home." 
 
 " Here is Mrs. Kellogg now," exclaimed Stanley, as 
 both he and the General hastened to salute the lawful 
 wife of their cherished friend. 
 
 Mrs. Kellogg was magnificently attired, and hung 
 upon the arm of the attenuated, but fluffily decked out 
 Miss Tongue wort, senior member of the triangular 
 house of Tongueworts. 
 
 Mrs. Kellogg carried, imbedded in an exquisite lace 
 handkerchief, a solid gold vinaigrette, which she 
 made conspicuous every few minutes by vigorously 
 applying it to the blunt extremity of her un celestial
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 139 
 
 pug nose. Miss Lou Tonguewort brandished an im- 
 mense Japanese fan, marvellously designed, which she 
 persisted in flopping in the faces of her defenceless 
 guests, creating an impression of single blessedness 
 most uncomfortable and shivery. 
 
 "I regret to hear the Governor is not well this 
 evening, and we shall not have the pleasure of seeing 
 him," said General Evans. 
 
 "O he is not seriously ill by any means. The men 
 put on more airs than a chimney sweep and more 
 moods than a romantic school girl. The Governor is 
 like all the rest of you men; but we ladies cannot stay 
 at home always for the sake of humoring your whims. 
 I told my liege-lord that I should not apologize for 
 his absence to-night." And the stereotyped smile, or 
 rather smirk (there was nothing natural about it) 
 played in a sinister manner around her coarsely slit 
 mouth. 
 
 " Why don't you tell the truth," interposed Miss 
 Tonguewort, "and say our dear Governor has 
 denounced high toned society as ' shoddy,' and is at 
 present writing sonnets to rustic beauties who have 
 nothing to recommend them but a painted doll's head, 
 and a plebeian ancestry?" And the sharp nasal 
 organ tried to get up on its grissle, while the thin lips 
 curled contemptously. 
 
 "Monstrous!" responded the General. "This is
 
 140 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 going too far, ladies! A grim kind of a joke to crack 
 on Governor Kellogg!" And the color rising to his 
 temples, the General continued: " Though Alecto 
 herself, mounted upon Bucephalus, were to canvass 
 the city, hissing from her every serpent's tongue this 
 tale, it would be stamped upon as the firebrand of an 
 incendiary ! " And General Evans involuntarily closed 
 his coat at the top, as though about to take leave of 
 the insolent hostess. 
 
 Here Mrs. Kellogg gave Miss Tonguewort a warn- 
 ing wink; but the wormwood dipped tongue wagged on. 
 
 " By the way, General, who is this new female 
 deity?" And the weazen faced spinster, concealing 
 her claws, awkwardly nestled closer to the General, as 
 she endeavored to be playful. " Is she to be spoken 
 of as 
 
 ' Posessed of all those glowing charms 
 
 That fired the Trojan boy; 
 And kindled love with war's alarms 
 
 Around the walls of Troy? ' 
 
 She has turned half the heads in St. Saul, and enjoys 
 the reputation of having saved the lives of Governor 
 and Mrs. Kellogg, hunchbacks, and so on ad infinitum. 
 We Eves cannot enjoy our domestic Paradises until 
 we know who this delectable rival may be, this real, or 
 more likely, imaginary Hebe, who has a dozen nom 
 de plumes, but who stubbornly refuses to unmask, pre- 
 ferring to remain, sub rosa. Now, General, you can
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 141 
 
 enlighten us I know? " And cuddling yet nearer the 
 dignified statesman, she nearly forced him through 
 the drapery of an alcove, when he suddenly recovered 
 himself, drew his Roman figure up to its full height 
 and looked upon both the ladies with supreme disgust. 
 
 " I have" no amazons on my list!" said he; and bow- 
 ing coldly, he abruptly withdrew. 
 
 "Mr. Stanley Veen," pursued Miss Tonguewort, 
 determined not to be foiled, " here is the card of an 
 unknown Venus whose trail bafiies us! Mrs. Kel- 
 logg and I have ransacked the directory for this, for 
 years back, but we give it up as a conundrum. This 
 is a serious matter with us, which already affects the 
 welfare of individuals in the court circles of St. Saul." 
 And the little eyes snapped significant glances at Mrs. 
 Kellogg, as their possessor held out an innocent 
 bit of card board, which felt limp and clammy in 
 Stanley's hand. 
 
 Poor Stanley Veen, while deciphering the blurred 
 card, was gorgonized by a pair of lynx eyed women. 
 Changing color. Stanley replied: 
 
 " I see nothing remarkable in this card, ladies." 
 And Stanley Veen returned the card. 
 
 " There are social subtleties not supposed to be 
 understood by very young people like yourself, Mr. 
 Veen. They belong to criminals, for whom there is 
 no reclaiming power in this, or the world to come. If
 
 142 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 you knew the person named on this card you could 
 not comprehend the methods of female witchery con- 
 nected therewith for the avowed purpose'of breaking 
 up sacred and happy homes." Miss Tonguewort 
 looked almost as though, with the aid of a vegetable, 
 known to excite the lachrymal glands, she might shed 
 a tiny tear drop; however, the eye-lids~remained like 
 the other parts of her exposed cuticle, arid and dusty. 
 Stanley Veen looked stunned, but he answered: 
 
 " Ladies, I do not understand the strong terms you 
 have used in connection with the name upon that 
 card. I am well acquainted with a young girl of the 
 same name, but was not aware there were two names 
 like this in the world. I will investigate the matter, 
 as the one whom I have the honor of knowing cannot 
 be the person referred to in your dark insinuations. 
 No! I think the tongue of a slanderer is terribly 
 wicked, but not capable of such moral turpitude as 
 this! I would not submit to the thought a moment, for, 
 though their is plenty of breathing gas for the mean 
 millions, there is not enough for the inventor of such 
 a falsehood to live upon one moment after Stanley 
 Veen shall track him out! " and young Veen, pale and 
 profoundly agitated, without so much as bowing to 
 the ladies, who both shuddered at his words, moved on 
 and joined his sister who seized Stanley's hand, and 
 with her sweet smile, presented him to Mr. Hugh 
 Carlisle.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 143 
 
 " Louisa Tongue wort," said Mrs. Kellogg with a 
 bitter expression, " Stanley Veen and that girl are 
 in liaison! Did you observe the pallor of his face and 
 the fire in his eyes? There was something terrible in 
 it!" 
 
 " Guilty, is he! " said Miss Tonguewort, " and here 
 is the Governor, your husband, and the good Lord 
 only knows how many more, all in her meshes ! Well, 
 as the guardians of society ; I feel we are bound to be 
 thorough in our researches; and, of coarse, to be very 
 circumspect for in handling pitch one might get 
 soiled. I have never had a shadow on my name, and 
 my old father would rise out of his grave if he thought 
 any vile man had ever indulged an evil thought con- 
 cerning one of us girls." 
 
 " I tell you," said Mrs. Kellogg, " that Stanley Veen 
 is dangerous to make an emeny of; but my knowledge 
 of this secret of his, puts him in my power. I will 
 yet bring that painted courtesan at my feet, and humble 
 the pride of the Kellogg family, by trailing the name 
 of their idolized son and brother in the dust! Look 
 at Stanley and Cecile Veen, both the sworn friends of 
 Pearl LaGrange ! Do you recall the disgraceful scenes 
 at Col. Veen's orrCecile's birth-day?" 
 
 " You mean the disappearance of this LaGrange 
 creature and Stanley, and the effort of the proud Veen 
 family to hide the affair V "
 
 144 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 " Yes," said Mrs. Kellogg. "I would never have 
 imagined a thing so bold if I had not seen it with my 
 own eyes. Stanley was engaged in a game of croquet 
 and suddenly from some given signal of this girl's, 
 he dropped mallet and ran to the thicket, and La 
 Grange seized her hat and ran for him, both dis- 
 appearing at the same moment, and neither of them 
 again putting in an appearance. At the banquet, both 
 Col. and Mrs. Veen looked as though they were ready 
 to die with mortification, and Cecile talked on in one 
 uninterrupted stream to keep the guests from missing 
 her brother. But it was too transparent. The brazen 
 and disreputable performance was witnessed by more 
 than half the company, and I tell you now, neither 
 Stanley Veen, with all his dignity and studied im- 
 pressiveness of manner, nor the low-born daughter of 
 the drunkard LaGrange, with her advertised beauty, 
 have hoodwinked the people of St. Saul regarding the 
 real state of affairs. I have induced the Dessarts on 
 Tipton avenue to take their daughters out of her 
 music class; and I will see that she does not worm 
 herself into any more of the best familes." And the 
 brow of Mrs. Kellogg darkened, and the real fiendish- 
 ness of her character for a moment broke through 
 the smiling mask. 
 
 " Let me present you to Sir Hugh Carlisle" said 
 Miss Mollie Tonguewort to Mrs. Kellogg, in a patron- 
 izing way.
 
 ^ SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 145 
 
 " I am most happy to meet you," said Mrs. Kellogg 
 forcing a smile to her lips yet curled with the contor- 
 tions of jealousy. 
 
 " We had hoped to see your father and mother here 
 this evening," said Miss Lou Tonguewort 
 
 " I am the bearer of their sincere regrets, my father 
 having a particular engagement with the Governor 
 this evening." replied Carlisle. 
 
 Mrs. Kellogg winced, and Tonguewort continued: 
 
 "O these politicians! They are never at leisure, 
 and when they do go into society they are sure to leave 
 their manners at home. I have the greatest sympathy 
 for their wives! All expected to meet Governor Kel- 
 log this evening, and he makes a particular engage- 
 ment with our new comer, Dr. Carlisle, and General 
 Evans takes ' French leave.' Dr. Carroll, always our 
 main dependence, he also, is closeted with the Gover- 
 nor to-night." 
 
 "How do your folks like our minister and the people 
 at St. Mark's?" inquired Mrs. Kellogg of young 
 Carlisle. 
 
 "O very much! The congregation is the largest I 
 ever saw. There is not a vacant seat in the galleries." 
 
 " I think Dr. Carroll an elegant gentleman," said 
 hostess number three, just added in the circle. " In 
 fact the ladies are all in love with him. It is such a 
 pity his wife is so dowdyish. She hasn't one particle
 
 146 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 of style about her, and she botches the little girl up 
 in the same fashion. 
 
 Here supper was announced, and Mrs. Kellogg and 
 young Carlisle led the way out. 
 
 At table, the hostess introduced Lucien Evans as 
 the honored guest, and young Carlisle as "the hero 
 who stopped the Governor's runaway horses, in the 
 memorable summer. 
 
 This announcement caused the young gentleman to 
 flush and to seize a piece of cutlery with which he 
 rapped his audience into silence as he said: 
 
 " Ladies and gentlemen : I am a hero- worshipper, 
 but no hero. I met with the adventure of my life in 
 your city. I was young then and in delicate health. 
 Perhaps my vision was impaired, for I recall nothing, 
 after getting under the hoofs of the horses, save the 
 face of a beautiful being, who gathered me up and, as 
 I thought, translated me bodily to Paradise! " 
 
 All laughed and clapped louder than before; and 
 again the sharp ring of cutlery was head. Order being 
 restored, the young orator continued: 
 
 " When I awoke, the houri and paradise had van- 
 ished, and I was in one of the wards of St. Mary's 
 Hospital, my father watching tenderly over me. For 
 more than a year I believed myself the favored sub- 
 ject of a miracle. But I am assured my rescuer was 
 not a celestial visitant, but a reality, and the loveliest
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 147 
 
 girl in St Saul. The romance of the affair begins to 
 interest me." 
 
 This was followed by a request for the name 
 of the heroine ; and all but Mrs. Kellogg looked eager. 
 Her lips moved nervously. 
 
 " You will have the name, will you? " said Carlisle. 
 " Wait until I pour a bumper of Adam's ale, and then 
 let us drink to the health and prosperity of her to 
 whom two important personages, besides your humble 
 speaker owe their present existence." 
 
 The glasses were filled, save the one Mrs. Kellogg 
 held. Carlisle attempted to take it from her hand; 
 but she held it with a vise-like grip, saying, with 
 asperity : 
 
 " Excuse me from joining in this toast The subject 
 is well known to me, and I do not enthuse." The wife 
 of Governor Kellogg looked as though she had swal- 
 lowed a dose of aloes. 
 
 Every eye was upon her, puzzled, yet prepared to 
 follow her, in the same fashion as a flock of sheep 
 will follow one which has entered a gap in- a fence. 
 
 Carlisle was the impersonation of grace and ele- 
 gance; and he held himself so erect, one could not 
 have seen the slight protuberance between his shoul- 
 ders, which had been so prominent as to give him the 
 name of " hunchback."
 
 148 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 The glass of water was lifted, all waiting for the 
 magic name. 
 
 " To my unknown fair Miss 
 
 Every ear was attentive, every eye upon the speaker, 
 when to the amazement of all, he was seized by Cecile 
 Veen, who entreated him not to give the name of the 
 modest girl publicity. 
 
 " I am a friend to this girl, and her name shall not 
 be tossed from lip to lip. She has been recently orph- 
 aned, and does not go out into society. Respect her 
 feelings and mine. She is a real heroine, but she is 
 not for common talk in the world." 
 
 Mrs. Kellogg writhed like a serpent, in her efforts 
 to appear unconcerned. The Misses Tonguewort 
 hissed in response to Cecile Veen, who pushed back 
 her plate saying: 
 
 " I have dined." 
 
 "I surrender" said Carlisle. "I thought to make 
 my fair unknown come forward and allow me to place 
 the laurel wreath upon her brow. I meant no harm," 
 he said, addressing Cecile. 
 
 " I am sure of it, said Cecile, " but I have heard to- 
 night that which had better ne'er been said, if false- 
 hood can be punished. Come and see us ; we will intro- 
 duce you to the girl whose name I deem too sacred for 
 these people to bandy. The whitest soul must suffer 
 from such. Stanley left hours ago. ' Tis pitiful
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 149 
 
 there are no better subjects for the masses than those 
 furnished by the scandal-mongers." 
 
 " That Mrs. Kellogg interests me," said young Car- 
 lisle to Cecile Veen. 
 
 "You do not mean to say she attracts you?" said 
 Cecile. 
 
 " No and yes; I hardly know how to define the 
 feelings inspired by her presence. She attracts and 
 repels me. She is a person of great power, either for 
 good or evil; and such souls always make me sad. She 
 evidently assumes to be a variety of things she is not; 
 and my heart goes out to her with the strongest sen- 
 sations of pity, feelings which almost make me 
 ashamed to confess them. 
 
 " Her position is threatened," responded Cecile. 
 
 " In what way?" asked Carlisle. 
 
 " They say a divorce is in the perspective. I have 
 not heard her speak respectfully of the Governor in 
 the past year, and her aim seems to be to undermine 
 him in the hearts of the people." 
 
 "She will never succeed!" said Carlisle. 
 
 " Never! " and yet her influence is so great, and the 
 social material she has to handle is so plastic, I trem- 
 ble for anyone who falls into her hands. She can 
 ruin them, soul and body, for she is as unscrupulous 
 as she is influential."
 
 150 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 " I want to study her," said Carlisle. " She is phe- 
 nomenal; end I always enjoyed a problem. Besides 
 she may need just such a little lever as I shall prove 
 to be, to pry up her purposes, and show her how 
 naughty they are." 
 
 " You look like working a moral reform! Scarcely 
 seventeen, and your subject thirty-five or forty. Doc- 
 tor Carlisle is jovial; but his son is a joker! I imag- 
 agine I see you reforming a professional society 
 mountebank," laughed Cecile. " Do not attempt it." 
 
 " Supposing Hugh Carlisle exercised a little influ- 
 ence himself. What then?" 
 
 "Ah! You mean you might reform her? I \vould 
 not discourage so noble a purpose. Yet it would seem 
 to me impossible of accomplishment. But if you are 
 seriously in earnest a fact I do not readily credit 
 I say try it young man ! And may God and his angels 
 support the laudible effort." 
 
 Here Col. Veen interrupted them by telling Cecile 
 they had best go home, and let the carriage return for 
 her mother, who would remain at some secret society 
 conclave.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 151 
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 When reason abdicates the throne of mind, 
 
 0' what a world of beauty is undone! 
 Thoughts, roam at random, and clear vision blind, 
 
 Inquires of darkness, brasking in the sun! 
 
 The Maison de Sante, a private hospital for the 
 insane, was a noble edifice, situated at High Banks. 
 
 The grounds were terraced on the river front, to 
 the water's edge, and excursionists, passing down the 
 river were never weary of feasting their eyes upon the 
 green velvet staircase. 
 
 The institution, though a refuge for those " who had 
 eaten of that insane root which takes the reason pris- 
 oner," was not conducted as are many of our modern 
 schools of persecution for the insane. The officers in 
 charge were humane, and the nurses under the stric- 
 test orders to guard their helpless patients against 
 cruelty. 
 
 It was the last of June. The woods were full of 
 beauty. The cloudless morning lay mirrored upon 
 the shimmering surface of the river. 
 
 At the river's hem, in this sequestered spot, a boat 
 had landed with a party of four young people. As 
 they mounted the terrace they turned their faces to 
 note the changing view at every graduated height. 
 
 " Did you know," said Hugh Carlisle, " this is a
 
 152 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 gala day at the Asylum, and all of the mild-mannered 
 lunatics will be allowed to air and sun themselves. 
 
 " Good! " said young Evans. " It will be as inter- 
 esting as the uncaging of a menagerie. I enjoy look- 
 ing at maniacs. It is actually a temptation to play 
 mad for a time and avail one's self of absolute rest in 
 a palace." 
 
 " Kest, did you say? " interrupted Pearl LaGrange. 
 " You have discovered little in the faces of the mad, if 
 you accuse them of restfulness. They are bundles of 
 quivering nerves; and if you get near enough to 
 examine their faces, though they look sleep-hungry 
 enough, they have a wild staring expression, like hunted 
 animals. They seem forever in search of some- 
 thing they cannot find. I do not care to meet any of 
 the poor creatures. The memory of those I have seen 
 makes me shudder. I always wish I had the 
 power of helping them out of their deranged fleshly 
 tenements, and because I have not, their presence is 
 a reproach and horror to me. 
 
 " You do not think that the soul of an insane being 
 is shattered? " said Hugh Carlisle. 
 
 "Certainly not! I do not believe it is in the least 
 impaired; only arrested in its progress. The soul is 
 indestructible; but its manifestations are controlled 
 by physical conditions." 
 
 " What of the idiot's soul? " said Carlisle.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 153 
 
 " O, it is all right, and may be as grand and beauti- 
 ful as the soul of Daniel Webster. It is simply 
 crippled, denied a normal manifestation of its God ' 
 given powers. But here we are, loitering behind, and 
 Cecile stands at the summit, waving her handkerchief. 
 Isn't she a glorious girl ? " said Pearl, her whole heart 
 in the words. 
 
 " I know but one her equal," said Carlisle, "and 
 when I say she is worthy of her companionship, I have 
 said the utmost in the praise of both. I must confess 
 she and Lucien Evans are the handsomest pair I ever 
 saw. It seems to me God himself ought to look down 
 in pride upon them." And the sensitive lips of Carlisle 
 trembled with emotion. 
 
 "Yes; a fine physique makes a pleasing address 
 always; but beautiful spirits are not the invariable 
 occupants of such grand flesh and blood castles. 
 The symmetrical soul invariably throws a halo of 
 loveliness over the plainest exterior," said Pearl, 
 thinking of Hugh's fragile form. 
 
 Here their friends signalled to indicate the pres- 
 ence of something interesting on the heights. 
 
 Hugh extended his hand to Pearl, and the two made 
 a rapid ascent; not too rapid for a stranger and tour- 
 ist, with sketch-book in hand, to note the brilliant 
 beauty of the girl, and the expression of purity and 
 benevolence which lighted up the handsome counte- 
 nance of her youthful escort
 
 154 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Enamored with the animated face of Pearl, the 
 stranger closed his sketch-book and followed, the 
 shrubbery enabling him to disappear now and then, 
 and cover his pursuit. 
 
 The building was a triple-gothic structure, with 
 high and shapely defined arches and clustered col- 
 umns over which the luxuriantly leafed ivy draped in 
 meshes of vivid green. 
 
 The patients were scattered over the grounds with 
 visitors and friends, so none but an expert physiog- 
 nomist could distinguish the sane from the insane. 
 
 " There is a born artist among these maniacs," said 
 HugK, addressing Pearl La Grange, "who has culti- 
 vated a talent for painting, and she is frequently out 
 making sketches." 
 
 "I hope we can see her! " exclaimed Pearl. 
 
 " Do you know she is of gentle birth, has many 
 friends, and the story of her madness is the most 
 touching one I ever heard. She has delineated some 
 of the most heavenly faces, but throws them aside, 
 renewing the effort with a higher type each time; 
 only to discard and turn their faces to the wall, and 
 draw again upon her imagination." 
 
 " I have heard my father speak of her,' ' said Car- 
 lisle. " She is one of his new patients, and he is greatly 
 interested in her, for she is the sister of Governor 
 Kellogg."
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 155 
 
 "I saw her once," said Evans. "She is the widow 
 of a gallant officer killed in the struggle between the 
 states. Their only offspring was a very promising 
 boy of fifteen, and it seems to me he met with some 
 awful fate which caused her to lose her mind." 
 
 "What became of him?" asked Cecile. 
 
 " It is a long story. Perhaps Evans can relate it," 
 said Carlisle. 
 
 "I heard it from the Governor's own lips," said 
 Lucien. " I may not remember the details, but their 
 recital made an impression on me, and I have since 
 desired to see the mother, whose anguish for her lost 
 boy caused reason to succumb. * 
 
 " Mrs. Reid was living in New York City. Her son 
 was spending his vacation with her, and their home 
 was at the time enlivened by a number of friends. 
 
 " So endearing were the relations between this 
 mother and son, he never passed her without throw- 
 ing his arms around her, and bestowing caresses. 
 This is what made the mystery of his disappearance 
 utterly inexplicable. 
 
 " The last day of their lives together had been de- 
 lightful. After dinner, Mrs. Reid went to her room 
 for a nap. How long she had been sleeping she could 
 not tell, but in a semi-conscious state she heard her 
 door open, recognized her boy at her bedside, felt his 
 critical, scanning gaze, then soft kisses upon her lips
 
 156 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 and brow; then the steps receded, and profound sleep 
 ensued. 
 
 " The moment she awoke, however, a presentiment 
 of evil took posession of her, and leaping from her bed, 
 she called wildly for her boy. He was not to be found 
 in that mighty metropolis; and though neither money 
 nor pains were spared in a search, never, from that 
 hour has Eddie Reid been seen or heard from." 
 
 " He may have met some terrible fate, and his body 
 and all knowledge of the crime hidden away," said 
 Pearl. 
 
 " Perhaps yes. The secret is with God," said 
 Lucien. " It was just as though he stepped into the 
 land of shadows. The poor mother never gave up the 
 search, till the light of reason went out. For more 
 than a year the lamp was kept burning, and the front 
 door stood ajar to welcome her child, the mother 
 never relinquishing her watch. A group of boys pass- 
 ing under her windows, a merry voice or whistle, and 
 she was instantly on the street in quest of her child. 
 
 " Always before renewing her search she knelt at 
 her son's deserted bedside and prayed to God to lead 
 her to him : and it is a little singular she did not lose 
 her faith in God before she lost her senses. But she 
 remains wonderfully clear upon the subject of religion 
 and art." 
 
 " But here is the Grotto," said Evans, "and the great
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 157 
 
 Shade Kock under which we are to unpack our literary 
 budget; and now let us arrange ourselves so that we 
 can imagine our audience disposed in a semi-circle 
 around us in this natural amphitheatre, as did the 
 Greeks in the time of Homer.'' 
 
 " What have you brought us to-day, Hugh ? " said 
 Pearl, who had seated herself, and already commenced 
 sketching. 
 
 " I regret to say, for want of time to prepare an 
 original paper, I have come like an empty vase to the 
 fountain, expecting to be fed from well springs of 
 knowledge around us. 
 
 Here a succession of shrieks greeted their ears. 
 The young people fairly trembled with the horrible 
 vibrations, the peculiarity of which are remarkably 
 delineated in Weber's Maniac W altzes. 
 
 Just at this juncture the stranger who had followed 
 the young people came running towards Pearl and 
 Lucien, saying a fire had been discovered in one of 
 the halls, and had so excited the inmates of the cells 
 that they shrieked, throwing everything into a state 
 of confusion, and visitors had been warned out of the 
 enclosures, except such as were rendering aid. 
 
 "I will offer my services," said Hugh, who disap- 
 peared with Lucien at his heels. 
 
 The girls followed, determined to supplement their 
 efforts, if occasion required.
 
 158 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 As Pearl and Cecile emerged from the copse, they 
 saw smoke and flames issuing from the tower of the 
 main structure. The inmates had been removed to 
 adjacent buildings, and every effort was now concen- 
 trated upon saving, if possible, the splendid edifice. 
 
 A gentleman rushed excitedly across the park, call- 
 ing wildly for a ladder, and pointing to a grated AVIII- 
 dow over an iron balcony, against which a lady's face 
 was closely pressed, and from which she looked in 
 mute appeal upon the appalled spectators. 
 
 The voice was Hugh's, and Pearl's marvellous pre- 
 sence of mind, together with her characteristic prompt- 
 ness of action in emergencies, inspired her to fly to 
 his aid. 
 
 Arrived at the scene, she realized the impossibility 
 of making an entrance through the iron-barred case- 
 ment in time to rescue its occupant. 
 
 Pearl could hear the roar of the flames, and the air 
 was heated round her, while the wind drove sparks 
 and fire-brands everywhere. One fell at her feet, 
 attracting her attention to a stake, already burning, 
 from which a clothes line fluttered. 
 
 As quick as thought Pearl tore the rope from its 
 fastening, secured one end of it around her waist, 
 gathered up the slack, and reaching young Evans bade 
 him hasten with her to the entrance. 
 
 " Now," said Pearl passing the extremity of the rope
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 159 
 
 around Lucien' s body, " do as I bid you. There is not 
 an instant to be lost! Two flights of stairs, then to 
 your left. The room against the tower has but one 
 door, you cannot miss it" 
 
 Pearl's memory always served her faithfully. She 
 had pupils in the superintendent's family, and had 
 often climbed the tower with them to get the view from 
 High Banks of St. Saul. 
 
 Lucien Evans was not ambitious to make a hero of 
 himself at the expense of life and beauty; but it was 
 the bayonet push of an emergency he could not dodge; 
 so he obeyed orders. But no sooner had he disap- 
 peared than Pearl regretted she had not taken his 
 place and left him in hers, at the foot of the stair- 
 case. 
 
 Moments were long minutes now. The rope seemed 
 endless, Lucien not yet having given a perceptible 
 pull. The fire was gaining in fury. 
 
 "What if Lucien should be smothered!" thought 
 Pearl, as she rapidly unfastened the rope from her 
 waist, knotted it securely around the baluster and 
 bounded up the staircase which was filled with dense 
 smoke. 
 
 So firm and reliant was her step, and so swiftly had 
 the ascent been made, the girl had reached the sec- 
 ond landing before the smoke compelled her to feel 
 for the rope. Carefully now she followed its lead, an
 
 160 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 occasional flame revealing the way as it flashed across 
 the open door. A moment more and she had entered 
 the apartment. 
 
 " Lucien ! " she cried. 
 
 "Here I am," he said. "The lady must have been 
 rescued. I can find nothing but the bare furniture." 
 
 Here Pearl came near falling over some object 
 which blocked her way. 
 
 'Here she is!" cried Pearl. "She must have 
 swooned. The smoke is stifling. It seems I do not 
 breathe. I have gathered her up. She is as light as 
 a feather. Come, O come instantly, or we are lost!" 
 Pearl, endowed with superhuman strength to match 
 the courage of her heart, groped with her biirden 
 through the hall, and down the staircase ; while Luc- 
 ien, blind and nearly smothered, dragged heavily after; 
 nor did he realize, till all was over, that he had de- 
 cended the two stories of the burning building empty 
 handed, while Pearl had pushed on in advance, with 
 something human she had picked up in the awful 
 darkness of that smoking sepulchre. 
 
 Crash! went the tower behind them, but Pearl had 
 reached the last step. 
 
 "We have saved her! " exclaimed young Evans. 
 
 " We are not sure of having more than the body," 
 said Pearl, whose failing strength was suddenly re- 
 newed in discerning the voices of Hugh and Cecile.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 161 
 
 " Here they are, thank God," said Hugh, while 
 Pearl dropped with her burden, more dead than alive, 
 upon the threshold. 
 
 The light revealed a lady's face, upturned and mo- 
 tionless. Evans exclaimed: 
 
 "Good heavens! This is the Governor's poor sis- 
 ter, and she is dead!" 
 
 "Keep her head low," said Pearl, as Hugh lifted 
 her into his arms and took her to the surgeon's office, 
 while Evans addressed himself to Pearl, who was now 
 evidently suffering the reactionary effects of her pow- 
 erful nervous strain. Conveyed to a place of safety, 
 the party vied with each other until the remedies love 
 suggested restored both strength and calmness. 
 
 " The tower and the south porticoes are gone," said 
 Carlisle, who returned from a tour of inspection ; "but 
 the flames are under control, and two-thirds of the 
 edifice will be saved; You should have seen the sur- 
 prise of the superintendent when I told him Mrs. Reid 
 was left to barn up in the tower." 
 
 " How is our patient? " said Pearl, who was not sure 
 Bhe had done more than to save the body from being 
 cremated. 
 
 "Mrs. Reid has opened her eyes and is rallying 
 rapidly," said Cecile. " I think the hospital officials 
 would like to share the glory of your brave rescue of 
 Mrs. Reid, but they cannot, for Hugh has dispatched
 
 K2 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 a private messenger for the Governor, and will re- 
 main until he comes; and their gross carelessness 
 cannot escape exposure." 
 
 The sinking sun sent his red beams streaming over 
 the little party as Hugh descended the banks and 
 joined them, homeward bound. 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 Have you heard of earth's marvelous flower, 
 
 That reticent child of night's sun, 
 Which gladdens no landscape or bower, 
 
 Nor revels day's sweetness upon, 
 Which comes in the noon of the night, 
 A glorified presence in white, 
 
 A lily of Paradise, blown 
 
 From gardens of God, angel-sown, 
 To open its golden-disc eyes, 
 And die in the hour of surprise ? 
 
 When the beautiful shutters of day, 
 
 Have closed against gardens of bloom ; 
 When the world's magna-fioral display 
 
 Hides its face in night's vase of perfume, 
 Like a gem in an Ethiop's ear, 
 
 A star flaming out of a cloud, 
 Doth this spiritual blossom appear 
 
 In the pearl of its lily-white shroud. 
 
 Reader, have you ever looked upon that vision of 
 floral loveliness, the night blooming Cereus? If you 
 have, and your soul is alive to the symbols of immor-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 163 
 
 tality, have you not felt your senses tingle as though 
 God had just laid a visible finger upon you? 
 
 Look into the vista of its convolute corolla, for the 
 perspective is wonderful and one may gaze into its 
 heart through soft, radiate petals till the open ring 
 narrows to the tiniest puncture, imbedded deep in the 
 calyx. Here a delicate shadow envelopes the closing 
 leaf scroll and the revelation is complete. The shadow 
 along the vista typifies the " Valley of the Shadow of 
 Death." The stignia of its pistil is a miniature palm 
 tree to mellow the effulgent glories of its consumma- 
 tion. It may say more; it may say less, according to 
 the perceptions of the beholder; but if it bloom within 
 your ways, go prostrate your soul before it, and wor- 
 ship the Infinite mind which created such a wealth of 
 wonders. 
 
 The LaGrange cottage, at the close of a sultry July 
 day, peeped through its trellis of white roses with the 
 same meek expression which it had always worn. Like 
 its sincere occupants it presented the status of its pos- 
 sessions. 
 
 For her pupils, their families and friends, Pearl 
 had planned an ovation to welcome the chaste presence 
 of this floral guest, already announced by the swelling 
 bud. 
 
 Cecile Veen had united with Pearl in putting the 
 little cottage in order. Even aunt Meg's wardrobe 
 had undergone inspection.
 
 164 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 One circumstance threatened to detract from the 
 happiness of the evening. Stanley and Hugh were 
 absent from St. Saul, the former far off on the shores 
 of Olmira Bay, the latter spending his vacation in 
 Canada. However, a dearer presence to Pearl was 
 near. 
 
 Doctor Carlisle had promised to come and bring 
 with him his convalescent patient, Mrs. Reid, who, 
 since the shock of the fire, had improved. There is a 
 superstition attaching to sudden recovery of reason, 
 singularly verified in the speedy demise of the sub- 
 ject thus restored. 
 
 Mrs. Reid had been removed to the Governor's, 
 where she had every tender attention. She seemed 
 to have no memory of the asylum ; nor did she refer 
 to her past life; she seemed to have taken up life pre- 
 cisely where she left it. The romance of her rescue 
 occupied her thoughts, and as speedily as her health 
 permitted she was granted an introduction to the dar- 
 ing girl. This new theme furnished study for her 
 pencil. With her brother and Dr. Carlisle, she anti- 
 cipated being at the LaGrange cottage on the evening 
 of the opening of the wonderful flower. 
 
 During the busy preparations at the cottage, where 
 two innocent girls were absorbed in arranging the 
 homely appointments in such manner as to produce 
 the finest effects, a far different scene was transpiring
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 165 
 
 at the Governor's mansion. The actors were also two 
 women, past the season when age can be disguised. 
 
 Hector Kellogg and Louisa Tonguewort had been 
 closeted together off and on for more than a week, and 
 if two confederates of his Satanic Majesty could abide 
 in each other's presence for such a period without 
 hatching a brood of vipers, the walls of purgatory 
 would appreciably shrink for want of support. 
 
 The doors were securely fastened, and the ladies 
 stood before a full length mirror, trying on two som- 
 bre suits, with the complete paraphernalia worn by 
 the gentle sisters of charity. 
 
 " How do I look?" said the elder Tonguewort, ad- 
 justing the folds of her sable robe and her beads and 
 cross pendant at her side. 
 
 "Elegantly! " replied her pal. " I would never be 
 able to identify you, not in the brightest noon-day. 
 Tell me, Lou, is this white band low enough on my 
 forehead?" 
 
 " Yes, plenty. But these costumes make one look 
 hideously old. I feel as if I am going to prison. 
 How trying these bonnets are. I should ' denounce 
 the world and its vanities,' if I had to wear this fun- 
 ereal costume." 
 
 It was singular lady Kellogg did not recall by the 
 reflection she cast in the mirror, a previous donning 
 of this very disguise to execute an errand yet darker
 
 166 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 and more criminal. The world around her, and that 
 good which overcometh evil, was to be congratulated 
 that she did not, but blundered into the face of the 
 executioner of her destiny with the tell-tale robes 
 upon her. 
 
 You have ordered Piccard to come precisely an hour 
 later. Do you think him entirely trustworthy? " 
 
 "Perfectly!" said Miss Tongue wort. "He has 
 been our coachman for over twenty years, and knows 
 nothing but to be faithful." 
 
 " It is singular," continued Hector Kellogg, " that 
 I have never met this Doctor Carlisle? His visits are 
 invariably made in the evening. Mrs. Veen tells me 
 he raves about the beauty of the LaGrange girl; and 
 no doubt his visits here are ostensibly to inquire for 
 Mrs. Reid, but, in reality, to discuss this fine piece of 
 anatomy with the Governor. How stupid Mrs. Carlisle 
 must be not to see through this. A deluded wife ex- 
 cites one's pity. 
 
 . " But for General Evans" interrupted Tonguewort, 
 "our moral reform work would have been without 
 flaw. We cannot be responsible for the congregation 
 doctor Carroll attracts. Mrs. Evans has taken a stand, 
 and if the General refuses to support her, he will go 
 down in the same political wreck with the Governor. 
 To remove the smirch from the gubernatorial chair, 
 it is stated that young Evans is affianced to the ' beau- 
 tiful ' music teacher."
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 167 
 
 " Never you mind," replied Mrs. Kellogg, lifting her 
 chin with supreme disdain. "Both General and Mrs. 
 Evans have given the young man to understand that 
 if he ever appears in public with this Pearl, he will be 
 disinherited." 
 
 " Do not nauseate me further," said Miss Tongue- 
 wort. "There will be one advantage in this dis- 
 guise of ours we shall not be compelled to recognize 
 them, nor the august Cassius himself. But yours is 
 so difficult a face to disguise. Suppose the Governor, 
 who has penetrated all your masks, recognizes you? 
 By all the saints in glory, if he does, you will see me 
 vanish. I go solely to see the flower, without giving 
 eclat by my presence, or abetting your scheme for 
 uncovering your husband's infidelities. You are to 
 make a careful inventory of your rival's charms to- 
 night. How early will Piccard post the bills? It 
 fairly makes my hair stand on end to think what a sen- 
 sation this will produce. You are as reckless as you 
 are unscrupulous. Remember, if darkness and dis- 
 guises shield us, Piccard will be questioned." And 
 Miss Tongue wort's compressed lips visibly paled at 
 the thought. 
 
 " You are a coward, Louisa Tonguewort." 
 
 " The bell startled both ladies, who appeared guilty 
 and confused. 
 
 "What will you have, Mary?" said lady Kellogg, 
 through the key-hole.
 
 168 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 "Doctor Carroll sends up his card." 
 
 " Tell him I am out. After eight, I am at the Long- 
 worthy's soiree." 
 
 When the servant delivered this message, the divine 
 looked perplexed. " Is it possible she has forgotten 
 the disbursement of the charity money?" 
 
 Before leaving he wrote the following note: 
 
 "DEAR MRS. KELLOGG: 
 
 I have conferred with the 
 
 Belief Association, and find they have been powerless 
 to act for our parish poor for want of funds. A number 
 of deaths are recorded. As this money was committed 
 to your keeping, I am convinced that you have anti- 
 cipated the duties of the Association. I, therefore, 
 await with anxiety, your report regarding this most 
 sacred church matter. 
 
 Your brother in Christ, 
 
 DEWITT CARROLL." 
 
 As Hector Kellogg finished her pastor's note, she 
 gave a parrot laugh. Reader, distrust that man or 
 woman who is incapable of laughter. She had spent 
 the money, believing that charity began at home. 
 
 In the deepening twilight, through the window lat- 
 tice of the La Grange cottage, floated the melody of a 
 pure soprano voice accompanied by a guitar. 
 i -. The flower had opened and its delicate breath per- 
 fumed the waves of song. 
 
 Pearl's fingers wandered carelessly over the strings
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 169 
 
 of the old Scotch guitar, while Lucien Evans, on a 
 low stool at her feet, seemed lost in thought 
 
 The love he had for Pearl was sentimental, poor and 
 meagre, in comparison with hers. Self-love, pride 
 and arrogance, were ruling passions of the young 
 man's soul, to which his love for Pearl, great as it 
 seemed to him, but played a subordinate part. 
 
 Pearl had lived so naturally and healthfully, apart 
 from the conventionalisms of fashion, the world was 
 much more than it seemed to her naive glance; and 
 impossibilities, endless and vast lurked everywhere in 
 nature and life. She had yet to meet with love's first 
 disenchantment. 
 
 While this happy group were whiling away the 
 moments, the dark figure of a man stealthily ap- 
 proached the cottage, dropped upon his knees and 
 crawled. Upon reaching the building, he rose to his 
 feet, and attached a placard near the entrance to the 
 cottage, upon the side illuminated by the street lamp. 
 
 The parchment was black, and the words in white 
 letters upon it were unholy enough to have drawn 
 extinguishing fires from Heaven, and were designed 
 to be read by all in St. Saul attracted thither by the 
 flower. But in this, Satan was not to be gratified. 
 
 BEWARE OF THE NIGHT BLOOMING CEREUS! 
 THE PLANT is AN OLD WITCH! THE BLOOM is A 
 YOUNG SORCERESS! AND THE INTERESTS OF THE 
 HIGHEST OFFICE IN THE GIFT OF THE STATE 
 LANGUISH AT THE FEET OF A COURTESAN!
 
 170 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Such countless shapes of evil haunt the night 
 And, like the bat, hide horrors 'neath their wings- 
 
 If justice tracked and brought all to the light, 
 Joy would be sorrow's jest for fortune's flings. 
 
 "You have wound a goodly clue." Shak. 
 
 As Piccard emerged from the alley the Governor's 
 carriage swept by. He stood until he saw it stop 
 before the cottage, and then hastened to execute the 
 order this observation rendered imperative. 
 
 The Governor was first to alight. Doctor Carlisle 
 followed, assisting Mrs. Reid; and the two had passed 
 over the threshold before they discovered the Gover- 
 nor was not with them. 
 
 The Governor, whose keen glance had taken in 
 every surrounding, stood with a puzzled and perturbed 
 expression, reading and re-reading the placard. As 
 the metaphor flashed upon him, he as instantly tore 
 it down, and crumpling and thrusting it into his coat 
 pocket, he entered for the first time the domicile of 
 Robert LaGrange. 
 
 His presence here was obtained by his sister and 
 her physician. Once, the desire to see the young 
 music teacher to whom he was under the most sacred
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 171 
 
 personal obligations was paramount, but fate had 
 separated them. They were strangers yet Even 
 her name caused an involuntary shudder. Nor was 
 this anomalous, since the fairest object may cease to 
 be revered, when idle tongues have cheapened all its 
 charms. 
 
 As the Governor stood at the threshold he hesitated. 
 He could not move where serpents did not flank his 
 pathway. He had spared the innocent inmates of the 
 LaGrange cottage the cruel stab he had just torn 
 from their dwelling. " The offender must be ferreted 
 out and punished" said he to himself and entered. 
 
 " Why Governor," said Carlisle, " we thought you 
 had been waylaid/ Let me present Miss LaGrange 
 and Mrs. Forbes. Miss Veen and the others you 
 have met." 
 
 Pearl stepped forward, extended her hand and greeted 
 the Governor with a low bow. Young Evans, not 
 seemingly courting recognition, retained his obscure 
 seat. 
 
 As the full light haloed the faces of the two girls, 
 Governor Kellogg turned to doctor Carlisle, remark- 
 ing in an under tone: "If those two girls were in 
 Borne they would speedily attract the brush of some 
 master." 
 
 " To me," said Carlisle, " they blend as harmoni- 
 ously as the bands of aTainbow."
 
 172 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 " There is a spiritual beauty about Miss LaGrange," 
 replied the Governor. " Contact with the world will 
 brush this soul-bloom off " 
 
 " I differ with you. Cannot you see, under the phys- 
 ical symmetry of a Koland, intrepidity of spirit to 
 match?" 
 
 Here Pearl's class filed in and the gentlemen joined 
 the circle surrounding Pearl. Her face looked so 
 beautiful. 
 
 Pearl, ever thoughtful for the infirm, escorted Mrs. 
 Reid to a chair near the open window. 
 
 The doctor's attention was attracted to the door, 
 where two sisters of charity stood surveying the com- 
 pany from under their white scoop bonnets. They 
 seemed to hesitate about advancing into the room. 
 Pearl stepped forward, bringing them into notice, as 
 she conducted them to the flower. 
 
 Doctor Carlisle, suddenly left Mrs. Reid's side 
 to join the group. His manner was excited, as he 
 stood intently gazing into the face of the taller of the 
 two sisters, a brawny woman with cold gray eyes, which 
 were fixed upon Pearl with a devouring look. 
 
 Doctor Carlisle had found the object of his years of 
 search. Could he let her go? 
 
 " Perhaps," thought he, "she has repented. Had the 
 lash of conscience driven her to this garb?" 
 
 With one hand upon the medallion locket hid in
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 173 
 
 his breast, and his lips parted to pronounce the name 
 engraved thereon, he stood for the second time con- 
 fronting the woman he had searched far and wide to 
 find. Yet her robes declared her heart now sacred. 
 Conceding this excited pity, but he must have an in- 
 terview with this woman, if forced upon the confess- 
 ional stair to obtain it. What meant that menacing 
 look she cast upon Pearl? 
 
 Doctor Carlisle surprised himself by a movement 
 of his right hand, which tilted the sister's white bon- 
 net back from her angry visage. Their eyes met. 
 The practiced duplicity of the woman saved her from 
 swooning. She realized the horrible abyss over which 
 she was suspended, and knew her mask would only 
 serve her if she instantly escaped her mortal enemy. 
 
 Pulling the skirts of her companion, the danger- 
 signal agreed upon, both hastily retreated through 
 the open door. Doctor Carlisle closely following. On 
 they flew, till the ladies entered a carriage which stood 
 awaiting. 
 
 "Hold!" cried Doctor Carlisle; but the door of 
 the carriage was slammed in his face and the horses 
 lashed forward with a speed which baffled pursuit. 
 
 At midnight the same invisible ringers which opened 
 the velvet doors of the flower shall close its green 
 shutters forever; and this perfect night of happiness 
 to Pearl must, like the flower, take wings. When
 
 174 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 the new day dawns, ah, then God! pity those whose 
 dreams are shattered memories! 
 
 As the Governor's carriage door closed the sound 
 of Pearl's voice attracted his music loving ear. All 
 listened. There was a ravishing sweetness in her 
 tones, rarely combined with the strength and energy 
 displayed in her crescendoes, while the ease and de- 
 licacy of her shading was masterly. 
 
 It was Pearl's own arrangement, and each word 
 seemed laden with the wealth of her poetic and im- 
 passioned soul, as she sang; 
 
 Love me, love! love me ever, 
 
 Time is but a mortal breath. 
 Love me now, henceforth, forever! 
 
 Love is life, Oblivion, death! 
 
 Through eternity, love me, 
 
 Till the stars are duller grown, 
 Till in heart and soul I crown thee 
 
 Love's divinity, my own! 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The swift recording angel drove his quill 
 
 With such celerity it seemed to fly 
 And hurl its record down of human ill, 
 
 As erst the lightning leapt from murky sky 
 On Jove, defiant Titans it would kill ; 
 
 And yet, the record in its darkest dye, 
 Was incomplete: not half the ills were shown; 
 And those that were so, were not half writ down. 
 
 "Let us go" said Mrs. Reid, as the guitar dis-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 175 
 
 coursed the prelude to another song. " The plaintive 
 tone of that voice thrills me strangely." 
 
 "Come, come, sweet sister! No more gloomy pic- 
 tures. Look out upon the heavens, and read a happy 
 horoscope for me, when cares of state shall fall like 
 gyves from off my wrists, and I may be set free! 
 
 For I'm a prisoner! Bound in chains 
 
 Invisible as air; 
 Yet stronger than the links which clank 
 
 In dungeons of despair. 
 For Freedom is to me myth, 
 
 The untried spirit wing; 
 The jest of time, the one brave note, 
 
 Which birds alone can sing! 
 
 'Bound fast in fate' the savans say, 
 
 With human will set free. 
 Laugh, winds of heaven, which circling plow 
 
 Deep furrows in the sea! 
 Shout in derision as ye sweep 
 
 The forest arches through, 
 And brew the royal oxygen 
 
 For planet life anew. 
 
 My orbit is the line of fate, 
 
 Traced by an unseen hand ; 
 The same which my divine estate 
 
 Hath prowess to command. 
 
 " You see I've caught the shadows from your dark 
 thoughts. Mine were black enough before. Come, 
 you and grief have dissolved partnership, you know," 
 and the Governor's arm encircled his sister. 
 
 Alas! Could these potent and timely assurances 
 have remained at her side the dusk hours through,
 
 176 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 the presentiment of evil which possessed her might 
 never have assumed the reality of horrors. And now 
 it was not for herself she shuddered; as her head 
 rested upon his heart, for her answer revealed com- 
 plete disregard for self. 
 
 "Believe me," she said, Pearl LaGrange is born to 
 cope with great vicissitudes. Her beauty is of a type 
 to sadden. A modern mistic maintains that ' it is bet- 
 ter to die than to be born.' " 
 
 " But you would not appoint your modern Guidetta 
 unto death?" said Doctor Carlisle. 
 
 "Yes, I would?" responded the enthusiastic friend 
 of Pearl LaGrange. " If I did not fear you would 
 both mistrust as taking new leave of my senses, I would 
 tell you my best wishes for this unfortunate girl." 
 
 " Give us the dainty wish, sister," said Kellogg. 
 " I predict a society sensation, and such a one as has 
 never before convulsed the elite circles of St. Saul, 
 when Lucien Evans takes his bride to Ivy Tower, 
 doubt if the sudden introduction of a dynamite bomb 
 would create a greater scattering of crinoline." 
 
 " I hear the General's family are opposed to this 
 marriage," said Doctor Carlisle. 
 
 "They are," said the Governor; "on the fancied 
 grounds of inequality, I believe I have it from the 
 bery best authority that both Robert LaGrange and 
 jis wife could trace their ancestry back to French and
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 177 
 
 Scotch nobility. The girl has patrician beauty, and 
 her accomplishments please the General ; but his shal- 
 low brained wife has that pride which goeth before 
 destruction. She idolizes her son. The General has 
 advised her to put him in a glass case, as he is too 
 ornamental to be useful. His pedigree will bring him 
 to grief yet. The age demands that proof of ances- 
 tral greatness which fruits in a worthy issue." 
 
 The Governor concluded his not altogether com- 
 plimentary panegyric on young Evans by saying the 
 opportunity of his life was upon him, and his future 
 would be colored by the fight he must make against 
 maternal opposition and social prejudice. 
 
 " Surely you are not going to resume work at this 
 hour ? said Doctor Carlisle, as the carriage stopped 
 before the grand entrance to the capitol. 
 
 "True" said Kellogg, " Good night." 
 
 " I have done what I never did before," said Mrs. 
 Reid, as, with a sigh, she settled back into the cush- 
 ions. " I have watched brother out of my sight. You 
 know the superstition?" 
 
 "I am not a believer in signs," said the doctor. 
 
 Doctor Carlisle was very fond of Governor Kellogg. 
 Of the Governor's domestic misfortunes he knew abso- 
 lutely nothing. That he was above ordinary men, was 
 proved in the fact of his ability to suffer domestic bar- 
 barism, yet preserve a clear intellect for the arduous
 
 178 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 duties of his office. His dignified reserve protected the 
 reputation of his wife; but reputation and character 
 are not always the twin companions nature designed 
 them to be. 
 
 " Mrs. Kellogg is still out of the city, I believe," 
 said doctor Carlisle. 
 
 Mrs. Hied shuddered, as she replied: "Yes; that 
 is, I suppose she is. She has a way of departing and 
 arriving quite novel of late, and only by tapping 
 at her door is her absence or presence made known to 
 us. It is no disparagement to either brother or his 
 wife that their relations are inharmonious. It is sim- 
 ply a mutual misfortune that they should ever have 
 come together." 
 
 The carriage now approached the Governor's resi- 
 dence, and a bright light flamed from the balcony 
 window. 
 
 " She has come," said Mrs. Reid, "and now it is not 
 too late for you to come in and make her acquain- 
 tance." 
 
 " No, excuse me. Not to-night," said he. 
 
 " Would there be any impropriety in my giving 
 your brother a professional nudge on my way home? 
 It is past the hour for bores you know," said the doc- 
 tor playfully. 
 
 " Most assuredly not. Call and send him home at 
 once. He has not honored us with his presence for 
 months."
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 179 
 
 " Sup'pose I tell him the house is on fire. The ends 
 will justify the means, will they not? " 
 
 "O yes! " said Mrs. Reid as she closed the door, 
 saying to herself: " I should have insisted upon the 
 doctor's introduction to Hector to night, just to keep 
 a human presence near. It seems to me I would give 
 everything I have, but the hope of immortality, for 
 the presence of some friend to-night! And she entered 
 her sleeping room, under the cloud of presentiment 
 
 Some moments in advance of this lady, a strange 
 looking object entered at the rear of the building, 
 glided up the back stair-case, and forcing the lock, 
 entered the Governor's private sleeping room. 
 
 At every step the rustling of her dress, or the thump- 
 ing of her heart, which, since her flight from the La 
 Grange cottage had not ceased to flutter, made her 
 pause, lest she should be surprised in her nefarious 
 preliminaries for flight 
 
 "Hector Kellogg," she whispered, "you are a fool 
 and a fizzle." She was startled by the quick, nervous 
 footsteps of Mrs. Reid. 
 
 " She is a born detective. All is lost if she looks 
 into my face." And she shut her door with a bang 
 and pushed the bolt. Then, with her ear to the key- 
 hole, she listened till the invalid entered her bed room. 
 
 She then proceeded to collect valuables including 
 the case of jewels, which the Governor's harrassed 
 condition had prevented him from missing.
 
 180 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Her depraved imagination took satisfaction in the 
 thought of creating a sensation by flight, " forced 
 upon her by the infidelity of her husband," which 
 must effectually bar him from divorce. As for Doctor 
 Carlisle he might search the Convent and haunt the 
 Sisterhood for a time, but must eventually give up 
 the pursuit. 
 
 Mrs. Reid had just completed a beautiful portrait 
 of Pearl LaGrange. So true a likeness was it, its fair 
 delineator might have addressed it as did one of the 
 old masters: "I have done all I can for you; now 
 speak!" 
 
 To bear away this trophy involved entering the 
 bed chamber of Mrs. Reid, who was so light a sleeper 
 that the slightest noise might rouse her. The picture 
 hung upon the wall over the sleeper. Hector Kel- 
 logg had a cat-like tread. So hurriedly turning the 
 hall light down, she softly entered the artist's bed 
 chamber. A pale beam of light, as if beseeching 
 mercy, stole in through the door, revealing the white 
 face of the sleeper. Hector Kellogg took a back step 
 here to brace herself before the commission of the 
 dastardly deed. The close wall involved the feat of 
 clambering over the high foot board, and bridging the 
 remaining distance as best she could. 
 
 Hector Kellogg was an adept in stretching the 
 truth, but was not elastic in any other sense.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 181 
 
 Raising herself noislessly, and listening between 
 each effort, this gaunt shadow at last attained a posi- 
 tion upon the side of the bed, and stretched out her 
 arms towards the picture. 
 
 If Darwin ever had any doubts as to the actuality 
 of " the missing link," they might have been dissipa- 
 ted, could he have witnessed this tableau. 
 
 Alas, that sin should have led Hector Kellogg 
 to such lengths. The picture was very heavy. It 
 could be reached only on tiptoe. 
 
 Awkwardly as possible, she raised herself till her 
 hands could grasp the outer edges of the picture. In 
 lifting it from the nail she lost her balance, the por- 
 trait slipped from her hand, and in her efforts to re- 
 cover it, was hurled towards the bed, striking with 
 fatal force one of its sharp corners into the temple of 
 the sleeper. 
 
 Her lips softly murmured: "Eddie, my darling, 
 have you come at last! " and silence fell upon the room 
 as suddenly as the death blow had been given. 
 
 The shocking accident made Hector Kellogg hesi- 
 tate till fear inspired immediate flight. 
 
 She had already relieved the bouse of every valu- 
 able. She would put it under the robber's spell, in 
 the attitude of having been ransacked and pillaged. 
 
 As for Mrs. Reid's death, that was imminent at any
 
 182 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 time; and the fright attending entrance by burglars 
 was sufficient. 
 
 Just as the grey dawn was breaking, and the early 
 birds softly twittering, a figure draped in the hue of 
 night, and bearing the portrait of Pearl LaGrange. 
 passed through the gate of the Kellogg mansion for- 
 ever. 
 
 CHAPTEK XIV. 
 
 There is no truth which has not been assailed 
 And dragged into the sticky clay of lies, 
 
 Suffered contempt, and to the cross been, nailed, 
 To prove itself a native of the skies; 
 
 Nor does its whiteness shine as virgin snow, 
 
 Till victory crowns these conflicts with the foe. 
 
 There is no love, all worthy of the name, 
 
 Which doth not glory in self-sacrifice. 
 Disrobed of self, it emulates the fame 
 
 Of Christ, the model of love's pure device. 
 Love transcends all being, all desires, 
 Meets the white soul of love through crucial fires. 
 
 Weeks had elapsed since St. Saul had been electri- 
 fied by the news of a bold robbery at Governor Kel- 
 logg' s mansion, resulting in the fright unto death of 
 his invalid sister. 
 
 The funeral of Mrs. Keid had been conducted in 
 an unostentatious manner. The remains were encased
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 183 
 
 in a plain black cloth coffin, with this inscription 
 upon the silver plate: 
 
 MAE KELLOGG EEID, 
 Born Aug. 20, 1848, 
 Died July 31, 1879. 
 
 Upon the casket rested a bunch of white roses 
 brought in just before the funeral services by Pearl 
 LaGrange, and placed over the still heart by the Gov- 
 ernor's hand. 
 
 Had this woman lived, the fate of Pearl LaGrange 
 might have been less cruel. 
 
 The absence of Mrs. Kellogg excited universal com- 
 ment 
 
 ****** 
 
 All Soul's Church had an overflowing congregation. 
 The breadth of its phalacteries was like the omnivor- 
 ous mouth of an ostrich. It was a church for all 
 shades of religious opinion. The pastor preached 
 Emerson three sabbaths in every month. On the 
 fourth he preached Emerson and Christ conjointly. 
 The services were literary repasts for thinking minds. 
 At the close of the literary exercises, the organist 
 would seat herself at the piano, and the preacher 
 would yell: " Get your partners for a quadrille! " 
 
 Now what I have writ is true, I aver, 
 
 Call it dactyle, pinderic or hexameter, 
 
 I count not my fingers to measure the feet, 
 
 The facts, and relations, make stories complete. 
 
 * * * * * *
 
 184 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 " I beg pardon ; do I understand you to say Mrs. 
 Kellogg' s friends are powerless to aid her in the stand 
 she has taken for the vindication of purity, and the 
 punishment of notorious infidelities ? " and the nut- 
 meg-shaped head of Miss Tongue wort gave her cluster 
 of store ringlets a menacing toss. 
 
 " Well, then," replied the well bred wife of doctor 
 Carlisle, "permit me to say that the ill married 
 Governor Cassius Kellogg of the past is the fancy 
 free executive of the state to-day, and as elligible to 
 matrimony as he was before his unlucky marital con- 
 tract with the late Mrs. Kellogg,"said Mrs. Carlisle, 
 with the sweetest expression. 
 
 Miss Tonguewort, staggering to her feet, confronted 
 her in the most furious manner, flopping her bony 
 arms frantically out of their angel sleeves into her 
 face, and fairly screaming in retort: 
 
 " What! Hector Kellogg divorced from the Gover- 
 nor?" 
 
 "No," said Mrs. Carlisle, soothingly, raising her 
 voice a trifle to make herself understood. " The Gov- 
 ernor is divorced from Hector Kellogg." 
 
 "A nice distinction, that! It is false! I care not 
 who has made the assertion; it is the invention of a 
 barefaced slanderer! I repeat that it is false! The 
 wife of Doctor Carlisle has no authority to back her 
 statements!"- - but the lady's years were on the
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 185 
 
 wrong side of the equinoxial line to render such un- 
 governable outbursts of passion safe; and her words 
 had already produced a general physical collapse, 
 manifested by a gradual settling of Miss Tongue- 
 wort's body into her toilet, and of the latter over the 
 floor. 
 
 Mrs. Carlisle sprang forward and assisted her to 
 the chair she had just abandoned. 
 
 " What is it?" saidone. "Oh, what has happened?" 
 exclaimed another, observing a heap of satin and laces, 
 and the head of Louisa Tonguewort struggling to 
 -emerge. 
 
 " I was simply answering Miss Tonguewort to the 
 best of my knowledge, whereat she turned upon me 
 with the fury of a tigress and relaxed, as you see her. 
 I pronounce it a species of neurosis. It is not her 
 first attack. A glass of water is all the medicine she 
 requires. Miss Tonguewort sipped the innocent 
 beverage with a zest which caused Pearl to replenish 
 the glass. 
 
 " What is it?" she whispered faintly. 
 
 " Water, pure water," said Pearl, who imagined the 
 lady's mind wandering. 
 
 " Oh, I did not recognize it, and had forgotten it 
 was so palatable. Champagne is our drink you know, 
 on the hill. The water is so vile in oar wells! And
 
 186 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 that which is peddled at $2.50 per barrel is not much 
 better!" 
 
 Louisa Tonguewort opened her eyes and seeing Pearl 
 bounded from the ecclesiastical cushions, landing 
 between Mrs. Veen and lady Evans. Her rudeness 
 was observed by Cecile, who hastened to relieve Pearl's 
 discomfiture, by assuring her the abrupt manners of 
 the lady were due entirely to a morbid, spasmodic 
 action of the muscles. But Pearl was far from being 
 comforted by the kindness of her friend. She had en- 
 dured the sting of poverty too long to be susceptible 
 to apologies. The haughty salutation, the studied 
 reticence, the vulgar scorn, and had she not suffered 
 all this, and more for years, to keep her place at 
 Cecile's side. 
 
 "The gulf between the rich and poor has never 
 been and never can be spanned by any but the bridge 
 of Christ's pure charities," thought Pearl. 
 
 "What is it, dear heart?" said Pearl, addressing 
 Cecile Veen, as the two, arm in arm, moved off to- 
 gether. " Do I look terrible as an army with ban- 
 ners; or what are the repellent qualities I wear to- 
 night?" 
 
 " You! " said Cecile tenderly. " Why you are sim- 
 ply a wayside flower, caught blooming just a trifle too 
 luxuriantly perhaps, in the stifling atmosphere of hot- 
 house plants, where your round stalk, fresh bright
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 187 
 
 color, and the fragrant aura of your presence is a re- 
 buke to the artificial collection. The eyes of envy 
 and jealousy are trying to weed you out, but as you 
 are soon to measure swords with them socially, you 
 must not be daunted by the drifting of a little straw. 
 Here comes Lucien." 
 
 Lucien, parting the girls and joining them in a 
 promenade said: "The Governor is divorced from Mrs. 
 Kellogg. I read the announcement in this evening's 
 Journal. 
 
 " This is the result of a joke on her part, intended 
 only as a domestic pleasantry, to which his austere 
 displeasure affixes the seal of eternal separation, by 
 annulling in toto the marriage bond," said young 
 Evans, who looked sincerely sorry for Mrs. Kellogg, 
 having no knowledge of the secret 
 
 "But your news is almost stale," responded Cecile. 
 
 " I did not know you had so little feeling," retorted 
 Evans. 
 
 " Well, your discovery being made, do you not com- 
 mend my economical use of it, when the occasion re- 
 quires?" 
 
 " You do not see the far reaching effect of this do- 
 mestic episode" said the secretary's son. " It is going 
 to make Governor Kellogg very unpopular." 
 
 " I hope I am not heartless; and I do think it the 
 best thing which could have happened to the Gover-
 
 188 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 nor. I do not see why society should put on crepe. 
 If tears could bring back the gentle hearted sister, 
 Pearl and I would shed enough. 
 
 "Cecile! You are positively cruel to-night What 
 think you, my fair one?" said Evans, addressing 
 Pearl. 
 
 " I have no knowledge of the relations between 
 this unfortunate pair, so I reserve my opinion. An 
 impartial judgment like mine, would only be rejected 
 with contempt, since there appears to be two stalwart 
 sides to the question, and both are struggling for 
 supremacy. It is such. a shocking predicament to be 
 in, when one's sacred affairs are tabled and carved up 
 a la community; and with the uncrupulous methods 
 of slashing up dead anatomies at a barbecue. At least 
 one tongue shall be silent in respect of sentiments 
 which, though dead now, once animated and made 
 holy a family and a home. Let us go," said Pearl, 
 "You know aunt Meg will not retire until I come." 
 But Pearl's lover tacitly denied her request by keep- 
 ing pace with the promanade circle befor% and back 
 of them, while Miss Tonguewort regaled Mrs. Veen 
 and lady Evans with minute sensational details of 
 Madame Kellogg's necessitated abscondence, causing 
 one of the ladies to exclaim, quite above the ordinary 
 tones of good breeding, "shocking!" and her companion 
 to repeat the word with the addendum, "incredible! "
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 189 
 
 " Do you think, granting the rumor of divorce to be 
 true" said the ^unhappy virgin, erecting her figure 
 to its utmost height and pursing her thin lips into a 
 most serio-comic expressions of self-consciousness 
 that the youth and personal attractions of Louisa 
 Tonguewort were not yet extinct "do you think our 
 Governor will marry again? " 
 
 The premature nature of the question was startling 
 enough; but placing the Governor already in the pos- 
 sessive case, in the peculiar wording of her sentence, 
 when all knew the Tongueworts unreservedly espoused 
 the cause of Mrs. Kellogg, awed her audience into a 
 silence. After which the gathering broke up. 
 
 Woven out of shadows, night draws her curtain, 
 odorous with the narcotine of rest, and watchful stars 
 beam like the eyes of angels through each parting 
 fold. 
 
 The rich and poor, joy-freighted and care-bound; 
 the happy and wretched all court oblivion. 
 
 CHAPTEK XV. 
 
 Her cup was full ! Another drop, 
 
 And it must overflow ; 
 The bitter bubbles at the top, 
 
 Were lancet beads of woe. 
 
 For the reader's better understanding of the mo- 
 tives which, though not made public, led Governor
 
 190 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Kellogg to take immediate steps for divorce shortly 
 after Mrs. Kellogg' s flight, it is expedient to review 
 a few unrecorded incidents in that lady's history, 
 causes recognized by the statutes of the several states 
 as sufficient to render his marriage void. 
 
 On the evening of doctor Carlisle's important dis- 
 covery, having seen Mrs. Reid within the door of her 
 brother's mansion, he repaired to the executive cham- 
 ber, to confer with the Governor upon the most feas- 
 able means of following to a successful clearing up 
 the mystery, a clue having been unexpectedly furn- 
 ished him at the LaGrange cottage that evening. 
 
 In enlisting the Governor's interest doctor Carlisle 
 was impelled to impart a secret, known only to him- 
 self, his wife, and the lady who played the leading 
 role in the dark drama. If he had sent a thousand 
 poisoned arrows into the bosom of his friend, he 
 could not have inflicted deeper wounds. 
 
 When the cup of bitterness is brimming, a drop or 
 two more would seem to make little difference in the 
 strength of the draught; yet there are limits, when 
 the finest strand of a spider's thread will more than 
 span its defining line beyond which human endurance 
 ceases to be a virtue and halts, unnerved and power- 
 less. 
 
 The smile Governor Kellogg forced to his lips in 
 parting with Doctor Carlisle, after this memorable
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 191 
 
 interview, was constrained, and so insincere he felt 
 that he had not reciprocated in part the unreserved 
 confidences of his worthy friend. But shocking as 
 the Doctor's revelations were, they scarcely prepared 
 him for the guilty witnesses which met him on the 
 threshold of his home. 
 
 In the presence of death the additional misfortune 
 of robbery and pillage visible throughout the castle, 
 made little impression on the bereaved man; but 
 when, upon reaching the threshold of his chamber, he 
 stepped upon the chain of beads and held this up for 
 inspection, he could endure no more. The strong 
 man sank within him. Almighty love alone could 
 here forgive. 
 
 Upon his couch, scarcely less pallid and statue- like 
 than his cold, dead sister, Governor Kellogg was found 
 unconscious, when Doctor Carlisle was summoned to 
 the house some hours later, on the morning succeeding 
 their interview. 
 
 Until the Governor recovered consciousness he was 
 supposed to have been rendered senseless by the 
 burglars who had ransacked and robbed the house. 
 
 With his return to consciousness, the Governor re- 
 solved to take the legal steps for severing the bond 
 which constituted the wretched thraldom of his mar- 
 riage. None but he had noticed the peculiar mark 
 opon his sister's temple; none shared his horrible 
 convictions.
 
 192 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Aiming to have the affair quiet and exempt from 
 those recriminations which, dragged into court, dis- 
 grace the dignity of man and woman, he sacrificed him- 
 self and wove a cloak of pity, 'neath whose ample 
 fold the hideous being of Hector Kellogg escaped all 
 public censure and all private blame. 
 
 But along the dark horizon of the woman's destiny 
 a.cloud stretched black and dubious and justice rode 
 thereon. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 True love has sailed as many seas 
 
 And braved as many waves, 
 As there are leaves upon the trees 
 
 Or shells in ocean caves; 
 It makes eternal vows, which rest 
 
 Upon the breath of time, 
 As lightly as the rocking nest 
 
 Upon an ivy vine. 
 Its arms are opened wide to trust, 
 
 And honor is its breath; 
 Doubt trails its image in the dust, 
 
 And turns its face towards death! 
 
 Youth, in its early freshness and bloom, may be 
 likened unto a beautiful garden under the skies of 
 June; love, to the showy image, 'neath the crystal 
 fountain. If the supply of hidden life sources be cut 
 off, and the fountain ceases to play, the image be- 
 comes defaced and broken; the lovely flowers droop 
 and wither away, and the garden becomes a ruin.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 193 
 
 From little children, Pearl LaGrange and Lucien 
 Evans had associated together. 
 
 Before his college days, in the long, cold winters, 
 when snow-drifts hedged the hedges, and the paths 
 to and from the school house were lost, Lucien' s sled 
 could be seen every morning, waiting at the gate for 
 little Pearl ; and as all the other girls had brothers or 
 fathers to bring them, it was considered by all the 
 school the loveliest picture to see Lucien Evans, who 
 had no little sister, and Pearl LaGrange who had no 
 big brother, going to school. 
 
 Their love-making had been a very old-fashioned 
 affair, belonging to each other before they undersiood 
 the nature of love, or the obligation of a plighted 
 troth. 
 
 That Lucien Evans and Pearl LaGrange were des- 
 tined to be husband and wife from the dawn of crea- 
 tion, was as much a fact to Pearl, as the religion of 
 her fathers. 
 
 General and Mrs. Evans were aware of the attach- 
 ment, but Mrs. Evans viewed it as childish and eph- 
 emeral; and only after Lucien's return from college 
 did she deem it " a foe worthy of her steel." 
 
 A highly "eligible match " had been planned by 
 the idolatrous mother for her only son; a marriage 
 which would unite the wealth of two old families. 
 
 None in the generations which proceeded her had
 
 194 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 been guilty of dying for love. Given to the dissipa- 
 tion of reading the trashy literature of the day, Mrs. 
 Evans was well versed in intrigue, and had developed 
 plans which she felt would bring her selfish desires. 
 
 The General manifested an indifference. To his 
 mind the beauty and intellectual gifts of Pearl La- 
 Grange, more than offset the social position of Miss 
 Ruby Clark, who was only a girl of mediocre talent. 
 He secretly prayed for the marriage of his son and 
 the orphaned child of Robert LaGrange. " It would 
 be such a delicate and salutary innovation upon the 
 artificial and heartless family lives they are all lead- 
 ing," thought he. 
 
 But women even those who are united to great 
 men intellectually, whom they recognize as their su- 
 periors never concede a point which has been pri- 
 vately settled in their own minds. They may seem to 
 have yielded so completely are their untenable argu- 
 ments reasoned away but upon returning to them- 
 selves, let but a jest be uttered upon the subject, and 
 they relapse into their old warp of thinking. To con- 
 vince a woman of her folly is to surprise her while 
 she is gnawing upon the dead sea fruits of it. The 
 nobility of confessing the fault is waived, because 
 there is no way out, save through this humiliation. 
 
 It takes great minds to map out and walk in orig- 
 inal and eccentric paths.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 195 
 
 Mrs. Evans' nature was not deep enough to make 
 her an extremely vicious person. 
 
 So the mental suggestion of a new departure socially, 
 which, if carried out, would have forced recognition 
 and respect from the entire world of her acquaint- 
 ance, the wife of the General had neither the great- 
 ness of spirit nor the largeness of heart to inaugurate. 
 
 Lucien was called away from St. Saul for a few 
 days, and a way was opened for an interview, either 
 in person or by letter, with his affianced bride. The 
 success of her overtures was built entirely upon her 
 knowledge of the amiable disposition and heroic char- 
 acter possessed by the girl, whose probity she inten- 
 ded to test by writing her a strictly confidential letter, 
 and without consulting the General, whose consent 
 she knew never would be given. She would make a 
 joint request to postpone, or relinquish the prospec- 
 tive marriage. It was enough that the social position 
 demanded the effort, and justified the means. 
 
 Thus it came to pass, on the evening after Lucien 
 Evans' business departure from St. Saul, Pearl La- 
 Grange was surprised at the reception of a drop let- 
 ter, addressed in an unknown hand. An appreciation 
 of the inwardness of this vain woman's heart and 
 mind will be rendered possible by the reading of her 
 letter :
 
 196 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 St. Saul, Oct. 18. 
 Miss PEARL LAGKANGE: 
 
 General Evans and myself are annoyed and 
 shocked at the rumor gaining credence daily in St. 
 Saul of your approaching marriage with our son, 
 and I must say the order of social etiquette is re- 
 versed, when we humiliate ourselves at your feet, sue- 
 ing for the revolvement of this preposterous canard, 
 already mounting the altar stairs of St. Mark's. Con- 
 sidering the very great improprieties of such an au- 
 dacious society ilight on your part, and the covert and 
 unfilial conduct of an idolized son, who for his own 
 amusement, or otherwise, keeps up the absurdities of 
 such an illusion, impresses us that your daring ex- 
 ceeds your discretion. 
 
 A favorite in society, and flattered by an admiring 
 circle of friends, Lucien finds himself in a dilemma, 
 not unusual, but very unpleasant; and while he de- 
 sires to honor our choice in his marriage, he is held 
 back from so doing by the unfortunate fetters you 
 have thrown around him, and insist upon welding at 
 the altar. 
 
 When young people rush madly and unreasoningly 
 into serious life purposes, it becomes their parents, or 
 superiors to remind them of the insuperable barriers 
 which block their too ambitious ways. I have known 
 very good things of you in the past. I have heard 
 much in your praise of late; but whatever you have 
 been, or are, or hope to be, yo'u cannot advance your- 
 self or your sphere by an alliance with one who moves 
 in an orbit above you.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 197 
 
 We do not declare this to be our internal view of 
 the matter; but it is a distinction the world makes, 
 and we are compelled to subscribe to it. 
 
 I hear you are heroic and self-sacrificing; and do 
 not believe you have ever seriously considered what a 
 young man in the highest walks of life sacrifices to 
 wed a girl below him in wealth and station. 
 
 You have possibly taken only a one-sided view of 
 the results of such unusual matches, overlooking the 
 awkward plights and onerous obligations which array 
 themselves against you, and the unhappy outcome of 
 your rose-colored plans. 
 
 Weigh the momentous results of so incongruous a 
 union, and I am sure you will step back into the sphere 
 you now adorn. If love attracts, more than position 
 dazzles you, you surely could not plunge the loved 
 one irredeemably into a social quagmire, out of which 
 there is but one reputable earthly escape ; but, having 
 it in your power to give him the highest proof of your 
 affections in restoring his personal freedom to him, 
 you make available the grandest opportunity of your 
 life for the display of those reputed and highly dis- 
 tinguishing qualities of yours, and win in spontane- 
 ous gratitude, more than you ever possessed in making 
 an unwilling captive of love! 
 
 In the event of proving yourself equal to this notable 
 life-occasion, with an unqualified renunciation of the 
 past, and all of its rustic pledges, we promise, not 
 only to hold you in grateful esteem forever, but to 
 reward you in a manner far more substantial and ac- 
 ceptable to the poor.
 
 198 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 In thus unreservedly expressing ourselves we may 
 have anticipated our son's purposes. If so, we trust 
 you will spare him all needless anxiety and unhappi- 
 ness concerning yourself, by taking refuge in the con- 
 solatory fact that all men are inconstant by nature, as 
 readily adapting themselves to changes in love, as in 
 scenery. 
 
 Again assuring you of a reward commensurate with 
 this sacrifice, the arbitrary customs of society rather 
 than ourselves demand of you, 
 We remain^ 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 GENERAL, AND MRS. EVANS. 
 
 Glancing hurriedly at the signature, before she 
 read the letter, Pearl retired to her little bed-room, 
 supposing she had been honored as her position 
 justified her in every way to except with an episto- 
 lary greeting from Lucien's parents; and wishing to 
 enjoy the first reading of their congratulations alone, 
 and then share its contents with faithful Aunt Meg. 
 
 The room was in that natty, pleasing, and never to 
 be misconstrued confusion which so eloquently be- 
 speaks the presence of a young lady in the house. 
 
 Cecile Veen had just left the cottage, and the lovely 
 wedding wardrobe having been examined and dis- 
 cussed by the two girls, at least for the twentieth time 
 since its completion, now lay in a billowy heap, its 
 soft ripples floating over the pillows and white counter-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 199 
 
 pane of the bed, which was entirely eveloped in a bath 
 of solar morning light. 
 
 And now, surrounded by all of those voiceful em- 
 blems of a happy future of love and usefulness, with 
 her imagination quickened into an ecstacy of delight, 
 as she realized the grand possibilities in the widen- 
 ing spheres of love and work before her, in the very 
 breath of the roses, budding for her bridal, she reads 
 the cold, stinging words of that letter. Had the earth 
 opened at her feet, and as suddenly closed over her 
 and all her belongings, Pearl LaGrange could not 
 have been more completely paralyzed. 
 
 It was in the early morning hours when the letter 
 came, and the room and the wedding garments were 
 bathed in the gold-bloom of an Indian summer at- 
 mosphere. 
 
 It was twilight now. The shadows crept in through 
 the open casement The winds sighed heavily, and 
 the roses rustled like whispering voices over the still 
 faces of the dead. Side by side lay the expectant 
 bride and her wedding garments, vieing in stillness 
 and whiteness.
 
 200 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Say what you will, an oral word 
 Is only thrilling while 'tis heard, 
 And only treasured while the ear 
 Invokes the tribute, smile or tear. 
 E'en sweetest words upon the tongue 
 A thousand times declared and sung, 
 Must be a thousand times renewed, 
 Or they are lost or misconstrued. 
 But let the hasty pen declare 
 In indignation or despair, 
 Words tempered like a blade of steel, 
 To pierce where most the heart can feel, 
 And you have proved your written word 
 Far mightier than the two-edged sword. 
 
 When Cecile Veen entered the LaGrange cottage, 
 the morning after the discussion of the wardrobe, it was 
 to find Aunt Meg in the chair by the window, where 
 she had napped in watching and waiting for Pearl's 
 return. 
 
 The atmosphere was stifling with lamp smoke, and 
 the old lady's countenance wore a most pitiable expres- 
 sion which was reflected in Cecile's face, upon learn- 
 ing that Pearl had not been sought in her room, so 
 confident was her aunt that the two girls had passed 
 out together. 
 
 Cecile opened Pearl's door. Pearl was there, still 
 as the wedding garments which shrouded all but her 
 colorless face!
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 201 
 
 To determine whether Pearl's presence was one of 
 life or death, was the work of a moment. 
 
 Uncovering Pearl to her heart, Cecile pressed her 
 face closely down. " God be praised! " she murmured, 
 "Pearl lives!" Cecile summoned and conducted 
 Doctor Carlisle to Pearl's bedside, without exciting a 
 suspicion of any unusual occurrence. 
 
 "Oh, can you not rouse her, doctor?" pleaded Ce- 
 cile, as she covered Pearl's cold face with kisses, call- 
 ing upon her in the most endearing terms to open her 
 eyes. 
 
 The physician replied assuringly: "There is not 
 the slightest danger of death in rest like this." 
 
 As Doctor Carlisle turned to leave the room, he 
 paused and looked back to take the lovely picture in 
 again and carry it with him. The contrast in these two 
 beautiful girls occupied his imagination as he meas- 
 ured with swift steps the distance to his office. 
 
 Doctor Carlisle had never before separated the two 
 girls long enough to make any comparison between 
 them. His interest naturally centered in Cecile Veen, 
 who, if not the coming daughter of his house, was 
 still the object of his youthful son's Byronic worship. 
 
 As the door closed upon Doctor Carlisle, Pearl's 
 eyelids quivered. Opening wide, her vision rested 
 with a sad surprise, long and silently upon the tender 
 face bending over her; and, as if afraid to break the
 
 202 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 spell, both gazed into each other's souls as spirits may 
 embrace. Pearl raised herself up, pointing to the ta- 
 ble which was covered with closely written sheets 
 and two addressed envelopes, one in a cramped hand, 
 bearing Pearl's address and post-marked St. Saul. 
 "I see," said Cecile, "my chum has made her will." 
 " Yes, it is my will. Read and make haste. It is 
 late, and Lucien's mother waits my answer." 
 
 "Ah? Then it is as I feared. These brainless, 
 heartless, fashion-lunatics, whose souls might all be 
 balanced on the point of a cambric needle without 
 fear of jostling each other, have dared to frighten you 
 in Lucien's absence 'Tis the work of those Tongue- 
 worts. Louisa Tonguewort! For the past week her 
 carriage has stood before General Evans mansion. 
 
 She never closes either eye, 
 But keeps a watch continually, 
 
 This Argus, hundred-eared, 
 Hoping to catch some rumor vile 
 Afloat in dreams, or borne on smile, 
 
 Or accents scarcely heard. 
 
 If Mrs. Evans had any character she would not be 
 influenced by such a creature. So long as General 
 Evans is your friend, and Lucien remains true, why 
 need you be disturbed by anything they may say or 
 write? You have heard from Lucien, have you not?" 
 
 " Sufficient for the death of faith! " said Pearl. If
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 203 
 
 there is more, spare the too trusting ears of Ruby 
 Clark. Poor girl ! 
 
 Cecile grew faint, believing Pearl delirious. 
 
 "Ah, how long this day is, Cecile." 
 
 "I must insist that you compose your thoughts," 
 said Cecile, " and if you love me " 
 
 "Love you?" said Pearl, "it is only your true heart 
 which keeps my faith from breaking with the world. 
 But hasten, Cecile, if you love me. First read her 
 letter or you'll misjudge mine; then post at once." 
 
 " I never had faith in Lucien, as the son of such a 
 weakling mother," said Cecile. 
 
 Pearl closed her eyes and murmured: "And will 
 you love me still?" 
 
 " Forever," said Cecile, " I promise you, both for 
 myself and Stanley, we will never forsake you. I 
 love you, Stanley loves you, and my own true Hugh. 
 What a trinity of hearts you may depend upon!" 
 
 " Thank God I'm not alone," said Pearl. " If you 
 will read me once again the Prince Imperial's prayer, 
 I'll sleep." 
 
 Say not a soul hath lived in vain, who bequeaths to 
 the world an invocation to his God like this. Cecile 
 read aloud: 
 
 " My God: I give to Thee my heart; but give to me 
 faith. Without faith there is no strong prayer, and 
 to pray is the longing of my soul. I pray, not that
 
 204 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 thou shouldst take away obstacles from my path; but 
 that thou mayest permit me to overcome them! I pray 
 not that thou shouldst disarm my enemies ; but that 
 thou shouldst aid me to conquer myself. Hear, O God, 
 my prayer. Preserve to my affection those who are 
 dear to me. Grant them happy days. If thou only 
 givest on this earth a certain sum of joy, take, O God, 
 my share, and bestow on the most worthy; and may 
 the most worthy be my friends. If thou seekest ven- 
 geance upon man, strike me! Misfortune is converted 
 into happiness by the sweet thought that those whom 
 we love are happy. Happiness is poisoned by the 
 bitter thought that while I rejoice, those whom I love 
 a thousand times better than myself are suffering. 
 For me, O God, no more happiness! Take it from 
 my path. I can only find joy in forgetting the past. 
 If I forget those who are no more, I shall be forgotten 
 in my turn; and how sad the thought which makes 
 one say: ' Time effaces all! ' The only satisfaction I 
 seek is that which lasts forever; that which is given 
 by a tranquil conscience. O, my God' show me ever 
 where my duty lies, and give me strength to accom- 
 plish it always. Arrived at the term of my life, I 
 shall turn my looks fearlessly to the past. Remem- 
 brance will not be for me a long remorse. Then I 
 shall be happy. Grant, O God, that my heart may 
 be penetrated with the conviction that those whom I
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 205 
 
 love, and who are dead, shall see all my actions ; that ' 
 my life shall be worthy of their witness, and my in- 
 nermost thoughts shall never make them blush ! ' ' 
 
 When Cecile had finished the reading of this inim- 
 itable prayer, Pearl closed her eyes, saying: " Cecile, 
 you are my sole dependence." 
 
 As for Cecile Veen, she anticipated Pearl had been 
 insulted. The proud, indignant girl unfolded Pearl's 
 letter and read: 
 
 GENERAL AND MRS. EVANS: 
 
 Tour letter has reached its 
 
 destination, my heart Never before have I questioned 
 the evidence of my senses, or attempted to torture 
 reality into a horrible dream. 
 
 When one is wounded mortally, the power of human 
 words their sole defence is lost. They grope for 
 that hand which reaches down through darkness 
 blacker than death. 
 
 The fact that you have presumed imperious dicta- 
 tion in that which God never intended you to touch, 
 aad treated as a society peccadillo, matters of con- 
 science and honor, to be settled between the human 
 soul and God, in no way impairs the delicacy of my 
 position, or justifies me in forgetting I am conversing 
 with the father and mother of Lucien Evans; and in 
 my reply, must neither dishonor my exalted dead, or 
 their name I wear and deem a rich inheritance. 
 
 Beared in the school of adversity, I have yet been 
 so sheltered by the love of friends that the conscious-
 
 206 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 ness of my poverty has never confronted me as a re- 
 proach. Beyond the loss of the privileges, which 
 lend to wealth, its God-ward side, my soul has not 
 been creased by coils of poverty. Your pardon, then, 
 if I disclaim to be identified with the "audacious 
 society flight ' ' referred to in your letter. 
 
 Why should I soar above the humble roof which 
 has so amply sheltered me and mine? 'Twas high 
 enough to bear my angel mother's spirit up to God, 
 and give my father entrance into Heaven. It affects 
 neither the airs of the palace nor the degredation of 
 the hovel in its modest suggestions that, not by yours, 
 but Heaven's consent, I step up higher. 
 
 The spirit of your letter, the close ties of consan- 
 guinity, and one's true heirship to ancestral frailties, 
 were quite enough to reason love away, but, having 
 this day received overtures from your son, pleading 
 " his mother's inexorableness and the utter impossi- 
 bilities of making public our marriage," I hasten to 
 reverse my fate with firm NO ! since on the side of 
 principle, there is no room for reasoning further. 
 Manhood, chivalry and self-respect lie buried in this 
 fatal message; and while I feel most keenly the in* 
 dignity perpetrated in the ficticious pictures you have 
 drawn of me and my surroundings, I rejoice that my 
 life has not made its final compromise with a love so 
 unworthy, but that the flowers of a false affection lie 
 withered at my feet, revealing the abyss their airy 
 nothingness concealed. Yet with this renunciation 
 of a " rustic pledge," would I be wholly just to one 
 whose companionship has embellished so large a
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 207 
 
 portion of my existence. I believe the Lucien Evans 
 of the past, and the Lucien Evans of to -day, separate 
 entities. 
 
 A young man who could not face domestic opposi- 
 tion, meeting with dignified reserve the insolent effron- 
 tery of the meddling world, prepared, if need be, to 
 withstand an armed universe of frowning faces for 
 her he loves, is a fortunate escape to any girl. 
 
 My respect for the father and mother of Lucien 
 Evans forbids me to give expression to my feelings 
 upon the climax of your heaped indignities, " the sub- 
 stantial reward." If Gilead's balm secretes its heal- 
 ing powers in gold, fling it to her your choice secures 
 in marriage to your son. Neither love, happiness or 
 glory are anything to me if purchased at the expense 
 of the humblest fellow being. 
 
 For Lucien, I retain but the memory of mutual es- 
 teem, and the feeling that, without bitterness, we have 
 done our duty. For me, love, and love only as the 
 boon for love! 
 
 PEARL LAGRANGE. 
 
 " Pearl's letter is too kind, if anything; but then 
 Pearl has angelic qualities," mused Cecile. 
 
 Somewhere in nature there is a reason for all things; 
 but there shall never be any science to explain the 
 mysterious workings of the human heart. Yet Pearl 
 LaGrange could not lose her faith in human nature, 
 and, though keenly alive to an injury, her indignation 
 never survived the recovery of her wounded sensibili- 
 ties but for a moment, and all was forgotten.
 
 208 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Fate seems to bestow fortune on small natures, 
 rather than upon the children of genius; which is in 
 accordance with the law of compensation, since the 
 former would be nothing in the world without good 
 fortune, while the latter, through all sorrow and loss, 
 possess the priceless treasures of the ideal world. 
 
 In youth we are so sanguine, we could all but 
 fly if we willed. Certainly we can move men and the 
 softer rocks. Our heart-strings are harp-strings, 
 which vibrate with a magic nothing can resist. We 
 have the power of Orpheus; the self-love of Narcissus. 
 If we are rebuffed, our self-love sustains us. Later 
 on, when dimples lengthen into wrinkles, self-love 
 turns to self-pity; rebuffs to disappointments, and 
 disappointments to overthrow; losses are irreparable; 
 griefs are permanent blight. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Rich are the souls for love divinely fashioned, 
 Since love's true votaries are immortal born. 
 
 Aurora springs not from the night more passioned, 
 Than they from sorrow's midnight into morn. 
 
 "Away with the withered rose garlands," said Pearl, 
 tossing rose leaves from the window one evening, 
 weeks after Cecile's tireless watchings had been re- 
 warded by the complete recovery of her patient.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 209 
 
 "The 'winter of my discontent' is over, spring 
 has come, and the little feathered harbinger which 
 sang me the glad message this morning shall have a 
 token of my gratitude in a velvet carpet of crimson 
 leaves the next time his feet alight upon the bare, 
 cold earth," and as Cecile encountered Pearl's uplifted 
 face, it seemed to her the old light had all come back 
 to it; only there was more delicacy, more spiritual 
 beauty and fervor in the shading. 
 
 " Well, you are a marvel," said Cecile. " I cannot 
 understand such elasticity of spirits, and can only 
 liken it to the sun, moon and stars, suffering them- 
 selves to be snuffed out now and then, just to take in 
 a deeper breath of ether and excite anew the wonder 
 and admiration of every beholder. Oh teach me, 
 Pearl, the secret of such resignation." 
 
 " I have warned you," said Pearl, " that happiness 
 is a myth if pursued for its own sake selfishly. I 
 can see the hand of God in all that has come to me 
 tribulation, suffering, the loss of many things of this 
 life on which one has leaned for comfort, the passing 
 away, or the failure of outside friends all are events 
 whose meaning may be to show us our need of the 
 Master." 
 
 "Whence all this knowledge, Pearl? Girls of 
 twenty are not usually such epitomes of wisdom." 
 
 " From the school of experience," said Pearl. " The
 
 210 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Italians have a proverb: 'To love and not be loved 
 is time lost.' " 
 
 "You have more in the exhaustless resources within 
 you," said Cecile. 
 
 " How I rejoice, dear Pearl, to hear such spirited 
 words from your lips, prophetic of a destiny worthy 
 of you. Have you heard the latest sensation in St. 
 Saul?" she exclaimed, as her eyes caught sight of 
 the Tongueworts' carriage rolling by. 
 
 " No," said Pearl abstractedly, " I have barely made 
 the rounds of my pupils to-day, without an item of 
 news or gossip." 
 
 "Well" continued Cecile, "imagine the most ri- 
 -diculous thing in the world, and then imagine some- 
 thing ten times as preposterous and ridiculous on top 
 of that, and you may approximate the absurd tale 
 afloat in St. Saul." 
 
 "You cannot surprise me; so proceed," said Pearl. 
 
 " It is a rumor I give no credence to; nor would I 
 repeat it to any other than yourself, out of respect 
 to Governor Kellogg. But the society birds are 
 ^,11 trimming their feathers upon it, and Louisa 
 Tonguewort does not contradict the report that 
 the Governor's second wife is to be chosen from 
 the stale sisterhood she represents. Papa says the 
 wish is father to the thought on the part of Lou, at 
 least, who recently resorted to the brazen strategy of
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 211 
 
 entering the Governor's mansion during his absence 
 to give, what she calls ' home-touches ' to the rooms, 
 leaving on his bureau choice boquets from her con- 
 servatory." 
 
 "How does the Governor relish such exhibitions of 
 female gallantry? " enquired Pearl. 
 
 " He greets it with peals of laughter, orders the ser- 
 vant to bring the tongs and fling out the flowers, and 
 stands swinging the door of his room back and forth 
 to fan out the aroma which he declares he is afraid 
 will conjure him." * 
 
 Here the girls both laughed. 
 
 " What does Doctor Carlisle think? " asked Pearl. 
 
 "Oh he fairly raves, declaring the slander originated 
 in hades." 
 
 " Ah ! What does this mean, my sly little charmer ? " 
 exclaimed Cecile, suddenly espying some lilies. "These 
 velvet vases are as fresh and dewy as if just plucked 
 from the garden of the Gods. Have I discovered 
 secrets not intended for me to share, locked in that 
 heart which has for years been the sole receptacle of 
 mine?" 
 
 Pearl colored to the temples, and tears filled her 
 eyes at these earnest, have-reproachful words, spoken 
 impulsively. 
 
 "My darling," said Pearl, "you must never distrust 
 me. I never had, shall never have, a thought un-
 
 212 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 shared by you. This spray of lilies is as great a 
 mystery to me as to yourself, though every day it is 
 renewed, and every morning, rise T ever so early, I 
 find these floral foundlings fluttering like a tiny flock 
 of white-winged birds, upon the outer ledge of my 
 street window. They have now become in some occult 
 way necessary to my existence. I wear them over my 
 heart waking or sleeping, until I have come to dread 
 more than any future disappointment, aye, more even 
 than death itself, the morning which shall find my 
 window ledge bare, and my breathing atmosphere no 
 longer bounded in their odorous spell." 
 
 Cecile smiled and said: "In looking at the flowers 
 I am convinced they never came from Lucien Evans. 
 Their language is expressive of more soul, and a 
 higher type of love than he is capable of." 
 
 " Think you I'd wear them if I did not know Lucien 
 Evans never culled them?" interrupted Pearl. "At 
 first I thought they were his gift, coming as they did 
 on the morning of my resurrection from that awful 
 sick-bed; and the Scotch blood in me leapt in indig- 
 nation to resent the insult. So I wrote upon a slip of 
 paper, -leaving it fluttering out of the cluster, these 
 words: 'If these lilies are for me, and from L. E., I 
 return them with scorn. The sod upon my grave 
 fifty years after burial, would shudder them off, P. L.' 
 The next morning the old bunch with the note at-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 213 
 
 tached to it was gone, and in its place lay fresh lilies, 
 with this poem:" 
 
 TO A LILY. 
 
 Across my path from day to day, 
 
 A lily blossoms, fair as May, 
 A pure, white lily, and I asked 
 The angel good, who with it passed 
 
 To give the name of this sweet flower, 
 
 And lead me to its love-lit bower. 
 
 The angel came that very night, 
 
 A seraph escort was our light, 
 He bore my sorrowing spirit where 
 A young life wrestled, dazed with care. 
 
 "There are of whom," the angel said, 
 
 " The world is all unworthy, read 
 By the pure eyes of God alone, 
 And only to his angels known." 
 
 " To you I give the mystic key, 
 Truth, love and honor as you see." 
 /V lily blossomed in his hand, 
 I reached to pluck it all the land 
 Lay white with lilies, but this one 
 He held had never seen the sun. 
 I knelt to kiss the angel's feet, 
 And woke to life and woe complete; 
 
 Yet blest the angel from that hour 
 Who named for me my wayside flower, 
 And to her shrine, with reverence bring 
 These scented feathers from his wing. 
 Within their pure aromal charms 
 My love holds out its open arms, 
 And in the mirror of her eyes 
 Is doomed to death, or Paradise!
 
 214 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 As Cecile held it up before the window she discov- 
 ered at the bottom of the page, and beneath the date, 
 a very ingeniously wrought monogram. To any but 
 Cecile's eyes it might have passed for a little flourish 
 of the pen. 
 
 At her discovery Cecile acted like one under the in- 
 fluence of ether, flying around the room, clapping her 
 hands and dancing. She completely non-plussed her 
 friend, who sat staring at her enthusiastic demonstra- 
 tions with a more puzzled than amused expression, 
 for Pearl was in no mood for a frolic. 
 
 " Well, what is it," said Pearl. " Do you recognize 
 the chirography, and have I been the victim of an- 
 other deception?" 
 
 "Oh, Pearl! It exceeds my fondest anticipations for 
 you !" said Cecile. 
 
 Pearl reached out for the manuscript; but Cecile, 
 putting it playfully behind her, said: " No; it is my 
 privilege, after having discovered your lover to un- 
 mask him for you." 
 
 " You are not at all sure I shall share your enthusi- 
 asm. The charm may be broken," said Pearl. 
 
 "Never fear! " said Cecile, "Your lover is one the 
 proudest girl might thank her stars to captivate; but 
 who has had the sense and penetration to distinguish 
 a real gem, though hidden away under a city-full of 
 human rubbish. The hour is darkest just before dawn.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 215 
 
 Josephine Beauharnais was ordered to prepare for 
 the guillotine the night before the morning on which 
 the prison doors opened and her feet were set in the 
 flower-paths which led to a throne." 
 
 "How long do these mental aberrations usually 
 continue with you?" The door was thrown open by 
 Aunt Meg, who held up her finger and the interesting 
 conversation was cut short. 
 
 Both girls had Hugh Carlisle in their thoughts as 
 they caught glimpses of a figure following Aunt Meg. 
 Another moment and this illusion was broken, and 
 the girls were both locked in the arms of Stanley 
 Veen. 
 
 " My precious brother! " said Cecile. "And mine! " 
 added Pearl, with tears of joy sparkling on her cheeks. 
 
 " Where did you come from, and when arrive ?" said 
 Pearl, leading him to a chair. 
 
 " From the gardens of Mexico; landed at sunset in 
 St. Saul. I thought I should find you together. 
 Strike a light, dear Pearl, I want to see what the year 
 has accomplished with my sisters. Time is a capital 
 artist in handling nature. We ought to be able to 
 defy him for many years to come. 
 
 Stanley sat silently gazing into the faces of the two 
 girls. 
 
 " I think heaven has been kind to keep you all so 
 fresh and natural. My journal puts a year and more
 
 216 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 between us; your faces, but a night. How I have 
 longed to see you. And now that heaven has proved 
 itself worthy to be trusted in the care of its own, I 
 am ready to go back to my work." 
 
 " Oh Stanley," cried Cecile, "I was in hopes this 
 trip would cure you of your quixotism. Why not in- 
 augurate social reform right here? " 
 
 " You might as well ask the preachers why they do 
 not commence tackling sinners in purgatory," replied 
 Stanley. " Why this is the very hot-bed of social de- 
 moralization, where every other wealthy man is mar- 
 ried to his servant girl." 
 
 "Oh Stanley!" interrupted Cecile, "that reminds 
 me of the report about Governor Kellogg." 
 
 " If there are any battles to be fought for him, I 
 will enter the arena cheerfully," said Stanley. 
 
 " Well, who do you think is to be the second Mrs. 
 Kellogg?" put in Cecile, enjoying the effect of her 
 words on her brother's face. 
 
 "I cannot imagine," said Stanley, "no one in this 
 saintly (?) vicinage, I trust? " 
 
 "Louisa Tongue wort!" exclaimed Cecile, with a 
 twinkle in her eyes. 
 
 "Louisa Tongue wort !" echoed Stanley, <: Louisa 
 Tonguewort! Perdition seize the thought." 
 
 The girls laughed. 
 
 " Remember," said Pearl, "that love is the only
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 217 
 
 
 
 king whose subjects never rebel. When women rebel, 
 it is not against love, but against some pretender." 
 
 " True," said Stanley. "Yet Alexander Dumas 
 struck at the root of this social upas tree when he de- 
 clared friendship to be a nobler sentiment than love. 
 ' I have observed love attentively ;' he said, ' it disturbs 
 the judgment and perverts the conscience. You side 
 with the beloved one, right or wrong. What personal 
 degredation. I observe, too,' said he, ' that a grand 
 passion is a grand misfortune; that victims of it are 
 always in a storm of hope, fear, doubt, jealousy, rap- 
 ture, rage; and the eud is deceit, or else satiety. 
 Friendship is steady and peaceful; not much jealousy; 
 no heart burnings. It strengthens with time, and 
 survives the small-pox and a wooden leg.' '' 
 
 The girls both refused to endorse this sentiment, 
 and Stanley added: 
 
 " I see no cure for you until the fiery ardor of your 
 anticipations shall have been quenched in the matri- 
 monial knot; until fleshly beauties shall have ceased 
 to be considered, and the true color of the soul shall 
 have been put to test by the bleaching rains of afflic- 
 tion. Then, and then only, is true love proved." 
 
 " Cecile, come. Good night dear Pearl! " The girls 
 embraced, and Cecile and Stanley disappeared in the 
 darkness. The old, weather-stained door of the cot- 
 tage was softly closed, and Pearl entered her little
 
 218 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 bed-chamber, yet fragrant with the loved presence of 
 her dearest friends. " Surely God hath never forgot- 
 ten to be gracious! " she murmered, as she knelt to 
 commit herself into the keeping of his angels. "One 
 by one, I have suffered my hopes to be trampled into 
 the dust; but my heavenly father has never permitted 
 the world to take from me these faithful hearts." 
 
 Pearl caught sight of the poem, which had been 
 thrown upon her dressing table, and forgotten in the 
 greeting of Stanley Veen. 
 
 "Now for the key to Cecile's merriment," thought 
 Pearl, as she unfolded the paper, this time holding it 
 between herself and the light. Her countenance 
 changed, and she was ready to distrust her senses. 
 Within the circle of an official seal ( the most delicate 
 and phantom-like impression paper could receive) 
 were the initials; "C. K." 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 What is the grandest, noblest, holiest thing, 
 A rapturous thought of God, which angels sing, 
 
 Answer, my heart, at Heaven's divine control 
 
 A sense of duty in the human soul. 
 
 A perfect June day means a brilliant list of fault- 
 less qualities in earth and air, the fresh, ripe verdure 
 of the wood; the universal sense of God and good; the
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 219 
 
 marriage of the heavens and earth ; the light which 
 pulsates rapturously on soul and sight; these sang the 
 words, a perfect day in June. And this day, like 
 every other blessing in the world, was going out on 
 declining waves of light, through the bars of sunset, 
 as Doctor Carlisle passed through a line of maples and 
 entered his private grounds. His wife opened the 
 the door. 
 
 " Why, what a charming transformation, little wife/' 
 said the genial husband. " You must have captured 
 several gardens to produce this floral effect." 
 
 " Not a cornice has been slighted " she said, " and 
 Hugh's room is a floral bower. Now feast your eyes, 
 for this is really the work of fairies." 
 
 The Doctor shaded his eyes. 
 
 " This is artistic," said his wife. 
 
 The life size portrait of Hugh was surrounded with 
 flowers and buds. 
 
 Cecile Veen and Pearl LaGrange had assisted in 
 the decoration. 
 
 "I can scarcely wait the in-coming train!" ex- 
 claimed the happy mother, " and am sorry we did not 
 postpone this reception for Hugh until to-morrow 
 evening. 
 
 "Ah, yes, little wife; a woman's vanity is irrepress- 
 ible. I suppose you think the wedding of Kuby Clark 
 and Lucien Evans will deter a goodly number of in-
 
 220 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 vited guests from beholding your laureed graduate 
 to-night This honorable degree is rarely conferred 
 upon a youth of nineteen. I am proud of him myself; 
 but most of our friends will come, I think; as there is 
 a grave contingency holding that wedding back to- 
 night entre nous: The Governor told me a few even- 
 ings ago, that a large sum of money is missing from 
 the Clifford Bank, and the teller, young Evans, is held 
 accountable. If this sum is not forthcoming before 
 the appointed hour, the wedding bells of St. Mark 
 will be dumb." 
 
 " Oh this is terrible. I pity Mrs. Evans if Lucieii 
 has really been dishonorable," said Mrs. Carlisle. 
 
 " You need not waste any tenderness upon her. 
 She is uttterly incapable of feeling." 
 
 But while this peaceful domestic scene is transpir- 
 ing, other events are crowding in. 
 
 ****** 
 
 The vesper bells ceased ringing as Pearl LaGrauge 
 repaired to her room to make her toilette, expecting 
 Cecile's carriage to call and take her to the reception 
 at Doctor Carlisle's. 
 
 A loud rap at the street door startled Pearl from 
 her reverie, and, she hastened to answer the summons. 
 
 " Why, Nan Oliver, how you frightened me. What 
 in the world sent you way out here to-night?"
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 221 
 
 " La, Miss Pearl, ye aint going to get married, bez 
 ye? I said I'd hurt that bad man if I could; and I 
 just come over to tell ye how I done it." 
 
 "Why, what have you done?" 
 
 " I mean to say, that Lukin Evans can't get married 
 to-night." 
 
 "Nan, tell me quickly what you have done to Mr. 
 Evans? " 
 
 " I've settled his hash, you bet," and the girl ran 
 her gaunt hand into a pocket and pulled out a package. 
 
 "What is this, Nan?" 
 
 " Money, Miss Pearl. You need'nt tell anybody. 
 I took it from Evans on Mercer Street, near Dark 
 Alley. He has been coming through there every 
 evening, and t'other night he stopped sudden, and 
 seemed to be looking for something. A lot of bundles 
 fell out of his pocket and I snatched this. I did'nt 
 know what it was till I seen it the next day." 
 
 Pearl drew on her black waterproof and placing the 
 package in an inside pocket, proceeded with rapid 
 steps to the Evans mansion. 
 
 "Can I see General Evans a moment?" 
 
 The General was the soul of courtesy, and would 
 
 sooner have kept a prince waiting, than a beggar at 
 
 his kitchen door. So he hastened to receive the caller. 
 
 " I have a package for your son, I trust it may prove
 
 222 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 to be the missing banknotes," said Pearl huskily, 
 handing the parcel to the General. 
 
 "It is, it is! Thank God, I know it is! God bless 
 you! Oh God bless you! " 
 
 " Examine it please," continued Pearl, " and see 
 that the money is all there; otherwise I will see that 
 it is replaced." 
 
 " Oh yes," said the General, and taking it to the 
 light he carefully went through it. 
 
 Some time was required for this; but Pearl, though 
 urged to enter and be seated, remained in the shadow 
 of the half closed door. 
 
 Presently the General approached her, saying in 
 his happiest tone : " It is all here. Let me reward 
 you." 
 
 Pearl started down the steps 
 " Here, girl, to whom am I indebted?" 
 Pearl turned and said: "To a poor creature on 
 Mercer Street, in the Charity Mission School." As 
 Pearl said this the door was opened by the General's 
 son, and the light streamed full on her face. The 
 General recognized her. 
 
 "Righteous God! " exclaimed he, "we are saved, 
 Lucien, and our good angel is Pearl LaGrange." 
 
 Pearl flew, as if suddenly endowed with wings; and 
 when, an hour later, the marriage chime pealed forth 
 from the tower of St. Mark's, she sat alone in the
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 223 
 
 moon-lighted room of her cottage, listening to the 
 happy bells. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 I am instructed from sweet Heaven to write, 
 
 That soul in error and impaired of sight, 
 
 Who would the memory of love's falsehood soothe 
 
 By falsely swearing "true love ne'er runs smooth." 
 
 First to thyself, O loving heart, be true, 
 
 As streamlet to itself in mirror view, 
 
 Then it must follow, as the sun the sea, 
 
 That true souls only shall be drawn to thee. 
 
 The mystery of Pearl's absenting herself from the 
 reception given to young Carlisle was the greatest 
 disappointment Cecile had ever experienced, and was 
 especially annoying, since it must continue a puzzle 
 for the next twenty-four hours. 
 
 On the day following, Hugh Carlisle and Cecile 
 Veen visited the LaGrange cottage. 
 
 " You anticipated me, I am not deserving of such 
 attentions," said Pearl, holding Cecile's hand. 
 
 " That shall be decided later; and it will take a 
 round apology, with no- ragged edges, to satisfy us," 
 rejoined Cecile. 
 
 " Nan Oliver, her hair unkempt, and flying in stiff 
 tangles over her ragged frock " 
 
 " I told you so!" interrupted Cecile, addressing
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Hugh. " I would have pledged all my possessions, 
 save Hugh, that you sacrificed yourself to minister to 
 some of those squalid denizens of Mercer Street." 
 
 " It was a most important charity errand, one that 
 I could neither postpone, nor delegate to another." 
 
 " And you were right; but how unfortunate these 
 episodes of mercy are, which forbid all leisure, 
 think you ought to resign your place in the Mission 
 School." 
 
 " If it ever interferes with my home duties, I may," 
 said Pearl. 
 
 " Not romantic or poetical either," said Cecile, with 
 playful irony. Please explain the light in your win- 
 dow, which flashes invariably in the direction of Ter- 
 race Hill, and which has certain hours for flaming, 
 observed and commented upon by the neighborhood.'* 
 Pearl blushed crimson, and answered: 
 "Suppose I have a vestal flame burning through 
 the dark hours, teing the solitary goddess of my own 
 hearthstone; I am privileged to indulge this eccen- 
 tricity, am I not? " 
 
 "Aye, and any and all others which commend them- 
 selves to your discretion. Never mind Hugh ; I was 
 compelled to explain to him the romance of the flow- 
 ers which peeped out of Governor Kellogg's vest last 
 evening, and which seemed to say to every beholder: 
 'where is my whiter ^lovelier self? ' '
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 225 
 
 " Leave something for Pearl to say," said Hugh. 
 
 Pearl touched her cluster of lilies, saying: "Pro- 
 ceed. I approve your sentiments." 
 
 "Then," continued Hugt, "Permit me to add what 
 occured to my mind when Cecile told me of the Gover- 
 nor's devotion to you. Be prepared to be led speedily 
 to the altar, for I remember to have heard him say, 
 some years ago, regarding marriage, that he was op- 
 posed to long engagements ; rather a serious comment 
 upon Cecile 's and mine, now nearly twelve months 
 old. However, if the Governor's diplomacy in con- 
 ducting his love affairs continues to the end, the event 
 of his marriage will be like the dashing of a cyclone 
 through the heavens at noon-day. Madame Grundy 
 will commit suicide by leaping from her stilts, and 
 her vain followers stricken dumb with discomfiture, 
 will sit down and hate themselves. If Cecile con- 
 sent," he continued, " we will double the shock." 
 
 " You forget that Doctor Carlisle is to be shocked 
 first, by asking his consent," said Cecile with a smile. 
 
 "Not at all," answered Hugh, "there exists but one 
 valid objection to our marriage to-morrow. I think, 
 however, I could overcome this. In France, you know, 
 one is just as old as one looks; no more, no less; and 
 I look twenty-five." Both of the girls laughed heart- 
 ily. Hugh continued: "This is my good fortune, and 
 readily accounted for. An only child is a lonely child.
 
 226 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 His powers of endurance must be greater, called upon 
 as he is to receive all the parental attention." 
 
 "Were I you, with both time and money at com- 
 mand, for the next year or^fcwo I would listen to the 
 voice of my genius and stifle that of my heart," said 
 Pearl, giving Cecile a look askance. 
 
 " I see a gentleman struggling with the gate," said 
 Hugh. 
 
 " O that crazy wicket. It has threatened to put us 
 in the street for a year past," said Pearl. 
 
 " Never mind, " replied Hugh, very softly. " It is 
 Governor Kellogg; and I prophecy your crazy little 
 wicket will shortly be exchanged for a Terrace Hill 
 palace gate. Come Cecile ; Pearl will excuse us now, 
 as we are some minutes past" due at Col. Veen's." 
 
 " Good-night, and God bless our darling! " said Ce- 
 cile, as hand in hand she and Hugh disappeared 
 through the rear entrance. 
 
 In another moment Pearl had welcomed the Gover- 
 nor, and as Aunt Meg of late occupied her evenings 
 in a sleepy-hollow chair at a remote corner of the 
 room, until their guest was announced, she only lin- 
 gered now to catch the music of Pearl's greeting, and 
 then retired, her heart aglow. 
 
 The night was bright, the clear heavens packed with 
 stars and the air soft and gentle as zephyrs blowing 
 over violets.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 227 
 
 " Let us sit out under the tent of stars," said the 
 Governor. " Bring your guitar, Pearl, and sing me 
 the song I sent you as a substitute for myself the 
 evening I failed to come. Have you committed the 
 words?" 
 
 " I have," said Pearl, who had made the rendering 
 of this piece a faithful study. 
 
 " She is beautiful as a dream ; but I must not tell 
 her so," said the Governor mentally, as Pearl returned 
 with her guitar, seated herself on the low step at his 
 feet and commenced tuning her instrument for the 
 song. 
 
 "All this preparatory work to bring the instrument 
 into harmony with the song? "said the Governor. 
 " It is wonderful the jangling and discordant world 
 has never made useful deductions from these art sym- 
 bols, with practical illustrations upon the ' Harp of a 
 thousand strings,' which is always out of tune. I 
 fancy one skilled in the art of coaxing an instrument 
 like this out of one mood into another, ought to be 
 able to manipulate the chords of the human soul, even 
 though unstrung and sadly tensioned, like mine. 
 Pearl, dear girl, I cannot go back to Terrace Hill to- 
 night without your answer. I have waited now longer 
 than my strong love approves." The Governor's 
 voice trembled and its rich tones rose and fell with 
 deep feeling. It was as though over that social
 
 228 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Sodom had floated suddenly a breath of purer air, 
 when into the " wrapt porches " of Pearl's ears caine 
 the earnest, never to be forgotten words: "I love 
 you, and would devote myself to you forever. Will 
 you be mine?" 
 
 The instrument was silent. There was a lull in the 
 breeze which a moment before rustled audibly through 
 the rich foliage above them. 
 
 "All nature waits with me," said the Governor. 
 "Am I to go unblessed, or crowned? I'll wait as long 
 as night waits for the morn, but never will I sleep 
 the sleep of life and hope again, until you answer me." 
 
 Pearl lifted her eyes to her lover and the tears 
 which filled them were her only answer He opened 
 his arms. Pearl answered: 
 
 "No, I will sing you my answer." 
 
 The Governor folded his arms, saying: 
 
 " If you sing me No. 
 Beware, I'll never go! 
 If you sing me Yea, 
 I may forever stay. 
 So yea, or nay, 
 I'm yours alway." 
 
 It was as though the dumb and yearning soul had 
 found a voice soft and sweet. The Governor felt 
 his heart beating faster than the notes which accom- 
 panied the following words:
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 229 
 
 PEARL'S ANSWER. 
 
 My hopes lay dead, and life grew'cold, 
 
 I lost the power of feeling, 
 I shut my heart against the world, 
 
 That it might die congealing. 
 
 When lo, whit* wings against thejpane 
 
 Tapped gently to me, ringing 
 From velvet belle, a tender name 
 
 The night winds all were singing. 
 
 I opened wide my window bars; 
 
 All earthly sounds were fleeting, 
 Yet I could hear the wheeling stars 
 
 The lovely name repeating. 
 
 " It is an angel's voice," I said, 
 " Expressing heaven's compassion," 
 
 My faith in God was not yet dead; 
 I knelt, a prayer to fashion. 
 
 Soft odors all my soul caressed, 
 
 And in my hands uplifted, 
 The winds a spray of lilies pressed, 
 
 Which through the casement drifted. 
 
 I knelt again: " Dear God," I said, 
 
 " I thank Thee for this token. 
 Love's shadow only lieth dead; 
 
 Love's life, these flowers have spoken." 
 
 " Strange world," said the Governor. "Always kind 
 and wise to its children at the last."
 
 230 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXI. 
 
 Must innocence forever suffer wrong 
 Because of skulking guilt throughout the land? 
 The tortured soul enquires, with outstretched hand 
 
 Toward Heaven: How long, Lord, how long? 
 
 One who witnesses the gathering of the clouds can 
 predict the lightning and the storm; so he who knows 
 his own heart, knows also what it will bring forth. 
 
 Doctor Carlisle had not been to his office for a week, 
 but his slate hung out. 
 
 For the first time in his life, Hugh found matters 
 of a confidential nature concealed from him. His 
 father and mother had been closeted in the library 
 of late, day and night. He felt cut, but resolved to 
 suspend his judgment and wait. 
 
 The glory of autumn, that strange poetic period of 
 nature's unrest, which thrills the sensitive soul like 
 sorrowful melody, was at its height. Mysterious in- 
 fluence, exalted by divine poets and pronounced " the 
 soul of the world." Whence comes this adoration 
 sublime ? 
 
 The evening was far spent, yet the lamps had not 
 been lighted at the Carlisle's. The doctor and his 
 wife sat by an open casement, a domestic picture mar- 
 red only by the sad thoughts which occupied both. 
 
 " The same thing might have occurred with a less
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 231 
 
 happy choice," said Doctor Carlisle, "had we remained 
 at Stratford, or ' removed to the antipodes. Young 
 people find their affinities everywhere, and parents 
 cannot keep them from falling in love and getting 
 married. You remember the old song with the re- 
 frain: ' If my grandmother had died an old maid?' ' 
 
 O Louis, if we had only placed the Atlantic between 
 us and this awful secret, it could then have been bur- 
 ied with us. My dear, good husband, you will kill me 
 if you persist in a pursuit of the mystery. The best 
 years of our lives have been sacrificed. I entreat you 
 to realize we have done our utmost," 
 
 " Your logic is very bad, little wife. After having 
 pursued a worthy object for nearly a quarter of a cen- 
 tury, you may rest assured I shall not abandon it, un- 
 less overtaken by death. I admit I may have peculiar 
 notions to gratify in the premises; but if I live, I shall 
 unravel one of the greatest social mysteries ever 
 heard of. 
 
 Here the closing of the front gate announced the 
 return of their son. 
 
 The doctor arose, throwing the doors of the library 
 open. 
 
 "What! All dressed in moonlight?" exclaimed 
 Hugh, as he gave his mother a kiss, threw himself at 
 her feet and pillowed his head in her lap. 
 
 "What do you think of a year at Cambridge? If
 
 232 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 you will go this fall, your mother and I will join you 
 during the winter." 
 
 " Capital! In some respects," responded Hugh. 
 " In others it clashes with plans I have for the near 
 future." 
 
 " Let us hear some of your plans," said his father. 
 
 Hugh quickly responded: "You may recall my 
 fruitless attempt to converse with you both regarding 
 a matter of personal importance." 
 
 " I shall have to defer this conversation," said the 
 doctor. 
 
 " Please sir," said the servant, "Col. Veen's coach- 
 man has called to see Mr. Hugh." 
 
 "For me!" exclaimed Hugh, leaping to his feet 
 " I fear the Colonel is ill. He is depressed of late. 
 I infer he has some business trouble too." 
 
 "Little wife," said Doctor Carlisle, lowering his 
 voice almost to a whisper as the door closed upon 
 Hugh, " I have it all in a nut-shell. Colonel Veen is 
 going to pieces financially through the notoriously 
 reckless extravagance of his wife. This impending 
 catastrophe has, without doubt, suggested to the 
 Madame the speedy marriage of Cecile to Hugh, as a 
 mercenary expedient. While I believe . Col. Veen to 
 be above such intriguery, I know the vicious influen- 
 ces exerted over him so long cannot be overcome now 
 on the very brink of ruin."
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 233 
 
 "Well, what has happened? " said Doctor Carlisle, 
 startled by the intense expression of Hugh's counte- 
 nance, as he entered the room with an open letter in 
 his hand. 
 
 Hugh's voice had a nervous tremor in it, as he an- 
 swered: 
 
 " I have a letter from Cecile which will explain to 
 you my position. 
 
 "Some months ago, Cecile, Pearl and I made a sol- 
 emn pledge to be united in marriage at the same altar 
 at the same hour. A remarkable change in Pearl's 
 plans brings us suddenly face to face with our oath. 
 I will read Cecile's note: 
 
 DEAR HUGH: 
 
 You had but just withdrawn, when a courier 
 dashed into our grounds bringing us all to our feet. 
 It was a dispatch from Pearl, announcing the depart- 
 ure of Governor Kellogg for Washington to-morrow, 
 where he will be detained some days. He will not 
 consent to leave Pearl behind; in short, Governor 
 Kellogg and Pearl LaGrange are to be married at an 
 early hour to-morrow, and to take the evening train 
 for the federal city. Pearl's superstition is in the as- 
 cendancy, even in the presence of this assured happi- 
 ness. I will quote a sentence from her note referring 
 to us: 'I have explained to the Governor, and he 
 bids me defer to you and Hugh before deciding where 
 the marriage ceremony shall take place. If we alone 
 are united, the wedding will be here under the bene-
 
 234 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 diction of my mother's picture, I tremble in the 
 anticipation of your decision, believing a fatality 
 of some kind awaits one or both of us in the event of 
 your broken vow.' I do not, nor would I have you, 
 share this fear of Pearl's regarding the oath, as this 
 presto marriage of hers was not in the bond. If love 
 were not so blind a little heathen, Pearl's conscience 
 would at once restore to us the liberty of choice. I am 
 so agitated that I cannot write; but our answer must 
 be speedy. I await your reply, either in person or by 
 the bearer. 
 
 Devotedly yours, 
 
 CECILE. 
 
 When Hugh looked up from the reading of this 
 note, his mother sat with bowed head. 
 
 The doctor rose, took both of the young man's 
 hands in his and said: 
 
 "My son, I fear an exuberant imagination has run 
 away with your judgment. Your mother and I have 
 anticipated this. Tour happiness is as dear to us as 
 your life, but to permit you to be hurried out of ro- 
 mantic boyhood into the treadmill of married life, with 
 cares, trials and responsibilities undreamed of, would 
 be the maddest folly. Love, when surrendered to the 
 lead of its blind impulses only, is temporary insanity." 
 
 "But my love has been the unfolding of the slow 
 bud into the flower; and to-night my manhood's honor 
 stands plighted with my marriage vow," replied Hugh, 
 deferentially, but with much feeling.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 235 
 
 "Ridiculous! Preposterous! Impossible! You 
 surely do not weigh the magnitude of such strong 
 speech." 
 
 "Father, the hour is passing, and the messenger 
 waits. What is your pleasure that I write? " 
 
 " Write what you will. You know my wishes, and 
 I trust you. Continue to confide in my judgment 
 Marriage is entirely out of the question as you are 
 situated." 
 
 " But in the future, say in a year's time V" plea- 
 ded Hugh. 
 
 " Say no time hence. Be content to be the friend 
 of Cecile Veen for as you love me, never again thrust 
 the unwelcome subject of your marriage upon us! " 
 
 "Never, father?" 
 
 " Never. Hugh Carlisle can never marry." 
 
 " Mother," said Hugh, kneeling at Mrs. Carlisle's 
 feet, " what does he mean? and what have I done to 
 offend you so? " 
 
 "Nothing, best of sons," said Mrs. Carlisle, stoop- 
 ing caressingly over Hugh, and raising her hand with 
 a deprecatory gesture to the doctor. 
 
 "I can never marry!" repeated Hugh slowly. 
 "Convince my reason then at once, by telling why?" 
 and Hugh rose, and confronting his father with a ten- 
 der beseeching expression, said: "I do not like to 
 think parental discipline exacts such sacrifices from
 
 236 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 its own without a deeper reason than that which lies 
 in your command." 
 
 Mrs. Carlisle raised her hand entreatingly to her 
 husband, but believing his time had come to speak, he 
 continued: 
 
 " No better, no more cogent reason could I give, than 
 the one, that Hugh Carlisle, as Hugh 
 
 At this juncture his wife uttered a deep groan and 
 fell unconscious at his feet. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Two hours later, after Cecile's suspense had culmi- 
 nated in the decision to dispatch a second messenger 
 to Doctor Carlisle's, she received from the hands of 
 the first, the following brief communication from 
 Hugh, in pencil scrawl: 
 
 MY DEAR CECILE: 
 
 Forgive me for having kept you so long in anxi- 
 ety. The vow at St. Agnew (that both couples would 
 be united at the same time) must be broken, but our 
 marriage vow never! Unless I prove unworthy of 
 you. I depend upon you to advise me of the hour the 
 Governor and Pearl are to be married, that I may 
 join you in time at the LaGrange cottage. 
 
 Fide et araore, 
 
 HUGH.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 237 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 " Heaven bless the lovely bride! " the morning said, 
 As from her rosy couch she raised her head, 
 And throwing back the curtains of the night, 
 Shook out her shimmering locks of golden light, 
 Till from the hills the clear and perfect day 
 Through purple depths of cloud-land seemed to say: 
 "God bless the bride, and bless him at her side, 
 And God's own angels with them both abide." 
 
 The day on which Governor Kellogg and Pearl La- 
 Grange were married was exceptionally fair. It was 
 as though heaven had said audibly, as she shook out 
 her drapery of clouds and turned back their silver 
 lining to the sun: "These, my children, have hon- 
 ored me in their choice, and are now received into full 
 fellowship." 
 
 The wedding, which was celebrated at the La- 
 Grange cottage, was conducted quietly, two families 
 only being cognizant of the event up to the departure 
 of the wedding party. Dr., Mrs. and Hugh Carlisle 
 and Cecile Veen were the honored guests. When the 
 announcement appeared in the evening, it fell like a 
 meteor, kindling gossip, which illuminated St. Saul 
 in certain quarters throughout the night. 
 
 Communities which hold great men, naturally af- 
 fect to be somewhere within the circle of their confi- 
 dence, but in this instance the public was blissfully
 
 238 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 ignorant of Governor Kellogg's matrimonial inten- 
 tions. 
 
 While this was a just rebuke to the tongue-wagging 
 fraternity, it piqued the Governor's constituents and 
 personal friends, and aroused the ire of petty foes, 
 who declared a man thus elevated by the people had 
 no right to marry unadvisedly, and in making a selec- 
 tion from the "obscure class" he had not only grossly 
 insulted all " upper- tendom," but snubbed every elig- 
 ible candidate for matrimony who claimed social 
 equality with him. 
 
 Among the claimants for special consideration, was 
 the virgin household of Tonguewort. Time-worn and 
 love-lorn, they yet dieted upon a thin variety of de- 
 ferred hope which kept them lean. 
 
 To the ambitious Louisa, the news of Cassius Kel- 
 logg's marriage was paralizing. Of all her unsuccess- 
 ful cap-sets, this brought her the deepest humiliation. 
 
 " This daring escapade! " she said. " This scandal- 
 ous innovation upon the established laws of selection. 
 Does Governor Kellogg think, because he is scholarly, 
 distinguished and courtly, and the most popular man 
 in the state, that he can trample upon the customs of 
 good society, and force into its circles a girl he has 
 picked up in the street, whose name has been disgrace- 
 fully linked with his, and who has beguiled him to 
 separation and divorce? " Seizing the innocent paper
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 239 
 
 containing the marriage notice, the infuriated Tongue- 
 wort tore it into ribbons, and flinging them from the 
 window, she said: "So shall their reputations be rid- 
 dled and flung to the four winds of heaven, for I, 
 Louisa Tonguewort, have sworn it! " 
 
 One by one the lights went out on Terrace Hill and 
 the bells rang for midnight It was bright star-light, 
 but the long line of shade trees wrapped the empty 
 home of the Governor in gloom, portentiously so, en- 
 hanced as they were by the light streaming through 
 the upper balcony of the Tonguewort ranch opposite. 
 
 Why this brilliant illumination in a bed-chamber, 
 where Morpheus was nightly courted and coaxed by 
 the combined efforts of a whole pharmacy of nar- 
 cotics? Because, " Hell has no fury like a woman 
 scorned." Louisa Tonguewort had sworn a terrible 
 oath, one that commissioned demons were on guard 
 to see that she neither retracted, or delayed to execute. 
 
 For some time she sat in thought. At length the 
 initial step was taken in a crime, which for cold- 
 blooded atrocity and heartless cruelty, could not be 
 exceeded this side the abode of the damned. 
 
 In order to insure the success of her unholy plot, 
 she determined to secure the services of her old ally 
 in social iniquity, the absconded Hector. 
 
 During the months of fruitless angling, to convince 
 the Governor of her charms, the image of his departed
 
 240 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 Jezebel had very naturally become effaced from her 
 mind. 
 
 At her morning toilet, Louisa Tonguewort would as 
 soon have thought to bring the man in the moon at 
 her feet, as to renew her long abandoned correspond- 
 ence with Hector Astore. A sudden reversal of the 
 wheel of destiny brought her face to face with the 
 past, and her old associate in social iniquity, and ren- 
 dered vital an immediate resumption of the old con- 
 fidence. 
 
 "By heavens! " she muttered through her clenched 
 teeth, as she combed back her bristling hair with her 
 thin, nervous fingers, " I could curse myself for this 
 mental, imbecilic perturbation. Do not the ablest di- 
 plomats look to the end to be attained, regardless of 
 the means? It is this or an inglorious flight before 
 these detested plebeians whom I have hated and tramp- 
 led upon. No. She who once pledged herself to 
 avenge the domestic wrongs of Hector Kellogg, has 
 now herself to be avenged; for not to retaliate is to 
 give encouragement to adventuresses. The forgive- 
 ness of wrong puts certain men and women too much 
 at their ease. Hence vengeance is necessary for the 
 protection of society." 
 
 After this wild, incoherent eruption of the volcanic 
 fires, kindled generations back at the altar of a heroic 
 (?) ancestry, the enraged Tonguewort seized upon a
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 241 
 
 ream of innocent looking commercial note paper as 
 though she had the whole human race by the throat, 
 and meant to strangle it. 
 
 The hours chased each other and the stars wheeled 
 on in majesty through the moonlighted dome of 
 heaven. What cared they, the eternities, for the fate 
 of poor dust-born creatures? The heart might leap in 
 joy, or break with pain. They solemnly followed their 
 immeasureable paths, and the good slept on, while 
 demons hovered at the elbow of this unscrupulous 
 woman, and guided her caustic pen. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Has ever Eden smiled on earth 
 
 Where Satan's minions did not hide, 
 And, like the serpent on the hearth, 
 
 With evil machinations hide? 
 A gauntlet of the finest kid 
 
 May wrap the vilest traitor's hand; 
 And cloven foot mayhap be hid 
 
 In boot by honest workman planned. 
 
 "Tis said that fools have madly rushed 
 
 Where holy angels dared not tread, 
 And saints themselves in glory blushed 
 
 For words which mortal lips have said. 
 How, then shall those whose feet have stood 
 
 On Zion's Hill e'er be replaced, 
 Since to defame the pure and good, 
 
 Their Christian armor is disgraced?
 
 242 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 One week had elapsed since the departure of Gov- 
 ernor Kellogg and his lovely bride for the national 
 capital. 
 
 Cecile Veen had received from Pearl graphic des- 
 criptions of the trip and the splendors of Washington 
 City. 
 
 The Veen's had just breakfasted when Cecile recog- 
 nized the Tonguewort's grand turnout dashing through 
 the grounds as though on some life and death errand. 
 
 " O misery, that horrid ogre, Miss Lou Tonguewort, 
 is coming, mother. Do let me bar the doors against 
 her." 
 
 " You will please mind your own affairs, Cecile," 
 with a cold haughtiness which brought tears to Ce- 
 cile's eyes. 
 
 "Mother," said Cecile pleadingly, "do not speak of 
 the reception we are to give next week to Pearl and 
 the Governor; I pray you do not. I feel you must 
 not. Trust to my instinct this time, mother." 
 
 " What do you mean, madcap? Do you imagine Col- 
 onel and Mrs. Veen can give a grand reception to the 
 out-going and in-coming governors and their ladies, 
 without inviting society's Queen? " 
 
 "You do not understand me, mother." 
 
 " I have no time to discuss ethics with you," said 
 Mrs. Veen. " I have not lost my head quite," and the 
 proud woman swept out of Cecile' s presence.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. . 243 
 
 The ancients recognized three kinds of kisses: The 
 "Basiuni," which passed between relatives and friends; 
 the "Osculum," which was a mark of respect, and the 
 "Suavium," or love kiss, which was the true and bona 
 fide kiss. But the kiss which Louisa Tonguewort left 
 upon the lips of Mrs. Teen was not one of these; it 
 was a cold, clammy collision, and was only equalled 
 by the heartlessness of the flabby hand-shake accom- 
 panying it. 
 
 "My dear Mrs. Yeen," exclaimed Louisa, "are we 
 alone? And can we go into 'executive session,' as 
 they say at the capital?" 
 
 Mrs. Veen closed the drawing room doors. 
 
 "Are you sure we are quite alone? Walls have ears, 
 you know." 
 
 "At this hour," returned Mrs. Teen, "we are abso- 
 lutely abandoned by the world." 
 
 "'Tis well, I have important matters to confer with 
 you about. The ladies of St. Mark's are wrought up 
 as never before, and to-night hold an indignation 
 meeting in my parlors. I have come to secure your 
 consent to the resolutions we shall pass. I have a list 
 of names here which I wish to divide with you as one 
 of the executive officers of our church." And Miss 
 Tonguewort removed the elastic band from a scroll, 
 which in being released was carried by its weight to 
 the floor uncoiling and coiling like a pet serpent be- 
 tween them.
 
 244 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 "Formidable, is it not? It is one of the most 
 stupendous social movements that ever agitated a great 
 community. You have here just half of the names 
 listed, and there is not a name written out upon either 
 scroll which may not be found in our church books." 
 Mrs. Veen started. " You are surprised, but wait till 
 I initiate you into the appalling secrets of Governor 
 Kellogg- 
 
 "Governor Kellogg!" interrupted Mrs. Yeen. "In 
 the name of heaven, you dare not impugn an act or 
 motive of a man the whole state reveres." 
 
 "I dare. The pen of destiny is placed in my hand, 
 and I will put the final period to his brilliant career. 
 In all the gay city there is no other being so conver- 
 sant with his history as to be able to throw a deadly 
 shaft into his soul's sanctuary. I am, therefore, 
 selected by heaven to do this work." 
 
 " Did you not at one time indulge some very lively 
 hopes in this direction?" 
 
 "Never! Never!" hysterically snapt the spinster, 
 clanking her case-knife lips. " I spared the villian 
 the humiliation of a refusal, a genuine jilt, which fre- 
 quently throws men like him off their balance. This 
 is my reward, and poor exiled Hector's reproach; he 
 descends into the slums and emerges with a bride, 
 whose genealogy begins at a pot-house and ends in 
 the ditch."
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 245 
 
 " No, no. My dear Miss Lou, you do not mean 
 this. Pearl LaGrange I know to have been as well 
 bred as any of us." 
 
 " Will you second my efforts in resenting a grand 
 insult to society, church and state?" And Miss 
 Tongue wort's voice rose with her figure. 
 
 " My dear Miss Lou, I have never refused to in- 
 dorse a sentiment or act of yours, either in church or 
 society, and never shall. I am fixed in this purpose; 
 here's my hand as a pledge." 
 
 A strange light came into the little eyes. Mrs. Veen 
 noticed the expression, and could not save herself from 
 an involuntary shudder, as Miss Tonguewort added: 
 
 " You will be at my house at sunset. We shall 
 have preliminaries to arrange before roll call." 
 
 " I will. But first promise me to be with us at a 
 reception the Colonel and I intend giving Governor 
 Kellogg and his bride. The cards will be out to-mor- 
 row." 
 
 "Attend the meeting in my parlors to-night," coldly 
 replied Miss Tonguewort, " and if the supreme folly 
 of tendering a reception to his disloyalty, Governor 
 Cassius Kellogg, is not dislodged from your mind, 
 proceed as you have planned, but please count society 
 and your humble servant out." And Miss Tonguewort 
 passed over the threshold.
 
 246 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 " Wait," nervously interposed Mrs. Veen, paling at 
 such bitter denunciations. 
 
 " Mrs. Veen," here the voice of Louisa Tongue- 
 wort sank to a low growl, " you are provokingly ob- 
 tuse to-day. Governor Kellogg has grossly betrayed 
 the public, bringing upon himself just contumely. 
 He must suffer the consequences. Society is like fire 
 and water; one does not want to get on the wrong side 
 of it. Governor Kellogg has personally spit upon his 
 best friends, you and I in particular." And Miss 
 Tonguewort gnashed her teeth. "Are you prepared 
 to stand with the church in repudiating the validity of 
 such a union, or will you take the off horn of the di- 
 lemma, inaugurate a new departure and walk alone? " 
 
 Mrs. Veen hesitated. 
 
 " Mrs. Veen," said the slander-vendor, "Governor 
 Kellogg and his so-called bride will be to-night os- 
 tracised from society in St. Saul. Since he has slapped 
 good society in the face by marrying his mistress, so- 
 ciety resents the insult by putting nee Pearl La- 
 Grange under the ban! " 
 
 Here the spinal column of the venomous Tongue- 
 wort weakened from the effects of uttering a falsehood 
 so atrocious and hell-born, and she would have leaned 
 against the contiguous pillar of the veranda for sup- 
 port. Mrs. Veen sank all of a heap at her feet; 
 whereupon the dismayed Tonguewort uttered sharp
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 247 
 
 hysterical shrieks, which brought Cecile to the scene. 
 
 "What have you done to my mother, woman?" 
 said Cecile, turning upon Miss Tonguewort as an 
 armed hunter might confront a tigress. 
 
 " Tour good mother has fainted. It is a fashion of 
 hers, is it not? " 
 
 Mrs. Veen soon opened her eyes, but closed them 
 again, groaning in a most piteous way. 
 
 "As there is nothing more I can do for your mother," 
 said Miss Tonguewort, " I will go." 
 
 Mrs. Yeen opened her eyes and said: 
 
 " I will be with you this evening." 
 
 " Yes ; I am sure you will, now you realize the im- 
 portance of the movement. Heaven crown us with 
 grace and mercy that we may walk unsullied through 
 this tainted, sinful world," and giving a glance inten- 
 ded to be withering, upon Cecile, the social monster 
 repaired to her carriage. 
 
 When Apelles could not paint the depth of sorrow 
 that he wished to represent in the face of one of his 
 figures, he enveloped the head in a veil. 
 
 Let us veil the anguish which now wrung the hearts 
 of this unhappy household; for, with the visible shadow 
 resting upon the life of the noble girl, so soon to face 
 a frowning community in defence of truth and the 
 friend of her childhood, another shadow was gather- 
 ering, which would fall with blighting effect upon this 
 Palace of Pride.
 
 248 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Some brows are made to bear a crown of thorns, 
 And some to wear a wreath of joy and gladness, 
 
 Some lives to brave the waves which cradle storms, 
 And some to make a jest of woe and sadness. 
 
 Faith, hope, ambition, love and inspiration, 
 
 These crown the individual, make the nation. 
 
 In the busiest mart of the city of Quebec, two hun- 
 dred feet beneath the guns of the grand battery, tower 
 the great commercial establishments, the merchants' 
 exchange, the banking houses, wholesale stores and 
 bonded warehouses. 
 
 St Paul's street connects with St. Peter's before 
 the custom house, and stretches westward on the nar- 
 row strand between the cliff and bay, amid breweries, 
 distilleries, manufactories, and gas works, till it meets 
 (near the mouth of the St. Charles) St.' Joseph street, 
 the main artery of the suburb of St. Boch. 
 
 Here, since his restoration to liberty, Alfred Clif- 
 ford had resided and addressed himself to reforma- 
 tory work. He had established an agency for the hu- 
 mane purposes of ameliorating the condition of the 
 incarcerated, and to aid the liberated prisoners with 
 money, etc. 
 
 On his office walls were mottoes expressing humane 
 and reformatory sentiments.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 249 
 
 The object of Alfred Clifford, was to assist those 
 whom the law had forcibly restrained, and to ferret 
 out the mystery connected with his own loss of lib- 
 erty, now nearly one quarter of a century old. 
 
 " If the messenger returns to me void,' ' said Clif- 
 ford musingly, as he read a dispatch from Stratford, 
 stating that Vallette would arrive on the evening 
 train, "if he returns empty, shall I have courage to 
 continue this search further ? ' ' 
 
 This train of reasoning was broken by the arrival 
 of Vallette in advance of the hour announced. Bound- 
 ing into the office he said: 
 
 " Cheer up, old boy ! I have brought the meat in the 
 shell this time, and the domestic and obstetric secrets 
 of St. Elizabeth's Hospital for twenty-five years back. 
 I tell you there is just one chance that a certain wo- 
 man, who registered herself as a widow before her ac- 
 couchement, is the very party you are in search of; and 
 if so you are not only a husband but a father. The 
 dates agree with yours, and the description of the lady 
 tallies with that given me by the matron. I felt so 
 sure I had found your wife and child, that I could not 
 master emotions, but jumped out of my chair, clap- 
 ping my hands and exclaiming: 'It is the same one 
 and her name is Helena Clifford! ' ' Not so fast', said 
 the old crone, 'her name is registered in her own hand- 
 writing as Hector Astore.' "
 
 250 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 "Good God! " interrupted Clifford, "a more thaii 
 Soloman's riddle is solved. Helena Clifford and Hec- 
 tor Astore are one. In a tiff with one of the sweetest 
 girls in New York, I married the young widow of 
 Adrian Astore, and Hector was a name I coined my- 
 self and gave her, as descriptive of her waspish pro- 
 clivities. I postponed getting a divorce on account of 
 her delicate condition and the natural appeal to one's 
 sympathies of the innocent unborn. So much did I 
 fear ante-natal impressions, I exerted myself to humor 
 her caprices, making myself a very slave to her mad 
 jealousies, and neglecting business to coddle her 
 whims, thus guarding the fruit from blight up to 
 hour of its maturity. I yearn to know the career of 
 this woman and the fate of our child? For the one I 
 have only pity; for the other, a part of my being, 
 yearnings unspeakably tender. For I believe in hea- 
 ven's sweet law of compensations, and in this child I 
 may yet find the just reward for unjust suffering." 
 
 Vallette was a Canadian, and a born gentleman at 
 heart, and so touched with the pure spirit of the myr- 
 tered man before him, his rough hand secretely 
 brushed away the gathering tears of sympathy as he 
 replied: 
 
 " This is a copy I made from the old matron's reg- 
 ister, at the lying-in hospital." 
 
 Vallette read slowly his copy of the entries:
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 251 
 
 "St. Elizabeth's Hospital, 
 
 Stratford, Ontario, Canada, 
 
 June , 18. 
 
 Mrs. Hector Astore, widow of Adrian Astore, just 
 deceased, took refuge in her grief and unfortunate 
 condition this evening, for a quiet accouchement; 
 dressed like a Sister of Charity, wearing across her 
 forehead, a broad white band. 
 
 June 20. Mrs. Astore gave birth to a deformed 
 child; shocked the nurse in attendance by thrusting a 
 pouch of gold into her hands and beseeching her to 
 despatch the child at once for its own sake and hers, 
 and shut her lips upon the secret by accepting the 
 gold. Next day nurse reported to her patient the 
 errand and the woman rallied rapidly. Later on, it 
 transpired the nurse wrapped the bit of humanity in 
 its rich swaddling cloths, and placing the pouch of 
 gold in the package, laid the same on the doorstep of 
 one of the hospital surgeons whose wife had just been 
 confined, with the loss of her babe. The little stranger 
 was made welcome and thus saved from a violent 
 death. The woman was afterwards regarded with sus- 
 picion, but left as soon as recovered for New York. 
 
 The name of the physician in charge of the Hospi- 
 tal at that time was Doctor Sorronto; think he lives 
 in the suburb of St. Roch, near the city of Quebec. 
 Through him it may be possible to obtain the name 
 of the surgeon who adopted the child." 
 
 " St. Eoch," echoed Clifford. " I will find him be- 
 fore my head rests. It is God's good providence that
 
 252 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 places him so near. Do not look for me till I come, 
 as I may return by Stratford. The ball is easily un- 
 wound when one holds on to the end of the thread. 
 Remember your reward is near." 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Fate? Destiny? Or Birth-star? 
 
 Jehovah's plan? Or Adam's sharne? 
 It is all one, till death unbar 
 
 The evil door through which it came. 
 
 In Raphael's arabesques, genii spring out of the 
 flowers. So the souls of some beings seem to float 
 over their exteriors. Hugh Carlisle belonged to this 
 order of souls. Such natures are rarely understood. 
 It is a mistake to apply force to them. Their eyes 
 penetrate mysteries; their thoughts grasp life prob- 
 lems. Trust them; there is enough of God in them 
 to preserve them from the ways of death. The soft 
 belt of heaven's atmosphere is a sufficient moral res- 
 traint for them. 
 
 The moment Doctor Carlisle revealed to his son the 
 secret which had been locked in his own and his wife's 
 breast for over twenty years, that moment Hugh Car- 
 lisle was transformed into another being. Had their 
 idolized son been less dutiful, it would have been dan- 
 gerous. A statement of the truth of their position
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 253 
 
 and his was unavoidable, and though it shook the 
 stronghold of his manhood, his soul wrestled with it 
 as the giant oak wrestles with the tempest. 
 
 It was unwise to separate the affianced young peo- 
 ple. Not until the reception of Cecile's last letter 
 had Hugh Carlisle dreamed of the slumbering forces 
 within him. He would act instantly; not at the com- 
 mand of, but in consonance with his beloved father. 
 
 Having completed arrangements for his departure, 
 Hugh wrote a letter to Doctor and Mrs. Carlisle, 
 which is given in advance of posting. 
 
 Cambridge University. 
 MY DEAR FATHER AND MOTHER: 
 
 When this reaches you your son will be 
 speeding towards the Golden Gate. Filial love and 
 gratitude inspire individual efforts in his own behalf. 
 You shall be daily advised as to his movements, and 
 their results. That his course may not be deemed ec- 
 centric or eratic, he submits the following statements 
 and asks for the continuance of your love. Colonel 
 Veen's death is imminent. The financial ruin of his 
 family will speedily follow. Mrs. Veen is bound ove r 
 soul and body to the world and its vanities; and Ce- 
 cile, now that she has no longer the strong arm of 
 Stanley to lean upon, is helpless. Inaction on my 
 part would be unpardonable. The wicked persecution 
 of Pearl LaGrange continues. The most infamous 
 reports are in circulation ; falsehoods so monstrous it 
 seems as though the avenging hand of the Almighty
 
 254 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 must interfere. Can it be possible, as is averred, that 
 the first Mrs. Kellogg is the prime instigator in this 
 accursed plot for placing Pearl under the ban? You 
 say: "What can be done now that this lie has passed 
 the lips of the slanderer, and the causes set in opera- 
 tion which must go on until their force is spent?" 
 I say: stamp out this lie, no matter who gets bruised. 
 If mankind find that you have a heart, they will thrust 
 a spear into your side, and bathe the wound with vin- 
 egar. Can anyone professing Christ persecute a being 
 like Pearl, and then look Christ in the face? If I 
 have not loved the world, it is for such unchristly 
 things. By all that you deem sacred, your love for 
 me, and your faith in a destiny commensurate with 
 that love, by the hope of our future reunion, by every- 
 thing we share together, I adjure you to defend the 
 name and character of Pearl LaGrange. I embrace 
 you, sweet mother, and should we never meet again, 
 I shall honor and cherish you both forever. Farewell. 
 Faithfully, 
 
 Your son, 
 
 Hugh Carlisle. 
 
 The moon was setting. The winds seemed breath- 
 ing regretful adieus, as though the pains of parting 
 grew deep, and then the sorrowful strain wandered 
 away into the distance and sank into silence. 
 
 Ah, this was no mere leave-taking. It was the sob- 
 bing farewell to a vanished Paradise the lost Eden 
 of enchanted boyhood, which had ended as his work 
 in the world began.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 255 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVI. 
 
 If from their altitudes God's angels come 
 To see how heaven and earth together move, 
 
 It is with benedictions to the home 
 Of bliss domestic, born of weaded love. 
 
 " She has saved the life of my child, and may God 
 and his angels desert me if I do not warn her to-night 
 of this new scheme for her ruin! " and the eyes of the 
 noble looking lady flashed as she gathered her dark 
 mantle around her. She has passed out of her home, 
 and is treading the streets of St. Saul. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. True had recently been added to the 
 circles of St. Saul ; but no sooner had their household 
 goods been set in order, and the discovery made by 
 society that the ex-Governor and his fair lady had 
 captivated them and the young people of their family 
 with princely hospitalities, and those generous courte- 
 sies which make their way directly to the heart of a 
 stranger in a strange land, than they were set upon 
 by all the barking dogs of that purgatory of human 
 Curdom. 
 
 Entirely new, strange and startling to Mrs. True, 
 were the words that saluted her unwilling ears, she 
 who was born and bred in good society, and where 
 the privileges of association were governed by the nat- 
 ural laws of selection, had no more comprehension of
 
 256 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 being " put out of society," than she had of dropping 
 bodily out of the world. 
 
 First, came an insulting note from Mrs. Gangrene, 
 who felt it incumbent upon her starched ladyship, as 
 one of the self-appointed guardians of society, to warn 
 Mrs. True, she "being a stranger in St. Saul, etc., 
 etc.," of the penalty for associating with Mrs. ex-Gov- 
 ernor Kellogg, who was 'under the ban.' " 
 
 At first, the spirit of the lady rebelled against such 
 social tyranny; but finding resistance only cost the 
 mortification of being openly cut upon the street, and 
 suspiciously regarded by her neighbors, the disheart- 
 ened Mrs. True surrendered outwardly to the dictum 
 of the scandal mongers not, however, till the alarm 
 was sounded in her ears by the traitorous lips of the 
 ex-Governor's law student who, proving himself no 
 better than the fabled serpent, warmed upon the 
 hearth-stone of his benefactor, stung them both by 
 pronouncing the step a " necessity for the young la- 
 dies' sake." 
 
 And now let the reader take a peep with us into this 
 ostracised home and family circle, and see this pure 
 and lovely being, who is pronounced, with the empha- 
 sis of a fish-woman's scream, "under the ban." 
 
 If this cold word-picture does not touch your heart 
 with a divine pensiveness; if the howling mob who 
 cried "Crucify Him, Crucify Him!" does not haunt
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 257 
 
 your pillow afterwards, the life of Pearl LaGrange 
 had better never have seen the light. 
 
 It is six years since the demon has been supplanted 
 by the angel in the home at Terrace Hill. Ex-Gov- 
 ernor Kellogg now lived the quiet, unassuming life of 
 a private gentleman, exalted however for his attain- 
 ments, and in the zenith of his professional career as 
 a lawyer and statesman; his scholarship comprehend- 
 ing an extraordinary knowledge of the works of Shake- 
 speare, his popularity none the less, for all the mud 
 flung at them both by a woman's hand. 
 
 AVhen Cassius Kellogg married Pearl LaGrange, 
 a home of love and happiness with its wealth of quiet 
 comfort, which had so long been the dream of his 
 soul, was realized. Their marriage was the outward 
 symbol only of their perfectly united souls. True 
 love and devotion was the fountain upon which it fed, 
 and which had for the first time been unsealed in 
 their hearts. 
 
 Pearl set her creative brain and busy fingers to the 
 work of making a paradise out of a ruin. A fortune 
 had been squandered on fashion. It was Pearl's am- 
 bition to aid her husband in building another by those 
 wonderful reserves of power which seize upon every 
 fresh circumstance, as the bee the flower, the sculptor 
 the rude stone in which he sees the ideal image ; gath- 
 ering out of apparent nothingness productive material
 
 258 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 upon which to employ the hours. Her reward was to 
 see the eyes of the Governor light up with a peculiar 
 eloquence, and to hear him declare the every-day 
 surprises in the new home to be " like the reading of a 
 new page in the Arabian Nights." 
 
 " Wait till the upholsterer sends his bill around to 
 your office," Pearl would playfully respond; but the 
 bill never put in an appearance. 
 
 The Governor's was a great soul; and a strong 
 minded man does not fear to look up to her whom he 
 loves. Weak and vain men desire to keep wives on 
 their own level, fearing to be surpassed. Woman's 
 task is difficult. There is danger in the enervating 
 influence of constant intercourse which breathes over 
 him, as the moist air over the harp, inducing the 
 strings to relax. But in this, as in every other task 
 set before her, Pearl excelled other women. 
 
 The summer night was oppressively close, and all 
 of the windows and balconies at Terrace Hill were 
 thrown open. Ponto, a noble Newfoundland, lay 
 struggling with heat upon the porch, looking for all 
 the world more like an animated ebony rug, than the 
 great, honest-hearted sagacious brute that he was. 
 The faithful creature had taken his position where he 
 could hear the soft notes of his mistress' voice in con- 
 yersation with his master. 
 
 In the parlor the Governor and Pearl sat, he in the
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 259 
 
 arm chair, she on an ottoman at his feet, the guitar 
 between them. 
 
 " My love," said the Governor, " to-morrow is the 
 day set for my argument in the Koon case, and last 
 night I dreamed of fishing. I was hauling in the 
 shining denizens in numbers, which with me, you 
 know, is an infallible omen of good fortune." 
 
 "Good!" exclaimed Pearl. " I see my darling is a 
 trifle superstitious, too. Now take back what you said 
 when I made a raid upon the peacock feathers, bunches 
 of which stared ominously at me from every dark cor- 
 ner of this castle, when I came first to Terrace Hill. 
 Won't you dear? " and Pearl spreading out the palms 
 of her husband's hands, laid her face lovingly before 
 his gaze, where the light of the moon set it in a 
 halo, like the head of a saint. 
 
 "My soul's delight," said Governor Kellogg, "I'll 
 take back anything you please anything, love, but 
 the oath against this bestial thing, society. We'll 
 give them one more lance to prick their enmity on. 
 You shall be rich, love ! " 
 
 " No, dear," said Pearl. "Let us never be rich, 
 except as now, in our love for each other. If your 
 genius be rewarded with wealth, keep the fact from 
 me, unless you take me on its wings out of St. Saul 
 forever." 
 
 " Never. All other wishes are my law, but this.
 
 260 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 And though Seraphim thundered the request, and the 
 firmament quaked, my resolution would not break. 
 Why? Because of my soul's love for you. Would 
 you stamp falsehood with the seal of truth, and turn 
 this lie loose in pursuit of us, while we, like game, ran 
 on before their pack of yelping hounds? No com- 
 promise with liars, till heaven's emissaries armed 
 with truth overtake them, and they are made to bite 
 the dust." 
 
 Pearl never appreciated the nobleness of her hus- 
 band, or revered his genius more than at this moment. 
 The air was odorous with lilies, and to-night a bunch 
 "of tube roses had been added to Pearl's hair. These 
 had been tied to Ponto's neck with a note from Mrs. 
 True. During that lady's absence, her little child 
 had hung out of an upper story window, and was 
 about to lose its balance and be dashed upon the 
 stone pavement below. At that critical moment Mrs. 
 Kellogg's carriage came along. Pearl seeing the child's 
 danger alighted, flew up the staircase, seized the lit- 
 tle one and bore it in safety to the nurse, kissed it and 
 vanished. It was but an isolated instance among 
 a multitude of merciful acts this unselfish woman 
 was ever conferring upon human beings, and dumb 
 brutes. 
 
 Mrs. True is entitled to the reader's sympathy for 
 the position forced upon her. Her nature was impul-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 261 
 
 ' sive, and her errors were those of the head , rather 
 than of the heart. Clearly a victim of circumstances, 
 surrounded as by a band of highwaymen demanding 
 "unconditional surrender," she yielded, and reflected 
 afterwards upon her conduct. One course remained, 
 to repent and despise herself. Mrs. True availed her- 
 self of this privilege most heartily, though she neither 
 lent ears nor voice to the babbling tongues around 
 her. Better would it have been for her if she had 
 obeyed the voice of her heart. But greater souls than 
 hers have made mistakes. Her position was now de- 
 plorable. She was misunderstood and slandered by 
 society people who angled for the ex-Governor's smiles, 
 while playing the traitor and traducer to his wife. 
 
 Among these whited sepulchres was the new Gov- 
 ernor and his lady, who privately dined at the ex- 
 Governor's, and afterwards boasted of having taken 
 "a close carriage with curtains drawn in going to 
 and from the Kellogg mansion." 
 
 The tall lady in the mantle was no other than Mrs. 
 True, who, approaching the front entrance to the Kel- 
 logg mansion, opened the gate, and tying her handker- 
 chief around Ponto's neck, stood awaiting the result 
 of her stratagem. Strands of her daughter's long 
 braids had been eloquent messages of love before, and
 
 262 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 the dog trotted majestically into the house and up to 
 his mistress. 
 
 Supposing some one of the True family was hover- 
 ing about the premises, Mrs. Kellogg framed an ex- 
 cuse, and followed Ponto to her friend. 
 
 "For the love of heaven," said Mrs. True, "what 
 does Governor Kellogg mean by allowing your por- 
 trait to hang over the bar of a tippling saloon? " 
 
 " My portrait? " said Mrs. Kellogg. "I never had 
 one painted in my life. Who has seen it?" 
 
 " Everybody. That is, every gentleman in St. Saul, 
 and a number of ladies have been taken by their hus- 
 bands to look at it. It is beautifully executed. None 
 but on artist could have worked up the details; and 
 all pronounce the likeness accurate. The shoulders 
 are bare and just a hint of the fine bust below softly 
 swells the airy folds of drapery, and then it fades away 
 in clouds. Surely, surely Governor Kellogg has heard 
 of it?" 
 
 " Surely Governor Kellogg has not heard of it. 
 The town would not contain the volume of his wrath, 
 if he had," said Mrs. Kellogg. 
 
 "The Governor is at home, I presume 9 " inquired 
 Mrs. True. 
 
 "The Governor is always at home, after office 
 hours," laconically responded Mrs. Kellogg. 
 
 "He hates me!" said Mrs. True. "It is my just
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 283 
 
 deserts. But some day, Mrs. Kellogg, lie shall know 
 my course of action was not false in any sense. I am 
 no Judas, and Peter was forgiven, you know; and I 
 shall be perhaps not now, nor here but it will come 
 as surely as God's angels answer prayer. I'll wring 
 forgiveness from his heart, though it may be a flower 
 dropped from his hand upon my grave. But heed 
 me; my errand is not selfish. I came expressly for 
 your sake. The Governor surely errs in dealing with 
 these people in such a lofty way. Were they his 
 equals socially, silent contempt would long ago have 
 shut their mouths and proved you as you are, both 
 white and innocent; but meaner souls are flattered by 
 it and claim to have shut the door of social intercourse 
 against you, which your own proud hands have closed. 
 Now he must raise his heel and crush this serpent's 
 head. The picture! yours! Think where it hangs to- 
 night, a full blaze burning in its face, for every rounder 
 to sling his smut at" 
 
 " Yes, I see," said Mrs. Kellogg. " The locality of 
 the picture is what has suggested this stupendous fab- 
 rication. Here it is in epitome: a woman's picture; 
 a saloon. That's quite a fruitful subject with the at- 
 tachment of my name, since their favorite appellation 
 for me is ' the drunkard's daughter,' you know," and 
 Mrs. Kellogg gave an amiable little laugh. 
 
 " I will give the Governor the facts, and he can re-
 
 264 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 move the fiction, if he chooses," said Mrs. Kellogg 
 rather cavalierly. 
 
 " Then, please tell him instantly," said Mrs. True. 
 " Here is the address of the saloon keeper, where the 
 portrait hangs this moment in a blaze of light over 
 the name of Pearl LaGrange. I go." 
 
 Both ladies moved quickly in opposite directions, 
 and both were intensely thoughtful. One, glad in her 
 heart that her errand had been executed well; the 
 other with a sense of injured innocence. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXVIII. 
 
 The foulest murder is the coward's crime, 
 Who slays a fellow being with his tongue. 
 
 "Life for a life!" cries Justice ruling time; 
 So villians live and only men are hung. 
 
 ";If thou dost slander her, never pray more; 
 
 On horrors head, horrors accumulate ; 
 
 Do deeds to make heaven weep, all earth amazed, 
 
 For nothing can'st thou to damnation add, greater than this." 
 
 A pistol shot followed this quotation, and a tall 
 man fell to the floor of the saloon. 
 
 A vociferous company shouted " Murder! " " Shoot 
 him down! " Who is the braggart? " " Call the po- 
 lice!" and other exclamations, in keeping with the 
 locality."
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 265 
 
 The next moment a gentleman of commanding 
 appearance stepped forward, waved the roughs back, 
 and said: 
 
 " If a mad dog passes along your streets, snapping 
 at all who come in his path, the man who shoots him 
 down is a public benefactor, he has saved precious 
 lives. But when a human cur circulates your thorough- 
 fares, his lips saturated with the poison of slander, 
 his tongue a two-edged sword, wounding the helpless 
 beings in his path, slaying character recklessly, you 
 toast and cheer him, and the man who strikes him 
 down you call a murderer! " 
 
 Here some one in the crowd called out, " Give us a 
 rest, and give the preacher a drink." 
 
 The stranger turning to the saloon keeper said: 
 
 " You will oblige me by taking down the lady's por- 
 trait at once. I have defended her name, and I de- 
 mand possession of this picture." 
 
 " Ha ! So the lady has a defender ? " 
 
 " Be careful sir ! I've one arm left, and it will not 
 be spared in the defence of purity!" 
 
 The saloon keeper cowered before the determined 
 gaze fixed upon him, and said: 
 
 " Don't be touchy; I meant no harm. What aston- 
 ished me was to see young Evans, the crack shot tum- 
 ble at the ruffle of a feather or two. Why see here, 
 boss," and the liquor- vender's voice quivered, "you've
 
 266 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 got sand. How much will you ask to knock out that 
 dude again? I see he's come to." 
 
 "I am not a bully sir, and that was a most cowardly 
 assault he made upon me. However the wound car- 
 ries no shame with it," and the stranger, lifting his 
 arm slowly and with pain, revealed to the amazement 
 of all, a sleeve full of blood. 
 
 " Well I'll be d d! " said the saloon man, " if he 
 
 didn't try the carving act on you. How much of that 
 Indian war paint can you spare? You don't look very 
 blushing around the gills." 
 
 "See here," broke in the stranger, "just knot this 
 handkerchief where I have wound it; tight, please; 
 and give me the picture. After I've seen a surgeon I 
 will settle with you." 
 
 " I can't do it, boss. The artist who painted that 
 picture is in need of her money, and unless you are 
 flush, you cannot get the picture. Besides a case of 
 jewels goes with the little lady." And the gin mill 
 keeper held up a plush casket, the uniqueness of 
 which struck the gentleman as familiar, yet he could 
 not recall the circumstances which left the impression 
 upon his memory. 
 
 " How did you get those jewels? " said he. " They 
 are identical. Great God! How many more sins has 
 she to answer f or ? "
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 267 
 
 "She has sinned then, has she? Ha! ha! I 
 thought so. Here boss, take a drink with me. " 
 
 " I've no time to chaffer with you. Surrender the 
 picture; I will settle with you to-morrow. Here is 
 my name and address." The gentleman looked faint. 
 
 "Wait a bit." said the rum seller. " Here comes 
 Governor Kellogg. I'll have a high bid now, as sure 
 as black cats bring money." 
 
 The stranger dropped into a wooden settle, lean- 
 ing his head against the bar, saying: "Thank God!" 
 and closed his eyes. 
 
 At this juncture there was a general stampede for 
 the door, and the saloon was emptied of its surplus 
 human filth. 
 
 Governor Kellogg, apparently oblivious to his sur 
 roundings, walked rapidly towards the picture, upon 
 which his eyes were fastened with an expression of 
 intense eagerness. 
 
 "A fine evening, Governor," said the saloon keeper, 
 with purring suavity. 
 
 " I believe you have on exhibition here a portrait 
 painted by my sister, which was carried off with the 
 entire lining of my house, years ago. Let me assist 
 you in taking it down." 
 
 " No, I'm obliged to you. You shall see how my 
 lady tumbles to the racket when a gentleman comes 
 along who has the stamps to order her down."
 
 268 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 " Yes," said Governor Kellogg, after a careful ex- 
 amination of the painting, " here are my sister's ini- 
 tials." 
 
 " I see," and as the painter is a poor relation of 
 yours, you wont mind taking brilliants and all, will 
 you?" and the box of jewels was flung upon the 
 counter. 
 
 "How came this casket in your possession? " 
 
 "Why, from the painter herself your sister! " 
 
 " Hell's sister! And this is the Devil's conscience- 
 fund!" said the Governor; and he placed his hand 
 to his forehead. " Wrap them up with the portrait." 
 
 " Not so fast, young fella. I have promised the 
 painter that this lady and her jewels shall not go till 
 the ' dust ' is laid down." 
 
 " I prefer peace to war, but having come here to 
 reclaim stolen property, this portrait will go out with 
 me, if I have to walk over dead bodies." Here a deep 
 groan startled both. 
 
 " I forgot that young man. I guess he's croaked." 
 He raised the head of the wounded man, just as the 
 Governor looked around. 
 
 " Stanley Yeen! Murdered! " said the Governor, as 
 he collared the saloon keeper, "who has done this 
 deed? " 
 
 * 5 
 
 "Now don't get excited. His pulse is beating; he 
 has only fainted from loss of blood," and the saloonist
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 269 
 
 recounted the altercation had over the portrait 
 which resulted in the shot and secret stab, while he 
 enlarged upon the plucky spirit displayed by the 
 wounded man. 
 
 There was an awful earnestness in the face of the 
 Governor during the preparations for moving Stanley 
 to his home, which awed the brute nature he was 
 dealing with into a dogged silence. When he saw the 
 portrait and jewels moving out, he did venture to ex- 
 postulate. 
 
 " Send your confederate in this villainous business 
 to me. I'll settle the bill," and the horses were lashed 
 into impetuous speed towards Terrace Hill. 
 
 An hour later, and Stanley Veen's head was resting 
 under the hospitable roof of his dearest earthly friends. 
 As the morning light was breaking, Pearl approached 
 and gazed on the fine face, which still bore traces of 
 the storm that had swept over it the night before. 
 
 " For me," she said, tenderly kissing the pale hands. 
 
 " For us, love," said the Governor. " It will be re- 
 markable if he recovers." 
 
 There was a long pause. Then said Pearl: 
 
 " If Stanley should go away so early, what a tragic 
 solemnity his history would wear. So good, so loved, 
 and yet unappreciated. Departing without the laurel- 
 crown which he has won." 
 
 " Remember, we do not see behind the scenes in
 
 270 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 these life-tragedies. Perhaps, when the play is done, 
 we shall! " answered the Governor. 
 
 The physician entered. 
 
 " The Governor has telegraphed for Cecile. Can 
 we keep Stanley alive till she comes?" asked Pearl. 
 
 " God's ways are wonderful," replied the surgeon, 
 "and we will try." 
 
 CHAPTEK XXVIII. 
 
 Truth, peerless daughter of the skies, 
 When struck to earth again shall rise ; 
 And falsehood, though all meanly born 
 The whelp of sin, crime, hate and scorn 
 Hath a tenaciousness to live, 
 To war with heaven, and seem to thrive ; 
 
 For, tho' a Sampson slay a lie, 
 
 And stamp it in the dust where slain, 
 Or blow the atoms to the sky 
 
 Planets apart, each separate grain 
 Like Bancho's ghost, it shall return 
 
 To walk the earth with tirelesss tread, 
 While on its altars Truth must burn 
 
 With crimson shame, till wrong is dead. 
 
 Hector Astore, the evil genius, has been living for 
 some months incognito at St. Saul. Success had 
 crowned her efforts to place her fair successor "under 
 the ban," and this emboldened her to the commission 
 of the last mad act in the drama of her shameless 
 career, the desecration of Pearl's portrait.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 271 
 
 It has been said of woman, when given over to a 
 reprobate life, that she plunges "cross-lots" to Hell. 
 
 The illustrious Hector was by no means an excep- 
 tion to the rule. 
 
 When night pitched her tent of darkness, another 
 shadow, tall, thin and malignant, glided along the 
 familiar paths of Terrace Hill. 
 
 Attired in black, with a scowl drawn over her face, 
 she approached so near the persons of Pearl and her 
 husband as to breathe the very atmosphere of their 
 words, causing her to be tortured by the demon Jea- 
 lousy. 
 
 At such perilous hours, Pearl, unconsciously to her- 
 self, deterred the wretch from accomplishing her 
 terrible wishes; just as lives are guarded by guardian 
 angels. 
 
 In the garden, on the terrace or shaded lawn, where- 
 ever this menacing horror shadowed her, Pearl in- 
 stinctively shuddered, and for that night, at least, the 
 frolic was over, and the house put on the defensive 
 against house-breakers. 
 
 It may seem strange that the peaceful and beautiful 
 lives of the inmates at Terrace Hill did not have a 
 moral effect upon the circle of shallow minds around 
 them. Every Sabbath morning for Pearl was no fair 
 weather Christian the handsome wife of Governor 
 Kellogg walked through the proud aisles of St. Mark's
 
 272 A SOCIAL CONSPIEACY. 
 
 to her niche of prayer. There only could she be seen 
 unaccompanied by her husband; and there alone 
 the observed of all observers she bowed low her 
 beautiful head among her revilers, persecutors and 
 slanderers; and there her enemies armed them- 
 selves anew against her, while kneeling beside her at 
 the Lord's table, where we are warned of the spirit in 
 which we partake of the sacred emblems of Christ's 
 body and blood, either "worthily, or to our damnation." 
 
 When their Christian (?) spite lapsed into apathy, 
 Hector Astore returned to St. Saul and renewed the 
 fire under her witch-cauldron with "the story of the 
 portrait," a libel unmatched since the story of the 
 necklace in the sad life of Marie Antoinette. 
 
 A profound sensation was created when the Rector 
 read the following letter of resignation from Mrs. 
 Roland Clifford, the recognized saint and pillar, and 
 last, but by no means least in the mercenary judg- 
 ment of the church the millionaire's wife: 
 
 To the REV. DR. CARROLL, 
 
 Rector of St. Mark's, 
 And to his followers, the prof essed Christians (?) 
 
 Of the Church of St. Mark's 
 Greeting: 
 
 Having for twenty-five years labored, and shared 
 the privileges and blessings in common among you as 
 a true church of the Lord Jesus, and feeling now 
 conscientiously called upon to sever this relation for-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 273 
 
 ever, inasmuch as my work is no longer crowned with 
 God's blessing, I wish to set forth " with charity for 
 all and malice toward none " my sincere reasons for 
 so doing. 
 
 My prayer to God has ever been that I might be 
 shown the "beam in my own eye," before being able 
 to discover "the mote in the eye of my brother," and 
 charitably, and lovingly and mercifully to judge all 
 men, knowing that all that is mortal is fallible and 
 sinful, and that there are neither better nor worse 
 people within than without the churches, but that all 
 are the children of God and alike responsible to him 
 according to their light, or the number of talents com- 
 mitted to their trust. That the spirit of love is the 
 only spirit to exercise in the dealing, one with another, 
 either in the church, or among the world's people. 
 That I have observed with deep sorrow of heart the 
 rapid evolution of this church from the Lord's vine- 
 yard into the Devil's workshop! That I have only 
 commiseration for those who have suffered this un- 
 holy outrage and joined hands and tongues with those 
 who have perpetrated and sanctioned its commission. 
 For years the sorrow has been secretly laid before 
 God in fervent prayer and burning ecstacy of faith, 
 that He would pour out his spirit of love upon this 
 people and show them the enormity of their wicked- 
 ness, but as in the days of Pharoah, the people seemed 
 to harden their hearts more and more, and the blessing 
 to be deferred by Divine displeasure. I then individ- 
 ualized my work. I drew up a writing upon which I 
 desired the ladies of the church to act by appending
 
 274 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 their own signatures thereto. The writing read as 
 follows: "We, the undersigned, having witnessed for 
 a term of years the world's scandalous persecution 
 of our young sister in the church Mrs. Pearl La 
 Grange Kellogg noting in all these years the Christly 
 spirit she has displayed towards her enemies, the con- 
 sistency of her church walk, her social and domestic 
 virtues, do believe she has been most grossly and 
 cruelly wronged, and propose henceforth to call upon 
 her, and take her into full fellowship, in public and 
 private, and God helping us, to frown down slander, 
 the moral and social leper infecting the society of St. 
 Saul, from this hour, henceforth and f orevermore ! " 
 That I gave my personal attention and time entirely 
 to this matter through the working hours of many days, 
 carrying the same before my God in prayer at night, 
 for His blessing; interviewing every lady member, 
 from the Pastor's down to the Sexton's wife, without 
 as you know, obtaining one signature! And that I 
 denounce such a church of God as "A whited se- 
 pulchre, which, indeed, appeareth beautiful outwardly, 
 but within is full of dead men's bones, and of all un- 
 cleanness," and that I leave them with the words of 
 the Saviour, in Mathew 23 33, as pronounced by Him 
 against this and all other great shams erected in His 
 name. 
 
 ZlBIAH KlCHERSON CLIFFORD, 
 
 400 Tipton Ave., St. Saul.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 275 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIX. 
 
 The mystic warnings in the loom of fate, 
 The baffling snarls, the worn and knotted thread 
 
 Patience, O soul! The hour is not too late, 
 Love lives. And hope, fair hope, is not yet dead. 
 
 The sun had made the golden circle of the day, and 
 strata of gorgeous clouds massed themselves along the 
 western horizon. 
 
 The winds were still, and the river basked in the 
 brilliant reflections of the dying day. 
 
 The elegant world had finished its evening toilet, 
 and was ready to see and to be seen, to hear and be 
 heard, to shine and behold, all smiling and gay, the 
 crowds of careless souls sauntering in slip-shod ease 
 through the flowery vistas of Circle Park. 
 
 Therewas a fresh sensation in St. Saul. A mon- 
 ster, had suddenly risen out of a sea of flowers. Tak- 
 ing up its position in the public park, it challenged 
 alike the stupid and the wiseacres, until curiosity 
 reached a high pitch. 
 
 Old men shook their heads and cried, "Lunatic! " 
 and young men dismissed the puzzle with similar ep- 
 ithets directed at its projector, Doctor Carlisle, who 
 was supposed to have been crazed by the unfilial con- 
 duct of his only son, who fan away from college, jilted 
 the daughter of Col. Veen, and had not been seen or.
 
 276 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 heard of in six years. This and many other false 
 stories were circulated in connection with the oriental 
 image. 
 
 Doctor Carlisle having retired from practice, was 
 rarely to be met in public; and was branded in society 
 as "cranky." Both he and his wife had dropped out 
 of the social world. 
 
 Now their names were upon every lip, and the doc- 
 tor was besieged day and night by newspaper repor- 
 ters, but he declined to be interviewed, referring curi- 
 ous people to the following, announced by the Sphinx: 
 
 "THE MYSTEKY! 
 
 A LIFE DRAMA! 
 
 For one night only, at the new Lecture room of St. 
 Marks', in St. Saul, Nov. 8, 18. 
 
 The best talent has been engaged, and neither 
 money, time or effort has been spared in perfecting 
 the play. There will be grand orchestral and scenic 
 effects, so that the interest from the opening to the 
 closing scene will be such as has never before en- 
 gaged the attention of a cultured audience. 
 Under the sole management of 
 
 Louis CARLISLE, M. D." 
 
 "Lay not that flattering unction to your soul, 
 
 That not your trespass, but my madness, speaks." 
 
 SHAK. 
 
 The date having thus been fixed, there remained 
 but thirty days of suspense before the sanity or in-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 277 
 
 sanity of Doctor Louis Carlisle would be established. 
 
 No preparations were visible beyond the selling of 
 the tickets, which were rapidly disposed of the capacity 
 of the building alone limiting the number. 
 
 To the long-tongued Louisa, Doctor Carlisle owed 
 much of his daily increasing fame as "an accomplished 
 wizard, erudite in witch-craft." He was expected to 
 give not only the dramatic phases of stage-struck 
 lunacy, but to perform " feats of jugglery known only 
 to the Canadian conjuror." The extravaganza would 
 include a bird's eye view of Stanley Veen's Utopia, 
 mounted on the spine of a lonely cactus springing 
 from the jaws of a cave overlooking the verdureless 
 shores of Olmira Bay also a touching picture of "the 
 prodigal son, feeding on husks in a foreign land to 
 gratify an inherited mania for travel, while his father's 
 unlimited wealth enabled him to run a private lunatic 
 asylum in the home for himself and stricken wife, 
 and to people the stage with animated vagaries for 
 the amusement of a community thus tolerant of lunacy 
 and liberty." As for herself she had "rather miss 
 attending her own wedding than fail to witness the 
 debut of the gifted lune," hearty laughter representing 
 to the spinster much additional adipose tissue for her 
 scrawny anatomy. 
 
 So the condescending Louisa, since the credentials 
 of wealth gave " prestige" to the affair, had already
 
 278 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 engaged a private box (a pew) near the stage, and for 
 her guest's sake, facing the one to be occupied by ex- 
 Governor Kellogg and his lady. 
 
 Miss Tonguewort had given out to her intimates 
 who were careful to spread the news, that her circle of 
 virgins would be sandwiched upon this occason by a 
 lady friend from San Diego, " the traveled and cul- 
 tured widow of the late Col. Astore." 
 
 It was not suspected that the guest was the once 
 honored mistress of Terrace Hill. 
 
 The "Widow Astore" paid little attention to the all- 
 absorbing theme furnished by the announcement of 
 the forthcoming play, but busied herself in secret 
 concoctions for dealing a complete and final blow to 
 "the rivals of her watch." 
 
 Had the ghost of her past life arisen before this 
 unhappy woman and revealed to her that in the ren- 
 dition of "The Mystery" her lethargic conscience, 
 yet capable of one more death-throe, would be awak- 
 ened; that the pit she had dug for another was about 
 to open at her feet; such was her inward sense of 
 guilt, and such her moral cowardice she would have 
 met death speedily at her own, hands. 
 
 "Hearts of Oak" was upon the boards at St. Saul, 
 and the Park was soon deserted by the fashionable 
 citizens for the Opera House. 
 
 Doctor Carlisle, meeting the Governor and Pearl at
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 279 
 
 the foot of the grand entrance, remarked to the Gov- 
 ernor: 
 
 "I have been in quest of you all day. Did you suc- 
 ceed in rinding the Durant affidavit? " 
 
 "I did; but it was owing to the good memory of my 
 wife," said the Governor. The incident at the time 
 impressed me, but was erased from my memory. I 
 should not have recognized the paper but for Pearl. 
 I will see that you have it at an early hour to-mor- 
 row." 
 
 " That will do. I am obliged to you both. Good 
 night! " and the Doctor hurried home. 
 
 I said home. The name had been a misnomer since 
 Hugh's departure. 
 
 " What if he returns again to-night, without news?" 
 said the doctor's wife, shuddering to think what a 
 shadow she had made of herself grieving for the loss 
 of that presence which, from the cradle, had been to 
 her a consolation. " Who comes? Those footsteps 
 are too quick, too light to bear a heart of lead, and 
 there is no good news in all the world, unless it comes 
 from Hugh!" said she, meeting her husband at the 
 door. 
 
 "Ah, little wife," said he, throwing both arms 
 around her, " this sitting up so late will never do. 
 If you do not show more respect for my professional 
 advice, I shall have to appoint a guardian over you,
 
 280 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY 
 
 at least for the next thirty days," and the genial hus- 
 band drew a letter from his pocket and tapped his 
 wife's cheek with it. 
 
 "O Louis! A letter? And it is from our darling? 
 Tell me, does he live? My blessed Hugh? " 
 
 " Live," laughed the Doctor. " His life is more a 
 reality than yours or mine, for he has youth; and if 
 I have not lost the gift of prophecy, his life will soon 
 take on new attributes. 
 
 Doctor Carlisle tenderly laid her upon the sofa, and 
 proceeded to read the letter: 
 
 Iturbide Hotel, Mexico City, Sept. 20, 18 . 
 My Dear Parents : 
 
 Seven years have brought many experiences. 
 
 It was an evening in September; myself and com- 
 panion came on horseback, at the close of a beautiful 
 twilight, upon some Indian fishers encamped among 
 the bushes on the west shore of Olmira Bay. Some 
 giant Pitahallas stood near by. 
 
 Under one of these we unsaddled. A fire of dried 
 cactus was blazing. It marked and lighted the en- 
 campment. Three or more dogs, a goat or two, some 
 sheep, two women, a large boy and several children, 
 made the group "at home." 
 
 The dogs growled. Nothing else apparently noticed 
 our arrival. Nothing was said to us; we said nothing 
 to anything. Fish were hanging from the Mesquite 
 trees. The flesh of the green sea turtle, cut in strips,
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 281 
 
 was dangling from the arms of Hechos.* Many shells 
 of the turtle were lying around. Some served for 
 seats; others held salt and fish and one was used for 
 a cradle. 
 
 We were tired. "Within a few minutes we were 
 stretched in our blankets in front of and near to the 
 fire. The burning fagots were company. They 
 cheered us. The temperature, after sun down, on 
 this shore is cool even in summer. It was a quaint 
 and novel experience this, my first evening at Olmira. 
 
 The mute indifference of those Indian fishers made 
 a deep impression. I shudder in recalling their 
 silence. They moved from fire to bush, from shell into 
 darkness, stepping over or near, but never noticing us. 
 Did we to them actually exist? Could it be that we 
 were invisible? Were we no more than shadows? 
 
 I watched the toads as they hopped close to the fire 
 to catch the insects which, by venturing too near the 
 flames, burned their wings and fell helpless victims at 
 the edge. The toads, the insects, the animals, the 
 Indians, the fire, the giant cacti, the beautiful mes- 
 quites and the stars over all I see them now as then, 
 a wierd and mottled grouping a primeval pastoral 
 scene, sketched in the light and shadow, amidst the 
 flame and smoke of a camp fire, at dusk in Sinaloa, 
 Mexico. 
 
 These Indians were Mayos. They are a tall, ath- 
 letic race. Their pueblos are mostly in the valley of 
 the Kio Mayo, in Sonora to the north. They keep 
 intact their tribal, community life; hold their lands 
 
 *A giant species of cactus, taller than the pitahalla, but not 
 so strong nor so good a fruit producer.
 
 282 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 in common, and engage mostly in pastoral and agri- 
 cultural pursuits. Those who wander away from their 
 villages do chores for the Mexicans of the Eio Fuerte 
 and Eio Sinaloa valleys, or work in the mines of the 
 Sierra Madre, directly east. 
 
 The language of the Mayos is the Maya. This was 
 that of the great Mazapan nation which, in prehistoric 
 times, filled Yucatan, Campeche, Oaxaca and Chiapas 
 with cities larger and stronger than any of modern 
 times in Europe or elsewhere. 
 
 What were the attractions to encourage the diversi- 
 fication of home industries necessary to build and 
 adorn and furnish such vast and solid cities like Aske, 
 Uxmeal, Mitla and Palamque? What were the injus- 
 tices practiced by those in power, which eventually 
 bemeaned, degraded and enraged the people who 
 built those cities so that they razed them to the 
 ground, obliterated this nation from the earth and 
 forced the few families which survived the general 
 conflict to become wanderers to the North and West? 
 What exposures, trials and vicissitudes have combined 
 to reduce those survivors of that once great and 
 marked civilization to a state of primeval wretched- 
 ness, from which their ancestors, thousands of years 
 before, had climbed to an eminent degree of culture 
 and refinement? 
 
 How true it is that men and women owe everything 
 to the conditions which surround them. Like the 
 chameleon, it is those things which they live on and 
 with which they surround themselves which give to 
 them their tints and shades. Exposures, denials and
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 283 
 
 discomforts distort, and make men and women savage. 
 Diverse occupations, attractions and ease influence 
 persons to become thinking, progressive and respon- 
 sible beings. Thus musing, I fell asleep. 
 
 It may have been midnight, when I was awakened. 
 The fire was smouldering. The moon had climbed 
 above the mountains and had thrown a soft light over 
 the camp. There were foot steps and the breaking of 
 twigs. An Indian came through the bushes from the 
 beach with a turtle on his shoulder. He let it fall to 
 the ground. It flopped violently. The Indian turned 
 it on its back. It was quieted. He was a fisher just 
 returned from the outer bay. He put a fish upon the 
 live coals, seated himself upon a turtle shell, turned 
 the fish once and when it was browned and steaming 
 he took off the skin and scales (as one skins an eel) 
 and, thus prepared, he ate it. After this he placed a 
 peccari skin over the breast plate of a turtle, threw 
 himself on top of both and, with a turtle shell for a 
 pillow and his feet upon a sleeping dog, he was in a 
 few minutes afterwards breathing heavily. 
 
 We had traveled many days through wilderness and 
 over swollen rivers in search of this out-of-way and 
 little known bay. Our curiosity was keen to see the 
 water and to investigate our surroundings. All was 
 quiet. We stole from our blankets and went through 
 the bushes to the beach. What a night. What a 
 panorama. There was Olmira an inland sea. Moun- 
 tains rose directly from out of the water to the east 
 and south. Ripples played on the edge of the coming 
 in tide and a dug-out was lying far up on the shore.
 
 284 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 We stood motionless, nor changed our position, prob- 
 ably for the best part of an hour, so riveted were we 
 by the scene and its perfect quiet. 
 
 We could not distinguish an outlet to the gulf. 
 The mountains in front apparently joined those to the 
 right without a break. The straits, which Stanley 
 since named "Joshua," and "OlmiraBay" proper, 
 were hidden from view in the center of high, pictur- 
 esque mountains to the south. To the north and east 
 stretched a level plain of grass and chapparal. 
 
 The night, the stillness, the expanse of mountain- 
 locked water, the circumstance of my coming, the hope 
 Stanley had to here find a harbor, combined to make 
 the occasion one of impressiveness to me, an impres- 
 siveness which I always more or less feel when I am 
 on that bay or in its vicinage. If the morning should 
 discover a deep and safe channel to the Gulf of Cali - 
 fornia, then here (decided Stanley at that midnight, 
 hour) is the site for a great metropolitan city; on 
 that water, now without a sail, will one day come the 
 ships of every nation; on this plain will dwell happy 
 families; the Australasian will crowd to this shore to 
 be welcomed by the European, who shall come in train 
 from the Atlantic seaboard, over plateaux and across 
 sierras. 
 
 As we stood and afterwards strolled upon the beach 
 these thoughts grew into fancies. We pictured the 
 shipping lying at anchor, saw the flags of many na- 
 tions, heard the striking of the city clocks, looked at 
 the stone quays shaded by palm trees and ornamented 
 by tropical plants and flowers, listened to the birds
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 285 
 
 singing within the courts of the Moorish houses and 
 only awakened from the trance and returned to our 
 blankets after the dawn had tinged the eastern hor- 
 izon. 
 
 Before the sun peeped over the mountains that day 
 ihe camp was astir. The big boy had taken fish and 
 ^turtle flesh on the ends of a stick, a la Chinese, and 
 (trotted away to the settlements on the Rio Fuerte. 
 We had some difficulty to persuade the Indian fisher 
 [to take us in his canoe for a day's explorations. We 
 &ot off, however, during the early forenoon; paddled 
 [close to Pintocahui, a turtle-shaped island which lies 
 a mile east by south of Mapan Hill; passed through 
 She straits, since called "Joshua," and around Mumu- 
 [Bahul Island into Olmira Bay proper, from where we 
 paw the Farallon de San Ignacio standing guard at 
 Ihe entrance to the gulf. 
 
 Everything we examined combined to impress us 
 prith the importance of these straits and bays for a 
 feafe, deep and extensive anchorage. The scenic at- 
 tractions were grand and picturesque. The advanta- 
 ges of the north shore of the straits for commercial 
 purposes were unique. Stone quays and piers could 
 |>e built there quicker and cheaper than at any deep 
 srater front I had ever examined. 
 * I well remember how abundant and in -how many 
 Varieties the fish were; how they jumped in schools 
 from the channel, and how pretty they looked among 
 fiie sea-growths and rocks, in the deep water near the 
 shores. 
 
 How astonished I was at the tameness of the birds.
 
 286 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 The pelicans, the snipes, the flamingoes, the blue 
 herons, the ibis and the fish hawks did not seem to 
 mind our presence any more than the Indians did the 
 night before. I noticed many smaller birds little 
 warblers, and heard some, about the size of our cat 
 bird, sing in the bushes which covered the hills and 
 presented varieties of flowers that I had never seen 
 before, and I can now see afar the great swallow- 
 tailed hawks as they soared, far above mountains, 
 over the bay, in the clear blue firmament which cano- 
 pies this region most days of the year. 
 
 That night as I rested on my blanket and looked 
 into the glowing embers of the camp-fire, my thoughts 
 recalled the excitements, the surprises of the day, and 
 my eye followed the smoke as it curled up over the 
 bushes and into the darkness, and my fancy formed 
 with the smoke a model city, an inter-oceanic railroad 
 and a Pacific merchant fleet. 
 
 The second day on the shores of Olmira was passed 
 partly on horseback and partly on foot, in examining 
 the site for a city, and the approaches to the best 
 front for commercial purposes. We went from Mapan 
 to what has since become familiar as Shield's Burr 
 Ridge, through Roger's and over Perkins' to Harbor 
 Pass. Here, on the north shore of the straits, now 
 "Joshua," we located, in our minds, the great quays 
 and piers the shipping front of the metropolis to be. 
 My companion passed the day sounding the channels 
 in Olmira. 
 
 Stanley was satisfied. I was more than convinced; 
 I was enchanted with the idea that this was the place,
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 287 
 
 the best of all on the western coast of Mexico, for a 
 great port. Nature had assuredly made here a great 
 harbor. Enterprise would establish a great port; and 
 a port having the geographical and the immediate 
 back-country resources possessed by Olmira, would at- 
 tract the exchanges of the earth. 
 
 As we rode away that evening I felt that the fancies 
 of our first and second nights on the shores of Olmira 
 Bay would some day be more than realized. I settled 
 that from that time on I would never rest until Olmira 
 became "a household word" among commercial peo- 
 ple; until the two republics of North America had 
 utilized the advantages and Olmira had become a fa- 
 vorite place to exchange for the nations of the world. 
 
 And now, my adored ones, what shall I say of the 
 prospective drama, the conception of which is another 
 revelation to me of my father's genius, under the 
 stress of untoward circumstances? It seems to me 
 like the careful work of a conscientious scientist, who 
 is highly qualified, after years of experimentation, to 
 make an unerring choice of the ripe materials in his 
 hands, and whose success is as assured (in advance of 
 the trial) as is the conservation of the globe and 
 human life to meet the hour. 
 
 In taking the role of the "Wanderer," I shall re- 
 quire none of the disguises you mention no meta- 
 morphoses of the stage to prevent being recognized 
 by an audience in St. Saul. 
 
 You must remember a seven years exile makes me 
 a stranger in St. Saul ; add to this the fact that I have 
 not used a razor since I left college, and you will com-
 
 288 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 preliend the great change in my personal appearance. 
 Nothing perplexes me at this writing but the wonder- 
 ful riddle of the "Sphinx," which you claim is your 
 special privilege to keep until the last act of " The 
 Mystery." Be it so, and rest assured, there is noth- 
 ing in the astral turning point of destiny for me, 
 nothing in the outcome of evolving events nor in 
 heaven or earth, or fires within her bosom, that can 
 break the indissoluble tie which knits our lives in 
 kindred love. 
 
 Your Devoted Son, 
 
 HUGH. 
 
 " The Angel of Sleep will come to-night," said Mrs. 
 Carlisle, as she sank into her husband's arms, and pil- 
 lowed her head upon his faithful breast. 
 
 ****** 
 
 If Doctor Carlisle had been en rapport with the 
 elements, and ordered the evening in advance, he 
 could not have had a more auspicious night for the 
 rendition of his play. 
 
 The cultured world of St. Saul was out in full even- 
 ing attire, hastening towards the imposing edifice 
 from whose windows the lights flashed far out into 
 the night, like so many fire-tongues, announcing their 
 illuminating agency in the unravelment of "The 
 Mystery." 
 
 The lecture room had been engaged by Doctor 
 Carlisle, and closed to the public for a number of 
 days. To add to the furore of curiosity the Sphinx
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 289 
 
 had disappeared from the park. On the previous 
 evening lights had been seen to twinkle from the eyes 
 and mouth of the monster, and a party of midnight 
 strollers declared that a carriage, or the phantom of 
 one, -was seen to enter the park from Tanglewood 
 pike, and two persons a lady and a gentleman- 
 alighted before the Sphinx, and one of them was de- 
 voured, as only her companion reentered the carriage, 
 which was driven away with the speed of the wind. 
 
 Thus " The Mystery" had maintained the integrity 
 of its name. Neither Doctor Carlisle nor his artists 
 had appeared upon the street, and in the absence of 
 preliminaries a notable exception was established to 
 break the universal rule that '* coming events cast 
 their shadows before." 
 
 But " nothing is immortal in this world, save mor- 
 tality;" so the hour which had been fixed upon for 
 the opening of the doors arrived; and, "as one who 
 has climbed a mountain height and carried up his 
 own heart, scaling panting in his throat with the 
 toil of the ascent, takes breath at last, and gazes back 
 in triumph," so stood Carlisle and looked, and looking 
 wondered if the T mple could contain the gather- 
 
 :d"V 
 
 ing multitude.
 
 290 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 "The world's a stage" on which all people act, 
 Each his own role, an image or a fact 
 
 Of something lived in an existence real 
 
 There is no fiction in the realm ideal. 
 Thought is immortal substance clear as light; 
 Truth its divine exponent, faith its sight! 
 
 Through the grand entrance to the lecture room, 
 swept a tidal wave of humanity. 
 
 No sooner had the great audience seated itself 
 than its attention was c ccupied, by the novelty and 
 refinement of its surroundings. In lieu of foot-lights 
 an immense chandeUer was suspended from the ceil- 
 ing by chains. 
 
 Pendant from the center of the galleries opposite 
 the drop-curtain (which was a marvel of oriental 
 splendor), was an oblong Venetian mirror, repeating 
 the brilliancy of the scene. 
 
 Just as the orchestra began to tune, and curious 
 eyes seemed determined to bore through the drop- 
 curtain which ominously trembled and waved to and 
 fro, a hush fell upon the house, and for a moment the un- 
 precedented wealth of instrujrn -ntation was forgotten, 
 as ex-Governor Kellogg an -1 lady with a distinguished 
 looking stranger, entered) their box or floral bower, 
 as might better be said\i. the pew ex oressly prepared 
 to receive them, and which was a most delicate pub-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 291 
 
 lie testimonial of the Doctor's friendship for the Gov- 
 ernor, and reverent admiration for his wife. 
 
 One quick, commanding glance, such as an empress 
 might have thrown over her slaves the natural ex- 
 pression of virtuous hauteur and conscious rectitude 
 sweeping over parquette and galleries, as if seeking 
 expected Enemies, and the lady was seated, and hund- 
 reds of eyes dropped in shame before her innocent 
 gaze. 
 
 Never had Pearl looked more transcendently beauti- 
 ful. Never had her presence so impressed and re- 
 buked her evil-tougued adversaries, who were com- 
 pelled to witness the perfect oration she received as 
 when her cloak, a gorgeous crimson plush, lined with 
 ermine, fell gracefully from her shoulders, revealing 
 her matchless form simply but elegantly robed in 
 white, without jewels other than those which sparkled 
 and flashed from her glorious eyes, and a bunch of 
 lilies, which rose and fell with the creamy folds of 
 lace upon her bosom. 
 
 Whether conscious or unconscious of her beauty, 
 the good sense of this woman was betokened by her 
 modest dress. Thus she quietly folded her wings, to 
 prevent others from feeling they had none. 
 
 " Who is this new lover?" said Hector Astore to 
 Louisa Tongue worths, seated opposite, she gloated in 
 jealous agony upon ^he radiant vision through her 
 glasses.
 
 292 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 "O, that in her old flame, Stanley Veen," replied 
 Louisa, who was making an inventory of Pearl's toilet 
 "You did not recognize him, as he is frightfully 
 changed since his recent illness. They say Governor 
 Kellogg dragged him out of a saloon in a fit of de- 
 lirium tremens; and that painted mink of his (an 
 adept in nursing drunkards) brought him Fack to life, 
 and doubtless with renewed ardor, again at her feet. At 
 all events he does not seem to be in haste to return to 
 his Mexican harem." 
 
 " I have observed the same base proclivities in 
 others high-born as Veen," replied Hector. " Men 
 brought up in cultivated society seem to take the 
 greatest pleasure in associating with common people, 
 only imposing elegance upon themselves as a duty, 
 they indulge in vulgarity as a recreation. This low 
 tendency in human cattle explains the eternal struggle 
 between nature and education; the taste and passion 
 of distinguished men for bad company; for the more 
 reserved and dignified they are in their manners, the 
 more they seem possessed to train in the society of 
 worthless men and blemished women." 
 
 " Yes," replied Louisa, whose vision remained cir- 
 cumscribed by the Governor's box, " men are more 
 inclined to love women they can pity, than women 
 who command respect. Some nreu are such arrant, 
 crank-philanthropists, they mak>3 this scheme the work
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 293 
 
 of their lives, keeping it up from mere force of habit, 
 till their heads are white. I find love the most merci- 
 less and wearisome of labors, followed as a vocation; 
 so I temper the ardor of my disposition by the indol- 
 ence of my nature," and the passion-freighted Louisa, 
 with a kittenish shrug of the shoulders, wrinkled up 
 the dry parchment of her facial cuticle into what she 
 imagined to be a most winsome smile, but which would 
 only have suggested to a good physiognomist the 
 painful crisis in some occult and griping infirmity. 
 
 " It is impossible to be dressed in better taste," 
 continued Louisa. " But what puzzles me is to see 
 so many fashionable ladies here who look like apple- 
 venders beside this girl, who carries herself with the 
 air of a princess." 
 
 "O," spitefully retorted the emerald-eyed widow. 
 " This is also a trick of the profession; the art of seem- 
 ing artless. See how carefully she has chosen her 
 position. The deep green leaves of the trellieed vine 
 form a dark back-ground, showing distinctly the out- 
 line of her figure; while the delicacy of the drapery 
 in which she has developed it, gives her the sem- 
 blance of a fairy." 
 
 " Yes," quickly chimed in the spinster, " and no un- 
 sanctified man can resist such women; much less the 
 Governor, whom she has literally wound around her 
 finger and fastened securely to her belt, and by no
 
 294 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 stronger visible thread than the limp stamens of a 
 lily. This must be a talisman, this inevitable bouquet 
 of hers; and if I were reducing your vengeance to 
 science, I should shed lily pollen, before blood; and I 
 should proceed to do this before fate pronounced the 
 word "Never!" And Miss Tonguewort transferred 
 her gaze from the Governor's box to the implacable 
 Hector, to note the effect of her grand eloquence, but 
 was startled to see Lady Astore pale as death and as 
 motionless, staring in the direction of the Venetian 
 mirror. 
 
 "What is the matter with you, old gal?" said 
 Louisa. " You are not going to imitate Narcissus, 
 because you cannot reach your beautiful reflection, 
 are you ?" 
 
 " Hush !" hissed the pale lips. "Tell me, what do 
 you see in the mirror?" 
 
 "I see the drop-curtain only," answered her com- 
 panion. " Soon we shall see something wonderfully 
 great, either drawn from the erudite walls of meta- 
 physical theology, or the spiritualistic recesses of 
 modern mysticism." 
 
 " Oh! Come down from your stilts; I am in no mood 
 for jesting, and you should not be, at this juncture in 
 our affairs. Do you believe in hallucinations?" said 
 Hector, trying to resume calmness. 
 
 " I believe that with Satan everything is possible,
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 295 
 
 at least in your case. Now tell me which of these 
 salamandrine imps appeared to you in that looking- 
 glass," said Louisa. 
 
 " My very worst enemy," said Hector, "and one 
 I supposed dead twenty-five years ago." 
 
 "Twenty-five years," loudly whispered the astounded 
 Louisa. ""Well, I always thought you were a relic 
 of barbarism. Pray, what could such an old fossil of 
 an enemy have to do with you now a woman who has 
 had since then, in Byronic language, 'a career brief, 
 brave and glorious.' ' 
 
 "O, nothing in reality," said Hector. " I am par- 
 ticularly nervous to-night, since I entered this box. 
 If I related my experience since sitting here to a med- 
 ium, I should be declared both clairvoyant and clair- 
 audient. But where is young Veen's sister? I do 
 not see her here to-night." 
 
 " No one really knows what the poor girl has done 
 with herself. You know, she was too full of quirks, 
 like her brother there?" said Miss Tonguewort. "At 
 last accounts she was in a convent for the avowed ob- 
 ject of perfecting herself in aesthetics, studying mu- 
 sic and painting. It is said she posesses great histri- 
 onic talent, and intends to return to St. Saul some 
 day, and surprise her old friends with her wonderful 
 voice. Since her father and mother have stepped out, 
 her list of friends begins and ends with the trio in 
 the Governor's box."
 
 296 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 "You forget Doctor and Mrs. Carlisle, and their 
 pimping blonde," rejoined the widow Astore, with a 
 sinister expression in her face. " How I detested 
 that saxon-haired jackanapes, who insulted me at our 
 first interview. He had something such eyes as O, 
 God and devils! There he is again! Rake hades 
 over and his face cannot be duplicated. He is look- 
 ing at me. O demons of darkness! " and the hue of 
 death overspread her features, as she sank back, cov- 
 ering her eyes with both hands. 
 
 Only the searcher of hearts could see the dark re- 
 solves so lately firmly fixed in her mind, one by one 
 escaping through every nerve and tissue of her trem- 
 bling frame; and now while Miss Tonguewort is vig- 
 orously fanning the shattered mind together again, 
 let us investigate the reflection in the Venetian mirror. 
 
 It is a gentleman's front, and he sits so near, it is 
 only when he bends forward that the double of his 
 face falls upon the margin of the great reflector. He 
 is not old, he is not youthful looking; but his coun- 
 tenance is exceedingly striking and distinguished. 
 The large blue eyes, the full lips, the high and 
 thoughtful forehead, the hair still dark, luxuriant and 
 waving, identify him at once to her who has carried 
 his image within her brain thirty years. 
 
 He is pale, and the wavering lights which burn in 
 front of him give something ghastly to his reflection.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 297 
 
 He is a stranger and a foreigner. If he has friends 
 in St. Saul, he has not permitted them to welcome 
 him, and since alighting from the train he has not had 
 time to register at any of the hotels. He is commis- 
 sioned hither, as is apparent from the careful ar- 
 rangement of his papers within his grip, from 
 which he has taken a letter containing a memoran- 
 dum that may help the reader to place him. 
 
 " Infant son of Adrian and Hector Astore, adopted 
 by sanction of law, with change of name, as the legal 
 heir of Louis and Emmie Carlisle. Dates agreeing 
 with those recorded at St. Elizabeth's Hospital. 
 Doctor Carlisle and wife, eminently qualified to give 
 a satisfactory report of his trust. Their present re- 
 sidence in State, City of St. Saul. " 
 
 The stranger consulted his watch. It was time for 
 the curtain to rise. 
 
 " Are the wires working well in my resonator, and 
 is the mouse in her trap? " said Doctor Carlisle, enter- 
 ing at the rear of the stage, and addressing his son. 
 
 " Perfectly. The machinery is admirably adjusted. 
 The accoustics could not be improved, and I have been 
 hugely entertained and enlightened by the modest 
 tete-a-tete of your two charming rodents, who sit 
 eagerly nibbling the bait." 
 
 "I5e more respectful, young man. There may be
 
 298 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 an old acquaintance of yours in that box. When we 
 are walking through graveyards, we must step cau- 
 tiously over every undulation, or we may trample 
 upon the bones of our ancestors." 
 
 The young man looked puzzled, but smilingly re- 
 plied: 
 
 " The walls of the Sphinx are yet reverberating our 
 praises. It is a grand thing to possess vulnerable 
 points, especially when one can be like a chip-squirrel 
 in the wall seeing and hearing all, yet seen and 
 heard by none. If the play rewards your genius as 
 well as do the operations of this admirable little ma- 
 chine, my father will be crowned to-night, not only as 
 the peer of artists, but that noblest work of God." 
 
 "Say no more my son," interrupted the Doctor, "the 
 eyes of love are partial. I have only striven to do 
 my duty." Here both recognized the final notes of 
 the orchestra, and the son disappeared in the scenery, 
 while the father vanished through a secret door in the 
 side of the Sphinx, saying, as he entered the little 
 observatory prepared for the invisible actor: "Lord, 
 abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is 
 far spent." 
 
 The drums are silent, and the last note of Gott- 
 shalk's Marche de Nuit trembles upon the air as one 
 brass instrument after another is hushed. There is 
 a stir in the audience as the strings take up a low
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 299 
 
 tremolo movement, growing softer and fainter; and 
 the musicians, one by one noiselessly depart, and it 
 grows darker and lonelier around the orchestra. And 
 now the lights from the tree of the grand chandelier 
 are lowered till they only present the tiniest points of 
 flame, and a shudder creeps over the audience, even 
 though it is accompanied by a smile, at the strange- 
 ness of it all. 
 
 It is the last moment of suspense, and the curtain 
 slowly rises upon an impossible picture of mortal 
 loveliness, clothed in summer verdure and autumnal 
 dreaminess. The yellow moonlight floated, a tremb- 
 ling veil of transparent gold, over the landscape, light- 
 ing up deep interstices of forest, and heightening the 
 effect of a floral ambuscade of some huge object at the 
 rear of the stage. 
 
 The foreground was a grass plat, with broad alleys 
 of bloom, in the center of which stood a marble 
 shrine, dazzlingly white in the amber light; and, 
 legible to all, over its arch-way of prayer were the 
 words : 
 
 "SHKINE OF ST. AGNEW," 
 
 with the motto in gold lettering beneath: 
 
 " GOD, WATCHING OVER US, SLUMBERS NOT, NOR SLEEPS." 
 
 The velvet sward around was sewn with flowers, 
 and dew-drops, like unto shattered diamonds, sparkled
 
 300 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 everywhere. The door of a summer house near by 
 stood open, as if some radiant vision of the night had 
 just passed through, and only the cool plash of a 
 fountain, and rustling music, as of whispering winds, 
 stirred the profound repose. 
 
 The effect was magical, and one could distinctly 
 hear one's own heart beat in the stillness which per- 
 vaded the house. The next moment there burst forth 
 such a storm of applause as never reverberated within 
 church walls, quickly followed by a call for the artist 
 But in lieu of such acknowledgment, the embankment 
 of flowers gracefully bent forward, to the manifest ap- 
 preciation of the audience. 
 
 When silence was restored, a flute was heard, as if 
 from a distance, playing the prelude of a song; and 
 now a lady emerges from the dense shadows, passes 
 through the arbor, and approaches the shrine. She 
 is the ideal of a Roman woman. Tall, splendidly pro- 
 portioned, lithe-footed as a fawn, with starry midnight 
 eyes, out of whose dusky depths shine boundless pos- 
 sibilities of passion, yet with a force and energy which 
 betrays also the wealth of nature's full complement 
 in spiritual powers. 
 
 She was clothed in a white neglige of some light 
 and costly material, with a myrtle leaf, sitting like a 
 crown upon her rich, abundant hair. Her complexion 
 was as pure as marble, with only a thought of ruddi-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 301 
 
 ness, the shell pink bloom of youth, on her beautiful 
 lips. 
 
 As if unconscious of her audience, and wrapt in the 
 spell of loveliness around her, she breathed forth the 
 emotions of her soul, not in the snarl of trills and 
 roulades one is accustomed to hear, but in a song out 
 of nature's heart, ringing with a sweetness and fire 
 that carried every hearer irresistibly: 
 
 HER SONG. 
 
 Fair moon! As you sail through your star-lighted dome, 
 
 O lead him, my wanderer, back to his home! 
 
 The lights are gone out on his hearth-stone and mine; 
 
 And the rekindling spark, it is thine, it is thine! 
 (She kneels.) 
 
 Again, at this same little gateway of prayer, 
 
 St. Agnew, I kneel in my latent despair. 
 
 It was here we were pledged in the far away past; 
 
 And here I return for thy blessing, at last. 
 
 Lead gently and truly, fair queen of the night; 
 
 He walks in the darkness, and thou in the light. 
 (She prays.) 
 
 Dear Jesus, God-master, with human heart beat, 
 
 Hear my prayer in these kisses I pour at thy feet. 
 
 It is thine, this endowment of wonderful love 
 
 First showered on Thee from the wings of a dove. 
 
 Pluck it out of my life, or bid it unfold, 
 
 Like the scroll of the morning, in purple and gold. 
 (On rising, she hears a voice issuing out of the Sphinx, 
 whose hideous proportions are concealed by an embankment 
 of flowers.) 
 
 LANGUAGE OF THE VOICE: 
 
 Who calleth on the dread unknown 
 Jehovah? He who sit a throne 
 Built on the disc of countless worlds, 
 From'which this atom globe unfolds?
 
 302 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 (Supposing it to be a spirit, she answers:) 
 One who hath at the Master's feet, 
 Learned life's great lesson, patience sweet; 
 And in the garden walked with Him, 
 Who makes the cross a cherubim. 
 
 (The voice replies:) 
 But surely God is not alone 
 In all your thoughts, since you enthrone 
 A lover there, whose fortune makes 
 A martyr to her sad mistakes. 
 Behold the message at thy feet, 
 The ground is holy where we meet. 
 
 (She stoops, picks up a scroll and reads:) 
 "God's messengers are in the wind; 
 They breathe of heaven and all things kind. 
 Around thy being like a zone. 
 There arms of mercy are now thrown. 
 But one more test remains to thee, 
 Ere breaks the seal of mystery. 
 The moonlight walks the path before 
 The Druid chapel's open door, 
 Where every year, when Nature grieves, 
 She sheds, like tears, her falling leaves, 
 A Druidess is found within, 
 Who ferrets out all secret sin 
 And makes the wretched author bear 
 The burden of its dark despair. 
 This night her judgment throne is spread; 
 And every tear of anguish shed, 
 Burns in the rainbow 'round her head. 
 To her repair and there await 
 The stern arbitrament of fate. 
 Fear not. The innocent are blessed, 
 Thrice blessed of God, as Heaven's guest 
 Their prayers on midnight stars ascend. 
 Haste! and God's angels thee attend. 
 
 A curtain of mist falls, through which she is seen to 
 glide swiftly away and disappear beyond the embank-
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 303 
 
 ment of flowers The mist dissolves, floating away 
 upon the plaintive notes of a serenade; and the scene 
 is changed to bloom. The moon rides high in a mid- 
 night sky; but her beams are obscured by black 
 patches of clouds driven before the breath of the 
 tempest. A leafless forest rises, stretching its naked 
 branches heavenward, as in voiceless prayer. A scene 
 so sombre, solemn and cold, it invokes the silent tribute 
 of a shiver from the audience. 
 
 In the foreground, surrounded by grey dead mosses 
 and lichen, stands the pale shrine of St. Agnew. Its 
 bright wreaths, faded and torn, lie wind-strewn at its 
 base, and within the arch a candle burns dimly and 
 flickeringly into its ebony socket. 
 
 The mist-cloud hangs heavy at the rear of the stage, 
 concealing the embankment of flowers; and the lights 
 have been lowered throughout the building to enhance 
 the gloom, rendered all the more effective by an in- 
 visible chorus distinctly repeating the motto of St. 
 Agnew: " God, watching over us, slumbers not, nor 
 sleeps." 
 
 Then tremble again the strings of an instrument, 
 and faint and far-off melodies breathe forth into the 
 night, which gathers thicker and blacker around, as 
 the figure of a man enveloped in a cloak, approaches 
 the shrine. 
 
 The mellow vaporous light did not conceal his fine
 
 304 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 presence, nor the visor of his cap hide the rare ex- 
 pression, the almost tender beauty of his face. 
 
 Falling upon his knees before the shrine, his rich 
 voice took up the recitative of a song, in tones so im- 
 ploring, that it seemed the petition of a wounded 
 spirit^praying in the death-struggle to God for pity. 
 
 HIS PRAYER. 
 
 I am a wanderer, God's fair earth 
 Gives me no place, no home, no birth, 
 No kindred, no delightful aim, 
 The heritage of honored name. 
 Robbed of these gifts, I'm reft of all 
 Which makes earth's loveliness a thrall. 
 
 Illusion played her park so well, 
 The dismal shadow never fell 
 Upon my life, till my false name 
 Essayed to link the bridal chain. 
 Then Fortune hurled her fatal dart; 
 O reckless aim, she missed my heart. 
 
 So heart and fortune wage the war 
 Which fate began in climes afar; 
 And though I trace my birth-star down 
 Below the brood of Heaven's crown, 
 Into the depths of sin and shame, 
 Deep as my sire hath dragged his name, 
 There and there only would I trace 
 The blood and choler of my race. 
 
 " Hold! " cried a voice from out the mist, 
 
 " Your troubles score too fast to list. 
 
 Above thee Mercy's tent is spread; 
 
 Heed thou the Message, when 'tis read." 
 (Startled by the voice and words of the invisible presence, 
 the young man rises from his knees, discovers a parchment at 
 his feet, unfolds and reads:
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 305 
 
 " Wanderer, God hath heard thy prayer, 
 Borne from Agnew's holy stair. 
 At the hour of midnight gloom, 
 Light of stars and light of moon 
 Shall forsake the earth, all sight 
 Swallowed up in noon of night. 
 Haste! The morning dawns apace, 
 When the secrets of thy race 
 Shall be scattered as the leaves 
 When the heart of nature grieves. 
 Promptly at the midnight hour, 
 Ere its last stroke in the tower 
 Be at Druid Chapel's door; 
 Angels walk the path before." 
 
 At this moment a flood of light enveloped the shrine. 
 Soft and distant tones of music were borne in upon 
 the audience a melody so reverent, so tender, so be- 
 seeching, the beams of light seemed to thrill and vi- 
 brate to the sweet notes till they mingled with each 
 other on the air; and with the vanishing figure of the 
 wanderer, the curtain descended to the height of the 
 shrine, where it waved tremulously, as though rocked 
 in the breath of the whispered chorus, repeating the 
 impressive recitation: "Lord, have mercy upon us! 
 Christ, have mercy upon us! " Fainter and farther 
 off echoed the pathetic wail until, sustained by a soli- 
 tary instrument, it died away. The lights were ex- 
 tinguished, the candle fell into its socket, and total 
 darkness shrouded the scene. 
 
 As soon as the applause subsided, the lights were 
 restored around the stage, and the curtain rose before
 
 306 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 the open doors of an ancient temple, circular, and 
 open at the top, through which the mysterious order of 
 fire worshippers were supposed to consult directly the 
 secret will of divinity. Within an arch supporting 
 the dome, was Cornelius' statue of the " Last Judg- 
 ment," over which sparkled, in quaint lettering, the 
 Druid motto: " To reform morals, to secure justice 
 and peace and to encourage goodness.' 5 
 
 Slowly and solemnly the bell tolled forth the mid- 
 night hour. At each stroke a beam of light fell from 
 the azure ceiling to the marble masaic below, until a 
 ribbon of light enveloped the stage, and the antique 
 temple stood belted in its splendors. 
 
 In the lingering vibrations of the twelfth stroke, a 
 tall vase of pure alabaster was brought out of the tem- 
 ple and placed in the foreground, and a chorus of 
 voices fron within the temple sang an invocation to 
 the Druid Priestess to come forth and declare the 
 mystery. 
 
 Every eye was directed to the door of the temple, 
 when suddenly, like a white lily bursting its bud, the 
 pale Priestess rose out of the crown of the vase to her 
 full height, her long snowy surplice falling to her del- 
 icately sandaled feet. 
 
 A cloud of irridescent colors received her form, 
 imparting to it the ethereal appearance of spiritual- 
 ized matter, and changing the vase to a throne haloed
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 307 
 
 in a gorgeous band of throbbing lights. The effect 
 was unearthly, and the applause of the audience loud 
 and long so long, that the glad-hearted Doctor, en- 
 sconced in his secret observatory and resonator could 
 scarcely persuade himself that he did not hear a 
 supernal and tenuous clapping of hands, and a light 
 " Bravo! " echoed from invisible lips. 
 
 And now distinctly the voice of the Priestess was 
 heard from out the cloud. Not a word of the solemn 
 recitative was lost, either upon the heart of the 
 stranger whose fitful reflection in the mirror con- 
 tinued to disturb the tranquil ity of the Tonguewort's 
 guest or upon her,of whose presence he little dreamed, 
 whose soul was moved by the voice of the speaker. 
 
 THE MYSTKRY. 
 
 I hold in my bands a mystic ball, 
 
 I wind and unwind, release and recall, 
 
 Till it passes over the heads of all. 
 
 Its strands are the ravelled threads of fate ; 
 
 Those deviating lines of bate 
 
 The powers of darkness alone create 
 
 At every circle around the hall, 
 
 Made by the magic, mystical ball, 
 
 I gather the hidden secrets of all. 
 
 (The ball here made a visible circuit of the hall and returned 
 to the hand of the Priestess, who gazing intently thereon, ex- 
 claimed.) 
 
 I see a horrible, ghastly thing, 
 
 Forever and ever upon the wing. 
 
 Devils of darkness are in its path; 
 
 And hell is the terminus of its wrath. 
 
 Its shape is never to be defined
 
 308 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 It takes all shapes, like the shifting wind 
 
 Stab, strangle or drown it will not die, 
 
 This monster and curse of the world a lie! 
 
 Ye who follow its evil guide. 
 
 See what horrors its black wings hide! 
 
 Out of the beautiful light of day, 
 
 See the doomed one led away ; 
 
 Hear the clank of his prison chain, 
 
 And the plea of innocence, made in vain. 
 
 In manhood's prime he goeth down, 
 
 But he wears, to-night, a martyr's crown. 
 
 Here a thrilling pantomine exhibition is given with 
 effective scenery, delineating the startling facts 
 brought out in the affidavit furnished at the death-bed 
 confession of John Durant. 
 
 The audience grows more attentive, and toilet res- 
 toratives are administered to the pallid guest in the 
 Tonguewort box; while the relentless ball unwinds, 
 and the solemn recitative continues: 
 
 I see a mother desert her child 
 Helpless infancy undefiled 
 But the Angel of Mercy is everywhere, 
 And the child is the pride of a millionaire. 
 
 Here a pantomine picture is given of the wanderer's 
 birth in a foreign land; his desertion by the mother 
 who thinks thereby to hide the crime of having sent 
 his father to a felon's cell. The attempt to bribe the 
 hospital nurse to murder the babe was vividly deli- 
 neated. A Christian lady having that very day passed 
 through the perils of childbirth,and inconsolable at the 
 loss of her babe, clasps the deserted waif to her heart,
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 309 
 
 covering it "with tears and kisses, and believing God 
 had thus restored to her the crown of maternity, she 
 lavishes upon it all the wealth of a mother's devotion. 
 
 The real mother might have been buried in oblivion, 
 had she not in her precipitate flight, dropped a me- 
 dallion locket, containing a likeness of her cruel lady- 
 ship, with the full name of her husband (the father 
 of the infant) engraved upon it. 
 
 This locket the nurse had slipped into the basket, 
 but remarkable to say, it was found by the foster- 
 mother, tightly clasped in the tiny fist of the babe. 
 
 As a key in the arch of mystery, this inanimate tri- 
 fle proves of more value to its possessor than all the 
 kingdoms of this world. It has modestly refrained 
 from voicing its name, until that name redeemed from 
 obscurity, should be worn by him whose hour of cor- 
 onation is now at hand. Here, the ball struck the 
 floor, and the Priestess held up to the audience a 
 small gold locket, exclaiming: "The name upon the 
 locket now for the first time pronounced and given to 
 the world, and to the son of him who ever honored it, 
 is 'Alfred Clifford ' a gentleman whose extended 
 labors in behalf of prison reform are well known 
 throughout the civilized world." 
 
 At this juncture the speaker was interrupted and 
 the audience fairly electrified, by a woman's piercing 
 shriek, supplemented by a series of short hysterical 
 screams, and the fall of some dead weight to the floor.
 
 310 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 The disturbance was in the Tongue wort box, the 
 improvised curtains of which had been summaraily 
 drawn by the agitated Louisa, after screaming "fire! " 
 to stampede the audience, and in the hope of divert- 
 ing the lady Astore from the madness of leaping upon 
 the stage and unmasking and confessing her social 
 atrocities. 
 
 The startling phraseology of Miss Tonguewort 
 brought the assembly to its feet, and a scene of the 
 wildest confusion must have followed, had not Doctor 
 Carlisle emerged from out the embankment of flowers, 
 waved his hand, and with his assuring manner, re- 
 stored order. 
 
 Nothing could have more effectually tranquilized 
 his auditory, and prepared them for the scene which 
 followed. 
 
 The curtains of the Tonguewort pew parted, and 
 the jets from the chandelier blazed directly into the 
 face of a dark-visaged woman, bareheaded, whose dis- 
 hevelled hair, disordered dress'and distorted features 
 made her appear as if struggling to free herself from 
 some one concealed behind her. Her lips quivered 
 in the labor-pains of speech, which had no sound or 
 language adequate. 
 
 At length, breaking away from the detaining hand 
 and leaping like a panther to the stage, sho stood like 
 some wild beast at bay, gazing wildly around her.
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 311 
 
 The Druidess slowly advanced, and holding up a 
 branch of mistletoe (esteemed the antidote for all 
 poison and the cure of all diseases) she said: 
 
 " Woman, if you have a confession to make, humble 
 yourself before this emblem of Almighty God." 
 
 "Confession! Fiends! Yes; but not to you. Un- 
 loose the souls I've chained in fetters worse than the 
 frost-chains of death, or the hermetic seals of stifling 
 coffin lids. Bring him I've wronged the most! I've 
 seen his ghost. I did not mean to murder him. I 
 was beside myself with jealousy and the mad hatred 
 of my rival, passions which unwittingly consent to 
 crime. O God, I seek that mercy so much lauded in 
 Thy name! " 
 
 Breaking a sacred branch from the holy cluster of 
 evergreens, she seized it in her trembling hands, 
 kissed it and placed it in her bosom. 
 
 "Now go," she said, "and leave me alone with Him," 
 here she cast a cold, indifferent glance upon the sea 
 of faces intently turned towards her, " and those who 
 like to look at naked souls, heaven-scourged. I was 
 not cradled for such crimes. I have dishonored birth 
 and lineage, and now, though late, I, Hector Clifford 
 ( here a sensation was produced in the audience ) ask, 
 first for heaven's forgiveness; next for man's char- 
 ity; and I trust through this enforced abasement to 
 gain the full pardon of an offended God. Go! Do
 
 312 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 not stare upon me with those piercing eyes! I am not 
 lost, unless O torturing thought! unless death inter- 
 cepts the meeting; and I am warned here, where God's 
 vengence wounded me to-night The woman 
 
 placed both hands over her heart, trembling, and 
 gasping for breath; and though there was an attempt 
 at feeble applause, it was suppressed, as the true nat- 
 ure of the drama dawned upon the mind of every be- 
 holder. 
 
 The Druidess entered the temple, and the young 
 man who had enacted the role of the "wanderer" 
 came forth white as marble and with great trepida- 
 tion. 
 
 The attention of the audience was absolute, and the 
 stillness of death pervaded the house. The woman 
 surveyed her son, the son his mother. Both seemed 
 riveted to the spot. 
 
 " Holy mother of Christ," uttered the woman with 
 a shriek, "he does not forgive me!" Then reeling, 
 and with a groan as from a shattered heart, she fell 
 like a corpse upon the floor of the stage. 
 
 Instantly the stage swarmed with actors. Doctor 
 Carlisle, who had anticipated all emergencies was 
 armed and equipped with restoratives and palliatives, 
 which upon being administered, the woman soon 
 opened her eyes to find her head pillowed, with the 
 cool breath of crushed lilies against her burning
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 313 
 
 cheeks. In the group were many who had left their 
 seats in the auditory. 
 
 " I am dying,' ' moaned the purple lips. 
 
 "Oh no! We will not let you die," said a sweet- 
 voiced lady, who had been chafing her temples, and 
 rubbing the cold numb fingers with her own of rosy 
 tint. 
 
 "Am I forgiven? My life is waiting! " The words 
 were spoken low and feebly, but by a readjustment of 
 the resonator, the audience caught them all, as if the 
 tragedy must be "stage-acting " to the end. 
 
 " Yes, surely; all forgiven," answered the lady, who 
 at the same moment significantly pressed the young 
 man's hand, and urged him to speak the coveted words; 
 but pale and motionless as breathing marble he re- 
 mained. 
 
 And now a stranger who had been some minutes in 
 earnest converse with Doctor Carlisle, came and knelt. 
 Taking the woman's hands in his he said: 
 
 " Hector, I forgave you many years ago." The 
 woman's eyes were closed, but she recognized the 
 voice with a visible shudder, saying: 
 
 " I thank you, and bless God." 
 
 The next moment a messenger entered at the rear 
 of the stage, approached the group around the dying 
 woman and presented a note to Doctor Carlisle, the 
 private nature of which, under any ot her circum-
 
 314 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 stances, must have been regarded sacred as his profes- 
 sional honor. Now, the stage was turned over to the 
 audience, and the note must be read at the instant of 
 its reception, sensational as it proved. It read as 
 follows: 
 
 DOCTOR CARLISLE: 
 
 Having witnessed your cranky feats of skull- 
 duggery this evening, without coming under the evil 
 spell of the infernal machine you have put upon the 
 stage to mesmerize the people of St. Saul, I command 
 you to deliver over to the bearer of this the mutilated 
 remains of my friend Mrs. Astore, with whom you 
 have experimented and deceived the community into 
 believing words ventriloquized through her, and never 
 thought of before outside your addled brains. 
 
 In case you prove daring enough to ignore this 
 civil demand, a writ of Habeas Corpus will be served 
 instanter. Disdainfully Yours, 
 
 MlSS LOUISA TONGDEWORT. 
 
 As Doctor Carlisle, finished reading, wider and 
 wider expanded the staring eyes of Hector Clifford, 
 until their expression was horrible and ghastly. 
 
 Raising herself until her head rested upon her 
 brawny arm, she said in a hoarse whisper: 
 
 " Tell Louisa Tongue wort Mrs. Astore is dead or, 
 rather, Hector Clifford has just cast oub a devil by 
 that name. Tell her to come to me instantly; that no 
 one will dispute her sole claim to the posession of my 
 mortal remains."
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 315 
 
 Contrary to every expectation. Miss Tonguewort 
 answered in person, saying, as she pushed her way 
 rudely into the face of the dying Hector: 
 
 " I am come. Will you go at once with me, and end 
 this ridiculous role of yours?" 
 
 " Presently. I must not slam the door of mercy 
 and forgiveness, now held ajar. I have one more con- 
 fession yet to make, and I adjure you, to not dispute 
 the man of God through whom I speak. I read your 
 fears, but you are safe as I have only time to shrive 
 my perjured self. See ! My head never rested upon 
 so pure and white a pillow since cradled on the breast 
 of her who bore me." 
 
 Now Lady Tonguewort was insulated by a thick 
 veil from direct contact with the object commended to 
 her; but the shock was no less shattering, causing her 
 to revolve about the stage like a magnetized spindle, 
 alternating each bound with a sharp shriek, which 
 scattered the impromptu actors as effectually"as a vol- 
 ley of musketry could have done. 
 
 Doctor Carlisle's attention being unwillingly diver- 
 ted to this new patient, whose hysterical antics threat- 
 ened to interfere with the concluding scenes now in 
 preparation within the Temple, he directed the lady's 
 attendant to assist in gathering the rotating drapery 
 before the climax of a collapse should further com- 
 plicate his trying position as stage manager.
 
 316 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 The parting glance given to the audience, revealed 
 the convulsive efforts of the ejected Tongue wort to- 
 ward removing piece-meal, the ornamental covering 
 to the Doctor's scalp. 
 
 The last visible squirm furnished a picturesque ac- 
 companiment to her parting words, keyed to reach the 
 audience : 
 
 " I give you fair warning, the world has gone mad, 
 and Doctor Carlisle is an old wizard and spiritualistic 
 prestidigitator ! " 
 
 The curtain was here lowered upon this spectacular, 
 and Doctor Carlisle soon appeared before it, thanking 
 the audience for their attention, and begging them to 
 support him with their presence to the end. The re- 
 maining confession he said would be given to them 
 from the lips of Doctor Carroll, rector of St. Mark's. 
 
 In a irief space the curtain rose upon the final 
 scene. The huge proportions of the Sphinx and the 
 lofty Temple of the Druids had disappeared, and in 
 their places stood the beautiful shrine of St. Agnew, 
 covered with lilies, and beside, yet not touching a 
 couch was spread, upon which lay the expiring penit- 
 ent. Her blanched face looked calmer and she clasped 
 convulsively the bough of mistletoe. 
 
 The scene was sorrowful, as every one who witnessed 
 it was made to realize its awful actuality. 
 
 Soft strains of instrumental music now floated
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 317 
 
 through the open doors of a little chapel, followed by 
 the wedding march of Mendelssohn, in tempo with the 
 solemn march of death. 
 
 The dying woman's eyes were turned expectant 
 towards the ohapel, across the threshold of which filed 
 a goodly procession of thoughtful-faced men and 
 women, who arranged themselves in a semi-circle be- 
 hind the shrine. Prominent among these were to be 
 recognized Doctor and Mrs. Carlisle, Sir Alfred Clif- 
 ford, Stanley Veen and his sister Miss Cecile Veen 
 (prima donna of the evening) Governor and Mrs. 
 Pearl LaGrange Kellogg, and many other distin- 
 guished personages. 
 
 At this point a profound sensation was produced, 
 as the Rector of St. Mark's stepped forth and Hugh 
 Carlisle Clifford and Miss Cecile Veen joined hands 
 before him at the shrine. 
 
 The woman was sinking rapidly, and in token of 
 their forgiveness, the young people consented to be 
 married before her expiring gaze. 
 
 At the conclusion of the marriage service, Rev. 
 Doctor Carroll addressed the audience substantially as 
 follows : 
 
 " My appearance before this audience is as dream- 
 like as have been to me the scenes of the evening. 
 
 " We came, confidently anticipating something out 
 of the ordinary line of dramatic entertainment. We
 
 318 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. 
 
 have witnessed thrilling scenes, whose conclusion is 
 a mournful tragic death and a romantic marriage; 
 Stranger than any fiction. 
 
 " The dying woman is well known to all as one of 
 my old parishioners, who in her palmy days, wielded 
 a social sceptre. ( Sensation in the audience. ) Be- 
 hold her now, as shorn of vanity as Lazarus was when 
 lying at the rich man's gate, and humble as the dogs 
 which licked his sores. Low in the dust of deep con- 
 trition, with not her least, though last confession to 
 be made through me. 
 
 " As the physical invalid, in a moment of terror 
 from fire or flood, springs from the couch he thought 
 never to leave, so moral decrepitude throws by its 
 crutches and runs like a deer, upon feeling the con- 
 tract of a holy spirit 
 
 " The terrible curse of his sin is that it renders its 
 subjects spiritually apathetic, until some dire neces- 
 sity swoops down upon them with the whip of scorp- 
 ions, and forces them to mend their ways. 
 
 "The vicious tale bearer tells a lie; tells it publicly. 
 
 It is passed from lip to lip. It is circulated through 
 
 
 
 the city. A pure life is stigmatized; a reputation is 
 killed; a character is ruined. 
 
 " Suppose the slanderer repent and become deeply 
 remorseful. What can be done to arrest the words 
 he has set in motion. Can the record be blotted out?
 
 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY. __ 319 
 
 Repent in sackcloth and ashes; protest; go about with 
 recantations ; correct the story ; publish the correction 
 in the same papers that published the lie; it cannot 
 be entirely recalled, nor the wrong utterly undone; 
 nor the injustice completely repaired. Dropped like 
 a seed into the ground, vital forces have taken poses- 
 sion of it and worked upon it. The poison had been 
 communicated to the air and the victim. 
 Doomed, like Prometheus, to be torn, 
 By vultures' beak, from night till morn, 
 
 And still its flesh renew 
 To gratify the insatiate maw 
 Of wretches who forever gnaw 
 At what they can't gnaw through. 
 
 " The sin of a monstrous falsehood rests on this wo- 
 man's soul. A lie which was conceived, born and 
 bred and taught to run alone in the streets of this 
 city. Commissioned to hail the stranger and to whis- 
 per its dark and evil insinuations into unsuspecting 
 ears. A lie which might not have been confessed and 
 extinguished with the breath of its originator, had not 
 its innocent victim been first to reach and minister to' 
 the stricken wretch before you, pouring the balm of 
 healing words into her ears and urging the reluctant 
 lips of her son to repeat from her own, the noble words 
 of forgiveness. 
 
 "The news this country has been awaiting has just 
 reached the Governor's box, calling him and his lady 
 to their home where friends and congratulations await 
 them. ( Sensation profound throughout the house. )
 
 320 A SOCIAL CONSPIRACY 
 
 " The election of Governor Kellogg to the United 
 States Senate, marks the division between church and 
 state, or society and state; for society's ambush is a 
 temple of worship. I believe that among the revilers 
 of his lovely wife are many who would not wish to 
 have their secret lives exposed. The victory, there- 
 fore which places this lady above and out of the reach 
 of her persecutors, is a triumph of free thought and 
 humanitarianism. 
 
 " ' The world is old', says the Poet Browning, ' but 
 the old world waits the hour to be renewed, toward 
 which new hearts, in individual growth, must quicken 
 and increase to multitude; enveloped whence shall 
 grow, spontaneously, new churches, new economies, 
 new laws admitting freedom; new societies, excluding 
 falsehood.' 
 
 "And to this I would add the words of Christ: 
 ' Blessed are ye when men (or women) shall revile 
 you and persecute and shall say all manner of evil 
 against you falsely, for my sake; for great shall be 
 your reward in Heaven.' " 
 
 The Rector of St. Mark's lifted both hands. The 
 audience rose, and retired, with these final words 
 from Doctor Carlisle ringing in their ears: 
 
 HECTOR CLIFFORD is DEAD AND PEARL LAGRANGE 
 KELLOGG is NO LONGER UNDER THE BAN. 
 [THE END.]