登陆注册
5287900000022

第22章 CHAPTER VII(1)

MYRTLE'S LETTER--THE YOUNG MEN'S PURSUIT.

"You know all about it, Olive?" Cyprian Eveleth said to his sister, after a brief word of greeting.

"Know of what, Cyprian?"

"Why, sister, don't you know that Myrtle Hazard is missing,--gone!

--gone nobody knows where, and that we are looking in all directions to find her?"Olive turned very pale and was silent for a moment. At the end of that moment the story seemed almost old to her. It was a natural ending of the prison-life which had been round Myrtle since her earliest years. When she got large and strong enough, she broke out of jail,--that was all. The nursery-bar is always climbed sooner or later, whether it is a wooden or an iron one. Olive felt as if she had dimly foreseen just such a finishing to the tragedy of the poor girl's home bringing-up. Why could not she have done something to prevent it? Well,--what shall we do now, and as it is?--that is the question.

"Has she left no letter,--no explanation of her leaving in this way?""Not a word, so far as anybody in the village knows.""Come over to the post-office with me; perhaps we may find a letter.

I think we shall."

Olive's sagacity and knowledge of her friend's character had not misled her. She found a letter from Myrtle to herself, which she opened and read as here follows:

MY DEAREST OLIVE:--Think no evil of me for what I have done. The fire-hang-bird's nest, as Cyprian called it, is empty, and the poor bird is flown.

I can live as I have lived no longer. This place is chilling all the life out of me, and I must find another home. It is far, far away, and you will not hear from me again until I am there. Then I will write to you.

You know where I was born,--under a hot sun and in the midst of strange, lovely scenes that I seem still to remember. I must visit them again: my heart always yearns for them. And I must cross the sea to get there,--the beautiful great sea that I have always longed for and that my river has been whispering about to me ever so many years. My life is pinched and starved here. I feel as old as aunt Silence, and I am only fifteen,--a child she has called me within a few days. If this is to be a child, what is it to be a woman?

I love you dearly,--and your brother is almost to me as if he were mine. I love our sweet, patient Bathsheba,--yes, and the old man that has spoken so kindly with me, good Master Gridley; I hate to give you pain,--to leave you all,--but my way of life is killing me, and I am too young to die. I cannot take the comfort with you, my dear friends, that I would; for it seems as if I carried a lump of ice in my heart, and all the warmth I find in you cannot thaw it out.

I have had a strange warning to leave this place, Olive. Do you remember how the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and told him to flee into Egypt? I have had a dream like that, Olive. There is an old belief in our family that the spirit of one who died many generations ago watches over some of her descendants. They say it led our first ancestor to come over here when it was a wilderness. Ibelieve it has appeared to others of the family in times of trouble.

I have had a strange dream at any rate, and the one I saw, or thought I saw, told me to leave this place. Perhaps I should have stayed if it had not been for that, but it seemed like an angel's warning.

Nobody will know how I have gone, or which way I have taken. On Monday, you may show this letter to my friends, not before. I do not think they will be in danger of breaking their hearts for me at our house. Aunt Silence cares for nothing but her own soul, and the other woman hates me, I always thought. Kitty Fagan will cry hard.

Tell her perhaps I shall come back by and by. There is a little box in my room, with some keepsakes marked,--one is for poor Kitty. You can give them to the right ones. Yours is with them.

Good-by, dearest. Keep my secret, as I told you, till Monday. And if you never see me again, remember how much I loved you. Never think hardly of me, for you have grown up in a happy home, and do not know how much misery can be crowded into fifteen years of a young girl's life. God be with you!

MYRTLE HAZARD.

Olive could not restrain her tears, as she handed the letter to Cyprian. "Her secret is as safe with you as with me," she said.

"But this is madness, Cyprian, and we must keep her from doing herself a wrong.

What she means to do, is to get to Boston, in some way or other, and sail for India. It is strange that they have not tracked her. There is no time to be lost. She shall not go out into the world in this way, child that she is. No; she shall come back, and make her home with us, if she cannot be happy with these people. Ours is a happy and a cheerful home, and she shall be to me as a younger sister, and your sister too, Cyprian. But you must see her; you must leave this very hour; and you may find her. Go to your cousin Edward, in Boston, at once; tell him your errand, and get him to help you find our poor dear sister. Then give her the note I will write, and say Iknow your heart, Cyprian, and I can trust that to tell you what to say."In a very short time Cyprian Eveleth was on his way to Boston. But another, keener even in pursuit than he, was there before him.

Ever since the day when Master Gridley had made that over-curious observation of the young lawyer's proceedings at the office, Murray Bradshaw had shown a far livelier interest than before in the conditions and feelings of Myrtle Hazard. He had called frequently at The Poplars to talk over business matters, which seemed of late to require a deal of talking. He had been very deferential to Miss Silence, and had wound himself into the confidence of Miss Badlam.

He found it harder to establish any very near relations with Myrtle, who had never seemed to care much for any young man but Cyprian Eveleth, and to care for him quite as much as Olive's brother as for any personal reason. But he carefully studied Myrtle's tastes and ways of thinking and of life, so that, by and by, when she should look upon herself as a young woman, and not as a girl, he would have a great advantage in making her more intimate acquaintance.

同类推荐
  • Twilight Stories

    Twilight Stories

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 灵宝净明院教师周真公起请画

    灵宝净明院教师周真公起请画

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 观无量寿经义疏

    观无量寿经义疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 般若波罗蜜多心经略疏

    般若波罗蜜多心经略疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 海语

    海语

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 天变邸抄

    天变邸抄

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 妃天大盗

    妃天大盗

    ☆☆郑重声明:不要看了盗版来这里留言,盗版里的文乱七八糟,根本不连贯。我讨厌看盗版却在这里留言的人!!!!!!!!!!!◎赵慎:宋国敬王爷。他腹黑,她比他更甚。大婚之日,她让他当众戴了一顶华丽丽地绿帽——挺着六、七个月的大肚下了花轿。还假惺惺地当着皇帝的面,哭诉是这个始乱终弃的男人搞大她的肚子,现在米已成饮,他居然想借此解除这场早订下婚约。在有力的证据面前,男人本想辩护,却发现无力开口,只有在皇帝和众人异样的目光下,他极不情愿地与她拜了堂。然而,新婚之夜,他连盖头都没有掀,就去了小妾那里。娶了两个侧妃和六个小妾,他真不怕把自己累死!侧妃,小妾们的嚣张,还有他的冷落,逐渐激怒了她。她原本就不是为爱而来,她只是一个带着复仇火焰的神盗。当他的侧妃,妾侍一个个离他而去,就连他暗中经营的生意,也败在了她的手里的时候。男人‘惊悚’地发现,不知何时,自己的心也被她盗走了。◎师父:青音(另一个身份暂时保密)他是她的师父,他的容貌,令日月无光,谪仙低头。他有一个尊贵的身份,还有一段不堪回首的过往,从她六岁遇到师父开始,就注定了他们一世的纠葛。他一直都在付出,不断的付出,为了她,他可以放弃尊严,甚至放弃生命,他付出的爱是常人无法想象和接受的。《注:他不会死。》◎玉树公子:卓一白初识不久,他便发现了他女扮男装的身份,他为她的美貌所倾倒,后来的日子,他才发现,他的心,已经沉沦。原来,爱上一个人,最不重要的,就是容貌。岁月的流逝,带走的只是那付皮相,如同淘金工手里的陶盘,洗涤完泥土,沙砾后,剩下的一定是黄灿灿的金子。他默默的陪在她的身后,甚至,站在她根本看不到他的地方,哪怕,她的心里没有他,他也从来不曾后悔过。◎西罗国皇子:哥舒达他的武功,天下第一,他的军队,所向披靡,他有征服世界的本领,却无法征服她的心,最初,想要得到她的理由,只是利用和占有,时间,慢慢改变了他,回首来时路,他才发现,自己从来就没有得到过她。◎简介或许会随着剧情的发展有所变化,因为江湖篇和战场篇都是VIP章节,所以不做详细介绍,不过无计保证,江湖篇和战场篇是高潮迭起,动人心魄,另外还有小虐,希望亲们挺住。★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★我的其他作品:极品下堂妻:下堂妻直追妻三千里:下堂妻之玉面金凤:暗妃:★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
  • 股市操盘手(连载三)

    股市操盘手(连载三)

    三天后,金都宾馆里一次秘密会议正在进行,出席会议的共十二人,代表十家有实力的机构,四大舰队来了两家,一是北方舰队的邓总,另一是东方舰队的李总。会议由金董事长主持,金董事长首先对与会者表示热烈欢迎,而后说:“近几个月股市连连走阴,犹如上海的黄梅季节,气压低沉,阴雨连绵,令人吁忧于胸,舒畅不得。今日与诸位聚会于此,共同商讨,如何一展身手,拨开阴霾,令股市重现长虹,使股民扬眉吐气,有个好收获。今日来此聚会者,均是股市巨擘,足可以撑起股市大半壁江山,诸位相互间兴许早熟悉了,或许虽未谋面但相互间一定久仰了,我给诸位再介绍一番。
  • 我最想要的口才交际书

    我最想要的口才交际书

    对于女性而言,若想在这个社会生存,并且生活得很好,就必须让自己拥有出色的语言表达能力和为人处世的技巧。如何让自己脱颖而出,如何做一个不让须眉的巾帼、红颜,如何能让自己的生活工作更顺心,如何让自己成为一个受欢迎的人……一一找出决定性因素后,你会发现,交际是任何人都不能忽视的因素之一。而口才又是交际链条中极为关键的一环。所以,女人要想实现自己的追求,就不可忽视对自己语言表达能力的培养,更不能忽略自身交际能力的提升。本书就是要告诉各位女性读者,如何利用自身优势去经营自己的人脉,如何运用绝妙的语言技巧去织造完美的人际关系网,从而成为社交场上最受欢迎的人。
  • 三十代天师虚靖真君语录

    三十代天师虚靖真君语录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 重案刑侦笔记

    重案刑侦笔记

    碎尸、凶杀、灭门……这些正在发生的离奇凶案背后,究竟是为情?为财?为仇?还是隐藏着不为人知的秘密?这是正义与邪恶的对抗!这是警察与罪犯的较量!是魔高一尺,还是道高一丈,《重案刑侦笔记》带你进入一个更为真实的刑侦世界!跟着刑侦的脚步一起追踪谜案的真相。一方是天衣无缝的完美罪恶计划;一方是抽丝拨茧的缜密侦察分析!
  • 芃娜的小屋

    芃娜的小屋

    父母突然去世,家中境况变得窘迫,自己在学校遭受到了校园暴力,与此同时,备受打击的外婆记忆力也开始退化……这一切把本就胆小怯弱的芃娜几乎逼向了绝境。可是她一直生活的小屋子中的老座钟、勺子、猴子布偶都幻化成精灵给了她无穷的勇气和力量。在一次次的冒险中,她开始成长和觉悟。虽然这座魔法小屋只存在于她的幻想中,却真正拯救了她和外婆的生活。就像书中老座钟所说的:“你总是习惯放大困难,为什么不放大你的勇气呢?”
  • 亡者之厅

    亡者之厅

    B格版本简介:第五纪元之初,人类早已退出莫泰瑞尔大陆的舞台中心,怪物巢穴文明占据主流,神灵在世界冬潮后逐渐复苏。人类龟缩在世界的角落中,整理出新的力量体系,他们命名为施法四核心(冥想法、异质化器官、术法模板、施法职业序列药剂)。带着新的力量,他们向着大陆的中心重新发起冲锋。一位异界人在这血与火的时代醒来,他身处于灰色混沌的迷雾之中,莫名存在于他耳边低语着隐秘知识,脚下是开始解冻的寒冰之地,光辉的天国舍勒园在他前方。
  • 校园异能少

    校园异能少

    从一个穷小子变成高富帅的故事,一次事故拥有了超能力,校园里欺负他看不起他的人,都会为此付出代价。
  • 誓不为妃:娘子太腹黑

    誓不为妃:娘子太腹黑

    前世自己投错了胎,才会有那般恶毒的姨娘、狠辣的庶妹、冷情的夫君!今生能得重活一回,便应该活得风光又自在、扮猪吃老虎、各个都击破!可惩恶除渣不重要,要紧的是她终于找到此生良人。顾潇然一笑:无情最是帝王家,我誓不为妃,只选择你!某丞相紧握着她的手一叹:惆怅,该怎么继续宠你呢?--情节虚构,请勿模仿