Straight Forward by Lucy Ellen Guernsey

MR. HUGO picked himself up, his appearance not greatly improved by the mud which decorated his dress and moustache, or by the black eye so generously bestowed upon him by the baggage master, who had again put his hands in his pockets, and was coolly regarding him through the glass door of the station house, much as he might have amused his leisure hours by the contemplation of a stray dog or horse.

His first impulse was to annihilate his late antagonist upon the spot, but a second thought convinced him that the work of annihilation would not be a very easy task, and might be attended with inconvenience to himself; so he contented himself with threatening to procure his immediate discharge from office, a prospect which Mr. Brown seemed to take very coolly, and walked off to his lodgings.

As he himself expressed it, he had still another card to play. Delia was out of his power, and her fortune was lost to him, and he gnashed his teeth with rage, as he thought how Mr. Fletcher had carried her off from under his very face and eyes; but he had still all her letters, and he believed that her father would be very glad to purchase his silence and their destruction, by the sacrifice of a part of that fortune which he had hoped to secure entire. Revolving these schemes in his mind, he retired to rest.

We have already related how Mr. Fletcher and his companion were received by Mrs. Pomeroy at the door. It was no time for reproof or inquiry, for Delia was clearly all but beside herself with excitement and terror, and moreover, it was necessary to have the house quiet before any alarm should be given which might lead to inconvenient questions. It was not till Delia was half led, half carried up stairs into Mrs. Pomeroy's room, her dripping shawl and dress removed, and a restorative administered, that Mrs. Pomeroy spoke.

"My poor, dear child," said she, "What could have induced you to take such a step?"

"I don't know," replied Delia. "I was possessed, I think."

A man's step was heard at the door at the moment, and trembling all over she clung to Mrs. Pomeroy, exclaiming-"Oh, Mrs. Pomeroy, don't let him come near me-he will kill me!"

"Do not be frightened, my love,-it is only Mr. Fletcher, and you do not fear him. No one shall hurt you. Poor thing," she said to herself, as she disengaged herself and opened the door. "It is clearly no time for lecturing. I must get her to bed at once, and it is a wonder if she is not sick enough in the morning to make a good excuse for keeping her there. I only hope poor Emily won't be sick again. What an effort she must have made!"

Mr. Fletcher had come to suggest that some one should go over to Delia's room, and take measures to prevent any untoward discoveries being made in the morning.

"I will go myself, as soon as I got her to bed," said Mrs. Pomeroy. "She is terrified almost out of her senses."

"I believe she has been ruled by terror more than any thing else," replied Mr. Fletcher. "She was evidently most thankful to see me come in. The villain thought he had provided against her escape, by telling Brown that she was deranged, and he was her keeper. He did not know exactly with whom he was dealing."

"There is one thing I should like to know," said Mrs. Pomeroy, "and that is, how you came to be there at all?"

Mr. Fletcher only smiled, and said good night, nor though Mrs. Pomeroy often attacked him upon the subject afterward, did she ever succeed in getting an answer. Whatever might be his sources of information, he kept them to himself.

"I shall put you to bed in my room for to-night," said Mrs. Pomeroy, returning to Delia, "and to-morrow we will see what is to be done. But this much I must say-I will do nothing for you-I will leave you to the fate you have provoked by your misconduct, unless you promise to be guided entirely by me, and to be perfectly obedient and straight-forward."

"I will," replied Delia, earnestly. "I have had enough of crooked courses, and by the help of God,-if He will help such a creature as I am-I will never tell another lie as long as I live."

"You must not doubt of God's mercy," said Mrs. Pomeroy. "The greatest sinner may return to Him, with a full assurance of welcome and pardon. At the same time, you must not expect to escape entirely from the consequences of transgression."

"I don't mind that," replied Delia. "Only for my father's sake, I should be glad to escape from disgrace. But I fear that is impossible! " And she burst into tears.

"We will talk it all over in the morning, and decide what is best to be done," said Mrs. Pomeroy, soothingly. "You must go to bed now, and try to rest. See, here is poor Emily waiting for you! You ought to be grateful to her, for she ran a great risk to try to save you."

"Oh, Delia! " whispered Emily, as she clasped her friend in her arms, "I told! I could not help it!"

"You was right," replied Delia, returning the embrace. "If I had only listened to you-but it is too late, now!"