The old matters must have been pretty much forgotten by all but
the very few who were immediately interested in them. It was safe to
make the venture at all events, and, I resolved to make the venture
to see and learn what I could.
I had the idea in my mind that if Sarah was alive and well, and
free, I should be able to induce her to fulfil her promise to come
to me, and that we might go somewhere and settle down and live
happily together. At any rate, I would try to see her and our child.
I did not communicate a word of all this to my son Henry. I told him
I was going to New Jersey to visit some friends, to look for
business, and I would like to have him accompany me. He consented;
I hired a horse and carriage, and one bright morning we started. I
had no friends to visit, no business to do, except to see Sarah-the
dearest and best-loved of all my wives.
When we reached Water Gap I found an old acquaintance in the
landlord of the hotel, and I told him where I was going, and what I
hoped to do. He knew the Scheimers, knew all that had happened
eleven years before, and he told me that Sarah had married again,
seven years ago, and was the mother of two more children. She lived
on a farm, half a mile from Oxford, and her husband who had married
her for her money, and had been urged upon her by her parents, was a
shiftless, worthless, drunken fellow. The boy-my boy-was alive and
well, and was with his mother.
This intelligence changed, or rather made definite my plan.
Pages:
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115