Virgies Inheritance | Page 4

the cheerful parlor whither Virgie had retired when her father
opened the door to the benighted wayfarer.
Mr. Heath bowed with all the polish that could have been expected of
him had he been in a royal drawing-room instead of a rude cottage in a
ruder mining district of the mountains of Nevada, while his dark eyes
flashed with a look of admiration over the perfect figure and into the
lovely face of his host's daughter.

He removed his hat and havelock, revealing a grand head covered with
waving brown hair, and a handsome face all aglow with intelligence.
His eyes were a dark, wine-brown, his glance as keen and straight as an
eagle's, his manner and bearing betraying that he was accustomed to
mingle with people of culture and refinement.
Chapter II.
The Stranger Welcomed.

Virginia Abbot simply inclined her regal head in returning the
stranger's greeting; then taking up her work again, she sat down by the
table, with her back toward the fire and the newcomer. She had not
failed to notice his look of surprised admiration when introduced to her,
and it had affected her strangely.
Five years previous Mr. Abbot and his young daughter had come to
that wild region entire strangers--the former, a man of gentlemanly
bearing, somewhat past his prime; the latter a wondrously beautiful girl
of fifteen, just budding into womanhood, and with a dignity of mien
and refinement of speech which, together with her beauty, caused the
uncouth inhabitants of the place to regard her with something of awe,
and as if they thought she belonged to an entirely different sphere from
them.
Mr. Abbot owned a claim in the gold and silver region there, which he
asserted that he was going to work himself, much to the surprise of the
rough miners, for he was a frail looking man.
He built a small but very convenient house, containing five rooms,
which, with the few elegancies he had brought with him, for his child's
sake, and which proclaimed that the strangers had been accustomed to
the luxuries of life heretofore, became the pride and wonder of the
settlement.
The house was painted inside and out; there were carpets upon the

floors, draperies at the windows, vases and ornaments on the mantels,
pictures on the walls. But though all the furnishings were of the
simplest and cheapest, yet, to the rude and unaccustomed people about
them, their home seemed a veritable palace.
Another mystery and evidence of superiority was the grave and
self-contained Chinaman who came with them, and was installed as
cook and servant in general in the small kitchen, and who waited upon
the young lady of the house with so much respect and deference.
Here the father and daughter lived in the utmost seclusion. Virgie never
was seen outside her home unless accompanied by her father or servant,
and Mr. Abbot, when not in the mine, devoted himself wholly to his
child.
They made no friends, and did not mingle at all with those about them,
although they were always kind and courteous to every one, and thus
won the respect of every man, woman and child in the hamlet. Mr.
Abbot had the appearance of being much broken in spirit; his
countenance wore a look of habitual sadness, and his abundant hair, so
prematurely whitened, plainly told that some heavy trouble had
overtaken him in the past. Nothing could be learned of their
antecedents, where they had lived, or why they were there, though Chi
Lu, the servant, was often plied with questions by the curious, and thus
they were regarded as a trio of very mysterious personages.
After a year or so, it began to be whispered about that "the governor,"
as Mr. Abbot was called, because of the respect in which he was held,
had "struck it rich," in other words, that his claim was proving an
unusually fruitful one, and he was making money rapidly. How this
came to be known it would be hard to say, for he was very
uncommunicative, going and coming to and from his work quietly and
unostentatiously, and living in the simplest manner.
As time passed, Virginia Abbot grew even more beautiful than she was
when she had first come to her mountain home. The bracing air agreed
with her, her health was perfect, while her simple manner of living and
her regular habits were calculated to develop to the utmost every charm,

and keep her strong, and fresh, and beautiful.
Her mind was not allowed to lie dormant, however, for her father
attended most carefully and faithfully to her education, and not only
insisted upon a regular and thorough course of study, but kept her well
provided with the literature of the times, embracing many new books
and various papers