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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Times, 1900-06-22, Page 8BY IITTI 00, WALEBTR. eeo--049He---‘--seo Copyright, 1899, by Jeannette H. Walwortb. ..., :.!10 4) ;..f.4° 0...A.."..A.*"..A.0.,./1.0...A.."-.41.••••.41..-..A......A......4.0,..A.••••.A.,•"..A..-.4% ..... .4, *,. tr.....r.....y...,...v..,...y..,..r..,...r.,....r.„..v.,....".•..,..r.,„0"..,,,,,v,,,,•..T.......T.•,•• AN INTRODUCTION, thority. Mane 3vIlle had 'big one'cliurett, One would scarcely credit the flour- and for yeas tier eueband had filled Its *fishing and growing town of Mandeville pulpit., Mlo knew every foot of the --4,eity by courtesy—with a well antilop.- ground between Broxton. Hall and the tletfted and respectably vouched for little church over which the "crooked ghost otory, and yet it had one—has stick" now presided, to her austere dis- One perhaps, one might say, for three satisfaction ,Of its oldest citizens must join the The window In which her big arm - choir invisible before it becomes a mat- chair was immovably planted gave her ter of pure tradition. a glimpse of the tiny white steeple' In To quote front the geography, "Man- clue direction and the wistaria wrap- deville is remarkable chiefly for the ex- ped walls of Broxtou Hall In the other. eellent quality of the glazed tiles and Honeysuckle and clematis vines clam - the superior Cylinder stoves which it bored over her window sill. She loved manufactures in large quantities and the scent of them. Bees hummed ships annually to all parts of the Unit- about the double petunias and gay ed States and Great Britain." indexes around her doorsteps. She .... Mandeville does not set as much could not hear them, but she knew store by its ghost es it does by its tiles they were there, so she lost nothing, , and stoves, which it advertises with . The front of the Spillman cottage laudable liberality, but should any was pierced by one door and two win - Stranger chance to express his views dows. Miss Alalvina's sewing machine on the subject of the finest old man- occupied one of the". Evidently sion in its suburbs, Broxton Hall, he events were not moving rabidly enough ..--,...., the hearing of Uncle Bennie Braddock, as half the town calls him, he will be Very apt to hear something that will astonish him, comiug,, as it does, from such very respectable lips, in an atmos-` phere from which one looks for noth- ing but trade and market quotations. Uncle Bennie has. reached the remi- , niscent age, and he always seizes with avidity upon the chance to describe "Um most remarkable experience of my life, sir." If his listener happens to be a skeptic • who has nothing but aNelled sneer for . _ the Broxtou ghost, Uncle Bennie will refer him to "Major Dan Mercer, sir (1 guess nobody ever cast discredit on a Statement_ef his), or Simon, who was eare taker at the Hall after Colonel tufus Broxton died. They saw what I saw, and I take it that three more . ' unimaginative men can't be picked up in all Melton county." And so, whether y believe it or not, stranger, it will be well to comport yourself respectfully toward the Brox- =, ,*tr ghost so long as you are in the neighborhood of Major Dan Mercer. 7 • The people who live in the handsome = old house itself are not such old world aristocrats as to consider a ghost good - form in shape of family indorsement ;Whatever they may know or think about this elusive member of their fine old family they keep strictly to themselves. Whether or not the Mandeville ghost story is worth relating or listening to each reader of the folloWing pages O(St determine for himself. • CHAPTER I. rui sumiow or DEATH. When Miss Malviva Spillman, who lived midway between the small town of Mandeville and the large estate of Braxton Hall, saw Dr. Govan for the Second time that day drive rapidly up the avcuue of laurel trees that stretch- ed from the big outer gates to the very -doorstep of the Brost -on house, she lift- ed up her voice: "I think Colonel Broxton must be • worse, mother. Dr. Govau's gone by again.", "Me, me, my, my!" -• "That makes twice since breakfast, and he does not often drive that old sorrel of his fast enough to lather him. He Is doing it now, though." • "Twice, Malvina? Me, mel And that poor motherless boy off at school the Lord Only knows how many miles!" "I think Thomas has been sent for, mother. When I was up to ask about the colonel yesterday, Jessy told me he for the older woman. She interrupted the resumed whir of the sewing' ma- chine querulously, "I think you might give over tuck- ing a white petticoat when a neigh- bor's soul is passing, Malvina, and that neighbor Rufus Broxton. It is a sorry day for us." r machine as softly n if Miss Malvina looked penitent and pt the lid on he the Sick man had been in the stare room V the little cottage Instead f in his owh, stately four poster a h f mile away. "1 meant no disrespect, mo er. No- bcfe thinks more of Colon Broston than I do on will miss him orse. It's just my wato keep hue ah, we'll miss m, Malvinal You'll miss him, I'll mi, and all Mandeville will:piss alin. But what does he want with H,6race Matthews at such a tine? qb, kf your own dear father was only hereeiowl" • "1 guess he wants lawyer to get Weni's affairs well pr. hand. Colonel Broxton is rich, Rather, and Tom is young—so young aid helpless." "Only 14 years cld, poor led!" "And I supposithe colonel, is trying to arrange ever thing for Tom's best interests. 1 Auess be neveK once thought bein so well and strong just a week ago, t what he would better° himself to ok after Toni for many a long ye yet. Jessy says Mr. MA thews and the colonel are just like brothers." "Mother" Spillman jerked her trum- pet away from Miss Malvina's lips with fierce petulance. “Jessy is a gossiping simpleton. Brothers, indeed! Don't speak of them to the sante breath. I know Horace Matthews. • Then, with shrill, rising voice, "r know more about Horace Matthews and Rufus Brogtou thau Jessy could ever fled out if her mother cooked at Broxton Hall till kingdom come." • . "I know my father prepared them both for college," said Malvina proudly Then quietly she seated herself on a hassock near her mother and possessed herself of the pile of gray wool the old lady worked up into articlesof doubt- ful beauty and undoubted inutility, just as the whim Seized her. In off moments Miss Malvina would seize the needle and beaten the hour of comple- tion. Confident of a flood of familiar rem- iniscence, she settled resignedly to crocheting. It was her way to keep busy. Once fairly launched on the backward flowing tide, she could trust her mother to entertain herself for an had." • indefinite period of time. "But maybe he Won't get here in "I have known Horace Matthews time. Go back to the window, Malvina. and Rufus Broxton since they were Something else might happen." both boys in knickerbockers andt•olind- • Miss Malvina's mother was getting abouts coming to AIr. Spillman for Old and had got deaf. Just now she Latin and mathematics. That was be Was pinned to her armchair with a. fore you ever saw the light, Malvin% sprained ankle. To use her own path" They were always together as boys, she was nothing like the woman she and I marveled at it then. Rufus used to be. was a handsome, high spirited, clean Sometimes Miss Malvina could pro- souled lad who Would have cut off his jut a bit of gossip icross the room tight hand if he detected it doing a without haying to leave her sewing dishonest thing. MatthewS was just • machine or ironing board. It depended everything that Rufus wasn't. I never largely on the state of the atmosphere. understood the liking Broxton had for 'As a rule, she had to filter It carefully him.,' through the perforated ear trumpet ARtivIna put in a word for the ma- 411111int was Swung by a black ribbon ligned. "Mr. Matthews must have been :about her mother's neck. - very winning in his young days, moth - The wheel of Miss MalvIna's sewing er. He's got such friendly manners Menthe filled the little cottage with and he Is so dreadfully good looking its pleasant whir for a few moments of even now." renewed activity. Then something else "Oh, there's no gainsaying his good dId happen, and she bustled across the looks. They aline pretty neer landitig room once Wore to report it Her moth• him on the topmost round of his ambl- er held the' trumpet In a.state of eager tion once Upon a nime. Ile just missed readiness. being Rufus Broxton's brother -In-law "And Darnel has JIM gone galloping and corning in for half of old Marsden by on the colonel's black mare, moth- Btoxton's estate. When Lucetta Brox- •• ton crime home from boarding school-, "Which Way?" my, but she wns something to look et: "Toward town. 1101 just kill that —Horace Matthews did not letthe mare, and the colonel loves her next grass grace on the road from Mande - best t� Tom." ville to Broxton "You say he' e on the black mare "He was a struggling young lawyer Winnie? Why, Broxton never Would then, malting for bus first client She have let Daniel or any ether MUG get Was the handsomest girl in the 'country astride that brute If he had his senses ' and the richest. Before she had been ;about hl&' "Mother" Spillman shook • home a half year they were engaged to her white head dolorously and added: be married. Before she had been home "(lone after Horeee Matthews, 1 sup- , a whole year she was deed of pleurisy, pose. Broxton had better be sending contracted by going to a Come out par - for the minister, If be Is but a poor ty at Butterworths', ten miles from crooked stick, and settling his account Broxton, wearing her ball dress and with heaven instead of Worrying with slippers in the carriage." the lawyers at such a. time." ; As Miss Malvina had not come to Mrs. Spillman could, afford to put he wonte's estate without nchieving per- estimilte upon the new preacher, feet familiarity with the melancholy )oke as one who lied beep In MP, fate of beautiful tucetta troxten., she THE WINGRA}i TRES, JUNE 22, 1900. did uot Intermit the motion of her nee. (He to. exclaim or Wino= Over the threadbare story. Illorace Matthews was married la: lose than two years After to a girl who had expectations that were never real,' Ind, and Rutile was married a mouth later. loth of them lost their wives about six years later within a month of each other. Queer, wasn't it?" Miss Melville, yawned and saki "Very." The bees amurand IP the honeysuckle vines, the OrOCOotieerne wove Re rapid way in and out of the gay web and the old woman croeued. "I won't deny you that Matthews Is the sharper of the two, but Rufus Broxton has got more soul is his little anger than Horace Matthews IMS In his whole body. Rufus was as brave as a lion, but sweet tempered as a girl, trusting as a baby, always. Hon- orable? 1 should say he was. I don't suppose lie ever played crooked for the finest wbite alley that was ever made. 1 doubt if Horace Matthews could claim as much for himself." "And Tom's going to grow up to be just such auother," said Miss Malvina, with conviction, Into the peaceful droning of the bees and the monotonous crooning of the deaf woman was precipitated tbe sound of iron sbod hoofs pounding the earth rapidly. Miss Malvina dropped the gay wools recklessly and, with the ball unwinding as she traveled, rushed to the front door, craning her thin neck after the fast disappearing borseman. "It's Daniel, mother, galloping back to the Hall. The mare's flankaare fairly reekiug with sweat and foam. And—yes, be'll catch up. Now they .are neck and neck." "Wbo is neck and neck with what, Melville?" Miss Malvina drew her head in re- tuctantly and returned to the trumpet. Neck to neck with mare Winnie, Lawyer Matthew's big roan had dash- ed out of sight. The two horses knew each other well. Many a peace- ful excursion had they taken side by side through the lovely country roads engirdllug Mandeville or over the broad expanse of the Broxton estate, half of which destiny. had maliciously snatched from the grasp of the roan's rider. In the westering light the. lawyer's face looked hard and white and set. Tbe wind had lifted the front brim of his soft felt hat and flattened it against the crown. Scarcely had the cloud of dust raised by the two horses subsided before the Mandeville public hack went lumbering by in a vain competition of speed. Its curtains flapped wildly in the wind, leaving its one occupant in full view. At sight lef him Miss Malvina caught her breath hysterically and bent her head with an impulse of prayer. Then she retraced her steps to the deaf we - man. "Daniel's ridden back, mother, and Mr. Matthews was with him." "Trust him," said the old woman sourly. "He'll make a good thing of it, Rufus so trusting and Tom so youug and him already feeling like he'd beet cheated by Lucetta Broxton's taking off." "Aren't you a trifle hard on Lawyer Matthews, mother? He stands well in the community. Everybody has a good word for him. except you. Ile is the best faller to that pretty 011ie I ever saw." , "Oh, he'll look out for his own. Olivia is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. 1 hope she ain't spirit of his spirit." The old woman was inexorable. Pres ently• Miss Maltiva .sent a still more solemn announcement through the trumpet. "And,. mother, Jim Hobson's just driven Ity.,with both horses to the hack and ParsADrayton on the back seat." "May the."Lord .have mercy on bis soul! Amen!; This pious ejaculation lacked explicit- ness, but as Hobsou's soul was a mat- ter of no particular moment to any one and the Rev. Mr. Drayton's was al- ready presumably insured against the possibility of miscarriage Miss Mal - villa fitted it wherett belonged. "I hope Tom will get here before it is all over," she said softly. But her mother's head had fallen for- ward on her clasped and trembling "Now they arena& and neck." hands. Tears came warily to eyes long used to the vexing ways of the world. The minister's widow wept silently for the breaking Of another link in the chain. that time had robbed of all but a few frail links. Tito sun dropped behind the tallest trees that !crowned -the bluff Against wadi Mittideville nestled. The many witidovesof Broxton Hall caught its. level rays and flamed Into a brief glory of molten gold. The great house looked as% If g were illuminated for the pore- , Ing of some distinguished geest. The shadows of evening lready thick among the dark oaks and cedars • with° lawn. A. funereal blaek:ness ea- wifftppod a cluster ot Norway firs. Pre*, Welt the borrowed brightness faded • from th.0 windows of the HA "Want Its somber bulk sharply outlined against the pallid skies. AS a tired child ;night have sobbed USW to sleep, "Mother" Spillman pass. ea from tears to Slumber. Propping tbe gray bead tenderly against its silken chair rest, MILO Malvina softly escaped from the room. She was in a state of restless, nervous tension. ' She wandered as far as the cottage gate, pulling a gaudy zinnia and a gay prineess feather In transit, only to throw them away. She leaned over the low gate and peered anxiously (lova the dusty road. Over au hour now since tbe minister and tbe lawyer bad gone by in such haste and "still no sign of poor Tom's coming." Colonel Rufus Broxton was tile "big" man of the neighborhood. Ilis sudden illness had aroused great local inter- est. Personally she bad none other than the tenderest memories in eon- nection with Wm. The glft of a cow when their own only one had fallen over the bluff and been killed, the headstone that marked her father's grave in the Mandeville burying ground, the annual spring "breaking up" of her little garden patch, all testi- fied to the goodness of the colonel's heart and the faltbfulness of bus soul. He had never lost sight of the fact that her mother was the impoverished widow of the man who had been the lutellectual guide of his callow youth nor how as the minister's wife she had been a helpful friend and good adviser to tile young and sometimes frivolous wife he bad brought home to stately cld Broxton Hall. And uow in the hour of his extremity Miss Malvina could not bear to think of the colonel having an unfulfilled wish, Jessy, had told her that all bis cry was: "Why doesn't the boy come? The boy will be too late. Keep me here, doctor, until Tom gets home." And Jessy knew, because she was housemaid at • the Hall and heard everything. If ouly the boy bad been sent for sooner! Mr. Matthews must have knOwn how things were going.to end. And at thought of the lawyer she fell to wondering over her mother's harsh judgment of the man who for sterling merit stood next to Parson Drayton In the town and county. There were those in Mandeville who thought the son rose and set In him. Her mother must be getting unreasonable in her old age, and so, dismissing the lawyer filen her mind as a. minor matter at such a solemn juncture, she stood there breathing futile wishes that she might do something. ever so little a sernethine. for the colonel or for Torn. i' The roffd in front of the cottage was deserted. At its best travel toward Mandeville was light and uncertain. There was none at all tonight. The scent of honeysuckles and sweet Williams weighted the air. A single star came out in the blue black sky, an- other, a dozen, a host A. solemn hush enwrapped the universe. If only some break would come in the dreadful still- ness! It came. The patter of hurrying feet in the dusty road—a small, dark figure was speeding; toward her out of the gloom. It came abreast of her. Miss Malvitia could bear the quick panting breath of the runner,. Next the gleam of a white face, bare of hat, shoue under the stars. "Who is nett? Who are you? Tom —Tom Broxton?" The running feet halted. The white face came closer. A breathless young voice called to her eagerly: -Is that you, Miss Malvina? How about fa- ther? Better, isn't he?" Miss Malvina answered Inconse- quently: "What are you doing afoot, child? Couldn't Daniel have gone to fetch you?" • "Mr. Matthews' man Rube was at the station with his buggy. I think he must have been drunk. He upset the buggy in n.. lime hole this side the schoolhouse. I left him flounderiug about in It. I could not wait. Is fa- tlier"— "Yes," said Miss Malvina recklessly. She would not rob that poor panting young bosom of its last flickering hope. "Thank God for that much!" The boy lifted hiseyes toward the dark mass showing above the darker shrubbery of Broxton lawn. But for that senseless mishap he. would have been -home an hour ago. He had run, panting and stumbling, over three long miles of dark, uneven country roads. Still half a mile lay between him and his one earthly friend. lEfe halted only long enough to fling that gasping ques- tion ato Miss Malvina. Perhaps he might still hear his dear father's voice if but in a deathbed blessing. Ile was speeding onward at a pace which soon effaced every sign of his slender figure. Mise Malvina sighed heavily. "Perhaps I told him a lie. But whet else was there to do? Poor boy, poor Tom!" She turned about and Walked through the prim little border of zin- nias and princess feathers. She tip. toed softly into the room where she bed left her mother peacefully slum- bering In her armchair. lite lifted a lamp and placed it carefully out of range of the big ehair. She took tip a book only to put' it down unopened. It was impossible to settle to any or- dinary occupation. She crept ouee more to the front gate. The solemn stillness grew more Im- pressive with the passing of each mo, merit She 'wished some figure, no matter whose,- might Appear going to- ward the village from Broxtone She should like to hear that Tom had not got there too late. She had thrown a White apron over her bead as protection against night &WS. She leaned With her elbows on the gate and waited—not for very long. A horseman was cantering slowly in het direetioll from the cOloners. She opened the gate and stepped lute the road. MoMIALEWS POULTRY ''.NETTMC • ';a117:X.... • r LAWil FENCINOS are riot enzpassediu, the WORLD. Their Woven Wire Fellatio have stood e.-., : stood over fifteen years of vary graeeestaut testing on FARM and RAILWAY, Special offers made this yt*Z' On 110G FENCING. These goods are all manufactured by The Ontario Wire Fencing Co„ Limited, of Platen, Ont. For sale by the Hardware Merchants and General Dealers throughout Canada. Also by the Can. Hardware Jobbers. Gen, Agents—The 13. 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