HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1890-1-17, Page 2THE BRUSSELS POST. JAN. 17, 1890,
r 'i7" who bid answered tit° door, "Well, I for held, As I ori him first, I think you stay,
'TEE TI KB D G E A 'i $ am tact eurprierd, He was a quest un, wan as you.,nand him.'"
• leNSMr, Straughneety, I'll toll the deetor "Yee, sir i exuo4ly like that, Iiia
at once. Leoky'e'appeno to be in," hipper bad been laid, end the gong sounded
Dr Lotou wan inRurmo hie sham were
—he kept very old•faehioned hours,
dinner at twelve, supper at eight,—but
he bsdn'b conte down ; oo after wait•
lug nearly half en hour, I oamo up to
hie room, I knocked govern/ throes and at
leaf, being afraid sometbinp won wton', 1
opened the door and come in. The Idled
CHAPTER I.
re Seirkbrlage was a village la ono of the
rglith mldlpnd counties, It was a quiet,
old !widened place, look lug sleep and Rioter -
ague, with its whltoweehod cottogeo, OObbly
causeways, quota., old church, a01 Ione
stretches of gran sward bordering the road
upon which it stood. Ralf a mile beyond It
was a small though tbicklyoob weed, bo -
longing, as did the village Half, to Mr,
12cbertBret horton of The Towers,
Mr. Brotherton was not popular in tee
village. He was rarely at tome in the largo
••touoe with the high tower, Prem which the
country meld be aeon for miles around,
attuned at one end of Stitkbridge, and
which wee tie neenteal residence, had wben tooth, as to peculiar guttural tones he
he did occaoioaelly, for a few weeks, cerupy ennuatated the follcwsx extraordinary
The Towers, his haughty manner to too g
villogero, and tbe indifference be displayed ape A death's head a6 a frnab, A tkeletca
to the Emo11 grievaneea le. which they acnte-
times wished to :c.torest hien, as their land.
lord, did not preeemese them in hie laveur,
For twenty years Mr, Brotherton, baying
succeeded his father ab the age of thirty-five,
had owned The Towers and the estate be.
logging to it, unwedded ; and be had come
to be regarded as a confirmed bachelor,
'When at length it became known that ab the
ripe age of Sity.dvo be was about to marry,
oeonatderable amount of surprise and curioe•
'Lei wee manifested, especially as the bride
.,oe rumoured to be a young foreign lady of
great beauty, The marriage never came off.
tin the morning preceding the dog an which
h1r. Brotherton should have prooeeded from
Stirkbridoe to London to claim bio bride, he
was found dead in Srirkbridgo Weed,
The sleepy old village was roused to e
ferment of excitement, especialIy when day
atter day passed without bringing the Oh -
cowry mo fn this way.While kis lad
oevcry cf any eine to the murderer. That wife, with Iter ears, and. her graces, and her
the not bad not been suicidal, was prayed by tabseti tion lista, hangng about my doors,
the fact that the waned welch had been the bee drives me near) mad—tenni made me
eauee cf the death wee stab as ooteld cot have
y y
been self-dsflictad. Ia spite cf the unpopn• the old lurtatio the intelligent) villa ere
larity of the victim, the utmost interest was
imagine me to be. Well, well : I.,kink I've
evinced in the otepe taken by theauthoritiee • settled be Rte. Sots 73atxlataw now."
fax the detection and capture of the
perp,- And still mumbling to himself, he climbed
teeter cf the crime, But he remained at ! lets And,
train and wan oarriod away.
large, nnpaniehed, bis crime one of thoee, Ona morning, a month after the ooanr-
envtorioua deeds which now and again be file
ranee of this little episode, as hers, llr:ffield,
the most strenuous c ffarta of the palace, and after receiving her maoter'e orders for the
by-and-by Stirhbridge, becoming unable to day, was about: to retire from the dining•
extract fresh matter for dieonsion from the room, where her daily audience with him
tenbjeot, let it drop, relapsing into its former usually tock place, he called her Usok,
eondiUan of bucolic tranquillity, saying be bad time pleasant news for her.
Tweet earn passed, bringing with them I am going to give you a little holiday,
few Mama to the village. gibe owner of Mee Dr !field, be said ; "you and the other
IFbe Towegre now was a nephew of the late eervante ea well. I want a few repairs
liar. Brotherton, who had inherited the doing to the hones, and a few little altera-
whole of his uncle's property. Be never tions that I think ib would be more oar.-
-raided at The Towers, disliking a country easiest to have done while it was empty.
life, and, unlike Mr. Brotherton, he wan They will not take long to do, perhaps a
accustomed to let the bocce. The last week or a fortaisht—and I an going to give
tenant, wbo had now been in possession You a fortaighb'e holiday."
more than five years, bad taken the place on Yee, oar. Thank yon, air,' said Mrs.
along lease. He was not an Engliebman— Driffield. But some Dna wed be wanted
no eco knew exactly what his nationality just to look after the place e bit, sir, won't
was, acme ea ie S enieh, some Italian— there Y" she respectfully irgeired.
but his Beglith iweetolerably well spoken, "1 shall do chat," replied Mr. Serangb-
ho bavarg in boyhood lived much in Eng ne q. I am not gotug away myself; I
land. Be was, in appearance, except for the
with to superintend the workmen. I'shall
remarkable brilliancy of hie dark deep net have my meals brought from the Red Lion,
eyes, at old matt, grey,yhaireds hollow -
can
I dazedly ocme woman from the village
cnotked, wrinkled, and bent in form. Hie can be got to offend here an bons or so a
meaner of living was plain is the extreme. day/ ea, mfr, no dtub4 "a reed hfre,Dtli6ald,
(Ebe Towers was a large hone, and during
trying to regent tbe an agreed
she was leo)
its occupation by other tenants it had ingy [z sancta itself n as her face. Mr,
possessed a large staff of 'servants, but Mr, S ou hneea gwsa reverting the order of
Straughnesny employed only three—a house things to which she had beget e°enetomed.
keeper, e housemaid, and a page, with g
eacaeional help from a village gardener. He Al her other sitnationa, repalra had been
lived in almost hermit -like exclusion, never, oondnated, along wit., painting, oto„ during
-except for an infrcgnene early morning
hehind.ee tly"And when a we tot� caro plum,
ramble through the wood, or wben upon g , p
certain state omelette be lett Stirkbridge aiti,
'tor the day, being seen outside hie grcundo, 'Tho 800000 the better," replied M.
and refnelog admittance to all visitors, He Stranghnesay. "Aa 0000 as yeti oan manage
was eoesldered odd, eccentric, "a bit touch -
you
Bet sande. How long would that be, do
ed," by the villagers, though Mrs. Drlflteld, you mink Y'
bis honoekeeper, said be seemed sane enough, "Two or three days would be long enough
a Iiltle perhaps became of the otriatneco nit ; lust time enough to write and let our
with which he preserved hie seoluofon, but friends know when to expect us, end to get
chiefly because of a strange habit they had ready for uo. We're none of us Stirkbrldge
leornn irombis servants he indulged In. folie, you see, air, so we have jab to
The largest room in The Towers was a let—"
_ung, low apartment, from which a narrow "Then we will say three doge from now,
winding staircase led to the tower, which that will be Thnraday," interrupted Mr.
had been bulb to satisfy a whim of old Mr. Straughnesay. "That will do finite well
rotherten't, the murdered mane father. Ic for me."
thio room Mr. Straughneesy'pent the greater
are tf his time, and atom hia occupation of
the home no one but himself hod been al.
lowed within it, he looking the door both
upon entering and leaving it. Soot a pro.
neading could scarcely fail to arouse nom°
emioeity, partloular'y in a place like Stink•
bridge, w here amail things were hugely meg
nificd by goeeiping tooguee, and where the
dearth of larger intercom made even the most
trivial doingo of its inhabitants eatablished
and continuous eubjeoto for conversation,
and Mr, Strangbneaoy and hie mysterious
chamber earn to be looked upon by some of
]tie humbler neighbours with a certain
amount of awe.
good natured person recovered hie ueaal d i r
equanimity. in iwiimadnahito request Ooe atb The ne proc, and
"Poor old follow f' bo tbopgbt. "If he drawing ca his top entpt be ab tae proceeded
condemn in bis nobealtky aeoluded style of Stv"t , etridiu .,aln ong, hep ueetitnedwith lblo e boy.
living be will po !rem bad to worse --from a pante*., as to die olrcumatanoec aurrounding
little queerneos to oapgeroue =sincere oho case, He olioited the faete that tbe
Nothing Like mopine for ur,hanp)ng iho poison taken woo landauum, end that her,
declares elle le thoroughly cf&nded. You Bice b ice means, thou h never, as upon
brain, Aloud be aanlieued , My wife S:raughneeey had been scauetemad to Judea'
have refused to tee us twice lutoly yWhen Nee this oneeeion, before vetting for the night,
have called eb The Toms, Sou have Arriving at The 7'owoee he iivaa mat et
refuted to visit us. And aha wants you to door by Mrs, Duffield, who, pale arc)
ateno by attending our Meeer next week, competed, ushered him upstairs to lir.
Wbat do you coy 1 Will you eine 1" Stranghuoeey'e beeohamber, tto room in
Mr, Strangbneiay advanced still olceor to wblrh ba bad baso found, tying hack In en
hie interlocutor,and hie thin lips ported in easy chair, motionless and rigid, with en
a repulsive grin, reveeling his gleaming empty bottle labelled "Potton" iyinp by his
aide. Huddled up in the Maw, bis face
grey end picobed, be was a ghattly eight.
The doctor took the norvelaa band he ng•
log over tho their in hie, After e while,
"Hs le dead,be said quietly,
"Dead 1" =rented the housekeeper.
"That was what I feared."
" When did you last nee him alive?" the
doctor !squired.
"I saw him just after dinner today, sir,"
"Did you notice anything strange in hie
demeanor 1 Did be seem in hie ncualepirfts
—not dopreoeed at all?'
Mre, Driffield coesidered a moment before
replying, her fiopen nervously teetering the
fringe of her black allk apron,
He wan very quiet, sir,' she said ab
length ; "Lut that be often was. Ho wasn't
one to talk much to hie servants. Now I
Wyk of lie though," he did lock graver than
ordinary"
upon the hearth, A madman ata bazaar,
Ah 1 Ah 1 Ah 1" the end of the peal rising
almost to a shriek, end oaueiag several
persons near to regard him with redoubled
attention.
Good Heavens 1" thought the vicar.
"He's wore°, fifty times worse, than he was
them months ago. Bee simply frightful,
beyord the reach cf any it fluence of mane,
I'm afraid." And with the hasty remark,
"Ah, my train, I see; geed.mornive," the
Rev, 9 ohn Barrietaw harried off.
As near en eppreach to a smile as was
ever to be seen on Mr. Straugbaeaoy'e grim
countecanco now n omentarily played upon
ft.
"I think I've settled him at loot," he
muttered, "Conftnnd him. He's token a
vast amount of time learning his lesson of
leaving me alone. Year after year has he
The accaei000 uponwhich M r, Stranghnoeey
was aoonatemed to leave Ste; kbridge were
when, once a quarter, he went to Barre.
Mester, a manufacturing town fifty miles
distant. What was the pnrpoae of hievieitn
to Berrlaheater we not known, but regu
larly, with one exception, since his Doming
to Stirkbridge had he, the first week in
January, April, July, and October, made hia
=outdone thither. The ono exception had
beet when nearly a week of soaking web
weather had coma one Ootober, only one day,
Friday, being tolerably fine ; and Mr,
Straoghnesey among hie other peculiarities
was intensely eupereoitions, believing Friday
to be an unlucky clay, and being unwilling
to bravol upon it, he had pub off his journey
until the week following.
October 1, 18—, wan a fine bright day,
the oky but sparsely flecked with clouds,
the atmosphere warmer than is nasal for
that time of the year. About noon,
several people were in Stirkbridge
station, waiting • for a couple of trains
which were shortly due within a few minutes
of each other. They stared hard when Mr.
Straughnosoy'a bent figure 'newly meandered
on to the platform, bub no one ventured to
address bin, and to none did he vouchsafe a
greeting, He stood looking aimlessly down
the line in the direction from whioh Ole
train wee expected, apparently oblivious of
all around him, until be WAS atarbled from
his abairaotton by the approaoh of a gentle,
man—a short, stout, good -tempered -looking
Men in olergyman'e garb—who had just
entered the station, and who in hearty
genial tonne aoeonted biro,
Good•morning, Mr, Sbraughneeoy," he
said, holding out hie hand, into which Mr.
Stranghnesay very relnotenbly platted his
own. 00 Glad to eee you out a fine mornieg
like thio. Bettor for you if yon took a little
trip somoother° more often. Eh ( I1on'b
you think eel By the way," with a jovial
tanggh, "I have a oommisaion to perform in
wbioh you are ooncerned—a special message
to you from a lady, '
A suapioioue hewn front the old man re.
warded title sally, and bending hie shaggy
btowed vteege Mono to the smooth face of
reverond gentleman, he shot upon him
Dr. Luton meditatively rubbed hie ohin
with hie hand, a bebib of bin when think.
ing. fie remembered how many tines he
had hoard Mr. Streugbneosy epokon of as
not being in the full poaeeeateu of hie mental
faculties, though bar. Barrietaw had often
aeserlad he who merely entitle odd—nothing
more. Even the vicar, however, had latter-
ly run with the papular verdict, giving aa
hie reason for the chenging of his opinion
an aoeonnt of his last interview with the
old man, when he had been both ohookod
and etertled by the wtidnesa of his manner
and words, He (the doctor) was Bernngly
inclined to cuspoob Mr. Straughne0ey a death
bad not been caned by an accidental over-
eo0e—aa the bouerkeeper open first seeing her to remalr.
him bad euggeeted—bib that ib was a nose "I aha stew you the way, air," said Mai,of anioide—suicide while in an unsound elate Driffield, "if you really wish to go. It is little fists and a choking of hie throat, he
of mind, not tar from here—on the next landing, turned to go down the steps and off again.
The tenor of hie thoughts woe here inter- Bub do you think it is well to go ? Yon into the oold and wet.
ru ted bya cceseion of load piercing have not lived in the same house with Mr. "Wail e minute 1" cried the woman after
shrieks in eahich was a sharp tone of terror. Stranghnesay line we have, and yea don't him. "Floods, get the boy eomobread end
Claming as they did—with ouch startling know what strange ways he had. I haven's butter.'
suddeneee, breaking the before•nndieturbed much faith in ghosts and such like myself ; "An' one of 'e' tookies, mamma," pleaded
quiet of the house, and following olooely but alit]," shaking her heed, "the /nester the emalleat one of the group in the door.
upon her introduction to the idea she plainly
saw Dr. Loton entertained, and which had
nob presented itaelf to her mind before, thee
Mr. Straugbneesy'o death was suicidal and
nob the result of an accident --they complete.
lythrew Mrs. Di Told cffher balance. She
sank trembling into the nearest oheir, utter-
ly unnerved, while even Dr. Luton experienc
ed an unpleasant qualm, remembering that
strange stories has been circulated through
the village concerning the men who now lay
so stiff and still, incapable alike of commit-
ting good or ill.
" BUT AIN'T GOT NO HOME I" An Tntereeting Wba)irg Venture,
A l'atltelto lneldeat or I,Ife In a Crest
city—Think'In lee ltlereroPeeling
Maly Ogee.
The incident baro related le an actual co.
ourreooe wbioh huppeued only afew days
ago in the outskirts of a city cob five bun.
dred miles from "Toronto the Good", Tho
Was drawn down, the lamp lit, ane° he was names of the peseta flgurleg in the story
lying in the chair just as 1 ou saw l im, air. aro witb-held because their publication could
I apoko to him, end toocbed biro, because 1
thought at fret ho was esieep ; bub wbeu I
bent down. -I am rather abort eights], eir—
and looked door, end naw what Ida foot
teas like, and noticed the bottle, that in the
morning had been timely full, creepy, I
thought be was ill—had perbeps taken too
much laudanum se lel heard of people doing,
and I east Tom ler you et once, sir.''
"You did quite right," re; lied the doctor,
"Well," with a laab look, before leaving, et
the pale facto on the bed, "I think there
lo nethieg furtber I eon do fu
tee matter ab tumuli, ea I will
wish you good -right, hire. Dtlffield. Como.
come, my girl," he added, to Mary, seeing
aha was still in a great atate of terror ;
"don't be so foolish, Take my word for it,
ghaats don't exist out of anyone's imagina-
tion."
"Bub 1 naw it, air," she insisted, "with
my own eyes. 1b wee ne fanoy, I weon'b
thinking anything about ghoots, nor nett:.
ing like them, uutll I saw it all abining like
our of the darkueats at the end of the room.
be of noposeiblo eervlae,
Ib was thab wet, cliental clay which WALE
tumceded by a nisbb of ohllling foot. The
'straggling boueoe along the muddy street
looked hardly loth bleak and forbidding than
did the patehee of epee prairie between,
But within many of the houses there were
eigne of the approach oI a holiday wbero
plenty is present and mirth overflown,
Toward one of these houses a boy made Ole
way aloeg the path diagonally acmes tho
vaoeno lob next to ib, The boy's feet wore
thrust into shoos which were molt too big
and muoh too old for him. D. clothing
wee tattered and iaanilialenb. ie face wan
achy pale and hie Byes had the balf-starbiod
look of one who hes had a gleam ab the path
whittle Rade to another world. Who poor
little handa were thrust into pockets which
bad sides but no bottoms. His drawn and
dirty face woe partly protected by the um
kempt looks of hair which might have been
may and pretty 11 properly oared for, and
by a hat with a bole burned into the crown,
tvbivh was pulled down over hie brow. A
It ma Mr. Brotherton, cr his ghost. And poor, irieignifi°ant, she Ming, adman dos.
I mesh leave the house. I wouldn b stay reputable -looking ohjaab the boy was as ha
another night in it for worlds." plowed through the mud and made his way
"What I Will you leave Mrs. Driffield all up to the door, bedraggled and forlorn.
alone here cxeepr for the boy ? Surely you In answer to his knook a wall -preserved
csnnob be so senieh—Bo silly. Uomo, take woman, whom appoaranae denoted comfort -
Erie with yea to the room you speak of, and able oiroumatsnese, and three children,
see if I don's show you your apposed ghost - whose chubby fame and laughing ogee did
is all moonshine." Inot helio their mother's ]Deka, appeared at
" Oh, I deren'a go there again, sir. I the door.
deren'o 0 I was killed for not going," oried "Please, ma'am, give mo something to
Mary emphatically. eat?"
"Tell me how I oan find it, then," he " Why chould I give you your viotuals?
tad. He thought that porbaps 0 he in. ;Why don'b you go home and get your
epeoted the apartment and found the oauae , meals?
of the girl's fright—some trifling thing he I "3an't got no home, ma'am,
had no daub; it would prove to be—be " heb'a what you all say. Who taught
"Please ma'am nobody.'' of the Arateo have experienced trouble
might be able to set her fears at rest. It you that'
The Peailla Steam Whaling Company, o
Son Fame:boa, has decided to reals some
money in an endeavor to solve bho tnyetery
'Mondani upon the migration of iho whale,
It has been noticed that when the lea bugina
to nob In Moog the 'shores GI Alaska the
whales disappear lex an easterly direction,
and tbo belief hue become established that
the whales congregate about the mouth of
the great Meckel zio River, which as yet ie a
region, entirely unkpown to whalers, A
atronRR steamer le row being fitted OUR at
San Famine by the whaling compauy
mentioned, end next spring oho will proceed
to the ArabioSea with orders to push through
to Maaketele Bay, and there haat amoug
the whales when they retire from bite leo
bound Marco further woab,
A large amount of water is discharged Ince
heaakeezie iiay. and as the head waters o.
the Mackenzie River ore only 300 miiae north
of the Amerfoan boundary lino, there may
be something in the theory that In the Arctic
Oooaa,in the vicinity of Meoker z e Bay, the
in on not olose ire with the grip thee char-
aoterizos the ArotIc winter in other o°oblone
of Otto northern ooaeb of British North
America.
Tho Mackenzie and the Athabasca Rivers
are really one stream, but they aro known
as two rivers wibh the Great Slave Lekee as
the dividing lino. The Maoken'z, is 900
miles long, with a breadth Inflame pima of
a full mile, and it is navigable for steamers
thronghonb almost Ole entire length. Great
Slave Lake le a large body of water of irre-
gular form which lies between latitude 60
dogrean end 49 nanutes north and longitude
109 and 117 womb, It le 303 miles long and
50 Mien broad at its within place. The
Athabaeoa River rises in bho Reeky Moun-
tains near Yellow Head Pees, and Howe
northward to Great Sieve Like, a distance
*11,000 miler, touching in eta course Atha-
baska Lake, a body of water 260 utiles long
and 14 miles wide, iyiog 180 mhos south-
west of Great Slave Lake.
Whatever the opinion in regard to the
conditions which mark the winters et the
eetuary of this greab water course, a greab
deal of interest will,be drawn to the attempt
of ambitious whalora to solve the mystery
which lies eastward of Point Barrow, In
bho vicinity of that point of land the whalers
would, be knew, be extremely inoonventenb
to hire, Dciffield for Mary to have her just
then, and he wished, if poesibie, to iuduoe
The little followglanced longingly lobo enough to warn them against attempting to-
the bright intetior, where heaps of goodies gib naluah erenare bravete choreytmrd Ottoand wheaa]ae
on %tabto were in preparation fur the Christ• n to ogee, there is something
mac feast. Then, with a clutching of Iia in hRin the natnro
of exploration in a prajaat to capture the
whale in his winter home, they will pub
tear behind them and push through the ioe
floes into the unknown sea,
Meanwhile the housemaid and the page
had been eittlag together by the kitchen fire.
They had been diecuesing their maeter'e sud-
den alma, his 'strange ways, the me -aerie
one looked room, and by-and-by—though
this was nob In conneotioa with Mr. Strange-
netsy, save ea one weird topic leed0 to
another of like kind—the murder in Strike -
bridge Wood. For tomo time they had set
thue, then Mary, remembering there were
certain duties Obo had forgotten, in the
flurry consequent upon the discovery of Mr,
Straugbnesey'o condition, to perform in Mrs.
Dr.ifiald'e room and her own, roes and lei
the kitchen for the purpose of attending to
her neglected work.
She asoendcd to the rooms, which were
neer together, by the back or servants'
staircase; but after completing her task,
she found thab her candle, which she had
oarelesoly enatchcd up from the kitchen
table without remarking Its ehartneae, was
horning ao low that the movement of wary -
The servants were well pleased at the ing it downstairs would be likely to extin-
prespeob of a holiday, but their pleasure did t Rauh ie. The back mtaireate was in dark -
not prevent them exporioboing and express• neva, but the front otaire, leading peat the
fug some wonder as to the motive for which atoned room, were faintly lib by a lamp
their master thus one them off. They did obiniog from one of the landia e, so she
nob accept his reason an the 0000000 one. determined to return to the kitchen by the
They had hoard no previous mention of latter way.
alterations, and thele eves little repairing Blowing out her candle, the ran down a
needed. Their susplciouo naturally jumped thorn flight of etepe connecting the landing
to the conclusion that tbo myeterione closed on whieh utas her room with the front stair -
Member had something to do with Mr, case, and arrived opposite the mysterious
Streughncaol'e desire to be rid of them, but Member, Grub sae her astonlshmenb at
whether their nejeoturo was well founded teeing that the hitherto jeelonnly looked
or not they had no moans of judging, and door was ajar.
when Thursday lame rem i they departed, She stood—feeotriated by a deolre, now
Mrs. Deffieid and the boy, who was her that the opportunity lay before her, of
nephew, to visit BOMB friends ab Berriohoe- moaterleg the aaoret hitherto hidden, but
ter; the housemaid to her home in a neigh- repelled by a certain sense of awe—staring
batwing village. with wide-open eyes at the door, She longed,
Upon the morning of the Monday follow- yet dreaded, to approach it, and after a
lug, Mr. Stranghnoesy left by train for Bar while—after a good deal of hesitation—she
riahester, returning in the afternoon mom did drew near to the room, and washing the
panted by a couple of workmen and some door further beck looked in. It was the
luggoge, Faraeveraldayo the men remained, terrified /creams she omitted upon seeing
sleeping at The Toward, their meals carver., whet the interior contained, that had ao
along with Mr. Straughnooey'e from the s aril= Mre, Driffield and the doctor.
Red Lion, and a women from the village Uttering shriek after shriek she find away
attending for an hour er two a day, After down the stairs to the room in which the
their departure Mr. Straoghneooy continued beiieved Mrs. Driffisid still was, betiding in
as before until the return of his servantte wibh an afftigbted cry of "Oh, air 1 Oh,
Mrs, Deffield woo 'mime to notice Mrs. Driffield 1 Oh, Mrs. Drfffeald I"
whether the alterations mentioned, bat not " What lo the matter? Whab has alarm -
specified by Mr. Straughnessy, had been ed you?" asked the doctor in quiet, soot}..
carried out • but, so far as ohs could Bee, the ing tones.
interior of The Towers wee the 00me ea when .' Oh, sir 1" she again ejaculated.
the lefb db a fortnight ago. Those per- "Whab is it, Mary ?' said Mrs. Driffield,
bions of bho house thab had seemed most "Try and tell ea, there's a good girl,"
in need of improvement were nnobenged, "I've seen a ghost," said tho girl, with a
and eh° came to the oonoluaion that the convulsive shudder arida lance of a schen•
was a queer man, and there's no knowing
what be may have bad in a room that no
one—none of tae, anyway—has been in this
"Yes, and ono of the 000kfeo, Flossie."
They gave him a chair just inalde the door,
Hie feet just hardly touched the floor as he
lase many a year." i tab there mttuohing upon the white bread
"Pooh I pooh 1' acid Dr. Loton with a and butter and the cookies which the ]tittle
smile, "Yon are a enable woman, Mee. 1 maiden tronght to him. And when ho had
D:ifiixfd ; surely yon are not afraid. I dare finicited and washed down the repast with a
say you will have hoard of the 'strange 1 cup of milk he reached down beside the
tricks imagination sometimes p'ay's even on ; chair for his old hat, which he had thrown
the etrongeab of us. Mary had been a little to the floor as he oamo in, Bub ie was hard
upaat by the suddenueoo of Mr. Strangh• 4 for hint to Blip out of the chair, It: seemed
neeay'e death, and so booeme an easy prey as if all hie trop ight find an end in
to balluainatlona. That is all.
He were out into the passage, followed by
Mre. Dreffi.ld, and at a dletanoo by Mary,
who preferred comparative nearness to the
aceta of her fright, in arm any, to remain -
that may leite room. Why was it that he
had to e0 pus into the raft end tramp on,
always tramp on? And hie head was so
heavy, too.
p " Plesae, mi,'>m, won't you lab me go out
ing In tbo death-ohambcr alone. Directed by , in the barn and lie down? Please do, ma'am.
tho housekeeper, he ascended the Please give me aomothing to cover me np
etafre an the end of the passage, with and let me go out there to sleep,"
to the landing above, and with " Boy, it's getting near night. You must
quick, firm steps approached the largo go home."
apartment, from Web a narrow winding 'Bob I sue: got no home.'
etairease led up to the tower. He erase sol- " VI ell, we can's have yon banging around
erably brave man, bat a Mill of—if nob ex. here. Wo have given you a square meal,
aptly fear, some feeling akin to it—paamed 0 and now you are warm, and I gusts you
over him as he looked through the door— better go."
half•open, as Mary had left it—and behold The boy acid out of the obair and opened
what was within, wblle Mre. Driffield, who, the door. He turned just before going cub.
was Mote behind him, drew beck with a' In Ma eyes wan a hunger which had not
alight ory, l been satisfied. He looked up in the wo
The room, save for a faint haze at the, man's Moe and in his dry, broken voice,
further end, wan in darkness • and more pitiful because the tears in it had long
from out, the darkness two figures' before been exhausted, said :
seemed to ehino as if containing light; " Wby is it that 1 oan always got 'some,
themeelven and being independent,; thing to eat but never any plane to sleep?
of the darkneca around them. One of them Wby do they always tell me to go on ? And
Do. Tenon recognised at once as the former' I am so tired --I am so aleepy. Al! 1 want
owner of The Towers—the man murdered is a place to lay down and rest."
In Srirkbridgo Wood, The other was a I Thou he " moved on" out into the wet
steamer to him—a handsome youth, with a and gathering dlnkneee, out into the cold,
dark, foreign -looking face, glowing blank And next morning the policeman on that
(yes, and strongly marked brows. They am boab found his little body, cold end stiff,
geared to be otauding upon the spot upon " rearing' on a pile of loaves beside the
which the body had been found—there were fence in the vaoent lob.
the two lurch tress, with the little meetly path 1 Reader, thio is no story written to narrow
running between them—aid there was fierce ' your hoary in this holiday season. It to true,
anger depicted upon both facea,bub especially and the woman who burned that boy away
upon that of the younger man, one of whose from her door fu now suffering more ellen if
hands was in the net of drawing a knife, that . the had last one of her own dear little
had apparently been concealed on hie person, ones. There are places whore suol'i boys may
from beneath hie cont, Like ,o flash Dame be taken Dare of. Think twine before you
the conviction to Dr. Teethe'd mind that deny help once.
what he caw was the Beene of bhe murder,
and that the olive complexioned manwith the
knife was the long•eought murderer. Heald
not wonder at Mary's fr€ght. There stood
the exact imago of Mr. Brotherton, lifelike
and yob with an inanimation ane 1,
hazy about him, unlifeliko and ehming out
from the darkness in an unlifelik0 mann
(TO BE 0 0 31 0131 21))
A Patriotio Seat,
Walter Sootb toile the atory of a blaolo.
smith in the south of Sooblandwho disappear•
ed from the range of vision of the great
novenae and was found afterward pgaotlo-
ing medicine in an English pity, The aaton-
fahed noveliab asked the blacksmith if he
knew anything about the heeling are, and
the latter aoknowledged that he did not,
brae treated mainlyto "two sem lee—
landnum and calomel." "Samples with a
Shot Through the Body.
Apropos of the projected exhib°lion of
Water/oorelies at Drury Deno, a correspon-
dent writes to the London " Globe " : One
iuoidbnt may interest your roadoro before
they see the watch of a hero who fell that
day, June 18, Ha was Ohot through the
body, a ballet mitering his chose and out ab
the bank, To say the Iamb, it le not a
wound one would like, and the dootoro of
those deem had sotto rules to 00 by. We
hear now of marvellous wounds, operations,
and three, and the victim re°over0 ; but a0
Waterloo you were shot ehrough the body;
bherefore you were, in the eyes of the med.
leo, a dead man, and our "hero" was told en,
Re still rebafnod oonolousneeo, and replied,
"Take tide watch to my brother and—tell—
work done had boon, as the had anbioipatod, cion towande the deur, glance
if in expectance ° r p biro—" more was not said, he fell baok in -
within the mysterioae chamber, of thea earanoe of the muse of her frf ht r eonible, The pile and Melaka of the
-- "Mr,Brolhortoa'a ghost, Rim as was mor than you ours 1" Scott
Indo " returned weaning army trying
enerall y comm y*Wellington'shour
CHAPTER I1. dared. 1 couldn't bomimtukon, aha cantina- the pate oda bleokamith, "but it: will be a -pane had alter generally
search for the dead was
ed, vehemently, seeing a faint smile ours dee longtime b01000 I make upfor bho Soots goon,
1e was a raw November nigh,. Pog, with dootor'a lips. "1 knew Mr. Brobnerean by that the Ebglioh killed at or n." wheoutdyhe was yafiob through the body ot where he had lefb the
thorn
a•tendenoy to a drizzling rain, had prevailed eight when I was a girl I remember him ao
bhroughoab the day, and the roads of Stick- plain at: ever. le way him or his ghost 1 saw
Wedge were saturated, and the cobbles dark- up in the maotor'e room, I meld take my —
tined with moisture. ]:b wait nine o'olook, dying oath of it, air," Downing a Lie.
and with bite exception of a solitary figure "Nonsense," replied the dootor, "You Elibor's Wife—"Pretty condition for you
hurrying along the Higqh Street, no ono foolish girl, you have let your imagine, to come home in—etaggoring through the
ermined to ba abroad. The lights of camp than run away with yeti." And he turned to cote in broad daylight."
and fire were 'shining from many a cottage bottarde Mrs. Dielliaidr Yon most omelet gas Dilapidated Spoueg—" Coudn'b help it,
window, and the sound c# loud laughter, mo to plane the body on Ohe bed, m'dsar; been aoanaod of thio) bribery,
and of the plinking of gleam, oatne through please, Mee, Driffield," he old. "' Ib "Bribery 1"
the doors of the Rod Lion. will bo better there, And Mary, you may
may "yes reindeer ; people cote/ I wan (hie)
The eoliOary wayfarer wee the page boy be required to lend no a helping hand."bribed to oppose pro biOion. Ha to show
from The Towers, and, judging from the Mre, Driffield did an the wee rsqueeted, Erika I'p000d ppro'bitioa mown cord,"•--
elarmod oxpred:ion of hie Moe and the epeod but Mary shaking with nervous frlg Ob, was [Naw Murk nPookly.
with which he Dame daehing up the street unable to render any aeoiotanoe whatever.
without overcoat or umbrella, his errand The body removed, Dt. Loton WAS abort bo ---^
was an urgent one. About the middle •of, leave, when Mrs, Dtifiald stopped him with
the village was the house of Dr. L04on, the t question, One ldore Scare+
Stirkbridgo medical practitioner, and it was " Will there bo an inquest ?'she Looked
on his door step the boy paused. anixionsty. The Czer-•Great Peter 1 all ie Mind
He rang the bolt, inquired for DA Lotion, "I don t see how it oan be avefded, " re- lootoweeth f Who fired that bombovitoh
and tree told the doctor was within, piled the doctor, "It is telornbly sitar he Generel,•Oho Count Skippoff—Paaoo, eine.
The master a been taken ill, he gauped, died from an overdose of laudaaum. Ib was hie iniporiat higbn tee the emperor
gleam), to threatening, to vaoanny, ao hie breath oomiog (pick and .,.,bort, "very Whether the laudanum woo edminitterod , of Germany lclseing Ile lot trial highness
alioione, as to canoe him involuntarily to i11, They think 'ea poisoned 'MOIL" wlO t enfolded iotenOlOn ter nob, is hob at all' the emperor of Austria on the other aide of
rink book In it niomeht however the t/ Good graoloue 1'" ejaeutated the main slept ' bub either Wan' an Inquest Weida be j the trate—Peek
fore, the watch remained in his poeseseion,
After the war, hew= ordered to join a regi-
ment in Canada, with no opportunity of
finding the dead man's brother, as he
thought, and the watch went with him to
Canada, Three years later our hero, having
recovered in come wonderful way (perhaps
because ho was left alone), was at a dinner
parby at Bath, and heard, amid a dead
silence of interest, the story of hie death
related, and hie own valued property exhi-
bited to the assembled oon.peny. It Dome
round at last to him, and to the surprise of
the surgeon, and everybody preneab he send,
" Oh, teen you aro the man who stole the
watch 1' Rad a ghost from Waterloo appeor•
ed they could not have been more i naraled.
However, a shako of the hand, with ""All
Tighe, my boy," made the poor surgeon quite
Y happy, though be 6010 the "hero" ou ht 0o
have died on the field. The watch, o!
pooullermake, was handed down with its
!dory to tho hero'd godson, and may be sent
roe our entorprioing AuguOOOu' oolleetlon of
Wo,torloo ce ep,
Divorce in a Church.
The author of "Reminieceoces of a Liter-
ary and Clerical Life," himself a olorgyman,
narrabee an amuelog anecdote which hie
reverend grandfather used to toll about an
ignorant young couple in hie pariah. The
old minister had married thein, but the
marriage had turned out to be ill advised,
and after a while things came to a desperate
peen.
The c , ple had vast, undefined ideas of
what a le ape oould de, and 10 emend into
their foolish allude that he might be able to
undo their anbsppy marriage, So bhey
asked him whether he could not take them
into church again, and perform some service
that would eeb them free, an they had
been before. The rooter meditated for a
moment,
"Yea," he said, "I think if you oamo to
thumb I can put you in the way of becoming
unmarried. But ib is a ourious kind of buai-
neoo, and instead of Doming to the attar, as
before, you will have to go into the belfry."
The unfortunate pair readily assented, and
at an appointed hour woab to the church,
where the rector marched them Into the
belfry.
"You see those two trestles,' he negan.
"Tho husband will have to stand on one of
bbem, and the wife on the other.'
With muoh wonderment the man and wo-
man followed hie inatruotione.
"Now each of you Mho te bell -rope in your
hand.'
That wan done.
"Now, then, tie the ropes round your
make end jump off the trestles.
" Good lack, sir 1" said ono of them, "we
should be hanging ourBelemI"
" Exactly," coed the minister, " thab is
just what I moa». The only way in which
you can unmarry yourselves in church le by
hanging yonraoivss in the belfry."
The young couple dropped the ropes fn
haste, and the minister proceeded to give
them a lecture upon mutual forbearance end
affection, it le to be hoped with good re.
sults.
Death in a Lonely Lighthouse.
A pitiful abory °omen from Red Island
Lighthouse, oppooiee the mouth of the
Saguenay, Qaeboo. Ib appears that Otto
guardian of thio lighthouse was until lately
E tear Frazear, and he bad spent the summer
on the /eland with hie wife and family and
an aseietanty Alfred Oote. Early in Nov-
ember, as was their wont, hia wife and
family tete hint to return for the winter to
their home et Troia Pisboles. By the rules
of the department be was obliged to remain
on the inland until Deo. 10,
Soon after bhe departure of hie family ho
wee taken ill, and was aboub to die, Deair-
ing to breathe hie last in the mbdsb of hie ,
family, nighely efforts were made by bee
aaelotanb to signal friends on Green Island
and the mainlande by means o1 bonfires to
come and take him off, Finale's few nights
since the signals were noticed, and the next
day a braveorew from Green Island endeavor-
ed bo reach him in an open boat, which they
finally enooeeded in doing afbor much hard.,
ship and risk. Rolling the dying man in
blankets, bhey put him in their frail orafb
with the inbeneion of endeavoring to return.
to Green Island, hat a sudden storm forced
hhem to put back to Red Island, where Mr.
Frazoar expired shortly afterward. His
death was no doubt hastened by exposure
and excitement. The following day they
uuooeeded in effeoting a crossing with his
body,
..--,••••••—.•••••••••81.00•10.-1510.••••••••••••••••••....
What
---e.oem.-e•.••••••••---
Wbat is Good?
"What is the real good ?"
I asked in musing mood.
Order, paid the oourb ;
Knowledge, said the school;
Truth, said the with mon;
Ploaeare, ea d the fool ;
Love, said the maiden ;
Beauty, said the page ;
Freedom, earl the dreamer;
Home, said the gage;
Fame said the soldier ;
Equity, the seer ;—.
Spoke my heart full sadly :
"Tho Annear le nob heteei
Then within my bosom
Softly Obie I hoard
"Each heart hotly the Mord ;.
Riedpeas le the word."
.. (3ohn Boyle O'I oliiy,'