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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Clinton New Era, 1880-02-12, Page 6Wise 014 Wale IliterretA. !Beteg, A mother Mooed her bsibr. etoottiog it to wet, tiUtl gently camped within her acme, It wetted in her breast, The. old fair atone ' Set round in glory, Wherever lite is found; X'or on l et'e love. it's lov ,e they eay. Thet makes the worm ge routed. lair -Owed bey and nfdeti Pasted through the yellow wheat : And their begot were eleapea toeether. And the flowero grew at ehele feet. The old fete °tory, bet rotted tri glory, Wherever life te found; For oh t it hive, iter love, they say, That makes the 'world gorouncl, An old man dud a wrinkled wife, Amid toe fair arming weatber ; " w e' ve shared our sorrows gut our Jove sod grant we die together.' The old fair eiory, bet round in glory, Wherever Me is found; , For ohl it iove,itO3 409E4 they Ben That enakee the world /around. • THE GAOST OF NOE bliaeg, To WE H• For three generatione the direot heir to the instate Of Meioses Toler han not BUO. (seeded to the property. The Lust oWner, Squire Fairfex, was a hale, jovial fellow, and had three 'stalwart sone, yet none of them lived to poeticise the place. The ebbe& Was killed when Clyde's army relieved Luoknow ; the eeeond fell a victine, to the jangle fever that hannte the moist rice •fields of Oentral India; and the youngest- „ it-gives,reewohoking sensation -in ray -throat- - even now when I recall his fate. • , The hero of the Playing Fielde, stroke of the eight -oar in the most cloudy contested. - Pato that Oxford ever won, he was a favorite. everywhere, and the., pride of Me home. I can Bee • him 'yet, with hie, laughing rown . Oyes, etandlng un against the crack left. , banded bowler, who oame wowed of an easy victory for Stepton over the eleven of Steptornin-the•Fene, , There were Immo of us who thought when he carried hie bit that , greater triumphs must be in store for that • ready hand, that watchful °eye and oheery spirit. A year later, when- a pleasure boat went down in a squall, the only hope left us was that he had not suffered long, for there was a dark brute° oil hie pale forehead when tne body...was washed ashore. His father never recovered the blow but dled soon after his boy; and thus it mune to pass that I, a distant cousin, found myself the owner ot, Mercer's Tower. The curse if curse there still be, will be again fulfilled, for no children of mine will ever brighten the gloomy chambers of my new honie. It matters not heti I know. this so ceetainly, for it is not . my own story that • I am about to tell.' Suffice it to say that the joy was crushed out of my life ere' ' r was • thirty, sothat I abandoned any ohosen career and hid niyeelf in a lonely cottzge, thinking that in the quiet' life of a student I might find solace for nay grief. When first I •taeard that the old Tower was mine, I was etteelilltog to..rerative_from.the.abede to.which. I had Already_ grown -accustomed,; but on • farther reflection 1 deoided that the effort must be made, and that I must not shrink , from my new ditties on amount of the =elan, • °holy assooiations connected with the. place. To.the Toyer, therefore, I went, taking with ,ine She tieasured volumes that were my only friends. •' , . . • • For Obvious. lasso= I eainiet Rive the true names of the looalities I am • -about-to-desoriber- bat-- they -will -be easily recognized by any one belonging to the neighborhood who may chanoe to peruse thus tale, ' Morear's Tower was 'Minded in one of the flattest district's in England. In old days, lidera cannon were in use, it must have been a valuable stronghold:for it was then sur- . rounded by a reedy fen, full of dangerous ` and ansnapeoted depthe, and only practiced •guide's. nould ' find the narrow , petits that threaded through the gram and rushes. Gradually, -however, the fen land was re. , claimed, thoughthe drainage wee extremely diffieult; and a canal, more aluggistiban any I have seen elsewhere, was out across; from the Ayder to the Deane. The soil was rich, and paid welt; and at last a little town grew npt knovin: as Stepton-in-the•Fene, to distinguish it from. Stepton proper, or, as it was sonietimes called .Stepton-on-the-Wold. • This weld was nothing but a rise of the lantl. on the west of the Tower,, and would hardly have been remarked; in a lees level • county. , The Tower iteelf wag more properly a keep, , sonar° and grim, built of dark red stone that 'took a purplish .hue when, wet. Bound it Was a deep moat that on three aides had' been tastily and 'eareleeely filled up. Yellow.hawkevreed and the etraggling ragged. robin grew in, irofuston on the unequal • endue of the••earth that had been thrown logsely • into It; and • I wondered greatly • that my cousin should have allowed this - disorderly fringe of weedla rennin round the house. I remembered, however, that when obusin Frank had onee premed some alteration, hie father had replied,- with nu. usual sharpness, that he did not choose to • meddle with the moat. • On the fourth side • the ditch was ite • original depth, and a wooden bridge,. withw high fantastic railing, • creamed it where the drawbridge had formerly Men. The walls of the Tower were enormously • thiok and -the interior was consequently amnia what eombre. There was plenty of heavy old , fashioned furniture,. but • there were few- • nuldern °tameless intim house. In•the room that load been Harry'a were •two now easy • chairs, memo engravings after Lszadseer •and some pewter” and cups --.relies of the foot races and smiling matches of hie Eton and Oxford days. • Oa the ground floor were the drawing and dining•roorae, with two smaller apartinents ; the bed-roome wete up stalls • and the • servants -1 had but three -lived in Immo newer offices quite at the back. I myselfohose to inhabit a attrions turret that projected from one corner of the Tower, partly because it was light and cheerful, partly• . .because I had used it when visiting My , cousins in our boyhood. The round shoulder • of the weld out us off' early from the evening sun and from the turret windows I could • watch the light being stolen from our Fong by the advanoing shadows of the fir-olad rise Ing ground. • I loved to esse the last glitter die off the Canal and from between the reed bads, to • 'watch a lazy barge perhaps being moored fer the night; a gray heron soaring hie way across the opal sky, or a string of carte or team of horses going slowly homeward --for no living, creature moved quickly 111 the Fens. When till was atilt, save that the frogs had begun to otoak anion the rushee, I turned to toy books, and in meth volume'', such as She 44 History of the Boo Cross'," sought kw • counted from men who, like me, had reaolved to be alone. One night, when / had been about a fort - .night at the Tower, I eat up rather later than usual at my studied. A nen' vista was open. ing before me, and I sitamied to be on the point of reaching over that indefinable barrier that luiparatee us from the world in whiOh eplrit is the known reality -a world whose • laws MUD $101110 day yield themselves up to our maetery 1 Weed any head, and drew in a long break of the night alt that blew in at no open Calleillent. White 'Ming thus, panning an uennient lei my own mind, the 'sound of a stealthy footstep 94 the Weir conght my ear, and abeuptly broke, the chain of iny thoughts. • Irritated at Bah dleturbanoe, I resolved to forbid the eervente coming upstairs so late, and then tried -to ,resnme mymading. But , the words on the pip Conveyed mei:emitting to an mindill) end I :mind, ,tnyself dwelinag instead on tat unwonted Boned. Saddenly it fiashed upon me -I had not heard the step go (4mq,, My door faced the 'stairs and only a very null landing intervened, lookedwt my watch ; it was half!past one. ' Obvionely none of the honsehold had any brusinees •upetaire et that hour; had I heard • the etep ot a burglar, who was Oren now out aide roy door ? I leap unarmed and beyond remit* of help, for the bell in my room cow municeted with an empty part of the Tower, and I hod not yet given orders for Ito allow. tion. Haetily and nervously I locked ray door and listened long for a retiring footstep, hat not a oonnd came and 1 fell asleep at last without undreesing. Next day I felt some what ashamed of the nervonsuene that had oeizecl ; for ttiongla I do not boast of any, special amount of animal courage, I had never before exPeriended Inch unwilling, I eon - eluded that my meow system must be un. sarong, and resolved to take more exercise than I had done of late, I tusked the butler, casually, if he had been upstairs late last night. He was an elderly man and had spent niany years in any cousin's aervioe and I tiaought there was something strange in his look and tone as he replied; "No, sir; none of us were upstairs." confused remembrance of a ghost story came into n2y: mind, tele long ego.hy,eehttnee, tindrianniirfly 'out gbort by tile old Knit°. Perhaps the Tower was hunted, and .a ghost wasepart of ray inheritance! I heel - Sated to enquire, lest I should put the idea into she heaths of the servents ; but as I had little faith in the supeznatural origin of so• called ghostly disturbance°, I took sundry precautions against imposture. I bad once been a fair shot; cso opened a long untouched ' box; and -got oat a pietol that had lain there for tefo years. • This I cleaned, and Out away in •my room. I then ordered that candles' should he ,pland there in addition to my usual lamp, and desired that the bell should be at MOO altered. When evening came; I sat down to my work, and read with quite my Wog attention; but I could not recall the keen perception of the previous night. • About one o'oloole I felt nil' mired winder ing involuntarily from my, book, although I, had not- been •aware of thelateness of the. hour until 1 looked at any watch :• a quarter of au hour later I felt a faint sound. I listen- ed anxiouely it was the same step as before, coming slowly upstairs; the atep of one who walks wearily -the step of a woman, for I distinctly heard therustic:1'ot a dress. • I quietly placed the latnp •so :that the light would stream right into the panne. cooked my pistol, and as thelootatepe reached the door, 'I threw it open. There was no one there. • • • • , • • A senge of horror Wized me, and I think at that moment I would rather' have met any visible foe than have stOod'face te face, as it were,switlean•empty sound.- • •---•-- - Next morning Bond lingered ntineceseerily in removing the breakfast things, and after glancing two or three times at me as I sat idly by the window, he spoke. "Mr. Fairfax -excuse .me,, iir-but you don't look well.this morning." • "1 don't feel very well, Bon ?I replied. ., "Been disturbed at• night,',--tiatips,• sir," said the old ntan, pointedly.. • • • What do you mean? Why should I be dtsfarbedatnight ?" .• • . Because' you're the owner of Morearns Tower* sir." • _ • • " Then there is'w story that I don't knowl" I exclaimed. "Go and jinish your work, Bond, so as not. to let the women remark anything, 'and then come and tell me about it." •• . • - When he returned, Bond gave rite a garbled version of the tale I Isbell presently relate in She words of one immediately, con. cerned ; but he added, that • since the commission of the crime that gave Moroarns Tower ite evil mune, it had bawl haunted by mysterious footatepe. No ,ghost had over been aeon; bid these stepecontinually passed to the door ofthe room occupied by the owner'and there died away. My cousin, • gout hearted practical Man as he was, •had• tried every room in the ' Tcitver without es- caping front thia terrible guardian ; and •Bond thought the nervouanees °awed . by the nightly visitation' Whelped to brivg about MTH. Fairfax'saudden death. , : Had he beena richer' man, the venire • would have abandoned the 'rawer; bat he could ill afford to do eceand iu time bemire/ abotietsimed t� the 'gloat. , Did none of ray cousins ever hear it?" I• minairsid: ' *4 Yee; air, they did. Mr. daydria and Mr; Frank each heard it before they left home for the last time. Mr. Frank told me himself, air, and said he thought it might be a sign to was never 'mooing back." "And Harryp" • ' "Master Hairy was so' teach youngey I .don't.thirsit he rightly knew the story. Mr. Fairfax mede the other young gentlemen and inc promiee never to tell it 'to any one, and "Master Harry wasn't one to think of things of the eort." "How did.the. others And it out ri " Same.. stay as did, eir-by master changing lits room so often. They got it out of Mrs: Fairfax, pcior lady, Wad:" "Web!, Bond, I suppose 1 ca.n depend on _you to help mo if I try to find' out anithing about the ghost?" . • "Von, sir; but I'd nay's° you .to leave it alone, if I might be No bold." . . • , "My good follow, I can't go on living here without trying to understand this affair. • It there is a ghost there must ba some reason for hie or her coming; and if I could discover the reason, it might put a stop to those visite." , • , "Well, eir, there's no denying tbat would be a gbod thing; but I doubt you'll find it beyond you to manage." ' "&t least I'll ,teeek, Bond," said I, (tithe left She room. Thai night I pima lamps on the stairs tind he thetetteetige that led to there, and made Bond sit tip there, that he might notice where -the steps came from. I myself eat opposite the open door of my Mom, with my eyes fixednn the stairoatie.' At a quarter pad one, Bond oalled out as agreed one 11 It's coming, 'Mir and n minute later I distin- guished the Ord footfalle. .Slovriek and steadily they (same up stairs, so that I could count the number of steps; they crooned the landing, and the last one planted itself on the threeheld of nay mom; then there was per- fect silence. I shuddered, and called Bond, who ostne zip; white and trembling. "Bit, the ateps walked by me where I sat; watehed the lautp, ao you twit me, but I saw nothing pass between me and it. 1 don't know where they began; they seemed to 'start at the end of the paseage. Oh, air, don't. Meddle with them, or you'll come to harsh ?" "1 hope not, Bland," I replied. 1' Fain. satisfied that there ie nolrick, and I must think what is to be done next. Go to bed bow, for I suppose We 'shall hear no more to. night," "o more,. sir, the •Lord be pinhead 1 It only eomeil once in o night ; if it ware oftener, 1 don't think anybody could stand it," The old luau evidenifY 414 not ilita the netion of a closer itoqueintance wIth the alma, -btlt now that 1 1mM exectly what heppened, any own nerve', wereeteady. I felt thathere was en opportunity of testing Oeme of the theoriee In Which 1 wai mat deepll interooted, and I resolved that no effort of mine Omuta be wanting to prove them trne or 'aloe. . I believed in the potter, Podeeseed by a few Wong wills, of influenoing others at a dietanee ; and my own studise bad tus- cuetomed me to coneentrate My thoughts-. the first gem toward exeroleing such a Power, if, as I hoped, it wag Went in me. I had never heard of any attempt to control a obit • by onoh merino • but the idea did not appear to me impracticable. Where so little is known, experiments are of use, even though their results be oily negative. If there is a opirit-thus I argued wIthmyself-thet to communicate with the owner of this Tower, surely a reciprocal wish on hie part might render the pewees easier. Again, the grapiest facto of Meemeriene ohow that one will oan control enother Barely a spirit, freed 'from human dreamless, should be sensitively alive to every Influence exerted over's.. It only remains to be proved whether I have the needful strength, and whether I ecu keep cool and steady if I emceed so far as to obtain obedience from the epirit. Having settled my plan of action, Ibegan by taking a long and brisk walk in the earke„, morning. Before dinner I confined my reading to historical works, bat in the even- ing I perused oarefelly a volume -in whir% I had found much ourioun and useful informa- tion on mesmerism. Soon after midnight I seated myeelf °pet:mite any open door, having previously placed the lampe soas completely to light up the apace•before me: ' Tan -rather ludierottatilnisolticle tlientittbier me. In the first place, I did not know the sex of my unseen visitor. Bond's etorywould have Jed me to suppose' that a man would haunt the tower, but there was nothing mar - online ia the gentle footfall, or the sound of the trailing robe. • ' Secondly, I know that 1 must keep one idea steadily before Me, yet I could hardly -go on repeating the oame formula, and I oould not think without wordo; This dificultyehowever, W02 a very, elementary one, and wonici be easily overcome by practice. I Aged my eyes on the doorway where the eye' 'of a figure of average laeighrwould be, and soon succeeded .in making myself think an almosit uninter- rupted "Come." Unfortunately the night was boisterous and sternly; the wind ecreamed past the moment, and swept on, an if in a hideous fugtze, acmes the gloomy bus; but as my senses grew more and more keen, I did not doubt but that I could distinguish the familiar looteteps, even through all Wm storm -music. • After a while the blood moved faster in my veine, any epos were unnaturally fixed and hot, and my breathing wee constraihed and rapid, as though every muscle was stiffened -a 'sensation quite unlike the deep full inspirations of severe phygoal exertion. - '•• I should not have realized -how greet was the tension of any will had ' not a gust of wind made a gate in the garden bang sud. denly,_when-the (sive; with which' my nerves reeponded to the sound betrayed to what a pith I was eioited. . • • '• . It -was close on the .hour foe the' &heed% -Visit. • I passed my hind soma's any forehead • and eyes, and at the same instant, distant .through the wailing of the wind, I 'heard the distant footfall. _ I grasped the arms of any , -chair, • and half rose, in the intensity cit my wish; but when the step reached -the •top of the stairs something as em. ed to give way itt • any brain,the' room and lights swam before my eyes, but as I sprang •.up,,with my hands to ray templesi, I raw, -or fancied I' Wyo. ageing the bright backgeound, • the shadowy outline of a figure. It was an instantaneous impreesion, and I clank beak as helplees and ,weak SS a &Ud- • all 'powered will entirely gone'. • . • An hour 'passed before I• could share 'off my laseitude suffioiently to go to bed; but elept soundly, and to my great satisfaction found that, instead •of being fatigued, I .Weee more active then .nottal on the following 4aYe.: l• To Bona's enquiries 1 merely replied .that I was 'carrying out a plan ,whi8t I hoped would snowed in time, bus that 1. could not giye him the details.. . • • It is unnecessary todeeoribe the (aped - 'mute of each succeeding night. I boonfonied. that the • power of concentrating my will hemmed with 'rate)* effort. On three °owe Edges I sew the same shadowy !outline ; but on each a ohmic° sound •diatinbed , me, or irreggible fatigue deprived ma Of strength jest when r.most needed is. • At length I resolved to take one nighke Uninterrupted reit and.to begin any next. .attempt • only. a few minutes before•one, eck.as to have more power in rewrite whenthe. critical. momentehonld arrive. I was .glad• th find that I attained almost immediately • the required state . of, wicentrate.d volition; but, I en- deavored. to make ray conditton raoie natural than it 'ever • yet been. .1 gazed more quietly' and observitotly at the • eget where I km1)2111110 ispirit might appear, and made mesmeric panes ao if before I Ditute faoing mee . . • As op & e (Volestreck, my senses . grow more alert ; never before had I •felt myself powwowedof etech subdued and .pontrolled strength; even my breathing became • dOop and regulart • • I could not aecontit to myself for theme novel sensations!, 'but was filled with a buoyant delight'Which Was' almost eostagy. • klyhands, as I tiontinged my passea, seemed to 'feel an opposing force, as though I Were drawing a weight toward me. There was none of the former heat and exoitement; but a genial .waroeth prevaded everilimb. I knew 1 had power over the nix% if I could but keep myself. dandy.' , ' At last it was elope on the quarter, when I heard the first step in the patine. ` istretotied out my hands inmotionleas Win niand'and expectation. As the stems reached the turn of the stairs the Outline becanee visible once more; 11 gtew distinot, came 'nearer, and pausing at the.. doorway, 'seemed to treinble and gather Welt into the form of a wham in a elinging who . who bent to ward me with a leek that I ehall never forget. Olin wee very young, and the raillery on her facie might have made the 'hardest heart piti. fut. In her eyes there was that abiding look of horrOr that sometime remains after a great mental shook -a look almost inepoesible to desetihe, hat which oonveya ite meaning inatantaneonely. Her mobile lips 'were slightly parted, and her small hands.tightly clinched at her sides. Although every fea- ture was distinguishable'there was no em- bbaca of htunanity abont her; ohe WAS a pale suadoWy figure, and the outline of her head andareeti remained tremuloins,ais though ready to melt again into air. As ehe gazed earnestly at me, I felt that ahe °gild communicate. her thoughts to a certain extent, and read mine, in this int. terious imiritadritiot. I did not 'speak, but I thought' the word's, "Poor tout*, I will aid you in anything yen wish!" 4. faint smile k quivered over.het face hndohe bowed her head andlamkoned me vnth owe hand. 'Tak• ingetkp a Mall lamp, I folleived, • while slue pilleciC:doWnetaire. Her 'Movement was .exquisite in its floating grace and I rereerked • Blather snipe Were no • longer audible ; the wound of thent,eran net needed now to Plead for her. She lecl .rde along the paesage to a deep' window overlooking the moat. ,Here Rho pinged and pointed to a panel in the oak watneeothtg. I could see yethingliecullar- end 111al094 teward the Spirit for further t explenat on. Again and again elle pointed imperkin ly to the mai:despot. /*led to speak, but nay/voles refined to come, so I thought the qtalistion I wiehed to sulk. " IaM to pesroh here for something ?" Her smile answered me, and oho then oigned to hie to open the window and come • eta, Ploolno my lamp on the floor, so as to. be out cif the draught, I got over tee low sill and atood et the edge el the ' moat., The spirit Rested a yard or two further, and • Pointing down • to the ground, wrung her hands' piteously, . • "Did some one die there ?" I Risked, iit a whinper, for I hit that my power was waning, and it was no longer diffioult to speak. The pale hands pohited to the breast of the figure, whioh was already . fading, as thougn her dear° was accomplished. "Tell rase" I cried, flinging myself down before her, "11 I eearoh the panel and this ispot, will you be at net?" She bent towerd me 0400 more witle a emile of intenee peace on her face, and melted out of my sight, . Whether I fainted!, or vhether I fell into the) deep 'sudden sleep that 'sometimes follewe mesmeric exertion, I cannot teil ; bat whin I came to myself day was breaking, and ray lamp was burned out below the open After breakfast I gave Bond an account of my adventure, andcould easily site that the good ola man thought nap brain was alleged, "You will help me to wage the panel, Bond,, and that will prove whether My etory is true or ouly a dream," mad I. • To the window we anordingly went, and 'Bond enquired whether hearties to break the wainecot. • ---"liertainly heti"- !elf thereto a hiding.plaee here, them is some way of open- ing it, which I atiell try to find before I allow She wood to be broken." - • Inch by twee 1 examined the wood and compared tbe meniainge carefully with those on the opposite elde. My attendant's inert agile, was BO MaIlitOet that I should eroatly have preferred to prosecute the swell alone, but by doing so I should have lost the teati. mony of an additional • eye-witnees td the discovery I felt confident of making. After a long and patient scrutiny I bound -in the lower -corner of thi,panel an inch or So Of mould. • tog that fitted into tial rest. Another quarter of an hour passed ere, by a chanoe mega meat, 1 gave it' the turn required to loosen it. When it came out, and glowed a leering conk:keeled below it, .my excitement was %key great, and Bond himself began to share the feeling, and hurried a for oil with which .to clean the rusty metal: • -We doon discovered the wont of the bolt; and a portion of the panel elid back below the moulding, revealing a email Wooed, in which -lay a roll of mann- . wript tied with a black ribbon. ° Dag and damp had Made the writing-diffioult to decipher; but when ehe sad history lay `spread before me, Ldecided to give it to the World, along with an mount of ml mooned° experiment. I have modernized the stoning and eupplied a few obvious words that were either blotted or illegible tithe original. The .date was eaten away, lint from family papers I know that it muethave. been Angled, 1778. The manuscript ran as followe "1 am -going to-writcadown what las- hap,. pened. It ratty be that nopne will ever read what I write; but "should this paper"fall trite ,the hands of 'any philal pristine, owely they will grieve for us. • • .•' • ^ ' " Mr. r'airiax Is shad man. ' Heaven for- give me if I nnght not to think him' ao 1 but I must needs say it here. My father says he is not worse than "his neighbors, and that it is the habit of most gentlemen to drink and rower:in his faehion... If it be eo, it is an ill thing for women that -have 40 bear therewith. My tether is a poor curate in Stepton. He has as good blood in his veins ae Mr. Fairfox 'himself; but then he le very poor'as' I have sold. motheeand Mrs. Fairfax were friends; and when Mrs. Fairfax died, my mother took charge of the --little 'baby she left, along with ine. That baby was my Etarry-Harry Fairfax Of -• this Tower of Morear'e. Ile and I learned our first lessons together from my mother ; and when we - grew older my father 'taught na•both; Old Mr. Fairfax took Put email notice of hieoom He was usually' Minting, or qtiarrellipg with some neighbor, or having drinking bents at eh° Tower. I will say it.egain-he is a 'bad man. I feared him much, he looked eso big. on hie black horse; . and he had a rough 'voice. I remember how Harry and I ,were gathering -rushee to plait one day When' he rode by on the narrow path that goes .down to the white hen. The willows and rushee were high; but the Neck horse waruseliticioh- taller that we .o.onld not hide, as we sought to do. M. Fairfax called out with a Mane oath that pomaded loud and terrible; and ,jeered at Harry for_ playing With the pareoriei beat.. Then he 'rode ; and Harry wile hi - it great passion, • the like of which I had not seen before. When I wee. fourteen my mother died, and theroefter I had to take . oharge of oar .hifuee. Harry always came for teaching frora% my father ;.bot he, looked. olderthan I did, for I had no money:to buy myself now clothe, and woe forced to 'con.. tinue in childish frocks when I Might have worn gowne. At last an old and good friend of my father'e.eent money wherewith to pro- vide me With'enndry needful things; and I remember that Ives vexed because, when he saw me in my new attire, Reny did not kiss inei as, az was his went.11 He loved booke greatly, so did my father; and he hated wine andoaths, and all she evil desiogi at the Tower. Mr. Fairfax was angry, and called him a olerk ; but he dtattestinterfere With him. And by and -by he loved select -fling more than •hie books,and I ootild not believe that it was so. But it was *rue; and no creatures were -happier than we When went aniorig the osiers and talk. ed of what we wonlddoby-lnd'by.Ftuthorwao aorelytrotibled. when Harry told' him; but he was always reading, and had no( time to think much of no. Beeidee, he loved Harry as his soli, and all the more because he would net jein in hie father's wicked ways. , We were jag, twenty when Mr. Feirfax bade his son marry a young gentlevroman, whose father would dower her with oertain Ando that joined those of the Tower. :When Harry Wfueed, hie father'S anger was very terrible ; but ae he gave no reason for his refusal,. Mr., Fairfax let him go,,thinking to persuade him itt time and with setter words: He, however,, Made speed to our hourieeand demanded that my father should nearryue privately, This he .wouid not hear of. at Ent, though,Harry urged it. saying it would be Eire eafety-that Mr. Fairfax bad • even maid the damsel's brother ehould call him out did he slight her. "Bo smoke so earneettly that at tad father contented to make the needful arrangements, and we were batiefied. Aloal vihile he was Orient, wine inmor had come to 111r. rairfax'a ear, and when Harry returned .home he was Made a prisoner in his rem, and only allowed to bane frora it for hie puede. Mr, Fairfax thought to tame him, but be knew not that there was &device whereby he/night be baffled. In by gone days, when Harry was fain to escape from Imlay guests, he would Blip out 05 1110 message Window; or it. the, brawlers were tenor the gains' for him to passe, he would let himeelf down by a rope cunningly Made fast to an iron bar that 'wan wren hie °WU window, A thin and narrow plank was concealed below the grass at the edge of the moat, beteg held by rope loops to two pegs knocked into • the bank. Once inuckee the ditch, be was free, for the gentle., men were tee busy within to cloy hint. Now, hoWever, his Whey WW1 alwaye On the watch, fearing lest he 'Mould escape. We Should hive been in sore Straits had we not hid one friend among the eervanti-eold Betty -who half seen my flirty bore. Ob. sped OM to • ate with o tweeeefle, bidding Die th 001118 et •dgek, and Harry would meet me in the willow thicket moos the mot; farther than that he dare net venture, 01 Wa0 I wrong to go? 1 thongbt nos; nay, think gill that I win right. Since the Weft that Hwy put his signet ring upon my finger' I have belonged to bim, How, then, could I dispute his will? Moreover, he'a in trouble, and I could not refuse to go tohim in hie. need. Therefore I Went, "When it woe growing late, so that it be. hoovecl me tp return, he led me to the edge of the thicket and kissed me; and that was our very lag kiss on earth, and I knew it not I would I had known, that 1 might hews staid to perish wlth my love. I hurried along the darkening path', but before I had gone far I heard an angry voice that seemed to be that of Mr. Fairfax. I feared greatly for Harry, but I dared not turn briek leat I 'should be wen, and cause woree trouble, since it might well be theft Mr.Feirtax was only epeaking to setae groom or laborer. All. Light I could not sleep for %error, and tit xt day :Iowa was brought to my father that Harry had cheap. peared, •• The country wee Otrirehtel for him; but I knew he was deed, for had he been alive he would haye teaud meats to relieve my v anxiety, "Mr. Fairfax ikhut hiniself up, avid drank -bard; and aftyr a few dap he deeired petit tie moat slunild, be filleci up. • "Teo week was Nene, and that night I knew the reaeon. "Again old Betty came to me, white-faced and aired by mauy yeard. She told me the horrible adult ehat has never sines been out of my thoughts.I see •bre we, day, and might,the newt; 'efo ill, darkening path, and my Harry as he etspptd off the pienk and eaw his father mending before him. Old Betty could not Jell mit what had peened, but Mr. Fairfax had teen nie, for Oho heard my autos. . • "Alter many furious words, Harry said, dearly, '1 never will give Mr up l' Then - then that wog man etre& hint hard OU the templekr with the handle of hie heavy 4tunt- ing whip. Harry fell buck ento the enoat, and he never rose again. Mr, Fait fax knelt at the edge, and caned him hoarsely, and when no. answer Wine, he rushed into the house. - , "'Betty was too terrified to gay next day - what she bad wen and I-oan elgive up • Harry's] father to punishmenta-I who have been the canoe of my huaband'a death?" The writing Imre beguile nneteady and indietinet, cm though the poor girl's mina had begun to wander. It is ,legible on the next leaf. " koople look at nie strangely; they thought I did not hear to -day when some one said I was mad, Am I mad? No, I am sure I am not: my brain i0. quite clear, clearer than ever'and each thonghtes ea bright as if it were written in flame. • I know what 1 ant going to ao. The moat is not half full yet, 'bat in a feiv more days there will be no room in it. I 'must get Betty testicle this paper for ma in Harry's panel •oupboatd ; she taught him and me the trick of it long ege. I will not tell her where/want it hiciaen to ilight=ociiiii he iigbt be iiiraid if- she knew; and I roust be quite alone, too. ' Mr. Fairfax le drinking -always drinking. •am going to punish him ; he shall have two deaths on his soul, two -two. God will never forgive him as much as that. •, • • "I ohall be safe with Harry"; if anybody find' thin, they need • not be afraid for nie. • I will fasten a stone otter my heart, that the water he the moat may hold me down tight till I find him. . • I will sign My ainimoie to thise--ney name, Shat no One Wu rob me of now. •• . • • 41 Paisoznike Fainsai." I determined; after reading Una sorrowful • tale, to have the .moat wide* waroleed et the epot indicated by the spirit. That. there • might be'rio laok of WitiABBOO. Linvited both the doctor and dusts of Stepton to be repent. After reading the manuscript they were tie the full as anxious as I for further corroboration of its gory. • We -knew that the Fairfax Mentioned in it had died euddeply of delirium..tremette, and probably the work offilling in the.moat was then discientinued; • for, as I hare greatly remarked,'it was of its original depth on one side of the house. As elm Workmen approached the ' bottom; they dug slowly and carefully: • Complete success rewarded our efforts, for precisely where the ghost'e finger bad pointedove 'found ,She de- cayed and broken bonee of a_ woman. - - •-The-deoto-rtittheMdthem up with hie own andln doing so turned over some of • the earth, and copied, bunk in what had been soft mud, a heavy signet ring bearing the Fairfax crest.' Encouraged by our dinar -edge kthen gave ordains for the whole of the moat • to be cleared, in the hope that we might find • the remeins of the poor youth who wao BO cruelly murdered. • • * , ' •' • We inferred from the mantireript that his room ninethave been ' at one of the eornere, farthest removed frora the ball; and our 'conjecture proved .true, ' We found roma' bone'. 'singularly perfect considering their age, and two or three metal- Ociat'buttonee The latter I have placed With thee ring and mannaoript in a cebinet. To the bonewe gave decent burial, depositing them all in the same grave. Since that day no midnight footsteps have approaolied my chamber; and I trust that,the uneasy spirit has found root through the diseovery of her fate, and that .nothing mote *ill be Wen or heard of the . . armee co alonaaa'fii Town. _ . Bend•Trinuninn., ' If every one of the brilliant ornaments that are seen on a lady's toilet, in accordance with the dictates of the present fashion, were of good alloy, their price would exceed a king's mom. Glitter is theiniania of the hour -glitter upon every part of a fashiona- ble Woman' s toilet,frotnaleadgear to dippers. Cloth of gold is the imposing name gieen to a new material which is used to trim dresses. The collars and cuffs are Made of it, and 11 18 introduced into any other parts o the toi. let. • Gold bead embroidery is aloe in Much request, but it only looka well in artificial light, and too much of it evon•then is not in good taste. In shott, bead lea hetes be seen upon every article of drew, and very wetly embroiaeriee are made of iridescent or opal. tintedlleade. These beada, are very minute, and are strung upon•very fine threade ; they are need to outline the flower patterns on velvet or satin brocade, as the cane may be. Sometimeo the whole Renal deeign is prodneed by working it in shaded beads ; eppecially effective are tulips onahroideted on satin irk this manner. They sorra as a foundation for hats and bonnete, go. Einbroidery of this kind is bnt a revival of an old fashion.-- LondOn Correspondence -Philadelphia Times. TIM FATAL FROU portant point was olearly brought ont by the proceeding' of the Legislative Committee on Railroad, Aceiclentsa, out Thureday. It was adduced' in evideoce that for Repent years past no accident had Brisson on the,Northern ReilWay from frogs, tho Company kneeing adopted the eimple; inexpensive method tef hinging a pilule of wood in the hog. A model was exhibited, elbowing how this could bet dem The TiohbOrne case hat been dramatised and is given nightly *0 admiring audiences' at one of the'London theatres. Aloe The ikyli leaden theNfewt The raiz beats siteipAtt Shb ease And, written where thlMtl ih011id 01,, Twigged by the ritio to M., There wawa the one sad word -Man trimd moans sadly in the trees. where summer bresSes toad foliose, And in the monad I herr the Mee Of toped hopes ot loog aso, Summed up in that one word -Alas t And over there own the hill, Strewth a Web of talieled grant A burled lona that owns was dear, fair life blotted with a tear, dna Writ in one Sad wurd-,Llas 1 . Id night will fold )328 some young lover folds his Jan; OE.,, kiss eon the star it brow, 'thee elect) till I've had sleep .now, Andoveking, cry no morn -4101 Funsilernoss. What io the width of a narrow enespe ? Some people ars like an ego -too full of themselvea for anything elem. If yen take down your shingte, preparatory to putting tt up in a new locomen, 11 18 *sign you are moying. • A, red eky in the West at evening indicates that the next day will be pleueera, barring _academe 91 ram. enew or heti. In a game of earths a good deg depends; oli geed playieg, and good plaeing depends on a good deol. . Baelaelor emokerts admit that an amber' naouthpiece isn't as pretty as a cherry -red .ne temptingly puckered.. • We regret to annonece that the old Lent jokes of last yew are about to be returned, . and without interest. • A philosopher says i-" Ton 'require in •- mareitige precieely ihe samequanty that yeti would in eating eitneagee-abc(olate eon, fidence." A life isAsurande agent is tee cold and cal- culating for sterefotf-.- too much like an undertaker that comes around about onoe week to dee how your cough is getting along. It ie a sad commentary upon the come - of instruotion pursued in young ladles' schoole, that the graduetes • widener know how to decline roe offer 01 marrisge. When -you see a man on a moonlight night trying to convince his shadow thatit is ha - primer to follow a gentleman, you may be sure that it is high time for him to join* tem- peranee sootety. • Woman has many advantages over man ono of them is that hie will has no operation until he is dead, whereas here generally ticket effect inher lifetime. A new book is entitled "A Manuel of Etiquette and Dress- of the Beat American ficenety." Any one at all endow to know how editors dress and behave should have copY ot this work. ' There ake no cgs in Greenland. But they. heve a native dog that never sleeps, and eau howl a hole in the old° of an iceberg in thirty nehentee, oo that the natives don't min the eats go much as you would think. "Ah, Mr: Shuttle, glad to else you at church to.day," said the deeiOn. "Excellent ser- mon on Herod this afternoon." "Splendid," replied Job. "'How the reverend did put in • his -hobo:, 1 wouldn't -have -been in•lierotro place for15." • ; A story is told of an American preacher in the South who took hie texein Pealme 57-8 -" Awake, psaltery and harp." He read it peaseltree and harp, and expended his time and energy on the peaseltrae, deseribing size and flowers and fruit, and how tt was , cultivated and was used solely to hang harps on. Unfortunately, he eatd, it °gild not be raised in this clonally. • " Annetta" wants to know if there is " healing cure, a tender balm for a lovaakieken " heart ?" Annetta, 'child of the usual destiny, there is ; yeti just bet your etherial language there ie a cure, there is a tender balm. , Ge$ • sea sick, Annetta; go to Nes ior a weak; and it the blue Atlantic aerves -yen as it eerved us, you will 'spread it on the record that it is jug a little She -bairn helmeted balm you „ ever plastered on your love -stricken heart since you were old enough to write poetry. Try it, Annetta • and dont be afraid of it ; aprest&it on -Ulla. • • Divers A.nsonag Dead When to the glom and lonelinees of wean - or river depths are added the blackness of darkness and the dread presence of death, the diver mustimede have comp who boldly descends: In the oReratione not yet oon- • .oluded at the Tay bridge, the less experienced diver were by some unpaged of anceambing • to the terror of the situation. If there were any human' bodies there, they wore imprisoned in a double orlon of carriage , and cage -like girder. , It was ireposeible for 'any. • diver quickly to clutch -at -- the body, and, ere he had tint° to think ef • hie ghastly work, to prooare by signal the • instant withdrawal • of himself and , 'solemn. burden to the surface. The work involved patient and deliberate .handling Of the dead in the dark and silent deep, and • few who • suspected the divers of shtinking from this . !Ask felt brave enough.themsolvei to blame ° them aerionely_for it. - The_enepicion, after had probably but sing' foundation; at least,two of the divers etrongly deolared that no eerie feeling " would prevent them doing , their duty, and eaid that if necessary they would be glad to bring up the dead even in their arms. Still, the very ' way by wbioie these men telk ot this subject memo to show that below water they cannot face the dead with the callonatees of men wlao are brought into &intact with bodice on shore; that, in fact, they have to region with themselves ageing a tattiral "lily duty," plaid one diver at the Tay, "is to the. living. When I go down its find She dead. 1 feel that I am going down- to do what Irian for the people they belong to, and that 15 1* not the dead I hone to be frightened of. I . think of the friends to whom the bodies are to berestored,and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to give them their only mitten - ,tion." • V death and darknees do inspire, timidity even in- thee° hardy men, it is Nome. : timee even ram difficult tor the diver to go ' among the dead in the light of day. "Tho horrible conoeit of death and night" is matched by the reality, as seen, for example, 'by the diver o at the Prinows Alin when they met the cold stare kef thee group of elibin.pas.• songers•who had clung together inagorly as the elilp went down; .or as experienced by certain divers who refused to reoo 7er wrecked 'treasure at the Faroe Wands became they • saw dead sailors in the rigging and/could hot bear the eight. -London Nem. ' A BIG FoRTUNS -4 huge heirloom of about 4i250,000,000 ie now in promo of litigation in New York. /he property its that known as the 'Waldron Eetate, • embracing • 27,800.acres of the mbet 'valuable portion 01 tho oity, together with a large tract of land in Holland, The entire property wail willed to the fifth generation of the second grenteee atid the sixth generation of the first grantees, and we understand that among •the beire are She liosebrughs (formerly Of Springfield), the • Mends (of Malahide), G. Oonnon and J. P. Ball Cot Vienna). • Hama Sanawarnants.-About two weskit. ohne, Mre. T. Adelman, of thie Wow, aotoniehed her 'visitors by treating them to some very flue etrawberriee. We WOW' the strawberrY vines had blossomed in the open • air and being put into 'Pato and taken into • the • bonne them niatured,--Walhertott Telescope. • • , i.„e&4411 se. • rogoef.