The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1858-06-23
Setrrtrh Stun.
The Madison Mystery.

citzens rs n sort OF Purgatoiial State,-
Jersey and Jericho seem to hold the same
relative positions as places to which evil.
doors are traditionsly banished. If YOU
Ebuy place in New Jersey, your friends
regard you with species Of wondering
fPsV. Had you built villa by the banks
OF Acheron, you could rot be more com.
'misera,ed. According to the popular
mind, meaness and cider are the two
chief products Of this illuminated State.
1t is land Of apples aud artful dodgery.
don't care a snap OF my fingers for
the morals OF the Jerseyites, but can
not withhold my admiration for their
State. love those broad leagues Of quiet
orchards that, in the month OF Nav, bear
unpon gnarled branches the deifts of rosy
SHOWS Of blossom, and in September are
fragrant with the perfume of "quintillions
ripened and quintillions green" love
the calm Passaic, despite its beauties bav.
ing been twaddled over through vol.
ume Of turnpike road, verses, by a Macad-
amlzed poet known as 'Flaccus.' love
It's green banks; its black and slippery
m'll-dsms; lis daring leaps throug gh the
chasns and over the precipices as Pater.
son its quiet ponds maniled with lazy
water hIies, underneath which the pike
turks with waving fins IN wait for the
dragon-hy, who flashes overhead, here
and there, on his sail.like wings There
is something soothing and civilized in the
face of Nature in New Jersey. The very
factories and mills there, although as in.
dustrious as any, seem to hush their clack.
ing into well bred, subdued murmura.
The sweetest spot, 10 my mind, in this
State is Madison. 1t is a Guie, country
village. with but few stores and many
churches, forcing upon the traveller reflec
ton that the place is more pious than
mercantile. The roads ale well shaded
with large trees, that droop lovingly over
the pedestrian, and project him from the
herce sun with their green arcades. The
land on all sides rises into knolIs and sinks
into valleys, the one crowned and the
other lined with kno,ty oaks, and tall
eIms. and transparent naples. Along
the old fences, rugged and quaint, the
chipmuck runs in and out OF holes as il
be were first cousin to the rat. There
are many ponds scattered through the
sedge, in which a spor,sman's imagina
ton might conceive Eosts Of widfowl lur
king; others buried deep at the bottom
OF funnel-shaped depressions Of the soil.
and surrounded by sad circles Of trees
that shroud the still waters 10 an everlast.
ing gloom.
There is a calm and self osaesseG look
ing hosel in Madison. Even IN the hot.
test day it seemm ss cool as Sir Charles
Coldstream. No unseemly air Of hustle
pervades il. Its piazzss are tranquil as
:he cloisters of a monastery and If we
beheld at vesper time stealthy footed files
OF monks moving along them, It would
scarce seem out Of characte. with the
building.
The servants At the Katydd House are
noiseless and grave. They perform their
duties as quietly as il they were religious
exercises. There is laundress always
at work in the back garden. who, as it
were. washes to herself. None Of the
usual noises attendant on such Isva,ory
exercises are 10 he heard, and il she pur.
sued her task in vdeuo she could not ere
ate iess disturbance. Every body in the
establishment seems to wear list slippers.
The proprietor comes on you suddenly
ne If he were slid along groove like the
ghost in the 'Corsican Brothers, and
there is thin, unearthly youth, answer.
ing TO the name Of "CIeb," who invaria.
bly, enters your room through the key
hole or some cbink in the wall. for the
first intimation you receive Of his pres
ence Is distant voice (which Cleb seems
ct soma period Of his life TO have left be.
hind him, and which has never since been
sble to catch him up) demanding, Did
you call, Sir T. think that Cleb must
hear gbostiy sounds, for he is constantly
gliding in upon the guests at all hours,
demanding whether they called.
Tho large parlor Of the Katydid House
is inhabited chiefly by the the mother Of
the proprietor--an old lady who remem-
.bers Washington--and a large brass
stove, which, being at one end OF the
,room, looks like one Of those mouumen.
ftsi brssses occasionally seen in the old
Engish provincial churches. have not
the remotest idea what this old lady's
name may be. Her son know only as
the proprietor Of the Katydid House, and
herself only as the mother Of her SON.
Indeed, she goes but by the name Of
The Mother and has a TRANCE exterior
way Of speaking Of herself as this child,
m il she were merely an observer making
allusion to some one with whom she was
entirely disconnected. The great ohjec,
in life To which the Mother seems to have
devoted herself is to induce people to play
on the piano, a strange ceniipedal instru-
mont that stands behind the door. ard
iooks as IL it could crawl up the wall at
any given moment To enirapping such
persons as visit her into awaking the mel
ody that siumbers in Ihis Ingenious piece
Of furniture, the Mosher has consecrated
her remaining days. ] don't believe that
che has ever succeeded, but her perseyer