White Cloud Kansas chief. [volume] (White Cloud, Kan.) 1857-1872, 1859-01-13

the sudden death had caused. Admins
tration was granted to the widow, con
Jointly with Squire Clamp, the lawyer
and the latter was appointed guardian 70
Mildred during her minority. -
Squire Clamp was an ill-favured, man
heavy browed and bald, and with lool
which, in a person Of less consequence
would have been called .'hang-dog -
owing partly, no doubt, to the tribulatior
he had suffered from his vixen spouse
whose tongue was now happily silenced
He was the towns only lawyer, Ia forth
nate circumstance, so that he could fire.
quently manage to receive fees for advic,
from both parties in controversy. HI
made all the wills, deeds, and contracts
and settled all the estates he could gel
hold Of. But no such prize as the Kia.
loch property had ever before come into
his hands.
If Squire Clamps reputation fol
shrewdness had belonged to an iireligious
man, it would have have been of unques-
tionable character but as he was zeal
ons member of the church, he was pro-
tected from assaults upon his integrity.
If there were suspicious, they were kept
close. not bruited abroad.
He was now an almost daily visitor at
the widow Kinloch's. What was the
intricate business that required the CON
slant attention OF legal adviser?. The
settlement Of the estate, so far as the
world knew. was an easy matter. The
property consisted Of the Iwelling-house
small tract of land near the village, a
mandatory at the dam. by the side Of
Ralph Hardwick's blacksmith shop, and
money, plate, furniture. and stocks
There were no debts. There was but one
child, and. after the assignment Of the
widows dover, the estate was Millred's
Nothing. therefore, could be simpler for
the administrators. The girl trusted to
the good faith Of her step mother, and
the Justice of the lawyer, who now stood
to her in the pace of father She was
an orphan. and her innocence and child
like dependence would doubtless be a
sufficient spur TO the consciences of her
protectors So the girl thought, if she
thought at all-and all charitable people
were bound to think.
How YEARLY the days passed during
the month after the funeral The shad-
ow of death seemed to darkcn everything.
Doors creaked dismally when they were
opened. The room where the body had
been laid, seemed to have grown centu-
nv older than the other parts of the once
bright and cheerful house-its atmosphere
was so stagnant and full of mould. The
family spoke only in suppressed tones /;
their countenances were as sad as their
garments. All this was terrible to the
impossible, imaginative. and naturally
buoyant temper of Mildred. 1t was like
dwelling in a tomb. and her heart cried
out for very loneliness. She must do
something to take her mind out Of the
sunless vault-she must resume her rela-
tions with the dwellers in the upper air.
All ut once she thought of her fathers
last words-of Ralph Hardwick and the
ebony cabinet. 1t was in the next ROOM.
She opened the door, half expecting to
see some hodiless presence in the silent
space. She could hear her own heart
beat between the tickings of the great
dutch clock, as she stepped across the
floor How still was everything! The
air tingled in her ears as though now dis
turbed for the first time.
She opened the cabinet, which was not
locked. and pulled out the middle drawer.
She found nothing but dried rose bud
and lock of sunny hair wrapped in a
piece of vellowed paper. Was it her
mothers hair7 AS Mildred remembered
her mother, the color of her hair was
dark, not golden. Still it might have
been cut in youth. before, its hue had
6eepened. And what a world ofmystery,
of feeling, of associations there was in
that scentless and withered rosebud !.
What fair hand had first plucked it ?
What pledge did it carry? Was the
subtle aroma of love ever blended with
its fragrance Had her father borne it
with him in his wanderings The secret
was in his cofin. The struggling lips
could not utter it before they were stiffen-
ed into marble Yet she could not be-
Iieve that these relics were the sole things
to which he had referred. There must
have been something that more nearly
concerned her-something in which the
blacksmith or his nephew was interested.
-oaI 81 -l.iq 90 -- r--IL- fslf3 ss-s p
.=assni1 35 CHAPTER II. OBJ tet