The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-02-09


cracked voice, that it was quite startling to
hear her. "Chilly weather, amt it, Sir?-
Please to walk in. You come from good Mr.
Forley, don't you, Sir ?'
''Don't you Sir?" chimes in the man, hoarse-
ly, making sort of gruf echo of himself, and
chuckling after it, as if he thought he had
made joke.
IF Trottle had .aid "No," the door would
have been probably closed in his face. There
fore, he took circumstances as he found them,
and boldly ran all the risk, whatever it might
be, of saying eyes
1HQuite right, Sir" says the woman. "Good
Mr. Forley's letter told us his particular friend
would be here to represent him at dusk on
Monday the thirteenth-or, if not on Monday
the thirteenth, then on Monday the twentieth, at
the same time, without fail. And here you
are on the Monday the thirteenth, amt you,
Sir? Mr.. Forley's particular friend, and
dressed all in black-quite right, Sirl Please
to step into the dining-room-it always kept
secured and clean against Mr.. Forley comes
here-and III fetch a candle in a half min
ute. 1t gets so dark in the evenings now, you
hardly know where you are, do you, Sir? And
how is good Mr.. Forley in his health We
| trust he is better, Benjamin, don't we2 We
are so sorry not to see him usual, Benjamin,
amt we? In half minute, Sir, if you don't
mind waiting I'll be back with the candle.
q Come along, Benjamin." chimes in the
echo, and chuckles again as il he thought he
had made another joke.
Left alone in the empty front-parlor Trottle
wondered what was coming next, as he heard
the shutting, scraping footsteps go slowly down
the kitchen-stairs. The front-door had been
carefully chained up and bolted behind him on
his entrance; and there was not the least chance
of his being able to open it to effect his escape
Ivithopt himca1f h,- I;Dor n no;co
Not being of the Jsrber sort, luckily for
himself, he took his situation quietly, as he
found it, and turned his time, while alone, to
account, by summing up in his own mind the
few particulars which he had discovered thus
far. He had found out, first, that Mr. Forley,
was in the habit of visiting the house regu-
larly. Second, that Mr. Forley, being prevented
by illness from seeing the people putin charge as
usual, had appointed friend to represent him;
friend had choice of two Mondays at par
ticular time in the evening, for doing his er=
rand; and that Trnttle had accidentally hit on
this time, and on the first of the Mondays, for
beginning his own Investigations. Fourth,
that the similarity between Trottle's black |
dress, as servant out of livery, and the dress of
the messenger (whoeyer he might be,) had |
helped the error by which Trottle was profting.
So far so good. But what was the messen- I
ger 6rTanQ ana WndI chance was LEere CnaC
he might not come up and knock at the door
himself, from minute to minute. on that very
evening
While Trottle was turning over this last con-
sideration in his mind, he heard the shuffiing
come up the stairs again, with.a flash
Of candle-light going before them. He waited
for the woman's romingin with some little anx-
iety; for the twilight had been too dim, on his
getting into the house, to allow him to see
L. I.-,H IL >. q I
The woman came in first, with the man she
called Benjamin at her heels, and set the candle
on the mante[piece. Trottle takes leave to
dercribe her as an Extensively cheerful old wo-
man. awfuly lean and wiry, and sharp all over,
at eyes, nose, and chin-deyilishly brisk, smi-
ling and restless, with dirty false front and a
dirty black cap, and short, fdgetty arms and
long, hooked finger nails-an unnaturally lusty
Did woman, who walked with spring in her
wicked old feet and spoke with smirk on her
wicked old face-the sort Of old women (as
Trottle thinks) who ought to have lived in the
dark aens, as1a-been tucked in horse-pond
instead Of fourishing in the nineteenth CEN
Jury, and taking charge Of Christian house
You'll please to excuse my son, Benjamin,
won't you, Sir 2" says this witch without
1roomstick, pointing to the man behind her
dropped against the bare wall of the dining
,oom, exactly as he had been propped against
he bare wall of the passage. ''He's got his
inside dreadful bad again, has my son Benja-
min, and he won't 90 to bed, and he will follow
ne about the house, up stairs and down stairs,
md in my ladys chamber, as the songsays, you
Know, It's his indigestion, poor dear, that
ours his temper, and makes him so aggrava-
ing; and indigestion is wearing thing to the
pest Of US, ain. it, Sir?'
.sAint 1t, Sir?" chimes in aggravating Ben
amin, winking at the candle light like an owl
It the sunshine.
Trottle examined the man curiously while his
lorrid old mother was speaking of him. He
ound '.My son Benjamin" to be little and
can, and buttoned up slovenly in frowzy old
sreat-coat that fell down to his ragged carpet
ppers. His eyes were very watery, his
,heeks very pale, and his lips very red. His
,reathing so uncommonly loud that.it sounded
llmost-hke snore. His head rolled helpless
p in the monstrous big collar of his great-coat
md his limp, lazy hands pottered about the
xall on either side of him as if they were gro
,ing for an imaginary bottle In plain Eng
ish, the complaint of My son Benjamin." was
of the stupid pig-headed, scottish
Kind Drawing this conclusion easily enough,
fter a moments observation of the man, Trot-
lie found himself, nevertheless, keeping his
yes fixed much longer than was necessary on {
he ugly drunken face rolling about in the ]
nonstrous big coat collar, and looking at it
Fith curiosity that he could hardly account
or at first. Was there something familiar to 5
lin in the man s features? He turned away !
rom them for aninstant, and then turned back |
o him again. After that second look the no S
ion forced itself into his mind that he had
certainly seen a face somewhere of which that {
OTIS face appeared like kind of slovenly copy. !
Where ?" thinks he to himself, ''where did !
asst see the whom this aggrayating Ben l
amin here SO very strongly reminds me OFF, '
It was so time lust then-With the cheerful {
Id woman's eye searching him all over, and t
he cheerful old woman's tongue talking at t
i'm, nineteen to the dozen-for Trottle to be /
ansacking his memory for small matters that c
ad got into wrong corners of it. He put by
n his mind that very curious circumstance re- {
pecting Benjamin's face, to be taken up again $
Ihen fit opportunity offered itself, and kept j
is wits about him in prime-e.aer for present
ecessities. s
ssYou wouldn't like to go down into the
itchen would You? 2" says the witch without {
he broomstick, as familiar as if she had beepl