The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-08-25
Rifblnnll6 Nispatrb.
rHe OAKS or fAIRHoLnE.

S.a4~ ,rnethcr II would be posstpie LOT
no 10 write down the curious ,h's,,rh No..
ny y.s.a am h nS, pas pa.sed since rsi saw
49, 49, ,,sn, btning on the upper WINDOWS o. the
Il hnusc 81 which am now me - - ne
sun, I, SINK ~ ,ns rvs,t harm nd the view
~ tns old Hall from us
% Ns los People thought Fairholme dull place,
I'm, remember liking IL very much when
Mas child The squire was . talk dignified
man, not very popular with his tenantry. He
came down only for a few months in the year;
during the remainder the house was shut up.
Il was said that, when younger, he had
pieasaater manner, and that 1t was the want
Of an heir to his property that soured his
temper. As long as can remember anything
---a.inos. before understood the meaning OF
the worts-I heard Of quarreis and bitterness
nj The great house.
The sqaire's lady was older than her hus-
band. aud very plain in person. think she
must have been slightly deformed, for she was
always so closely wrapped up that il was diff
colt 10 trace she outline of her figure. To the
hest of my belief, she never set her foot 10 the
ground--at least, l never saw her walking
The carriage came round at stated nonr TO
was said. lifted her into IL. She never visited,
or received company, and the state OF her
health was such that not q day passed with
out her seeing our village doctor. About
once week, a physician from London
came down TO her. Still, she grew neither
better nor worse; and there were persons
i'll -natnred enough TO declare that her all
meats were all fanctfnl. Every one was
astonshed when a report reached Fairholme
from London, where the squire and his lady
were spending the season, that she was expect
ing her confinement 1t was true. neyerthe-
less; aud the family returned TO the country
earlier than usual that year, that she might be
kept quiet. The heir, too, mus. he born NJ
fairhoime The place had descended from
sire 10 son Tor centuries. and each succeeding
landlord had first seen the light under that
ANCIENT roof. Bonfires were piled upon the
hills when the time drew near The church-
bells were TO be set ringing, and feast was 70
he given in the park 10 all the tenantry, III
/ was lust eight years old then, and we lived
in the farm house by the church. NJ the up
per end of the village. My parents Were ,iaih,
har,lxworking people and il was through the
sntira's favor Thai they were enabled To rent
the land they held. He had lowered ihe
terms because he had liking LOT my la me-
who had worked as a Iaborer on the itfHl
: which he now occupied. Ny mother had been
dairymaid ut the Hall in the old master me,
time aud had saved a little money but sun
they were poor people, and squared accounts
Win dificuity nj the years end after all theD
labor. III, 49,:
and TO see the great piles of wood on the mil
tong Iiobted when word came down from the
great house that there were TO be no feloicings;
no beli-riaging, nor, in short, any luce What-
ever to he taken of the birth . the squire
first child. For, after all, il WIS only daugh-
ter
could not understand Il s this made much
difference in the matter, and longed TO see
the baby bu my mother cried when she heard
the news, and said: "Ah poor lady, he will
love her less than ever now!'
do not know whether this was the case or
not There was not much time 1t seemed, TO
decide IT, for, hour afterwards the Lon
don physician's carriage ratified paSt-the sec
ond that had come through the village that
day-and we heard that the babys mother
poor lady, was dying.
house. DprnaDS
for that reason we were always more interest
ed than other folks, in what was passing at
the Hall. When the servants We're at a loss
for anything, they often applied to ms rather
than 20 further; and my mother always kept
the best poultry, in case it should be wanted
for the squires table. Sometimes themistress
would fancy loaf of our homemade bread
of my mothers baking which always
sweet and good better than the rolls and
twists the housekeeper made 10 tempt her
delicate, sickly appetite. 1t was not likely
that my mother who had a young family of
her own, should not want TO know how she
was getting through her trial.
II was but step TO the great house, for the
grove was Just opposite our windows and the
servants had left the gate open in their hurry.
In general, we never went through the plan
tatton, but il was half n mile round by the
road, and no exactly knew that day what
they Were doing; so my mother caught me by
the hand, and went across and under the deep
shade of the eNergreens, to know what was
The matter.
when, ut a turn in the winding walk, we came
suddenly upon the master. He was walking
up and down with his brows knit together,
and such an expression of disappointment in
his face rs | never saw dwelling on any hui
man face before. My mother stood aside to
lct him pass, and courtesied deeply, holding
me back from his path; but question wheth-
ar he ever noticed who ii was, though he made
careless motion with his head l can see
him now, with the marks of sorrow and an
noyance on his handsome naughty face and
his thoughts legibly printed on his furrowed
brow. 1t was evident that he had set what
ever hopes of happiness We're left to him, upon
that cast, and he had lost his stake.
My mother did not venture to speak, even to
apologize for intruding on his privacy; and as
] have said, he was too much occupied with
his own troubled thoughts TO pay much atten-
lion to anything that passed before him. We
only saw him for an instant; but when we
reached the great house, the servants We're
setting ont Ia look for him. and We're glad to
he told where he was. The poor babe was ill.,
and my lady's death was expected to take
place every moment
The little child was smaller than any thing /
could have imagined. 1t lay in the handsome
cradle provided fer the Young heir of Fair
home like n wa dc or a dead baby so still
that at first IA ..,i IT was not alive. There
was only one woman in the room the
rest We're with their mistress. 1t was indeed
not considered to be a matter of importance nj
that moment whether the poor little girl lived
or died
l thought differently, and So / am sure did
my iuOtlleF. SHe TOOK the pretty little crPa-
ture out of the cradle, and held il gently. in a
Kind, motherly way. in her arms. Ii seemed
happy there, and gradually, as she warmed
and earessed 1t, some faint color stole into its
face. Then she let me touch il, and / kissed
my dear young lady for the first time. From
that moment loved her.
The sqnire's wife did not die then, but she
never was strong enough to leave her bed af-
forwards. My mother had been able heard
- think OF some simple remedy which the
doctors desplsed but be that rs ii may, she
derived more benefit from il than she had done
from their prescriptions, and she never forgot
the obligation. While it was being tried, my
mother put the young baby into my arms,
Willie the nurse was busy preparing its food
She knew that might be trusted. for had
nursed both my little twin brothers in turn
when they We're not older than this waxen
darling. The child stopped the little feeble
moan IL had Just begun To make, aud, opening
its blue eyes widely, looked up at me- Then
the muscles OF its tiny mouth, which had been
drawn up frctfully, relaxed and the infant
smiled for the first time in its life in my face
From that time, l went often 10 the great
= house. The child had taken a fancy to me
and was never quiet or happy except when it
was In ray arms. Its health was delicate and
my mother always said, that, in consequence
OF the great disappointment occasioned by its
proving TO be a girl, the servants followed the
example OF their master. and neglected it. l
do not know whether this were the case and
whether, as she said, the child had had q fall
or whether at inherited its mothers infirmity
OF constitution, but il was a long long time
before IL could use its limbs. l used TO draw
AZ fun length. The child was so small that
us weight made scarcely any difference.
Alter time. the little lady was able to sit
UP, ana play with the flowers ga thered for her.
lheie was nothing In the world l would not
have done for her amusement am afraid 7
uiu NOT love my own sturdy little brothers
half as WELL but, then, they had a tender pa-
rent 70 care ior ihem, and, before The time
irsf Ion