Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1862-10-03
MIS- SCEI.LAN Y
A TALE OF AN ENGLISH INN.
nv n. 5. GiRsoS.


II wa. nearly dark when | reached Deep.
water. and was g'ad enough TO see the
" ny" Of the :" Ten jolly Dro,ers" waiting
n, one end Of the station. as I stepped out
upon the other.
Tho 49, Ten jolly Drovcrs" was gcm OF a
country inn. AMI the plump, cOmcly wo.
man. IN n widows cap and gown. who stood
courtesyinS in the porch. with great silver
tankari Of home brcwsd in her hands. +" TO
take the dos, ou, of the gentleman. throat"
-wha, OF her. Why .be was gem oi a
country landlady. TO be sure.
I mentioned, when my pcn Gre, touched
tai. paper. that IL was nearly dark when !
reached DcepwatcF station. A drive OF four
miles with jim the ooaehman had made Il,
.,i'l more near. and by the time entered
\ the red tiled porch every fowl had gone 70
roo', and lamps were twinkllng in the k,eh.
en- aud the hall. Candls' had been taken
into room a, the right, ja., beyond the
sar, Tor mc, and the sigh, OF a tempting "a
I blc Tor mcAl, half supper and hall tea.
made the - hungry thai, | at once " fell to-
fyas,cd like n king, and then wen, TO bed
and slept wiihou, the lca,, ineur.ipn OF
nightmare
Tho week which had allotted Tor my
holiday passed rapidly away. eongr,tu'
lated mysclf on having found this happy
yalley--,hi. home where no shadow Of care
brooied-,he.c friends whose live. had more
Of sunshine and les Of shadow. than any
had ever had before. Ilu, call no nan
happy I'LL ho dies" says wise Eastern
rroverb. And rrjoln-call no place a
T parnii.c tll you 800 IT. angels. For place.,
like people. have their good and bad attend
ant spirits. found 1, - before my sCjnuTn
a, the Ten jolly Drover. was over.
On the las, nigh, Of my ,ny "a, late in
my little rarlor below stairs. When ,oos
nv candle 10 81 up stairs the house was
shu, Up. Mrs. Ball had retired 90 her bel.
room IN the third story. and sould hear
my friend jim snoring on h. .e,,cs in the
kitchen, where he alway. slept, the house
dog a, hi. iee,. ready 10 defend tho place II
burglar. should take sudden fancy TO ,i,i,
. /, during the small hour. Of tho night
The dog grovled. but hearing my voice.
gave a kind of .i,i.fed snort, and be,oik
himself 10 .lumber again. stole cautious.
ly up the crcakins stairs. 4 gus, Of air
comm: from the landing place nearly blew
my hight out. and shading l, with my hand.
aw small archsd door opposite the
stairs. which ! had never noticed before,
stood ajr. |, seemed 10 leli into a narrow
passage. anu wondering much how i, could
have escaped my notice, | stepped in. An.
other door. strongly barred With iron. was
Just before me. hesinicd moment. bot
something stronger than curio'ity-a kind
of brcathlc,. in,crc., thai startled me
urged the on. opened Il. Not easily.
however. ,l,l 1t wa. suddenly wrenchol from
my hand by some one inside suiisnly
that almost iell into large square room,
hung with dark curialnJ. Ant only lighted
by an iron lamp IN wire case, tha, burned
high up on the wall. The door closed cen.
tly behind me. bu; ! could zee no person in
the room. lc, something certainly wrench.
ca 1t from my grasp. suppose l felt
afraid remshbcr was very much IN.
clincl to whistle or .in:. ja.t as used 10 bo
when IN my boyhool bad TO pas, lonely
ehurehyard at night. | walked into the
middle Of tie room. anl pat my lamp down
on the lo1r. bccau-s there wa' no table o.
chair on which coul! leave it. Then |
took a long look at nv surrounding, feeling
more aud mors ike whi,,l,ns every mo.
m0nt.
Nota picture hunr on the wsll-no, an
article ol iurui,urc made the place more
homelikc. 4 low divAn ran around tile
room. anI a, one end It widenei and va.
furnished with quilts, coun,erpans-. and
pillows, now tossed into confused heap.
The window. wers heavily shuttered and
barred. the CRATE was al'o barred IN, and
wired; the shovel and iong' had been re.
moved. also the fender. The aoor iel,
strangely beneath my feet, and | hen, down
TO examine IL. Ir wa. " padded" and GOV
cred over with elastic mating. touched
the walls; they were no, hung with black
drapery, a, had frs, imagined, but padded
also. aud covered with cloth looking and
feeling like leather. VIA, strange mys.
terry in ihi. ou'-oi.,he.way place. Who
dwelt IN this room where safety was evil
IDENTIFY the fr., thing s,uticd-wherc even
the solitary lamp twinkled, like star, lar
ou, Of rVach' sa, down on the divan, aud
wondered a, my discovery.
At las, as my eyes grew accustomed to
the darkness Of the place. saw something
stir near the bed; momen, later heard
low SIGH.
"who .ishs sO'" I asked with beating
heart.
A tall. dark figure rose from the ground.
II sounds romantic at this distance OF time,
but i, seemed anything but romantic then.
was almost frightened to death. and had
no power to speak or stir. rs i, advanced
slowly toward me. Clad in long. dark
robe. like the habi. Of monk. a man stood
before me. pale, wasted. and with long
white hair. and beard like snow. lie
ea1ed q, me moment in silence. and then
sighed again heavily. ] gathered up my
courage aud said to my courage and TO my.