Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1864-02-19

score of ycars-youug people were young.
or in my time) arc very affectionate aud
kind. They call me Aunt Letitia, and /
like the sound we'll enough. That is my
namc--Lititia Primworth. / come of a
good family, am fairly we'll to do as re-
CARDS worldly goods, and am, as have
said, single. l do not suppose that |
! shall ever marry now. People call me
an old maid l dare say. | know the
Miss Hetheringtons do, for l overheard
them the other day tittering over the fact
| With Captain Spurrier, but was not in
the least mortified. 1t is quite true; |
am an old maid.
The Grove is solitary dwelliug-place,
though SO near town. From a terrace
in the garden, which stands high, you can
see the spire of the cathedral quite dis
tinctly; but for all that the house is
rather lonely aud melancholy Of aspect,
one mile up the London road. 1t is an
old house, of dingy red brick, coped,
dashed, and pillastered with white stone
after the fashion of Queen Anne's reign,
and with lofty sash windows and great
ovcrgrowth Of ivy. There are many
trees near the house, which make it shady
but dark, and the large gardens are laid
out in the old-fashioned style, with broad
hedges of holly and hornbcam, yew trees
clipped into fantastic shapes, and straight
walks, bordering formal lawns, in which
stand tall sundials. A fine old house,
but not cheerful in appearance.
| had lease of The Grove. 1t had
been cheap to rent, in consequence, !
believe, of some ridiculous story of its
being haunted by the ghost of wicked
lord who had shot or poisoned himself
there years and years ago There was
certainly some prejudice against lt--an
absurd one but had never much liked
the place, and should not have chosen it.
1t was poor Sophia's choice. She, as the
eldest, managed everything at that time.
And to Justify her choice, | must confess
that neither we nor our servants were
ever disturbed by anything supernatural
during our fourteen years tenure Of the
house. However, few months before
| poor jenkins tke butler died, robbcries
became alarmineiy common in the neigh
borhood, and caused me moro concern
than ever the ghost had done.
| Ny establishment consisted of butler
page in buttons, ard three mailS,-thc
gardener going home to sleep at his cot
/ .arc half a mile away. There were no
very near ncighbors. There was a pub
lic-house. The Spotted Dog q quarter
of mile of, and then came " ldow
Bramshaw's crossroads, where our gard.
ener and several other laborlng men lived
So tho Grove was thoroughly detached,
aud in case of thieves or fire, no help
could be got on the instant. There was,
however, an alarm bell, which hung III j
turrct above the roof, under n queer,
Dutch looking cover, s,eathel with lead.
1t had not been used, had heard, since
tho panic about a French invasion, when
old Sir Barnahy Ponder livcl here, early
in the century, and when the bonires of
Claybarrow Hill were mistaken for warm
ing abeacons. But when the robberics
grow moro frequent, l had the bell dust
ed and oiled, and new rope put to it
which rope came down into sort OF press
room where the linen was kept. And
lucky enough it was that took that pre-
caution, as will presently be sean.
The new cord to the alarm bell was
not all that l relied on in case of any
burglary being attempted at The Grove.
Poor jenkins always slept with a loaded
blunderbuss hanging at his bed-head, and
rattle on = chair within reach. BE-
sides this, l had got Mr.. Sherringham' ;
game keeper to clean and load the old
pistol. that belonged once to papa, the
General, aud kept them in drawer in
my roou-locked up, for fear of acci-
dea,s, l always thought that, if there
were real danger, could have fonnd
courage enough, for once, to fire them off.
But with jenkins and his blunderbuss,
and brave old Ncptune-who. though a
Newfoundland, was the tiercest and most
vigilan, of yard dogs, l had little fear of
being compelled to do battle personally
in defence of my property and life.
1t 50 happened, however, that the rob.
berries grew more and more frequent and
the audacity of the burglars increased, as
it always does, with impunity. Squire
Melkshot was robbed, and so was Sir
Stephen, over at The Firs, and SO was
Mr.. PEBBLES the banker. And though at
Lord Guillemot's and Mr.. Prcstwich's the
rogues met with warm reception, and
were fred upon and pursued, they got
off unhurt, and were none the less impu-
dent or active for the future. therefore
became extremely anxious once moro to
have steady, reliable man-servant to
protect the house.
Atlast'I heard ofone who really seemed
IA +. treasure. He was a remarkably
Evell-ea. .,cated and indeed superior person
in his con, ,lition of life, and his name was
Mortimer. He was fifty years of age,
and had given every satisfaction. Ills
late employer. tho Venerable the Arch.
deacon of Crossministe,., spoke most high
ly in his praise. He, the archdeacon'
would never have parted WITH Mortimer
but that he had obtained permll sion from
the bishop to reside for the nexl three
years in MADEIRA, for the benefit o. his
darling, only daughter, who was in de-
cline, and ordered to that climate as
last hope, and the archdeaeon. who wrote
me, was not rich enough to authorize his
ineurring additional expenses by taking
out any English servants beyond his