The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1865-01-27

thought struck him, as the children
ran laughing and bounding ON before
their father and mother.
allow strange it would be Jane"
said the good. Thoughtful man, turn
ing on the frost bound hill to watch
the train, now mere swift black cat.
erpillar in the valley--"how strange
it would be if, instead of dying with
q struggle and wrench, or in slow
pain and decay, as we do now, when
men were TO die, mysterious sum
mons should come in q black letter,
warning us, on certain day and hour
to he at the nearest railway station
Then, that we should 90, after n calm
bnt still inefrably solemn farewell.
and at the appointed hour, a myste
rious black train, spirit driven, should
arrive; and an irresistible impulse
should force us then to mount into
the carriage, and be borne Off swiftly
and quietly into the inscrutaLle far
distance
go, Fred, how can YOU think Of
such very horrid things" said Mrs.
Latimer. "Well, do YOU know, some
how or other, l do miss Uncle God
frey"
"And so do We" cried the chill.
dren.
"Poor Uncle Godfrey" said Tot
"Will he ever come to see us
again ? asked George.
Not if 1 can help it," thought Mr..
Latimcr, elenching his teeth, and
looking as sternly rs he could.
III. THE cARRioY CROWS
Exactly twelve months from the
date of that visit, Uucle Godfrey was
found dead in his arm chair. in his
solitary chambers at The Adclphi.--
1t Is probable that lie had been dead
several days, for though the laundress
had neglected TO inform the neiohbors
no light had been seen in the room
for three nights. Singularlv enough.
1T was remembered that the deceased
had latterly shown some desire to he
more social, and had even appeare
spectrally one night in full dress at
the door ofthe gentleman Oh the first
floor, who wa0, however, Just starting
for q party, and could not then see
him.
The rooms were found To be an
inch deep in Il snuif-lil c dust, and
crowded with china, pictures, furni.
turc and portfolios. The inner room
resembled an immense mouse trap.
for it was strewn with pounds of ba.
con and sections of cheap cheese. A
miser and Observation-Disclosures
nczzer driven from among men, and
Sardanapalus grown careful, seemed
to have inhabited these chlmbers to-
gethcr. Oh, what mise;y AMI dead.
ness Of heart, and deprivation of
sweet home pleasures !--what scon
for, or insane blindness to. love and
home, were evidenced in that sordid
solitude, in that voluntary prison, in
that splendid Bastile.
1t was too late. The hoarder had
been torn from his hoard by no mur.
derer or thief, but by the great sew
erer Of all human ties.
After Godfrey Dodsons funeral,
his will was read at the office OF his
lawyers, Alessrs. Fox d Shekcll.
No one was present but the Fitz.
simmonses, but they were all there
Nj. F., n lribhle of a man; Mrs. f, a
vulgar, strong. minded woman, who
was alternately smiles and tears: and
the three Misses f., all apparently of
the same age, and only dis.inguisha.
BILE apart by the graduated redness of
their noses, and the comparative hard
ness OF their spinster faces.
They were all in black, and lookod
like the Fates, wanting only the
wheel, the diStaf and the scissors -
They were all shrouded in Grape !;
they all wore coarse black kid gloves
too big for them, aud with great
black poddy fingers an inch too long.
II grief could he expressed by
Grape, the Fitzsimmonses were heart.
broken. They were swathed in Grape;
there was a top heavy banner of
Grape on Fitzsimmons' has; there
were wisps ofcrape on Mrs. t.. bon
net; they gloricd in Grape. They
looked like the family of a young un.
dertaker who had just secured a
small funeral, and was proud of the
business.
The room was one of those drab
colored dingy lawyers rooms, walled
in with deed boXes--the black sarco-
phagi Of extinct fortunes; the ceiling
black with smoke; the cocoa nut mat.
ting dirty, and splashed with ink
After o good deal of Whispering
with the clerks, and running in and
out with law papers, Mr.. Fox sat
down, chuclled solemnly, opened the
will, rubbed his hands, and began to
read.
1t WAS very short. The deceased
had left five thousand pounds to the
tltzsimmonscs, all his china and pic
lures also to them; and nothing to
the poor Latimers but his wooden
leg, which was to be sent to them as
remembrance.
The Fitzsimmonses thrilled with
delight; the black forest of Grape
rustled with satisfaction Every one
got up and shook hands with the law
yer Mr.. Fox poured them each out
a glass OF sherry, and then poured