The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-10-18
Prom Is. dalsxy.
Number Thtrty-sttssc

h. !,
The faint light of m early summer dawn,
more than q score Of years ago, WAS just
beeinninr 10 change the shadowy blaekness
az honse and tree Into gray outlines OF
syen moro weird and CHASTITY shape as tne
door Of house In Firth street, New York.
S., softly opened from within, and wo-
man rIidcd forth like . spirit, and, swlitiy
sassinp out, was almost In an instant iost 70
s;rht, IL any lonely watcher at any win-
dow had seen her form, his recollection Of
/, would have faded away as dream fades
before the light Of cloudless sunrise.
Slowly tho gray sky melted into palsr
eray: slowly the gray sky soitened into
nearly tints that In the far-off horizon were
tinged with gold slowly the golden halo
stole oil over the armament, vanished into
unfathomable depths of blue and the
great sun, rising, flashed his beams from
roof and steeple, then on inland stream
and gay flowers, and 1t was day. The great
city awoke. The football in the street
ceased to echo, the distant tap Of the
patrol was heard no more. The rattle OF
the cart and rail-car began to shake the
air again, and the thousand sounds of city
life rose up. Windows and doors began to
teen with life, and everywhere there was
the going forth Of humanity to its pleasures
or its tolls.
OF all the busy thoroughfares In New
York, Firth street was one Of the most
busy, and the houses in it were generally
pretty full of people. To this rule No. 80
was an exception. 1t was q small two
story building of brick, and had about it an
old-fashioned, quiet look, which distin-
guished it In singular manner from its
the whole aspect of the place, while not
seeming in the least neglected, were indie
scribably forlorn: While the dwellings
each side and facing it were cheerful with
voices and home sounds, No. 80 was always
silent. Ofan evening white hand might
have been seen to move window, or q
fitting figure to pass across, throwing Its
shadow upon blind but these not often.
And all the people round about knew,
though scarcely any had seen them, that
an old French lady and her daughter lived
there alone. None knew their history, but
only that they had lived there alone these
dozen years or more.
Why should closed door look different
at different times2 / am sure can't tell,
but somehow /, who lived opposite to
No. 80, found myself locking at Madame
Herberts closed door with feeling which
could not define, but which affected me
strangely. 1t was not often open for days
together, why should it have been so now
knew the habits of the little family
two women would be likely to appear, but
that they were invisible to-day seemed
something new and strange. remarked
this to my wife, who only laughed at me,
and said that my lawyers habits made me
consider things that were neither singular
nor suspicious just as If they made up
points in q case. Of course / could only
laugh also, and soon l was snug in my
office, down town, in the company of my
law books and papers. Nor was it until
was home again after hard days work
that the subject of Madame Hcrbert's door
required to me. "All quiet opposite, of
course" said l, as I sat down to dinner.
Perfectly" said my wife, "not soul
has been seen that know Of" ooh yes"
said one of the children, "there has been
nobody there, but don't you remember,
mamma, saying that you heard dog howl
several times7 "And so l did," said she,
"but had forgotten tat all events, the
soup is growing cold, Charles" So the
subject was dismissed again. Okla.
1t was my habit in those days to read
late at night, and / often sat up alone
until long past midnight. On this parti-
cular evening l did so. At about II
O'Clock finished my cigar and set to work,
and was soon completely absorbed. But
-, bn,,r ~ I hacoma onuova1 nv q
restless desire to escape from some sound,
Of what kind 1 hardly distinguished, and
| which at first thought must be the wind
whistling through some crevice or keyhole.
As the night advanced the house seemed
to become lonely. The curious sound be-
came more distinct, and evidently came
from outside. l threw up the window to
listen, and then found that that dismalest of
all sounds, the wall of q dog, proceeded
from the closed and dark No. 80. A
smothered wall, as though the animal was
shut in some room. With an impatient
exclamation, ! again resumed my reading.
But l felt worried. Why should people
keep bowling dogs to be nuisance to their
neighbOrs 7 1t really seemed as if / should
never get through the brief in Box uers'ls
Cox, case Of disputed joint tenancy.
Then luminous idea passed across my
brain. would smoke halt cigar on the
stoop, and thus freshen myself up. Two
minutes later I was standing before my
open front door, all the better for the cool
night air. Still the dog howled, and in a
more dismal manner than ever. began
to form theories as to the cause, and by
the time I had traced the sound of the po-
liceman's heavy tread from half-a-dozen
blocks of till he reached me, had made
up my mind to say q word or two on the
matter. ooh, it's you, Peters" said | as
recognized the officer, q sergeant, whom
l knew very well. "Anything newt"
"Nothing in our line," he replied. You
are working late, as usual, sir?"
eyes," said. "But am horribly dis
turbed by dog that seems shut in over
the way" :.
"Dog seems in trouble, don't he 7" said
Peters.
"House always shut up-queer people /;
old woman and girl live there by them
Selves" 49,.
"Just SO. French, / believe"
"Yes. / don't know, but, Peters, can't
help thinking there's something unusual
that makes that dog so uneasy"
Peters merely replied, Shouldn't WON
der" and then slowly sauntered across the
street, swinging his club by its string. He
looked at the windows and tried those
within reach, and then mounted the
steps to,the door. To my surprise he in
stantly knocked loudly at the latter with
his club, and then pushed the door wide