Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1866-03-23
All the Year Round.
STAPLEFORD GRANGE.

tt.vE OIAfLEfOkD GkANGE. g. ......
J I heard the following narrative at c
dinner party in ~ country-house about
fivemilesfrom theplace where h events
referred to occurs ed, and ii was related
to me 10y the chief actress in it,--n pret
ty, lady-like girl of twenty, the daugh'
ter OF the rector of the parish in which
S.apletord Grange is situated. | haG
sprained my ank lie in the morning, ano
instead of going into dinner with the
rest of the party, was made TO lie on
sofa in the drawing room; and it was
after the ladies came in from the dining.
room that pretty Cissy Miles, at hel
hostess,s urgent request, related it to
me. give it, as nearly as i can re
member, in her own words. r. '"slL
1t was the saturday afternoon befpr,
Christnias-day, neasly two years ago
when my six brothers. all younger
than myself, and | were skating on oul
squire's fish-pond.s We had been siat.
ing since dinner, and it was not till the
wintry daylight was beginning to wane
that the recol lection rushed across me
that / had entirely forgotten to do &
commission my mother had given me
In tho morning. This commission was
to walk to the Grange, big farm house
and bespeak some geese for dinner on
New Years day. My mother had said
decidedly, Those geese must be order.
ed to-day, Cissy,' SO Knew that
should have go: althoughthe Grange
was mile off, although to was very
cold and darkness was coming on, ano
although l was terribly afraid of q big
black dog which was chained up Just in
front Of the Grange back door. = 20 =
Nhn'l1 qn with mo IN tha (trnp,rn
called out quickly, rs the remembrance
occurred to me, sitting down and be
ginning to unstrap my skates. "Tvt
forgotten all about the geese, and mann
ma said | was to order them to. day.
No one answered. The next day was
Sunday, and it might thaw before Mon.
day. Every boy, big or little, seemed
laudably desirous of making the most
ofpresent opportunities. av a.ra
I" daren / 70 by myself called out
in pathetic tone; lit would be quite
dark before / got home again. u -
Tell the truth, Cis,n called out Char.
lie, a quick, goodsnatured boy OF, fifteen
'Gnd say yoa're1 afraid Of Jip. Never
mind, III come with you, if you must
go.h And lie joined me on the bank
and proceeded to take off his skates.
w haiti you bet, JIM" he called
out, during this operation, 81 that we
ain'tat home by.a. quarter to five? IT'S
exactly fbur now..i ~ X" N y -
"a bob," was the answer, as jim
viii led by. ...-
Done; and remember you dub up
Now Cis, come along, and Iatell you
you'll have to run. p&fs ~ - r. IA
Thanks to all my brothers, I was a
pretty good runner, ana we sped across
the sqlire's fields, aud through The
narrow lane towards tife u Siiange,as fast
as possible. When we got TO the last
field, which Joined the iarm-yard, we
pace a .little,and when we
got into tlio sbiga courtyard Itself, We
We're walking almost slowly.
How dreadfuily lonely il looks
Charlie.H | said, almost with shivel
at the desolatc aspect OF the place, which
had been II grand gentlemen's house
forty years ago, but had been suffered to
fall almost into ruins. ~ um so glad | m
not MIS-. Johnson, particularly as sh,
has no children, nor anybody to keep
her company when Mr.. johnson is
away t."IJt. u 90 #IttiR
"Well, don't you stop and prose to
her for ever such a tlmS Cis, do you
hear2 ~ returned Charlie, good.humor-
edly. ~ want that bob of .jin's, and
we've only five -and-twenty minutes to
the jaw, and get home in
"Ail right l said, and we went up
to the back door.
i must try and describe little of the
of the Grange now,
the courtyard Was II big square place,
larger than iarm-yartis usu-
ally are, and it must have been an i'm
posing ent. ance in the old goneby days.
There were TWO entrances To it, the one
we had come in by, leading to our viii
lage, the other exactly opposite on the
other side of the 0urt.yard, leading
over a'quafter of mile Of fiel,is In the
road to our market town of y. To the
lett hand of the courtyard was q long
straight. line of what had once. bean
5taaes, bat were now farm-buildings !;
md to the right, the north side--a long
cline aiso----of the house itself.
HE irontldoor, which was exactly in
the middle ot the Straight line, and
which was fanked on either side by
several windows, was now never open
ed : hut The lack Goor, which Was the
entry tosaAiittte bit of building standin.
back from the line OF house, and which
looked almost as if it had been stuck on
to the big .squaresmansion as IN after
thought, was on this Saturday afternoon
Standing q little ajar. -----..-.--....--
Jip did not greet US with his usually
noisy welcome, and there was no sound
Di any sort about the place except the
sabbling OF some turkeys in the rear OF
.he farm buildings. | don't know that
felt any Particular fear, bat as we fol-
owed the path under the shadow of the
Did elm trees to that haif-open door, Il
sort OF oppressed feeling came over me,
induced, 1 suppose, by the utter silence
,f the place, and felt almost as If Jip's
Dark would have been Il welcome sound.
We went up and Knocked at the door,
md when l turned round, l. observed
hat yhrs iScinel, which stood exactly
opposite, in 4 line with the front of the
louse, was empty. asE
saWhere can .Jip be ?p Isaid; tho't
hey never let him luose;n and [ walk
I'd forward few steps and became
lware that the dogs chain and collar
we're lying beside the kennel. / stood
or moment or two wondering, whilst
charlie, getting impatient at Mrs. John
os's non Appearance; knocked again at
he door. suddenly, some marks OH the
Jagged pathway in front of the kennel
'rrested my attention, and upon stoop-
ny down 10 look more closely, i saw
hat they were-arops and smears of
,loed.
| raised myself in sudden terror, and
,alled Charlie; and when he came to
ny side and examined the pathway, we
ound that there was a bloody trail up
othe door. z. tl.3s4 .tH ssya 81 3
"What can it be, Charlie?" Isaid,
n a whisper.
",T don't know" ~ Charlie returned, ),
poor Jip came to grief,
perhaps. Hts odd,Mn. johnson doesn't
,ome; | think I'll 20 on a voyage OF
discovery ;ystay here till / g. me buck ~
md he pushed the door iurflsefopen.
" No let me go too, said, hastily,
lalf ffiahtened. l am coward ut the
sight Of blood. tlf sa
Well, don't make a row them and
We entered the little passage together
On tile leif lfand was the Kitchen
ioor, which was shut; aud I observed
hat Charlie besitated for a moment be-
ore he put ont his hand to open it,
only for 4 moment, though then he
matched the door, and the bright farm
Sitchen was beforo$us fta