The weekly Oskaloosa herald. [volume] (Oskaloosa, Iowa) 1855-1885, 1870-07-07
Established July 1850


, land tomorrow | will try and fac
some way to invest 1t securely"
, Sc saving, be stepped into the
buggy, which was standing at tn,
door, taking with him our hired mai
Silas, and leaving me with no one il
f the house but Dinah, an old colorec
woman, who fulfilled in our modes
household the functions of cook anC
maid. of aIl-work, as she had long
done in the family OF my own par
ents, who, on my marriage, had
yielded her to me as a valuable part
of my dover.
Dnah was indeed a character.
She. was tall and very stout, weigh
ing, she would never tell how much
more than two hundred pounds.
She was very black, and as lazy a.
she was black. | do not think any
one could move more deliberately
than Dinah did, that is, to move at
all. And, by wonderful dispersal
lion, she seemed to feel that, wha;-
ever her other faults might be, she
was strong on the point Of locomo-
ton. For when she had been NOV.
ing with a ponderous slowness, al.
most maddening to person of ordi-
nary quickness, one Of her favorite
expressions was, "Well, Miss Little,
what shall fly onto nexL?' Ito"
she accomplished all she did, the
brownies only know. We used
sometimes to almost tremble when
there was any special hurry about
our dom este arrangements, aud yet
Dinah always managed to bring af
fairs to a consummatlon just when a
minute more would have ruined
everything, and, with undisturbed
front, would slowly euunciate, "Well
Miss, what shall l fly to next?"
1t was nearly dark when my hus-
band departed, and, after giving my
order TO Dinah, or rather my sug-
gestion, / left her, and made the
tour Of the house to see that all was
safe and properly locked up. This
duty attended to, | went to my bed
room intending to pass the time in
reading until my husband should re-
| tarn.
1t was large room on the ground
floor, with two French windows
opening on veranda. The win
dows were draped with long yellow
silk curtains, between which the
moonlight family entered, dimmed
by the shadow of the root Of the pi,
azza, and partly intercepted by the
fringe Of woodbinc which hung f,om
it. My bed stood with its foot
toward the windows, and with its
mead about half yard from the
wall. Itwas an old-fa>hioned struc-
ture, hung with yellow silk, like the
windows, but slept with the hang
ings drawn back and fastened to the
head-board. The bed was so large
that no one ever thought Of moving
it, except in house cleanings, when
the combined strength of three or
four men was called into requisition
to draw it into the middle of the
middle of the room. SO deliberately
carved was it that it went by the
name of Westminster Abby in the
family. At one end of the TO om, al
no great distance from the bed, was
a large safe, built i'll the huge chin
ney of the mansion, with a door high
enough for person to enter stand
ing upright. Here ! was accustomed
to place every evening, our silver
plate OH shelves which extended
aroun the sides, on which were also
placed boxes containing papers and
other valuables. Opposite the foot
OF the bedstead, between the win
dows, was a mirror, running from
the floor almost to the ceiling. Like
all the other furniture in the room,
it was old and handsome. How
many happy scenes it had reflected
in, the hundred years it had stood
| there.
The night was exceedingly hot,
and / therefore left the window open,
though / drew the curtains before |
seated myself at the table in the
center OF the room, lighted with can
dies, and began to read, in order to
pass the heavy time before the re-
turn Of my husband.
After awhile, | heard the clock
strike 8, at which time Dinah always
went to bed. Her chamter was in
the attic, the third story of the house.
Remembering some household mat,
ter about which | wished to speak to
ther, l started hurriedly, up and went
into the entry to intercept her, before
she got up stairs. | had to wait
about minute before she came, and
our colloquy continued three or foul
minutes.
When / returned to my bedroom
feeling somewhat tired l resolved to
go to. bed, az, at that late hour in the
country, it was quite certain that nc
visitor would call, and my husband
could let himself in with the latch
key, which he always carried.
thought, however, l would try t.
keep awake by reading, and accord
ingly placed light stand and the
candles at the head of my bed.
then closed and fastened the win
dows, undressed and got into bed
The key of the safe Iplaced as usual
under my pillow.
After reading perhaps half an hou
I grew weary of the book, and qui
city laying it down, remained TO
some minutes meditating with N,
eyes fixed on the mirror opposite
,, the foot of the bed, in which l coult
see myself reflected, together wit
the yellow silk curtains behind m,
head. / WAS thinking, not unnatur
ally. how pretty | looked, and how
happy was with such loving has
band, and such large sum of none,
in our safe, when suddenly ] saw ;
sight in the mirror that made m,
heart stand still. A hand appeare,
between the curtains, drawing then
slowly apart, and grasping cautious
, ly the head-board. 1t was man
| hand, large and coarse and dark, a
r if it belonged to mulatto, or to on
greatly tanned by exposure to tn
3 weather.
3 My first impulse was to start fror
l the bed and scream for help. | re
3 pressed it by strong effort of will
!, and lay perfectly motionless, excep
t that | partially closed my eyes
: keeping them only sufficiently ope
9 to watch the mirror. AS quick a
: lightning my mind took in the si;ua
t ton. In the few minutes of my at
s sence from the room, while talkini
: to Dinah in the entry, thief, rot
Der, possible murderer, had stole
a in by the piazza windows, and ha
! hid himself either under the bed O
h behind its draped head. lie wa