The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1870-10-06
..HoYT & CO., Proprietors'
3. geleeted gtorg.
a SAFE INTBSTMIBNlT.

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:, In the second year of the late civil war, I
was married and went to live with my husband
in a small village on the Hudson, some fifty or
sixty miles from New York. The house we
occupied was large, rambling mansion, OF
considerable antiquity for this country, and
stood little apart from the rest of the village,
surrounded by broad fields, and commanding
glorious view, of the river, and the hills OF the
Highlands. It had been built before the Rev,
olution, by my husbands great-grandfather, ana
though destitute of any modern improve
ments, was still comfortable and pleasant
residence.
i NV husband was lawyer, and large real
estate owner in the neighborhood, and at tne
period of which write, was greatly perplexed,
ike, many other persons in the North, by the
perilous state of the times, and especially about
the safe investment of his funds, as the suspen-
sion of specie payments, the great rise in gold,
and military disasters in Virginia. made 1t al
most impossible to tell where it would be safe
to,deposit or to use ones money in any large
amount.
In the course of his transactions in real es-
tate, it happened, one day, that he received,
what was for us, large sum, about ten thou
sand dollars, which he brought home and left
in my charge, telling me at the same time that
he should have to be absent during the evening"
attending to some business on the other side OF
the river, and should not be home till about
midnight. :,
'eYon can place the money in the safe, DEAR
he said. as he gave it to me, land tomorrow
will try and find some way to invest it secure
rly." 49,,
So saying, he stepped into the buggy, which
was standing at the doorway, taking with him
our hired man, Silas, and leaving me with no
one in the house but Dinah, an old colored wo-
man, who fulfilled in our modest household the
functions of cook and maid of-all-work, as she
had long done in the family of my own parents,
who, on my marriage, had yielded her up to me
es q valuable part of my dover.
.si>Dinah Tas indeed a character She was tall
and very stout, weighing, she never would tell
how much, more than two hundred POUNDS
She was very black, and as lazy as she was
black. do not think any one could move
more deliberately than Dinah did, that IS, to
move at all. And, by wonderful dispensation,
she seemed to feel that whatever her other
faults might be, she was strong on the point OF
locomotion. For, when she had been moving
with ponderous slowness, almost maddenlng
to a person of ordinary quickness, one OF her
fayor;te expressions was, "Well, Miss Lille,
what shall I fly into next?" How she accom-
plished all she did, the brownies only knew.
We used sometimes almost to tremble when
there was any special hurry about our domes-
tic arrangements, and yet Dinah always man
aged to bring affairs to a consummatlon just
when minute more would have ruined every
thing, and with undisturbcd front, would slow
ly enunciate, "Well, Miss, what shall l fly into
q nextW
It was nearly dark when my husband depart
ed. and after giving my orders to Dinah, or
rather nv suggestions, left her and made the
tour of the house, to see that all was safe and
properly locked up This duty attended to,1
went to nv bedroom, intending to pass the
time in reading until my husband should re-
turn. -,
It was q large room on the ground floor, with
two French windows openining on broad We
randa. The windows were draped with long
yellow silk curtains, between which the moon
light family entered, dimmed by the shadows
of the roof of the piazza and partly intercep-
ted by the fringe OF woodbine which hung from
it. NY bed stood with its foot toward the WIN
dows, and with its head about half yard from
the wall. 1t was an old-fashloned structure,
hung with yellow silk like the windows, but
slept with the hangings drawn back and fas-
tened to the head board. The bed was so large
that no one ever thought of moving it, except
in those seasons of household panic, called
house-cleanings, when the combined strength
of three or four men were required to draw It
into the middle of the room. So elaborately
carved was it that it went by the name OF
Westminster Abbey in the family. At one end
of the room, at no great distance from the bed,
was large safe built into the huge chimney OF
the mansion, with door high enough for
person to enter standing upright. Here was
accustomed to place, every evening, our silver
plate on shelves which extended around the
sides, on which also were placed boxes contain
inc papers and other valuables. Opposite the
foot of the bedstead, between the windows 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 therel
The night was exceedingly hot, and ], there
fore, left the windows open, though l drew the
curtains before seated myself at the table in
the centre of the room, lighted the candles, and
began to read, in order to pass the heavy time
before the return of my husband.
After while, 1 heard the clock strike nine,
at which hour Dinah always went to bed. Her
chamber was in the attic, the third story OF the
house. Remembering some household matter
about which wished to speak to her, started
hurriedly up, and went into the entry 70 inter
cent her before she got up stairs. had to
wait about minute before she came, and our
colloquy continued some three OF tour minutes
When returned to my bedroom, feeling
somewhat tired, resolved to 60 to bed, as, at
that late hour in the country, it was quite GER
tain that no visitors would call, and my, nus
band could let himself in with the latch-key,
which he always carried. I thought, however,
I would try to keep awake by reading, and ac-
cordingly placed light-stand and the candles
at the head of my bed. then closed and fas-
tened the windows, undressed, and got into bed.
The key of the safe placed, as usual, under
Alter reading perhaps half an hour, 1 grew
weary of the book, and quietly laying it down,
remained for some minutes meditatlng With my
ewes fixed on the mirror opposlte. the loot OF the