Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1870-09-24
A SAFE INVESTMENT.

husband in small village on the Hudson
some Fifty or sixty miles from New York
The house we occupied was large, ra,nb
ling mansion, Of considerable antiquity 70,
this country, aud stood apart from the res,
Of the village, surrounded by broad fields
aud commanding glorious view Of The
river, and the hills Of the Highlands. Il
had been built before the Revolution, By
my husbands great.grandfather, and
though destitute of many "modern i'm
provements," was still comfortable and
pleasant residence.
My husband was lawyer and large
real estate owner in the ncighborhood, and
at the period of which l write, was greatly
perplexed, like many other persons in the
Nor,h, by the perilous state Of the times
and especially about the safe invcstmen,
Of his funds, as the suspension Of specie
payments, The great rise in gold, and
the military disasters in Virginia, made
il almost 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
estate, it happened, one day, that he re.
ccived what was for US then large sum,
about ten thousand dollars, which he
brou ,ht home and placed in my hands,
telling me ut the same time he should be
absent during the evening, attending to
some business on the other side of the
river, and should not be home till about
midnight.
"You can place the money in the safe,
DEAR" he said as he gave it to me, aud TO-
morrow | will try and 6nd some way to in.
vest securely.
So saying, he stepped into the buggy,
which was standing at the door, and drove
away, taking with him our hired man 81.
las, and leaving me with no one in the
house but Dinah, an old colorcd woman,
who fulfilled in our modest houshold the
functions of maid .of:aIl work, as she had
long done in the family Of my own parents,
who, on my marriage, had yielded her to
me as valuable part of my dover.
Dinah was indeed a character. She
was tall aud very stout, weighing, she never
would tell how much, more than two hun.
drcd pounds. She was very black, and as
lazy as she was black. lido not think any Que
could move more deliberately than Dinah
did, that is, to move at all. And, by u
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 a
ponderous slOwuess, almost maddcning to
a person Of ordinary quickness, ono Of her
favorite expressions was, "Wcil, Miss
Lille, what shall l fly into next?" How
she accomplished all she did, the brownies
only know. We used sometimes to almost
tremble when there was any special hurry
about our domestic arrangements, and yet
Dinah always managed to bring affairs to a
cousummation Just when n minute more
would have ruined everything, and, with
undisturbed trout, would slowly euunciate,
We'll, Miss, what shall fly iuto next ?"
1t was nearly dark when my husband
departed, and after giving my orders to
Dinah, or rather my suggestions, l 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
till my husband should return.
1t was large room on the ground.hoor,
with two French windows opening on a
vcranda. The windows we're draped with
long yellow silk curtains, between which
the moonlight family entered, dimncd BY
the shadow Of the roof Of the piazsa, and
partly intercepted by the fringe Of wood:
bine which hung from it. My bed stood
with its foot toward the windows, aud its
head about half yard from the wall. 1t
was an old fashioned structure, hung with
yellow silk, like the windows, but l slept
with the hanging drawn back aud fastened
to the headboard. The bed was so large
that no one ever thought Of moving it, ex-
cent 10 those sea ,ons Of household panic
called house clcauings, when the combined
strength of three or four men was called
into reauisitiou 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 a large safe, built in the huge chin.
new of the mansion, with a door high
enough for a person to enter standing up
right. Here l was accustomed to place,
every evening, our silver.plate on shelves
which extended around the sides. on
which also we're placed boxes containing
papers and other valuables. Opposite the
foot of the bedstead, between the windows,
was mirror, running to the floor from the
ceiling. Like all other furniture it was
old and handsome. How many happy
scenes it had reflected 10 the hundred years
it had stood there. -. =,
The night was exceedingly hot, and !
therefore left my windows open, though
drew the curtains before | seated myself u,
the table in the centre Of the room, lighted
with candles, and began to read, in order
to pass the heavy time before the return
Of nv husband. a
After awhile heard the clock strike =,
at which hour Dinah always went to bed
Her chamber was in the attic, the third
story of the house. Remembering some
household matters about which l wished t.
III