The weekly Panola star. [volume] (Panola, Miss.) 1857-1881, 1870-06-11
AsArE INVESTMENT.

In the second year Of the late civil war,
was msrried, and went IN live with my
husband IN n small village On the Hudson,
some fifty or sixty miles from New York.
The house we occupied was a large, ram
bling mansion, of considerable antiquity
for this country, and stood n little apart
from the rest Of the village, surrounded by
broad fields, and commanding a glorious
view Of the riveraud the hills of the High.
lands. II had been built before the Revo-
luton, by my husbands great grandfather,
and, though destitute OF many Modern
improvements was still a comfortable
and pleasant residence.
Nv husband was q lawyer and a large
real-estate owner in the neighborbood,
and, at the period of which | write, was
greatly perpl-xei, like many other per-
sons in the North, by the p%erilous state Of
the times and especially about the safe
investment of his funds, as the suspension
of specie payments, the great rise In gold,
and the military disasters in Virginia,
made / almost impossible TO tell where
it would b. 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-
ceived what was for us then a large sum,
about ten thousand dollars, which he
brought home and placed in my charge,
telling me at the same time that he should
have 10 be absent during the evening, at
tending to some business IN the other side
of the river, and should not be at home
till about midnight.
"You en- place the money in the safe,
dear" he said as he gave it to me, and
to morrow | will try and find some way to
invest it securely"
So saying, he stepped into the buggy,
which was standing at the door, and drove
away. taking with him our hired man
Silss, and leaving me with no one in the
house bat Dinah, an old cOlored woman,
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 to me as a valuable part of my
dover.
Dinah was indeed q character. She
was tall and very stout, weighing, she
would never tell how much, more than
two hundred pounds. She wa 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 a wonderful dispensatiOn, she
seemed to feel that whatever her other
faults might be, she was strong on the
point Of %locomotion. For when aho had
been moving with q ponderous slowDess,
almost maddcning to a person OF ordins'
~ q~uickness, one Of her fevorlte expires.
sinns was, Well, Miss Lille, what shall
| ay onto next?" How she accomplished
all she did, tho brownies only know. We
used sometimes almost to trembie when
there was any special hurry about our do.
meatic arrangements, and yet Dinah al
ways managed to bring affairs to q con
summation just when a minute more
would have ruined everything and with
undisturbed front, would slowly enamel
ate, "Well, miss, what shall | lily onto
nextP' .
It was nearly dark when my husband
departed, and, after giving my orders to
Dinah, or rather my suggestions, | leh
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 a large room on the ground floor
with two French windows opening on q
broad veranda. The windows were
draped with long yellow. silb curtains, be-
tween which the moonlight family
entered, dimmed by the shadow of thu
roof of the piazza, and partly intercepted
by the fringe of woodbine which huns
from it. Ny bed stood with its foo
toward the windows, and with its heaC
about half q yard from the wall. 1t was al
old fashioned structure hung with yellow
silk like the windows, but | slept with thu
hsngings drawn back and fastened to The
head board. The bed was so large that nj
one ever thought of moving it, except il
those seasons of household panic calle'
house-c'eanings, when the comblne'
strength OF three or four men was callet
into requisition to draw it into the middl
of the room. So deliberately carved we
it that it went by the name OF Westmin
ster Abbey in the family, AT one end G
the room, at no great distance from tn
bed, was q large safe, built into the hug
chimney Of the mansion, with adoor hig
enough for a person to enter standing ur
right. Here | was accustomed to place
every evening, our silver plate on shelve
which extended around the sides, O
which also were placed boxes c~ontainin
papers and other valuables. Opposite tn
foot of the bedstead, between the win
dows, was a mirror, running from the fioo
almost to the ceiling, Like all the othe
furniture in the room, 1t wa old and hanc
some. How many happy scenes it ha
reflected in the hundred years 1t had stoo
there
The night was exceedingly hot, and
therefore left the windows open, thong
drew the curtains before | seated myse
at the table in the centre of the room
lighted the candles, and began to read, ]
order to pass the heavy time before the r
turn Of my husband.
After a while, | / heard the clock stril
nine, at which hour Dinah always wei
to bed. Her climber was in the attic, Il
third story of the house. Remem6eriD
some household matter about which
wished to speak to her, | started hurried
up, and went into the entry to i%ntercel
her before she got up stairs. | had to wa
about a minute before she came, and OIL
co loquy continued three or four minut
more.
When | returned to my bedroom, fec
ing somewhat tired, l resolved to go
oeu, as AZ that late hour in the countr
IL was quite certain that no visitors won
call, n my husband could let himself
WIN the latch-key, which he Away s CT
rlsd. thought, however, | would try
Keep awake by reading. and according
placed q light-stsnd and the candles at /
head Of my bed. then closed and ia
ened the windows, nndressed. and cot in