The Republican journal., 1871-08-03
The Oak Closet.

l1'OAGpt
| " aor= and thc ,Jndoc and his wife had
taken her into their house 10 save her
| from beino thrown on the charity of the
town.
| They had done their part well for her.
They had two children of their own
| twins-Alice and Alrernon. and Maruarct
had cnjoyed every ADVANTAGE of etluca
ton in common with the brother and Sis
| ter.
As she grew older, and began to real
| ize how much she owed the Judge and
his wife, she felt desire in some way to
make them recompense for their kind
ness, and as she was an active, strong
| girl, she soon became very useful about
the domestic affairs in the household
Mrs. Wallace was Il feeble woman, and
willingly resigned the care and burden
to Margaret, and in due course Of time
| the Young Girl came to be trusted and
depended on. until, by the time she was
twenty-five, she was really at the head of
! the establishment, though Mrs. Wallace
still did the honors in her quiet, lady-likc
way. and poured the coffee and tea at the
head of the table
Alice had married early, and gone to
the Far West with her husband; Alger-
non was finishing his medical studies at Il
German University, and only the Judge
| and Margaret, and his wifc-besiles the
man md woman snrvont who had hoon
viii thnn, fnr vn,,.s wore lnl1 Of homo
Some unlortnnatc sncculations laroclv
indn]mcJ in Whom Tho .IuIon was mia .
vorn@ man had oncpmhrrrl the ola os.
foto viii a n,ortooro ,nl tb;s II ,ras t,o
Judoc,s ambition 10 dischar@c ITn want mt,
ed TO leave thc place totally frcc and
| cleor from de:t to lis son Aloernon
Tho str;ctest oconomv hoI hnon ,,roo-
ticod for voars in thn house with thiI ond
in view and at last the .Judoe held in his
hand ,he money with which TO liou;datn
tho o1a;n,
II was ioto ono S,turdav n;obt whom bo
| 1,.a,,oslt - ho,,,o onI co;J ~ Ii, ,,;t. -,
ba thn little blacl. ioothor t,.,,,,
cont 90 anin7, # hnforc her cvos s.Wcl1 ', Ann
n;o at last ,vo ara 70 ho rroo fro,, llol,t,
Thnre i oi~hf tbonsanl dollars in that
t.,,,,1 a,,d 81 Nn,,'I,T ,l,oii ,,a, 1,aa. 'r''r
in I1i fn1 and on MonJav we i win H h9rn 1h thot
aho,,,inalIo no,toamn toootbo, von a,,J
Annin IF viii he no 1o,,,iosi a. I,r Wv" nt
NV who1c Efo J,
| ',.Pnt Il on,,t,;no sbo,1d hannah wv,
linn q, said Nh.s Wallace nn,I,onslr
..Dn mt the money in some safa ni,ca
| II has cost rs iust dn,r cnonmb to scrsno
il tonotbor. )
| The Judge bent down anu pattcu Inc
anxious little woman on the head.
81 am going to put it in the little oak
closet, Annie. II has u spring lock, and
if by chance any burglar should Get into
the house he never would think of
finding anything of value in q little stined
up closet ut the head of the garret stairs.'
And with light heart the Judge went
off to deposit the treasure.
Margaret was sitting in the room, darn
| ing the Judges stockings, when this con-
versahon took place, and of course she
| heard where the money was to be placed,
though at the time she gave little heed to
| it.
| The next day, John and Sarah, the two
| servants, had holiday to visit q married
| daughter of theirs, who resided fifteen or
| twenty miles away, and as it was in No
vember, and the days were short, they
| could not return until Monday night
| And some time after they set out there
came an imperative message to the Judge
from his only sisicr-saying that she was
very ILL., and desired to see him without
| delay. Her home was in Shelby-cight
or ten miles off. and of course the Judpe
lost no time in obeying the summons.
He took his wife with him. leayino Mar
oaret alone in the house.
After they were seated in the carriaoe.
the Judge stopped to say.
at is barely possible. Maroarct that
we NAV remain all NIGHT 1t looks very
much like a storm, and in that case, we
shall certainly stay. And if so. Won had
better Get Sailic Turner to come over and
stay with Won for comnanvn
B,t tbouoh Maroaret would have liked
Sallie,s company well enough. she at
once decided moi TO ask for it. because If
she did so. she lncw that Sallic,s brother
willis. would b, sure to come alono. and
the less she saw of Willis Turner. why
the better she was pleased. Willis was
an honest, industrious sort of fellow. and
he was Marnaret's most devoted admircr
but with the usual Inconsistency of her
sex, she utterly refused TO see What was
best for her.
The LONG afternoon wore slowly away.
Maroarct read q little. and drummed q
few tunes listlesslv on the niano nlaved |
with the black and white kitten. and held
the old cat curled up in her lap like |
sleepy catcrpiller. and at last 1t was sun
set.
Time to milk the COWS and shut the |
barn door for the night.
II was evident enough that there was
going to be q storm, for the north and
west were dark and gloomy with ominous
black clouds, and the east wind sighed |
drcarily in the pine woods back Of the
house. And. indeed. before Margaret
had done up the odd Jobs at the barn the
great drops of the frozen rain BEGAN TO
fall. and bv the time she had eaten her
supper and strained the milk, the storm
had set in in deadly earnest.
She closed and barred the door-the
windows were already fastened-drew the
shutters, and piled the kitchen replace
full of dry hickory.