Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1872-01-18

never come back. Alice is dead--to me,
at all events. Here" he added, hand
ing me card -" there's the inscription |
on the grave-stc ne / copied it down |
after And here's an old piece of pa
Der, in which / found the ring folded |
up. 1t has some writing on it, believe,
and may explain something: you're
good at thatsort of thing. Good hight p
And before | could speak again he was
gone, and | saw him no more. On the
card was written:
Who died February 6. iii
ReQuiescat in pace.
Rather a satire on the old fellow. |
that 'requiescat in pace,'" commented
/" that is if Browne should turn ont to
be lunatic u The paper he had given
me was old and yellow, and the writing
on it appeared too illegihle to puzzle out
that night. So, resolved to see him the
next day, and talk it all over in a sober
and sensible way, yawned sleepily and
retired.
That night had very vivid dream.
in which the marvellous story related to
me by Browne was in some way mixed
up with the old manuscript / had pur-
chased in Ann street. imagined that
all the blank spaces were filed out, and
with the names of Browne, Alice Ham
mill, and Thomas Murray, l myself fig
uring as the COPPER and compiler of the
whole
With the first light of day l sprang
out of bed, the influence of my dream
still strong upon me, and rushed into
my study after the manuscript. There
it lay on the top shelf of my bookcase
where had placed it the night before;
but a jar of some chemical liquid, which
| remembered to have seen standing
around ever since | was boy, and which
had been told was an heirloom in our
family for many generations, had fallen
over on it and broken, and the LIQUID
had run out and deluged the manuscript
completely. With a sigh tor the sad
fate of the jar, | took down the papers
and opened them.
The sight that met my eyes made me
feel as if the roots of my hair were alive
and movingl All the blanks were filled
up with names, written in a pale, red
dish ink and they were all exactly as
| had dreamed they were. Thomas
Murray was the young farmer whose life
had been blighted by the lawyer, who
was none other than Brown himselfi
while the lady who had caused all the
trouble was Alice Hammill! And
yes l was there too! My name was
signed to the note appended to Thomas
Murray's prayer for vengeance" John
Simpson" in full
"Now how the deuce" soliloquized I,
" did those names get written down
there? They certainly weren't there
L JI
written! How's that ? Ah'' | ex-
claimed, drawing long breath of re-
lief, ~ see now Sympathetic writing,
by George and it was the old jar Of
chemicals brought it out y
Such was the fact. One Of the names,
written near corner Of the paper, had
partially escaped being wetted by the
liquid in the jar, and that part which
had escaped remained invisible, while
the rest presented the same pale, reddish
inge as the others. In this, likewise, |
saw the explanation Of the existence
Of the jar in our family during SO many
years. Doubtless my old ancestor, John
Simpson, when he wrote the names in
sympathetic ink, had provided himself
with the reagent to be used when need
ed; and the occasion not arising with
his own life, it had passed down from
one generation to another, until all re
membrance Of its original purpose had
been lost fortunately, however, it had
not been itself so forgetful, but had
sacrificed itself to duty precisely at the
proper time.
This turn of affairs, though decidedly
exciting, substantiated my friend
Brownies story too completely to be
altogether pleasant. Comparing his
copy of the tombstone inscription with
that in the manuscript, found them
word for word identical. | next be-
thought myself of the piece of paper
which Browne had found with the ring
On examining it | discovered it to be
neither more nor less than the original
of Murray's letter to Browne, protesting
reconciliation Really, things were be-
coming disagreeably clear.
The result of my meditations was
that / mad better hunt up Browne, tell
with him on its significance and i'm
portance. The connection o. the char
acters in the drama of a hundred years
ago with those of to-day was fully es-
tablished. The dreadful prayer for
vengeance Haue ny the uylnS murray
had evidently been granted-at the
peril of his own soul, j could not doubt
, but still granted. Only one mystery
still awaited solution: why had the
retribution come so late? why had il
been reserved for my friend and the
woman he loved to expiate the crimes
of their long buried ancestors?
Here the incident of the ring required
i to my mind. | remembered having
idly speculated on the possibility of its
being talisman whereby the spirit Of
| its owner might be enabled to persecute
the wearer of it; and looking at the
matter in the new light | had obtained
t it seemed not unfeasible. In his dying
, moments Murray had sent this ring, en-
, crusted with the hate and passion of al
, the years of his blighted life, to the mar
/ who had ruined him. Doubtless he
( had believed that if he or any of his
race were to accept and wear it, i
, would have power, if any thing could
] to infuse into their hearts and souls
| some of the misery and poison which
: had been exhaled into it by his. APP
| parently it had been laid aside and for