Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1872-05-16
THE DIVIDED HOUSE.

d Aai 81 w U0oeSAh wy -
years since, an old-fashioned brick
dwellrag-house. 80
Though bounded on all sides BY.
more pretentious and modern struc-
lures, this curious relic OF a former
generation presented its venerable
front to the. passers-by with all the
self-complaoency of the good old
times, when its neighbors were few
and humble, and wheh it was known
to all the village (the city of--was
village once) as the finest house IN
the town.
Nor, indeed, were its claims now
to be despised; for, though the VII ',
lage was lost in the town, and the
town in the city, there was many a
Haunting rival whose frivolous charns
should fail before respectability would
depart from the sharply-cut and an,
gular features of the substantial ola
house.
There were then no moss-grown
indications Of ruin. broken spouts or
crumbling walls, but everywhere the
we'll finished dwelling seemed to have
successfully defed the approach Of
time, and the only hint 1t gave CT
age was in the summer-browned robe
which it wore so quantity, now selled
with the footprints of unnumbered
generations of climbing honey-suckles
ssnd roses which had clambered about
her IN youth; but even these vestiges
of the past it wore with pleasing
GRACE. as IS 8 mother does her wrinkles
eesmiles which time has caught and
deepened upon her face, until l5 al
4 curious and suggestive old build
inc it was, with everything about 1t
$, precise and formal. The lawn in
front, patterned with great squares OF i
pinks and rectangles .: :alsams and
asters, looked like some hoN.sy dla-
rram in Euclid. No circuitols paths
or roundabout ways of approach were
there to mar the mathematical regu-
larity Of the plan. The walk, bor-
deted with closely-trimmed box, ran
as straight from the street to the door
as the gardeners line could make it;
Everywhere the care. wlie and !!1
mother chad heaven SO ordained lt)
MIGHT have bestowed upon elbow
patches was discernible; even the
two great elms that stood as sentinels
at the front gate had been trained
(in default Of household twigs) to a
consciousness of the dignity and re,
sponsibility of their position, and had
grown up, as was proper, in the most
Straightforward and exemplary msn-
ner, refraining from all knotty freaks
and perverse irregularity Of limb,
until they had become so staid and
stiff it was evident they would ney.
er depart from the way they should
But the most notable feature Of
this remarkable old mansion was one
which the casual observer would nev-
er have discovered. Though it was
apparently ponderous and safe
structure, yet, in the truest sense, Of
the world, it was a house divided
against itself. No ruinous earthquake
could have cleft it more completely
in twain. From cellar to garret ran
a line, thin, true, and invisible to all
save the inmates. To them, however,
it was a great gulf fixed. No living
thing had been known to pass this
mysterious linefor years. Judea and
Samaria were not more completely
divorced than were the separate sides
of this singular building. The fold
aadrfb Ha Ssr BEEN q nRofp RopsHsa s&Esat asHdhass HdhasfF faaFF8f
century. The very parrot, whose
cage hung in the south sitting-rocln,
had learned to be careful where she
screamed, and would as soon have
thought of flying into the fire as Of
venturing into the north room op-
posite; while the cat belonging to the.
other side of the house knew the pre-
else limits of her mistress's domain,
and religiously respected the rights
of the mice beyond the line.
Besides the cat, the mice, and the
parrot, the only inmates OF this sin
gular dwelling were the spinster SIS
ters Misses Deborah and Fatsy Brown,
and two little women who were now
and then to be seen toddling about
the yard in the tidiest OF white mus
lin caps, and who. from their bus
tling, important manner, might read
ily have been mistaken for the mis-
tresses themselves, but who were in
reality only faithful old servants, who
had espoused their lnistresses quar-
rel 50 heartily that they would no
more think OF speaking to each other
than would their m,stresses them
selves.
Miss Patsy Brown, who shall be
mentioned first, not from any pre-
eminence OF age or beauty, was al
thin, sharp.ieatured maiden lady
from whose cheek the bloom had
lono since faded. and whose hair,
though once vieing in blackness with
the rich mourning silk she always
wore, was not so abundant now, and
was thickly threaded with silver by
the quick shuttle Of time. Her eyes,
always deep and dark, had glowed
with brighter fire in the olden days,
but in their Pickering light there was
now strange commingling OF shad.
ow, as thoug h every CLEAN Of old
ioyousness was instantly shut out by
the returning memories of the past.
Miss Patsy never smiled. Some great,
weighing sorrow guarded her eyes
and hard-lined mouth with a jealous
envy of every JOY.
Miss Debby was like her sister, and
vet unlike her. There was the s,sne
rich black dress, the same hair and
ewes; but the mouth refused the re-.
semblance, and was left with the
pleasing curves OF laughing days. It
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