Litchfield enquirer., 1874-10-22

backed and : oporetd by seven other equal
 ly shanvless oung Wemea;had openly and
 publ ely way ] her hankercEief to the horid Herou:cs of Five Forks-one Tom
 Flynn, form y of Vlrginia-leaving that good nature. but not over-bright giant pulling his Lsnude mustaches in bashful amazement
 It was pl ant June afternoon that
 Miss Nelly Arnot, principal of the pri- mary depart .ent of one of the schools of San Francisco, having evaded her con- panions, resolved to put into operation a plan which had lately sprung up in her courageous and nlischief-loving fancy
 With that wonderful and mysterious in stinct of sex, from whom no secrets of the affections are hid and to whom all hearts are laid open, she had heard the story of Hawklns's folly and the existence of the s'Idiot Asylum. Alone, on Hawkins's hill, Sic had determined to penetrate it's seclusion. Skirting the underbrush at the foot of the hill, she managed to keep the heaviest timber between herself and the Blazing Star" tunnel at it's base, as we'll as the cabin of Hawkins, halfway up the ascent, until, by a circuitous route. at last she reached, unobserved, the summit. Before her rose, silent, darkened and mo- tlonless. the object of her search. Here her courage failed her, with ali the char acterlstlc lnconsequence of her sex. A sudden fear of all the dangers she had safely passed-bears, tarantulas, drunken men and llzards-came upon her. For 8 moment, as she afterward expressed it, ''She thought she should die" With this belief, probably, she gathered three large stones, which she could hardly lift, for the purpose of throwing great distance; put two hair-pins in her mouth, and care fully readjusted with both hands two l stray braids of her lovely blue-black mane which had fallen in gathering the stones. | Then she felt in the pockets of her linen | duster for her card-case, handkerchief, pocket-book and smellingAbottle, and find | ing then intact, assumed an ar of easy, lady-hke unconcern, went mp the steps of the veranda, and demurely pulled the front door-bell, which she knew would not be answered. After a decent pause, she walked around the encompassing veranda, examining the closed shutters of the French windows until she found one | that yielded to her touch. Here she paused again to adjust be coquettish hat by the mirror-like surface of the long sash wind ow that reflected the full length of her pretty figure. And then she opened the window and entered the room.
 Although long closed. the house had a smell of newness and of fresh paint that was quite unlike the moldiness of the con- ventional haunted house. The bright carpets, and cheerful walls, the glistening oll-cloth were quite inconsistent with the idea of ghost. With childish curi- oslty she began to explore the si- lent house, at first timidly-opening the doors with violent push, and then step- ping back from the threshold to make good a possible retreat; and then more boldly, as she became convinced of her security and absolute loneliness. Tn one of the chambers, the largest, there were flesh flowers ill Q vase-evidently gather ed that morning; and, what seemed still more remarks ble, the pictures and ewers were freshly 31.e1 with water This oh llged Miss Nelly to noJIce InUU,r11 f.s fact, namely, that the hous9 was free from dust-the one most obtrusive and pene- trating visitor of Five Forks. The floors and carpets had been recently swept, the chairs and furniture carefully wiped and dusted. If the house aU0S haunted, 1t was possessed by spirit who had none of the usual indifference to decay and mold And yet the beds had evidently never been slept III, the very springs of the chair in which she sat creaked st fly at the novelty, the closet doors opened with the relcntance of fresh paint and varnish, and Tn spite of the warmth, cleanliness, and cheerEulness ot furniture and decora- 1lon, there was none of the ease of tenan. cy and occupation. As Miss Nelly after "aru confessed, sine louged to tumble things arounc., and when she reached the oarior or dr' iLg room again, she could hardly rtsist ci e desire. Particularly was she tempted by closed piano, that stood mutely against the wall. She thought she would open 1t just to see who was the maker. That done, it would be no harm to try it's tone She did SO. with one lit tie foot on th1 soft pedal. B It Miss Nelly was too good ( player, and too enthusias- tlc musician to stop at half measures. She tried 1t 8; ,ain--this time so sincerely that the whol.' house seemed to spring in to volce. Thu she stopped and listened. There was no response-the empty rooms seemed to have repassed into their old still ness. She st. pped out on the veranda-a woodpecker recommended his tapping on an adjacent tree, the rattle of cart in the rock gulch below the hill came faintly up No one was to be seen far or near Miss Nelly, treasured, returned. She again ran her fingers over the keys-stopped, caught at melody running in her mind, half played 1t. and then threw away all caution. Before five minutes had elapsed she had entirely forgotten herself, and with her linen duster thlow1. aside, her straw hat flung on the piano, her white hands bared., and black loop of her braided hair hanging upon her shoulder, was falrly embarked upon flowing sea of musical recollection
 She had played perhaps half an hour, when. having just finished an elaborate symphony and resting her hands on the keys, she heard very distinctly and unmis- taknbly the sound of applause from with out. In an instant the fires of shame and indignation heaped into her cheeks, and she rose from the instrument and ran to the window only in time to catch sight of dozen figures in blue and red flannel shirts vanishing hurriedly through the trees below.
 Miss Nelly's mind was instantly made up. I think I have already intimated that under the stimulus of excitement she was not wanting in courage, and as she quietly re- sumed her gloves, hat, and duster, she was not perhaps exactly the young person that 1t would be entirely safe for the tim Id, embarrassed or inexperienced of my sex to meet alone. She shut down the piano, and have carefully reclosed all the windows and doors, and restored the house to it's former desolate condition, she stepped from the veranda and pro- ceeded directly to the cabin of the unin- tellectual Hawkins, that reared it's adobe chimney above the umbrage quarter of mile below.
 The door opened instantly to her im- pulsive knock, and the Fool of Five Forks stood before her. Miss Nelly had never before seen the man designated by this in- felicitous title and, as he stepped back ward in half courtesy and half astonish- ment. she was for the moment disconcerted He was tall, fne-formed, and rk-beard- ed. Above cheeks little hollowed by care and ill health shone pair of hazel eyes, very large, very gentle, but inexpres- sibly sad and mournful. This was cer- tainly not the kind of man Miss Nelly had