The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-08-24
The Oak Closet.

upper servant in the household OF Judge
Wallace Tho judge lived in a hand.
some house in the suburbs of the little
country village of Thorndale.
Margaret was left an orphan at an
early age, and the judge and his wife
had taken her into their house to save
her being thrown upon the charity Of the
town.
They had done their part well for her
They had two children of their own
Alice and Algernon, twins-and Mar
garet had enjoyed every advantage Of
education in common with the brother
and sister.
As she grew older and began 10 real.
ize how much she owed the Judge and
his wife, she felt desire to be able in
some way to make them q recompense
for their kindness, and as she was n
strong, active girl, she soon became very
useful about the domestic affairs of the
household, Mrs. Wallace was a feeble
woman, and very willingly resigned some
Of the cares and burdens to Margaret,
and in due course Of time the young girl
came to be trusted and depended upon,
until, by the time she was .and.twen.
ty, she was really the head of the estab.
lshment, though Mrs Wallace still did
the honors in her quiet, ladylikc way,
and poured the tea and coffee at the head
of the table.
Alice had married early and gone to
the far west with her husband, Algernon
was finishing his medical studies at q
German university, and only the judge
and his wife and Margaret-besides the
man and woman servant, who had been
with them for years-remained at home.
Some unfortunate speculations. largely
INDUCED in when the judge was quite a
young man, had encumbered the old
estate with mortgage, and this it was
the judges ambition to discharge. He
wanted to leave the old place totally free
from debt to his son Algernon.
The strictest economy had been prac-
ticed for years in the household with this
end in view, and at last the judge held
in his hands the money with which to
liquidate the claim.
1t was late on Saturday night when he
brought it home, and said to his wife as
he swung the little black trunk contain.
ing it before her eyes
"Well, Annie, at last we are to be free
from debt. There are eight thousand
dollars in that trunk, and on Monday |
shall pay Jones in full, and We shall burn
that abominable mortgage together, you
and |, Annie. 1t will be the happiest
day in my life
"But if anything should happen, VIII.
liam,' said Mrs. Wallace, nervously
"Do put the money in some safe place
1t has cost us dear to scrape it together" 1"
The judge bent down and pattcd the
anxious little woman on the head.
81 am going TO put it in the little oak
oloset, hnule. II mas u 7psiee lock, and
if by chance burglar should enter the
house he would never dream of finding
anything of value in little stiAed.up
closet at the head of the garrot stairs"
And with light heart the judge went
to deposit his treasure.
Margaret was sitting in the room,
darning the judges stockings when the
conversation took place, and, Of course,
she heard where the money was to be
placed, though at the time she paid little
heed to it,
The next day John and Susan the two
servants, had holiday to visit married
daughter of theirs, who resided fifteen or
twenty miles away, and as it was in No.
vember, and the days were short. they
would not return until Monday night.
Some time after they set out there
came an imperative message to the judge
from his only sister, saying that she was
YER, ILL., fisar fisar home home was in Shelby, eight
or ten miles off, and Of course the Judge
lost no time in obeying the summons. He
took his wife with him, leaving Margaret
alone in the house.
After they were seated in the carriage
the judge stopped to say
1T is barely possible, Margaret, that
we remain all night 1t looks very much
like storm in that case we shall Ger.
tainly stay. And if SO, you had better
get Sallie Turner to come over and stay
with you for company"
But, though Margaret would have
liked Sallie's company very much, she at
once decided not to ask for it, for if she
did so she was sure that Sallie's brother
would come along, and the less she saw
of Willis Turner the better she was
pleased. He was an honest, industrious
sort Of fellow, and he was her most
devoted admirer, but, with the usual in.
consistency of her sex, she utterly refused
TO see what was best for her.
The long afternoon wore slowly away
Margaret read little, and drummed a
few tunes listlessly on the old.fashioned
piano, played with the black and white
kitten, and held the old cat cnrled up in
her lap like a sleepy caterpillar, and at
last it was sunset
Time to milk the COWS and shut the
barn doors for the night.
1t was evident enough that there was
going to be storm, for the north and
west was dark and gloomy with ominoul
black clouds, and the west wind sighed
drearily through the pine woods back o.
the house. And indeed, before Margaret
had done up the jobs at the barn, the frs
great drops of the frozen rain began tc
fall, and by the time she had eaten hei
supper and strained the milk the storm
had set in in earnest.
She closed and barred the door-tht
window was already fastened drew tn,
shutters aud piled the kitchen fire. plac,
full of dry hickory.
The kitten had gone to sleep in cush
ioned chair in the corner, and the ole
black cat sat on the hearth blinking hel
eyes at the cheerful blaze.
Margaret read little and dreamed {
great deal as girls Of her age are apt tC
do when left to themselves. She made
very pretty picture, if only there had beer