The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1875-08-04
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TheHeir Of theQ(jDs
Glc Attorncy's Stt.
ALFRED 3. TOZER, tS'
EoTNnR or ";OrND HAND AND FOOT"
"Wno WAS TO BLAME" ETC, ETC
CHAPTER ".
THE SECRET DRAWER

The crowd which filed Walingford
house, the yard, the garden. and the street
beyond, on the occasion Of Mr% Mailing
forl's funeral, and which followed all that
was mortal Of the mill-owner' to Its last
resting place in the pretty.cenletery on the
river bank. was the largest that ever as
sembled in Fayetteville. 60
Mr.. Gray. tue attorney was prominent in
attending to the details of the funeral. and
rode, dressed in deep black. by the house.
keepers side in the carriage provided for
the mourncrs.
Although hundreds sincerely rerrntted
the mans DEATH Mrs. Amcs WAS prnb.bly
the only real mourncr III all the long pro-
ccssion. The r.st would miss him, un-
douhtc'lly. Init this f,thful woman's grief
was far deeper tllrn any one clsc's could
be. The others would go from tn" crave to
their unchanged houses. and find every
familiar face there. For :hrm there would
be no sudden listening for Il step that
would never cnmr, nor for a voice that
would never sound in heir ctrs again; no
putting oEt Of $lglt Of dozens Of familiar
things, which hal been sacred t. the use
of one who would never need them again,
no terrible feeling i'll the heart, that
something hal lronpnh ont Of Their homes
and lives. which mover ron,d he r'placel.
The old laGy hml grown gray in Mr.. Wall
iny!orl's house, anl for more than thirty
years she had known no other home. The
place, however. dill not seem lik" home to
her now. She did not i'll fact, know
how long it would be even nor dwelling
place. When, aft"r the return from the
grave. Mr.. Gray had Glil. so: course YOU
will continue for III pres; 'Dt 10 act here AS
before. Irs. Amcs," sh. hWl aSs'mtcd,
and that VA the extent Of her knowledge
regarding her future.
The attorney Sc med anxious md un"nsv
until the thronT Of svnIat oiliNG visitors
had gone. and then, approaching Mrs.
Am"S, he sud:
"You viii par!"n my sn'ning haste,
Madame, bat there IS II lnr.r'' rStHt" to set
tie her.. and as yet thrr" has been no
reference to II will found among his p t;'"rs
The deco isnd "ii"n ,Xrr,'S*,.i The wish
That I shonll temporarily Ike chH:.;r Of
lis aiiu-X if he sh"uri III. iir;t--th@rc w:.s
little rnou III prospect OF ii th"i--nni
NAV Is vel; i" II work. Yol N loui,,c'tly
know nor,ah u thcarrang me Il of his ,ri-
NiLic JdJciS C!litl III ''i'' '''H-' t'l 1
like to have y"'t assist III, {" day.
The houSrGcrp"r aSS'nt"d. al. the two
proccc,,e to the former room # { cl'rrascl
in the second story Of I! c hH.hliEg. The
apartment WAS larg" On, with windows
on two silcS-one row looking ont upon
the village strert-it was almost L country
road herein fr0nt. and thc other COM
man'ling !ine view OF the ,'.l!i;ge and
the mills lying in the valley below.
As future portions Of the story will
render knowledge Of the house itself ne-
cessary, We give Il brief description. 1t
was Of stone, and had hccn built by an
English officer, shortly after the close of
the k.volution,w when all the county around
it was little better than a tangled Will
derncss. The English tlstes =. the builder
were to he seen i'll almost every feature.
It's plan hal been so extensive, that, save
for the first few years. only Il portion OF
the rooms had been used, although all
were open now and in fair repair.
1t was two stories i'll height, with
square turrct runnins one story high
or OYER the entrance to the large hall.
wing Of only one story projected
from the structure on the village side.
of the house, cut across the bed Of what
had once been IL small creek, which ran
down from the higher land above. and
had undoubtedly run dry long before the
erection of the house, and in front, the
gully had been filed up to make smooth
lawn. while behinI it still remained open,
and was lined and almost OvprYrown with
running VINES nrd shlWihcly. Very thick
walls separated this wing from the main
building.
There WIS tradition among the vii.
layers, that IL former owner had caused
secret passages TO be cut through this
clumsy wall, and that there were ways
from the house 20 the river anil the village.
which no on" knew. 1t WAS to this ira
dition that the man whose conversation
Mr.. Gray h,d overheard in the restaurant.
referred to. hIr. WaIing!orl hal always
laugh"d al the ilu: Of I'll, re being secret
ptsslgtS in his housr: iu' niny old resi-
den Of the place Lc!irvcd in them, never
t, Gloss.
Entering the room. the attorney pro-
cce,ied at once 70 unlock Il lalrr. old
fashioned seer, t.ry which stood in the
narcrs its varionS compartments contained.
The housekccprr stood by, ut times assist
ing in unlocking the drawers, but leaving
the handling Of the papers entirely to her
companion.
"Do you know Of any secret compart-
ments ?" asked the attorney after the Sec
retary had been nearly cleared Of papers
As he spoke, he looked sharply into the
woman's face.
"Therc were some," she said, trying
various portions of the interior Of the Sec
retary with her fingers, hut have almost
forgotten how they are opened"
Ih. look Of watchtulnrss on the lawyers
face dev,cnrd to one fanxiety, us the wo-
nuns hand pressed ,flinG after spring,
without accomplishing the object sought.
Once when her hand rested for a second
on u 1,nnclcd leaf, which dropped down
from before Il row OF snail pigeon-holes,
he cave sudden start and made a move
ns though he would force her away from
the ,lace, but he recovered himself and the
hand was at once withdrawn.
"The drawer you speak of may open by
combinations" he said, "Show ME where
the springs are located and let me try;
have had some experience in such matters"
The woman did as requested, and three
small drawers were soon exposed to view.
!iley contained nothing important, how
cvcr. and we're soon returned to their places.
4 kcncss Of n middle-aGed man drop
l"d from one Of the drawers, and the
lou5rl;cepcr c,utched it eagerly. Gray
extended his hand for the picture, and she
reluctantly handed it to him.
1t WAS the portrait of strikingly hand
come man, richly dressed, and bearing up
on his beardless face, unmistakable evil
denccs of an aristocratic and naughty dis
position. The attorney held the picture in
his hand long time, and studied every
feature with great care.
"Whcrc have I seen n face like that ?'
he asked himself, as the familiarity of some
of the characteristics Of the face grew upon
him.
"Do You know who this man is - he
asked of the housckcrDcr.