The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-10-26
TAE OAK CLOSET /.

Margaret Gray was in some sort an
upper servant in the household Of Judge
Wallace. Thc judge lived in hand.
some hoMse im the suburbs 0f tho little
country village of Thorndale.
Margaret was lett ais orphan at All
early age, and the judge and his wife had
taken her into their house 70 save her
from being thrown on the, charity of the
town.
They had Gone their part we'll fnr her.
They had two children of their own
Alice and Algernon, Withstand Mar.
garet had enjoyed advantages OF educa-
tion in common with the brother and
sister.
AS she grew older, and began TO real.
ize how much she owed the judge and
his wife, she fels desire to be able in
some way TO make them n return for
their kindness, aud, as she was etrong,
active girl, she soon became very useful
about the domcstio affaira of the house.
hold. Mrs. Wallace was feeble woman,
and very. willingly resigned some of the
cares and burdens in Margaret, snd in
due course of time the young girl came
to be trusted and depended upon, until,
by the time she was twenty, she was
really the head of the establishment, al
though Mrs. Wallace still did the honors
in her quiet, ladylike way. and poured
tho tea and coffee at the head of The
table.
Alice had married early, and goae to
the far West with her husband; AIger-
non was finishing his medical studies In
German University, and only the judge
and his wife and Margaret-besido o
man and woman servant, who had been
with chem for rSears-remained at home.
Some unfortunate speculation, largely
INDUCED In when the judge wns young,
had encountered tho old estate with q
mortgage, and this it was the judges
ambition TO discharge. He wanted to
leave the place totally free from debt to
hin son Algeruon. a
The strictest economy had been prac-
ticed for years in the household, with
this end in view, aud at last the Judge
held in his hand the money with which
to liqnidate the claim,
It was lsta on Saturday night when he
brought it home, and said to his wife, as
he swung the little black leather trunk
containing 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 the abominable mortgage together,
yoii and i, annie. IL viii 90 the nap.
piest day of my life."
"But if anything should happen, Will
liam" daiG Mrs. Wallace nervously.
do put the money In some safe place.
1t has cost u5 dear enough to scrape Il
together"
The judge bent down and patted the
little woman on the head.
II am going TO put ii in the little oak
cloaets and IL by chance burglar should
enter the house, he would never dream
of finding anything Of value In that little
stiaed up closet at the head Of tho garret
And With light heart the judge went
off to depositlthe treasure. ftt
Margaret was sitting in the room darn.
ing the judges stockings when the con-
versation ::SS5,s. place, and of couE9e heard
where the money wae TO be placed,
though at tho TINS she gave little atten.
ton to it. i..
Tho next day John and Susan, the two
servants, had q holiday TO visit O msrries.i
daughter Of theirs, who resided fifteen or
tUenty miles away, and az it waa in No
vember, and "a the days were short. they
would not return until Monday night.
And sometime after they cot ont
there CAME an Imperative message to the
judge from -his sister, saying that bhe was
very i'll and desired 70 see him without
delay. Her home was in Shelby, eight
or ten miles of, and, of eourse, he lost no
time in o5eying the summons. He took
his wife with iiim, leaving Mafgaret
alone in the house. " .7'Fnfi l,f.3
ut is barely possible, Margaret, that
we may remain all nignE. IS looks very
much like storm, and in that case We
shall certainly stay. Aud if 80, you had
better gel Sallie Turner 70 stay with you
for compsny."s
pHr, through RIgFgaRet< would have
liked Sallie's company weil enough, she
at once decided not to ask Tor IL. Seilie's
brother would Do suse 10 cone along, and
the less she saw of :.9e;llie Turner, the
better she was pleased. Willie was an
scncst industrious sort of fellow, and he
was MasgaFet's most devoted admirer; !;
bat, with Che usual Inconsistency of her
SEX Aila utterly refused to sss what was
best for her. f FL
The afternoon went alcMly away.
MasgaEat read a ilttle, drumn1ed fstR
tunes 90 sAs old -fashioned piaa1, played
with tho black and white kitten, aud
held the old cat cnrled up in her lap, like
q sleepy caterpillar. and at last It Was
,unsst tiae TO milk tho cows end shut
the barn doors Tor the night. 1, ~
II was evident enough that there Has
Q storE9 hfeHing, for the north eSsd west,
.yere dark ard gloomy With onlinous
Eieck clouds and Elia aass tsiada aiehed
.ssrearily in the pine woods back ,s che
hcesaes And indeed, heforo Mafeafes
Esad sione up tt;sle chores In the barn, che
yssasat DROPS 6f Trojan rain began to fAlls
end by siIs time she ,Ss>1i eater, her sup.
per and stfafEed che milk, the storm hsfl
zss III III good next. y,
Eise eIesed and barred the dcor.-the
ftind8ys wcre Alraedy fastened- -draw
30 shutters and piled tho fireplace full
eg dgY hickory. Ia1 kitten had gone 70