Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1877-03-03
ABrayeGirl.

A III
In the winter 1912, a gentleman
and his daughter, a young lady,
while travelling through Canada. ar.
rived about night-fall at an old fash.
ioned tavern. The gentleman con.
cluded to stop there instead of going
to the village of s., which was
ten miles distant. and which they
had thought to reaeh. The daugh-
ter Carrie -expreesd her willing
ness, q the tAsekjb ! ontad ncoGlr
foftabl6 appearance, as they aHght.
ed, when it was plainly to be seen
that the gentleman was quite lame,
SO much so that he was obliged to
use a cane.
The landlord came out, and calling
a boy to take the horse and sleigh
to the barn, he ushered Mr.. Spencer
into pleasant sitting-room, where
bright fire was burning on the
hearth, which proved very acceptable
to our travellers who had been in the
sleigh since morning.
Your room will be ready by sup
per time, sir, as he left the room and
went into the bar-room.
Supper was shortly announced,
and after refreshing themselves, Mr..
Spencer and Carrie returned to the
cozy sitting-room, where they talked
and chatted until half past eight.
They were shown to their room,
which was on the second story, in q
wing somewhat distant from the
main portion.
The room was very long, with a
high ceiling. On one side was a
window, and on the other a door.
Just above the door was a bust of
King George III. The room was
plainly furnished, containing tive
beds, wash stand and a few
chairs.
Carrie took in the whole room at
q glance, and it must be confessed,
had there not been cheerful fire
burning, she would have felt nervous
about sleeping there. As it was, the
warm glow lit up the room into COM
parative cheerfulness.
While she and her father sat by
the fire, her eyes wandered to the
bust above the door, when she no.
ticed that the eye-balls had evident
ly been knocked out, leaving two
presently * you had better
lock the door. ara going to count
my money
After Carrie had Zone so, he drew
ont money belt, heavy with bills,
and proceeded to count them.
While doing so, Carries eyes invol-
UNFAIRLY wandered again to the bust,
when, to her horror and astonish-
ment, in the empty spaces..were two
glitteriug eyes, greedily watching
every movement Of her father. The
young Hrl could scarcely repress o
scream; but controlling herself, she
looked toward the FIRE, while her fa-
ther went ON counting large roll
of bills.
Il must have been mistaken,
thought the fair girl. What could
have made me have such a strange
fancy, though ? she continued, glanc-
ing again at the bust.
The eyes were still there-two
burning, savage eyes, that brighten
ed as Mr.. Spencer went on count
ing.
sGood heavensr thought Carrie,
what shall we do? We are evident
ly in den Of thieves, aud will be
murdered for my poor fathers mon
ey.'
How to communicate their danger
to her father without those terrible
eyes noticing it, Carrie could not
think. Suddenly a bright idea came
to her.
Father she said. aloud, let me
take card and pencil. I wish to
make memorandum Of items I want
to purchase in the village
Her father handed them to her,
after slowing away the belt. Carrie
wrote tremblingly, in firm hand
Father do not be frightened, we
are in a trap. Go in the opposite
corner of the room. where your face
will be in the dark, and look at the
bust above the door. In it you will
see two glittering eyes that have
watched you count your money.
Read it, she said aloud, handing
the card to her father. 'Iwant you
to see if you think I am too extrava-
CANT
Her father betrayed no emotion
while he read, but said:
you are pretty extravagant, Car
rie. Isuppose you think your father
is made Of money, and he arose and
went to the washstand which was in
dark corner.
Once there he glanced toward the
bust, and that glance confirmed his
daughters extraordinary statement
When he came back to his seat