Litchfield enquirer., 1878-08-29
From the Arsosy. THE STORY OF A LETTER.
BY JULIA KAVANAGH.

great lawsuit. It is a gIeat trouble to Sir John.
 At least, he says so but always thought thai
 his troubles began with his name. He claimed
 to be real Percy. Ill-natured people said
 that his grandfather had been a green grocer
 this may be true, or it may not, but never
 knew a more honorable noble-minded man
 thaR Sir John, and mean to say that, what ever his real origin, the Percys might have
 been proud of such a kinsman., There would,
 therefore, have been little harm in his claim oi noble descent, which no one had ever dreamed of opposing, if good Sir John had not thought fit to strengthen it by assuming the temper and department of Hotspur. One of his favorite theories was ''race." and the transmissions oi hereditary peculiarities
 My dear Sir John," 1 argued once, "allow me to tell you that type changes. Keen ob- servers tell us that there actually is a periodic alteration in man. He passes from the nervous system to the plethoric; and hence, physiolo- gists declare spring those cycles of disease | which are one of the puzzles of modern SCI ence."
 You should have heard Sir John laugh My good fellow" he said, '.you know noth- ing about it. Go to Rome you will find Mes salina or Faustina in the capitol, in old discol- ored marble, and you will also find her in the streets with silver arrow in her hair, looking at you no longer with cold, stony eyes, but with pair of sparkling black ones. Nay, more 1 have seen the pure Etruscan type in Rome, girl whom you could have painted on d vase, holding mystic serpent in her hand. But need we go so far ? Look at mel Am not one of the old Percys in physiognomy as well as in blood And unluckily for me have I not got that dreadful Hotspur temper which. as it cannot be vented in rebellion, or on bat tie field, has brought this eternal lawsuit on my hands ?' | I groaned, for about one part of this state- ment there could be no doubt: it was the Hot spur temper that had brought on the lawsuit, and as 1 candidly believe that Sir John acQuir- ed that temper to prove his descent from the same illustrious line as gave Chevy Chase it's hero, and Dord Douglas his enemy, 1 am justi- fled in my assertion that his troubles began | with his name.
 Amongst the troubles of Sir John there was | one which seemed to me as real as his relation ship to the Percys. He complained that all his letters did not reach him, and he laid the blame to his legal opponents. At first, he con- cluded that they had an agent at the pOSt-ef- flee then he gave up this crotchet for one as improbable, but at least more plausible: the agent was not in the post-office, but out of it l; and it was his habitto waylay the postman, ,sni either bribe or drug him. as he might find most convenient then abstract Sir Johns letter for this knowing agent never took but one let | tSi OA COuISCs It VI dS dlWdSS tuC IlSHL one This explanation of his losses, however, had to be given up as well as the first and Sir Johns third and last conclusion was the sad | deSt and most Ominous of the three, so far, at | least, as his peace of mind was concerned he | declared that the agent was one of his three female servants. His only manservant, James, was incorruptible but Mrs. Green, the house keeper, the cook, and Martha, the housemaid, did not, unluckily, belong to that immaculate category, They were changed repeatedly | Mrs. Green became Mrs. Long, Ann and Mar tha turned into Eliza and Mary, a Bramah lock was adapted to the letter box: but letters-inl- portant etters said Sir John, all reft rring to the | lawsuit continued to be lost. or what came to | the same thing, not to reach him. s began to feel staggered. Sir John WIS | positive, and though very angry, he preserved l a sort of calmness in his anger which was un- like Hotspur's wrath, and helped to shake my scepticism. There could be no harm, at least, 1 in trying to assist him out of this difficulty, and undertook to provide him with a ther- oughly reliable servant-girl. 1 applied to my sister-in-law in the country, a woman of strong ! sense and much penetration. sent her down an account of Sir Johns perdicament and beg ged of her to let us have good, sensible, and honest girl if she knew such person in her neighborhood. Sir John preferred girl from the country. ''It is the lover who ruins every thing," he said, land the lover is the growth of time. If can have fertnight's fidelity, I shall be well pleased" By return of post my sster-in-law wrote '1 have got the very girl you want she is heroine, neither more nor less. She spent ten years in my cousins fam fly, and saved their youngest child from drowning by her presence of mind. Twice the house was attacked by burglars, and twice Nelly displayed the calmest courage. On one of those occasions she was was alone with the the children. Her fidelity is beyond suspicion. 1 defy any one to bribe Nelly. For the last three years she has been engaged to a young man of the best character: a carpenter and it is for his sake as we'll as not to leave her moth- CT and her little sister, that Nelly would not go to Australia with my cousin. The children were broken hearted at the parting."
 Th!s high-flown eulogium concluded with the intimation that Nelly would be very glad of situation in Sir John Percy's household, and especially of the liberal terms he offered, and that she would leave Sat once, and call upon him the next day.
 Sir John was taking his breakfast, when Ma ry, the housemaid, came in and said that ga young person wanted to speak to him."
 Great was Sir Johns surprise when the her oine of my sister-in-law's letter entered. A little childish thing stood before him.
 Why, my dear, how old are you ?" he ask CI HI SOIlc UIoIldy.
 Twenty -five sir" replied a quiet little voice.
 Sir John looked at her. Yes, there were some of the lines on that young face. And, though it was young face, with slight fea- tures it was remarkable face in it's w8y pale and resolute, with dark eyebrows, and dark eyes looking quietly at you from beneath their arch. ''What is your name ?" he asked, little abruptly.
 "Ellen Kelly, sir"
 Yes, she was Irish, and that was draw back. Not that the prejudice which forms part of the traditionary John Percy's mind !; but he had been tilted, poor fellow, by an Irish girl, who had Ellen Kelly's eyes, and he considered the coincidence ominous He as- sured me afterwards that if it had not been for my sister-in-law's sake, he would have sent Ellen back forthwith; he said so, but rather doubt it. have fancy that those eyes of hers were pleasant to the good old bachelors memento of his young days that had a charm of it's own.
 "Well, Ellen," he resumed after a while, ! '1 have heard goed account of you, and trust you will justify it. Though you are but small thing to be a heroine, we ali know that the best goods are made up in the smallest packets. am good deal out, all on account of confeunded lawsuit which have had in hand these thirty years, and want faithful, trustworthy servant to sit in this room and re- ceive my letters The housekeeper will give you some needlework to amuse you, should you need such entertainment; but you are to sit here from eight in the morning till twelve, and from two in the afternoon till evening When you feel tired just touch that bell, and James will come and relieve yeu. He is too old and too active to bear the confinement otherwise should require no one else. And now, Nelly, please to mind my words. sus- pect neither the housekeeper nor either of the two servants. have laid traps for them, and they have come out of the snares white as driven snow therefore have no right to mis- trust them; but expressly desire you to act with as much prudence as if they were one and all bent upon stealing letters In short, you may be as civil and as friendly as you will, but you are not to trust them. That will not be pleasant, will it, IF"
 s'No, sir; but knew as much before con- ing"
 Well, then, as said you shall sit here and