The Osceola times., 1878-09-14

" nat, haven L you HtdFu Oh III /!
cried Montague. "Well, this is a treat
to find one man to whom that story
new. You must know, then (as thos,
fellows in Sanford and Merton keer
saying), that The estate which Harr,
the Eighth bestowed upon my respected
ancestor, Sir Anthony Browne, included
Battle Abbey and the lands belongin.
TO it; and mighty short work he mad,
OF the poor old monks, If all tales b,
true. But after they were expelled, il
began to be whispered that one monl
still remained in the old walls, and thai
he was not to he driven ont by eithel
king or lord
"My wordw cried Burdett; " that,
just the Black Friar of Norman Stone
over again. DO you remember with
what dramatic energy our old tutoi
used 10 repeat that verse
Beware, bewarc Of the Black Frar,
He still retains his sway,
For he is still the Churchs heir,
Whoe'cr may be the lay.
Amundevillc Is lord by day,
But the monk Is lord by night;
Nor wine nor wassal can raise yassal
To question that friar's right"
well" pursued Montague, "when
my worthy forefather came into his
property, the first thing he did was to
give big dinner in the great hall of
Battle Abbey (if he found ii half as
tiresomc as the dinner | had to give
when | came Of age, the impiety must
have been its own avenger), and they
lighted up the old place with perfect
blaze of torches, and held high revel
till midnight. And then, all of sudden,
a chill blast of wind came moaning
through the hall, making all the old
banners and mail-coats along the walls
clank and rustic; and the huge door
swung slowly open, and in the midst of
the guests, no one could see whence or
how, appeared the shrouded figure of a
tall monk. 1t glided like shadow up
to the dais where my ancestors was
seated, and said, in a deep hollow voice
that seemed TO make the very torches
grow pale as ii spoke:
"' Anthony Of Cowdray! thou hast
enriched thyself with the spoils of
Gods Church, and for that deed His
judgments are upon thee and thine.
As snow mets in the sunshine, so shall
thy race decay, until the end come; and
it shall come suddenly, in one day, by
fire and by water"
it was strange enough TO note how
Montagues light tone deepened into
tragic solemnity as the dismal tale pro-
ceeded. and how the shadowy impress of
doom on his handsome face came out
palmer and palmer with every word.
The anxious look in Marion Went
worth's eyes grew into absolute terror as
he ended; and she seemed about to
speak when the walters entrance with
a dish of fruit interrupted her.
As he entered, Mrs. Wentworth, evi-
IDENTIFY wishing to change the subject,
spoke to him.
Waiter! when did you say the night
illumination of the falls was to be-"
Thursday week, gracious, lady; but
il will hardly be so good as the one we
had last year, when they sent big boat
over the falls, hung all round with
lanterns"
"Was there anybody in herr" asked
Montague.
"What do you say, milord?' gasped
the old man, with a stare of blank
amazement.
"Was there anybody in the boatP'
"The boat, Milford? The boat went
over the falls, | tell youW
"Well, why shouldn't somebody go
with her to keep her straight
"Why?" echoed Johann, goaded be-
yond endurance. "Because we Rhine
ianders are no fonder of being drowned
than other people. Eve seen many
silly thing done in my time, but man
shooting the Schaghauscn Falls in a
boat is thing I've never seen yet and
never shall"
The sudden gleam in Montague's dark
eye and the glow on his handsome
features sufficiently betrayed the wild
thought suggested to him by the honest
Germans last words. The significant
glance exchanged between him and
Burdett showed that the same idea was
in the minds of both, though the latter
accompanied his look with warning
gesture, reminding the reckless viscount
Of the effect which the words that were
Just about to break from his lips would
have upon the two ladies. But when
they had retired, Montague could con
tain himself no longer.
"Glorious ideal Wen do Itch,
Sed?
ado it? should think we would I!
After the 'Gueule d'Enfer Rapids in
Canada, this thing'll be joke! Never
seen it vet, and never shall, eh? Well
give Mr.. Johann another story to tell
tomorrow, one that'll last longer than
any of his present stock"
Our two heroes were not the men TO
loiter over any enterprise, however
desperate, upon which they had once
resolved, and they lost not a moment in
setting out in quest of boat. But to
find one was no easy matter. Some
were unseaworthy; Others failed to
please the critical eye of Sedley Bur
dett, who, with all his recklessness,
knew better than to leave any chance
uncared for in a match where life itself
was the stake, More than one con-
scientious native, on learning the nature
of the proposed expedition, fatty re-
fused to have anything to do with it, nor
was it till late in the afternoon that
they at length met with less scrupuous
individual, who, on receiving the full
value of his boat in advance, and a
handsome gratuity for the use of her,
consented to let the English madmen
have their way. He agreed to leave the
boat in readiness at convenient spot,
and then took his leave.
II was considerably past eleven o clock
that night, and Burdett, mindful of the
tough work that awaited him next
morning, was preparing for bed, when
Montague lwho slept In the next room)
hurst in. with A flush of unusual excite