West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1879-12-06
,From our Second Century,
THE BLUE STONE.
BN NAY x. MAC KENzIR.

My grandmother was a Gypsy. Think
II It! One OF those miserable, wandering
ne er-do-weels that have infested the earth
for 50 many centuries. But since / am i'm
no way responsible for grandmuther's
nativity any more than for my own, she
might hVve been the prime tattOoed Belle
of the Cannibal Islands, or first heir to the
British throne, and have been equally in
different, at least in respect to her birth
was educated a thorough Democrat, never
thcless ! had AN imagiuatiOn-whi was
not wonderful considering the fact which
/ preliminarily announced. This imagna-
tion led me 10 gaze very often upon a small
painting Of my grandmother, taken when
my grandfather first met her and loved
her
They told me | rescmbled her. had no
dark hair or olive skin; | was slight and
very blond, with the faintest color. How
then could ] resemble her, | used TO Won
der. AS l grew older, and the repeated
comment led me to study myself, | knew
WHY was naturally restless, and | had
dark, nervous eyes, the iris Of which were
small compared with the large, full ball Of
white. In truth had caught glimpses of
myself in the mirror, while under some
strong feeling, when ii would appear that
my eyes were small live creatures, ready To-
leap from their sockets.
say | was given to dreaming over the
romance of my grandmother's life for my
grandfather met her under peculiar aus
piccs. Sitting by his favorite trout-strcnm
fishing. the English boy suddenly heard an
alteration in the woods behind him. Turn
ing, he saw tall, dark man vchcmcntly
mcnacing a forlorn, little, shrinking girl,
miserably clad, thin and wild looking She
held book, old and soiled in one hand by
her side. At last the man struck her
violently, and left her.
The girl sank at the foot of the tree and
wept. The young fisherman was over
powered with indignation at such treatment
and sympathy for the girl. lie knew they
were OF "a Gypsy tribe then haunting the
ncighborhocd. lie went to the girl who
was about thirteen years of age, and drew
from hcr this statement timidly, wildly
given, that the man was her father who
was always angry if he found her of with
this book, which was an old school spcllcr
she had found on the road, and which,
doubtless, one Of the school children had
dropped. 'Why did she like the book Z"
She liked the pictures
The young man was not then his own
master; but he there resolved TO get the
girl away from her people and educate her.
He prevailed with her, and shortly after
ward effected her clandestine departure
In two years she was greatly civilized and
sobered. Remarkably intelligent she had
accomplished wonderful results in that time.
Innocent and pretty as she was, the young
man at last fell deeply in love with her and
married her.
One thing besides the painting puzzled
and interested me. a small block Of grey
blue stone, about four inches square, smooth
and ordinary looking enough, which my
grandmother had always kept with her. and
at her death gave it % my mother who
was also dead now, and in turn had given
it to me with my grandmothcr's words,
which were these only mother, the Gyp-
sy, gave me this, and bade me never resign
1t till my death, then let it pass only into
the hands OF my children In one hun
dred or one hundred and fifty years my
neither said, it will tell its own story.
The one who steals, destroys or loses it, will
have no peace thereafter for my spirit will
haunt and torture him for the rest Of his
life" a mysterious thing, indeed,
thought, as / held il in my hand-a home
ly, square-cut stone.
Ny father, after my mothers death, took
me with him 10 Europe Business dc
tanned him in London for a year. There I
mingled in society, and at last met Cecil
Castenwoll, man who, despite bis con
nection with one of Englands best families,
carried himself with an unOstertatiousness
which at once attracted me- Ny regard
was rcciprocatcd, and within two years my
gypsy grandmother's grandchild was mar
ried into the family Of Castenwcll, Of
, Yorkshire, England / was quite
as Indifferent however, to the fact that
had made fine connection, as j was 10 he
alien birth Of my maternal ancestor
loved my husband for himself
One day, about year after Our marriage,
! opened the box, which, with other valu-
able relics and trinkcts, contained my
uandmOthcr's stone had not looked at
it since my marriage had not even men
toned the fact of their being any such pc
culiar article i'm my possession. My hus-
band stood by my side as ! opened the box.
and As lifted the stone j began an ex-
planaton, but stopped midway with a
startled ejaculation The stone had parted
horizontally, and the upper half only was
i'm my hand. Clcanly. evenly it was halved
and ia the centre hollow roughly hcwn,
in which was fitted . rough ball Of plaster.
hastily recOunted the story Of the stone.
as ! took out the ball, which we now SUR
missed must contain something within itself
still more curious or valuable
''My grcat-grandmother's prophesy dc
Clarcd that the stone would tell its own
story. Verify, il hath revealed itself But
we must not destroy it, Cecil, the old Gyp-
~ forbade that, 50 after all We cannot open
the ball"
Ny word, the ball will open az the stone
did. Allow me, " and ho took it from my
hand. But / had a superslitious dread,
and ] stayed him. 81 will but tap Il