The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1879-06-20
houand dollars, which would be foreclosed in

| thouand dollars, which would be forcclosed in
December unless the money were forth-com
ing, which seemed unlikely. Mrs. Mason had
| tried to raise the sum far and near, but with
out success 1t seemed incredible, but the
beautiful homestead represented by this incon.
siderable amount would doubtless be sacrificed
in default of it.
"Mas'r BERTHE Rose fooin' roun' arter Miss
| Rosalin. Say she hab money. Oh, well
| reckon Miss Rute kin stan il. Masr BERTHE
want Miss Rutc ter marry him right now an
lebe her ma an de boys to shift fur deyselves.
But Miss Rute she say no. She say, eff she
are wort habn', she are wort waitin' fur; an
she nebber marry so longs her mas all upside
| down like SO reckon Mas'r BERTHE he tryin'
| to console hisself"
All of which Mildred knewa already Gazing
into the bright blaze, she wondered how it
| would all end Rosalind was bewitching.
Still talking, Aunt Cynthy went back into
the dining room. Oar she are now p she
said. "Shc hab lef' de spinnin' wheel She
are a-walkin up an down, dar by de clock"
The clock stood in Il recess beyond iamb
which ran along all the rest ofthat side of the
room. 1t contained closet, and in the par
lor, on the other side of the wall, n deep fire
place. But these two recesses having been
taken into consideration, there still remained
II space naccounted for in the middle of the
jamb Mildred staring over at the wall, puz-
zled out this fact
Now she are here" pursued Aunt Cynthy,
"a-knockin'." Aunt Cynthy put her hand on
the wall precisely where Mildred had estab-
lished Il hollow space.
Mildred came and stood beside the old
woman. "Odd!' the girl said There is
board here. 1t is not bricked over like the
rest of the wall" Mildred raped on it with
n
very different from that which followed the
knocking above and below it.
Gurus" repeated Aunt Cynthy. "rd
like ter take out dat ar board fllst-ratc. OATS
whar she raped an pinted."
Here Aunt Mason appeared. She had
heard for so many years of Cynthy's sole
Lady, that she listened to this last demon
stralion of hers with composurc, and passed
on to give out" breakfast-a matter of more
immediate interest. Mildred drifted back in
to the parlor seated herself in the other cor
ncr of the fireplace, listened to the wind
bowling down the wide chimney, thought of
ships at sea blown about in such gale as
was brewing. Ships :-one ship, more pro-
pcrly.
1t was a consolation to Mildred to observe
that whenever she looked toward Berthe
Rose, he was looking toward Ruth In con-
sequence Rosalind grew more pointedly
charming and sparkling. But poor little
Ruth never once raised her eyes from the
piece of knitting she had taken up Her
mother called her presently, and she went
out of the room, and did not return After
while Mildred followed her. 1t was dull
work chaperoning Rosalind's filtration. She
would go and write letter. She passed
Ruth's open door. No light; Ruth kneel-
ing by the window, her head on the SILL
There was something very desolate in her
little figure in thcmoonlight. Mildred scold-
ed away at BERTHE Rose to herself Men
were the same tickle, worldly creatures all
the world over. No, not all men
She wrote her letter-a long one. She
heard horses hoofs Gathering down the ave-
nue. by that time. She was seized with an
intolerable thirst, which the water in her
room, drawn for hours, failed to quench-
She stole down stairs. Ruth's door still
open; Ruth still kneeling in the moonlight
AT the head of the stairs she met Rosalind
lamp i'll hand-Rosalind, with her fresh bloom
and steady smile and dainty dress Down
into the parlor, where the dying embers shot
up farewell flame to light her across the
room. Into the dining-room. No wonder
Mildred started. Aunt Cynthy was there be-
fore her. Candle in one hand, axe in the
other, she was loosening that board in the
wall.
Ssh sh don let 'em hear lis, honey
fought dat ar Mas'r Berthe would nebber
go. Is boun' ter see what are behind dis ar
board. She bin a-gwinc on awful Nebber
know her so rampageous befo'. Efyou hole
de candle, honey, kin push de axe in better
OATS de kline! Sho Come out O datw
And the board fell out, loosening the plas,
ter, of course, which powdered Aunt Cynthy
and Mildred with its white dust.
Directly opposite the opening was shelf,
and on the shelf bag Cynthy grasped it
eagerly. at are heavy, honey; it are money"
The old woman was right; it was bag of
gold. When Mrs Mason counted it on the
following day it was found to contain three
thousand dollars
There is AFFAIR Hill legend which accounts
for the money being secreted there, and moth
ing gives Cynthy greater pleasure than to re-
late the legend and its sequel.
The next morning before breakfast a note
was handed Ruth. Darling it began-''for
yon are my darling, whetheryou will be en-
gagged to me or mott can not command the
time to see you this morning, so | send you
this line. Why did you avoid me last night
Why did you go off without saying good-by?
Oh, Ruth, don't give me up! There is no
woman in the world for me but you" Poor
little Ruth! She dropped tear upon these
words; she kissed the note; she put it in her
bosom. What was poverty? what was wait
ing? Youth was brave, and Love was pa
tient.
After breakfast she learned the good news
They kept jubilant Thanksgiving-fol-
lowing closely thcreupon-that year at Fair
Hill, these Marylanders having adopted that
beautiful feast from the north. Aunt Cynthy
wore a turban yellower and reddcr than ever
Mildred was gorgeous in II supcrbly en-
broidcred crimson scarf, draped tunc fashion,
sent her by n friend overseas, to match which
she pinned atc-blooming rose in Ruth's
| dark hair. This choice of hue served the
| double purpose of propitiating Aunt Cynthy
and the ghosts Aunt Cynthy was an exccp-
| ton to the general rule with colored people,
who affect melancholy puppies now because
| in slavery days Haunting scarlet was consd-
cred their appropriate color by masters of an
| artistic sense.
Finally, Rosalind was radiant, albeit in
| habilual green, and albeit BERTHE had eyes for
no one but Ruth. But what of that Rosa
| lind was provided with a successor to BERTHE {;
and with her, up to this period, il was undc-
| niably the lover, and not the man.
"Ain't hcerd nothin' oh de ole Lady scncc
| | TUX dat ar board out" Cynthy told Mildred
| in the course of the day. "Shc done say all
| she hab got on her mind"
| TIE ART OF ADvERTIsING.-Th Cincin-
natl GdzettG has the following: One of the
queer things in business is the propensity of