Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1879-08-14


Tell me- ! e'ied. flinging myself
down before her, 1T search ihp
panel and this spot, Will yoa be- al
rest?'
She bent tow ,ris me Gree more
with a rinile of peace on her face and
melted ont OF my sight
Whether I tainted, Or whether
fell into the deep sndion s'eep that
sometimes follows ,nesmeric exertion,
| cannot tell but when I came To
myself day vas breaking, and my
lamp was burned ont below The open
window
After breakfast gave Bond Gu
account OF my adventure, and could
easily see that the good old man
thought my brain was affected.
You will help me to search the
panel, Bond, and that will prove
whether my story is true or only a
dream said |.
To the window we accordingly
went, and Bond inquired whether he
w dS " UttdA tit6 WdiUSCDt.
Certainly not | replied. IF there
is a hiding place here, there is some
way of opening it, which | shall try
to find before | allow the wood to be
broken.
Inch by inch examined the wood,
and compared the monldings care
fully with those on the opposite side.
My attendants incredulity was so
manifest that ! should greatly have
preferred TO prosecute the search
alone, but by doing so should have
lost the testimony of an additional
eyewitness to the discovery | felt
confident of making. After long
and patient scrutiny l found in the
lower panel an inch or so of mould
ing that fitted into the rest. Another
quarter of an hour passed ere, by a
chance movement, | gave it the turn
required TO loosen it. When it came
out, and showed spring concealed
below it, my excitement was very
great, and Bob himself began to
share the feeling, and hurried off for
oil with which to clean the rusty
metal. We soon discovered the Sc
cret OF the bolt, and a portion Of
the panel slid back below the mould
ing,revealing small recess,in which
lay a roll OF manuscript tied with a
black ribbon. Dust and damp had
made the writing difficult to deci-
pher; but when the sad story lay
spread before me, / decided to give
it to the world, along with an ac-
count of my mesmeric experiment.
have modernized the spelling, and
supplied few obvious words that
were either blotted or illegible in
the original. The date was eaten
away, but from many family papers
l know that it must have been Au.
gust, 1878 The manuscript ran as
follows:
Il am gong to write down what
has happened. 1t may be that no
one will ever read what / write !;
but should this paper fall into the
hands of any pltiful persons, surely
they will grieve for US.
'Mr. Fairfax is bad man. Heaven
forgive me if l ought not to think so!
but must needs say it here. Ny
father says he is not worse than his
neighbors, and that it is the habit Of
most gentlemen to drink and swear
in his fashion. If it be so, it is an i'll
thing for women that have to bear
Herewith. My father is a poor Gu
rate in Stepton. He has as good
blood in his veins as MIR. Fairfax
himself; but then he is very poor, as
| have said My mother and Mrs.
Fairfax were friends and when Mrs
Fairfax died, my mother took charge
OF the little baby she left, along with
me. That baby was my Harry
Harry Fairfax of this Tower of Nor
cars. He and learned our first les
sons together from my mother and
when we grew older my father taught
us both Old Mr.. Fairfax took but
small notice of his son. He was usu
ally hunting, or quarreling with some
neighbor, or having drinking bouts
at the Tower. | will say it again
he is bad man. | feared h M much,
he looked so big on his black horse;
ard he had rough voice. I remem-
Der how Harry and | were gather
ing rushes to plat one day when he
rode by on the narrow path that
goes down to the white inn. The
willows and rushes were high but
the black horse was so much taller
that we could not hide, as we sought
to do. Mr. Fairfax called out with
a strange oath that sounded loud and
terrible, and jeered at Harry for
playing with the parsons brat. Then
he rode on and Harry was in a
great passion, the like of which |
had not seen before When | was
fourteen my mother died, and there
after | had to take charge OF our
house Harry always came for teach
ing from my father but he looked
older than | did, for had no money
to buy myself new clothes, and was
forced to continue iE childish frocks
when / might have worn gowns. At
last an old and good friend of my
fathers sent money wherewith to
provide me with sundry needful
things; and / remember that | was
vexed because, when be saw me in
my new attire, Harry did not kiss
me, as was his wont. He loved books
greatly, as did my father; and he
hated wine and oaths and all the evil
doings at the Tower. Mr.. Fairfax
was angry, and called him clerk
bu. be did not interfere with him.
And by-and-by he loved something
more than his books, and | could
not believe that it was SO. But il
was true; and 10 creatures were
happier than we when we sat among
the osiers and talked of what we
would do by-and-by. Father was
sorely troubled when Harry told him;
but he was always reading, and had
not time to think much of US. Be-
sides, he loved Harry as his son, and
all the more because he would no.
join in his fathers wicked ways. We
were just twenty when Mr.. Fairfax
babe his son marry young gentle
woman, whose father would dover
her with certain lands that adjoined
those of the Tower. When Harry re.
fused, his fathers anger was very