The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-01-02

dispose Of his Tapidly-accumulatln
manuscripts, but sat contentedly among
them from morning till night-a per-
feet literary miser, whose wares, de-
cried bv the world, were to him worth
far more than gold or fame.
After his death, the old dame who had
acted as house keeper for many years,
unceremOniously disposed Of all the
loose manuscript 10 "A ragman; and all
that now remained of one mans pa
tient, persistent life work, were few
old manuscript books packed away in a
box in the attic-a prey TO mice and
dust for all these long, uneventful years.
10 was about six months after her re-
moval to the old home that your grand
mother one day, Tearrauging the furni-
ture in her fathers room. which she had
planned 10 fit up as nursery for the
little ones, had occasion to move a
heavy writing desk from its place
against the wall. when several small
SCRAPS of paner, dislodgpd from behind
it, fell tiuttering 10 the floor close TO her
feet. Mechanically, and with "A sigh, as
sine recognized the stiff, old-fashiOned
hand that she remembered so well, she
gathered the crumpled fragments one
by one, smoothing them upon her out
stretched palm, and half curiousiy, half
sadly, scrutinizing the faded characters,
that more than a score Of years before
had been traced by that hand now idle
in dust. They seemed to be mere de-
tached fragments, possessing no interest
whatever to the thoughtful eye that
scanned them simply as relics Of the
dead; but as she came TO the last, a
smile disturbed the sad gravity Of her
face as she exclaimed aloud:
Fathers crooked sevens! I should
have recognized them anywhere"
The slip was evidently a reference Of
some kind, simply bearing upon its
dingy, diminutive face:
Vol. page p"
NV grandmother turned it over and
over i'm her hand, while curious look
crept into her eyes-a look strangely
compounded Of curiosity and fear, as in
eXplicaule TO herself as it would have
been TO a looker-On. There was, it
could not be denied, a strange attraction
about this apparently uuimpOrtaut slip
of paper that kiudled in her mind a
vague uurest-a feverish expectancy, as
uuexplainable as il was involuntary, to
fathom the hidden meaning Of those dis
toTted, time stained figures.
Half veXed with herself for what she
/ had privately den0miuated a remnant OF
old-time superstition, she slipped the
I paper into her writing desk, and betOok
herself iu mind, as in body, TO her vari-
Gus household duties-improvised a
doiHs table for the little girls out of an
old cherry stand, meuded a torn
apron for baby VIII, made the tea and
toast with her own busy fingers, aud at
last, having sung the little ones 20 sleep,
sat down 10 write a letter 10 ber hus-
band
But as she opened the lid Of her desk,
there lay the slip OF paper, its cabalistic
figures looking up at her with a weird
Significance that said as plainly as words
could have done: "I am riddle that
must be read, " and instead Of beginning
her letter, she again took up the slip Of
paper, and commenced ~Derulaliug anew
upon the mysterious reference. 10 could
by uo possibility refer To any printed
book, for the poor authors library had
been as meager as his other surround
ings-that be had not book in the
world of more than f,DO volumes she was
surg while this was an unmistakable
reference to "Nol. - Of something
What could it mean Suddenly an idea
flashed upon her-a memory that mad
slept in her brain for all these long
years awoke just in time to offer a clue
20 this.stange mystery.
Her father, whose habits were all ex-
tremely methodical, was accustomed
every night before retiring TO make
memoraudum OF the work for the fol-
. lowing day-a useless ceremonial il
seemed for the poor unknown and IN
sOught-f0r author - but 10 was his
I way aud as such he adhered most re-
iigiousiy TO it. Again, instead OF writ
ing his more extended works upon loose
sheets Of paper, he always took special
pains to procure immense blank books,
firmly bound in sheep-skin covers, and
10 their safe bosoms alone would Inc con-
tite those precious children Of his brain,
upon whom his lonely soul dotted
These volumes were carefully numbered
and PACED by his own pen before using,
and 10 was to the espeetahility Of their
sheep skin covers that they probably
owed their escape from the vandalism of
Old Meg; for the box in the garret evil
deutly contained all that was left of
these once cherished possessions.
In the morning she would investigate
the contents of this so long uuvalued
box, aud Verhaps-at any rate, there
would be melancholy pleasure iu look
ing over this record of her father
lonely life, with its never realized Wis
ions and Odd, uniutelligible faucies; and
taking the candle i'm her hand, she ran
{ with the intention Of retiring to her own
sleepiug-rOom. But for once the faith
ful servant rebelled against his master;
for while her rW went i'm one direction,
, her feet as persistently carried her in
another, and IN spite OF herself she found
= her footsteps going up the narrow, un-
carpeted stairs that led to the little
, chamber beneath the caves, where,
moved by the same uncomfortable i'm
, pulse, she kuelt beside the box Of books
and began with trembling, but now res
, olute fingers, 10 remove one after an
D. other the heavy, musty volumes.
ue-two-three-ah, here II is at
! the very bottom Of the box'-a huge,
b clumsy folio, marked, she saw, as she
! lifted up the light, with that same
/ cr1ok-backed "Seven" - her father
. .ign mauual-plaiu aud uumistakable.
/ although the ink had faded TO a dingy
: brown, and a light mould clung TO the
leathern surface, that emitted a faint
. sitting odor, as, gathering the volume
. iu her arms, she hurried down the dusky
J stairway, her teeth chattering with a
J usmeiess terror, that I'D accorded will
b the triumphant joy that, equally IN
= called for, as 10 seemed, had suddenly
e sprung up in her heart.
= 81 viii give it a look" she thought
2 'beiore | put it awav for the night
r And seating herself with the book upor
, her knee, she began to read.
b Ten-eleven-twelve, rang out the ol,
z clock in the corner, but she never ever
% heard its voice. One-two-three-sh
sat motinnless, reading page after page
q her cheeks crimson and her ewes shin