The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1879-03-14
"But the servants" I protested,
u they must know

"Oh! have heard there were none
in the house ut the time; they were all
dismissed just before it was put mp.
Mr.. Gayling never keeps many servants;
sometimes he has only one, sometimes
none. Nobody lives in the house when
he's away, but he always leaves the keys
with us. He is always changing his
Mr.. Gayling is; l have often
heard him say that he likes new brooms."
@What is he, or what was hep"
"a gentleman in the naval line, / be-
lieve, sir; they are rather rum 'uns, I'm
told"
"Humph!" 1 said; "very odd. But
do you mean to tell me that nobody will
live here because they don't know what's
in that box?"
"That's partly the reason. I'm told"
Absurd" l was going on, when the
man continued:
But there's clause in the agreement
about it; that's what does it, sir
Explain" l said.
"Well, sir, here is the clause" and he
produced the document; perhaps You
would like to read it yourseifg'
Thus it ran:
"And in taking the house, at the
rental, and for the term specified as
above, hereby solemnly pledge my oath
never directly, or indirectly, through my
own agency, or that of others, to at
tempt to NEEDLE with or disturb the
white chest under the glass case OF the
roof, or to seek in any way to discover
for what purpose it has been placed
there, or what it contains; and further
guarantee that no person i'll my employ,
nor any one entering the house during
my tenancy thereof, shall make any
such attempt, and / herebyIundertake
that in the event of their being detected
in doing SO, or of my doing SO, to for
felt the sum of $1,000, and, in accord
ance with this agreement, have, In
proper legal form, lodged the said sum
with the bankers of Thomas Gayling,
Esq. the lessor, as a guaranty OF my
good faith"
"But for that clause" went on the
agent, as 1 finished readingit with some
surprise, Eve should have no difficulty
in letting the house."
"Pray, is the owner out of his
mind?" asked in minute.
"Not that 1 am aware of, sir; he is a
very pleasant, affable gentleman, Mr..
Gayling is, only, as l say, a little rum on
some points; nothing will induce him
to strike out that clause, for instance.
Lor' bless you, sir, parties never enter
tain it for a moment when they come to
that part of the business, they drop il
like hot potato"
"Humph" said / again, cts queer
certainly, but / don't see why one should
MT acquiesce; it doesn't matter rap to
me what's inside the chest; 1 should
never want to NEEDLE with or disturb it
and I'd take very good care no one else
did L would paddock the trap-door on
to the roof, and that would settle that
AhP l continued, after walking round
the structure and looking about me a
bit" ah see; precautions have been
taken to prevent any access to this ROOF
from others on either side, by this iron
chevau x de-frise; yes, no one can get
over this. Well, it's an odd freak, bu,
am not sure that 1 am going to bt
baked by it; I'll think about it, Mr.
Crumble."
And the result of my thinking was
that signed the agreement two days
afterward, having conformeG TO the pc.
culiar stipulation regarding the deposit
had no fear of losing The FL 900; the
interest Oh it was mere addition of the
rent, and the house was so exactly what
/ wanted that it would even then bt
cheap to me, with my large family OF
motherless children.
Nevertheless, I do not deny that, after
all was signed, sealed and settled, was
conscious of lurking curiosity and sus
picion regarding that mysterious cree
ton. What could it be? What could
it contain? / was constantly saying tc
myself. What strange freak could pos
sess the man TO take such strong meas
ures to guard against any penetration
into the secret-measures, by-the-by
which, in themselves, were rather calcu
lated to provoke investigation, to draw
attention to the very thing he wished
one to overlook? Was Mr.. GayGng q
miser, boarding up some unknown treas
ures in this strange fashion,? Probably
that was it. Well, if it was, it was nc
business of mine after all. My Parlia
mentary duties would be too urgent,
hoped, to let me dwell upon much else
so would dismiss it, and, beyond put
ting the paddock on the trap-door of the
roof rs threatened, / took no measures
to prevent any of my household indulg
ing in speculations. / at least would
not direct attention to the matter, al
Mr.. Gayling did, and contented my
family and domestics by saying that
didn't consider it safe for people to &C
on the roof
Now, in spite of my resolution,
found myself perpetually recurring tc
the strange chest. For the sake o.
quiet and air, had appropriated the
two large back and front rooms at the
top of the house for my bedroom anc
study, and thus slept every night JUS
beneath the white chest.
Before I had been in the house {
month, it began to act as a nightmar,
on me, an incubus 1 could not shake of
1 was oppressed and depressed by it, il
q way quite unaccountable. was puz
zled at myself; L could not have be
lieved four weeks before that / should
ever have become so affected by sucl
contemplate restlessness, disquiet ant
| distr1lst These feelings at Inst reached