Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1880-12-30

branch of fir in after years without see
ing again the ole room at Miss Quigley's,
the little tree, and hearing the far echo
of the laughter and fun.
But at this moment it was something
more substantial than an echo which
they heard.
"Be careful how you put down that
window" Joan had said, but the warn
inf was too late.
Bangl The sash fell with noise
loud enough. it seemed to them, to wake
the whole town of Brunswick.
| Now you've done it! Patty get un-
der the bed Throw those furs into the
ciOsetr'
"I hear the smell of the breath of
Griilinessp
But no footsteps approached, and the
panic gradually subsided, and the fun
went on again.
"GirlS," said Joan, holding up pack
age that she had taken from her trunk,
for days l have gone about with an
awful secret locked in my breast; ever
since L traded all my postage stamps for
this! The time for revelation has come.
The midnight bell tolls. Sisters of the
mystic circle-pe0autS! r.
They never quite knew how it hap
pened, but at the last word the string
broke and the nuts ratified to the floor
in a perfect shower. At the same in
stant a step was heard in the passage.
Joan seiZed Patty and by main strength
pushed her under the bed. seating her
self on the edge of it to conceal the
child's feet, which would stick out. The
others huddled themselves under the
bedclOthes as best they might, and pre-
tended to be fast asleep. The door
opened to admit Miss Quigley in a
scanty costume, which made her look
even more stern and awful than by day.
"She's beOn twisting her knob ever
since the window fell" whispered Sue
to Claire, by which it may be inferred
she could not resist the temptation to
peep slyly between her half-clOsed lids.
"What are you doing. Miss Bramley?"
demanded the mistress.
i Thinking" replied Joan, laconically.
"Thinkingl What an extraordinary
girl Why are you not in bed? Didn't
] hear a window fall p
How can tell what you hear?"
did you let a window fall?
Il let no window fall
did you throw over chair!
81 threw over no chair."
did you drop book?'
81 dropped no book"
"Did you drop anythingY
al dropped nothing.
did you knock over anythinST
81 knocked over nothing"
Poor Joan was too anxious about
1 Patty's feet to have any clear idea Of
what she was saying.
"You are very impertinent," began
Miss Quigley; but she caught sight of
the figure of herself, which none of them
had remembered to pull over. What
she exclaimed "a figure of mel With
a bottle too? thought you better bred.
And it does not in the least look like me.
1 never should know who it was meant
for"
This was too much. Sue could con-
tain herself no longer. She burst into
a perfect shout of laughter, in which the
others Joined, all save Patty. who was as
frightened as a mouse in trap.
Miss Taylor" demanded the indig-
nant mistress, advancing with a great
rushing of peanuts under her feet, what
does this mean? What is that on your
face?"
But Sue could do nothing but laugh
and laugh and laugh, and Miss Quigley,
whose knob, after all, may have been
rather loosely twisted that night, could
MT help laughing, too, at the fair face all
streaked with black from the mustacheS
and surrounded by tangle of golden
hair. Miss Quigly fastened to pre-
serve her dignity by precipitate re-
treat.
young ladies'" she said, in her grand
est manner. you will bring me trans
lation of the first fifty lines of the sec
ond book of the Eneid to morrow.
| Without another word she left them
to put the room to rights, send Patty
trembling to her attic, and get to bed
themselves.
AS all were young and healthy, and
very tired beside, l do not know that
they slept any less sOundly than usual,
but they awOke with somewhat troubled
minds that Christmas morning.
1T is not the getting into scrapes, but
the getting out" Sue remarked, dOleful-
ly, as she paused in her bOOt-lacing to
crack and eat a stray peanut; and they
all agreed with her.
However. as we saw at the beginning
of this story, if the reader is kind
enough to remember, they concluded to
make the best of things, and honestly to
acknowledge their fault.
Before their dinner the tasks were all
completed, even to Claire's, and deliver
ed to Miss Quigley with what Sue called
"truly edifying penitence."
Miss Quigley smiled benignly at their
contritlon.
lam sure, my dear young ladies"
she said, Il am happy that you are will
ing to own your fault. am not so har-
hearted but you might have had yo'
fun for the asking; but never mind tn
now thought you would be lionel,
and lad asked Deacon Woodland to take
YOU down to Bath in his chaise this af-
ternoon. l am very glad you have done
your tasks so that you can go.
"Girlsr' cried Lou, as soon as they
were out of "the presence" isn't my
hair all burned off? Such Goals of fire.
And after that image, tOOr
| leave it to your imagination to paint
their ride; but be sure they had glori-
Gus time, and all fell in love with Dea-
con Woodland, who might have been
grandfather to any of them. And that
night, when tney went up stairs to bed,
Sue burst out with:
"The blessed old Quigleyl If her
breath is as strong as a monsoon, her
heart isn't so bad, after all. She is terri
bly, hard on the candy question; but
that's only natural, perhaps. Catch me
ever calling her a GriffineSs again.!
And so said they all.
Twenty Years n Sufferer