Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1880-06-02
The Mystery of Garrick Hall.

1T was just such night as this, Rob
ert, said Aunt Edith, TO my papa, with a
little shiver.
''Exactly,' papa replied, thoughtfully,
''and the same time of year. too"
Suppose you tell the children all about
il" mamma said quietly; ''they look as if
they wanted to know very much
Swell, since it Is perhaps time they
knew, will tell you how Aunt Edith saved
my life, " continued papa, turning to Edgar,
The eldest of us, ''long ago, long before you
were born, my boy"
'.Aunt Edith and l were only brother
and sister; ever so much greater cronies
than you and Edgar are, Jessie, not only
because We had each other to love, but
because We had to make common cause
against an enemy, Jeffrey Lawson, our
step-mother's son by previous marriage
We lost our own dear mother when we
were babies. JEFF was ten years older than
was; and after our fathers death which
happened when l was eight and Edith
six, we would have had poor time of it
but for Dame Turtle, our dear old nurse.
She looked after our interests, and fought
all our battles valiantly whether We were
in the right or wrong. Our step-mother was
so wrapped up in JEFF that she bestowed
l;ttla trouhia uDnr uS .S,ac;alI,- ,-a-
no favorite, for she got the silly idea into
her head that l stood between JEFF and the
property of Garrick. He was fine, hand
some fellow, as / remember when / was
Is, and he twenty-five; strong and daring
naughty in disposition and hasty in temper
l could see even then he bitterly resented
my being master, and himself as if nobody;
for all our servants had grown old with us,
and were staunch and loyal to US children
of the house.
''Onr mother-we called he so, though
she was little more than kin, and less than
kind'-resented it too, and looked forward
with very bitter feelings TO the time when
would be 2l; for then according to our
fathers will she was to leave Garrick Hall,
the homestead, and reside in little cottage
he owned in Wales.
at would be different position for her
as she had but small jointure-all her
own fortune had been spent on jeffrey
and by some Inexplicable chain of woman s
reasoning, she blamed me for what she was
pleased to call her unmerited misfortunes
Each year that passed made matters worse
between us. As grew older many things
in the management of the property struck
me as unjust. The best of the timber was
being cut down and the house allowed to
fall into state bordering on ruin, because
my mother would not spend money on re-
pairs which alone was to enjoy the benefit
of. Our family lawyer was dead. Jeffrey
chose his mothers legal adviser, and neither
Edith or | knew where to look for advice
or assistance. Things remained very much
in this state till l was nearly twenty, when
one day jeff entered my room in state of
wild excitement, and showed me a will
that had been discovered in some out-of-
the-wav corner. 1t was dated a few days
before my fathers death; and except that
it bequethed to Jeffrey the sum of f5, 900,
and the reverslon to Garrack if died with
out heirs, it was substantially the same as
the one already IN existence.
81 had my doubt about the validity of
the document, but passed no comment :;
both the witnesses were dead, and | had
not shadow of proof to advance. Suspi-
cions in such case go for nothing, 50 !
held my peace, the more especially as Jud-
son, our old steward, was prepared to swear
to my fathers signature. So JEFF Lawson
had his s., 600.
''On the night Of which I am going to
sell you, there was large part Of the money
in the house. JEFF was going to London
the next morning: and he meant to start
early; he said goodbye to us over night,
and went up to his room first carrying the
money with him. Edith and l remained
in the dining room a little longer, chatting
ON different matters, among others Jeif s
departure, OF strange restlessness L had
observed in his manner of late, OF the pos
tible date of his return; and somehow,
quite unintentionally, i let fall hint about
nav suspicious about the will, and discov-
cred that they corresponded exactly with
Editb's. At last, when the fire had burned
quite out, and the candles were getting low
in their sockets, we went up stairs together.
II was a wild November night, and just
such angry, impatient gusts of wind and
yagrant thunder-claps as this. L occupied
the west ROOM your aunt the one adjoin-
ing. and jeff slept in the west room at the
other end of the corridor; while his mother
had her apartments in the south wing As
I bade Edith goodnight, the clock on the
stairs struck IL, and she merrily wished me
many happy returns of the day. Tor 1 hao
inst entered my Goth birthday. In lew
n,;nu,es more my light was extinguished,
and I WINS closely wrapped up. In less
than half an hour was sound asleep. MOI
40 Amt Edith. She was. she told me al
terwards, restless and nervoua, two most
unusual things with her. All enofts 20
sleep were unavAiling. and she gave up the
attempt at last, and rising from tie bed sci
down by the fire to read, Twice she 1an-
.;ed she heard footsteps In the corridor,
and opened the door to listsn- Your aunt
WAS no, afraid of the White Lady, our lam