The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-04-10

which she had produced. g You see
that house is a pretty old one. Some
folks do say that it was built the year
that General Washington died. | don't
know about that, but anyhow it's an old
house. The Stanways owned it when |
was a girl; but the old folks died, and
the darters married out West, and the
farm was let first to one and then to an
other. l don't rightly remember who
they all were; but at last, after it had
stood empty two years, some kind OF a
furriner took it. Folks used to meet him
in the woods, gunnin', with a couple of
big spotty dogs-hounds l guess they
were-and once in a while he would
come in to trade at the store; but nobody
knew nothing about him or his family, if
he'd got one. And he never said moth
ing about himself or asked anyone to
call up to the house; but just did his
tradin' and went away. | see him once.
He was queer-looking man, with black
hair and long, black beard; and his
clothes-they was kind of queer too.
They didn't look like American clothes a
bit | guess it was the second winter
after he took the house that we had an
awful spell of weather 1t showed and
friz and blew and showed again for most
three months on stretch, and the drifts
got to be so deep that the farmers give
up breaking roads, and didn't 90 about
any more than they were obleeged to; so
it didn' t seem any way strange that the
furriner wasn't seen in town, and no.
body mistrusted anything. Some boys
who went off into the woods ON snow
shoes, to look for a stray COW Just after
the spell set in, come back sort of scared,
and said they had heard the most awful
bowling Of dogs up to the house on the
hill that ever was. But dogs are kind of
noisy, you know, and nobody remarked
particularly on that either When the
spring come along, and the snow melted,
folks did begin to think that it was kind
of queer that the furriner wasn't seen
round any more; but 'twant any
ones concern in especial and nobody
took much interest in him. So it went
on till the first of May, and, except for
just saying to each other that it was pc
culiar, nobody thought nothing about it.
g Well, it was the first of May, or the
second, | forget which, I remember it
all quite WE'LL" said Aunt Sabina paus-
ing to draw long breath, :" for | was
down to the post-office that day, and
see the boys myself. There was two of
them-little fellows, not more than nine
or ten-and the youngest looked scared
to death The other was scared too, but
not so much. They had gone off into
the woods after something q don't know
what. Checker-berries, perhaps), and
had come upon dreadful thing in a
swampy place; 1t was something like a
man, they said; but he was dead Folks
thought they were fumning at first; but
the boys held to their story, and at last
two or three of the men at the store
agreed to 90 and investigate the matter.
They took the biggest boy to show 'em
the way. The little one was too scared.
He didn't ever want to 90 into the woods
again, he said.
Well, there in the swamp they found
the furriner He was dead, of course
They guessed that he must have shot
himself with his own gun by an acct
dent, for there was the gun beside him,
blowed into two pieces; but nobody
knew. Only they saw that he had been
dead good while. The men came back
to the village, to git more help; and then
they all went up the hill together to the
house 1t looked dreadful lonely-like,
as. if nobody had been there for months.
The first thing they see was the skele-
tons of two dogs tied under window at
the side. Starved to death, poor Greet
urs! They was lying with their heads
thrown back, as if they had died a-howl-
ing for help. 1t was a shocking sight;
but there was worse inside the house. ="
Aunt Bina made dramatic pause.
go! 60 on" gasped Milly, breath
lessly. "What was itp''
lin little bedroom off the kitchen
they found woman. She was dead
too. She was lying in bed with her hair
all falling over the pillow, and bottle
of physic and spoon beside her on a
little table, and pitcher of water on the
floor; and she was sort of reaching out of
the bed after the water. | suppose the
poor thing had just lain there and pinned
away for want of help. 1t was under her
window that the dog was tied. used
to think" continued Aunt Bina, with a
shudder, chow those dogs bowls must
have sounded to her, if she lived long
enough to hear 'em, poor creetur!
well, the Coroner came, and they
buried all on 'em; and the Selectmen adj
vertised in the city papers, to see if they
could find out anything about the furri-
ner But they couldn't, and after a
while the furnitoor was sold at vendue,
and what it fetched was given to the
town poor. The house was cleaned and
left open all summer; but nobody want
ed to live in it, and nobody did live in it
for more'n five years. At last the owner
Zone of the Stanway's darters' husbands,
| guess he was) wrote on to let the place
for nothin' to any person who would use
it and take away the bad name it had
got; for, you see, all sorts of stories had
been raised against the house. Folks
said that lights were seen there of nights
and dogs were heard bowling; and the
boys wouldn't drive their cows that side
of the swamp, they were so afraid of the
place"
Milly had grown pale and her lips
trembled.
go! John, you won't think of taking
it! viii youP" she said, in pleading
tone.
"Don't be gooser' was the reassur-
inp answer. $50 on. Aunt Sabina.n