Iron County register., 1881-02-10

ltnk weeds and brushwood hid the
rm nearly up to the waist, but, as tn,
Rrbage was, down by the roots, some
hat thinner, l, with tremor running
rough my whole body, dragged this 9
tie aside with my stick, which struck
substance that resounded like
etal.
Il know not with what object, It was
y curiosity, certainly not cupidity, but
knelt down, and, thrusting my arm
bow-deep into the wet and mossy
ass, followed the sticks point with my
lnds, and, after little cropping, got
Pld of a watch and chain-hardiy rec
,nizable as such, truly, but still obvi-
tsly nothing else.
"Then / pursued my search still
rther, for foresaw that it now might
lad to the Identification of this unhappy
|nman being who had been buried alive,
eaven knows how long ago! by fate
hich l myself had only an hour before
, narrowly escaped. Thenceforth, al
fough my feelings were greatly per-
hrbed, and host of emotions surved
trough my breast, my wits quickened /;
Aese were stern facts that I was deal
Ig with, and I acted accordingly. The
cond time thrust my arm in among
herbage just beneath the skeleton,
hich l was reverently careful not, to
sturb, l drew forth one or two more
rd and, at first, less distinguishable
ticles than the watch-less distinguish
lie because twilight had set in, and,
ded to the density of the wood, rem
red it impossible for me to see any
Ing very plainly. I felt that must
Btantly hasten back to the inn and give
formation of my discovery.
In the obscurity of the fast-fading
ht, the weird gloom of the wood was
eatly increased. A large owl sudden
fapped away from q near bough with
loleful hoot, while the wind, growing
onger every minute, turned what had
Fmerly sounded like means and sighs
% shrieks and groans. dare not,
wever, give way to any more fanciful
aginings, teset me as they might,
as they were even already doing. l
nted all my senses to get Gear of this
hrnel- house of place. Yet, having
ne so, and come back again on the
hd to the inn, which / knew, these
ne imaginings, these jndefinable sem
lions which had overridden my COM
bn sense during the whole afternoon,
burned, and, will you believe it?" ran
this letter of Ronald's to his mother,
lich he wrote the next morning, $50
rsistently have they stayed by me that
ave not yet had the courage to exam
closely the articles l found. No!
ugh more than twelve hours have
|sed since then, somehow l can not
ch them. They seem as if they might
uence my whole future, might change
very current of my life; it is ridicu-
}, but inexplicable.
Vas it ineXplicable to Sophy MorrisP
rdly, for did not her mind instantly
back over those twenty years to that
F-memorable time, and could she
see in those indefinable imaginings
er sons mind possible solution of
mystery surrounding her husbands I
? Night it not be that the marvel
and unseen working of human
iny had guided the son at last to the
ler's unknown gravep that the
Fnge sensations, the awe, the gladness,
irresistible automatic impulse to
ter in the wood, which he described;
readiness with which he interpreted
wailing of the wind into direct,
culate and whispered appeal ssto
ito wait till the discovery was
ae-were traceable to the link exist
between that vigorous young life
those moldering remains, and with
which, when they, too, were en-
red with life and vigor, her young
aid would never have had his beingp
hope was strong that all
might prove SO, and it was
lied. In the end no doubt remained,
among the relics her boy had recov-
was the small, flat metal tabacco-
containing the will of Matthew
ris, soiled, sodden, besmirched in
es, well-nigh illegible, yet still pre-
Fd intact, and susceptible of being
|n to as the genuine document by |
awyer and his clerk, who signed it,
who yet lived to see right and
te done.
was to Wistman's wood, then, that |
had directed the sons steps, and,
thought, by the merest accident
Vistman's wood, that uncanny,
ist old place." the "wonder of the
lers of the Dartmoor wilds," and
her the father had gone across the
!, never to return, on that fatal day
jty years before.-AH The Year