The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1881-12-21

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/ was alone with the rats behint
the wainscot. the owls hooting in
the ivy, and the wind bowling
through the trees.
Convinced that either some trick
had been played me, or that some
one was concealed in the room,
searched every corner Of it. l lifted
lids of boxes filled with the dust ol
ages and with rottirg paper lying
like bleaching skin. ] took down
the chimney board. the SCOT and
ashes flew up in clouds. l opened
dim old closets, where all manner ol
foul insects had made their homes
and where daylight had not entered
for generations but ! found moth
ing Satisfied that nothing human
was in the room, and that no one
could have been there tonight, nor
for many months, if not years, and
still nerved to a state of desperate
courage, | went back to the draw
ing-room. But, as | left that room
l felt that something flowed out
with me; and, all through the long
passages, retained the sensation
that this something was behind me.
My steps were heavy, the conscious
ness of pursuit having paralyzed
not quickened me fdr / knew that
when left that haunted room / had
not left it alone. As 1 opened the
drawing-room door, the blazing fire
and the strong lamp-light bursting
out upon me with peculiar ex-
preston of cheerfulness and well
come, heard a laugh close at my
elbow, and felt a hot blast across
my neck. l started back, but the
laugh died away, and all / saw were
two points of light, fiery and fam
ing. that somehow fashioned them
selves into eyes beneath their heavy
brows, and looked at me meaningly
through the darkness.
They all wanted to know what l
had seen but refused to say a
word not liking to tell falsehood
then, and not liking to expose my
self to ridicule. For ! felt that what
/ had seen was true, and that no
and no argument, no rea
soning and no ridicule. could shake
my belief In it. Ny sweet Lucy
came up 10 me, seeing me look SO
pale and wild, threw her arms
around my neck, and leaned for
ward to kiss me. As she bent her
head, l felt the same warm blast
rush over my lips, and my sister
cried, "Why, Lizzie, your lips burn
like fire ~
And SO they did. and for long af
ter. The Presence was with me still,
never leaving me day or night: by
my pillow, its whispering voice often
me from wild dreams by
my side in the broad sunlight 7; by
my side in the still moonlight new.
er absent, busy at my brain, busy at
my heart-a form ever banded me.
1t fitted like cold cloud between
my sweet sisters eyes and mine, and
dimmed them SO that / could scarce.
ly see their beauty. Idrowned my
fathers voice, and his words fell
confused and indistiBet.
Not long after, a stranger came in
to our neighborhood. He bought
Green Howe, a deserted old proper
ty by the river side, where no one
had lived for many, many years !;
not since the young bride, Mrs.
Braithwaite, had been found in the
river one morning, entangled among
the dank weeds and dripping alders.
and drowned, and her hus
band dead-no one knew how-ly-
ing by the chapel door. The place
had had q bad name ever since, and
no one would live there. However,
it was said that a stranger who had
been long in the East, Mr.. Felix,
had bought it, and that he was COM
ing to reside there. And true
enough, one day the whole of our
little town of Thornhill was in a
state of excitement for o travelling
and four, followed by anoth-
er full of servants-Hindoos, OF
Lascars, or Negroes dark-colored.
strapge-looking people--passed
and Mr.. Felix took posses
sion of Green Hove.
My father called on him and /,
rs the mistress of the house, went
with him. Green Howe had been
changed, as If by magic, and we
both said so together, as we entered
the iron gates that lead up the broad
walk. The ruined garden was one
mass Of plants, fresh and green,
many of them quite new to me and
the shrubbery, which had been a
wilderness, sas restored to order.
The house looked larger than before
now that it was SO beautifully deco
rated and the broken trellis-work,
which used to hang dangling among
the ivy, was matted with creeping
roses and jasmine, which left on me
The impression of having been in
flower, which was impossible. 1t
was a fairy palace and we could
scarcely believe that it was the de-
serted, ill-omened Green Howe. The
foreign servants, too, in Eastern
dresses, covered with rings and neck
aces, and earrings, the foreign
smells of sandal-wood, and cam
phor, and musk the curtains that
hung everywhere in place of doors,
some of velvet and some of cloth of
,old the air of luxury, such as /,
! simple country girl, had never
seen before, made such a powerful
on me that / felt as if
carried away to some unknown re-
gion. As we entered, Mr.. Felix
;ame to meet US !; and, drawing
aside heavy curtain that seemed
III of gold and fire-for the fame
flowers danced and quivercd
On the gold-he led us into an in
ner room, where the darkened light,
the atmosphere heavy with per-
fumes, the statues, the birds like
living jewels, the magni6cence Of
,tuffs, and the righteousness of ar
overpowered. l felt as if
| had sunk into lethargy in which
| heard only the rich voice, and saw
)nly the form of our stranger host.