Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-04-18

VIM. Hamilton Gibson in Harper's Magazine for May.
Old Aunt Hubby was prone to tell, with half
frightened look and bated breath, of the terri
bic secret Of the old Benson WE'LL" and of the
unpardOned soul that was doomed to '.hant
the arth tell the Angil Gabriel should blow his
horn"
What is the secret of that overwhelming de-
preston that weighs upon ones being when i'm
the presence of an old deserted house? tOver
powers you. You may strive to laugh it down
but the echo of that laugh is a weird reproof
and mOckery; you may strive to reason it away,
but it is not Obedient to the intellect; il is
not the slave of reason. Come with me to that
Old house in the shadows of the twilight, and
see how quickly are the smiles of rdicule dis
PEELED.
l sought this ruin upon an autumn evening;
/ picked my way through its wilderness of
weeds following the beaten track of some prOwl-
ing tenant that had his chosen path to door and
cellar way. l saw the yawnng roof saw the
yellow leaves Of twenty years that had been
whisked in at the Gaping sashes, and had been
whirled by the clustering wind into great piles
In the damp corners L looked out upon the
high-grOwn weeds and widowed lilacS that
sYayed against the windOw-sills. The drop of
the squirrels nut rattle on the rafters overhead,
and every sheltered corner was festOOned with
heavy cObwebs laden with the dust of genera
lions. saw the chmney-place, the old brick
oven with its empty void, and in the fire. place
below an ashy ember of an old backlog lying
upon the hearth that once was radiant i'm its
glow. Here We're worn hOllOws in the floor
that seemed to speak-imprints Of the old arm
chair that told whole volumes of past cozy COM
fort at this firesde: here nick in the plastered
wall, and q round spot above, which, with the
testimony Ofthe dents in the floor beneath, told
plainly of the evening pipe and figure i'm the
tilted chair. There was cupboard door with
Its worn spot about the knob; here a rusty nail
with the shadow of its hanging coat still plainly
visible upon the wall-a hundred things and
each seemed trying to tell its story in some
mysterious language of its own.
sought out the hooks and cupbOards, and
l remember at length finding myself lost in a
deep day-dream merely at the sight Of mil
dewed fragment which I had kicked up on the
floor. 1t was nothing but musty bit of leather
nothing but little baby shoe turned up from
pile Of rubbish on the closet floor.
There was an oppressive suggestive stiffness
that found my ear ever on the alert for some
halfexpected whisper from every gloomy corner
and that riveted my restless eyes as though
seeking for an answering look from every dark
recess. Why do you peer SO slowly and eau
tiOusly into the shadows of the dark closet?
Why do you SO often turn and glance behind as
you pass among its gloomy passages? What
Is it that you seek? Andas you reach the top of
those tottering stairs. why that quick and
sweeping glance? why that shudder but half
concealed? Yes, it is damp. The air IL heavy
with the emanatiOns of mould and rOtting tim
bers. But 1t Is not the chill that brings the
shudder; it is not the dampness. The sOggy
floors break and crumble beneath your feet, and
you draw your wraps close about you as you
pick your way through its dark and musty
halls. so ciammy cold. The doors have fallen
from their hinges, and lie In shapeless heaps
among the rotten timbers Of the floor. The |
topping rafters and sagging beams are tumbl- |
Ing from their mO0rings and are damp with I
SHINY mildew, and people with destroying |
worms. Snails and lizards are crushed beneath |
your footsteps, and as you hurry toward the |
dA)r. the coils OF skulking snake disappear |
before you among the dark holes In the timbers. /
METHODIST UNITY ADvocATED-The Chicago |
Morning Nescs publishes an open letter from the |
Rev. A C. George, pastor OF the Centenary Meth
Odist church, OF that city, to the Rev. J. B. /
McFenn, publisher Of the Nashville Christian /
Advocate, strongly c0unseling action OF the NASH
Vile Conference OF the Methodist Church South in
Nay looking to union OF the two branches OF the
church north and south.
stranger In printing once asked the /
youngest apprentice what his rule Of punctus-
ti0n va Pad thu hov. ssI - nm - fnn~ ~ 7