The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1882-10-27

growing upon hun reached is height
He triedto utter his, challenge. but his
dry lips would give fourth no sound, an
abyss OF night seemed to, swallow him
up. 'i
suddenly he fapeied he heard y move
lment, he tbought that something like
palpablc blacllness fitted about him. lie
! turned 20 fly and took n few hurried
stepsin the direction of the entrance
Then bs stopped, lt was no, ghostly
presepce that arrested him; but the IRON I
hand Of Ills resolution he had come
| here 70 DO 2 CERTAIN thing and was not
to be c9yed by a feeling which he
would be ashamed TO own to himself in
the Daylight, H. faced qbogt,aGd vent
toward quickly,a few rsteRs. oof .a.4 ul
,%If there is apyghostlef him now ap-
pear he called loudly. ~. .r....t. 20.
The drf2ry.,HaIls answered his cry
with dull IeyerberatiQn, m, .I l..... p
With arms folded he stood a MON.
eut---the hiFdest thing Qf all t2 do
awaiting iesQlts If there had not
been Il roar in his ears, if the beating
| Of his heart had not made even his
vision unsteady, he would bave said
| that hp heard subdued laughter, or.
moaning, II was impossible to tell
! which aFthe sQppd rolled toward him
llyom lbe bQuoW sides, and that he saw
something ike ,whiteness in the dis
taneq, WINS q sepa9 Of ,preF'pccfe9 made made
hin cold with horror, W., ...... ."i
/ III had done all he had resolved to
ldo ana was free to get out Of This
| dreadfql place, b; Tie hurried toward the
Iegira4ce, urgqd Qg by'thc unreasoning
sense OF pursuit Chat comes over one
when. he turns his back upon danger.
| {hd all At once he lost footing and lay
tat full'length upon the Slippery floor;
lthd shock, ioweycr, oily Jared and
rbcwilderel him. As heput ont his
Hands 10 rise he toVched something
from which he drdw back Instantly
with a stifed extlamation /; he thought
Iii must BE qh6 of the reptiles likely 70
be claIilh4 III this den. But he res
| collected that it. vas u curious stone
which would PROVE his nights excpr-
Sion If thestrangers he was with should
be tempted to doubt it. After a little
cropping he found it again it felt Ike
I = stone with Shiny moisture, and put
| ting it into his pocket he made his way
Iodt' dt the ruins as, best he could, "'
| When he returned to the house his
friend was alone waiting for him, and
slcepy,n.as Homer could see, consequent
I " 4 title annoyed at being kept up, so
late. The guest said iiotliing that
Inlght' Of where he had been. .
+ III his room he took but the stone. II
Was not pebble or piece Of the
pavement, as he had supposed, but IN
| Oval Of grayish layathdt had once beef
4 Brooch or part Of a bracelet AS ElIe
CLEARED it with his penllnife
and pocket hhandkerchief he : aw
| that the woll, upon it was beautiful;
! it was afgnte Of Minerva, the very
folds in her tirnic carefully cut, and, as
The saw.bY hi5 lnagnifying glass, with a
| light traceiy 6f carving on her helmet
add siield. 81 Oh'tRe. opposite side, jast
! und4r the shield,. wis the word '9'Nio'
laf's 1""" if-' % 'sd- antN .ia' 3.
7 was evidently the owners name,
I BIT who wa Fsht? Where did she Eve,
! anil When? THO pin,if were the pin,had
not lain itlits last hidihg-plac long he
thought, it WIS not enough stained by
the .dampness. vet he was not sure
about that. "Vioiet" might belong to
4 former gchetation, or might have
been sleeping the sleep Of the just for
a century But suppose ,not-suppose
fshc were r young lady beautiful as her
name, weqItliy and high born Wen,
l.what rhet? ''' " "asm'"'H e..
Tloriar put out Slight and went to
I bed but Not Immediately to sleep. The
I affair seemed to promise IN adventure
tas srch it would have been interesting
81 To- any young person. But Ashton, in
| IalAi,un to being barely 25, had been
/ obliged 10 make his way for the last
ten years for, though he was of good
family, Dame Fortune had started him
! In Egc with no more than one Of her
| ponuios, which, however every time
7 y nGh TURKS it, as III the legend, leaves
! 4 holl!pisth in his hand. 'H 10" q
b The pcXt morning but one n tall
voting mG1 with dark hair and eyes
/ and IN expression amused yet resolute
hmd4d. IN hi3 card at Grantham Hal
4 ana nsEe2 tosep owner, Sir Gresham
I Ldud ''"
7" abr, Homer Ashton" cried Sh
frc4han, lodk;ig up from his Ialttr.
/. displtascl al the interruption. ''Whp's
Ito? don't know any such PERSON
Byryl,' Is the Seryhnt, "what does h,
IIoot.iikc yo.3 ~ ,H'ans.,T". s'I| -
"A swell, Sir Gresham, only spryar.'
""Oh, spryot,' is he ? Iii his hcad OF
his heels, woudar? Well, I spppos,
/ must see what he wants; one Of thes,
gentecl- sponGes came TO suck up a
many tounds as Illgiyc tothtr dcuceC
charities, he muttcrea. By whicl
spcoth it Is fair to conclude that Si
Gre.ttIm had been spongcd in this wa,
mort tIm once,
liIt when IlouIor who was admir-
ING the view from the drawingroon
window, turned and bowed "a the baro
f net approached, Sir Gresham preccive,
: nothing Of the suppliant about him. an,
bogau to doubt whether this yelegan
stranger dil mean to make him q few
ponnaslht poorer by his visit II
came FORWARD and requested his yisito
) to bo seated Ashton spoke of Tn
beauty of the country aud Sir Gresh
, nm answered him bnt at the momen
( cWlisty was his ruling passion.
You are wondering why / came,
, said Homer. Certainly it was not t
Z iH,.U ,,-h,t ,,.I, Al. /. Il