St. Landry democrat., 1882-02-11

| ~ VA SAeAAA wy e1ASCs VI SCI0lu ol
whatever you like to call it, which had
created great sensation among us.
On the previous day, for instance, my
uncle had met a gentleman at the sta
ton, and had brought him home to din.
ner. We saw them walking slowly uE
the garden together, in conversation,
and Lily had exclaimed: "Who on earth
is this?'' "a
! MIR. Gregory looked and said: ellis
name is Smith, and he is returning tc
town by the midnight train"
"You know him." l said.
"Never saw him in my life before, y
was the answer.
Sure enough, his name proved to be
Smith, and he returned to town that
night, after long private interview
with my uncle; nor had he, he told us
iii answer to our inquiries, ever seen OF
heard Of Mr.. Gregory before.
On Saturday morning, also, the Rev.
MIR. Briggs, taking walk on the beach,
meditating On his Sunday text, had en-
countered Mr.. Gregory, who had vol
unteered information as to the text, with
| chapter and verse all correct, to the
petritication of the reverend gentleman.
On another. occasion, when our elder
" lady friend mentioned that she had
been making "a small purchase, Mr..
Gregory Informed us soto UOce that a
bottle of hairwash constituted the pur-
chase in question. This communica-
ton was, very unfortunately, over
heard. Itsseorrectness was mot at the
tinlsS defpitek established but it was
SICILY afy this mat she first pro-
pennded herIown particular theory on
the subject, which she put forward with
renewed confidence in the conversation
above. after a fresh display of the IN q
hSlyEYhene lhtMen, % Aeg calhA III This
was Tie OCCASION thereof MFN Briggs
had been seen coming up the walk in
great glee,, with a PARCEL under his arm
rs slfb5 h hss rs fhereei II s sdfIs s'Hs
"All fireworks efsaesephas for ten
pence replied Mr.. Gregory. Imme-
diatsly al rwardss Mr.. ABr7fsggs entered
the room and said to the company:
= Whst do you think I have just
bought?' to which the general response
was: "All Josephusfor ten-pence.'' 1t
turned out that he had just ferreted it
out from a second hand book-stall. j.
When questioned about his mysterious
powers, Mr.. Gregory always became
very serious, and gave no information,
but changed the subject as soon as pos
sible.
In consequence Of. all this, interest,
curiosity, uneasiness, and even alarm,
were in varying degrees excited in the
breasts of the several members of our
company Most of the ladies declared
that they were daily expecting some
thing serious to happen. That those ex-
pectations were not altogether unfulflled
will now be made plain.
There were two new arrivals on the
day on which our story opens. Our
company had hitherto been pleasant
and select, but the lady and gentleman
who now came among us, and who were
named Mr.. and Mrs. Grice, were excep-
tons to this. Showily dressed, and loud
in their conversation, they made great
efforts to mix with ease in our company,
and for some inscrutable reason seemed
to make special endeavors to become in
innate with our own party, Mr.. Grice
attac king my uncle, and his wife devo-
ting herself to us.
We were at no pains to conceal our
aversion to their ill-mannered and often
sive intrusion, but they seemed deter
mined to accept no rebuff. Lily said
that we had met here the most pleasant
and the most unpleasant persons whom
we had ever seen in our travels. The
former class, I presume, mainly en-
braced Mr.. Gregory.
Ever since Mr.. Smiths visit on the
previous day, my uncle had seemed to
be unusually worried and anxious.
Something had happened at the Office,
it appeared, which caused him very
great uneasiness, and he kept a constant
watch for the post. Lily and were
troubled, but were hardly prepared for
his sudden announcement at lunch the
next day, upon receiving letter from
town, that we must pack up at once, and
return by the first morning train.
We had no objection to escape from
the Grices, but in spite of Mr.. Gregory s
ll-repute for his mysterious arts, we
were very sorry to leave him, to say
nothing Of the abrupt and unexpected
termination of our holiday.
The Grices were sitting next to US
when my uncle made this announce
ment, and saw. . peculiarslook Of sig
nifcance pass between them. Mr.
Gregory was sitting at the other end of
} long dining table, and quite out of
sar-shot, but he came up Immediately
after we rose from the table, and said:
"A very sad thing, this sudden de-
oarture of yours
Mr.. Gregory" / replied, lyon are
perhaps aware that you are under grave
suspicious of being in league with the
covers of darkness, and this is another
proof. How could you possibly know?'
!. Oh, i'll news travels FAST he said,
But it is very hot after
loon; what do you say to little read