Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1882-02-03


diately afterwards. Mr., Briggs entered
lfywhot' do You think Il have hist
lbouehtr' to Which tho general respohse
| vast "All' j osephusfof ton -pence.>' lit
turned out that he hadA jnst ferretedit
out from a secondhand book-stall.
When questioned about his mysterious
powers, Mr.. Gregory always became
very serious, and gave no Information,
but changed the subjectas soonlas pos
sible.
q 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 unfuliilled
will now be made plain. Il e. "a
| There were two new arrivals on the
lday 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 cxcep-
tions 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
timate with our own party, Mr.. Grice
attacking my. uncle, and his wife deyo-
ting, herself to us. -.
| We were Mt no pains to conceal our
aversion to their ill-mannered and often
siveiintrusion, but they seemedsdeter-
mined TO accept no rebuilt 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, l presume, mainly en-
braced Mr.. Gregory. , hHB iufftIh
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 constant
watch for the post Lily and were
troubled, but were hardly prepared for
his sudden announcement ut lunch the
next day, upon receiving letter from
town, that we must pack up at once, and
return by the first morning train. rs
We had no objection to escape from
the Grices, but in spite of Mr.. Gregory s
| ill-repute for his mysterious arts, 1--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 u peculiar look of sig
nificance pass between them. Mr..
Gregory was sitting at the other end of
a long dining table, and quite out, of
ear-shot, but he came up Immediately
after we rose from the table, and said:
"A very sad thing, this sudden de-
parture of yours s.
T. "Mr. Gregory" replied, ".you are
perhaps aware that you are under grave
suspicious of being in league with the
powers of darkness, and this is another
proof. How could possibly knowP''
Oh, i'll news. travels fast" he said,
laughing. ' But it is q very hot after
noon; what do you say to little read
ingP" '' 1870 "
Lily here squeezed my arm vigorous
| ly, but L answered.: 81 fear my uncle
will not let us go out of his sight. He
feels it his duty to keep special guard
over us while we are in such dangerous
company" y -A-A $40 ssR go
bad" Never mind" he said; "Iwill read
10 MN rs Well.i' f4. .f-f ..,t.
We were now in the corner of the
drawing room, near n window looking
out on a covered balcony which over
looked the garden. My uncle came up
and returned Mr.. Gregory's courteous
greeting in a manner which was, fear,
not very gracious. ur, HE stF
May trouble you for the paper,
after you, sir,' he said. .''t
W." Certainly" twas the answer. "But
may we not all enjoy it together? With
your permission, will read aloud to the
company" 'if 1Hi"e
My uncle looked considerably aston
ished at this unusual proposal. Lily
looked up with open eyes and curious
expression, this being not exactly the
kind of reading she had intended. But
the offer was seriously made and re-
peated, and my uncle, who dearly liked
being read to, gave dubious assent. "
Miss Lily, with filial affection, made
him particularly comfortable in an
arm chair, and Mr.. Gregory commenced
reading long prosy article on French
politics. He read with anything but his
usual spirit; and in soft, low, monoto-
nous voice. The consequence was Gas
had possibly been not wholly unfore-
seen) that my uncle was soon enjoying
his accustomed afternoon siesta. The
reading, having gradually become slow
er and slower now ceased, and theread-
er, looking up, suggested by slight
gesture an adjournment to the garden.
Lily and tried to smother our laughter
and looked shocked, but we adopted the
suggestion. A book of poetry was
| quickly produced, and found that there
is difference between hearing French
politics read in stuffy drawing-room,
to a middle-agcd gentleman, and hear
ing Enoch Arden" read in cool,
shady alcove, to pretty, dark-eyed,
lovable maiden, with tender bosom,
heaving in sympathy with poor Enoch' S
sorrows, especially when the. readeris n
handsome young bachelor, with an cx-
quisitely modulated voice, able to do
full Justice to the harmonious numbers
of the Laureate. ,s... ra {. -r'.', .q
80 At the end Of half an hour was
startled by an exclamation from Lily.
Looking up, saw in the garden below,
sitting on q seat under the trees with
their faces, toward us, our dear friends
Mr.. and Mrs. Grice. That gentleman
WAS keeping up apparently a desultory
conversation with his wife. They
waved their hands on catching our
eyes, and beckonedi to us to come and
join them, which we did not do -7rd
Mr.. Gregory instead OF going on
with his reading, continued to regard
them intently, and asked ns whether we
knew them. We said '.No.r 4.n1
We explained how they had favored
us with their attention. To our disap-
pointment, he could not be induced 10
60. on with his reading, but he contin-
ued Il. stare at the couple before us; and
when at last they strolled off in differ
ent directions, he said he must apollo
| gize for having an engagement, and left
us abruptly, "a strange young man,
indeedNa' we thought, and we were