The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-04-26

chufcn is very much taken with you
anu II 5 nice position, a clergyman
At least | can be a quiet old maid
grandnlamina, said Bessie.
n little after this Mrs Barclay died
Her last words We're.
Forgive me. Bessie.
And Bessie forgaye her from her soul
but she did not $40 home She re
manned IN the little house in Canher
Well. 50 'teat, and new. and well fur
nisiied, and Too. The step By which NO
men write Themselves down confirIne,
spinsteis ts.stt ii keeping house by her
! self without a s.conIpanlon And this
brings us back to the morning when
Priscilla 5 account of the comet greeted
her at her solitary breaEfast-tabla, and
10 the story which viii convince our
readers that the comet Of 1882 really
had ian Influence on 1T least one, Of
| might as we'll say two, human des-
TIMES.
Really il must be nice to take an in
terest in something outside of ones life
Ito really become absorbed in botany.
or geology, or astronomy. or. art, or
something. said Miss Bessie to herself.
ut IS miserable to sit thinking- think
ing about silly old troubles. I'll turn
new leaf I'll join Dorcas Society,
and go to Lectures and study Latin; and
IL get up this very night and Coon the
roof TO see the comet to begin WITH
Spinstcfs always take an interest in sci
entitic things, and / should suppose as
tronomN was about as absorbing a
study as one could find. 1 might have
an observatory built, and get teles-
cope
Having come to this resolution, Miss
Barclay devoted herself during the dav
to the destruction of some old letters,
and the careful packing away of Robert
Leslie s photograph and love gifts
All these things, she said, should be-
long to the past. She owed herself the
/ duty of forgetting anyone who could
marry Miss Staple for her money and
in this high spiritshe deliberately sat up
that night with heavy volume of
History of Meteors,' under the light
of her student lamp.
The time passed but slowly for Miss
Barclay, l am afraid
In September, 1882, the comet did
not show itself before four in the morn
ing, if remember rightly. At twelve
Bessie was sleepy; at one sleeper still
AT two she aroused herself by walk
ing about her room and snufling ammo
MIA.
At three she fell asleep with her face
in the pages of the history of meteors,
but happily awoke with start, as the
hands of the clock rapidly approached
the figures four and twelve
certain anxiety which viii ruffie
the mind of any lady who has been "
ing on her nose for some tins, caused
her to rush to the glass. And when con-
VIneed that 1t was not permanently flat
tened, ii was time TO ascend to the roof;
and Wrapping herself in hood and shawl
and lighting pretty little Chinese
lantern, she proceeded with the adven-
ture. d
-Four a, m. IS gather an uncanny
hour. 4 ladder is not a pleasant thing
to climb. A tTap-door in the roof is
hard upon 4 woman's wrist. and one
feels rather guilty when prowling about
the house alone in the darkness; but
Bessie br;.ved these facts and fancies
successfully, and stood at last upon the
roof, from whence she saw, amongst all
the stars, the comet blazing in the sky.
1t reminded her of nothing so much as
a strange phantom train of some sort
speeding away through the sky, with
its headlight open. The thing itself
glowed cllangefully-now steady, now
Frightening and fading, and its fan-like
tail was alarmingly long.
Bessie could but wonder if the scion
tific gentleman over the way was right |
and the milkman not so far wrongin his |
terrors; and then, instead of thinking of
the facts she had gathered from the his |
tory of meteors, she fell to brooding |
over those long-past DAYS in Shrop-
shire, and remembering starry night, |
when she stole out to meet Robert Les
I:f : nd |
talked as lovers talk, until the moon |
set. At last she started up, wringing her |
hands
ooh, silly, silly mel she whispered |
to herself What can / do? Must I 90 |
on thinking about him all my lifeP-1
about the man 'who'cared so little about |
me as to marry an heiress for her money |
in one little vear?'
WlI:.t did she care for the comet
unless indeed, it were to strike the /
earth and thus end all her troubles with
those of the rest of mankind
Il wish it would. said Bessie. ITO
90 ON and pei old i. and be a wretched
spinster is that worth living for? Oh. |
pshaYv / II go in.
And she took up her Chinese lantern. /
Alas. u terrible thing had happened
Tho reofs of the genteel row of houses |
III " Men bt-t DN IA " d. sslttltttta Sto Ch
level plane; all alike When she came |
out, she had circumspeotly shut the door
after her, She had walked about a
good deal on the cracking states, and
she could not now tell which cover hid
the ladder leading to her own upper
floor.
VainlY she strove 10 decide, and at
last, quite terror-smitten, lent against
a chimney, and began to weep. sobbing
aloud; .'Oh, dear, what shall doP'
Then
..Angals and ministers Of grace de
fend u.s. Whit is that9" cried a mascu-
line voice at her very side.
Mis- Barclay uttered shrek, and
chung to tie chimney, from the other
side OF which arose figure, in long
ulster ana ); 'e3lskin cap, some six feet
or So in height A ghost. evidently,
Bessie decided, and waited for 1t to un-
fold its tale.
81 beg pardon. madam. Is there any
thing ] can do?' remarked this spectre,
when at last il did speak. 1t was hui
man then: but was it really better to be
ON the roof with u mana strange man
than with veritable ghost? Bessie
was not sure.
81 Happened to come up to look at the
continued tire speaker, land
sat down here to keep my back warm.
Excuse my pipe; l didn't anticipate
meetings lady. You haven't hurt your
self, hope?
mo Tive only been awfully stu
4 a n .I.xxv 81 6lxf