Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1883-12-18
Three Warnings.

it very much against his wife's will. 1t
was a lonely house, and reported to be
haunted. 1t was next to a graveyard which,
| though unused, was not at all cheerful,
and which likewise had the reputation of a
ghost However Mr.. Hubbard did not be-
lieve in ghosts, and was too cheerful to be
depressed by warnings, and never intended
to be lonely.
'EMrs. Hubbard" he said, when his wife
shook her head at the purchase, 81 got it
cheap and it is good one. You will like it
when you get there if you do not, why
then talk
it the Hubbard family went. There was
scarce chance for ghost to show his face
in such family of boys and girls. Mr..
and Mrs. Hubbard counted ten of them, all
| noisy ones.
Having once spoke her mind in regard to
the house. Mrs. Hubbard gave up the point.
She scrubbed and secured, tackled down
carpets, put up curtains, and owned that
the place was pretty
| AS not ghost appeared for week she
made up her mind that there were no such
inhabitants. She even began not to mind
the tombstones. So the house got to rights,
and baking day came about. In the press
of business they had great deal of bakers
bread, and had become tired of it. Mrs.
Hubbard never enjoyed setting batch Of
bread to rise so much as that which was to
be eaten for the first time in the new house.
"For | cannot get up an appetite for stuff
that nobody knows who had the making
of" said Mrs. Hubbard, ''and all puffy and
alumy besides
| So into the oven went the bread, and out
it came, at the proper time, even and brown
/ q % re Htthh rd fr,r, od
them up on their sides as she drew them
| forth, and they stood in the long bread-tray,
| glorious proof of her skill and the excel
lence of the oven, when Tommy Hubbard
| bounded in,
Tommy was four, and when at that age
we are prone to believe that anything will
bear our weight. Tommy, therefore anxi-
GUS to inspect the bread tray, swung him.
self off his feet by clutching the edge of the
bread tray, and over it came, loaves and
Tommy and all.
Mrs. Hubbard flew to the rescue, and
picked up the loaves. All were busted and
put in the tray once more but one. That
lay bottom upward under the table.
'A bothering child, to give me so very
much trouble,' she said, as she crawled
under the table to get it. "A-O-ah-dear
-oh-O-ny-"
And there on the floor sat Mrs Hubbard
screaming, wringing her hands and shaking
her head. The children screamed in con-
cert. Mr.. Hubbard rushed into the house
from where he was at work.
"What's the matter, mother?" he gasp
ed.
Mrs Hubbard pointed to the bottom of
the loaf lying in her lap.
'Look there and see p she said. s'It is
warning, William Pm going to be taken
from them all p
| And he looked, and he saw deaths
head ard crossbones as plainly engraven on
the bottom of the loaf as could be.
''It is accident" said Mr.. Hubbard
| ''Some queer pranks do come you know"
| But Mrs. Hubbard was in a troubled state
of mind, as was natural.
1.-THE stories about the haunted house
were true" she said. "The spirits have
marked the loaf, and l am afraid it is
warning"
And the loaf was put aside, for even Mr.
Hubbard did not dare to eat any of it him.
self
Mrs. Hubbard got over her fright at last,
but the news of the awfully marked loaf
spread through R, and the people
came to Hubbard IS all the week to look at
it. 1t was death s-head and crossbones
certainly-every one saw at a glance-but
as to its meaning, people differed. Some
believed that it was a warning of approach
ing death, some thought that the spirits
wanted to frighten the Hubbards away,
and get possession of the house all to them
selves.
The latter supposition inspired Mrs. Hub
bard with courage. Finally, being brave
woman, she adopted the belief; and when
another day arrived for baking put her
loaves into the oven once more, prepared
for cross -bones and not to be frightened by
them.
The loaves baked as before They came
out brown and crusty as Mrs. Hubbard
turned each in her hands, There were no
skull and crossbones, but on the last were
sundry characters of letters. What, no one
could tell, until there dropped in for chat
certain printer of the neighborhood accus-
toned to reading things backward.
"By George p' said he, ''that is curious
r-e-s-u-r- -r-g-a-m-resurgam; that is what is
on the loaf-resurgam.
SIT is what they put on tombs, isn't it ?"
asked poor Mrs. Hubbard, family.
"Well, yes, said Mr.. Hubbard, being
obliged to admit it. ''But it is not so bad
| as crossbones and skulls.''
! Mrs. Hubbard shook her head.
It's even solemner," said the little wo-
man, who was not as good lingust as
bread-maker. 81 feel confident, William,
| that l will soon be resurgamed and what
will these dear children do then"
And now that the second loaf was before
her eyes, marked even more awfully than
before, Mrs. Hubbard grew really pale and
thin and lost her cheerfulness.
81 have presentiment, she said over
and over again, that the third baking will
decide who the warning belongs to, be-
leve it is meant for me, and time will show.
Don't you see how thin | am getting?''
And though Mr.. Hubbard laughed, he be-
gan to be troubled.
The third baking day was one of gloom.
Solemnly, as at a funeral, tine family assem-
bled to assist in the drawing.
Five loaves came out markless; but one
remained.
| Mrs Hubbard's hand trembled, but she
drew it forth. She put it on the tray. She
turned it softly about. At last she exposed
the lower surface. On it were letters, print
ed backward, plainly enough read this time
and arranged thus:
| D.ed April ID,
lamented by
her large family.
otis me p cried Mrs. Hubbard, ~ am
to 60 to-morrow-this is the 1st do feel
faint-yes 1 do. It's awful, and so sud-
den p
| And Mrs. Hubbard tainted away in the
arms of the most terrified of men and hus-
bands.
The children screamed, the cat mewed,
the dog barked. The oldest boy ran for the
doctor People flocked to the Hubbard's.
The loaf was examined. Yes, there was
| Mrs Hubbard's warninp-her call TO ouit
this world.
She lay in bed, bidding goodbye to her
family, her strength going fast. She read
the Bible, and tried not to grieve too much.
The doctor shook his head The clergyman
prayed with her. Nobody doubted but that
her end was near, for people were SO very
suDerstitiOl1s in thosa davS