Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-10-27
band, though the idea was horrible a.

guardian came to me, and said:
.Allce, my child, it is quite time for
you to begin to think of your MARI ace.
Shall we set the fifteenth of Noyembar
for t. wedding dayp"
lsaid '.yes"iin nv usual ouiet w.v
and then was again alone with nv
thoughts and fears. AS the dav drew
near l became more reconciled, perhaps
owing TO the fact that, being a woman,
! could not feel Indifferent toward an
event which would bring me so many
new dresses and bonnets; and u old
nome really seemed quite gay, with all
Its furniture draped In bright colored
ARTICLES OF clothing, which were thrown
upon any convenient chair and table
during the exciting hours of packing.
Still, when the morning actually ar
rived. l awoke, feeling very solemn
and very lonely, and was more Glad
than sorry to hear the rain falling up
on the leaves of a tree near nv win
dow. | arose, and after q breakfast
which l was too frightened to eat, /
went with Briggs and q servant 10
church, where [ met and married John
Finger. And the only part of the ser
vice L remember, and which will ALWAYS
seem to me a portion of the marriage
ceremony, is the sound of the rain
drops, as they fell through a hole in the
roof, down to a pool already formed on
the floor.
Something in the splash of those rain.
drops made me feel very much like cry
ing, and when my guardian took nv
hand and congratulated me, l looked
up and tried to smile, and the sun tried
for a moment to break through a cloud,
but the smile and the sunbeam died to.
gether.
Soon after, we arrived at our now
common home, and were met at the
door by the housekeeper, a grim-look-
ing female, who had evidently entered
the house on its natal day, and had no
intention of ever leaving it again alive.
Unintentionally, 1 at once made her
my eternal enemy by passing her with
II a greeting. l saw a peculiar glance
pass between the two, however, SO l
was prepared to use some policy and
smile as sweetly as l could when nv
husband introduced me to her some few
minutes after.
One look about the hallway was suf-
ficient to allow me to take in every
point; the stairway turning to the east
from the lower end; the statue at the
foot of it that held a light in its right
hand, which it tried to shade with its
left; q door at the very lower end
seemed to open into a library; and
round to the west of the entrance way
was q door which I supposed opened
into the parlor; but on the wall of the
east side there was no door, and, while
looking at this place, 1 said, in . sur
prised manner:
Why, how strange!"
"Wha is SO stranger" said Frau
Stable, with a sinister look in her eve.
"Why," faltered I, 81 think it very
strange that there is no door in this
wall, knowing as I do that there must
be a room there"
"Well, it's my opinion that the less
you pry into things in this house the
better you'll please the man ou'vU mar
ried," and with many an ominous
muttering the old creature limped out
to some part of the house unknown to
me then.
looked inquiringly at my husband,
but he had evidently been 50 occupied
in hanging up his coat and in smooth
ing down his oily hair that he had
heard nothing of the strange converse
ton.
That night, you may we'll fancy, was
a sleepless one. The wall without a
door haunted and terrified me, and be-
fore morning l was as nervous regard
ing this wing on the east side Of the
| h1,Ico n q xuo, kho xvsfo ~e D1,nloo-l
about the forbidden key.
At daybreak 1 arose, and, dressing
myself in a soft. b~right-colored wrap
per, went down stairs and opened the
front door. 1t vas not yet seven o'clock
cold, dark and wet; but my curiosity
was forcing me almost against my COM
mon sense; and I held my skirts up
high above the wet steps, and picked
my way round the muddy pathway to
where I could see the outside wall of the
wing. I stood IN tiptoe and pulled the
vines aside from several places, but
could see no door, nor any windows;
and l went shivering into the house
more mystified than ever.
Opening the door into the parlor /
went in and found a long, dreary-look-
ing room, furnished in black hair cloth.
Between the two front windows was an
~old-fashioned pier glass, in which I saw
myself at full length. For the first time
in my life I did not care to look at my
self. My face was too long and color
less to please me, and my eyes had dark
rings under them which I did not like;
but my soft cashmere dress, which fell
in loose folds on the floor, pleased me,
and 1 turned and walked down the
room, looking back yer my shoulder,
pleased as a child to see my train sweep
the floor behind me.
But, alas! while smiling at myself,
and not observing my footsteps, l STUN.
bled over a hassock, and fell from my
high dignity in a heap on the floor.
I looked up from my humble position
Just in time to see John Finger, his thin
lips set in a scornful smile. My youth
and spirits seemed suddenly 10 die with
in me.
When I had once more come to my
senses and regained my dignity, l went
out into the hall and followed my hus-
band to breakfast.
A weary, weary meal was partaken
of, seasoned with no word, no smile,
.~ rL.- e@1o altos h1 NIT nm hic