The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1883-03-08
A FOOLISH ADVENTURE.

FOOLISH ADVENTURE.
"Now, | wonder what she's going in
there for?" said Miss Pytchley.
| Miss Pytchley had been sauntering
| along the road in an absorbed manner,
! picking a late blackberry here, bril-
liant autumn flower there. She was a
| student of Nature, she was wont to say
| But those who were inimicallv disposed
to her did not hesitate to affirm that she
! always studied Nature in front of young
| DR.. Hilton's house!
| But what did the silly little coquettes
of eighteen and the giggling beauties of
twenty know of Miss Pytchley's deter
mined and ardent nature? What recked
| they of the trials she had gone through,
| the mortifcations she had endured, the
disappointments that had in every in
stance blighted her hopes?
| For at nine-and-thirty Miss Pytchley
was still determined to secure hus-
| band-and DR.. Hilton was the man up
on whom she had settled
II always wanted to be a doctors
wife, said this young thing to herself,
| for Henrietta Pytchley knew bette than
to select any less judicious confidante.
! cit gives one such a good social posi-
| tion-and then, in sickness, it saves one
| so much expense and trouble To be
| sure DR.. Hilton is few years younger
than L am" Che was twenty-six), ''but
every one knows that a doctor ages
rapidly, and no one would dream that
was day older than thirty"
But Dr. Hilton evidently had no idea
| of being shared by hermature wiles, and
when Miss Vernon, the pale-cheeked
young teacher in the academy, became
| a patient Of his, Miss Pytchley was seri-
ously alarmed.
Not that she's anything more than
an insipid wax doll" said Miss Pytch-
ley with toss of her head: but she
has a way with her which men might
fancy, if they didn't know any better,
| poor things"
And consequently, when she saw Miss
Vernon going into the doctors office,
she was naturally a little surprised and
| perturbed.
DR.. Hilton lived all by himself in the
little stone cottage, taking his meals at
the village hotel some half mile
distant, and Miss Pytchley felt herself
safe in creeping round to the back of the
house. where overgroWn rose-1niUllets
and struggling raspberry-vines formed
a sort Of natural screen.
'If | could only hear what they say"
thought Miss Pytchley.
Her first idea had been to conceal
| herself under the window, but when she
saw the cellar door standing wide-open,
a fortunate inspiration flashed across her
brain.
Its right under the office" she
thought. IF | put my ear against the
! chimney, L can hear everything they
say
And like a gliding grey shadow she
hurried into the cellar.
| A drearv, deserted place. There was
| some lumber there, few disused tools,
a general smell of green mould, and a
closet in the corner. Miss Pytchley
| shiyered a little as she crept close to the
| chimney.
They're only talking about some
Dover's powders, after all, said She
And capcine plaster, and quinine
| three times a day. And now he's tell
| ing her good G-cvening. | might have
| saved myself the trouble"
| At that moment. however, 2 sturdy
footstep was heard coming along-the
sound of a whistle-and Miss Pytchley
| caught sight of John Nolan, the hired
man, who drove DR.. Hilton's carriage,
| groomed his horse, and made himself
| generally useful about the place.
Hes coming here to pile up wood
thought Miss Pytchley, as she saw the
logs of birch and pine heaped upon his
arm. ''Good gracious! what's to be-
! come of me?n
1t was too late to beat a retreat by the
usual entrance-Miss Pytchley darted
| into the closet and closed the door
He can't be long" thought she, .'be-
| cause it's almost dark now
| Miss Pytchley was right. He was not
| long. But when he Went out, to her in
| finite dismay he shut the cellar-door be-
| hind him, and locked and padlocked it.
Now | am in a dilemma thought
Miss Pytchley, with the cold sweat
| breaking out in minute globules over
her brow; ''perhaps he'll come back
again"
She listened, but no returning foot
step sounded over the gravelled wilder
ness of the overgrown back-garden; she
cept around the darkness of the cellar,
reeling alongthe walls for some possible
method of exit, but in vain.
"What am | to do?' broke invoIun-
tarily from her lips; If | should be kept
imprisoned here all nightr
And then rushed into her mind all she
! had ever heard of the Stone Cottage
| how an old woman was once strangled
! there by her undutiful children for the
/ sake of little money; how the Widow
/ Swipes' boys had declared that a ghost
! used to peep out of the windows, of
moonlight nights, before DR.. Hilton
rented the place-and Miss Pytchley
| was uneasier than ever.
Here | am in the closet again." she
| thought with a start, as her hands came
| IN contact with the moisture that trick
led down the damp walls; ''oh dear, oh,
dear; / don't know which way to turn,
| m all confused. Owl OWL
She uttered frantic shrek, for in
I the darkness she had stumbled up
| against tall oblong box that stood in
one corner; the lid, insufliciently fasten-
4 ed, fell forward against her, and feeling
wildly for some opening of escape, her
| hands touched some fine tibrous pack
ing matter, in which lay something
cold
"A human facet she screamed. Il
felt the nose and forehead? And it's
true what people say about DR.. Hilton
bringing dead bodies down from the
city hospitals and cutting them up!n
Shrek upon shrek rent the air as
Miss Pytchley staggered away from the
horrible something, and then suddenly
all was still.
She had run against one of the stone