Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-12-12
BEHIND THE TAPESTRY.

Ten years ago was in the first sor-
row of my widowhood. I was child
less, too; and when the grave closed
over my husband I thought there was
no place for me in the world.
was rich, Young; and my friends
and my own reflections in the glass,
told me that T was beautiful.
OF course I had many acquaintances;
what rich young widow has not? But
aco,lainta nces and friends differ widely.
did not care for the people who flat
tered and made much Of me, but turn
ed, oven in the first days of my trouble,
to one friend.
She, too, was young and beautiful.
we were schpolfellows we were engag-
ed at The same time; We We're married
in the same month OF the same year.
During the three years Of my mar"
riel life we had seen little of each 9TH
er, but when my husband died, and
Mary Clifford wrote to me tenderly out
OF her full heart, I answered back her
love.
She asked ME to stay with her, and I
went
How peaceful were those days spent
in her beautiful home! The house and
place were called Aspen's Vale. The
house was many centuries old. Its
architecture was remarkable; its rooms
curious. 1t was rambling old place,
and Of course it had a ghost. It stood
in the midst Of very lovely grounds,
overlooking the wood and river. Al
together it WAS one of the show places
in---shire.
I stayed with the ClMgords for cou-
pie OF months. During that time the
house was quiet, visitors few--they
csc!}ewcd company for my sake.
At the end of two months Ileft them,
comforted and helped, and with many
promises of a by and-by return.
Circumstances, however, too varied
and two many to mentionS prevented
that second visit taking place for a cou-
pie of years. At the end Of that time
great longing came over me to see
Mary Clifford again. [ must write to
her, and promise visit. l did so.
BY return of post got q short but
characteristic reply.
DEAREST HONOR: OF course long
to see vou, but unfortunately the house
is full Large as it is, it is crammed
from cellar to attic.
NV dear, don't want to refuse you.
do long to see you. Will you sleep in
The TAPESTRY room? for, OF course, it is
empty. I dare not put anybody else
there, but / don't think, you, Honor,
would be afraid Of the ghost. Ii the
tapestry room will 90, come, and
thousand welcomes. J can put up your
maid Your loving friend,
MARY CLIFFORD.
To this letter made short answer:
/ do not believe in the ghost. The
tapestry room will do beautifully. Elk
pect me tomorrow.
The next evening arrived at Aspens
Vale in time for dinner. The tapestry
rom looked charming. l fell in love
with it on the spot, and vowed laughing
ly that the ghost and T would make
friends.
My maid, however, looked grave over
my testing remarks; it was plain that
she believed in supernatural visitations.
Gayety of heart, however, was over
me. I could not resist the cheerful in
fuence of my old friends company. I
felt happier than l had done since my
husbands death, and after % delightful
evening, retired to my room, feeling
brave enough to encounter any number
of ghosts that might choose to visit me.
The tapestry room was quite away from
the rest of the house; it was at the end
of the wing.
No other bedrooms were iii the wing.
There were a smoking room and a little
oriel chamber, which Mrs. Clifford in
her early married life had curiousiy
fitted up for herfelf, but now seldom
occupied. Neither did she believe il
the ghost, but she confessed that this
little oriel chamber had an eerie feel.
The morning-room opposite, cheer
full and pretty enough, was unused. It's
furniture was antique, it belonged to
bygone day, and it's inhabitants
were dead. The smoking-room also
was deserted; even the fumes of tobac-
co had LETT it, the squire preferring a
more central apartment in the modern
part OF the house. 49,.
Altogether, this wing OF the old
house seemed dead. Visitors only came
to it out Of curiosity; they paid brief
visits, and preferred doing so in broad
aylight. >Eu = -, -9: r 49,
1t must have been quite hundred
years since the Tapestry room in the
far end of the wing had been slept in.
Old as the other rooms in the wing
looked, the tapestry room bore quite the
palm Of ancient appearance. There
was not an article. Of furniture in it, not
p chair, not table, which must not
have seen the light Of centuries. + 49,. ,
The furniture was all of the blacklist
oak; the bedstead the usual four pos
ter on which our ancestors loyed. to
stretch themselves. But the curious
feature Of the room, that which gave it
its name, was the tapestry. Not an inch
of the walls was to be seen; they were
hing completely with very ancient and
very faded tapestry. Il There was a story
about this tapestry. One Dame Clifford
Of long, long by gone days, had worked
it, with the help Of hef maidens. She
had come to an untimely end on the
very day on which the great work Of
her life was completed. s s.11s /. q
1T does not matter to this story what
became of the proud and fair dame, but
it was her ghost which was said to haunt
the wing, and the Tapestry chamber in
particular. Warden, my maid, as she
helped me to undress, looked quite pale
with terror. ,S3 %a5# -4 81