The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-06-18
THE OLD TREES SECRET.

IllL OLD 11llIlIO OLSAeLh
1--WE will take the housc--shall we not,
Charlie?" We had gone al over the
roomy, old fashioned house, my little
wife and |. from the dusty. c~obwebbed
garnet to the neglected cellars, and We
now stood together at the back of the
garden, critically surveying its appear
ancc.
1t was a low two-Story house, built in
the shape of a T, with a cluster of tall
chimneys in the middle and the three
gables hidden in ivy. 1t had once stood
quite out of the town, which had since
gradually crept toward it. until what had
been a road was now become a street o,
struggling cottages and villas, extending
to the high wall inclosing the grounds:
The lawn was shaded with old trees, and
the garden choked up with thlckets OF
lilac and SNOWFALL. The old lady, Mrs.
Gage, who had for forty years resided
here, leading a very secluded and Invalid
life, had taken no pains to keep the place
in order, and she and the property had
decaycd together, until recently she had
died, and the house was for sale.
at looks dreadfully gloomy and neg
lected," said Cecie, gazing up at the
back windows. "Mrs. Moss, next door,
SAYS that for twenty years no one has
occupied those upper rooms; and see
how the ivy has bound together those
shutters on the left. But it is a beautl-
full old house, and l know that we can
make it bright and cheerful. And then
the garden-what a delight 1t Will be to
the children and to ourselves, too. We
will take it, won't We. Charlie?"
There was no resisting her pleading,
coaxing amer. So that very evening
l went to see the agent, and before the
week had elapsed the house was ours.
With what zeal and enjoyment we en-
tered upon the transformation of our
new abode. The masses of ivy were torn
down from the gables or judiciously
trimmed; every door and window was
thrown wide to the fresh air and sun
light; and paint and paper, muslin cur
tains, and bright carpets and India mat,
ting matle the house delightful to be-
hold.
This much accomplished, we turned
u attention to the garden. 1t was al.
ready June. and the season too advanced
for much improvement; but we pulled
down the rotted arbors, thinned out the
thickets of roses and lilacs. and / caused
a little round table and some rustic gar
den seats to be placed under an old tree
A H. f,stlnr o,l nf Shn rnntr01 walk
Here, on returning from my office on the
warm, sunny evenings, we would sit
Cecie engaged with some light stitching,
and I with cigar, books and papers, read,
ing to her, while our little ones ran wild
up and down the garden walks.
"This is thoroughly delightful" ]
remarked, one evening. elbow is it,
Cecie, that we have managed to live
eight years of housekeeping life without
a garden?'
Eyes" she answered, radiantly, "it
is delightful. Living so much in the
open air one seems to take a new and
fresh growth, like the flowers. Only
and here she glanced uneasily around
"Only, Charlie, 1 Think %fancy-that
this is not exactly the spot for our al
fresco boudoir."
"Why not? 1t faces the walk, it COM
mands a view of the house and the
whole garden. And these branches
hanging so low and clothed in ivy, make
a nice canopy above us. What is it that
you object to-
81 scarcely know. But somehow
have never liked this tree"
1t was 4 very old tree under which we
sat, with a huge gnarled trunk growing
in a sloping position near the garden
wall, and covered with ivy. About eight
feet from the ground the trunk separated
into three branches, and here the ivy had
matted itself in an impervious mass, con-
cealing the decayed branches with the
exception of the cxtremities, which here
and there protruded fromthe green mass,
white and bare.
"They look like skeleton fingers
said Cecie, glancing up, land it gives
me the horrors. l think the tree ought
to be cut down. 1t always reminds INC
of a graveyard or a haunted house"
did not at the time pay much atten'
, ton to her remarks. But some days
after she again suggested that u gar
den table and chairs should be removed
to some other spot.
81 don't know why it is" she said,
uneasily, "but 1 always feel nervous
here. l fancy there is something pecu.
culiar about the place-in the rustling OF
the ivy and in the very atmosphere;
often find myself starting and looking
around with a vague sense of something
horrible. l hate the sight of that tree,
with its distorted shape and bare skeleton
arms"
rallied her upon being fanciful, but
promised that the ''skclcton arms OF
which she complained should be cut off.
She sat silent for a moment, then said,
seriously:
"Charlie, did it ever occur to you that
certain objects in nature trees, for in.
stance-may have IN individual life OF
their own? don't mean the mere vege
table life, but q sort of mysterious spirit
ual existence. Now, can't help fancy
ing that this tree is conscious of what is
going on beneath it-tnat it remembers
things which it has witnessed in its long
life, and. were it able, could tell us some
horrible CHASTITY story of the past. You
may laugh, but l assure you that I never
sit under this tree, even on a sunny neon
day, without feeling a chill creeping over
me, and a sense of something mysterious
and horrible, which makes me almost
afraid"
"Of course" I said; "having NICE i'm
agined that the dead branches resemble
skeleton arms and associated them in
your own mind with the idea of q grave
yard, YOU will be haunted with all sorts
of dismal thoughts and fancies in con-
nection with the tree. But since you
don't like it, Cecic, l will have this bug
bear removed, and we will build a pretty
summer-house on the spot. will speak
to the men to, morrow, when they come
to take down the wall
The portion of the wall to which | al
luded separated our garden from that Of
our next door ncighbor. 1t was Of stonc,
but the mortar had fallen out and left it
little more than q pile Of loose stones,
which l feared might at any moment
topple down on the children, as they
PLAYED about it. So I concluded to have
It pulled down, and a light wooden pal
ng placed in It's stead.
Over there, in the next house, lived an
old gentlemen and his wife. who passed
much of their time in their garden, cul-
tivating flowers and small garden fruits,
in which they appeared to take great de-
light. They had called on lis, a cheerful
and kindly old couple; and when the old
wall was pulled down and before the new
one was up, the way lay open to a more
familiar intercourse.
One evening, by their invitation, we
stepped over into their garden to see a
collection of roses upon which Mr.. War
rem prided himself. These duly admired,
the old lady expressed to Cecie her pleas
ure in having neighbors who were neigh
bors. She had lived ten years in their
present abode, and in that time had only
twice seen Mrs. Gspei