River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-10-16

thing Of the people at MARROW Hall,
Howardin
Never heard of them before. Are
they strangers 10 you?"
Entirely so"
Now good bye, old fellow; my traps
are all slowed away on the train, and ]
had better follow them. Take care of
yourself among hose mysterious stran-
gers"
In the hustle and confusion at the
station Mr.. Byrpns satchel was mislaid !;
but he presently caught sight of the
familiar object N distant table, and
felt inwardly thankful for its ungainly
proportions AMI the huge brass dia-
mond which male it easily recognized.
AT Portland respectably-dressed
man In charge f wagonette came for
ward to meet NJ. Byron; and during
the drive to The Hall the former dis
eoursed freely upon the existing state
of affairs there A son and heir TO the
fine estate had arrived, and there had
been great rejoicing; but within the
twenty -four hors their JOY had been
ehihcd W ulUUl Ablio ~ q AtiSphtCA ouiA
moning the newly made father to the
death bed of his only sister in Ger
many. The young mother seemed to
feel presentinent of misfortune, and
she had insisted upon baby's being bap-
tized before the departure of its father.
The clergyman Of the parish was tenn
porarily absent hence Mr.. Byron's
hasty summons. The ceremony would
be performed in The chapel connected
with the Hall, and would be very quiet,
being witnessed oily by the father and
grandfather of thechild, with possibly
one or two guests.
After lunchinG in a somber richly
decorated dining hall Mr.. Byron was
shown to a bedroom, with the intimation
that his services in the chapel would be
required in an hour if convenient to
him.
There was something strange and in
teresting abear the fine old mansion, so
lately scene of rejoicing, and now 81
lent as an empty church. No members
Of the family were visible, and the great
house seemed deserted, save for a few
silent-footed servants.
As the tine for the baptism drew near
Mr.. Byron asked to be conducted to the
yestry room To make sure that every
thing was il readiness he opened his
satchel, whtn, to his CONSERVATION,
instead of drawing forth aneatly-folded
surplice he held up before his astonish-
ed gaze a doublet and hose of scarlet
and gray satin, such as might be seen
on the stagein "As You Like It."
Alas for tie veracity of Messrs, Piper
and Tipson and the credulity of the
worthy Mrs Minis The So called
unique bag had so many duplicates, and
Mr.. Willis Howard had bought one that
very morning in which to stow away his
fancy ball coltume.
Here was predicament indeed for
the Reverend Julius Byron! In des
peration he few to the wardrobe in the
vestry room. Vain hopel Not a shred
of the other chrgyman's vestments hung
there What was to be done? Even
fin extreme Eases the church rules per-
mitted the chrgy to officiate without
robes in the s.cred edifice-and for the
moment Mr. Byron was too bewildered
whether this would be permissible or
not-how could he explain the annoy
ing mistake to these strangers? They,
already so troubled, would think him
an Enthusiastically, careless tr1fler.
In his perphxity he rang for the man
who had already waited on him.
as there lady in the house with
whom could speak few moments ?"
Mr.. Byron asked.
''My mistress cousin is here; but she
does not leave the inyalid's rooms for
anything Just at present"
''Then I'll write my message in a
note. I"
He stated the case as clearly as he
could on paper and dispatched the SER
want with it, in answer the lady sent
her maid to inquire If search had been
made everywhere in the yestry room
for surplcia. esent back that furth-
er search was useless.
After some moments Otto him
terrible susDense-for the time was al
most come for him TO appear in the
chapel--the- maid returned, and with
deep bushes and a nervous twitch1ng
of her apron hem began
my young lady told me to tell you,
sir, that if yd would not think it any
harm, she would send you her Oh,
no, / don't mean that, sir! She SAID /
was not to sar who it belonged to- but
she would cut the banls off the sleeves
and the lace from the neck, and it
would be long and nobody would no
tice that it was nightgown, sir; and, if
you don't mind, sir, / would go and
fetch it at once, for there is no time to
lose"
The girls concluding words were on
ly too true and however much he might
have hesitated at her suggestion in
in cooler moments, he was thankful now
for any solution of the difficulty.
Tell your mistress that | shall be
very grateful Tor the loan she proposes,
if she thinks tle deception will not be
discovered"
The servant vanished and was soon
on the spot again with snowy linen
night-gown. The neck at the back had
been torn down to admit broader Shout
ders, and linen handkerchief had been
hastily stitched in to hide the rent.
Most of the characterization had been
cut away; but enough remained to prove
that the garment belonged to lady of
very dainty tastes.
Thankful for this semblance of sur
pliee, and too hurried to feel amuse-
ment, Mr.. Bgron arrayed himself, en-
tered the chmcel, and the service be-
gan at once. He observed, with sigh
of thankfulneBs that the chapel was
very dark and this enabled him to read
without much nervousness. Two gen.
tlemen came forward with the baby and
its nurse, and for n brief time during
the service the young clergyman saw
indistinctly the slender figure Of lady
standing in thedimly- lighted aisle. Be
fore the end Of ceremony her feelings
seemed to overcome her, for she left
the church sitting what might have
been sob, but which sounded strange
ly like laugh.
What Mr. Byron feared would be a
trying ordeal was soon over, and he re-
entered the vestry room with much
lighter heart then when he left it.
While disrobing, name IN lndehble
ink on the gown attracted his attention.
Perhaps he should have respected his
fair benefactress' wish to remain mn
known; but tie temptation was too
strong. He turned to the light and
read the name Miriam Douglas I'M
der the tucks and embroidery of the
robe which he had just discarded.
Was it coincidence or had kind
fate led him tothe shrine of his idol ?
The uncertainty was not to be borne.
will you ask Miss Douglas if she