Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1884-10-16
IN A FLASH.

When first lrCmCmber my aunt Bar
bara, she was ever 40 years of age;
but she could never have been account
ed handsome woman. She was very
tall and very angular, with long, thin
face, the most remarkable feature of
which was a Roman nose Of command
ing proportions. But as she had one
of the kindcst hearts in the world, her
paucity of good looks seemed 4 matter
of triIling moment TO those who had
the privilege of knowing her well. 1t
was at my request that, some two or
three years before her death, she wrote
the following narrative of an actual oc-
currencc in early life. put the manu-
script away at the time, and did not
come across it again till the other day.
On looking oYcrit once more, it seemed
to me not unworthy of being tran
scribed for wider circle of readers
than that comprised by the writer's
immediate friends and acquaintances.
You ask me to 60 back in memory
(bcgins my aunD to what seems to me
now like period of remote antiquity,
when |, Barbara Waldron, was "a years
of age, and my sister BESSIE five years
younger, and cndeavor to put down in
writing the little story | told you by
word OF month Il few days ago.
You must know, then, that in those
far-otf days my sister and | were keep
ing house for our brother John, who at
that time filled the position of steward
and land-agont to Lord Dorrington.
The house we lived in was pleasant
but somewhat lonely residence, about
half mile from the little country town
of Lcvensiicld. The house suited us for
several reasons. In the first place, the
rent was low; in the next, n large
walled garden was attached to it, in
which Bessie and spent many happy
hours; and in the third place, there
was Il side entrance to DorringtOn
Park, by which my brother could take
4 shortcut to the hall whenever ho had
business with his lordship, or his lord
ship had business with him. Our house
hold was Il small one, and besides our
selves comprised only Mary Gibbs,
middle-agcd woman, and her niece, n
girl of Ii. Johns horse and gig were
looked after by young man named
Reuben Gates, who did not, however,
sleep on the premises. An important
part of Johns duties was torcceivc and
pay into the Levcnsiield Bank the
rents due from the farmers and other
tenants of property held under Lord
DOrringtOn. One such tenant was
certain Mr. Shillito, 4 corn and seed
merchant, who was noted for his &C.
centricities. 1t was only in keeping
with Mr.. Shillito's aggrayating way Of
doing business that he should never
pay his rent at TIE timo other people
PAID theirs; that he should always pay
1t in gold and notes, instead of giving
check for the amount, as he was
quite in a position to have done, and
that he should make u point of bring
ing it himself, instead of naming
time when my brother might have
called upon him; and finally, that he
seldom arrived with the money till
after banking hours,
We come now to II certain autumn
evening. Kitty had just brought in the
tea-tray. 1t was growing dusk, almost
too dusk to see clearly without the
lamp, but Bessie and / liked to ccono-
mize the daylight ms much as possible,
especially now that the long winter
nights were so close upon us. John had
come in for cup Of tea. This evening
he was going to drive over to Neither
croft, some ten miles away, dine there
with some friends, and stay all night.
After dinner there was TO be n dance;
and l was not without my suspicious as
to the nature of the attraction which
was taking him so far from home, al
though he laughingly pooh-poohcd the
soft impeachment when | challenged
him with it. John was in the act of
putting down his cup and saucer when
he heard Il noise of wheels outside,
which presently came to II stand op-
posite the house. He crossed the room
and peered through the window.
''lt's old Shillito, come to pay his
rent" he remarked moment later.
1.-Two hours after banking-time. as
usual. What a nuisance he is!' He
went down stairs; and about ten min
utcs later we heard Mr.. Shillito's trap
start off. Presently John came back.
"Ninety pounds, all in gold and
notes" he said, eve had to lock it up
in my desk till morning"
/ may here remark that iron safes
for the custody of money and other
valuables were by no means so COM
mon in those days, especially in out
of-the-way country places, as they ap'
pear to have since become.
"But the money will be quite safe in
your desk, W ont it John?" asked Bes-
sic.
"Safe enough withouta a doubt, see-
ing that no one but ourselves knows of
its presence there. Only, as a matter
of business, should prefer to have
had it in the Golfers of tho bank"
Presently he added: "The old fellow
was halt seas over, as he generally is;
and have no doubt, with so many
houses of call by the way, that he will
be soaked through and through before
he reaches home. | wonder whether
he goes to bed sober night in his
lifep"
A few minutes later John kissed us
and babe us good night Bessie and /
went to the window to see him start;
but by this time it was nearly dark.
He waved his whip at us as soon as he
had settled himself in his seat, then he
gave the reins little shake. Black
Beryl's heels struck fire from the