The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1884-02-28
BEHIND THE TAPESTRY.

The first part of the strange story
which am about TO tell happened some
ten years ago.
Ten years ago l was in4he first sorrow
of my widowhood. was childless. too:
and when the grave closed over my hus-
band thought that there was no place
left for me in the world.
| was rich, young; and my friends
and ny Own rejection in the glass told
me / was beautiful.
OF course l had many acquaintance;
what rich young widow has not? But
acquaintance and friends differ widely
l did not care for the people who flat
tered and made much of me, but |
turned, even in the first days of my
trouble, to one friend.
She, too, was young and beautiful.
We were schooLfellOws; we were en-
gagged III the same time; we were mar
ried in the same month of the same
year.
During the three years of my married
life we had seen little of each other, but
when my husband died, and Mary Cliff
ford wrote to me tenderlv out of her full
heart, answered back her love.
She asked me to stay with her, and |
went.
How peaceful were these days spent
in her beautiful homei The house and
place were called ASpen's Vale. The
house was many centuries old. Its archi-
lecture was remarkable; its rooms
curious. 1t was rambling old place,
and Of course it had ghost. 1t stood
in the midst of very lovely grounds,
overlooking wood and river. Altogether
it was one of the show-places in ---
shire.
/ stayed with the Cliffords for couple
of months. During this time the house
was quiet, visitors few-they eschewed
company for my sake.
At the end OF two months left them.
comforted and helped. and with many
promises of q return by-and-by
Circumstances, however, too varied
and too many TO mention prevented
that second visit taking place for
couple of years. At the end of that
time great longing came over me to
see Mary Clifford again. must write
to her, and propose visit. did so.
By return of post got q short but
characteristic reply:
DEAREST HONOR: of course long to see
you, but, unfortunately, the house is full.
Large as il is, it is crammed from cellar to
attic:
my dear I don't want to refuse you. do
long to see you. viii you sleep in the tapes
try-room2 for of course it is empty. dare not
put anybody else there, but don't think you,
Honor, VIII be afraid Of the ghost. If the
tapcStry-roOm will do, come. and a thousand
welcomes. / 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. EX-
pect me tomorrow.
The next evening arrived at Aspen's
Vale in time for dinner The tapestry
room looked charming. fell in love
with it on the spot. and vowed laugh
ingly that the ghost and | 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. | could not resist the cheerful in
fuence of my old friends company. |
felt happier than had done since my
husband s death, and, after a very de-
lightful 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
extreme end of wing.
No other bedrooms were in this wing
There were a Smoking-room, morning
room, and little oriel chamber. which
Mrs. Clifford in her early married life
hoA a,,rin,,cIxr E1A,A I,.&
now seldom occupied. Neither did she
believe in the ghost. but she confessed
that this little oriel chamber had an
eerie feel.
The morning-room opposite, cheerful
and pretty enough. was unused. Its
furniture was antique. 1t belonged to
a by-gone da". and IFS inhabitants were
dead. The sinOking-room also was de-
serted; even the fumes of tobacco had
left it, the squire preferring more CEN
trail apartment in the modern part of
the house.
Altogether. this wing of the old
house seemed dead Visitors only came
to it out OF curiosity; they paid brief
visits, and Sreferred doing so in broad
daylight.
1t must have been quite hundred
years since the tapestry room in the far
end OF this wing had been slept in Old
as the other rooms in the wing looked,
the tapestry-room lore quite the palm
for ancient appearance. There was not
an article of furniture in it, not chair,
not table. which must not have seen
the light of centuries.
1he furniture was all of the blacklist
oak, the bedStead the usual four poster
on which our ancestors loved 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 hung
completely with very ancient and very
faded tapestry. There was a story
about this tapestry. One Dame Gift
ford, of long, long by-gone days, had
worked it, with the help of her maidens.
She had come to an untimely end on
the very day on which the great work
of her life had been completed.
1t does not matter to this story what
became of the proud and fair dame,