Morris tribune., 1884-04-30


reIsomc enough for you, surely"
He IS no bigger than bantam cock.
1t is little Good he can do if the house
is set upon by robbers"
Its not always strength that wins
q light. Girl. 1t takes brains as we'll as
Drawn. Come, now. Barbara, give these
follows fair trial.
Barbara turned her face before the
mirror. letting down one raven tress,
and looping up another.
Il will, mother she said at last.
Tla. evening. Ernest, the gunsmith,
knocked At the door.
You sent IOr me, Barbara" he said,
going 70 The Girl. who stood upon the
hearth. uoquettishly warming one pref
ty foot and then the other.
Yes, Ernest" she replied; 1--WE
been thinking on what you said the
other night when you were here
Wei, Barbara?"
Ernest spoke quietly, but his dark
blue eyes flashed, and he looked at her
intentlv.
Il want to test you.
.'HoW?'
i want to see if you dare do g very
disagreeable thing"
What is it?"
There is an old coffin up stairs. 1t
smells mouldy. They say Redmond,
the murderer was buried in it; but the
devil came for his body and left the
coffin empty at the end of q week, and
it was finally taken from his tomb. 1t
is up stairs in the room grandfather
died in, and they say grandsire does
not rest easy in his grave for some
reason, though that l know nothing
about. Dare you make that coffin your
bed to-night?'
Ernest laughed.
is that all? 1 will do that and
sleep soundly. Why, my pretty one,
did You think l had weak nerves?''
Your nerves will have good proof
if You undertake it. Remember, no
one sleeps in that wing OF the house"
Il shall sleep the sounder."
Goodnight, then. will send a
lad to show you the chamber. If you
will stay till morning." said the impe-
rious Miss Barbara, Il will be your
WIFE
Ernest turned straight away and fol-
lowed the lad in waiting through dim
rooms and passages, up echoing stairs,
along narrow, damp ways where rats
scuttled, before q low chamber. The
lad looked pale and scared, and evil
IDENTIFY wanted to hurry away, but Ern-
est made him wait till he took a survey
by the aid of his lamp. 1t was very
large and full of recesses, which had
been barred across. He remembered
hot o1I ha1
sane for several years before his death,
so that this precaution had been neces-
sary for the safety of himself and 9TH
ers. In the center of the room stood q
coffin; beside it stood q chair. The
room was otherwise perfectly empty.
Ernest stretched himself out in the
coffin.
''Be kind enough to tell Miss Barbara
it is a very good fit," he said.
The boy went out and shut the door,
leaving the young gunsmith alone in
the dark.
Meanwhile, Barbara was talking with
the big blacksmith in the sitting-room.
Barney" said she, pulling her
hand away from his grasp when he
would have kissed her, Il have test
to put you to before [ give you an an
swer. There is q corpse lying in the
chamber where my grandsire died, in
the untenanted wing of the house. Ii
you dare sit with it all night, and let
nothing drive you away from your post
you will not ask me again in vain"
you will give me q light and bot
tie of wine and book to read?'
''Nothing."
care these all the conditions you
can offer me, Barbara"
Cali. And if you are frightened,
you need never look me in the face
again.
SO Barney was conducted to his post
by the lad, who had been instructed in
the secret, and whose involuntary start
at Ernest's placid face as he lay in the
coffin was attributed by Barney to the
natural awe of a corpse. He took his
seat, and the boy left him alone with
the darkness, the rats and the coffin.
Soon after, young Fritz, the tanner,
arrived, fattered and hopeful, from
the fact that Barbara had sent for him.
':Have you changed your mind, Bar
bara?" he asked.
"No, and shall not, either, until
know that you can do a really brave
thing"
What shall it be? I swear to salts
Il have proposal to make to you.
My plan requires skill as well as eour-
age" she replied.
"Tell me-
Well, in this house there is a man
watching corpse. He is sworn not
to leave his post till morning. If you
can make him do it, 1 shall be satisfied
that you are as smart and brave as
husband ought to be-
'Why, nothing is so easy" exclaim-
ed Fritz. Il can scare him away.
Furnish me with a sheet, show me the
room and 90 to your rest, Barbara.
You shall find me at the post in the
morning"
Barbara did as required, and saw the
tanner step lightly away to his task. 1t
was nearly twelve o'clock, and she be-
took herself to her own chamber.
Barney was sitting at his vigil, and
SO far all had been well.
The night seemed very long, for he
had no means of counting the time. At
times thrill went through him, for it
seemed as though he could hear a low
suppressed breathing not far away; he
persuaded himself that it was the wind
blowing through the crevices of the old
house. Still it was very lonely, and
not at all cheerful.
The face in the coffin cleaned white
and still. The rats squeaked as if there
was famine upon them and they smell
ed dead flesh. The thought made him
shudder. He got up and walked about,
but something made q noise behind
him, and he put his chair with its back