The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1884-05-31

the spot. | will speak to the men to-
morrow when they come to take down
the wall"
The portion of the wall to which |
alluded separated our garden from that
of our neNt-door neighbor. 1t was of
stone, but the mortar had fallen out
and left it little more than a pile of
loose stones, which | feared might at
any moment topple down on the chill
dren, as they played about it. So l
concluded to have it pulled down, and
a light wooden pailing placed in its
stead.
Over there, in the next house, lived
an old gentleman and his wife, who
passed much Of their time in their gar
den, cultivating flowers and small gar
den fruits, in which they appeared to
take great delight. They had called
on US, 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 inter-
course.
One evening, by their invitation, we
stepped over into their garden to see a
collection of roses upon which Mr..
Warren prided himself. These duly
admired, the old lady expressed to
Cecie her pleasure in having neighbors
who WERE neighbors. She had lived
ten years in their present abode, and in
that time had OILY twice seen Mrs.
Gage.
'.Shc wasn't always such 4 recluse,"
said the good lady. Il remember that
when she and her husband first came
here, young married couple l was a
child then), they were merry, gay and
fond of society. twas their daughters
fate which so sadly changed them. You
have heard the story?
We had not been very long in this
town, yet Cecic remembered to have
heard something about daughter of
Mrs. Gage running away to join lover
at distance, and being never after
wards heard of.
"Her name was Emily" said Mrs.
Warren, land she was the handsomest
girl in the town. She was an only
child, and had been all her life petted
and INDUCED, and allowed to have her
own way. Such children don't gener-
ally turn out as we'll as they should do !;
and Emily Gage rejected many good
offers, to fall in love at last with a hand
some and dissipated fellow who made
his appearance here for a short time
Being unable to give a satisfactory &C
count of himself, Mr.. Gage forbade his
visiting his daughter, and the two then
agreed upon an elopement. This was
put a stop to, and the young man
shortly afterwards left the place. The
girl, however, was very closely watched,
the parents having cause to suspect
that she WIS in secret correspondence
with him. And one morning she was
nowhere to be found only a note
slipped under the door of her parents
slceping-room informed them that she
had gone to join her lover-that she
had taken with her all her Jewels, toge-
Their with five hundred dollars, which
her father had left in his writing desk :;
since she would need money for travel
ing and other expenses. And that was
the last that they ever knew about her.
But could they not find the young
man," asked CeCie.
'1hey found him, after 4 long search,
but he denied all knowledge Of Emily
and her intended flight. They had
correspondent, and she had assured
him that she would yet find means to
join him, but her letters had then
ceased nor had he ever since heard
from her. This was his story. Some
believed ii, but others, though nothing
could ever be proven against him, had
dark suspicious of him. And the
strangest thing was, that, having once
passed the garden wall, every trace of
the girl was utterly lost"
"lhe garden wall?"
Il forgot to mention that it was in
that manner she escaped. She mounted
the sloping trunk of the old tree at the
foot of the garden walk-the same
under which you SO often stand
then stepped along Its horizontal BRAN
ches to the top of the wall. This was
rendered evident by the broken twigs
and scattered leaves at the foot of the
tree. On the ground outside the wall
was found her shawl, which she had
doubtless dropped or forgotten in her
haste. That was all. TO this day the
mystery of her fate remains unrevealcd,
though undoubtedly there was foul
play somewhere. The jewels and the
money were great temptations to crime. y
That evening my wife said to me:
That horrible tree. Charlie Did
not tell you that it had 4 secret to re-
veal? Perhaps it knows what became
of that poor girl.
Next day Cecie went on visit of a
few days to her mother, taking the
children with her. Before going to my
business | gave orders respecting the
tree. | wished every trace of it to be
removed before her return, when per-
haps she would forget all about it and
It's gloomy associations.
Returning home in the evening, |
was met by the workmcn with coun-
tenances ofinterest and mystery. Their
information startled me. While busted