Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-06-14
NO. Ii wELHAN SQUARE,
tfpm the cornhln Nsgszne.l
CHAPTER 1.

OF our mouse AZ bsysNatcf CIV o'N"'"e
after linncr in high good hnmor.
: had that day been appointed TO GER
tain post al the British Moseusa. which
would afford me ample opportunity for
the studies in which was most intc-
rested. and put me in possession OIL
what expected to find an ample com.
petcnce. We had been talking over
my prospects, and the only cloud
could discern upon the horizon was
that should have TO be at my post Al
an earlier hour in the morning than was
comfortably compatible with the three
mile walk from our house TO the MI
scum.
"what pity" said my youngest
sister. Patricia, "that we don't sun
live In the dear Old house in Welham
SQUARE. You could have got to the
Museum from there in five minutes.
was born after we left Welham
SQUARE. but Patricia was six years my
senior. and could remember her nursery
days there.
mot at all" said my father, very
abruptly; "thc walk will do you all
the good in the world"
AS the old gentleman had been, to
all appearances. fast asleep for at least
ten minutes, | was rather surprised at
the energy with which he spoke. Look
ing up. | saw my mother making anx-
ious signals to Patricia, which she fol-
lowed up by instantly changing the
subject.
A few days afterward, as descend
ed reluctantly into the bowels OF the
earth at the Edgcware-Road Metropoi,-
tan station, on the way to my work
for the first time, this episode REQUIRED
20 nv mind, aud began to speculate
upon what might be the reasons that
made the mention Of Welham Square
distasteful to my parents. | deter
mined TO consult my eldest sister,
Ellen. on the subject, and from her
and some other sources gradually ac-
cumalatcd the facts which VIII pre-
sent here in the form Of contiguous
narrative.
No. IL Welbam Square has always
been the freehold property OF my iami-
Iy. 1t was built, together with seve-
raj adjoining houses, about the begin
ming Of the eighteenth century by the
owner of a plat Of land in which the
houses stand, retired attorney who
had two nephews. These were An
drew Massey, my great-great-great-
grandfather, and his cousin, Ronald
Massey. Ronald, who was generally
thought to be his uncle's favorite and
probable heir, was an exceedingly
tall and powerful young man, with
a forbidding and melancholy express
sion of countensnce. As boy
he was siDgularly backward, and
his incspacity for mental exertion SEEM
ed TO develop. as he grew up, into
something not far removed from down.
right idiocy. His weakness Of mind
caused him to be remarkably subject to
the influence of those With whom he
lived, and in particular his cousin An
drew. my ancestor, was supposed to ex-
ercise over him an influence almost
amounting to fascination. and to be
able to mould him to all the purposes Of
an exceptionally vigorous will. Shortly
after the building Of the houses in what
is now Welham Square the uncle Of
these young men died, and Andrew
took possession Of all his property under
the provisions. as he asserted. OF a
will. the existence of which no one
except Ronald had any interest
in disputing, and which no one except
Andrew, the sole executor aud deyisee,
ever saw. Shortly before his uncle's
death Ronald had become engaged to
young lady named Lettice White, to
whom he was passionately attached,
and il was generally supposed among
the neighbors that upon his accession
to the aruncular wealth the marriage
would take place. But when barely
decent interval had occurred since the
old gentleman's obsequies, the fair
Lettuce was led to the altar not by the
impecunious Ronald. but by his more
fortunate cousin, Andrew. The newly
married pair took up their residence in
No. IL. and Ronald came to live with
than.
When it was represented to Andrew
by some Of his few intimate acqusint-
ances that this arrangement was so
singular as almost to be thought inn
proper. he CURLY gave them to under
stand that Ronald's mental condition
was not such as TO permit of his only
living relation allowing him to live alone,
and that he was compelled by the merest
considerations Of family affection to
take the unfortunate young man into
his own household. So the three lived
on in the stately and somewhat gaunt
mansion, Andrew collecting his rents
with methodical regularity, and
otherwise giving his neighbors but
little concern. AS for Ronald,
there soon came TO be little
doubt in any ones mind Of his
confirmed imbecility. lie appeared sell
dom. and when he did, way for the
most part silent, regarding his cousin
and former betrothed with an express
sion Of the profoundest submission,
which al times merged into . look Of
wild aud hardly human apprehension,
:" like terrified brute beast" as it
was put by an old lady who was one
OF the few friends occasionally privi-
legged to partake Of the gloomy hospi-
taiity Of this uncomfortable establish
ment. Nothing more was ever known
Of the condition in which my ancestor,
his wife, and his cousin lived, and no
one was specially interested when,
about six years after the marriage,
Ronald. who had not been seen for
many months, died, and was buried in
afrugal manner.
Before he had been dead year An
drew and Lettuce suddenly left their
house and took up their abode else
where, and after awhile a tenant was
fourd for No. Ill. Thirty years later,
the lease Of the house having expired.
Andrews son, who had succeeded 70
his fathers property, came to reside
there. but not for long. He left the
house suddenly after few wears, and
rumor went abroad that il was haunt
cd, probably by the ghost OF the unfor-
tunste Ronald. From this time No. IL