Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1885-05-06
Susan Miles, my aunt's maid, me.

ouC lAC
tears coursed each other down her fur
rowed cheeks. ''She does nothing but
ask for you; there's something ON her
mind, and she can't be easy till she's
seen y0u."
My aunt was propped up in bed, look
ing certainly paler than had ever seen
| her, but, so far as my unprofessiOnal eX-
| perience went, not exactly at the point
/ of death.
''l | am glad you have come, Herbert, !"
| she murmured weakly. at is over for
tins time, Doctor Porter says; but my
life hangs upon thread mere thread.
This evenings shock is the beginning
of the end. 1t is solemn warning to
me, Herbert, very solemn warning;
and must be prepared for a sudden
Gala very sudden call it may be.
When l was SO i'll just now, L pictured
the whole scene. the confusion, your DIS
tresS. Herbert"
| bowed my head, whilst queer
choking sensation in my throat pre-
vented my usual parrying repartee.
And l felt," continued my aunt,
'that, in all the circumstances, the one
thing left me TO be anxious about-the
clock, you know-might be overlooked
or forgotten at that time. 1t was on
my mind in that agony, Herbert: and
now | am determined, whilst l have
strength, TO settle the poor thing in its
new home before l go myself" She
spoke as if the clock were living crea-
ture. sit will be an effort, Herbert, :"
she went on, the tears filling her eyes;
''but | shall feel happier for it. And
delays are dangerous. want you TO
take the clock at once over 10 Calais.
find out your cousin Phyllis. and deliver
it into her own hands. Then come back
and report to me how she received it. -
do you wish me TO 60 nOw?" | in
qumed, looking, now that my alarm was
over. a little regretfully down at my
/ dreSs-suit.
Yes" replied my aunt. 81 will not
risk another day; that terrible spasm
may return ut any moment, and III my
weakened state"
"Yes, yes | interrupted hastily,
taking out my watch. at is nearly
nine O'clock have missed the even
ing mail; but can go IN the morning,
cross by the early boat, an1 come back
J ia lliC SCN bhSh bf
dinner -time-that Is, | amended, pull
ing myself up in my glib program by a
sudden remembrance, ''if have no de-
lay in finding Miss Mortimer. You
have her address, | suppose?"
"Well, no, haven't; but the MOrti-
mers have been for some years at Calais
You might find out at the English
bankers, | should say, OF the ConsuI's
| perhaps"
"Oh. 1t will he all right" L replied.
81 shall have no difficulty i'll unearthing
them, have no doubt"
~ don't see any necessity for your
hurrying back So quickly, Herbert, y
observed my aunt, whose spirits We're
rising; ''you might stay and-and make
| your Cousins acquaintance, and tell me
/ all about her, whether she is like Annie,
/ or has the Mortimers' nose-a short
snub nose, quite different from our fam
! lily ROman-a very common nose, In
fact. hope Annie's child has escaped
it; and-er-Herbert, l should like TO
hear how the family receive the clock. !"
That was the real secret; aunt Martha
was more anxious about the time-hon-
ored relic than the unknown niece.
81 have had case made for it, sand
my aunt plaintively, as she slipped a
| ten-pound note into my hand for ex-
penses, land Peters has packed it very
carefully. You viii find it ready for
you IN the hall. Goodbye, my dear
boy, and Heaven bless you and bring
you safe back againl"
With this solemn benediction L was
| II tho ban I fanpd PptarS
standing over a remarkable looking
black box, cross between a child's cof-
fin and a violin-case. This he handed,
with the gravity of an undertaken, into
my cab.
Strange to say, l had never before
crossed the Channel, and l had under
taken the expedition in all the confidence
of ignorance. The crossing from Dover
was calm and short; but it was just
when my difficulties, according to my
own calculation, should have been over
that they really began. L ought, L sup
pose, to have been prepared to hear the
French language spoken on French soil;
nevertheless it took me quite by sur
prise; so did the utter failure of my
French to convey any impression what
/ tNtI W IllC VI VIM
barred my pate 10 the gangway.
"Oti, OUi, Oli, Ie mieRg-,tne ctOche, J"
| explained, resisting the officials at
tempt to possess himself of aunt Mar
| tha's black box, which | had carefully
secreted under my travelling ulster.
III n'g pas de consequence" | con-
| cluded, with wave Of my dIsengaged
hand and proud impression that l was
speaking French well and fiuently-"l
n'y pas de consequence, maSSOOrr"
The man however was not TO be pro-
pitIated; he put me aside with more
force than politeness, whilst he poured
out torrent of perfectly unintelligible
speech before which my feeble effort
went down like reed before a noun
tain stream.
He evidently regarded me with sus-
picioa, for he beck0ned to couple OF
his comrades stationed at the top of the
ladder, and pointed, to my intense an
nOyanee, to the miniature sarcophagus
in its sdeceRt black" | was not, after
all, 10 effect the unobtrusive landing on
which had counted.
"Cest tu,e clOche," 1 repeated more
loudly-'-tgle clOchei"
The men glared at me. The eldest
and apparently most important of the
three demanded something of me in an
uncompromisiug tone which made my
British blood boil
ia clef! Oa est la clg i"-("The
keyl Where is the key?")
He might have been speaking Greek
for anything L knew to the contrary.
was reaping the just reward of sins
against the much-despised "Froggie"
of my schoolboy days.
"Ld clJ!" imperatively repeated the
official.
1 shook my head desperately. Just
then | remembered with dismay an ac-
count | had lately read of an accom-
plished lady y-smuggler who was found
to nave secreted some hundreds of yards
of valuable lace in "A chIld's coffin. 1
was evidently suspected of an intention
to defraud the revenue.
pas cORtrdbdRdein protested. spas
cORtraJdnde, j'dSSlrei 1t is Oh,
hang it all, can't you see it is a clock,
yon idiots1"-as | found myself being
conducted on to the pier in procession
which was too suggestive of tile escort
of London pickpocket to be agreeable.
Suddenly, as the one drop wanting To
fiji mn the enn of my humiliation the