The Penn's Grove record., 1885-02-21

be-" Rex remarked, with a Tegretful
sigh.
REX, do you know that New Years
Eve is close at baud, and we are down.
cast and forlorn2 1t is really very
wicked not to have a smile for the last
days of the old year" declared Gladys.
tYour Y e are full of tears as you
speak, you little hUmbug ~ declared
her lover, regarding her tenderly,
"Bpcause l think of your going so
far across the sea. Oh, Rex, Rex, it is
dreadful / should never have the
courage to part with you when the time
came, you dear old boy ~
lit will not come for three months
vet ; the spring is the best time to start
on such a journey !"
''Three months That seems a long
time. Perhaps something will happen
before then to make you change your
mind" /.
"You Old gray walls, why actir'yUd'
not tell your secret, aad let me stay
with my darling Gladys, my promised
wife % exclaimed the young man, sud-
denly raising his clenched fist towards
the iyy-grown windows of the south
wing of Fendall Court, now visible
through the trees.
Hush, Rex dear /" Gladys whispered
in awe-sIruck tones. sin that room
where the ivy hangs thickest over the
window Herbert Fendall was seen for
the last time. His ghost will haunt
you if you talk and look So
II wish | could see his ghost and
then | should know for sure that he
had departed this life"
"You couldn't make the lawyers
believe III your ghost story any more
than in the other more probable tales
you have told them.n
"True-alas, too true acknowledged
Rex.
"Now, Rex, let us put doleful
thoughts out Of our heads for a time,
and try TO be cheerful for New Years
Eve-foI aunt Letitia's sake, and be-
cause it is right, Gladys said, with an
attempt at cheerfulness she was far from
feeling.
Tourists 81 jaunting-cars occasionally
drove through the demesne of Fendall
Court in Che spring and summer its
long sweep of avenue with oyerarching
trees and the wilderness of greenery be-
yond proved a strong temptation to
leave the dusty highway and old Tat.
bury, the gate-keeper, had orders to al
low any respectable looking vehicle to
enter.
"What possibilities there are in the
place, with proper care but it would
take a fortune to put 1t in ordarl See
that beautiful sweep of lawn-a rank
wildernessl Look at the statues, broken
and weed-grownl And the lake is
nothing but a vast green waste. 1t
gives one the shivers to look at it,"
s'True for you, your honor-it is but
a sorry place now but five, and.twenty
years ago, W Ell | was a lad, there was
not a finer or better kept estate in all
the country round"
THE house is vacant, of couTse2'
mo. your honor. Some of the Fen
dalls still live there; but they have now
only ha'pence where they once had
guineas !; and they can make but sorry
fight against the wrack and ruin about
them.''
Il am sure the place has a history 70
sit has, your honor"
RELATE it, Patsy /; you are, without
doubt, a good story-teller-your face
shows as much"
Conversation of this sort took place
between the car-driver and his ''fare,"
whenever a stranger was taken through
the estate and Patsy, a renowned
''whip" of the locality, was in his ele-
ment when asked to tell the story of
Fendall Court. Unlike most of his
class, he held strictly to facts, and al
lowed his Imagination no play in his
simple recital.
"Thirty years ago, your honor, " he
would begin, ''yonder house was the
scene of merry.makings and festivals
such as are told Of in fairy-stories /;
every horse in the stables had a pedl-
gree, the table groaned with dainties
from foreign parts, and the ladies had
their satin gowns v from London and
Paris.
Sir Herbert Fendall, a bachelor of
four-and-twenty, was lord of the manor
then A fine handsome gentleman he
was, but rather strange in himself-nOt
like other folk and they do say that
the poetry ne wrote would Just bring
tears TO your eyes. Sure every lass in
the county would have given her two
eyes for a smile from him but never a
one would he look at except Lady Ir.
mentrude Mowbray. She was staying
at the Court and you may well say she
was a real beauty-looked like the
young lady, Miss Luttrell, that's living
at Fendall now. Molly Brady says.
Their families we're related. so that is
not surprising. The housekeeper showed
me once Lady Irmentrude's picture in
the big drawing -room-you see two of
its windows over beyant, looking to the
west-and, faith, sir, | never see such
a sight ! Her eyes smile right down on
you, and you'd think the sun itself was
caught in her gold-brown hair, while
her white neck, coming up out of her
green gown, looks Just like one of them
lilies over beyant in its green leaves.
"Well, sir, it was plain to be seen
that she would marry Sir HeI bert; fond
enough they were of each other. and a
fine well matched pair they were. So
it went OF till Christmas time, when
there was a great fox hunt. All the
quality from the Court followed the
hounds, with crowds of people from all
the country round. All, your honor,
that was a sight for sore eyes It's
well l remember it, though I was but a
bit of a gossoon then. Sir Herbert rode
close at Lady Irmentrude's side /, and
handsome enough they both looked on
their tine blooded horses. Not much Of
the hunt did they see, | am thinking,
for they looked only at each otherl
"Well, sir, after the hunt there was
a great ball in the evening. When 1t
was timgt to dress, Sir Herbert went up
to his own rooms, and, if you'Il believe
me, from that time-now thirty years
- All NLgo -
heard Of. Och, but that was a sore
time for Fendall! And long and weary
was the search they made for him all
through the country ; but never a trace
could they find OF him and Heaven
only knows what has become of the
lord of Fendall
"Poor Lady Irmentrude, she grew
whittier and thinner every day, till she
looked like one of them lilies, thirsty
for a drop of rainl Many a year she
I fouUbf with tba hftfar corroxv ~ no..