The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1885-12-19

membered him as he sat in his big arm
chair. He had white hair and fat
hands with dimples in them, and car
ried a thick, gold-headed cane. Good
Mr.. Noire! But she should never hear
anything of him again. Yes, it was
safe. She would do it. She did not
dare to name the decd-it seemed AS
bad to her As robhing Il church. But
ten years of ones age is Il terrible
temptation-at least it was to Miss
Cornelia.
1t was night-half-past twelve at
| least-the hour when ''church-yards
yawn and graves give up their dead
Ghosts might pop in upon her at any
done at such an hour. Miss Cornelia
arose, she stood before the fire with her
back toward it and took the candle
stick in her hand. The room was clean
and orderly. The green shades We're
down. The chairs stood in Il row
against the walls. The little marble
top table held its waX-water lily under
a glass shade, photographs of the good
old parents, with more cord than frame,
and more frame than picture, hung in
recesSes on either side of the mantei.
She did not dare to glance toward
them. Two gilt vases and amatch-Safe
adorned the mantel. Two feather fans
stood behind the vases. In the middle
of the oom stood Cousin Betsv's rock
ing-chair. a candle-stand, and a big
Bible, a white tidy beneath it, a big
fringed book-mark hanging over it's gilt
edge.
1t was a simple. cosy little "interior'
enough; but it became at this moment
as awcSOmc to Miss Corneia as a
church-yarl could have been.
She had ''crecps' up her back. Her
hair felt considerably like rising on
end. Then she put her hand in her
pocket and drew forth knife. The
light from a candle fell upon her face,
1t was CHASTITY. She took one step for
ward, and then paused; another, she
paused again.
ANY one who had observed her
would certainly have believed that she
was going straight to poor cousin
Betsy's room, to end that ladv's life BY
a iab of the sharp little knifc-bladc, but
she paused at the candle-stand, set
down the candlc-Stick-knelt down
opened the family Bible at the t~lv-lcaf, |
and slowly, cautiously began to Scrapo,
scrape, Scrapc at the two last figure.
of the record of her birth. Then she
crossed the room, took from a iire>ide
cupboard a pen and inkstand, wrote
two other figures in the place of those
she had erased; blew upon the leaf
until it was dry, carefully touched up
the rest Of the record to match in
brightness, and drew back to read the
amended lines. which now plainly
stated to all beholders that she had en-
tered this world thirty years before in
stead of forty.
"Nobody would guess that it had
been mcddled WITH gaSped Miss Cor
neiia, Historically. "~Nobody-oh,
gracious Now | lay me'-Oh, if I
could only remember my prayers l
didn't do it-oh!' for an awful voice
at that moment uttered her name in
her very ear;
''Cornelia."
1t was repeated. t seemed to come
from above. Cornelia looked W. eX-
pecting to see something dreadful. 1t
was repeated;
''Cornelia, amt you coming to bcd?'
1t was only Cousin Betsy speaking
through q disused register, which had
once conveyed heat from a stove in the
sitting-room to the chamber above.
All in q cold perspiration Cornclia
managed to reply that she would come
in a moment, and then closing the BIZ
bic and putting away the writing ma
terials she crept upstairs, a world of
horrible unseen things close after her.
She felt very sure a spectral clutch at
her chignon, a cold palm on her arm,
would not have surprised her. She had
committed a crime worse than that of
robbing a church, she feared. She had
meddled with the solemn record made
by hands long since moldering in the
grave upon the pages of the Holy Book,
and she had won ten imaginary years
by it.
Very pale was Miss Cornelia Lunt
next morning. Cousin Betsy predicted
''fever-nager,' and advised q%uinine.
DR.. Dumsday, when he called, hoped
Miss Cornelia was not i'll. Aunty
Pring, who took tea with them that
afternoon, suggested that she looked
"sort O skcered, as if she'd seen
suthin',' and Miss Cornelia felt as
though her guilt was branded on her
brow. However she recovered her
peace of mind in time, and was, as a
general thing, herself again, though
there were times when she felt that "a
Judgment might be expected at any
moment.
"Mr. Dumsday regularly came a
counting now. And he was a rich
widower, whose married daughter pro-
fessed herself anxious that pa should
have some one to take care of him.
Miss Cornelia had quite made up her