Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-08-15
The MISSING DEED.


go told mo that Grant Was . very
oo@non name. There are the Grants
q Grant and the Grants Of Dslvey
6ksre ere Grants 10 Edinburgh and
<inents 10 London. Alas the Grants
~ 8 disiehsrited race for their grand
bthcrs. Il seems. always squsudertd
IL fortunes which they ought to have
len 70 their sons. At least, I kaov
that vas the csss With my own
Grandfather. Had he not played
ducks and brakes with my inhsri-
lance I should now have besa--bu,
there, ! am content to be whsf am
Grant Of Tully bardsne--and nsver a
dssrer or lsvelier home. had Scottish
mar 70 dwell In. My wife often laughs
at ne for being so fond Of the place
But, then, the strsngess event Of my
life Is bound up with It's possession.
And surely ! may rePsmber and be
thankful for that event, for ~i,hont IL
Jondcr lady with the silver hair would
scarcely now have been sitting near
me, and laughing At the iollies OF an
old man ~ she does.
Five-and-thirty years ago I vas living
here In the Grange At Tally bardsne. The
place bad come to my father by bequest
not many years before, and he hal
scarcely learned 70 play the laird before
h died and left il to me. was only .
boy then, and my mother and ] were
quite content with our lives in the new
home. So there lived and grew up to
manhood. and there in the course Of
years l fell in love. Accordingly one
winter morning rode across to Glen
Lsvannoch and asked Mr.. Fraser to
give me his daughter to be my wife. Or
course I had found out beforehand that
Miss Fraser Was not unwilling to DO
given.
VOL, we had long interview, and
TIE results In brief were these: had
left homo tolerably confident, as one is
won't to be ct four-and-twenty, and l
returned about as detected aud indig-
pant as any reasonable man ever was.
Mr.. Fraser was IN old friend. lie had
been one Of my guardians. He was my
fsther's executor. expected my de-
clsrstion to be heartily welcomed. Tul-
lybardane IL Q better property than
Glen Levsnnoch. What was there to
stand in our wsys But when l came
back felt like . man who has been
stunned by o treachsrous blow. All Of
= sudden, for the first time in my life,
learned that my title to Tullybsrdaue
Was not beyond dispute / heard that
. certain document had long been miss
ing from the title deeds, and that till
that document was found could never
be entirely secure in my own home;
but, what was far worse under the cir
Mr.. Fraser informed me
be could not encourage my suit for bis
hand.
What followed l don't quite remem-
Der. / have o haunting fear that lost
my temper, and that on one side or the
other . good deal of strong language
Was used. ! know | swore | would
never give Nellie NJ, not even if | were
turned out Of Tully bsrdane, neck aud
crop, next day. OF course it was very
foolish, bnt then the circumstances
we're exceptional. When | got home ]
sent for the attorney, and for the next
four days | did nothing, | think, ex-
sept consult lawyers, aud look over
papers, and rummage every hole and
,orner Of the Grange for the missing
Iced. But what Dir. Fraser had told
ne proved to be only too true.
in the week that followed remsm-
Der three things distinctly, not that
hey were in themselves important, but
hat they bore upon that strange event
which made turning point in my life.
The first is that rode over to Glen Le-
and was told that Mr.. and Miss
Fraser had left homo to stay with |
friends in Edinburgh. The second is
hat my man George, who acted as foot.
man and valet to me. got drunk one
night and left the house door wide |
open--for which | have not ceased to
hank Providence ever since. Now, IS
! rule | am lenient to these failings.
whiskey, / regret to say. has an at
traction for men in these northern eli
mates which few can resist. But,
whether it was that was out Of sorts,
Dr. whether 1t was that my mother was
don't know. but | resolved
10 make an example, and turned the
man out Of the house next day. The
third incident was more important, and
shall be told at length.
am = good sleeper; l don't dream
much / don't believe in dream warn
ipgs and such things. fhaveno faith 10
ghosts though / know for fact that
my cousins the MscMocks have ban
shse in their family--as q fact, l say.
But about that time | used to try and
dream of = certain lady, and so one
night I fell asleep and did dream.
And this is what dreamed:
thought ! was in Edinburgh, stand.
ing In Princes street land let me find
my sired. in England or anywhere else
which can compare with that, and
waiting by the waverly Monument.
Opposite me was . hotel, which | sup.
pose l was watching, for out Of it pre-
ssptly came. as clear and vivid rs in
life, Nellie Fraser, with veil over her
bead. She came slowly toward me
and lifted her veil, revealing q face so
white and miserable that 1 scarcely
knew it.; and then, ss | stepped for
ward, she raised one hand, and, point
ing up across the gorge toward
The High.Street Hill, vanished
into moving mist. Then the
sbsdows began to shift aud
shuifis themselves, aud presently
out came another vision from my
dream. l was there still, standing, but
all the surroundings had changed. l
seemed TO DO Ia sort OF shop or Office.
A counter was before me, and all
around me were thin phantom figures,
with no features that could see. Only
one among these misty shapes had
Visible human face. And that one I'D.
vanced toward me with smile which
sAall never forget. II was the face OF
. young man, slightly dropped, IS lifts
owner were shy or deferential. with
blue. bright eyes, and gentle, handsome
Z - II =