River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1886-07-08

the maids are out OF tnelT senses, SIT.
''One of the maids kept me awake
all last night" said the American.
lone of the maids, sirP" cried
Thomas.
Yes, Thomas. She kept running
into my room, at least every half hour,
TO look in the glass and admire her
self.
"She came out of that door," and he
pointed to one in corner, land
walked straight up to the mirror; the
light from the night-lamp fell upon her
face; she seemmed to catch my eye in
the glass each time, and smiled as she
did so. | only saw her face in the
mirror, but it was very pretty, though
very pale. She wore a short quilted
skirt, little bodice and full white
sleeves. She had a gold cross tied
about her neck by a black ribbon, and
wore little cap on her black braids -
very young girl with a perfectly
French face, Thomas. Do you know
herp'
Thomas made no answer. He
looked at the gentleman steadily and
grew very pale. At last he spoke:
If have the honor of understand
you, sir, the young person came
through this door,"
Yes" said the American.
more than once, sir?"
about once an hour, from midnight
until dawn"
'She was young. pretty, and French
looking, and wore quilted skirt. a
bodice and a cap, sirp
Exactly, Thomas"
"And smiled at you in the glass,
here you saw her face? understand
she did not look toward you as she
passed, sir?"
Right, Thomas"
May | beg you to do me the favor
of locking into this room, sirP"
The gentleman followed Thomas to
the door through which ne asserted
that the young person had passed; and
saw nothing but a square closet about
twelve feet square, with no door save
the one that opened into the large
room and high in the ceiling little
window through which bird could
scarcely have flown. 1t contained no
furniture whatever.
You will acknowledge, sir, said
Thomas very gravely, that any ordin-
ary young person must have remained
here if she had entered as you think
she did, sir, and that we should now
find her here. sir
There must be a secret dOOr-or-
or some thing" cried the American.
II am not mad, and Twas wide awake. "
Eyes, sir" said Thomas, still more
solemnly. "As | remarked, an ordin-
airy young person could not have con-
trived to disappear: but | am well a
ware that the young person you have
seen is not an ordinary person, sir.
She has been an apparition, sir, for
more than two hundred years.
IAN apparitionn' cried the American
gentlemen.
Eyes, SIR replied Thomas, an APP
partition, sir. | think you have seen
Lady IS gentlewoman Rosette, sir. 1t
is ten years since she was seen here be-
fore to my knowledge, but she has been
seen very often. Yes, sir, it must have
been Rosette.
Il should like to hear more about Ro-
settle" said the gentleman.
Yes, SIR said the valet. This is
a very old family, and they have lived
on this estate since the time of Queen
Elizabeth, and about two hundred
years ago there was Lord Herbert
my present master is Lord Herbert, as
YOU know; it is a favorite name in the
family-who was a very gay, wild
young nobleman, and was a great adj
mirer of the ladies. sir. However, by
the time he was thirty he married and
settled down, and began to be very
much thought of and respected. So
was his lady, too, sir, though she was
not very handsome and was very
naughty.
"One thing, however, the English
servants did not like-she brought
foreign maid with her from France
girl named Rosette, and as pretty as
a picture.
NV lady thought all the world of
her, and, of course. the people were
Jealous and talked against Rosette, and
the women began TO say something
about the way my lord looked at her
However that might be my lady loved
her, and | think she thought too much
of herself to be jealous of her maid,
until one day, sitting before her glass,
Rosette combing her hair for her, she
heard her husband come into the room.
Her brck was toward him, and Rosette
was behind her, and they forgot the
mirror. and so, sir, she saw in it with
out stirring, both their faces, and she
saw the girl smile at her husband, and
she saw him smile back at her. She
understood everything, but she never
stirred and she never said anything
to him, no, nor to the maid, sir.
This was her room, sir. In that
little closet Rosette had her bed, to be
ready if she called her. But one morn
ing my lady's bell rang furiously, and
the maid who answered it was told to
do my lady's hair, for ROsette had
gone back to her native country.
"All the time she was doing it to
the girl though she heard a faint
moaning sound, and was frightened,
and went back to rest pale and trem-
bling, and before night it was very well
known in the house that that little
closet there was not only locked, but
nailed up.
There was a GOODNESS between my
lord and my lady. and they keep very
much apart; but she had told him also
that Rosette had returned to France
and no one ever saw the girl again.
After that my lord seemed to take
to his wild ways again, in measure,
and drank a great deal. and my lady
lived very much alone. She never had
a regular maid, and size was harsh to
those who waited on her. There never
were any children, but they both lived
to be very old indeed, and at last my
lady died in this very room and was
buried in the church yard yonder.
my lord was as old as she by that
time. but as soon as the funeral was
over he went into my lady's room and
stood a long while before the locked
and nailed closet door.
Then he said to himself Il cannot
die until know, and ordered it to be
opened.
They sent for the blacksmith to do
il; and all the while my lord sat in his
great armchair staring before him.
There was hundreds of nails in it. but
they were all out At last. and the lock