Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-12-19
on seeing the old lady enter, chow you

| did not even hear hlTn-Sne was IulilhihtS
of the cofffn-that magnificent coffin-anc
accusing herself of being very stupid
| very silly, 10 have been so premature
| Nevertheless she embraced him heartily,
took off her shawl and gloves, replaced
her black Grape hat by cap and began
to talk. giving him all the news OF his
relations and his native place, while the
captain from time to time would exclaim:
"You are so kind, Sou are so good, aunt,
| to come and see mer' Suddenly he asked:
'sYou are not going back soon, hopper
"No," she replied ~ will remain until
YOU are on your feet" 'Then you have
| trunk: is it at the railroad station! II so,
send Boron for it." st is useless" she
! replied. you will sleep here" he con-
tinued; Il have an empty room by the
side of the entrance there; it will be as II
you were at home"
When the unexpected coffin arrived 1t
was dragged into Nile. Sigouls chamber
| and placed before the wah in front Of the
bureau.
Three weeks rolled by; the aunt was
| still installed by the bedside or her
| nephew. She ate with him, administered
his tonics and every evening wrote to her
bonnie.
Aunt" said Coste at last, 'you are
wrong to confine yourself so closely; you
must 90 out a little and walk around the
city; visit the cathedral, the chateau, the
| Place d'Armes. Mayence has very
| handsome statue Of Gutenberg.
"Baste"' said the old woman, ''all that is
nothing to me-" She would not even at
tend church Sunday, but practiced her
| devotiOns alone in her room. All the
| time. in spite of the quietude of her exist
ence, and that she was very happy to as
sist in the convalescence of Francis COSte,
there was burden upon her soul-the
presence of that coffin haunted her by
| day and by night. "What was she to do
How could she get rid of it," were ques-
tions that she asked herself eternally.
When she got into bed, after blowing out
her candle, by the dim light of the eXpir-
| ing wick she would cast last look upon
the sinister case; in the morning, almost
before her eyes were open, she perceived
what her giant of nephew would have
needed; had he really died.
She arranged her chamber at peep of
| day, but the day aSer her arrival, as soon
! as her back was turned, there was Boron
trying to sweep. Thump, thump, the
broom struck against the box, and there
were sounds one is not accustomed to
hear every day. Then one morning she
tore her dress on t re abOminable box; in
fact she could not bulge from her seat
without running against it. Moreover,
| it resounded at the slightest touch, in
spite of all its packing. But the captain
was recovering daily. Hcnow passed the
better part of his time in an arm chair
with his leg stretched upon two other
chairs. ''Mein Colt, galgulate thatyou
will commence to walk in about week, "
said the surgeon one fine afternoon after
examining the wound. at will not be
| too soon," declared the captain; and he
was still better pleased when he was al
lowed to limp from the bed TO the win
dow. though it is true that on the way he
staggered and would have fallen but for
the arm of Boron; while Mile Sigoul
with keen emotion recalled the time
when as a little fellow he took his first
lesson in walking.
In five or six days he wished to recon
noiter-to see for himself how his good
aunt was encamped. "Mon Dieu, aunt;
what is that?' he demanded, as amazed
and bewildered he stopped upon the
threshold of her door. He had discOv-
cred the boX-that enormous boX-shin-
ing in the pale light of the winters sun.
"What the devil have you brought from
over there?' Aunt SigOul became very
red Are they robes? a heap of frill
trails with which you expected to aston
ish the Maycncais? All, aunt, | did not
dream that you were so coquettish,' and
he tapped the case which gave back
lugubriOuS sound.
Come. Francis; come, my boy STAN
mered the old dcmoisellc But as she
spoke two great tears rolled down her
checks "What is it, aunt?'
Nothing, Francis, nothing; only !
thought'-and she struggled TO restrain
a sob. while she rummaged in her skirts
for her handkerchief, Il thought
"What did you think, auntE" Il
thought" she replied, in voice choked
with chagrin, II thought, after your
letter, that you would not Ike to be buried
here, so | brought "A coffin
"Ycs." Really Yes" The cap
tain gave peal of laughter that
woke all the echoes of the box. Reas-
sured by HIS gayety the old lady laughed
in her turn, her face still bathed in tears.
IL was wrong" she began, but Francis
drew her to his breast. You are good
woman my aunt" said he; "a good
woman all the same"
And the joke appeared so much better
to him from the fact that he was stand
ing upright and almost well beside n
coffin which no longer menaced him. He
amused himself for the rest of the even
ing relating It first to Boron and then to
the surgeon, and went to bed and woke
up laughing His good humor did not
fail him even when at breakfast the next
day Aunt Sigoul said to him Il think |
must return TO Nancy to-day"
Francis raised no objections, for he
knew that his aunt at her age needed to
resume her habits of comfort and rest.
So when, with new packets of voyage"
and her sachel hung around her neck,
she came 10 embrace him, he could not
refrain from laying: "Wel, aunt, what
about the box" This time it was the
aunt who began to laugh, replying in her
hin, sharp voice: "As ] brought it for
you, my nephew, you can do what you
please with it," and she departed.
The coffin did not worry he captain,
and he gave himself no anxiety about it.
He was cured; was able TO visit about
Mayence himself, to see the cathedral,
the grand ducal chateau and the statue of
Gutenberg.
He had written to his Aunt Sigoul, but
had received no answer. About the lst
Of February Boron came in with letter
His aunt was in bed suffering from an
attack Of bronchitis caught on her way
back to Nancy. The captain was sorry,
but he did not think much about it with
his other vexations. The successive de
feats of the French army, the ennui of
disheartening captivity, the insolent pride
of the Mayencais, prevented him from
having any particular worry in regard to
it. He continued to receive letters; II
one would say she was better the follow
ing would announce that she was worse.
He invariably replied, but delicacy pre-
vented him from speaking of the coffin.
The preliminaries being arranged at
Versailles, the peace of Frankfort was
signed. Radiant with joy, the captain
rushed to the proprietor, squared his ac-
asu,+, ,,ora tho address Of Mile SiuOul