The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1886-08-04
THE MISSING DEED.


THE MISSING DEED.
ann a Grant know there are o;he
Grants \ clumsy EngIishHan once tod
me that Grant wa a very common n.fnie
There are the Grants Of Grant and ia,
Grants Of Dalvey there are tirant> il
Edinburg, and Grants in London. Alas
the GF.tnt- are disinherite,i race. for
their .randfIthers. If seems. alwav,
>quaniered the fortunes which they
ought 10 have len to their sons Al least
know that WAS the case with my owr
grandfather Had lie not played duck,
and drake> with NV inheritance | should
now have beeri-but there. ann content
20 be what am. Grant Of Tulivbar,iant.
and never desrer or lovelier home had
Scottish man to dwell in Ny wife ofter
laughs al me for being 80 fond of the
place. But then the strsngest event oI
my life j. bound up with it, possession
And surely I may well remember and
be thankful FOR that event, for without
II Wonder Iidy with the silver hair would
Scarcely now have been sitting near me
and laughing at the folhes Of an old man
A. she does
Five-and-thirty wears ago | was living
here in the Grange at Tullytar,iene The
place had come To my father by bequest
not many years before, and he had scarre-
learned to play the Laird before he died
and left II to me. | was only boy then,
and my mother and l were quite content
with our lives in the new home. -
there | lived and grew up to manhood,
and there in the course Of years | fell in
love Accordingly, enc winter morning
I rode across to Glen Iavannoch. and
asked Mr. Fraser to give me his daugh-
ter 10 be nay wife of course had found
ont beforehand that Miss Fraser was not
unwilling 10 be given.
Well, We had a long interview. ami the
results, in brief. were these had left
hoIne tolerably confident, a. one is want
To be At four-and-twenty, and returned
about A. detected and indignant a. any
reasonable man ever WAS. Nr Fraser
was an old friend He had been one Of
my guardians. He was my fathers exec
utor / expected my declaration to be
heartily welcomed. Tullyhardane j. i
better property than Glen Leyannoeh.
What Was there u stand in our way
But when ! came hack | felt ike a man
who has been stunned by treacherous
blow. Al Of a sudden. for the first time
in my life. learned that my title to Tul-
iybariane was not beyond dispute,
learned that a certain .locument had long
been missing from the title deeds, and
that till that document were found
could never be- entirely secure in my own
home. Bu, what was tar worse, under
the circumstances. Mr. Fraser informed
me he could not encourage my suit for
hi, daughters hand.
What followed don't quite remember.
| have haunting fear that ! lost my
temper. and that on one side or the other
good deal Of strong language was used.
| know / -wore would never give Nelly
up. not even if were turned out Of Tui-
lybar,iane neck and crop next day. oi
course IT Wa very foolish, but then the
circumstances were exceptional. When
/ got home I sent for the attorney, and
for the next four DAYS | did nothing, !
think, except consult lawyers. and scan
paIers, and rInrnaee every hole and cor
uer Of the Grange for the missing deed.
Bur what Mr.. Fraser had told me proved
t. be only too true.
IN the week that followed I remember
three things distinctly, not thai they were
in themselves important, but that they
bore upon that strange event which made
turning Foini in my life. The first i
that rode over 20 Glen L.ivannoch and
WAS told taat Nir. and Miss Fraser had
left home To stay with friends in Edin-
bury. The second l. that my man ,ieorge,
who acted a. f,otraan and valet 10 me,
got drunk one night and left the hcslse
door wide opcn-for which | have not
ceased TO thank Providence ever since.
Now. as a rule. ! an lenient 20 the fail
ing. Whisky, rcgrvt to say, has an at
traction for lnen in these Northern eli
mate, which few r5in resist Bat whether
il was that wa cut Of sorts, or whether
il wa tha, my mother was alarmed. |
don't know. but ! resolved To make an
example. ani turned the man ont Of
the house the next day. The third mel
dent Wa more important. and shall be-.
told At length.
ana good sleeper don't dream
much: don't believe in dream warn
ing~ and ~yieh things have no Faith in
sho>ts-thosl-l, know for a fact that my
,rpusins. the Mac Mpks, have ban-hee
in their Elnily-sts i fact, say But
about that time used 10 try to dream of
a certain badly. and - one night | fell
asleep, and | did dream, and this Is what
| dreamed:
| thought | was in Edinbury, standing
in Princes street (ansi let me find anv
street in England, or anywhere el>e, to
compare with that. and waiting by the
Waverly monument Opposite me was u
hotel, which ! suppose | was watching,
for out of i presently came, as clear and
vivid a. lie, Nelly Fraser, with Il veil
over her head she came slowly toward
me and iiife,i her veil. revealing a face
~ white and miserable tina: | scarcely
knew ii, anu then, a. stepped forward,
she rai-,-i one hand. and. pointing up
across the gorge toward the High Street
Hin, vanished into Il moving mist. Then
the shadows began Ia shift and shuttle
themselves. and presently Suf came an
other vision from my dream l was
there still. standing, bat all the surround