Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1886-08-26

S,@5..a B!grdcn.
| am a Grant. know there are
other Grants. A clumsy Englishmar
once told me that Grant was very
common name. There are the Grants
of Grant and the Grants of Dal.
vey; there are Grants in Edinburgh
and Grants in London. Alas the
Grants are a disinherited race, for
their grandfathers, it seems, always
squandered the fortunes which they
ought to have left to their sons. Al
least | know that was the case with my
own grandfather. Had he not played
ducks and brakes with my inheritance,
| should now have been-but there,
am content to be what | am, Grant OF
Tulley bardane, and never a dearer or
lovelier home had Scottish man to
dwell in. My wife often laughs at
me for being SO fond of the place.
But then the strangest event of my
life is bound up with it's possession.
And surely | may well remember and
be thankful for that event, for with
out it yonder lady with the silver hair
would scarcely now have been sitting
near me, and laughing at the follies
of an old man as she does.
Five-and-thirty years ago | was liv-
ing here in the Grange at Tullybar-
dane. The place had come to my
father by bequest not many years be-
fore and he had scarcely learned to play
the laird before he died and left it 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 fell in
love. Accordingly, one Winter morn
ing rode across to Glen Levannoch,
and asked Mr.. Fraser to give me his
daughter to be my wife. OF course |
had found out beforehand that Miss
Fraser was not unwilling to be given.
Well, We had long interview, and
the results 10 brief were these / had
left home tolerably confident, as one
is wont to be at four and-twenty, and
returned about as detected and in
dignant as any reasonable man ever
was. Mr.. Fraser was an old friend.
He had been one of my guardians
He was my fathers Executor. | ex-
pected my declaration to be heartily
welcomed. Tully bardane is a better
property than Glen Levannoch. What
was there to stand in our way But
when | came back | felt like a man
who had been stunned by a treacher-
Gus blow. All of a sudden, for the
first time in my life, | learned that
my title to Tullybardane was not be-
yond dispute heard that certain
document had long been missing from
the title deeds, and that till that doc
ument was found | could never be
entirely secure in my own home. But
what Was far worse, under the circum-
stances, Mr.. Fraser informed me he
could not encourage my suit for his
daughters hand.
What followed don { quite remem.
ber. have a haunting fear that |
lost MY temper, and that on one side
or other a good deal of strong Ian.
guage was used. knew ! swore ]
would never give Nellie up, not even
if were turned out of Tully bardane
neck and crop next day. OF course
it was very foolish, but then the cir
cumstances were exceptional. When
| got home | sent for the attorney,
and for the next four days l did moth
ing, | think, except consult lawyers,
and look over papers, and rummago
every hole and corner of the Grange
for the missing deed. But what Mr..
Fraser had told me proved to be only
tco true.
In the week that followed remem-
ber three things distinctly, not that
they were in themselves important,
but that they bore upon that strange
event which made turning point in
my life. The first is that / rode over
to Glen Levannoch and was told that
Mr.. and Miss Frazer had left home,
to stay with friends in Edinburg. The
second is that my man George, who
acted as footman and valet to me, got
drunk one night and left the house
door wide open-for which have not
ceased TO thank Providence ever since.
Now, as a rule / am lenient to these
failings. Whiskey, / regret to say,
has an attraction for men in these
northern climates which few can re.
sist. But. whether it was that was
out Of sorts, or whether it was that
my mother was alarmed, | don't Know,
but ! resolved to make an example,
and turned the man out of the house
next day. The third incidsn. was
more important, and shall be told at
length.
! am good sleeper, | don't dream
,n,,nL. lo.'a l.