Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-01-12
A CURIOUS LEoRND.


,,on. with gro,ssque heads and faces on
sv,ry side and behind !, the bead and body
Of some h.ndi.h looking ihins--s sort Of
ss,yr IL seemed With such fierce expression
In iis esrven syss that ell children were
afraid Of IL. A rustic shed covered the
we'll. Ivy erep, over !. and half bid The
,,on. face. And !, certainly vas . very
pie,are'qas object.
There had never been either vindls..
or s-,,p only . chain fastened to the
roof Of the shed. 10 which the bucket
vas attached (: but the water was always
90 high ,hs, IL vas very easy TO draw !,
In this way.
In connection with this veil however,
something very remarkable bad occur
red. In the year i6it. ~hsh the house
va, fr, occupied by the family. yoang
girl. K.ihnne DOrsn by name. the
youngss, daughter Of the house. bad gone
to the veil In the edge Of the evening to
all . pail. She never returned. Her
friend. wen, In search Of her, and found
the pail on the ~sll's curb.
IL VAS though, q, fp, ,ha, she VAS
drowned. bu, this VAS no; the case.
However. she Vas never seen again. Her
friends fsneisd she had been murdered
strangers believed she had slOped with
some lover; but no one ever knew what
had become Of Ks,krins Dorn.
Meanwhile. her niece. . child i the
time. grew up. married. and had . dsugh'
ter whom she named Ks,hrihs after her
los, aunt.
Forty years from the day on which the
frs, Ksihrine had DISAPPEARED. this sec.
ond Ks,hrins. then seventeen years old.
ven, in the cleaning Of an autumn day
TO the stone we'll to fIl china pitcher.
Again the same thing happened; the
pitcher vas found on the we'll eurt, aud
Kuhrine ~u meter sesn sgain. The
whole country Was secured posters were
pasted up in every town. advertisements
Inserted 10 every paper; bu, the mother
died Of grief without having heard any
,idings Of her daughter.
siaee then. In every generation. the
same thing bad happened. Seven girls
had gone to the well for water and never
been seen since. and strangely enough.
each had been named Ks.hiine.
le, 90 sksp,iesl are the people OF to-
day. that no one really believed all that
was said; and !, vn thought in the
nsighborhood ,hs, the Dofsns were
race given {, elopemeu,. and iha, the
girl. took advantage Of the legend OF the
veil.
In the year 1874 the old house Vas
erumblipg sdifee. ,ha, rocked In the wind
when |, blew strongly. and the widow OF
the las, Dor,n. TO whom IL fell on the
death Of her husbands father. hesits,ed
about taking up her abode there; but she
Vas poor and really had little choice. SO
to the old house she vent With her one
daughter. Ksihrine--a girl Of eighteen.
blue.sysd. goldsn.hsirsd and bonny.
The widow bad heard the story OF the
di,sppesrsnee Of the girls, bu, had
scarcely believed Il. and had never re-
pea,ed I, to her daughter Ksihrins
vas In utter ignorance Of IL. and OF the
we'll She ran about the garden. diseov-
sring nes beauties ., every turn, ana at
las, actually danced with delight before
the old stone we'll.
Like . we'll In an old fairy story.
mamms," she exclaimed, as che described
IL. ut makes me feel - though We
really ought to find an old castle some-
were to match IL. Just the we'll for =
,r,s,ing place.
"If / rvmember rightly. IL has been On
unlueky we'll enough for the Dorn wo-
men," said the widow.
"Tell me the story. mother" cried
Ksihrine.
"No; idle tales like that are best un.
told said the widow. "No doubt Il 10
very good cold water. bu. when you meet
your sweetheart. I hope !, wont be At
the well. but under your mothers eyes,
In the house here"
Ksthfine laughed.
"The sweetheart must come fnt.' she
said. and began to help her mother to DO
the housewofk.
Bu, she KEEP, thinking Of the we'll and
that evening. st dark. she took from the
shelf in the Kitchen . pitcher quaint -
the house itself. and without saying any.
thing to her mother ran down the garden
path. Il Vas two hundred years from
the day on which her sncestrsss. the frat
Loot Ksihrine, had thus gone to the old
stone ~ell-,wo hurdrsd years to the
day and hour, II this. the eighth Ks.hrns
had but known Il. Bot she did not.
She tripped along to tho we'll swins'
Ing the old blue pitcher In her hand.
She reached IL and bent over the curb.
A dim reflection Of her own face greeted
her.
"How high the water n" she said.
I can reach Il with the pitcher" and
bent lower still.
But falling to reach the water. she Get
the pitcher on the curb, and caught tho
chain which held ths bucket.
On the instant it seemed TO her that the
stone ssiyr behind the fountain dsrtsd Ai.
head forward. and rolled his great eyes, and
., the same instant great hands seized
her arms and dragged her downwsrds.
The poor girl struggled and tried to
scrssm. The water wss in her eyes.
her ssrs and her mouth. the blood rSshsd
20 her bead. Still the great hands held
her, nntil suddenly she found hersslf lssv.
ing the water. She stood ina great cave Of
white stone. With stslsetitss hanging
from the roof. aud the thing that bald
her shs could not ~ for is va behind
her.