Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1888-02-09


they do in profound and vivid dreams. The
fat young man leaned his elbows on the table
/ opposite; Marjory came and went with an
apronful OF flowers between the garden and
the arbor; he could hear the old parson
4 knocking out his pipe or blowing his resonant
/ nose. The tide of his consciousness ebbed
and flowed he was sometimes half asleep and
drowned in his recollections of the past,
I and sometimes he was broad awake wonder
ing at himself But about the middle
I of the night he was startled by the
i voice of the dead miller calling to him out of
! the house as he used to do on the arrival of
custom. The hallucination was so perfect
+ that Win sprang from his seat and stood
f listening for the summons to be repeated: and
+ as he listened he became conscious of another
j noise besides the brawling of the river and
/ the ringing i'll his feverish ears. 1t was like
/ the stir of the horses and the creaking of
I harness, as though carriage with an i'm
/ patient team had been brought up upon the
i road before the courtyard gate. At such an
/ hour, upon this rough and dangerous pass,
the supposition was no better than absurd
/ and VIII dismissed it from his mind, and re-
! sumed his seat upon the arbor chair; and
4 sleep closed over him again like running
! water. He was once again awakened by the
dead milIer's call, thinner and more spectral
than before; and once again he heard the
noise of an equipage upon the road. And so
thrice and four times, the same dream, or the
same fancy, presented itself to his senses;
| until at length, smiling to himself as when
one humors nervous child, he proceeded
towards the gate to set his uncertainty at
rest
From the arbor to the gate was no great
distance, and yet it took VIII some time; it
seemed as if the dead thickened around him
in the court, and crossed his path at every
step. For, first, he was suddenly surprised
by an overpowering sweetness of heliotropes;
it was as if his garden had BEEN planted with
this flower from end to end, and the hot,
damp night had drawn forth all their per-
fumes in q breath, Now the beliotrope had
been Marjory's fsVorite flower, and since her
death not one of them had ever been planted
i'll Wills ground.
II must be going crazy he thought. ''Poor
Marjory and her eliotropesl"
And with that Re raised his eyes to wards
the window that had once been hers. If he
had been bewildered before he was now al
most terrified; for there was light In the
room; the window was an orange oblong as
of yore, and the corner of the blind was lifta1
and let fall as on the night when he stood and
shouted to the stars in his perplexity. The
illusion only endured an instant but it left
him somewhat unnamed, rubbing his eyes
and staring at the outline Of the house and
the black night behind it. While he thus
stood, and it seemed as if he must have stood
there quite long time, there came a renewal
of the noises on the road, and he turned in
time to meet a stranger, who was advancing
to meet him across the court. There was
something like the outline of great carriage
discernible on the road behind the stranger,
and above that, a few black pine tops, like
so many plumes.
"Master Will." asked the new conner, in
brief military fashion.
THAT same, sir,'' answered VIII. Scan |
do anything to serve YOUR
81 have heard you much spoken of, Master
Will" returned the other, ''much spoken of
and well And though 1 have both hands
full of business l wish to drink bottle of
wine with you in your arbor Before / go 1
shall introduce myself"
Will led the way to the trellis and got
lamp lighted and bottle uncorked. He was
not altogether unused to such compli-
mentary interviews, and hoped little enough
from this one, being schooled by many dis
appointments. A sort of cloud had settled
boring the strangeness of the house. He
moved like a person in his sleep, and it
seemed as if the lamp caught fire and the
bottle came uncorked with the facility Of
thought. Still, he had some curiosity about
the appearance of his visitor and tried in
vain to turn the light into his face; either be
handled the lamp clumsily or there was q
dimness over his eyes, but he could make
out little more than a shadow at table with
him. He stared and stared at this shadow
as he wiped out the glasses and began to feel
cold and strange about the heart. The 81
fence weighed upon him, for he could hear
nothing now, not even the river, but the
drumming of his own arteries in his ears.
"Here's to you" said the stranger roughly
"Here is my service, sir" replied VIII,
slipping his wine, which somehow tasted
oddly
II understand you are q very positive
fellow" pursued the stranger.
VIII made answer with a smile of some
satisfaction and little nod.
$50 am /, continued the other; ''and it is
the delight of my heart to tramp on peoples
corns. l will have nobody positive but my
SELF not one have crossed the whims, in
my time, of kings and generals and great
artists. And what would you say" he went
on, IF had come up here on purpose r.
cross yours"
Will had it on his tongue to make a sharp
reioinder; but the politeness Of an old inn
keeper prevailed; and he held his peace and
made answer with a civil gesture of the
hand
] Il have said the stranger. "And if | did
not hold you in particular esteem, l should
make no words about the matter. 1t appears
you pride yourself on staying where you are
You mean to stick by your inn. Now /
mean you shall come for turn with me in
my barouche; and before this bottles empty,
SO you shall"
''That would be an odd thing, to be sure"
replied VIII, with chuckle. "Why, sir, l
have grown here like an oak tree the devil
himself could hardly root me up; and for all
perceive you are very entertaining old
gentleman would wager you another bottle
you lose your pains with me-"
The dimness of Wills eyesight had been in
creasing all the while; but he was somehow
conscious of sharp and chilling scrutiny
which irritated and yet overmastered him.
"You need not Think he broke out sud
denly in an explosive, febrile manner that
startled and alarmed himself, ''that | am a
STAY at home, because fear anything under
God God knows | am tired enough Of it all
and when the time comes Tor longer Jour
ney than ever you dream of, reckon | shall
find myself prepared
The stranger emptied his glass and pushed
it away from him. He looked down for q
little. and then, leaning over the table
tapped VIII three times upon the forearm
with single finger '''The time has Gomez
he said solennly.
An ugly thrill sprea from the spot hi
touched. The tones OF his voice were dull
and startling, and echoed strangely in Wills
heart.
Il beg your pardon, )" he said, with somt
discomposure. "What do you mean!'
Look at me, and you will find your eye
sight swim. Raise your hand; it is deat
heavy. This is your last bottle of wine, Mas
ter Will and your last night upon the earth.
ssYou are a doctor.n quavered Will
ssThe best that ever was, replied the other