The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-12-29

Hugo did his best TO involve himself in the
same fate. Gentlemen, it is a fact that the
poor scarecrow, the pretender, once sat in
that travesty of a throne, whilst well. born.
virtuous ladies crowded around to kiss his
false hand" and Sir George pointed to a
chair, surmounted by a kind of canopy Of
gold and crimson.
Zone night" continued Sir George, tSir
Hugo returned home earlier than he was
expected, and, walking hastily upstairs, the
first thing he heard was the voice of his
wife in conversation with stranger in one
Of the rooms He tried the door; it was
iocked, and by The time he had burst it open
man was leaping out OF the open window.
Sir Hugo dashed after him, and after half a
dozen passes, drove his sword through the
body of Conrad Gillingham. Returning
through the window he found his wife
senseless on the floor, and, putting a con-
straint upon himself to refrain from spurn-
ing her with his foot he passed on to his
bed-chamber, where the first thing that met
his eye was great iron-chest with the lid
open, whilst very short examination
showed that his very precious title-deeds
had been distracted. He found his way
back to where Conrad lay with staring eyes
in the moonlight, and searched the body for
the deeds wi bout success. Returning
through the window, his wife sat up and
looked at him and his blood-stained hands,
but her face was the face of maniac and
she never recovered her reason, dying many
years afterward within the walls of a mad.
house.
HE saw the whole devillsh plot rSte.
Conrad Gillingham, using his wife as his
tool, had intended TO abstract the deeds
nd in btc TO t,iu nj
him of high treason and claim the estates
"There was a state trial, which any ele
can read to this day, and he was acquitted,
with a universal expression of pity fohis
misfortune, and of loathing for the SUBJECT
Of vengeance.
ITO piece together these facts has cot me
months of labor, in reading throuh old
diaries and letters in the munimen,room,
for | have never felt sure whether sone day
or other l or some Of my descendant might
not be challenged to produce the tife-deeds
of Gillingham. The blow has fallen upon
me at last. 1t seems that some descendants
of that old collateral branch, all bng since
dead and gone, as l hoped and belieed, have
turned up Atany rate there are agnts husily
at WORK, making all manner ofinquiries,
searching registers and so on, and my law
,
called upon to produce these deee, aud that
if they are not forthcoming m tenure of
Dillingham; Towers may be in seious ieop-
ardy. Unless you, my young flends, with
your keen wits and ready mention, can
help me, my resources are at auend."
He turned and rang the bdl, and then
eant his head upon his hand, lis elbow on
the mautlepiece. A servant entered, and
looking up he said quite naturally: Put
out all these lights and cbse the room
again, Mallam-I only wantd to show Mr..
Pallatti how it looks on safe occasion
and take the cigars and things into the
billiard-ro room. We viii finish the evening
there"
OF the almost incredible events which
followed l confess that | am unable to offer
any explanation. | can only vouch for their
having actually occurred. Whether, as Mr.
Pallatti honestly believes, the soul can in
| certain rare instances leave the body and
wander up and down the spirit world like a
dog in a fair, prying into the secrets of the
dead, or whether those events were merely
! the result Ito quote the doctor in MARTIN
ChuzzieWitn) of a "moSt extraordinary
| happy and favorable conjunction Of circum,
Stances" will forever remain "a mystery ID
me
When l got into bed that night my brain
was in a whirl, and l should have been glad
to exchange nerves with a cat. The unusual
quantity of wine bad drunk, the dazzling
splendor of the state drawing-room, the
| awful midnight tragedy of century ago,
and the life-like portraits of the principal
actors seemed 10 forbid the very idea Of
sleep. But when l thought myself most
Wide-awalle l began TO doze off, and was soon
as fast as a church, How long it had
lasted l could not tell, when l woke with a
start, and for the third time in my life
found myself alone in the dark. ! stretched
out my and for the matches, but they were
gone and at the same time the luminous
glare appeared upon the wall. Then the
room, with its one tall open window, the
broken furnit re, the case of stuffed birds,
and the two figures Of my former visions
developed rapidly. | could see the last
plainly enough nova man in a long horse
mans coat and brown boots with great sill
yer spurs, woman in along white wrapper
with fair hair flowing over her shoulders
nearly to the ground, and they stood to-
gether by the table reading from a large
sheet of paper which they held between
them, by the light of SINGLE candle in a
tall silver candlestick Occasionally they
turned their faces toward me with an anX-
ious expression, as If they were listening for
something, and | Immediately recognized
two of the portraits in the state drawing
room. Suddenly they started violently, the
man rushed to the window and leaped out,
the woman thrust the papers into her
dress and a second man with drawn sword
flashing in his hands dashed into the room
and through the window in pursuit OF
the fugitive. Then the woman drew
out the papers and tried to tear them,
but they must have been parch-
ment, and she failed; she put them over
the flame of the candle, but one corner
only began to shrivel, and they would not
burn. At last she turned to one of the dirty
prints which opened at her touch, thrust the
document into a cavity in the wall and, re-
closing the aperture, fell headlong TO the
ground. / could not have borne much
more, when there was a glare of light in my
eyes, Il hand shook me roughly by Tn
shoulder, and a voice (Pallatti's) excla med
"Good heavens Houghton, what is the
mattera You must have had the night
mare, and look quite exhausted" He took
a tiny vial from his pocket, and pouring the
contents into a teaspoon, put it to my lips,
Whatever the potion was it was so strong
that it nearly took my breath away, but its
effect was instantaneous, and | asked him
quite calmly; How on earth did you come
here!"
why, 1 felt so nervous and wakeful
after Sir Georges entertainment that |
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