Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1889-10-28
A Strange Compact.

metropolis, and the lungs and eyes
of such unfortunates as CHANGED to
be abroad. 1t even invaded the small
wooden sanctums of the night watch
man, interfering with slumbers to
which the inmates were both by age
and Office entitled. Across the river,
in the dingy, ill-paved lanes of the
borough, the fog seemed at its worst,
a light warmish haze being the only
indication of the presence of those
shops which still remained open, and
round which small i'll clad urchins
with the most unmistakable intentions
persistently lowered.
ga sweet night for footpads, mutt
tered young DR.. Mostyn, as he olsen
gagged himself from chance recontre
with post, and felt his way along
by tapping with his stout stick at the
house walls, proceeding by which
he had already severely damaged the
legs of three of his suffering fellow
creatures, and poked large hole in
the kitchen window of fourth. "And
now," he continued, talking to him
self, for the sake of company, "for
home and supper and a fire. All, land
a patient or two, perhaps. Who
knows?"
At this cheering prospect his spir
its rose, and he banged nightly with
his stick in consequence, until at
length, coming to a small street on
his right. he turned smartly down,
and having made sure of his own
door, knocked briskly at it.
"Who is there?' cried shrill fe-
male voice in response.
otis 1, Bet," said her master.
''Open the door, my good girl
mot if 1 knows it," was the
cheering reply. ''You take yourself
off, young man, whoever you are.
There's two bulldogs and three men
with loaded guns standing by me, to
say nothing
''Open the door, Bet!' roared her
master through the keyhole. ''Don't
you know me?"
SIS it nine o'clock or is it eleven?"
propounded the damsel Hbecause if
it's eleven o'clock my eyes deceive
me, and if it's nine O'Clock your
voice deceives me; for the doctor
said he'd be home at eleven and not
before, and considering the fog 1
should say good deal after"
''Open the door," said the surgeo
sharply. ''I'm back already because
my patients dead. Come; open at
once !"
There was a creaking and shooting
of bolts as he finished speaking, and
the door being cautiously opened dis
covered an angular woman of some
fve-and-thirty years, whose nervous
face cleared directly as she saw her
master.
"Pm asking your pardon for keep
ing you so long, SIR said she; "but
one never knows who's who, and,
judging by the noises and runnings,
there's been rare doings round the
corner tonight"
anybody been, Bet?' asked the
surgeon, as ten minutes later he sat
down to carefully grilled chop.
''Not a soul, replied his handmade
en-.
"And a nice person you would be
to open the door if an accident had
arrived"
sob, l should have opened it at
once" said Bet, with decision. ''Di-
rectly as they used the word 'acci-
dent, 1 should have opened it and
CHANGED it."
Her master, smiling at her devo-
ton, drew his chair to the fire. and,
having carefully filled long clay
pipe, fell to smoking with an air of
great enjoyment and content. Then,
thinking it extremely unlikely that he
would be disturbed at that late hour,
he dismissed his retainer to her quar-
tiers iu a neighboring house, and, be-
ing left to himself, lapsed into
brown study.
1t might have been the fog, or it
might have been the unexpected death
of his patient; whatever the cause,
his thoughts took very gloomy di-
rection indeed, and he shook his head
despondingly as he thought of his fu-
ture prospects. His mood was not
made more cheerful by the room,
which was large and dark, paneled
with oak, and ornamented with oil
portraits of dead and gone worthless,
with whom he claimed some kinship
more or less remote, who seemed to
stare at him tonight in a particular
ly ghostly, not to say wooden man
ner. Besides all this he was in love;
and he had no sooner built magnifi-
cent castle-in the air-and placed
her in it, than an anything but airy
landlord called for the rent, and the
dream was spoiled.
He had been sitting thus for some
time, nursing his woes and slipping
81 glass of hot cogniac which he had
prepared, when he was disturbed by
a loud, imperitive knocking at the
front door, whereat he snatched up
one of the suffering candles and
marched down the narrow stairs to
open it. The feeble light of the can