San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-10-15

Shame on churl with knightly blood
This the curse call from Heav'n,
BY the power to Zarah giv'n'
Ever Darrells love shall prove,
Woe and death to BOTH
Then, turning to the river-which, you
must know, lima, rises every year, either
in the autumn or winter-Zarah added
"Iist, We river, rapid flowing,
To this curse my hate bestowing;
Let the voice of Gipsy's Weir
Scream that curse in Darrell's ear,
Till the waters, rising, rising,
Bring the bOunden sacrificing
Life for life for traitors deed;
When the flood are out, take heedi'
These last two lines were addressed to Sir
Ingelhard-that is, of course, to the House
of Darrell; and, having uttered them,
Zarah, before any one could prevent her,
plunged headlong into the weir, and dis
appeared"
"But," exclaimed lima, interrupting
narrative which she had followed with
keen interest, if with some inward amuse-
ment, nwhat can the four lines about Clip
sy's Weir meant"
..That no one has ever been able to make
out. They are generally thought to indi-
cate that the Darrells will become extinct.
1t is said that the waters Of the Coalmere
have risen higher every year since that
date. | know as a fact that they have
risen higher each year within the last for
ty. Mamma, you know, would not follow
| mere tradition"
s.But how could that be unless the rain.
| fall or the snowfall was heavier than in the
year preceding"
s5 of hn or Of ntS of
| the whole affair."" returned Rose; "but
| three years ago, for example, we had
very light autumn rainfall, and yet the
| river rose nearly two feet above the rise of
the year before, when il rained heavily
| nearly every day throughout September.
| A meteorological who was staying here at
| the time wrote to the Times about it. The
| wear before last the river was so high that
| the Hestons were afraid that the Mill
| might be flooded; and last year, when, GER
| tainly, the snow came down from the hills
| terribly-for we had Il rapid thaw in No
| vember-the basement of the Mill was
| flooded, and the HestOns had to take refuge
| in the upper rooms for two or three days"
"There's lot in the Cumberland STAR"
| put in jamie, ..abOut the 'eXtraordinary
| phenomenon of the rising of the Coal
| mere. 1t is in Il number of a few years ago.
| | will show it to you, lima"
"But granted the phenomenon" said
| lima, "why should the yearly increase in
| the rising of the water concern the work.
| ing out of the curse?'
oh, you skeptic! How should | know?
| But of the curse working in one way there
| can be no doubt" said Rose emphatically.
.'Stay moment, lima; you can hear the
| weir now"
They were passing through Il little wood,
| and, as all stood still, they heard ans
tinctly the roar Of falling water. lima
listened for u moment OF two, with parted
lips, and eyes into which far away look
| had come.
81 was thinking of Niagara" she said
softly at last. then added quickly, "Please
finish your story here, Rose. If we go on,
we shall meet Roland, and shall not have
| the finish for an age"
The three girls sat down on a fallen tree
| trunk, and Rose continued
| "There is no doubt about this, lima,
| that from Sir highlands time all the OAR
| rells have been unfortunate in love. Sir
| highlands wife died quietly; but then he
| did not love her, he hated her. 1t would
take too long to tell you, but, when you go
through the picture-gallery at the Court,
| the old hOuSe-keeper will give you his
| tory of all the lOye-atfairs of the barrels
| since Sir Ingelhard; and there was always
| swoe and death to both those who love- L
| wouldn't marry Darrell, grand as they
| are-nOt even the present one, who Is the
| handsomest of handsome race"
"And dare-alI, like the rest Of them"
| added jamie.
| .I'm coming to him." said Rose nodding
| to lima. "The present Darrell's father,
| Sir Bertram, married a Howard, and they
| were both drowned in yachting, when
| their son Sir Philip was baby. Sir Ber-
| trans father was shot in due! over a
| lOve-atfair."
| "They were bold TO fall in love, if they
| believed in the curse" said lima.
| 81 suppose they couldn't help it.
| am not Il great physiOgnomist; L dare say
| you are. Look at their portraits and you
will see that they all had strong passions.
| This one has, and no mistake, as you say
across the water. | wouldn't have him
hate me for something; | would almost
rather he loved me-" .
''Hate YOU. That is supposing you were
a man." observed lima; ''a gentleman
would not visit vengeance on a woman"
81 suppose not-a Darrell would not;
and certainly Sir Philip would not"
81 am awfully curious about him." said
lima; "but, first, l want to ask few
| questions about the past"
| 'I'm all attention." returned Rose.
"Then how was it Sir Ingelhard, who
was not too good for anything, did not turn
the Heston's out of the Mill after Zsrah's
| curse!"
| "Well, perhaps even he thought he had
Epl