The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-01-11
WALTER GRAY'S WILL

II 10 COuIcSS IL, Particularly
hard Tor woman, but Am obliged to
admit that i am no longer as young
as / once was Twenty-Five years
ago was O widow, rs / am TODAY but
then l was thirty-five and to-day l am
sixty. Then / was attractive-to-day /
don't know what am.
When James-that was my husbands
name-dicd. he left me unprovided for.
and as l had home full of good fur
niture, and = lease on = house in a
good position, i was advised by my
friends TO let my rooms.
] had little trouble in letting all my
rooms, except the second floor front, the
best in tho house. and for this the APP
plicants I'll said that 1 asked too much.
However. l would not come down, and
so two months passed with my best
apartment empty.
One day the chalabermaid, whose duty
il was TO attend TO the street-door. told
me that there was gentleman i'm the
parlor who wanted to see the second
floor front. and in answer to my question
brought forth by her contemptuouS way
of using the word man" when in all
other cases IL was "gentleIuan," she
said:
Hes a rcagh-lookin' person. ma'am.
kinder country-lookin'. and not so very
young. nayther. though. mebbe. lie may
be single"
I went to the parlor to find n man Of
about fifty. OF not attractive face. which
showed exposure, rough hands, exhibit
ing labor. and OF very careless dress.
though everything he had on denoted that
i did not care for the man as n second
floor front; and when he asked TO see il.
/ met him with the price, putting on
three dollars a week more.
Tais did not seem to disturb him, and
30 l could do nothing else than show it,
a h..r 4 in
over u one of the windows, and gazing
out OF it for n few moments, turned TO
me and said
I'm AXE II, ma'sm: and horo,s q
months ren. in advance"
In the afternoon the eIpressman left
two large trunks. and then knew that
my lodger's name was Ralph Brown.
That evening he followed his trunks
and sent Sorah up 10 see IL he wanted
anything or would have cup OF tea
She was gone ten minutes. when she
returned smiling. and said
- Shurc, misthreSs, Misther Browns
pariick gintleman. He didn't want
thing in the wurreld. but some hot
wather livery mornin' at eight o'clock. an
dye sec now what he gave me ar saws
shall have il every month ri:slar;" and
Norah displayed iive-dollar bill.
Oh. oh. thought I. is that the way the
cat jumps? II so. I'm too independent
to take advantage of il. and then 1
asked Norah what Mr.. Brown was doing
thinking. OF course. she would say he was
unpacklng his trunks.
- Shure nothin, ma'am, but lookin' out
at the windy"
Looking out OF the window was all Mt.
Brown did when he took the rooms. and
that's what I found him doing the next
morning, when went TO his room 10 ask
him II there was anything / could do TO
add 10 his comfort, and that's all Norah
found him doing when she entered his
room to attend TO her duties therein.
after this.
A-r. Brown was coldly polite when !
called on him. He wanted nothing, he
said, aud, Sorah declared asked no
Questions, not even my name, bat only
looked out of the window.
Could tho man be developing a pecu-
liar feature Of insanity?
L remembered to have read years be-
fore, case where patient had, for
forty years, stood in one particular cor
ner, and was only violent and dangerous
when he WAS removed from il, and
thought 70 myself that perhaps Mr..
Browns mania might come under that
head
By-and-by It began to disturb mo very
much. / was only type OF my sex, and
IL had become . matter Of personal cur
iosity with me.
/ went out frequently when / knew he
was in the house. so that l could go to
the corner, cross the way, and look up
1T the window. and there i always saw
him half concealed behind the curtain.
Sometimes could hear him run quickly
down the stairs, and rushing rapidly into
the street. walk away, up or down. as
the hunnor seemed TO take him
Al last an idea struck me He was a
detective. and was watching one OF the
hosses opposite. and with that idea for
n clue. i became still more vigilant, and
with Norah's help. came to the conclu-
sion that his attention was riycted on q
small house almost opposite. on the
side of tire door OF which was q sign,
with the name OF - Cayendish, Dress
maker" on il.
Then called in Norah's help again,
who very soon discovered that " Caven-
dish, Dressmaker. meant an elderly
lady. and her daughter OF nineteen, who 10
all appearance, had seen better DAYS,
but had piled that vocation in the same
locality for two years, duri * which time
the old lady had been n confirmed in
valid and rarely left the house. while
they had no company except one young
man, who was suspected To 10 Miss Mir
lam Cavendish's intended
SO far, so good and now what con-
necti0n was there between the Caven-
dishes and my lodSer? That i Was
determined to find out, though some
p opls would say II was none OF my
business; but say II was as long as he
was mE lodger.
The first step In the matter was to be
come acquainted with the Cavcndishes.
walked In upon them one morning. in
trodueed myself, and told them wanted
n dress made.
1 was reccived by both-the mother. O
the daughter. . beautiful. dark haired,
dark-eyec girl
never met with sweetcr creature
In my lie than Miriam Cavendish. i
loved that girl from the first moment i
saw her. and / made every excuse while
they were working for me TO run over and
gossip wifk them, and / used to take
them over Gittle tid-bits, and IL ] had
nothing else 30 take. = jar of preserves
or pickles, some particularly fine tea or
n bottle OF wine for the old lady for il
did not take iong for me to find out that
they were very poor, and that such little
d,.licacies veEs almost strangers 10
them.
By-and-by the Cavendishes and be-
came well acquainted, and / used To talk
&C them all aboat my dodgers. and cs-
pecialiy about my second floor front
u was clear to me at once that they
knew nothing aboet him.
This puzzled r.e still moro, because
everF day convineed me that 1t was Mir
lam s,avendish he ssas watching. and i
now knew why it VAS he hurried out OF
the hoGse 50 strangely at times.
IL was because in his watching he had
seen Miriam come out of her house, and
he followed her. coming back when she
d.d, but never. i was sure, joining her or
speaking to her.
Miriam sometimes went to evening
church. end cue night I invited myself TO
go with her, satisfied that Mr. Brown
followed her. and found that ! WIS
right.
He came In Immediately after Us. and
seated himself iu such q way that ht
could hook directly in her face without
sfAnain, IN b. md. and durfup the futirt.