New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1889-02-13


was here he died, said Griggs.
[ gazed around, and felt a sense Of
dread creep over me. The walls were
paneled with dark oak; along one
side was an old cabinet, black with
age, and on a shelf above it was ar
ranged a small collection of ancient
looking books. Close to the window
was q wring-table, on which stood
an cid desk. A few high backed
chairs were placed by the walls, and
some ancestral portraits looked
down with eyes shat ! seemed to fol-
low my every movement. By the
fireplace stooda capacious armchair,
shut in with an old screen covered
with stamped leather.
Meanwhile Mrs. Grigg,s, an ancient
dame Of guarded and knotted aspect,
YVES endeavoring to make fire blaze
lin the rusty crate. Accomplishing,
this, in course of time plain meal
was set before me, and was left in
peace to discuss it. When 1 had fin
ished, | made a closer inspection of
the contents of the room. A cup
board in the wall was filed with old
lum Observation-Disclosures. Open
ing the,cabinet with one of the keys
given to me by the lawyer, I found
drawers filled with old accounts done
up in q methodical manner, "a pair of
silver-mounted pistols of a bygone
date, some odds and ends of curios-
ties, but nothing of any special inter
est orvalue. At length / opened a
small drawer with the smallest key
Of the bunch, and took out a sealed
packet, which was addressed to me-
christening it eagerly: ] found it to
contain a miniature OF a lady and
child, and also "a short letter, which
ran as follows:
NEPHEW FRANK; / leaveyou the old house.
which has been lin our family since it was
built. Though tt is desolate enough now,
it once echoed thevoices of those very dear
ito me. See that.you do not suffer anything
to!be destroyed. parted in anger with your
mother my only sister; but now would prove
if,you, the only. remaining descendant of the
old house are worthy to bring back it's form
er state. Patience and perseverance are nee
essary; but if u'strive, you will in the end
be rewarded. My blessing rest on you, if
you obey. = HORACE OLDCAsTLE.
After reading the letter several
times, i rang for old Griggs, to try
to get,some information about my
uncle.
"He were asclose man, were Muster
tOldcastle," said he, living here by
himself since his wife and child died,
years ago. He left the old place ex-
aactly as it was when they were alive.
and could not bear to see strangers.
My idea is that the trouble made
him, a bit queer. He caused the west
>wingtto be shut up; and they do say
as some Of the odd !Oldcastles walks
there. lnever. see anytof 'em; but
There S strange noises o noights.'
Il made an inspection-oft the house,
:andpitched upon. a bedroom next to
my 'uncle's study;as being most con-
>venient. Mrs. tGriggs litsa- fire there,
,and bringing in some bedclothes,
made the room in a little while as
comfortable as circumstances would
permit. The wind had now increased
,to;a gale and heavy drops of rain
dashed against the window. Return
ing to my uncle2s study, I settled my
self before theifire to enjoy a snug
evening before turning in for the
night. The old,couple, whooccupied
some rooms in a distant
part of the house, hay
ing retired, / felt myself cut
'off from the world. A pair ofcandles
fiickerea on the table, :and the change
itul,lght of the fire lit up and threw
into gloom the, dark walls and furni-
ture. Takingia book, I was soon
'deepin it's pages. TWAS an old col
lection of legends and romances of
Spain. One tale took my fancy. It
uelated how. acertain Alphonso made
a search in the Alhambra in Grena-
da,and how, aftermany strange sad-
ventures, atlength was successful in
breaking the charm that held :agreat
treasure guarded by enchanted
M0ors, and became possessed of the
whole. l became deeply interested in
the old-world legends. After "a while
closed the book, and leaning back
in my chair, fell into "a brown study.
Suddenly / became aware of a strange
thing. An old man, whom Iknew to
be my ANGLE, though / had only seen
him once, was standing by the cab
met, looking intently at the books
on the shelf. / stared at him with all
my eyes, and yet, though full of
amazenaesrt, I felt no fear. After a
short time he took down a book,
opened lit, and seemed to make a
mark inside. He then replaced it, and
took down bhe next, and, by sloWde-
grees, went through most of the IL
brary. Suddenly, I heard loud
knock at the door, and, breaking
the spell that held me, started
up and conhr onted Mrs. Griggs.
Turning to the cabinet I saw no one
there, the books were on the shelf,
and noticed the empty space from
aghich had taken tbs Spanish leg
ends. For a time / could do moth
ing but stare at Mrs. Griggs, who
kept courtesying and asking me if I