The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1889-03-16


t about with her in her silver box, aud whic
always made my young master so qualmis
' when he ate them
: The little heir was very fond of his sma
: brother, and the latter, though he inherite
1 the hot Southern blood and fiery, uncontrolle
temper of his mother, returned his affectio
! in full; and, in spite of occasional inevtabl
jealousies and disputes which ensued fror
time to time, the two were much attached t
each other and almost inseparable.
When both boys were considered old enoug
to learn to ride each received from his fathe
the gift of pony. Charming little animal
they were, though one of the two was credite'
with spice of temper, but warranted FIRE,
from vice. Naturally, the quietest pony wa
adjudged to the youngest lad, and Red Rollt
became the property of Reginald. A groom
Of Lady Halliwell S own choosing was engaged
to ride out with the boys and see that theJ
came to no harm. Much to the disgust of the
old servitors, and particularly of Deborah
Brand, who was still power in the household
in spite of all Lady Isabella could do 10 deposs
her, the man turned out to be foreigner
dark, sallow, sinister looking individual; but
for all that, Deborah declared, "as like my
lady as two peas, and in high favor, too,
with his mistress, from whose lips be received
his orders every day, though from his fellow
servants be got nothing but scant courtesy
and sidelong glanees of suspicion. "What
maggot was this, they asked each other,
that must needs set garlic eating, vinegar
drinking papisher like herself behind the two
young masters, as though an honest, beef-fed
English lad were not good enow? Mark my
( words, with many mysterious wag of the
/ head on the part of the speaker, something
will come OF, and with such an outlandish
and heathenish name, too, as Miguel-when
plain Michael served the purpose of his
/ bet,ers.
And something did come Of il, for the new
groom had nOs been in office fall month
+ when the young heir OF Madden was thrown
I from bis pony one day and brought home
stunned and senseless Red Rollo had taken
8 fright at the stump Of a tree or n stone in the
road, the mau explaiued in his broken Eng
lish. with his eyes fixed on bis mistress's
stony features, while SIR Hugh hung in speech
+ less anguish over his sons inanimate form.
But the boy, on the application Of res,Ora-
,ives. soon revived, aud proved the superior
hardness Of his British skull 10 tha, OF the
average country road; and the Lady Isabella,
wiih old Deborah's keen, watehfal, suspi-
eioas glance liked upon her, smiled pale,
CHASTITY suiile as be opened bis eyes and look
ed about him; and then turning aside, she
hid her face in her lace handkerchief. Kindly
Sir Hugh, touched By so much emotion
shown on behalf Of one who was not Of her
own flesh aud blood. spoke cheering words
10 her. aud bads her dry her tears, ''foF the
young rascal wOuld We, live TO lord it at the
Court
Her maid. ai.er~ard sent TO search for the
handkerchief which her mistress had dropped,
expressed hes surprise to Deborah a; snding
j; With is eobEeb lace and iilmy eambTic al
torn and Jagged as though some Wild animal
or ''bo<gart' bad bsiten and rvus it in pieces
Red Rollo vas sold and, Notwithstanding
his lady's insercessioa on his behalf, the
grooin, Migael, was discharged from his post,
and hisiden 10 take hisaself of the premises
aud rvtara TO his owp plaeS from whence he
eamc. as he was held 10 blame particularly
after The discovery Of the marks OF heavy lash
- across the pony's isnks. aai which could
only have come By bis haRd-ior the accident
which bad occurred; which discovery would
have made it hardly safe for him 10 have
shown his swar,hy face inside the stable yard.
Ra, Drhosah, always on the lockout for NhaI
she hardly kueS or dared sdmis even in her
own heart, declared tina; Miguel had been
hidden somewhere in the neighborhood for
sometime after the even, thus recorded, and
that nv lady hcrsslf wrapped from head TO
foot ia oae Of Der long cloaks and mafied
about the { &C with lace veil, had met him
at dusk ia the hnzel eopse mo longer ago
than "Wednesday sennight,N and given him
money--which sane she could vouch for as
Gospel truth, as she beard the ehink Of il with
her own eArs--and ha spoken to him in some
foreign lingo, in which be bad also replied,
and then, kissing her ladyship' jeweled hand,
bad departed in great haste on hearings tSig
soap, Ihroagh hasiy movement Of the listen
er Deborah owned that she had followed
the lady and acted as eyesdropper on this oc.
ea4ioa, and the ts~ trus,y souls to whom she
impaired the revelation so far from condemn
Ing her for Il considered her action as deserv-
RI - i l.,
CHATTER II.
IL was some time after this that it was found
tha, the key Of ''The Chased Room as it
was called, was missing from the nail on
which il had hang with others as rusty and
disused as itself When or how it had disap.
peared eoad not be aseertained, and its loss
was ouy discovered by accident.
Deborah Brand remembered we'll the last
time il had been used, which was when she
had had the honor assigned her Of showing
her new mistress over her new domain shortly
after her marriage with Sir Hugh. She re-
membered, too, how stiff the lock was and
how hard the key turned in it: and how, when
the heavy door at last stirred on its rusty him
ges and they entered, the dust lay SO thick
upon the floor that her ladyship's small feet
left their imprint on the old oak boards And
how she had looked with great curiosity at
the old, iron bound chest in the corner, and
made her read the inscription on its lid, and
asked j: ii was true that it had never been
opened once, and that no one knew what was
hidden within, and how it came there, and
many other questions concerning it. And
after that she had inspected the old family
portraits in the long gallery, and had paused
before the picture of Sir Jonas, and regarded
it earnestly with fingers on lip while Deborah
related his history and all that was known of
his life and death, not forgetting TO mention
the legend which reported that il was in that
very same suit of carnation- colored velvet
that he had been stricken by the terrible visi-
tation of the time. And the wicked smile on
the painted face of the portrait had seemed