Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-02-14
The HedSe on the Marsh;
THE MYSTERY OF THE ALDERS.
Bx FLoRENcS WARDEN.

any member of my household for the
caprice of any other member of it, how
ever valuable a servant she may have
been"
May have been-may have been!
My work is not over yet, and, if don't
work for you, I'll work against you,"
she broke out in a fury. OH
"Not so fast. not so fast" said he
slowly. You will find that uphill
work when you have to deal with me,
Sarah Gooch."
He spoke in the hard tone 1 had
heard him use once or twice before-a
tone which always made me shudder.
Then his voice changed suddenly to a
genial, almost caressing tone.
''Now do you think you will be able
to get on without me as well as can
without you?'
There was pause. Then / heard
Sarah burst into sobs and low passion
ate cries for pity, for forgiveness.
"Why are you so hardp How can
you have the heart to talk like that
about my services, as if l was too old
for anything but money bargainsP
That chit, that Christie girl, that you
put before me. will never serve you
like I've done"
1.-The services of a governesS are not
the same as those of a servant. That
is enough about Miss Christie, Sarah"
Enough and welcome about the
little tlirt-a creature that keeps dia-
monds from one man in her desk, and
wears round her neck letter from an
other which she kisses on the sly! Oh,
I've seen her, the little
"Nonsense!' said Mr.. Rayner sharp
ly. "And what if she does? 1t is no
business of mine"
l heard him rise hastily from his
chair and walk across the room; and 1
fled past like hare. Trembling and
painting, found my way to the hall
table, took out of the box there half
dozen matches and crept guilty
miserably upstairs. How Mr. Ray
ners, good opinion of me would have
sunk had he discovered me listen
ing to the conversation. l cried with
shame and remorse as | shut my
self in my room and lighted my candle.
l did not feel bit frightened now. I
forgot even to turn the key in the
lock.
When I considered collectedly what
had heard no longer doubted that
Sarah was the attendant of Mrs Ray
ner, and that when she spoke of work
ing against Mr. Rayner she meant to
publish far and wide the secret he had
so carefully kept-that he had a wife
lettering on the verge of insanity. l
saw how strong the woman's passions
were and how deep was her devotion
to her master, and began to understand
that it was hard for her to sec SO many
acts of consideration showercd upon a
newcomer which she could not from
the nature of her position expect. And
tried to forgive her, but hoped she
would go away all the same.
AS l rose from my chair l saw that
my desk had been moved. l opened
it and looked in the top compartment
which was where l kept Mr.. Rayncrs
present. 1t was in the case. Then
opened the lower compartment with
the intention of reading the two notes
had received from Mr.. Reade, and
discovered that the last one, the one
that had come with the cigar box on
that day. was not there. A suspicion
flashed through my mind-Sarah had
taken it!
1t was Sarah then whom l had sur
prised in my apartment that evening!
She had taken the letter from my desk
and probably shown it to Mr.. Rayner
on some pretense of having "Iicked it
up to prove to him that [ was carry
ing on clandestine correspondence
with Mr.. Laurence Reade, with whose
handwriting he was familiar. l was
ANNOYED and disguised beyond meas
ure. l could have forgiven her for
every thing but the loss of my precious
| letter. l shed some tears at the loss of it
and wondered whether she would ever
restore it.
Then went to bed, very tired and
very unhappy; and at last l fell asleep
with my hands clasping the note that
Sarah could not get at, which l wore
in the case round my neck.
Perhaps the excitement and the agi-
tation of the evening had caused my
/ sleep to be lighter than usual. At any
/ rate 1 was awakened by very slight
noise indeed, so slight that thought it
must have been theework of my nerv-
Gus fancy; and my sleepy eyes were
! closing again, when l suddenly became
conscious that there was light in the
room not that of the rising sun.
Fully awake now, and cold all over
with this new fright, l saw by the flick
ering on the ceiling that the light must
come from candle. behind the screen
l saw that it was being carried forw ard
into the room, and then 1 closed my
eyes and pretended to be asleep. My
fingers were still clinging to the little
case; but they were wet and clammy
with horror. Was it SarahP What
was she going to do now? To put
back my letter. I did not dare to look
lay there listening SO intently that
could hear, or fancy 1 heard, each
soft step taken by the intruder. Their
they stopped; and from the effect o.
the Pickering light through my CLOSED
eyelids guessed that the candle wa:
being raised to throw its light on my
face. Still L had self-command enough
to lie quite still and to initiate the long
drawn breathing of sleeping person
But then my heart seemed to stane
still, for l felt the light coming nearer
and heard the faint sound of a NOV
ing figure growing palmer, until thu
light was flashed within q foot of m,
face. could not nave moved then.
was half paralyZed Then [ noticed