The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1890-06-04

And Miss Camiola thanked Mrs. Black
put on her show bonnet with the washed
ribbons, and the shawl that had been 81
good once, but was faded, and even men
ded now, and walked up the road, turn
ed into the lane, and entered the Barker
garden.
The smell of the shrub came to her
the lilac flowers were gone, bnt. the. vii
low branches kissed her bonnes as she
passed under them. aklcssk
The neighbors whopsaw her nodded
or spoke, but they were selling the tai
clock, and there was. some excitement
Camiola stood at the door awhile, and
listened to the bidding. Deacon Hicko.
ry got the clock Mrs. Amos Mole the
claw-footed sideboard. A Jewish lady
from the village bought the trunks OF
women's clothing, sold unopened, for
next to nothing. Aunt Barnaby, the
washerwoman, got the tubs and irons
very cheap. in lot, and so on and SO
forth.
To Camiola it all seemed tragic. She
went up stairs where people were
poking the beds and pillows, and exam
lining the toilet sets and curtains, and
she began to mount the garret stairs.
Nothin' up there" said well-mean-
ing person, who was descending. "Taint
worth while to lose breath climbin',"
Camiola did not answer.
Nothing up there! How little people
knew There was the window at which
two lovers had plightsd their VOWS.
There, perhaps, fingered some ghost Of
her dead past, and his who had died ell
derly, and bachelor.
As her head arose above the floor,
she gazed eagerly about her From the
rafters hung some branches of withered
herbs, and rome ropes of onions. The
trunks had been carried down, and an
old bureau. A coat hung upon peg /;
over it, hat. Camiola went to the win
dow. She would not cry, for she had to
face those people down stairs again but
she muttered little means Of anguish as
stood there. She realized what life was
at that moment, an / itseemed very cruel
to her-once young, beloved, pretty, and
hopefull; now old, unloved, wrinkled,
and with nothing to wish for. No won
der she suffered
AZ last she turned her back on the
eternal mountains = unchanged while
lives were lived, and while youth fled
and love departed, and graves were dug
and saw the coat upon the wall b ems
coat-an old mans coat, worn long and
carelessly-and big, broad-brimmed
soft hat. The woman went closer. She
nestled up against the coat, and talked
to it and caressed it, and she took the
hat in her hand and kissed it. 1t was
worth nothing. 1t had rain stains on ii.
Its shape was odd. Nobody wanted it,
But what a relic il would be to her Of
Ben only she could not ask for it.
She could take it, hide it under her
shawl-all folded fiat, as it would be, and
keep it forever. Ben's hat-her Ben's
hat Why, she had right 70 it.
And Miss Camiola obeyed the impulse,
took the hat, and hid ii neatly away. 1t
seemed, almost, as though it were theft
Still, it would not be wrong to take it.
When she came home Mrs. Black told
her the walk had done her good her
cheeks were quite red but she went
early to bed that evening. She bolted
her door, and undressed in hurry. She
put out the light. Then she felt for her
shawl, in which the hat lay folded, and
took it in her arms. A certain perfume
that was always connected with Ben's
hair was family noticeable-an odor of
bergamot 1t brought the past back qiv-
idly. 1t almost seemed as though Bens
head rested on her heart. She clasped
the old hat close, and kissed it.
"Oh, Ben," she whispered, al was
ready to make up, but you was rich and
l was poor, and was proud. Oh, Ben,
Oh, Ben, Ben, my darling {"
And for hours she lay awake--the Cam
lola of the past-in the, darkness, which
blotted out the changes in her face, and
fell asleep at last, and dreamed of young
Ben and his perfumed hair, and heard
him once more say that they would be
happy together.
She awakened suddenly, in the early
da wn, and came back to herself. She
dressed herself, smoothed he prim bands
of hair tied on her black apron, pinned
the cushion and the sheath of scissors at
her side, and then looked at the hat. OF
course it must be hidden away and she
spread newspaper on the bed in which
to wrap it, and paused TO look at it once
again.
The inside of the hat presented itself.
The piece of leather which lined the
crown looked curlously thick. She touch
ed it with her hand. Under it was q long
paper folded into a narrow slip; she
drew it out and saw that something was
written on the outside. Taking the pa
per to the window, she saw that the
words were these "The Last Will and
Testament Of Benjamin Barker"
At this Miss Camiola began to tremble
from head to foot. but she was a daughter
of Eve. Softly and reverently, indeed,
she opened the will but she did open it,
and read it through, and when she had
finished she crept into bed again and lay
there sobbing for long while for in it
she had found strange things. Some of
Benjamin Barker's money had been left
to the hospital, some Of his land to the
church, and there were legacies for many
people but the homestead, with all its
furniture, garden, and farm land, and an
income on which she could liTe luxufi-
ousIy, were bequeatAd "to Camiola
Brown, spinster, IN memory of the love l
bore her all my lonely life"
No wonder poor Camiola wept.
But Mr.. Black soon found out the cause
of Camiola's agitation, and Mr.. Black
was lawyer. The will was correctly
made the witnesses were found.
Why Benjamin Barker had put it in
his hat lining no one knew. He often
carried papers there. Perhaps he meant
to leave it in safe keeping, but he died
very suddenly, with hat and coat on, as