Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1891-06-14
BARBARA'S TEST.
H0V 4 GIRL FOUND A HUSBAND WHO WAS
BRAVE AND QUICK WIrTED.
Three Sailors slr Fer Hsnd-Thsre Was Big Barney
tie Blacksmith Erres! the G1nsHih, and
; Little 2riz, the Tanner, All
Rstimable Men.
SReaeid 7ele1rGpA.

"Why are you so stubborn, Barbara
she asked. "You have plenty OF loyerrs. -
II want, when | marry, man who
is brave, equal to any emergency. If |
give up my liberty want to be taken
care OF.
'Silly child What is the matter with
big Barney, the blaeksmith?T
"He is big, but | never learned that
he was brave"
"And you never heard that he Is not.
What is the matter with Ernest, the
gunsmith?"
"He's as placid as goats milk"
There is little Fritz, the tanner; be
is quarrelsome enough for you, surely?
He is no bigger than bantam cock.
1t is little he could do If the house was
set upon by robbers"
That night Ernest, the gunsmith,
knocked early at the door.
"You sent for me. Barbara" he said,
going 10 the girl who stood upo& the
hearth, coquettishly warming one pretty
foot and then the other.
Eyes, Ernest" she replied. I've
been thinking of what you said the
other night when you were here"
"Well, Barbara"
II want to test you"
II want to see if you dare DO very
diSagreeable thing"
"What is it?"
There is an old coffin up stairs. 1t
smells Of mould. They say Redmond,
the murderer. was buried in it; but the
devil came for his body, and left the
coffin empty at the end of week, and
it was finally taken from the tomb. Ii
is upstairs in the room my grandfather
died in, and they say grandsire does not
rest easy in his grave for some reason,
though that | know nothing about.
Dare you make that coffin your bed to-
night.
Ernest laughed.
us that all? will dothat, and sleep
soundly. Why, pretty one, did you
think had weak nerves?'
Good night, then, | will send a lad
TO show you the chamber" said imperi'
Gus Miss Barbara.
Ernest turned straightway and fol-
lowed the lad in waiting through dim
rooms and passages, :up echoing stairs,
narrow damp ways, where rats scuttled
before them TO low chamber. The
boy looked pale and scared, and evil
IDENTIFY wanted to hurry away, but Ern-
est made him wait until he had taken a
survey of the room by the aid Of his
lamp. 1t was very large and full OF
recesseS with high windows in them,
which were barred across He re-
membered that old Grandsire Ferros
had been insane for several years
before his death, so this precaution had
been necessary for the safety o. himself
and Others. In the centre of the room
stood Il coffin: beside it was placed a
chair. The room was otherwise per-
fectly empty.
Ernest stretched himself in the coffin.
"Be good enough to tell Miss Barbara
that it's a very good fit" said he.
The boy went out and shut the door,
leaving the young gunsmith alone in
the dark.
Meanwhile Barbara was talking with
the big blacksmith in the keeping room.
Barney" said she, pulling her hands
from his grasp when he would have
kissed her. Il have a test to put you
through before | give you my answer.
There is corpse lying in the chamber
where my grandSre died, in the unten-
anted wing OF the house. If you dare
sit with it there all night, and let moth
ing drive you from your post, you will
not ask me TO marry you again in vain"
"Are these all the conditions you can
offer me. Barbara"
"All. And if you get frightened you
need never look me in the face again"
"I'll take them, then"
SO Barney was conducted to his post
by the lad, who had been Instructed in
the secret, and whose involuntary stare
at Ernest's placid face as it lay in the
coffin was interpreted by Barney to be
natural awe of d corpse. He took his
seat and the boy left him alone with the
darkness, the rats and the coffin.
Soon after young Fritz, the tanner
arrived, flattered and hopeful from the
! fact that Barbara had sent for him.
Have you changed your mind, Bar
bara?" he asked.
ono. and | shall not until | know
that you can do a really brave thing"
What shall it be? swear to satisfy
You, Barbara
II have a little proposal to make to
you. Ny plan requires skill as well a:
courage"
"Iell me-"
"Well, in this house is man watch
ing by a corpse. He has sworn not tC
leave his post till morning. If you car
make him do it | shall be satisfied that
yon are as smart and as brave as | re
quire a husband TO be-"
"Why, nothing is so easy" exclaimed
Fritz. Il can scare him away. Furnish
me with a sheet, show ne the room, and
90 to your rest, Barbara. You shall
lind ME at the post in the morning"
Barbara did as required, and saw the
tanner step blithly away 10 his task. II
was then nearly II o'clock, and she
sought her own chamber.
Barney was sitting at his vigil, and sc
| far all had been well.
The face in the coffin CLEANED whittier
| through the darkness. The rats squeak
ed as If famine were upon them anc
they smelled dead flesh. The though
made him Shudder. He got up anC
walked about, bEt something made ;
slight noise as If somebody was behinC
him, and ne put his .chair with its bach
against the wall, and sat down again
lie had been hard at work all day, anC
at last, in spite of everything, he grew
sleepy. Finally he nodded and snored
Suddenly it seemed as il somebod.
had touched him. He awoke with
start, aud saw nobody near, though IL
the centre of the room stood whit
figure.
Curse you, get out Of this he ex
claimed IN a fright, using the frs
words that came to his tongue.
The figure held up its right arm an
slowly approached him. He started I
his feet. The spectre came nearer