Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1891-12-10
THE TWO HOUSEHOLDERS.

us a man may so long afterward-that
when first spied the house it put no
desire in me but just to give thanks.
For conceive my case. 1t was near
midnight by this; and, ever since dusk,
Z had been tracking the naked moors
afoOt, in the teeth Of as vicious nor
wester as ever drenched man to the
skin and then blew the cold home to his
marrow. My clothes were sodden; my
coat-tails tapped with a noise like
pistol-shots;, my boots squeaked as /
went. Overhead the October moon was
IN her last quarter, and might have been
&c slice of tiuger-nail for all the light she
afforded.
1t was at this instant that, far away
TO the left, point of light caught my
notice, faint but steady; and at once /
5elt sure it burned III the window of a
house.
cut straight across the heather toward
She light, rlsklng many quags and pit
Falls, and soon flicker of moonlight
gave me glimpse of the houses out
line. 1t proved to be a deal more im-
posing than / looked for-the outline,
in fact, of q tall, square barracE, with a
cluster of Chimneys at either ends, like
ears, and high wall, topped by the
roofs of some outbuildings, concealing
the lower windows. There was no gate
An this wall, and presently l guessed
the reason. / was approaching the
place from behind, and the light came
from a back-window on the first floor.
The faintness of the light also was ex-
planned by this time. 1t shone behind
sembled the stem of a wine-glass,
broadening out at the foot, an effect
produced by the half-drawn curtains
within. [ came to a halt, waiting for
the next ray of moonlight. At the
same moment rush of wind swept
over the chimney stacks, and on the
wind there seemed to ride a human
sigh. And then, to my dismay, the
Light faded from the window.
| was half-minded to call out, when it
appeared again, this time in two win
dOws-thOse next on the right to that
where it had shown before. Almost
at once it increased in brilliance, as if
the person who carried it from the
smaller room to the larger was lighting
more candles. During the minute or
more that | stood watching no shadow
fell on either blind.
But | now perceived that the sur
rounding wall advanced some way be-
fore the house. So much of it, too, as
faced the road had been white washed,
which made it an easy matter to find the
gate. But rs laid my hand on it's latch
j had a surprise.
Along the wet surface of the walk fell
u streak of light from the front door,
which stood ajar.
That a door should remain six inches
open on such a night was astonishing
enough. But looking up and assuring
Enyself that all the rest of the facade
WAS black as ink, | wondered at the in
mates who could thus be careless of
their property. Along the wall by my
shoulder ran line of pegs, on which
hung half dozen hats and great-coats,
everyone of clerical shape, and full in
front of me q broad staircase ran up,
with a staring Brussels carpet, the coIors
and pattern of which | can recall as
we'll as to-day's breakfast. Under this
staircase was set stand full of walking
sticks and table Uttered with gloves,
brushes, a hand-bell, a riding-crop, one
or TWO dog-whistles and a bedroom
candle with tinderbo beside it. This,
,wlfh one notable exception, was all the
furniture.
The ption-which turned me cold
was the form of yellow mastif dog,
curled on a mat beneath the table.
Buta mans habits are not easily de-
n;e:d. At the end of three minutes the
dog had not moved, and | was down on
Ehe door-mat unlacing my soaked boots.
Slipping them off and taking them in
my LETT hand, | stood up and tried a
step toward to stairs, with eyes alert
&or any movement of the mastitf, but he
never stirred.
! was glad enough, however, on
reaching the stairs to find them newly
built and the carpet thick. Up | went,
until | stood still, with hand on the
wai- 4 man who has once felt it knows
lthere is only one kind of silence that
gan fifty be called dead" This is only
TO Oe found in a great house at mid
might. I declare that, for few seconds
have cut the silence with knife. If
THE house held clock it licked
iraudibIy. Upon this silence, at
the end Of minute, broke
II light sound-the clink, clink of
a decanter on the rim of a wineglass.
1t came from the room where the light
was. Now. perhaps, it was the very
thought of liquor that put warmth into
my cold bones. 1t is certain that all ola
sudden l Strengthened my back, took
the remaining stairs at two strides, and
walked down the passage as bold as
brass, without caring a jot for the noise
I
room was long, lined for the most part
with books bound in what they called
~'divinity calf" and Uttered with
papers like barrister's table on assize
day. Before the fireplace, where few
GOALS burned sulkily, was drawn
leather elbow-chair, and beside it, on
the corner of a writing table, were set
zRu unlit candle and pile Of manu-
scripts. At the opposite end of the
room curtained door led, as guessed,
TO the chamber that l bad first seen
illuminated. In the middle of a great
square of carpet between me and the
windows was a table with red cloth
upon 1t. And between me and the
table stood man.
He stood sidewise. leaning a little
back, as if to keep his shadow off the