Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1891-03-14

6ultA unment1onaDle bedcioth1ng; two
rickety chairs and table to match; a
deal wasbstand, with broken basin;
triangular bit of looking glass scratched
and smeared: four or FIVE moldy books
on the top Of a painted deal chest OF
drawers, from which the drawers were
missing. These, together with few
household gods-a kettle and saucepan
and torn and discolored fragment Of
drugget-formed the furniture of the
place. Three of the panes of glass in the
solitary window were smashed and the
holes filled up with what appeared to be
fragments of old stuff petticoats.
In this delectable apartment Mrs.
Crump lay, and there my doctor attended
her. She wanted for nothing that we
could provide her. and one evening at
Mr.. Bruce's managed to interest him
and Mary in. the old woman, insomuch
that Mr. Bruce not only permitted Mary
to visit her, but himself sent to her at
various times quantity of port out of
his own cellar. He had his reward.
On Christmas day was dining at his
table, and during dinner Mary found an
y
Christmas present for me upstairs; but
she refused, notwithstanding my urgent
inquiries, to tell me what it was. had
visions of smoking caps and slippers and
other ornamental and useless rubbish
that girls usually think appropriate
gifts for men. 1t turned out to be some
thing much more to my liking. had
and have weakness for old books, and
my chambers were almost lined with
them.
Mrs. Crump, it appeared, desirous of
testifying her gratitude for my little at
tentions, had commissioned Mary to pre-
sent to me in her name one of the moldy
volumes | had noticed on the chest Of
drawers This bibliomania of mine was
shared by Mr. Bruce, who had mag
nifcent collection; but while he issued
semi-royal mandates to Quaritch and
Torrey, to Ellis and Pickering, had to
content myself with an occasional prize
from bookstall or at country auction.
Mrs. Crump's Christmas present was an
old folio copy of Ambrose Pari in fair
preservation except as to the old calf
binding, which needed repair. was
turning over the familiar leaves and
showing Mary some of the least eccen-
trio of the old woodcuts. .
f.Ha!' said Mr.. Bruce, ga copy of old
Pari. and nice clean copy, too. Let
me look at it, Mary, and let me have
some coffee
He and ! turned over the book to-
gether and had some talk about the au-
thor. As was closing it the fly leaf fell
to the ground and huttered to Mr..
Bruee's feet. He picked it up and was
about to hand it to me when he sudden
ly exclaimed with some excitement:
"This is extraordinary. Did you not
notice this?'
straight, stiff handwriting, "Dalrymple
Bruce his booke 1890"
We looked at it together in Gilence for
about minute. Mr. Bruce spoke first.
''Who was your Mrs. Crump? Do you
know her maiden name"
81 know nothing about her-except
that she once told me she was in SER
vice at Chicksands Priory, in Bedford
shire"
''In what part of Bedfordshire is
Chicksands Priory?"
Really l don't know; my acquaint-
ance with the place is confined to Asp
ley Guise and Woburn, and it certainly
is not in that neighborhood."
''Do you mind my keeping this?
must see Mrs. Crump in the morning
and you had better perhaps come with
me. Come to my chambers about II, and
we will go together"
willingly agreed to be with him at
the hour named, and the next day ac-
cordingly we interviewed Mrs. Crump,
who by this time was well enough to be
up, though not to be about. Poor old
woman! She was quite frightened at
Mr.. Bruces somewhat professional meth
cd of cross-examination. He, however,
elected the information that her maiden
name was Medlock; her father had been
laborer in Lord Ongley's employ at
Warden, in Bedfordshire. Her mothers
maiden name she did not know. Both
her father and mother were dead. They
had both died while in service at Chick
sands Priory, and were both buried at
Warden. She was the only child, and
on her parents decease she had sold the
few things they possessed, except two or
three books which she had played with
as child and did not like to part with.
There was no family Bible among them.
There was an old almanac. There they
were on the drawers, and we were quite
welcome to look at them, or, for that
matter, to take them away. The alma
nae was not among the books on the
drawers; it was in her "box." Her box
was under the bed, and if we very par
ticularly wanted to see the almanac she
would get it for us.
We did want to see that almanac very
particularly indeed; but l made Mrs.
Crunp sit in her chair while pulled
the box out from under the bed and
dragged it up in front of her. She
opened it, revealing a strange, hetero-
geneous collocation of articles, whence
derived or wherefore treasured only Mrs.
Crump-and possibly not even She
could have explained. All three Of us,
%.,,> taI