Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1891-07-17
BARBARA'S TEST.

Pretty Barbara Ferros would not
marry. Her mother was in cOnster-
nation.
why are you so stubborn, Barba-
ra?" she asked. You have plenty Of
lovers
Il want, when | marry, n man who
is brave, equal to any emergency. II
l give up my liberty l want to be ia
ken care Of.
SILLY child What is the matter
with big Barney, the blacksmith p
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 p
Hes as placid as goats milk
There is little Fritz the tanner; he
is quarrelsome enough for you, sure
ly?'
He is no bigger than II 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, y he said,
going to the girl who stood upon the
hearth, coquettishly warming one
pretty foot and then the other
Yes, Ernest she replied. I've
been thinking of what you said the
other night when you were here.
"Well, Barbara ?"
Il want to test you"
How p
Il want to see if you dare do very
disagreeable thing
What is it p
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 a week,
and it was finally taken from the
tomb 1t is up stairs 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 tonight 2
Ernest laughed.
"Is that all ? | will that, and sleep
soundly. Why, pretty one, did you
think had weak nerves p
Good night, then ; | will send lad
to show you the chamber said i'm
perious Miss Barbara.
Ernest turned straightway and fol
lowed the lad in waiting through dim
rooms and passages, up echoing stairs,
along narrow, damp ways where rats
scuttled before them, to low cham
Der. The boy looked pale and scared,
and evidently wanted to hurry away,
but Ernest made him wait until he
had taken survey OF the room by
the aid Of his lamp. 1t was very large
and full of recesses, with high win
dows in them, which were barred
across. He remembered that old
Grandsire Ferros had been insane for
several years before his death, so this
precaution had been necessary for the
safety of himself and others. In the
center of the room stood coffin {; be
side it was placed a chair. The room
was otherwise perfectly empty.
Ernest stretched himself in the cof-
fin.
BE good enough TO tell Miss Bar
bara that it's 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 keep
ing 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
any answer. There is a corpse lying
in the chamber where my grandsire
died. in the untenanted wing Of the
house. If you dare sit with ii there
all night. and let nothing drive you
from your post, you will not ask NE
to marry you again in vain"
Are these all the conditions you
can offer Inc. 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 1t lay
in the coffin, was interpreted by Bar
nev to be natural awe of corpse. He
took his :. at and the boy left him
alone with the darkness, the rats and
the coffin.
Soon after young Fritz, the tanner,
arrived, fiattered and hopeful from
the fact that Barbara had sent fol-
him.
Have you changed your mind, Bar
] bara ?" he asked.