Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1892-11-11

--s--s-ssufrom. the dash of rain that / knew,
IN would soon be upon me.,t,,,,F ~,
Nv Passing through the gate, went up
the pathway q short distance and dis
covered a rustic house in the center of
the group Of trees which / had seen
from the road. | started toward this
sgIgC house, when a fash of lightning nearly
blinded me.
When / recovered from the shock,
the clouds had gathered SO thickly that
peered into darkness as approached
the rustic house. As was entering
the door an apparent apparition arose
before me- and started back at the
sight of an old man, all in white, with
long, snow-white beard and hollow
4 eyes, who looked as if he might be a
tenantofone Of thelold graves near by.
But welcome from him, uttered in a
''-rs''+- very pleasant voice, reassured me, and
rseg- au,l entered just as he.shower burst in
all Its fury k ,egoa sea~
AS took seat beside the old man,
he said:
Rather dismal place to be caught
in a thunder shower, isn't it?"
We'll, yes, y Iauswercd, ;itis so. !
nm glad I have company. But how
happened You to be here at this time
-. if lmay asls?" ...
" v F'Nhy, certainly you may ask such
a. question. am here to prepare aplace
..ssuss.u- for one of my tenants. You see have
been sexton of this cemetery for forty
years, andi have come to look upon all
ethe~inmates as my tenants" Z" " sssaa
looked little way from where we
sat, and the pile Of fresh earth indicate
ed the place where he had made pre-
sfl,7 tparation for the new tenant 10
Oh |.'f Another lblinding fash Of lightning
made, me involuntarily start, and as the
peal OF thunder which followed died
away said: t..W ..t.....
Forty years. that's long time.
suppose you could tell some interesting
.----s stories from your experience hereof
q 80. - q y Yes,H answered the eold sexten;s" If
a .,s, + had the faculty of story telling, l.
y Il could find enough tomalSe many stor-
: F2 isessvy aW,d.. .rjs. a.. 4, n,,,,,.1 .ss,,.
nowP' qucricd s-a.FfI +. fss'1
''Mrs. Trescott's, he said, in mus
Y "a ingmanncr. and asked:.s g. ,re.r--g
= "a And wlio might Mrs. Trcscott bc?'
y 'fheold sexton sat in a study for a
momcnt, and then replied: o. a5 sss5s 81
"Who was Mrs. Trcscott? Well, III
y foye to begin at the beginning. Sixty
years ago Thomas and Robert Ed
a-t gland,s The two men were brothers and
Z ,sags had married sisters. Thomas, the cld-
. lsagy est wasia widower with one daughter
D S'sAlathree years of age. Roberts wife was
= an invalid, and their family consisted
b NOT asony also three years old3 T. .&-G,
90 = -. These two. .brothers. built those two
houses that you can get glimpse of
sGu over the tops of the trees yondcr. The
.-.,-.. houses stand side by side, and in the
rear between the two stands a garden
er's house, where lived Richard Tres
>|N~"-- colt, a gardener whom the Edmunds
brothers had brought with them from
England Richard Trescott's wife was
.srE n thorough lady, and they had one son,
.4 Richard, Jr, four years Of age ''
, '"The two brothers built the large
rrTi woolen mill which you passed just be-
.,. low here, and for many years the bust
ness went on. The brothers intended
p. gg that Edward and Alice should wed at
,..,-.-.. an. early age, and the property thus be
kept in the family
.2gIu ~ Richard Prescott had been gardener
.sb for the family for many years in Eng
3.-.tr land, and had succeeded his father, and
so he had grown up with the brothers
1t was only natural, therefore, that lit
F'ht tic Richard should be the playmate of
Edward and Alice "t. .f'
.ssEr s''All was well for several years, but
when the cousins were twelve or thir-
~ teen years of age a slight trouble COM
''Nt menced. Edward had hasty temper
and an ovcrbearing disposition, and So
ssH.s & i; ss ss sa"s tn Rs nd
tended dwife, a jealousy was aroused by
4. A. d, ,theastrong friendship between Alice
&gE$ and Richard, and this jealousy had fro
FN~ qucnt outbursts, E%
Young Richard was manly fellow
and stood Edwards insults in calm
aud quiet manner, never resentng any
of bis'i 'indignities.
MATTERS went on thus until Edward
and Alice were sixteen, and by this
time the young man had become SO ex-
asperated that he told his father of tn e
state of affairs. Thomas was soon in
formed, aud a stormy scene ensued.
sH The result was that Richard Prescott
was Obliged to leave the employ of the
brothers and so leave the town
''Soon after this, Thomas, the elder
brother was taken seriously i'll, and,
fearing that he might not live to see
the union of his daughter and her cous-
in, he endcavored, by the most urgent
persuasion to make her promise that
his desire should Le realized on her
twenty y-first birthday.
"For long time the girl refused TO
comply with this demand but at
length, when it became evident that
her father could not recover, she con-
scntcd.
"And so Thomas died, and it was
understood that his will provided that
~ in case Alice died before she was
twcnty-onc her half of the property
should go to Edward, and in case she
passed her twenty-frst birthday with
%. ont marrying her cousin he would take
the properly the same.
"As Edward grew older he showed
signs of dissipation, and after few
years 1t became n common thing for
him to 90 home at late hour in the
uigft very much under the influence