The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1893-09-21

against the clOuueO nlSnCs Sky. Ana |
below, the level water of the pond
showed a ghostly CLEAN through thick
trees and shrubs trimming the undulat-
ing banks.
The fireflies danced in the foliage
along the path; an owl hooted from
some perch above the roofless walls;
Il bat rushed it's wings against her as
Nellie assembled the little rise Of ground
to gap among the shrouding vines
where door had fallen from it's dusty
hinges. r Es
But she was unconscious of fear.
She was naturally brave; and besides
she knew every inch Of the ground
The ruin belonged to the Gilmore es-
tate, and she played there as Il child
during her grandfather's lifetime.
She entered a part of the building
where the floor was yet intact, and
where fragment of the roof remained
to shield her from the dew.
Here second loorless space opened
upon the water, which was some ten
feet below the sill beams There We're
no steps to the water, but jutting
timber served Nellie for a seat.
And there she reposed herself to keep
her midnight vigil-and to wonder why
she had been rash and foolish enough
to undertake anything so supremely alb
surd and ridiculous!
81 suppose it was just one Of Beasie's
usual Freaks she meditated, (which
caused her to challenge me. But I'm
sure 1 can't tell why 1 was stupid
enough to crafty her.
She sat for q while watching the dull
metallic sheen of the pond, and listen
ing to the doleful ''tu-hoo' of the soil
tor ~xx,1. oil Of IN
spiriting idea occurred to her.
Il shall never have a better chance
to satisfy my curiosity about poor
grandpapa's dilapidated old desk. And
I shall have plenty of time--it will be
nearly two hours before Beasie and her
friends appear to make themselves
sure I have done as I promised she
said to herself
| This desk was a cheap affair, con-
structed in the beginning only as a
| temporary convenience; and it occupied
| a corner only a few PAGES away from
| where Nellie sat.
This section of the building was in
| closed by a f1imsy partition, and had
| been used during her grandfather's life
! time as an Office for his farm matters;
for the mill even then was partly q
ruin, and had done no grinding for
years. When the office was transferred
| to different quarters after her grand
fathers death, the clumsy old desk had
not been considered worth removing.
| Nellie had often felt q desire to ex-
plore it, But as the building belonged
to her aunts property, she had not
| yentured to indulge her curiosity re.
garding it.
Tonight, fancying Bcasie might have
planned a jest of some sort, she had
provided herself with matches and
couple Of wax candles. And now with
her light she proceeded to examine the
long -despised and discarded desk.
Almost the first thing to attract her
notice was the CLEAN Of paper in a
narrow compartment which had once
been cleverly concealed, but which was
now disclosed between the warped and
bullying woodwork.
What she drew forth through the
creyice was a folded document, yellow
with age and blotched mold. A glance
of her keen young eyes showed her
it's import
My haunting curiosity over this old
desk must have been prophetic in
stinct. But it seems too wonderful
to be true" she murmured.
What she had discovered was her
GRANDPA theirs will, dictated shortly be-
fore his sudden death, and. devising
the bulk Of his property to her father,
his only son.
AS her father had died since. then she
was, herself, the sole and rightful heir
ess to the fortune her naughty Aunt
Gilmore had enjoyed so long.
1t was indeed too wonderful to be
true!
There was quantity Of gold and sill
yer coin also in the compartment; but
it could not be removed without en-
larging the crevice.
Securing her prize inside her bodice
she went back to her seat beside toe
empty doorway.
She was trembling in every nerve
, with excitement; and she looked dow1
.. at the duly glistening water with I'm
:, seeing eyes which glowed like two
, stars while her ears were deaf to thu
weird noises Of the night.
= But presently she was aroused from
. her abstraction by a queer and unnatur
=. al cry, a sort Of gibbering hiss; and sh'
lifted her head to behold a spectra
shape all in ghostly white, bending to
. ward her out Of the gloom.
:, 'The wages Of sin are death. You
| Sl0lul love 0OI GlOtllcl NOIuNA pLOAu
, ised consort will be your destruction
d If you would save yourself, then shul
temptation-fee from the evil induenc
) even though you hide youself fron
= even though you hide yourself fror
e the apparition begun.
), But Nelie's searching eyes and un
- fearing composure seemed to slight:
y darnt the midnight phantom, for i
. ceased and recoiled uneasily.
T. what do you mean, Beasie, by suc]
~ crazy gibberish? I expected jest, bu
Is nothing so silly and in such bad tast
- as this" Nellie said sternly as she reach
e ed for the candle, which she had extir
~ guished.
= Beasie started forward suddenly a
e if she guessed what the young gin
meant to do, and as if she would snatc
, at random for the candle.
- She had never imagined that her dis
&c guise would be penetrated. And val
- herself and shallow, believing no cou1
900 nor s,1nar;O,. Qualities in anVbOdN