Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-10-31
Continued.


that he was so much older thai
Alicia Penrith-Old enough to have
been her father or guardian-that i
behOOved him to assume a protecting
an adm0nitOry sort Of tone in his
dealings and converse with her. 81
many years lay between them-sC
many years! 1t was not as though
he was sill in the first flush of youth
He was thirty-fve; she was eighteen
The world, therefore, he told himself
a little bitterly, could not cavil at his
interest in Alicia Penrith.
81 do not think l promised that
did ~ said Alicia with her serious
smile, in reply to his last assertion
Besides you forget that I do not yet
know Mrs. Merryweather."
''My mother" he put in gravely
has been dead many years now
II think I meant your WIFE" ex-
planned Alicia. confused, lovely red
swiftly dyeing her face and brow.
"My wifeLmy wife! What wife?
I have no wife" quoted Herman,
laughing. 'In Garth, I assure you, |
am regarded as a confirmed, a most
incorrigible bachelor. If you cannot
prevail on Lady Penrith to bring
you, you must prevail on Mrs.
Ounce"
"Thank you" said Alicia, earnestly.
'You are very good to me, Mr.. Mer-
ryWeather."
Before he took his departure he told
Miss Penrith that on the very first
day she felt equal to an arithmetical
ordeal, he wished her, with himself
to look over the accounts. 1t was
Lady Pemith's WISH likewise AS
Sir Rugs only child she was the real
mistress of Oldfriars, and a great
heiress into the bargain. Sir Rugs
solicitor in London had written to
Herman MerryWeather, and the two
men had arranged to have an inter
view together anent Alicia's fortune
1t was imperative, Herman said
brightly, that Miss Penrith should
understand clearly how matters at
Oldfriars had been progressing under
his stewardship.
Put I would infinitely rather go on
leaving everything to you-if-if you
do not n,ind,' said Alicia, not quite
comprchending, and somewhat
alarmed a the prospect
"Y0u shall do So" he told her. smil-
ing, ''When once you have seen my
ledgcrs. Believe me, l will make it
all plain to you. and give you my
word that you shall not be worried
unnecessarily. Cannot You trust ne?"
When he was gone Alicia RENE H.
hered that she had actually laughed
twice during the last half hour, and
almost forgot, in thinking of Her
mans goodness ana nobility, that her
soul was weighed down with secret
care, and that her grandmother was
lying perhaps in the shadow of
death. He WAS gone; aEd the gloom
of Oldfriara, tnOEght Alicia, seemed
gloomier and more oppressive than
ever.
The same day, in the gusty March
eventide, when Lady Penrith had
sunk into a gentle doze, Mrs. Ounce,
at her young mistress request, ac-
companied her all over the great
lonely house. from the loftiest garrett
to the loWer-most cellar.
Il have & fancy to go" the girl
said, feverishly; l cannot rest until
| have been"
SO Mrs. Ounce after much diligent
rummaging in Out-of-the way corners,
produced the keys that were fndis-
pensable, and together the pair set
off. The rooms in the west corridor
which the deft old housekeeper had
prepared for Miss Penrith's reception
were pleasantly and warmly fur
niShed. commanding a fine view of the
park and Garth countryside beyond
it, with the swift flowing river in
the blue-misted distance dividing the
beautiful landscape; but all those
many other disused rooms at Old
friars, with their dulled antique fur
niture and luSty, moth-eaten tapes
tries, We're misunderstanding in the
extreme, so indelible seemed the
signs Of wreck and decay which time
had stamped upon them all.
Now and then. as the great creaking
oaken doors, almost black with age.
swung back upon their RUSTY hinges,
and a CLEAN of light darted fearlesSly
into the masses of shadow beyond. a
noXious spider on the ceiling would
white moth come f1uttering out
blindly from the tapestry about the
shattered windows
Sometimes a ghoStly curtain would
sway in the sudden draught. as
though some griSly shape we're lurk-
ing behind its folds, or a mouse scam
per boldly across their very feet to
squeak defiance at the intruders from
behind the moldering wainscOt. The
pope-backed chairs looked like COB
Inns in the deep, vOiceleSs gloom: the
bedsteads and their hangings Were
unpleasantly suggestive to Alicia of
those she had once read about in q
German legend of a haunted castle
at the foot Of the terrible Broken
The girl shuddered.
All. yes" whispered Mrs Ounce
with a quick glance over her shoul
der, and then holding her Pickering
light high above her stiff white cap
Its all very dreary, isn't it. my dear
they smell like the grave, these
rooms. don't 'em? But then, as Tn
always a-saying to myself, what is
one poor body like me to do in a grea
rambling place like this? l open The
windows whenever I thinks of it. ant
gives 4 dust to the furniter when