The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1896-10-23
A FALLEN HOUSE.

stood u siege, had given title to the All
cicnt but dccayed family that still held il.
Now it had fallen to tic estate of IL shoot
ing box, occupied for few months in the
sporting season by tenants who knew Moth
ing and cared nothing for its story. I-y-
crywhere about it were the signs of IL reg
lected and unhonored age.
Barbara gazed down the dark vista I'M
til the mist had swallowed the last pale
CLEAN of the dying day. Nothing came to
her ears except the patter of the falling leaf
and the stransled roar of the stream Lc:r
by To her it sounded like the voice CT
silence and loneliEess-the dirgc of the
fortunes of Lindean.
She stepped across the threshold and
looked up at the escutchcon carved above
the door 1t was too Clark to make out tic
familiar device OF IL hand CRASHING the
trunk of tree and the motto, Time alone
overcomcs me-" But through tho dusk
could plainly lie deserted the fresh scars tho
last tenants of Lindean had made on the
proud crest of the Blackadders. Out of
humor mt their i'll luck on the moor, they
had fired q parting salute at tho family
arms.
The eyes of the faithful old scrvitcr
cleaned angrily. No Blackaddcr would
might have been-daredevil, sEendtEriit,
grasping-but at least they had always
borne themselves like gentlemen.
Had Barbara been present she would
have rescued from this last indignity the
house in which she had been born and had
lived for over so years, even as she rescued
the great rusty Andrea Fcrara that Vivian
Black2dder welded ut Flodden when the
little cockney sportsman took it down
from its place and tried to lend it double
ON tho stone flags of the hall.
She went indoors, and lighting her can
die made her tour through the deserted
house ere retiring for the night She climb
ed the spiral staircases and threaded the
low vaulted passages from story to story
and from room to room.
The stone pavement undCrfoot was worn
and broken. The plaster hung i'll frag-
ments from the ceilings. The oak panel
ings and the old fashioned furniture had
suffered sadly from time and i'll Usage
There were chambers in the oldest por
ton of the building that had been boarded
up and had Eecome black holes utterly
abandoned to the starlings, the owls and
the bats Still dozen rooms remained in
occasional use, and these were under her
care.
In the dining and drawing rooms-spa-
cious, bare, low ceilingcd apartmcnts-tho
candle made only u small island of light,
leaving tho many corners and rcCesSCs in
impenetrablc shadow. The hangings were
moth eaten and the family portraits on
the walls furnished and faded.
The bedrooms were in still worse case.
Nothing had been done to repair or refur-
nish them since the late Lord LirGcan
brought his bride hither 40 years ago. Ono
chamber alone-whGt in other days had
been known as the state bodroom-c,ave
signs of being prepared for an honorcd
guest.
Fuel had been laid ready in the crate.
Under the heavy catafalquo of the bed the
coverlet had been turned down and TIE
white and well aired sheets exposed. A
pair of slippers had even been placed beside
the fireplace for the half expected guest.
Had Barbara lardcr been searched there
would have been found the materials for
what Caleb Balderstone would have called
''cold collation. Her eye travelled low
ingly over these preparations.
Once more her ears listened in vain for
the noise of approaching wheels or hoofs on
the drive without. With grief and longing
on her wrinkled face and u load of caro-
weighing on her gaunt and STOPPING shout
ders, she descended slowly to her quarters
in the kitchen.
The fire of peat in the cavcrnous CHM
ney had burned low. Barbara replenished
it with wood, and drawing her stool close
to the bars sat down with her elbows on
her knees and with her chin on her hands
Her thoughts were back in the past, fol-
lowing the downward path of two genera
tions of the Blackadders. Forty years ago!
How far away seemed those days when
hope and love dwelt for brief season in
Lindean tower!
How fond was the old lord, then man
in his prime, of the beautiful lady whom
he had brought to be the mistress of Lin
dean How proud of the bright eyed boy
who by and by came to carry on his ancient
lincl
But there came strife, and after it sor-
row, and at length shame. The unfaithful
wife was dead long ago. For 80 years and
more her namo had never been uttered
within these walls.
The spirit of the late lord had passed in
the storm that wasted the wood of Lin
dean. Nobody mourned him, unless it
were Barbara herself He grow harder and
darker of mood with age and breeding on
Lis wrongs. lie never camc near Lindcan
except in his black fits Then he would
drink deep, and the place would become
like hell
In those old days Barbara, too, had had
her romance. That, like all else, had turn
cd to gall. On the master of Lindcan, the
last scion of his race, she Rad bestowed the
treasures of her faithful old heart. Others
might blame him; to her he was always
the gallant, maynard lad whom she had
scolded and rcttcd long ago For her he
had always the kind word and the bright
look.
But he had fallen far He had followed
dark and devious ways. He had made haste
to squander his patrimony and was bank
rupt already in purse and reputation. OF
all that belonged to him there remained
only the dcsolate mansion and the barren
acres around it, Word had come that he
was on his way home to the only shelter
left TO the heir of Lindean
Was it fancy, or did she see the tongue
of the great bell from tho deserted banquet
room swaying noiselessly to and fro2 Her
eyes must be gsowing dazed with age.
Once youth and mirth ard movement
had filled the house from kitchen to battle
ment. Now its life had burned down to
one tiny and expiring spark. Death is u
sleuth hound that tracks down the great
and the small alike. barbara glanced fear
fully round, as If she heard his breathing
behind her-as if the grisly presence might
be crouching for the spring in the shadow
of the old dresser.
The bell pealed out imperiously, impa-
tiently, as the old lord was won't to ring
it when bis summons was not answered on
the instant. Barbara started upright, her
hair stirring and her flesh creeping from
fear Could it be the young master who
had found his way in nnhcard and unseen?
Could it lie the dead father who needed
help? Still the bell changed loudly.
With shaking fingers the brave old wom-
an lighted the candle and rctraced the dark
passages III the hall she took down from
its nail Vivian Blackadder's sword and APP
preached the closed door of the dining
room.
From behind it came g noise, like the
soft rustling of skirts against the floor and
the walls; then n strange, inarticulate cry
of anger or of terror. Barbara hesitated
for moment, then turned the handle and
pushed open the door. She stood on the
threshold with the light held in one hand
in, front of her and the sword grasped in
the other
The room was in darkness, but across
the narrow space illuminated from the
door there floated noiselessly vague black
object on level with her eyes Again the
shapelcss thing came and disappeared. A
third time it returned from its circuit.
But now it came swiftly toward her. dis