The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-04-05
A FALLEN HOUSE.

Nils bnuo LUX atCfons ouo piulu VI tl6 uerbo
to the faraway blue barrier Of Cheyiot.
Save for shepherds house or two, there
Ii no dwelling Of man between 1t and the
crest Of the Lammermuirs
Once 1t had been strong fortalice, able
to keep the border thieves at bay. 1t had
stood q siege, had given title to the an.
Client but decayed family that still held 1t
Now it had fallen to the estate of shoot
ing box, occupied for few months in the
sporting season by tenants who knew moth
ing and cared nothing for Its story. Ev-
erywhere about 1t were the signs Of O neg
lected and unhonored age.
Barbara gazed down the dark vista un-
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 strangled roar Of the stream near
by. To her 1t sounded like the voice Of
silence and loneliness--the dirgel of the
fortunes OF Lindean. ~.'
She stepped across the threshold and
looked up at the escuteheon carved above
tho door 1t was too dark to make out the
familiar device of a hand grasping the
trunk Of a tree and the motto, "Time alone
overcomes me.' But through the dusk
could plainly be deserted the fresh scars the
last tenants of Lindean had made on tho
proud crest Of the Blackadders. Out of
humor Mt their i'll luck on the moor, they
had fired parting salute at the family
arms.
The eyes Of the faithful old servitor
CLEANED angrily. No Blackadder would
have done such deed. Evil livers they
might have been--daredevil, spendthrift,
grasping-but at least they had always
borne themselves like gentlemen.
Had Barbara been present she would
have rescued from this last indignity tho
house in which she had been born and had
lived for over 60 years, even as she rescued
the great rusty Andrea Ferara that Vivian
Blackadder welded at Flodden when the
little cockney sportsman took it down
from Its place and tried to bend 1t double
on the 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 staircasos and threaded the
low vaulted passages from story to story
and from room to room.
The stone pavement underfoot was worn
and broken. The plaster hung in 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 become 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 ceilinged apartments-th
candle made only small island Of light,
leaving the many corners and reoesses in
impenetrable shadow. The hangings were
moth eaten and the family portraits on
the walls furnished and faded.
The bedrooms wero In still worse case.
Nothinghad been done to repair or refur-
nish them since the late Lord Lindean
brought his bride hither 40 yearsago One
chamber nlone-what in other days had
been known as the state bedroQIn--gave
signs Of being prepared for an honored
guest.
Fuel had been laid ready In the CRATE
Under tho heavy catafalque Of the bed the
coyerlet had been turned down and tho
white and well aired sheets exposed. A
pair of slippers had even been placed beside
the fireplace for the half expected guest
Had Barbara larder 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 load of care
weighing on her gaunt and STOPPING Shout
ders, she descended slowly to her quarters
in the kitchen.
The fire of peat in the cavernous Chin
ney had burned low. Barbara replenished
1t 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 agoi
How far away seemed those days when
hope and love dwelt for brief season in
Lindean towerl
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
linei
But there came strife, and after 1t sor-
row. and at length shame The unfaithful
wife was dead long ago. For 80 years and
more her name 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 grew harder and
darker Of mood with age and brooding on
his wrongs. He never came near Lindean
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
ed to gall. On the master of Lindean, the
last scion of his race, she had bestowed the
treasures of her faithful old heart. Others
might blame him; to her he was always
the gallant, hayward lad whom she had
scolded and petted long ago For her he
had always the kind word and the bright
look.
But he had fallen far. He had followed
uhTh anu utNpub WdyS. Aio hs'u iiuuS haeeo
to squander his patrimony and was bank
rupt already in purse and reputation. OF
all that belonged to him there remained
only the desolate mansion and the barren
acres around 1t. 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 the deserted banquet
room swaying noiselessly to and fro9 Her
eyes must DO growing dazed with age.
Once youth and mirth and movement
had filed the house from kitchen to battle
ment. Now its life had burned down to
one tiny and expiring spark. Death is a
sleuth hound that tracks down the great
and the small alike. Barbara glanced fear
fully round, as II she heard his breathing
behind her--as II the grisly presence might
be crouching for the spring in the shadow
Of the old dresser
The bell peated out imperlously, impa-
tiently, as the old lord was won't to ring
1t when his summons was notanswered on
the instant Barbara started upright, her
hair stirring and her flesh creeping from
fear. Could it DO the young master who
had found his way in unheard and unseen2
Could 1t be the dead father who needed
helpp Still the bell changed loudly.