The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-09


conversation by one whose reserve even
L had found it impossible to penetrate,
L gave him the affables answer he evil
IDENTIFY expected and then looked eager
~ toward the house! It was as Mr..
GIyce had minated eminently forbid
ding even at that distance, and as We
approached nearer and [ was given
full view of it's worn and discolored
front [ felt myself forced to acknowl-
edge that never in my life had my eyes
fallen upon a habitation more given
ever to neglect or less promising in it's
hospitality.
Had it not been for the thin circle Of
smoke eddying up from one of it's bro
ken chimneys [ should have looked
upon the place as. one which had no,
known the care or presence of man for
years. There was a riot of shrubberv
in the yard. a lack of the commonest
attention to order in the way the vines
dropped in tangled masses over the
very face of the desolate porch. that
gave to the broken pilasters and de-
cayed window frames of this dreariest
of facades that look of abandonment
which only becomes picturesque when
nature has usurped the prerogative of
man and taken entirely to herself the
empty walls and falling easements of
what was once human dwelling. That
any one should be living in it now and
that L. who have never been able TO
see a chair standing crooked or & cur
tain aWry without a sensation of the
keenest discomfort should be on the
point of deliberately entering it's doors
as an inmate, filled me at the moment
with such a sense of unreality that T
descended from the carriage in a sort
of dream and was making my way
through one of the gaps in the high
antique fence that separated the yard
from the gateway, when Mr.. Simsburv
stopped me and pointed out the gate.
| did not think it worth while to apoI-
ogize, for the broken palings certainly
offered as good an entrance as the gate
which had slipped from its hinges and
hung but a few inches open. But 7 took
the course he Indicated holding up my
skirts as well as my packages would
allow and treading gingeriy for fear of
the SnallS and toadS that incumbered
such portions of the path as the weeds
had left visible. ASH went on some
thing in the silence of the spot struck
me- Was l becoming oversensitive to
impressions or was there something re-
ally uncanny in the absolute lack of
sound or movement in a dwelling of
such dimensions? But l should not
have said movement, for at that in
slant L saw flash in one of the upper
windows as of a curtain being stealth
lily drawn and as stealthily let fall
again, and though it gave me the prom
Use of soma sort of greeting there was
furtfvenezs in the action that was so
in keeping with the suspicious of Mr..
Glyce that L felt my nerves braced at
once TO mount the half dozen uninyit-
ing looking steps that led to the front
door.
But no sooner had 1 done this with
what [ am fam to think was my best
air than 1 suddenly collapsed with
what must have been a movement of
sudden and to ne quite comprehensive
fear, for, while l do not quail before
men and have a reasonable fortitude
in the presence of most dangers corpo-
real and moral. I am not quite myself
in face of rampant and barking dog
II is my one weakness. / can diVulge
that much now. and while l usually
can, ard under most circumS tances do
succeed In hiding any outward mani
festation of my inner trepidation [ al
ways feel that it would be happy day
for me when dogs would be banished
from the affections and homes of men,
Then l think I would begin to live in
coed earnest and perhaps enjoy trips
into the country, which now for all my
apparent bravery i regard more in the
light of a penance than a pleasure
Imagine, then. how hard 1 found it
to retain my self7possession or even
any appearance ofidignity when at the
moment l was stretching forth my
hand toward the knoc!ler. of this inhos-
pitable mansion Isheard rising from
somewhere l never rightly knew where
the howl of a Cog so keen, piercing and
prolonged that it frightened the very