Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-12-08

5 THE PORTENT. )
SSYSYYS$YSSi
CHAPTER XXI.

Il L :
respectable second-rate inn on the side
next the Hall, to which the gardener
and other servants had been in the
habit of repairing of an evening; anG
l thought | might there stumble upoI
some information, especially as the
old-fashioned place had large kitchen
in which all sorts of guests met. Wher
l reflected on the utter change which
time. weather and great scar mus
have made upon NE, l feared no rec
ognition. But whct was my surprise
when, by one of those condolences
which have so often happened to me
l found in the hostler one of my owr
troop at Waterloo! His countenancs
and salute convinced me that he rec
ogniZed me. / said to him:
II know you perfectly, Wood: but
you must not knew me. l will &C
with you to the stable"
He led the way instantly.
Wood" l said, when we had reach.
ed the shelter of the stable, Il don't
want to be known here, for reasons
which 1 will explain to you another
time"
Very well, sir. You may depend
upon me, sir"
II know l may, and I shall Do
you know anybody about the HallY'
''Yes, sir. The gardener comes here
sometimes, sir. l believe he's in the
house now. Shall l ask him TO step
this way, sir?"
mo. All | want is, to learn who is
at the Hall now. VIII you get rim
talking? 1 shall be by, having some
thing to drink"
Yes, sir. AS soon as 1 have rub
bed down the old horse, sir-bless
him.
You'll find me there"
I went in, and, with my condition
for an excuse, ordered something hot
by the kitchen fire. Several country
people were sitting about it. They
made room for me, and l took my
place at a table on one side. 1 soon
discovered the gardener, though time
had done what he could to disguise
him. Wood came in presently, and,
lettering about, began to talk to him.
whats the last news at the Hall,
William" he said.
News answered the old man.
somewhat querulously, there's never
nothing but news up there, and very
new-fangled news, too. What do you
think, now, John? They 10 talk of
turning all them greenhouses into hot
houses; for, to be sure, there's moth
ing the new missus cares about but
just the finest grapes in the country:
and tie flowers, purity creatures. may
go to the devil for her There's Il
Lady for yer
But you'll be glad to have her home
and see what's she like, won't you?
It's rather dull up. there now, isn't
ft?"
II don't know what you call dull"
replied the old man, as If half Of
Tended at the suggestion. II don't be
lieve a soul missed his lordship when
he died: and there's always Mrs
Blakesley and me, as is the best
friends in the world, besides three
maids and the stableman, who helps
me in the garden, now there's no
horses. And then there's Jacob and"
interrupting him, ''that there's none
of the family at home now"
-1.No. Why should there be? Least
WAYS. only the poor lady. And she
hardly counts now-bless her sweet
face"
DO you ever see herr" int,rposed
one of the by-sitters.
sometimes"
as she quite crazy"
Altogether: but that quiet and
gentle, you would think she was an
angel instead of a mad woman. But
not a notion has she in her head, no
more than the babe unborn"
1t was a dreadful shock to me. Was
this 10 be the end of all? Were it not
better she had died2 For me, life
was worthless now. And there wert
no wars, with the chance of losing II
honestly.
l rose and went to my own room.
AS l sat in dull misery by the fire,
1t struck me THAI it might not have
been Lady Alice after all that the old
man spoke about. That moment tap
came to my door and Wood entered.
After a few words, I asked him who
was the lady the gardener had said
was crazy.
Lady Alice" he answered, and ad-
ded: "A love story, that came to
bad end up at the Hall, years ago.
A tutor was in it, they say. But /
don't know the rights of it."
When he left me, 1 sat In cold stu
Dor, In which the thOughts--if thoughts
they could be called-came and went
of themselves. Overcome by the ap-
pearance Of things-as what man the
strongest may not sometimes be?-I
felt as If had lost her utterly, as IL
there was no Lady Alice anywhere,
and az If, to add to the vacant horror
of the world without her, shadow OF
her, a golden simulacrum, soulleSS, I'M
real, yet awfully Ike her, went wan
dering about the pllce which had once
been glorified by Eer presence-as to
the eyes of seers the phantoms OF
events which have happened years be-
fore are still visif le clinging TO the
room in which they have indeed taken
place. But, in a little while, some
thing warm began to throb and flow
in my being, and l thought THAT if she
were dead, l shoult love her still; that
now she was not worse than dead:
it was only that b .r soul was out OF
sight Who could ell but 1t might be
wandering in wo:lds of too noble
shapes and of too high speech to per-
NIT of representation in the language
of the world in which her bodily pre-
sentation remained, and therefore her
speech and behavior seemed to men
to be mad? Nay, was 1t not in some
sense better for me that 1T should be
so? To see once tie pictured likeness
of her Of whom / had no such memo
rial, could l not give years of my pow
erty-stricken life? And here was such
a statue of her, as that of his wife
which uhe widowed king was bending
before, when he said:
"Whnt fine chiSel
Could ever Yet cut breathT'
This statue I might see, Cooking like
IN angel" as the gardener had said
And, while the bond of visibility re