Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-11-10

; THE PORIENT. ;
D = . - - . . . . S$ go
CHAT TER ".
uuTBg HALL.


HLToy HALL.
As my father accompanied me to
The door, where the gig which was
to carry me over the first stage of
my journey, was In waiting. a large
target of hide well studded with brass
nails. which had hung in the hall for
time unknown-to me at least fell
on the floor with a dull bang. Ny faith
er started but said nothing; and, as
it seemed to me, rather pressed my
departure than otherwise. would
have replaced the old piece of armor
before I went but he would not allow
me to touch it, saying, with grim
smile
Take that for an omen, my boy,
that your armOr must be worn over
the conscience, and not over the body.
Be a man, Duncan, nay boy. Fear
nothing, and do your duty"
A grasp of the hand was all the
good-by l could maks; and l was soon
rafting away to meet the coach Tor
Edinburgh and London.
I reached London in safety, and
slept at the house of an old friend Of
my father who treated me with
great kindness, and seemed altogether
to take n liking to me. Before | left,
he held out a hope of being able, some
day or other, to procure for me what
| so much deSired-a commission in
the army.
After spending a day or two with
him, and seeing something of Lon
don, climbed once more on the roof
of a coach; and, late in the afternoon,
was set down at the great gate of
Hilton Hall. 1 walked up the broad
avenue, through the final arch of
which, as through huge Gothic win
dow, / saw the hall in the distance.
Everything about me looked strange,
rich, and lovely. A statue on a pedes-
tai, the only white thing in the sur
rounding green, caught my eye. l
had seen scarcely any sculpture; and
this. attracting my attention by a
favorite contrast of color, retained 1t
by its own beauty. 1t was a Dryad,
or some nymph of the woods, who
had Just glided from the solitude of
the trees behind, and had sprung up
on the pedestal to look wonderingly
around her. A few large brown leaves
Law at her feet, borne thither by some
eddying wind, from the trees behind.
AS / gazed, filled with a new pleas
ure, a drop of rain upon my face made
me look up. From a gray, feecy
cloud, with sun-whitened border, a
light, gracious, plentiful rain was fall
ing. A rainbow sprung across the
sky, and the statue stood within the
rainbow At the same moment, from
the base of the pedestal rose a figure
in white, graceful as the Dryad above,
and neither running, nor appearing
TO walk quickly, ynt feet as a ghost,
glided past me at a few PAGES dis
tant, and, keeping in straight line
for the main entrance of the hall, en-
tered by it and vanished.
/ followed in the direction of the
mansion which was large, and of sew
eral styles and ages One wing ap-
peared especially ancient. 1t was neg
Iected and out of repair, and had in
aanranalanna- -dnsn1ntn almost rnIAll1,
chral look: an expression heightened
by the number of large expresses
which grew along It's line. l went up
TO the central door and knocked. 1t
was opened by grave, elderly butler.
7 Dassed under it's fiat arch, as il into
the midst of the waiting events OF my
story. For, as 1 glanced around the
hall, my consciousness was suddenly
saturated, if | may be allowed the ex-
preston, with the strange feeling
known to everyone, and yet so strange
that had seen It before; that, In
fact, I knew it perfectly. But what
was yet more strange, and far more
uncommon, was, that, although the
feeling with regard to the hall faded
and vanished instantly, and although
I could not in the least surmise the ap-
pearance of any of the regions into
which I was about to be ushered, l
vet followed the butler with kind of
indefinable expectation of seeing
something which l had seen before;
and every room OF passage in that
mansion affected me, on entering 1t
for the first Tine, with the same SEN
sation of previous acquaintance which
| had experienced with regard to the
hall. This sensation, in every case,
died away at once, leaving that por
ton such as it might be expected to
look to one who mad never before
entered the place.
l was received by the housekeeper,
n little, prim, benevolent old lady,
with colorless face and antique head
dress, who led me to the room pre-
pared for me. To my surprise, l
found a large wood-fre burning on the
hearth; but the feeling of the place
revealed at once the necessity for it;
and | scarcely needed to be Informed
that the room, which was upon the
ground floor, and looked out upon n
little solitary, graFs- grown, and IVY
mantled court, had not been used for
years, and therefore required to be
thus prepared for an inmate. My bed
room was a few PAGES down pas
sage to the right.
Left alone, l proceeded to make Il
more critical survey of the room. Its
look of ancient mystery was to me in
comparably more attractive than any
show of elegance or comfort could
have been. 1t was large and low,
paneled throughout in oak, black with
age, and worm-eaten in many parts
otherwise entire. Both the windows
looked into the little court or yard
before mentioned. All the heavier
furniture of the room was likewise
of black oak, but the chairs and
couches were covered with faded
tapestry and tarnished gliding, appar-
emily the superannuated members Of
the general household of seats. l
could give an individual description Of
each, for every atom in that room
large enough for discernable shape or
color, seems branded into my brain.
If happen to have the least feverish-
ness on me, the moment l fall asleep,
/ am in that room.
CHAPTER V.
LADY ALICE.