The Washington weekly post., 1899-12-19
THE GHOST IN BROCADE.
By FERGUS HUME.
rssriss, ns. sy Fsrras gan.l

appears with the regularity OF
.,a sun. Additional Information s. ac-
-r-l@l t1 the curious by the expansion Of
..sse mystic signs into the words. "sa-
r.Fs salutary Sauce"-a condlment tn
vented by Sarah Brag 10 tickle the pal
s.~s o. the epicures.
Her husband, composItor IN the Office
@. provincial journal made a fortune
o.y o. 60 for both OF them. He COM
EsGcea quite in small way by adyertis,
i.g It lU the columns he set up. While Sa-
rah. rentirg suitable premises IN the
r.Qu. personally manufactured her inyen-
ton Tie advertisements we're read. the
sauce Was approved OF. and as circles on
The water JOS fame widened round the
voFlG. IU tR enty years Mr.. and Mrs
Erag were ,lmost milhonaires, aud hay
t.g turned their concern into a limited
liability company. retired to enjoy an old
-g- .! wr..-.arued ease and comfort at
A..s-on Hail. 5. g. s. did its work
V-L and fgr once fortune bestowed her
..ygrs on the deserving.
They were wholly unlike the million
aires o. commerce or OF fiction. these two
Tor they were neither anxious 60 get into
society EOr GpsiTOus OF displaying their
wealth with osteuiatlon. Mr. Brag. in
deed had rubbed of some OF his natural
raagaue-s while shouldering his way
through the world, but Sarah his wife
vas as much q cook as she had been
uheu she presided over the kitchen Of
al.stOu Hall Now she sat In the draw
lag-Io0m and could without doubt have
set ug as q tue lady had she so desired
But her heart was ever in the back prem
!ses. and her visits there were by no
"a. IL
the uue1uCdtel. rough, warm-hearted
woman. devoted TO her home and to her
husband. ] knew her value better than
ary one. save perhaps Helen. and both Of
us were extremely fond Of her, and in
deed ~ MI Brag also. They were a typi-
cal Nr and Mrs. BOfiin.
BJ. who am /. YOU will ashland who is
Helen too? Well, / who tell YOU this
story am GeOnrey Beauchamp. an idle
OXOHl4a and private secretary TO Mr..
Brag.
When / left Balliol, my father, falling
lu business, took his loss OF money and
reputation so seriously that he died of a
broken heart and Joined my mother in
The next world. whittier she had long pre-
crded him. Finding myself an orphan.
peHHiless and without a profession, / cast
1 an
advertisement for a secretary In this
way % was that / became acquainted
with Mr.. Brag. For three years past
have looked after his affairs-that is to
say, | have written his letters, advised
him as best ] could, and have stood be
tween his TOO kindly soul and the hungry
horde Of money hunters. And he, on his
part has treated me more like son than
r.H.FH u
10 appreciate. So comfortable a position
AMI ~ kindly friend come not 10 every
man.
Then there is Helen. She Is looked
upon IS the daughter Of the house, and
indeed she Is, seeing that she was born
81 the hall
When Sir Ralph Alliston died, after ii
sprDdthrift career. he left his only child
without penny. The Hall was sold and
the proceeds went to pay off the mort
cages and the rest Of the debts Sc Helen.
poor, helpless girl, had no choice but to go
out as goyerness. But Sarah Brag soon
changed all that. She remembered Helen
as child, and when the Hall was pur-
chased by the money made out of - 5.
S she sought out the orphan and in
sisted upon her returning.
soul; "seein' that j. and me amt bin
bIrssd with babies. Not that I'm a lady,
my dear, nor could ever have a daughter
Ike you. But Wen put il like that 20
satisfy the 'conVeniences' of society"
What could Helen do but accept an Of
fer so kindly and so literally made. So she
come back 10 her ancestral home. and
found existence made as pleasant for her
aTp TpG Proc 10
IL came about that as | was young and
Helen altogether charming. We fell in
love with each other, much TO the delight,
b. il said. of our patrons. Eventually II
was arranged that l should be Helen's
husband, and that she should expect to
inherit the substantial profits from IS.
s :"
And if / might advise Mr.. Beauchamp,"
said Mrs. Brag, bearning, you should
take tie name and arms of AllistOn, by
right Of Ellen here; so that when we are
dead and gone the old family will still
De in the old place where they have been
for Lord knows what number of years
Think" cried Mrs. Brag jubiantly, "of
the ancestors yOu'n have. Why. there's
church chockful of email knights and
bdrniIes. Fine, amt it?''
Helen's consent. indeed at her express
wish, | promised the worthy couple TO
take tie name OF Allision when 1 should
lead the last scion of the family 10 the
altar And this was the position of af-
fairs when the ghost came; and l do not
think there were four happier people in
The hole world up 10 that time. Lady
Marian spOilt il all.
She had been a Georgian beauty a couple
ol hundred years ago-had rustled in silk
en brocade in the midst of Jacobite con-
spiracies. Her husband had preferred
King George 10 King James, and desirous
CT keeping his head and property, had
gwen her TO understand az much. But il
would seem that excitement was the
breath Of Lady Marian's nostTis and she
made the Hall a center of intri,sues, which
Included the midnight visits Of Jesuit
Priests, OF French emissarles from his
majesty over the water. and Of sulky
squiTts. who cursed the Hanoverian in
their cups.
Sir Walter Allist9n being a jealous hus-
band as well a. a loyal subject, disapproy-
ID Of his Wifr's DrankS. and accused her
OF using politics for the masking OF in
,r:gUes against his honor and her own
The lady, being Of high spirit, denied the
accusation. and sWore never again To
speak TO her husband He. more furious
than ever, kept a close watch upon her.
aud one evening found a masked gallant
.raviug her apartments. Without a mo-
HenJs hesitation he ran the Intruder
through with his r-pier, When he tore
~ the vlzor he founo to his horror thar
,a~ victim was Lady Marian herself dis.
s5is-i for some excursion. Dying. sh.
cursed him and his. and declared that
Size would haunt him and his descendants
esruEOre.
Ana she's kept her word" said Mrs.
hfas, who told me the story FOR when
H.f Walter died she walked down The pic
t-F' gallery the night before. She always
comes 10 tell when one OF the family q
.' Ole. J card as she was seen Just before
flrns father went of. and when Lady
A..-'on died In giving birth 10 that dear
XII ] saw the ghost my yself."
Nonsense, Mrs. Brag, There are no
ti,h things as ghosts" 1 said.