The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-08
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New York Evening Post.
have heard Louisa say that middle
aged men with wives and families have
no business to have adventures, and
| doubtless she is right. Louisa generally
is right, at least 1 have never known her
to admit that she was not But my ad-
venture on the night of September 10 last
was certainly not Of my seeking, and /
| have never since been able to recall 1t
| without considerable cardiac palpitation,
| and a sinking sensation In the region of
the diaphragm.
am sure was in no way responsible
for the fact that Mrs. WaIsingham, who
was my wealthiest patient, lived five
miles out in the country; neither could 1
| be blamed for her having chosen that day
upon which to indulge in a forbidden
| article of diet, which very naturally
brought on one Of her attacks
1t had rained all day, in fact, do not
! think that we had had another such day
since away back in the early spring, and
as evening approached the storm con-
tinued without any abatement oe its
strength. 1 was passing the telegraph
| ONCE on my way home from making my
| afternoon calls, when boy who was
| Just coming out of the door spied me, and
called out:
Hi, Doctor! Stop minute. Here's a
message for you that 1 was just going
! to take over to your house.
A moist envelope was thrust into my
hand, but l did not open 1t until l was
! safely indoors. Then my spirits fell as
l unfolded the enclosure and read:
Come at once, or only death certificate
! will be required. Mince pie.
Sarah Walsingham
| knew that there was but one course
| open to me, and that was to go. Not
withstanding the wording of the tele-
gram, 1 did not apprehend any fatal re-
! suits as q consequence of Mrs. Walsing-
ham imprudenee, but l appreciated that
any appearances of neglect or Indifference
on my part at such a time might very
easily lead to a severing of our relations
! and have five children to bring up and
educate.
I went up stairs and told Louisa, and
then, having put on dry clothes, and
eaten hurried tea, set forth on my
journey. There was no up train after
8 o'clock, and as I had not received the
telegram until a quarter past, was left
no choice but to drive all the way out to
Glenmore.
The horse that was driving had not
been out since the previous day, but
the roads were very heavy, and it took
me full hour and half to reach my
deStinati ton.
Mrs Walsingham's trouble yielded read
lily to treatment, but, with the recollec-
ton of her suffering still fresh in her
mind, she was loath to let me depart
The result was that it was half past 10
| o'clock before found myself on the road,
with old Hates head turned towards
| home. 1t was still raining, but the sky,
| which had been great, underlined ex-
panse Of black during my drive over, was
now occasionally rent by flashes of light
ming. AS we drove on, these began to
! follow one another in more rapid sue
cession, and the thunder, which at first
had seemed hardly worthy Of notice, came
nearer and nearer, until the peals were
crashing omipously over our heads.
Old Hates nervous system has never
given either herself or me my special
trouble but when, after one terrific clap,
1t seemed as though the floor gates of
heaven had been opened above us, 1
deemed it advisable to seek shelter.
The lightning had given me an oppor-
tunity OF discovering that we were near
ing an unoccupied country seat that was
about a mile from Glenmore village
This place, which had been at one time
the summer residence of a wealthy Bos-
tonian named .Grayson, had extensive
grounds, in the midst of which the house
was located. The owner had died several
years before, since which the property
had been in litigation. with the result that
1t had fallen much into disrepair.
l knew that the stable was near the
gate, and had noticed when passing that
the door was secured only by a rusty pad
| lock and staple, which 1t would REQUIRE
| no great effort to remove cnieting NV
! conscience with the argument that tres
passing was pardonable on sucha night.
drove in at the gateway and up to the
stable, where l got out, and found to nv
| surprise, that the door was partly omen.
Pushing 1t along SO as to widen the en-
j trance, l led Kate inside where I 0iscov-
cred another horse and vehicle already In
| possession.
Surprising that some other belated
traveller like myself had sought shelter
from the storm, took the lighted lantern,
| which was fastened under my buggy. and
looked about for the owner of the con-
veyance, which was a box wagon with
two seats. 1 peered into the stalls and
! empty harnessHcloset, and up the narrow
stairs that led ftosthe loft, at the top of
| which was door, which I found to be
| securely bolted on the outside.
Ihere was apparently no one about, So
| having given Kate a gentle pat. accom-.
| panied by the promise of bran mash
when we should be at home, I sat down
worst of the thunder had passed
1 had been there some five minutes when
l became conscious of another presence,
and looking along the wall near which
was sitting, my startled gaze encoun-
tered a strange sight. Standing against
the wall, not more than two yards away
was a covered feed-bow, about six feet
long and four high. The top was lifted
a few inches, and looking out at me
| through the opening was woman
face.
I jumped to my feet with an exclama-
ton of surprise, and at the same moment
heard an imploring "hush'' from the
feed-box.
WHO are you. madam" I asked sus-
| piciously.
The woman threw back the cover and
arose in her full height, and saw then
that she possessed great personal attrac-
tons. She was tall and slight, with a
presence that might be called queenly,
and I do not think there are many WON