Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1900-06-02

~ ktOuHueu on fact: II is but common
retrioution that should be reminded
Of my sin.''
But the man, upright and honest II
nls acknowledgement of error, woul,
hol allow his culpability to be thu.
surred to bitter self-revolt even befor,
l had made my attack upon him am
his self-respect would not nermit r.
self TO be satisfied without apology.
You are too lenlent to me. INV moth
er, he returned, and his voice was
very deep and grave. with all her 10,
norance, Miss Lothrop Is the bette,
Judge or my conduct. Before her.
wish TO assure you of my deep regret
ana sincere sorrow for my miserahl,
gratuitous reflections upon the past
and to ask you to pardon my lack OF
consideration and respect"
Inc words Were we'll enough. and
they were uttered with a certain emo.
tlon; but felt that one kiss laid upon
the faded cheek, one loving touch plac.
cd upon the bowed form, would have
been worth all the correct apologies I'm
the world to Madam. She sighed and
extended her beautiful hand to him.
and he raised it with graceful courtesy
TO his lips. / was much abashed, now
tnar the moment of excitement was
over lat the thought OF nv outbreak.
Yet l was too proud, and still too re-
sentful of his treatment of Madam.
TO acknowledge my want of proper
decorum. But after he had left the
room, which he did almost Immediate
~, made nay excuses TO my mistress.
l spent charming evening at the
Spencer's. Both mother and son were
In good spirits, and the hours sped
rapidly away. 1 told DR.. Spencer that
l had arranged TO have Holmes come
Tor me, and, probably understanding
my motive, he considerably made no
comment on the arrangement I must
not forget, by the way, to mention a
little incident which occurred before
set out for my visit.
Franklin had come to my room dur
ing the afternoon with very dis
tressed face.
Miss Lothrop," he began. IT am
afraid we are going TO have trouble
with the new servants They and Airs.
are at odds, and there's row.
Ing belowstairs about ali the time"
wv hat seems to be the troubleg' /
asked. What do they complain of -
They don't complain exactly" he re.
Piled but they've taken it into their
heads-the stupid fools!-that the Stone
House is haunted and the idea sends
into fits. She gets regular.
ly violent when they talk about il. aEss
they talk more than they otherwise
would do simply to tease her
@H'mw l muFmured. Il wonder
what they say about the house; 10
you know, Franklin
well, miss, they do say that when
they come home from the village at
night-a couple of them have families
living in Eldon, and they 20 back and
forth often-they sometimes see 81
ghostly figure standing at one of the
windows and hear a woman's voice
singing or screeching in the house.
It's nonsense, miss, of course. but it
may in time make it impossible for
my mistress to secure servants willing
to live here
"And what does Mayberry have to
say to all thisT
"She gets quite violent and excited,
miss, and calls them hard names.
She's changed a good bit of late, Mrs.
Mayberry has. 1 wouldn't like to say
it to anyone but you, Miss Lothrop,
but she really does not properly attend
to her duties in the house here, and
l am obliged to look after things good
deal more closely than my position re.
quires, for fear my mistress and Mr..
Chester will not be properly cared for"
chewed the cud of this reflection as
1 strolled down to the village. I, Of
course, had detected long since the
change in the housekeeper, bst it was