Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-01-28
been applying her ear to the keyhole. a

You are singularly prompt" he says,
with lowering glance and a sneer. ''This
is Mrs Crunch" turning to Vera. my
housekeeper. She will see to your wants.
Crunch, take these young ladies away.
My nerves." with a shudder, ''are all un-
strung to the last pitch"
Thus unceremoniously dismissed, Miss
Dysart follows the housekeeper from the
room, Griselda having preceded her.
Through the huge dark hall and up the
wide, moldy staircase they follow their
guide, noting as they do so the decay
that marks everything around.
She filings wide door for the girls to
enter, and then abruptly departs without
offering them word or glance. They are
thankful to be thus left alone, and in
voluntarily stand still and gaze at each
other. Vera is very pale, and her breath
is coming rather ftfully from between her
parted lips.
He looks dying" she says, at last.
speaking with heavy sigh. and going
nearer to Griselda, as if unconsciously
seeking closer companionship. did you
ever see such face? Don't you think
he is dying?'
Who can tell?' says Griselda. 81
might think it, perhaps, but for his eyes.
They"-she shudders-"they look as if
they couldn't die. What terrible eyes
they are! and what a vile old man alto
gether! Good heavens! how did he dare
so to insult us! l told you, Vera"-with
rising excitement-"I warned you that
our coming here would be only for evil"
4 moment later a knock comes to the
door,
will you be pleased to come down
stairs or to have your tea here?" de-
A., L IL
er from the threshold.
Here" is ON Vera's lips, but Griselda,
the bold, circumvents her.
Down stairs" she says, cOldly, when
we get some hot water, and when you
send a maid to help us to unpack our
trunks"
''There are no maids in this house."
replies Mrs. Crunch, sullenly. You must
either attend to each other or let me help
you"
NO maids:'' says Griselda.
None" briefly.
And my room? Oh-is this mine. or
Miss Dysart's?'
Both yours and Miss Dysart's; sorry
if it amt big enough" with derisive
glance round the huge, bare chamber.
You mean, we are to have but one
room between us?"
Just that, miss. Neither more nor
less. And good enough, too, for those
as
Leave the room," says Griselda, with
a sudden, sharp intonation, so unexpect-
ed, so whitening, that the woman, after
a surprised stare, turns and withdraws.
CHAPTER III.
A few days later the girls are sitting
in the garden. 1t is a beautiful day.
Even through the eternal shadows that
encompass the garden, and past the thick
yew hedge, the hot beams Of the sun are
stealing.
"A day for gods and goddesses," cries
Griselda, springing suddenly to her feet,
and fiinging far from her on the green
sward the musty volume she had purloin-
ed from the muster library about an hour
ago.
Perhaps I'll never come back. The
spirit of adventure is full upon me, and
who knows what demons inhabit that un-
known wood? So, fare thee we'll, sweet,
my love! and when you see me, expect
me-" She presses sentimental kiss up
on her sisters brow, averring that
for such solemn occasion, and runs
She runs through one Of the openings
in the hedge, crosses the graveled path,
and, mounting the parapet, looks over to
examine the other side of the wall on
which she stands, after which she COM
mences her descent. One little foot she
slips into convenient hole in it, and then
the other into a hole lower down, and SO
on and on, until the six feet of wall are
conquered and she reaches terra firma,
and finds nothing between her and the
desired cool of the lovely woods.
With a merry heart she plunges into
the dark, sweetly scented home of the
giant trees, with a green, soft pathway
under her foot, and, though she knows 1t
not, her world before her.
1t is an enhancing hour. She has stop
ped short in the middle of a broad, green
space encompassed by high hills, though
with an opening toward the west, when
this uncomfortable conviction grows clear
to her that she is lost. She is not of the
nervous order, however, and keeping
good heart looks hopefully around her.
Far away over there, in the distance,
stands a figure lightly lined against the
massive trunk of a sycamore, that most
unmistakably declares itself to be man.
His back is turned to her, and he is bend
ing over something, and, so far as she can
Judge thus remote from him, his clothing
is considerably the worse for wear. A
gamekeeper, perhaps, or a-well, some
thing or other of that sort. At all events
the sight is welcome as the early dew.