Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1903-09-25
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zNN@@ OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES

feel that way. Mr.. Archie told such
amusing anecdotes of his life in the
colonies. and also some terrifying ones.
principally relating to his trip to a
place understanding ending with
dixie" where gold was plentiful. /
fairly shivered when l heard them
such hair breadth escapes! And there
he was, sitting amongst us, alive and
well, and as jolly-('Come now, old
But / must say. Mr.. Archie had been
born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
A couple of days later l overheard
MI. and Mrs. Archibald talking. as they
We're coming down the stairs. arm in
arm-fOr they were always that low
ing" She seemed a wee bit put out.
for there were tears in her dark eyes,
and she looked different altogether. for
she was wearing a black gown instead
Of the usual white one-a relative had
died, l suppose.
1t was the twelfth of August. and
her husband was going away for a
weeks grouse-shooting, which begins
in Scotland on that day.
| am soft-hearted. Those tears went
straight to my heart. They are the
solace of the old, but the young should
not grieve.
ITS my nose, Archie" she was say
ing, half laughing, half crying. 81
think l could make them love me if
only l had a family nose and could
leok stately"
You should have heard Mr.. Archie
laugh, and he assured her she had the
dearest little nose in the world. 1t
was the feature of her face he'd first
fallen in love with, and then he quoted
some poetry about 1.-THE petal of a
fower"-'tip-tilted. like the petal of a
flower" that was it.
They stopped beside me.
They'll love you, never fear. some
day, sweetheart" says he. Won't
they. old fellowT" And l struck two
o'clock, which signiied. "They Wilt"
L didn't think then that but I'll tell
you all about ii.
So we were left alone-and some fine
grouse from the moors made their ap-
pearance. OF course you know these
birds are always kept till they are
quite old, so Susan took them down to
the cellar. I'm far away from heather
and sportsmen row, but all me! a tiny
sprlg of it affects me as nothing else
can, except, maybe, the bagpipes. l
dare say I'm very sentimental-but.
dear me! what would life be without
sentiment. which is, after all, just love
and proper feeling. without which, Pm
thinking. the pulse OF this big. bustling
world would cease to beat.
Now what happened after this Is one
OF the stirring incidents OF my life.
My body is long, Int so is my head,
and I'll always feel sure that twas
the new maj who had taken our old
coachman's place for these few days
who was the culprit. He was very far
removed from being a professional at
his work, but he meant business for
all that, and Mr.. Archie's absence from
home was a step in the right direc-
ton.
About two o'clock on the morning of
the eighteenth of August. when all
was quiet and asleep in the old house,
| heard a queer kind of fuzzling in the
dining-ro0m. Then light footsteps
seemed to come to and fro into the
hall. Everything was dark as pitch.
Even the harvest moon was tired of
shining, and not a ray from her fell
las usuaD on the tiled floor OF the lobby
just then. Hark! What-Who is that
creeping noiselessly down the thickly
carpeted stairs? My old eyes could
not see-and yet, is that not a white
figure. for all the world like u big
snowflake. drifting down. down. All.
4 streak of moonlight falls athwart it
and shows clear and distinct the figure
OF Mr.. Archibald's little wife.
She stopped as it to pick up or grope
for something, and I heard her say. II
may have dropped it in the garden"
Then she gave a kind of stumble, and
a sort of stified Cry. Then-oh, my!
I saw her lift u solid silver, richly
chased coffee-pot from the lowest step,
just behind the knight In armor. who
had stood sentinel there, grim and
stern, for long. long years. The moon,
always capricious, hid her face again
behind a cloud, but l could see that
big snowflake standing stock still. as
If it had been frozen into a beautiful,
statue.
She stopped towards the dining-room
as if listening, and then she crossed
swiftly over 70 me. l was only a
couple of yards away luckily. She
pulled open my glass door and one
after another she pushed inside of me
the collection Of silver plate that the
gentleman at work now in the pan
try had placed there, carefully avoid
ing "clinking" them against my brass
weights-spoons. forks. teapot. salyer
everything higgledy-piggledy.
Just think of the courage of that
pretty young creature who had
grasped the situation so quickly-and
risen to the o~ccasion-and it all seemed
to be done in a twinkling. For all she
knew, a gang Of desperadoes might
bave sprung out and crushed the life
out of her before she'd time to give
N "skirl" for help. But the best of
the play was to come.
| was fearfully excited, so much so
that my heart beats were louder than
usual, and howl ached with sympathy
when her little mites of hands could
scarcely lock the door of my case. they
were trembling so! But she did it, and
slipped the key within the bodice of
her dressing-gown.
Just a few moments after we could
hear the thief's< footsteps returning.
He evidently was going to make his
exit by a small window just behind
the staircase, and probably planned
throwing the booty out aud then max