The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-04-16

SxSld rem, near the city OF Lon
Il &SEN don. His wife was dead and
q he had one baby daughter.
Emma II,
One morning he was found murdered
In his house. which had been robbed
Boil, tho gardener and the steward, Mr..
4 Ridge. were missing and some people,
Y thought one had done 1t ard gone thought
the other. But some days later a dis
figured body was found in n pond OH
tho grounds which, by its clothes and
1, watch and ring, was recognized as that
Fl OF Rudge. the missing steward. Then,
OF course. every one believed the gardener
had murdered both, and the police search
ed 4 for him a long time, but no was
never found.
The same day this cruel murder wa 9
discovered, q baby was born to Mrs.
Il Rndge. the wife OF the steUa rd--a pretty
boy. though wilma birth, mark as red az
blood on tho wrist. and strange look
of terror on the baby face. He was
named Barnaby. and his mother loved
$ him3a the more because It was soon seen
he was weak minded, and could never
{ be In his right senscs. She. herself, poor
woman! seemed never able to forget the
: horror OF that day. 3 IN
Godfrey Fl redale, the brother and helr
I OF the murdered q man took up mis- ABODE t
s. nj THE Warren and adopted the baby
Emma, his niece. as his own daughter.
He was kind to Mrs.4 Ridge also. Not
only did he let her live, rent free. in q
house he owned. but he did many Kind
VI deed secretly for her half-witted son as
he grew older. A s2,t
Barnaby Rudge grew up a strange
weird creature His hair was long and
red and hung in disorder about his
shoulders. His skin was pale. his eyes
bright and his clothes he trimmed most
II curiously with bits OF gaudy lace and
bright ribbons and glass toys. q e wore
cluster OF broken peacock feathers IN
{ his hat and girdcd at his side was the
broken hilt OF an old sword wit bout a
blade. But strangest OF all was q little
wicker basket he always carried on his
back. When he set this down and opened
H. there hoped {out q tame raven who
would cock its head on one side and
say hoarsely and Very knoHingl u
.'Halloa! Halloa! Ielloa what's the
Never say die. I'm a devil; I'm I'm a a
s devil; I'm DEVIL Hurrah
Then It would whistle or make a noise
& like the drawing Of a cork out 4 OF 2
bottle, repeated a great many times and
flap its wings against Its sides as Il II
s..s 1: e. r bursting with Taught er.
II This raven was named Grip and was
q Barnaby's constant companion. People
used to say VT was 100 years old !. (for
ravens live avery long time) and some
said 1t knew altoget herstooe much to be
Il only n bird. But Barnaby would hear
nothing againsts 1t. and. next to his
mother. loved 1t better than anything IN
the world. a!
Barnaby knew that folk called him half
witted. but he cared little for that.
Sometimes he would la ugh at what they
said. q why he would gay. how much
Z better to be silly than as wise as you!
You don't see shadowy PEOPLE Ike those, hose
that live in sleep mot youi Nor eyes
in the knotted pancs Of glass, nor swift
ghosts when 1t blows hard. nor do you
hear voices In the air nor see men
stalking In the sky--nof you lead a
i rnerrter3 life than you'll with all your
clcvelness. You're the dull men. We're
8 the bright ones. Hal hs II not change
with you. not J. '5j s3S 4 81
Barnabys mother. WAS Il q burly, stern
" man who had few acquaifl tances and lived
Z much alone, When list he came ito
I live at THE Warren n en- envy OF his.
Sir John Chester. had circulated sus-
plcious rumors about him. SO that some
came half to belicve;h he himself had had
something to do with his brothers muir
der. These whispers sol affected Hare
dale that as time passed he grew g oomy
and moroso and lived seclusion,
thinking only how he dould 5solvo tho
mystery Of the murder. and alo Wing more
and more tho little Emma ms she grew
into a d beautiful girl Al 9 eglccted
a..rhe Warren" so that the property looked
desolatesand ruined and Mt Length super
stItious people IN theaneigh borhood came
to mutter that 1t was Aunted by the
ghost or Ridge, the steward, whose body
4 had been found In tho pond The old
bell ringer of the nearby church even
claimed to have seen tl,ds ghost once.
when he went late one light, to wind
t0f
who knew there were&no such things as
Il ghosts only smiled at these tories. H
I'll Y Sir II ohm Chester, who hf ted IIaredale
10, was Just as smooth and smiling and
elegant as the other Vas ltou Hare
II dale had been Sir Johns, drudge and
* scapegoat at school and had desplsed
him. And as the years wen .pys ne ne came am
q to hnto him more bitterly TOR the fol-
Ills His son Edward saw and fell In love
with Emma, Haredale's niece. and she
loved him in return. Sir John had been
all his life utterly sci fish and ithout
conscience. He had little money and
to marry an heiress SO that he, himself,
could continue. his life OF III easure,s I'd
ward. however, gave his ia tn or 10 @un der-
stand that he would never give up his
love for Emma, SO Sir John jdet ern|lned
to part them by some trick, ~
Emma Iluu "
Warden, the daughter of q lpcksnlit tn
Dolly was q pretty. dlnaplsed rog'lisHh
q little flirt, us rosy and spark ling and
fresh as an apple. and had a. great many
lovers. One of them, was her faith ers
apprentice, who lived III the same house,
His name was Sim t;Tappert!t "a con-
ceited, Dragging empty headed YOUNG
man with.a great oplnlon Of his own good
q looks. When he looked at his sth1n legs.
whirh he admired exceedingIy he could
not sec how It was tina Dolly could
VI help worshipping him. ss !8 fas
sIappertlt had ambition of hls own and
thought himself a grea man who was
kept down By q tyrannical master
though the good-natured locksmith was
the lsindest man In London, He had
A Il formed q society Of apprentics ss whose
toast was Death to al masters. life to
all apprentices and love to all lair dam.
sels,' He was their leader. H He had
made them all keys to ut their lnasters
doors and at night. Swheli TINY We're sup.