The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1906-02-10

ODE Burglar and
6he Bankn0teS.
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rot until my Aunt Susan hac
a The door, and | stood solltar!
!. the hall Of her modest dwelling
.s.t realized that never before our,
~ nv varied bachelors existence OF
1 ss.,v.ave years had spent a night
'u. .s.,u alone in a house. Through
the half-open door OF the parlor came
w .ounds-tfle fizz or hiss Of the in
'saoscent light and the slow ticking
80 Amt Susan's grandfather
And these two sounds, one
s,ssv and capricious, the other solemn
"a Infinitely regular, seemed each IN
-, own way to bear some secret and
~o-;nsniring significance; seemed to
aom,el me to think OF all the other
-, and deserted rooms in the little
sousa-of the tiled kitchen, and the
oo.l cellar, and my aunts large ana
s.,r, bedroom Gust the sort OF bed
room that an energetic widow with
,.ormnced views about jam making
AVID the catechism would inhabit, and
,ho small spare bedroom where | was
10 sleep, and the extraordinary bath
room up in the attic. And it occurred
~ me- for the first time what Curl
ans creepy, mysterious. inexplicably
alive sort Of thing a human house
really was.
Then thought suddenly and boldly,
4What rot" and went into the parlor
and sat down.
I had come to spend a couple OF
nights under the austere roof OF my
Aunt Susan, partly from a sense Of
duty, partly from a genuine desire to
renew the sensations Of my early
youth in the neighborhood where l
was born, and partly perhaps because
Of the fact notorious In the bar mess) |
that the principal hotel in the next
town, where the assizes were being
held, was bad hotel My aunt's cook
ing (she kept no servant, being poor
was plain, but perfect, and she had
often suggested that | was too proud
to stay with her. So at last | came.
And she welcomed me sincerely in her
Midland manner and fed me to the
full with rare Midland dishes that |
lad not tasted for many years. TO all
appearances We had little in COM
mon-she the widow of a small job
bling builder, and the successful bar
rister-we certainly did not find much
to talk about. Nevertheless, the same
blood was in our veins; she admired
me: she was intensely flattered by my
presence respected her, and l rather
liked, after years of London, years of
frock coats and late dinners and even
ing dress and clubs and theatres, to
be back again amid the social customs
u my obscure origin-where one dined
1t 1870 and had high tea at six and a
mack Of bread and cheese at nine and
ones boots in the parlor and
lidn't converse unless one had some
ming to say. In fact, | enjoyed my
vening.
And then, at half-past nine, had
ONE the message that the first child
my Aunt Susans eldest niece bv {
larrlage Tiny cousin) had just been '
lccessfully born, in the next town,
40 would my Aunt Susan care to 20
yer at once? 1t was a hard strug- {
e, IN my aunt's mind, between that
10y and me; Of course, the baby
w. MY aunt sagaciously remarked ! y
al we couldn't talk all night, she II
"a |, and that she would return to l
epare breakfast, on the early work k
ems car, and thus we should lose n
tning by her expedition to the bed e
'e Vi her eldest niece by marriage. 81
10 SO she had banged the door and 81
parted.
As ! sat in the parlor, glancing =
'ually at brief, there was a sud- .,
zap In the corner Of the room G ..
i'eu' and thought of mice behind :
ancient oak paneling of immemo-
castles-but this was a cottage of al
u,een shillings month";, then a n
eIoan, then long, uneasy, -
saying whirr, and then the grand u
ler > clock burst into song and an OF
nceo ten on its brass gong with az
Ina OF impassioned clangor. The ~
Ae OF mat clock was simply terri Tn
" caused the room to vibrate: It So
caused me to imagine that | was
alone in the house with an in tn
IAN monster. But the clock was a ia
''iiui clock. with a case of carved m
ana most exquisite dial. en- br
my aunt that clock. I would st;
onered to buy 1t from her at a pu
al figure had l not been sure ha
she would have regarded the sue-
'on as an insult to her self-respect he
as ner poverty comparative pow ca
mat Is to say-she had enough III,
We on decently) that was the cause
ny Aunt Susans touch-me-not f.,
: one constantly complained of yo
.dfd and penurious lot; but if any We
I'VE had proposed, however deli sic