Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-20

was holding to the lips of
her patient as she made
this announcement to country girl d
the further side of low bed
The form which had so recently ceased
TO breathe was that of an elderly man
wasted and shrunken by protracted III
ness: his sallow features were aqulnhe
and austere. and the mouth. now forever
silent still proclaimed invincible pride
as we'll as weary suffering. Ambrose
Forde was indeed dead. and so far neithe'
sigh nor tear had attended his passing
The countenances OF the two WtT"n were
grave and thoughtful and as their eyes
met the servant exclaimed:
law. we'll. he had not much of lie
the last five years were no sood 10 mn
or nobbut,'
His daughter must he told at once
said the nurse-a woman WIN d TN"
pale face and steady eyes.
ave. she is lying down-just wore OUT
moor thing, She has had sore time
he being so long bedridden
And the housekeeper, Miss Juooer'
where is she?"
"she'u be in a rare taking. Her sister
Liza Is laid up with the brownklttles ano
she's awaiting on her. To think or MS
going so sudden in the end. and at four
IN the afternoon-such an awk ard time!
..There is no fixed hour for death. re-
marked the other. as she Strengthened
the pillow "He passed away quietly III
his sleep
AVE" agreed the girl with nod, IAN
I wonder where he he now?
"Nhere we will all be some day an
svered the nurse with low-toned empha-
sis what is this?''-drawing out from
under the bolster a substantial lockeo
volume.
"'Tis his bank book, I take it; the key
will be on him. He was main iona OF
the brass"
"There is a good deal to be done. re-
sumed Nurse Dixon-"message to the doc
tor, kilograms to be sent to the under-
taher. and relations and friends
That's all right about the undertaker-
Toll of Scarborough does us-theres no
friends and as for relations. Miss Hester
has not one in the world that I'D speak
To her. much less come here. ~,
You don't say So! CALCULATED 'he
ether THAT is strange
YES. We see. it all COON of his trimmings
ayav.'' explained the girl. as she looked
down at the clearly cut grim face.hrst
fro his home. and then with MS
what! That old gentleman
Ave Just that very ovid gentleman.
The nurses face expressed suddenly
awakened interest.
..Ah, l see there is story" she said,
slowly, then turned to the low windows
and stretched out her hand to pull down
the blinds.
Mary Dixon stood high in her profes,,
sion being experienced, sympathetic and
firm: like Mr.. Forbes orphan daughter.
she was entirely alone in the world. her
chief relaxation was novel readlng; MANY
a long night she had wiled away, and as
the slow hours struck and the patient
slept. the nurse forgot the cold, her ach-
ing bones her little worries. once she was
transported to that land of enchantment,
the regions of romance.
A story appealed to her Immediately,
not that she was a gossip or inqu1s1tlve,
but simply that she loved narrative for
Buxom Fanny Tootle was by no means
clever girl. yet she intuitively divineo
the other woman's thoughts and said:
.well. We have our hands full just
now, but by and by. if you will be down
in the little brown parlor to your supper
I will tell We summat of ia queer tale OF
this house"
This death. conversation and promise
took place in front room of Shalesmoor
Grange. an ancient mansion ls,,o saah an ne
aloof from remote village In tine
Claws" A certain part of the low-lying
country between Nottingham and Lincoln
hears this singularly depressing name; II
borders the river Trent. and Is nat Al
most treeless tract. intersected by hne
roads, which run through rich marty
fields and at long intervals struggling
villages, whose red-roofed houses and tall
church towers break the dead monotony
of the landscape. Although Shalesmoor
Law within three miles of railway sta-
ton. it derived but scant advantage from
its opportunities, and seemed the most
forlorn and crestfallen of all the hamiets
IL .-;c yIer a
cottages whose windows. blazing with
scarlet geraniums. overlooked trim nttle
gardens all roses and hollyhocks. There
was still the old White Stag, so famous
in coaching DAYS: an inn where the stages
changed teams and which stabbed a nun
dred horses at a time; now the stalis
were roofiess, the coffee room was houl
store and most of the upper windows had
been boarded up.
Though its glory had departed-alone
with the merry horn and Gathering hoofs
vet the battered old sign, with its ghost
y white stag. still hung over the en-
trance and creaked its desolation TO the
heartless winds.
With the decay OF coaching and the ruiz
OF the Steir family the village OF Shales-
moor had sunk into obscurity. Monu
n,ents of 1.-The great folk were still to b'
seen within the fine old gray church. witt
lis machicolated tower. Formerly the
Steirs had been people of note; huge mar
bile erections to their honored memory
sacred walls. and beneath busts OF DANES
cavaliers and statesmen were long IN
scriptions In the Latin tongue. Other
wise the Sters were now as extinct a:
the dodo or the White Stag inn. Shales
moor Grange--their ancestral home-s
rust-colored Jacobean mansion. sheltered
by few copper-beech and yew trees
situated at the end of a lane, in remote
hollow enjoyed an isolation that was al
most monastic. Entrenched behind
high wall its rows of prim windows over
looked a small graveled courtyard; thu
demesne being now shrunken to kitchen
garden and a few meadows. Once upof
time the lands of Shaesmoor hac
stretched to the Trent itself, the avenue
reached TO the village and IL all tale:
were true. many passenger by coaci
and post chase had made his way TO thu
jovial mansion. where as guest of TIT
Steir family he shared in the best o
good cheer. good wine and high play
The last of their line. an aged spinster
had died In straitened circumstances. ant
the property had been disposed of for thu
traditional mere song to a Shemelf
manufacturer named Ambrose Forde.
Apparently the Grange resented IT.
fallen condition: outside its boundar!
here was freshness and sunlight. brigh
meadows and cool streams; but II wore
gloom and morose expression. as If II dis
liked and despised its present inmates
and the copper beech and funereal yew
which fianked its walls merely added Il
it's air of invincible gloom.
IL was q warm afternoon in June;
fragrant scent from the neighboring bean
fields was waited into the walled inclos