The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1910-08-23

Clair returned to his room for some
article of clothing and was hunting fol
1t In the closet when. hearing a step
he turned and saw LIE Moyne come
| quickly into the. room. pull out bu
reau drawer. drop something in 1t anG
retire hastily, as he had come In. st
Clair. being In the closet. had not beer
seen. A moment after his host haC
left the room he went to the bureau
drawer and took out small box con
tanning several articles of jewelry.
He was filled with establishment
horror and indignation. 1t was evil
dent to him that LIE Moyne had placed
the jewels in his drawer. intending to
accuse him Of having stolen them. ST
Clair closed the door and spent half
an hour celebrating. At the end of
that time he took the jewels to Miss
Archard and told her how he had come
by them. She had experienced enough
Of LIE Moyne's attentions to her to d.
vine his object Then ST. Clair took
the jewels to LIE Moyne, whom he
found with several Of his guests, and
told him where he had found them.
LIE Moyne colored and stammered that
some Of the house servants must have
stolen them and temporarily hidden
them In St Clair's room.
You Hep said st. Clair. II saw
you come to my room and place the
| box in my drawer"
LIE Moyne raised his cane and struck
his accuser. ST. Clair attempted to
strike back, but the others interfered
At that time In the south such an at
fair must be settled under the code
duello. The accusation against LIE
Moyne could only be wiped out In
blood. He knew that it could not be
wiped out at all. There was not one
Of his guests but would believe the
word of st. Clair In preference to his
own
With the logged spirit that possess
ed him, LIE Moyne proposed that they
should settle the affair at once St
Clair was agreeable, and, though the
others present advised delay, the two
principals were too hot for 1t. Rapiers
were the weapons most used, and
there was sufficient space in the room
where they were. The adversaries. In
shirt and trousers. faced each other.
swords were handed them, and they
began to fence
LIE Moyne. true to the instincts of
his race, was cool. Not even the truth
Of the charge could unnerve him. st.
Clair. on the contrary. was so shocked,
so indignant, at the base attempt to
put stigma upon him and rob him Of
the girl with whom he had just plight
ed his troth that he fought wild The
result was that In few minutes he
received sword wound In the side
which took him out Of the fight.
He was carried to his room and a
surgeon sent for. who pronounced him
In danger Of his life. OF course re-
moval was out of the question.
The first Miss Archard heard of the
matter was that her lover had been
stabbed by her host and was lying in
his chamber in critical condition.
She few upstairs and In another mo-
ment was bending over him.
why" she moaned. did we come
into this house? 1t is accursed."
At the moment an old negro woman
entered and heard the words.
mo. missy" she said. de house amt
cu'sed. Hits de people in 1t. Don
worry. honey. l had dream las
night. ] dreamed / saw picession
goin' to a grave takin' a baby coffin
An l saw 'em buryin' de coffin. Den
when dey all go way saw de baby
rise out o. de groun'. an he was grow
ed to be fine young man. An he
said. Nanny. my dear ole mammyr
He put his arm around my neck an
kissed me. rs come of age today
II know wha' de dream meant. Don
70 worry. honey. Hits all comm out
right"
The lovers well knew the supersti-
ton Of the colored race and thought
nothing of her words But her pre-
diction that 1t would all come out
right proved true. 1t was a month be-
fore st. Clair could be moved. and
during this period Miss Archard came
every day to nurse him. though never
once did she deign to notice LIE Moyne.
One day. shortly before the surgeon
gave permission for the removal. the
negro who had told her dream came
into the room in which st. Clair was
lying. Miss Archard sitting beside him
The old woman locked the door and
approached the bed with her finger on
her lips.
us it de fiji OBJ AugustT' she asked
Eyes. aunty."
"Lis'en! got secret I'm gwine to
tell 20. | promise missy nebber tell
twill dis day. cos dis de day yo', Mars
Julian
Julian. I'm not Julian. Pm Proc
tor. Something is the matter with
you, aunty. You're gone daft"
Jus yo' wait. honey. Mars Julian,
yo' twenty-one years ole dis berry day
Reckon ought to know. Pm yo'
nanny"
By this time she had caught their
attention.
"Yo' ma, she lib heah, an Mars LIE
Moyne. Mars Tom LIE Moyne's father,
he come In TO run de plantation
Missy 'fraid her baby git poisoned so
Mars LIE Moyne 'ud own de prop'ty.
Yo', de baby. git sick Missy t'ink
Mars LIE Moyne poison yo' So she
pe'tend yo' daid. She git coffin an
she fill 1t with stones. an she said to
me: In heah is de proofs dat my boy
is not in de coffin. YoTl know all
about him. an on de IF OBJ August.
49,. yo' tell him who he is. Den he
kin claim de plantation his own self :"
When the old woman finished the
lovers, whose eyes had been opening
wider with every word. looked at each
other in establishment
And this Is the mystery that has
been hanging over me all my life"
said Julian.
"And / believe it's all true" added
the girl. clasping her hands and draw
ing long breath.
WELL aunty. or. rather, my dear
nanny, you've kept the secret so
long; keep it longer"
dat l will. honey"
It was more than month later
when one night Julian LIE Moyne ap-
peared as resurrectionist on the hill
near the plantation and took up lit
tie coffin lined with lead In 1t were
stones and the proofs of the identity
Of the child 1t was supposed to con-
tain. The proofs established the fact
that Proctor ST. Clair was Julian LIE
Moyne and heir to the LIE Moyne es-
tate.
He dispossessed his cousin. took pos
session of his property and married
Caroline Archard.