The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1910-08-18
1t Was a Valuable Heirloom
By CLARISSA MACKIE.
Copyright, 1910, by American Press
Association.

has inclosed copy Of the will.
did he leave it to me?"
"Of course he did Don't be foolish
my dear. Listen:
81, William Gray, being of sound mind
etc, do give and bequeath to my grand
niece, Isabel Gray her heirs and assigns
| forever, my Sheraton sideboard and this
| sum Of $1,000; to my grandniece, Flora
| Gray Winchester, her heirs and assigns
| the mahogany bedstead which stands II
my own chamber and which is known a!
the Gargoyle bedstead, together with thu
sum Of $1,000"
"Where shall we put it, Harryt' in
terrupted Mrs. Winchester breathless
ly.
Put it? You don't expect to get i
into this fat?"
eve must have it here. l wouldn'
examine it there with Isabel looking
on, and, besides, it is such a journey
down to Richmond. Anyway you can
not spare the time to go down now
and we must examine it together.
want to get it here as soon as possible
Who knows but Isabel or some of the
others might find the diary of Nancy
Gray and learn the secret? My in
heritance would be worthlessw Mrs
Winchester's voice trembled.
"Oh, all right" said Winchester tract
ably. But how the deuce you expect
to get it in here don't quite see. It'S
a very large piece Of furniture, ISM
it?"
Nov, Harry DEAR" she cried, witt
one plump hand over his lips, thai
bed must be gotten into this fiat some
how! First, ! will finish my letter tC
Mr.. Chesley and let Norah post it al
once. | can hardly wait to see the bed
stead, Harry, and | don't dare dream
of what will be ours when the secret
Of the bedstead is disclosed Do you
think, dear, | was wrong not to tel
Uncle William about the diary of Nan
cy Gray found in the garrett"
"Well, .truthfully speaking, I'm afraid
it wasn't treating the old gentleman
quite on the square"
Two weeks afterward. while Mr..
Winchester was engaged in a most i'm
portant business transaction, he was
summoned to the telephone.
Eyes, this is Winchester. What?
Oh, the bedstead there2 I can't posi-
bly, leave at PRESENT. can't help it
tell them to send 1t up tomorrow
know it's mportant-d--- the bed
stead! No, didn't speak. Yes, l will
come home early. Goodbye
When he reached the Etruscan apart
ments that evening Winchester was
fortified with a box Of candy and a
huge bunch of violets. He stepped to
the elevator and pressed the button. A
faint tinkle responded from some
depth below.
Presently the janitor emerged from
an obscure doorway and surveyed him
with an unpleasant eye.
ut amt a-runnin'," he said grufi1y.
Poor management" commented
Winchester as he prepared to conquer
the eight flights that barred him from
home and dinner.
"Huh~ exploded the man. what
with the freight elevator outer order
and people breakin' windows movin'
in big stuff and them chumps a-tryin'
to put the feet board in my passenger
car aud a-tearin lady's dress and
her the landlords sister-in-law"-- He
glared wrathfully at the vanishing
form of Winchester.
Opening the door of his apartment.
rampant disorder met his eye. A huge,
dark form almost covered the floor Of
the tiny parlor, which in its chaotic
disturbance looked strangely unfa-
miliar to the master of the house.
In the library Flora reclined on a
couch before the bright gas log, while
sympathetic Norah applied wet cloths
to her mistress aching head. Wreck
age from the parlor impeded progress
at every step.
my dear GIRL" he uttered.
She turned a woebegone face to his.
puCu llllS dS lucy lldu u yluS W BtI
it in the window! They were saucy
because the window was too small,
and one OF them pulled it in with jerk.
and it struck the chandelier-t pieces
Of glass fell on my Wedgwood vase,
and that is broken! II am quite dis
couraged"
With a restless glance toward the
parlor, where the gigantic bedstead lay
like some dark shadow on his little
home, and with an unpleasant recol-
lection of the snorting ianitor below
stairs and Of the generous tip 1t would
require to reduce him to his custom
ary state Of patronizing familiarity,
Winchester endeavored to soothe his
wife's shattered nerves, and together
they obeyed Norah's summons to a be
lated dinner.
At table Mrs. Winchester drew q
folded paper from her gown.
This is the page | copied from the
diary Of Nancy Gray, Harry" she
said. spreading 1t open before her. 81
thought would refresh my memory
as to the exact location of the secret
spring.
Richmond, Va. April q, 1861"
read Mrs. Winchester in solemn ac-
cents. 81 am greatly alarmed for the
safety Of Grandmother Binpah's dia-
monds, and have vainly tried to find
a hiding place for them. The Yankees
are digging up every inch of ground
on the adjacent plantations searching
for buried treasure, and l am quite at
a loss to find a safe place for our
heirlooms.
"'April 22.-Such an excellent idea!
| have just recolected that there is a
secret hiding place in Grandmother
Binpah's mahogany bedstead | will
conceal the jewels there and will de-
scribe their hiding place so that in
case anything happens to me one of
our family may be able to recover
them, even If the bedstead should be
carried away.
"'First, one must observe the row