The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-04-18
AN EASTER BLESSING

There was a deal of excitement in
the little township when the news
was first bruited about that the old
house on the hill, known for ages
past as the Great House, was again
| to pass into new hands. 1t was not
the first time that change had been
made in the proprietorship of the
place. Indeed, the Great House was
a veritable gormandizer for the COB
ling up of successive aspirants to
the ownership Of the property, which
seemed to be determined to act an
elusive part in getting rid of the
pretensions of men by crunching them
between it's giant jaws or wounding
them so sorely as to make them long
for the moment of deliverance from
the top of the hill that had charmed
them and shared them. If you had
ever seen the house on the hill, you
would not be surprised that any man
with touch of the poetic in his soul
would be tempted to brave all the
bugbears that hobble about in the
guise of Fate, and stake his last cent
in exchange for the joy of being the
master of the hill and the Great House.
God had done much for the hill, which
rose like a queen from the bed of the
valley. It's gown of richest green ruff
fed softly over the endless succession
and terraces, which were braided and
scanned with vari-colored blossoms
that still followed the irregular line
in which their progenitors had been
sewed by the girlish fingers of Nature,
when she first became the bride of
the Eternal. And man, seemingly,
had followed out the design of God
to make the hill one of the fairest
children of His hands, softening down
the crudities of over-generous Nature
of bearing thither the treasures that
| had adorned some of her own daugh-
tiers. 1t was not strange, then, that
the great mansion which dominated
the top Of the hill stood there as a
king, indeed, whom winds might buffet
and SHOWS assail without his taking
/ any more notice of them than the
mad Lear took of the wild elements.
King the Great House was, and king
alone 1t never allowed any of the
several proprietors to dispute sover-
eighty with it. From the day on
which the first owner had committed
suicide in the drawing room, in a fit
of madness that was said to have re-
suited from the loss of fortune
brought about by the lavish expendi-
f11Tsn
three daughters had gone forth into
the world with a mere pittance, the
Great House had entered upon its
career of defamation. In the lives of
the five succeeding purchasers of the
property there happened many an
event which could be turned into an
old-fashioned five-act tragedy, but I
forbear recounting them to you.
That there was curse upon the
place none of the inhabitants of the
little town at the foot of the hill ever
doubted for an instant. The memory
of the self-murderer stretched on the
floor of the drawing-room had become
, as much a part of the estate as the
green terraces of the odd-shaped
towers that pointed to the heayens,
so that it was source Of perpetual
surprise when after few months OF
quiet on the hill, during which time
no one dared to tempt the darkness
in that vicinity from fear Of the tragic
ghosts which must of necessity walk
there, a new family would take posses.
sion with a seeming Indifference OF
the fate which the observant villagers
) knew to be pursuing them.
To the latest owner of Great House
there was no tragedy discernible in
!, the history of those who had preceded
him, as told to him by the few Of the
townsfolk with whom he came in con
tact, either in the casual meetings
in the valley or in their capacity OF
servants at the house. To him it al
seemed a matter of finances. 1t re
quired a great deal of money tc
attempt the management OF the hill
property, more than any of his pre-
}, decessors had possessed, hence theil
!. inability to make ends meet and the
: ensuing heartaches and tragedies. AS
to the curse upon the house, he
trusted to his millions, his mines ia
: nous in all the world, for the effec
tive lifting of it from the hill ant
from the hearts of the people of the
: town. So much the better, thought
n he, if they did think there was
t curse upon the place; it would keel
Il them where they belonged, away from
It his orchards and his gardens, the
= sight of which had attracted him ever
g more than the stately towers of thu
= old mansion. And so the house ant
t grounds were soon delivered from thu
(. neglect which the years and the lacl
y of funds had brought upon them.
r If there was any drawback to tn
e complete enjoyment of Alexande
e Merritt in the midst of all his none,
e it was the thought that the dear wife
% whom he had buried the year befor
D. his mines had cast forth their gold
Ie when he was poor real estate agent
& was not there to share with him tn