Cheraw chronicle. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1896-2005, 1920-09-16
CHAPTER V-continued.

49, ~
"And tell sad stories of the deaths
OF kings" said Jed, drawing his chair
nearer to the fire and spreading out
his hands before it.. He was drinking
more nationally now slipping his wine
instead of gulping it. He had arrived
at his desired state and wished to
maintain 1t,
Mr.. Sidney seemed to feel COM
Portable glow as Jed drank. There
was no doubt that by suggestion he
obtained physical sensations of stimu-
iation and joviality.
"If we had ghost" said Mr.. Sid
ney, SIT would walk on such night"
The wind made an extraordinary at
tack upon the windows, as he spoke
and sucked a soughing sound from the
chimney. ~
'Tell the doctor the story of the
pool" Mr.. Sidney said to Jed, 1--WE
are In the comfortable werewolf state.
Lers have our legend. Do You want
TO add shiver to your contentment,
d6ctor?" he asked.
"I want to hear the story. I said.
$50 do /, once again. said Mr.. Sid
ney, "-on such night"
This place once belonged to a fam
ily named Dobson," said Jed.
at was a very old .. .family-for
American families" said Mr.. Sidney.
"Came over in 1640," said Jed.
dEnglish Puritans from Holland"
said Mr. Sidney. go ahead, Jed. l
1sha'n't interrupt"
"After the capture Of New AmSter-
dam from the Dutch by the English.
the Dobsons came down from the
north and bought this manor-house
from the Dutch family that had it.
Then the Dobsons lived here in sim
pie fashion.
.sThey renamed It Hartley house for
their father, who was Hartley Dobson.
That's its name now"
"I don't want to break in unneces-
sarily" said, "but where do you get
your information, jedi"
"It's all IN records in the library"
he answered, land if am going to tell
the story / want fair chance. e.
A lot Of generations of Dobsons lived
here. There was always Dobson fam
lily In the house, and the property
came down to the generation that
made this story. There were two boys
in that family-a half century ago
the sons of James and Henrietta Dob
son.
Henrietta Dobson died when her
son Richard was nine years old and
her other son Henry was seven years
old. James Dobson died two years la
ter, and the boys were parentless
This family was an argument against
families"
That's one of the heterodoN notions
! have instilled in an innocent mind"
said Mr. Sidney. "Jed, you must not
repeat phrases in your narratives. You
parrot things and try to pass them as
observations"
you'll have him surly in moment"
/ suggested, land then where is the
story?"
81 never knew him surly," said Mr.
Sidney, land he could not be in his
genial wine"
Jed showed The flicker of q malig-
nant glance in my direction and went
on with his story evenly and good-na-
turedly
81 don't pretend to have all the de-
tails or to understand it," he said !;
but from what learn, Richard Dob
son. the elder brother, was strong and
brutal Henry Dobson, the younger
brother, was frail and sensitive l
guess they hated each other from the
cradle.
"Dick. when he was four and Henry
was two, found ways of tormenting his
younger brother. The best thing Hen
ry ever had from Richard was con-
tempt"
81 have known families of that ma
ture," said Mr.. Sidney. "Our conven-
iions teach us to regard family tie
as sacrament. In many cases 1t is
only an odious obligation leading to
tragedy"
"Dick knew all of HenryS weakness
es," Jed continued. Sometimes he
would torture him physically, by twist
ing his wrist or rolling him over on
the ground when young girls were
around. Sometimes he would torture
him without laying hands on him.
Dick was thick-headed brute, but
ne had genius for cruelty. When
their pareuts died and the boys ap-