Year: 1865

finally departed, and having rejoined Mr.
kulp, who was lounging over gate wait
ing the return of his friend, the two went
on their way together and were quickly
lost to view.


"All these proceedings had been witness
ed by Madge from her eyrie, but she had
been too far away to hear the conversation
between Dick and her father in the garden


When she was certain that the two were
finally gone she stole down sta RS, and TAX
ing possession of the flowers, kissed them
and put them carefully in water Then she
went about her work, humming an old song
to herself but she could not get rid of the
idea that the malignant eyes of Mr. Kulp
were furtively watching her wherever she
went.


when David had attended to the eight
o'clock train he went into the house and
changed his hat and coat, telling Madge
that he was going down into the village,
but that he would not be late home Madge
was to much accustomed to her faith RS
evening absences to think any thing of this,
and had learned from experience that when
he announced his intention of being home
at an early hour he was pretty sure to be
later than common. Having arranged his
neck-tie to her satisfaction, and given him
a parting kiss, she made up the fire, light
ed the candle, and sat down to her sewing,
quite content to pass the long evening all
alone i'll the solitary station-house.


! Having sewn till she was tired, she
put her work away, and then got out her
hymn-book, and marked one or two hymns
to be sung by her scholars at school on the
following Sunday; then she read while !;
and then, all uncOnsciously to herself, her
eyes softly closed, and she knew nothing
more.


She was reused by the clock close above
her head striking eleven, and at the moment
she opened her eyes she was startled by
seeing, or believing that she saw, the hand
lie of the door on the opposite side of the
room slowly and noiselessly turned, as
though some one was trying to open it from
the outside. The door in question led on to
the platform, but fortunately she had shot
the bolt into its place after seeing her faith
er down the road. The blood thrilled through
her heart as she gazed with sort of hor-
rible fascination on the revolving handle
and in moment she was as thoroughly
awake as ever she had been in her life She
| listened, with all her senses on the alert,
but the silence remained unbroken save by
the ticking of the clock and the faint sing
ing of the telegraph wires in the breeze out
| side. She kept her eyes fixed intently on
the door for what seemed to her an intoler-
ably long time, but there was no omovement,
nor any sign of life~other than her own
beating heart so, with sigh of relief she
at length wrenched her eyes away, and per-
suaded herself that, in the confusion of that
first waking moment, her senses must have
misled her The hour was late, and her fa-
| ther could not be long now so she would
| just make every thing secure below stairs,
and then go and lie down on her bed with
out undressing, in readiness to run down at
| his first knock


1t was hardly pleasant going about the
house after seeing that strange movement
of the doOr-handle but she nerved herself
to the effort, although the eyes of Mr. Kulp
seemed to stare out at her with baleful in
tensity from every dusky corner, and to lie
in wait for her behind every door. But the
task, after all, was only short one and
when she had seen that all the doors and
windows were properly secured, and that
| there was nothing to be feared from the
fire, she took up her candle, and walked
| slowly and steadily up the short flight of
stairs which led to her own and her fathers
bedrooms on the upper floor. After glanc-
| ing into the latter room, and seeing that
the cash-box was there as usual on the
chest of drawers, she passed forward into
her own chamber, the window of which
looked out at the back of the station, and
down the road that led to the village.
at was David's custom, as an extra
measure of precaution, to place the CASH
hNx in hoI iori,+ A.
departure of the last train he made up his
receipts for the day, and put the account
nto the box which travelled backward and
forward between the bank and the station,
ready for conveyance to headquarters 50
| that when Madge saw the box where it al
ways stood overnight she felt quite satisfied
as to its safety, and never once thought
| whether the amount it contained might be
great or small.


Perfectly assured by this time that the
movement of the door-handle was a pure
piece of imagination on her part, and hav-
| ing quite recovered the steadiness of her
nerves, now that she was safe in her own
| little bower, she sat down in front of the
glass; and lesurely proceeded to brush out
her long brown hair, pausing now and then
| to smell at the boquet left by Dick, and
| humming familiar tune to herself, wonder
| ing how much later her father would be,
and becoming more anxious as the time
verged on toward midnight, as to the con-
dit IN in which he would reach home. She
had sat thus for some time, when she was
startled by the noise of something striking
against the window She got up, put the
candle in the fGrthest corner of the room,
drew aside the blind, and looked out The
moon was nearly at the full, but thick mas
ses of cloud overshadowed the sky, leaving
only sort of dull halflight, in which moth
ing could be clearly discerned. There was,
however, sufficient light for Madge to make
out the familiar figure of Dick Carradus
beckoning to her with one hand, as though
he wished to speak to her. Her fears took
alarm at once something had happened to
her father, and Dick had come to break the
bad news to her. She drew up the blind
and flung open the window with hands that
trembled SO much that they could scarcely
do her bidding, dreading, yet longing, to
know the worst.


"'Your father has been taken with tit
at the Farriers' Arms said Dick, and |
am come to fetch you. Make haste, and
put on your things, and let us be off,