Year: 1874

rail, took off his hat, and wiped his fore
carried in the crown.


"Just at that nom ent mother came out
from the kitchen and ran toward me with
such asmfling face that felt sure she
mus have some good news to communi-
cate, and as nothing could seem pleasant
to me or cause me to feel happy so long
as that ringing bell lay like an incubus
upon my breast, / knew she mus have
made some discovery in regard to It,
+ MARK, come here, quick!'' she called
out to me, and [ followed her rapidly
towards the house. She tripped lightly
down the cellar steps, and led me to a
room which had not yet been used. 1t
was lighted by small window placed di-
rectly under the front piazza.


ooh, Mark IL have found the cause
of the b--bell-.' She was so breathless
from the haste of running up and down
the stone steps, ahd the sudden change
from the hot summer morning without to
the chill Of the dark, damp cellar, that in
her excitement she could not gasp out the
words. looked from the stone walls
around to the cement floor below, and
really could see no explanation either of
her actions or the cause of our annoyance.
| began to add a new fear to my troubles
in the thought that perhaps all this eX-
citement and worry had bewildered her,
and that she was becoming insane. was
about to take her in my arms and carry
her upstairs, when she pointed to the
dusty glass of the little window. Direct.
ly in front of it ran the bell wire, just be-
low where | had cut it off Between the
wire and the posts that supported the
flooring of the piazza hen had made a
nest for herself, and was Matching her
eggs. Even as we stood watching, she
rubbed her beak on the wire, and then
pecked at it, which act of course was fol-
lowed by the ringing of the bell. It was
our old speckled hen, pet of your moth
er's, which she had brought from home.
She had here formed q nest for
herself and having laid her eggs, she had
probably been Matching them for a week or
more, during which time, as this bell-wire
was the object nearest to her nest, she had
beguiled her time by rubbing her beak
and pecking at it, after the manner of her
species. AT first [ felt vexed that we had
suffered so much annoyance when it
might have easily been remedied had we
known the cause; but as a sense of the
ludicrousness of the whole affair over
CdlAC IIOtuCA oAC w 0dNi
soon joined her. There we stood laugh
ing more and more uncontrollably as the
righteousness of the affair came before
us, while the unconscious cause of our
previous anxiety and present mirth added
to our merriment by her energetic and re-
newed twitches at the bell-wire.


'Ben Smithers was looking for me with
some message from Deacon Hadley, and,
seeing the cellar-door open, and hearing
our voices, he came down. / shall never
forget his expression of utter bewilder-
ment at seeing us standing in the dusky,
damp cellar, and, without any apparent
cause, looking at each other and laughing
almost convulsively. He too very natur-
ally thought that we had both become
crazed. He looked from one to the other
IN blank astoY ishEs2 eiatt aii<i,ssss lor rev
moments no explanation was afforded by
either of us, he slowly and deliberately
exclaimed, looking in turn at each of US:


"'What upon airth is the matter?'


"Molher found words first, bat not un-
til she had pointed towards the window
did the expression Of astonishment relax
from his features and he joined in our
laughter as she explained: 'Oh, Benl
Mis- Watkins ghost is our old speckled
hen = '"-Chr5sti0p Union.