Year: 1875

|


And ask her for my humberelerp"
|


THE OAK CLOSET.
| MARGARET GREY was in some sort an
upper servant in the household of Judge
| Wallace. The Judge lived in handsome
house in the suburbs of little country
village of Thorndale.


| Margaret was left an orphan at an early
age, and the Judge and his wife had taken
her into their house to save her from being
thrown upon the charity Of the town.


They had done their part well for her
They had two children of their own
Alice and Algernon, twins-and Margaret
had enjoyed every advantage of education
in common with the brother and sister.


As she grew older and began to realize
how much she owed the Judge and his
wife she felt a desire to be able in some
way to make them return for their kind
ness, and, as she was strong, active girl,
she soon became very useful about the do
mestic affairs of the household. Mrs.
| Wallace was feeble woman and very
willingly resigned some of the cares and
| burdens to Margaret, ard in due course of
| time the young girl came to be trusted and
| depended upon, until, by the time she was
twenty, she was really the head of the es-
tablishment, though Mrs. Wallace still did
the honors in her quiet, lady-like way, and
poured the tea and coffee at the head OF
| the table.


Alice had married early and gone to the
far West with her husband; Algcrnon
was finishing his medical studies at Ger
man university, and only the Judge and
his wife and Margaret-besides the man
and woman servant who had been with
them for years-remained at home.
Some unfortunate speculations, largely
indulged in when the Judge was quite a
young man, had incumbered the old destate
with mortgage, and this it was the
Judges ambition to discharge. He wanted
to leave the place, totally free from debt,
to his son Algernon.


The strictest economy had been prac-
ticed for years in the household with this
end in view, and at last the Judge held in
his hands the money with which to liqui-
date the claim.


1t was late on Saturday night when he
brought it home, and said to his wife as
he swung the little black leather trunk
containing it before her eyes


"Well, Annie, at last we are to be free
from debt! There are $4,000 in that
trunk and on Monday l shall pay Jones
in full, and we shall burn the abominable
mortgage together, you and l, Annie. 1t
will be the happiest day in my life"


"But if anything should happen, Will
iam,' said Mrs. Wallace, nervously.
"Do put the money in some safe place.
1t has cost us dear enough to scrape it to-
gether."


The Judge bent down and patted the
anxious little woman on the head.


81 am going to put it in the little oak
closet, Annie. 1t has a spring lock, and
if by chance burglar should enter the
house he would never dream of finding
anything of value in little, stif1ed-up
closet at the head of the garret stairs"
And with light heart the Judge went
off to deposit his treasure.


Margaret was sitting in the room, darn
ing the Judges stockings, when the con
versation took place, and of course she
heard where the money was to be placed,
though at the time she gave little heed to
it,


The next day John and Susan, the two
servants, had holiday to visit married
daughter of theirs, who resided fifteen or
twenty miles away, and as it was in No
vember, and the days were short, they
would not return until Monday night.


And some time after they set out there
came an imperative message to the Judge
from his sister-saying that she was very
i'll. and desired to see him without de-
Law. Her home was in Shelby-eight or
ten miles off-and of course the Judge
lost no time in obeying the summons.
He took his wife with him, leaving Mar
earet alone in the house.


at is barely possible, Margaret, that
we remain all night. 1t looks very much
like storm, and in that case we shall
certainly stay. And if so you had better
get Sallie Turner to stay with you for
company"


But though Margaret would have liked
Sallie's company well enough, she at once
decided not to ask for it, because if she
did so she knew Sallie's brother would
be sure to come along, and the less she
saw of Willie Turner the better she
was pleased. Willie was an honest, in
dustrious sort of fellow, and he was Mar
garet's most devoted admirer, but. with
the usual inconsistency of her sex, she
utterly refused to see what was best for
her.


The afternoon wore slowly away. Mar
caret read little, and drummed few
tunes listlessly on the oldtashioned piano,
nlayed with the black k-and-white kitten,
and held the old cat curled up in her lap
like sleepy caterpillar, and at last it
was sunset-time to milk the cows and
shut the barn-doors for the night.


1t was evident enough that there was
going to be storm, for the north and
west were dark and gloomy with oml-
nous black clouds, and the west winds
sighed drearily in the pine woods back OF
the house. And, indeed, before Margaret
had done up her jobs at the barn the first
great drops of frozen rain began to fall,
and by the time she had eaten her sup
per and strained the milk the storm had
set in in good earnest.


She closed and barred the door-the
windows were already fastened-drew the
shutters, and piled the kitchen fireplace
full of dry hickory


The kitten had gone asleep in cor
ner, and the old black cat sat on the
hearth, blinking her eyes at The cheerful