Year: 1870

A foreign newspaper correspondent, who
like any other member of his profession, is
a con6dant of the most illustrious noble
families abroad, and the chosen repository
of all their most compromising secrets, re-
lates story of an aristocratic English
house which must make cold the blood of
each very young reader, and induce imag-
NATIVE young servant maids to refuse to go
up stairs in the dark. The Earl of
Blanklyne, brilliant British nobleman and
frequent occurrence in weekly journals Of
romance, lately married fair young bride,
with the approval of her parents, and took
her home to his patrimonial castle. The
lady like the building generally, and con-
sidered the moat, donjon, turrets, and things
quite satisfactory but she wanted a boudoir
in the neighborhood of her bedchamber,
and, until that was supplied, curtain lectures
were the Earls portion in life. 1t was
found that the rooms, rs sometimes happens


in castles running too much to tower, bas-
ton and other freaks of architecture, were
so arranged that no blank spaces had been
left for another room. (Architects may un-
derstand what that means.) So the Earl,
in great agony of mind, su nmoned great
builder down from London to give an opin-
ion, and charge shamelessly for it. Down
came the great builder, with little gold
country houses hanging as ''charms' from
his watchchain, and, after peering up any
number OF chimneys, and staying long
time in the wine cellar, gave it as his opin-
ian that there must already be another
room in the immediate neighborhood Of my
lady 5 chamber. This apparent absurdity on
the part of the great builder provoked the
Earl into calling him ''sirrah'' to his face,
and asking him if he took the whole
family of Blanklynes to be mentally
vacuous in q profane sense. To which
the builder replied that, seeing how
his lordship felt, he would bore him no more
on the subject but that, if he might be per-
mitted to bore the wall, he thought he could
prove the soundness of his argument. Per-
mission was given, the suspected wall was
duly bored, and, not only was another room
found, but its contents baffled description
with great slaughter. As is always the case
when description is bafiled, description now
comes out stronger than ever and presents
the following horrors with intense enjoy
ment of them. The secret apartment thus
brought to light by persistent boring was
furnished in the most luxurious and useless
style of century and half ago, when
chairs were like small churches and win
dows looked like combinations Of collins.
A quantity of female apparel lay about the
room, jewels we're strewn upon the dressing
table, and, but for the faded aspect Of eve
rythlng, the chamber might have been ten
anted half an hour previously. Upon the
couch was the skeleton ofa woman, and at
the foot thereof was masculine skeleton,
with a rusted sword beneath it. The secret
of century and half WAS thus brought to
light and, although quickly hushed up
again, is yet talked about, with bated
breath, by the timid nobility and gentry Of
our newspaper correspondents more init.
mate acquaintance. What was the dread
secret, thus Theoretically walled in for an
age? Probably some ancient Earl Of
Blanklyne, about retiring for the night, dis
covered that lis wife was dead Of apoplexy,
and, in bis frenzy Of grief, Immediately fell
upon his own sword. ANY other explana-
ton wouli be such rs could not be tolera.
ted in the interests Of morality.