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See oe SMe RtsTREET, NEW YORK, DECEMBER 30, $4 00 PER YEAR. rs,
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Entered according to an Act of Congress in the year 181 y Srrerr & SwrrH, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Blanche
oR,
THE MISER’S WARD.
Bryant; was a witch, He smiled while he was drinkiv’, |
thing—but Ido thinlc she has a great many se- | glanced at the good dame beside him.
CHAPTER I. crets that have been confided to her keeping, “Fast asleep,” ejaculated Sampson, chuck-
Tuy sat beside the fire, the old man and his | by which she can foretell the coming of impor- | ling to himself, as the old woman’s head bobbed
wife; in their cottage near the Cayuga Lake, | tant events connected immediately with those | first forward and then backward, making the
e was a hale, hearty old man, with benevolent | same secrets. That is’ what I think, Mrs. | wide border of her cap flap up and down, and
expression of eountenance, and she was a quiet | Sampson,’ sez he, and then he bid me ‘good | her spectacles to slide lower and lower, till
|
old body, who would rather listen to her good | day,’ and went right off on his horse.” | they rested just on the tip of her nose. . ‘Let
man’s talk for an hour than to talk herself. | ‘T agree with the Parson perfectly,” replied | her sleep, for she is tired,” soliloquized the
Together they had trudged along life’s weary | Sampson, ‘for I think him a man of excellent | cottager, ‘and, besides, it’sa dull, dreary night,
road, sharing each other’
T say they shared each
other’s joys, for they
had known no sorrows.
They had had no child-
ren, therefore they
could not visit any lit-
tle green mound, and
say, with aching heart
or moistened eye,
“There's where we
laid them!” They had
been blessed with
health, they had never
known want; and now
there they both sat
side by side before the
blazing log fire on the
hearth, each listening
to the mournful wail-
ing of the wind as i
sweeps around the cot-
tage.
“Thisisa very windy
night, Ann,” at last ex-
claimed the old man,
as a gust more power-
ful than any that had
preceded it made. the
door quiver on its
hinges, and the shut-
‘ters to rattle furiously.
“Yes, it is indeed,
Robert,” responded the
old lady, “jest sucha
cold, raw, blustery night
as it was when Old
Judith came to live in
the cave by the lake—
don’t you remember?”
“Yes, right well I
do; and ain’t it strange
that nobedy ever could
to live in that dark,
damp place for, when
plenty of the fumers
would take her, and
feed her, besides giving
her decent clothes and
good _ beddin’ to lay
on? Why, sometimes
I think, although I
never believed in such
things, that old Judith
is a witch, and can tell
things before they ever
happen.”
*«So have I, Robert,
so have I! and the
other day when Parson
Ball stopped here to
geta drink of new milk,
T told him I thought she
s joys for twenty years, | judgment; he has a fine mind.”
iy a , ==
i a i
a (| |
ene : yr
Several minutes the couple were silent, and | over a warm fire, and listen to the storm with-
and when he handed me back the bowl, he said: | both were wrapped up in their own thoughts. | out. "Twas just such a night when old Judith
“Mrs. Sampson, I don’t think any such a| At length the old meu raised his eyes, and | was first seen eround these parts. "Twas just
such a night as this when Annie Lindsay ran
away from her rich old uncle’s house—poor
sweet creature—only eighteen, and the kindest
and most ladylike girl around the lake. Eloped,
I suppose. Can't tell, though. Maybe mur-
dered, for such things have happened before
now.” Five hundred dollars reward the uncle
has offered for her, dead or alive, Well, it’s
about three months ago since she went away,
too. "would make any body sleepy to sit | and I don’t believe they'll ever hear anything
about her after all their
reward offering. I al-
ways dread sucha night
as this, for I feel uneasy-
like, and I am always
thinkin’ somethin’ dey-
ilish is an goin’ to
happen. Heavens!
what's that!”
Well might the old
old man start, for he
had heard a heavy rap
on the window at his
side, and, turning his
aze in that direction,
he beheld a hideous
face pressed close
against the glass, and
apair of glaring eyes
fixed upon him. Foran
instant he shuddered
with fear, then, with a
mighty effort he calmed
hisagitation and arose.
He walked slowly to-
ward the corner (1
which stood his ric,
and, after grasping it,
r look at those
features. Pale and
ghastly were they, and
the body was stooped
into a sitting posture,
so that nothing but the
head appeared above
the sill. A blinding
gleam of lightning ren-
dered objects without
isible, and Sampson
saw that the person at
the window was a wo-
man.
“God help her, who-
ever she may be!” ejac-
ulated Sam pson—
some poor unfortu-
nate creature that ain’t
got any place to ¢o to,
and get shelter. I'm
goin’ toask her ini”
Sampson sat his rifle
back in the corner,
looked at his wife, who
was still soundly sleep-
ing, gazed once more
at the pale face at the
window, hutt up
his coat tightly, then
moved toward the door.
“There’s no use in
bein’ afraid of a wo-
man,” he exclaimed, as
he laid his hand upon
the latch.
