THE POTTER JOURNAL
AND
jno. S. Mann, g. p # Hamilton,
IST IE "W S ITB IM!.
ILUMEXXV, NO. 22.
Ije POTTER JOTMAL
NFAVS ri'KM.
rt v.**w KXEKY WBD!r,SDAT AT
oudersport, PA.J
.(jfof (Jor. Main and Third.)
9 1.7-N FBKYKARTS Advance.
„ S. F. Hamilton,
j. S. ?D n * publisher.
* KI.IUI
"' JOHNS MANN A SON,
law and Conveyancers,
nf'r W.
\T€o Oil PN®P ''
Arthur B. Mann.
fl tf —' Publie '
DEL McCLAKY, M.D.,
iCTinSG PHYSICIAN and SURGEON
COUDERSPORT, PENN'A.
C. J. CURTIS,
irn , T at Law ami District Attorney.
, MAIS St., (over the Post Office,
* COUDERSPORT, PA.,
r 11 businesi prehiiniuK to Uis profession.
Special aiteution given to collections.
CHAS. T. SCHIVELY,
rt Public, Claim Aerenl, ( onvoyancer
and Krai Estate Agent.
■ CjMISJLNLR OF DEEDS FOfi hEW JERSEY)
206 SOUTH SKTKVW ST.,
7'hiladefpkia, fa.
, anenaou and exi>erienoe given to tak-
II txAi-wtiimi in .-** perr"ing in the •Irffereut
'W
K J. -a ->:!*-<■-tiiiiis made. Pensions ami other
H pros- ute*!. Correupoadenoe sotldte*!.
olmte* D - R - darkABKK ,
■ OLMSTED & LARRABEE,
I i '• 'KNEVS AM) COUNSELORS AT LAW
|.y .ri'i St. Opposite Court House.)
COUDERSPORT, PENS'"A.
SETH LEWIS,
Attorney at Law and Insurance Agent,
LEWISYILLE, PA.
A. M. REYNOLDS,
Z> E NT IST,
(OfPl I OLMSTED BLOPS.)
COUDERSPORT, PA.
Ca e ' House,
Bhows e. KELLY, Propr's.
(**rtier af sEt ON D and EAST Streets,
C< iI'DLKSF* RT, PENS A.
Every attention paid to t'ao convenience and
comfort of guests.
W
Lewisville Hotel,
Corner of MAIN and NORTH Streets,
LEWISVILLE, FA.
nr l vod Stabling attached.
JOHM B. PEARSALL,
PAINTER,,
COUDEKSroIiT. PA.
acu-e Farntiiig, Olaaiug. *• armor:. a> '
Uivss-nnihrug, l'apc:-:<a.g.. : '•• ' '• •
wttlr neatp:*wnp' a. .
•ilspatcb la all • a-. •
SAliSta'tlou £■.&.•
Hilticil.
MIXED FAINTS fr,r Hale. '
*. i. THOMCSON j - S-KsSS
THOMPSON & fHAfIN.
IS
Dings, Medicines, Books, Stationery,
FAKCY CO3US. P<IS ft. OILS. WILL P..rEF., it ,
Cor. Main and Third St-.,
COUDERSPORT, PA.
S. T. HAMILTON,
BOOK AND JOB PRINTER
(Cbr/ier Main and Tfiird.)
COUDERSPORT. PA.
D. J. CROWELL,
Ka-Tr. D. H. Ball Jointer Jt Bolting l£aonine,
SIN N EM A HONING, Cameron eo.. Fa.
iaa Ik, SI DE-CUT SHIS CLE MACHISEV>
tu fr. mW W inehe-.
Impairing M*rhiuf and Custom WNrk
dvCf order. if
John Grom,
II .FTASFT
-ontamrntal, Uftoratirc & /rrsro
PAINTER,
COUDfcrtSPORT, PA.
6RAI\TMJ and PAiEK H AMilNtt dmie
with neatuess and dispatch.
Satisfaction gtraranUs-d.
Orders left with
UAIvF.H I 10l SK
Will he in our jt ;y ;U ieuded to.
C. BREUNLE,
M A R H.L 15 \V < li li .
COUDERSPORT, PA.
Moiiu urate, ilea lsumeh, cte., lurtshe<l to orde.,
•t ibe nest material, style and workmanship, o
we most reasonable terms.
"eft iy ruail or left at the office <>i Joru
•~ !th* wjj; rocoiv*, proriiY>t attention
[From Harpers' Weekly.]
A TROUBLED NIGHT.
I.
Sonic few autumns ago the rector
of a little sea-side parish sat conning
i his books in the quiet of his own study.
It was a wile October evening, the
j w ' ! ui twirling and rushing up the i
J short drive that lay between the front!
door of the house and the gate in the
shrubbery which divided the grounds j
fr 11 the ro. d; dashes of rain beat •
against the window; and underlying j
. al! came the faint monotonous break •
ol the waves upon the shore, some
half uiile distant.
Mr. Fergusson was puzzled over
his work—bothered by it in fac.; fi
nally he sought assistance of the in
-1 ferior order of creation—to wit, his ;
wife, who sat opposite to him busily
knitting children's socks.
"Kate!" he ejaculated, in an in-1
jured tone.
"Well, John?"
Ihe knitting-needies kept going,
though the plier thereof moved to
her husband's side and stooped to
glance at what troubled him.
°
" I hese accounts are a frigluful
nuisance. 1 wish 1 had never under
taken such a piece of business; it's
no work for me and not half a dozen
people will thank uie for it after all."
Mr. Fergusson perfectly reveled in
all sorts of parish work; clubs, schools,
"feasts,fasts and festivals," —nothing j
came amiss to hi in if he thougnt he
saw his flock's welfare furthered there
by; but he was a man who delighted
in a good hearty grumble now and
then,and his wife, understanding such
moods well, always found it an ex
cellent plan to treat them iioiueopath
ically; so to-night she proceeded on
her Usual tactics.
"Suppose you shut the book p,
John, and let us chat for an hour.
You'll be sure to make your head
ache and then you wont sleep proper
ly if you go on. The people wont be
j coming up for their money before)
Thursday or Friday and ;.. s is only j
| Monday."
| "The people will be coming up for
their money, YOU most procrastinat
mg woman, answered the huslian .
•'Suppose you were to help me, now. j
instead ol going ou witu thai eternal j
knitting. We might manage tiri- Ik
j tween us and have the gossip you are
longing for afterward. Now, then,
. .
j who is Simon Green—the one ou the
| Common; and did he" have iiis money
out in April to buy a pig? Now we
shall g<-t oil jierLaps."
The knitting vanished and the pair
were soon immersed in club accounts.
Mis. Fergusson's capital memory
! supplementing the rector's rather;
carelessly kept accounts admirably. (
An hour's work brought them to tne !
; end of their labors, and Mr. Fergus
! n, on going to a large. old-fasliioii
; ed <Ask and drawing therefrom three
canvas bags full of gold 1:1 t silver,
had the satisfaction of finding toe"
sum tiny contained tallied exactly
with what was ix qui red to pay all the
! depositor- in the club tuetr proper;
♦ I
amounts.
"i shall be glad when we get rid
of it," i.e sai i. as he replaced the bags,
"i am so unused to ha\ ing such a sum
as seventy pounds in the house that
1 don't feel quite safe with it. It's
to be iio|/ed we shall never be rich,
Kate. I've been accustomed to two
hundred pounds so long now that I
should feel out of ruy element with a
larger income."
When the day was done and the
two cbil Iren were asleep, they talked
of their parish, their church, their
home and their children and of w hat
a terrible rough night was coming on.
"13) -tlie-by, was not Sarah to come
home to-night?" asked the husband.
"Not till to-morrow; siie wanted
one more day to see a sailor brother
who was coming home. 1 think, if
you don't mind, John, I shall not
keep Sarah longer than Christinas."
1 don't like some of her ways."
"Then, inv dear, it is your duty to
trv and improve them. You took
the girl out of charity; doii't give
her up in a hurry."
"I'm not in a hurry, indeed; it is
two months since i found her read
ing a letter of mine which 1 left open
ou the table, and tnat s not a pleas
ant habit for a servant lo have, is it?
. 1 talked to her kindly, but I believe
she does the same sort of thing still
; when she has the chance."
COUDERSPORT PA., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17,1873.
"Then don't give her the chance.
Kate. You never find me leaving my
letters about —("oh, John") —or if I
do they are such A9 are not of the
I least consequence. As a matter of
course, servants are inquisitive, wo
men-servants particularly; their mis
tresses are not half careful enough in
i guarding against this natural curios
ity and then all the blame tall on
the servant, Women are so unrea
sonable."
Disregarding the uncivil comment
on her SEX. Mrs. Fergusson went on.
"1 did not know so well when I en-'
! gaged Sarah what a bad character her
, family bore; one brother has been in
prison twice."
"All the more reason for keeping
the girl safe from evil influence. I
hope— who's that, I wonder?"
A heavy step passed the window,
I followed by a ring at the hall bell.
■ ***
I Mrs. Fergusson opened the study
| door AS Jane, their steady elder ser
vant, passed down the stairs, candle
in hand.
"I've been sitting by Miss Rosie,
ma'am; she seems feverish li e and
restless, and I liked being with her
better than sittiu' alone in the k tch-
I en."
" I wonder if that's Sarah come
home to-night instead of to-morrow ? "
, said her mistress.
"Law k, no, ma'am, n*>t likely," an
swered Jane; "but we'll soon see who
(it is;" and pulling away the chain
from the door, she opened it, disclos
ing a man's figure without. He was
dripping wet and hail to hold his hat
ou with one hand or the wind would
have carried it far away; the other
uand lie extended w it!) a large damp
(yellow envelope therein. "A tele-J
j graft!" crid Jane, taking the mis
sive from him and pas-ing it on to
her mistress, who in her tur arried
it to her husband and watched iii>
face anxiously a.- he ojnmed and read
it. A grave, perplexed look came
over LIIA ASXTNRS as he handed it back.
The message was from his brother
| at Fordhain, a place forty miles dis
tant, and ran thus:
"Come immediately—A third bad
fit—father anxiously expects you."
"No* help for it, Kate," said Mr.
Fergusson. answering Iris wile's ap
-1 real lug look. "So much may depend
ON my seeing him once more that I
lare not choose but to go. How am
1 to get to the station, though, in
time for the ten o'clock mail, 1 won
der? It's nearly nine now, and li V
*•• I 1
: miles on such a irigiit as this would
I take me more th IN an hour to walk."
"Walk you cannot. John," answer-
J ED his wife, diverte R easily from her;
first feeling of jrersonal vexation b ,
! the dilemma her husband was placed J
in. "1 know," she cried quickly—
"tire man who brought this message
must go past Mr. Holland's; I will
write A note asking him to send AR- ;
A >td and their dog-cart up for you.
Vmv tiling is la'tter tiran walking. 1
know he will do it for you."
Mr. Holland was- the clergyman's
church-warden and very good friend
in all perish matters, and was always
ready to do hi- rector a service, even
to tire extent of sending out his horse
and man for a drive of ten miles.
Mrs. Fergusson wrote her note hur
-1 riedlv while her husband spoke to tin
telegraph official, who promise*! to go
; to Mr. Holland's at once.
When he had gone, Jane stood
! looking blankly from master to mis
tress, and then she said dolefully, j
■"And please, sir, what's to become
of us? "
! " Become of you ? Why, you will
I stop and take care of the house, to
be sure," said her master rather short
ly. "Just take my thickest great
coat and air it by the kitchen tire,
please, and bring me back liiy boots.
We will have the horse up before 1
am ready if you don't look brisk."
Then, closing the study door upon
himself and his w ife, he added, " hut
j I don't half like leaving you at sueh
I a time and with only one servant, too.
: and all that uionev in the house.
• llow awkwardly things happen some
times."
He was so heartily concerned, so
■ evidently uneasy, that, as a matter
I of course, his WlT'e cheered him up by
- assuming a bright courage that she
was far from feeling. SHE fetched
; his coat and hel|>ed him ou with it
I and even made him take some sup
: per —A hurried, stand-up atl'air — but
anything, she said, was better than
going hungry on a journey; then she
found a big nnibrcll . winter gloves
and h thick rug, which, if they got
soaked in the rain, could come back
in the dog-cart; and all these prepa
rations made, she lighted a candle
and held out her hand. He under
stood the gesture.
"God bless them! " he said and fol
lowed her up-stairs to where tire child
ren slept, to give their little sleeping
faces a farewell kiss.
As he stood by their LX-d he heard
the horse coming up to the door—
the half hour had passed too quick
ly; but anotlie thought struck him
at the last moment.
" Don't leave that money down
stairs all night, Kate; put it in my
dressing-room ; or, stay, put it in
yonder;" and he pointed to a door
partly overhung with a curtain. —
"That's the safest room in the house.
Good-by, my darling; I will telegraph
in the morning in time for the post
man to bring the message. If I'm
not back to-morrow, get Allen and
Hl* wife to sleep in the house. God
bless you ! Good-by."
Another moment and he was gone
and Jane and her mistress looked two
very lon* ly and deserted females in
deed, as they stood peering out into
the darkness, listening to tire reced
ing wheels.
"Gome, Jane, this will never do,"
-.aid her mist RE— at last, wiping some
rain drops and drops of another na
ture from her face. "Let us see that
all the doors and windows are fast;
then you had better get your supper
and we will make haste to bed."
Rut Jane liked a grievance occa
sionally, and being a little bit of a
coward she feit bound to make the
mo-t of her situation. She declared
if it were not for leaving her mistress
alone, she would go, then and there,
and fetch Mr. Alien, the schoolmas
ter, up to come an L protect them du
ring the night; "for, oh! the awful
TILINGS >TI* L.,L RUJ IN the PAPER only
the week before of lone houses being
robbed, and the nia- or LN-ing beat
and the maid's mouth tied up!" At
TIIIS HER mistress Legan to laugh.
"1 do think. Jane, I must tie your
mouth or you will make me nervous.
Get your supjx-r and come and tell
me when yon are ready for bed."
Then she herself re-entered the
study and sat down to collect her
thoughts somewhat after the hurry
and turmoil of tire last half hour.
This illness of her father-in law!
Would he lelent at the last and let
lie: La-ban I share Iris property with
.is other children ? Differences aris
ing out of John Fergusson's marriage
W.tlr a dowerless woman, fomented
by petty family jealousies, strength
ened by the independent attitude the
young man had assumed — such dif
ferences had been after all the heavi
est grief of Mrs. Fcrgusson's mar
ried life. And now she wondered
and pondered on them till the clock
on the chimney-piece struck the hour
of ten and startled her out of her
meditations.
"This is tire night," she thought,
"for winding that time-piece up;"
and she sought among the ornaments
for the key. In her search she found
something she had not expected—
this letter, not in an envelope, slipped
behind the time-piece, most likely, as
soon as read:
"DEAR Slß— The sum you nan.e in
your letter of the 6th —. e. £70 —will be
remitted to you in the form you request
on Monday the 10th inst. The receipt
of Mr. Holland will be quite sufficient.
"We beg to remain vours obediently,
"W.M. & Frf.u. Mathers,
"Mang'sof Fordham Savings Bank."
"Oh, John, you careless man!"
murmured his wite; "and yet you
say you never leave au> thing about!
This is the lUlh; -o that's been lying
there three days, 1 suppose. I'm
very glad Sarah has IX-en out most
of the time !"
"If you please, 'M, I'm going up
stairs now as soon as 1 have cleared
tiiese things away," said -Jane, enter
ing with a respectfully aggrieved air:
"and glad I shall be to get to lx-d ;
lor what with the uight being so
rough, and master his goin' ofl' so
siiddint, I feel all queer like and as
if 1 had tire cold shivers runnin'
dow n the spine of my back."
Wneu the servant left the room
Mrs. Fergusson remembered her hus
band's injunction, took the bags of
ROONEY FREE: the DESK, and carried
them to the room he had desired,
there locking them securely in a
small closet or sai'e.
This done, she went and stole her
youngest-born, Ruth, from her little
cot and carried her off to her own
bed. A lingering good-night over
her darling Rosie, the six-year-old
daughter, w hose sweet, tender young
face looked wonderfully like her
mother's and soon Kate Fergusson
was sleeping by her child, with her
husband's likenes- under her pillow
I
and a prayer FOR. his quick return
| filling even her sleeping thoughts.
N.
It seemed to the UNDRESS of the
house that she had slept so long that
morning must Ire near, when she
AWOKE with •: inexplicable feeling
of something, or some one, near her.
! "What is it?" she cried, starting
up in the bed, and instinctively
catching the sleeping child in her
arms.
NO answer.
I Only a distinct sound of breath
ing. and then of a movement like a
j hand feeling along the wail— toward
i her !
Bhe began to trembl? violently;
nothing but the presence of the child
on her panting bosom saved her L'roni
fainting.
J "Who is it?" she cried, her voice
! so shaking and hollow that it awak
ened Ruth, who clung to her, sleepy
| and seared.
This time she had answer.
"We will do you no harm," a
voice ~poke out of the darkn; ss. "if
' you give up tirat money you've got."
And then, In-fore .Mrs. Fergusson
could muster courage and breath to
speak, another voice, out of tire room
apparently, added in a rough mrder
' t*>ne, "And tell her to look sharp
| about it. to<>!"
"Two of thi'm." 0 God, help me!
she whisjH-rwl to herself, and Ruth
U-gan to break into screams and
s>ol)S.
"Keep that brat quiet," angrily
muttered the voice on tin landing,
| "and don't keep us here all night."
Now surely if ever a womau was
in a miserable plight, Mrs. Fergusson
was that woman. Not a house near
er than the Hollands', a full quarter
(ofa mile off; no soul near to help,
for Jane, who worked hard bv day.
slept hard BY night, and slept, more
over, in a queer little room at lh*
very top of the house; all alone—
worse than alone, utterly helpless,
■nd a woman WHO eonfe-sed to the
U-ual feminine share of chwaruic--.
Still die drew her breath, ami there
flashed from her heart a cry for help;
and then, for a few brief moments,
she thought — thought with all hci
mind and soul — was there any way
for her out of this?
And her reason told her there was
none
"Come," said tire voice in her own
room, "I'm a good-temjieied chap
enough, but ray mate's in a hurry;
don't provoke him. Look alive, and
tell us where to find the swag —
money !" *
She groaned and shook and all her
limbs turned cold, as the voice drew
nearer and nearer; and at the LAA
words a heavy hand was laid upon
the bed. Then, further to torment
her, came the thought that ouee this
money were gone, there would be
none to meet the people with — the
people who had saved it week by
week, day by day, all the past year!
Heavy drops ran down her shaking
form, her hands turned numb, and
her lips clammy and cold, while tire
beating of her heart was like the
quick tolling of a bell —louder, louder
till it deafened her.
-I'll find away to make her speak."
growled the second voice. "Here's
another kid in the room." Then, in
one instant, a thin streak of light
shot across the landing and liie
next—
"Mother, mother, mother!"' shriek
ed ltosie's voice; and at that sound
Ruth redoubled her cries, and the
unhappy mother sprang up, clasping
one child, mad to protect the oti.ER.
"Silence, you fool!" said the man
by her, •qxakiitg harshly for the first
time. "You'll drive that fellow yon
der to do the child a mischief, ii you
won't do as 1 teli you. KEEP down,
won't you ;" For she was s-ti itggling
wildly T*• pas- Liu*, to across TO
the room to Rosie —Rosie, whose
cries were sounding -irangely stifled.
"Look here, if you don't give up THIS
game, by the Lord, he'll knock you
on the head, it 1 don't." And clasp
ing one wrist 'ike a vice, the man
held her last, while with the other
hand he turned on the light from a
small lantern siring at Iris side. Sire
, lifted her eyes -lowly, as fearing
whom sire might s*.e: but there WAS
little enough visible of the burglar's
face —A wide i.at, a thick reddish
: beard, and A l.ose rough gray coat
were all she saw.
"Now," said he. "you're plucky
j enough for a woman, but I can't
: waste all the I.igh* talking to you;"'
land then he gave her a LOOK that
made her shiver from head to foot
anew. "Bundle those two brats of
your's into one bed, and come and
get us what we want."
I She seemed powerless now. and ;
I her soul fainted v. ilhin her as she ;
J crept alter the tall dark figure, over |
I the landing, into Rome's room.
"On, ray child!" cried the poor
women, and essayed to run to the
(little bed where lay the small figure, >
I pinioned down by the heavy grasp of J
A taller, darker man than her own,
> captor.
"Hands off, missus"' rowled the
! jailer, while Rosie, uttering cries R FI
mingled fright and j >V, writhed air)
twisted like an eel to siip into her j
! mother's anus,
I
I "Hands ofl", now! Just put that
; other one in here along of this one
i and I'll take and turn the key on 'em
I Iwrth, while you take us yonder to
j what we're lookin' after."
No choice again but to olrev; two
passionate kie- and a low "God
keep you;" and between the FO
men she was marched from LH room,
j followed by the children's pitiful
| cries, their wild, frightened -ob.s.
A s she passed out, "May I?" she
a-k-.'l, catching at a SHAWL which
. hung . v< A a chair. They assented,
shortly, and H - wrapped it round
i her shivering figure, and prepared to
■ take them to where their booty lay*,
J -She led them then down the first
! short flight of stairs to the door
• which, as we have already said, was ;
j partly; overhung wiih a curtain. This
j door opened into a room which had!
I LX'en used by Mr. Fergusson's pre- 1
! decessor as an oratory. In a d ep
i recess, at the further end. bad been
i placed a small altar, upon which ha !
I stood a tali bi igiit crucifix. But now
I the room was BARE and almost empty,
j I'lre doors — lor there were two—LA.-T
--' ened with a SPRING on being pushed
j to, and could only be open- D by a
| hand accustomed to the TASK, ai d
1 they also were furnis ;C 1 with heavy
j IKilts on the outside; on* door Ojxmd
jou the landing; the other, a smaller
one. in one side of the recess at the
further end, led into a bedroom.
Here, a-r the kitchen clock Ix-low
struck the Lour of three, stood the
strange trio—the unified, disguised
j men. the trembling, white-faced ;
■ woman.
I .
i But otic ol them carried a light;
the other had left iris lantern out
side.
"Now." SAIO the darker of the men,
"here's the room, you say. We'll fin
is!) this business pretty quick;" an i
he added, with a rattling oath to iris
comrade, thai they'd beeu kept too
long by half already.
The small safe let into the wall,
was directly before them ; below it
four drawers reached down to the
I floor; in the lower of these, at the
j back of it, Mrs. Fergusson hail laid
the key.
She pointed silently to the drawer
which they at once dragged our,
with too much strength, FOR they
I* rked it quite out OI the FLO r. One
of them sullenly turned particular
about making a nt>U_ . and bade then
unwilling helper "shut that door."
As she fell tire spring catch securely
beneath LN-r hand there SI A B-nly
flashed upon her a thought—A hope
—A way of escape for herself, Away
of saving yet that fatal money.
From the look the men had cast
around the room, Mrs. Fergusson
WAS -ure they knew nothing of their
-
whereabouts.
"Shut that door!" the mau had
i said, and never so much as cast a
. look toward where was the other
; door, completely conce' led in the
s'< a-IC-v of the RE-V'-SS.
$1.15 A YEAR
Every pulse beating wildly, she
glanced furtively across the room.
Through the tall, narrow, church-like
window yonder she could see the
moon struggling through thick
clouds, and she could s -e—her sight
quickened by the peril of the moment
—she could see a faint thread of
light on one side, which told her that
the further door stood unlatched.
"Oh, Heaven help roe, and give
me time!" -he prayed: but her hand
shook so that it could scarcely obey
her swift thought. Another moment
and she took in her exact position—
the men stooping over the keys, the
lamp on the floor—and the next she
had flung her shawl over the lamp,
darted across the floor, out into the
room beyond, and flung to the door
with all her force.
Yet more to be done. She drew
the bolts with frenzied speed, above,
helow—that way was safe; then, with
the passionate strength of the mo
ment, she sped through the room,
out on the landing to the curtained
door and made that fast from with
out, while the furious captives beat
a. it from with'n; and then—all,
then, poor thing, her fortitude for
sook her. and a thousand fears she
had not counted on mint cruelly be
set her.
The frightful oaths and curses that
reached her as she leaned panting by
the wall tilled h*r with horror; the
heavy blows upon the panels filled
her with dismay. They would es
cape jet. Her children—on them
1 they would wreak their vengeance.
At the thought her cries and tears
j broke forth. "They will die and I
'-i!iall have killed them!" she cried
I out; and then blindly reaching forth
1 to fed her way back to their room,
: all sight.sense and sound, seemed sud
denly to desert her. She slid down
: i few stairs, clinging to the rail;
' then, losing her hold, fell heavily on
the stone floor of the hall below.
Mr. Ik rgusson had reached his
| nearest .-la lion in safety, had sent
j back tin* wraps his careful wife had
{guarded him with and started by the
ten o'clock train to Ford bam.
; . The rain beat on the windows as
' the train flew along in the darkness.
' and pre-cntly a prolonge 1 whistle told
1 him 4hey were approaching a certain
1 junction where he would have to wait
' some tea minutes <>r <o.
Two or thie" lamps on the platform
by which they drew up showed some
few passengers and a couple of
-leepy porters. Another train had
jis-t come in from the opposite direc
tion, from Ford ham, now only fifteen
miles distant; ami ome of it- pas
sengers bad alighted and were mak
ing their way past the line of ear
. riages.
Looking out upon his fellow trav
ell- r-, without much curiosity or in
interest, Mr. Fergusson caught sight
of a fact which he had little expect
ied to see. Shunting to a porter to
open the d >or of his compartment,
• he sprang out and grasped the arm
of an. in very much like himself
-1 in fact, hi- own elder brother.
"George," he exclaimed,"were \ ou
j going for me? Is my father worse?"
"What ou earth do you mean, and
j '
; wherever did you -pring from?" was
, the answer he got, accompanied by a
| look of profound amazement. "Why,
j man alive, have you gone crazy, that
you stand staring at me so?" And
! George Fergusson checked a disposi
tion to laugh at his brother's bewil
dered exnression only when he saw
the pallor that overspread his face.
"Oh, George," he said, with a gasp,
"did you not telegraph to me this
evening that father had had another
fit?"
"Most certainly I did not."
"Ob. ray wife, ray wife!" said the
clergyman; and then lie staggered to
a he. pot luggage and sat dowu and
hid his lace in his hands. His broth
er saw matter was serious, so he
let his own train pass on without re-
Miming his journey and was soon in
jio&ses: ion ofall the explanation John
Fcrgu-son could give him.
" Porter," he asked, "what time
does the night mail go through to
Wheel borough? "
"Ouc-twenty-five, sir," answered
the man; "reach Wfieelborough iwo
fifteen."
The distance was twenty-five miles;
'h. pr> sen: tine a quarter, or, by tho