LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1356, 19 June 1878, Page 3

LITERATURE.

A TERRIBLE INTRUDER. By Marhn Northcott. [“ Loud n Soc'ety.’’] We were alone in the house —Maude Chaplin aud I —aud did not altogether like the position in which we were placed. Whilst the daylight lasted, aud there seemed so much life about the farm'—whilst we car/ tl»e catTe grazing and hoard the servants bustling oyer their labour, it seemed very pleasant to have the house to ourselves, to be able to waudes; togyehev through th > quaint old rooms, aryl to talk on subjects very dear to both of us, without the dread of being overheard by the Loudon female cog-ins aud the roistering youths who had come to spend a month of the shooting season beneath our roof For a time we revelled in our comparative solitude, and pried the female cousins, the eager sportsmen, poor papa, and the rest of the househn d, who had been beguiled into accepting ,vy invitation to Mrs Rattlot) ap’s pionb, at the Scrubs, a piece of moorland uoiWeight holes distant from our lvnv?« Wo were all expo ted, tub ryy old soh-Tolfollow Maude v-le ulcl headache, and 1 was not sorry to ln\vo an ego.usc for staying at home w;tb Bui; guest Wc had mot but seldom stuae we left the prim school, at Tauntou ; and although Maude had already been with us a week, what with the noisy chatt'-r of our friends, the croquet tourneya, the lawn dances, and the other pleasant ways in. which our evenings were spent, we had hitherto had no opportunity of indulging in those mutual confidences so dear to women who are in the blissful state known as ‘ engaged,’ There wan a, particularly tender bond of sympathy betwixt us, inasmuch as I \ygs in biweekly correspond once with, heir brother John, to whom I signed myself ‘yours affectionately,’ whilst her betrothed was Harry Somers, who had been a visitor to our h use from his childhood. Ere they drove away iu the afternoon the other girls twitted us rather severely for nob joining them, and it seemed a gensrr.l opinion that Maude’s headache vyas noth'ng more than a sharp, But the gentlemen said little : in my opinion their hearts would have been gladdened had all the party abstained from attending the pic uio, their inclinations tending to the wheat stubb’e in ‘Five acre Field’aud the adjacent turnip patch, where a fine covey had sought shelter the night before But as the girls were resolved upon going, the males of course were obliged to act as escort; by and by pa: a was induced t > join them, and thus it was Maude and I were left alone.

S > engrossing was the subject of our conversation that we were surprised whoa the housemaid brought in the tea, and dropping a curtsey, ashed ii Sarah, thi cook, might, vylth her, go down to the village until ten o’clock to "take part in the festivities with which Farmer Ashcombe was celebrating his harvest home. It then occurred to my memory that the servants had asked uie fo?

this holiday a fortnight previously, and that I had given a half acquiescent responce In the hurry of ray domestic duties, and the excitement occasioned by a house full of company, I had, however, forgotten the circumstance until now. ‘ Where is Ben?’ I inquired, referring to one of tho carters who inhabited a snug little cottage on the farm, and was consequently required to place himself at our service when wanted.

Ihe domestic dropped another curtsey, and announced that the individual alluded to had gone to Wells with a loa ! of barley, and would not be back until late.

* And the boy Smith V ‘ Please, ’in, master told him a might go when a ’ad fed the poultry and fastened Vm np for the night, and a ’as been gone this quarter of an hour. ’ ‘ I hope he made sure the turkeys and geese were all right, for papa saw a fox cross the meadows this morning ?’

‘ Oh. yes, ’m a is a careful lad is Smith, and he’s got ’em all right ’enow, I’ll he bound,’ responded the maid. The carter and the boy Smith were the only male servants we then had about the house—our harvest having been concluded nearly three weeks, and papa having lent the rest of his labourers to a friend residing further up the country, where the crops were not so forward, and where some dis putes had occurred in connection with the “union.” I hesitated a moment as to whether it was altogether safe to be thus left; hut as I had given a half promise to the girls, and I knew it would be a sad disappointment to them not to go, I dismissed all apprehensions and told them they might leave the tea-things and be off at once. Before I had given Maude her second cup we saw Sarah and her companion walking briskly down the lauo, which ran parallel with the side of our house, and about a quarter of a mile further down opened into the turnpike road Noticing {that after a time Maude became less conversational, I inquired the reason ; but receiving nought but evasive answers, I questioned her more closely. ‘You are not afraid, are you, dear?’ I asked, * I shall bo only confessing the truth, sis’ —(this was short for ‘sister,’ a name I liked to hear coming from Maude’s lips) ‘ when I tell you that I was very sorry to hear you give your consent to the servants leaving us. Huppose if any person has been watching the house, and was to seize the opportunity of committing a robbery ?’ ‘My dear Maude,’ I responded, ‘ nothing of the sort ever happens in these parts Every one around us is most exemplary. If you want to see Arcadian simplicity and innocence, c r m' to Sharpley. The probity of tho neighbourhood might indeed form the text for a proverb Living, as we do, some distance from any town, we know all the persona lesiJent within a radius of, say, four mile'.’

‘But hf'w about tramps? are Jthey not dreadful people, s's ?’ ‘Perhaps, Maude, even they are more sinn d against than sinning. At all events, t amps seldom if ever, come near us. You s. ewo lie off the main road. The laue leads to the farm and nowhere else.’

‘But,’ pursued Maude, ‘that fact would be all the worse for us if a tramp should come here. ’

‘Really,’ I replied, *1 shall get quite angry with you if you pursue the subject further. To put an end, however, to all your fears you shall come with me, and we will bolt the outer doors ’

The alacrity with which Maude rose from her chair was great proof that the proposed measure was of a welcome nature, so, proc eding from the drawing room, we walked to the lawn, and ,fastening the gate which opened on to the lane, re-entered the house. We then locked, bolt°d, and barred the back premises, saw that aU the windows were fastened, and then came back to the drawing room. The work occupied some little time, for our house was a rambling, old-fashioned building, devoted in years gone by to far more aristocratic service than a farm —its real title was Sharpley Manor House, and many a Cavalier bad during the time of the Civil Wars found shelter beneath its roof. The rooms were broad and lofty, containing a wealth of carved oak pannelling about the mantel-pieces, the ceilings and the wainscotings, and the house was intersected by narrow passages and steep staircases loading to a dimly-lighted gallery, respecting which many a gloomy legend was current.

I must confess that when we had secured all the approaches to our citadel, I was myself a good deal more at ease than I had been previously I was not nervous, but unused to being left to take charge of the house, and Maude’s timidity and anxiety respecting the dreaded tramps did not tend to increase my courage. Leading her thoughts back to her brother John and to Harry Somers, and to their expected advent when some of the more ardent sporting guests had quitted us, we soon regains i our former composure. Hand in hand we sat upon the broad window-seat, and looking on to the lawn encircled by its ban! of gravel path, formed as young girls similarly situated will, afl manner of bright anticipations of future happiness. We raised a fab v ip of fulfilled hopes of such fair and imposing exterior that we lest sight of th<?airy foundations constituting , its ba.se. Oh, pleasant castle building ! a task sweet to all at every stage of life, but doubly sweet to the young— and loved. Slowly the autumn sun sank beneath the range of hills fronting our dwelling, tinging the sky with radiant hues which varied momentarily. Now a rich tinge or crimson lighted the horizon, and tkm came a long line of gold which reflected its radiance , upon tho“ muslin window-curtaina and the ' f ramed engravings upon the wall. After a while more sober tin:s diffused the cloudless sky, th<j a v .r,dowo deepsned around us, objects which a short time previously shone out bright and clear reemed now far removed, and had resolved themselves into weird mysterious shares, the sight of which rent a strange thrill through the heart 3 snd presently the :ilvevy shimmer of thv harvest moon hr ke in upon us, ;ta ghostly sheen bringing into prominence the quaintly carve 1 figures above the old mantelpiece, I co-v 4 have sat for hours watching the numerous lines that swept across the heavens, ? hut with the uprising moon and tho gathering twilight 1 saw that Mnv.clo was once more becoming nervous, ‘Come,’ f said, moving 1 towards the tabije and lighting tho lamp, the hoariu tones o,t the kitchen clock meanwhile i sp.imding eight; ‘ the servants will not be 1 back for a couple of hours, and it being such a fine evening we can scarcely expect tho picnic folk to be earlier than eleven. Suppose you read the newspaper left hero this morning, whilst I do a little embroidery. 1 ‘ Won’t you close the shutters P.’ inquired Maude.

‘ Not unless you particularly wish it, dear,’ I replied. 1 1 like to see the sweet chastened splendour of the moon on such a clear calm niglit us this,’ The sky was decked with myriads of stars, and the broad disc of the unclouded, moon hooded the whole landscape with light, sure where some tall elm or spreading beech cast its shadow. There were many lofty trees fringing our lawn on] the side where the lane ran, ana their broad branches seemed thrown athwart the green sward in front of us like the stiffening bodies of some warlike giants from whom the breath of life had departed. Had I given the matter a thought I might have guessed that their weird aspect, combined with the deathlike stillness without, would have raised the superstitious dread of the sensitive Maude ; but I was so well used to the sight myself that I took no notice of the circumstance.

Drawing a chair to the table I began nay work, and Maude, seated opposite, and facing the window, took the newspaper, and shortly became deeply interested in a vivid description of the fashions of the month, interlarding the account with personal remarks as to how nice such and such a costume must look, and giving her own opinion respecting the kind of trimming recommended. J was congratulating myself that X had succeeded in diverting her mind from our lonely situation, when, as ill-luck would have it, her eye lighted upon a paragraph that at once thwarted all my well-intentioned efforts. (To ho continued )