LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1357, 20 June 1878, Page 3

LITERATURE.

A TERRIBLE INTRUDER. By Ma run Noetiicjtt. ["Lond-n Socety."] (Concluded.) ' O sis,' she cried, ' just listen to this ! Two men (ho other night broke into Durham Hall, Wiltshire, while the family where at the seaside, and beinij disturbed in their nefarious work by a couple of female servanis, treated them so brutally that but little hope of their ultimate recovery is entertained. The burglars too escaped, and the chances of their capture are described as being somewhat remote. What a terrible thing, sis! What if it were our case ? Suppose if these two daring men knew we were left alone in this house ? Our distance from any neighbours would secure them from any interruption, and—' ' My dear girl,' I said, wishing on my own account as well as hers that I had not recommended the perusal of the newspaper, ' I have no doubt it was entirely the fault of the servants. Doubtlesß the doors and windows were left unfastened, and perhaps the men had a previous kowledge of the premises. Let us drop the subject, and have some music instead. Not any of the dreamy composers, I beg, but something lively : a tarantella or one of Strauss's waltzes ; the latter for choice.' Maude was an accomplished pianist, but had a fancy for the romantic and idyllic school of composition. She would sit at the pianoforte by the hour, playing long difficult pieces that embraced a multiplicity of notes with the very smallest tincture of tune. As for a continuous strain of melody—such as a body might hum afterwards—it seemed to be the quality most of all avoided by the composer. I have no doubt it is great want of taste on my part (perhaps caused by my country life and education), but I prefer the " Annen Polka," "Rats' Quadrilles," the "Post-eorn Galop," and the dear old "Drum Polka," to a hundred of such pieces. I know it is dreadfully heretical to say this, but I do like melody, although it be of the jingling order. A good rattling polka sets ray feet tingling; but your "etudes" and highsoun'iing musical rhapsodies give mo what is expressively, though perhaps vulgarly, termed "the creeps." Well, for a time, Maude in her fresh occupation got on very well. To please me she played the "Blue Danube," the " Morgenblatter," and other lively dance pieces in a manner that considerably raised our spirits. But shortly after she fell into her favourite style, and descending by gentle gradations from the " Harmonious Blacksmith" and the "Nocturne" of Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream " music, to a" Reverie " by some modern note-spinner, at last lapsed into one of those lugubrious, but poetically named, compositions which are the pride and glory of certain boarding-school music-masters. I was very patient, but finding that the pieces selected by Maude became more and more dreary, I at length bade her desist from playing, and endeavour to revive our again fligging spirits by conversation about our lovcrß. ' Before I sit down, sis, may I close the shutters ?' 'Certainly, if you like, dear,' I replied. 'How ghostly it looks! ' said Maude, as she approached the window. ' Yonder lane seems just the kind of spot where, as the clock strikes twelve, you might oxpect to see holding high revel the departed spirits of those who, ages since, dwelt in these antique rooms. I don't want you, sis, to tell me of any of the terrible stories relating to the houec, or I shall be fancying all kinds of disagreeable things. Don't you remember those nights at school when, by the light of the candle wo had with difficulty obtained, we in our room surreptitiously read the " Castle of Otranto ? " And don't you remember when, on coming to the passage where the wicked Prince Manfred pursues Isabella (his dead son's betrothed), and the portrait of his ancestor stepping from its panel makes him pause in his pursuit, I fell into hysterics, and you had to summon assistance, whereby our scheme was discovered ? ' I remembered the circumstance perfectly, but had no desire to revive dormant recollections of one of the most nerve-trying books I ever met with, especially if you read it, as we did, in a large room dimly lighted at midnight, whan the boisterous wind drives the pattering rain against the windows, and you hear the leaves sending forth murmurs like the melancholy surging of the ocean. I was about to shut out the moonlit view, and make a desperate effort to change the conversation, when Maude, who had her eyes fixed upon the lawn, suddenly clutched my arm, and involuntarily retreated a step. ' Sis,' she cried, 'what is that moving in the laurels ?' Ere she had given utterance to her alarm my practised eye had also detected an unwonted disturbance of the clustering bushes of laurestinus, which served to hide the hedgerow of the lane skirting the lawn. The night was so oa'im and still that scarce a leaf of the lofty trees, whose reflection was shadowed upon the grass se-emed in motion. This particular bp.nk of laurel was immediately in front of a huge oak completely overshadowing it, so that anyone could remain there concealed despite the bright moonlight which elsewhere reigned supreme, ' Quick!' cried Maude 5 ' let us bar the shutters.' ' Hush, dear! 5 I said, placing my arm around her waist, for I feared she was about to faint, ' If it is any one who knows our situation, and has determined to rob the house, these puny bolts will not afford much resistance. Our plan is to endeavour to keep him at bay until the servants return.' At that moment i observed emerging from the shelter of the laurels, but still remaining beneath the dense shadow of the overhanging tree, what seemed to the figure of a man. He looked in height very short, almost dwarflike, but was stout of frame, and appeared dressed in white, or Avas without a coat j what seemed to be his shirt-sleeves being alone seen as ho raised his arms when freeing himself from the bushes. 'Osis,' exclaimed Maude, *dt is a man! Perhaps one of ih,e brut id wretches who broke into Durdham Hall. Let us give him all our jewelry, or mayhap we may be murdered ere any of our people come buck.' My companion's timidity had during the evening occasionally unnerved me ; but now, whan 1 fancied 1 saw cause for apprehension, 1 guinea courage, and certainly did not feel inclined to yield in the manner Maude had suggested. I had heard people call my father an obstinate self-willed man, and perhaps I inherit a little oi his disposition in this respect. I knew I might expect the servants punctually at ten — they might bj back earlier—and the clock at the farther end of the pnssage had just atvuck half-past nine ; it was therefore patont that I had only to keep the man or men at bay for a short time, and w.& were safe. As briefly as I could I explained the situation to Maude. ' Faint aa much as you like, dear, when our fyipnds arrive ; but until then, for Heaven's sake, endeavour to retain your senses. You yesterday remarked the double-barrelled gun which hangs over the mantelpiece in the kitchen, and asked me if it were loaded. Do you think you could fetch it me while I keep W;,tch here ? ' Maude nodded ; I knew her fright prevented her speaking. Clasping her hand tightly within my own, and then releasing it, I said, ' Bring it to mo then ; the gun is perfectly safe so long as you do not touch the trigger. My father always kept this gun loaded ; ait hung some distance from the ground, anO we never had any children staying with us, wo were perhaps not so careful ir, 'she matte; of firearms as wo should hare been. Whilst Maude was out of tae room, it appeared to mo as though the figure drew clo;er ; it wat careful 4o remain within the shadow of the tvee, but it struck me as exceedingly Strangthat, although the white-sleeved arms wenconstant ly raised, as though their owner had but just swakaned from a sound sleep, I coula not see the creature's head. In a very short time I heard Maude's approaching footsteps. As she placed the gun in my hand I felt that her fingers were cold and trembling. 'Now, Maude, ' I said, 'stand behind me. If the figure draws closer I shall givo it

warning, and, if no answer be returned, I shall fire one barrel. The report at this hour will alarm the folks at Farmer Ashcombe's, and we shall have the gamekeepers, thinking we are poachers, trotting down upon us, eo assistance will speedily arrive. When our adversary finds we are armed, and mean resistance, he may retreat. If he does not, I have the second barrel in reserve should ho venture upon close quarters.' At that moment the mysterious being drew a few paces nearer: he seemed to have a limping gait, whether from natural infirmity or drunkenness I could not tell. ' 0 sis,' exelaimed Maude, clasping me round the waist from behind, 'he's running towards us! ' Flinging open the window, and raising the gun, I cried at the top of my voice,' Who's there ? Answer, or I fire!' A few seconds elapsed, but no response came to my inquiry. The creature did not pause at the sound of my voice, but ambled rather than walked nearer, still, however, carefully avoiding that part of the ground upon which the moon shone. ' Who are you ? ' I again shouted. My fingers closed upon the trigger, then came a flash of light and a loud report—the intruder upon the lawn staggered and fell. Simultaneously the hands tLat clasped my waist relaxed their hold, and poor Maude sank fainting on the carpet. Not daring to move from the room, I rested the gun against the table, and raising Maude's head in my hands, endeavoured to restore her to consciousness. What seemed to me hours, but what really could not have been more than twenty minutes, passed, and then came the sound of vehicles driven rapidly up the lane. I heard my father clamouring for admittance, and hurrying to the door, fell almost swooning into his arms. As coherently as I could, I told him of our adventure, and that the body of a man lay beneath tbe laurel bushes ; so reeignine me to the care of one of the gentlemen, he hurried to the spot indicated. In a moment after, his cheery voice sounded through the still air, ' I've got him ; but he's more frightened than hurt. Why girls, it's a representative of yourselves! It's nothing but a goose! ' Neither was it. That boy Smith, who was so much to be depended on, had for once proved himself uuworthy of his trust, and this poor bird, in its futile endeavours to seek its companions, had in our nervous fancy become magnified to the proportions of a housebreaking desperado, its outstretched wings in the shadow, to which it so persistently kept, helping to carry out the delusion we had entertained. Of course we were pretty considerably rallied about the matter, but we never after volunteered to re-nain in the hous* alone