CHAPTER X. WHAT NELLY NICHOL SAW.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 337, 26 January 1889, Page 4

CHAPTER X. WHAT NELLY NICHOL SAW.

Great had been the wonderment of thosewho had been lefb behind to awaib the corcr ingof the will, at the Ion" delay; but greater still when the old lawyer at length appeared, with sore trouble on his face, and announced that the will could not Be found. Questions assailed him from all sides, someof them pertinent, and some the reverse. The most he could tell them was that the instrument had unaccountably disappeared; and he was upon the point of dismissing them, with the information that nothing further could be done for the present, when up rose a stout, red-faced, middle-aged man, in a far corner, who had been silent thus far. Jamie Robertson his name was— a man who had forseveral years leased the Ea9t Grange, one of the best and largest farms on the estate. Strange stories had been told of him. The worst, however, was that he had been a bold and successful smuggler in his younger days. This the old baron had heard, and had laughed at it. The man paid his rent — one of the heaviest- without grumbling, and attended to his own business. For a time Kirkland had feared that Reynard might take it into his head to make his appearance before that assembly, and h& was just flattering himself that he should dismiss them without that infliction, when, up rose this man, who, the lawye*r knew, was a sworn friend of the absent chief. To< shut him off was impossible, and it would have been impolitic in any case. Jamie was a man of means and of great influence among the tenantry. He was a generous man, * hail-fellow-well-met,' looked up to by the lower classes because of the very qualities that made him a stumbling-block in the way of those easily tempted. Up rose Jamie Robertson, and in" his blandest manner and most dulcet tones said : ' Squire, I'd like to ask you, if I may be so bold : Didn't the old lord leave any sorb of a will ?' And he looked into the lawyer's face as earnestly and honestly as though he had been chief heir expectant. What could Kirkland do ? He quickly saw, from the looks that met his gaze on all hands, that he must be frank and bold. •Mr Robertson, to you and to the friends present I will say : There is a will in existence, but it is not the last will of the late baron. The will now found wasmade under a most bitter and cruel misapprehension. Before he died Lordßavendale knew his^ error, and he rectified it. He caused a new will to be made, and I may tell you that he died the happier for having made it. That will has most unaccountably disappeared ' ' ' And can't ye find it anywhere ?' asked Jamie. ' • J • We have not been able to find it yet.' ; 1 But ye found the other one ?' - r 'Yes. 5 'Then look'e, Squire. Wouldn't it be the right thing to let us hear the will you've got for sure — the will that ye know his lordship made in the strength and vigour I of his very best health and'spirits ? l~say, Read it, Squire, and let it take its natural ■ course ; and then, in .case t'other one turns up, 'twill be very easy to set it right.' , l ' Not so easy as you think, my dear "sir,* retorted Kirkland, quickly : for 'he saw that the man was'exercising a marked influence. The people ■ there had, come to hear a will read, and they*<iid not'" like; to be disappointed '; and ' when'.-they-Wme to learn that'ithere was such a thing in existence they were ready to agree with Robertson; ' Let's have it !' The lawyer^ saw thafc he must nip this thing in the bud, or ib would outgrow his best efforts to control it. 'Not so easy as you think, my, dear sir. Fancy-a wrong will published and executed, - and the supposed heir in possession, with, his business arrangements just, perfected, when, lo and, behold!, the true will is brought to light, ' Put yourself y in the place' of either party^— of him in wrongful possession ; or, of him who must, by right and justice^ dispossess him, I think, you, t will see the difficulty, to say nothing f ' ; of J the unpleasantness. , And .then^tfyinkvof •' the suit at Jaw liable . to, follow. S 1 1N0, % \ no.

Will ifc not be better to wait, at least for a little time ? The lost will may turn up. If it does not, then, in the future, the case can be considered. 5 James struggled to carry his point, refusing to be convinced by the arguments put forth ; but the old attorney proved too much for him. And,' by-and-by, when he lost his temper, he lost his cause. Evidently, he had been employed by Reynard himself ; but he proved a failure. Had he kept his temper, and moved on, as lie commenced, in a kindly, modest manner, he might have carried many others with him, and Kirkland would have found his position a hard one ; but, as it was, ho very soon lost his support, and was obliged to surrender, he being the sole member of the assembly to vote against the old lawyer's proposition. As quickly as possible Mr Kirkland dismissed the friends who had so patiently waited, promising them, ere they went, that evm-y effort should be made to find the true will ; and that, if it could not be found, the laio should ialce, its course. The lawyer and Dr. Gi'iffith went out from the room together, leaving Robertson holding forth to a few kindred spirits whom he had gathered around him. They left the place Very quietly, making their way to a smaller apartment which Blanche appropriated to herself for a work and music-room, on the lower floor ; and here the lady and Sir Malcolm joined them. They had been there but a few moments when a light, hesitating rap sounded upon the door. Blanche judged, from its character that the applicant must be a servant of the household, and a female ; so she answered it ; and she found it as she had anticipated. She found, outside, pale and trembling, one of the chamber-maids — JNelly Nichol — a woman slightly beyond the middle age, and one of the most faithful and most loyal of the household. ' What is it, Nelly ?' ' May I come in, dear lady?' the woman asked, speaking in the broad Highland dialect. 'Certainly.' And Blanche, as she kindly smiled, moved back, and closed the door j with her o.vn hand after the applicant had I entered. The lady's manner, and her sweet, beaming smile, had done much towards putting the honest, kind-hearted servant at her ease. Before she sat down, however, Malcolm came forward, with outstretched hand, and with a smile on his face that the woman afterwards described as being the bonniest and the most winsome she ever saw on mortal face. ' Nelly,' he said, ' you havte not forgotten your little Malcolm.' She looked up into his face, and then caught his hand to her lips. *It is my bonnie boy, alive and well, thank God !' and the tears flowed freely. Kelly Nichol had been one of the old and faithful of the servants who had been present to hear the reading of the will, and sh,e had followed her young mistress from that place. When she had taken the seat which Malcolm set out for her, and had become composed, she s?id, in answer to a question from Blanche : 'Dear lady, when I heard that the dear old master's will had been lost, and had heard it whispered that by that new deed the poor, wronged boy, whom we all loved so well, was to have been righted, I felt that I ought to tell a thing I saw that very night of the baronet's death. You will not laugh at me, nor will you doubt me. What I shall tell you is as true as heaven !' She paused here, and a shudder shook her from top to toe ; and, furthermore, she pressed her hands over her eyes, as though to shut out a sight that frightened her. Both Blanche and Malcolm spoke gently and kindly to her, bidding" her to go on. * Nelly, we shall believe whatever you tell us, because we know- you to be truthful and good. Have no fear.' ' Lady Blanche,' taking hold of her wrist, and gazing up wistfully, ' do you believe in the ghost— the white lady — of Edgar's Tower ? A spectre, some call it. ' Intuitively our heroine had suspected something of this kind ; yet, when the question was thus squarely put, she was for the moment startled from her firm equipoise. She recovered herself quickly, She had framed Lo speak hei father's name, and to tell the story of bis experience, but she shrank from it, and let it rest, Presently she added : ' You can tell me nothing that can challenge my faith in you, dear Nelly ; so speak freely, and tell us all you have seen.' The woman bent her head, and pressed both hands once more over her face ; and so she remained tor the space of ten seconds or more. Then she looked up, and said, in tones low and tiemulou*, but very clear and distinct : — 'Dear lady, it was on the night when the good old baron — your father — died. I don't know just what time it was ; only I know it was past midnight. I had been kept up by Duff Murtagh, who told me that his master might want a broth fixed for him before he went to sleep. I fell asleep in a chair, down in the cook's room. When I awoke the clock in the hall was striking the midnight hour ; and shortly afterwards I thought I would go and see if there was any need of my staying up any longer. I had got as far as the end of the great hall when I saw Doctor Griffith coming down the front stairs, and Donald Jarvis's boy with him. Without stopping to think, and being a kind o' frightened, I went back to the cook-room, where I waited a while longer, and I may have dozed a bit. ' Well, lady, by-and-by I made up my mind that I would go up and learn how the baron was ; and up I went. When I reached the broad passage leading from Edgar's Tower the moon had risen just high enough to send its bright beams through the embrasures, and I saw the door of the baron's chamber not far away. I went to it, and was standing there, thinking whether 1 would knock or softly open the door and look" io, when I felt a puff of cool air strike on my left cheek — the cheek that was towards the tower. That caused me to turn my head ; and — 0 ! dear lady, I don't know what held me up, or why I wasn't more horrified. But it wasn't horror at all. 1b was a kind of awful wonderment and worship.' Nelly pressed a hand over her heart, and took breath. No word broke in upon her. Presently she went on, in an awe-struck whisper : ' I saw as plainly as I now see you, Lady Blanche, a tall, white figure — 0 ! I cannot telL you how tall! robed in white— in bright, shining white — seeming to come right out through the solid wall of the chamber where the baron lay ! I could no more have moved than I could have flown, and my tongue was fast to the roof of my mouth. The spectre came out from the wall — or that was the way it looked to me — and turned directly towards me. In a moment more it came into a broad flood of moonlight, and I saw every feature ; and another ching I saw. She — it was — it was — a lady ! — she held in her bands a parchment ; or it may have been paper folded up like a great letter ; and she looked at it, and then held it close against her bosom ; and so, with the folded packet held fast, passed on, and disappeared in the tower. 'As soon as I could get my breath and

my strength, I sprang to the baron's door and tried to open it, but it was fast. I knocked lightly— then knocked a little louder — but no answer came, and I wont away— went to my own room, and didn't leave it until the new day had broken. ' The narrator's hearers had listened with an interest all absorbing ; and not a question had been asked, nor had they interrupted her in any way. The most they had done had been to exchange, ever and anon, wondering and significant glances. Blanche was thefii'st to speak when she had concluded. 'Nelly, did you see the face of the spectre?' ' As plainly, lady, as I now see your own. Remember, the moonlight was round about it.' • Nelly !' — Blanche caught her breath as she began to speak, and her voice wa& low and quivering — ' was the face ( one that you had seen bofore ?' 'Dear lady, don't ask me ! Why should you care to know that ?' ' But I do care ; and I wish you to tell me. What was the face like ?' 'It was like nothing else in all the world !' burst from Nelly's lips, spasmodically. '0 ! dear lady !if you will have me tell you, it was the face of your own dead mother — Lady Barbara ! Ah ! how well do I remember her ! O ! so beautiful ! — so beautiful ! And now thab she is a spirit, she looks more beautiful than ever.' At this point Malcolm gave a quick, convulsive start, and caught his hands together impulsively. After a brief pause, he turned to the woman, and asked her to describe more particularly the paper, or the parchment, she had seen in the spectre's hands. Nelly was gazing vacantly into the colonel's face, evidently trying to think how she should make the matter clear, when theoldlawyer, whoat once comprehended her difficulty, took from his v hosom the old will, which he had brought with him to the funeral, but which he had not chosen to expose, and extended it towards her. ' Was it anything like that, my good woman ?' She had started, and uttered a low, quick cry of surprise and gratification the moment her eyes had rested upon it. • Ay, indeed it was, Squire. That's it, exactly. Is it — can it be — the same one ?' She opened her eyes wonderingly. ' How did you find it ?' He explained to her that that was not the parchment she had seen, but that it was of the same appearance. And she assured him ngain that the packet she had seen in the spectre's hands had been so nearly like this on which she now looked that she would not hesitate to take her oath to the truth of it 1 Dear lady,' Nelly said, beseechingly, turning to Blanche, after she had answered all the questions the young colonel and the old lawyer had to ask, ' I hope I have done nothing wrong or unseemly in coming hither with my story of the ghost, because — 0 ! truly — I did see it, just as I have said.' ' Dear old Nelly ! — true heart and loyal,' put in Malcolm, before Blanche could speak, ' I cannot tell you the help yon have given us Be sure we all thank you for coming, and I at least consider it a most decided blessing that you siw the Spectre of Edgar's Tower.' ( To be continued. )