Our Novelettes.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1518, 5 February 1886, Page 4

Our Novelettes.

A STRANGE BED.

{Continued.)

"My son will take you, sir," the landlord answered, quickly. " No, not you, Keuben. Here, Sim—Sim!" At this summons a shock-headed lad of thirteen emerged from the house, and, taking the lantern from his father's hand, led me through a gate to the left of the entrance, across a yard at the side, to a thatched shed, small, but. dry and snug, alr.ady tenanted by a cow and a donkey, which,were unceremoniously turned out to make room for Polly. When I had seen her fed and made comfortable for tho night, I shouldered my pack, transferred my pistols fiom the holster to my pocket, and followed my gui 'e bark to the house.

The front door opened straight upon the kitchen, a spacious, low-ceiled room, with an uneven brick floor and a wide hearth, on which a huge wood fire was b'azing cheerily; over it was suspended an iron pot, which emitted a most appetizing odour. There was no other light than that of the fire, which fill* d the room with dancing shadows, and, leaving the far corners in obscurity made it seem larger tban it really was. As I stood on the hearth, unbuttoning my overcoat as quickly as my numbed fingers would permit, I took the opportunity of observing my host and his eldest son, who were busy fastening the heavy b'»lts and bars of the front door. Both were tall, powerfully-built men—broidchested, lung-armed, bullet, headed. The father, who was the shorter of the two, may have been about forty-live or thereabouts, but looked younger than his age, owing to his colourless, insipid complexion—hair, brows, eyelashes and skin all seemed of the same dull straw-coloured tint, and his eyes were of the palest shade of china blue, lie was obsequiously civil, and his thin lips were almost constantly distended into an ingratiating smile. The son, a young giant of one or two and twenty, had his father's sandy hair and light blue eyes, without his smile

By the time 1 had noticed thus much the bolting and barring were concluded, and the landlord approached to help me off with my coat. Having divested me of it, he bade Ins younger sjn take off my boots, while he lifted the lid of the pot to see how the contents were getting on.

" This is an out of-tlie- way spot for an inn," 1 remarked, as I s»t down and resinned my foot to the lad, " dropped down in the middle of a moor, nine miles from the nearest town."

My host, who was absorbed in looking into the depths of the pot, made no reply ; but the lad kneeling at my feet raised his hrad with a broad stare, and after a second said—

"'Tain't nine miles from Beckley ;'tain't above live if you — Just then Ins father accidentally dropped the iron pot-lid on the hearth, and the rest of the sentence was lost in the clatter.

" Not above five !" I ■- •! turning to my host. " Why you toid me a moment ago —" " Not above five miles if you cut straight across the moor," he interrupted—" that's what Sim means, sir—but, if you go by the road, it's four more, at least. It's a roundabout road, you see, following the windings ot the stream. It isn't much used in wintir, but in summer there's a good deal of passing —farmers going to market, and such like. The supper's done to a turn now," he added, taking the pot off the fire, and letting out a cloud of savoury steam ; " and 1 make no doubt you're ready for it, sir." 11 is hasty manner of changing the subject continued me in the suspicion that my civil, smiling host had somewhat exaggerated the length of the road in order to keep me at " Ihe Moorfowl" lor the night; but, if the supper lasted half as good as it smelt, I would magnanimou-lv fo give him. " What is it ?" I asked, smffing.

" It's a stew of rabbit, steak, and onions and potatoes," he answered, unctuously, smacking his lips—" a supper for a king! Now, Joyce, where are you ? Light the caudles aud lay the cloth. Drat the wencb, she's always hiding when sho's wanted! Joyce, I suy!" At this summons there emerged from the shadow at the other end of the room a tall, slender girl of eighteen with a coarse linsey petticoat and short, white bed-gown—a girl with wild dirk eyes and a dead-white face, its pallor rendered still more startling by the frame of heavy, lustreless dark-brown hair which was puslnd buck Irom her temples aud hung in a neglected tangle abjut her neck. But it wits not the unnatural pallor of the face which first struck me ; it was the unnatural expression stamped upon the features —a fixed, frozen look, as if the chill of some deadly terror had passed over her, paralysing her mind, and driving all the light of life out of her face. She moved mechanically, like a sleep-walker, and looked with eyes that seemed to see nothing. There was nothing coarse or cjintnon in her appearance, homely at were her surroundings; her features, though irregular, were delicate, lier neglected hair was wavy and abundant j her eyes, of a soft brown, would have been beuutifui but for their strange fixed look. " What is the matter with the girl? Is she ill ?" I asked in an undertone. The landlord puihed his lips out.

" She hus been, but she's well enough now, for all I know—well enough in body, but a trifle weak here—you understand"—he tapping his forehead signilicantly—'takes odd notions, and s» 011." " Is she a relative of yours ?" "Not she, sir; she's a 'fondling.' We had her from Pa. kerton Workhouse to wait on my mother, who is bed-ridden. We si.ali have to send her back again, 1 fancy, for she gets queerer every day." " Poor lass!" 1 said, involuntarily, looking, with the complesion I felt, at the forlorn young creature. The girl, who 1 ad hitherto stood with downcast ejes, raised them suddenly to my face. What a stranje look it was—a look that startled and thrilled me. Not the vacant stare of an idiot. No, those wonderful dark eyes were full of a significance which I vaguely felt, hut, not having the clue to it, could not understand.

" Uon't stand staring there, you moonstruck idiot!" interposed her mister, in a coarse, brutal tone, which contrasted strongly with his honeyed accents to myself. " Light the candles and lay the cloth." Silently aid mechanically she obeyed, moving about like an automaton. I could not keep my eyes fuom her, but she never looked at me again. " Supper is quite ready, sir," said my host at last, rubbing his hands and smiling more than ever. " What will you please to take with itP We have good ale, or, if you prefer a glass of something hot—" " Ale with my suppir, and a glass of hot brandy-and-water before I go to bod," 1 returned taking my seat at the tab e. The ale was a trifle flat, but not bad ; the stew was superb. I uiade a thoroughly satisfactory supper, and when it whs finished and 1 sat in an easy cbair on the hearth, with my legß stretched out to the cheerful blaze, I felt |b the best of tempera with myself and all the

world, not excepting my attentive host, who, seated on the other side of the fire, entertained me with tales of tho moor, while his son was clinking bottle* and glasses at the table behind me. Presently tho hot wafer and a bottle of spirits were placed on a little round table at my sido. I filled ray glass, stirred and sipped the steaming mixture, and then took about a quarter of it at a draught. As I set the glass down, the girl Joyce emerged from the shadow at the other end oft.be room, where I had seen her sitting while I was at supper, her face and jicket two dim patches of white in the gloom, and came towards the hearth.

" Now, then, what is it ?" her master demanded.

She pointed to my boots*, which lay between the small table at whi.-h I sat. and the wall. " Very well, take 'em a v ny," he ordered. She stoope d t.o pick them up, and, in ra sing herself, managed to upset the table. Over went jug, bottle, and glass, with a crash on the store hearth, and up jumped 1 with an involuntary " Wlintt! e d'euce —" for not a little of the hot water had f;oue over my legs. My ho.-t, wl.o had been stooping to stir the fire, and hid not. seen the cause of the mishap, started up, with an oath " Who aid that ?" ho demanded with a black look at the girl. •' I did it myself," I answered, promptly, telling the lib without a moment's hesitation ; " my knee caught in the tab e, I suppose, and "

"It was Joyce as did it, father," growled the son's voice behind me.

" Yes; it was Jo\ ce i>s did it," shrilly echoed the shock-headed hoy, who had be.-n squatting like a toad in a warm corner of the heart h. " I see her upset it, I did." Ilis father threw down the poker, cro?sel the health -it ot.e stride, and, before 1 knew what he was about, raised his heavy hai d and struck the girl on the temple. " Take that for your clumsiness!" he suid, and he raised his hand to repeat the blow, when 1 struck it up, and, catching him by the urm, swung him away with such force that, not b ing prepared for i', he staggered and fell heavily to the fl >or.

"Take lint for your brutality," I paid, out of breath wit u tliii exertion, and in a white heat of indigt'a'iori and disgust. If I had be 11 le.-s atn ry I could not h ive suppressed u mule at hi.-* aj»: earance; lie sat w: ere lie ha I fallen, rubbing his head, which had come into pretty sharp cont ict with the edge of the table in hi-* descent, and staring about linn wit h an expression of bewilderment that wa* irresistibly ludicrous. '• You might 'a slopped at short of knocking a man down," said the son, looking ai me witli a lowering face as he assisted his father to rue.

" 1 didn't ki.ock liim down then, but I will if he raises his hand against the girl again while I am in t lie hou-e."

Ihe ibndiord slow y raisid himself up; his face was livid, and there vuis a curious lumbeut gleam in his pale eyes as he glanced at nit- uftir 1 iiad uttered iho:e words. But the expi essiou passed in a moment, and he forced his lips i..to their a customed smile, as he ss.id, brushing the sand off his coat — " ihe gentleman is a trifle hasty-tempered, Reuben. 1 can excuse that; it is a fault of my own. 1 bear no malice —no malice." " It would be all the same to me if you did," I rttoited contemptuo .sly ; and tun ing my back on him, i addressed J'Vce, who was leaning against the wall, with her thin lingers pressed against her temples. *'i fear you are badl) hurt, my p >or lass," I said in an undertone, bending over her, " Let me look at the p.ace. Sit down." 1 gently removed her fligeis, and could hardly terrain my indignation when 1 saw the mark on htr temple, whicli in a lew minutes would be a livid biuise. I said nothing more, however, but forced her down to a seat, and, seeing tnat she was faint and half-stun-ned, called ior a glass of water, which the son, at his father's bidding, procured, and handeu to me with a sueer, I put it to her lips, moistened her forehead, and chafed her cold hands ; she sat meanwhile passive, silent, and apparently apathetic, but 1 could hel her trembling as I touched her, and when she rose to move away her dark ejes were raised to my face with a look which rendered thanks superfluous. What eyes they were! Never had auy others so thrilled and huuut>-d me. " If my ro m is ready, I will go to bed," I said, putting away my cha:r. My host and his son 'were busy looking for something in a cupboard, something they could noi find, apparently, for I lnard them Luulteiing as if disappointed, and the latter shut the cupbourd door with a gruiit of veia- - Won't you let me get you another glass of brandy-ami-water, sirr" asked the laudlord.

" No," 1 answered, curtly. "I want nothing more. Show me to my room." lie muttered something, but did not press the mat er.

" Light a bed-cundle, Joyce, and carry up the gentleman's things to the best room. I'ou'il have a capital bed, sir," he added, addressing me, as the giil emerge J irom the shadow agun, in ber silent, ghastly way—" us good a one as there is anywhere, I never knew anyone who slept in the Ureeu Uei complaiu of a restless night. Now tneu, girl, don't fall asleep. Dou't you see the gentle-

man's walling t"

Jojce, who had been standing like one in a dream, started, roused herself, and, taking the candle, led the way up a narrow, dark flight of stairs opening Irom the kitchen, 1 following with my puck, and the landlord bringing up the rear.

0,1 the binding above were three doors. Pa-sins the two first, we entered the third, at (he end of the parage It was a room of h.tter ttDiie trance than 1 had expected. irue, tL walls were whitewashed, the well-worn ™lj h«W lormd the tluor, Bud the furniture was scanty, including, beside the bed only one chair, a dressm-tai.le, and a wiieh-liand stand; still everytlung louked fresh a id clean, and there wa, an air ol homely country comfort about it that plea-ed me. The solitary chair was a capacio„s aimed one, covered with chintz-one »t those easy, oldfashioned chairs which seem to invite one with open Jirnn to take a seat in .heir sott laysand the b il an antiquated, .four-poster with faded lin en hanging" tnuiuie i with yellow braid promised to justify all the eulogiums of its proprietor. VV.th its snowy sheets, large square pillow, and warm km,ted coverlet it looked a most mvitu g resting place tor a weary man. The very sight ot it appeare I io HCt 011 me a< a soporific; 1 ielt so drowsy that I could hardly ke< p my eyes Open as I glanced round the room.

"Have you everything you require, sir? Can I ilo anything more for you Y inquired mv host, who stood neur the dour, with his head a little on one side, flo viy rubbing his hands, and regarding me with his bland perpetual smile. " Nothing more. Call me in the morning at about six."

" Very good, sir. There's a lock to your door and a bolt also," he added, as he was passing through. " All right, good nightand, stretching my arms and giving a tremen ious yawn, I transferred ihe pistols from w pocket to the dressing table before the window. Just then the landlord, who was not yet fairly out of th« room, returned.

" I beg your p&rdon, sir ; I want to see if the window'? fastened properly. If,, it ain't, it rattles when the wind blows and, calling to wLo whs outside, to hold the light, he leaned over the dressing table, fumbling with the hasp of the easement. As I stood aside, unfastening my neck-tie, the girl, glancing at her roaster, whose back was turned, trok a step towards me, raised her lips to my ear, and whimpered rapidly—- " Don't go lo bed yet, and don't lock your door." " There's all—fast now," said her master the next moment, giving the casement a p 11 to test it; " and now I wish you a good night, sir and sound sleep-but that you are sure to have in the Green Bed." And, smiling to the last, lie disappeared.

" Don't go to bed yet, and don't lock your door."

1 was wile awake now—that mysterious whisper had rous.'d me as effectually as a (louche of cold water —wide awake, and particularly uncomfortable. What did it mem? Did the giil suspect her master's honesty ? Had I fallen among thieves—or worse? I turned hot and co d at the thought. Involuntarily my hand went into the breastpocket of my coat; and I drew a breath of relief at finding the precious pocket-book still safe. But the girl's warning, if warning it was, was unintelligible; what did she mean by telling me not to lock my door ? I puzzled over it till I was completely bewildered and morj uncomfortable than ever; then the thought occurred to me that there might be another concealed entrance to the room, and, taking up the candle, I proceeded to reconni it ro my quarters. I first inspected the door —a remarkably strong one, with iron clamps, and not only a stout lock but a heavy bolt a* well ; and then I went to the window, which looked out upon the yard at the side of the house, and was a casement opening all in one piece liuo a door—plainly it would be impossible to open it from the outside without employing fore.'. I next went round the walls, tapping them to find if they sounded hollow anywhere ; no, they were composed of wood solid' honest bricks and mortar. Then I turned up the loose carpet, to make sure that Ino trap-duors were in the floor. Finally, after | ascertaining at a glance that there whs neither I cupboard nor lire-place in the room, I examined the much-vaunted Green Bed, which somehow became an object of vague suspicion ami dread—looked round it, under it—l could not look behind it, as it stoo.t close against the wall—got on to the chair to sitisfy myself that there was no mattress on the top to descend and smother me, as I had read iu some traveller's tale-sniffed the pillow, which was redolent of no stupefying drugs, but had the wind, some smell of the grass on which its cover had been dried, and even, with a halflaugh at myself ior the precaution, turned down the clothes to make suie that no diabolical machine was secreted between the sheets. Mo ; the bed was what it appeared t0 b— a comfortable country bed, and nothing more. My ci adel wus impregnable, and whoever wished to attack me must come through the keyhole to do it. I was so much reatsured by this discovery that I felt inclined to laugh at my late lears. No doupt the girl Joyce was oe ange l, as her master had sud, and as her own strange looks and ways seemed to testify, and this was merely one of her "odd notions"; iu that case 1 need alarm myself no longer. Still I could not bring tu\ self to disregard her warning altogether, so" 1 compromised the matter by resolving that 1 would leave the door unlocked lor lia.r an hoar or so, and watch ; then, if nothing happened, 1 would just lock aud boit it, put the pocket book uuder my pillow, and the pisto.s within reach of my lmud, aud turn into bed. So, settling myself comfortably in the ar n chair, 1 prepared to watch. It was a remarkably comfortable chair, aud uow that I was no longer iu motion, the old drowsiness returned more heavily than ever, before the lirst five minutes of my solitary vigil had expire i, I found myself uodding, now sideways, now forwards; starting up now and then with a jerk that nearly dislocated my ne. k, and then noddiug forwards again, to wake next moment iu the middle ot an uumistakeable snore.

At lust, after dosing and waking for ten minutes or so, and growing more deadly drowsy every moment, i began to cast long* ing glances at the bed near me. How tempting it looked, with its warm coverlet and sjft pillow. Could I not watc!) just as well in a horizontal position ? I would not go to bed, no; but might I uot just stretch m> self on it lor a few moments ; i was conscious of these thoughts, but so stupefied with sleep was I that I was not conscious ot having acted upon them till I found myself stretched on the bed, my limbs sinking mits soft embraces, my head resuug on the snowy pnlow, witn its faint fragrauce of grass and CiOver, suggestive of summer air and sunsiune. By a preternatural effort 1 manage,! to keep my eyes open torab->ut three minute* j then they slowly closed, and my thouguts began to wander vaguely. I was on the moor again ; suut in by the ever-descending white curtain; then Joyce's pale face seemed to drift past me with the drifting suow ; then I myself drifted away, and wag lost m a sea of oblivion.

1 suppose my sleep had lasted half-an-hour or so, when i awoke with a violent start, to find a haad on my shoulder, and a white face bent over uiy own. It was Joyce. As I unclosed my lips to speak she laid her hand on them. " Hush."

I struggled into a sitting posture, and looked at her j the contusion and vague alarm of a sudden awakening were upon me, and at first 1 almost fancied she was part of a dream.

" What is it ? What do you want P" I whispered. As she paused a moment, listening to some fancied noise down-stairs, I could dwinctlj hear the bea'ing of her he:irr. She bent her In ad again, and put her lips close so my e ir. '• I want to save you from a dreadful death." I could not speakj i cou.d only ask with my eyes what sue meant. Looking straight into them, her face but a few inches from mine, she whispered—- " Do you remember what the m ister said just now? 'Those that sleep in the Green Bed ulwajs sleep found.' "

I nodde 1. She smiled—a smile that made me shiver.

'• Av, they sleep sound enough—for they never wake." " Go<d heavens! Whit " She put her hand to my lips again. "Hush! 1 cannot tell youj I will show you. Come."

I was off the bed in a moment. She took me by the wrir-t—th- touch of her icy finders thrilled my vein*—and, taking the candle in her other hand, led me from the room to the landing outside. Noiselessly opening the door of the chamber next to mine, she signed to me to enter.

It was of about the same size as that I had just left, and wa* apparently used as a lumber room, as it contained no furniture but a dismantled bedstead, a rickety table, ar.d one or two broken down chairs. In the wall which d vided it from the room which I had occupied w.ro the fold n-; dio * of a lwge cupboard, tibout four fee' wide, op< nig a out as m-inv feet from the tl>or ar d extending to within a few inches of the ceiling. [To be continued.)