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WHERE I FOUND VIOLA
BY HERO STRONG.
It was drawing toward nine o'clock of a dull drizzly evening, and my horse was leg-weary.
I am one of those persons who ought to be president of a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, and of course, my horse was more to be considered than myself. I drew rein before long, low frame-house, the back buildings of which seemed to extend indefinitely, and asked for shelter. I had stumbled upon the right place, for the house was a tavern, the stout, red-faced man who came forth to meet me, was the landlord. Red seemed to be a favorite color with mine host, for his face was red, his hair and eyebrows ditto, and his beard and eyes were determined not to be outdone by anything else, and were more brilliant than the shining end of his olfactory. which, by the way, had an upward incli-nation, and resembled a full-blown flower of the cockscomb species. A negro appeared and led away my horse, and the landlord conducted me into the bar-room. This was a low-ceiled, ill-smelling place, the atmosphere redolent with thesmoke of about a score of pipes, all of which were in full blast; and rising triumph-ant over all other odors, the pungent fumes of very bad whisky assailed my nose. The only pleasant feature of the room, was an immense wood fire on a stone hearth, and when one has ridden fifty miles over the exeerable roads of the Old Dominion in the month of November, he knows how to appreciate a fire. The men gathered around this fire were even rougher looking than ordinary country tavern loungers, and when I entered they each and all re-moved their pipes and favored me with a prolonged stare. Probably they did not often see strangers, and were disposed to make the most of this opportu-nity, for Bruxel was a long way off from the traffic routes, and I had been led thither only by a sum-mons from my aunt. Catherine Axtell, my sole remaining relative, who was lying at the point of death, in a mountain village twenty miles farther west. By the time I got thawed, supper was announced. Hot corn pome, corn bread, broiled beef, eggs and bacon, coffee, and cold venison pie. I ate heartily, smoked a cigar, for I am sorry to say that I am a victim of the abominable habit of smoking, and then I signified to mine host my readiness for bed. While Waiting in the hall for chamber candles to be brought, I overheard a brief consultation be-tween the landlord and an old, sinister-faced female domestic. What I heard was not much, yet still sufficient to rouse for the moment my curiosity. "You're never going put him in that part of the building?" said the woman, in a tone of evident dismay. "Can't do any otherways." said the landlord; "this confounded court has filled every room. No danger, she is quiet now." This woman said something more, which I did not understand, and then the landlord came to take me to my room. We met his son on the landing, lighting up an-other party. I should have recognized the young man by his likeness to his father - only if anything there was more of the brute about the younger man. I had never seen him before, and yet I would not have liked to meet him in a lonely place if I had been unarmed and possessed of any valuables. He stopped his father, and spoke to him in a low voice. Perhaps it was my imagination, but I thought he was remonstrating with him. The old man laughed mockingly, and we passed on. He led me a long way from the main part of the house into a wing of the building, which was fast falling into decay. At the first door he stopped and applied a rusty key to the still rustier lock. The room into which we had entered had once been well furnished, but now the carpet was in rags, dust had settled every-where, and the fire which had been kindled on the hearth had filled the whole place with smoe of its frantic struggle for life, and then gone out entirely. The landlord punched the blackened logs with the poker, and swore an oath or two over the situa-tion, and then apologized to me in a rude way for the lack of conveniences in my quarters. "Court's a settin' here now," said he, "and we've got the lawyers, and all that kind of trash. Hope you'll be comfortable, captin, though the room hain't been used no great deal lately. Been give over to the rats and ghosts. Hope you ain't afraid of ghosts?" and he nudged me facetiously. I assured him that I stood in no awe of shadowy risitants, and he bade me good-night. I was tired and sleepy, and I did not investigate the capabilities of my apartment. I threw off my boots and coat and tumbled into bed, rightly judging that though my other garments were soiled they would not in-dure the still dirtier bed clothers. My bones ached from the effects of my rough ride, or let land speculators put the matter as they may in their efforts to induce people to come and settle on this land of bankrupt plantations and broken lown gentry, the roads are horrible, and there is no getting over the facts any more than there is getting over the roads themselves. At last I fell asleep, and was dreaming of falling over a precipice thousands of feet high into the Red sea, when something aroused me suddenly. I sat up in bed and felt for my pistol. All right. But there was nothing to fire at. The moon had risen- was on its last quarter now, and gave very little light, but I could see every object in the room dis-tently. Nothing was amiss. I began to feel ashamed myslef, and lay down again. Presently there wa a faint rustling sound at the head of my bed and then I heard the sweetest voice in all the world call faintly: "Fidele! Fidele!" and then something white glided across the floor of my chamber, and disappeared under the bed. and then the same sweet voice - it was full of now-exclaimed: "Oh, my poor little Fidele! Would to Heaven you understand the need of your unhappy mis- and then send someone to her rescue!" then followed a sound of suppressed sob- mingled with the loud purr and the occasional meowing of a cat. was young and not a little romantic. I slipped.