Parson Phimstickle's Desk

It was an old leek, liaviug belonged to Patson Pliimsticklc's grandfathor ; and Parson Phimsticklo himself was by iiO ; ineana a young nitm ! so, of eouïse, it was an old deskx And then, indeed, nobody kötfWÏ wlio had it before Parson Phims'tickle's grandfather canie into posseasion. It inight bflve been eome still more remóte anoestor, or it inight hftVe been the ftirnituro dealeR !'assoü Pldinsticye'B dgoglltew WÖ '■■[ the mer opinión, Th3 were convinced that it had bölongod to some old English family, wlio, during the persecution of the Puritans, fled to America, and front whoin they, Hannah and Jerusha Pliimstickle, were proud to beliove tíienaSfllYíS descended. It was a curiötta aesk- so everybody thougbt In the lower part there were three laïge drawers. You timied down the upper, sloping front, and there was a writing-desk, which, when it was closed, concealed very many drawers and pigeon holes of various sizea Home of these drawers were quite deep gnd long ; othera were very shallow and small. Although everybody thought it waa a curiou8 deak, üobody suspeeted how very curious it really was. For years before Parson Ihiüistickle had tliis de6k it stood in the low attio of the old family mansión, which waa full of curioua relies of the Phimstickle fixiuilv. Parson Phimstickle's two daughteis were of a romantic torn of mimi, and, liavüigTread a great many marvelous ; stories of young ladies who tmeJtpmedly became heirs of immeuao forttines, or 1 captivated and mnrried beauty, culture, riches, and feffiO, combined in one mui, ; who was only too happy to be allowed the privilege of layiug them all at the feet of his adored enslaver, Hamiah mi'.t Jeruslia lived in oontiuual hope of some similar good forhme. They were the more inclined to indulge such hopes from the fact that they had a secontl or third eoiisin (there was somc dispute as to the exact degree of relationsliip) who nus known to be wealthy. When they were little girla and he was a young man he had gone to California, and had not been heard from f or a great many years ; but, according to latest information, he was a bachelor with no nearer relatives thau themselves, Hannah would sometimes say to Jerusha, " We shall some day hear from that seoond cousin of ours, you may depend. Mamma used to say he was very fond of me when I was a littlo girl. When he comes back how I shall rush j into his embrace, exclaiming, ' My long lost second consin !" Then Jerusha would reply, " Hannah, will you never remember "that Oousin John is not our second. but our third cousin. You know ho is our father's ccmsin's son. But don't you remember mother told mo that when I was a baby, ricüng in a stage j with her, a gentleman gave me a pieoe of j oandy, which I held tight in my hand a long time, and he said, ' That ohild is born to bo rich i' " " Who knows what the future may briug ?" Hannah would reply with the hopefulness of youth. Hannah and Jerusha Phimstickle were in the habit of making a yearly visit to the old Phirastickle homeatead, On one j of these occasions they carne aoross a ponderóos volume containiug the genealogy of the Phimstiekle family j throughöut all its ramifications. This volume they pored over till they had traced their ongin back to Sir William I Phimstiokle, knight, and Alderman of London. "Jerusha," exclaimed Hannah, "1 always thought we had noble blood iu our veins, for water will ftow under my instep; and then," she added, holding out a well-foimed hand, " that is no plebeian hand. And do you know, my dear, I don't think that Joe Jobstock is exactly the person for a Phimstickle to marry." "Who ever said anything about marrying Joe Jobstock?" repjied Jerusha, with a toss of her head and a rosy fiush. " I don't know that any person ever said anythiug about it; but I shculd iudffe from what I have seen that body had thought about it at least." "I'msïire I don't pretend to understand you," replied Jerusha; "and, as for anoestry, vho knowfs what lord or duke the Jobstocks sprang from originally ?" "To besure," replied Hannah, paciflcally ; " but let us go into the attic and see j if we can find aay oíd relien oí this Bir William. I know íhere are tliings thore : (liíit belonged to our great-great-graudfather; perhaps there are some even older." They ascended to the low-roofed, mmlylighted attie. It was Beldom entered, being accessible only by a very dark, steep, narrow, and erooked fliglit of stairs, and had loug since been givan over (o dost üikI oobwebs. Tingre siood the old ,vh(ol wlvich theix ] i grandmother had used when a rl. j They surveyed it with some curiosity, ' iind then turnod to the desk which had i been their great-giaodfathfir's. It was very mucb dilapidatHl. ■' Don't touoh that diiHty thing," said I Jerusha to her sister, whoirae more enthusiastic and peisevring in her waren ! after antiquities. "I just want to see if there isn't an old wil] or finything in these dravers, " rej plie'-'! Hannah, opening me alter another. " '., they ;tre pil empty," sho added sooü, wïth a sigh oí ftistipjiöihtafcent Ah, if the oíd desk BOBla b't liaVe spoken ! " flete is tlie place to look for wills," cafied Jerusha írom behind a lingo chest as she drew forth a packaga ot' papera yellow with age. TSéy Wera reoeiLtB and letters writteü by hands long luraed todttSt, "Tlmtisaü," she said, replacing Üie papers in the chest. "But here Í3(-íui yon tlïopped," exelaimed llanniUi; " and a will, too, snro na I breathe I" "But," said Jerasha, looking over her ahoulder, "itisoulythe uno ot which wa saw a copy in the bcok of genealogy, and can do us no good." ' ' I will thnt my dáüghter Mary have tho largest pe.wter platter; wid mj ■ daughter Hanuah tlie next largest,1' read the eider sister alotld. "Oh, yes, it is the wane! What is this curious oíd brokeií blaue?" she asked, spying n bit of ruRty steel. " For ftUght we know tliis may havo !),-iii a piece of Sir Wilh'am's Sv.-ord." "Hannah!" exoltdmed Jerusha, "-what is your i-teil of a shield ? I bolieve tliis is one," holding up a lmge piece of metal. " Knights have shields, don't thoy'í" "Of oom-ie-, v answored Hannah. "Let ii)v them to grr.udmothor; &kd lisk her if we can' t íiave therrl. it is a shame ii kocy Vk-m stowed away in this dark attic. 1 wonder people haven't more family piide. I wqnld rather have found a will makiupr m ''elra to sonie oíd Englisü- estetè but it is somethiug to have il kuighted ancestor's sword and shield." So saying, the young ladies descended the orooked stair's and sought their gnwidmotlier, " Lawhd sakoö ! girls, what have yon becii döing in the gnrret with your Aunt. Mary 's pevvter platter?" " 'Pewter platter !" exclaimed Hanuali, aghast. " Certainly, your Aunt Mary s pewter platter, child and. maïiy a roast pig it lifts held tt belonged to her Amit Mary lirlüïo her. In them days it was kopt as the brightest steel you ever see. I remember one Thanksgiv'in' after I was engaged to Phineas- your grandfather, I mean- he brought me here to diimer, and your great nncle ËbéneSers folks Ss'eï'e hete, and Aunt Jeminia, and Cousin Cynthy Anh. Oh, what times Cynthy and me had in them daya ! Poor Cynthy Anu, she married a Budder, and didn't live long after. That was the last dimiei' your Unele Ebenezer ever eat off that eïe platter, for he died the 4th of May- saine day of the month vou wití botn, Jerusha ; and Klizy Modget, she married the 6th, the same df.y Cousin Sarah was married, only that was tlis 6th of February. That Thauksghin' Day, Mary Susan come I over in the eveuiiV wih Josiah 1-erkins, ! and we all playetl blindnian's-buiï in the i great kitchen - old and ycTung. Folks said Mary Susan was goin' to marry i Josiah ; bilt lawful sakes ! they didn't Imow, for she married Jonathan Bumbleton - lie of the one nrm. " " Did he loae his arm in the service of his countrv, ptrandma ?" "Law! no, child, in a sa win mm, and yoir Únele Silás was there at the time, and lie rirn for the doctor, wlio was just gone to 'tend to Mandy Miggler'n youngest (she that was a Bumbleton, and livcd on Meetín' Hoiise . Hill), wliicli was took down witfa the measles that véry niornin', and after him all the others had it- and pooiMandy was kopt fussin' over thom children all winter." "And whai is this?" asked Hiumah, when the old lady paused for breath. " That," she replied, looking over her l spectaoles attentively at the broken ; blade, " oeems very much like an old j carving-knife ; in fact, I remeniber now, that broken knife was put away in the ! garrot, for your grandf ather never -eoald i bear to throw away anything." The girls restored the ancestral sword an:l BÏilëld to their place in the attic. " ïo think," said Jernsha, "that it shonld have been a pewter platter to hold a vúgar dinner, rather than a sldold to gaard the noble forra of Sir William, and that this blade shonld have carved roast pig iustead of "vanqnished knights. What do you think of Joe Jobstock now, my dear? " I tliink he is a plebeian fellow, and unworthy the hand of a Phimstickle. What if these are not William'3 sword and sliield, it stül remains trae that we had sueh au ancestor." So they lfift the oíd attic, never once ' caating auothor look at the desk, which stood theré gi-im, dusty and silent. The j Phimstickle girls retumed liomo and j never revisited the attic, for very soon after tliia, on the dcath of the good old grandmother, tlie house was remodeled and no attic left. Parson Phimstickle j took the desk, and, after it was repaired, placed it in his study. It had been there two years, and was considerad by all rather a cnrious old desk ; but, as I said before, oobody siispected how j ons it really was. Meanwhile Hannah Phimstickle continuod to dream of rich eousins and ancestral knightó. Jerusha had grown more disposed to contentment, and more inclined to taks thiags as they carne. One thing which carne pretty often being Joe Jobstook, she had also concluded to take him. "Jernsha," said the parson, as they were all sitting together in the study, "will yon pass me a few troches f rom the upper right-hand drawer of the desk?" Now Parson Phimstickle had a cold and wanted the troches for his throat. Ho little dreamed that this simple request would lead to an important discoverv - for neithor Parson Phimstickle himself, nor his daughtors, nor the neighbors who had often seen the desk, 1 suspected it of having any secret. Now it happened that Jerusha, when her father spoke, was writing a letter to her absent lover at this vcry desk. It aiso , happened that wheu she drew fortli tho drawer it camo entirely out. This liad frequently occurred bef ore; and surely it ■was nothiug very marvelous. But on this occasion, Jenisha's eyes being on an exact level with tlie drawer, before [ she placed it in its accustomed niche, she ' espied a small hole in what she inigkt otherwise have supposed to be the baek of the desk. A sudden thought flashed through her brain. " Father, are there any secret drawers in this desk?" "Not that I know of, my daughter; but, nöw you speak of it, I do remerciber to have noticed that the extreme righthand drawcrs are shortcr than thoso on the extreme left." " Secret dKwew !" exclaimed ITaiinali, spriuging townrd the desk. "Wliorei" Jerusah pointed to the pkoe. The ; parson hauded a pocket-kuife to tho excated Hannah, who, by its aasiatance, drew forti), with trembling itagers, a : secret drawer. All eyes were bent ëageriy upon it, and there, buried beneath the Jhst of centones, they beheld - no wiL '.-Hearih and Home. Teiere are npon the contin?nt of EuI rope 6.000,000 soldien.