The House in the Mist

impenetrable, but the raw mist enveloping hill and valley made the

e, was always on the lookout for El Dorado, which, to ardent souls, lies ever beyond the next turning. Consequently, when

ve undertaken this adventure with so light a heart. Yet, who knows? The impulses of an unfettered spirit l

ceived the most curious impression in the surrounding murk, I arrived in front of a long, low building which, to my astonishment, I found standing with doo

ts air of sinister expectancy, struck me most unpleasantly, and I was about to reconsider my first impulse and withdraw again to the road, when a second l

he house I had so rashly looked upon as devoid of all human presence. He seemed in haste an

ially as his final glance had been a backward one, and seemed to ta

a mist was calculated to puzzle an ordinary man like myself. Indeed, he was so little impressed by my presence there that he was for passing me without a word or any other hint of good fellowship, save the bow of which I have spo

d. "I am tired out with a long tramp over the hil

appeal and the mist had swallowed him. But at the break in my

eds for all. Enter, sir; you are the first to

aning, his voice returned to me from such a distance that I doubted if my w

a lodging had been denied me. He in

ne convenient lean-to. Though furnished, warmed and lighted with candles, as I have previously described, it had about it an air of disuse which made me feel myself an intruder, in spite of the welcome I had received. But I was not

of the kind had ever fallen under my eyes before, I should have thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity of gratifying my taste for the curious and the beautiful, if the quaint old chairs I saw standing about me on every side had not all been empty. But the solitude of the place, so much more oppressive than the solitude of the road I had left, struck cold to my heart, and I missed the cheer rightfully belonging to such attractive surroundings.

someone must be expected to eat it: I should su

effect upon me was such that, after gazing at it uninterruptedly for a few minutes, I discovered that its various features-the narrow eyes in which a hint of craft gave a strange gleam to their native intelligence; the steadfast chin, strong as the rock of the hills I had wearily tramped all day; the cunning wrinkles which yet did not interfere with a latent

nsylvania which breed such strange and sturdy characters. But of this special neighborhood, its inhabitants and its

ere in the mist, followed by a string of muttered imprecations, which convinced me that the person now attempting to approa

ed out, "Here! this way!" after which

l of silence. By this clock it was just ten minutes to eight when two gentlemen (I sh

ce as a blighted apple. Neither of the two had anything to recommend him either in appearance or address, save a certain veneer of polite assumption as transparent as it was offens

they encountered the eyes of the picture before mentioned drew my attention to a consideration of the different ways in which men, however similar in other respects, express sudden and unlooked-for emotion. The big man simply allowed his astonishment, dread, or whatever the feeling was which moved him, to ooze forth in a cold and deathly perspiration which robbed his cheeks of color and cast a bluish shadow over his narrow and r

Well, he's welcome-in oils. Can't say much to us from canvas, eh?" And the rafters above him vibr

m and I saw them both cast half-lowering,

therspoon boys

one of them. There are five, aren't there? Eu

And he laughed again in a way I should certainly have felt it my business to resent, if my indignation as well as the ill-timed allusions

ll appearance, harmless from disability, if not from good will. His form was bent over upon itself like a bow; and only from the glances he shot from his upturned eyes was the

have mentioned, had great difficulty in walking, he had brought with him a s

t him out into the mist. As this little shivering and pathetic figure vanished, the old man drew, with gasp and haw, a number of deep breaths which shook his bent back and did

w? My eyes aren't what they used to be, but he don't seem to favor the Westonhaughs over-much. One of Salmon's four grandchildren, think 'e? Or a s

erfectly preserved little old gentleman with a bag in his hand. Looking askance with eyes that were like two beads, first at the two men who were now elbowing each other for the best place before the fire, and then at the revolting figure in the chair, he best

e being on the tick. I'm sorry the night has turned out so badly. Some ma

to offend the new-comer. Shaking the wet from the umbrella he held, he stood the dripping article up in a corner and then came and placed his feet on the fender. To do this he had to crowd be

ly Smead, the lawyer. Mr. Anthony Westonhaugh's lawyer," he repeated, with another glance of recognition in the direction of the picture. "I drew up his last will and testament, and, until all of his wishes have been duly carried out, am entitle

carrying on, mingled with a few muttered words of forced acknowledgment from the restless old sinner

left the depot. If old Phil was on hand with his wagon, several more members of this interesting family may be here before th

e meant by that word one. And having (if I may judge by the mingled laugh and growl of his companions) thus shown his han

which was more than audible. "Pity that sentiment

jangle of voices, in some controversy about fares, which promised anyt

ector. There was no love in his voice, despite the relationship hin

n, who had attempted to make a show with a new silk dress and a hat in the latest fashion, but who had lamentably failed, owing to the slouchiness of her figure and some misadventure by which her hat had been set awry o

e had not anticipated being confronted by the portrait on the wall, and cringed

t the rustle of her dress as she pas

late,"

was a sputt

ot here at all. That would not have inconvenienced you. But oh! what a grudge I would have owed that skinflint brother of ours"-

inction to her unobtrusive entrance, and caused a feeling of something like awe to follow the first sight of her cold features and deep, heavily-fringed eyes. But this soon passed in the more human sentim

ople turned mainly one way, and that was toward the clock. Another small circumstance likewise drew my attention. Whenever any one entered,-and there were one or two additional arrivals during the five minutes preceding the striking of the ho

ace; and when the hour rang out, a sigh of satisfaction swept through the room, to which the little

thout. Three or four lingerers had pushed their way as far as

man Luke from between th

e woman who had come so

e lawyer, locking and bolting the

e than one hand began pounding on the door, and we could hear cries of, "The train was behind time!" "Your clock is fast!" "You are cheating us; you want it all

atter presently received point from a startling vision which now appeared at the casement where the lights burned. A man's face looked in, and behind it, that of a woman, so wild

over to the window where they still peered in, he drew together the two heavy shutters which hitherto had stood back against the wall, and, fasteni

brow, from which I could not keep my eyes, no shadows appeared save the perpetual one of n

why did I prefer to await developments rather th

of paper and several flat documents. Laying the latter in the center of the table and slowly unrolling the former, he consulted, with his foxy eyes, the faces surrounding him, and smiled with secret malevolence, as he noted that every chair and every form were turned awa

e effect of this strange convocation of persons, at night and in a mist which was itself a nightmare, that I failed to take action and remained riveted to my place, while Mr.

n the chair s

nhaugh," he

" responded

augh," came fro

look towar

Weston

asked th

es

ick; supper will

haugh," spoke

as if some inner echo

ter of

faltered. "My father is dead-died

unrelieved hate came from the doubled-up f

er was not t

sted your feet rather than the trai

red, but at the man next to me, a slim but slip

m Withe

ara's

es

re your

s outside"-here he laugh

one to be especially wary of when he smiled. But then

wdy woman with the uncertain eye, a con

ing unpleasantly near the speaker, for he moved off as she approach

lapsaddle. You were a

d girl yonder, whom, having been brought up on the other side of the Ridge, we have none of us seen since she was a screaming baby in Hildegarde's arms. And the young gentleman over there,"-here she indicated me-"who shows so littl

even hers, I smiled as I stepped forwar

asked shortly and sharpl

n," was my

old Smead, with an authoritative gesture towa

house was a tavern, or at least a place I could lodge in. The man I met in the doorway told me as much, and so I am here. If my company is not agreeable, or if you wish this roo

the door be opened. Nothing could keep Lemuel and hi

res softened and, with a side glance at the young woman who called herself Eunice, (perhaps, because she was worth looking at, perhaps because she had partly risen at my

op, you will find it ends in a room comfortable enough for the wayfarer you call yourself. In that room you can rest till the way is clear for you to continue your travels. Better, we can not

's countenance; and, above all, the presence of that noble-looking woman, which was the one off-set to the general tone of villainy with which the room was charged, filled me with curiosity, if I might call it by no other name, that made my acquiescence in the demand thus made upon me positively heroic. But there seemed no oth