Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 February 1885 — PEGGY'S DOUBLE. [ARTICLE]

PEGGY'S DOUBLE.

BY MATTIE GORDON.

■There’s no use talking, Rose; I canI work all day long and live on such ijuals! Black, muddy coffee, heavy its that I would defy the strongest Bmach to digest, and such cooked Bps— Je-whit-taker! I can’t abide it I” End, after kicking the dog several |es, and venting his anger on the Itr, inoffensive cat by giving her a I over-gentle rap with his cane, he Inmed the street door after him, I ring the astonished Rose to digest I I tirade at her leisure. I Vhat should she do ? She had never I med to do any cooking in her life, I. this was the consequence. The Bieymoon had scarcely expired, and Be she stood with great tears rolling Im her cheeks, the beauty of her Biplexion destroyed by her vain en- ■ vor to prepare a dainty meal, and, ■ •st, of all, the first harsh words that II passed her husband’s lips since l ir marriage, had been uttered, wliile ■left her in anger. She sank upon ■ bo fa and cried aloud. BVhen the floodgates of grief had Bied, she arose, and, bathing her Bobbing temples and swollen eyelids, Bi in the act of performing the daily ■ tine of household duties, when a Bid peal at the door-bell caused her Blrop her dish-towel and wonder who I caller might be. B. pale face and slight figure met her Be, neatly, though plainly, clad in a Bbh of gray serge, set off by a dainty ■he of white at the throat and wrists, Ble a knot of cherry-colored ribbon Brned the former; a spotless white B on completed the attire.

■ Please, ma’am,” came almost apoloBically, “Mr. Caruthers sent me here ■trial, saying as how you wanted to ■'? a girl to do general work for yon. ■ >pe I will suit you, for I understand ■kinds of work, but I’ve never hired Bbefore, my lady. ” ■Dome in! ” Rose said, a glad expres■l looking out from her dark, blue ■B, “and we shall soon be able to ■He that point beyond a doubt. Can Br cook?” Bfes’ml My mother has been cook E gentleman’s family for years, and ■ says that I am very passable.” is good. When can you comBice work—let me see, what is your Ike?”’ ■Peggy, ma’am!” ■ When can you come, Peggy?” It will begin now, my lady, if you BjVery well, then,” said Rose, noting■Sliringly the modest droop of the eye- ■ over the meek gray eyes, “you may B»h washing the dishes and tidy up ■ room.” ■Then the master of the house came ■ linner he was met at the hall door ■ > radiant and forgiving face, while ■air of soft arms wound about hia ■ x, and a pair of rosy lips pressed to Ereminded him of former days of E Off does your servant suit, dear?” Bsthe question, as they proceeded to Edining room arm-in-arm. ■gßpjdie is altogether too perfect for jvas the extravagant answer, jtffirgv is just an ideal of laundress, Hywoman, and, Oh, you must taste lb cooking, Henry.” B/ery well! I am glad that you have Rid such a prize, Pet,” he said ■Hr Rpd the dinner was certainly a If ieas—fit food for a dyspeptic. Ijitk, juicy and tender; potatoes, M ly, and not over-done; light biscuit II -h caused Henry Caruthers’ impairr ppetite to blossom forth with ref ed vigor; the cottage pudding was | >ly delicious, while the pie-crust p d not be excelled for flakiness, r spirits rose with his appetite, his T ‘ty laugh ringing out loud and Er, until Rose was disagreeably surr »d when the half hour had expired, Ijjring it might continue forever. The i®kfast was simple in its construcMea using home to appear like fark|sd elysium to Henry Caruther, 11 ere imprinting the parting kiss, Baid to his wife: week from to-night, love, there a grand hop at Airs. Trueman’s; & is the card of invitation which I rellpd to-day. We must certainly calKtetogo.” . , . ■m evening arrived, ana great was anticipation for the coming EL Henry entered his wife’s room Kle before the time, and throwing package upon her dressingcarelessly: Bfiere h. aslii/lit token. Rose, dear; Ktheis to-night to please me.” s B|e curiously undid the fastening, K revealed to her delighted eyes ImniOri magnificent sight that ever ■hb axdnatmn had pictured. Lying Kbed of pink perfumed cotton was Kt of real diamonds; eardrops and Kefr—which sparkled and resparkled K£eir lustrous, dazding beauty Ktr the eye* of Rose, until she could SLn herself no longer, but caught ML imynlsivelv to her lips, and pressKL* upon kiss on their shiniug surKery lovely she looked as she enSd the illumined parlors of her hostElcsningupon the arm of her proud,

It was late that night when the ball broke up, and Rose Caruthers, tired and weary, unfastening her shining jewels and tossing them carelessly upon her dressing-table, hurriedly disrobed. The sun was shining brightly in at the dormer window when she awoke the next morning, and the breakfast-bell was ringing for the second time. She She found Henry awaiting her arrival with a little frown disfiguring his handsome face, as the rolls and coffee had been served and were cooling upon the table. “I did not know but you were still ' dreaming of your diamonds,” he said, a little jealously. “Oh, no, indeed; you do me injustice, Henry. I declare to you that they have not, even for one moment, entered my thoughts since I unfastened them last night after the ball. I am not qnite so Vain, I hope,” she said, with a pout of her red lips. “Well, never mind, Puss,” he rejoined, as he kissed away the pretty pout. “Come now, we will break our fast, and after that I will remove your new jewels to the bank, as lam on my way to the office, and lock them up in the casket with the others, for they are the pure stuff—warranted.” As soon as they had finished their repast, Rose ran gayly up to her room, keeping time with her dainty slippers to the waltz she was humming as she went, and bursting in ran straight to her dressing-table confidently, to grasp the precious diamonds. The next moment her face assumed a blank, puzzled expression, as she stood riveted to the spot. The diamonds were not there. She placed her hand to her forehead in a dazed manner, striving to recall some other place in which she might have secreted them. But, in vain. She felt as sure of casting them upon her table as that she was awake when doing so. Had burglars entered her chamber ? Impossible! The windows were all fastened securely, and the doors all locked. She stepped to the landing, and in a faint voice called “Henry. ” He ran wonderingly to her, noting with anxiety her white face. “ Why, Rose, have you seen a ghost ?” he queried, assuming a playful tone. When told what had occurred, he gave a prolonged whistle, while his first suspicion startled while it angered her. Peggy! Such an idea! That honest countenance allow her hands to commit a theft? Never. The thought alone seemed wholly preposterous to her mind. “No, Henry, she never did it! I could swear that Peggy is innocent,” Rose said, with positive assurance. “Nevertheless 1 shall call her, and allow her the privilege of protesting her ignorance of the affair, ” he said, suiting the action to the word. But, no; he felt that Rose must be right in vindicating Peggy’s cause, when he beheld the clear, honest gray eyes unflinchingly deny the unjust accusation, while the lips unfalteringly proclaimed her entire innocence.

“Strange! strange! strange!” was his only comment, as he left the room. Later in the day, as Rose sat pondering on the strange disappearance of her diamonds (she thought of little else now), a slight circumstance recurred to her, which had taken place just after her husband had left the room the night of the ball. After kissing them several times, she had looked around, ashamed of her folly, when a pair of keen gray eyes, with an expression of gloating admiration in their depths, were fascinatingly fixed upon her treasures, through the door, slightly ajar. bjie remembered now the start of confusion evinced, ,undoubtedly occasioned by her (Rose’s) sudden change of position. And yet was it not very natural for in passing the slightly open door, to peep in, and, having done so, pause to admire the dazzling brilliance which must have caught her eye? She refrained from relating the incident to Henry, for fear of rekindling the slumbering suspicion. Days flew into weeks and weeks into months, bringing no clew to the missing diamonds; but, strange to relate, many small articles of lesser value were found missing, and all remained enveloped in a mystery unfathomable. One evening, after dusk, as Henry Caruthers was returning from his office, he saw the rays of a bright light streaming from the one little window in the unfurnished and unoccupied attic chamber, just over the kitchen. Somewhat puzzled, he ascended the steps leading from the street to the front door, and was in the act of crossing the hall to seek Rosa, when his attention was drawn to the back staircase by the closing of a door near the attic, and soon after Peggy descended the back staircase, and hurriedly passed through the rear door, bearing a huge bundle with her. "Has Rose discharged her?” he asked himself. But upon questioning Rose no information was gained, as she knew absolutely nothing about it. “Peggy has been m the dining-room for a half hour certain,” she told him. “And I have just come from there, Henry, instructing her a little in the art of economy. She must have flown, to I have been in the attic when you came.” “Run, Rose, and ascertain if she is in the house now,” he said, impatiently. She did go, returning in a second, her countenance as puzzled now as his had been a moment before. “She says that she has not been from the dining-room since I left her.” Rose said, in an awed tone. As before, the only word that Henry Caruthers could utter was: “Strange, stange, strange!” And the mystery deepened. Upon leaving his office one noon to go to dinner, he was startled at beholding a figure crossing the bridge and coming toward him, strangely familiar. “ How are you Peggy ? Are you leaving for good?” he asked, as he noted the good-sized bundle in her hand, inclosed in a large yellow bandana. But she hurrid’ly drew her veil down over her face, and passed him without vouchsafing him even a nod of recognition. “By George! gone off in a huff," he ejaculated, gazing back at the now dis-

taut Peggy. “I wonder what she has been doing now, to arouse my lady’s displeasure ?” he mentally added. But, what did it mem? Surely that was Peggy crossing the hall from the kitchen to the dining-room. “I shall investigate this matter ere the setting of to-morrow’s sun,” he determined, as he silently entered and took a seat at the table. In consequence, toward evening of the same day, Henry Caruthers was privately closeted with a proficient j detective, to whom he explained as ex- ■ plicitly as possible the facts in the case. The next day, as Rose was engaged with some fine needle work in the little sitting-room, she was certain that she heard some one sobbing, and other sounds of distress from an adjoining bedroom. She hastily opened the door communicating, and saw Peggy in great distress, sitting upon the side of the bed, which she had began to make up. “Why, Peggy, you poor child! What ' is the matter?” exclaimed the warmhearted Rose, placing her hand upon the girl’s bowed head. “I can’t tell you, ma’am! You would despise me. I can’t tell any one, leastwise you who have been so kind to me. ” “But, where are you going?” she asked, observing Peggy donning her cloak and hat. “I have to go down town, my lady. I am sent for.” And Rose, on glancing through the half-open door, saw for the first time a man standing in the hall, dressed in a blue detective suit. In a few words he explained to her his painful duty; that of arresting Peggy for theft. He had come to conduct her to the station house. The evening before he had tracked her from the house where she was employed, away beyond the city limits, and had there lost trace of her. That morning she had stolen in at the back entrance to the Caruthers domain veiy early, ere the family were astir, minus the bundle which she had borne away with her. Peggy, amidst expostulations and entreaties, was searched, all to no purpose. When questioned as to how she came by the bundle so frequently seen with her, anti as to their contents, she maintained a confused silence, while her eyelids drooped guiltily. “Peggy,” and Henry Caruthers’ tone was stern and commanding, “the sooner you explain this matter the better it will be for you. Are you guilty or innocent of the crime ?” Peggy hung her head for a few minutes thoughtfully, then expressed her willingness to confess all that she knew of the affair. Her story is as follows: “My home is five miles away from here, to the east. My family consists of a father and twin sisters, besides myself. My father, sir, is an inebriate, spending all our earnings in liquor; he is very quarrelsome, and never thinks of doing one stroke of work, so that, sometimes, my sister and myself find it difficult to make both ends meet.

“My twin s:ster, sir, is the very counterpart of myself in appearance, but she is deaf and dumb. lam very sorry, sir, but I could not resist the temptation of taking the things, although I knew it was stealing. 1 began to think that you were so well off’ that perhaps you might never find out what became of them and that the crjme would not be as bad as when taken from a poorer person. ” “Where is your sister, Peggy?” “In your house, sir, in the attic chamber, she is waiting for me.” A bright light dawned on the mind of Henry Caruthers. This, then, accounted for the light he had seen there, and cleared, in his mind, the remainder of the mystery. “I will fetch her,” he said, and left. He soon returned, leading Polly by the hand. Polly wrote rapidly the answers to the questions put to her, and her story coincided in every way with the one Peggy had told, but when questioned as to the manner in which she had committed the theft, Peggy sprang forward excitedly, while she exclaimed, with flashing eyes: “She never did that! I it was who stole the things, when you were absent from the room, and wrapped them up , for her. She merely received the bundle from my hands in the attic chamber, ,and carried them home. They are all there, now, unharmed. Oh, sir, do not blame Polly.” And Peggy wrung her hands entreatingly. “My poor girl,” Henry Caruthers exclaimed huskily, while his eyes looked moist. “You both have been more : sinned against than sinning. I will ' send some one to recover the articles, a»d will make this proposition to you: Peggy, I will take you back again into nay employ, and give your mute sister a home on one condition, and that is, that you swear here before a witness that you will never repeat the crime, but always strive to be honest.” Peggy was too much astonished for a time to answer. That any one should trust her after her acknowledged theft never occurred to her. She sprang forward , impulsively, and grasping her benefactor’s hand before he could restrain her, she covered it with her tears and kisses. “To provide for my sister was all that tempted me !* she exclaimed, brokenly. “Oh, sir, I thank you more than I can tell you. ” And Henry Caruthers never regretted the adoption of Peggy’s double.