"
IV.
_From Mrs. Drake to George Bartram._
"St. Crux, April 17th.
"SIR--I direct these lines to the hotel you usually stay at in London,
hoping that you may return soon enough from foreign parts to receive my
letter without delay.
"I am sorry to say that some unpleasant events have taken place at St.
Crux since you left it, and that my honored master, the admiral, is far
from enjoying his usual good health. On both these accounts, I venture
to write to you on my own responsibility, for I think your presence is
needed in the house.
"Early in the month a most regrettable circumstance took place. Our new
parlor-maid was discovered by Mr. Mazey, at a late hour of the night
(with her master' s basket of keys in her possession), prying into the
private documents kept in the east library. The girl removed herself
from the house the next morning before we were any of us astir, and
she has not been heard of since. This event has annoyed and alarmed my
master very seriously; and to make matters worse, on the day when the
girl's treacherous conduct was discovered, the admiral was seized with
the first symptoms of a severe inflammatory cold. He was not himself
aware, nor was any one else, how he had caught the chill.
Pages:
1105
1106
1107
1108
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
1121
1122
1123
1124
1125
1126
1127
1128
1129