The Duvenger Curse.

" Nonsense , " said I . " I wonder what portion of the building that is—the wing jutting out beyond the rest . " " That is the part which contains Blarie Duvenger ' s room , " was Isabel ' s reply . "Oh , now , for the story , " exclaimed Nip , and drawing our chairs together , Isabel commenced :

¦ ' You know , after the French Revolution was over , and Louis XVI . was beheaded , many aristocrats came over to this country . Among these were the grandparents of Blons . Duvenger . They were fortunate in escaping with some of their worldly goodsand here they built

, this house , and the town of St . Philippe sprang up . There were two sons ; one the father of Blons . Duvenger , and one my grandfather ; besides there was a daughter , the Biarie Duvenger I am telling you about . They say she was very handsome ;

at all events she was the pride of the family . Now there was a curse upon the house of Duvenger , pronounced years ago by some one whose brother had been shot ill a duel by a Duvenger . The curse was sudden deathand upon one or more of

, each generation it had always fallen . So they guarded Blarie with more than usual care , and the night of her ei ghteenth birthday , gave a grand ball for her . I have

heard a full account of it—who was there , and all . But no matter about that now . After it was over , Marie retired to her room , and dismissed her maid , saying she would undress herself . Some time elapsed and the house had grown quiet , when

suddenly they were startled b y fearful shrieks . Rushing to Marie ' s room they found her still in her ball dress , lying on the floor , and the white moonli ght , which streamed over her from the latticed window , showed her throat cut . Who was the

murderer no one knew . She was not quite dead and tried to speak , tried even to write but had not the strength ; so she died , and the story was untold . But it is said that on moonlight ni ghts her spirit haunts her old room , and will do so until

the mystery of her death is revealed . " As Isabel finished , Ni p hid her face with a little shudder of horror , and at the same time , a clock somewhere in the house struck twelve . " " Oh , girls , " I exclaimed , " how late it is—let us go to bed . " " Hark ! " said Nip , starting to her feet .

There was a sound of sweet music , sad singing , not in the house , nor in the street , but in the air , " as it were , floating past our window . Our nerves were drawn to such a tension , with the excitement and the story , that we looked into each other ' s face ,

white with fear . At least that was the case with Nip and myself , for Isabel stood listening , entranced with the music . " Oh , I ' m not going to stay here , " said Nip ; "let us go out into the hall , and see if any one is stirring . "

She seized the lamp and hastened to the door , while we followed ; but as she opened it , a strong draught extinguished the light . She shrieked in real terror , and I echoed her . The door of our room blew shut , and we found ourselves alone in the hall in

utter darkness . BVe tried to grope for the door , but were unable to find it ; so there we stood , in helpless despair , until a door was opened clown the hall , a ray of light shot out , and a voice called : " What is ityoung ladies % "

, It was Mr . James Fairfax , and our mercurial Nip began to laugh . "We were frightened , Mr . Fairfax , " exclaimed Isabel , " by some unearthly

music ; we came out here , and our lamp blew out , so we don ' t know the way back . " He laughed as he came down the hall , struck a match on his boot , and re-lighted our lamp . " Blusic ought not to frighten you , " said

he . "Oh , Isabel has been telling such a horrible ghost story , we were ready to scream at anything , " exclaimed Nip . "Supposing , then , you quiet your nerves by a practical game of billiards , ' said he ;

and , rather than go back to our rooms , feeling as we did , we assented . He took the lamp from Nip , led us down a few stairs , across a small landing , up some marble steps , into the billiard room . Here he lighted all the lamps , talking all the

while to dispel our fears , while he brought out the balls and chalked the cues . Nip was a capital player , and her saucy mischievous ways seemed to afford BIr . Fairfax a vast fund of amusement ; and so we hiyecl game after gameuntil our fright

p , was forgotten . At last , Nip , impatient at being beaten , struck a ball with such force that it bounded from the table on to the floor , and before BIr . Fairfax could secure