Blue hen's chicken. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1848-1854, 1851-01-17

language was English, and wbat soit Of EDgls
$ i was. II must have been Eltssh, as the ladie
h did mol nbscrve anything remals le. As TO th
dialect II had made no paFticnls oppression upo
: them, but when they came 10 ics,finber and con
sidcr they thought ii must have ben the broad di
alcc' of the district, which thsy1lre accustome'
to hear in The Kitchen aud in The ects and shops
, every day. This was all. Amidst The multitud
,lof nightly vistations,no explanaiion-no new evi
dence--occurred for several yeisf. Mr.. Gurne,
, was not fond OF being puzzled. His plan was ts
dismiss from his mind what put zled him. He sell
dom inquired after the ghost sad when be did,
always received the same nnsvkr.
One morning, after this lapse Of years, Mr.. Cur.
ney called to usk the ladies ii yaey would like to
JOIN party to sec glass-hnus;. The residents
of manufacturing towns cannot intrude in such
places at their own pleasure, but las is well known)
take their opportunity when arrival Of strangers
or other such occasion, to open lie doors OF any
manufactory. Mr.. Quincy wsihe first man in
the town, in regard to doing the honors Of it. All
strangers were introduced to hpl; and the doors Of
all show-paces iew open upon iIA. He was wont
to invite his friends in turn to efompany him and
his party of strangers to these places and he
now invited the Whartons 10 Ne giass-house =
Mlss Wharton was unavoidablA engaged at the
school, but her mother went.
When the whole party were Aanding near one
of the furnaces observing the csest kind Of glass
blowing-that of green glass loaIes-Mrs. Whar-
ton suddenly seized Mr.. Gurnsy's arm with one
hand, while with the other she pointed past the
glare, to figure on the other i1e OF the furnace.
"Thats the face !" she xckimed in greet agi-
tation. "Keep quiet, and pull down your veil.''
said Mr.. Quincy in her ear. She drew back into
the shadow and let down her ~. feeling scarcely
able to stand. Mr.. Gurney dib not offer her an
arm he had something else "a 90.
"Who is that man ~ he irprired of the fore
man. who was Snowman at tliflt moment. The
man inquired about looked scareey human. He
was sunicd in figure, large in fase, and hideous-
making all allowance for the p1iIng out OF his
cheeks, as he blew vigorously at We end of The long
pipe he was tsvirling in his babu n-like hands.
" That poor fellow, sir Hi'name is Middle
on. He is Enthusiastically very near COM |
plete idiot. He is just able 4. what you see
blow the coarsest sort of ainss,
NJ. GuTnsy wished. % spsj sern'c rnnnins,sl y
:. = s1uore wh<n hh was requested 10
hnu ne eripii fss.house to A. gentleman. Mrs
.srion, with her veil dosh,hAng on her friends
nm aud they followed tht Idiot, who was remar-
ABLY ghi-fooied, (for a wdndeD 10 the place be
vas most fond Of He took them down to the an
leaiing chambers; and then he observed that il
vas e a nice warm place O nights" Being asked |
low he knew that, be began pointing with his fin
ier at Mrs. Wharton, and peeping under her bon
et. Being advised to look him in the face. she
aised her veil and he singled and giggled, and
aid he had seen her many a time when she was
steep, and many time when she was awake; and
mother lady, too. who was not there He hid him
elf down here when the other men went AWAY
was so warm-and then he could go when he
,leased and see her there, and the other when |
hey were asleep. Mr.. Quincy enliced him to whis-
,er how he managed Il; aud then with an air Of
ily cunning, he showed little square traPdoor
n the wall, close by the floor, through which be |
aid he had passed. II seemed too small ior the |
,ufpcse, but he crept in and out again. On the
,lher side, he declared it was Mrs. Wharton's eel
ar. II was so. Far distant the glass-house
eemed from her house. it ran back SO fat. the ce |
ar running back also, that they met. No time was
ost in sending round to the cellar and. by con-
,ersalion he'd through the trapdoor, it was useer-
aimed that when Mrs. WhartoHs stock Of Goals
was low, that IT, in summer, and before fresh sup
ply came in, in mid-winter, Middleton could get in,
md did get in, almost every night. When he did
not appear, il was only because the Goals covered
The trap-door.
Who shall say with what saIisfactisn the ladies
watched the mailing up of the trsp-door, and with
what sense of bssful comfort they retired to rest
hencefonh Who shall estimate the complacency
Of the good clergyman at this complete solution of
the greatest mystery he had ever encountered l.
Who will not honor the courage and forlitude Of
the ladies, and rejoice that their dwelling escaped
the evil reputation OF being Haunted House =
lastly, who will not say that most of the goblin
tales extant may. il inquired into, be as easily
counted for es that apperianinsso the good Mrs.
Wharton; which has this Advantage over all other
ghost-stores; it is perfectly and literally true.