Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-11-30

! bat rise,h slow from the ocean caves,
And the stormy turf?
he phantom pale sets h's biackcued foot
On the fresh green turf
Then raising his voice solemnlv, h,
said:
&" You asked to see your friend. Fran.
CHS VillierS, who was drowned three
years ago off the coast of South America
what do you see 2"
Il see, )" replied the student, "a white
light rising near the window but it has
no form : it is like an uncertain cloud. y
We-the spectatorS-remained pro-
foundly silent
"Are you afraid z" asked the merchant
in loud voice.
81 am not, p" replied the student, firmly.
After moments silence, the pedler
stamped three times on the ground, and
sang:
"And the phantom white, whose clay-cold face
Was once SO far,
Dries with his shroud his clinginy vest
And his sea-tossed hair
Once more the solemn question:
"You, who would sec revealed the mvs-
tcrIes cf the tomb-what do you sec
now z"
The student answered in a calm voice,
but like that of a man describing things
as they pass before him:
II see the cloud taking the form of a
phantom its head is covered with long
veil--it stands still -
"Are you afraid? 2"
81 am not ~
We looked at each other in horror
stricken silence, while the merchant, rails
ing his arms above his head, chanted in
a sepulchral voice:
And the phantom said, rs he from the wavs,
He shall know me in sooth,
't"iii 50 20 my friend, gay, smiling and fond,
a in "Ir first youth -
"Wkat do you see z" said he.
Il see the phantom advance; he lifts
his veil-'tis Francis Villiers he ap-
proaches the table-he writes its his
signatureW
'' Are you afraid %
A fearful moment of silence ensued
then the student replied, but in an altered
voice:
Il am not"
With strange and frantic gestures the
merchant then sang:
"And tile phantom said to the knocking seer,
come from the South;
Put thy hand on my hand-tsy heart OH my heart.
my mouth on my mouth!''
What do you see 2"
He comes-he approaches-he pursues
me-he is stretching out his arms-he
will have me! Help help! Save me ~
Are you afraid, now 2" asked the
merchant in mocking voice.
A piercing cry, and a stifled groan,
were the only reply to this terrible ques-
ton.
Help that rash youth :" said the mer-
chant bitterly. :" have, l think, won
the wager; but it is sufficient for me to
have given him lesson. Let him keep
his money and be wiser for the future"
lie walked rapidly away. We opened
the door OF the summer house and found
the student in commissions. A paper,
signed with the name Francis Viliiers, ~
was Oh the table. As soon as the stu
dents senses were restored, he asked
vchemently where was the vile sorcercr
who had subjected him to such a horrible
ordeal-hc would kill him. He sought
him throughout the inn in vain; then,
with the speed of a madman he dashed
oil across the fields in pursuit of him
and we never saw either of them again.
That, children is my Ghost Story.
" And how is it good uncle, that after
that, you don't believe in Ghosts 2" said
|, the first time | heard it.
Because, my boy" p" replied my uncle,
g neither the student or the merchant
ever returned; and the forty-tive guineas
belonging to me and the other travellers,
continued equally invisible. These two
swindlers carried them off, after having
acted farce, which we, like ninnies, be.
lievcd to be real.