Eastern times., 1854-09-28

The story am about to tell | had from an
old aunt of mine, who has long been gathered
to her kindred dust She was a woman OF
singular talent, and in her youth had possessed
great personal beauty; at eighty years of age,
her bright black eyes we're undimmed, she
had not lost one of her fine teeth, and her
cheeks retained the bloom of the rose. What
she had been in her early days might be gath
cred from the noble remains that time had
touched SO lightly, that her elastic mind
seemed to bid defiance to decay. In the glory
of her prime, duels had been fought for her,
and wise men had We'd with each other to win
from her an approving smile.
| If the term beautiful could be applied to an
cid woman, my aunt was beauty still. The
old lady was perfectly aware Of the fact and
would recount with great glee the conquests
and triumphs of her girlhood. These remi-
niscencies Of by-gone vanity, which it would
have been wise at her time of life to have
buried in oblivion, listened to with little or
no interest T; but her ghost stories and tradi-
tionary lore, her legends of the wild and
wonderful, her long catalogue Of extraordinary
dreams and mysterious warnings, always af-
forded me the keenest delight.
Naturally of strong and vigorous mind /,
my aunt did not herself believe in supernatu-
raj agencies; but they amused her, and she
told these stories so we'll, that she never tired
her auditors. 1t is one of these tales that |
am about to relate She had the facts from
my grandfather, who was himself personally
acquainted with Mr.. Lethwaite, one of the
actors in the drama
About hundred years ago, there lived in
the town of Kendall, Westmoreland, man of
gigantic stature and great strength, who fol-
lowed the trade of butcher. This person,
who was called Wat Robinson, was noted for
his quarrelsome, ruffianly disposition, which
won for him the name of Bully Robinson, the
big butcher of Kendall Foremost in all scenes
Of riot and dissipation, he was universally
feared and hated.
This man was very fond of practical jokes.
But his jokes were like himself, and originated
in the cruelty and malice or his mind The
pain he inflicted upon others afforded him the
greatest pleasure. The grating tones of his
coarse brutal laugh inflicted deeper wound
than the most bitter of his biting jests.
1t is impossible for benevolent minded
person to give any countenance to this species
of amusement, for, though the joke may be
harmless in itself, kindly person will derive
no entertainment from anything that calls forth
angry feelings in another.
There was a very lonely cross country road
in the vicinity of Kendall, which formed a
short cut to the beautiful lake of Windemere.
The path was rocky and narrow, and seldom
frequented by any but pedestrian or equestrian
travellers. For some months previous to the
period of which am now writing, this road
had got the character of being haunted. A
hideous aPparition, in the form of hairy
monster, with horns and hoofs, obstructed the
passage of travellers through the lane, chasing
them back with dreadful belIowings and Other
diabolical noises.
Many persons had been frightened into fits
by the spectre; and one feeble old man hac
lost his reason, by unexpectedly encounterine
the demon IN one Of the most lonely turning'
on the rocky road.
This frightful phantom had been seen by Sc
many respectable persons in the town and it,
vicinity, whose veracity, from the well-knowr
integrity of their characters, the most skeptica
could scarcely doubt, that the public mind be
came greatly agitated, bv the nightly recur
renee of such startling facts. People were n,
longer laughed at for their credulity, in be