Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1856-04-04

hour, he trembling and unable to say
word; the ghost calm and equally
silent. having apparently no other OBJ
ject than to frighlen the poor boy and
prevent his passage.
"Why did you not speak to the un'
mannerly scamp" said l. Speak te
him, indeedl Poor Smith could nol
have uttered word il his life had de-
pended upon it. He blessed his stars
for lucky thought that at length oc
Cured to him. This was TO turn
about and take to bis heels. This he
did; but the ghost was after him.
Smith jnmped over the fence into the
graveyard, and made, as he said, a
circumbendibus. iThe spirte. or what
ever it was. pursued him. Smith de-
clared that il followed him into the
house. up the stairs. and at the door
Of our bedroom had hold Of HIM BY
the tail Of his coat, and. as he verify
believed. came into the room with
him. How this may be l cannot tell
The ghost was certainly invisible af
ter the cnndle was lighted.
/ am bound by my regard for truth
to add that my poor chum'a coat-i
was a bright blue with metal buttons
was actually torn. as he showed me
in the morning, being TO him q
satisfactory assurance that the ad
venture could not have been merely
imaginary.
Smith had many more visions
which were equally mysterious, bu
which it is unnecessary to relate
As for myself must confess that
still continued incredulous. l heard
indeed strange noises at times, anC
once / did see at the window some
thing white, which had terrified my
chum. and reused him from sleep a
midnight. 1t disappeared, however
before l had time to examine it, ant
though was little frightened l as
sumed a gay swagger and laughed,
Not to dwell upon those boyisl
days, let me come to more recent anG
infinitely stranger Developments anG
more unaccountable adventures. Th'
reader. as relate my unvarnishet
tale. shall decide for himself whethe
or no have cause to repent my ju
venile incredulity.
After leaving the boarding-schoo
Smith and /, although we lived in th'
same city. saw each other only occa
sionally. Our pursuits have been diff
ferent, but we were always friendly
attended his weddiug when he claim
ed Jemimah for his own, and he wa
one of the guests when Eliza JAM
made me happy. But l need not en-
ter upon family matters.
soon after the first developement
made by the spirit-rappers, when a
yet they were only able to communi
cate letter by letter, and no medium
knew how to write, Smith paid me
friendly visit. My little ones hat
said their prayers aud gone to bed.-
We sat and talked Of old times, m,
wife having also retired, not finding
our conversation sufficiently soothing
to allay a sick headache. to whicl
she was subject. We chatted unit
midnight. and he was preparing Il
leave. when abruptly ! asked, and,
confess it. with a kind OF laugh
"Well, Smith, how about ghosts
Do you ever see any now.a-days?"
fhe solemnity with which he hear,
and answered this question startlc'
me.
"Believe in spirits ?' he said: "wh,
they are all around u.s. ! have fre
quent communications from the inte
rior."
''From where?" said l, in breath
less astonishment.
"From the interior; that is" h
continued, "from the invisible world.
This, of course, awakened a dee
interest, and, il must confess il, ex
cited what the reader may deem, per
haps, an unhallowed curiosity. II
must remember. however. that 1 wa
still skeptical. nor was my faith large
ly increased by the further statement
which / succeeded in pumping out Q
my friend. They amounted. briefly
to the fact that he was in the habit Q
attending, weekly. select circle
While in this circle he had been IA
vored with revelations from his dea
father. ditto mother-in-l law. ditto hi
youngest child, who went into the in
terror, he told me, when only a mont
old. He had also had messages fror
General Washington, Red jacket
Swedenborg. and, il / remembe
rightly. from Mary Queen Of Scot,
and also from Capt. Riley, who's
wonderful narrative was, in our youn
days, exceedingly popular at
hardly credible" that these illustriou
people would want to communicat
with YOU"
$50 used TO think" he replied
"but | know better now. Ihave ha
messages from them all. Captai
Riley is as sociable as my own fathel
and his revelations have been equal
explicit and candid. "Do you r,
member" he continued, "the spir
who visited the when we were at III
boarding SCHOOL,"
, II remember" said |. 1.-THE stor
you told me about ghost chasin
you thro' the graveyard"
|, "Don't say ghost" replied h
} with great solemnity. at was. !
she herself has since told me, II
, spirit OF my Jemima's mother, WI
had then been in the fourth sphei
/ several years. and who thus, ere Il
, spiritual alphabet had been invente,
: sought TO communicate with me-"
> "What upon earth" | asked. "di
5 the old woman want? Was she the
( bent upnn making match betwee
you and Jemima?"
5 l saw. by Smiths countenanse, tn
Ihad offended him by this ill-time
\ llevity. | eltrebuked. | apologize'
: and begged his pardon.
oM,, daav fallovy ., he ea;d sswt