Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1857-06-27
nHele, ,'ssaid ], .'ara four guifnaaas which /


Nosooner had ! made this proposition,
Than the rest Of the company. attracted BY
the singularity Of the affair, came forward
to lay down the money: and in a minute
or two the fifty guineas were subscfibed.--
The merchant appeared so sure of winning
that he placed all the money in the stu
dents hands, and prepared for bis expert
mont We selected for the purpose a small
summerhouse in the garden, perfectly $50
lated, and having no means of exit but a
window and door, which we carefully fas.
tened, after placing the Young man within
We put writing materials on small table
in the summer-house, and took away the
candles. We remained outside with the
pedlar among us. In low solemn voice
he began to chant the following lines:
What riseth slow from the ocean caves
Aud the stormy surfl
The phantom pale sets his blackened foot
On the fresh green turf" ~
Then raising his voice soemnly he said.
,-" +" You asked to see your friend, Francis
Vllllers, who was drowned three years ago,
off the coast of South America; what do
you see z" @
II see" replied the student, "a white
light arising near the window, but it has
no form it is like an uncertain cloud"
We--the SPECTATORS remained profound
ly silent.
Are you afraid ?" asked the merchant
in lond voice.
:" | am not, replied the student, firmly
After a moments silence, the pedlar
stamped three times on the ground and sang:
"And the phantom white, whose claycold face
Was once so fair
Dries with bis Stroud his clinging vest
And his sea tossed hair"
Once moro the solemn question:
Gou who would see revealed the m s.
tories of the tomb whatdo you see now?'
The student answered in calm voice,
but like that of a man describing things as
they passed before him:
:" ISee the cloud taking the form of
phantom; its head is covered with veil--
it stands still |"
"Are you afraid T'
81 am not u
Welooked at each other in horror-strick-
en- silence, while the merchant, raising bis
arms above his head, chanted in u sepu
chral voice:
Aud the phantom said, as he rose from the wave,
He shall know me in soothl
will 80 to my friend, gay. smiling, and fond,
Asin our first youth" .t
"What do you scen '.~
g see the phantom advance; he lifts his
ycil--'ts Francis Villiersl he approaches
hetable! he writes--'tis his signature !"
"Are you afraid 7"
A fearful moment of silence cnsued. then
the student replied, but in an altered voice:
III am rot ~
+ With strange and frantic gestures the
merchant then sangi
And The phantom said to the mocking seer,
leone fom the South;
Put thy hand on my handr-thy heart ON MY heart;
Thy mouth on my mouth"
"What do You see ?"
He comes--he approaches me--be
pursues me--he is stretching out his arms
he will have me Help! help Save
e!"
care you afraid now ?" asked the mcr-
chant, in a mocking voice.
A piercing cry, and then s'ited groan.
were the only reply to this terrible question.
"Ilclp that rash youth !" said the lner
chant, bitterly. 81 have, I think, won the
wager. but it is sufficient for me to have
given him alesson. Let him keep his mon
ey, and be wiser for the future"
lie walked rapidly away. We opened
the door of the summer house and found
the student in convulsions A paper SIGN.
ed with the name "Francis Yilliers," was
on the table, AS soon as the students
senses were restored, he asked vehementlv
where was the vile sorcerer who had sub.
mentally subjected him to such a horrible
ordeal-he would kill lIiml He sought
him throughout tie inn in vain; then, with
the speed of mailman, he dashed off
across The fields in pursuit ofbim-and we
never saw either ofthein again. That Tchil,
dren, is my Ghost Storyp'
"And how is it, uncle, that after that,
you didn't believe 10 ghosts :" said /, The
first time heard it. .t,..ta,e{ ~o ~
s" Because, my boy" replied my uncle
"neiiher the student nor the merchant ever
returned; and The forty five guineas, be-
longing to me and the other travellers, con.
tinued equally invisible. Those two swim
oilers carricdtliem off, after having acted a
farce, which we, like piiinies, Believed to be
real"
An ARMY WITH FANs.--Tn an article de-,
voted to China, in the Westminster Re.
view, i is said that the forces that the EN-
perot,is now mastering for service against
the English devils" are, not likely 10 prove
very, formitable. They are better fitted for
battle behind Ire foo,lights of theatre
than in a a'1enled field Their helmets nre
made of paper. Their boots are of coarse