Brookville American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1858-1861, 1858-09-03

come yet She promised TO come from
tho grave. Can she do II ? No, no; IL
is ali humtag--a delusion. Poor EllenI
Thank God, Doctor, the devil which so
haunted her lifo and stood between her
soul and mine, cannot reach Il now"
"But II she should come You may
| be deceived. 70
II can not. 0thers must see her too,
and hear her. | shall believe no spec
tor, II there are such things. Her body
as 1t is, or viii be, LET that speak if Il
can T. -
From that day TO the hour of his
death was with hinl.almost constantly
and was daily inttodnoed to some new
and startling phonct@> >non. The neigh
and even The 8 as they would
che plague; q $50 stories travel
cd from gos@Iz -. srqsirinz more
of the mart, At >fery repetition
Neverthe eIoss - PRACTICE Increased.
/ On the morning OF March 20, / called
earlier than usual During this visit
the manifestations Of supernatural
presence were moro frequent, wild and
violent than ever bsfore. Twas inform
cd that they had been exceedingly vio-
lent during the preceding night. Their
character, too, had greatly changed
Besides the moving of all movable arti-
cles, the tinkling of glasses and the rat
tie of tinwarc, there were frequent and
startling sounds, as Of whispered con-
versation, singing and subdued laughter
ALI perfect limitations of tho human
voice, but too low TO enable me to de-
tect the words used, ii words there
were. Still, however, mono of these un-
usal sounds entered tho sick ROOM
They followed the footsteps Of Mrs.
Green like demon echo, but paused on
that room, as debarrcd by superior
power from entering thcre.
found Mr.. Hayden was worse and
sinking very fast, He had passed n
bad night. Doubtful whether he would
survive to see another morning, l left
him, promising to call at evening and
spend the night with him, resolved, in
my secret thoughts. To "be in Mt the
death" If there was to be n ghcstly
warning, meant to hear it, and, ifpos-
sible, to solve the strange enigma.
The day had been exceeding cold
and stormy, and the night had already
set in dark and dismal, and fierce gale
and driving storm Of rain and bail,
when / again stood beside my patient
The moment looked at him | pcrceiv-
cd unmistalsoablc Indications Of the
near approach OF death upon his fea-
lures. lie was free from pain, his mind
perfectly clear; bat his life was ebbing
away with every feeble breath. like the
low burning out Of sal exhausted lamp.
Meuiwniic the stoSah rose 90 . toin-
pest and the gluom grew black as death
in the wild night without. Tho wind
swept in tremendous gusts through the
adjoining forests, rafting tho icy branch
es of the trees, and came wailing and
shrieking through every crack and
Granny Of the building.
Within, there was wilder commo.
ton. All that had been said or sung,
written or dreamed of ghostly vista
tons, was then and thcre enacted
There was the ringing Of bells the mo-
wing Of furniture, crash of dishes, whis-
pcrs, howls, crying, laughter, whistling,
groaning, heavy aud light.footcd steps,
aud wild music, as ir in very fnockery
Of the internal regions. All those
sounds grew wilder with the rising gale,
and toward midnight they wore almost
iHsuiferable.
AS for us three--thc patient, Mrs.
Green and myself--we were as silent as
death itself. Not word passed our
lips after nine o'clock AS for the state
of our minds, God only knows. Mine,
in the wide whir OF thought and event
which followed, forgot all the past save
what have recalled hit by bit, above.
| remember only looking for the final
catastrophe, which grow rapidly nearer
with u constant endeavor TO concentrate
all my faculties Of mind and sense up
on the phenomenon which !, at least,
had began to believe would herald the
loss OF my patient.
As il grew close upon twelve o'clock
(for upon the striking of that hour had
my thoughts fixed themselves for the
expected demonstration,) my agitation
became so great that II was with extreme
difficulty | could control myself.
Nearer and nearer grew the fatal mo-
mcnt--for fatal Iexpected it would be
to my patient, at least--and at last the
seconds trclnbled ON the brink Of mid
night; tho clock -besIn TO strike one
two-thrccl epFnted the strokes ol
. tho hammer, which seemed rs though
they never would hayo done ten, eleven
twelve / drew my breath again
; The last lingering echo of the fina
|, stroke had died away, and as yet there
was no token Of any presence save oul
=, own.
All was silent. The wind had lulicc
|, for moment, and not sound stirred
the air within the house. Tho ghos
had fed.
arose and approached the bedside
The patient was alivc--drawing hi
breath very slowly--dying. Tho inter
7 val between his gaps grew longer-ther
he ceased to breath altogether-he wa
= dead
Mrs. Green was sitting in her place
her elbows resting on her knees, he
:, face buried in hefhands.
- - closed the open mouth and presses
9 down the eyelids of tho dead. Then
touched her on the shoulder.
T" alt is over" whispered.
Thank God - was her fervent reply
"a r.
Then we both started. There was