The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1859-02-08

IL OoOpoeo y09AootL AA4o0,~ o010 SoUo
Brown. and taking hon tAs -rsossD MIN
oil ture portrnit and pisee oefclded paper Il
~ up with narrow green ribbon, hs plae
Ok them on The table, at which he reused l
|ea seAA
ne The miniature represented lovely 4
~ ofabout twenty years Of age, with her b
ar dressed after the fashion of . hundred yea
q. back. While Samson Brown was examinil
m It with all The admiration Of which his mir
IN was capable, the ugly old ghost rose fro
lis the corner and POINTED ito fors6ngsr vii
be great eagerness, fret ct the picture, then
to the pit Of its own stomach. AZ Samsc
te Brown had friend whe often allowed Mi
seat in his opera-box gratis, be WAS rattle
ae On adept in the language Of the ballet
4. "Do you mean" said he, "tnat this i
Of portrait Of yourself in your youthful daysl
N The ghost nodded
It "Then," said Samson Brown you mu.
ID have altered confoundedly as You advance
n in years"
Tho expression assumed BY the ghost q
70 the occasion Of this remark was certainl
L ungenial Every feature was distorted will
i rage, the glassy eyes looked like red Goals
n the skinny right hand took sweeping gest
/ ure, and for moment Samson Brown fel
as If hs had placed his head in q violen
. draught
! Il see heobserved, ''the cuffs Of ghost
, like hard words, break NO bones"
. Laying aside the portrait, he united and
{ opened the folded paper, when the wors,
| spelling and the worst handwriting he had
Lever seen were revealed to his astonisheG
J eyes. Every crime that could possibly be
, psrpetrated by mortal in transmitting his
thoughts to paper with the aid Of q pen was
apparent in that vile manuscript There
were adjsctiyes beginning with capitals,
and little to denote the first person. and
the verb to write commenced with an r.
while rights that had been violated were
spelled wright, with q v. Even Samson
THROWN could not avoid some thing like
ensation OF awe when he saw how many
SINS against every law Of grammar, ortho-
graphy and caligrSphy had been committed
within the confined space of q single sheet
of paper;
Good heavens what fist r. he exclaim.
ca. Then addressing the ghost who had re-
turned sulkily into the corner, he said, us
this your handwriting, madam r
The ghost nodded.
Did you learn writing at schoolr'
The ghost nodded
bills regularly p
The ghost nodded
are condemned to walk the earth ON acconnt |
OF wrongs committed in their lifetime, |
think you must very often meet the ghost Of
the writing masterT'
Inc spectre not condescending 10 notice |
this brilliant sally, Samson Brown devoted |
his energies in the Interpretation of the
strange hieroglyphies With an acuteness
that would have done honor to the reader Of
roll of papyrus, he at last succeeded in
eiiciting the facts that one "Marget Stubs"
had defrauded one "John Jeanes'f of mon
eys to the amount of one thousand pounds,
ana, osclilatlng between uneainess at the
thought OF possessing i'll gotten treasure and
unwlllingness to part with a sum SO consid-
cradle, had hidden the letter beneath a
stone in the coal cellar. The operations Of
conscience had likewise prompted Marget to
oraw up written confession Of her guilt,
and to place it, where, in all human proba.
bility, it would never be found. The tho't
that after death she would wander about as
an ugly ghost, and with her own hand in
dicate the spot where the paper was conceal
Cd had clearly never entered the mind Of
Marget Stubs.
"Madam--H said Samson Brown.
"eh y! you are there, are you p he con-
tlnued, observing that the ghost had shifted
into another corner MADAM I infer from
the ill-writen rigmarole have just waded
through, and from the impressive manner in
which you revealed to me the place of its
that you are the person des-
cribed as Marget StubsY'
The ghost nodded.
Il should spell Stubs with two b's nv
self, but everybody understands his own
business best 1t appears, then, that you
defrauded one John Joanes-with whose |
name, must observe, you take strange lib.
ertles-to the tune of one thousand pounds?'
The ghost began to toss its arms about ,
with every sign of the widest agony
Now, my dear creature do compose I
yourself, or We shall never get on at ALL"
said Samson Brown Listen to me and let
rs perfectly understand each other. From ,
what have read about ghosts in general, !
md reasoning by analogy, l arrive at the |
conclusion that, until your affairs with John
loanes, his executors, administrators, or as (
gns is made completely straight, you are
compelled to walk about these premises 9
very midnight !;
The face of the ghost was distorted by
malicious grin !
II perfectly understand the meaning Of q
hat expression Although,a said before, h
ou are compelled to walk about these prem h
ses you feel o sort of wicked pleasure in ]
other people"
The ghost placed its hand before its !
yes. :
"But you do not frighten me at all-mark :;
hat You do not brighten me in the least. n
n fact find your society rather agreeable +
han OfhQrvyfSo i N obo IL. l
nd therefore your apparition has, at least :,
he charm Of novelty" !,
The ghost began to assume an appearance
{ anxiety. :,
Therefore, you perceive, if you expect =
,at am going to bother myself with look \
,g after John Joanes merely for the sake of n
cessation of your visits you are 4,
cry much IAistaken. As long as I am ten :.
ut of this house," he added, with a smile =
something like gallantry, "there shall al. n,
avs be corner at your SERVICE =,
The ghost. was completely puzzled. ltnot
aly looked cadavsrous--it looked stupid. g.
consequently continued the relentless /,
amson Brown, 'if you wish to bring these q
tile freaks to a termination, it 10 your own ..
easure, not mine, that you are consulting. a
D, come he went on, giving his hand
ldden slap on the table, ITO make long 9,
after short what will you allow me per N
mt. to wind up this affair with the
,anses 2 9;
The female figure glided slowly up and Il
'wn the room for few seconds, with it's =
ght foreGnger pressed against its forehead i,
hen the movement had ceased, it held up :.
9 right hand with all the fingers disten ~
d. "1
"Five per cent for special transaction j,
re thisr' exclaimed Samson Brown, per- a.
city comprehending the sign "ridiculousl Al
i see you and all the Joanses-" - -
A short voluntary cough prevented the ~
mpletion OF the sentence. - =.
Again did the ghost glide up and down =,
o room, and when it stopped once more, =,
'th its hands were held up, with the fingers &c
idely distsnded. g.,
"Tsnl" cried Samson Brown. "Ten per T. T.
Mt on thousand pounds is round hun C.,
ed. Make your mind easy, Miss or Mrs. -
nnhA Al