East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1861-08-22

muft, was trying to terrify him by ven-
triloquism. Taking him off to air in the
old kennel, T kicked over the cat, melted
the porters, lent judicious hand here
and there, until by eventide the neck OF
the business was broken (besides few
small chattels), and the additional furni
ture we brought with us fraternized Will
that of the Grange.
1t was, of course, several days before
we had made final disposition; but ere
long the heavy baggage was arranged
the three deckers were brought to an an
chor, and only the gunboat had to be
placed.
"All this while L had heard nothing
of the ghost; but when the more solid
claims Of my new household had been
attended to, asked the gardener
whether he had lately paid visit.
"'Hs is here now was the reply.
"'Where?" l cried.
"'Ah, sir! l can't tell that, but he
came in about quarter of an hour ago.
The door is wide open still"
"Popping on my hat, ran into the
garden. The door was half closed, and
moving as if some one on the other side
held the handle. When | approached it
quickly 1T was shut to with slam. /
pressed the latch and pushed; it yielded
at once, and l passed through. There
was no one but man walking leisurely
away down the lane, about sixty yards
off.
"'Hallo 7 cried, what do you wan.
here p
/" He plodded on round the corner with
out looking back, and by the time | said
to myself, 'he might hide away there in a
minute. No mystery in that. Next
time I'd not scare my visitor OFF,
6" But, though 1 was convinced that
the gardener himself was at the bottom
of the whole thing, could not catch him
out. Once, indeed found the door open
without any fault of his. 1t was a very
bright, moonlight night. / was going
to bed, when looked out of staircase
window and saw distinctly man hide
himself behind bush in the garden -
Stepping into the yard, loosed Phiz-
it was his last exploit, poor fellow, for the
next day he was driven over and had to
be killed-loosing Phiz, / slipped along
in the shadow of the wall, and pounced
at the intruder He made straight for
the garden door which stood wide open.
| could not catch him, though | was
near enough to remark that he had only
one arm-his legs made up for the de-
fect-he ran like hare, and the only
success gained was by Phiz, who had
turn-up with his dog.
But to return; / suspected the gar
dener of the whole thing, and, had he
merely tried to keep my curiosity alive,
| should not have cared as it was, he
scared the women so much that not
servant staid. Evidently, he liked short
holdings and long intervals between
them.
1t was part of my agreement to
keep him on when / took the place.
We'll as this arrangement ought to have
suited him, he evidently preferred doing
nothing on his own account to doing
little more on mine. Indeed, heard
that the servants of previous tenants had
been so worked upon by his report Of the
ghost, and their own supposed evidence
of his visits, that their frequent changes
must have made very appreciable item
in the drawbacks to the place, and,
therefore, increased his chances of an idle
anterregnum.
expected then rather to detect him,
as | had had some experience in ghostly
apparatus when l was boy, and, indeed,
was very successful on several occasions
with the brick. Don't you know the
charm? Take heavy, rough brick; tie
a long, black thread round it and put it
on the floor, under somebody's bed; carry
the thread under the door, and at night,
when the candle is put out, and you
know your victim has settled himself be-
tween the sheets though not yet gone to
sleep, pull your thread a little-wait, and
pull again. BY judicious management, /
have known q brick take, at least,
quarter of an hour to journey across the
room. The creeping, grating sound it
makes, unlike the step or movement of
any living creature, is so miserably sug
gestive of something 'uncanny,' that |
have known great towards TO come down
next morning as sallow about the gill as
if they had set up for a week.
Holly is not bad, either; it makes a
horrible and singular sound when rubbed
against a window l have thus selected
room full Of takers for the whole even
ing. Kittens shut up in a piano create
only passing distress; but a lanthorn,
which throws large disc of light for
considerable distance, may be SO managed
as 10 keep hamlet in terror for weeks.
"Now, the appearances testified to by
our cook one evening, when the door was
op en-, answered so well to the effect of
such an instrument, that became con-
vinced of the gardeners guilt.
"Taxed with it suddenly, however, he
most positively denied having any hand
in the matter. Cook gave warning, so
did the housemad. This was very tire
some, as the next would probably inherit
additions.
{" To settle the matter, therefore, /
called the whole household out on the
next occasion Of .ho door being found
unaccountably open, and walked through
it backwards and forwards half a.dozen