Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1862-10-24
is GOVERNED TOO MUCH
MIS- Gel NY.
A TRUE GHOST STORY.

lshlng expedition WIN IN o'u colesr nc
quaintarce, an army surgeon. whom he had
no, met Tor many years, from his having
been in India with his regiment. M'Donald
the army surgeon. wa. a thorough High.
lander. and slightly ,ineed with wha, !.
called the superstition Of his coun,rymen.
and nt the time speak Of was liable to
rather depressed spirits from nn unsound
liver. lli.na,ivc air was. however, rapidly
renewing hi. youth and when b. and his
old freud paced along the banks Of the fish.
iue stream in lonely par, Of Areyle.hire.
and sen, their line, like airy go.s,mcrs over
the poole. and touched tho water over n al
mons nose. so tcmr'in:ly ,hn, the best
principlci and wisc., f,h could no, resist
the bite, Mponald had apparently resained
all his buoyancy Of spirit. They had been
fishing together for abou, week with great
success. when M'Douald proposed to Pay
visit TO a family he was acquainted with,
which would separate him IRON bis TREND
Tor some DAYS. But whenever he spoke Of
their intended separation, be sank down in.
to h.. old gloomy state, a, one time declAr-
ing that be iel, As II they were never to mect
again. My friend tried 70 rally him su, 10
vain. They parted a, tho ,rou,ins stream,
MDonali'. route being across mountain
pass. with which, however. be had been well
acquainted IN h. youth, though the read
was lonely aud Wild IN the extreme. The
Doctor returned early in tho evening 10 hi.
resting place, which was shepherd. house
lying on the very out.kir,. Of tho settle.
mcni.." anil beside i,amins mountain
stream. Tho Shepherds only attendant. at
the time were two herd lads aud three dogs.
Attached to tho hut. and communicating
with It by 'hor; passage. was rather a
comfortable room which "thc Laird had
fitted up to .-rvc a' a sort OF lodge for HIM
.cll in tho mil', Of HI. shooting ground.
and which he had pu; Tor a for,uish, at The
disposal Of my friend.
Shortly ritter sunset on The lay mention,
the wind began to ri,O suddenly to a gale.
the rain descended m torrents. anl the night
became extremely dark The shepherd
seemed uneasy. aud several times went TO the
door to in.pcc, the weather. 4. las, h
aroused the fear. OF the doctor Tor M'Don.
ali. safety, by expressin; the hcPc that by
,hi. time he was owrc that awfg' black
mUs., and across the rel burn Every
traveller in the Highland. know. how rap.
idly these moaniain stream. rise. aud how
coniusin: the moor become. IN dark night
.' The black mos. and rcd burn wcrew word.
that were never after fotgultsn by the Doc.
tor. irom the strange feelings they produced
when fr,, hrrrl that night; Tor there came
into hi, mind terrible thoughts and iOrob,I'
ius, about poor M'D,u,li. ami rcprolcbys
lJr never having considered h,s possible dan.
ger in attempting such journey alone In
vain the shepherd assured him that ho mn's
have rachel place Of safety before the
dlrknes. and the storm came on. 4 pre-.
.-u,imen, which no could no, cast oG made
him - miserable ,ha, be could hardly refrain
from tears Bu. no,hin: could 30 done to
relieve ,he anxiety now become so painful.
The Doctor a. last retired 10 bed about
m.iuishi. For a long time be could no.
sleep. The raging Of the stream below the
snail window. ani the hui' Of ,ho storm
made him ieyeri,h nni restless. Ba, at
last be tell into sound anl dreamles, sleep.
OGt Of this. however. be va. suddenly
aroused by a peculiar noise in his room, not
very loud. bat utterly indeser,blhl,. lilo
heard tap. tap, tap, on tho window; and
he knew, from the relation which the wall
Of the room bore 10 the rock, that the glass
could no, be touched by human hand. AZ.
ter li,tenin: for a moment, aud forcing him.
self to smile a, hi, nervousness, he turned
round. and began again 10 seek rcpose. hut
now noise began, too distinct and loud 20
make sleep possible. Starting aud sitting
up in bed, be hsnrd repcaic! in rapid suc.
ces.ion, as II some one was splitting In anger.
and close 90 hi. bed, -" Fit fit! i,'' and
then a prolonged &" whir.r.r" from another
par, Of the room. while every chair began to
move, and the table to j-rs. The Doctor
remained in brea,hless silence, with every
faculty intensely acntc. lie frankly con.
fes.ed tha, he heard his hear, beating, for
beating. for the sound was so unear;hly, 30
horrible, and something seemed to come 80
near him tha, he began seriously to consider
whether or not he had some attack OF fever
which affected his brain ,-lOr remember, he
had not tasted drop Of the shepherds
small store Of whiskey? lie felt his own
pulse. composed his spirits. and compelled
himself to exercise calm judgment. Strain.
ing his eye. to discover anything. he plainly
saw at las. white object moving. but with
out sound. before him. lie knew that the
door was shu, and the window. also. An
oyerpowerins conviction then seized him,
which he could not re.i.t. that his friend
M'Donald was dead by an cGor, he seized
luciier box on chair beside him, and
struck light. No white objec, could be
seen. The room appeared to be as when he
wen, to bed. The door was shut. lie
looked a, his watch, and particularly mark
ell that tho hour was twenty-five minutes
PAS, ,hres. But the match was hardly ex-
tingui.hed when. louder than ever. the same
unear,hly cry Of "fi, fit! q, !" was heard,
followed by tho same horrible whir r.r,
ar hish nm ade bi. ta.th ehattrr with tsrribie