, 1863-01-29
The Haunted Inn.

many years enjoyed. An at once, however, It
fell of; fF travellers who had been In the habit
of putting up there, either avoided the place en-.
tirely, or preferred the infrrior accommodations
Of another inn. or the cause Of this decline In
his trade he could not long remain ignorant
The fact vas, that his house was haunted by a
ghost; and what traveller, weary with his journey,
| would like to have his rest broken at night BY
the pranks If spectrei ,.,.a.-. -
Sigis,nund, distant relative, who had an eye
on the fair Rnsina, the only daughter II the host,
had Of late years been frequently 10 this hntise;
either On visits TO the family or when travelling
upon business. He was accustomed always to
sleep In the same room, in the upper story and
there he was destined to make the discovery, 30
unlucky to mis- kinsman, that the house was
hAiRted. -r a.s ra..r r.
One night, when aiI the family had retired to
bed and were in their first sleep, Sigismund was
reused hv the spectre. Almost beside himsif
with terror, he rushed out in his shirt, ready to
break his neck down stairss and called up the
master Of the house. Il was not without great
difficulty that Robert could draw from him an
explanation Respecting the natu-e Of the cifchm-
stance that had thrown him into such vehement
alarm. Having At lengih somewhat recovered
froIn the fright occasiohrd by the apparitiOn, he
gave the LANDLORD the 20 lowing account: t
d I was East asleep, when a white death like
figure opened thy donr, which had loCkrd he.
f0re I went 10 led. The noise awoke me. The
spectre had bunch of keys in one hand, and In
the other lamp which gave but feeble light.
Il walked past my he'd, paced the room several
times, then srt the lamp down on the table, and
but could not Fear and horror pgralysed my
senses God knows how got out Ut bed With
olit hlli'R prey to the hideous apparatiOn."
The trembling Robert awoke his people; and
after maturely considering the pttis and cons, he
ventuFcd, in Their Gompiny Ind well armed, to
approach the haunted chamber. lie Ehtind The
door fast Sigismund, as far a. he eould recol.
lect, had puld Il after him. that the ghost might
have less chance Of overtaking him in his fight.
As he had TAKEN out the kew Of the DIOR after
locking It when he went to bed, and laid Il 0n
the table that stood by the bedside, il was found
necessary tn fetch the master key beinre they
cOaId gain admission This wss accordingly
done and all eyes looked round for the spectre,
but in van-it was gOne.s SiEiSmund, however,
burst not resume puSsessinn Of his deserted bed
for the remainder Of the night. s.rH $50
Robert could not tell what to think Of the story
Of hia kinsnian. He was luow acquainted with
his character to suspect that he was playing on
q hoax; he knew, ton. that be was mt q grrater
coward than himself; he had, therefore, no jnst
cause to doubt the accuracy Of his sta ement
At the same time he was vexed when he refierteh
that the spectre might think III to return; his
house would, in e"nscqnci CT, get bad name,
aud his business might be ruined IN spite, then,
Of his excessive t"ar Of ghosts, as there was Q
possibility Of delusioR, he deemed 1t Incumbent
on him t. investigate the matter more closely.
To this end he repaired the following night, ac-
cOmpanied by Peter, the Innst truIsty Of his pco-
ple, well ar1ned, to the haunted chamber. lie
assigned to Petrr the post Of danger and honor
by the donT, while he hims,.lf tOok possession of
an easy chair at the reu'Otest cnfner Of the room.
The great h0Use hntrrR containing lighted
candle, was placed "n the table. .sr.aal, a.f.
Long did they thus wait in vain inr the. visit Of
the Sicctre. Botn Of whOin ioInl il difficult TO
keep their eyes open, AMI nothing hut the sup
posed danger of their enterprise furnished them
with vigilance. Sleep, nevertheless, hogan to
exercise It's drspOtc sway over the landlord. He.
could not help nWldlng, aud Il vas hut now and
then, aud with incOhercnt w0rds, that he an.
swrFcl the observations a'ldrvsScd to him BY
Peter. The latter meanwhile heard, as he
thought, something coming up the stairs, and
Imagined that he could distinguish sOtt steps.
The effect on his sleepy senses was powerful aud
instantaneous He gave his master nolice Of the
impending attack. Sleep however, had cum
pletely Ovrrpowered the landlord; and under
these circumstances PetCT deemed himself just
fed in having his post, aud F"using his nIastrr
by no very gentle shake to the conflict Both
trembling drew their catlaRses and tOnk post be.
hind the arm chair. The spectre was already at
the dOor, and the bunch of keys which i carried
ratified like chains. The dOOr opened. aud the
figure of living corpse presented ITSELF Il was
covered from head t0 foot by white ShrOnd,
walked twice round the room, and then glided
with deep sigh into the bed. ra.aH--s1 81
Glad to see the coast thus Gar clear, Robert
seized the lantern and made . prrcipitnte retreat
down STAIRS, not only leaving his arms in the pos.
session Of th" enemy, but, in his haste, dashing
the lantern with such force against the balusterS
that il was shattered to pieces -F-
Peter, WIN, al the irst appearance Of the spec.
tre, had squeezed his eyes together, and IN his
fright commended bic soul u ell the saints. had
nleanwhie sunk on the HnOr behind the arm.
chair. He saw nothing. hraTd hut little Of what
was passing about him, and awaited his fate with
patient resignation. Tie crash Of the lantern,
which Ehonld have recalled his senses, only
served TO increase his stnreIaction.
Robert hurried back 10 lied without undrrSs
ing, and covered himself over, head and ears IN
the clothes; 10 low had his courage fallcn after
It's late excitement Next morning, at a very
early hour, lie called up his servants aud family,
And eagerly inquired how poor Peter was but
no Une had seen or heard anything Of him since
the preceding night.
The cheering light Of day. which dspels fear,
and restores courage 10 the hinthearted, once
thuFe raised Roberts spirits Accompanied by
his people, Ito went in quest of his lost attendant
to the place where ke had leh him. Peter, prO-
baby iatigurd and exhausted with terror, had
sunk into The arms Of his kind deliverer, sleep,
and lay snoring at full length on the tioOr behind
the armchair. His & 'Od.naturrd master rejoiced
sincerely at the sight I1r he was sprelv AFRAID lest
the spectre had bodily carried OF The poor fellow.
The adventure Of the night was sOOn known
ID tile tdwhsIolk. The more sensible Of them
laughed heartily at the landlords absurd con-