Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1864-10-21
Supernatural Appearances.

guOSt Stories WHICH are icdot OHSuh"V'N"
with incredible or impossible accessories,
and it derives additional Importance from
its having been narrated by cear-head-
ed man, a skep!c and a disbeliever. 1t
is, in fact, no doubt owing to the very cir
cumstauces of the hard philosophic turn
of the attestor's mind that we have the
details less encountered with those alb
surdities which are often added under the
influence of terror, or of an excited mag
nation:
1t appears that the conversation hav-
ing taken a psychological turn, the elder
gentleman had been plainly asked whetb-
er or no he believed that spirits could ap.
pear. Instead of replying, as had been
confidently expected, with couple Of
negative monosyllables and little sar-
casm, he made some hesitating answer,
and, moreover, betrayed such unwonted
agitation, that the questioner FASTENED to
change the subject, He was however,
stopped.
"Nephew," said the old gentleman,
earnestly, "you have touched upon a
theme very painful to me-more so thar
you can we'll understand; still, l am not
altogether unwilling to converse upon it,
and perhaps the doing so may somewhat
lessen the melancholy impression | have
conceived from a circumstance that lately
befel me. Yes, will tell you; but do
not interrupt me with either doubts, sug-
gestions, or questions. All this | have
already done for myself.
You know well enough that I am not
man given to fancies. | have a dull
habit of regarding things as they are, not
as they may possibly be. l ignore prob
abilities, and hate hypothesis. The facts
of the world | have found numerous
enough to deal with, let alone contingent
cies. | make this confession not merely
for the sake of argument, but simply to
enable you the better to appreciate what
| am going to tell.
You have been long aware of the es>
arrangement between my brother George
and myself. 1t matters not for the cause.
Blame, | am afraid, attached to both of
us. 1t will be sufficient to remind you
that we parted ten years ago, in anger /;
and that, up to the time of his death, last
year, we neither saw each other, nor
held intercourse of any kind.
One night, last December, had gone
to bed, as usual, about eleven o'clock,
and had, imagine, fallen asleep at once,
for remember nothing after getting in
to bed, till | was awakened by something
that seemed to be lying across my feet at
the bottom OF the bed. Surprising it was
Brush, my dog, who did sometimes gain
surreptitious entrance into my room at
night, called to him, and babe him get
down.
As my speaking produced no effect, l
sat up to see what it was that had dis
turbed me. do no: know if you will
understand what mean by seeing in the
dark. Let me explain;
If you go into totally dark room
where there happens to be pure white
object, you will after a time know what
part Of the room it is, and if you are pa
tient, you will soon be able to dis
tinguish it from the other articles. Again
If you are in the dark, and an object
of flight color is near you, however min,
ute, it will in few minutes become visi-
ble, You yourself are in darkness, yet
you see. The object of your vision
sheds no light on other bodies, however
near. 1t is merely selfilluminating.-
So it was with me. / could not see the
posts of my bed, nor the window, nor my
own hand-and yet l saw that a man
was lying across my feet with his face
turned toward me.
have more than once asked myself
how ii was did not conclude him to be
a rObber. l was not alarmed. Still !
made no effort to move or question the
intruder, and it was aSsuredly from no
superstiious feeling, for the thought Of
anything preternatural never occurred to
me until the figure raised itself up upon
one arm and showed me the countenance
of my brother George. Then, l own,
that | felt awe-stricken, as in the pres.
ence of something beyond our compre-
hension. knew that the spirit of the
dead was before me. tt
had not, as | have said, seen George
for ten years. The once familiar face
was again before my eyes, showing Just
the change that period must have made.
The faint halo which seemed to encircle
the figure made perfectly visible the
lines on his face and the bair streaked