Delaware State journal and statesman., 1867-08-23
THE QUEER sIxELETON.

am about to relate. MY iather resiueu ht lPh- L
.,,h and once had occasion to go to London on
Nu,iuevs. 1t was during period Of great popu-
\, oommOtion, and, the city being very full, he
IA anna trouble in finding lodging. The |
r..,sr Of tho house observed that 1t was good, |
,.,vs room-iOr he could get but one-and very !
aomiOvtable, II he did not mind-but there he
,onnsd. for his wife gave him nudge. That
made my father suspect something was not right |
III iant over slaughter house, or burial |
o,oond. or a dlssecting-room, is iii says my
father
,Ob, dear, no = says the landlords but some
p.opls say the next house is haunted and that
anybody who sleeps in this room can see lady
in white, crying, at that window that you can
100 there
,Oh, is that allf says my fathers perhaps
there's some poor maniac confined there. Wheth-
ar or no, however, that's no objeclion for don't
care rush for all the ghosts that ever were in
4 vented
WE'LL be took possession Of the room; and
4 before night closed in, he had an opportunity Of
taking an accurate survey Of the neighboring
/ premises. lead roof, apparently over work
SHOP lay between his window and that one
where the ghost was said to appear; only there
VAS this difference, that he could easily step out
Of hiu upon the leads, whereas the neghbors
was about nine or ten feet higher. My father
ssIys vowed that he was perfectly sober when
he vent to bed. He couldn't tell how long he
bad been asleep, when he WAS suddenly awaken
Cd BY loud screams and when no opened hiH
eysV, he saw that thp opposite house was on fire.
* Hs was out on the leads in a moment. The
haunted room was allied with bright flames, and
tt the window stood lovely young woman
ulAgping baby In her arms, and screaming for
help.
lob, save my ehid-aaye my childr she kept
Sn crying, in tones Of such anguish that they
vent TO my fathers very heart.
Give it to me- be said, and then jump out
into my armq. The distance Is nothing; you
puuOt'bO hurt. Take courage Now, give me
ihs babyp
She leaned forward, aud dropped the baby
Wrapped in q shawl, into my ialher's arms
lust as he got ii safe, it seemed to him that thu
ioOl fell iD. There Was q crashing noise, bu
not very lloyd; the flames disappeared, and 81
At did the young lady. 10 at his window he rush
I'd again, and through the house, shouting Fire
aFsl' with oil his might, and with the baby still
10 bis arms, Out rushed the landlord as pal
WA ghost, and his wife after him, in such
monument Of night-oap, that it quite overawe
ny father, even in the midst of his agitation
The maid was shrieking 'Murjerl' down in th
kiiehan and tho annVentioaa had tunnh1ad M
from under the counter in the shop and wer
POkiug their noses cautiously out, and kindly il
curing who was killing heri and on every lane
lug up the stairs the dodgers were calling out
SNOW what was the matter. There was alt,
gather terrible row in the place.
The next house is on fre + said my father.
ITS Ouly the old stOry, said the laudlOr'
Run up stairs. my dear, and tell them it's
false alarm
Bat it 10 not false alarm, says my iathei
FOR saw the flames, and saw the roof fall i
and fear that lady iB buried under the ruin
Why don't you gone and help her She h
Just dropped her child into my arms when I
rO1f iell.'
The landlady thon hrst set eyes on the bund
AeE hhhuhhu ~ tuo iuumpni hknWu uhlb
from the rush-light. which bad very imperfec
illuminated tho scene before.
"a babyp says she.
Yes says my father, 'snd think I'd bet
leave II with you, na'am, while | 90 and
dsaVOr to rescue the mother
The woman did not spesk nor utter SOU
but she just lifted up the shawl from the chill
As faoa nd al la..s It. I,tu, raFI Iaad "a,
the aoOr. Instead Of attending to her, both
father and the landlord looked into the sha
hoOntained the skeleton Of an infant, wrap
up In the rags Of what had once been very Q
ly garments. My father felt very sick, and
landlord staggered back against the wall,
dropped the candlestick out Of his hand.
When the landlady fell (she was tall, he
woman, and gave the house good shake),
maid screamed Murder 7 louder than ever,
the lOdgern called out yet more euergetiCall
know what was the matter. That fright
the landlord back into his senses for he tho
Y lhqy came down and saw what my father
~ got, 1t would frighten them all out Of the HI
10 he caught up the candle, which, luckily,
not eIlingnishsd by the fall, and pushed
father, with his bundle, into the bedroom.
be called out that ii was only the strange
llemAn had had The nightmare, and his wife
been frightened into fainting 6t. So th,
went, grumbling back to bed and the
helped his wife into her room, where my
stood trembling and shaking not having pre-
Of mind enough to put down the bundle, al
even daring to look into it again.
Ghe little skeleton was quietly buried tn
day by an old sexton, who asked no qua
s be knew the landlord was respectable
holder; so they all concluded that the
Was satisfied and that that was the reasO
abe never sppearsd again,
When my father examined the place Cle
daylight he saw evident marks Of fire abb
WiudoWsi but he was assured these vi
r'uaius Of FIRE that happened there
many years before. In short. the whole
OF the apparitiOn seemed to shroud some
mystery, which was perfectly inexp
Bone years after. when he was in London
my father endeavored to find out the be
we hope Of obtaining clue to the m
oq1 he could discover nothing but a mass
That street and some others were just de
sd'lo make way for that which is now
street.
mau Of respectable appearances EN-
law office in Cincinnati on Wednesd
ludlelOusly selected and carried OF So
~ books from the shelves, and after
'hem for sale Of several places, finally