The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1868-02-29

tnelrsbreakfaSt, before her son, yOntig man
who Had lately returned from sen, descended
from5hist apartment. sMy dear Charles, asaid
his mother, 81 wonder you are mot ashamed of
your: :ipdolenco and your want of gallaptry, to
suffcr,yoqr o sisters and myself to fnisl, our
breakfast before you are ready to join us. y
"fndasd, madam" he replied, ''it is not my
fuuleT I.sam late. have not had ahy sleep
the whole night There have been opeoblc
knocking at my door, and peepipg into my
room every halt-hour since went upstairs to
bed. | presume they wanted to see if my
light was extinguishcd..' If this be the case
it is Really very distressing certainly never
gave you any cause to suspect that i should be
careless Yin taking 50 necessary prccauton;
and it is not pleasant to be represented in such
Il character to the domcstics." '.Indccl, my
dear. the interruption has taken place entirely
without my knowledge. I assure you it is not
by any order of mihc that yo,tr room has been
looked 'ntc:) tannot think what could possi-
bly ihuuce any servant OF mine to be guilty of
such,a liberty. Are you certain that you have
not mistaken the nature and origin of the
sounds BY which your sleep has been disturb
cd 2, cob! no. There coUld have been no
mlstake.i. was perfectly awake when the in
tcrruption first took place and afterward il
was SO frequently repeated us to prevent the
possibility Of my sleeping"
More complaints from the lousckccpcr; no
servant would remain every individual Of the
family had his tale Of terror to increase the ap
prchensions of the rest. Mrs. Turnbrook be-
gan !to be herself alarmed Mrs Atkins. a
very dear and approved friend, came on visit
to Aer She communicated the subject which
had SO, recently disturbed the family, and re-
qucstcd her advice Mrs. Atkins. a woman
devoid Of every kind of supcrstitious fear, and
Of tried courage. understanding, and rcsoI,,.
ton, determined at once to silence all the
stories that had been fabricated respecting the
cagcsf0onl, and to ullay their tcrrors by adopt
ing tlat apart,hcut for her own bcd-chauubccr
during the fcnandcr of her residence at Glen,
wuntI .,-.i. Ia .,sl,y..A h... ,.i,r,eenr
Sic 1Sclhrcd that ito !ialfmcis,Irc could s,e
equally cficctual that if any of tic family
were to sleep there though their rest should be
perfectly undistnrbcd, it would have no cilica-
cy in tranuuilzng Tie agitation of the family,
since the servants would naturally accuse either
Mrs Turnbrook or her son of being interested
Witnesses aud doubt the fact of their llavin,
rcl,oscd i'll the centre Of the ghosts donlniolis,
without undergoing any punishment for The
tc,ncrity for their invading them. y bed was
accordingly placed in the apartment The
cayc-roo,n was rendered rs comfortable as pos
sib!c OH 50 short notice ; and Mrs Atkins
retired to rest attended by her favoritc spaniel
saying IS she badc them good night, Il and
my dog. ha::cr myself, arc equal to compete
with myriad Of ghosts st lei me cntreat you
to be under 10 apprehension for the safety Of
Ponto and myself" ."
Mrs. Atkins examined her chamber in every
imaginable direction she sounded every panel
Of the wanscot to prove that there was no hol-
lowncss which might argue a concealed passage
and having boltc,l the door of the cage room,
retired to rest, confident that she was secure
against every material visitor, and totally in
crcdunus Of the airy cncroachmcnts Of all
spiritual things. Her assurance was doomed
to be short-livcd: she had only been a few
minutes asleep, when her dog, which lay by
the bedside, lcapcd bowling and terrified upon
the bed the door Of her chamber slowly
opened, and pale. thin, sickly youth came in,
east his eyes mildly toward her, walked up to
the iron cage in the middle Of the room, and
then leaned i'll the melancholy attitude Of one
revolving in his mind the sorrows of cheer
less and unblcst existence. After awhile, he
again withdrew, and retired by tho way he
entered. Mrs. Atkins, on witnessing his de-
mrturc, felt the return of her resolution. She
was rcassurcd in her original belief in the i'm
possibility OF all spiritual yistatons; she per-
suadcd herself to believe the figure the work
Of some skiliul mpostcr and she determined
on following its footsteps She took up her
chambcr-alnp, and hastcnad to put her design
into execution. On reaching the door, to her
infinite surprise, she discovered it to be f;stcn-
ed us she had herself left it on retiring 70 bed
On Withdrawing the bolt, and opening the door
she saw the back of the youth descending the
staircase she followed, till, on reaching the
foot of the stairs. Tie form appeared to sink
into the earth. 1t was in vain to attempt con.