Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1868-02-14
Rntfsra c..

Buttsras Ghost.
It is 3 great mans. years ago, but I
have still most VIVID recollection of
the terrible fright that .'Butterhee's
Fl Ghost" gave me. W g were living at the
i period Of the awful event in very
old, ram bling house on the coast Of
Cornwall. The plaea had been so alter
ed and added to by successive tenants
that it bore a curious resem blancs to
one Of those strange organizations Of
the insect world which increase by buds
and Of-shOOts, have prOmisCuOusly two
heads to one stomach, or two stomachs
are interchangeable and 4'0o duty0 in
either capacity, just as may be found
Il convenient, pleasant. or profitable.
/ The whole building was mass of
| passages and rooms with little or no
apparent arrangement-steps up here,
steps down there, passages leading TO
rooms, and passages leading to nowhere
in particular; pantEles and parlOrs, bed
! rooms and ladders, Kitchens and eel
I lars, al jumblsd up together. But it
was in passages, cellars, and conceal
/ Lnents OF all sorts that the house was
most remarkable. There was, however,
q method in all the seeming confusion,
/ for it had been the headquarters Of a
notorious BHauggIer and Wrecker, and
was admirably suited for the conceal
AAEALb OF MS C0lGLGH4salSA " ares EAAllA A4A6
/ plunder acquired by Wrecking, and var
/ ious other not less VillianOus practices.
At that time, and in that part Of the
! country, every one had a nickname by
| which, and frequently by which only,
he or she was recognized. There was
always some reasOu for the Sob4TQtet,
! generally q ridiculCus, often disrepu-
table one: why, I heYer understood,
but far and wide this old rascal was
called butterfly" or, according to the
Cornish pronunciation, "ButterHee 81 l
! his real name was Lefty, but few knew
him, and no one. ever spoke Of him, by
that name. It was the universal belief
that sold Busterf1es' had sold himself
to the evil one for q thousand pounds
and a miraoulously 9ineKhaustibIe keg
Of brandy.
Butterfiss had Fasn dead for a score
or two Of years; and the thousand
pounds, and many more, the produce OF /
smuggling and plumber, had long ago
been dissipated in riot and debauehery
[ bv his heir: but the f+Q9V1EB brandy
keg'1 had never been seen since his
death, and was still concealed, so 1t was
grRVely asserted, in s0H16 mysterious re-
/ cess or corner of the old house, and over
which the ghost of BUtteEdee had been
condemned to keep watch and wand.
If any one had pLuelE enough TO lace
the ghost, and luck enough to find the
miraculous keg, be Wo5ald become law (
I fully possessed OF fha wonderful vessel, 7
which would yield "a him, as II haa
done to ButteTflee, a continual supply
| of the strongest and most exquisitely-
favored brandy
whatever may be the cause now. at |
/ that time tetOtal doctrines were utterly /
unknown in "thOse parts, y and total abb /
stainers were indeed few Il doubt !
whether a single live specimen could |
have found in a long days march. |
Brandy was therefore in universal IA |
Yor, and many an adventurous and /
thirsty bOul had rummaged the ol0 |
house from top to bottom in search OF /
the magic brandy; none had found it, /
but some who had fortified their cour-
age, before proceeding on the adVen- /
ture, by a gOOdly supply of spirits OBJ |
tanned from a more legitimate source, |
had, much to their discontinue and /
fright, encountered the veritable ghost |
of Butterhee himself, Wrappedin a fiery /
sheet, and glaring on them, not with |
slack lustre eyes," but with orbs which /
resembled two saucers Of burning BRAN |
dy. /
Butterf1ee was, in the eyes of every |
man, woman, and child in the village, |
to be worse than a heather.
I had heard the story of Butterdee's !
Ghost over and over again, and though !
I pretended to laugh at what was /
pleased to call the "uneducated ignor- /
ance of the rustic mind - I was in heart |
much more than half a believer.
On the eventful night Of my ghOstly 4
encounter itWas blowing terrific gale; /
indeed, the weather had been so bad that 1
had kept US all indoors the whole day. /
Tea was just over, and the family party i
hadsettled down to their various oecu- /
pations-my father to his pipe, my i
mother and sister to their sewing, and |
to my book, which was Mrs. Groves |
''Night-side of nature"-an edifying /
production certainly, but just then the
HneW book The conversation had ta-
ken ghostly turn-Eny father relating
many stories of the neigborhOod, and
othTes which he had picked up in his
travels.
The Southwestern roared in the Chin
neYs, and whistled through the crevices
of the shutters, shaking every window
in the old house, and making the very
tiles rattle again on the lofty roof
"BV George, how it blOwsi" said my
father, breaking of in the middle Of his
lecture on the supernatural. $50 to
the kitchen, Jack, and tell Benjamin to
take some of the lads down with him
to the cove and haul the boat further up
the beach if she remains where we
left her she will be knocked into tooth
picks at high-waterP -
1 rose from my seat to do as l was
hidden, and was taking candle from
the table, when my father, who was
about to light his pipe at it, said, "Ney-
er mind the candle, Jack surely fell
low who wants to be a sailor can find
his way in the dark" Though much
disconnected by this remark, l made no
reply, but put down the light and was
going out of the room, when my sister
said, somewhat maliciously, Take
care of Butterflee's ghost, Jack 90
Now may as well candidly confess
that did not feel at all comfortable.
The passage leading to the kitchen hap
pened to be Butterfiee's favorite eruis-
ing ground. It was a long, rambling
place, here bulging out almost into the
size of a room, and there contracting to
such narrow dimensions as hardly
to leave room for two people 10 pass.
Various cross passages branched from
il, leading from cellars and disused
lumo holes of all sorts and sizes. To
keep out damp and cold the passage
was cut OF from the parlOr and divided
into compartments, by more than one
door.
''1Jo man is wise at all times" says
the proverb, and no man is brave at all !
times, say I. To tell the truth, felt
unusually nervous, and experienced a
very unpleasant sensation in the inde6-
mite apprehension chat I might "see
sOmething''-I knew not what.
had O mind 20 turn back, but i
dreaded my fathers jokes and my sis
ter's laughter. well knew my moth
er, dear soul ! would "stick upI' for me
i but that would not influence the other
/ two, so screwed up my courage and
went on, carefully feeling my way by
/ the wall. On reaching one of the doors,
I just mentioned, cautiously threw it /
! open. Heaven and earth there stood
/ Butterfiee (! Yes, there was no mistake
about it this time; there he was, the
] Veritable, dreaded Butterflee. in all the I
! horrors of majestyi His whole body
/ gIowed like red hot mass Of iron he |
! appeared TO float In the air his head /
! brighter and more vivid than the rest |
| OfhlB body touched the ceiling; his feet |
I were some way, but not far, from the |
/ door his eyes, oh dear oh dear their |
/ burning, fiery expression was a1tegeth-
or too much for me. I stood motionleas
hpsa rad with terror avsra