Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1869-11-04
.Su0 6ss: t s.:'W'H:s5
ny GRACE GREENWOOD.

known Tar and wide as r'Squn Per-
civaln-his. leomslya iwifey two fair
daughters, i nieces and last Init not
least, d son, Just home from Yale for
the holidays. ~ y . }1I 80
The nightwithouts was seAsonably
cold, and brilliant with moonlight
andsstaFlight The large stone farm
house stood on the brow Of a hill Be-
hind a protecting line of tall treesv7l
the. only green in the wide Landscape.
The steep hillside and wide valley
beneath werehesvily; blanketed with
snow. - a3.Y s,,w
The early, part Of the eyeniagrhad
passed merrily with games, tests and
songs, ;, BUT for an hour or two the
conversation had drffted into sthe
realm OF tlie supernatural One ghost
had succeeded another till, as the
"witchingtime ofnigi,t, approached,
and the fire burned low, the circle
instipctiyely- drew CLOSER together,
withstfTilb and shoulders q strange
spiritual dread, which is yet akin to
the keenest pleasure an awesome
Joy, an exquisite terror The'soiemn
soughing Of winds among the pines,
heard in the pauses of ghosNy reci-
tails, added its wondrous, weird effect
to the theme. -,s.sr,. .a.as .e.~
Just as John ,Percival had conclu-
ded wild German legend, which he
declared splendid stuff for dreamst
the outside door was heard to open
suddenly, ia All, looked round more
or less fearfully, to see standing on
the Threshold the slight form Of a fair
young woman, clad all in white, and
ilooking strngely pafe, a1d cold, and
luminous, likeincarnated moonlight.
"With the glide of q spirit" she
came forward. Her feet were quite
bare, and her arms dropped YEARLY.
Masses of hair fell over her Shout
ders, but her eyes were dark and
fixedywith aFpelnpcholy stare. Her
lips were slightly parted and almost
colorless. She came into the circle
about the hesrth Sa1l there paused,
standing utterly hotionless-a beau
tiful, appalling figure 's'e52
For moment~the, whole, startled
group remained as Silent as. that
strange, visitor. Then one young
girl caught her breath in hysterical
scream, which was answered in-i
stantly by a cry from the pale lips Of
"the woman. in white" into whose
ewes rdshedsa Wild, keen light, She
gazed about her in terror and beWil-
derment; then, glanced down upon
herself, and sank covering upon1the
floor. covering her face with her
hands, and giving way to childish
paroxysms of weeping.
The farmers wife, woman of
rare sense and presence Of mind, at
orIce OWNED thetruth. ANU d
lsshe lisa sleerwalker!p sshe said.
"She must be half dead with cold.
Girls, bring some wrappings"
Immediately all was hustle. The
farmer and his son discreetly van
ished from the scene, and the kind
mother, daughters and niece devoted
themselves to the care of their bewil-
dered1 ebarxe,f whog still wept and
sobbed A,inder their kind ministra-
tions, but declared that she felt no
cold and no pain, though her deli
cate feet were actually bleeding from
her, long walk up the icy hillside and
over the crusted snow.
After having been tenderIy put to
bed, however, she became sufficient
ly composed to reply to the few
questions put to her. She said she
was Lucy Elicit, the niece of the
village physician; thatshe had lately
been taken from school, on account
rof nervousness, and sent to him for
medical treatment, but that home
sickness and LONELINESS had made her
worse. She had occasionally walked
in her sleep before, but only about
the house andgrounds athome, and
on moonlight Summer nights. II
think the moon bewitches me-" she
said, smiling through her tears.
That night she had, before going to
bed, looked across the little valley to
the pleasant home on the hill,
watched the cheerful Christmaslights
cleaning through the pine trees and
longed to be one of the happy party
there, though she was astrapgento
all.
She had cried herself to sleep, she
said, and that was. nh sheshneR of
her mysterious midnight tramp over
snow and stones and ice. Not a
memory, not a thought could she
recall till the moment when she
found herself standing on that hearth
in her night dress, with SO many
wondering eyes hxed upon her.
20, dear! what do you think Of
me? What can you think of me
nowq,, she mOaned.