Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1869-10-20
Almost a Ghost StOry.-A Real Incl
dent,
RY GRACE GREENWOOD.

]
J known TAR and wide as esquire Per-
civarr-his comely wife, two fair
/ daughters, a niece, and last, but not
least, a son, just home from Yale for
the holidays.
! The night without was seasOnably
| cold, and brilliant with moonlight and
starlight. The large stone farmhouse
stood on the brow of hill, behind
protecting line of tall pine trees-the
only green in the wide landscape
! The steep hillside and wide valley be-
meath were heavily blanketed with
snow.
The early part of the evening had
passed merrily with games, jests, ana
sOngS. But for an hour or two the
conversation had taken a drift into
realm of the supernatural. One ghost
story had succeeded to another, till, as
I the watching time of night" ap-
/ preached, and the fire burned low,
the ciIele instinctively drew closer to-
gether, with thrills and shudders OF
( strange spiritual dread, which is yet
akin to the keenest Pleasure-an awe
some joy, an exquisite terror. The
B solemn sOughing of the winds among
the pines, heard in the pauses of ghost
{ ly recitals, added it, wOnderOus, wierd
effect to the theme.
Just as young John Percival had
concluded a wild German legened,
/ which he declared splendid stuff for
dreams,n the outside door was heard
/ to open suddenly. 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 looking strangely pure, and cold,
aud luminous, like inearnated moon
light.
with the glide of spirit, she came
! forward. Her feet were gu te bare.
and her arms were dropping wearily.
/ Masses of fair hair fell over her shOul-
ders, but her eyes weredarR and fixed
with a melancholy stare. Her lips
were slightly parted and almost color
! less. She came into the circle about
I the hearth, and there uaused, stand-
! ing utterly mOtionless-a beautiful,
appalling figure.
! For u moment, all the startled group
remained as silent as that strange
visitOr-then one young girl caught
! her breath in a hysterical scream,
which was instantly answered by n
( cry from the pale lips of the woman
/ in white,n into whose blank eye
/ rushed wild, keen light. she gazed
about her in terror and bewilderment.
then glanced down upon herself, and
sunk covering upon the floor, cover
/ ing her face with her hands, and Civ
/ ing way to a childish paradOxysm OF
weeping.
/ The farmers wife, a woman of rare
/ sense and presence of mind; at once
/ divined the truth
''She is a sleep-walkerw she said
"She must be half dead with the eOldl
! Girls. bring some wrappings!"
/ Immediately all was hustle. The
| farmer and his son diScreetly vanish
ed fIOm the scene and the kind moth
eT, daughter, and niece devoted them
selves to their bewildered charge, who
still wept and sObbed under their kind
n'inistratiOns, but declared that she
! felt no cold and no pain, though her
delicate feet were actually bleedine
/ from her long walk up the icy hillside
and over the cTusted snow.
After having been tenderly put To
bed, however, she became sufficiently
composed TO reply to the few Ques-
tiOns put to her. She said she was
Lucy Ellet, the niece of the village
I fphySician-that she had lately been
! taken from school, on account of ner-
| vOusness, and sent to him for medical
/ treatment, but that hOmesicknesS and
/ loneliness had made her worse. She
had occasionally walked in her sleep
( before, but only about the house and
grounds at home, and on summer
moonlight nights. "I think the moon
bewitched me, she said, smiling thrO'
( her tears. That night she had, before
/ going to bed, looked across the little
! valley to the pleasant house on the
/ hill, watched the cheerful Christmas
lights cleaning through the pine
Z trees, and lOnged to be one of the
happy party there, though she was a
stranger to all.
/ She had cried herself TO sleep. she
said, and that was q ! she knew of her
mysterious midnight ttrampOversnOw
and stones and ice. Not "a memory,
not a thought could she recall till the
moment when she found herself stand
! ing on that hearth. in her night-dres>
with so many wondering eyes fixed
+ upon her.
! 80 deari what did you think of me?
What can you think of me?" she
mOaned.
! Never mind what we think of you,
my poor child" said good, mOtherly
/ Mrs. Percival, 1--WE love you already,
so Just drink this nice ginger tea, and
go to sleep"
'sThe poor ehiId' got a little natur-
al sleep, and in the morning appeared
} somewhat less ghOstly than the appa-
& r Int zhaa
was still very pale with playful shy,
I grieved look. She was suffering less
I than was expected from the exposure,
/ but more from the nervous shock OF
/ the night before, and by the advice of
her uncle. who had been summoned,
consented to remain with her new
| friends for a few days.
Young John Percival was hOspita-
/ bly, kind to the invalid guest, not
/ seeming to perceive that she shTapk
! from his attentions i'm a sensitive, dis
quieted way. Yet when his eye was
( not on her, she was Ob-ervPd to study
( his face with a peculiar inquiring ex-
preston. She could not remember
! having seen that face at the fearful
moment of her awakening, and she
7 hoped he had not been a witness of
that walking trance, which she re-
| garded with absolute horror.
! Finally, on the last day of her visit.
! finding herself alone with him for a
moment, under desperate impulse,
/ she asked:
did you too see me that night, Mr..
| Percival?"
He was touched by the tremhle in
| the voice and the wistful look in her
dark eyes; but he answered honestly:
"I cannot deny that didsee you.
! 80 sir! what must yCu have thO't?'
Thought l thought If
ghosts would always come in such
shapes, I would never fear them
more"
The shy smile and rosy blush that
| his playful answer called forth seemed
! first to reveal TO the young eOllegian
the pale. sad vision of the night as a
/ lovely fiesh-and- blood reality.
1 never heard of Lucy Ellet ''revis-
iting the glimpses of the moon" as a
sOmnamDulist after this, but l did
hear that on another Christmas night
she stOOn on the hearth of the old
farmhouse, dressed all in white, in
/ the midst of the same family circle,
and that she gazed about her, and said,