The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1869-03-12

ing to such narrow dimensions as hardly
TO leave room for two people TO pass. Va
rious cross passages branched from II,
leading to cellars, and disused lumber
holds 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 ono door.
mo man is wise at oil times" says the
proverb, and no man is brave nj all times,
says /. To tell tho truth, l felt unusually
nervous, and experienced a very unpleas-
ant sensation in the indefinite apprehension
that l might $50 something, l knew not
what.
had n mind to turn back. but I dreaded
my fathers jokes and my sisters laughter.
I well knew my mother, dear soul, would
stick up" for me, but that would not in
huence the other two, so / screwed up my
courage and went on. carefully feeling nv
way by the wall. On reaching one of the
doors Just mentioned, / cautiously threw it
open. Heaven and earth, there stood But
terhee ! Yes, there was nc mistake about IL
this time; there was the veritable, dreaded
Butterfee, in oil the awful horrors of
ohostly majesty His whole body glowcd
like a q red-hot mass Of iron; he appeared
TO float in the air; his head, brighter and
more vivid than the rest of his body,
touched the ceiling; his feet we're some
way, but not iar of, from the floor, his
ewes. oh dear ! oh dear their burning,
fiery expression was altogether too much
for me. stood ~motionless, %transfxed
with terror and amazement, my soul we'll
nigh 'harrowed mp" and leach particular
hair" no doubt standing on end
I had no sooner beheld the terrible ap-
partition than my ears were saluted with q
dull, screaming groan, which sounded
through the passage. There was q rnsh,as
ola stormy wind, and the ghost of Batter
fee swung toward me, as il to clasp me in
his hideous embrace. / cried with a loud
voice, and fed in frantic haste in the di-
rection of the parlor, into which / rushed.
exclaiming, rs 7 fell into my mothers
arms, "Butterflee's ghost ! Butterflee's
ghost"
NV mother looked rs frightened asI was,
80 did my sister, who showed signs Of
going Off into a real faint; but my faith
or as he snatched mp q candle, and went
hastily out Of the room into the passage,
merely said, what an MSS that boy isr
No doubt, good reader, You quite agree
with my father; but, allow me to ask, did
YOU ever see q ghost ? Or (whRt is Just the
thing, so far rs the fright goes), did
you ever think you saw a ghost? Did you
ever stand face to face with one, close on
board Of YOU, hear his awful groan, and
see him advance, as you verify thought, to
seize you in his nrms2 II you never did,
then you know nothing ut all about II, and
are not entitled to ''write me down an
"r even to give an opinion OF so inn
portnnt n subject.
The other phenomena were the joint pro-
duction Of Thomasina (called Tamuy for
shortness) the housemaid, our man Joseph,
and my W imagination. Tammy and
Joe we're n loving couple. and if you went
To look for one you were pretty sure TO
find the other not far of. Their story
was that they had been 10 the cellar TO
draw some cider for supper-they had TAX
en- a candle with them, but some how or
other it had gone o%ut-blown out by the
wind, as they said, and every one
of course, believed them. The groan
was the complaint Of the rusty hinges
of the cellar door-the rushing sound was
well, l don't think hat was ever ~satisfac-
torily explained; but the dash of Butternes
into my arms was occasioned by Miss Tam
my, who very cleverly contrived TO fall over
Joseph, and, clutching at the great Ash 10
herself, sent il swinging through the
darkness in the direction of myself.
/ have been east and west many a long
mile since then. and in many a far distant
country, and have seen many a sight, not
only Of wonder, but Of horror, too; | have
faced perils by land, and perils by water,
but / can safely say that non ever gave me
such an awful turn as the terrible appari-
ton of BUTTERFLIES Ghost.