The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-03-12

nsre sne was interrupted by the guidman,
whos like hersaf. had been awakened by
the first alarm but. in coming into the
kischsn. and hearing e0ly Jeek and her
ooavssias tegsthsr, he had theught il. best
to dress himseH before be entsrsa upen an
Investigation Of tina matter. He was now
at the bedsids, however, and anxious to
learn whst bad occasioned such an uproar
And Jock, who had been partly recovered
from bis terror by Nelly's presence. and
partly by her assurance that she would be-
come bis wih. .tSther than sse him carried
away BY his aPirihnal lfbe, began to give
them a most sublime account Of the ghost.
Gamma cell ye hoo 10 cam n,'' said he,
I " for it was i the middle O. the floor afore
l was waukie. But when I first opened
my cen, there it stood wi three or four
windin-sheets about it, and its head rowed
up IN white clout. and its face and its
hands hantle whittier than either the wipdin-
shset or the clOut-only / thought I saw
some earth stickin on that side O its nose
that was farrest frae the icht. But what
was thousand times waur than a. that, it
had a cannel in its hand that micht weel
hae terrified a hale army O. sodgers; and I
aye think yet,-it had been the deevil him
sci, and Lac ghaist, for the camel had just
. wee peek O white low i the middle, and
n round the edges it burned as blue as a
blawort, and bizzed and spitted, and threw
out sparks like blue starns. And after it !
telled me what I've telled you, it gae the
camel wave round its bead, and then the
bale hoose, was, roof, and riggin, gaed a
in blue low; and | saw the ghaist fee up |
through the couple bauks as clear as ever / |
saw the Owsen afore me when the sun was
shinin But could stand nae mair, for |
steekit my cen, and Tn sure | lay dead
for near an !.our. But when cam to life
again, the hale house was filled wi smell
o brimstane that would putten down a. the
bees '-skeps i the yard and my richt hand
was burnin just as if ye had dippit it in
tar-kettle, and then set lunt tilt; but it
Waur ten times waur than tar, for il had
the smell O. brimstane, and il would scarce
" gang out. The pain CARED me roar as
l never roared in o my life afore and I'm
sure I'll never forget the relief ! felt when
Nelly came to see what had happened"
AS an evidence of the truth of this &C
count, Jock showed them his hand, upou
which a portion Of the skin was really
burned rs black an cinder The good
man and the goodwife, both Of whom were
now present, stood at this circumstance /; but
Nelly, who had evinced a considerable de-
gree of cowposure in this trying scene, now
appeared less dismayed.
Hoot, man !" said she, addressing
Jock. dinna gang out o your wits though
ye've gotten a fear mony aBe has seen II
ghaist, and lived to see their BARNS BARNS
after sac may ye, if ye would only tax
heart again" II
90 Nelly, Nelly" said Jock, ct
micht maybe tax heart, if ye would only
promise faithfully. afore Witnesses, to let
yoursel be married next week" Il
"What need L promiss, = rejoined Nelly,
when, for onything l ken, may be
gaun to see Lzzy Gimmerton the naoyn's
1aicht!''
''Oh dear oh dear % CALCULATED Jock.
Again the terrible denunciation of the ghost ,
rang in bis ears, and again he groaned in
an agony Of despair. But here the master |
and mistress interposed in his behalf, and,
by their mediation, Nelly was at last
Drought to consent to that important change {
in her condition which alone would save I
him from perditiOn. She still insisted,
however, on making conditions and these
were, first, that be should not 90 to mar I
ket except when be had some business to {
transact second, that, upon these occa-
s,oro ba Sho,,ld aIwovo k~ko hor aloun -;kh Il
him, if she was willing to go; hird, that {
be should never enter upon any important 1
concern without first apprising her of it {
and, fourth, that he should always come I
home to his own 6reside when his days |
work was done. II
These conditions were readily subscribed I
by Jock, or, which is the same thing, they !
were agreed to before witnesses, after which
Nelly frankly consented 70 be his wife.
When this had been settled, she would
have made out another set Of conditions,
specifying what her own conduct was to be,
and what be might expect of her in certain
situations but Jock had determined on
making an unconditional surrender of him
self and bis effects into her bands and all
she was permitted to say was, that "she
would do her best to max guild wife to
him."
Matters were thus far satisfactorily ad-
justed hut still Jock could not rest till his
promised bride was cOntrocket, as he pbrased
it; and, to free his mind from those re-
mains of terror under which be still labored,
the master of the house went in quest OF
the dominic as soon as daylight began to
appear. Dominies are seldom slow in these
matters contract Of marriage was forth
with drawn up in the usual form due
proclamation Of their intentions was made
in the church next Sabbath and, as the
case was an urgent one, they were cried out
in the same day. On Monday the mar
riage was solemnised in becoming man
ner and, when the parties were put to bed,
Jock, who had up to that moment been
rather feverish on the subject Of the ghost,
declared that be wasna feared moo"
Had this marriage been brought about
by ordinary means, it might have staggered
some of the lieges in their faith-at least
it must have taxed their ingenuity to recon
cile the event, happening as it bad done, in
the face of plain prediction, with the un-
limited power which the witches certainly
possessed but, as it was, the matter needed
no comment. The decision Of the witch
had evidently been reversed in the court of
the ghosts, who from being a superior Or
der, had power to do such things; and thus
Nelly Kilgour had got husband, even
after she had been predestined, by the
former Of these authorities, to life Of sim
gle blessedness.
Jock had also good reason to congratu-
late himself on the Intervention Of his
spiritual .triend-the ghost being no longer