Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-12-28

ever, GEAR tO1y, SalQ, as returned
to her "Those two old idiots hav,
taken you for ghost, and they'll rais
the village"
"Oh, dear! What will become o
usl What are we to do?" she an
swered.
Face it out bragely,' I said, a
seizing a rope, / began to ring on,
of the bells. Ding, dong. ding, dong
ding, dong!"
Whatever are you doing, Willis?
Sounding the tocsin, Poliy-ring
ing the alarm bell. Go back into tha
recess, and muffie yourself up as wei
as you can" Ding, dong ding, dong
"The garrison is waking, see " Dine
dong ding And, looking through
the loophole, I saw lanterns fiittinf
about in the garden of the Grange, and
I could hear voices shouting at a dis
tance.
In a few minutes reinforcements
will arrive, the citadel will be stormed
and we shall be restored to our anx.
ious friends.
ooh, Willis, what disturbance We
are making! And what will papa say
This adventure Will be the talk of the
village for years, and / shall be asham-
ed to show my face in it again.
" Uncle George will only laugh a!
the joke" Irejoined +" and as to being
ashamed to show your face in the vii,
lage, come to London with me, and be
my own dear little wife And I
flung myself on my knees on that
cold stone floor of the abominable bel
fry. "Polly! adore you, Polly ]
am your devoted slave. One little
word from you will make me the hap
piest of men,
'Sir, [ am ashamed of you. This is
not the time for such nonsense. -
"Polly, do you consider my love
nonsense? Listen to me for moment.
Refuse me and I'll do something des-
perate I'll throw up the law, and en-
list as common soldier Tn-Tll-n
" Hark !" she cried.
There was roar of many voices be-
meath, and, looking down, I saw a
crowd of villagers armed with rakes,
boes, shovels, spades and pitchforks.
Presently I heard the voice of Uncle
George say
" A ghost, eh Don't believe word
of it. What cock-and- story is all
this-eh? A sovereign to the first man
who goes up the belfry"
&C [ doan't want your money, zquire
and [ bean't frightened O. ghoasts-zo
here goes" said Abraham White, one
of Uncle Georges men.
':.Tak' care, Abraham, tax care
TAX the pitchfork wi ye. Mayhap the
ghoast may do ye yum arm, said a
woman's voice. ssTak' the piitcl fork,
and then ye can gle tn ghoast crack
DER the head wi un"
{" Come along, my lads, it's all
fancy !" cried Uncle George. "It's
my belief there's nothing there.
So, in order to convince him, [ gave
the rope another vigorous pull.
"Whew! That's strange :" he cried.
/" That bell did not ring itself. Follow
me, lads"
"Aye, aye, sir, was the reply.
Then [ heard him mount the steps,
and rattle the wooden door.
"Who's there y he shouted.
Something prompted me to have a
Joke at his expense so, in reply, /
gave loud howl, something between
q yell and shriek-an accomplishment
I had learned at school. Away scudded
Uncle George, five steps at time, fol-
lowed by his five supporters.
"By Jove! No mortal made that
sound, I'll wager" I heard him say.
And again tugged at the bell. Ding,
dong! ding, dong! ding, dong
"Ten pounds to the man who breaks
open the door y said Uncle George.
"Gi'e us hold of your zhovel, Jacob.
Ghoast or no ghoast, I'll soon have 'un
out" said Abraham White
"That's I" right, my lad; I like your
pluck, shouted my uncle "'Pon my
word, this matter is getting Interestingly
And, Immediately afterwards, the
door was attacked with heavy blows by
the besiegers.
Somewhat fearful of the result, I
whispered to Polly
'Retire upstairs few steps, while
l capitulate."
For the truth was, [ was afraid that
the first man who entered, if he caught
sight of her white dress, might brain
her with his shovel. Seeing that she
was out of danger, I shouted
"Hallo, there What are you max
ing all that noise about, eh. !"
"Why, that's Willis's voice.! 2" ex-
claimed Uncle George.
"Of course it is, uncle; ndssthere's
somebody else here as we'll"
The door at this moment gave way,
discovering Polly and myself
ooh, papa, dear, don't be angry
she cried
"Angry! What have [ got to be an
cry for, Ell? But how on earth did you
get up there? Come, tell me all about
it. Why, what's that you're wrapped
up in? Ha, ha, ha! You're beauty
now, and no mistake !"
Poor Polly certainly cut rather &
queer figure, as she was enveloped il
a dirty old sack that we had discovered
in corner of the belfry; and her hands
face, and dress were smothered will
thick black dust
"Ha, ha, ha ! My dear, it's a shame
to laugh at you but I really can't hell
it. Bless me! howcold you are! Come
wrap yourself up in my coat, and wei
go indoors at once"
In few moments I had explained
the whole affair to Uncle Georges sat
isfaction and 1 never heard a maj
laugh more herrtily.
DWELL, friends" he said, turning tx
the villagers, "you see there was NJ
ghost after all. SO come up to til,
Grange, and have something to warn
you, before you go home again"
"Three cheers for the squire anC
Miss Mary, and long life and a merr,
Christmas to 'em! :" was the reply.
"And now, David and Giles" crie(
my uncle, addressing the beli-ringers
"pull away with a will, and ring out
merry Christmas peal on the grand ole
bells; and let us hope that no wors
ghosts than these will ever be seen il
Merton belfry on Christmas Eve.
I repeated my offer tosa,Polly the YER
next day; and what do you think wa
her reply9
"Ill give you your answer, sir, tn
next time we are locked up together o.
Christmas Eve in a helfry -