The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1870-10-27

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work. A dozen thieves aod robbers
might be hiding all around US not to
speak Of the Beverly ghost that had o.
right to haunt this place, SO stored with
relics Of the past. I could have no
peace Of mind till I was out of it, and
SO I Vas willing to accept Chi's theory,
whether I believed it q not. But he
was rummaging among the papers.
f.; II want to see. what these are first.
Help me to pick them up, Marjorie"
'b;;4"t what can you waot Of them ? OLD
,law-rapers, old bills, and receipts. Do
leave, them, Chi" ..:,:.
s,' "'Not IT,! he answered gayly. "Who
knows but we may fnd Uncle Chiches-
;ter's will among them? Stranger
things have happened.
=, And half laughing, half earnestly,
be persisted in gathering up the whole
mass, and in spite Of my shaking terrors,
cody waited to tie them In a bundle
with a bit Of string that lay con'enient-
sIy! near. j
: d l"Now then, Marjorie" putting his
arm around mo again, to my io6oite
comfort-I was so mortally afraid when
I felt myself actually under his wing
-!-"we'll go down and investigate our
discovery. And you needn't shiver go,
little goose; I'll protect you from your
burglar and your ghost too,"
:. notwithstanding which assurance, l
was a4thankful when we reached the foot
of the staircase, and shut and locked
the door behind US. Still more thank
full when, the long corridor traversed,
we met Jerusha and her husband at
the head of the main staircase, each
with candle in one hand aud poke:
in The other. They were shaking with
fear, in spite Of the pokers, and their
old teeth chattered 10 their heads as
they poured out questions and CON-
:ments about the disturbance.
:: "Nebber got such skeer-not since
ole mass die" Josephus cried, his old
grizzle-head shaking to and fro
chords sake, Mas Chi, what ,oas dat
| noise? Fought de ole roof was tum'lin'
on our hea5s!"
l.;>."It was nothing but cat," Chi an
| swered, cheerfully. "You can 60 back
to bed, Uncle Joe +; there's no robber
and nothing damaged but an old desk
The cat knocked it down and smashed
it, and we found these papers in the
| ruins. Now we are going into the Ii
brary to look them over fire isn't out
yet, is it?'
"No, honey, but lord bress you! is
you sure dey sin't muffin wrong up
dar2" Jerusha calculated "'Pears
like twas an awful noise for dc cat to
make"
"Why it was great heavy old desk,
I tell you," Chi exclaimed. "1t was
tipped back on two legs, and l only
wonder it never toppled over before.
1t was easy for the cats weight to up
set it, and Of course it made a big noise
when it fell"
"Was it ole mas'r's desk Z" asked
Jerusha, eagerly. ode ole ting dat was
broken open when he died, to find his
will ?"
81 II don't know any thing about that, "
said Chi ''It was broken desk, and
| it stood back Of the last arch, at the
far end of tae garrett"
d, s.Irs de berry one, sure's you're
born" Jerusha cried, exactly; "it used
to he in his room, and when he was
dying be tole de minister his will was in
dat desk. Dey hunten all over for it
| you know, Mas Cham dey broke all
de- inside out oh the ole desk, but dey
nebber found no will. An den de,
said. he was dreaming when he tole de
minister an de ole desk was carried of
up garret. S'pose twas olo mas'r's
ghost-Lord, Miss Marcy"
Jerusha's eyes seemed ready to pop
out Of their staring white circles, and
old Josephus shrunk together till he
looked more than ever like shrivelled-
up persimmon, at this awful suggestion.
Even Chi was little startled there is
vain of superstition in the bravest
men and as for me, I lost all the rem
nant Of courage 1 had retained. I clung
to him, imploring: :-'.'
"'"Come down stairs, for Heavens
sake, Chi-somewhere where there's a
= FIRE aud a light, aud We can see what's
around Us. L shall die Of fright up
her" !" 81: -, .:.~
So We went, and fresh logs were piled
on the smouldering fire in the library,
and blazing lightwood knots sent their
bright glow into the farthest corners of
the spaciouslold room. Lighted candles
added to the brilliance, aud in the
CHEEKY illumination We gathered cour-
ags again, and Chi began the examiu-
alton Of his papers, which had certainly
acquired very vivid interest for all Of
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