The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1870-05-12

felt warm. Intuition told me they
had turnedto gouts fblood as they fell
Il needed no light to satisfy myself of
that. Then 1 saw paid faces, dimly
luminous, and white uplifted hands,
floating bodiless through the air
floating a moment and then disap-
pearing. The whispering ceased, and
the voices and sounds, and solemn
stiffness followed. l waited, and
! listened. / felt that l must have light
or die. I was weak with fear.y !
slowly raised myself toward a sitting
posture, and my face came in contact
with clammY hand! All strength
went from me, apparently. Then l
heard the rustic of garment-lt
seemed to pass to the door and go out.
When everything was still once
more, I crept out of bed, sick and fee
BILE, and lit the gas, with hand that
trembled as though it were aged with
a hundred years. The light brought
some little cheer to my spirits. I sat
down and fell into dreamy contem-
plation of the great footprint in the
ashes. By and by its outlines began
to waver ond grow dim. glanced
up and the broad gas flame was slow
| ly willing away. AT the same mo-
ment / heard the elephantic tread
again. 1 noted its approach, nearer
and nearer, along the musty halls, and
DINNER and DINNER the light waned.
The tread reached my very door and
paused-the light had dwindled to
sickly blue, and all things about me
lay in spectral twilight. The door
did not open, yet felt faint gust of
air fan my cheek, and presently was
conscious of huge, cloudy presence
before me. / watched it with fasci-
mated eyes. A pale glow stole over
the Thing; gradually its cloudy folds
took shape-an arm appeared, then
legs, then a body and last a great, sad
face looked out Of the yapor. Stripped
of its filmy housings, naked, muscular
and comely the majestic Cardiff Giant
loomed above me!
All my misery vanished-for child
might know that no harp came-with
that benignantn countenance. My
cheerful spirits returned at once, and
in sympathy with them the gas jets
famed up brightly again. Never lone
ly outcast was so glad to welcome
company as was to greet the friendly
giant. said zr.rt.,f - ..,.,-, aae
"Why, its nobody but you? Do
you know have been scared to death
for the last two or three hours? q am
most honestly glad to see you. 1 wish
had chair. Here, here, don't
try to sit down in that thing!'
But it was too late. He was in it
before could stop him, and down he
went. 1 never saw a chair shivered
so in my life. 85 7siso fs4s.sr.t s baA
"Stop, stop, you'll ruin ev-"
Too late again. There was another
| crash, and another chair was reduced
to its original elements. n, ...sr.-r 81 X
"Confound it, haven't you got any
judgement at all? Do you want to
ruin all the furniture on the. place !?
Here, here, you petrified fool"
Rut it was no use. Before I could
arrest him he had sat down upon the
bed, and it was melancholy ruin.
"Now, what sort of way is that
to do? First, you come numbering
about the place bringing legion of
vagobond goblins along with you to
worry me to death, and then when I
overlook an indelicacy of costume
which would not be tolerated any
where by cultivated people, except in
respectable theatre, and not even
there if the nudity were of your sex,
you pay me by wrecking all the fur
niture you can find to sit down on.
And why will you? You damage
yourself as much as you do me. You
have broken off the end of your
spinal column, and Uttered up the
floor with chips off your hams till the
place looks like marble yard. You
ought to be ashamed of yourself-you
are big enough to know better"
"Well, will not break any more
furniture. But what ami to do? 1
have not had chance to sit down for
a century" And the tears came into
his eyes.
"Poor devil" I said, az should not
have been so harsh, with you. And
you are an orphan, too, no donbt.
Bnt sit down on the floor here-noth-
ing else can stand your weight-and
besides we cannot be sociable with
you away up there above me; 1 want
you down where i can perch on this
high counting house stool and gossip
with you face to face"
So he sat down on the floor and lit
pipe which I gave him, threw one
of my bed blankets over his shoulders
inverted my sitz-bath on his head, he'll
met fashion, and made himself pictur-
esque and comfortable. Then he
crossed his ankles, while I renewed
the fire, and exposed the flat, honey
combed bottoms of his prodigious
feet to the grateful warmth. s@ 7is sa5.s
"What is the matter with the bot
tom of you feet and the back of your
legs that they are gouged up SOP"
Internal chilblains-Ie caught them
clear up to the back of my head, roost-
ing out there in NeweH's farm. But
1 love the place; love it as one loves
his home. There is no peace for me
like the peace feel when 1 am there"
We talked along for half an hour
and then noticed that he looked