The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1871-07-05

be pruned, the walks cleared of grass
: and the house refurniahed.
"What kind Of man vas this D,
Marsh 2" asked Kate, becoming strange
ly interested III the life of one who ha
thus been left desolate in his old age
without a single one to love, and ba,
even died away from familiar scene
f-closed his eyes as he had lived
alone.
Gle was strange man, MISS" re
piled the woman. zone day he would
meet, and stop and speak to you, ant
be all gentleness and tenderness ant
the next would pass along withou
looking either right or left, and witt
his eyes fixed upon the ground. Bless
your heaat, but he was a strange man
-one who turned night into day, and
was often wandering in the graveyard
at the very hour when ghosts are
abroad;" and the old woman crossed
herself devoutly, and shuddered at the
thought of disembodied spirits roaming
around at will.
"And of course strange stories were
in circulation about him 7"
eyes; but he was good to the poor,
and though they all feared him, they
loved him."
| "And the house ~
"Part of it had a bad name-was said
to be haunted, and we often heard
strange noises while living there
But, to be sure, we kept all the doors
locked and keyholes stopped, and had
horse shoes nailed over them.n
"To keep the ghosts away ." asked
Kate, with an amused smile.
Certainly. No witches or evil spir-
its can come where such things are--if
you find the horse shoes.n
"Then you know little about the
house 2"
"Nothing except the rooms we occu-
pied; there was story that man was
once seen to enter it who never came
out !! But l wouldn't have gone into
the cellar or garnet for all the gold
thereis in the whole world"
"Yet, you do not think DR.. Marsh
was a bad man 2"
"No, only queer. Folks did say that
he had all kinds of bones and things in
the room he used for study"
"sEhat do you mean by stl,ingsg"
"Stuffed birds and snakes, and such
like"
"There is nothing strange in that for
naturalist; and most likely he was
one.''
"Then he wandered about so at
night, and never had any company;
and"
"This is all you can tell me 2"
eyes"
els there no one who knows more of
his history ~
"Not soul. We know him better
than any one else, and were with him
when he died. He didn't seem sorry
to go, but for one thing"
"What was that 2" asked Kate ca
gerIy.
~ don't rightly know, but he kept
muttering to himself, "If it was only
buried-if it was only buried -
"And you have no idea what he was
speaking Off.
"Not in the least, he was so close
mouthed. No, don't know any more,
but remember his last words, and they
have often haunted me and set me
thinking"
So they did Kate Vaughan. Long
after she had thanked the aged couple,
and made them happy by gift of
money that appeared large i'll their
eyes, she found herself thinking of the
strange character of the man and his
last words, "if it were only buriedm
: What could it possibly be Was he
a miser and dreaming of gold7 Il
Thought, however, brought no re-
lief, and only the more entangled het
in its subtle labyrinths; and every eff
fort to obtain information from other
sources failed. Those who had known
the doctor had either died or moved !
away, and the house had always been
a mystery to the neighbors. Even
when his wife and children had been
living, there appeared to be cloud
hanging over it. They studiously
avoided company, and none penetrated
farther than the little side room, where
the doctor was accustomed to receive
patients when absolutely necessary
But that, also, during the later years
Of his life, had been closed against Wis
tors; for he had given up aud entirely
refused to practice, save when it was
to avoid administering to
some poor wretch who otherwise would
have died before. another could be
Failure, however, only .nerved Kate
he more. She determined to explore
he house, and see if it would not give
tome cline tn fhe last xvOr1c of tha 1aol L