The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1871-11-30

Shultas came In.
"Now, ladies, shall have the honor Of
escorting you up stairs.
The doctors wife and / followed him.
The grand staircase had once been beauti-
full; uow i, was defaced with whitewash.
81 beg You will not mind any noises
you may hear" said the host pausing al
the door; "those rooms on the opposite
side of the hall are filed with bats
A cry Of horror escaped Ice. Mrs. Par.
malice covered it by careless laugh.
al know what Java is Of old" she said
and we were left alone
A candle stood under its shade on o ia
BILE rudely and hastily draped. A glass
fronted US, in which my face looked no,
only pale but distorted, by reason ofimper-
fections on the surface of the mirror.
The room was very large, and frightened
by four tail windows that overlooked q
wide veranda. The bed, an enormous four
poster, was covered by flowing mosquito
net. The floor was bare and white A
few chairs in poor preservation, few au-
tique chests black with age, table or two,
a huge basket, full of linen, bundle in
one corner, completed its meagre furniture.
Well! J" said the doctors wife, and sat
down, laughing. The woman had no
nerves.
For Heavens sake, don't laugh!"
reioined. This is the most forlorn hope
of an establishment have seen yet
! She took me to the window.
Great splashes of dew silvered the leaves
of cabbage palm that grew near the bal
cony; fowers-scarlct, yellow and white
patches of level emerald the canal, glisten-
ing like hoar-frost; a hut under magnolia
tree-the whole vivid splendor of the night
revived my tagging spirits.
cts horrible place though. What
did they mean by that story? A dead
woman in the house won't sleep here;
not wink. Is that man. S dead wife down
cellar 2"
Yes, and l thought he had more
sense, said the doctors wife, gloon,ing
"She was there the last time we came
here; had just died, poor soul Then he
thought of returning to England in a
month. 1t is queer story" she went on
under her breath. "There's magnificent
octoroon somewhere near here-her name
is Celia Terry-weu educated and worth
money. He loves her; she won't live as
his mistress; he don't want to lose caste by
making her his wife. Poor wretch
don't see but he is in as bad fix as he
can be-what with his ague aud his unre-
Quilted love. But there is the bell!''
81 can't eat ! l won't 90 down! l
shall die!' cried, catching my breath.
Come, come! no nervosties; you'll
have hysteria next said the doctors wife,
handing me her smelling salts "Since We
are here, let's make the best of it. De-
pend upon it you'll feel better to o-morrow."
Ipas- over the supper; it was moro than
fair, with it's delicious fruits, cold meats
and custards. Peppcrpot, the giant, help
ed US, scowling all the time, and looking
ready to eat us up.
The doctor and cousin Dyas were to
sleep in small room adjoining ours, with
the door open. Fortunately the locks were
in good repair. The bats Numbered in
the walls; unearthly cries sounded in every
quarter; a white owl looked in at the
window like deaths head My nerves
were SO thoroughly shaken that was ready
for any amount Of ghostly experience. We
had lighted two nightwicks, but the moon
shone them into darkness, so that they
seemed to float uselessly in their cups of
aromatic oil.
Worse than all the fine flowing net was
sham. The bed swarmed with mosuui-
toes, and the quay curtains were full of
rents and holes.
Clearly there was to be no sleep for me
that night. Sometimes l sat up fighting
the insects with my handkerchief, and
almost envyiGg the doctors wife, who slept
serenely, with her large lace vail fastened
over her face by the four corners of her
pillow.
The ceiling of the room had strange,
peculiar fascination for me. In the centre
was corniced square, much discolored It
looked to me like a trap-door. In the
weird moonlight it seemed continually
moving to and fro; but that, of course, was
fancy.
l thought of that dead woman down
stairs; heard footsteps-tramp, tramp
sounds as Of human voices in the atmos-
phere.
Suddenly something happened.
The board within the cornice did move
Ny strength deserted me utterly. l tried
to touch the doctors wife. | strove to
speak to her. In vain; was like a dead
woman.
Another moment and light rope ladder
was thrown down. II touched one of the
bed-posts, and ratified a little. An icy
perspiration broke out on me from head to
foot. l thought was dying but still /
retained the power Of vision.
\ light 6suro clothed in white swung at
the opening above me, ciutching st the
boards, then a. the rope. 1t struggled for
footing, swinging round with the e1ertion,
and then, slowly descending caught at the
bed-post, and stood upright, painting for
breath
1t was woman, dark, beautiful wo-
man. Her long, glossy hair, uncoiled and
curling, covered her as with rope, Her
eyes were lustrous and dewy; her arms
bare and superbly shaped. Never in all
my life, before or since, have | seen face
to compare with that-the swimming, dark