Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1871-11-18


) surprise at my recital, merely re
marking that they had often beeI
troubled by the appearance of thi
curious gaseous object, but they nev
er could discover the cause; ; and a
the Doctor had said that it was per
tectly innOxious, they had given i
no further attention. | inquired i
there was not cellar underneath IN,
apartment, and | suggested tha
there might be some decayed vege
table matter likely to generate sucl
a miasma deposited there. At al
events ! considered it by no mean,
wholesOme, Mrs. Marston replied
that there was a cellar that ran for {
considerable distance under the
house, but they had never used it
having a more convenient one in The
wing Of the building-which wing
have before described, Nothing
more was said on the subject till VIZ
met at the tca-table, when | inquired
ofthe Doctor for his solution of the
mystery. lie evinCcd no more sur.
prise than his wife at my inquiries
regarding my mysterious visitor
lie said that he could really give Inc
no satisfactory explanation of the
phenomenon, and wound up the sub.
jcctin his reserved way by suggesting
thatitwas snotat all likely that ! would
be troubled in the like way again,
left the table dissatisfied and annoy
ed. | had just fled from palpablc
pcstilcnce, and this seemed to be the
coming shadow of it, However,
time wore on, and | saw no more OF
what reminded me 50 strongely of
the Fisherman and the Gcnii in the
Arabian Nights, with the absence OF
my vcxation, my good humor and
chcerfulncss returned.
My children's chamber overhead
was sort Of study and play-room,
where most of their morning hours
were passed with book and pencil.
My youngest daughter inherited
from her father a remarkable talent
for drawing, which ! had always en-
cOuraged, for her development in the
art was really wonderful in one so
young. | loved to sit in my little
parlOr and listen to the merry pcals
of childish laughter called forth by
some mirth-exciting sketch, or, more
likely, caricature, for children are
naturally satirists. One morning
missed the usual honest, Jolly laugh
ter, and my ear was offended by an
uncouth sort Of gibbcring and gig
Cling, which was as offensive as it
was unaccountablc. | rose to re-
prove my pets for indulging in such
folly, when they suddenly entered
my room, looking startled and
troubled.
Mamma" " said Nellie, my baby
artist, "whlt is that funny noise? !?
We heard it before, and | don't like
it, mamma, for Just now it was close
to our door. "
This piece Of strange intelligence
was confirmed by the elder girls,
and as | had never known them in
their lives to deviate from the truth,
| confess | was quite as puzzled as
was the children themselves. They
had never before expressed a fear Of
anything. Having them always uu-
der my own supervision, they had
escaped that dangerous association
with servants which so often forms,
or rather dcforms the characters OF
children. The ignorant delight in
the marvellous, and story loses
nothing by repetition, | have al
ways observed the more ignorant
the relator, the larger the spectre and
the louder the supernatural footballs
always the accompanying horrors
Of u servants tradition.
There is no born fear in children.
What they have never heard of, they
certainly can never fear. | laughed
at the little ones, and then laughed
1cih them, at their underlined suspi-
cion of something startling and un-
usual, But when after while | re-
Elected | began to think there was
something wrOng-something |
could not fathom--and | made up
my mind that, Oh a recurrence Of the
mornings events, | would leave the
house at once. felt convinced that
some one was practicing on our Gre
dulity, and | was determined that the
Chirdren should be neither annoyed
nor terrified. Then !he question
presented itself, Who is the mischic-
vous elf playing Off this farce, and
what the motive? Was there no one
save ourselves under the roof, but
the Doctor, his wife and daughter,
and a servant-maid, stout, steady
Scotch woman, who seemed to live
amost entirely in the little wing OF
the house, and who, though evident
" sort of servant houseGecper,
looked to staid and sensible to in
dulge in any prank of this sort. Be-
sides, she seemed too fond Of chill
dren, and when, on one or two oc-
Casions, she had encountered my
"wee BARNS" as she called them, her
manner was exceedingly kind and
tender. | had always entertained
the utmost contempt for practical
Joking, and to play upon the fears of
any one, especially children, was a
crime in my eyes never to be forgiv-
en-. Now, then, what to do?-for ]
felt that something must be done,
and that Immediately. My suspi-
cions leaned towards the daughter;
and as suspicion is always very mar
row and illiberal, l attributed her
reserve and melancholy manner to
thia extraordinary and uuteellng
phase of monomania into which her
mind had drifted. My resolve was
formed. sent the children for a
ramhle, (knowing there is no nerve
tome like fresh air and sunny skies,)
and prepared myself to see Mrs.
MarstOn at once. While making
some little addition to my morning
toilet, Iagain heard the same mean
inglcss laughter. This reused me,
and | turned to leave the room pre-
cipitately, when a sight met my eyes
which | shall never forget. stand
ing III the doorway were two chill
drCn, | should Judge from ten to
twelve years of age. The girl was
entirely without clothing, but her
beautiful dark hair, reaching nearly
10 her knees, covered her like a veil.
THO boy had some light garment ON
Ii 1 unnnnrl,r Inll ~ hnI I'm, IL