Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1872-10-24

perfect panic, never stopping till we
were back at the, tavern,
1--WE had sssl a ghost! And Tby the
nextdag everybody kneH it, and taiked
of nothing else.
- And when Sunday came, the con.
gregation in the church kept casting
,furitiye, glanees out into the church
yard, and at noon little GROUP were to
be seen examining the places where the
specter had appeared
~ Good Mr.. Granger was scandalized; and
all the deacons -espe cially old Deacon
Grover-denounced the tspook - as
mockery, or device of Satan"
But only the next night, as the worthy
deacon vas goingto oaA onyhis epastsr,,
the Shook suddenly rose from the path
lin front of him, and waved Him back.
At first the old man-if we may credit
his account-had withstood it, abiuring
it,in the7name ofsHeayen, to give place.
But 1t wouldnft bulge. And the deacon
had in the end fed back to his dwelling
in as great fright as we had fed from
the churehyard5 -
The last scare" was the signal for a
general hubbub throughout the parish.
Everyhody was on the lookout; and
during the next fortnight more than a
dozen persons lad gotta glimpse efsthe
spook. The most absurd and ridicu.
lous accounts were current respecting
it. The church-yar seemed to be the
favorite resort-AFriday nights at least.
Indeed, SO rampant grew the. stories
as to endanger the faith and spiritual
welfare of the church; so at least Par
son Granger thought. And after con-
sultation with his deacons, it was de-
cided that as Gods servant, it was
their duty to confront and appease the
spirit, if it were good one; or by'vir-
tue Of their piety and parochial Office,
to drive it off, if, as most suspected, it
was foul one. And, as the spook was
nearly nocturnal in its habits, and
must be met on fits own ground they
agreed to go to the church yard the
next Friday evening, and there con-
front" it.
Zeke and l heard of this decision, and
resolved to be of the party. Or as they
might VERY properly object to such an
concluded to follow them, unknown,
and watch the proceedings from some
safe covert. l really don't think we
would have cared to go there alone, but
With So many good Christians ahead
there would be little risk form case
of any sudden manifestations, we
Judged we could get off as fast as any of
them.
Il l well rec all that Friday evening.
Zeke and / were On the lookout, and
at eight o'clock saw Mr.. Granger and
his deacons sally forth from the par
sonage, and take their way to the
church yard =
The moon had not risen; and we fol.
Loved them unobseryed as far as the
gate, where we concealed ourselves in a
clump of raspberry bushes, in such a
way as to command a view of what
went on in the ward, through the chinks
in the fence. But the spook was in no
hurry; and for long time its would. be
interviewers had nothing better TO- do
than to sit on the tombstones and pace
up and down the walk through the CEN
ter of the yard.
An hour or two passed; out mean
while the moon rose, making it little
ASAtCI. 81 III
<siCall rather too early,,' whispered
Zeke.
""May not appear at all" said l.
- Another hour passed. We were be-
ginning to wish ourselves at home, when
sudden exclamation from Mr.. Gran
ger came to our ears sAas-z 3 - -
"Therel there t is" whispered
Zeke, pointing to distant corner of
4 IS SINE enppgh, jus .fplhsh emesang from
some low cedars which berdered one of
the lots, was, the form in white. For a
moment if paused, as if uncertain, then
giided Straight toward the intruding
party.
1asPause, spirit p'lcried Granger, ,ner-
vously; whether good Or evil, stand
sthl and answer vs. T. In
- And, witlfsolelhn gestures, the spook
came straight for the speaker, extending
its arms as if To clasp him. Mr.. Gran,
ger sfrgnk back upon the nearest
deacon, who shrank insthrn behind his
fellow. In short, theysalNsiiranIsS- and
by way of shrinking a little faster,
turned and ran. In a trice, and be-
fore NE eouldTget-sp outof the briers,
they were scampering eet-at the gate
with theNspeok not two reds behind
them.DNIHIi(1 III
We crouched down and watched with
a sort of curious fascination.
At the gate the figure stopped mo.
ment, threw, a ,hasty glance around,
then darted on after the fugitive dea.
cons, who were pounding along down
the frozen road, trying to Keep Up with
their pastor. Il But !, as it sprang away
something white Auttered in IT, moon
light, andl fell to the ground some.
thing that looked like a pockes'hand
kerch ief.1g IIoy ,sba8Iqs I'd sIn II
A sudden suspicion shot into my
head. And as the phantom disap
peafed beyond tle church. l bounded
PVT ara ssss stfd t Ha yes, it was .
In a Hfy we Yere out of the briers and
vffdihg behind a couple eEheadstones
We hadn't long to wait, either, for in q
few minutes the spook came back
shaking with Suppressed emotion GIVE
waited AsheAwasla breast of is. s en-
rose up in our turn. The ghost Jumped
back.
II s.SQhq-tyoldylady pi,-ofied- Zeke, lea %
ing out and snateEing eG her tall paper
sSs 2sH III t5sI5s gsIsi 81 IA h0,,
! die6&ell, laughing in spite Of herself
IL L