The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1872-03-30
A REAL GHOST STORY.

A hEAL GHOST STORH.
1t is not worth while t. tell me that the
spirits of the dead never walk this earth,
to be seen by mortal eyes, after they have
taken leave Of their clayey tenements
know better Robert Dale owen nlay
write in favor of the te cad men coming
back to visit the scenes of their mortal
tolls, and a Thousand others may write
against IT its all one To- me | shall have
my own opinion until / try To- come back
myself, and can't, and it is proved to me.
by the best authority " the spiritual
world, that no one else can. You will say,
| make no doubt, as my friends have al
ways done. that my fears alarmed me, and
that my excited Imagination caused me to
fancy | saw the person of my nld friend.
DIR. Fenton Atwick. and heard his voice
speaking to me, when | knew he was a
crushed and manglrd corpse or y"u will
conclude that | must have been asleep.
IoS will be equally mistaken in either by
pothesis. In the first place, ! was not a
timid man | never had been afraid Of
anything i'll the earth. air or sea. had
walked through lone burying grounds and
by old churches. hundreds Of times. III the
dead of night, and no Tam p Shantcr
visions had ever vet caused me a. quicken
my pace | had been, all my life. stur-
dy, hard working person :" no sick.
pulling fancies had haunted me through
long. weary days IF ldlencsS working for
twelve hours ON the stretch. until YOU arr
weared To death, and sleeping like "A l"g
for ten, Is not conducive t. rpmanclng. nor
did wish 1t t. be. | had ne thought of
writing novels. or even ghost stories. IA
those DAYS ] was a plnddmg chanccry
lawyer, never yenturing t. make speech
but drudging, As | have SAID. for the
clothes | wore. and the fnnd hy which life.
was kept in nv body DR. Frntnn AtWick
had moved e. DarbytoWn tea wears before
Ii was well he had All sundity To- fall back
upon. for there was no Iced If his diploma.
or II any science here He had had a case.
or so If "ague and fever /. and sometimes
IN the autumn a few chllls nothing more
Strange that DR. Atwick's should have
been the first death Alas, poor physician,
thou vast unable to heal thyself " Our
salubrious climate and bracing mountain
air might battle every effort If mlasna IA
find a victim amongst us. But accident
the creature Of fate how unforeseen. how
impossible to guard against It's treacherou~
dealings The veriest invalid on earth
was safer from that than hale. hearty Fen
ton Atwlck.
don't know how | got into sort Of
reverie one evening thinking Of all our
lives, and the popular idea that We all have
: mission to perform wasn't gwen
to such things. | should AS soon have
thought Of joining an opera troupe hay-
ing no more idea Of music than steam
englne-as turning metaphyslcian. But
there | sat, looking out at my window on
the giant mountains. ahlazc with the gold
en- aurenla Of the setting sun. with my
pen behind nv ear. and a pondernuS
volume If Coke all unheeded before me,
asking myself over and over again. oi
what avail my life had been t. myself 81
others. and whittier it WAS tending, until
the light died too from the western sky,
and the shadows uf night. ar II death crept
darker and darker into the room.
= Pshaw + exclaimed, : am as vision
ary as a child emerging from, or an old
man going into. the realms II the unknown
Very soon we too will he dust. as our an
cestors are-perhaps a part Of that whicl
the young man, galloping madly by but Z
few moments ago, sent curling into my win
dow here. over books into my very nostrils
And then our children mot mine). Of course
as | am bachelor, but other peoples vii
look out Of this very window, as | am
doing now. and wonder what they wer,
made for, and whitherward they are tend
ing. And they will find themselves ii
the dark, as | am" ! struck myself ;
sharp blow on the forehead, as if by thi
means ] should etfectually floor the goblin
thoughts that were bewitching me anC
drawing a parlor match across the greer
serge that covered my table, | lit my laml
and reopened the book. But, strange t,
say, ] could not collect my thoughts
II am tempted" | mutterod, :" to e
for Atwick and Fleet and Jones' and hav,
a rubber at whist, for it seems | am de
ternined to be at cross purposes with TIN
evening.
| sprang up ont of my chair as | con
cluded, for heavy thud, like the falling q
human body, struck distinctly on my ear
| glanced hastily around the room, and, a
nothing was disturbed, listened for repe
tition of the sound from without: but th
silence was profound. and ! took up n,
book again. moment more, and hear
some one walking rapidly down the street
1T is some visitor to me. | hope. Blu
no; the footsteps passed on. Then ther
came the sound Of running feet-one. two
three separate persons going by. The
there was a hasty tread on my own steIs
and some one came up. | turned quickly
as the door was pushed open.
'Ah, Fleet, it is you am glad to sc
you. Come in" He did come in; an,
there was a ghostly look upon him, fright
full to behold
Come, Jerry" he said, while his teetl
chartered. Il have been sent to fetch YOU
A fearful accident has just happened. Dr
Atwick-"
What 4 asked. while a shudder
thought to he mortal ran through am
through me.
is already dead. and as | have told YOU
by an accident as horrible as it is unfortu
nate. Jones was with him in his office, an
they had risen to come up here, when Al
wick eXtinguished his lamp. and turnin
suddenly, stepped cut at the window In
stead Of the door. and fell upon the rock
below. He was a dead man when J"ne
got down to him"
MY God, how horrible =
was at the scene Of the catastrophe in
NnVr mn A. ~ u. n. a