Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1873-06-25
NO. $50.
ILLUSIONS.

a gentlemen who had lately lost his
wife looking out of the window in the
dusk of evening, saw her sitting In a
garden chair. He called one of his daush.
ters and asked her to look out into The
garden. why" she said. "mother is Sit
ting there" Another daughter was call.
ed, and she experienced the same illusion
Then the gentleman went out into the gar
den, and found that garden dress of his
Wife's had been so placed over the seat a.
to produce the illusion which had deceiy
ed him and his daughters. During the
last weeks of the long vacation, / went
alone to Blackpool, in Lancashire. There
took lodgings in house facing the sea.
My sittiug-room was on the ground
floor. On warm Autumn night / was
reading with the window open, but the
blind was down and was waving gently
to and fro in the wind. 1t happened
that l was reading book on demonologv;
moreover, been startled earlier in the
evening by prolonged shrieks from an up-
per room In the house, where my land
iady's sister, who was very i'll had had an
hysterieal tit. had just read to the end OF
long and particularly horriable narrative,
when was disturbed by the beating Of the
curtain the wind having risen some what
ana got up to close the window. As
turned round for the purpose, the curtain
rose gently and disclosed a startling OBJ
lect. fearful face was there, black.
long and hideous, and surlnoInted by two
monstrous horns. Its eyes, large and
bright. cleaned horribly, and q moutl,
garhiSned with immense teeth grinned al
me. Then the curtain slowly descended.
But knew the horrible thing was there.
"aited, by no means comfortably,
"hlie the curtain huttered about, showing
parts OF the black monster. At last it rose
again SO as to disclose the whole face.
But the face had lost its horror for me for
the horns were gone. Instead of the two
nearly upright horns which before had
shown black and irigh,filly against the
hsht background Of sea and sky, there
were two sloped ears rs Enthusiastically ash
nihe as ieit myself al the moment. Whem
went to the window which before iei,
unable to approach). saw that several
stray donkeys were wandering through
the front gardens OF the row of houses 10
which my lodgings belonged. 1t is possi-
BILE that the inquisitive gentleman who
had looked in at my window was attracted
by the tapping curtain which he NAV
have taken for something edible IF So"
] remarked to myself, 1.-TWO OF your kind
have been deceived tonight A friend
of mine told me he had been disturbed
two night running by u sound as of An ar.
my tramping down road which passed
some two hundred yards from his house
he found the third night Il had suggested
an experimental test a. TO the place whence
the sound came) that the noise was pro,
duced by Il clock having been newly
placed against the parti wall We ali
know Carlisle's story of the ghostly voice.
heard each evening, of a low spirited man
"a voice as if one, in likeful dumps, pro-
claiming, "once was happy happy, but
now am mserable"-and how the gho>,
resolved itself into rusty kitchen-jack.
There is case OF lady who began to
think herself the victim OF some delu.ion,
and perhaps threatened by an approaching
illness, because each night. about q quar-.
ter of an hour after she had gone 10 bed.
she heard hideous din in the neighbor-
hood of her house, or else (she was un-
certain which) in some distant room. The
noise was in reality the slightest possible
creak (within a few feet of her pillow.
however). and produced by the door OF \
wardrobe which she closed every night be,
fore getting into bed. The door. about
quarter OF an hour after being closed. re-
covered its position Of rest, slightly be-
yond which it had been pushed in closing.
In another case the crawling Of snail
across window produced sounds which
were mistaken for the strains Of loud but
distant music.-Cornhill Magazine fos
Aprl