Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-01-10
The Haunted Man.

| some three miles back from the city,
and beneath portion of their grounds
was extended large wine vault, EN-
bracing an area of two acres. After
accompanying MO, the junior
partner through the long vine arbors
and orange groves, we descended to
the vault, and after passing nearly halt
the length of one Of the pipe tiers We
came to desk where q man was
writing.
'Tnere is one Of your own country
men," said No, ''and he will &C.
! company you through the vaults. .
| NY conductor called to the man, who
quickly dropping his pen, stepped
| down from the stool and came forward.
| He was employed as clerk i'll the ex-
| porting department, for the purpose OF
! filling up bills. invoices, &C., for the
American and English merchants.
! 8. You Will find him a strange sort OF
a man." whispered Mo-, g but he
| is, notwithstanding, a good fellow.
H, for so my companion had
| called him, was tall, well-made mar,
apparently on the better side of forty,
| and pleasing, intelligent look. His
hair, which was quite luxurious, was
| aim ost white, and about his counte-
| nance there were evident marks of suf-
| fering His eyes, when he first gazed
| on me-which was with frlrtive,
! trembling glance-had an inexpressl-
. BILE look of wildness In them, and
cold, fearful shudder seemed to run
through his frame. Graduallyhe grew
/ more composed. and as he showed me
/ around among the pipe-fanked. ave
nues, casting his huge lantern here and
! there to show me the many and various
wines, he began to talk up with con-
/ siderable freedom, though he yet be-
| traved a strangeness of manner, sort
! of faring of voice and gesture, that
! could not fail of exciting my curiosity.
! A casual observer, who might have
! Judged only from his appearance,
, would have thought him slightly in
sane and even | felt a conviction that
his mind was not exactly CONNIE il
! farlt, or at any rate, not omme le fus.
, DO you reside in New York ?" he
asked, as we stopped for moment at
the extremity of the vault.
| [ told him that l did not belong
/ there, though l had spent part of the
winter and the spring Of 1s41 and 10
III that city.
" [ have Il wife III that State some
where, and perhaps child, but [ have
not heard from them for Il long time. y
:. Does she not write to you" I
asked
g She knows not where I am.
- Do Won not write
Me- he uttered with II sudden
start. cold tremor shaking his frame
the while. - All, sir, I dare not trust
my s'lperscliption, nor my auto
graph i'll
He hesitated- .laoked at me wildly
for an instant, and then starting on he
began to enlarge on the different ages,
qualities and vintages of the wine.
Twice + tried to bring him back to the
subject he had SO abruptly left, but it
was no avail At length We came
around To the steps that led up to the
surface OF terra tirma The sun had
already set, and the stars were begin
ming to sparkle i'll the blue arch above
us. H remarked that he had no
idea it was SO late, and added with the
happiest smile that | had seen him vet
express, that he supposed it was be-
cause he had had such pleasant COM
pany, at the same time assuring Inc
that | was the only American with
whom he had held social converse for
over a year As he was about to close
the vault for the night, l proposed he
should accompany me to my cafe, take
supper with me, and then walk with
me about the city. 1t was sometime
before he would consent to this r.
rangement; and while he was consid-
ering upon it I could see that there
was an internal struggle of no small
moment. He appeared to me not
unlike man who is debating whether
he shall attack a den of rattle
snakes. After while, however, he con-
sented to go, though there was marked
manner. He extingrished the light in
his reluctance in his lantern, gazed up
and down the long avenues to see that
no spark of fire had accidentally been
dropped, and then he followed me to
the stone steps, and having secured the
doors, he signitied that he was at my
service. The direct way to my cafe,
which was on the broad quay, lay
through the heart of the city; but my
companion insisted upon taking a more
circtutOIs route, and as he led the. way,
he took me through the narrowest and
darkest streets and passages he cOnld
find
''Mr. c." said he, as we were
emerging from one of these dark pas
sages, "there was an American mer-
chairman arrived yesterday from New
York, and l Know not who may have
come in her. 1t is for this reason that
[ avoid the public places.
In an instant the idea flashed upon
me that my companion was convict,
OF at least, a criminal who had been
guilty of some heinous crime iii his
native country, and was consequently
afraid of detection. The more l
thought of it the more [ became con-
WINGED that such was the fact, and l
could now account for his strange con
duct in this fear, and in the cravings
of Il guilt burdened conscience. Yet
he was welcome companion for all
that, and felt sure that had been full
and ample.
H gazed furtively about as we
entered the cafe; and, at his request, /
ordered supper in a private room. He
laughed and chatted freely, and the
more L saw of him the more ] liked
him. After we had finished our meal.
we started on our proposed walk 1t
was nearly II o'clock when we thought
Of returning, and as We were passing
the small church of st. Joseph. I
noticed that the doors were open, and
that in the centre OF the church there
was a sable bier, around which was
burning number Of small wax tapers
I proposed that we should enter and
look tor moment at the corpse. H
made no objections. In. one of the
confessionals near the door sat an old
monk, and very naturally 1 asked Of
him who it was that rested upon the
bier, not knowing that most of the in
terments from this church were in
behalf of charity.
The monk informed me that it was
the body of a man who came on shore
the day before. He had been very
sick and weak when he left the ship,
hut he Vas ietarlnined Ia lind a,,d NJ,