The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1873-04-24
[ From Hearth and Home.l
Cooking a Ghost.
BY FRANK r. STOCKTON.


to make house curious, there were some
peculiarities about it which it had pos
sessed long before it ever had a ghost
| In the front of the house, near the root,
were two round windows, like eyes, and
below these was a long window which
| opened on a stairway; and of a dark
| night, when the house was lighted up
and the front door was open, the old
mansion presented an appearance calcu-
/ lated to startle a stranger, coming sud
| denly upon view of it around the big
box-trees in the front garden. 1t stood
out of the village and some distance from
/ the turnpike, and was surrounded by big
| trees, and the bricks had turned of a
| greenish color, and some of the windows
and doors were nearly covered with ivy,
and it was a very ghostly old house in
! deed But still there had been jolly
times there, and old Squire Apgood had
lived in it and died in it very comforta-
| bly, indeed But that was all before the
days of the ghost In fact, he had only
| tenanted the house for comparatively
short period.
This ghost was, in fact, so much of a
stranger in the neighborhood, that he
! only showed part of himself at time.
But it is only necessary to see part of a
ghost to be very properly frightend.
! Some persons had seen his white head as
| ne FdulD10u ABOUT Ln0 place. OGQ0fS ndQ
| noticed his arms and his white hand,
while others had never seen anything
| but his pale feet. But although, like
serial story, he thus made his appearance
in instalments, it was sufficient. He had
| the house to himself
This sole occupancy continued until, a
! few weeks previous to the night on which
our story commences, woman named
| Hannah came to the village. She was
i
! but not a very good seamstress, for her
eyes were failing. When she first came
she had little money, and she staid at
| the tavern for a short time; but her
money went very fast, and plain sewing
came to her very slowly. In fact, the
people of the village did not look upon
| her too kindly; they were not fond of
strangers, especially poor ones, and there
were enough women in the place to do
all the sewing that was needed. But al
| though she got a job here and there at
very low rates, she could not make
enough money to pay for her board and
| lodging, And so it came about that,
! hearing of this deserted house, she very
sensibly went to live there, where she
| had lodgings rent-free, for the ghost
charged nothing.
After this she seldom came into the
village. She felt that she was not vel
come there. and the most of her conlmu-
nication with the place was by means of
boy named Abe Harkins, who brought
| her the little work she was able to- OBJ
tain, principally coarse bags from the
miller, and transacted her trifiing busi-
ness at the store. Abe Harkins was the
only boy in town who was not afraid of
the ghost. But this was probably because
he had never yet seen it, and it is not
improbable that his attention to Hannah
was partly prompted by his intense de
sire to catch glimpse of it.
| One evening, about.eight o. clock, when
most OF the villagers were on the store
porch, their usual place of resort, Abe
| Harkins was perceived running up the
road at the top of his speed. This was a
sight to excite anybody, for Abe was not
only running at an extraordinary rate of
speed, but he evidently came from the
| haunted house. Pipes were laid down
and politics were forgotten. Every man
arose to his feet
Look at him, how he's a comm P'
said Jake Taylor. HE must have had
his hipj'ints lied"
Now, that can't be, Jake" said old
| Colonel Free, village philosopher in a
long brown coat, "for you couldn't lie his
Joints without cutting through his skin
and his muscles and his siners, and no
boy could run with his skin and his mus
cles and his siners cut"
81 don't know about that" said Jake
They've got patent way of ileing j ints
but just look at the boy I'll bet a
COW he's seen It'll
By this time Abe had reached the store
steps, and in a couple of bounds he was
on the porch, and then he was into the
store. The crowd rushed in after him,
but in single jump he had cleared the
counter and had cuddled himself up
under it on pile of remnants of spotted
shilling calicoes.
Have you seen it?" asked two or three
of the men who had gone round behind
the counter, while the rest peered anx-
iously over it.
But not one word could they get from
Abe but a solitary Yes.
Finding it impossible to make anything
out of the boy, who curled himself up
under the counter as resolutely as if he
! meant to stay there and grow up, the
villagers held a council; and, moved by
q spirit of selfsacrifice and heroism which
had never influenced them until that
moment they determined that it was
wrong to leave poor Hannah in this
haunted house by herself, and concluded
to form party to go and look after her
interests. And also, it must be added,
to see what they could see. Nine or ten
persons in body together will some
times screw up their courage sufficiently
even to peep at ghost.
The party started out valorously,
armed, some with clubs, one with a
pitchforlz, one with pocket-pistol, sew
eral with pokers, shove1s, and such arti-
cles as they could pick up in the store
and Mrs. Henderson, the wife of the
store-keeper, carried q hat-iron. The
men were opposed to a women going at
all but Mrs Henderson was of resolute
mind, and she declared that her flat-iron
would do as much execution as any of
their weapons, if they should come to
close quarters with a ghost Just as
they were about starting, Isaac Harris
came out of the stables, and very readily
ioined the expedition. The presence OF
Isaac encouraged the party very much,
for he was the biggest and strongest man
in that port of the country. He was a
teamster by profession, and had Just re-
turned from six weeks trip in some OF
the adjoining counties He carried his
long wagon-whip, which was very effec-
tive weapon when used upon anything
human or animal, whatever it might
prove to be when applied to ghost.
1t was not more than a quarter of an
hours walk to the old house, but the
party seemed to be very tired before they
got there; at least they walked more
slowly, and when they reached the
gate of the garden, at the side of the
, house, they stopped, as if their strength
had entirely given out. They stood in q