Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-02-28

o. o -
tess. .-r.
"What is there to be afraid of in
a churchyard? mol thank yOu,' -
replied l proudly. "The miserable
superstitions of the country do not
affect me, l do assure you.
"But it is SO lonely up there, my
DEAR"
"What of that ? Solitude and
stiffness are the fit accompaniments
of such a solemn scene. l had much
rather go there myself.
l was resolved to exhibit my in
dependence, as well as to do away
with any false impression my ex-
cellent hostess might have received
from Charlotte or others with re-
spect to my courage; but at the same
time she need not have reminded
me that it was so 'lonesome up
there" 1 did not expect to find
Disney churchyard the center of
fashion, or the scene of an excursion
picnic at ten o'clock-at night, of
course; her remark was officious and
unnecessary, and at the same time
it made my blood run cold. How
ever, when the moon rose, so did l,
and, sketch book in hand, toiled up
to the old church, which was also
from its prominent position, land
mark used by sailors, which taught
them to avoid the rocks at Disney
Point. Whatever might be the
matter, there was always wind up
there, and even in that still summer
night it was wandering about the
grasses of the graves; and whisper
ing into the ears of the stone gar
goyles of the church, which seemed
to grin in malice at its news of
storm and wreck to come.
seated myself on my camp-stool,
just in front of the porch, and began
what I intended to be hasty sketch,
just few strokes, to be filled in at
my leisure, forI felt the situation to
be "uncanny,'' and already wished
myself at home. My fingers shook
a little, certainly not with cold, and
though the architecture was said to
be fine specimen of the perpendic-
ular," it did not appear so in my
sketch-book. sl5.
Suddenly l heard a subdued sob;
the utterance, as it seemed to me,
of some poor creature of my own
sex in distress. 1t came from an OBJ
scure corner of the churchyard,
where the graves. were not so well
cared for and tended as the others
were-a spot, | had been told,
where those were laid whom the
pitiless sea had drowned When a
Ship was cast upon the rocks yonder
it was rare even for one of its crew
to reach that Foek-bound shore alive;
and after a great storm whole ships
companies were sometimes buried
at once in the churehyard of Disney
Head.
! I listened with beating heart, and
thesound was repeated; and this
time / felt sure it was as L had sup
posed. Doubtless some woman had
come to weep in secret over the
grave of her sailor son or husband;
there was no need to be frightened
in such case. 1t might be that 1
should be able to give her comfort.
| arose and moving toward the
Kreck-corner (as it was called) could
dimly make out a woman's figure
kneeling at the head of a grave. In
the presence of so great a sorrow, l
seemed to lose all selfish feay and
Fentured softly to address her. She
did not reply, or even so much as
burn her head, though l felt certain
she must have heard me; and since
she was woman, and did not speak,
[ felt that there must be something
very wrong with her. As 1 drew
nearer, l beheld a spectacle that
overwhelmed me with pity. The
unhappy creature before me was
naked to the waist, and'with her
arms straight down by her. side, was
gazing on the grave beneath her
with look of indiscribable despair.
She shed no tear, but her eyes wore
a look of hopeless woe and yearning
beyond all ordinary sorrow. T.. Vi 90
"You are killing yourself, my
poor woman" !" reasoned !, '.to kneel
there in such a plight. The dead
you mourn can ask no such sacri-
fee as this that you should join
them" . . .s...-..... .--- I'D.
| But again she answered nothing;
and then, to my horror, l observed
that she had dug another grave at
the head of that she was watching,
and was already buried in it up to
her waist. Was she, then, bent up
on committing suicide, or was she
herself an inhabitant of the tomb,
like those around her, and were the
graves indeed giving up their dead
at the witching hour of night, as
| had read of, but had not believed ?
In an agony of terror, such as
even I had never before experienced,
1 flung down my sketch book, and
rushed from the churchyard and
down the hill. o;.r..-.
"What is the matter, Mary An
he'?" cried my amazed hostess, who
was sitting up for me with her hus-
band in the parlor, as l tore into
the room shrieking for help. r.- s.r
"Matter!" cried l. "There is a
poor young woman, with nothing
upon her, half buried alivein the
wreck corner of the churchyard.-
She has already lost her sight and
hearing, for she took no notice of
me at all"
"Impossible!" cried my hostess.
HBut I'VE seen her." shrieked /.
''Not moment is to be lost" Il.
"Ah, bless you, we've seen her
too," said my host, laughing; ''it's
the fgurehead Of the Bella. When
the ship came ashore we stuck it up
at the captains grave, by way Of
headstone-poor fellowl She has
not much on her, it's true; but
l don't think she'll hurt"
Chambers Journal.
Harem Life In Turkey.