The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1874-01-23
NUMBER l.

selves Ny friend told me that she had
heard it often.
There was another room III which (also
in broad daylight) heard a strange crack
ling sound like the rushing of a large sheet
of stiff paper or parchment turned slowly
in the readers hands. Among the things
seen by other members OF the family WAS
light that gIided over walls and ceiling in
points inaccessible to outside light ~ ie-i
Election. Then there was ! lady In black
silk who had more than once been seen
gliding about the house, but who always
disappeared when aceoSted or followed
Three slow, solemn steps sounded at the
dead of night at the door of one member
of the family, a skeptical and irascible old
gentleman
GHosTI.Y GRIEF.
! But, strange to say, all these uncanny
: sights and sounds portended nothing, and
seemed To be utterly without purpose
Z a cause. The house Was y cheerful modern
! one. and the father of my friend was its first
] occupant; 50 there was nothing in the past
to which these uneaTthly occurrences could
refer. Nor were they warnings of coming
misfortune. Neither death nor disaster
! ever followed in their train, and in duo
] course of time the family ceased to trouble
their heads about them-were not at all
/ frightened, and scarcely even annoyed.
| There were other sounds which | did not
! myself nelIs Out Oh which i was Told
stCalthy footsteps that paced a certain cor
ridor at dead of night: a sharp. rattliug
| noise like hail dashing against the window
paneS, and one OF two other trifling, yet
equally unaccountable, occurrences. Once,
too, young lady visiting the house, heard
in the next room to that in which she was
loud and lamentable sounds, as of a woman
weeping bitterly and in sore distress. She
listened in considerable perpleXity for some
time, fearing to intrude on the sorrows of
some member of the family, but ut last she
! resolved to go and proffer aid, if not conso-
| latioD. AS she approached the door be-
tween the two rooms the sound suddenly
ceased, and, to her amazement, she found
the adjoining apartment not only empty,
but the door locked and bolted on the iu-
side.
A SPECTRE HoUsEKEEPER.
once knew young lady who, on going
to pay visit to a friend who had recently
moved into new house, was asked to walk
up stairs, and complying saw an old
woman preceding her mp the staircase.
SuppOsing her to be one of the servants,
she took but little notice "f her, though
struck by the singularity Of her gait sort
of ierkey limp, as though one leg was short
er than the other In the course of con-
versatiou with her friend She mentioned
the old woman, and asked if she was the
housekeeper.
"Housekeper? no. said the lady; '.we
have no such person about our house. You
must be mistaken"
The visitor then described the person
she had seen, and when she mentioned the
| peculiar limp her hostess seemed startled,
| After pause she said, '.No such person
lives here E0tc, but the woman who took
care of this house before we rented it was
exactly such Il person as you describe, and
was lame in such manner. But she died
ber n Si1 in
very room-so yOur eyes must certainly
have deceived YOU"
The lady still persisted that she had seen
the old woman; SO the servants were called
and the house thoroughly searched, but no
intruder was discovered.
THE ''DoPPELGANGER.'
have known several instances of per-
sons who have seen the ''fetch'' or appa-
rition OF a living person called in Germany
| the ''Doppeiganger :; yet, though such
appearances are usually supposed to por-
tend the death or illness of the person thus
strangely doubled | have never yet
| heard of a case where any unpleasant coz
sequences followed. For instance, an old
friend of mine, gentleman of undoubted
veraciuy, once told me that on one occasion
he entered his house about five O'Clock in
the afternoon, and ran up stairs to Lis
mothers bed chamber, where he saw he
standing near the centre of the room, clad.
III a loose white gown, and engaged in-
combing out her long black hair. He re-
manned looking at her for some moments,
expecting that she would speak to hinI,
but she did not take notice in any way of
his presence, and neither spoke or looked
at him. He then addressed her, but, re-
ceiving no reply, became ind gnaut, and
went down stairs, where, to his amaze
meut he found his mother seated 10y the
parlor window, die-sed and cOit'Ure as
usual. 1t was some years before lie would
trust himself to tell her of what he had
seen, fearing that she might consider it
an omen of approaching death, and indeed,
though not a supersJitious man, he was in
clined So to view 1t himself but his moth
er lived for many years after the appear
ance of her wrath.
A SINGULAR DELUsIoN.
l also knew young gentleman to whom
the unpleasant experience of beholding his
own double was once youchsafed. He had
been spending quiet evening with some
young ladies' and returned home about
II O'Clock, let himself into his house with
the latch key and proceeded to his own
room, where he found the gas already
lighted though turned down to mere
blue spark. He turned it mp, and the full
light of the Jet fell on his bed, which stood
just beside the burner, and there extended
at full length, lay-himsef His first idea
was OF burglar, or some sucn lhtIudei.
But his second glance disPeled that i'm
preston. He stood for some moments
gazing at the PROSTATE figure with feelings
which must have been anything but agree
able he noticed little peculiarities of bis
own dress and features, and marked the
closed eyelids and easy respiration of slum-
ber. At length, plucking up courage, he
to pass his hand under the pill
low to draw out small revolver which he
usually kept there; and as he did So he felt
the pressure of the pillow as tho weighed
down by reclining head This complete
ly unnerved him. lie went ort Of the
room, locking the door on the outside, and
spent the remainder of tlie night ON a sofa
in the parlos. He did not re euter his
chamber Till broad daylight, wl,ea, TO his
delight, he folnd his ghostly visitor had
vanished Illustrated Record,