St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-08-14
My Only Ghost.

ton of nature which WAS unncccSSaril,
laudCd at the expense of my brother,
and sisters. who, having Il more pnctical
and more highly strung organization
than myself. did know what fear wHs
But laughed aloud when my dral
friend Mrs Morton asked me if should
he afraid tO live i'll her beautiful house
alon" during the summer months. Alone
81 far as compamionShip went. but Will,
a man and his wife to cook and wash
for me. {" shut up and open and protect
the premises. | afraid Never, 50
she gave me ample liduciary powers.
She WAS going to Europe. |. IL poor re
lati"m, WIS only too glad to have such
Il luXuriouS home. AS she took me
over the house. Saw her eyes ill with
tears as she cSS:Ncd to open il certain
door. remembered that even into
this fortunate life had come the incvita-
bic %lIci Ihcr" WAS one empty chair.
one dead lamb. The eldest daughter
hld married, had gone abroad for hen
Wedding! Journey. and had been brought
home T." II" laid III Nondcr chuIchyall
which We could see from the windows.
Yes. this WAS Gcrtrudc'S room, There
WIS hen portrait on the wall. \ straight
/ NounT woman, with IL prOiIISiOn of light
haIr. blue eyes with Il tHr-oil look. Il
melancholy beauty, tender and twilight
tAIi face which the French call pr,dcS-
! tHo'. She WIS dressed iii diaplIamouS
white. with here aud there il blue rib
bon, and her beautiful hands, were
| cia>rC'l on What seemed to he Il balcony .
Ai"Hnd the room were costly trIic>.
the >p"ils of European trip. rhc
/ room WAS fitted up p7Iccril with hand
some iiIc-alm>, suits ot armnr, boxing
/ gloves. tcnrln%-tuiS. looked to Mis-
/ Morton for an explanation.
" llI~ suite of ronnS.' she cXrlaincd.
Il have given up 10 my m-in-law, MI.
AH~c"u%h. During Your residence here
h"u viii have an occasional visit from
him. He comes ana goes Is he plrasc>.
In'ihc adjoining rooms are poor Ger
tludc'~ trunks. which neither he nor |
have ever th"i"ughll unpackcd. We
have never had the courage"
She lcd me through the spacious
Lntc-IonnI. linen closet. and 50 on. to Il
large bedroom. where were many
Trunks. Some dresses hang in the
closets, some bottles Of perfumes. dress
im%-ca>cS. and little lad dylikc Things
~tIrwcd the bureau and tables. \ lady
might have Just stepped from her toilet ::
II seemed occupied aud hnmc-l like. 1t
WAS evident that the Young husband
found Il sad pleasure ia thus Sulround-
ing himself with ihc material of gIicE
Poor MIS-. Morton lacked about her
| through her fears. We rctrHrcd ON
steps. but III passing again thrnugIi the
linen closet. She turned. and opening Il
little door. disclosed garnet staircase,
nd vi ,.I,i Il,
used To ." up and down. said she
THESE were my ruunlS IN the DAYS at
Young m"tlIclh"od. Come and see my
| old NURSERY"
So We mounted upward into the large.
spacious room, which deserve cd better
name than girrct, and she lei nic 10 a
( c"mi"Itahic apartment whose windows
comnandcd a splendid view 0f the sur
rounding city. could moi help SAY in"
| what | have 50 often felt: lN are
not the diSusCd houses of the rich the
summer hom;". of the poor - Mr,
| Merton did moi seem to feel that she
WAS called on to put these comfortable
| apartments t" ANY such use. She only
called my attention to Il gigantic Wis
| terra vine which coiled round the win
/ dow. and which MAS now in its full
| stalk" from the earth. in cvcI-aSrcnd-
| ing, ambitious tendIilS. to the chimney :
of this, the fourth story. We visited
the other rooms, which had the plain
decent furniture of an opulcnt and
/ sensible household. There they were.
empty and deserted. bat clean aud
/ good. We closed the blinds and win
doWS, came down. and rctracium oIlr
] 1 4 l..
| locked the doors behind lis. took
possession of til" key. to deliver it.
when he should arrive. to Mr.. AyScnugh
Occasionally. / visited these rooms OF
| his to air them, and to see that no stray
mouse on other intruder had violated
! thcir quiet loneliness. was very much
attracted hy Gcrtrudc's picture. 1t 50
| happened that had never seen her ::
her brief hour of youthful bloom had
been spent before returned. an army
officers widow, from my hard life on
! the Western frontier. Often. would
stand and look at the picture by the
! hour.-it fascinated me ; then TouSing
myself from my revcry, would COM
plctc my rounds, and go back to my
| room.
After Mrs. Morton had. been gone
about il month, | had Il visit from MI.
| AvScough. He WAS IL pale and inter
csting Young man, very refined and
educated. evidently much influenced
/ bv his sorrow. He talked necessarily
about his wife. and was interested in
my admiration of her portrait. He
| took me in To show me some of the
contents of the trunks. To my horror
found that some very valuable icwclry
and silver comprised part of that mys-
tcriouS luggage which had never been
uupackcd.
but. Mr.. Ayscongh," | exclaimed.
..vou are not going to leave these val
liable things here in this empty house,
unlocked and strewn about III these
trunks. and no one but me to take care
of them -
He laughed Il sort of empty laugh, as
if he did not care much what became
of them, and gave me no sort of Salls-
faction. From that moment, | do not
know why, began to feel troubled.
had had the comfort of seeing all the
family silver carried off to the bans
before Mrs. Morton went away, ana II
had thought of them at all, | was con-
vinced that all burglars were aware Z"
that fact and would never trouble mt
in the least. Now had Il sort of uli
easy sensation about Mr.. Aysc"ugh
room which would gladly have ia'
+ remoVcd-in fact, it became the focu'
of many uneasy sensations.