The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1875-04-02
ALMOST 4 GHOST STORY,

Ibid lou ever see Il ghost :" was tie
appeal.
Well, I came deuced near it, | can
tell YOU" said young Howard.
Glow near" cried tie company,
drawing their chairs to the fire.
at WAS III that d~asolate, Collaboration
part of New Jersey" said Howard,
"near Barnc3at Shoals. What with the
nature Of the soil there, its barrennes;
ana steriIity, the Jagged, rer@lling GRIM
ness of the rocks, and tie wild, desOlatG
n,fnity OF the waters, there's something
about Barncgat that breeds M affinity
with ghosts and spectcrs. There had
been 2 wreck OF Il coasting schooner in
BIZ vicinity, and, although the news
didn't make much % = sensation il the
newspapers It brought despair and desc
lation to on" heart al inast-that Of the
young mat"'s mother. II" WAS an old
schooimato ana warm friend Of my own,
and | volunteered to go down and see if
the body could be found and brought
home.
"Nhcn / reached there the whole
aspect OF the place struck me as forbid
dingly wild and lonely; and when, toward
the close OF e stormy Say, poor old Jacks
body was washed ashore, stark and stiff,
aud distorted almost beyond recognition,
[ wasn't atlc II lend the fellows down
there 4 helping hand. Iwas seized with
ana;Yous dill. and went indoors TO the
brandy flask. Proppel Up with an arti-
ticial courage, | went cut again and
foE2J them hauling Their helpless burden
toward y tishernan's hut close by. They
had flung it in an old ~t&rpaulin blanket,
and I couldn't help protesting inwardly
against the rude way III which they
bumped It along through the breakers
AID over the rocks.
Il thought of that tender, womanly
heart at home in the East, and the gentle
reverence that hedged about even her
every Thought and feeling about Jack,
and [ determined there and then that he
should be taken home 70 her IN some
shape that wouldn't appall or horrify
her.
They laughed at me when 1 spoke of
Il coffin. bu5 nevertheless | resolved upon
getting one, if such a thing could be had
fer love or money. Not that a coffin is
Absolutely requisite in all cases. 1t
wouldn't have mattered a pin 10 either
Jack or myself if, tied up ill the Old tar
pauliu, will, "A weight heavy az destiny
itself, we were forced to the bottom Of
the sea. But to Il woman, 4 onycn
tionai woman, Il victim to circlumstalce
nnd custom, a coffin was the only thing
that could reader the affair respectable,
or indeed bearable.
al passed a Eloepiess night and went
off before daylight in search OF an old
man that bore a queer reputation about
there for appropriattng anything that
came inshora, and rendering it useful or
ornaments; with a rude knacii he had III
The carpenter line. The boys told me
there was a little of everything i'll his old
rookerr. and they hadn't the least doubt
l could find even a coffin there, o. ono
thing that might be modelled into one.
1T WIS q good league to his dwelling,
and ! coached there with foreboGing that
my journey vas for nothing but, upon
broaclGOe the subject to him, he stated
his readincss at once to comply with my
demands.
"'Bui what viii .yon do for MATERIAL
| asked.
"He smiled grimly, and, opening a
door that led up to q sort of loft, he
beckoued me to follow him. / nthat loft
there was wood readily adapted to build
ship, a house, a thcater-anything and
everything that might be desired. Not
common wood, marx you, but wreckers'
materinl-paneis of Frdsch walnut, ex-
auisiselv carved in bas-rclief, bits of
precious ebony, OF sandal-wood, of box,