Litchfield enquirer., 1875-04-29

An0 that was, asked one or CWO, m.
 patient of the pause, that it don't worse
 One s sFi ofF itba bbi Bo.sra Bs,s ga. said. aM Mr pra.i dent, this market house project, as I take | it, IS not altogether e selfish one; the com
 munity is to be benefited byit.e We may 1 feel that we are working in the public in-
 terest [the Board smiled knowingly, If we I we employ all possible means to oust this l old nuisance from among us. You. may know that at the time the street was cut
 through, this old Poquelann did all he could to prevent it. It was owing to cer- | tain connection which had with that af- fair that I heard ghost story smiles, fol- lowed by sudden dignifed check 7- ghost story, which, of course, am not going to relate; but I 8aay say that my profund convictions, arising from pro-
 Ionged study of that story, is, that this old villain, John Poquelann, has his
 brother locked up in that old house. Now, l ii this is so, and we can fix it on him, I merely suggest that we can make the mat ter highly useful Idon't know," he ad- ded, beginning to sit down, tbut that it l IS an action we owe to the community hem p
 ''How do you propose to handle the subject?" asked the President.
 assI was thinking" said the speaker,
 ''that, as a Board of Directors, it would
 be unadvisable for us to authorize any ac- l ton involving trespass; but if you, for in- l stance, MT. President, should, as it were, for mere curiosity, request some one, as, for instance, our excellent Secretary, simply as personal favor, to look into l the matter; this is merely suggestion i The Secretary smiled sufficiently to be understood that he would not refuse the Presidents request; and the Board ad- l journed. i' I7'iAlaoasA -s.t =1@ .-... ]. Little White, as the Secretary was call ede was @ mild, ,kiAd-hearted little man, who, nevertheless, had no fear Of any I thing, unless it was the fear of being un- Kind. s7 if oF} L31 i= -'u5---1' a-
 asI tell you frankly" he privately said to, the President, "I go into this more to
 prove the old man innocent, than with any expectation of finding him guilty
 The next day, a little after nightfall, one
 might have deserted this little Secretary slipping along the rear fence of the Po- quelin place, preparatory to vaulting over into the rank, grass grown yard,
 The picture presented to h1s eye was not calculated to -enliven his mind. The old
 mansion stood out against the western sky, 1 black and silent One long. lurid pencil stroke along sky of slate was all that was l left of daylight. No sign of life was ap- parent; no light at any window, unless it might have been on the farther side of the
 house. No owls were on the chimneys, no dogs were in the yard. 2sahaa + 7' 71-1.z l He entered the. place, and ventured up
 behind small cabin which stood apart l from the house. Through one of it's many l crannies he easily detected the African l'mute erouched before a fickering pine
 knot, his head on his knees, fast asleep. q He concluded to enter the mansion, ,and, with that view, stood and scanned it. The broad rear steps of the veranda would not
 serve him, he might meet some one mid
 way. He was measuring. with his eye, the proportions of one of the pillars which
 supported it, and estimating the practica- bility of climbing it, when he heard foot
 step. Some one dragged 8 chair outto- \ ward the railing, than seemed to change hisnind and heganto pace the yeranda, his singular loudness. Little White drew a step backward, got the figure between himself and the sky, and at once recognized the l short, broad-shouldered form of old Jean Poquelin. si--,.., z1 l He sat down upon a billet of wood and, l to escape the sfings of whining cloud of
 mosquitoes, shrouded his face and neck in his handkerchief, leaving his eyes un. covered. f'H''5i al' -!,-.i.-.i' l-s--- | He had sat there butsa moment when he
 noticed a strange, sickening odor, faint, as If coming from distance, but loathsome and horrid Whence could it come? Not from the cabin; not from the marsh, for it was as
 dry as powder It was not in the air; it
 seemed to come from the ground.
 Rising up, he noticed for the first time,
 a few steps before him narrow footpath
 leading toward the house. He glanced
 down it-ha right there was some one
 comlng- -ghostly white
 Quick as thought, and as noiselessly, he lay down at full lenghth against the cabin.
 It was pure strategy, and yet, there was
 no denying it, little White felt that he was frightened. cit is not 8 ghost, {" he said to
 himself. ''I knosD it cannot be a ghost;"
 but the precipitation burst out at every
 pore, and the air seemed to thlcken with heat: ''It is living man." he said in his thoughts. '.I hear his footstep, and hear
 old Poquelin's footsteps too, separately. over on the veranda. am not discover ed; the thing has passed; there is that ,odor again; what smell of death Is it
 coming back? Yes. Now it is gone" He
 shuddefed. 5''Now, if dare venture, the mystery is solved. He rose cautiously, close against the cabin, and peered along the path. f .-
 The figure Of Q man, a presence If not body-bnt whether clad in some white stuff or naked the darkness would not al- low him to determine turned, and
 now, with a seeming painful gait, moved slowly from him. s'Great Heaven can it be that the dead do walk?" He withdrew again the hands which had gone to his eyes. The dreadful object passed between two pillars and under the house. He list enedai There was faint sound as of feet upon 8 staircase; then all was still except the measured tread of Jean Poquelin walk ing on the veranda, and the heavy respl-
 nations of the mute slumbering in the
 cabin. .yd gsd t.5-T ....-s-.---.- -..-...f.,, l. The little Secretary was about to retreat;
 but as he looked once more toward the
 haunted house a dim light appeared in the
 crack of closed window, and presently old Jean sPoquelin came, dragging his
 chair, and sat down close against the shi-
 ming cranny. He spoke in low, tender
 tone in; the French tongue, making some
 inquiry An answer came from within.
 Was it the voice of a human? So unnat-
 ural was it-so hollow, so discordant. so
 unearthly y-that thestealthy listener shud-
 dered again from head to foot; and when
 something stirred Tn some bushes near by though it may have been nothing more than q arat-and cane yscuttling through Pthe gEasss the little sSecretary actually turned and hed. As he Left the inclosure he moved with boIder leisure through the bushes; yet now and then he spoke aloud: sUh, ,S6h and shut his eyes in his hands. Eo How strange the henceforth little White
 was the champion of, Jean Poquelini In
 season and out of season-whereyer a
 word was uttered against hinf--tlle Secre- taEy. with . quiet, aggressive foGce that in- atantly arrested gossip. demanded upon
 what authority, the statement or coniec- tqre was made; but as he did not conde- scend to explain his own remarkable atti- Etuda; ikBas not long befors the disreIish and. suspicion which had followed Jean
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