Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1875-10-14

Il hope you will sleep well, Mat
be remarked. 81 do not think any
thing will disturb you. Burglars are
not known in this out-of-the-way place,
and have never heard that the house
was frequented by ghosts"
The apartment which 1 was to oe
cupy was large and square, and had
two dormer windows on one side,
through which the pale December
moon shone The furniture, which
consisted of bedstead. washstand,
and a few chairs, was maple, and of
style quite obsolete-such as is found
within old farm houses in out ofway
places, where the taste for oiled wal
nut and polished rosewood has not
yet reached. Upon the walls hung a
few steel engravings, neatly framed.
AS l. was fatigued with my journey,
and the negus had made me droWsy, l
was soon in bed, and, in less time
than it takes to write it, had passed
| into dreamland.
I had slept probably two hours
| perhaps longer-when I IaWokea With
peculiar sensation, as If the air Of the
apartment was compressed. looked
about me. The moon had gone done,
and the pattering s-n the roof and
against the window Panes, together
with the rattle and clatter of the caser
mcnts, and the means and screeching
| of the wind, convinced me that a
storm was raging. The room was7en-
veloped in an inky blackness.
As I Law, there staringinto space, l
| became conscious that Something or
somebody beside 5mysel 5Wass in the
room, and i was seized With an unac,
countabie feeling7of terror My teeth
Chartered and my limbs sAoo& as with
ague. 10 EIZl HAUL !
vas absolutely paraAzel-waH fear
At last managedto gam Sufficient
control over myself to reach eHt, to
the table, where / had left the lamp
and matches, and strike light, but
the lamp emitted only a sickly flame,
so that the distant corners of the room
seemed lost in the deep glooms n pa
Could l be still asleep and dreaniEg
or did my sight deceive me? No, 4
was confident that at the opposite side
of the room, her elbow resting upon
the window easement, and her face
| tie tJduG3 4IhC OtlC
| lost in thought, 4 say o " oman stand
ing. For some nfohaents she remain
ed in this position, then she turned,
and, without noticing me, advanced
to the center of the room, where, to
my astonishment, beheld a table, up
On which were scattered writing materi
ais which was not in the room when I
retired. Before this table my strange
visitor seated herself, and taking. up
the pen proceeded to write Herface
which was extremely pale, was turned
towards me, and was evidently that OF
a woman of about forty or therea-
bouts
How long she sat there l have no
idea. It seemed hours to me, though
it may have been only seconds. EI-T
Presently heard the sound of ap-
preaching footsteps in the hallway be
low. The woman laid down, the pen
and turned her eyes toward the door.
Nearer and nearer came the sounds,
till at last they reached the very thresh
hold of my room My mysterious
visitor arose, and to my surprise
opened it, and admitted two men and
a woman-all as pale as herself. Nc
word was exchanged, but all crossed
to the table, at which my first visitor
seated herself, and seemed to add 8
word or two to the paper upon which
she had been writing; then each of the
new corners scrawled something upor
it, and as quietly as they had entered
} the room, passed out of it, SIS
When the sound Of their retreating
D ! foaFoEoroo bol ocJ
, passed to the table, took up the docu
ment, folded it carefully, and .ther
crossed to the chimney place at the
extremity of the room, and, STOPPING
=, removed several Of the bricks from
I the hearth. Into the hollow thus mad
she deposited the paper then careful
e ly replaced the bricks.
d At that instant my light suddenl,
went out. A singular drowsipes
/ stole over me, and | fell into deel
" sleep, from which loud knocking up
- - on the door of the room awoke me t
L the realization that it was morning
> > that the storm had passed, ard tn
{ { sun was cheerfuliy shining in througl
: the windows, and the voice Of my hos
from the hallway, informed me tha
!. breakfast was waiting. / arose ant
y dressed hastily Not the slightes
: trace Of what had happened durin
+ the night remained. Table and pa
y y pers were gone l tried the door. ]
" was locked
"Only dream, after all, exclaim
70 ed. "The effects of negus, no doubt.
When breakfast was over Georg
Y arose, and, requesting me to follo1
. him, led the way to the library, an(
motioning me to be seated, settle
@ himself in chair near me.
II Il have brought you here" he sale
ii after briet science, ''to consult yo
n regarding the matter referred to in m
IS letter. noticed you were very niue
af surprised last evening when Maud er
le tered the dining room, which was nc
rs in the least singular, considering tht
le I quite forgot to inform you of he
presence here. AS it is with busines
d closely connected with her that I al
" going to speak, l will explain som
10 thing of her history. You must knoi
e then, that | am the youngest of thre
er sons. Oscar, my oldest brother, VIII
10 was over ten years my senior, marie
x lady of some means, by who m
OF had one child-a daughter. With Il
c. money he had gained with his wifi
Of Oscar speculated largely, meeting ft
ly several years with wonderful good 70
20 tune, but in an unlucIiy moment he i
ry vested all in venture which proved
OF failure, and he suddenly found himse
| poor man. The loss of his fortul
ld weighed SO heavily upon his mind th
k it at last gave way beneath the strai
I'd and he died raving maniac, leavir
nd his wife and child in abject povert
His wife's grief at his loss was inten
- md two Ennrs latnr tho rrnvn clos