The Canton mail. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 18??-1882, 1875-04-17
THE LOST CHIMES.
BY FRANZ MELVILLE.

was ordered by my superiors to thor.
oughly revise the parish register, kept
in the old church of Holtuz. 1t was q
very tedious job. and one that kept me
several weeks closely confined in the
glo my sacristry, porting over the dusty
tones that recorded the births, bap-
tisms, marriages and deaths of several
bygone generations. My Co worker
was the aged sexton, whose name was
Christen Hyerpope, q man well known
TO every man, woman and child within
twenty miles around. He was a remark
ably reserved, re'icent old msn, who
never ventured a remark except in an
swer to a direct quest on from me.
One day in going through the mar
mage register [ suddenly came to q
page where there seemed to be a very
uely hiatus in the records.
"Christen," said I, "what docs this
mean?"
A very peculiar expression came over
the old mans wrinked face, and I
noticed him tremble slightly as he re-
piled sententiously, Thereby hangs q
tale"
"a talei" I exclaimed. "Bravo let
us have it then, by all me- ans"
The old man hung his head for sew
eral minutes in deep and silent medita
tioc, tten, raising it suddenly, went on
to tell me the following narrative, which
I cannot hope to give in his peculiarly
impressive style and manner, but which
il IN substance as follows
have been employed about churches
ever since ! was q little boy; in other
words, for nearly three score years
most of that time in the church under
which We are now sitting. The friends
OF my youth one by one passed away,
SO silently, and their places were sup
piled BY others SO quietly and gradu-
ally, that it was not until q few wears
ago that discovered, to nv astonish-
ment, that the world had passed into
IN entirely new set of hands. In other
words, I discovered that I had outlived
my own generation.
Tue story which am about to tell
you is not properly q ghost story, and
still less Ii it love story. have been
q bachelor all my days, and do not care
to go back to the event that determined
thus In all my life I have never seen
. real ghost, though it does seem to me
that If the spirits of the departed ever
revisit the pale glimpses of the
moon" and show themselves to mortal
eyes, ought certainly to have been
the one to see them. I am not a bit
superstitious, sir, not bit.
One Christmas eve, shortly after
had been made sexton, the pastor came
over to visit me, and I could see that
ne was somewhat sgitated. Said he
Chrlsten, I'm in q fix. The bell
ringer has been taken down suddenly
Ills sick abed-and I've got nobody
TO peal the chimes tonight. He said
that you we're the only man who could
do the thing properlyr
Inc fact Is, it had been habit of
mine invariably to spend NV Christmas
ewes with tine bell, ringer of the Holtno
church. He was a man mncb olde1
than I, who was getting to feel his wears
very perceptbly. He had verv pretty
daughter, and she seemed always par
ticularly fond of my company. I
thought it but a small return for his
MANIFOLD nndnesses to me to assist him
peal the chimes, which, by the way. is
mt . job for everybody's doing. I'm
der these circumstances, without the
least hesitation, I promised the pastor
that would be responsible myself.
that Just as soon as the clock struck the
hour OF twelve the Holtug chimes
should peal far and wide over the land.
as they had always done, from beyond
the memory of the oldest inhabitant of
the parish. For this he thanked me
warmly. and then departed.
As soon as he was gone I went over
to the belLnnger's to get the tower
keys, and also some necessary direc.
tions. I found him SO i'll that deter
mined to spend the remainder of the
evening with him. At precisely half
past eleven 1 stuck the heavy bunch of
Keys In my belt and started out, The
WIND WAS glowing strong and cold and
the night was dark as pitch. A number
OF the street lamps had gone out for the
want OF OIL, and others had been extin-
guished BY the violent gusts of wind
that made them creek and rattle. Not
soul seemed astir in the desoIate
streets, and yet several times I thoueht
that heard footsteps close behind me.
Without paying much attention to this
TACT passed on, and yet I could not be
mistaken there were stealthy footsteps
Just behind me. I was experiencin~
the full force OF this uncapny feeling
when suddenly party of young people.
singing q Christmas Carol. TUNED The
corner and also the drift of my THOUGHTS.
stopped with them several minutes to
exchaa ge the greeting of the season
ana then babe them good night. This
made me forget all about the suspicious
100. balls that 1 fancied I had heard.
When reached the church-yard gate
the clock struck a quarter to twelve.
ana Just as got inside of the gate /
snought 1 heard the same muff1ed.
guarded tread. now felt pretty snre
Ina' :, me one was secretly following
me; suddenly 1 turned around and
looked back, but never a sound save
the wind In the trees and COMMISSIONERS.
ana the faint vibrations of the belfry
clocks last quarter-stroke never
sight but the dark, low. scuddino
clouds, the black, eloomR church. and
the countless white tombstonee- To
tell the truth was both too ashamed
and too fnght< ned to go back and see
II anybody was really lodging me. 1
was rapidly becoming q coward. The
only way could account for it was bv |
supPosing that the hard work of the
previous night had supsrinduced a |
temporary fit of weak nerves. fear and
superstition.
Despite, however, my earnest efforts
to Danish the unpleasant emotions pro-
duced by the stealthy footsteps. when
came to fit the big key into the lock
OF the outer church door an irresistihIe
impulse compelled mo to look back over
my shoulder. As said before. was
not DIT superstitious, and as q general
thing my nerves were not particularly
weak, but the unpleasant and disagree
able sensation that thrilled through me
was one never to be forgotten and not
easily described. I could not tell |
whether it was the face of a man or a |
ghost that 1 saw peering so straight at |
me from just over the top of a grave
stone near by. My eyes encountered |
partition, for it was too distinct, the
5e.dssons being scarcely thirty yards
L. could have been no fleeing vision.
lor was standing in the deep shadows
d the church portal, and could watch
ne race move slightly without its be
ng able to see that was Watching IL.
The tombstone behind which the BODY
o which the face belonged was con-
'eeled stood some distance off from the
'ath. A feeling of anger soon gained