The free citizen. (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1875-11-13
y
4 TERRIBLE JOKE.

me that, were the words which Geor",,
! Eelton addressed To his bachelor -tricn,!,
Maj. Lee, Il retired army officer, as th7,
conversation turned on matterS lfia,ri-
monial.
".,h, George it isn't wonderful thai.
| should never mention it. The circum
stfnces which prevented nc getting mar
ricd arc of such 4 melancholy character
tina, il pains me to have them referred 10
at all. Was his answer.
Now, Major: :.l'm very curious TO
know, and ,,s->wc are OLD friends, if |
promise to keep it Il secret, will YOU tell
me? But if.t would pain You too much
to tell don't want to Enow,' said
| George.
:" Well, them" the Major answered
with 4 sigh, + will tell YOU, but
here he shuddcrcd, "it is 81 horrible, ol, !,
50 dreadful! Let me think. Yes.
"'lts WAS in the year 1917 when 1t lar-
pcncd. and had Just entered thrtwcntr-
seventh year of my age, with prospects
as bright and promising us amy Young
man could wish for. My way was clear
to fame in military circles. | had aIuSt
come from Il hasty trip around the world
and my mind was full of strange and
new ideas. People battered me on my
success, and the doors OF society were
open wide to me, that ! might pass in.
Oh, that they had only been kept shut !.
| received III invitation 10 attend Il very
fashionable ball given hy Il rich tunily in
the west endsof London. went there
and while talking to :; friend in one q"
the parlors | noticed Il particularly hand
some young lady. ] took Il fancy to her
| Immediately, and managed To obtain an
| introduction To her, which ! aitcrwar,
| found out she WAS as anxious, 10 have :lS
| | waS. You know yourscll' what feel
ings possess Il man when l,r first falls in
love, and such feelings had then. How
ever, danced With her. escorted her to
supper, and parted with her III ,leS door
of her carriage, receiving an invitation
to call 1T her house. It's scarcely nrcrs-
sary To tell YOU that visited her again
and again. The following summer w;ls
invited to spend Il etcw months at her
| fthcr'S country residence. wls only
too willing to 60, aInl while down there
| in Dcvonshirc one beautiful calm even
| ing, seated on Il rustic bench, | offered
her my hand and heart, :lnd was ac-
ccrtcd.
: Now. She WAS very fond of practical
Jokes, and never let pass an opportunity
to play one, regardless Of who might be
unfortunate enough to he her victim.
One morning Lena (l can't help call
ing her hv the old laniliar namc) did not
como down 10 breakfast :,s usual. \ ser
want WAS sent to her room TO see what
was the matter and found her lying in
bed, complaining of Il sick l,eadachc, IN
illness which we afterwards found out 10
be only assumed. She said that during
the night she was awakened by Il scratch
ing noise and looking in the direction
| whence il came she saw Il horrible face
looking At her. She tainted and rcmcm-
hcrcd nothing more about'it. OF course
we pronounced this nothing more than II
nightmare, but at her request one Of her
sisters WAS allowed 10 sleep witt. l,cr.
The next morning they reported seeing
the same horrible appnrition, and de-
clarcd their intention of never sleeping
III the room again, as i, WAS haunted
Il volunteered to occupy the depart
mcilt for one night, assmucl to invcsti-
gate the cause of the appearance of the
ghost us because no one else was willing
| to take possession of, the room. About
ten O'Clock j went Ia he'd, and don't
know how long slept when | was
awakened by Il scratching noise, and
looking in that direction saw Il terrible
malicious looking i;lrc directly over Tie
nantcl-piccc, and looking straight ut me.
II had large eyes, Il horrible pair of tngs
in its mouth and seemed as if The inside
OF the head were all on fire. jumped
from the bed, but the moment I touched
the floor the face disappeared. went
I" bed again. but did not sleep much.
kept watching over the mantIc-piccc and
was rewarded by the face again appear
ing. had taken revolver with me
aii,l placed it under my pillow quietly
| took it out, aimed ut the face and pulled
! the trigger" =
| Here the Major began to cry, and grief
for n time interrupted his narrative, and
said:
Z" When tired we heard Il piercin.
shrek, accompanied by Il fall aS of some
heavy body. We lighted the gas, and
rushed to the nmntlc-piccc. found the
place where my bullet had entered. II
had made clean hole. | knew it must
be hollow behind, and found that could
push down the val! paper, which did,
and found large hole, about three feet
square. Hearing groans inside | jumped
through the opening, and cropping around
tcIi Il female form which | lifted up,
and found, to my horror, that il was she
shot through the breast, and by the hand
! oI VIC IilNl WHO ilah plpuGcu himself
again and again to protect her from all
harm. We carried her to the room
where | had formerly slept, and which
was hers at tho time. Here she fingered
for a few days, never recovering con.
sciousncsS, and then died Now, George
you have the reason why ] never was
married.
There wasa passage which led from
,,,t.