, 1876-08-11


ject he had seen.
When nv wife heard of it of a Sun
dav morning, from Mrs. Jones, a neigh
Dor, who ran in to tell the news, she
| declared there was nothing in it; that it
was the invention of an enemy who
wanted to cast reproach upon me; that
| had always taken so good care of the
/ church that there could have been no
chance for anything of ghostly nature
| to have taken up its abode therein; but
when afterwards she was opening the
| doors, she heard it from the lips of first
| one and then another, until the good
woman came to think there must be
| something in it, and when, later in the
day, the pastor referred to it in the
desk, she could no longer disbelieve it,
though she stoutly affirmed that 1 had
not bee nremiss in my duty, and that as
soon as 1 returned l would dispose of
the ghost in short order
1t was on Thursday that 1 got home,
and before had been in the house q
minute, 1 knew by the looks of my wife
that she had got something of impor-
tance on her mind, and in less than half
an hour had heard the whole, and a
good deal more, expect, from her lips
and those of Mrs. Jones, who ran to tell
me, as she declared, "what she knew
about it, and didn't want me to get into
trouble" just as though could prevent
a ghost from taking up its abode in the
church if it should be so minded.
After had heard their story, which,
by the way, they enjoyed telling, though
1 think my wife had rather Mrs. Jones
had kept out, and given her the chance
of telling the whole, took down the
keys Of the church, that are always
hung in a particular spot, and went
across the yard, under the evergreens,
to the porch door.
Glancing up at one of the windows, 1
saw that the ivy beneath it had been
displaced and torn from the wall, where,
year after year it had clung, and that
there was trampled spot on the ground
beneath. So much of the story was
true, then, for this must have been the
spot where the person had clambered
up who had heard the sounds and seen
the white figure in the church.
Unlocking the door, passed in, and
bolted it behind me, for did not care
to have some one, who might have OBJ
DoANO0 my OAhuhCOg bbEOllluk III. L
wanted to make q complete examination
of every hole and corner within, and I
wanted to do it alone. I had come
ghost-hunting, and was afraid my
game would be frightened away if they
saw too numerous party. Rvery part
and parcel Of the church searched,
going into nearly every pew, to see if
anything were hidden beneath their
high sides; into the desk, the singers
seats and the organ loft, even taking a
look into the instrument itself. But ev-
erything was as it should be; nothing
was displaced, and came down to the
floor Of the church, and there lighted q
lamp had brought with me, for the
purpose of going down into the vaults
beneath, which, years ago, had been
used as q burial place, though the prac-
tice had long been discontinued as the
town had increased in size. The one
ghost that had been seen had apparently
disappeared beneath the church, as was
perfectly proper it should to keep up
the ghostly character.
had not been in the vaults for some
six months, the last occasion being that
of a stranger who had come to me, say
ing that he wanted to gain information
as to the exact time certain person had
been buried there, some twenty years
before. He had gone with me to the
vaults, found the coffin, with the date
thereon, which he was in search Of. and
had departed, after giving me q liberal
fee; and remember his observing, that
to all appearance the vaults were rarely
opened, to which I replied in the affirm
ative, and to substantiate my words,
calling his attention to the creaking of
the iron door at the end of the passage,
caused by disuse and the corroding Of
the hinges from rust.
Unlocking the door that led into the
passage, and shielding the light with
my hand, to prevent its being ex-
tinguished by the chilling draughts of
air that came rushing out, descended
the steps and stood before the iron door,
which, contrary to my expectation, un-
locked without difficulty, and turned
upon its hinges without q sound, while
/ was expecting to hear the noise that,
in spite Of myself, had startled me on
the occasion of my last visit.
The shadows caused by the rays Of
the lamp, chasing each other over the
piles Of tarnished and decayed cofins
that lay on either side, looked ghastly
enough, but apart from this there was
nothing to be seen.
Everything remained as it had done
on the occasion of my last visit, except
it seemed to me that in one place the
cofins appeared to be placed differently
from what I had been accustomed to see
them. 1 might, however, be mistaken
in this, so seldom had my visits been;
and at last, satisfied that there was moth
ing out of the way there, 1 turned to re-
| trnca NV akara Az I did 40 I saw Roma-