The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1872-1881, 1876-10-20

farce OF fashionable lie.
But amid all this revelry and gilt
tering splendor, there was always a
skeleton at the feast. An inde6nable
dread of.en struck q chill to the hearts
Of the bravest men, rs well ms the
most frivolous and timid who gathered
in that charming retreat. The spell
Of superstition was on The place, AID
fear was in the hearts Of visitors.
Often the ladies, when alone IN the
precincts Of the enchanting grounds,
covered and huddled together, easily
alarmed At any sound that seemed 10
be supernatural, though il was only
the whisperings Of the zephyrs that
blew sol perfumes over their brows.
The disembodied spirit which was said
to hold dominion theie would not down
at the bidding Of music and gayety,
nor be queuched by bright and fash
ing lights. nor s..lled by The snee:ing
laugh of unbe!ief. IL was said that
ghost walked the.eabouts in the mid
night hours. and especially when the
moon shone softly over The tangled
vines and through the leaves
Of the bearded frees. Brave men and
gentle women were often startled by
the oches Of their own voices hooking
the utierance which came only from
their lips. And they fled from the
hi,leous snaps Of their own harmless
shadows, which fell specter like on the
moon light earth and blended with the
lights and shades Of pictures traced on
the walks beneath the oaks. The ghosts
Of the place was memory bringing TO
Imagination the apparition Of her, the
tale or whose sad fate tradition kept
green aud fresh in the hearts Of those
who wandered amid the scenes where
the foul and terrible tragedy had been
enacted.
Marriages, deaths, departures, the
growing uutenable condition of the
h, use, and other causes of chanse,and
especially the startling noises and
luminous exhalations which often arose
from the moist grounds thereabouts
and took dreadful shapes which cor
roborated the widest stories that the
imagination had ever conjured up, at
last caused the abandonment Of the
old mansion. Soon the effects Of neglect
we're made visible in the evidence of
decay and diIapidation which fell on
the topping walls, and made The ruins
uninhabitable. Tangled briars, weeds,
flowers and grass grew in wild lu1uri'
ance, and mingled their stems, thorus,
and tendrils iu inextricable confusion
with branches, leaves, and mosstufts
of the trees. The dense shades and
damp, dark recesses served to shelter
noxious reptiles and vermin, which
swarmed within the precincts.
Around the premises improvements
were extensively made; and that quar-
ter of the city, inhhe loyeliest portion
of the Old Third District, becam'
, singuarly beautiful and attractive, ant
3 famous for its elegant society, palatia
, homes, luxuriant gardens, troPica
/, flowers, and Low ly depths or COO
forest shades. But the haunted hous
remained as blot on the fair face O
v the suburb.
= In 1856 the old ruins were brough
n prominently into notice by reviv'
h of the old legend that attached to tn
!, place. The story commonly rePeate
e stated that often, though at irreguls
g intervals, there appeared about II
g DR. emises the form of beautiful lad
y who had golden hair, a glittering ST.
er of Jewels set in her forehead. and raj
h genus on her fingers. Her counte
he ance was described as being OF a ce!e
re tial character, glowing with supernat
ht raj light, illumined by eyes whit
a sparkled with tears; her face was Ill
of an angels, and her robes Of SNOW
r. whileness. The story gathered deta
I'd as it rolled along the highway Of g.
IL sip, al d when it vas told to me, amoI
he the numerous strange embellishmer
IS was one which stated that often t
A ghost sang in low but sweet and de
" cious strains. All this served to ma
ed people avoid passing in close proxin
IN ty to the place, and hence not on
No. superstitious negroes, but also ma
err intelligent white people fed from t
hollow echoes OF their own footfa
de and at glimpses of the moons refl'
so ton through crevices of the crumbl
n walls and windows out of which b
ny once cleaned lights from thousa
in brilliant wax bougies.
ad My curiosity having been arouse
I'M | determined to watch the weird pli
ny and discover. if possible, what
tic ghost would do il brought into fan
* lar contact with a living body. 81
ers became my habit to wander do
Did there often in the evening, and lin
cir in these solitudes. Amid this desC
'ed ton there came to me pleasure q
ity was charming beyond all descripii