The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1876-08-31

49, =
cut him down like n guardsmen at
Waterloo. Then l sliced him in two
like a soldier at an assault-of-arms.
At each pass of the weapoa he ducked,
recoiled, and cried aloud.
"See, you can not resist. I do what
| like with you. What can you do in
re%turnP"
He raised his hand and strucl; at my
face. 1t was as If n cold wind blew upon
my cheek. could not repress n shud-
der. The old SILVER came across me.
He saw IL at once, and sprang mt my
throat. To my surprise, what was be-
fore as q breath of cold air became tan
gible. l t6h his cold grasp with his
long, bony fingers ut my throat. Ills
face, close TO mine, was filed with an
eager longing for revenge. His lurid
eyes glared at mine. His tcoth glistGn-
ed in the twilight. 1t was but for mo-
ment that | was afraid. Then I rallied
my courage, sprang upright, and looked
my spectral enemy in the face. As |
locked the tangibili,y of his fingers
weakened, the ,ightncss Of his grasp re-
Taxed, and his look changed from one
of triumph othat ofbaflcd rage. Then
he fell back sullenly, and threw himself
into an easy chair, gllring round the
room.
81 never allow any one but my5cli,n
said, "to occupy that chair. 1t is
mine. Please take another"
He changed chairs Immediately.
"Will this du?"
1t was one next to mine. begged
him to take II on the other side oi the
Fireplace, which he did ut once. Then
sat down and surveyed the situation.
was alone, save an old woman, my
temporary factotum, in the kitchen.
The people in the houses round were
now all away for their holidays. / had
II ghost, presumably q lunalic of Il dan
gcrous kind, under my roof. 1t WAS
impossible to get rid of him, unless he
chose to 60. You can not push, kick,
or throw n ghost ont of II window or
door; You can not lock him in one room
while you so to sleep in another; you
can not shut yourself up in your bed
room and defy him; above all, you
never know what tricks he may be at.
Thinking Of these things, ! became con-
scious Of another access of terror
sllghter this time. Ny guest, however,
perceived it, and in u twinkling was on
me again, with his skeleton fingers
round my throat. | shook him of
that is, | rcgaincd my presence of
mind, and he covered back to his seat.
where he sat, his head on his arm, and
his long white clothes clin@ing to his
limbs, Il sight never to he forgotten.
"Pray tell me what it MEANS" / said.
at means that if you were afraid of
me, | would throttle yon like a dog. 1t
means that | an sitting here waiting
for the when you will realize
who and what am; the injuries you
have done me, the w~ickedncss of your
life, the loneliness OF your position, and
your presence with another world.
lia! ha! see it coming. Tour nerves
won't stand me another quarter of IN
hour, and then | shall seize you by the
windpipe, and squeeze, squeeze, the
~lilc-blood out Of you!"
Presently he went on again:
"Iou will have 10 60 to bed soon.
You can not st M AL night"
elbow long ~ you stay hcrG?"
"As long as | please. Ito! no! no!
{ can he with you, now | have found
you, morning, noon and night. When
you are nicely in your bed, | shall be
sitting by the bedside, waiting for i
moments weakness. When You are
at your Office in the city, | shall be at
your elbow, waiting to tinI you or your
guard. At dinner shall be behind
you. You will not escape me. Sooner
or later you will be afraid. The time
will come. / shall wait. | shall
wait"
"Pray explain" l said blandly.
"You will wait until | am afraidP"
"Preciseiy. We ghosts can not hurt
people who are not afraid of us. Oar
power is only over the cowardly and
superstitious-that is, over nearly all
mankind. Once a mar has the pluck
to stand up to us, We are powerless."
"My good friend" / replied, "let
us enjoy each others society without
mutual confessions. l grant all that
you have said. 1t is very curious and
interesting. Not, perhaps, quite SO
horrible as / might have expected, had
| known you were coming, but still
by the way, You hal! from the cemetc,
~ close hy?"
81 do. All! villain and traitor! who
put me there? do: and as | was tax,
ing an evening invisible stroll, | hap
pencd to look in at your window, aut
say the man | had expected and mos
hoped to see, lIa! Ia! | shall make i
hot for that man. SO | will, too" h,
added, weakly, after II pause.
made no reply, hut went on smoll
ing, as if he had been an ordinary Wis
itor.
"When I was in that country ship
trading between Rangoon and Calcutt;
there, what's the use of raking up tn,
, old storyP"
"None," I replied. "None at alum
less you like"
p "No use talking. What's the goot
, of talkP Come to that, l might remin'
you what went on, you knew, at Yoke
e hama, Eth! What DO you say TO that?
s 81 nave nothingto say to that"
"Lord! Lord! Some men will bra
a zen out any thing! And what about tn
II Hong Kong h~nsinnssp Whn nrnmisn