The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1876-11-02

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idismSa.' The dead leaves rustled
dolefnlly under Josephine Harkcr's
feet as she hurried along the aislcs Of
Crofton Woods; hurried along at ran
dom, not knowing whittier the next
step would take her
She stopped at last, and sat down
on a moss.grown rock that almost
barred her progress in that direction.
at is of no use to mince the mat
ter" she said, cyincing considerable
philosophy under the circumstances,
81 am lost in Crofton Woods! And
here | shall be obliged to stay all
night, for no human being in the
town would have courage to venture
within these shadows after sundown!
1t is strange how people will Hlow
themselves to be imposed upon by
absurd storiesl Haunted! pshaw! ]
wonder if shall see the ghost"
1t was particularly uncomfortable
there, and she began to shivcr before
long, and wish away down deep in
her willful little heart, that she had
not come. Her muslin dress was
damp with the dew, and the little
crochet apology Of shawl she wore
was anything, but sufficient pro-
lection against the piercing night
afr.
Josephine had been very naugh-
ty, She acknowledged it to herself
'now-sitting there blue and trcmb-
ling-with her fingers and feet cold
.as ice and the frsst making hcrplack
hair as gray as old Grandfather Lay
tons.
she had straycd away from Crof-
ton Hall, where her Aunt Alice liy-
cd, and where she was spending a
few weeks, tgainst her aunt's cx-
pressed wishcs-and without allow
ing that good lady to know whittier
she had gone,
The truth was, Josephine had
come off into the woods in Il fit of
piquc. She wanted to make Mr..
Fitzhcrbcrt feel worried about her
Mr.. Edward had done a very rude
thing that morning-vcry rude in
deed! He had been Miss JoSies most
devoted admircr for two months, and
this morning because Josie had seen
fit to frown on him by way of trying
her power, he had gone off nonchal-
antly and invited Lucia Van Dyane
to ride. And they had taken the
whole forenoon for their plcasuring,
and had returned in high spirits.
Lucia's cheeks were so red, and her
eyes so bright, and her hair so gold
en-, that for the first time Josephine
realized that there might be women
as pretty as she was herself, and
when Mr., Edward praised LuCia's
riding he added "tho feather too
much;" and Josephine put on her
shawl and sauntcred away.
She had taken little basket on
her arm to gather pine cones in when
she returned to the city she might
want to do a little fancy work,
Aunt Alice had repeatedly warned
her to keep out of Crofton Woods.
1t was an uncanny place, and haunt
ed by strange stories. Years before
a man had been murdered on the
confines of the forest, and his ghost
walked every night, and frequently
the wild cry for help that the MUIR
dcrcd victim had uttered rang out on
the startled air, Josie had listened
to these tales over and over again,
and never failed to laugh heartily at
them,
But the woods were strictly shun-
ned by all the people living in that
vicinity, and there was not money
enough, probably, in the Crotton
bank to have tempted any person in
the noighborhood to pass the night
in their shadows,
As Josie sat there, thinking this
over, she thought she heard, in the
distance, n horses football, Presently
| it came nearer, and q moment after,
ward Fit1hcrbcrts white marc burst
from the underground, II few rods
away.
"lIclplRglp!hclpl" cried Josephine,
adopting the pNroscology of the
] ,l,,,I,n,