, 1877-03-02

u
great star, vas q brilliant, beautiful
light. IL came rapidly toward us from
the right, apparently floating in the air.
and Illuminating the space before il for
several yards. II advanced very swift
ly. with . steady forward motion. foat-
ing along about yard from the ground.
As Il came nearer No perceived. looming
dimly behind Il, q giant shadow. weird
and grotesque, with outspread wings
and misty, underlined form, while a
sharp rustling. vhirring sound accom-.
panied its progress. As the phantom
approached, the desolate moaning arose
again from the sands, and swept along
in low, shuddering cries, dying away.
sad and pIteous a. before. With the
last faint sound the light leaped up for
one second into intense brilliancy and
disappeared.
"oh r cried Nellie, fearfully. What
is II, Jean?"
II don't know" replied, feeling
Of unaccountable dread and horror tax.
ing hold Of me. The very demon of
fear seemed to possess my senses, an
icy grasp Of terror laid hold of my
heart. The air outside seemed to have
become suddenly clammy and cold, q
chilly, ceric wind crept in at the win
dow. The very darkness seemed filled
with shapes. hideous and impalpable,
at which l dared not look, lest they
should take form before my eyes.
There it is again |" shuddered
Nellie.
And with unutterable dread we saw
the brilliant, star-like light again float
ing toward us, this time from the right
hand. 1t came on swiftly, with the i'm
palpable, fantastic shadow in the air
above it, and when exactly opposite van
ished. We sat paralyzed with terror,
not daring to move, q horrible, benumb-
ing terror seizing our hearts. This phe-
nomenon happened several times, the
light alternately appearing from the
right and left, and always vanishing
when exactly opposite to us, and always
accompanied by the moaning voice.
Again the low wailing sounds from
the sands, profoundly melancholy, in
expressibly mournful, like nothing akin
to humanity. No words were uttered,
but the agony of the tones was like
voice from the grave.
Jean, Jean, here it is again !" cried
Nellie, covering in my arms.
And once more the brilliant phantom
light appeared. This time it came on
more slowly, glancing to-and-fro un-
steadily, while the shadowy form behind
it seemed more grotesque and misty
than ever.
"Oh, Jean, if it is true If it comes
TO foreten some loss, some trouble p
sobbed Nellie, in tears.
Hush, hush, dear |" I tried to say,
reassuringly. sit cannot be. Sorrow
may come to us, if God wills it, but not
through"
"I say, old fellow" shouted voice
down below in the darkness. You'll
frighten somebody into fits with that
lantern dodge of yours. You and your
confounded bicycle look like some hor-
rible ghostly spectre, fitting along in
the dark. You gave me aprecious start,
I can tell you"
Nellie and I jumped to our feet, and
gazed incredulously out of the window.
Down below in the road, a yard or two
to the right, the phantom light stood
stationary at last. In the glare before
it q young fellow was standing, while
behind loomed the fantastic, mysterious
shadow, robbed of all its terrors in q
moment.
Isn't it a stunning dodge ?" said the
shadow, in most unghostly slang. HYou
see, Jack, thisAsphalt's firstrate to prae-
tice on, butA fellow has no chance In
the daytime, for those confounded car
riages. So ] rugged out this dark Ian
tern and fastened it to my bicycle, and
/ can spin along in peace now.
Take care you don't spin away the
wits of all the old maids in the prone
made" returned the other. "You look
most horribly like some goblin from the
lower regions, with your dark lantern
flashing in front, those noiseless wheels
and your long legs and arms spread out
like great wings behind"
The other laughed.
The old maids are all fast asleep
long ago, bless their old eyes p he re-
turned, irreverently. But I say, Jack,
the match for the four oars will have to
be put off tomorrow. We are going to
have an awful storm. Listen How
the wind sighs and means among the
girders of the pier 1t sounds for all
the world like some one calling out in
distress, and it's a sure sign of rough
weather. What rage Gregory will be
in if -"
The two old maids had heard quite
enough. Nellie and / looked at each
other rather sheepishly, it must be con-
fessed, and then burst into hearty
laugh.
AN ExAGGERATNe WoMAN.-Yester-
day was indeed an eventful day in the