The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-02-16
being brought up with a round turn some

being brought up with round turn some
times.
For twenty minutes they crashed and
plunged and stumbled on through the thick
underground. The branches of the trees
overhead, wet with the rain which was now
steadily falling, distilled upon them great
drops of water which trickled over their faces
and dripped down their backs, while the
bushes which obstructed their path, shed up
on them copious showers that soon wet them
to the skin. At length, wet and bedraggled,
they emerged from the thicket into an open
meadow in which magnificent elms were
swaying and creaking In the wind.
Snow, uncle Steve, where is your treer
asked Barker. The old man, painting from the
usual exertion of his rapid journey through
the woods, mopped the perspiration from his
face with the sleeve of his battered coat, and
then pointed with trembling finger to tree
not far from where they stood.
"That's the ellum", was all he said.
The two men walked in GREATNESS silence
to the tree indicated. The next step was to
rellght the lantern which had been extin-
guished by one of the numerous stumbles of
the old man while in the bushes. Barker
produced some dry matches from his pocket
but even with these, considering the rain
still falling steadily and the strong wind, it
was matter of considerable difficulty to re-
light the wick, but after many failures it was
at last accomplished. The tiny fame sent
out sickly light, which gave CHASTITY APP
pearance to the swaying branches of the
tree overhead.
for ghosts to be around,' said Barker, with
a shudder. Uncle Steve gave a startled
glance over his shoulder and was evidently
ill at ease. However, as no ghostly visitor
appeared, he felt somewhat treasured and,
by the assistance Of Barker, who held the
lantern, began to examine the wet ground
under the tree. After careful search they
found place where the surface had appar-
emily been recently disturbed.
"There tits; what did tell yer?" cried
the old man. exultingly.
'Keep still your noise. Somebody may
hear you," answered Barker, sharply.
With one quick glance around to assure
himself that they were still unobserved,
Uncle Steve seized the spade which Barker
had brought and went to work with vgor
that no one could reasonably have expected
from man of his years. Barker stood by
and held the lantern. After the old man
had worked steadily for some time in a ST.
lence broken only by the noise of his spade
and his own hard breathing, he struck some
hard object in the earth.
s'There 'tis," he almost shrieked in the
excess of his joy. He threw down the spade,
knelt and tugged at the object, until the nails
of his fingers were broken in the vain at
tempt to raise it. When he found this i'm
possible, he took his spade again and was
about to recommence digging, when slight
rustic caused him to turn hastily around.
Instantly he gave utterance to a yell that
could have been heard for miles. Dick
turned hastily around to discover the cause
of the old mans excitement, when sight
met his eyes that might well cause the hair
of the boldest man to stand upright on his
head from very terror. On little knell, a
few feet from where the men were at work,
lowered a tall form, clothed in white, while
its two burning eyes were apparently watch
ing closely for the result of Uncle Stev'es ex-
cavation. Seen by the dim, Pickering Ian
tern, with its accompaniment of wind and
rain, the effect was perfectly startling.
In the first transport of his terror, Uncle
Steve had been too much overcome either to
walk or run, but he had managed to crawl
along on the ground until he reached the
out of sight of the frightful apparition, he so
far recovered the use of his faculties as to be
able to run, and never did two legs, so well
along in years do better service. The noise
he made in running would have done credit to
troop of elephants crashing through a jun
gle. At short intervals, in the excess of his
fright. he would give utterance to heart
rending "Oh Lord'', varied occasionally by
an equally emphatic "Devil' as his foot
caught under some projecting root and sent
him sprawling on the ground.
But astonishing as had been the effect of
the apparition upon Uncle Steve, it affected
Dick Barker in still more surprising manner.
he did not appear TO be startled in the least,
nor did he exhibit the least disposition to run
away. He coolly gazed a moment at the
frightful object and then actually laughed
laughed until the tears rolled down his cheeks.
and when he heard the old man tearing
through the underbrush, he fairly laid down
upon the wet grass and rolled over and over
in an ecstasy of laughter. Then another
still more astonishing thing occurred; for the
apparition itself. dropping its ghostly gar
ments and taking on the form of an exceed
ingly good-looking young lady, laughed near
ly as heartily as Dick himself
When at last the sound of the fugitive's
retreating steps had died away in the distance
and Dick and his ghostly companion had
somewhat recovered from their excessive
merriment the former exclaimed:
swell, Mary, wasn't that we'll done? Un-
Gle Steve won't stop running until he gets
into his own house," and then, at the thought
of the old mans flight through the under
brush, he went into another prolonged fit of
laughter which threatened to sufocate him.
Recovering himself at length, he took up
the spade, which Uncle Steve had dropped
in his flight, and with few well directed
strokes uncovered small black trunk.
"That is grandther's trunk, sure enough,
I have seen it hundreds of times" exclaimed
the ghostly being called Mary. But while
the pair examine the trunk and its contents,
by the light of the lantern, let us go back in
our story and close up matters somewhat.
A few months previous to the adventure of
which this unpretending tale is chronicle,
there lived in an old farm house mile or two
from Potterstown, grabbed, misery old
man named Wilkins, better known to all the
country people Whereabouts as Granther Will
kins. His only living relative, an orphaned
grand daughter, kept house for him. 1t was
a hard trial for the young girl to endure the
fretful whims and misery economy of the
crochety old man, yet, because she looked