The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1878-11-12

very still. No sound was to be heard
save the occasional note of the whip
poorwill, or the cblrping of some In
sect
He had sat upon the step some min
utes, and had become quite lost In medI-
tation, when he was startled by three
loud raps, breaking the stiffness of the
evening air, followed by deep, sepul-
chral voice, saying ARISE ye dead,
and come to Judgment" My grand
father jumped to his feet and looked
around, but could see nothing. He
pinched himself to make sure he was
not dreaming, and peered around the
corners, and into the windows of the
house and finally concluded it was his
imagination playing him a trick, he
seated himself again on the door.stone
He had not sat long, however, when the
three loud raps rang out again sharply,
and the same deep voice said after them,
in measured accents, the words uttered
before
This time my grandfather was con-
vinced that he was not dreaming. Great
drops of perspiration stood upon his
brow. He arose and looked all around
him as before, but could discover moth
ing. He then walked to the gate to
look for his companions, but none of
them were in sight.
" should not care to tell them, IL
they were here" he muttered to him
self as he returned to the house, and
commenced to pace back and forth, for
he could not again sit down.
"What could it have been 2'' he sud
denly exclaimed, in resolute tone, as
he stopped in his walk. ''If it is u
ghost, it cannot harm me, and come
what will, l am determined TO solve this
mystery" SO saying he opened the
door and went into the hall, but there
was nothing to be seen save seven bats
Tapping their wings in the damp air.
The paper hung from the wall in long
shreds and was covered with mould and
the accumulated dust of years The
noise had seemed to come from above,
so he began to ascend the stairs, which
were old and rickety, and threatened to
give way at every step. AS he got near
the top the moon shone out from behind
a cloud with a strange brilliancy that
gave wierd, ,ghostly look to everything
around. My grandfather stopped, un-
certain whether to proceed or to go back
before it was to late. His heart beat so
loudly he could hear it, and his knees
knocked together so he could hardly
stand. Just here the three loud knocks
began again, and decided him. He
bounded forward, and just as his head
appeared above the landing, he saw,
sitting on the floor by window in the
hall, a poor old man, with long, white
hair streaming over his shoulders, and a
cane in his hand, with which he gave
the three raps.
My grandfather recognized him as an
old man who had wandered about Provi-
dence and vicinity for years, sometimes
begging his bread, sometimes living up
on the fruits and nuts he gathered in
the woods.
He was slightly deranged, but as he
had no friends and was perfectly harm
less, the city authorities had allowed
him to go on his way unmolested. This
poor old man had taken up his abode in
the uninhabited house, and in his crazy
fancy, believing himself the judge of
the dead, he had given the raps and
spoken the words, which had always
been attributed to ghosts.
OF course this discovery exploded the
ghost story, and my grandfather was
quite hero for some time among the
young people of Providence, and what
was better still, the poor, half crazy old
man was taken care of by the citizens