Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1878-01-11

whore she was found. it seems to rise
from the sands, and goes ecnoing and
wailmg along, calling, calling, rs if in
mortal agony. The old boatman SAYS
people have followed ii, believing some
ono was IN peril and have beer lured
on and on, till the tide has ovcrtakcn
them, and they were drowned
What horrible talcf' said with Il
shuddcr I'll wish you had not told it
te me.
And he says, went ON Nellie, UNI
needing my remark, that whoever
hears the voice is in risk of great peril
or danger, or some kind of sorrow or
trouble i about to happen to him.
Nellie Voice had unconsciou, ly taken
Il tone Of awe. The still, somNrc dark
ness, the midnight hour, and the weird
melancholy legend had infected 1t, both
with an underlined sensation of opprcS-
sion and fear, Il preSentimcut of dread
and evil We kept our places 10y the
window, looking out into the deep. vel
vety darkness, with the far away solitary
light from the light ht.house cleaning like
Il red spark
Suddenly, while We sat, the sound of il
voice rose again from the lonely sands
Il moaning, piteous Voice wailiug and
implorlng MS if in unutterablc distress.
1t seemed to mlngle with the boom of
the distant sea, now rising, now falling, Il
lonely desolate wall, thrilling through
the darkness Ikea soulin mortal agony.
1t was dying away III the distance, III Il
low, faint sob, when Nellic suddenly
sprang back into the room
20 Jean, look" She cried Look the
phantom light
lcant out Of the window, and gazcd
out along the Epromenade. Flashing
through the sombre darkness like Il
great star was brilliant, beautiful light
1t camc rapidly toward Ms from the
right, apparently floating i'll the air. and
Illuminating tho space before il lor SEN
eral yards II advanced very swiftly.
With 4 steady, forward motion lloating
about yard from the ground As it
eGme nearer, we perceived, booming
dimlN behind H. Il giant shadow weird
and grotcsQuc, with oatsprcad wings
and misty, unde!ined form, while II
sharp, rustling, Whirline sound accom-
panied its progress.
As the phantom approached the dos
olate moaning rose again from the
sands, and swept along in low, sluddcr-
ing cries dying AWAY, sad and pitcous
rs before With the last faint sound,
the light lcapcd up for ono second into
intense brilllancy. and disappeared.
"O." cried Nellie fearfully "What
is il, Jean?"
| don't know replied, i feeling of
nnaccountablc dread and horror taking
hold Of me- The very demon Of fear
seemed to possess my senses; IN icy
grasp Of terror laid hold Of my heart
The air outside seemed to have be-
come suddenly elammy and cold; a
chilly, ecrie wind erept in at the window.
The very darkness seemed filled with
shades, hidcous and impalpaBle, ut
which ! dared not look lest they should
take form before my eyes.
There ii is again shuddcrcd Nellie.
And with unutterabe dread we saw
the brilliant, starlight again floating to-
ward us, this time from the right hand.
Ii came on swiftly, with the impalpa
hle fantastic shadow in the air above it,
and. when exactly opposite vanished.
We sat paralyzed with terror, not dar-
| ing TO move, horrible, bcnumbing ter
ror selling our hearts.
This phenomenon happened several
| times, the light alternately appearing
from the right and left, and always van
ishing when exactly opposite to US, and
always accompanied by the moaning
voice
Again the low waling sounds from the
sands, profoundly melancholy, incxprcs.
sibly mournful, like nothing akin to
humanity No words were uttered, hut
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 grotesquc and misty
4 than ever,
Oh, Jean. il II i true If ii comes
To foretell some loss, some touble.'
sobbed Nellie in tears.
Hush, hush, dear tried to say re-
assuringly. 1t cannot be- Sorrow
may come to us if God wills it, but not
through"
4 say, old fellow, shouted voice
down below in the darkness You'll
J frightcn somebody into fits with that
lantern dodge Of yours. You and your
confounded bicycle look ike some hor-
rible, ghostly spectre, fitting along il
the dark You gave me precious
start, can tell YOU Nellie and
j jumped to our feet, and gazcd incrcdu-
ously out of the window Down below
in tile road, yard or two 70 the right,
the phantom light stood stationary II
- IL A--- - l---L--r. N Z. .---I..-..