American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1879-11-08

long black hairs of hers layin' in arrow
on the counterpane.
".It's you that pulls 'em out in your
sleep, Carline,' says l. But she shook
her head.
"And that evening when Mr.. Brownly
called she had her hair all pucked up
tight in a twist as if she wanted to hide
il.
"sWhy, my dear Carline,' says he,
never let me see you with that there
glory of womanhood, as they says on
the restorative bottles, so put out of sight
agin. Wear it as you generally do, for
it's the pride of my eyes
"Then saw Carline shudder all over
and got pale, and couldn't think what
allied the girl.
But when Mr.. Brownly was gone
she comes to me and says She
"'Ma, Tn goin' to ask YOU to do
something singular. want you to sleep
along with me tonight, and to watch
what happens. My hair was pulled out
by the handfuls last night, and some
thing must do it
why, Carline, my child" says |,
'of course l will
So went to her room, with her,
and made up my mind to keep awake :;
but, of course, | did't.
81 fell aleep, and | might hev slept
all night if hadn't been walked up by
a cold wind a-blowing over my face. |
opened my eyes and looked at the door,
thinking it had sprung open.
But the cold air didn't come from
that way, and l turned my head the
other way, and there l saw something
that took the strength out of me.
"There was somebody sitting on the
bedside along near Carline. The moon
was shinin' through the curtains, and l
could see it as plain as day.
"It was Mrs. Brownly in her Sunday
dress-blue, with green plaid in It
with her worked collar on and the
brooch with an angel eatin' bunch of
grapes that she used to wear, and her
hair was in the same little frizzes and
she had false teeth in.
"If 1 hadn't knowed she was gone
should hev thought it was her, but now
of course l knowed twas ghost.
She sat down by Carline and she looked
at the clock.
"'Twelve,' says she, 'and l must go
at daybreak; but I'll have time to get a
good many out first and then she went
to work.
&c She took Carline's hair up in her
hands and began to pull the hairs out
one by one.
"She had got as many as dozen of
'em out before got strength enough to
sit up in the bed or voice enough to
screech, but 1 did it at last, and the
minute did she was gone like soap
bubble, and poor Carline sat up,
frightened to death and shaking all
over.
"sOh, ma says she. 'Oh, Carline,'
says L, you're right; I've seen it
done. Oh, Carline, it's Mrs. Brown
ly. 1 watched her pull 'em out, one by
one.' .
al knowed it, says Carline. Mr..
Brownly told me what Mrs. Brownly
said when she was dying, and I've ex-
pected it ever since. Ma, can't marry
Mr.. Brownly-not if it's my last chance.
I'm sure she'll leave me baldheaded
if l do
"Well, L couldn't but agree with her,
and next day we put the case before
Mr.. Brownly, and he saw it as we did.
"He said Mrs. Brownly's hair was
thin, and she was always jealous of Car
lines fine lot of ringlets, and he thought
that was what she meant by her last re-
marks. So they said good-by and had
it over
"The Doctor says dreamt dream
and Carline was skeerd, and being fever
ish made her hair fall out, and that
we're all fools together.
But since she broke off with Mr..
Brownly and used the harewort tea l
made for her as wash, why, it's stop
ped coming out, and think it was Mrs.
Brownly's ghost
So the rest of the ladies they said they
reckoned it must be, and some took
Mrs. Brownly's side and some Carline's
when they was a tellin' it afterwards.