Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1879-11-14

| nOuced nothing unusual about IL.
then put up my flask and took ster
or two forward, when In moment
there burst apparently from the basV
of the rock, about eight feet from the
ground, and hundred yards from mu
strange lurid glare, flickering and
oscillating, gradually dying away and
then reappoaring again. No, no; pvr
seen many a glow-worm and hru-hy-
nothing of that sort. There It was
burning away, and suppose gazed A,
1t, trembling In every limb, for filiy
ten minutes, Then I took A step for.
ward, when instantly II vanished-van.
ished like candle blown out, htrN.
ped back again; but IL wAs euine time
before L could find the exact spot and
position from which it was visible. AT
last, there 1t was, the weird reddish
,,ighI hickering away as before. Then
screwed up my courage and made
for the rock; but the ground was 50
uneven that il was impossible to steer
straight; and though walked along
the whole base of the cliff, l could see
nothing. Then l made tracks for home,
and can tell you, boys, that until you
remarked it, never knew Il was rain
ing, the whole way along. But, hRllOl
what's the matter with TomP
What indeedp Tom was now sit
ting with his legs over the side of the
bunk, and his whole face betraying ex-
citement SO intense as TO be almost pain
full. "The fend would have two eyes.
How many lights did you see, DickP
Speak outr'
"0nly ono"
HurrahW cried Tom, "that's bet
tor" Whereupon he kicked the blank
cts into the middle of the room, and
began pacing up and down with fever
ish strides. Suddenly hb stopped op-
posite Dick, and laid his hand upon his
shoulder, vi say, Dick, could we get
10 Sesassa Valley before sunriseP'
Scarcely" said Dick.
"Well, look here; we are old friends,
Dick Wharton, you and l. Now don't
you tell any other man what you have
told us, for a week. You'll promise
that, won't you"
1 could see by the look on Dicks face
rs he acquiosoed that he considered
poor Tom TO be mad; and indeed | was
myself completely mystifed by his con-
duct. had, however, seen so many
proofs of my friends good sense and
quickness of apprehension that
thought it was quite possible that Whar-
ton story had q meahlng In his eyes
which was too obtdse 10 take in.
All night Tom bonahue was greatly
excited, and when Wharton left, he
begged him to remember his promise,
and also elected from him description
OF the exact spot at which he had seen
the apparition, as well as the hour at
which it appeared. After his departure
which must have been four in the morn
ing, turned into my bunk and watched
Tom sitting by the fire splicing two
sticks together until fell asleep. l
suppose must have slept about two
hours, but when awoke, Tom was
still sitting working away in almost
the same position. He had fixed the
one stick across the top of the other so
as to form rough r, and was now
busy in fitting a smaller stick into
the angle between them, by manipula-
ting which the cross one could be either
cooked up or depressed to any extent
He had cut notches, too, in the perpen-
dicular stick, so that by the aid of the
small prop, the cross one could be kept
in any position, for an indefinite time.
"Look here, jack" he cried, when
ever he saw that was awake, Come
and give me your opinion. Suppose |
put this cross-stick pointing straight at
a thing, and arranged this small one so
as to keep it so, and left it, could find
that thing again if l wanted it; don't
you think l could, Jack-don't you
think soP' he continued, nervously
clutching me by the arm.
"Well," l answered, "it would de-
pend on how far off the thing was, and
how accurately it was pointed. If it
were any distance, I'd cut sights on
your cross-stick; then a string tied to
the end of 1t, and held in plum line
forward, would lead you pretty near
what you wanted. But surely, Tom,
you don't intend to localize the ghost
in that wayP"
You'll see tonight, old friend
you'll see tonight. I'll carry this to
the Sasassa Valley. You get the loan
of Madison's crow-bar and come with
me; but mind you tell no man where
you are going, or what you want it
for"
All day Tom was walking up and
down the room, or working hard at the
apparatus. His eyes were glistening,
his cheek hectic, and he had all the
symptoms of high fever. "Heaven
grant that Dicks diagnosis be not cor
rect?' l thought, as returned with the
crow-bar; and yet, as evening drew
near, l found myself imperceptibly
sharing the excitement.
About six o'clock Tom sprang to his
feet and seized his sticks. II can
stand it no longer. jack" he cried;
"up with your crow-bar, and hey for
Sasassa Valley! To-night's work, my
lad, will either make us or mar us.
Take your six-shooter, in case we meet
the Caifres. daren't take mine,
jack" he continued, putting his hands
upon my shoulders" daren't take
mine; for if my ill-luck sticks to me to-
night, don't know what l might not
do with it."
Well, having filled our pockets with
provisions, we set out, and as we took
our wearisome way toward the Sasassa
Valley, l frequently attempted to elicit
from my companion some clew as to
his intentions. But his only answer
was: "Let us hurry on, Jack. Who
knows how many have heard of Whar-
toms adventures by this time Let us
hurry on, or we may not be first in the
field"
Well, sir, we struggled on through
the hills for a matter of ten miles, till
at last, after descendinga crag, we saw
opening out in front of us a ravine so
sombre and dark that it might have
been the gates of Hades itself; cliffs
many hundred feet high shut in on
every side the gloomy bowlder-studded
passage which led through the haunted
detile into Caffreria. The moon rising
above the crags threw into strong re-
lief the rough irregular pinnacles OF
rock by which they were topped, while
all below was dark as Erebus.
1.-The Sasassa ValleyP" said l.
"Yes," said Tom.