The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-02-06
And so he left me to perform my toi-


came to q staircase; but, instead of 90
ing down, the stairs went up; so was
evidently on a wrong tack, and stood
still for moment, puzzled.
As stood, a sound fell on my ear
a low laugh, and then two or three
heavy knocks. Then all was still, till
l heard soft footstep descending the
stairs, and perceived q short, square,
strongly-built, middle-aged man COM
ing toward me. He looked surprise d
to see me, and I felt surprised to gee
him. l wondered who he could be.
He was not q servant, and certainly he
wasn't gentleman. There was some
thing very strange about him. /
thought. What was he? For a mo-
ment he looked at me with a piercing
eye; then, to my great relief. spoke.
Perhaps you have lost your way,
sirP" he said, very politely.
81 think so," replied. 81 was go
ing to the dining-room."
"Follow me, SIR" he interrupted,
quietly.
And. turning back, he led me by the
way 1 had come, till stood before my
own door again.
"Ah, here is my room," said.
"Thank you; can find my way now"
And looking into the room somewhat
curiously, as thought, he bowed and
left me.
We had a charming evening; music.
singing and friendly chat passed away
the time; and when the ladies went to
bed l and Herbert Evelyne retired to
the smoking-room, where we indulged
in long confidential chat, such as only
friends who have not seen each other
for years can enjoy.
| "By the way, old fellow" said Her
bert, at length, "you are q man of
taste. There is something wish you
would get done for me. Kitty wants
| her portion of the diamonds left her by
our uncle reset; it's no use intrusting
them to country jeweler, they are too
valuable; but if you would take them to
London and have them remounted, 1
should be SO much obliged. They are
| fine stones, and will become her well. !"
l undertook the commission with
alacrity. To do anything for such u
charming girl as Kitty Evelyne would
be a real pleasure, and next day Her
bert took the stones from the strong
box in which they were kept, and gave
them to me-a splendid pennant, brace
let, and earrings of the finest dia-
monds.
As we took them to my room the
strange man had met the first even
ing of my arrival passed, and darted a
curious glance at us.
90, no one," replied Herbert, eva
sively. "An old servant of my uncle's s
we have kept on. Queer fellow rather,
but quiet enough"
So asked no more, and, taking the
jewels, shut them up in my dressing
case, which carefully secured under
lock and key in my wardrobe.
But somehow / could not get the
strange man and his curious glances out
of my head. caught myself looking
over my shoulder every now and then,
expecting to see him standing respect
fully behind me; and when went to
bed looked all round the room, and
then laughed at myself for doing it, to
see if he were anywhere concealed be-
hind the curtains, feeling certain that if
I so found him he would not be q whit
abashed, but ready to give me an excel
lent reason for his presence in my cham
ber in his gentle, quiet voice.
So my days passed pleasantly and my
nights peacefully for the first week /
| was at Landerston Hall. The house
was old enough and quaint enough and
large enough to have harbored a dozen
ghosts had the spiritual powers that be
so willed it; but either they did not, or
there were no ghosts about, or l was
not one of those persons fitted to COM
municate with them-at least so it
seemed at first. However, things
changed
One night, still, clear and bright,
when all the house was hushed in sleep,
awoke, and in the passage outside my
door heard a soft, stealthy football and
hand placed lightly on the door
handle.
lay still and listened attentively,
but all was quiet again; and thinking it
was chance passer-by who had unIn-
tentionally brushed past my door,
turned round and went to sleep again,
and it was not till went to bed next
| night that called to mind the strange
sounds had heard.
Before getting into bed bolted the
door. / would not trust to the lock, as
it might be possible to unlock it from the
outside; but the bolt would effectually
protect me from intruders-in human
form, at least.
Getting into bed, 1 soon fell asleep;
i OuS o"OhO CLIO AohA8 WIN . Seoks ouu
cold thrill.
1 felt there was something near me
that was not alone; and my heart, in
spite of my spiritualistic experiences,
beat fast.
The crisp chintz curtains of my bed
rustled; and looking up, distinctly be-
held white hand grasping them, and
slowly they were drawn aside; and close
Il l. L. l~1 = -
yet unmistakable, ! saw q white-robed
figure standing with flowing hair and
erect mien. The features, however,
their general form.
There stood the figure beside me,
grasping in one hand the curtains, and
with the other pointed fixedly at the
floor.
I looked in the direction the out
stretched hand indicated, but could see
nothing; and when I turned my eyes
again toward the figure it was gone,
and the curtains, as it faded away,
slowly rustled back to their original
position with slow, creepy, mysterious
sound that made me feel quite uncom-
Portable. heard. family, the sounds
of retreating footsteps, and was alone
again.
l started Immediately from the bed,
and searched the room. Everything
was as | had left it; nothing had been
touched or moved hairs breadth, and
the door was still bolted.
How, if my mysterious visitor had
been thing Of flesh. had it gained ad-
mittance. Were there secret doors,
sliding panels, in the walls9 1t might
be; but the walls had been but recently
repapered, and, If such modes of exit
and entrance had existed, they were
now utterly useless; and returned to
bed again, feeling sore eperplexed, but,