The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-02-06

to be arranging some pets of choice
flowers and ferns, but I knew better.
and drew my fair companion to the
other end of the hall.
"Who Is that odd-looking manr' I
asked.
"Whop o, Willis, an old friend and
favorite servant of our poor uncle's,"
she answered. Don't you like himP
Really, you look as if you could eat
him." and she laughed musically.
mo-" I replied, shortly; 1 don't
like him. I've taken a decided an
tipathy to him."
"Poor Willisr' she laughed, gently.
How funny of you, Mr.. Brandon! He
is such quiet, harmless creaturer'
"Well," 1 replied, 81 don't know
why, but I distrust him. However, 1
dare say it's all foolish prejudice on
my part, Miss Kitty. will polish up
the diamonds for you with my own
hands, and on Wednesday you shall
have them"
And, so saying, left the hall.
That night Herbert came to the door
and knocked, and begged admittance
to talk over some arrangements for the
morrow; and when he left got into
bed, forgetting to lock or bolt the door.
"No matter" thought, as it sud-
denly came into my mind; "ghosts
laugh at locks and bars. Witness the
other night Much use it was my bolt
ing myself in so securely! l may just
as well leave the door open as to keep
it shutr'
And, turning on my pillow, was
soon fast asleep.
Heavy knocking at the head of my
bed awoke me. and confess to a sud-
den thrill of terror that shot through
me as heard footstep come stealthi-
ly to my bedside and hand steal slow
ly along my curtain, and for moment
all was still and silent. Then the cur
tain was suddenly and violently thrown
back, and there before me-clearly and
distinctly this time-stood the tall
figure of q wan, gaunt woman, whose
wild, frenzied eyes made my blood run
cold, pointing, as before, to the floor.
raised myself on my elbow and
looked, and there, weltering in pool
of blood, lay the form of a man, face
downward, with the handle of q gleam-
ing dagger protruding from between
his shoulders.
started up in horror. The weird
figure turned, its lips moved, but no
sound issued from them. 1t dropped
the curtain as suddenly as it had raised
it, and was gone.
In a moment I was out of bed, but no
trace of it was to be seen; and the
ghastly form, with the stream of GRIM
son blood flowing from it was gone,
too, and the bright flowers of the car
pet, on their delicate gray background,
were unstained and fresh, unsoiled and
uninjured by the hideous form that had
seemed to repose on them.
l searched the room as before, and
with the same result, and feeling next
door to convinced that I had been a
denizen of the other world.
returned to bed again, but this time
too agitated to sleep. -.-..-..
A discovery made next morning did
not lessen my perplexity, but, on the
contrary, increased it q thousandfold.
Close to my bedside, where the figure
had stood, l found long gray hair!
stood before this sign of humanity
in profound astonishment, and again
examined the spot where the bleeding
and PROSTATE corpse had appeared to
be, but not q sign nor stain of blood
was to be seen anywhere. was thor
oughly bewildered. resolved to find
out, if possible, if any of the servants
in the house had a head of hair from
which the silver thread had picked up
could have come. broached the sub
ject to Kitty after breakfast, who ex-
amined my relic with amused sur
prise.
81 don't think any one of the maids
would thank you for imagining this
sign of old age could belong to her"
said she, laughing. why, Mrs. Bond,
the housekeeper, who is the oldest OF
them, is only forty, and has a head of
hair-well, of the brightest auburn,
let's say. The housenaids are all girls,
and the cook and kitchenmaids are
quite young, too. No. Don't know
whose property this can possibly be-
and she wound the gray hair round her
pretty white fingers, and for the next
half hour teased me to tell her why
was so anxious to find out its real
owner.
"When the right times comes will
confess" promised, oracularly, and
so escaped further teasing; and then re-
tired to puzzle my brains over what had
occurred at my leisure, and to try and
decide in my own mind whether the
form of the woman had seen was hu-
man or supernatural, and, if the
former, then to what category did the
body she had pointed to belong.
Christmas eve came, and great were
the preparations we had made for the
entertainment. A military band from
a neighboring town was to be in at
tendance, and over hundred and fifty
guests were expected. The ballroom
was profusely decorated with holly,
mistletoe, evergreens and ferns, and
the old hall brilliantly illuminated.
With my own hands l had polished
up the gorgeous diamonds that had
been given into my charge, and with
my own hands I gave them to Kitty
and helped her 10 clasp them on her
neck and arms, and. Well, l will
say no more about her Just now, for
this is to be q ghost story, not a love
story; but suffice it to say that the ball
went of splendidly, that Kitty was uni
versally allowed to be the loveliest
woman in the room, and that ere the
end of the evening she had promised
to be my wife.
She gave me back the diamonds in
presence of her brother after the guests
departed, and then we told him our lit
tie secret, and received his congratula-
tions, which was delighted to perceive
were real and heartfelt And so we
separated for the night, and, taking
the diamonds, shut them up in their
velvet cases, and locked them in the
wardrobe.
Needless to say. when lay down to
sleep, a being far more heavenly, al