Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-01-17
A HAUTED HOUSE.

| IltW HOulu IL Sull you 10 Sp6Il'
fortnight or so at the sea shore,
Ahny?"
Mr.. Gaines speaks in matter-of
fact way, but MilIy raises her heal
with little jerk of astunishmenI
and stares at him.
"At the sea shore? Are you crazy
John? What do you mean by putting
such ideas into my hesd?"
Mrs. Gaines is little dot of a
woman, with fair, soft skin like a
bsby's, with wide-open, appealing
blue eyes, with soft, fluffy, golden
curls clustering around a shapely
little head. Small and soft and fair
as she looks, there are springs of
steel in that delicate little body, and
the pluck of a giant in that tender
little heart, as John Gaines well
knows.
"YOu little Yankee!" he says
laughing. "Is it impossible for you
to answer one question without ask
ing another? Please give me plain
answer-yes or no. Would you
or would you not like to go to the
sea shore?".
"No more Yankee than yourself
John Gaines, and not bit ashamed
of it either" ie the slightly illogical
reply, Would | like it? Why, of
course | should; but what is the use
of asking? | think l should like a
trip to the moon while am about
it." says Milly Gaines with little
sigh.
GAS much chance of the one as of
the other, you think" says john
Gaines, smiling. "Not quite, little
woman. As regards the moon, l am
afraid / can't crafty you; but the
sea shore is quite feasible, if you
choose. l saw Mr.. Bates, my en-
ployer, to-day YOU remember him?"
"a dried-up old bachelor, who
came to our wedding, and sent me
a silver fsh-knifeP-sucb a useful
present for ok-keeper's wife, in
one room of second rate boarding
house! Oh yes, 1 remember him
well enough. What of it?"
"This of it," replies John Gaines.
"Mr. Bates owns a house at the sea
shore-a queer old place, but very
CHEEKY and comfortable He has
not been able to obtain a tenant for
it, and offers it to us for q fortnight
or so, rent free, if we will take it.
Moreover, he will consider it a ia
vor if we will occupy it, because"
"But, John, what an extraordinary
thing!'' cries Milly, whose eyes
have been growing larger and lar
ger during Johns speech. ODE
lightful, of course, bnt SO strange!
What can induce him?"
"If you had let me finish my SEN
tence my dear, you would know by
this time. The simple fact is that
he can't get a tenant because the
house is haunted, and nobody will
stay in it more than one night. He
proposes that we should go there
and"
Exercise the ghost? asks Milly.
Find out what ii is, at all events,
says John. ! think it would be de-
cidedly good plan to accept his Of
fer, unless, indeed, you are afraid.
Afraid! cries MilIy, scornfully,
piqued, as John knew she would be,
by the suggestion. You know, John
Gaines, that ! was brought up to be
afraid of nothing but sin. And
ghosts! Do you mean to say that
any one in the present day really be-
lieves in ghosts?
My dear, says John, because you
don't believe in things, it by no
means follows that you are not afraid
of them. But if you really think
you can stand it, l do not believe we
can do better than go. Ny vacation
comes in very handy. We can give
up our room here, and the house is
ready furnished, so the sooner we
are off the better.
II.
A queer old house, as John Gaines
had said, but pleasant and even pref
ty in its way, swathed as it is from
top to bottom with great masses of
creeping vines-wisteria, honey
suckle, Virginia cTeeper, climbing
roses, and trumpet creeper-from the
midst of which the small paned win
dows peer out coyly and coquettish-
ly. Great trees sway slowly above
it,and sift the sunlight through them,
dappling walls and roof with shifting
masses of light and shade. Flocks
of white pigeons wheel and whirl
around, drifting as lightly as the
cloud masses overhead rs they fly to
their dove cote in the neighboring
farm. 1t stands nearer to the shore
than any house of the little village,
yet it is full three-quarters of a mile
away. The winds have a trick of
being boisterous in these regions, es-
pecially in winter, and prudent
builders do not care to trust too con-
fidently to the tender mercies of
"rude Boreas."
What dear old place! cries Milly,
as she looks up at 1t with sparkling
eyes. To think of our living in an
old Revolutionary place ike this,
and having a ghost-actually a ghost
of our own! / always had a weakness
for ghosts, but l never felt that
really owned one before. Oh, John,
if it were only family ghost! It
would be quite equal to a patent Of
nobility. Only, in that case, l never
could have the heart to find it ont
and exercise it,which is what we are
expected to do. Poor old ghost!
hate the idea of turning him out in
the cold, anyhow. He may be
ghost inreduced circumstances, J John,
"a sort of a ghOst-tramp, You know,
who has been turned out of place
after place until he is nearly in de-
spair. And to think that We should
be the ones TO hound HIM ont of his
last refuge! Do you know, John,