The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-02-07
considered personal and rude. d

considered personal and rude. al
don't mean any harm. and, of course,
l should be delighted to see you again
in any way if it weren't for my nerves
being SO upset. Is there anything /
could do to make you rest more quietP
Don't hesitate to speak. Even if it
took all my savings to make you lie
comfortable, wouldn't hesitate, Maria
Il wouldn't, indeed"
Another groan, a little fainter, but
still more narrowing, was the only re-
Spouse, and poor Pepperton felt as if
! his brain were giving away. Seen
from that distance the ghost was terri
BILE enough, and quite as much as his
reason could stand, but when she be-
gan to raise herself slowly from the
ground, still keeping her pale, dim
eyes upon him, and showed DISPOSE
ton to advance, the horror of the situa-
ton generally, and the fear lest she
should take him into her cold embrace
and claim him for her own, overcame
him utterly, and he fell on his face in
dead swoon.
When he returned to consciousness,
Timothy Lane and another young man
were leaning over him, and poor Pep
perton said, with gasp, as he piled
himself together:
GIVE had terrible experiences
terrible experience, Timothy; the first
Mrs. rton-ehP-hulloap' and he
showed disposition to collapse again,
as he pointed toward the grave, only
that they held him fast, and burst out
laughing in a most reassuring manner
"That is what you took for ghost
is itp' said Timothy, when he could
command his voice. "Why, it is Barn
aby's white COW; it is always getting
through the hedge and straying into
the church-yard."
Pepperton sat upright, and now that
he had companions, and found courage
to examine the thing more carefully, it
certainly lost a good deal of its ghostly
appearance.
But he did not seem entirely con-
WINGED, and Timothy saw that his little
joke-he had been the author of the
hollow groans, hidden behind tomb
stone-had gone far enough, he said to
his younger companion, who happened
to be Barnaby's son, and therefore, in
a sense, the owner of the COW:
SEQ and stir the brute up, Tom; she's
no business here"
To see Barnaby go willingly, APP
proach the apparition, and give it a
kick in the ribs, dispersed the last rem
nant of Pepperton's fear and he said in
a ENORMOUSLY apologize way, as he
stumbled on his feet:
"You'd do me kindness, Timothy,
and so would Barnaby, if you wouldn't
talk of this little affair to the other fell
lows. l should be jeered and joked out
of my life, and it isn't pleasant to be
made butt of when you come to my
age. The fact is, was little out of
sorts, and my nerves wern't so strong
as usual; and then, being the anniver-
sary of the first Mrs. Pepperton's death,
and your story put together, finished
me off-although, as you know, I've
been through this very churchyard
night after night, and never had any
fancies of this sort BEFORE"
"We won't mention the matter, old
fellow" answered Timothy, whose con-
science pricked him little when he
saw how white and shaken the old
farmer looked. It's lucky we hap
pened to be here, though, for if you
hadn't had anybody with you when you
came to yourself, you would have dashed
! off home, maybe, without knowing that
was Barnaby's COW yonder, and then
you would have believed you had seen
the first Mrs. Pepperton for the rest of
your life.'
Timothy had to turn away here, he
was seized with such terrible inclina-
ton to laugh, but as he did not want to
look unfeeling, and poor Pepperton had
really suffered, he suppressed the i'm
pulse, and offered, with proper gravity,
to see the old farmer home-an offer
which was thankfully accepted.
But, somehow, Pepperton never quite
got over the adventure in Durby church
yard, and is often heard to say that he
thinks man is best off at his own fire.
side, after all, on winter nights, and
Mrs. Pepperton finds it rather lonely
when he is out.
Nobody knows what brought him into
this becoming frame of mind excepting
Timothy Lane and his friend. They
have kept their promise faithfully, but
when Timothy sees the white COW he
gives Barnaby poke in the ribs, and
says:
"The first Mrs. Pepperton, eh, Tom?"
And they have good laugh all to
themselves, as young men will.
Old Names the Best.