Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-07-30
MISS MILDRED's WARNING.

THERE, girls
Elfrida Moore held aloft before us a
dreadful image. "a house-made ghost"
she called it, laughing at the terrific re-
suit Of her half-hour of sedulous occu-
patton.
It 1Ods horriblel
We had been reading, that afternoon,
about the Princess Amelia, that Inflated
sister of Frederick, King of Prussia.
One thing brought up another. And
when an allusion was made to the
"Woman with the Broom,n who was
said to have haunted the Prussian pal
ace, at that time, Efrida sought car
pet-brush, with a long handle, In the
closet at the head of the stairs, and,
standing in the outer chamber, alone,
began to dress it artistically in a sheet,
. by way of showing us her own idea Of
the phantom that troubled the rest of
Prussia's Kings.
We girls were alone in the wing cham
Der, which had been allotted for our oc-
cupancy by Miss Mildred Fay, the own
er of the lovely farm, and the comforta-
BILE, old-fashioned farmhouse, in West
ern Pennsylvania, where, with our
parents, and other friends, we were
spending the early vacation months Of
the opening summer.
One other girl, Elfrida's first cousin,
Evelyn Moore, shared the wing cham
ber with us.
She had now gone to the village, two
miles distant, for the evening mail.
And Elfrida, who was somewhat envi-
GUS of Evelyn's scholarship, social posi-
ton and good looks, declared that she
would leave her "woman with the
broomV so near the door of our cham
ber, and in such position, that it would
inevitably fall against Evelyn, as soon as
she entered, to bring our letters.
"She Says that she is afraid of no.
thing-that she does not belieUe in ghosts
cor apparitions," +" she said TO us. "Now
let's try her courage. We will hide in
the unfinished chamber, outside, where
we can hear and see all that passes be-
tween her and my phantom.
While we were eying the image from
respectable distance, and feeling hall
afraid of the hideOus face and flaming
eyes, which Elfrida had drawn with a
few touches of her crayon and little
phosphorus on the white surface of the
sheet, rustling sound and movement
in the outer chamber made us all hud-
die together snd strain our eyes fear
fully toward its duskY entrance.
We all felt relieved, think q own
that did, for one), when our hostess,
Miss Mildred, emerged from the gloom
and entered our room without pausing
to knock.
Elfrida tried to thrust the homemade
ghost into q corner, quite out of sight
But it was useless to try and conceal
from Miss Mildred's searchingly-eom'
prehensiye glance the helpless appari'
ton. A
(which of you girls made this
Why did you make itP" she asked
holding it out at arms length.
Elfrida told her.
"And please, Miss Mildred, don't tel
Evelyn she said coaxingly. ''We only
wish to find out whether she is redLLl
braver about such things than we are
She says she is; and she declared the
other evening that the real woman with
broom would not have frightened he1
in the least-if she had seen and hearC
her sweeping, mean, in the passages
of the royal palace"
"And did you believe herp" asked
Miss Mildred, bending her keen, graz
eyes on Elfrida's eager face.
"No; 1 did not, y confessed Elfrida
"Did youPr A IN -., .H.
Miss Mildred addressed us. & ..' ..
owned that had my doubts.
Marian Hurst, with half-averted
timid look at the dreadful object, tina
was still held by our hostess, declared
that she had no doubt whatever.
"No one could help feeling terrified
at such sight coming suddenly upol
them," she averred.
"You are none of you without you
fair share of common sense" said Mis-
Mildred. "And you can dehberatel,
plan and aid and abet deed like this
She tossed the image out into tn
dark, open chamber. Ids
With an angry exclamation, Elfrid
was springing after it; but she foun,
herself held back by strong hand.
"No, girlsl That same thing ha
been done in this very house once be
fore. VISIT till tell you what came O
it before you try againto carry 1T out.
At the thought of hearing a story, Ell
frida forgot her momentary anger, an,
crowded in beside us, near the chair a
the window, where Miss Mildred hat
seated herself.
She looked at us very sadly. Tn
half-Hght may have deceived me, but
thought then, and still think, that he
keen, gray eyes were full of tears, as sh
began to speak. --
al did not always live here by my
self, girls, in the old homestead sh
said. Five7and-twenty years ago, m
dear mother and father were here; an
/ had a darling brother, one year olde
than myself, named Oliver, and siste
younger than either of us, who wa
called IsadOre, after the heroine of
story that my mother had read an,
liked very much, just before her birth
al was always tall, and thin, AM
gaunt, as you see me now, girls, j too
after my father. He looked wen enough
for a man, mind you. But his feature
and figure did not suit girl, and wa
always called 'homely' from a child
"But Oliver was handsome like ou
mother. He had great blue eyes an
curling brown hair, and the brightes
color, and the sweetest smile. And lisa
dore was like him, only far more beaut
full, You have seen her portrait dow
stairs.u
"Whatl that lovely, that ANGEL
chhdP" cried EliTida, wonderingly. g
thought that was an artists ideal pic
ture!"
sit was the image of our Isadore q
nine years of age" replied Miss Mi
dred, trying to cover the sudden brea
and tremble in her voice by lou
"Heml"
UAnd a. &c al. ,.,.,. ~. l,,,o,.d ~ q