Stevens County tribune. (Morris, Minn.) 1877-1880, 1880-03-18

did not speak Tor q moment, and then he
told me that the phantom had led him to
The end of the corridor, where 1t paused,
pointed with its finger to the ground and
disappeared. There, lying full in the
rays of the moon, which shone through
an oriel window overhead, he beheld a
coffin, and on it, in large white letters,
the following inscription: Paul Mer-
rell. Born June 5, 1900. Died October
10, 1929 ct was now June of the year
182S.)
"What he told nae made my blood run
cold. In vain I told myself that it was
a deluslon--a dream. myself had seen
the apparition, and had seen it twice
over. Determined, however, to find out
if any trick had been played on us, I in
stantly went down the corridor again
this time without Highland examined
particularly all round the spot where my
brother had described the coffin to have
been. Not trace of anything unusual
could find. All was still and peaceful,
and so bright was the moon shining that
I could perfectly distinguish the faces OF
the old portraits on the walls.
this. He did not speak much on the sub
ject after this night, and / observed that
he became graver, and more silent and
thoughtful, and his old boisterous spirits
quite forsook him.
"Fer myself, though was not, I be-
lleve, naturally superstitious, and l felt
persuaded that in the end / should I'M
ravel the mystery and trace the strange
apparition of that night to natural causes,
still I feared for him, Tor the occurrence
seemed to have taken hold upon his
mind, and had heard of cases where
such warnings, merely through working
strongly on the imagination, had brought
about their own fultilment.
~ set myself in every way to divert
his mind from the subject, and affected
to laugh at the whole thing, and to make
sure Of being able to sift it out; but l
wrote privately to our friend Hawkins
(my brother particularly wished it kept
secret), and told him the state of the
case, beseeching him if he could hint at
any possible explanation of the mystery,
to do so without delay.
sHis letter was most unsatisfactory.
He had never heard of such an occurrence
in his lite. There was no haunted cham
ber' in his house, nor did it even boast an
hereditary ghost of any sort; nor did he
believe any of the servants (the old wo-
man before mentioned and her two nieces,
all of whom had lived with him tor years.
capable of playing trick of any kind.
81 was forced to drop my investiga-
tions, but I kept an anxious watch over
Paul, and, as far as business permitted,
was constantly with him. To my great
alarm, saw that, as the months rolled
on, his depression seemed to increase.
privately consulted a physician on the
case. His advice but seconded the
promptings OF my own common-sense
divert his mind in every possible way
change oil ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
thing to keep him from brooding over
it.
sit was now the end of September,
1928. The ill-omened day drew near.
| To my great vexation, I was summoned
away from home just at this time. It was
call that I could not we'll refuse to obey
I pondered long, devising every possible
means of remaining near my brother till
after the 10th.
''Then, all resources failing, I com
mitted him to one or two trusty friends
to whom I told all the circumstances
binding them to solemn secrecy, and with
an anxious heart, set forth on my journey
had to pass not far from the scene Of
our summer visit. I made it my bust
ness to go to Plas Mervyn, and from
thence Ito give it more an air of truth,
I wrote my brother the following letter
fabrication from beginning to end-s
falsehood, if you will-but surely par
donabIe falsehood, if ever there was one
"'Dear Paul. have solved the mvs
terry OF Plas Mervyn. You will laugh
with me about it when I see you agar
(and so hoped he would, dear boy. NJ
time for particulars. Hawkins is well
We changed horses at B., and SO came
here for sight of him. vii. write agar
from s. In terrible haste, Yours, NED.
"This, I hoped, would buoy him up til
the dreaded day was passed: and, tina
over, the danger was averted.
"My friend Hawkins sympath1zec
kindly in my anxiety. Not content witt
expressions of sympathy, he insisted OF
making business in town for the SECOND
week in October and assuring himself
OF my brothers welfare, promising
to let me know the 10th ana the fol
lowing day how he found him. HEAVIER
only knows how, in distant town in tn
north of England, awaited those letters
They came surely enough, and poor Uncl
Paul" (here my father would pause ant
shake his head sadly; while he pauses,
will take up the thread of his story ant
finish it for him)-"My poor Uncle Paul
what of him9 Simply that he is alive ant
we'll at this moment hale old man Q
sixty five THAT am engaged dine at hi
house at seven o'clock this evening (by
the-by, it is now half-past five), and ths
on this day three We eks (the once dreade
10th of October-now always kept as
day of jubilee in his family I am to b
married to ais youngest daughter-th
prettiest girl in Englandl'
90 much for Obesity 1,radiotionat