The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-01-20

tone OF the later ruttian man pour forth,
a blasphemous expression, accompanied
by the words; 'T guess that's the cut Of
the old 'un."
. At the time I did not pay much atten-
ton to the speech, as 1 had an undefna-
bic longing to place q greater distance
between us, and on arriving at the
house it was speedily forgotten for the
time, through the discoverery Of my
grandfather in tremendous rage.
I must here mention that among the
oddities of my relative was his utter dis
like n any thing in money matters that
resembled credit. In all his dealings he
expected and paid ready money. To
further his views on this subject, he was
in the habit of drawing very large
amounts from the bank in a bulk, there
by always having ready money in the
house.
On this identical morning he had just
received large sum, and it was during
the countiAg of this that l had dis
turbed him by the mention of my un-
lucky play.
Itappears that, during my absence he
had discovered some fancied error by th e
bank officials and was in a perfect fury
about it However, after the whole day
spent in fuming and fretting, and threats
Of withdrawing his account, he found ii
to be an oversight Of his own, and be-
came more pacifed.
Our household was a small one, con.
sisting of my old black nurse, who, with a
young girl, comprised the female portion
OF its inmates, grandfather and myself.
The inexorable laws of the establish
ment doomed an early retirement to
bed; so about eight o'clock / found my
way to my room, but not to sleep. My
first care was to cfOthe myself in the
dress had managed for the ill-used
false heir, and to rehearse that part with
the utmost delight to myself.
Having commenced the dress reheaf
sal, inclination and duty rendered it in.
cumbent on me to go through with it
In accordance with this very proper feel
ing, i had dofed the habiliments viii ch
the badly-treated youth was supposed tc
have worn in the flesh for the more Hn-
slightly toilet, popularity ascribed to
ghosts in general, and the tomb in par
ticular.
To highten the horrifc, and impress
my audience with due respect tor the
CHASTITY aspect of the apparition, I had
decided upon using phosphoric prepar
alton.
Thinking it would be better to ascer
tain the effect Of this myself, before rely.
ing on it as certain success, was busi-
ly engaged rubbing some on my face,
when I heard my grandfather's step on
the steps beneath. l was fully aware Of
what to expect if caught in fagrante
dilicto, SO in moment--puff!--out goes
the candle, and in goes his ghostship to
bed.
Now, whether the drama had made me
drowsy (some possess that faculty in g
remarkable degree), or whether my can.
ing had heightened my naturally sleepy
nature, l can not vouch for, but, what
ever their cause, | must almost instantan-
eously fallen asleep. l had passed through
a May period Of half-connected dreams
when I was awakened by noise resem-
bling a cats claws scratching against
glass; though but half aroused, 1 felt
great surprise at such an unusual sound,
being aware that ON account of my
grandfather's antipathy to all dumb
things) no animal could be its cause.
Dreamiy puzzled, but not sufficiently
awakened to give the matter much
thought, I was returning to the land Of
dreams, when a creaking. as Of my
grandfathers bedroom window being
softly raised, at once recalled my senses
to me. 1t was clear something was
wrong; an old man of such regular hab-
it's and profound dread of rheumatism,
as my grandsire, could never be guilty
of opening his window, en- demitoilette,
on an intensely cold winters night. So
now, thoroughly alive to the fact Of all
not being right, I sat up in bed and list
ened, with an intensity Of desire to hear
which only those who have felt an unde
finable sense Of danger can understand.
For moment or SO all was still, until
the windows of the slightly-built frame
house trembled, as though some heavy
body had just deposited itself oh the
floor beneath.
In an intensity Of excitement, with
the perspiration rolling on my brow,
breathlessly waited to hear what would
follow. The silence was unbroken for q
moment; then I could distinguish q
muffled cry of pain, in what seemed tt
me the voice of my grandfather. In
stantly following this, I heard the miss
ing accents of the peddler Of my morn
ing's encounter, as he said;
"Finish him, Ike, if he tries that or
again"
In a moment all was clear to me
Those men whom l had met were desper
ADDE'S, who hearing of my grandfather
peculiar habits, and perhaps aware O
his receiving large sum of money tha
day, had determined upon robbing th'
house., feeling safe in the absence of any
near help.
They had been reconnoitering thi
morning, and, doubtless, their pretended
bags of pictures were filled with tools
In an agony Of helplessness, sat tryins
to scheme some means of help to preven
what may be murder. An age Of though
seemed consumed, and no tangible ait
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