The Red Cloud chief., 1880-07-29

the sfternoon-for Il was November
and dreamed Il.
'Oh, nor she replied; II did not
dream; and horror-struck a. I was when
the rufians descended the stairs again, I
crept silently up TO see II I could find
out anything; and. oh horror. I shall
never forget the sight! DO let US TO-"
must confess / felt q little creepy
and nervous, but VA myself again In .
moment Feeling her trembling. and
fearing another swuon. I began descend
ing the stairs with her. when . light
from below shot up TO US. She clutched
me convulsively, but was treasured by
hearing my wife's voice callinS out:
Frank Mary! Where are your
Here 1 said: ..all right"
Indeed" she replied, II think Il all
wrong TO give me such q fright"
We had reached her by this time; and
by the light Of the lantern she had
brought, she caught sight Of Mary's
blanched face.
To my wife's interrogatories re-
speeding her illness, the poor girl assur-
ed her that she was notiIl. but terrified.
81 will tell you ALL" she added. when
l get home"
Twas thankful for the light, and left
them walking on, whilst 1 ran up for
Mary's painting materials, and locking
the door. l put the key in my pocket,
meaning TO return again after dinner
and try TO elucidate the mystery. When
l joined them. Mary was asking nv
wife how she dared come alone all the
way from my house to that dreadful
place.
She replied, she would rather do SO
at any our OF the night than be kept
in suspense, and added: "As soon as
the day began to close, / looked for
you; but As you did not come. | thought
Frank must have called for YOU, and
was liOnizing you in the town. But
when fully an hour after dinner was
ready, he came back without you. and
rushed Offlik a mailman when asked for
you, / was for the moment bewildered;
but thinking you must have been taken
Ill, and that Frank would want help and
a light. i hurried TO the kitchen for /.
lantern, and told n OF the girls to put
on her things and accompany me to the
Dukes House, for you were there, and
must have been taken i'll. But would
you believe it? She fatty refused, say
ing it served you right for going there;
You would never be found, for never a
person going near hat house after
dark was ever seen afterward. / ridi-
culed her nonsense, and appealed to the
others; but neither would 90, SO | had
no alternative but to come alone"
When we reached home, / went to
the cellar, and got a bottle of Moselle,
and made Mary drink off half a tum-
blerful; and then we sat down to dinner.
w were just settled to dessert. when a
friend dropped in for a hand at whist.
and wondered at ON being so late. l
told him the reason; and then asked
Mary for her story. as l had forbidden
her talking about it until she had got
her dinner.
She began: AFTER you left me, l
worked on for a long while, until. feel
ing hungry. l looked at my watch. and
found it vas past two o'clock. then
ate my sandwiches, and after taking q
turn through some of the rooms, set
tied into work again. l had not been
long thus occupied when | vas aroused
by strange irregular noises which
seemed to come from the landing
above. then awOke to the conscious
ness that had been hearing a scuffling
of feet for some little time. The
scufiiing commenced again: and l got
up, moved cautiously to the door,
which was ajar, and looked out Just in
time to see an old bag disappear in q
doorway above, and the door close soft
lu hnhip1 hnr kaDnnI - o,r.,.
lessly opened the door, and peeped in;
but to my great surprise, the room was
empty. walked in to see if there was
any other door through which she could
have passed; but there was not; nor
was there a window she could have got
out of. | was fairly puzzled, for you
know / don't believe in ghosts. l went
down to my room, but could not settle
to work. / went up again and again;
but could discover nothing, mol could 1
detect a sound. 1t was broad day when
l saw her; and now l found it was get
ting too dark for me to do any more of
my painting, SO l gathered all together.
and put them in one corner, ready for
tomorrow morning, and sat down to
wait for you. As it was now getting
dark, and l had been expecting you
since three O'Clock, l thought you must
have forgotten me, so | went down to
see il | could find any means of egress.
As l could not, | returned to nv room,
where l could watch for your coming;
for it was not so dark but l could see
any object crossing the court. Whilst l
was thinking whether l should tell you
about the old woman tonight or wait
until tS;m9Srp pSs tbs thsesg: ip%en Winch sfrr made seesfi It
very dreary; but soon I heard Sounds
above the scughing of the winds,
strange heavy thuds below me; and the
legends you told me as we walked
through some of the roomSin the MORN
ing rushed to my mind; but | soon ban
ished such nonsense, knowing it must
be produced BY living beings"
"What did he tell your" asked my
wife.
s.Why, he told me about q very
wicked Duke who for some baleful
reason whipped his unfortunate wife
every night through the house, her
lamentations being heard by any n
who had the temerity to be near the
house after dark. Well, all was quiet
again for a little while, when | heard
voices, and the sound of something
being shuffied and dragged up the stairs
toward the Dol l was in. 1 crept be-
hind the door. and holding my breath.
peeped through the crevice. To my
horror I saw two ruffians dragging up
something wrapped in a sheet; they
dragged It to the room L had examined
by daylight. The door opened. emit
ting a lurid glare. They entered, but
did not stay long, for they soon cam
out and tramped downstairs again.
leaving the door partly open. l heard
the sound of their footsteps die away in
the lower basement, and all being
quiet, l stole quietly up the stairs and
peeped into the room. There. before .
fire of red embers. stood the old bag |