Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1880-07-14
"but I've had enough x he

dlestict. ''but I've had enough X tAs
A good nights rest restored him tohis
usual Spirits, and - ghosts did no1 walk
by day he consented TO accompany the
superintendent on his roundk They
went on foot, and he did not fail % i'm
prove the occasion by lectuxing his
friend on his unbelief, who Nutened In
much humility.
When they reached the little church
Pryse went into the church-yazd without
consulting Glyn, who, however, felt con-
strained to follow. He almost expected
to zee the specter in the gloomy, ghost
ridden spot. He saw instead : woman
standing by q neighboring hut OF out
house, who shrieked and seemed about
70, run away when she perceived the
visitors. The superintendent laid his
hand gently on her shoulder, with the
words:
"Be good, and / will not harm you
Matty. Why will youfrighten people at
nightY"
She began to cry and moan, when he
drew . gay blue ribbon and q packet ii
sweetmeats from his pocket, which
turned her lamentations into joy. She
danced round him, took his banda, and
showed him much affection. The captain
ventured neal and saw q strange. wild
figure, envelopedi in q many-colored shawl
which she wore like o mantle. Her face
and hands we're white, her matted locks
long and fair, her e~yesroving and luster-
less, her lips colorless.
"This is your ghost" said the super
intendent, pointing to her, a. she stood
admiring her ribbon and eating her
sweets. "This is poor Mad Matty."
She looked up at the sound Of her
name, but shrunk back behind the
superintendent when she perUeiveSF q
stranger close to him. She soon fdERDt
him, however, in her new pleasures, md
began to glide and dance about, holding
up her ribbon, and moving it in and out
among the whitewashed graves. It was
Eastertide, and the peasants, according
to their custom, had tidied up their
small inheritences, planted endless wall
flowers and polyanthuses, whitewashed
the stones and frightened up the other
wise glomy spot, Mad Matty assisting.
It was no wonder that it looked ghost1y
in the moonlight.
EYES, that is your ghost!" repeated
the superintendent, while the captain
was following with his eyes the move
ments Of the bewildered creature before
him. "Sit down on this tombstone, and
i will tell you her story. 1t is pathetic
enough, though not supernatural"
The captain obeyed, and the two men
seated themselves on one Of those large,
fiat, ugly slabs, raised q foot or so from
the ground, on which friends we're wont
to chronicle the epitaphs of their dead.
"Matty, like all distraught women. is
supposed to have been crossed in love, y
began the superintendent. "I only
wish that I could lay my club across the
back of every man who deceives a wom-
an. She had no friend patient enough
TO try to keep her wandering mind at
home, no at last it strayed away alto
gether. Her relations lived in this neigh
borilood, and, when her parents died,
Matty was allowed to do much as she
liked. Deprived of the shelter of their
root, she took possession of this shed,
and has been undisturbed in it for twen-
ty years at least; for she is older than
she looks. Sometimes there seems
method, at other times mischief, in her
madness. Thanks to her, the ghost
stories connected with this place have
trebled. There are people, as you know,
who don't pause to find out whether a
ghot's q ghost; 70 Mad Matte must an
swer for q fool
Here the captain WINGED.
"This churchyard is her home, and
she likes it. She gets her dinner at the
squire's and her clothes everywhere, ter
rifying or amusing the donors as the
whim takes her and them. She always
manages to secure q white garment,
whether gown or bed gown, which she
puts on at night. I imagine this to lie
a habit, but others think it is done to
frighten w~ayfarers. She has scarcely
wit enough to carry on q system of ter
Ior, however, but 5chaaGaa. hee -aeesssaa
she was accustomed to do when sene.
Sometimes sine sleeps in the hut, at
others in the wood we passed through.
Poor soul! She breads neither ghost.
nor goblin, though / have seen her
frightened at her own shadow in the
moonlight. Perhaps this is why she
climbs trees and perches like o huge
night owl, till the shadows flee and day
light dawns. She is 80 sociable that she
generally joins the passer-by, whether he
be friend or stranger. Whichever it may
be, he is sure TO be terrified out of his
wits; for her friends think she may at
tack them, and strangers take her for q
ghost"
Here the superintendent bowed sig
nifcantly to the captain.
"Of course the police force have no
right to be afraid, either of man or ghost;
80 we are appliedto in emergency. More
than once / have been asked to take her
into custody, but the squire's lady pities
her as much as I do, and we get out Of
the warrant between us. Custody means
IN asylum, where she would soon die"
$50 much the BETTER" growled the
captain.
"NO, sir. Let her live out her poor
life, as the ours do, in her native air.
One Sunday she went to church, and the
wise sexton put her out. Had he let
her alone, she would have sat quietly
through the service, az she did when
young; but as it was, she broke the win
dows. The police were sent for, but
happily, she was missing. Still, / am
her bugbear; for, whenever she is trouble
some, they say to her: Take you care,
Matty, there's MI Superintendent
Pryse,' and although she does not al
ways recognize me-, she, like the children
God bless 'em-A&ve q needless dread
Of ms. But / tell them it is our duty to
see that men and women keep the peace,
not idiots, babes and ghosts. Tosee this
quiet little nook one can scarcely believe
in its evil reputation. The peasants can
not be got to pass it at night; hui, when
compelled, betake themselves to curious
expedients. A charwoman, who was en-
gagged 10 do a days washing at the par