The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1880-06-26

I GOullU.
Hurnedly rising, she exclaimed:
Oh, come away. Take me out of this
/ horrid place.
L began to rally her about the absurd
/ lty OF her fears, and her telling me in the
morning she was not superstitious.
But she interrupted me by saying: 81
J have seen no ghost We are in den of
horrld thieves and murderers [ saw
+ two bodies dragged upstairs, stripped of
/ everything, with just a sheet round
them. Oh, come out of the place. or we
shall be the next. Even now they NAV
have heard US, and they Will murder us. y
( | asked her if she had not got drowsv
whilst waiting for me in the gloom Of the
afternOOn-for it was Northumberland
dreamed it.
ooh, mol" she replied; Il did not
dream; and horror struck as [ was, when
the ruffians descended the stairs again. [
crept silently up to see if [ could find
out anything; and, oh horror, | shall
never forget the sight Do let us go. :"
+ | must confess | felt little creepy and
nervous, but was myself again in a mo-
ment. Feeling her trembling and fear
ing another swoon, | began descending
the stairs with her, when a light from
below shot up to us. She clutched me
convulsively, but was treasured by hear
ing my wife's voice calling out: " Frank
Mary? Where are you?"
Here, | said ''all right
. Indeed, she replied, 4 think it all
wrong to give me such a 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 heterogeneous respect
ing her illness, the poor girl assured her
that she was not III, but terrified 4
will tell you all, she added "when / get
! home
[ was thankful for the light, and left
them walking on, while | ran up for
Mary's painting materials, and locking
the door, | put the key IN my pocket,
meaning TO return again after dinner and
try to elucidate the mystery. When |
joined them Mary was asking nv wife
how she dared come along all the way
from my house TO that dreadful palace.
She replied she would rather DO so at
any hour 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 honiz-
ing you in the town. But when fully an
hour after dinner was ready he fcame
back without you, and rushed of like
mailman when [ asked for You, [ was for
the moment bewildered; but thinking
you mnst have been taken i'll, and that
Frank would want help and a light. [
hurried to the kitchen for q lantern. and
told one Of the girls to put on her things
and accompany me to the Dukes house,
for you were there and must have taken
Ill. But would you believe it? She fiat
II refused, saying it served You right for
going there; you would never be found.
for never person going near that house
after dark was ever seen afterward |
ridiculed 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 q bottle of MOselle, and
made Mary drink OFT half tumblerful;
and then we sat down to dinner We
were Just settled TO dessert. when a
friend dropped in for hand at whist,
and wondered at our being so late. /
told him the reason and then asked
Mary for her story, as [ had forbidden
her talking about it until she had got her
dinner
She began: after YOU left me.
worked on for long while, until, feeling
hungry, [ looked at my watch and found
it was past , o'clock. / then ate my
sandwiches, and after taking a turn
through some OF the rooms settled into
work again [ had not been long thus
occupied when [ was aroused by strange
irregular noises which seemed to come
from the landing above. | then awoke
to the consciousness that | had been
hearing a scutfling OF feet for some little
time. The scutfiing commenced again;
and l got up, moved cautiously to the
door, which was ajar, and looked out
Just in time TO see an old hag disappear
in a doorway above, and the door close
softly behind her [ stepped up. and
noiselessly 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 got out Of
/ was fairly puzzled, for you know |
don't believe IN ghosts. [ went down To
my room but could not settle to work
| went up again and again; but could
discover nothing, nor could / detect a
sound 1t was broad day when | saw
her: and now | found 1t was getting too
dark for me to do any more OF my paint
ing, so / gathered all together, and put
them in one corner ready for tomorrow
morning. and sat down to wait for YOU.
As IL was now getting dark, and | had
been expecting You since 3 o'clock, /
thought YOU must have forgotten me, so
| went down to see If I could find any
means Of egress. As / could not, | re
turned to my room, where | could watch
for your coming; for it was not So dark
but [ could see any object crossing the
court. While | was thinking whether |
should tell Won about the old woman to-
night. or wait until tomorrow, the wind
rose moaning among the trees, which
made 1t very dreary, but soon | heard
sounds above the slOughing ofthe winds,
strange heavy thuds below me; and the
legends you told me as we walked
through some of the rooms IN the morn
ing rushed to my mind; but | soon
banished such nonsense, knowing it must
be produced by living beings
"What did he tell you . asked mywife
"Why, he told me about a very wick
Ell duke who for some baleful reason
whipped his unfortunate wife through
the house, her lamentations being heard
by any one who had the temerity to be
near the house after dark. Well, all was
quiet again for a little while, when l