The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1880-10-30
The Haunted Oven.

1t was in the days of our grandma others,
when there were brick ovens in the land,
that MIR. Hubbard bought his house, and
bought 1t very much against his wire's will.
Ii was lonely house, an1 reported to be
haunted. 1t was next to graveyard.
which although unused was not cheerful,
and which, likewise, had tho reputation of
ghost. However, MIR. Hubbard did not
believe in ghosts, and was too cheerful to
be depressed by warnings, and never in
tended to be lonely.
'N1rs. Hubbard" he said, wnen his
wife shook her head over the purchase,
81 got 1t cheap, and 1t good one. You
will like it when you get there;if you don't,
why, then talk"
SO the house was bought, and into 1t
the Hubbard family went. There was
scarcely chance for d ghost to show his
face amid such family of boys and girls
A1r. and Mrs. Hubbard counted ten of
them, all noisy ones
Having once expostulated ard spoken
out her mind as to tho house, Mrs. Hub
bard gave up the point. She scrubbed
put up curtains, and owned that the place
was pretty.
AS not ghost appeared for week, she
made up her mind that there were no such
inhabitants She even began not to mind
the tombstones. So the house got to rights
at last, and baking day came about. In
the press of business they had great deal
of bakers bread, and were now tired of it.
Mrs. Hubbard never enjoyed setting
batch Of bread to rise as she did that which
was to be eaten for the first time in the
new house.
''For cannot get up an appetite for
stuff that nobody knows who had the max
ing OF" said Mrs. Hubbard, ''aud all puffy
and alumy besides."
80 into the oven went the bread and out
1t came at the proper time, even and brown,
and beautiful as loaves could be- Mrs.
Hubbard turned them up on their sides as
she drew them forth, and they stood In the
long bread-tray, glorious proofs of her
skill and the excellence Of the oven, when
Tommy Hubbard bounded in.
Tommy was four, and when at that age,
we are prone to believe that anything will
bear QUA weight. Tommy, therefore,
anxious :o inspect the newly made bread,
swung himself off his feet by clutching the
edge of the bread-tray, and over it came,
loaves and Tommy and all.
Mrs. Hubbard flew to the rescue, and
picked up the loavcs. All were busted
and put in the tray again but one. That
lay, bottom upward, under the table,
"A bothering child to give ne 80 much
troubled" she said as she crawled under
the table to get 1t. '.Ah-O-ah--dear
ister-oh-O-my-"
And there on the floor sat Mrs. Hubbard,
screaming, wringing her hands, and shak-
Ing her head. The children screamed In
concert. Mr.. Hubbard rushed in from
where he was at work.
"What's the matter, mother z" he gasp
ed.
Mis- Hubbard pointed to tho bottom of
tho loaf lying in her lap.
"Look there and see /" she said. "It
Is warning, William; am going to be
taken from them ALL"
And ho looked; and he saw deaths
head and cross.bones, as plainly engraved
as they possibly could be.
lit is an accident, said Mr.. Hubbard.
"Some queer cranks do come, you know"
But Mrs. Hubbard was in troubled
state Of mind, as was but natural.
''The stories about the haunted house.
were true" she said; land the spirits have
marked the loaf. am afraid 1t ls a warn
ing."
And the loaf was put aside, for even
Dir. Hubbard dld not dare TO cat any of
it. .s0a
Mrs. Hubbard got over her fright at
last, but me news Of the awfu1ly marked
loaf f.spread through r., and the peo-
pie came to Hubbard's all the week to
look at It. It was deathsiheed and cross
bones, certainly--overy one saw that at
a glance; but as % Its meaning, people
differed. Some believed that 1t was a
warning Of approaching death; others
thought that the spirits wanted to frighten