The Benton weekly record. [volume] (Benton, Mont.) 1880-1885, 1880-07-30

G woman pefisaei 1fIsefaDiS Bg lieI oN
t hand. =
i II have seen her, said |, confidently.
b Well, / don t know" returned my Ill
J, Gle, doubtfRlly. sit is certainly very cl
. hrious, and, since yonhlyc heard sodmucl
| viii tell you all. I put the picture i
+ your way on purpose to sec if you woul
i recognize It; perhaps / was wrong, but
is now easier to GO on with the thing tha
toget out Of it. Do you remember you
Cousin Frederick
Frederic Parton: No, l never SAY
J, him. Eonly know that the poor feIloH
died mad in India''
ssIIe didn't die mad; he died of sun
stroke; but he was supposed by SOME peo
pie to be mad before he went out 1'ha
was because he saw the lady in white satil
in Box No. 16. at Covent Garden. Peopl
who see ghosts noW-:t-days, and cspeciall,
in public places, are naturally though
mad'
.sBut did you think him mad?" l in
quired.
4 ssNo, | didn't. [ thought there wa:
something in the matter more than mere
delusion, from this circumstance; JOIN
Parton, his father, had seen the ghost be
fore him.
"Another witness'" exclaimed I lit il
most Marvellous
Eyes; and the testimony agrees with
yours in one curious particular: in both
cases there were people in the box with
them who didn't see it; but they saw ii
plain enough. The lady appears, it would
seem, only to blood relations
t'Did you ever see her yourself, uncle ?''
"No; IneYer go to theatres. The box
came into my possession from the Partons,
! but have never used it. The librarian
! in London knows the whole story, because
4 your Cousin Frederic made a row about it,
just us you did. That is why the box is
let SO cheap. lie has it from HE for almost
nothing, upon tie consideration that only
a guinea shall &c Charged for it. People
ought not to be exposed 70 risks, luWavcr
small, without having Il corresponding adj
vantage. Some folks. Of .onrsc. would
fpay ten times tie money for 4 chance of
seeing the lady eb'!t, as Il general rule,
those WHO have hired box expect to have
lit to Themselves.
This business view oi the litalter would
have tickle,t me 4 good dead had not besn
50 personally interested IN it; my unclc's
notion that the appai;tion only appeared
to relatives seemed TO he 4 correct ono,
but il made the whole affair more celie and
tremendous.
II shall never rest, urc,e, salt! l. It'll
have t;.tlon1al tii> mystery. Perhaps
the pogl, lady has some secret TO disclose to
lis. ;"
''s5he'u never tell it to me-" Ieturucd
my uncle, confidently, ''and il You take
my advice, you will not give her Il third
opportunity OF. telling 1t 10 you. She was
a bad woman and i disgrace to her family.
Moreover. jle added, as he replaced the
picture i'll The cupboard, 'slhe evil that
she did lives after. her, for she depreeiates
the price OF our family box"
This style Of talk, especially upon Sc
rious subject, WAS by 10 means in accord-
ance with my uneIe's character. and felt
convinced it was affected i'll nrtcrto dispel
any morbid feelings which his revelations
might ha|e aroused i'll ne. As matter of
fact, however, curiosity rather than alarm
had the upper hand with me. should
have liked to 9c itart Il, fo1 9ioA a WNi With q
toycnt Gaw!eD fui flat very night. Upon
the whole, a>, notwithstanding my ,lncle's
advice, was resoiutely determined on
pursuing the matter, | thought it best to
appear as Indifferent as could, and after
awhile we dropped the subject. This was
evidently what lie wished tolappen, for
he never ietErred to ii again throughout
my visit,
For my part, however, SO far from for
getting it. thought OF little else, and
when tie time came for my departure, had
lain down Il plan for my interview with
the lady in white satin bad two cousins
both descendants of Eers-in London,
one clergyman and one d barrster, and
/ determined to enlist the assistance Of the
Church and the La8 in investigating the
matter. | would invite my kinsmen TO the
Guinea Box, and see what they thought OF
the family ghost.
[ left for London, by the mail train, on
date, March 5, 1866 which many had
cause to remember, and all through the
night. as the sWaying train sped through
the darkness, [ was making up my mind
what to say and do when next came into
that supernatural presence. 1t was a
giiastly night-journey, and made more so
by the fact that, as we drew near London,
the lurid glow of some vast conffagration
flied thezeastern sky. TOO much occupied
with another subject, however, 10 make
any inquiries about the fire on my arrival
ut the terminus, went straight to my
lodgings and to bed.
Before break fast The next morning, my
first act was 70 lock in The newspaper to
see wis2thr'st1e Guinea Box was TO be let
for tiY;it night. fisc. advertisement was
there rs t:is.!, lut III he body Of tic paper
there was piece ot intelligence that con-
trad;ctrd It il . very decisive manner
'"fot:i izSstIEIHison ot. toyent G&riten Iile-
atre by Fire.
The previous night had been that the
famous Hlaskee! ball with which its enter
tailnncntS had been brought to ~ end for
ever: aud with it, of course, had pelished
Box No. Is. and all hepe OF explanation OF
/ its mystery
'a'Els, GoEoFassl'>s Mistake.