The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1881-03-22

would give in dim and uncertain light
the grim aspect that had seen on the
previous evening. felt within me
burning indignation that for years the
peace and happiness of successive fam
lilies In the house should have been
destroyed by the wretched trickery of
this depraved old woman, In her mali
cious desire to injure the young lady
who owned the house, by deprivlng her
Of the income that would otherwise
have been derived from It,
My first impulse was to leave things
as they were in the apartment till the
arrival of the old hag, and confront her
at once with the evidences we had dis
covered of her malevolent practices ; but
on second examination of the box, 1t
was found that 1t contained false
bottom, easily removed, under which
were fo0nd a pair of loaded pistols. This
struck us as being scarcely in keeping
with the idea that Mrs. Weevil alone
was cognizant of the mischievous opera
tions which had been carried on here for
so many years. These were rather the
weapons of person who was both able
and willing to use them should an emer-
puzzling, while we had thus far discov-
cred the means by which the ghostly
reputation of the house had been main
tained, there was as yet no trace of the
manner in which access was gained,
either to the bedroom which occupied,
or to any other parts of the house which
had been so mysteriously visited. In
these circumstances, 1t was agreed at
once to replace everything as we had
found them, except that the blacksmith
took the precaution of drawing the
charge out of both pistols, stufIlng the
barrels afterward to the required depth
with paper, so that, on being probed,
they might still appear as if loaded.
This done, the bed was moved back to
its place, when the paneling of itself
closed as before. We then left the
apartment, the door of which was,
though not without some difficulty, so
fastened as not readily to excite the
woman's suspion that it had been tam
pered with.
1t was now two hours after noon, and
Mrs. Weevil might return at any mo-
ment. The two men therefore departed,
but first arranging with me that they
should return after dusk, bringing the
village constable along with them, to
await with me the events of the even
ing, as felt certain somehow that the
"ghost" would again appear, with the
object of driving me from the house,
as other tenants had been driven before.
Like his namesake in "Rob Roy"
the old gardener, Andrew, was not
very good keeper of secrets; hence it
was proposed that the joiner and black
smith should take him along with them
to the village, and keep him under
surveillance till the evening. I was
glad when / saw them all out of the
place, without, so far as L knew, being
seen by any one; and still more glad
when the ayah shortly afterward re-
turned with the children, as could not
help feeling alarmed in the house by
myself, considering what we had dis
covered, and especially what we had
failed to discover, namely, how the
person playing the ghost could obtain
access to different parts of the house so
freely as report represented, and as L
had myself in one instance painfully
experienced.
Unlike her usual practice, Mrs. Wee
VII did not return to the house that day
till far on in the afternoon; and after
she had entered her rooms L could hear
her bustling about with an activity and
noise quite unprecedented in my expert
ence of her habits. This rather alarmed
me. L was afraid she had suspected,
from the appearance of her rooms, not
withstanding our care in removing all
traces of our presence, that some one
had been there in her absence and this
might be sufficient to defeat my hopes
of bringing to light the trickery that had
been SO long and so systematically prac-
ticed. But was still more astonished
when, about an hour after her return,
she sent message to me by the ayah
that she wished to speak with me, if 1
would grant her an interview At first
1 scarcely knew what answer to make.
Were to refuse to see her, this might
complete the suspicion which she per-
haps entertained; and if did see her, i
was afraid might by some word or look
betray the knowledge of which had
become possessed. 1 thought upon the
whole had better see her, and answer.