The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1881-08-18


to know if he is courageous enough to
go there and see if it really is haunted"
"Oh, 1 guess he's pretty brave; he
says he is, and Mr.. Humphreys thinks
so too, believe"
eyes, papa is so enthusiastic over
Mr.. Butt mean Mr.. Steele's kind
heart and religious feeling; he thinks
he must be good man, and not easily
frightened" She looked at me squarely.
"And I want to know if he's man
fully to be trusted"
"With untold wealth" ?"
"No; to see ghost"
"Ahl 1 see |"
You're brave, too, aren't you, Mr..
Wolcottp
"You're very kind to say SO, but I
assure you there never was worse
coward than I am. I've no courage at
all--I'm all brain Now there's the diff
ference between Mr.. Steele and my
self"
Mabel rose. eyes, I see the differ
ence," she said. "I'm very much obliged
to you, Mr.. Wolcott, for your good ad-
vice. 1 wasn't sure whether he would
undertake it. Brain is q good thing,
so is courage; prefer happy mixture" {"
And with pleasant little nod she sailed
off.
never saw until afterward what o
comparison l had made-one all cour-
age and no brain, and the other all
brain and no courage. L had muddled
things badly, that was evident, and the
worst of it was that she never gave me
an opportunity to let her know I had
not intended any disrespect to her
future liege.
All this time Sol. Humphreys never
ceased talking about buying the stone
house. At last Mabel made the propo-
sition that some night we three, Ned,
Butter-Scotch and myself, should go
there and stay until morning, and if our
report was "no ghosts" she would not
say any more against the purchasing
scheme; but if anything diabolical or
mysterious happened, that her father
was to give up the idea. Our consent
being asked we cheerfully gave it, and
as one time was as good as another, we
decided to make the experiment that
night.
Armed each with a stout stick and
pillow, we advanced upon the haunted
dwelling about o'clock, and were
admitted by the man in charge, whose
headquarter were in an adjoining build
ing which communicated with the house
by long entry, at the end of which
was an iron door. This door was closed
and bolted after us, and we were left to
make our explorations in our own way.
L for one did not expect to see any
thing supernatural, but Mabels stories
were very vivid, and 1 would have liked
to oblige her by seeing something un.
canny. We had brought lantern with
US, and Butter-Scotch had very self
sacriticlngly taken charge of it. SO we
ascended the stairs, and made tour of
the upper floor, then descended, and
made another tour of the ground floor
and cellar, and Butter-Scotch considered
the exploration SO thorough that he
strongly advocated going home and to
bed, and bringing in sealed verdict,
"No ghosts" But We wouldn't hear
of it. So, having made sure that the
front door was unlocked on the inside,
and could be opened instantaneously if
the proposed ghost were disposed to be
violent, or use language unfit for Gears
polite" we made ourselves as comfort
able in the hall as the circumstances of
no bed and an indefinite ghost would
allow.
Ten o'clock-no ghost. Eleven-not
a sound. Eleven-thirty-"N Ned, you're
snoring"
"Oh no was thinking how"
Sul1anlu thara vuoc oroC1, eo,,oC
where in the house.
"By Georgep gasped Ned, "we're in
for it, boys, and don't you forget ii !"
1 don't know how long we waited,
but then it began again-frst a sneeze,
then kissing sound, then pail rolling
downstairs, followed by an assortment
of dust-pans and tire-irons.
This was frst-class. After the storm
ceased Butter-Scotch, in a committee
of one, proposed that we should alter
the verdict to "ghosts emphatically,"
and go home. 1t was entertaining, but,
to tell the truth, he was sleepy.
In few minutes there was another
crash, and we saw something white on
the stairs, slowly and solemnly approach
ing. AS it neared the bottom, it raised
an arm; a low moan came from it, and
rasping sound of by no means cheer
full character.
Butter-Scotch made for the door, and
in his excitement pushed against it in
stead of pulling, so he couldn't get out.
The ghost, seeing our fright, uttered q
shrek, and came swiftly toward us.
This was too much for flesh and blood
to bear, and Butter-Scotch yelled,
Murder thieves! frel" frantic with
horror, and we all three pulled and
pushed, beside ourselves with fear.
Just as the ghost had nearly reached
us Ned pulled the door open, and there
was crash and rush, and before |
knew what had happened the door was
shut to with bang, and was left in
darkness in the hall, with the knowl-
edge that the beastly ghost was where
it could touch me if it wanted to. A
second of silence, and then a voice
hissed, "Cowards |" 1 indorsed that
opinion heartily, but the others were
greater towards than I was; 1 wouldn't
have kicked the light out of the lantern,
or shut the door on them.
There was yawn, and then the thing
said, "Oh, myl"
Iplucked up my spirits little. The
ghost had sense enough to be sleepy,
and 1 thought could stand little talk,
if it would only keep hands off. Possibly
it wanted to find the door, for it came
straight toward me. But the knob
wasn't where the phantom thought il
ought to be, and the seeking hand
rested for about two seconds on my nose.
The touch gave me courage; it was