Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1881-11-24

ylebs .irev,s.slanSs Is7f
2irl 1hs assef-
thought himself Of short cut through
q village church yard. It was not
very easy Of access, for the gate was
locked, and . brook of soIne depth
swept around part Of the outer wall !;
but he was young and active, and
eager To gain time. 20, after q some
what stiff climb. he found himself
within the limits Of the consecrated
groand. so
1t was a clear, moonlight aight, and
the tombstones stood around him in
close and venerable array. Suddenly
he saw something which made him
start and pause. From beneath the
shadow of the church wall, tall white
figure glided stealthily out into the
light. Ny father quietly retreated
behind Q tombstone and watched. The
figure advanced; he scaned it care
fully; and beneath the white robes
fiuttering in the night air he beheld q
substantial pair of boots.
Said he to himself: sDo ghosts
wear boots? / wonder who makes
them; "and he decided on having
closer inspection of this mysterious
churchyard apparition. The figure
moved on; my father quietly follow
ed, keeping well in shade Of the tomb
stones. After some little time spent
in this kind Of dodging. the ghost adj
vanced to part of the wall overlook
ing the road and the stream. and took
up its position on the top of it. In
second my father came behind, and
with a strong and sudden push. trip
ped the unlucky ghost into the stream
which rippled below. He heard a
plunge and shout, waited few mo-
ments to see that the fellow had strug-
gled safely to the other side, minus
the white sheet, then turned and sped
on his way, rejoicing as having hit on
80 novel and expeditions method Of
laying ghost.
Years passed away. Ny father
married the lady Of his choice, and
they shared the usual course of hfe's .
yicissitudes together. Long after her
death he took me to visit the scene of
his early wooing. and the home Of her
girlhood. On our way from the rail-
way station we drove through vii
lage from which funeral procession
was issuing in solemn pomp to the
church yard. As we returned, we
stopped an hour at an inn and order
ed luncheon.
Like most of his class, oar host was
chatty and communicative, and at
once entered into conversation. "Pleas-
ant weather, gentlemen; we have had
. large funeral here to day; the larg-
est known in these parts for many
day. We all wished to show respect
to our oldest inhabitant. William Daw-
kins. A very civil fellow was Bill.
MANY story of good old times he
used to tell. And he had some queer
adventures of his own, too, to talk
about. You'll scarce credit me gen.
tlemen, but tbs fact that, that man
had seena ghost. "Aghosti'' exclaim-
ed my father, whose natural skepticism
on that subject had long since been
strengthened by the accident / have
related. He dreamed Of one, sup
pose. or an extra glass of ale had gone
to his head. Nothing Of the Kind,
sir, /" replied the landlord with great
seriousness. "Bill not only saw the
ghost. but felt it, and that pretty
sharply. | can tell you. The way he
felt it was this. Some of our lads had
gone to fair that was held a few
miles away and Bill wanted to frieh-
ten the young fellows on their way
home so he Just clirabed into the
churchyard, wrapped sheet about
him, and waited about till he thought
they were close 1T hand. He was
standing on bit of wall Just above
the road. when he heard stealthy
tread coming up behind him he turn
ed round quickly, and there was a
dark figure at his back but before
he could move il made one rush at him
and knocked him clean over into the
stream that runs below. The fall and
fright took away his breath and be-
tween the terror and the wetting, he
| got such a severe scare that he never
ventured near that church yard again
after nightfall. He said it was q dan
gerous thing to play at ghosts. For
no one knew how near the ghosts them
selves might be. nor how angry with
any one who dared to play pranks in
haunted places"
1T was strange story, we said I:
but our host thought it stranger still
when my father related his share in
the adventure. the coincidsnce was
certainly curious one. and affords a
specimen Of the kind Of = foundation
on which many q popular and "welI
authsntieated ghost story may be
built.
[PottstOvn Daily Ledger