The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1881-09-16
A FASCINATING GHOST.

A FASClNAT1NG GHOST.
UyANTED. A young gentleman who knows
w how to spc, and Who writes good hand, To
d copying In the country for two three months.
Must remain 10 employers house. AddrVSs in own
this oilcs.
This was an advertisement cut out of
the EreRiRg Post one spring afternoon.
In the old days L had been bOok-keeper
for the late concern of Skinfint, Starye-
himout n Co., and while with them 1
had been getting a good salary, and, tc
my sorrow be it said, lived pretty well
up TO 1t; SO as L made nothing by the
failure OF the concern, and lost my place
as well, / had to come down very low
had saved little, more by good luck
than from forethought, and this little.
used with the strictest economy, and
added TO by few dollars made here and
there in odd ways, was all that had kept
me alive for eighteen months. However,
l didn't feel quite disposed to go to the
dogs yet, for there was always a chance
OF something turning up IN a great city
like New York
As l looked around NV room that
evening / realized how bare it was of
either furniture or adornments; how un-
like. All, well, there was NV paper:
and | unfolded it with all the glee of n
child over new story-book. There
was, of course, the usual political news.
the usual number Of railroad accidents
and criminal proceedings; there were
Items OF interest to investors and theater
goers and travellers; but nothing for me.
/ had no money to invest. or for theaters.
or travelling. So L skipped all that and
went on to the advertisements. and the
only one of them all worth reading
twice was the advertisement quoted
above
| read it two or three times. and then
decided IT was worth trying. 50 \ hunted
up a sheet OF paper and addressed X
as follows:
my Dear Mr.. Mrs. or Mass Y: 1 notice
your advertisement in to-days issue Of the
Ecening Post. My handwriting you can see for
yourself My spelling. 1 think is usually cor
rect, and there is no doubt am gentleman
AS to salary, don't know what to say don't
wish to value my services at more than they're
worth. Should you mean by remain in em-
ployers house. | would be boarded and lodged
st your expense, my price-that is, asking
price-is five dollars week.
''Yours respectfully,
JAMES W. WoLcoIT"
The next afternoon heard from my
friend Y, who proved to be man. His
letter ran thus
"JANEs W. WoLooTT, ESQ.,:
"My dear Sir-You may be gentleman.
write good hand, and know how to spell. but
you're fool. 1 inclose sixty-three cents. the
fare 10 - You will take the a. m. train to-
morrow morning from Grand Central Depot
and when you arrive at - ask for NV
carnage, as it will be there to meet you.
'Yours, etc.
Sol. HUMpHEYs."
Sol. Humphreys the last man in the
world / would voluntarily have written
20. and for employment, tool Two years
before / had very nice little Irritation
with pretty Mabel Humphreys. and it
had gone so far that if the crash in my
affairs had not occurred, | believe there
might have been an understanding. if
not an engagement But as it was
put away all thoughts OF love and love
making and dropped pretty Mabel very
suddenly, without any kind of an under
standing, and / had not seen her since.
And now to think had fairly got myself
into il againl But, reflected. might
not see much of Mabel. after all. So
much the better. Bread and butter was
necessity and / must go and make the
best of it.
The next morning I caught the train,
but missed nv breakfast, and by, the
time reached the house was decidedly
hungry
Mr.. Humphreys met me at the door,
and / was pleased to see he did not
seem to remember me at all. He put
up his eyeglasses, and inspected me
from head to foot.
$50 you're James w. Wolcott, are
you, Young man ''-eea.ssaa.-.
/ told him he was not mistaken. j
always had that name-born with it, l
believed
''And you think you're gentleman p
II 1nff
anything about it; it was self-evident
fact.
The old fellow grinned. "Suppose
You come in and have some breakfast
fou haven't had any, l suppose ?"
/ said l had not
Well, come in and have some"
After breakfast Mr. Humphreys led
the way into the library and motioned
me to take a chair, while he explained
what my work was to be. He had been
writing history, or text book of ferns
he was an enthusiastic botanist-and
wanted it copied for the press. The
work of rewriting the whole thing legi-
bly, was more than he wished to under
take, so he had advertised for an amanu-
ensis
After this had been explained to me,
Mr.. Humphreys started up. "Get your
hat, Mr.. Wolcott. want to show you
around"
All through the house and all over the
place he took me. and when he got to
the farther extremity of the grounds he
paused, and pointing to huge stone
house beyond, said "l'm trying to
buy that house; I'm very anxious.to get
it, but my daughter objects
asked him why she objected.
well, you see, it hasn't been occu-
pied lately, and she says it's gloomy
says it's haunted, and she wouldn't like
to live in it"
:" Miss Humphreys can't really believe
that to be true" answered.
|" don't know whether she does OF
not. She's away now, but she'll be
home Tomorrow, and perhaps she'll be
more reasonable"
: The next day Mabel arrived. She me-
me politely, went through the introduc