The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1881-02-03

mouse; ana She was very seldom seer
| by me or the servants. She only went
out occasionally, as il to make such
purchases as her necessities might re-
quire, locking the door of her rooms
both in going and returning.
A month passed by. People in the
neighborhood began to call. They all
praised the house and grounds; but
they all looked mysterious, and one
and another limited: "You won't stay
here over the winter
My answer was a smile. But the
winter came Flowers faded; trees
grew red, golden, brown; and at last
their shivering leaves fell to the
ground. 1t was an early winter. In
November, the cold was intense, and
the days were short and gloomy.
Many years had passed by since [ had
spent a winter in England, and I felt
the cold very much. | made the best
Of things however, muffiing myself
and the children in flannel, keeping
the doors and windows closed, and
having large fires in the rooms and
hall. In spite of all [ could do, two
of them fell ILL., Their illness was not
serious; but nursing and looking after
them gave me much to do, for their
ayah (Indian nurse) was suffering at
the moment from a severe cold, which
rendered her almost incapable Of help
ing me.
Such was my position when, one
morning, my housemaid asked to see
me. | knew what this meant; and
was not at all surpassed to hear that
she intended to leave us that very day.
Her mother wanted her, she said. [
asked her mothers reason. She was
impenetrable. | offered her higher
wages. She said, tremblingly, that
she would not stay if | We're to offer
her a hundred pounds. [ began to
perceive that the news OF the ghost
story had got abroad; and | asked her
If there was anything in the house Of
which she was afraid; but to this ques-
ton she was dumb. I said | would
see her again, and sat down to think,
with my sick child in my lap. Even
while | was thinking, there came a
knock at the door of my room. | cried
out, "Come In" hut my heart sank.
My cook was at the door. The girl
who helped in the kitchen and house
was behind her. Both looked scared,
and announced that they were going.
l did not know what to do. To
gain time, | ordered them back to
their work. [ had no money in the
house, | said. The bank, as they
knew, was some miles distant. They
had no right to leave me without due
notice; in fact, | would not let them
go. So [ said, and hoped that they
were quieted for time. But late that
evening, the ayah came to me with
CONSERVATION IN her face. All the
three English servants had left me!
By that time the children were in
bed, and everything was still. / bade
the ayah go to her room with the
younger children, and after locking
my bedroom door, sat alone, thinking.
| had passed through an exciting day.
The night was chilly; was tired, and
not very we'll. That the warmth Of
the fire and the comfort Of my favor
tie lounging-chair should presently
cause a delightful sense of Indifference
to all and every annoyance, need not
be considered wonderful As | sat
there, I gave way to the pleasant COM
pulsion, and was soon, [ imagine, fast
asleep. say Imagine, because there
was no witness present; and of what
We do, or what we don't do, in that
strange, indefinite borderland of SEN
sation which separates walSing-time
f,,o,,, eIa 10
perfectly certain.
So far as | know, | slept for some
considerable time. It was the sensa-
ton, believe, of my feet waxing cold
that first loosened the bonds Of slum-
ber. While | was in that semi-con-
scious state, which has peculiar dis
comfort, | became dimly alive to the
fact that there was in the room some
presence other than my own. There
was movement stirring III the air.
rs If some creature had come in. The
events of the day returned to my mem-
ory, which was still only half alive
| started up, rubbing my eyes, for |
could not be at all sure that / was
awake and in my right mind.
When | went to sleep, was alone
Yes, certainly. But even if it were
not so, what strange, pale face was
this now gazing at me across the dim
ly-ighted space of the shadowy room?
| was but half awake. NV nerves,
warnr ;JesIGe MN; and L then observed
: for the caster at the foot of the be-
If was glistening with oil, as if i
eft but recently been fabricated; an