Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1881-10-26

knock together with fright.
Come, Josiah Pepperton, he said tc
himself at last, in a disparaging tone
i never saw man make such an ass
of himself as you are doing at this pres
ent moment What are your princi
piles, should like to know, end what
motive could the first Mrs. Pepperton
have for molesting you, considering
that you treated her well when she was
alive, and buried her comfortably after
death? Get along home with you for
a miserable coward, and don't let me
hear anything of this sort again in a
hurry, or-or-'
He was searching for threat that
would impose on himself, when he
[ turned round the church and came full
In sight of his first wife's grave. He
had decided in his own mind that he
would pass on and not look that way,
but some magnetic attraction drew his
glance in that quarter, and there,
crouching down close to the headstone,
was snow-white figure, with awful
eyes that turned on him with stony in
tentness, and seemed to defy him to
advance.
Mr.. Pepperton stood like one stunned
for minute, and then he went down
on his knees, and murmured, hoarsely,
through his chattering teeth
My dear Maria, l am sure you mean
this kindly, when you were always
such good-hearted woman when you
were alive. But can't bear i'll can't
bear tt can't indeed. / am very
grieved If / have hurt your feelings by
giving you successor, but, on my
honor as man, | never cared for poor
Mary Anne as l cared for you, and you
know planted some flowers on your
grave myself last summer, which shows
that you are always in my thoughts
But my poor nerves can't stand this
sort of thing, and if you are going to
take to walking, the sooner lay be-
side you the better-for there will be
nothing to live for
A hollow groan answered him; and
poor Pepperton went on, frantically:
Pray don't take my representations
in this spirit mean, don't take this
tone about them, he substituted, quick
ly, feeling that any reference to the
spirits in such company might be con-
sidered personal or rude I don't
mean any harm, and of course | should
be delighted to see you again in any
way if it weren't for my nerves being
so upset. Is there anything 1 could do
to make you rest more quiet? Don't
hesitate to speak. Even il it took all
my savings to make you lie eomforta-
Bile. | wouldn't hesitate, Marie-I
wouldn't indeed
Another groan, little fainter, but
still more narrowing, was the only re-
sponse, and poor Pepperton felt as if
his brain were giving way. Seen from
that distance, the ghost was terrible
enough, and quite as much as his rea-
son could stand +: but when she began
to raise herself slowly from the ground,
still keeping her pale, dim eyes fixed
upon him, and showing a disposition
to advance, the horror of the situation
generally, and the fear lest she should
take him into her cold embrace and
claim him for her own, overcame him
utterly, and he fell on his face in a
dead swoon
When he returned to consciousness,
Timothy Lane and another young
man were leaning over him, and poor
Pepperton said, with gasp, as he
pulled himself together:
I've had terrible experience
terrible experience, Timothy the first
Mrs. Pepperton has-eh, hulloa = and
he showed disposition to collapse
again, as he pointed toward the grave,
only that they held him fast and burst
out laughing in most reassuring man.
ner.
That is what you took for a ghost,
is it? said Timothy, when he could
command his voice. why, it is
Barnahy's white COW; she is always
getting through the hedge and stray
ing over into the churchyard.'
Pepperton sat upright and now that
he had companions, and found courage
to exrmine the thing more carefully, it
certainly lost good deal of its ghost
ly appearance.
But as he did not seem entirely con-
vinced, and Timothy saw that his lit
tie joke-he had been the author of
the hollow groans, hidden behind
tombstone-had gone far enough, he
told his younger companion, who hap
pened to be Barnaby's son, and, there
fore, in one sense, the owner of the
| cow tn drive If away
To see Barnaby go willingly, ap-
proach the apparition and give it a
kick in the ribs, dispersed the last
remnant of Pepperton's fear, and he
said, in a nervousl y-apologetic way,
as he stumbled up on to his feet:
You'd do me kindness, Timothy,
and so would Barnaby, if you wouldn't
talk of this little affair to the other fel-
lows. l should be jeered and joked
out of my life, and it is never pleasant
to be made butt of.
The fact is, was little out of
sorts, and my nerves weren't so strong
as usual and then this being the an
niversary of the first Mrs. Pepperton's
death, and your story put together,
finished me off although, as you
know, I've been through this church
yard night after night, and never had
any fancies of the sort before
we won't mention the matter, old
fellow answered Timothy, whose
conscience pricked him little when
he saw how white and shaken
| his friend looked
It's lucky we happened to be here,
though for if you hadn't had some
body with you when you came to your
self, you would have dashed off home,
maybe, without knowing that was
Barnaby's cow yonder, and then you
would have believed you had seen the
first Mrs. Pepperton for the rest of
| yOur life