The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1881-02-03
{ ESTABLISHED In
I MARCH, Is47.

some one playing trick upon me? ?
In any case, now was my time to
fathom the mystery. Trying to be
courageous and gather my wits to-
gether, [ advanced. The face receded.
and passed into the deeper shadow, till
it appeared to be suddenly swallowed
up in the draperies of the heavily cur
tanned window Irushed forward, but
was not swift enough. Before |
touched the curtains, the face had
disappeared. | was certain, however,
perfectly certain that as | drew the
curtains open, | felt resistance to my
hand, and at the same time a gust of
colder air rushed against my face, as
if from an opened window At first,
| felt as if about to faint; but my will,
fortunately, was strong, and l threw
the curtains aside. and put my hand
on the window. It was closed. | tried
the bar, which could only be fixed
from the inside, and it was as | had
left it early in the evening.
At this discovery, my agitation
over-powered me, my head swan, and
! l tainted. When | recovered con-
sciousness, I was lying in the broad
recess of the curtained window, and |
felt trickling sensation on my fore
head, and suspected, what | afterwards
found to be the case, that [ had struck
my head on some article of furniture,
and was bleeding. This involuntary
blood-letting helped to revive me, and
| sat up.
For few minutes / remained par
TALLY stunned and bewilderd. | felt
creeping sensation, as if | had been
struck by a frost-wind. After a
while, my heart began to beat less au-
dibly, and [ rose to my feet. At that
moment the embers Of the fire sudden
ly sank into the bottom Of the CRATE,
sending up faint, Pickering light,
which was absolute cheerfulness as
contrasted with the horrible semi
darkness that had hitherto prevailed.
| felt my courage returning, and man
aged to ring the bell. The ayah came,
alarmed that | should have summoned
her at an hour when she supposed
had retired to rest. | did not tell her
what | had witnessed, only asked her
to light candle. She did so, and as
the light fell upon my face, she gave
a slight scream. [ had forgot at the
moment that blood was trickling from
the wound | had received, Or | should
not have asked her to light the can
die. AS it was, | had to make the
best excuse [ could in answer to her
inquiries [ said [ must have slept
long by the fire, and in moving about
the darkened room had fallen and hurt
myself The wound, however, was
found to be a mere scratch; and in
few minutes the ayah had succeeded
in removing from my face all marks
Of the disaster.
| asked her to leave the candle with
me, and allow me to retire to rest
She did so; and after the door was
closed upon her. | proceeded with the
candle to examine the window more
minutely. The mystery was as much
a mystery as ever The window had
certainly not been opened by any one.
and no trace was visible on the walls
of any possible means Of egress or in
gress. [ felt more nervous than ever,
and was about to turn and quit the
room altogether, so much did my fears
cypress me, when something lying on
the floor within the recess attracted
my attention I stopped and picked
it up. 1t was q small piece Of white
cloth-a few inches square-veIy frail
in the texture, as if half-rotted with
damp Or age, adorned with a peculiar
kind of embroidery such rs [ thought |
| had seen before, but could not recall
where. On one edge there was hem;
the other three edges being irregular |
and Jagged. It looked like a piece of
cloth wrenched out of a garment by
the foot being suddenly placed upon
it. ! felt | had made discovery.
Returning to the fireplace, I sat
down to think. It seemed clear to me
now that my visitant, however he or
she had effected an entrance, was no
spirit This piece Of linen was GER
tainly not lying there when had
closed and barred the window for the |
night; nor could it belong to the APP
parel Of any member of my household.
It was not unlikely that it was part Of !
the loose garment Of dingy white
which now remembered my strange
visitant wore.
I am naturally strong-minded, and |
began to recover my COM
posnre. I said to myself: Il shall find
out the secret. The first link of the |
chain is between my fingers. Inever
before heard of ghosts tramping bits
out Of their drapery, and no doubt the
ghost I saw had been nearly as much
afraid as myself when | so suddenly
approached it, and had not got away
without little furry. This accounts,
too" I thought, FOR the resistance
which I felt to my hand when | first |
laid hold of the window curtains"
l was more than ever persuaded that |
a trick was being played upon ME. I
did not feel, however, as if | could |
sleep in the room that night. IF my
visitor was, as | suspected, q mortal
like myself, there was no saying what |
he Or she might be induced to attempt. |
should the desire Of revenge prompt Il
second visit My life was not safe in
such circumstances, when barred |
window and IL locked door were not !
sufficient to protect me from intru-
sion. I resolved for that night to oc-
cupy the bedroom where my two eldest .
children slept, which l could reach
without disturbing the rest of the
house.
| was about to take up my candle !
and go, when | imagined | heard u
sound behind me. In my state of .
I started, and had almost +
dropped the candle. [ looked towards |
the window: but the curtains hung +
and were parted as I had /.
left them.