The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1881-08-30

mlntu W TlSt, OuJ the mOlneuD ne DeBhn
TO stir, he beheld two figures slowly and
noiselessly gliding from the sides of his
bed towards the foot--they stopped for
an instant, then moved In the direction
of the windows, which were opposite
the door, and between which was the
table on which the lamp stood. with
out again attempting to raise, my father
turned to look whether the door was
open. No, 1t was shut, and the key re-
mained in the lock as he had left it,
During the few seconds which passed
while he was looking at the door, he
perceived that the lamp had gone out,
or had been extingushed, for instead of
the yellow light of the lamp, there was
now only the pale blue light of the
moon, shining through the wlndows.-
The two figures were still there, now
standing motionless then slowly retreat
ing backwards in the direction of the
fireplace. My father became nervous
and extremely uncomfortable, yet he
retained sufficient presence of mind to
to enable him to examine his nocturnal
visitors.
Except that they were of different
height, in all other respects they pre-
sented precisely the same horrible aspect,
which my father described as that of
death s head, partially concealed by
sort of cowl or veil which fell over the
shoulders, while the body was loosely
wrapped in long white drapery, which,
descending to the feet, concealed the
whole of the figure except one bony
wrist and hand. The idea of being
locked in with these two frightful un-
earthly beings became intolerable, and
my father resolved at all hazards to rush
out of bed and make his escape. He
rose, keeping his eyes fixed on the spec
tres who were now nodding their ghast-
ly heads, and beckoning him with their
skeleton fingers, but making no attempt
to approach nearer the bed, or to inter-
cept his retreat towards the door,
Though in state of considerable agi-
tation, my father never for an instant
lost his presence of mind, and though,
as he told me, his hand shook violently
as he unlocked the door, he did not neg
lect to lock it again on the other side, as
soon as he found himself safely in the
passage. This done, he passed on quick
ly to his own bedroom, and hurrying on
his dressing gown, went without min
ute's delay to call up his man-servant.-
Now must explain for the benefit of
those here who are not so we'll acquaint-
ed with the geography of the house as
Mr.. Bradley and the major, that in Or
der to reach the butler's room it was
necessary first to go down the front
stairs, then through the servants hall,
and up the back stairs, which led to the
servants rooms. With all the haste,
therefore, that my father could make,
several minutes must have elapsed be-
tween the time of his leaving the room
in which he slept, and his reaching that
of his servants.
He knocked sharply at the door, but
receiving no answer, he went in, and,
as he expected, found the butler and his
wife both fast asleep. His first idea was
to wake them, and ask if they had seen
or heard anything unusual; but, after
moments reflection, he decided that it
would be much more discrete to leave
them to their repose, which he felt as
sured had not been disturbed that night
Without betraying his secret to any
person in the house, the next morning
he made a careful examination of the
room. The door he found locked as he
had left it; the windows were both of
them barred. The old-fashioned linen
chest which you saw last night, should
tell you, was not then kept in the room,
and if it had been it could never have
contained two, or even one being of the
size of those whom my father had seen
gliding about in the moonlight. 1t was
impossible that they should have been
secreted under the bedstead, which was
too low to admit of such supposition.
The chimney was much too narrow and,
had it been otherwise, the white gar
ments of the apparitions would have
afforded sufficient proof that they did
not enter by that means. The sliding
! panel in the wainscot was immovable,
having been made fast at the time that
my father had the plate-closet removed
to his own chamber. The thing was
inexplicable: the more my father pom
dered on the matter, the more he was
perplexed, and at length, finding no
clue to the mystery, he resolved, wheth-
er wisely or not cannot say, to keep it