The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1882-03-02

oOOl " do OpCl, oO UlltlU L huI lC
in without any pause, breathless; bu
the sight Of his calm regard, as b
came to help me off with my over
coat, subdued me in moment. Any
thing out Of the way, anything in
comprehensive, faded to nothing il
the presence Of Bagley. You saw ant
wondered how he was made: the part
ing of his hair. the tie of his white
neckcloth, the fit of his trousers, al
perfect as works Of art; but you coul(
see how they were done, which make:
all the difference. | flung myself upon
him. so to speak, without waiting tc
note the extreme unlikeliness Of the
man to anything of the kind | meant
'Bagley," | said, Il want you to come
out with me tonight to watch for
''Poachers, colonel" he said, a CLEAN
Of pleasure running all over him.
mo, Bagley; great deal worse"
cried.
''Yes, colonel; at what hour, sir?'
the man said; but then had not told
him what it was.
It was ten o'clock when we set out.
All was perfectly quiet indoors. My
wife was with Roland, who had been
quite calm, she said, and who Though
the fever Of course must run its
course) had been better ever since [
came | told Bagley to put on a
thick great coat over hisevening co t,
and did the same myself-with strong
boots; for the soil was like a sponge.
or worse. Talking to him, | almost
forgot what we were going to do. 1t
was darker even than it had been
before, and Bagley kept very close to
me as we went along. | had a small
lantern in my hand, which gave us a
partial guidance. We had come to
the corner where the path turns. On
one side was the bowling-green, which
the girls had taken possession of for
their croquet-ground-a wonderful
enclosure surrounded by high hedges
Of holly, three hundred years old and
more; on the other, the ruins Both
were black as night; but before we
got so far, there was little opening
in which we could just discern the
trees and the lighter line of the road.
| thought it best to pause there and
take breath. "Bagley," | said, "there
is something about these ruins I don't
understand. 1t is there | am going.
Keep your eyes open and your wits
about you. Be ready to pounce upon
any stranger you see-anything, man
or woman. Don't hurt, but seize any
thing you see.' Colonel y said Bag
ley, with little tremor in his breath.
'they do say there's things there-as
is neither man nor woman There
was no time for words. 'Are you
game to follow me, my man? that's
the question" l said, Bagley fell in
without word, and saluted. | knew
then [ had nothing to fear.
We went, so far as | could guess,
exactly as | had come, when heard
that sigh. The darkness, however,
was so complete that all marks, as of
trees or paths disappeared. One mo-
ment we felt our feet on the gravel,
another sinking noiselessly into the
slippery grass, that was all. [ had
shut up my lantern, not wishing to
scare any one, whoever it might be-
Bagley followed, it seemed to me, eX-
actly in my footsteps as [ made my
way, as | supposed, towards the mass
of the ruined house. We seemed to
take long time cropping along seek
ing this; the squash of the wet soil
under our feet was the only thing
that marked our progress. After
while [ stood still to see, or rather feel,
where we were. The darkness was
very still, but no stiller than is usual
in a winters night. The sounds |
have mentioned-the cracking of
twigs, the roll Of pebble, the sound
of some rustic in the dead leaves, or
creeping creature on the grass-were
audible when you listened, all myster-
ious enough when your mind is dis
engaged, but to me cheering now as
signs Of the livingness of nature, even
in the death of the frost. AS we stood
still there came up from the trees in
the glen the prolonged hoot of an
owl. Bagley started with alarm, be-
ing in a state of general nervousness.
and not knowing what he was afraid
Of But to me the sound was encour-
aging and pleasant, being so compre
hensible AN OWL | said, under my
breath. "Y-es, colonel" said Bag
ley, his teeth chattering. We stood
still about five minutes, while it broke
into the still brooding Of the air. the
sound widening out in circles, dying
upon the darkness. This sound,
which is not cheerful one, made me
almost gay. 1t was natural, and re-
lieved the tension Of the mind. [
loved on with new courage, my nerv-
Gus excitement calming down.
When all at once, quite suddenly,
close to US, at our feet, there broke
out cry. | made spring backwards
in the first moment of surprise and
horror, and in doing so came sharply
against the same rough masonry and
brambles that had struck me before.
This new sound came upwards from
the ground-a low, moaning. wailing
voice, full of suffering and pain. The
contrast between it and the hoot of
the owl was indescribable; the one
with wholesome wildness and nat
uralness that hurt nobody-the other.
a sound that made ones blood curdle,
full of human misery. With a great
deal of fumbling-for in spite of eve
rything could do to keep up my
courage my hands shook-I managed
to remove the slide Of my lantern.
The light leaped out like something
living, and made the place visible in a
moment. We were what would have
been inside the ruined building had
anything remained but the gable-wall
which | have described. 1t was close
to us, the vacant doorway in it going
out straight into the blackness out
side. The light showed the bit of