New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-12-24

fsneies and addiction to the flowing and castle
building bowl i cannot deny, whose lie has beeh
strange mixture of study and gayety full OF
Quaint fancies, vigorous sayings anu less vigorous
nchieyements but q man withal whom several
Inen and some few women have found lOVabie.
give this PREDATORY notice 10 account Tor the, per
hans extraordinary nature OF the lntlosed, ana 10
introduce MY friend and his MS, and herewith
ehace my own henceforward insignificant person
II.
My DEAR FRrEND,-I have a story to tell which
may interest YOU. whether your sCcptica, nlne-
teenth- century, nervous middle which you call
mind refuse to believe 1t Oh not l thnk tolu you.
I was induced 10 purchase an old country house,
dating evidently from the sixteenth centuiy,
partly from my love of the style of building of
that period (which beats your favorte Queen
Anne I NAV mention, into the proverbial cooked
hail partly from wish to oblige friend who
was anxious 70 get rid OF II.
Well. skipping the necessary intermediate pro-
cesses By lawyer carrier and train, necessary 10
effect the change, Imagine me- installed IN my new,
and yet old, abode, ana anxious 10 learn III py
heart from garrett to cellar
found it all that my mind could desire and my
fancy paint, and soon contracted quite an a1iec-
ton for it. and began to call IL nome Aiter q
short stay however, l became convinced that q
certain window, high up. which saw from out of
doors. had as far as had yet explored, no CORE
spondInx room. 1 made sure Of its situation by
fixing n piece of red tape. la Rahab TO the sill of
what fancied was the nearest window TO lt hen
indoors and then going out to comp are notes.
found my unaccOuntable window to be the next TO
The red tame one being about. guessed eight feet
from It, 1 marked the direction IN which il lay. to
the left of the red tape rs seen from outside there
lore TO the right OF anyone looking out from inside
had as yet no servants IN the house, and de-
termIued to settle the matter by myself. In tho
garrett. found there was brick wall between me
aud the place where room must be. B1icked up
rooms are nothing wonderful, or uncommon. 1t
might be accounted for in many ways. goi one
or TWO cIisels and mallet. and soon succeeded in
Knocking out bricks enough to afford my body
passage. | clawled through, found myself in
rather small BEDROOM with furniture, panelllng
and bedstead, evidently OF about the same age as
the house 1t smelt little stuhy, so / went IL the
window to open it. The latch was lncrusted with
rust, aud immoyable; 50 | took the liberty know
not why | cal it liberty, but somehow felt it
one-of breaking one of the small lattice panes
The fresh air came in. On turning back from the
window l was startled to see body OF rather
vonn9 man living on the bed. in the full costume
of his period yellow. rotten-loOklng ruff, moth
eaten old doublet, silk roses on his shoes, and
siranre about him WAS, that the face and hands
seemed much better preserved than the clothes
rusty rapier, IN dlscolored VeIVet scaoDara' lay
ON a chuir This j accidentally upset. with a
clatter What my amazement TO behold the
body give slight movement | thonght it, OF
course n vision of my perturbed imagination. and
Ioncbed him to see if he would crumble away,
end 10 convince myself that it was IL real corpse.
But the effect of the touch was more bewilderlng
than that of the fall OF the sword; Inc corpse
opened pair of gray eyes stretched Its arms gave
n very oorporeal English yawn, and said
1'Swounds! Who are youP
Great God, Are you alivep
L think so. Aud wofully hungry. Have yon
such things as cnpens herei And sackf could
drink a He)lespont OF sack
capon shall be killed in five minutes. There
is excellent Spanish and Rhenlsh Wine III the
cellar. am sorry, have no canary to offer you
are Wba MAKE make y yon ia nv
Where is the murderous damned leech that gave
Ne is w6ero-where damned leeches go when
they die ! will try and make myself clear.
When did you last have your eyes open on the
worldp $40, A..
the death of our gracious queen. was given Il
cursed drug-I could tale unfold-Ah, heed me
not, twas but a quotation. | am not vet quite
myself And this strange being shook himself.
stretched again and sat up on the bed His rotten
old clothes no doubt once magnificent, gave way
at every W6at oIs INV 0 doabe thai il
cracks in this wise
my dear sir, it is now nearly three hundred
years since tho date yOu mentioned. and another
gracious queen reigns. and it IS excusabe in your
doublet 20 have gone 20 grief less wonderful IN
fact than II it had lasted
iboJykins Then have been In a trance this
while Master straupur, | owe you n thousana
rounas-thanks | mcan-tor waking me at last.
IL scer1s more things in heaye and earth than
are dreamed OF in our philosophy. What date Is 1t,
Eighteen hundred anG eighty one. Aud you,
bar your sleep ~
1t is almost Incredible But permit Inc. sir. to
offer you a-rr-dOublet and hose of my own.
We aio much OF size. and you will be more COM
IL
Upon my life sir, am most heartily heholden
to you. lIa. SO YOU bored mole-lise. through
the wall, that my dastarilly relatives brilt after
poisoning me. Need tney have imprisoned Il
poisoned man with brick and mortar' Will have
door put thc:e. All, well will not rail on my
relatives. for thanks 20 them, have Outlived them
by-how long. say you, sir
'Nearly three centuries.
Blood and wounds And the name Of your pres
eat queen
Victoria
a Name of good omen And this was once my
bedroom. whoie you have now led me, / may tell
yOu. Bat IL IS GlheTent-O day ana nlSht Dut THIS
Is wOudrOus strange.
Hamlet, like you, has outlived the generations
of dead men gone Iecognize the words OF
JiOTatio in what SOu say.
80 viii Shakespeare is not forgotten wonder
not at that. SO these arc Your washing e%ers ana
so forth. They arc better than what ,adIsn5 J. Is
: I. 10. Ii has not tho rich adornment OF yours,
but fatte myself It is better Tor everyday WORK
and wear costs less and lasts longer
Aud. so0ih to say. not uncOmely though the
hose arc not tight like these of mine, and though
it be without this tlnSel aud ribbon gear. Your
shoes see are moro iii for miry street than
mlne Marry. must have slept indeed long for my
poor attire that ] was 50 proud OF To have faded
thus Well. get you gone. i,ir SIR ana get your
supper ready ut was now past z p. M or o. for
get. and will wash, dress and descend anon
| showed hlm how modern clothes were worn,
poured ont cold tub. pat clean towels on the
horse, and downstairs ~ tell the lUdge-k Keeper
t@ho cooked for me- | had friend come to dinner,
and that she was to STAY ana roast par OF lows,
etc, ,and lay tor two Ny mind MAS IN such l a
wonderful stale OF bewllderment, that felt it
difficult TO give calm orders. When ] returned TO
my study. large library sort OF room. ! found my
MIRACULOUS acquaintance looking at the titles OF
the books, and apparently quite at home In the
room.
You know the house. tbenP / said.
Know it, srf / was born in it,
Then il ssems 10 Inc curious legal question
night arise on this point. bought thls honss of
q friend a week ago. Does II belong 10 you or to
meP
Be 4. rest OIL that point. my good friend. have
had enough OF that cured t-hole up above. and
desire to have as little 20 do with this house OF