Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1882-12-20
SUES VISITOR,

'Oi course | know what you will say,
"a ghost Nonsense ! Oat " Rsli9ul
A mere optical dclnsnnl Too much
milce pie" ldt twas nolmug Vi tho
kind II wis Il bona llde glotb lam
not tho klnd Oi woman 10 imugine any
thing, Let me toll you about H.
Tho speaker was O mlddlo-lgol, com,
fcrtablc-lookiug woman, With placid,
sensible lace, whoa We all know M
Aunt Sally. She was dressed IN q plain
stun dresa, wilha nnwy ketchI'i crossed
on her capacluu, bosom, aud large gold
speolaclos aslrlie OF her NOSE, She
certainly looked unlikely to imagine
anything.
You remember, resumed Aunt Sally,
that WIS IN Ellope whom Your Cousin
Tom was Married, lMcNly pc.mpH,
for | vas, lilo Nn old fool drculmlIy
opposed 10 tue union For | had want,
Oh Tom 10 mako u grand mawn'o.
Suo'a grandfather You know, had dis
Inherited her Tor no fault Of her own,
but because hc dsliked her mothoT aul
rho really had nothing except the old
house where her grandfather lived, and
which was lett 10 her by her grand
mother. i. WIS said, that NJ the last
tho old man rep ntcl, and mu'torcd
something inartiwlatcly, Of which the
bystanders could only make ont the
word twill" looking hopelcssly u. Sue
ns ho spoke, From thiB II was imagined
that he wished TO make new will, But
tho moment AFTER ho lost consciousness
and never recovered II again, After the
funeral, q will was found bnt II left his
immense fortune 10 found n hospital;
nnl 80 she was comparatively ponni'
less.
Tom had always been my fNvorito
nephew, and he wrote me such appeal.
ing letters after his maniab vet my
disappointment aud wrath hal time 49,
cool before ! returned TO AnclicG. ]
began TO reflect that, after all, love wgS
better than money, and that ii Sue was
half what Tom described her. she was n
greater prize without n penny than il
she had millions, SO agreed to 60 to
Toms house iirst, on my arrival in New
York, and make the acquaintance Of
Sue; and when we steamed into the
dock, there was Tom, sure enough, wait
ing for me.
AS we drove m Broadway, I natural
ly psked how Sue was. Tom replied
that she was very well, only her spirits
were variable. "She has taken The most
violent dislike to her house, into which
we moved, you know, aitor our mar.
riage," he said. ave vent there be
cause it was Our own, and the old fam.
lily mansion; FOR her grandmother and
grandfather hal lived there all their
lives" He went on to say that the
queerest part Of il all was, that as
long rs Sue was out OF the house
she was her old sell; but the instant
that her foot crossed tie threshold
something seemed to come over her
"Upor my word, Aunt Sally, said he,
his jolly face full OF discomfort, zone
would think the child expected to see
ghost. don't know what possesses
her. Bless her little heart You should
see her watch door open. firmly
believe that she expects to see old Van
Wyke himself walk in" Here he gave
IN uneasy laugh,
by this time we had reached tho
house. You I'll know it great square
double.house, built of brick; one of
the finest of the old aristocratic man
sions Of the Ia t century. Someone had
evidently been watching for US; for as
we assembled the steps, the heavy door
opened quickly, and before could SEQ
who it was, felt o pair of soft arms
around my neck, and a sweet voice said
You are Aunt Sally-aren't You?
love you already. But how late you
are.'
'As soon as l could I looked at the
speaker. Such a pretty, pathetic little
face, with wistful, gray eyes, and soft,
wavy hair. She seemed as if rough
wind would blow her away, so small and
80 fragile was she; and yet che hardly
appeared delicate. How pale she is,
thought. At that moment she turned
to welcome Tom. The brignt color
rushed to her cheeks, and She looked
like little wild rose, as she stood there
blushing.
'Of course we went directly mp stairs.
As we passed through the square, old
fashioned hall, hung with faded tapes
try and family portraits, and so on to
the carved, oak staircase at the extreme
end, /, like Tom, was filed with wonder
ct his wifes unaccountable dislike to this
picturesque old house, which was to me
perfectly charming. Every nook and
corner seemed to be filed with quaint
old pieces Of mahogany cabinet ware,
ornamented with strange heads, half
animal, half human, in massive bur
nished brass.
when we reached the hall above,
Tom threw open door, with "HeroS
your room, Aunt Sally; Sues been
getting ready for you for the last month,
30 prepare for something Gorgeous"
But looking in that direction, my atten-
ton was caught by piece OF furniture
which was absolutely startling, at least
in the dusky light. 1t was OF some
dark, Eastern wood, carved in the most
fantastic fashion, and represented hui
man figure, crouching on its knees as if
about to spring. The face wore an
expression OF agony that it is impossible
to describe. But the eyes On, they
were terrible. The sculptor, with hor.
rfble ingenuity, had hit upon the device
OF inserting strange, opal tinted stones
into the empty wooden sockets, and the
result was fearful for in the soft, fading
twilight these eyes seemed to pursue
you, to dilate and change as you looked
at them. In one hand the figure held a
mask of hrass; in the other, an elabor-
ately wrought Golfer Of the same metal,
and this Golfer had heavy pendant lock
Of curious workmanship.
Il was SO absorbed in gazing upon
this strange, weird thing, that ] abso.
lutely started as 1 heard Tom say;