The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1882-02-23
3 ESTABLISHED IN
Z MARCH, 1S45.

one snapped her hngerS with an all
Of large disdain. AS for Jarvis, ruddy
and big as he was, he shrank to moth
ing before this decided woman. He
repeated to her two or three times her
own adjuration, "Hold your peacer'
then, suddenly changing his tone.
cried out, ''tell him then, confound
ye. I'll wash my hands OF. If a
the ghosts in Scotland were in the
auld hoose, is that ony concern O
mine?"
After this l elected without much
difficulty the whole story. In the
opinion Of the Jarvises, and Of every
body about, the certainty that the
place was haunted was beyond all
doubt As Sandy and his wife warm
ed to the tale, one tripping up another
in their eagerness to tell everything,
it gradually developed as distinct a
superstition as [ ever heard, and not
without poetry and pathos How
long it was since the voice had been
heard first, nobody could tell with
certainty. Jarvis's opinion was that
his father, who had been coachman
at Brentwood before him, had never
heard anything about it, and that the
whole thing had arisen within the last
ten years, since the complete dismant-
ling of the old house; which was a
wonderfully modern date for tale so
well authenticat d. According to
these witnesses, and to several whom
| questioned afterwards, and who were
all in perfect agreement, it was only
in the months Of November and De-
cember that ''the visitation" occurred.
During these months, the darkest of
the year, scarcely night passed with
the recurrence of these inexplicable
cries. Nothing, it was said, had ever
been seen-at least nothing that could
be identified. Some people, bolder or
more imaginative than the others, had
seen the darkness moving, Mrs. Jarvis
said, with unconscious poetry. 1t
began when night fell, and continued,
at intervals, till day broke. Very
often it was only an inarticulatc cry
and moaning, but sometimes the
words which had taken possession of
my poor boys fancy had been dis
tinctly audible-"Oh, mother, let me
in" The Jarvisses were not aware
that there had ever been any investi-
cation into it. The estate Of Brent
wood had lapsed into the hands of
distant branch of the family, who had
lived but little there; and of the many
people who had taken it, as | had done,
few had remained through two De-
cembers. And nobody had taken the
trouble to make very close examina-
tion into the facts. mo, no." Jarvis
said, shaking his head, mo, no, cor
mel, Wha wad set themsels up for a
laughin' stock to a the countryside,
making wark about ghost? Nae
body believes in ghosts. 1t bid to be
the wind in the trees, the last gentle
man said, or some effec' O. the water
wrastlin' among the rocks. He said
it was a quite easy explained; but he
gave up the hoose. And when you
cam, cornell, we were awfu' anxious
you should never hear. What for
should l have spoiled the bargain and
harmed the property for no thing?"
"Do you call my child's life no
thing?" | said in the trouble of the
moment, unable to restrain myself.
"And instead Of this all to me, you
have told it to him-to delicate boy,
child unable to sift evidence, or
judge for himself. tender-hearted
young creature"
[ was walking about the room with |
an anger all the hotter that felt it
to be most likely quite unjust. My
heart was full of bitterness against |
the stolid retainers of family who
were content to risk other peoples |
children and comfort rather than let |
a house lie empty. If | had been
warned I might have taken precau-
tions, or left the place, or sent Roland
away, a hundred things which now |
could not do; and here | was with my
boy in brain-fever, and his life, the |
most precious life on earth, hanging
in the balance, dependent on whether
or not | could get to the reason of a
banol, commonplace ghost-story! [
paced about in high wrath, not seeing |
what | was to do; for to take Roland
away, even if he was able to travel,
would not settle his agitated mind;
and | feared even that scientific ex-
PLANTATION, or any other of the easy
certainties with which we elder men |
are silenced, would have very little
effect upon the boy.
"Cornel,' said Jarvis solemnly, land
she'll bear me witness-the young
gentleman never heard word from
memo, nor from either groom or
gardener; I'll gle ye my word for that
In the first place, he's no a lad that |
invites ye to talk. There are some
that are, and some that arena. Some
will draw ye on, till ye've tellt them
u the clatter Of the toun, and a. ye
ken, and whiles mair. But Master
Roland, his minds fu' of his books.
He's aye civil and kind, and fine lad;
but no that sort. And We see it's for
a our interest, cornell, that you should |
stay at Brentwood | took it upon
me mysel to pass the word, No syl-
liable to Master Roland, nor to the
young leddies-no a syllable The
women-servants, that have little rea-
son to be out at night, ken little or
nothing about it. And some think
it grand to have ghost so long as
they're no in the way of coming
across it. If you had been tellt the
story to begin with, may be ye would
have thought so yourself" !"
TO BE CONTINUED.