Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1882-04-27
The Wild Bsll-RInger and Brave Boy.

near the mouth Of the PatuxeDt River. II
the summer tire no boy nor girl Of Aquas
co need 90 10 the Seashore, for salt water
flows at their feet and the same salt breeze
that sweeps feet after feet OF white sailed
ships up and down the Chesapeake Bay
blows in the windows of the houses In
Aquasco. The good people of Acuasco
go to bed 30 soon after supper that the
whippoorwill cries and complains without
one person to pity him, aud the grunt of
the bull-frog In the only voice that answers
the whirr and ring OF the clocks when they
strike twelve, midnight.
So 1t was that when In the middle of
the night, Cyrus Wallace, an Aquasco boy
heard the church bell ringing, he sprang
ort of bed and ran barefooted INTO the
street. AS he reached the gate he saw
men running by at the top Of their speed.
"What's the matterF" shouted Cyrus, to
one of the flying figures.
"a fire, guess" said the man.
"FIre, fire, hrel" s;.rieked Cyrus, an he
ran after the others, and in q few minutes
the whole town Of Aquasco was aroused.
Everybody was in the street and everybody
was hurrying towards the church. Women
seized water buckets and children gathered
up pals. Aquasco had been very still five
minutes before, but now Aquasco was be-
side itself with excitement.
But where was the fret The first man
who reached the church put his hands 60
his mouth and hallooed to the top OF the
bell tower, where the bell was still clanc-
ing away. The second man did the same
and the third called aloud and 90 did the
fourth. Not a word would the person in
bell tower answer, though he rang and
rang, until all Aquasco gathered on the
grass below.
"The door of the eteeple lB locked"
said one OF the Ren. Nobody under
stands it.
'Maybe some rascal got locked an there
yesterday and fell asleep" said Mr.. Ran
kin the Constable.
"No, no." replied Mr.. Westcoat, the
sexton of the church, 'T was up there In
the afternoon, and there wasn't anybody
in the tower; It's spirit or goblin, that's
what it iE!' and Mr.. Westcoat shook his
head, whlle some of the children huddled
together and held their breath.
"It's old Tappan's ghost" continued
Mr.. Westcoat. "Tsppan was sexton be-
fore was, and he rang that bell up there
for twenty years. He's come back"
Cyrus laughed when he heard the sexton
say such things. Cyrus knew very well
that only towards believe in ghosts. He
was afraid of big dogs and drunken men
but common sense told him that there was
no such thing as ghost or creature Of the
dark of any kind.
''Give me the keys" said man to the
sexton. 'I'll 80 up and stop that ringing"
The sexton fumbled in his pocket only to
find th4t he had left the keys OF home, q
half mile away. Glad enough to get away
from the haunted church, the sexton start
cd home after the keys. Meanwhile the
bell still rang. Every now and then the
strokes would be faint, put the next instant
would come a loud clang, as though the
old bell didn't like such mysterious work
q bit The wind was blowing stlf1y In
the tops OF the old oak trees, but all knew
that the wind could not ring the bell be-
cause Of the lattice-work around the belfry
While the people were whispering to-
gether around the church, Cyrus was busy
looking for way to get into the belfry
before the sexton should return with the
keys. He knew that there was O little
round window, just large enough for him
TO crawl through. some distance up the
side of the tower, and when he had ct last
got ladder that reached TO this little win.
dow he stepped boldly up the rounds.
"I'll bring down that ghost before MIR.
WeHcoat gets back" laughed Cyrus, and
the people could see him by the dim star
light as he put his head through the win
dow and disappeared.
Cyrus found himself in q queer place.
It was so dark in the belfrv that he could
not see where to move. He groped tcom
one step to another, going up the 6elfry
stairs slowly, while the sound from the
bell above seemed to crash down from
above with ten-fold clangor. Ae reached
the crank which the sexton turned when
ringing the bell. No one was there.
'Hellol no; there, hoI" shouted Cyrus,
directly into the bells throat. But the
bells roar drowned his words. He climb
ed still higher. and soon sat among the
rafters above the bell. He reached down
and felt the air around the bell. His hand
struck something. ''Ohl" thought Cyrus.
He felt the something and found that it
was the limb Of a tree. Following the
limb with his hand, he found that the
limb had thrust itself through q big hole
in the lattlce-work. Every time the tall
tree on the outside rocked, this limb
moved quickly forward and withdrew
again. Cyrus laughed. He had found the
ghost, for he knew that the end Of the
limb had caught the clapper OF the bell
and so that every time the tree was rocked
by the wind the clapper struck He
caught the limb with both hands and gave
it a hard, strong pull. The limb bent and
me bell stopped ringing.
In the mean time the people were wait
Ing anxiouslY below. As soon as the bell
stopped Cyrus put his mouth TO the hole
in the lattice, and called out that 1t was
all right. The sexton soon arrived with
the keys, and taking hatcnet, Cyrus
chopped the bothersome limb in two. The
people of Aquasco went to bed, and many
laughed at the sexton's ghost. On the
following day o great number visited the
belfry to see the curious bell-ringer.
1t was found that an army of flying
squirrels had cut the hole in the lattice
work, and that the wind had forced the
limb of tho neighboring oak through the
opening. A little prong near the end of
the limb had caught the clapper near its
point, and so the wind made its novel bell
ringer.
Anti. Grin oline.
An antl-crinollne society mas been eStab-