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

myself 10 UulnK nlucn OF GnlS. Ill
clutched at me in the confusion of hi
terror, forgetting all his usual decor
um. For Gods sake, what is it
sir?" he gasped. If | yielded, ther'
was evidently an end Of both Of us
Il can't tell" | said, any more thar
you; that's what we've got to fine
out: up, man, upw l pulled him tc
his feet, will you go round and ex.
anime the other side, or will you stay
here with the lantern?" Bagley
grasped at me with face of horror.
Cant we stay together, colonel?" he
said-his knees were trembling under
him. I pushed him against the cor.
ner of the wall, and put the light into
his hands. "Stand fast till | come
back; shake yourself together, man
let nothing pass you," l said. The
voice was in two or three feet Of us
of that there could be no doubt.
| went myself to the other side of
the wall. keeping close to it. The
light shook in Bagley's hand, but,
tremulous though it was, shone out
through the vacant door, one oblong
block of light marking all the crum-
bling corners and hanging masses of
foliage. Was that something dark
huddled in heap by the side of it?
| pushed forward across the light in
the doorway, and fell upon it with
my hands; but it was only juniper
bush growing close against the wall.
Meanwhile, the sight of my figure
crossing the doorway had brought
Bagley's nervous excitement to a
height: he flew at me, gripping my
shoulder. I've got him, colonel !!
I've got him. he cried with a voice of
sudden exultation. He thought it
was man, and was at once relieved
But at that moment the voice burst
forth again between US, at our feet
more close to us than any separate
being could be. He dropped off from
me, and fell against the wall, his jaw
dropping as if he were dying. l sup
pose, at the same moment. he saw that
it was me whom he had clutched. |,
for my part, had scarcely more COM
mand of myself. snatched the light
out of his hand, and flashed it all
about me wildly. Nothing,-the
juiper-bush, which l thought | had
never seen before, the heavy growth
Of the glistening ivy, the brambles
waving. 1t was close to my ears now,
crying, crying, pleading as if for life.
Either | heard the same words Ro-
land had heard, or else, in my ex-
citement, his imagination got pos
session Of mine The voice went on,
growing into distinct articulation,
but waving about, now from one
point, now from another, as if the
owner of it were moving slowly back
and forward. Mother! motherr'
and then an outburst of wailing. As
my mind steadied, getting accustomed
las ones mind gets accustomed to
anything), it seemed to me as if some
uneasy, miserable creature was pacing
up and down before closed door.
that must have been
excitement-Ith thought heard sound
like knocking. and then another burst,
"Oh, mother! motherw All this
close, close to the space where [ was
with my lantern-now be-
fore me, now behind me: creature
restless, unhappy, moaning, CRYING,
before the vacant doorway, which no
one could shut or open more.
"Do your hear it, Bagley? do you
hear what it is saying?" l cried, step
ping in through the doorway. He
was lying against the wall-his eyes
glazed, half dead with terror. He
made motion Of his lips as if to an
swer me, but no sounds came; then
lifted his hand with curious imper2-
tive movement as if ordering me to be
silent and listen. And how long |
did so | cannot tell. 1t began to have
an interest, an exciting hold upon me,
which | could not describe. 1t seemed
to call up visibly a scene any one
could underestimate something shut
out, restlessIy wandering to and fro;
the voice dropped, as if
throwing itself down-sometimes
wandered off few PAGES. growing
sharp and clear. ''Oh, mother, let me
in! oh, mother, mother. let me in
oh, let me in" every word was clear
to me. No wonder the boy had gone
wild with pity. | tried to steady my
mind upon Roland, upon his conv1c-
ton that | could do something, but
nv head swan with the excitement,
even when | partially overcome the
terror. At last the words died away,
and there was sound of sobs and
| cried out, ''In the name
of God who are you?" with a kind of
feeling in my mind that to use the
name of God was profane, seeing that
| did not believe in ghosts or anything
but did hear it all the
same, and waited, my heart giving a
leap of terror lest there should be
reply. Why this should have been /
cannot tell, but | had feeling that
If there was an answer it would be
more than l could bear But there
was no answer; the moaning went on,
and then, as if it had been real, the
voice rose a little higher again, the
words recommended, "Oh, mother, let
me in! oh, mother, let mem with an
expression that was heart-breaking to
hear.
As if it had been real! What do |
mean by that? | suppose [ got less
alarmed as the thing went on. / be-
gan to recover the use of my senses
| seemed to explain it all to myself by
saying that it was a recollection of a
real scene. Why there should have
seemed something quite satisfactory
and composing this explanation | can
not tell, but so it was. | began to
listen almost as if it had been a play,
forgetting Bagley, who, | almost think,
had tainted, leaning against the wall. |
was startled out of this strange spec
tatorship that had fallen upon me by
the sudden rush of something which