The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-10-06
HE GHOST OF THE MINSTREL

L
 4ases Wlsh, l. NeS Yafk Mercury
 Nos. of the for:resses. castles. towers
 .-i oas,ile houses iha, occupied ,he
 ehA,able border Land of England
 sas scotland had the reputation of being laln.ed. ard not without cause, for the foundation of mos, of them were literally Lad in blood. When the Border Land xss ;he battle e.ield of maraud;ng bands. I taman life was thing of little value in The social currency of the age, when the noble blood-spiller readily escaped with Ia inc or amercement, sometimes ca.ed in the ieudal ages " biood-wi,e. :" Rads were regarded as perfectly legi,i- ra;e so long as they were made by ...her parry on the other side oi the |perder. and they were conducted in con iofmi,y with ".he truce of BoIGer,.de . Tkese were the good old times of he hard head and strong arm, when
 The good o'd ss'e
 Ssttieed them-the s.mf psta
 Isai ;aeX sho1ld ,aSe f h. i.tt it#s -t =,
 .4ad they sao-.s. Keep s5 l-4-s'
 aIs when the kings wri, was no better han piece of waste paper within sgh, ot ;he Cheviot rang. of mountains.
 iar.ty ard simplicity of manners gea- eTaI.y eharacterize the preseE; generation of ne English side 0: the Deba;able Land - ba, a lurking oeilet in spec,-es s.... prevails Superstition IS probably hereditary. and its existence in the third
 lar.er oi ,ae nineteenth century can sfoaably be explained on Darwinlan prin- pes. 4; all events. the people who i've along the banks 5S North Tyne re- tsemh.e Dr. Johnson. who confessed tha,
 2:ho-gh al! argument might be against ssosis, ye, all 5e.lef is for them. The ia..owing extraordinary facts illustrate ;ais position {:
 The cid ruined castle of Be,lis:e., on ne Tyne, has long had an evil repute as A haunted baronia building. \ few ~eeks since, as we learn by priya:e ad- Y.ees, circumstances occurred n IS ,.einity that seemed 10 ,us:..y its weird aa1 lncsnry no;or.e:y. on the evening of me July day young man oi three II four and twenty crossed he Tyne a, on his way 10 farmhouse where he had been hlred for the summer as farm hand. l, was abou, half-pas, eigh: when he crossed the ferry, and the darkness was fas, increasing. He had neve, travelled the road before bu, he had been directed ,ha; when he Jeff the ferry he would pass ,hicket of willow bushes, and iha, afterwards his route soald Ee along broken road which Souid lead him 10 Bellis,er Castle. Ar rved there his course could TO, be mis- taken.
 He had hardly passed the ,hieke, of si.low bushes when he descried a pedes- ;rian at some little distance in advance. Although he hailed this as fortunate event, he thought that i, was singular : Tor he had tarried a few minutes al the issy asking questions, and no one had erossed while he remained by the nver ade. However, he reflected ,ha, there aight be many possible ways of ex- p.alning the travellers presence. Wha: concerned him most was the pleasing 2'ospec, of company on lonely, un- saown road.
 Stephen Fenwick therefore quiekened s,s pace, and, when sufficiently near, shouted in rustic fashion for the unknown individual to halt. Bu, the stranger paid 20 need; he neither stopped nor looked oehind. The young man had now ap- preached within few yards, yet with his -;2sost exertion he could nos overtake aira. The person in front of him forged aaead with apparently superhuman rap '-ity: gliding ra:her than walking o.er ne ground. An unpleasant, sensation of lear stole like needle-prickings over s;ephen's torso. The sensation was in- 'ensihed by more attentive inspection. 50 far as the dubious ligh, permitted, of he object of his misgivings- The head of ne man in front was uncovered, and hls sorg hair, wh..e as the hoar fros;s of win ;es, hung far down his back. He was wrapped in long, gray cloak, reaching 70 his heels, and he appeared to carry sraau bundle under his arm, concealed oy his exterior vestments- So ccncen- ira.ed had been the young mans aiten- non upon the stranger that he did not perceive that he had now reached the broken archway of the barbican of Bel as.er Castle. \, tha, very instant, when is dark mass became revealed through the investing gloom, the mysterious hg- are suddenly stood still and, turning abruptly round on the startled young peasant, revealed the awful nature of the fellowship which he, in the simplicity of ms soul. was SO eager to obtain. Death ezd ses his pall;d seal upon that weird, grisly face, and bloody gash tha; ran across 1t heightened the expression of Saassliness imprinted there The thick beard was dripping with gore, and he front of the gray cloak vas dyed with the same ensanga;ned tide. IL fixed is large asse.ess eyes upon young Fenwick. and, 2osnting with hiieoas scoHl towards