The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1884-04-15
TME DEATH DE- A GNEsHIN.

| WIN W. ~ fHJN ~ tff tfHNtV foF Hj'fN.
THE DEATH OE A GOBLIN.
| Theirs is a by-street called the PaIant.
IN an Ola cathedral city-a narrow car
rlage way, which leads to half dozen
antique mansions. \ great number of
years ago, when | began to shave. tho
presence of a very fascinating girl in-
duced me to make frequent ellis upon an
old friend Of our family who lived in one
of the oldest of these houses, \ plain.
large building of red brick. The father
and grandfather. and a ScrI"S ol Great
great great and other 9randin' hers of the
then occupant, Sir Francis IIulvole. had
lived and died beneath its root Nn much
| knew, and had an inkling OF Il legend
IN connection with the place, very hor-
ribe affair. How and when heard the
story told have rood reason 10 rpmcm.
| bcr
We were in the great dark wa:n>cotcd
| parlnr one December evening: papa was
ont. | sat with Margaret bv the GrcSidc.
and saw in the cmbprs Visions Of What
might c|mr to pass, but never did, Ellen
was playing at her harp>icho}d in a lark
corner OF the room, singing quaint ard
| cheerful duet out ui Grrtv's tdur dc iior
with my old Schooltrllow. Paul Owen. a
sentimental youth, who became MI cr-
wards martyr to the CONT ami broke
his neck at a great ~tccplc"haSc " "Ehr
god of love a bandrau wears, these tive
We're singing. Truly, they had thcir own
iilloted Tia" tirc-i4ht glow, when il o~.
caSlonally ickcrcj ON the check oy,r
which Paul was bending. could not raise
| the Srmhlanct OF young health upon it~
shining whit enc>s. Thai beautiful white
hand was fallen into dust before Paul
Owen had hali earned tho w",ilinr-lin9
that should cncircir it.
"Thanks to YOU. sieicr-thank~. TOO. 10
N'rety for pleasant dtry. Now. don't
let us have candles Shall wc have ghost
stories =
What, in haunted hou,e:"
:" The very thing cried PanI " lot ii,
have all the story Of the ghost OF IIol,
yoke. never heard il propvrly'
Ellen was busy at her hArp>chord
again, with fragments from ~tabat
Mater Not Rossini'S luscious amcnta-
! tion, but deep pathoS of that Italian.
! no IA 49, pass ''1l1..,ei,0t n i0it3i,u. ?
who moved tn" people with his master
piece, and was stabbed to death by rival
at tn" cathedral door
Why, Ellen, YOU look a. If Won feared
the ghosts
No, no." she said We know it i, an
idle tale Go the fire, Paul. and | VIII
keep you solemn with the harp>chorl, in
order that you may not laugh whii" Mar
garct is telling it,
Well, them began Margaret, "of
course this story is all nonsense"
OF course it is, said |.
"Of course it is said Paul
Ellen continued playing.
6 mcan,'' said Margaret, "t that really
and truly no part Of it can possibly be
anything but fiction. Papa, yon know,
is a great gencalogist, and he says that
our ancestor. Godfrey, Of IIo!yokc. dlcl
in the Holy Land, and had two sons. bu,
never had daughter Some old lfur-c
made the tale that he died here, in the
house, and had a daughter Ellen. This
daughter Ellen, says the tale, was sought
in marriage by young knight who won
! her good will but could not Get her IA
Tiers. That Ellen, very unlike our gen
tie, timid sister in the corner there WAS
! IIOUi du't W lllul A1nt anu IItI ldlilfl
uuarrcllcd His health failed because, the
story hints mysterionsIy, she put a slow
md subtitle poison into his aitcrsuppcr
cup night after night. One evening they
quarrellcd violently, and the next morn
ing Sir Godfrey was gone. His daughter
said that he had left the house in anger
with her. The tale, determined to be
horrible, says that she poisoned him ont
right, and with her own hands buried
him in an old cellar under his room. That
cellar door is fastened with paddock, to
which there is 10 key remaining. Not
being wanted, it has not been opened
probably for score of years.
"Well."
Veil, in a year or two the daughter
married, and in time had children seam
pering about this house. 'ut her health
failed. The children fell i'll, and except
ing one or two, all died. One night =
Yes"
Gone night she lay awake through
care. and in the middle of the night a
figure like her father came into the room,
holding cup like that from which he
used to drink after his supper 1t moved
inaudibly to where she lay, placed the
cup to her lips: : chill cane over hcr.
The figure passed away, but in few min
utes she heard the shutting OF the cellar
door After that she was often kept
awake by dread, and often saw that she
was visited She heard the cellar door
creak on its hinges, and knew it was her
father coming. Once She watched all
night by the sick-bcd of her eldest child .;
the goblin came, and pnt the cup to her
child's lips she knew then that her child
rem who were dead, and she herself who
was dying, and that child of hers, had
tasted Of her fathers poison. Sine died
Young. And ever since that time, the
legend says, Sir Godfrey walks at night,
and puts his fatal goblet to the lips OF his
descendants, of the children and child
ren's children of his cruel child. 1t is
quite true sickness and death occur more
frequently among those who inhabit this
house than is to be easily accounted for.
SO the story-tellcrs have accounted for it
as YOU see But it is certain that Sir
Godfrey fell in Palestine, and had no
daughter"
Ellen continued playing with her face
bowed down over the harpsichord. Mar
garet, healthy cheerful girl, had lived
generally with an old aunt in the south
of England. But the two girls were in
| mourning. In the flower of her years