The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-04-24

lease of the premises be rendered worth
next to nothing. Besides said he, in
an off-hand sort of way. it's no use
talking to a man like me, who never
went to church in his life, about clergy
men. I'd just as soon, if not sooner,
apply to old Observation-Disclosures
whatever his name is, the Wizard. He's
got quite a reputation for squaring
matters with unquiet spirits, I'm told
But when l asked who told him, he
replied: Hanged if l know. Surely.
you don't believe in such. humbugP'
Neither could he tell me where the
Wizard lived, nearer than that he had
heard it was somewhere in the neigh
borhood of Walworth common. But
you take my advice sayshe, and keep
the matter to yourself. You saw the
"coachman'' three times, remember,
and you've heardthe noises three times,
and now, perhaps, you won't hear 'em
any more. My wife, he says, lis going
away this evening to stay with a cousin
for a week, SO you won't have her to
worry you, and 1 shall sleep at home as
usual Well, his wife went away. She
babe me goodbye before she went.
There were no noises in the wall that
night, o for two nights after. But
the night after that 1 had a twister! l
had yentured to go back to nv bed
again, butt didn't lock the door, in
case anything might happen and 1
wanted to run upstairs in a hurry, and
tell Hamshire. I burned a lfght-a
small Notwithstanding on the hob
in the fire place. I don't know how
long l had been asleep, but a strange
c0unh W0Ro mo apd fbara u,o Az
ghost of old Mrs. Ingledew standing in
the doorway, with the door wide open.
/ was wide awake and sitting up in bed,
and there could be no mistake aboutit.
There she was, as though she had just
got out of the coffin 1 had seen her
lying in, with one hand screening her
eyes, as though to see me better in the
half dark, and vengefully shaking her
and she vanished.
81 won't deny, gentlemen, that l was
in a mortal fright, if ever a man was,
though my conscience was enough. If
I had e wronged the old lady, or
done anything to induce her to leave
me her property and disinherit her
niece. it might have accounted for her
vindictive appearance. But Ihad done
nothing of the kind. I jumped out of
bed, and at first thought I would go up
and tell Hamshire; but on second
thought I resolved hat I would not.
He was such a disbeliever, as he had
made out to me, that he was almost
sure to laugh at me, and he would do
so more now that his wife was away. l
turned itover in my mind-and a pretty
sort of distracted mind it was, as you
may guess-and l came to what GER
tainly was a most foolish conclusion
namely, to go and find put the wizard
.Hamshire had mentioned as being
somewhere near Walworth common,
and take his advice on the subject. I
said nothing about the ghost, but, next
morning, making a pretence that [
wanted to go to Thames Street to see
about some butter and bacon, L asked
Hamshire to mind the shop for an hour
or two, and he consented, and off I
went. You must understand that I
wasn't so much off my head that Invent
prepared to believe anything the fellow
might tell me. If he really was a wiz
ard, of curse he would know more
than an ordinary man possibly could,
and going along l laid my plans for
testing him. l found where he lived
without much trouble, and without
giving my name obtained an interview
with him. He took me all aback by his
reply to my first few questions. Did
he undertake. 1 asked, ito hold COM
munication with spirits of the other
worldP' To which he answered coolly
that he undertook to try; but when, as
in my case, the spirit was hat of an
aged person, and a female, twas some
times difficult. 'Our friend here re-
marked the simple old fellow, breaking
off in his narrative and directing my at
tention to my companion, who was
looking much amused, sscan hardly
keep from laughing; but he should bear
in mind that at the time L had not the
least reason to suspect that there was a
conspiracy between the three, and that,
therefore, when the wizard made men
ton of an aged person and a female
straight to business as he said, he Of
fered to write the name in full of the
deceased if l would set down the first
letter, and he did so, right off, say it
wasn't very surprising if 1 began to
think that he was what he pre-
tended to be. I told him about the
hauntings, about the 'coachman,' and
the awful noises in the wall, but about
nothing else, when he shook his head
and said he was afraid more had to fol-
low. The mex manifestation said he,
is the appearance to you of the old lady.
herself. By your statement 1 am sur
prised that you did not see her last
night. She was due. Probably she
will visit you tonight AS I have told
you, she had already visited me, and L
was more impressed than before with
his supernatural talent. I asked how.
many such appearances there were
likely to be, and he replied that it was
uncertain-it all depended on how soon
what the old lady required was ascer-
tanned and her wishes complied with.
''The sooner the better" said he, as no
doubt she would continue t trouble me
in some shape other-and some of the
shapes were such Is I shouldn't care to
see twice-as long as she remained dis
satisfied. Could he give me any idea of
what she was dissatisfied with, and what
[ had to do with it? Not without COM
muning with her. Would he do so?
For a fee of EGO he would; but he was
afraid she would prove a troublesome
subject, and it would probably take a
week. "Well gentlemen" continued
the agitated chandler, 81 am ashamed
to say that I thoroughly believed in the
fellow, and agreed to give him 95 down
and the rest if he fulfilled his promise.
l said nothing to Hamshire. though all
through the next week 1 was troubled.
some nights 1 heard the meanings in the
wall, but the ghost did o appear
again, and at the end of seven days 1
went to the wizard again. 1t was late
in the evening and he said he was ready
for me if I was ready for him, which. of
course, meant if 1 had brought the Els.
1 paid him the money, and then he ad-
vised me, since what he had to show
me might give me a shock, to brace my
nerves with a glass of brandy. Ibid as
he suggested and he seated me in a
chair and told me not to move, and then
he put out the lamp, making it pitch