St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-02-28

sport, for had made up plan, of
which this was only the prelude.
"While Silas hesitated, divided be-
tween the fear of meeting the ghost
and the certainty of getting whipping
If he did not perform his errand, |
called my brother John aside, and in
hurried whisper told him of my plan
which we decided to keep To ourselves.
Gas result John proposed to ac-
company Silas on his errand, an offer
the poor fellow gratefully accepted.
and so they started off together and
the rest of our party started for home.
81 made some excuse to turn off be-
fore | reached my own home, and ran
with all speed to the drug store, where
| bought stick of phosphorus: then ]
darted home and succeeded in getting
possession of a small sheet and slipping
off again unnOticed.
every soon l found myself at the
! bridge, and there, hidden behind Il
bush, proceeded to trace over. my
dark jacket the outline of skeltiou
ribs, and very startling they looked
| the white, glowing lines shining out
clear and distinct through the darkness,
for by this time it was entirely dark.
Then put some of the phosphorus on
my hands and face and wrapped the
sheet around my waist, leaving it to
! trail behind me.
"Thus prepared, posted myself Il
few yards beyond the bridge, on the
side the boys would reach first on their
return path.
'Directly heard Silas' voice, 'Oh,
John, Pm afraid, Pm afraid
a,s, .,arnI INV
'The idea of ghost. | only wish there
"'Oh, don't say that. Oh, oh y
''Sach cry of intense, utter horror
| hope never to hear again, and as
Silas uttered it he fell all in heap on
the ground. John. according to our
agreement, shrieked also and started
to run, as if terribly frightened. An
instant Silas lay there, and my heart
gave Il great leap. Was he dead Had
| killed him But no, my boys, | had
done nothing so mercitul as that.
"Silas sprang to his feet again, and
uttering shrek after shrek, rushed
! headlOng down the road towards the
bridge. BY this time, seeing how ter
ribly in earnest he was, | began TO
think that my fun had gone quite far
enough, SO | followed at full speed,
calling out to him that it was all n joke
and no ghost at all.
"But he never Eeeded Il word | ut
tered on and on he ran, shrieking all
the way, until lie reached the bridge,
and there to my horror he sprang with
one leap over the wall down into the
soft, Shiny mud and water ut the mar
gin of the pond.
"John had turned back, and tearing
loose the sheet from around my waist,
I rushed with him down the steep bank
to the spot where Silas was. There
was more mud than water just there,
as we well knew, and the force of his
descent had sent him down into the
deep, yielding slime until only his
head and shoulders were above the
surface, and to our further alarm we
saw that he was slowly sinking down,
down, down."
"Something must be done, and that
69fi5hIEo 6ei5fG of f. Eyes % s neaEj Ejef fPahKs
were lying on the shore, and seizing
these we dragged them out into the
mud until we had formed Il line reach
ing to the spot where poor Silas was
still shrieking, 'The ghost! the ghost
| the ghost =
GLOW we two boys contrived to drag
him out of that oozing slime | cannot
to this day understand. But we did it
somehow, and between us we got him
back home, though he broke away
from us several times with the old cry
of The ghostn
''He was very i'll for weeks after
that, and when his body got well the
doctors said his mind would never
come back again, and from that time
to this he has been Just as you see him
now.
''As long as his unhappy mother
lived your Uncle John and helped her
to take care of him, and ever since her
death, long years ago, we have entirely
supported the miserable victim of our
cruel fun though it was more my sin
than your uncle's, for | was the ring
leader.
''My sons, that piece of jolly fun
has saddened my whole life and clond-
ed its brightest moments"
My father ended his story, and sat
looking down ut our awe-struck faces
us we murmured in sorrowful tones:
"Poor Uncle Silas."
"Well, my sons he said after a
f while, 81 am waiting to hear what that
plan is that it will be such fun to play
oft Oh Sam Harrow"
We hung our heads in silence, and
he smiled gently.
: "Ah, | see you know why | have
| told you my sad story to-day. You
I have read its lesson. And now, boys
can trust you, know; but lest you
might forget, want each of you to lay
, his hand on this Holy Book, and, re.
membering that our Father i'll heaveI
e is listening to you, promise never t.
t indulge in any sport that may injure
f or distress your fellOw-creatures."
i And then, standing at our deai
4 fathers knee, we each gave solemn
: pledge that we have never broken, anC
y our lives have been the better ant
t happier for it. .....
Ny boy reader, and you also, m.
u girl reader, plead with you to go ant
do likewise, for so shall you obey tn
= SaviOur's command to "DO unto other
il as you would that they should do unit
d ou."-t Christian Weekly.
Cremation.
d The advocates of cremation in thi
i country have OF late displayed renewe
e aggresSiveness, and now seem to b
! surely gaining ground. An assOciatiO
was few weeks ago formed at Ne'
|. York, others have more recently bee
III established at New Orleans and i
-r Kentucky, and within the week til
! ~ L