The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1884-05-06

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Tom Legget was the name of al3 srg
eccentric individual who fosrniy
lived in the town Of Greenfield, Ven ptk
| His eccentricity was not of that lRd
which made him unpopular by either 9otd
or act Indeed, Tom would NOT Ave
willingly injured the meanest insect {hss
ever crawled. Still, he had his efrqs-+
and excessive drinking was one OF ens.
In Squire Deans store, on O. # buy
| night in winter, after inviting ali nds
20 drink, Tom would launch ibto ihs
greatest maze Of yarns about this, hae
and the other, ever heard of. 1t fa4 A1+
knowledged by all that, when about talf
tipsy, he could invent more lies tAan fany
other man in town. / sE !
On the night when the following tAbary
of his was told-which give as uea,h,tT
6atina as l remember-the squire's Aose
was pretty we'll filled with motley su3iaa-
blage of neighbour. Some were e$fed
in chairs around the stove, Others opkof
Of barrels, and some ON the lower eAA ipf
the counter. Customers we're .scdfoAI
and the company present were mlt1lJ
bent upon the enjoyment of their EfeA,
with nip now and then of the xqa&en
cider, which contained something slx
stronger than apple juice. A few fxk,l@
jokes had been gotten off at somebody's
expense in the company, which wSrehot
relished any too well, when Tom opehcd
with the following interrogatory: L
"I say, squire, did you ever hear t, Of
a genuine ghost about these parts -
real, downright, out-and-out ghostH,.
"No, Tom, | never did; unless ii at
lame mule of Farmer Jones', which the
boys whitewashed and tied to the ebufch
bell, was one" ;.
"Nary time, squire " said the ualuSky
owner of that piece of mule fesl,, 3ho
occupied one of the barrel heads tabse
boys got their deserts, and that 'ere ahtle
is jest as pretty an animal as ever ~ Did
eyes on, now"
"Then Tom had better give hp His
story, for have never heard that ou.s ahbut
the mule beaten yet. What says thk ctn,
pany?" !, i
"The story The story - they III fx4
claimed.
Tom cleared his throat, adjusted HIM
self to a more comfortable position an bis
chair before the glowing fire, and: &m-
menced.
eye all remember the cold, blusterikg,
disagreeable weather of the last swesti-
eth of November, l suppose? e Vas
the night Jeff Knox's brindled steerded,
and all the ponds hereabout froze UP sofd
Well, on that night, as some of YOU aell
know, was seated with you arousd Il ia
stove and engaged in about the same i
vertisement. We got rather noisy IS he
hours wore on, and at last the squife hkve
turned US all out of doors. Didn't he,
squire ?"
st was about the hour of closiud
think" mildly answered the squire; I
eyes; and as we stood shiyerhg
around the doorstep, the midnight aI-
press came laundering through thesto IN,
and he asked us all in again for q night
cap. Well, when l reached home that
night some one had left light on the at
ting-room table, with q mate TO tin the
fireplace. Thought it strange that such
big, roaring fire should be left TOR inc
to 60 bed by-quite an unusual thiag.
The old people have set up later; than
common l thought, never once thinkAg
of the boys. l sat down in the big atm
chair in front of the fireplace, took spff
my boots and put them beside the fendsr,
and then lay back and watched the. hrge
backlog blaze. !:
"'This is solid comfort thought Il.
Here | am, having a nice time of &, and
outside the weather is as cold as tlaz4s
81 decided to have little smoke, aed
then retire; so blew out the light. sAd
put my feet upon the fender. Very scAn
after fell asleep in the chair, with. tAe
pipe in my mouth. had a distipce Ne
membrance of hearing the bell ring sohe,
and of comparing the time with our: did
clock IN the corner. 1t was just two (nsn-
utes behind. When l awoke the EAhd
pointed to three. had slept two hGafs,
Re-lighting my pipe turned nv attention
toward the fire which had got down 10
embers. Fuel was added, and / soon had
the pleasure of feeling myself growing
warmer, for the room had cooled off: Irp-
idly during my sleep. !. I
1t was halfpast three o'clock who'd /
concluded to retire. l rose to get the
lamp, when my eye fell upon the west
window, which looks out into an old cora
field back of the house. Was it fa2cx;i
Did my eyes deceive me? / Thoughts ks
looked mans face dropped down opt
of sight. The curtain moved as it, scAe
one had hit it intentionally and set it cdr
veting from side to side. / did not ~
how It could be done with the winddk
shut While l was watching it, and tn
ing to think where the draft came froEn,
the object That first gave nae the shdkk
came into view. It stood there lookTSg
straight into the room; manor at letst
q mans face. Hli
"sHeavens and earth! What ails the
man P asked myself. n
"There was IN his face such an exprds-
sion of diabolical wickedness as nevea
again wish to behold. He emade no moys~ I
ment nor spoke word to explain himse,t.
But right there under the window, .uia
black shiny broadcloth coat, an old silk
hat that had seen many changes in fash-
ion set jauntily on one side of his head, iaae
all the world like a second edition of the
village school-master; his face was WA
and pale, with high cheek bones. his chiS
covered with stubble of short bead
But, most startling of all, and what filfea
me with horror, was his throat cut frosS
ear to ear, the blood oozing down drop BIZ
drop over q white shirt-front! Il was
horrible! Those dead eyes looking into
the room-the man standing there a. Il
be had been statue cut in stone. 84s
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