St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-03-14
A SENATOR'S GHOST STORY.
Ho,c Mr. Ransom of North Carolina Solued
O Weird Musteru.

Ho,c Mr. Ransom of North Carolina SolUed
Weird Mystery.
Washington Cor. Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle.
There is an element of superstition in
all mankind. In most cases Senator RAN
som of North Carolina has very clear,
cogent and practical ideas, but he lost his
balance once. His house burned down,
not so very long ago, nothing remaining
but the chimneys and some charred
beams around them except fragile stairway.
The senator and his family removed to an
other residence, short distance from the
old home, and in full, melancholy view OF it.
One night, when the moon was young and
feeble the negroes on the place ran affrighted
to the senator and told him that they had
seen ghosts walking on the top OF the
burned dwelling, or rather darting swiftly all
ABOUT itl Their terror was genuine and did
not abate when he laughed at their story and
proceeded in his vivid diplomatic way to
demonstrate that hobgoblins were mere pro-
jections of a disturbed and fanciful stomach.
He was begged to come out and see for him
self. Yielding to entreaty he stepped outside
and looked towar1 the ruin. The long
chimney stood gaunt and forlorn. The.
blackened rafters were discerned, cobweb-
like, against the misty horizon. But no
sign of life or motion could be detected.
Soon, however, wild chorus of prayerful and
fearful calculations came from the negroes,
interspersed with mufflled cries of look
dar, Mas'r Mat! Look darF" The general,
who had faced bullets and congressman,
nowise daunted, cast sharp
glance as directed toward the skel-
eton of the house. He was amazed to see
white, spectral, quick-fashing phantoms
chasing each other over the chimney and
along the remnant of the roof. A cold
chill invaded his spinal marrow, but, pulling
himself together he said, ''Let US all 90 to-
gether and find out what it is"
The negroes would not bulge. Finally
the general said: "If you are too
cowardly to go there, I will
go by myself" The negroes took hold of
him with atfectionate violence and implored
him to remain. Disengaging himself, he
stated to them that he would penetrate the
mystery if he died in the attempt. He con-
fessed afterward that his heart beat tumultu
ously in his breast and goose
flesh grew on his backbone, but nothing
would have INSTRUCTED him short
of dissolution. He marched to the haunted
house intrepidly, but with more misgivings
than be ever had experienced when receiv-
ing the onset of mortal foeman in the ranks
of war. The apparitions continued to scam
per about and appeared to assume gigantic
proportions. He remembered Booths
/ "Hamlet" and all the weird
stories of his boyhood with start
ling perspicacity. He began to see all his
sins in their professional enormity. God
never before seemed so majestic and virtue
so real and attractive. Finally, with big
beads of sweat on his brow and his brain in
whirl, he reached spot very close to the
spectral house and awaited further de-
velopments. All was still. He picked
up stone and sent it crashing among the
splinters of the roof. Then there was a
mighty rush of most substantial figures, and
down from the giddY eminence poured
column Of goats, led by an il-smelling Billy.
There was an instantaneous reaction upon
the generals part, and he laughed until his
sides ached. Going back to the terrified
gentlemen of African descent, he rallied
them boisterousy upon their ridiculous fears
and abject cravenness, ending with the in
junction that when they started any more
ghosts to give him the contract of dispensing
them, as he was ''born insensible to fear,
and would eat the Witch of Endor on toast,
if parboiled and well favored