Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1885-06-04
THE NORTHWEST
The Specter.

When | first took orders | went to
serve curacy of one of my friends in a
wild and remote part of Donegal. The
village was not far from the sea, and
the church stood halfway between
them, in dismal place, which, even
in summer, was exceedingly dreary;
but in winter it was bleak and deserted.
In the village lodged q medical STU
dent who pretended to possess the
faculty of fOretelling the death of his
neighbOrs. He often exercised his
powers of divination for revenge; but
he carried on his practices with so much
skill and cunning that the simple viii
layers feared as much as they hated
him. His predictions sometimes hap
pened to be true, but they might have
been very safely made without the
intervention of any supernatural
agency. The rogue thought fit to call
in the aid of superstitious tradition,
and for this purpose used to pass all
hallows' eve alone in the church pooh,
where, he said, he beheld the shadowy
forms of those who were doomed to die
passing in weird procession along the
churchyard path.
AlllOllS OJlleIS, he ucCldlSu Ic lldu
seen the specter of II young man who
was serving with his regiment in South
Africa; and he declared that to his be-
lief and certain knowledge the young
lieutenant would die in the course Of
the year. This mischievous prediction
was likely to have very serious conse-
quences. Lieut.. Nevill was betrothed
to beautiful and innocent girl who
lived in the village, and they were to
be married on his return. Eveleen
Verschoyle was at this time about Is
years of age, lovely, accomplished, and
refined. She had borne up for long
time against the apprehensions and
anxieties which Musgrave's dreadful
prophecies had aroused; but now her
health rapidly declined, her spirits
failed, and it seemed but too probable
that she would form one of the grim
troop who, on all-hallOws' eve, were to
make their terrible journey through
the church gate.
The cause of her illness was we'll
known. The matter was talked of
everywhere, and had spread a panic
through the place, which had greatly
vexed my friend, Lord O'Grady. He
told me that Harold Musgrave enter
tained for Eveleen Verschoylea Il love as
violent as it was hopeless, and he had
been heard to swear that if not his she
should be no other mans.
Lord O'Grady now visited me, to
consult as to what could be done to put
a stop to this daring imposture and to
restore peace to the mind of the un-
happy girl. He might have compelled
Musgrave to leave the place; but this
would not have remedied the past evil,
and he wished first to convince the
people that the pretended vision was
false. He, therefore, proposed to me
that should pass the fatal eve in the
church porch, and that should pub
licly proclaim the result of my observa-
tions during this terrible hour to my
credulous parshioners.
Ail-hallows' eve arrived. | dined
with Lord O'Grady, and spent a
delightful evening with him and his
family, until within half an hour of
midnight, when | left them with great
reluctance, l confess; and, protected
by warm and capacious great coat,
walked rapidly toward the church.
l took my seat in the porch of the
ancient building, the appearance of
which, in the moonlight, was at least
as strange as the times in which it was
erected. The wind moaned and blew
with mournful force from the sea across
the flat highlands which lay between.
1t shrieked through the old church
tower with wild and fitful sounds, and
rushed round the corners of the build
ing with swift and hurrying blasts.
Ihad not sat there long before be-
gan to wish with an exceeding great
desire, that the hour of my lonely
watch had expired. | was chilled to
the very bone by the keen wind, and 1
could no longer control n painful shud-
der which occasionally ran through
my overstrained nerves. / at last had
only few minutes to stay.
l began to pace quickly across the
small porch, hoping to warm my
shivering frame, when | distinctly
heard the creaking of the churchyard
gate. / turned instantly toward the
place whence the sound proceeded, and
looking down saw in the now clear
moonlight a figure advancing up the
path that ran through the churchyard.
At this moment must confess that
terror got the better of reason and that
my shivering increased with alarming
violence as / continued to gaze on the
approaching object. l could imagine no
natural cause for which it was possible
that any one could be traversing that
path at such an hour.
The figure suddenly stopped and
stood with its back toward me. saw
that it was dressed in soldiers uni
form. The scarlet clothes showed in
the moonlight; the glittering buttons
and the sword hanging from the belt
all convinced me that the apparition
wore the dress of an officer in the
army.
Musgrave's prediction rushed back to
my mind, and in the confusion of the
moment was almost inclined to admit
its truth. 1t is true that had never
seen the young soldier who had
been the subject of it, but the coin
cidence was 80 strong as to stagger me.
Moonlight always gives a strange pal
lor to the human face, and this, aided
perhaps by my excited fancy, gave to
that of the silent figure before me a
pallid, deathlike appearance.
1 suddenly remembered the duty
which | had consented to perform, and,
with strong effort the panic