The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1885-12-26
A THRILLING TALE.
A Society Belle Looked In q Room
with q Mailman.

correspondent was one VI u hulIlnl
party of five in the mountains. A win'
and rain-storm compelled a halt for tn
night at the h%ospitable residence o
Colonel -, = yirginian Of the oil
school. At night there was a countr,,
dance, in which the hunters took part
While the guests were treading
measure to the old-fashioned music o
II cotton headed negro, a strange-look
ing female glided noiselessly into tn,
parlors and took a seat neal the writer
She was somewhat above medium
height. with a preternaturally thin fig
ure, clad in an old silk dress. He
face was thin and haggard, but wor'
such an intense expression of hopeless:
apathy and settled melancholy as a
once to attract the strangers attention
The abundant hair which fell in
luxuriant masses on her shoulders wal
perfectly white, and taken in conjunc,
ton with her sad countenance, made
an infinitely touching picture. The
lady sat with her hands crossed upon
her lap with her head bowed, and was
doubtless oblivious to the gayety cir.
cling around her.
One of the granddaughter Of the
host, who was a niece of the strange
lady, noticing the correspondents curl.
oslty as to the meaning of this strange
figure in a ballroom, briefly stated that
the %gray-haired lady was insane, and
had been so since her eighteenth year,
and told the following story of the cpl
sode which blighted her young life:
She was invited to spend the Christ
mas holidays with an aunt living a
short distance from Harper's Ferry.
She accepted the invitation, and in due
time arrived at her destination, where
she was warmly welcomed. Several
other guests had arrived a week pre-
vious to my aunt, so that the house
was literally packed, leaving no accom-
mediation for another visitor. On the
lawn, a short distance from the man
sion, had been built q one-room cabin.
1t had been comfortably furnished by
the hostess in anticipation of an emer-
gency of the present character. The
hnctocS Stoto1 fo how rso,, chat ,lo
would be obliged to place her tempo
rarily in this cabin unless she objected
to the arrangement. My aunt was
naturally of a bold, adventurous dis
position, and lacked the natural tim
idity Of most girls, so hat she
quietly agreed to the plan. Tired
out with her trip she told her
aunt that she would like to
retire early, so a fire was built on the
cabin hearth and everything made COM
Portable for the night. Ny aunt was
accompanied by her hostess to the cab
in before she retired, and sat with her
for some time talking over family af-
fairs. As she started to leave she dis
covered that the bolt had been broken
OIL the door. necessitating her locking
the door on the outside to keep every.
thing secure. This she did after bid
ding her niece an affectionate good
night. Aunt Bess, after sitting by the
IRE for some time, became uneasy and
nervous, an apparent %premonition Of
what was about to occur disturbing
her, She finally disrobed, and after
replenishing the fire retired. She
about ~uneasily for awhile, and
then fell into a fitful, restless slumber.
She awoke several hours later with a
Violent start, the same uncanny instinct
warning her of the close proximity of
dread object. The fire was burn
ing low on the hearth, and as the night
was intensely cold the cabin was slowly
getting chillier. 1t was nearly day
light, she judged from the growing of
he cocks, but she still felt that weird,
horrible dread, as Of approaching ca
She listened breath
essly for q lifetime, it seemed
o her, when she heard some
hing move, once or twice, under the
She nearly tainted from fright,
ut having treasured herself into the
elief 1t was merely q dog, turned over
, 60 to sleep. Suddenly she felt the
ed move, accompanied by the yawn-
,g of some huge monster. She was
early as she forcibly real i
ed that the strange inmate was not, ,
) she had imagined. q dog, but must s
g a man. She lay in constant and I
dread for several minutes. \
Of daring TO stir for fear Of betraying ;
sr presence, but finally decided to y
AXE q sudden dash and gain the door i
i'd liberty. She was on the point Of .
ltting her desperate resolve into exc n
Ition, when she suddenly remembered
at the door was locked or the out
lie, and that she was practically q v
isoncr and AT the mercy Of the UNI h
Town intruder. She Icy quietly in a
d, moving neither hand nor foot, the Q
,rror of the situation steadily increas- d
till she feared she would lose her !
ason. The seconds and minutes 81
jagged their agonizing length along. v
| the first streak Of daylight APP n
AIRED. The monster several times o
ring these awful hours raised the n