, 1886-10-14

awake in time for breakfast.
Besides perfect quiet, there was
another cause conducive to rest;
my mind was easy about my finances.
My practice had greatly increase l. ana
my marriage was no longer an Indefinite
prospect. Ethel had set the day Tor our
wedding, and our home was in readiness
for us.
l had become convinced that l was not
a nervous or superstitious person, and
that all the ghostly tales that had been
told me in childhood had been sown upon
stony ground. Lately l had been too
much absorbed In my plans and pros
poets to care whether | lived in a grave
yard or in the Garden of Eden.
On the evening preceding our wedding
day | staid much later than usual at
Il hel's house, for we had a great many
final preparations to make before we babe
good bye to our old lives and began the
new. When | talked of returning to
DEATHS Lodge she shudderod.
Il thank heaven" she said. that this Is
the last time you will ever enter the
drenry cemetery ut night"
an spite of all your fears and %prophe-
cies." 1 said, mo evil has befallen me in
the months of my residence here. No
wraiths or ghosts have condescendel to
NllL Intt anu wen mt iitilo IlOliuuutio
have given up jickstraws a nd mumblety-
peg, and refuse to appear"
"You ave never utterei n complaint
against the Lodge" sho said, "and | ought
TO have n little grateful sentiment to-
wards 1t. since it has enable us to be
married sooner than 1t would have been
possible, II you had not gone there to
live. But, Herbert, how could any living
creature grow sentimental over II house
hat is called Deaths Lodge'i'
made no effort to answer the question.
My thoughts were dwelling tenderly
upon the uture tour f%uture) that would
open to us the morrow. / took her in my
arms. and reminded her that it was the
lust tim ! would say good-by to Ethel
Hartley. Tomorrow she would be Mrs.
Herrert Grant. When | left her it was
nearly midnight, and the moonlight was
as brilliant Is If November hal arrived
instead of 5 piember.
TOOK II short cut through the cemetery
and my way lay through the part that be-
longed to the Hollanders. 1t occurred to
me that the hour was near when they
were said to appear. l smiled at this
thought, and trudged bravely on through
the rank, o~vergrown grass that was heavy
with dew. | compared myself to the
plowman in Gray's "Elegy in a Country
Churchyard," "who honeward plols his
weary way" and l mentally repeated an
appropriate stanzi or two from that re-
murkable poem.
Continuing on my way, | noticed hat |
was approaching II ne w-mnde grave, and
i wondered who had been buried there.
While | wa wondering l witnessed a
sight that almost caused my heart to
cease beating. l saw a head rise slowly
out OF the grave and stop above 1t. |
Stood motionless for IL moment, while my
eyes were ixel upon his object. | could
see that n ghnsily face was turned toward
me. Then ! forgot that l was not super
stitious. | forgot that l had ridiculed my
fathers spiritualistic doctrines, my moth
er's disembodied spirit, n my nurses
stories of wraiths. l forgot that | had
laughed at Ethel's fears. 1 forgot that
i had been willing to face any ghost OF
my size that could be produced. | forgot
everything but the staring countenance
that arose from that new-made grave. l
had always been counted "A strong man
and courageous, but | confess that on this
occasion | was very weak. did not walt
to int view the appnrition. l turned
like II coward, and ran from 1t with all
the blind fl ,etness OF fear.
l had NOT run far when l was brought
TO u full and sudden stop. | had run
against a tombstone with such violence
that | WAS thrown backward upon the
ground. | sprang TO my feet, al
though | was bruised from my
fall. and looked back to see what
had become OF the apparition. 1t was
not In sight. / could see the newly filed
grave distinctly in the moonlight, and it
appeared undisturbed. No dishe we'd head
protruded from 1t. and no haggard lace
contemplated me from It's CHASTITY
depths.
For some minutes l stood thinking OF
what | had seen, N vas undecided
whether to advance or to retrace my steps.
i confess that | was tempted to leave the
graveyard 10 sleep that night at the VII
lage inn. But upon reflection | decided
that this would he a foolish proceeding.
j had some effects at the Lod 10 whicn |
would have to pack and carry with me on
the morrow.
thought of making n wide detour
around the new grave. but l did not like
to be driven out Of my path by an inIan-
gible thing that | did not understand. l
began to ave u suspicion thai | was the
victim of a practical joke. or of an optical
delusion. | resolved to continue in my
former path. and to force myself 10 pass
very close by the new grave. | further
resolved that | would never tell Ethel
that her prophecies concerning my su per-
stition had come true.
liked my eyes upon the grave, and
went 5 owly towards it.. Even after all
this deliberatior my heart beat furiou .ly,
and my head swan until l could scarcely
control my movements My nerves wers
most painfully ali We to my melancholy
surroundings. But | went forward until
| was within twenty PAGES Of the < ave.
Then stopped, for slowly and mysterl-
ously rose up that horrible head tina had
driven me b lck before. 1t came, MS be-
fore. out OF the n / saw its ashen
countenance, its sunken eyes, its wild,
disheveled hair. and | could not face IL. |
turned and ran again, over graves and
stones and hedges. until again | fell. This
time / stumbled over n spade that the
sexton had doubtless dropped and for
When | regained my feet. |
looked back and saw the moonlight, the
rank. wet grass, and the new
but the ghost, or man,
or devil-whichever he might be
was invisible. He had doubt
le-s gone down into his grave again. in
the snine silent and weird like manner In
which he had risen from it.
Shou d turn my back forever on this
unc1nuy pacei Should | &c to the inn
sni f"ni fpr my goods at "Death's
fDiys ifIstnz that the sections good
wife would psrk t.smt Should ! leave
eyeryfhfuf % 20. AMI n lear
that had tai q already mastered mel
After a time ! thought l would 20 for.
ward.
Eli do thought. ~ may yet find an
explanation OF this mystery. II turn
back, l will always believe hat | have
seen n ghost"
There was n carriage track through the
cemetery that ran very close to the grave
from which the apparition had appeared,
and l received now TO take this in prefer.