Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1886-08-26

that, but | fancy it struck my new
servant - bit solitary and weird.
I Now | must tell you about the do
ings Of this young fellow. A day o.
two after my return both my mothel
and ] began TO notice sometime
strange about him. 1t was not thai
| did not like him, for took strons
fancYsto him at once. and here, fiye-and.
thirty years after, he lives to tins dav
less. | think, of servant to us than q
faithful and trusted friend. But cor.
tainly his behavior was odd, and the
tirst thing we observed was this.
i One afternoon | was sitting with
/ my mother in the drawing room. Nv
1ncther hadsorrlered tea. Personally,
stkFA AFRAID of these Anwhoiesolae
drinks, and never have taken TO that
surreptitious fashion of working in al
extra meal in the afternoon. But
was sitting with her and talking very
4 disconsolstely. for l felt thoroughly
depressed. Presently Sydney came
in with some cups of tea on tray-a
detestable plan of taking tea if you
must take it, but one to which nv
dear mother was partial. He handed
the tray to my mother, and he handed
it to me. Then, to my surprise, he
walked straight across the room to a
bug arm chair that stood near the win
dow and handed the tray to the emp
ty chair. But the armchair, or its in-
visible occupant. refused it apparent.
ly, aud the man withdrew.
/ am endowed with large fund of
Scottish humor, and | burst out laugh
ing. My mother was equally per.
/ picked.
HE must have thought there was
some one sitting there" she said.
'He must be very short sighted, poor
boy. It's very strange"
"He must be as blind as a bat" |
answered. "or else have been playing
a practical joke on us. | never saw
anything so absurd in my life"
But in the next few days | was des
tined to see stranger things. | asked
Sydney if he was short sighted, but he
denied the charge with warmth. And
yet the more | watched him the more
obvious was it that he was always
meeting invisible people. Once, as
chanced to see him coming down stairs,
distinctly saw him draw back, pres
sing himself against the wall as if to
allow an invisible person to pass. An
other time | saw him walk to- the front
door. open it, and hold it as if for an
invisible visitor to pass out. After
that | could stand it no longer. I
am the worst possible hand at fault
finding with servants, but was de-
termined to have an explanation OF
this. So that afternoon spoke to
Sydney.
Sydney | said bluntly, are you
given to seeing ghosts?
4, Sirr he answered, with smile
of astonishment. No, Sir, | never
saw a ghost in my life.'
Then, what the devil do you mean
| broke out, by behaving in the way
you have been doing?'
The boy stared. Evidently he
though me of my head. / deter
mined to speak more gently.
Then said, who was that per
son you showed out of the house
this morning.? / knew I had him
there, for | was sure nobody had
called.
oh, you mean the old gentleman
in gray, Sir? He left no name. |
thought, Sir, he seemed to be at home
in the house. | had seen him here so
often, Sir
Now it was my turn to stare. |
was dumfounded. / literally STAN
mered for want Of words. Then |
showed what / have always thought
was remarkable presence of mind. |
turned round and walked into the
dining room, telling the boy to fol-
low. There 1 poured out a glass of
whisky and gave it to him.
Drink that, | said, and you had
better sit down.
Obviously he thought me a. eccen.
trio as | thought him. But he merely
said thank you, Sir, and drank the
whisky.
DO You feel quite well?" asked
frigidly.
Quite well, thank you, Sir
Are you subject to delusions or
hallucinations?
No, Sir; never, Sir, he answered
promptly, with lurking smile which
he vainly tried to conceal.
That smile annoyed me. ! broke
out again:
Then. what on earth do you mean,'
cried, by telling me this nonsense
about a gentleman in gray
Sydney rose. There was some dig
nifty in his manner. He spoke re-
spectfully. but in an injured tone.
i beg your pardon, Sir-but only
told you about the gentleman who
called, and thought, Sir, you might
have seen him, for he passed BY you,
and fancied he nodded to you as be
passed
Really things had come to a pretty
pass! Here was my own servant ac-
cusing me Of seeing invisible phantoms
which only existed in his own dis.
ordered brainl
But there Il will not repeat all the
conversation that followed. / must
say Sydney kept his temper wonder.
fully, for lost mine. However, We
had long explanation, which ended
in this way. The boy asserted posi-
lively that he hal three Of four times
saar an alAariv srautlamaa ~, o.av,