The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1886-08-14

"Tlien," said. ''who was that person
YOU showed out of the house this morn
ingP" knew I had him there, for l
was sure nobody had called.
"Oh, you mean the old gentleman in
gray, sir. He left no name i thought,
sir, he seemed to be Mt home In the
house; l had seen him here so often,
SIR"
Now 1t was my turn to stare. / was
dumbfounded. 1 literally stammered
for want of words. Then I showed
what have always thought was re-
markable present of mind. I turned
around and walked into the dining
room. telling the boy to follow. There
poured out glass of whisky and gave
1t to him.
Drink that" said, "and you had
better ait down"
Obviously he thought me MS eccentric
ms thought him. But he merely said:
"rhank you, SIR" and drank the
whisky.
"Do you feel quite wclla" I asked,
frigidly.
"Qutc well, thank you, SIR"
Are you subject to dclusions or hal
lucinationsp'
mo. sir; never, SIR" he answered
promptly. with lurking smile, which
he vainly tried TO conceal.
That smile annoyed me. / broke out
again
"Thcn, what on earth do you mean"
/ cried. "by telling me this nonsense
about gentleman in grayp'
Sydney rose. There was some digni-
ty in his manner. He spoke respect
fully, but in an injured tone:
81 beg your pardon, sir-but only
told you about the gentleman who
called, and l thought, sir, you might
have seen him. for he passed by you,
and fanc.ed he nodded TO you as he
passed."
| Really, things had come to q pretty
pass! Here was my own servant accus-
ing me of seeing invisible phantoms
which only existed in his own disor-
dercd brain!
But there-I will not repeat all the
conversation that followed. l must say
Sydney kept his temper wonderfully,
for l lost mine. However, we had a
long explanation, which ended in this
way. The boy asserted positively that
he had three or four times seen m
elderly gentleman in gray walking
about the house. He had seen him in
the passages up stairs and in the
grounds outside. He had, he admitted.
wondered who he could be. and had
fancied that he must be some very in
innate friend. or some one connected
with the establishment. He had never
heard him speak, certainly. He had
not as yet questioned any of the other
servants about him. Bat then he had
himself only been few days in the
house, and us yet did not know all The
people about the place. When told
him that no one else in the house had
ever heard of such Il person, Sydney
was completely staggered. In fact, the
only result of our conversation was to
leave on the minds of each of us grave
doubts as to the others sanity, if not as
to his own. But before we parted
made the boy promise me solennly that
the very next time he saw this mysicr
ious figure he would SUNNI on me a
once.
Next dav nothing happened, and
med.tated dismissing Sydney. The du,
after, an event occurred which changed
the current OF my thoughts, which
thank God, altered my whole life since
and which has made Sydney Loch thu
most faithful friend have.
1t was late in the afternoon--a winter
dusk. was upstairs in my bedroom
writing a letter to Nelly, vowing that
would never g We her up, and yet seeing
no prospect OF ever being abe to claim
her for my wife. 1t was that hour wher
the day begn ms to pass into the night
and shadows have grown gigantic, ant
mems thoughts are turning toward din
ner. Suddenly l was reused by quicl
step and knock at the door. calle'
out "Comc in," and Sydney appeared
on the threshold He looked very pal
and excited, us far rs could see him b,
the dim light of my candles, and Ii,
spoke in II strange vo ce.
"He is there, sir, the old gentleman
in gray-in the passage.
jumped up, and was following hin
in moment 1t must have been wei
past six O'Clock, and yet the lights il
the corridor were still unlighted.
looked all around, but could see no one
"Wherep' l sad. in n whisper; for
think the gloom and the boys strange
looks had frightened my common sens
out of me.
Sydney took me by the arm and po mt
ed. l felt he WAS trembling all over
And for my own part, an uncomfortable
chill seemed to be creeping through M.
limbs.
.Thcre, sir, therc-don't you Sc
himp-at the top of the stairs. He
beckoning us to follow-come."
/ strained nv ewes in the direction
where he pointed, but could discern
nothing. However, l caught hold O
Sydncy's arm, and followed him silently
like sheep. Why did so can not a
this moment conceive.
The boy led the way down stairs, up
parently keeping his eyes fixed on some
thing he could see in front. l held hin
blindly. We went down and across tn
hall, and then out of the front door int,
the cold air. 1t was quite dark outside
though one or two blurred stars wer
ilickerng palcly, and the moon,
thought. was struggling behind cloud
Round the house we went, faster an
faster, into the gardens at the back. an
, down the slopes toward the sea. Sgd
ney seemed to be dragging me along
Once l caught Il glimpse of his face an
l saw it was deadly white. although hi
eyes were strainIng wildly after tn
: phantom he was following. Still he wen
on and on. We were nearing the beac
, now, and | could hear the surf beatin
against the rocks, and dimly see tn
white crests OF the waves hanging in tn
foggy night. Now We were on the beach
| felt the scaweel under my feet an