Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-08-15
had saen In NV dream,

I don't know what the Toy said 10 me- UT
what said To him. have only vague idea
that | generally assented to everything And
know that when | went home to Tully-
har,iane sydney Loch went with me rs my
man.
Tullyhar,lane is desolatc place. ii lies In
n narrow gorge which runs down straight 10
the shore The hills slopc up om either hahh'
and end in tumblcd rocks or caverIis where
the sea foam breaks and the sea waves sing-
The old grange is rambling house. From
its windows You can look over the beach,
and only the falling gardens separate you
from it, On the right hand Is the hhrary,
which faces down long avenue OF iirs TO the
sea. and beyond the library stretches the de
serted Part Of the house which for hVe and
thirty years have been meaning to repair.
The library was rather a gloomy room- COM
muuicating only by a long passage with the
other inhabited parts of the house. In
decd, the whole house was rather lonely.
For mvsef never minded that, but fancy
it struck my new servant as bit solitary and
wuNl
Now, must tell you about the dolngs oil
this Young fellow. 4 day or two after my
return. both my mother and began % no
tice something strange about him II was
not that I did not like him, for TOOK
strong fancy to him ut once, and here, hve
and thirty years after, he lives Z" this day,
less, think, Of a servant to us than ialth-
full and trusted friend But certainly his be
havior was odd. and the first thing we OBJ
served WAS this
One afternoon was sitting with my mother
in the drawing room Ny mother had or
dercd tea Personally, am afraid OF these
unwholcspmc drinks, and never have taken
to that surreptitious fashion OF working in an
extra meal in the afternoon. But 1 was SIT
ting with her and talking very disconsolately,
for | felt thoroughly depressed. Presently,
Sydney came in with the cups OF tea on
tray-a detestable plan Of taking tea II you
must take it, but one To which my dear
mother WIS partial He banded the tray To
NV mother, and he handed 1t to me. Then,
to our surprise, he walked straight across
the room to big armchair that stood near
the window, and handed the tray to the
empty chair! But the armchair, or It's IN
visible occupant refused it, apparently, and
the man withdrew.
am endowed with a large fund of Scottish
humor. and burst out laughing. My mother
was equally perpexed-
He must have thought there was some
one sitting there" She said. He must he
very shortsighted, poor boy. Its very
strange
He must be as blind as a hat" l an
swered "or else has been playing practical
Joke on us never saw anything 50 absurd
( in my life"
| But in the next few days WIS destined to
s~e stranger things | asked Sydney II he
were shortsightsd, but he denied the charge
/ with warmth. And yet the more | watched
him the more obvious WAS it that he was al
ways meeting invisible people. Once, as |
/ Glanced to see him coming down stairs, dis
tinctly saw him draw bIrF. pressing himself
I against the wall, as if to allow all invisible
person To pas. Another time l 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. | am the
worst possible hand at fault finding with ser
wants, hut was determined TO have an ex
PLANTATION of this. So that afternoon | spoke
/ "a Sydney.
sydney" said, bluntly, -are you given T.
| seeing ghosts"
/ Il sir," he answered. with a smile of aston
ishmcnt No, sir, never saw Il ghost in my
/ life
Then, what do you mean" / broke out,
! aby behaving in the way you have been
doing.7
! The boy started. Evidently he thought me
| off nv head determined to speak more
gently.
Then" -" said, awho was that person you
! showed ont of the house this morningr
/ knew had him there, for l was sure nobody
| had called 1
20, You mean the old gentleman In gray
sir! He left no name. | thought, sir, he
seemed to be at home in the house; / had
s.cn him here 50 often. sir"
/ Now it was my turn 10 stare Twas dumb
founded literally stanmered for want oi
words Then showed what l have alway,
thought was remarkable presence Of mind
turned around and walked into the dining
room, telling the boy TO follow. There
poured out a glass of whisky and gave it t.
him
Drink that" said, "and you he'd bsttel
sit down"
Obviously he thought me es eccentric as
thought him But he merely said, "Thanl
you, sir" and drank the whisky.
DO You feel quite well:" asked frigidly
/ quite well, thank you, sir.
Are you subject to deluSions or hallucina
tions!"
with a lurking smile which he vainly tried
to conceal
That smile annoyed Inc. / broke out
again:
Then, what on earth do you mean,"
cried. ~by telling me this nonsense about d
gentleman in grayr
I Sydney rose There was some dignity il
his manner He spoke respectfully, but in al
injured tone:
Il beg your pardon, sir, but only told yor
about the gentleman who called, and
thought, sir, you might have seen him, for h'
passed by you, and / fancied he nodded Il
you ss be passed
Really, things lad come to pretty pass
/ Here was my own servant accusing me oi
seeing invisible phantoms which only existec
in his own diSOrdered brain.
But there, will not repeat all the conver
sation that followed l must say Sydney
kept his temper wonderfully, for lost mine
However, we had long explanation, which
ended in this way The boy asserted posi-
lively that he had three or four times seen al
elderly gentleman in gray walking about the
house. He had seen him sitting in the draw
ing room with my mother. He had seen hin
in the passages up stairs and in the ground,
outside He had, he admitted, wondered
who be could be, and had fancied that ht
must be some very intimate friend, or som'
one connected with the establishment II,
had never heard him speak, certainly. ii,
had not as yet questioned any of the othei
servants about him. But then he had him
self only been few days in the house, and al
yet did not know all the people about the
place. When told him that no one else il
the house had ever heard of such person
Sydney was completely staggered. In fact
tho only result OF our conversation was Il
leave ON the minds of each Of Us grave doubt