Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1886-10-15

me, 0nd qll around me were thin phan-
tom iigTes, with no features that
could sos. Only one among these misty
shapes had visible human face. And
that one advanced toward me with
smile which l shall never forget. 1t
was the face Of young man, Slightly
drooped, rs If its owner we're SHY or
defcrential, with blue, bright eyes and
gentle handsome features, and fair
hair, and lips that seemed to be made
for laughter, and a smile that shone like
n glcam Of sunshine there. And in
moment the face and forms had vanished.
The darkness seemed to grow darker. |
heard soft steps walking in the air. |
felt rs if a cold wind were blowing in
my face. Suddenly | saw the chill sea
shining far Off under the white stars. A
voice that wa' harsh broke out in hoarsc
laughter beside me, and thcn-I awoke.
Two days after | set ont for Edin-
burgh, witA three objects. wanted to
consult an eminent advocate. want
cd to get new servant And | want.
ed, at least, to find out where the
frasers were.
saw the great advocate, and he con-
firmcd my fears. "Unlcss the missing
deed is found, my dear sIr," he said in
his blandost accents, 'your title is so
defective as TO be entirely worthless,
should rival claimant arise"
did not sec the Frasers, but got
their address, and | wrote one letter to
the father and four to the daughter. j
engaged new man servant in this
way:
Our need for man servant being
pres ing, went, for the first and last
time in my life, to registry office. The
shop lay in the south OF the town, up
beyond the High street, and when en-
tered il there were several subdued-
looking beings, unfortunate applicants,
] suppose, standing round. Behind tho
counter were man and woman, and
TO the former, having n prejudice in
favor Of doing business with my own
sex, bagotten, perhaps, of shyness, | APP
piled. He kept me waiting long time.
Then he looked over prod gious ledger
and read me out numerous applications
which were perfectly useless. At last,
however, he came TO ono which |
thought would do. / told him 70, and
he thcreupon invited me to wait lttlo
longer, as the young man" in question
was likely to call shortly. At first re-
fused, but on consideration decided to
go out and have my ha.r cut, and then
TO return and sec if the young man were
there
When came back some twenty m n
utes later, the small office was full OF
people. As TN cred, something in the
look OF the place and the attitude of the
figures struck me ms familiar But
dism sscd the idea ut once. The shop
man came to meet me.
"lhc young man is here, SIR" he
said, and he turned with wave of his
hand 10 a figure behind him. The
figure advanced 1t was the figure of Il
good looking boy rather than OF man,
slight and fair, and with the head lit
tle dropping. As the boy raised his face
iolook ut me, started back. Feature
for feature, as Gear rs ii could be, it
was the face had seen in my dream!
don't know what followed; don't
know whether my conduct appeared
very strange. don't what the boy
said to me, or what | said 10 him. 1
have only vague idea that | generally
assented to everything And | know
that when went home to Tullybardanc,
Sydney Loeb went with me as my man.
Tullybarlane is a desolatc place. II
lies in y narrow gorge which runs down
straight to the shore, The hills slope
up on ther hand, and end in tumbIcd
rocks and caverns 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 tho
library, which faces down long avenue
of frs to the sea, and beyond the libra
~ stretches the deserted part of the
house, which for five-and-thirty years |
have been meaning to repair. The Ii
brary was rather gloomy room, COM
municating only by long passage with
the other inhabited parts OF tho house.
Indeed, the whole house was rather
lonely. For myself, never minded
that, but fancy 1t struck my new ,serv-
ant MS bit solitary and weird.
Now, l must tell you about the do
ings OF this young fellow. A day or
after my return, both my mother and
began to notice something strange
about him. 1t was not that did not
like him, for | took strong fancy to
him at once, and here, fivo-and-thirty
years after, he lives 10 this day less,
think, of servant to us than faithful
and trusted friend. But certainly his
behavior was odd, and the first thing we
observed was this
One afternoon was sitting with my
mother in the drawing-room. Ny
mother had ordered tea. Personally,
am afraid of these unwholesome drinks,
and never have taken to that surrepti-
tious fashion of working in an extra
meal in the afternoon. But was sit
ting with her and talking very discon-
solately, for | felt thoroughly depress ID.
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 my dear mother was par
tial. He handed the tray to my mother,
and he handed it to me. Then, to our
surprise, no walked straight across the
room to u big armchair that stood near
the window, and handed the tray To the
empty chairl But the armchair, or it,
invisible occupant, refused it, apparent
ly, and the man withdrew. am en-,
dowed with large fnnd Of Scottish
humor, and burst out laughing. My
mother was equally psrplexcd.
"He must have thought there was
some one sitting there" she said, ale
must be very short sighted, poor boy,
It's very strange"
"He must be rs blind as q bat," an
swered, "or else have been playing q
| practical joke on us. Incver saw any
thing so absurd in my life."
But in the next few days l was des-
tined to sec stranger things. / asked
Sydney if he were shortsighted, but he
denied the charge with warmth. Ant
yet the more l watched HIM, the more
obvious was it that he was alway meet.
ing invisible people, Once, as l chancct
to see him coming down stairs, dis
tinctly saw him: draw back, pressing
himself against the wall, rs if to allow
an invisible person to pass. Another
time saw him walk to the front door
1 hA1 g.. -.