The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1886-08-04

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noon spoke to sydney
sydney said bluntly, are you Civ
en- 10 seeing ghosts p
/. siF he answered, with smile OF
astonIshneHt = No, sir, ! never saw i
shost in my life
Then, what the devil do YOU mean.
broke out, by behaving in the way
you have been doing
The boy starte,l Evidently ne
thought nae off my head. determined
TO speak more gently.
Them said, who was that person
you showed out oi the house this morn
ing2v knew had him there. for /
was sure nobody had called.
Oh, You mean the old gentleman in
+ gray, sir lie left no name. thought
sir, he seemed to be al home in the house;
had seen him here ~ often, sir
Now it Was my turn to stare was
dunlfounded literally Stammered for
want OF words. Then I showed what
have always thought was remarkable
presence of mind. turned round and
walked into the dining room, telling the
boy 10 follow There poured out glass
If whisky and gave it To him
Drink that l said, and you had
better sii down
Obvious he Thought me as eccentric a.
| thought him. But he merely said
Thank you, sir, and drank the whisky.
Do you fell quite weil?" | asked
frigidty
quite WELL thank You, SIR
are YOU subject to delIlsions or hal
lucination-2r
No, sir; never, SIR he answered
promptly, with lurking smile which he
v.tinly tried to conceal
That smile ANNOYED me broke out
again:
Then what on earth do you mean l
cried, = by telling me this nonsense about
Gentleman in gray
sydney aro-e There was some digni-
N in ms manner He spoke respectfully,
but in an injured tone;
Il beg your pardon, sir-but ! only
told you about the gentleman who called
and thought, sir, yaou might have seen
seen him. for he passed by yon, aud /
fonci,.d he nodded to YOU a. he passed
Really things had come to pretty
pass, Here was my-own servant accus-
inc me of seeing invisible phantoms
which only existed in his own disorder
Ell brain
But there-I viii not repeat all the
conversation that followed. ! must say
sydney kept his temper wonderfully, for
lost mine. However, We had long
explanation which ended in this way.
The boy asserted positively that ne had
three or four times seen an elderly gem
tlenan in gray walking about the house
He had seen him setting in the drawing
room with my mother. He had seen
him in the passages upstairs, and in
th, grounds outside. He had, be adj
nlitted. wondered who he could be, and
had fancied that he must be some very
infinite friend. or some one connected
with the establishment He had never
heard him speak. certainly. He had not
a. vet questioned any of the other SER
wants abont hiIn. But then he had him
self only been few days in the house,
AMI a. vet did not know all the people
about the place. When told him that
no one eI~e in the house had ever heard
of such a 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 a. To ms own But before
We parted I made the boy promise me
Solonniy that the 'ery next time he saw
this mysterious figure he would summon
me at once.
Next day nothing happened, and |
metlitated diSInissflig sydney. The day
after an event occurred which changed
the current Of my thoughts. which,
thank God, altered my whole life since,
and which has made sydney Lock the
most faithful friend have.
II was late in the afternOon-a winter
dusk. was upstairs in my bedroom,
writing a letter 10 Nelly, vowing that |
never would give her up, and yet seeing
no prospects Of ever being able TO claim
her for my wife. 1t was that hour when
ths. DAY begins to pass into the night, and
shadows have grown gigantic and mems
thoughts are turning toward dinner.
Suddenly | was aruTlSei by = quick step
and knock al my door. rallied out
= Come in; and sydney appeared on
the threshold. He locked very pale and
excited. as far a. could see him by the
dim light Of my candles and he -pake in
a Strange voice.
He Is here, sir, the old gentleman in
grsy-in the passage"
jumped up, and was following him
in a moment 1t must have been well
past . o'clock, and yet the lights in the
corridor were still uniighted | looked
ali around, but could see no one.
Where | said, in a whisper; for
think the gloom and the boys strange
looks had frightened my eommon-senSe
our of me.
sydney took me by the arm ond point
ed | felt ne was trembling ali over.
And for my own par an uncomfortable
chill seemed to be creeping through my
liiubs.
There, Sir, there-don't you SEE him
AT the top of the stairs. Hes beckon-
ing u to i,lllow-come"
strained my eyes in the direction
where he pointed, bat could discern
nothing. However, | caught hold Of
Sy,lney's arm and followed him silently
ike sheep. Why did - | cannot at
this nlonlont conceive.
The boy led the way downstairs. aE-
psrently keeling his eyes fixe,l ON SDme-
thing he could see in front held him
blinsiiy We went down and c-,,-s.-d
the hall, and then out of the front door
into the cold air. Itwas quite dark out
side, though one or two blurred stars
were fiiekering palely, and the moon. |
thought was struggling behind cloud
Round the house We went. faster and
faster, into the gardens at the hack and
down the slopes toward the sea. sydney