The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1888-12-29

| but her face was the face OF maniac, ana
she never recovered her reason, dying many
wears afterward within the walls OF mad
house.
"He saw the whole devilish plot now.
Conrad Gillingham, using his wife as MS
tool, had intended to abstract the doeds,
| and, with these in his possession, TO attaint
him Of high treason and claim the estates'
"There was state trial, which any one
can read to this day, and he was acquitted
| with universal expression OF pity for ms
| misfortune, and of loathipg for the subject
Of vengeance.
"To piece together these facts has cost mo
| months of labor, In reading through OLD
| diaries and letters in the muniment-room,
| for have never felt sure whether some DAY
or other or some of my descendants might
not be challenged to produce the title-uecus
of Gillingham. The blow has fallen upon
me at last. 1t seems that some descendants
| of that old collateral branch, all long since
| dead and gone, as hoped and believed, nave
Turned nm. Atany rate there are agents busily
at work, making all manner OF inquiries,
| searching registers and so on, and my law
yers have told me point-bank that may be
called upon to produce these deeds, aud that
il they are not Forthcoming my tenure oil
Gillingham Towers may be in serious Jeop-
ardy. Unless you, my young friends, WIN
your keen wits and ready invention, can
help me, my resources are at an end"
He turned and rang the bell, and then
leant his head upon his hand, his elbow on
the mautlepiecc. A servant entered, and
looking up he said quite naturally: "Put
out all these lights and close the room
again, Malam-I only wanted to show Mr.
Pallatti how it looks on state occasion
and take the cigars and things into the
billiard-room. We will finish the evening
there.n
OF the almost incredible events which
followed confess that am unable to offer
any explanation. can only vouch for their
having actually occurred. Whether as Mr..
Pallatti honestly believes, the soul can In
certain rare instances leave tho body and
wander up and down the spirit world like
dog in fair, prying into the secrets OF the
dead or whether those events were merely
the result ito quote the doctor in MARTIN
Chuzzlewit'O of a "most extraordinary
happy and favorable conjunction OF circum-
stances" will forever remain mystery to
me-
When got into bed that night my brain
was In a whirl and should have been giaa
to exchange nerves with cat. The unusuai
quantity of wine | had drunk, tho dazzling
splendor of the state drawing-room, tine
awful midnight tragedy of century ago,
and tho life-like portraits of the principai
actors seemed TO forbid the very idea OF
sleep. But when thought myself most
wide e-awake began to doze of, and was soon
sas fast as a church." How long 1t had
lasted | could not tell, when l woke with
start, and for the third time in my life
found myself alone in the dark. stretched
ont my nand for the matches, but they were
gone, and at the same time the luminous
glare appeared upon the wall. Then the
room, with its one tall open window, the
broken furniture, the case of stuffed birds,
and the two figures of my former visions
developed rapidly. l could see the last
plainly enough nova man in a long horse
mans coat and brown boots with great sill
yer spurs, woman in long white wrapper,
with fair hair flowing over her shoulders
nearly TO the ground, and they stood TO-
gether by the table reading from large
sheet of paper which they held between
them, by the light of single candle in
tall silver candlestick. Occasionally they
turned their faces toward me with an anx-
ious expression, as If they were listening for
something, and l Immediately recognized
two of the portraits in the state drawing
room. Suddenly they started violently, the
man rushed TO the window and leaped out,
the woman thrust the papers into her
dress, and q second man with drawn sword
flashing in his hands dashed into the room
and through the window in pursuit OF
the fugitive. Then the woman drew
out the papers and tried to tear them,
but they must have been parch-
ment, and she failed; she put them over
the flame of the candle, but one corner
only began to shrivel, and they would not
q 80 th.,I It,-f.t
prints which opened at her touch, thrust tho
document into cavity in the wall, and, re-
closing the aperture, fell headlong to the
ground. / could not have borne much
more, whom there was glare of light in my
eyes, hand shook me roughly by the
shoulder, and a voice (Pallattis) excla med; /;
"Good heavens Houghton, what is the
matterl You must have had the night
mare. and look quite exhausted" He took
tiny vial from his pocket, and pouring the
contents into a teaspoon, put 1t to my lips.
Whatever the potion was it was SO strong
that it nearly took my breath away, but its
effect was instantaneous, and asked him
quite calmly: 'How on earth did you come
heren
why l felt so nervous and wakeful
after Sir Georges entertainment that
couldn't sleep, and as got worse and worse.
i tnOuRul WOuiu Sco IL Jou "S'S AZ WIZ
same plight You certainly seem to have
been no better off than i, and think we had
better stick together and keep ourselves
awake by talking till daylight doth appear"
"Most willingly" said, land | will be-
| gin by telling you my vision like modern
| Pharaoh, and perhaps you may be able to
expound it, y Joseph. There may be moth
ing in it, or every thing, who knows."
The next morning. after an almost un-
! tasted breakfast, Sir George, Pallatti and
were prosecuting vigorous search In the
haunted wing but after an hour Of hunting
| and polcing into every hole and corner, we
came reluctantly to the conclusion that
there was nothing corresponding In the re-
| motest degree with the room OF my vision
The case OF stuffed birds and the dingy
prints were especially conspicuous by their
| absence
We were walking away, silent and disap
pointed, Sir George and leading the way,
| and had nearly reached the door which shut
of the wing from the rest of the house,
when a shout from Pallatti, who had been
| following at little distance caused us to
| stop.
"Eureka Eureka!" he almost screamed |;
~ ought to have seen it at a glance. Come
| back both of YOU we shall know all about 1t
| in five minutes"
Tho usually calm and impassive Mr.. Pal
| latti was in such violent state of excite.
ment that we almost feared for his reason,
| but we obeyed him and returned upon our
| steps.
Without hesitation he vert straight into
| a room called the best bed-chamber, in one