Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1888-04-26

hhh1 III "h my h'ShsAJ ""ihot S'O""
the barn. ] remember wildly enough,
but in remote, impersonal sort of
way, the scene on that far-off sunny
summer morning. AS, night after
night, | swung past the ancient doors,
my brain in pleasant confusion, |
never gave the remembrance any heed.
Finally, l ceased to recall it, and the
rafting of the wind in the time-warped
shingles fell on utterly careless ears.
One night, as ! started homeward up
on the verge of twelve, the marsh seemed
all alive with flying CLEANS. The moon
was past the full, white and high; the
sky was thick with small black clouds,
streaming dizzily across the moons
face, and moist wind piped steadily
in from the sea. Twas walking swift
ly, not much alive to outward impress
ions, scarce noticing even the strange
play of the moon-shadows over the
marshes, and got perhaps stones
throw past the barn, when creeping
sensation about my skin and thrill
of nervous apprehension made me stop
suddenly and take look behind.
The impulse seized me unawares, or
| should have laughed at myself and
gone on without yielding to such a
weakness. But it was too late. My
gaze darted unerringly TO the barn,
whose great doors stood wide open.
There, swaying almost imperceptibly
in the wind, hung the body of our
neighbor, as l had seen it that dread
full morning long ago. For moment
l could hear again my childish sobs,
and the remembrance of that horror
filled me with self-pity. Then, as the
roots of my hair began to stir, my feet
set themselves instinctively for fight.
This instinct, however, promptly
and sternly repressed. | knew all
about these optical illusions, and be-
gan to congratulate myself on this OPP
portunity for investigating one so in
teresting and vivid.
At the same time l gave a hasty
side thought to what would have hap
pened had l been one of the super
stitious farm-hands or fishermen OF
the district. / should have taken to
my heels in desperate terror, and been
ever after faithfully persuaded of hav-
ing looked upon a veritable ghost.
said to myself that the apparition,
if / looked upon it steadily, would van
ish as approached, or, more probably,
resolve itself into some chance COM
binatlon of moonlight and shadows.
In fact my reason was perfectly salts
fled that the ghostly vision was due
solely to the association of ideas
was fresh from my classes in philos
ophy-aided and abetted by my owr
pretty, vivid Imagination. Yet the
natural man, this physical being O
mine, revolved in every fiber of thu
flesh from any closer Acquaintance,
with the thing.
began, with reluctant feet, to re
trace my steps; but as did so the Wis
ion only grew so much the clearer; ant
a cold perspiration broke out upon me
Step bp step l approached, till stooc
just outside the fence, face to fac
with the apparition. l leaned agains
the fence, looking through between
the rails; and now, at this distance
every feature came out with awful dis
tinctness-all so horrible in its distor
ton that can not bear to describe il
As each fresh gust of wind hisse,
through the chinks | could see TIL
body swing before it heavily and slow
ly. Ihad to bring all my philosoph.
to bear, else my feet would hav
carried me off in frenzy of flight. A
last reached the conclusion that sine
my sight was so helplessly deceived
should have to depend upon the touch
In no other way could l detect tn
true basis of the illusion; and this wa
was hard one. By much argument an
self-persuasion prevailed upon my
self to climb the fence, and with a sor
of despairing doggedness to let myse
down on the inside.
just then the clouds thickened owe
the face of the moon, and the ligh
fadded rapidly. To get down insid
the fence with that thing was, for
moment simply sickening, and m
eyes dllated with the intensity of m
stare. Then common-sense came {
the rescue, with revulsion of feeling
and l laughed-though not very mirtl
fully-at the thoroughness of my SCARF
With an air of GOODNESS and defianc
l walked right up to the open doors
and when so close that | could hay
touched it with my walking-stick, tn
thing swayed gently and faced me i
the light of the reappearing moon.
Could my eyes deceive meP 1t Gel
, tainly was our neighbour Scarcel
knowing what l did. l thrust out m
stick and touched it. shrinking bac
as did so. What touched, plain il
, stantly to my sight, was a piece ,
, wood and iron-some portion of NOV
ing-machine or reaper, which ha
been apparently, repainted and hun
up across the door-pole to dry.
1t swayed in the wind. The stra,
J ing fingers of the moonbeams throug
the chinks penciled it strangely. al
the shadows were huddled black b
hind it. But now it hung reveale'
r with no more likeness to huns
! body than any average well-meanir
l farm implementmight be expected
l have.
Though still shaky, it was with
great, swelling sense of triumph ov'
5 supernatural terrors that l resum,
e my homeward way Charles G.
r Roberts, IN YOUTHS Companion
4 Judge-"Do you know Of al