Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1888-06-12

| forgotten MS fuf cOllf anu hss come osc'
for IT, sna,ehing Il up from the bseI
OF a chair. where IL had hung unno,iceC
ill ,hs, moment. she ran to the door
threw |, open and stepped Ou, upon ,h'
porch.
"No one was Ia sight. but as she step.
ped down from the door bulls, few "a
NEE, her. and wi,hou, q sound she fel
upon the .,eps-sho, through the heart,
Her pretty dres. was d.bbled with blood,
and one hand va. we, with IL where shs
elu,ched 81 her dres. a. she fell
"No one knew Why she wa, Killed. bat
A. grandfather was a Whig he had many
enemie. among III, Tories, and I, was
supposed the bullet vi. intended for him.
In the sudden blaze Of light that stream.
ed from the open door the murderer prob.
ably did no, no,ire. until too late. ,ha,
the wife and no, the husband answered
hi. knock. They bad no police In those
days, nothing but a fe~ eonstables. and,
although they did their best. the murder
er could no, be found.
"Gandfsther va. a changed man from
,ha, day. lie left hi, two children, my
father and hi. sister. In the care OF hi.
brother. entered the army and was killed
At the battle Of Stony Point"
Father csa,sd speaking and sazsd
sh,fally on, Of the window.
Helen. .,ill watching him, waited pa.
,isn,ly. A, las, she spoke "WhA, i'
the res, Of IL. father"
Father glanced a, her In a',oni'hmen,.
"The res, Of whs, p
"The res, Of the story. I'm sure you
haven't told !, all"
Then father looked q, mother. Ia an
.ver 20 hi. look she said Neither OF
them AZ, ,imid nor super,i,iOu', and !
DO no, ,hiak IL will do them any harm TO
hear the rest"
"vsry veil. said. ",inee your moth.
sr gives me permission. girls, | will tell
you what | should no, otherwise have
told Your grra, grAndmo,her' gho', Is
.ah TO appear every year on the night OF
the llih Of Decembcr-,he date Of the
nish, she died have never seen the
ghost. and knos OF no one else ,ha, has.
There ate some people 10 the neishbor.
hood who say they have seen ii. bat IN
every Instance the supernatural ha. been
found to have = very natural cause"
"a, We passed the ehs., on our way
down stairs. father lifted the dress from
IL. rc,tlns.plAee. aud showed u' where
the bulle, hsd ca, II. way through the
bodice. Abou, the holc and down the
iron, Of the dfes, the satin was stained q
dull brown. With gentle hands he fold.
cd Il. returned /, TO i,s place aud drew
the ia down upoa IL Thea &c lsfi 1,
10 gather the da,, and silence d another
century within i,s folds.
An through the summer mol,hs we
were very happy In our new home. But
q. autumn drew near. the ready money
We bad obtained by the sale Of our furni.
,ure. like the warm weather. vanished
rapidly. Fathers f.rmlng experience
wss very limited. aud the crops. taking
advantage Of this fact, were also limited.
TO make our cup Of sorrow fall To over.
hjsing. father was taken sick with a
slow fever
For the frs, time since We moved. !
wished We were back In the city. There
were 50 many thing. could do TO earn q
little money. II were only there. !,
wa. no use Wishing. howevsr. fo' whA,
could no, be. 30 Helen aud ! tried 10
con,sn, our.slve. by rAnsAekins the house
from top 10 bottom for srandfs,hsf'
money. NJ, oae Psnny could We had.
and our faith in i,s diseovey-ao, very
strong IN the fr,, place, grew rapidly less.
The day. dragged YEARLY on, ehsered
only by the knowledge ,hA, father was
growing stronger.
Oae night after Helen and bad gone
to our room. | noticed ,hs, she was eSei,'
ed about something. She did no, un-
dre.s, bat "a, oa the FOO, Of the bed and
watched me As braided my hair for the
night.
"well. little .phinI." sAid A. last.
"wha, are you dreaming about" ?"
Then she dsigned 20 open her lips.
Janet, do you know what day Of the
month /, is"
Af,er thinking a moment. said,
"TLe li,h. isn't Il !"
"The li,h Of what p
"why. Of December" ! answered.
Then .. IL occurred TO me, why she va.
30 anxious about the date. | looked at
her In surprise. "You are asking me
these question. because you are thinking
Of that story abou, grea, grandmother
ghost. Hslsn Dayton. hope yoa are
no. silly enough TO believe IT,
81 don, know whether TO believe Il
or not. bu, Aun, Nina say. she has seen
/, ever so many times. II there really
/. gho., il will be fun to watch aud
see /, for ourselves"
"lf you are foolish enough to believ'
everything an old negro tell. you. I'm
sorry for YOU" said scornfally. "on'
thin, is sure. IL anybody watches TOT
ghost. ,o.nigh, !, won, be Janet Day
ton"
III you don, watch with m, .hal
watch Alone" she cried de,erminedly.
After doing ell | could TO persuade bet
to give up her foolish plan, and 'seins
thA, she was determined TO 20 alone II
did no, 20 with her. at last eoassaitt
TO hide with her behind the great .ofs II
the hall and watch for ghosts.
We waited until We heard the elocl
strike twelve then, slipping of on
shoes, we erep, ou, into the hall and hi
behind the sofa.
1, seemed TO me we had been hidier
hours. was grosing sleepy aad tired
when Helen gr..psd my arm 80 hsrcely
that 1 nearly screamed aload. sni poia'-
ed e1ei,sdly toward, the back s,sir,..
glanced down the dim hall lighted only
by the mooalisht. aud .aw-i hsure al
in white walking or ADa,ing toward th'
garrett door. The door was partly ore
and the gho., disappeared up the stairs
II ellen took my hand Come, ,h
viii. pered, and rose TO her feet.
=. I -. g., ,k,.na1 Nv haar