The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1888-11-16

WOOD Z!
eyes; he was killed on the eleventh and
his body wa found in that very stream
on the thirteenth"
"Why, yesterday was the eleventh."
so it was"
.sThen that would be old Jake's ghost,
Snd it Will walk again to-l'ight,' was the
assertion of one of the Oldest members,
who had often entertained the roaring
Buffaloes with stories CT the supernat-
ural.
Don't go home TONIGHT, deacon, 'sug-
gestcd one of the members.
'Not go homel What would Tabitha
say?"
"IIo!'
This was followed by n loud laugh, for
kll knew that the deacon was really
afraid of his better half, and OF only one
point had been able to hold his own, and
that was the membership of the club.
The hour for departure had come, ard
the good deacon started on his homeWard
journey.
He had laughed at fear, but it must be
acknowledged that he had greatdltfculty
in keeping up his spirits as he enteredt the
narrow path of the wood.
Cold ~slivers passed continually over
him. md, as he afterwards said, lit
seemed that his backbone had turned to
ice"
Still. on he went, thoughts of Tabitha
overcoming his fast increasing nervous
ness. The bridge over the stream was
reached. Although dignified by the name
of bridge it in reality only consisted OF
some fallen trees which had been flung
across the narrow chasm through which
the stream flowed.
The deacon looked straight ahead, L
no sign of the supernatural was visible.
Still he trembled, for the wind blew
strongly down the little valley, and Har-
grave was never, even in daylight, very
sure-footed. He stepped on the bridge
and Il sudden gust of wind raised his hat
and sent it scurrying along among the
trees.
He trembled and tottered on the frail
bridge, and then, rs nc n was looking,
he lowered himself on lis knees and pro-
ceeded to cross as became u Buffalo-on
all tours.
Never had that bridge seemed SO long,
but the longest lane has an end, and tho
deacon was pyiding himself that the
worst WAS over, when u blood-curdling
shrek struck upon his ear.
His hair stood on end, every pore was
opened and the cold Precipitation burst
forth. He was afraid to look up, and yet
what could he do?
Again came the horrible shrek and the
deacon offered up a prayer for his safety.
He was trembling in everylimb, his blood
seemed frozen in his veins, and he felt he
was fast losing all power over his limbs.
A consciousness seized him that he %as
being watched.
4 strange fear possessed him.
What if old Jake's ghost really Ga
haunt that wood?
Fast the thoughts fitted through his
brain and he remembered that he lzal
often treated old Jake with sharpness.
Nay, on that very night when the old
man had met with such a terrible death
in the darkness Of the wood hehad turned
him away from his door.
Jake had loaded himself with too
much whiskey and Lao begged shelter of
the deacon for the night.
But that washY pillar OF the church up
braided him with his drunkenness and
closed the door in his face.
All this he aforementioned as he knelt
on that frail bridge and listened to the
unearthly shrie&s.
1t was horriblel
How he regretted the unkind and very
unneighborly act.
Had he sheltered the old mar his life
would have been saved.
But in his self-rightcousness he had
seut the drunken man to an untimely
end. The deacon prayed for pardon, but
even as he did SO he feared that forgive
ness wa not for him.
lie Suffered all the tortures of the lost,
and the agony was so srcatthath he wished
for drath to put an end to his miseries.
LAUGH at fear. Never again could he do
so.
Mock at nervousncssi No, forthat night
lie was the most timid and nervous man
in all New York State. He had tried to
forget his cruel act towards old Jake, but
conscience was now turturing him for it.
Conscience would not slumbcr and would
not Lnry the past in oblivion.
The minutes were developing into an
hour, and lie must rouse himself orperish
in the cold.
lie felt his beard freezing solid, while
his clothes, which had been bathed in
rarspiration and dew, were as stiff as
n - and seemed nearly as brittle. lie
pulled imself together and stood up.
Their. in front Of him he sav a pair Of
eyes glaring like those of Il phantasma-
goric Gelnon. They burned into his very
soul.
What should Eo dc? lie dare not so
toward, for those eyes we're like daggers
whose points o!ready had penetrated his
Leart.
But he could not 30 back. NO, he had
but courage enough to turn his face
away from the penetration of those balls
Of fire. Why lad Ac r0t taken the advice
of his friends and stayed in town that
light, o., better still, have listened to his
wifcnna missed the meeting of the Roar
ing Bulralocs? Why, iu,ieed?
Buffalo for soothl There never was a
lamb mere timid and helpless.
He loD,.ed steadily ut those eyes; they
seemed to get large until, like great
suns, they shut out everything else. They
were getting nearer.
lie would atand still, for in reality he
dared not move.
TIE deacon thought his last hour had
come. He thought Of Tabitha and The
farm and could not be reconciled Il
death.
He looked into the blazing orbs, noa
getting nearer and yet nearer.
His breath had sunk to a spasmoSa
sAsp. He felt the veinsin his face swell
ing as though they would tlrst, his
sinews became like whipcorl, Ills eyes
were getting dim with the pcrspiratlon
which, despite the cold, cane from every
pore. He could Lear tGe bre, thing Of his
awful antagonist. 1t was regular, while
his vas fitful. Now lie was but yard
away. One more second ct time and the