The west Tennessee star. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1888, 1888-10-05

the body the head fell back, the long
hair swept to the floor. the face turned
toward me- Merciful Heaven! it was
my sister Nell!-Nell, whom had left
safe at home, and she was here dead
murdered! / shrieked aloud in fren-
zied agony of terror, and the murderer
dashed the corpse of his victim on the
floor and turned to face me. Then the
instinct of elf-preservation, the aw-
ful feaI, of death prevailed, and fed
for my life.
1 heard swift feet in pursuit, curses
breathed on the night-air behind me,
and on I flew straight as the crow flies,
stopping for neither bush nor brier.
Thanks to my wild woods training,
there were not many who could out
run me in a fair race, and now my feet
were winged with terror. heard my
pursuer's steps grow fainter and knew
had distanced him, when suddenly l
tripped over log, and fell forward.
/ felt the ground sinking beneath me,
felt myself falling-down-d Own-then
/ consciousness left me- felt no more.
When | awoke I was in my own
room, in my own bed, and-aUh0 was
that leaning over me?
'Nell! Nell!" I cried, springing up
and clasping her in my arms, you are
not dead then-not dead, not lying in
that dreadful house murdered by that
4 wicked; wicked mani Oh, Nell! how
came you here, or is it your ghost in
stead of you?"
''Hush! Ju. don't talk so wildly. Oh
course it's me, why shouldn't it beP
And how can 1 be lying dead in the old
house when you're holding me fast
here! I'm afraid you hurt your head in
falling, and are not yourself"
But I tell you, Nell. somebody was
murdered in that old house last night
[ saw her, and 1 saw him
too He stopped to lift her, and
saw her face and thought it was you
/ / screamed and ran and he ran after me
to kill me too; / was running from hin
when I fell and tainted. How did
| get home?"
Uncle Jake found you lying at thu
bottom of gully He put you Oh
/ Bouncer and brought you home, and
the old man begged me so not to maxi
anys-fuss, lest he should be punishec
for assisting your escapade, that pro
missed him no one should know"
But they must know. Nellie. Tn
not dreaming nor crazy; am wide a
wake and sensible, and 1 repeat mos
solemnly that a foul murder was com
mitted in that old house last night
and viii Mason is the murderer"
:. .sEVflt Mason a murderer! Oh, Ju
how wildly you talk"
1T is the truth and you will find
So / must tell pa right away
''Ju, you must not say such terribl
thingsi You thought was killed bu
you. see / am alive and well. If yol
were mistaken in one thing, you ar
mistaken IN all. My poor little Ju,
youssay. such wild things, people wi
think you are crazy
: People may think what they please
| I am not crazy nor mistaken. How
came to think it was you can't say
F. unless-but never mind that-wait an
, see. Somebody was killed, that's eel
1 1 L
' him the whole truth
So did; and though my father {
! first thought his prediction was yer
: fed, and my many eccentricities ha
) eliminated in insanity, he soon foun
e cause to change his opinion. An e.
animation of the haunted house
| henceforth doubly haunted-gave III
2 | mistakable evidence of a crime. I'll
0 | floor soaked in blood, a bloody ira
I leading to dry well in the back var
1 a tress Of black hair caught in tt
q well-curb all showed but too plainly Il
! dreadful deed that had been don
e When the body was drawn up,
proved to be, as I had expected,
o beautiful quadroon girl, a slave
d Squire Mason's, whose marvellous T
d semblance to Nellie had often been tt
4 theme of neighborhood gossip.
e The circumstances of her death we
E. never clearly known, though many dal
d suruises We're hazarded on the subiec
d The only thing certain was that w
10 Mason was the murderer As for hin
ie he escaped to Texas, then the asylu
Ie for all sorts of criminals. He afterwar
a Joined the army and fell in the Me
5 lean war.
Q That night made a permane
change in me- I rejeiced that my {
n capade had perhaps saved my sist
st from becoming VIII Mason's wife; b
4; I was never again the wild haru
Of scarum girl / had been. For months L
r sleep was broken by horrible dream
y and to this day my nerves have not {
I'd tirely recovered from the effects of 1
N midnight visit to the haunted house.
to A. G. CANFIELD,