The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1889-01-03

0Aoaus ADS10AAsEs--4 Ou4y W1uyo0 70 SNOW IT.
Pallattt how'll looks on : state occasion
and take the cigars and things into the
We win finish the evening
there.n 4
OF the almost incrsdible events which
followed confess that I am unable to offer
any explanation. lean only vouch for their
having actually occurred. Whether, - Mr..
Pallatu honestly believes, the soul can In
certain rare instances leave the body and
wander up and down the spirit world like Q
dog In fair, prying into the secrets Of the
dead, or whether those events were merely
the result ito quote the doctor In martin
ChuEzlewtt") Of ''most extraordinary
happy and favorable conjunction of circum.
stances will forever remain q mystery to
me- VS.. -s- =-',.-,
When I got into bed that night my brain
was In whirl, and should have been glad
to exchange nerves with cat. The unusual
quantity Of wine had drunk, the dazzling
splendor of the state drawing room, the
awful midnight tragedy Of q century ago,
and the hfe.like portraits of the principal
actors seemed to forbid the very idea Of
sleep. But when thought myself most
wtde-awake began to d0ze of, and was soon
AS fast as church." How long it had
lasted could not tell, when woke with q
start, and for the third time In my life
found myself alone in the dark. Istretched
out my land for the matches, but they were
gone, and Ut the same time the Luminous
glare appeared upon the wall. Then the
room, with It's one tall open window, the
broken Furniture, the case Of stuffed birds,
and the two figures Of my former visions
developed rapidly. could see tho last
plainly enough nova man in long horse
mans coat and brown boots with great sill
YER spurs, . woman in along 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 q
tall silver candlestick. Occasionally they
turned their faces toward me with an anx.
ious expression, ~ II they were listening for
something, and 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 Ut
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
burn. At last she turned to one Of the eirty
prints which opened at her touch, thrust the
document into oavity In the wall, and, re-.
closing the aperture, fell headlong to the
more, when there was glare Of light In my
eyes, q hand shook me roughly by the
shoulder, and voice Pallatti's) excla med !:
''Good heavensl Houghton, what Is the
matter2 You must have had the night
mare, and look quite exhausted" He took
tiny vial from his pocket, and pouring the
contents into q teaspoon, put it to my lips.
Whatever the potion was it was 80 strong
that it nearly took my breath away, but its
effect was instantaneous, and asked him
quite calmly: "How on earth did you come
hereI"
''Why, felt 50 nervous and wakefu]
after Sir Georges entertainment that
couldn't sleep, and as got worse and worse,
l thought would see if you were in the
same plight. You certainly seem to have
been no better of than I, and think we ha6
better stick together and keep ourselves
awake by talking till daylight doth appear"
''Most willingly,"I said, land I will be.
gin by telling you my vision like modern
Pharaoh. and perhaps you may be able to
expound it, U Joseph. There may be moth.
ing in it, or every thing, who knowsa"
The next morning, after an almost un.
tasted breakfast, Sir George, Pallatti and
were prosecuting vigorous search in the
haunted wing, but af' or an hour of hunting
and pokinR into every hole and corner, va
came reluctantly to the conclusion that
there was nothing corresponding in the re-
hottest 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 I leading the way,
and had nearly reached the door which shut
of the wing from tho rest of the house,
when q shout from Pallatti, who had been
following at little distance caused us to
stop.
'Eurekal Eurekav' he almost screamed
~ ought to have seen it at glance! Come
back both of you; we shall know all about il
in five minutes.'
The usually calm and impassive Mr.. Pal
latti was in such q violent state of excite
ment that we almost feared for his reason.
but we obeyed him and returned upon our
steps.
Without hesitation he went straight into
q room called the best bed-chamber, in one
corner of which there still stood the great
iron chest from which the fatal title -deeds
had been abstracted, and taking foot-rule
from his pocket carefully measured the
wall on one side Of the door-nine feet
Then he came out into the corridor, which
was panneled throughout with dark oak
from floor to ceiling, and measured off nine
feet from the side of the door on the outside
marked the place with deep score of his
knife. Transferring his attention to the
next room (known as the blue bed chamber
he scored OF seven feet His discovery was
patent enough now. Again applying his
rule to the space between the two scores, it
was at once seen that there were eleven feet
Of wall unaccounted for.
''There is q carpenter at work close by,"
painted Pallatti; 1--WE saw him as we came
up. Run, my dear Houghton, and bring him
here with his TOOLS"
was OF like q shot, and soon returned
with the astounded carpenter, who had been
shedding gimlets, bradawls, nails, and
screws and suoh small articles plentifully by
the wayside out Of his basket in his haste.
Pallatti had already sounded the wainscot:
the rusty nails gave way at the first wrench,
the planks we're removed, the carpenter was
dismissed, and then, with IN almost inde-
scribable feeling of awe, we stood within
the very rooE knew 80 we'll. The stuffed
birds. the crazy furniture, the dingy prints
all were there, and on the little table in
the center stood q tall and furnished silver
candlestick, the candle long since devoured
by the great-grandfathers Of the mice who
scampered into their holes as we entered.
For two or three minutes not q word was
said, and then sprang ut one of the prints
and tried to tear it from the wall, but Pal
latti stayed my hand.
There is not secret spring In the world
could battle me for two minutes" he said.
quietly.
With one touch of his fingers the picture
few open, and putting In his hand he pulled
out mass Of crumpled parchment.
A short inspection proved to Sir George
that they were the lon8-lost deeds, and we
all saw for ourselves that one corner was
ahrivo1o6 and ataino1 nu;<h rpuoocn o~a