The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-10-10

ma am, you'll suit yourself aC once, Tor
not another week will Della O'Rourke
live next door to a church yardr"
"Ma, ma" whispered Florence Ehing-
ham-who had eagerly devoured every
word of the discussion-"I'm afraid of
ghosts. Della says ghosts come after
little girls if they DON'T
"Will you hush?" said Mrs. Efingham,
clasping her hands in despair. "Aldrich,
what is this? Have you sold the Maple
lot?'
'Sold it! Why shouldn't II" said Mr..
Cone, who just then am in with a
string of speckled brook trout. "They
offered me a capital price, and I'm not a
rich man."
Shut to-a cemeteryl"
II don't know a quieter neighbor than
a cemetery" said Aldrich.
"And I'm told" said Mrs. Efingham,
with a shudder, "that some inter1nents
have already taken place"
II didn't suppose you'd mind it, Aunt
Efingham," said the young host.
"Mind it! Why, it's a semi-barbarous
proceeding!" cried the lady. "Do we
live in a civilized country, OF do we not2''
"Mal" screeched Rudolph bingham,
the second son, jerking at the maternal
skirts, ''here's a load Of lumber at the
bars--a real big load. Do you suppose
that's to make the coffins out Off
just then Miss Clare stalked, a la Lady
Macbeth, upon the scene.
81 attach no importance to vulgar
superstition" said she, glaring at Mrs.
Efingham, with whom she was no longer
on speaking terms. "Of the dead I en-
terrain no fear. But the living are quite
q different thing. And / certainly saw
a-man, Cousin Aldrich, providing about
these premises last night, with a dark
lantern"
''The ghostt' squeaked Della. st seen
him, tool l did, with these eyes. the
blissid saints betune me and all harml
Obi oh! OH"
"Peace, foolish womanp said Haidee.
sThis was no shade! It was a burly
thief, intent no doubt on mischief. ]
saw him try to open the back parlor
shutter, and then Neighbor Foxley's
wagon drove by, and he disappeared as
If by magic. And / want you to under
stand, Lally," to Mrs. Cone, .'that I can't
stand the nervous shock of this sort of
thing. My profession requires that I
should be surrounded by peaceful calm.
l leave here tomorrow"
"An' I'll go wild yez," said Della. 81
can't sleep nights in a place where burg
lars is climbin' up the trellis work, and
poor ghosts come stalkin' around when
the church clock strikes midnight, and
a whole wagon load more comm, to-
morry OF next day, from the cimetery!
Och, hone! the like of it niver was heard
beforei'
INA, ma! can't we go, too? We're
afraid to stay at Blossom Hedge any
longerl' pleaded the little Effnghams,
in chorus.
And sc there was a general exodus.
"Aldrich, is this true?" said Mrs. Cone,
when the last express load of trunks had
disappeared around the curve of the
road.
SIS what true? You're not afraid of
ghosts, are you, Lally?"
"No; but
'Don't fret, my DEAR" said Cone, COM
posedly. "The cemetery has purchased
a lot, but it happens to be Maple Hill,
four miles to the east of us. I'm not to
blame, am I, for Erskine Effngham's
blunder?"
.'But the load of lumber9"
''rve sold the place to Doctor Bassett,
and he's going to build a gem of a
Queen Anne cottage. | can't imagine
any pleasanter neighbors than the Bas-
sets will be-; can your"
"Y-yes," said bewildered Lally; ''but
the interments that had already taken
place there2 You said YOURSELF
"My dearest girl, don't you remember
that we buried MIME, your pet spaniel,
under the sweetbrier bush there? and
the two canaries, last fall?"
sob, Aldrich, aren't you ashamed OF
YOURSELF"
"Who-I? Not in the least"
"But the ghosts, Aldrich? the bur-
glars?
"Here comes Andromeda," said Mr..
Cone, with a sudden assumption of
more than judicial gravity. Come
here, you false damsel, and own up at
onc what I've already been sharp
enough to discover for myself"
ooh, Cousin ALBRIGHT" stammered
poor Andromeda, biushing celestial rosy
red, and trying vainly to hide her face
behind the blue ribboned banjo in her
hand.
~ am neither Della O'Rourke, nor the
Efingham children, nor yet Haidee
Clare" mercilessly went on Aidrich.
"And l shrewdly suspect that the ghost
was Jack Jocelyn in a white tennis suit,
haunting the green field beneath his
sweetheart's windows, and the burglar
no other than Jack Jocelyn in black,
climbing up the trellis after a letter,
which he well knew where to find"
Andromeda blushed redder than ever.
"Now I'll have no more Of this said
Aldrich, with mock sternness. "Con-
fess, young woman, at once, that you
and your love affair are at the bottom of
all this mystification. Jack Jocelyn has
owned up"
"Oh, ALBRIGHT" sobbed Andromeda.
"And will you, too, turn against me?'
"-Not a bit of it," said Aldrich Cone,
cheerfully. Don't fret. little one. Jack
has just told me that he has been APP
pointed to a thousand dollar berth in the
general postoffice, and I've written to