Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1890-01-17

teadshots, and Saidagnlas seconds object
eli to the eapon Negotiation followed
instead Of fight, aui ON the last day of
| tue raee meeting Sparks posted Salda2uia
as q coward They all went to Richmond
that afternoon, and that uight IN that city
| young Saldasnis first learned this fact that
his opponent had posted him He sought
lin immediately, found Lin, AID shot
! Sparks dead on sight
Well he should hare fought With II
hes said Crane
| and what followed them said Inger
| soil
| 'Saljaguia vas indicted Tor murder, ahi
| tired Oh that charge. His fathers vast
wealth came into play in feeling great law
yers to defend him. The jury disagreed,
and be was tried again, and then there
were appeals, aud SO forth, an interminable
litigation that entirely exhausted the old
gentlenan's wealth, and he died here with
a broken heart. Young Saldaenia was
| never hanged. but he disappeared. Then
| this house stood for d long while un-
occupied, and one night in great storm it
was struck by lightning aud burned lear
| ing the ruins about as You see them.
Naturally the imagination Of thUse living
hereabout has peopled these ruins with the
| spectres of the old man and the slave
mother, and the festal array of visitors,
aud all that, for superstition gloats over
| any opportunity to indulge the Imagination
in that way"
well, Mr.. Wrayburu, you Lesan "
saying there was no story; yet you have
told rs e very interesting one about all
those people"
These incidents are SO we'll known hele
that it did not strike me they could be new
to any one"
| well, never heard word about all
this before; and hundred thousand men
have been near here all winter, and l do
not believe one of them ever heard of it.
This is big country, sir.
| "Yss, sir" said Mr.. Wrayburn, rising;
but ! can distinguish, gentlemen, that
| there is little difference in the color OF
| the atmosphere-the effect Of the coming
moon In half an hour | shall have plenty
of light, and therefore. with your per
mission, l will take the road"
Aud so, with few ceremonious words,
| they bade him good night, and the old gen
| tleman rode away.
And now the moon, as II struggling to
keep Mr.. Wrayburn's appointment for it,
was above the horizon, but hidden by the
heavy clouds that had made the gloom Of
the early night So deep. Through riffs in
these clouds an occasional CLEAN cast a
vanishing veil Of light upon the ruins and
once or twice the moon shone in full
splendor upon the tumbling architecture
for several minutes at tine Our friends
had never seen it by moonlight before, and
its beauty as thus seen was like revela-
ton to them Of the glory of decay. Per
haps the romantic story they had heard of
its history heightened the charm, for the
mind and the moonlight have the same
witchegy to give dignity and postical
grandeur to what in plain daylight is only
u broken stone or shattered column.
There came a moment when the moon
was dimmed again, but not altogether hid
den; and Ingersoll stirred the dying fire,
so that it hared up into little fame, by
the light of which they could see each
others faces, and glance passed between
as if each needed to he reassured By the
comfort of some familiar association OF
humanity.
Suddenly Cranes eyes became fixed upon
distant point Of the ruin; there was
change in his demeanor; lie said, or almost
gasped There; what is thstf'
"He sees ghosts now" said lngersoll
And they would have laughed, but did not
feel very merry, and saw that Crane, be
tween the ghost stories and the moonlight,
was very uneasy.
mo, boys; this is no fun. What is that3
1t is very queer"
At that moment the glimmer OF moon
light in the upper dir did not penetrate to
those wells of gloom, the recesses Of the
ruin, and in the depths of one of these was
seen what might have been light, il or
dnary light were blue and ghastly and
illuminate perspective trail rather than
point in space, for this was queer, un-
real, ghostly sort of glimmer that seemed
to come out Of the heavy dead wall, and
trail around at the foot Of it i'll the great
hall Of the ruin.
And then there was stranger still; for in
the fare of the light they could see moving
shadows; but the shadows had a demoniac
and unreal demeanor, for Ingersoll, whose
common sense had not been driven from
its position, tried to explain the appear
ance by thought of the enemy, and saw
upon scrutiny that that would be folly.
lll-detined in the dim CLEAN that seemed
to 60 with it. aud not clearly seen when
the moon came to its best mass oi
grotesque forms moved under the influence
of some law, and disposed itself in a half
circle at one end of the great hall, and
there was stationary; and then some sounds
arose from it-strange, wailing, melan-
choly, moaning, pathetic sounds.
And then the masa was sgitated, but in
unison, as if it might be dancing; but the
movement had not the spirit or yigor or
gayety Of dance. 1t swayed the mass to
and fro; it swept it in slow whirl around
and around; and above the mass swinging
arms seemed to strike the air, and q
IN onotonous vail arose almost like the
death cry at an Indian funeral-a
poignant, affecting sound Of very human
sorrow.
Crane was on his knees, his eyes bullying
from their sockets, speechless with dread
he could neither understand nor control;
Talbot was uneasy, and Ingsrsoll puzzled
to his wits ends.
And now the moon, freed for little
from the drapery Of clouds, lit the scene,
and they could see things really in the
form of human figures before them, and
one figure became somewhat defined. 1t
seemed to be q woman-a very tall woman,
IN ade taller in appearance by high per
pendicular Golf or fantistic head dress. She
seemed to come out Of the gloom, and to
advance to point between the ends OF the
semicircle. At that point was remnant
Of the base Of stone column about four
feet Ugh aud fat on top. On that stone,
as ii if we're al altar, she placed what
seem ed to be d box; and then she with
drew to some dist ance, and went around
this stone with q measured pace, vaguely
| tho rnnvamaut nj "A rnipnat