The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-12-23
BACK AT THE IMP
Mary Kilgray Would Not Be Csjoled
Into Marrying Mike Doyle,
Thatcher.
Philosophic Reflection Of the Latter
on Girls Who Brave the
Devil.

Revival az Ghost stories In the Paris
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Ladies'" and
"White Ladies'"
During the last few weeks the Paris news.
papers have been full Of ghost stories, and
the ''black ladies'' and white ladies" who
do duty az DEATHS messengers for some of
the royal families in Germany have re-
ceived their full share of attention.
The most distinguished ghost at them
Ill, according to GaliRnani's Messenger,
appears to be the Black Lady Of tho castle
Of Darmstadt. In deep mourning she
comes to announce the death Of some Nom
Der of the families Of the grand dukes Of
Hesse or OF the Bavarian royal family.
The apparition Of this lady has from time
immemorial produced q sort Of panic
among the troops Of the garrison. Tho
boldest ~sentinels are afraid of her. One
day q young officer OF the %Rrenadiers solic-
tied from the grand duke Louis !. the favor
OF acting as sentinel at the o. of the
chapel through which the mysterious
visitor was expected to pass. IF 1t
is not a genuine ghost" he said,
II will cure the practical joker Of his
nonsense" It was agreed that the officer
should order the phantom to halt, and, if
1t did not obey, to Are upon it. The grand
duke and q few conrtiers posted themselves
in the vostry of the chapel, from which they
could see the path that, according to the
legend, the black lady always followed. As
midnight approached the gayety of the
royal group decreased. The clock struck
IL. Before the sound of tho last stroke had
died away they heard in the distance, Halt!
Who goes there?" Then there was a shot.
The grand duke and the people of his suite
came out from their hiding place and ran
into the courtyard, The brave young off
Ger was stretched on the ground. dead. Be-
side him lay his gum, the barrel Of which
was torn from the stock and twisted like q
corkscrew. There was no wound Of any
sort on the body. Shortly afterwards Louis
i. died suddenly in the ducal palace.
In 1850, a still more extraordinary thing
occurred a few days before the death of
Queen Theresa, of Bavaria. King Louis
and Queen Theresa were passing the
summer in the castle of Archafenberg.
where their son-in-law. the Grand Duke
Louis ILL.,, of Hesse-D armstadt, came to
see them. In the evening, when all OF the
court were at tea, several persons present
saw a woman in deep mourning silently
glide through the room. She stopped a
moment behind the chair of the queen and
fixed her eyes upon her majesty. Then she
disappeared through the door of the ante
chamber. The grand duke arose hastily
and rushed after the mysterious visitor.
permitting a stranger to come in I'M
announced. The latter declared, however,
that he did not see a single soul in the ante
chamber or in the royal parlor. The duke
came back and resumed his seat. Ills pale
face excited the curiosity OF the assembly,
happened. Queen Theresa, when she heard
the description of the visitor, arose with
the cry, lit is for me that she has Gomez
Shortly afterward the queen returned to
Munich and died there of the cholera.
One Of the comparatively modern super
~stitions Of the eve Of All Saints - found at
tho bottom of old and, lime
kilns. Just where it began nobody can tell
with certainty. but in all probabilities Ire
land has the best claim to it. At all eveats.
it used to flourish in that country some
years ago. A girl with no beau or a girl
with too many beaux 10 puzzled to lind out
who ia the lucky chap destined to become
her husband. In such a predicsment all
she has to do is to arm herself with q spool
of strong thread and start off after dark on
tho eve of Ali Saints to some old lime kiln
reported to be the abode of evil spirits.
Standing alone on the edge of the deep
hole, the candidate for matrimony repeats
the Lords Prayer backward. Then ahe
takes the end of the thread in her left
hand, and after tossing the spool into the
chasm before her, patiently waits for a bite.
Soon she will feel three pulls. and she must
politely ask his Satanic majesty to be kind
enough to tell her the name OF her future
husband. A voice below will pronounce the
name.
In the home of a comfortable farmer in
the interior of Ireland a dairy maid was en-
ployed some years age. Her name was
Mary KilgrAy. She was q brunette, with
large black eyes and a remarkably long and
hooked nose. She wasn't handsome.
neither was she homely. She had what tho
didn't believe in fear and grew. up to
~womanhood in skepticism. Michael Doy'e
was badly smitten with Mary's charms, but
he could never screw mp his nerves to the
point OF declaring his Intentions. In fact,
Mary hardly knew him. He was a thatcher,
and ono evening while he was repairing the
roof Of one OF the outhouBes OF the farm
where Mary was employed he saw his idol
absorbed in her prayer book. Slowly she
came along and stood by the wall over
which he Was working. He could hear her
mumbling ut some prayer, and after listen
ing attentively he found out that she was
learning to repeat the Lords Prayer back
ward. After nlumbling for Some time she
went back to the house. II have it," said
Mike. ''rhis is ghost night, and Us sure as
] am a thatcher she is bound for the Lara
Cora lime kiln tonight to find out the
name Of her man. iii 20 there before her,
get down in the kiln, and put in q good
word for myself. Mary will resign herself
to her fate, and pretty soon she'll be Mrs.
Doyle"
Mike procured a long rope and at duck
started of for the haunted lime kiln. An
ash tree stood close to the edge OF the deep
hole. Doyle fastened his rope to the trunk
Of tho tree and went down to tho bottom.
The weather was dry and the bottom WAS
covered with withered leaves. Doyle Lighted
his piIe and endesynred to make himself
comfortable. After waiting patiently for
some time he heard footsteps. Mary came
to the brink Of the black pit, hummina a
tune. Down caine the spool. Mike quietly
CROPPED about for it whilo she was endeavor-
ing to repeat her prayer upside down. just
rs he caught ths spool Mary forgot her les
son. She stammered and at last came to a
full stop. In order to help the devil out OF
q difficulty Mike cut the ceremony short by