The record-union., 1891-10-31

AL oIu man Win set and care-Worn
face, a fierce, hunted light shining in the
eyes, which seemed to see nothing, a
trembling hand which drew tightly
around his slight, bent form bright
scarlet cloah-that was the ghost Over
powered with conflicting emotions / sat
breathlessly watching my strange COM
panlon from another sphere. He saw
me not, but, murmuring and gibbering
to himself, began to pace the room.
could not distinguish all his speech, but
ruin! ruin! ruin!' was the burden of
the self-communion. AT first he passed
quite close to me as he walked about the
musty wareroom, but gradually his cir
Gle became smaller and smaller as he
neared the center. Finally he paused
almost at the edge of the chute and
groaned. l was gazing intently at him,
when suddenly he took forward step,
and like a flash shot down the chute
with shrek, which still is ringing in
my ears. This cry broke the spell which
bound me, and leaping to my feet I
rushed down the stairs and fed ont
through the bushes, which were dripping
with the water, and which cut and chilled
me as / brushed them hurriedly aside.
l paused not until | reached our camp,
and fell almost fainting among my COM
paniOnS, who had been awakened by the
arrival of my horse some time before,
and who were just preparing to set out IN
SSaFcn OF me.
THE INVESTIGATION.
Il was too greatly excited and fatigued
to give coherent account of my adven-
lures that night, but the following morn
ing, after good breakfast and drink of
brandy, / managed to tell my story. So
real was it all to me that the shouts of
laughter with which my companions re-
ceived it filled me with surprise, anger
and disgust. Hot words were followed
by mutual apologies, and after a good
deal of persuasion I was induced o re-
turn to the mill with two OF my friends,
Blnford and Fox, in quest of the supplies
which had left there the night before
was still angry, and it annoyed me not
a little to be conscious of the tact that my
companions were silently chuckling at
my expense. Binford. in his loud, bluff
way, insisted upon relating the exceed
lngly fiat story of Harry and the Guide
Post, while Fox graciOuSly conde-
Scended to repeat a short poem which
treated OF ghost which proved to be q
frog. Fairly choking with cholor / an
rived at the mill and proceeded with my
friends up into the wareroom to get the
saddle-bags. / had picked them up and
was turning away again when 1 heard
Binford eXclaim, What's this?' and
looking quickly to where he stood in the
center of the room, saw HIM holding up
what caused beads of perspiration to
stand out upon my forehead and my
limbs to shake with terror. He held in
his hand.a large scarlet cloak, the identi-
cal garment, it seemed, the ghost had
worn the night before, the same pattern,
the same shade. | almost looked TO see IT
vanish into thin air; but no, it was good,
stout material. For a moment the terri
ble thought struck me that perhaps | had
been the witness of real catastrophe,
that perhaps a fellow-being had fallen
into the chute before my eyes and per-
ished. a glance into the hole, however,
undeceived me. Those cobwebs had not
been disturbed for years.
"'ThiS is the same cloak your ghost
wore, Hanna exclaimed Binford with a
airing laugh. The old fellow was prob
ably just retiring for the night when you
saw him, and as his cloak is here yet,
he's probably still in bed. If so we'll
roust him out
stepping TO the side of the room he
tore off long weather strip which was
fastened over a crack and returning threw
1t into the funnel with loud halloo. In
stead of shooting through to the hopper.
as we expected, it met with some irnpedi-
ment about half way down and stopped
there, the end still protruding into the
wareroom. Binford seized the pole and
began TO prod the obstruction vigorously,
calling out that he had the ghost cornered
now and would finish him forever. A
great fear began to take possession of my
soul.
It's bag of wheat which has fallen
down and stuck there, Binford finally
exclaimed. But it feels queer, too,' he
added as he gave it another poke. Just
to satisfy myself I'm going down below
and split the old chute open to see what's
in it,
THE MILLER's FATE.
"Curlously we followed him, and in
my heart 1 felt what the result of that
search would be- Climbing upon the
hopper Binford thrust an old crowbar
between the decaying boards of which the
chute was made, and with a mighty
wrench tore one of them off. Both my
companions gave cry of horror at the
spectacle revealed, but /, expecting such
sight, stood by almost unmoved There.
wedged tightly in the grain chute of his
own mill, was the distorted and mummi-
fed body of old miller Garineau. The
flesh and skin had dried like parchment
but still the ghaStly yellow face exhibited
traces of the unutterable agony in which
the poor wretch had died. No need to
explain the manner of his death had
seen a spiritual repetition of the tragedy
the night before, and my companions
stared alternately at me, the scarlet
cloak ana the withered corpse with super
stitious horror. We said but little. and
since that day my friends have Stunned
the discussion of our dread discovery.
The following day the campers and sew
eral neighbors laid the body of old Carl
neau to rest in a country graveyard sew
eral miles away. wrapping him in the
same scarlet cloak which had led to the
discovery of his remains. Since then the
ghost has never once been seen, although
the place is still Stunned by the country
folk, my experience rather increasing the
feeling Of superstition with which it is
regarded. ] have never solved the mys-
terry of the scarlet cloak. l know it was
not there the day we first explored the
mill, and all the old inhabitants stated
that it was undoubtedly the garment of the
unfortunate miller. 1 can swear l saw
the ghost attired in it, but that is all. 1t
is to me forever part of the great mys-
terry which unites the natural with the
supernatural, the material with the imma-
terial"-J A. Greene, Charlottesville,
Ind, correspondent of the st, Louis
Globe Democrat