The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1891-05-06

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of the evening between the children's
! cribs.
"'What can we DO tomorrow EVENING"
asked she. l have it Lucy shall be put
TO bed beside Jack Lucy was our
youngest, aged two.
"Ail went we'll next night There was
no alarm to summon us from our papers
and novels, and we went TO bed at IL, An
gela remarking that the three cherubs
were sleeping beautifully, and that it had
been a good move TO let Lucy bear the
| other two company. | was reused out
of sound sleep by wild shrieks from the
three children.
"'Whatl More bad dreams? This sort of
thing must be put stop to- l said; and
confess / was very angry with the young
rascals. My wife was fumbliDg for the
Matchbox. 'Hushp she whispered,
there is somebody in the room And |,
too, at that instant, felt the presence of
some creature besides ourselves and the
children. The candle lighted, we again
| Notwithstanding to be seen in
Gressing-room, bedroom, or the draw
| ing-room beyond, the door of which
was shut. But the curious sense of a
presence near us-stronger than any feel
| ing of the kind l had ever previously ex-
perienced-was gone. You have all felt
the presence Of another person unseen.
You may be writing-you have not heard
the door open, but though your back is
toward the visitor, you know somehow
that he has entered.
''Quite true, Mr.. Henniker-but there is
nothing unnatural or unpleasant in that
sensation"
Nothing, OF course; l merely instance
it to give you some idea of what we felt
on that occasion. We were astonished to
! find the sitting-room untenanted. Mean
while poor Hal. Jack and Lucy shrieked
in chorus: Oh, the old woman in the
black bonnet! Oh, take her away"
"Poor Angela, trembling, hung over the
cribs trying to soothe the children. 1t was
good while before they could tell what
had happened. she came again. said
Hal, and she came close, close to me. and
she put her cold face down near my cheek
till she touched me, and don't like her
oh. don't like her, mother!
Did she 90 to Jack and Lucy, too?'
eyes, yes; and she made them cry as
WELL
"'Why do you not like her? Is it the
black bonnet? You dreamed of a black
bonnet last night, you know, said /, half
puzzled, half-provoked.
"'She's 80 frightful, cried Hal.
How could you see herr There was
no candle
"This question perplexed the little boys.
They persisted that she had a light about
her somewhere. / need hardly say that
there was no comfort for us the rest of
the night. If any one is trying to brighten
us out of the place, I'll be even with him
yet said l. My wife believed that a
trick had been played upon the children,
and she was most INDIGNANT
Next day the cribs were removed to
the upper story, and Charlotte and joan
na our daughters of twelve and fourteen,
were put to sleep in the dressing-room.
We predicted an end to the annoyance we
had been suffering. The nurse was a
quick tempered woman, who would not
stand any nonsense, and Halls bad dreams
would be sternly driven away. We set
tied ourselves to our comfortable light
reading by the drawing-room fire. Sud-
denly there was commOtion overhead
an outcry-s surprised more than terrified,
it sounded to us. Angela laid her book
down quickly and listened with all her
ears. Fast-fying footsteps were heard
above; the clapping Of a door; then
scurry, scurry-the patter of bare feet
down the staircase. We hurried across
the hall, and saw Charlotte in her night
gown returning slowly up the kitchen
stairs, with a puzzled expression on her
henest face.
"What on earth are you doing, child?'
cried Angela
81 was giving chase to hideous old
woman in a black bonnet, who chose to
iDtrude on us painted Charlotte. ] saw
her in our room; jumped out OF bed and
pursued her through your room and the
sitting-room. Then l saw her before me
going dow n-stairs, and ran after her, but
the door at the foot OF the kitchen stair.
case was shut. She certainly could not
have had time to open it, and | really
don't know where she can have gone to-
This was Char.otte's explanation OF
her mad scurry downstairs. Her down
right sensible face was puzzled and angry.
$50 you see the little ones must have
been tormented by that old wretch, who
ever she is. They didn't dream 1t, father.
as you thought. Wouldn't like to pun
ish herr"
what a brave girlw cried Mrs March
mont.
Brave? Oh, Charlotte's as bold as a
lion! She went back to bed, and when
we followed her, in couple OF hours, she
was sleeping soundly. But | can't say
either of us slept so well. If trick was
being played upon us, it was carried out
in so clever a manner as to battle me COM
pletely. | need not say that made care
ful search of every Granny about the hand
some house and offices; and if there was
a secret passage or a door in the wall any
where, it escaped me. We had peace for
a fortnight, and then the annoyance re-
commenced.
"Angela's nerve was shaken at last, and
she began to whisper, There are more
things in heaven and earth, Horatio-"
John, you are making a story" inter
tupted Mrs. Henniker.
lit is every word true. j am coming to
an end. Angela, in spite of her dis
claimer. did believe in ghost in black
bonnet Charlotte believed in her, but
did not care about her ghostship. The
nurse and cook and housemaid declared
they were meeting the horrible appear
ance constantly and they were all three
in a mortal funk. AS to the children,
they would not leave off clinging to their
mother. and fretting and trembling when
evening came. The milkman, the baker
and the butcher all told the servants that
we would not be long at the Hall, for no
body ever remained more than a month
or two This was cheerful and encours-
ging for me-.
But you had never seen the charming
old woman ali this timer"
No; but / saw her in the broad day
light. had good, long look at her, and
On mora dioh0Iical fapa | navpr cnW-nO