The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1891-11-13
FOR YOUTHFUL READERS.
GOOD READING FOR OUR
YOUNG PEOPLE.
The Ghost Of Beech Hill--How a
Boy Became Commander
Boys. Prepare to Be Men,
An Ingenious Boy
KairWan.
The Ghost Of Beech Hill.

the scene Of this story. stood Squire
MacdOnald's store, and one dreary
night in late autumn there came
thither first Rory O'More, and then
Sandy Big John, and finally Alec Gil
lies, all i'll a high state OF excitement,
and asserting with much positiveness
that they had seen the ghost on
Beech Hill. Now the squire was as
shrewd, hard headed, and unsuper-
stitious Scotchman as ever traded
tea for butter or sugar for eggs, and
he had no more faith in the Beech Hill
ghost than in the man in the moon.
But this time the testimony of the
terrified witnesses happened to agree
remarkably. The ghost had appeared
to all in precisely the same form,
namely, as a white shapeless thing
that rolled along the ground, uttering
shrill and threatening shrieks. The
matter was surely worth looking into.
Hank ye now," said the squire at
last, 81 believe you're nothing better
than a parcel of foolish boys; and to
prove it, I'll 60 up to the Beech Hill
myself and see what it is that has
come SO nigh soaring the life out of
YOU"
Thus speaking, he got his coat and
hat, and calling upon them to follow,
set offfor the scene of the ghosts walk.
Rory and Sandy and Alec would
much rather have been excused, but
pride overcame their timidity, and
they followed in their leaders, track.
hardly had they reached the foot OF
| the hill than the shrieks they had
heard before came to their ears.
'"There it is again!" exclaimed Rory,
with trembling lips. "Can ye no hear
it, squirrel"
"To be sure l cam" responded the
squire, stoutly; "and I'm going to see
what it is. Come along"
The distance between the doughty
squire and his followers increased as
he went on, while the shrieks grew
stronger with each forward step.
When about the middle of the
ascent he saw the ghost. 1t was, as
the men had reported, white shape
less thing rolling upon the ground,
and from it undoubtedly came the
piercing cries which proved SO alarm
ing.
Going straight up to the thing, the
squire touched it with his foot, then
bent down to feel it with his hand,
and then burst out into a roar OF
laughter that at first startled the
three farmers almost as mnch as the
| ghosts shrieks.
"Come, here, you fools!" he shout
ed. "Come and see what your ghost
is"
In hesitating way they drew near,
and examined the cause of their
alright. It was a white meal bag
containing two very lively young
pigs, which had in someway fallen off
farmers wagon in the middle of the
road, there to prove source OF ter
ror to the superstitious and perhaps
not altogether sober passers- by.
How Boy Became a Commander.
There lived in a Scotch village lit
tie boy, Jamie by name, who set his
heart on being sailor. His mother
loved him very dearly, and the
thought of giving him up grieved her
exceedingly, but she finally consented.
AS the boy left home, she said to him:
"Wherever you are, Jamie, whether
on sea or land, never forget to &C
knowledge your God. Promise me
that you will kneel down every night
and morning and say your prayers,
no matter whether the sailors laugh
at you or not"
"Mother, l promise you l will, said
Jamie; and soon he was on a ship and
bound for India.
They had a good captain; and, as
some of the sailors were religious men,
no one laughed at the boy when he
kneeled down to pray.
| But on the return voyage, some of
the sailors having run away, their
places were supplied by others, one of
them who proved to be very bad fell
low. When he saw little Jamie kneel-
ing down to say his prayers, he went
up to him, and, giving him sound
box on the ear, said in decided tone,
"None of that here, sir"
Another seaman, who saw this, al
| CnOugQ no SWOT0 SOIlloUAIlcS, was III
dignant that the child should be so
cruelty treated, and told the bully to
come up on deck and he would give
him thrashing. The challenge was
accepted, and the well-deserved beat
ing was duly bestowed. Both then
returned to the cabin, and the swear
ing man said, '''Now jamie, say your
prayers, and if he dares to touch you
I will give him another dressing"
The next night it came into the little
boys mind that it was quite unneces-
sary for him to create such a disturb
ance in the ship, when it could easily
be avoided if he would only say his
prayers quietly in his hammock, SO
that nobody would observe it. But
! the moment that the friendly sailor
saw Jamie get into the hammock
without first kneeling down to pray,
he hurried to the spot, and dragging
him out by the neck, he said, "Kneel
down at once, sir! Do you think l am
going to fight for you, and you not
| say your prayers, you young raScal!,s