St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-04-19

N ty laugh OF
child. But all
IN the same he told
! me one day last
H. 4 summer yarn
w so queer that,
coming Fl m
any one else. it would have seemed to
mean touch in the head. We were up
at his mothers place, near Littletown,
and lying out under gnarled old apple
trees in the sweetest old-fashiOned
orchard you ever saw, with the summer
night pulsing about us. and good cigars
TO soften our hearts. Jim" said Rod
ney so suddenly that jumped, do you
believe in ghOSts?'
"Why, l never thought much about
it," l said, thinking it over. "lf there
are such things, they never bother me.
Do they you?"
Yes, they bother me. That is, one
does" He was 50 solemn that | stopped
laughing. Tell ne aboutit, old chap,
L said. 1t was just light enough for me
to see him straighten up and throw
away his cigar. I'll give you the story
in his own words, as near as ! can.
''lt is nearly fifteen years ago now"
he began. ''snce it happened, but it's
all as clear to me to-day as If it had
taken place last week. Fact is, | can't
get it out of my head, though Pve
Travelled TO forget it, worked like dog,
hoping to drown the recollection, and
once actually went to an authority on
brain trouble to see if | wasn't slightly
non cOmpOS mentiS, but he laughed at
me, even when i told him my story, and
assured me whatever was the eXplana-
ton of my mystery it did not lie in a
diseased brain.
70
last of September. | had business in a
little place in Eastern Connecticut, a
sleepy, tedious village, totally uninter-
esting except for its age. My business
was to look up evidence to be used III a
lawsuit which involved nearly the whole
site of the town, and | had been to the
office of one Josiah Durham, the oldest
inhabitant and general repository of in
formation regarding the whole county.
When | was leaving | saw passing
his door woman in an unusual dress.
Though the glimpse l had had of her
was so brief that | could not decide
what it was struck me as peculiar. was
so impressed by her appearance that |
cut old Durham short and took after
the lady. She was walking briSkly, but
l caught her presently just where the
village street merged into the country
road and followed her as closely as |
dared.
That she was young her erect carri-
age and superb figure told me, but as
she eever turned her head however
slightly, and wore i'll addition wide
brimmed bonnet, circlirg her face like
a half moon. l could not catch a
glimpse of her cOuntenance. tried re-
peatedly to OVertake and pass her, but
without betraying any knowledge Of
my pursuit, she managed TO keep about
the same distance before me. AS do
not know much about women's clothes,
l could not make out for some minutes
what was queer about hers, but at last
/ hit on what had been haunting nv
memory ever since ! first saw her. 1t was
aplcture of nv grandmother taken in her
bridal dress-I'l show it to you to-
mOrrOw-that the woman reminded me
or, only her gown was black aud had
big sleeves coming to the elbow, and
her arms were covered with black
melted gloves that showed the white
flesh and their beautiful round shape
She walked with pretty swinging
movement, which yet had Something Of
OldfaShiOned gown, long and straight
and narrow in the skirt and short in the
waist, she was as striking and hand
some figure as you can imagine.
Il followed her nearly half mile,
when she paused at a gate in a low
white fence bordering the road, and
opening it entered. when saw her dis
appear among the tOmbstones | found
thickly clustering in the Enclosure. |
was in the village graveyard, which
spread itself over several miniature
hills and nestled in their mimic valleys,
and it was these Inequalities, | con-
Guided, which concealed her from me.
l found an old man at work cleaning a
stone and when had seen the lady out
of sight | paused and asked him who
she was. The old chap raised himself
and peered about him. Which lady%
he said. Where has she gone" why,
she passed within foot of you,' l told
him. Nay he persisted, no lady had
passed him. So giving him up as hope
lessly stupid | looked the place over
carefully and, failing to see any one
about, finally went home.
1.-The next day | was just coming out
of the pOStoffce when my lady passed
me again, and this time | saw her face
1t was that of young and beautiful
woman of perhaps twenty-five or year
OF two more, with big black eyes yelled
Will MHllC. lIlIlStU lIuS Il IlOuItl DIS 1eu
as a rose and a small, daintily curved
nose as Sensitively nostriled as 4 race
horses. | turned to a man standing at
my elbow. Who is that lady?' l asked
him.
THAT lady. sir. is Mrs. IIarller,' he
answered, but | saw that he was looking
at stout woman i'll the act OF entering
carriage.
"'No, no. said, L mean the lady
who just passed u.s. He glanced up and
down the well-nigh deserted street and
then at me. Better go sleep it off, old
boy he said kindly, or it will be snakes
next time stead of woman | raised
my arm to knock HIM down, but reflect
ing that had subjected myself to the
impertinence by addressing stranger,
/ merely left the fellow to believe as he
liked.
During my stay IN Wyee1 had Sc
cured a room in the house of an old
couple named Paxton, and it was Mrs
Paxton whom | next questioned about
the lady in the antiquated dress. The
old lady dropped her work when | be-
gan my story, and listened to me with
her face so full of a kind of terrified
awe that it was ali ! could do to keep
from laughing III it, but when | finished
she gathered her sewing up with de-
cided shake of the head. No no. she
said, Il know of no woman living in
these parts that answers to that picture.
But | was certain that something lay
beneath her emphatic denial, for |
heard her whispering to her husband
That night when paused in the hall
way toAemove my overcoat. God help
u.s. said the old man in Mortified tones
Sure as you are born, Hester, he's
seen Lady Whitaker They were
naturally a silent old pair, but that
night they did not address a single re.
mark to me beyond the necessary ques
tons of tea or milk, biscuits or cold
bread. but sat and eyed me furtively
as one who had experienced strange
things.