Evening journal., 1892-11-19

.
sofa In the gr9te, too. burned a small
fire npasa couple Of tail. white candies
finfafnished scouces were on the narrow
inantelsheif efs5
In the diri light afforded by these
candles and the fire closely scrutinized
the woman who had brought me there
She was tall and slender, and wore a
long russet gown Of an old fashioned
cut but her face was pale and sad. with
sharp. clear sut features. and mass of
rough. reddish hair was carelesslv
twisted into long knot at the nape Of
her neck.
She motioned me TO one of the chairs.
taking the other herself. and she now
sat bending over the fire. apparently too
deep in her own bitter reflections to be
conscious OF my presence. The express
sion on her thin, worn face was very
sorrowful. and her hands were tightly
elinched in her lap. But, though thin
and worn, her face was still lovely. and
as gazed thought how lovely it would
be were the hollows filled out and the
deep lines smoothed away
Suddenly, with a little resolute ges-
ture, she turned toward me and began
to speak in low, rapid tones.
81 brought you here because / wanted
to tell you my story. and want your
help If you will give it.
Then. with voice rising and falling
with varying emotions. and with deer
gray eyes fixed on my face, she told hei
sad tale. The beginning was common.
place enough-a beautiful, willful girl
a stern, unyielding father; two lovers
one brave and handsome, the other mo
rose and unattractive; proposed flight
a sudden death; broken heart-the last
three were the tragic elements.
And ! saw them carry him by the
house-dead, she said. speaking in q
strange, dun way, "and for long tim,
l think l must have lost my senses
When my father still insisted on my
marriage with the wretch he had chosen
for my husband / raised no protest.
viewed the preparations for the wed
ding with indifference seemed turnet
TO stone. But week before the mar
riage my reason.returned and realize,
the horror Of the coil which was slowl,
tightening around me. Then it wa
that | determined on what was virtual,
a living burial. was born in this deat
old house, and knew every nook anl
crpany Of it. My foster mother ha,
shown me the sliding panel in the room
abovethat which | then occupied, an,
she and ! were the only living person
who knew the secret. She was devote,
TO me, and ! at length won her over I,
my plan.
"On the night before my bridal day
led down here. and here have RENAME,
4 ever since. For eight years have beef
dead 10 the world. had valuabl
| jewelry which had been my dead moth
er's that has been gradually sold. au,
on the proceeds ! have subsisted. NJ
foster mother comes daily and bring
me food-not through the house o
conrse There is a secret path and doc
of communication in the garden"
And the ghosty' | queried.
oh she said. with a queer littl
smile. IL am the ghostl You see,
1 MuANNA ~ htFl AAAf iAANri fil llN . 30 liltl
| might wander about the rooms AM
grounds but now ! am tired Of this an
natural existence. Life viii always b
sad for mel have had dreadful grief
and all my dear ones are dead: but. il
spite Of all. my youth reasserts itself, an
solitude has at last lost its charm. SO
wish to return TO the world. and you ca
help me to do so. VIII your
OF course helped her, and within
week from that time the Thorpe mano
'ghost0-now laid forever-was saf
under the kind wing Of John Ridgway
homely little wife. and by the time tn
roses were blooming in my swee
scented old fashioned garden tn
ghost. too. had bloomed into beauty
and /. sober old bachelor, had fallen /
love-quite hopelossly. | told myself
for har heart was with her dead. an
vet Il happened that one June afternoon
rs we stood alone by the sundial on TIA
sloping shady lawn something gave N
courage. Perhaps it was that sh
looked so sweet in her fresh musli
gown. with the flowers in her belt, q
perhaps because caught a strang,
fleeting look in her shy gray eyes; any
way know she murmured that sh
loved the dear old home with its man
gables and pretty garden. Then
whispered
Need you ever leave its' And lool
ing under the broad briinmed garde
hat into her flushed happy face ! added
"Come. sweet ghost. and haunt the oil
place forever!
And she consented. Munyon's Mag'
| zine