The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-11-08

door, then opened it and entered. Fol-
lowing her, | found myself in a low
vaultlike chamber. more like II cell than
anything else. The floor WAS stone, the
walls were bare. but 1t was apparently
inhabited, for there We're few articles
of furniture-a rickety. spindle legged
table. couple of high BACKED. worm
eaten chairs and IL battered hOrsehair
sofa. In the CRATE. too. burned "A smaR
fire and couple Of tail. white candles
! in furnished sCuuc,S were Oh the narrOW
mantelshelf.
In the dim light afforded by thess
candles and the fire closely scrutinized
the woman who had brought me there
! She was tall and slender, and wore \
long russell gown of an old fashioned
cut, but her face was pale and sad, with
sharp, clear cut features. and a mass of
rough. reddish hair was carelessly
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 10 be
conscious of my presence. The express
/
! sorruwful. and her hands were tightly
/ clinched i'll 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 n little resolute ges-
ture. she turned toward me and began
to speak in low. rapid tones.
Il 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 deep
| gray eyes fixed on my face. she told her
! sad tale. The beginning was common
place enough-a beautiful. willful girl;
a stern, uuyielding 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 a
strange. dull way. land for long time
| think | must have lost my senses.
When my father still insisted on my
marriage with the wretch he had chosen
for my husband 1 raised no protest. L
viewed the preparations for the we'd
ding with Indifference. seemed turned
to stone. But week before the mar
riage my reason returned, and realized
| the horror of the coil which was slowly
tightening around NE. Then it was
that determined on what was virtually
living burial was born in this dear
old house. and / knew every nook and
Granny of it. My foster mother had
shown me the sliding panel in the room
above that which | then occupied, and
she and / We're the only living persons
who knew the secret. She was devoted
to me, and / at length won her over TO
my plan.
ION the night before my bridal day
fed down here. and here have remained
ever since. For eight years | have been
dead to the world. | had valuable
jewelry which had been my dead moth
er's; that has been gradually sold, and
on the proceeds | have subsisted. My
foster mother comes daily and brings
me food-not through the house Of
course. There is Il secret path and door
of communication i'll the garden
And the ghost?' | queried.
n.
smile. Il am the ghost! You see,
wanted to keep the house empty, SO that
| might wander about the rooms and
grounds: but now am tired of this un-
natural existence. Life viii always be
sad for me- have had Il dreadful grief,
and all my dear ones are dead: but, IN
spite of all. my youth reasserts itself, and
solitude has at last lost Its charm. So l
wish to return to the world, and you can
help me to do so. Will your
Of course helped her. and within a
week from that time the Thorpe manor
..pbost"-uow laid forever-was safe
under the kind wing OF John Ridgway' 3
, homely little wife. and 10y the time the
roses were blooming III my sweet
scented old fashioned garden the
. ghost" too. had bluomed into beauty,
and |. sober old bachelor. had fallen Ia
: Iove-qute hopelessly, | told myself,
: for her heart was with her dead, and
? vet it happened that one June afternoon,
. AS we stood alone 10y the sundial on the
sloping shady lawn. something gave me
courage. Perhaps it was that she
: looked so sweet i'll her fresh muslin
GOWN. with the flowers IN her belt, OF
! nerhaps because 1 caught a strange,
4 feeting look i'll her shy gray eyes; any
| way 1 know she murInured that she
? loved the dear old home with its many
2 gables and pretty garden. Then
whispered:
e Need you ever leave it, And look.
| ing under the broad trimmed garden
hat into her flushed happy face l added
r Come. sweet ghost, and haunt the old
e place forever!
9 And she consented Maya
q zine.