The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1892-05-18

L. S. minister and bis wife. and there 20
place a clammy hand on Mrs. Otis fore
head, while he Kissed into her trembling
husbands ear the awful secrets OF the
charnel house. With regard TO little Viz
ginia, he had not quite made up bis mind.
She had never insulted him in any way,
and was pretty and gentle. A few hollow
groans from the wardrobe, he thought,
would be more than sufficient, or, il
that failed to wake her. he might grapple
at tho Counterpart with palsy-twitching
fingers As for the twins he was quite
determined to teach them alesson. The
first thing to be done was, of course, to
sit upon their chests, so IS to produce the
sitting sensation OF nightmare. Then, as
their beds were quite close to each other,
TO stand between them in the form of a
green, icy-cold corpse, till they became
paraiyzed with and. finally, to throw off
the winding sheet and crawl round the
room with white. bleached bones and one
rolling eyeball. in the character of dumb
Daniel. or the Suicides Skeleton" role
in which he had on more than one occa-
sion pronounced n great effect, and which
he considered quite equal TO his famous
part of Martin, the Maniac, or the Masked
Mystery"
At 10 30 he heard the family going to
bed. For some time he was disturbed by
wild shrieks of laughter from the twins,
who, with the light-hearted gayety OF
school boys, were evidently amusing
themselves before they retired to rest, but
at ILLS all was still, and, as midnight
sounded, he sailed forth. The owl beat
against the window panes, the raven
croaked from the old yew tree, and the
wind wandered moaning round the house
like lost soul but the Otis family slept
unconscious of their doom. and high
above the rain and storm he could hear
the steady snoring OF the minister for the
United States He stepped steathily out
smile on his cruel, wrinkied mouth,
and the moon hid her face in a
cloud as he stole past the great
oriel window, where his own arms
and those of his murdered wife were
blazoned in azure and gold. On and on
he glided, like an evil shadow, the very
darkness seeming to losthe him as he
passed. Once he thought he heard some
thing call and stopped but it was only
the bayinR OF a dog from the red farm,
and he went on muttering strange six
teenth century curses, and ever and anon
brandishing the rusty dagger in the mid
night air. Finally he reached the corner
of the passage that led to luckless Wash
ington's room. For moment he paused
there, the wind blowing his long gray
locks about his head, and twisting into
grotesque and fantastic folds the nameless
horror of the dead mans shroud.
Then the clock struck the quarter,
and he felt the time had come.
He chuckled to himself and turned
the corner; but no sooner had he done so
than, with piteous wall of terror, he fell
back and hid his blanched face in his
long, bony hands Right in front of him
was standing horrible spectre, motion
less as a carven image and monstrous as
msdmans dream Its head was bald and
FURNISHED, its face round and fat and
white, and hideous laughter seemed to
have writhed its features into an eternal
grin. From the eyes streamed rays OF
scarlet light, the mouth was wide well of
fire, and hideous garment, like to his
own. >swathed with its silent SHOWS the
Titan form. On its breast was a placard
with strange writings in antique charae-
tiers, some scroll of shame il seemed, some
record of wild sins. some awful calendar of
crime, and with its right hand it bore aloft
falchion OF cleaning steel.
Never having seen ghost before, he
naturally was terribly frightened, and
after a second hasty glance at the awful
phantom he fed back to his room, tripping
up in bis long winding sheet as he sped
down the corridor, and finally dropping
the rusty dagger into the ministers Jack
boots, where it was found ip the morning
by the butler Once in the privacy of his
own apartment he flung himself down on
a small pallet bed and hid his face under
the clothes. After a time, however, the
brave old Cantervile spirit asserted itself,
and he determined to go and speak to the
other ghost as soon as il was daylight. Ac-
cordingly, just as the dawn was touching
the hills with silver, he returned toward
the spot where he had first laid
eyes on the CHASTITY phantom.
feeling that after all, two
ghosts were better than one, and that by
the aid of his new friend he might safely
grapple with the twins. On reaching the
spot, however, terrible sight met his
gaze. Something had evidently happened
to the specter, for the light had entirely
faded from it's hollow eyes, the cleaning
falchion had fallen from its hand, and it
was leaning mp against the wall in
strained and uncomfortable attitude. He
rushed forward and seized it in his arms.
when, 10 his horror, the head clipped off
and rolled on the floor, the body assumed
a recumbent posture, and he found him.
self casping white dimity bedcurtain,
with q sweeping brush. a kitchen cleaver,
and hollow turnip lying ct his feet I'm
able 10 understand this curious transform
alton, he clutched the placard with fever
ish haste, and there, in the gray morning
liOhf ha raod tbasa fearful uorda.