New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-12-24

evening.
Some months went on. but Notwithstanding
great pressure of business, which came upon
him In consequence Of his uncies death. the
mystery of Ashchurch conthuaily IecuIIeu 10
him. The strange behavior OF the peasant
woman In the churchyard the unexplained emo
ton Of the blacksmith. his own strong ana I'M
accountable yearnng tha' lleinoIapie Inns se
to look behind the tower, the odd COINCIDENCE
OF his uncles death with his glimpse OF the
white dress passed and repassed before his
minds eye over and over again.
One evening ne had sat down TO look over old
papers and letters. with a view to destroying
what was worthless. His unce's correspondence
had been extensive, and the task was fatgung
one He was the point Of giving 1t up for
the night when out Of the letters there
dropped a square piece of acknowledging paper
which fluttered down upon the carpet He
listlcssly picked II up.
The inscription It was so curiously In ac-
cord with the subject uppermost in his
thoughts that he was reused into strong IN
terest. 1t ran thus:
Her vesture. dmly afar.
To him who sees an evil star;
Her self who sees, he shall be blest,
And give her weary spirit rest"
His mind was so possessed with the convc-
ton that the two first lines Of the doggerel
described what he had himself recently ex-
perienced that he felt no surprise. at the time
reading at the head of the letter in which
the paper had been inclosed the word Ash
church" over the date
The letter turned out to be one written to his
uncle by a former resident in the parish OF
AshchWch. who had been many years dead
1t gave a long account of the Ashchurch ghost
quoting several cases OF its white robes having
been seen in the moment of their disappearance
round corner of the church-always the same
corner. viz. the northwest. and. In each case
some disaster was found 10 have befallen the
person witnessing the. spectral appearance al
the very moment of the ghostly dress having
been
Strangely enough Cortram had never heard
his uncle mention the subject. and up to the
date of his accident some months before he
had never even heard The name Of Ashchurch
ming 1ispt- no
a week of the date Of the letter, the following
entry:
Went to Ashchurch ghosthunting to prove
to poor Conner what fudge 1t all is
The next entry was fortnight later:
Not so sure about fudge. | certainly
something; but 1t was probably a wreath Of
mist"
And three days further on:
George died the very night and the very
hour in which saw that something
George cousin.
1t appeared from Mr.. Corners letter that the
rhymes on the bit of paper were copy from an
old parchment found in a chest in Ashchurch
Tower. Coriram carefully preserved both the
letter and the copy Of verses. His uncle had
left him all his property. and he therefore wound
up his own business. and settled down. as best
he could to the life Of a country gentleman.
But he felt that the associations Of Ashchurch
had taken so powerful hold of him that he
could not shake it off He had a feeling that.
in some nexplicable way, against which his
will seemed powerlcss TO contend he being
drawn to visit the place again. He long bat
tied with the feeling as being morbid and
childish. But finding that he was growing
hippish and seepess. he determined to try
whether the actual sight Of the place would
not work cure.
SO about twelvemonth after his first visit to
1t. he found himself once more In the Ashchurch
lane on an evening late in June.
He had been some days in the parish and had
employed the interval in getting as much infor-
nation as he could out of the Oldest Inhabitants;
but this amounted to little beyond what he had
already learned from Mr.. Corners hitter 10 his
uncle.
OF late years the lane leading 20 the
church had been religiously Stunned by the
Pensioners: and ghost. II is plain. cannot be
seen without somebody 10 see it,
One additional piece Of evidence. however. he
had got at quite accidentally.
1t happened that on" day he had called upon
the village doctor. whose acquaintance in hts
professional capacity. he had made during HIS
last stay in Ashchurch. The doctor was
squarely built. weather beaten man. "a prosaic
and matter-of-fact as man could De- The
conversation turned upon Mr.. Conner.
Il knew him we'll" observed DR.. Cawson. and
attended him for some years before his death.
He died at five minutes past a. on December
TO- twelve and half years ago"
do you always remember 50 accurately the
time Of your patients departure. Or. Cawson"'
"Why-no. But there were peculiar crcum-
stances"
'Do tell me what they were"
"If you will promise not to laugh AZ ne. II
fell out that afternoon that had been paying
some professional visits and was returning home
by Ashchurch Lane on foot remembered that
in a corner of the churchyard there grew a herb
which had often found useful. so | jumped over
the gate 10 gather some. | was busy doing 80,
when | remembered | had another engagement
later and must make haste. CHANGING AZ my
watch ! found II five minutes past I.
Just then. in the dim light. saw the Whit train
OF a wOman's dress disappearing round The corner
/ Of the church IL was 80 real. 10 my mind. that
| felt sure should have seen the whole figure
If had raised my head earlier mad heard #
the same sort Of thing having been noticed be-
fore. and am not ashamed 10 say that ! got
back into the lane and home as fast as eyer
could When ! reached my own door, found
that a mcsse niger had been sent by Mrs Conner
! in my absence 10 say was urgently wanted. as
Mr. Conner had been suddenly taken worse |
went Immediately. but was too late lie had died
at five minutes past A.
And have you any theory about it. doctor
any explanatory" The doctor shrugged his
shoulders. and the conversation changed.
/ Thinking Of this. among other things. Cortrani
slowly proceeded toward the church. He felt
! strong presentment Of some coming event APP
preaching him with the slow steps 81 tate.
/ The gate had grown so rusty that II was some
| time before he could force it open. i hasty
| glance round the churchyard told him that neg
| lect and decay were rapidly doing their work.
! The place a greater picture OF dcsolation
! than ever He stationed himself where ne could
best watch the northwest corner Of the building,
! leaning his arms on a headsone. and concen-
trating his whole attention on the spot where
the apparition had before shown Itself.
For a long time he remained TIL his eyes
! began to ache with the hXiiy Of their gaze.
At length there appeared on the surface OF the
ground, not more than two yards from the corner
J Il
seemed gradually gathering consistency and
moving very slowly along the ground toward the
tower TIL at length 1t took the semblance Of
/ trailing garments.
/ 1t was in the act Of disappearing AZ 1t had done
! before. when with peculiar wavy motion Of
! the drapery it suddenly seemed to halt. leaving
! still a portion distinctly visible, as though the
| mysterious wearer Of the dress werd standing
| just behind the Uncovered corner.
! Cortram felt his hair stand on end. and cold
! dew seemed 10 break out on his forehead. Never
theess he felt impelled 10 advance, as though
some hidden agency within him. more powerful
! than his own will, were using his limbs for It's
own purpose.
| And still. he got more abreast Of the tower.
| as well as nearer to II. more and more OF the
ghostly drapery became disclosed, til at length
the tall figure OF woman, with hood drawn
over her face. stood close beside him.
Cortram, as though in dream. heard a voice