The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-11-04

there carried money and pistols belted about his
waist. This particular traveller. with n conn
panion, wes journeying to a land sale, and the
pair had between them some $4,000. Settlers
were Few and Tar netweeni ~ was difficult often
horses. One night they were forced 10 stop at a
roadside. tavern whose keeper, was not thought
sisted upon sleeping in the same room. and after
they were in IL took precautions against being
II was an upper room, with log walls, no fire.
places, q single door, and two tiny windows,
nailed tight in their frames. Investigation sat
bare floor, nor any concealed way Of ~ingress, so,
after barring the door securely, they went 70
Lcocked pistol handy. Along toward 2 o'clock
the relator nwoke to find big, sinewy hands with
ike a heavy figure kneeiing upon. his chest.
He could not cry out. but being an, excep-
tiolalIy strong man rose upTisht in bed, s,rug:
though he were naked and covered with long
hair. After a minute he managed to cast the
with III a hard. dull, Earring sound. Hi" eompS1.
ion, who bad BY 4 this time awakened c"lled'
"Thievesi StranElersl" painted the other.
"strikea Lighter we shall be mnrdcrcd.""
But when the light was struck y showed moth
sides their two selves. The door was fast, the
window had not been touched, there was no
and gone. The two men sat up the rest of the
pistol, but they saw nor heard anything more
until they left at daylight. But some weeks
a sreeyrelie ery who had BEEN found dead IN the "sP poom
they had occupied, with cruel black marks about
his, throat though the door had TO be broken in
and the landlord prove beyond peradventure
that he was innocent of any completely In the
sudden taking off.
tra-astonishing that | am a little nervous over
setting down my own experience, which goes ON
all tours with my old friends story.
MYSTERY or A LIGHT.
II..l 49,. a- th, ylaHNnNlan ,-h.-. -. 4.
ing was an imperative virtue; My bedroom was
In the second story. 1t lad two big windows,
always closed at night. The one door was IN
tho end I sn wall h opposite Sit, the n w thTTsRlssSSs ace IL gave
slept in sat with its headhoard against the wall,
thus bringing it almost flush with the, door. and
making me face fully the fireplace end.
| awoKe one February morning as the big
clock down stairs went on the stroke of 8. My
sisters slept, below, in the room corresponding 70
elder of them called up TO. know II she must
send black MHrthSS' our maid . to o6 make me 2 fire:
that. / will run down and dress by your fire.
Then l heard her. shut the door, and began to
when saw a bright light shine through the
door at my head, defining the square of it dis
"Ahi hal, 1 thought, smiling, Martha is de-
termincd | shall have the fire. In spite of my
SELF s.. SO thinking : raised myself upon one
through which the light was monentarily grow
ing stronger. / heard no sound, and began to
denly shod herself with silence. when the whole
room became flooded with dazzling radiance and
though | saw nothing but the light.
They gathered me in a grip so hard could
feel the PLAY Of their ,aI, muscles against my ,yctthhIIn ly
little way from under the thick bed clothes-a
closer grip. another tng then was flung foTci;
sprang up, and ran down stairs. My first look
was at the clock; II was exactly 200. The
lamp sat untouched upon the corner OF the man.
tel. Martha was on her knees reddenlng the
hearth, with my two sisters, each snug In her
WHO brought the light up stairs 2" 7 asked.
They stared, 6lankly at me-, saying; Nobody.
None, of US has gone outside the, door since We
That is all the satisfaction I ever got. We were
the only occupants of the house-the outer doors
failed to show trace of an Intruder. No later
unusual experience has come TO me. but TO my
TRAIN STOPPED by A SPECTRE.
less than a year ago, within less than a hundred
whom ] shall call Mrs. smith. set out Tor tie
metropolis in the early afternoon, Friends
where she meant to take the train. They had
SO much to say that the gates Of 1t were on the
p9lns stsrtine. in fact When she saw a man in a
conductors uniform lean out and say,
Wait, Mrs. SMITH, The train shall stop"
IL uNu blOD. III lhtN. W = ANo ohEh"fH oid
she scram BLEED on and found a seat. Once set
tied in II, IL came over her like a flash that the
%obliging conductor was a young man she had be-
friended years before.
" will thank him properly when he takes mp
my tiGkst: sh rs sa mani 10 r rSrs taat Il pT was 20 a ner rttsr
stranger. When she asked II he had an as
~sistant, either regular or volunteer, she got a
Then, how did you know my name. when
you stopped the train for me 2" she asked. The
II don't know your name-I never did, he
said. II do know that the train stopped after It
what the deuce was to pay with the engineer"
Then at her request he took her through the
whole train, but no man In uniform was visible,
fore. And though she has puzzled over IL not a
little she is still without an explanation OF how
she happened not to miss her train.
HORRORS OF A TAVERN.
Upon the verge OF the old first road between
New York and Philadelphia there stands a pic
turesque old tavern that In the days before rail;
at Il on their way To New York with punches OF
fat cattle. and came back to 1t with. wallets
departed. II IS now the chosen haunt of a few
wise men who want to get away from the roar
the point Of sleeping through anything. But one
night. some years back, a stranger came at sun
down; asking for supper and a bed; liz Was a
sion. so had stumbled on the place. and felt him
self lucky in 10 doing. Thelandl3rd looked him
enough for his comfort. he said; the stranger
had better drive a few miles further. But after
Q while. seeming 10 relent. he took him In for
the night, giving him what was evidently the
best chamber in the house.
II was "a big room. ON the second floor. with a
door opening directly off the landing 81 the
stairway. There Was no other entrance, so
when, after a capital supper and much merry
talk In the common room, the New Yorker
bOlted II fast; he lay down with the happy con-
sciousness that he would be undisturbed until
morning. Therein he reckOncd quite without
his ghost. Just after midnight he was awakened
by loud, heavy. stumbling footballs on the stairs
outside, They stopped at his door; there was u
noise. Of fnmhling and swearing under the
breath; then. In spite Of bolts, the chamber
door swung wide before an icy, charnel-scented
gust; the stumbling tread zane inside a few
PAGES; then there was the sound as Oh heavy
man falling drunkenly upon the floor,
Three times that night the New Yorker shut
and bolted his door, only 10 have IL fy unac-
open as many times. At last he got
up and went down to rout out the landlord.
That worthy admitted, between yawns. that
what had happened was no surprise 10 him. He
would have been surprised, and a bit disappoint-
ed, indeed. IL II had not happened. The ghostly
footsteps lowered the rent by just One-hRlf
made II impossible, in fact, for the owners to
get another tenant, No, the thing never both
cred folks in the other rooms this one was sell