The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-09-04

oooy AAS uuO uluB QlSSelI Oh Go bed, an
he must been pretty near stracted, too,
Gus do sheets was tored all to pieces.
Den he must gone into do sittin room
up stayahs and shot hissclf, Gus dnt's
whar dc blood commenced, and hit war
splash'd all long do hall and down do
stayahs and into dc front pa'la whar dc
big RID stain is. Lilly say dat she been
tolo dat aftah ho shoot hisself he t'ink
'boUt 10 lettah he drap on do flo, and
he drag hissolf NIL do way down dare
and burn hit up, all 'oeptin a little piece
'thout no writin ON hit, and nobody aim
ever know what Miss Charlitt dun
writo to him. And Lilly sho say Cat
Prince Cholly's ha'nt crawls down dem
steps and obcr to do pa'la fireplace and
burns dat lettah ev'ry night. {"
"Yes," said, ri presume 1t docs,
but what of Miss CharlotteY"
Jest gwine to tell you dat Lilly she
say dat when Miss Charlitt she hoah
what Prince Cholly dun COMO and do she
up and comes home to her nanny in
eAlcxandry and doan' eat nuthin, but Just
Lay on dc bed and cry and cry Jest so her
heart would break. And don do fevah
come, and she git stracted and doan'
my. She GROVE worse every day toll she
ain lookin no moro like Miss Charlitt
than anything. The doctor toll her
nanny she aim gwine to live long and
say she bettah send TO- her husband, but
her nanny say no, not TO- him Miss
Charlltt she sleep right peaceful dat
night, and she smile right nachullike
and look most jest like she did befo'
Prince Cholly had to go way. Long
t'wads de mo'nin Miss Charlitt she dun
raise right up in dc babe and reach up her
arms jest so and cry out raj jyful, Prince
Cholly, but she ain neber say no mo-.
She drap back on her pillar, and do doc
tor say hits all over, and he say hit too
bad her husband ain thar, but Miss
Charlitt's nanny she soc tho happy
spreshun on Miss Charlitt's face, and she
say, No; hit am bettah he ain heah.
Lilly say she heerd dat Miss Charlitt's
ha mt is yer i'll this house too
Tho afternoon faded into tho darkness
Of tho evening After my dinner l had
to ROMAN with Nose while no finished
washing the dishes, as he was afraid to
DO left alone for even Il moment His
work over, we adjourned to tho front
parlor, and l permitted Nose to smoke
cigar with me. AS no ghosts seemed
to come forth, thought they might Oh
jcct to the lights, and, much to the dis
gust of Nose, L put them out in the hall
and i'll the room where we sat. A soft
radiance came in from the street, and
we sat and smoked, and Nose, wishing
to appear courageous, was saying that
he guessed that half the houses that
were supposed to be haunted were not,
and l was thinking of the beautiful
Miss Charlotte when suddenly IL figure
passed swiftly and noisclessly from the
hall door to the fireplace and there
vanished completely.
q" Flo God. mahsa, jew see dat?"
cried Nose, clinging around my mock,
beseochlng me i'll one howl to protect
him and i'll another calling on the Lord
to mako him "a better Niger. "
l have said that l am not supersti-
t1ous nor even nervous, but l had Just
seen what Mose had, and after his un-
earthly bowling i'll my car l was nearly
as much worked up as ho was. We ut
once lighted tho gas and started al III
vestigation. but discovered nothing.
l tried all my persuasion, but Nose
was determined to 90. We, however
settled that he should sloep at Lilly's
and como to mo early In the mornings.
told him there wero no such things az
ghosts, and that should 10 doubt soon
find out all about the appalition of the
night before. That evening, after he
had finished his work and gone to sleep
across the way, again planted myself
III such position that l could easily
watch the door leading into the hall. !
was III the dark smoking, and had not
been seated long, when tall figure,
seemingly that of a young man, passed
hurricdly from the fireplace across the
room and out into the hall.
l cried to it to stop. My voice echoed
through tho house and frightened me,
1t sounded SO little like my own l was
about to start Ill search of the rctreatine
hguro when there entered from the
door two othcrs-those of q man and "a
woman. They passed slowly enough for
me TO see them plainly, shadowy rs
they We're, and l ran from the room and
out the front door to the sidewalk No;
l was not mistaken. There were the
man and the woman-two negroes in
flesh and blood-and down tho hill ut
the corner of Second street was an cleo.
trio light. l SAW it all at once. ANY
one passing i'll front of the house would
cast deep shadow i'll my drawing
room. called out to the couple who
had just passed: Hello, there! Waltz
At my first invitation to wait they
stopped, but rs they located my voice
and my figure there came Il howl from
tho woman: 60 God. Ephr'am! Fo'