Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1894-01-02
CAPTURED EACH OTHER.
Ghost Stories Work on tho Imag-
ination Of Two Girls.
How the Tales of . Winter Evening
Caurs Considerable Excitement-Our
Heroines Clutch Bravely at the
Burglar of Their Dreams.

~ "oo SOiNt NlhbCl CNChihS,
just such one as nature gives for
the proper coloring to stories of the
imaginative character. Ghosts could
be seen dancing and holding high
carnival on the glistening snow
banks outside, and fairy forms and
hobgoblins seemed to burst forth at
every crack of the bright logs in the
big open CRATE.
AS we sat there in the parlor of
the big farmhouse, watching the
glowing logs, we fully bent ourselves
to the surroundings and our imag-
nations had full sway. Uncle Fred
related long and blood-curdling
yarns which he had heard in the
west; the girls told some wonderful
ghost stories and l fairly let myself
loose in anecdotes of crime which
had come under my observation as
q police reporter, says correspon-
dent of the New York Journal.
When at last we went to bed our
minds were keyed up to very high
pitch, and | noticed that the girls
used extra precautions that night in
locking the doors and windows. The
fact that couple of suspicious-look-
ing tramps had been turned away
earlier in the evening by my grand
father also tended to make US more
than usually careful.
The girls retired to a V room, just
at the head of the stairs, q great big
chamber, such as is always set aside
as the spare room, furnished with a
big double bed, with four oldfash-
ioned high posts. My Uncle Fred
and l slept in the low-ceiling cham
Der, in the other wing of the house. A
long, narrow hall, winding around
the top of the open staircase, scpa-
rated the two apartments.
Uncle Fred and | had been asleep
about two hours when we were sud-
denly awakened by the sound of a
struggle. For a moment we listened
and then we heard high soprano
which we recognized as Flora S
screaming:
"Helpl Help! There's man in
the room!'
At the same instant another voice
which we knew at once was Minnie S
gave another and even more un-
earthly yell of ''Helpl He's killing
me!'
Fred was on his feet in an instant
and as he pulled his pistol out of the
drawer l grabbed the lamp. 1t only
took us minute to rush out into
the hall, but in that sixty seconds OF
space we heard enough to convince
us that most horrible sight would
meet our eyes.
Around the hall we bounded and a
kick from Fred sent the door of the
girls room bounding inward. He
cooked the pistol and I showed in the
light. AS the rays from the lamp
shone round the apartment we failed
to discern any traces of the man. A
glance at the bed told the story.
Both girls were sitting upright.
Flora had tight grip on Minnie's
bangs and Minnie was clutching
Flora's hair with both hands. Both
were screaming at the top of their
voices and both were sound asleep.
It didn't take US long to solve the
mystery after getting the girls
awake. Flora, in her slumbers, had
dreamed of burglars, and tossing
about had grabbed Minnie by the
hair. AS she did so she dreamed
she had caught burglar and yelled.
Minnie, who was also thinking of the
ghost stories, instantly surmised
that a robber had her, and in self
defense she had grabbed Flora S
hair. Both had pulled for dear life
and had yelled at the same time.
When the matter was explained at
the breakfast table next morning
grandfather put an emphatic en-
barpo on anv more ghost stories.