The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1894-08-24

whar de blood commenced, an hit war
splash'd all long de hall, an down
de stayahs, an into de front pa'la'
whar de big red stain is. Lilly say
dat she ben tole dat, aftah he shoot
hisself, he tink bout de lettah he
drap ON de flo, an he drag hisself all
de way down dare an burn it up all
'ceptin' a little piece 'thout no writin'
on it, an nobody amt ever know what
Miss Charlitt dun write to him. An
Lilly she say dat Prince Cholly's ha'nt
crawls down dem steps, an ober to
de pa'la' fireplace, an burns dat lettah
ev'ry night"
Yes said I, 81 presume it does,
but what of Miss Charlitt?"
"Jest gwine to tell you dat. Lilly
she say dat when Miss Charlitt she
heah what Prince Cholly dun gone an
do, she up an comes home to her
NANNY in Alexandry, an doan eat
nuthin', but jest lay on her bade an
cry an cry jest SO her heart would
break An den de fevah come an
she git 'stracted, an doan know any
body, not even her own nanny. She
crowd worse every day, tell she
ain't lookin' no mo- like Miss Charlitt
dan anything. De doctor tell her
NANNY she ain't g'wine live long, an
say she bettah SEN fo' her husban'
but her NANNY say no, not fo' him.
Miss Charlitt she sleep right peaceful
dat night, an she smile right natchI
like, an look most jest like she did
befo' Prince Cholly had to go way.
Long iowa 'ds mo'nin' MissCharlitt she
dun raise up in bade, an reach up
her arms jest so, an cry out real joy
full Prince Cholly'-but she aint neber
say no mo-. She drap back on her
pillar, an, de doctor say it was all
over, an he say hit too bad her hus-
band aint thar, but Miss Charlitt's S
nanny she see the happy spreshun
on Miss Charlitt's face, an she say,
No; hit am bettah he aint heah.' An
Lilly she heerd dat Miss Charlitt's s
ha'nt is yer in dis house too.''
The afternoon faded into the dark
ness of evening. After my dinner 1
| had to remain with Nose while he fin
| ished washing the dishes, as he was
afraid to be left alone even for a mo-
ment. His work over, we adjourned
! to the front parlor, and I permitted
Nose to smoke cigar with me. AS
no ghosts seemed to come forth, /
| thought they might object to lights,
| and much to the disgust of Nose, /
put them out in the hall and in 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 a fig
| ure passed swiftly and noiselessly
| from the hall door to the fireplace and
| there vanished completely.
For God, mahsa, jew see dat?"
| cried Nose, clinging around my neck
beseeching me in ole nowf to protect
| him, and in another calling ON the
Lord to make him a better nigger.''
| 7 have said that I am not super
stitious, nor even nervous, but I had
just seen what Nose had, and after
his unearthly bowling in my ear,
was nearly as much worked UP as he
was. We at once lighted the gas, and
started an investigation, but discov-
cred nothing unusual.
| The next came after a long night
1 in which Nose and I made most un-
successful efforts to sleep. Nose lay
ON the floor beside my bed, compro-
mise on my fiat refusal to allow him
to hide his head under my sheet. The
next morning he said to me, eel
you'se gwine to stay var in dis yal
house eny longer, dis niggah and you
is got to paint; L aint gwine stay yal
fo' any man and get conjured.''
/ tried all my persuasion, but Nose
was determined to go. We, howeve
settled that he should sleep at Lilly's
and come to me early, in the morn
ings. 1 told him there were no such
things as ghosts, and that | should
no doubt soon find out all about the ap.
partition of the might before That
evening after he had finished his
work and gone to sleep across the
way. again planted myself in such a
position that T could easily watch the
door leading into the hall. I was ir
the dark, smoking, and I had not beer
seated long when a tall figure, seem.
1ngly that of young man, passed
hurrfedly from the fireplace across the
room and out into the hall.
4 I cried to it to stop. NV voice
echoed through the house and fright.
ened me. it sounded so little like nj,
own. was about to start in search
Of the retire lting figure, when thers
entered from the door two others
ttose Of a man and a woman. They
passed slowly enough for me to see
then plainly, shadowy as they were
and l ran from the room and out the
front door to the sidewalk. No: I was
not mistaken, there were the man and
| woman, two negroes in flesh and blood
and down the hill at the corner of
Second street was an electric light,
l saw it all at once; anyone passing
/ in front Of the house would cast a
deep shadow in my drawing room. I
called ont to the couple who had just
! passed, Hello, there! Wait" At my
| first invitation to wait they stopped,
but as they located my voice and my
figure there came a howl from the
woman: 'Fo. God. Ephr'am! Fo, de
| Lawd sake, look yondah, honeyv'
Approaching them, I asked if they
| would not please walk back past the
| house again, as wished again to see
the phantoms float across my parlor.
l was compelled to wait for other pass
ers-by, however, for the gentleman
addressed as Ephr'am and the lady
| under his protection had put two
blocks between us before I knew it.
Upon re-entering the house and wait
ing for more ghosts, I was rewarded.
Tor When anyone passed while the
| room was dark, corresponding fig
| ure or figures would be seen, passing
either to or from the fireplace.
L