Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-03-12
Lost on Dhu u-COrrig. By sTANDIsH O'GRADY ICopyright, 1894, by American Press AsSocia-
 tion.l
By sTANDIsH O'GRADY
CHAPTER XXVI. III AnnIrT NITTTON.

ALL ABOUT MUTTON.
 ! On the twelfth day of that month my Iethargv was dissipated and at the same
 time the ghost laid ip a singular man.
 her. As sat beside my fire, nodding as
 my custom was. was startled into sud
 den animation by loud yet dull thud
 as If some heavy body falling in the long gallery. Suatching brand from
 the fire. l hastened thither, and at the spot where the bones formerly lay and
 where I had discovered the brown cake found fat sheep lying motionless on
 the ground. 1 was now wide awake,
 active and even excited. When l heard the noise, guessed at once what caused it. The ghost was no impeachment to me, for 1t was only about O clock in the afternoon, and his solemn march ings to and fro would not commence till midnight. The sheep was quite dead 1 bled her as she lay, and though practically ignorant of the butcher art skinned her partially. cut out cer- | tain layers from the breast. and return | ing to my fire roasted them. l was not | consciously hungry and had no longing | for flesh food. but being now wide
 awake and actively intelligent 1 knew ] that meat would do me good, and that l if I was not to die I should eat it. The odur and steam of the friZZling chops,
 however, at onco awakened a furious appetite. I ate with relish, and re- turning to tho carcass of the unfortunate sheep hacked off two more chops, fried and ate them. I would have eaten more but I knew how dangerous such indul- grnce would be after long abstinence. l Then l dral Copiously from that little glitteling pencil of descending water t0
 which 1 have referred. 1 used to drink Uf it sometimes by the simple process
 of opening my mouth to receive 1t, at | least when 1 was i'll good health and | spirits Finally 1 filled myself a pipe
 of tobacco and enjoyed good smoke, | luxury in which 1 had not indulged for long time Finding myself unusually | gay and vigorous, 1 might almost say defiant and pugnaciouS, determined to stay awake till , o'clock and see wheth- | CT the ghost would reappcar. Isuspected | that my weak and nervous condition had somcthlng to do with the presence of the appaIition. Twelve O clock pass ed. and l. yet I SAW absolutely nothing that night. nor did 1 ever afterward once perceive either that antique mar tial figure or anything at all suggestive ut the unCannv and supernatural as long as I remained in the cave. I have heard and read of various methods of laying ghJStS and exercising evil spirits. Mutt ton chops nicely hrOiled and eaten by
 an extremely hungry man laid my ghost
 and laid him ctfrCtually. Divine prov | idcnce saved me my life or my reason
 on this "ccasl"n. I don think I am a l iua~ttr. but from what 1 recolleCt 1 am l c.uvinc,, that If the ghost had appear | td that nIght. as hc had been in the hab
 it of appearing for so many nights pre- | viously, l would have confronted him,
 barred his path and questioned him. | Familiarity breeds contempt. Every | night for , l., hours 1 had been now to1 | weeks watching the steady passage of | this sinister figure as it paced to and | fro along the north wall of the cavern. | slept ,urdly that night and awOlie in the morning alert. energetic and ray | cnuu>. Of course 1 attacked the sheep ! again. but what was my surprise to l find on this occasion another great ! brown cake close beside the sheep, quite | fresh and seemingly baked on the pre- l vious day. Moving around with my l torch, 1 discovered half a dozen others,
 some of them quite stale. It was evi- dent that Charley had been again at
 work and seemingly now enabled. with | out let CT hindrance, to roll me down a
 cake every second day. as he had prom | ised. Having now both mutton and
 bread to eat with it, I rapidly recovered | my health and strength, and the knOwl- l edge that one at least of my brothers
 was firmly convinced that 1 was at the l bottom of the "Dcvil's S Parlor' filled l me again with hope. I skinned and l jointed my sheep, and collecting from
 various little hUllows near the pool all
 the salt procurable proceeded to corn | as much of 1t as 1t was not likely that | I should eat fresh. rubbing the salt
 well in with my hands. As my supply
 of salt Was limited. 1 eked it cut by soak
 ing each piece of mutton in the tidal
 water. After each >teeping dried the
 piece at the fire and again plunged it
 in the salt water. B"tween times 1 rub
 bed the salt vigorously into it. Indeed
 1 succeeded in preserving the whole
 sheep very well. With renewed energy
 and Zeal 1 now returned to my suspend
 ed lahurs at the window and worked
 there with q will and from early morn
 ing till late at night with little inter
 mission. My bread came to me as reg
 ularly as it did to the prophet at thc
 brook Cherith. I had bread. meat and
 fish and even vegetables, if one can
 count edible seaweed as such. All was
 going we'll with me. EaIly in Decem-
 her my last piece of brass had worn toe
 small to be of service. 1 melted all the
 little pieces which I had saved, made
 for myself thereby a very bright brand
 new chisel and scored away industri-
 ously. Though 1 knew that this too
 would not bring me to the sill, that il
 would be worn out before I could effect
 my deliverance, yet not once did my
 heart and hope flag. I had brass but
 tons on my clothes. I had my watch
 watch guard and chain. I would melt
 them, too, into a chisel. Even with flint
 stones, when all the metal gave out,
 could do something. I now began tC
 feel confident that if only my life were
 spared long enough l would carve my
 way out of my den. This energy ant
 vigor seemed to be all my own, gener
 ated in my unconquerable will, and ye
 it all came from that poor clifted sheeI
 and my brother Charley s brown bread
 have to record with shame that after
 the fall of that sheep became much
 less pious than I had been before, and
 yet on the whole my sufferings in thii
 subterranean prison and the marvel
 ous. including Charley vision, and thu
 miraculous way in which my life haG
 been preserved, and by which l was re
 stored safe to the upper world, gave
 such a serious turn to my thought anC
 manner of life that, though frequently
 assailed from without and from within ] L.. s..E -nns.nr,ir,crs and crcrastinras