The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1895-12-06

Sneef at ghosts and ghost stories much
sthal thevesio sHew,ssand one would
constantly hear people whisperrto one
another while some individual was re-
lating his or her experiences: "Ah!si rs
very odd that these ghost stories. should
always; he related, ut second Or third
hand:@ Now. l want to seessaf fpersoli
who persSpalIy hns seen the ghost, and
Yes. People are more accustomed to
hearing about ghosts ;;and yet, even
now. Should it be Il wife, daughter or
|. sister who ventures to narrute soIie SUI
pernatural = experience, she is pooh
poobed., or laughed at, +or=told to take
q pill. I.<4 x
pared to, attest most solemnly to the
fact. as welE as to- the truth Of every
word here set down. ] have, Of course.
avoided names but. nothing. else; so,t
without further. preamble, l will state +
Some years ago became the, object
Of the infatuated alteration Of u person
word 'infatuateu' ;dvisedly, because I
feel now. as did ut the time, that neitll-
er l nor amy mortal that ever lived could
possibly be worthy Of MISUNDERSTANDING
affection which MY poor friend layishei
upon me. T. n,<my side, Wasz,not un-S
Z
return very dearly but when I explain
that T was u wife. and the mother Of
young children, and that she was ull-
married. it will be easily understood that
our devotion to each other must of mes
cessity be rather one.sideds and this fact
caused, some dispeace between us ut
times. zFeEssYts3y
For many years my friend held a post
ut court. which she resigned soon after
she began to know me; and although her
royal mistress, in her gracious Kindness.
assigned two houses to her, She gave
them both up. to be free to live near
me iii B; indeed, she gave up. rela-,
tiyes. old servants and comforts in or
der that she might come and live land
die, alasD in lodgings. over a shop, near
me. But she was not happy. She
''gloomed" over the inevitable fact that,
in consequence Of the difference in her
home circumstances and mine. could
not be with her every day. and all day
long. l. think she was naturally OF an
unhappy disposition, being deeply, pas
sionately and unjustifably incapable of
All this gave me often much annoy
ance: but we were. all the same, some
times very cheerful and happy together,
and sonletimes-tlle reverse. =. ~. 49, -
Later on. she, poor soul, was taken ~,
and during months of fuctuating health
| nursed her-sonetimes in hope, some
times without-and at moments during
I her illness she found strange comfort in
foretelling to me. after the most 'suncan-
ny" fashion, things which she declared
would happen to me after her. death.
They were mostly vialities---little cpl
sotes concerning people and things over
whom we had talked and laughed togeth-
er, for she was gifted with a keen sense
of the ridiculous. - r.. ="
Among other things, She said to me
one afternoon: r.. -. - a'a%r . ~, =.'
This: bazaar for9 which we are work
ing" (she had been helping me for weeks
fora charity bazaar. and | can now see
her dainty 8littleshands as she manipulat-
I ed the delicate muslin and lace. szlrl Poor,
poor Ir-l Il shall be dead before
it takes place: and shall see You ut
your stall. and On one of the days. Of
the bazaar an old lady will come up to
you and say: Have you any. of poor
Miss l. -: $ work? mentioning me-
sone!!. And you will show her this
which am working; and she'll say:
l. Haze YOU any more and you will say
E.Yess again ;sand sshe'n carry it all of,
and say she buys it. all for poor Miss
I4-- Is. sake And It.shall know z. and see
"What lady 6 4 + z9s
She answered. dreamily: .Oh. don't
knOw-sb,1t some old lady! You'll sect
And I am bound to say. this is exactly.
| what. occurred ut the bazaar. months
after her death: an old lady. with whom
was not acquainted, did buy all her
| work. having asked for it. and carrying
1t awlya8ssfor her sake!' An old lady,
| too. whom had never seen. fts t:3ss.s rs
7 One other curious circumstance which
Il 1xe<n1
ling forward witffmore than usual pleas
ure to my coming BIRTHDAY (which she
said would be ID more than commonly
i3llappy "a anniversary THAT was the very
| 'day Oh which she died! I.s3. =. 5..
think that one of the sharpest regrets
which Il ever experienced IN my life con-
sisted III the fact that ! was not with
| she passed away. She had made me-,
| promise that J. would L be with her at
| that time,s and. God knows, a had the
fullest intention Of fulfilling her wish.
but ON that very evening. Of all others.
/ ] wassculled avn y, and she died III my
/ absence. I had been sitting by her bed
Isside all the afternoon, and all that ever
/ kept whispering comforting words i'll
/ her ear, but latterly she had lnade4 no
/ response, and WIS seemingly uncon-
Il sciOus. - >ss1s
ESuddehly a nesseng ea.a,ne. from my
il house mot d hundred yards it was AWAY.
saying my husband wanted me ut once.
! as one Of my children was ill i looked
/ at the nurse, who assured ME there was
i nothing Immediate impending so. stOop-
4 ing over my poor friend 4 g whispered
Kat the sanle time pressing kiss ON her
j forehead-that half mn hour should sec
/ mes,lt her side again. But she took nj,
notice. and much against my will: hast
ffka