The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1895-02-28

stood before tire, cabin from whence the
light had proceeded. It was q small,
mud walled concern covered with a
thick roof Of thatch. Two little win
dows ON either side Of the narrow door
had their shutters up and through the
jagged chinks the rays OF q strong illu-
mination within shone brightly.
go right In and make yourselves at
home. whileI take my horse to stable. -
said OF mysterious guide q he turned
OF to the rear of the hut.
We pushed open the door. The apart
ment we entered was q large n much
larger than the outside OF the hut would
lead rs to believe, bnt what astonished
rs the most was the luxurious manner
In which it was furnished. Heavy tap
estries covered the four walls, q thick
Turkish carpet was spread upon the
floor, four chairs of solid mahogany,
two lounges OF the same material, all
upholstered in the richest velvet, a huge
bureau of polished pine and a mahog-
any table were situated in various parts
OF h room, the lounges standing tempt
ingly before the wood fire that cracked
up the chimney unrestrained by any
CRATE. Arranging lamp suspended from
the cross beam. whose shade seemed
studded, il not with actual jewels,
with wonderful limitations thereof, cast
a brilliant, almost dazzling. light over
all.
We'll, said Hugh as soon as he
could realize the situation. 'tThis seems
like afairy tale. but then in q fairy tale
this would be an enchanted castle and
not an enchanted hut. Ah, but those
lounges look tempting, however, This
must be some great mans shooting box,
though it looked very unlike one from
the outside as well as / could see. That
man you took for a ghost must be the
owner. His invitation for us to make
ourselves at home sounded as If he was.
Well, / would not mind meeting such
a ghost again under like circumstances,
from which circumstances, however,
may heaven forefendP"
We were so tired and wet, and this
apartment being evidently the only one
in the house. we proceeded to undress
and hang up our garments to dry. Un-
der one Of the sofas Hugh had discover
ed two dressing gowns of superb finish,
which we calmly appropriated, and
our host delayed SO long about rejoinihg
us we lay down on the lounges and
were o sleeping as worn and weary
w~ayfarers alone can sleep.
What sounded like the clash of a
mighty cymbal brought me erect ON my
feet and wide awake after enjoying q
much needed and refreshing sleep. /
looked about. The lamp had gone out.
So, too, had the fire. But In the center
of the room a pillar of light seemed to
descend from the roof to the floor. In
the midst of the pillar was the upright
form of a venerable old man. His head
was thrown back, his long. white hair
falling in a mass over his shoulders.
His great beard covered his entire chest.
He was clad in an ox's skin, fastened
by a hempen girdle. His bare arms,
powerful and sinewy, were bound be-
hind him to a shadowy stake, and his
naked feet-merciful heavens!1were
resting upon live Goals of fire. On look
ing closer at the face / saw a look of
hopeless, ~unspeakable anguish thereon,
but not a moan escaped from the with
ing lips. AS / stood horror stricken, q
sweet female voice rose and swelled in
a weird wild chant of heart piercing
sadness. The words were Gallo, but
the tones in which they floated through
the silence Of the room were the tones
of a soul to whom hope is lost forever.
As it ended. a mocking laugh rang loud
outside the window and was followed
by a horses neigh. We knew from the
cold blast that rushed in that some one
had opened the door. simultaneously
the specter disappeared. I felt an awe
some presence not of earth approaching.
!. Hugh's voice gasped in my ear, For
Gods sake, let us ffyr"
Dressed only in the gowns we had dis
covered, WI rushed madly to tho door.
AS we passed its threshold, we heard
behind us a yell of disappointed rage
that made the blood run cold in our
veins.
We dashed ON blindly, panic stricken.
At length toward morning we met a
party of hunters, who at first very nat
urally took us for a pair Of escaped ln-
natics roaming aimlessly ON the moor
and clad in two old tattered, mildewed
dressing gowns that had seemed such
handsome dresses when we first saw
them in the hut. On our relating our
adventures their voices rose in a mu-
tual cry Of establishment.
"Aweel! Aweeli'' exclaimed the eld-
est Of the hunters, q grizzled veteran,
with the NOW of some so winters ON
his head. Eye air tn first men that ev-
er slep' in the laird's hut and lived to
tell the tale. -
We begged him to explain, for sick
and scared as we were we were anxious
to know what we had escaped from.
"The hut, " said the old hunter, twas
occupied DER 81 years agone by the laird
OF Knockeranie, the eighth OF the name.
On his young wife dying he betook
himself and his infant daughter to it.
he furnished 1t from the castle. Then
he shut himself out from the world.