Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1895-09-03


waist'
Precisely what have seen in tho
night' calculated. Il saw it at the foot
of my bed and it seemed to disappear
through the panel of the wall. Is your
room in the west wing at the end of the
great passageP'
1T is, he replied.
"'Then the apparition must have en-
tered your room when it left mine for you
are evidently sleeping in the next room to
me! What is to be doneS'
1--WE cannot stay, and I certainly do
not like the idea of breaking up the party.
"Well, we talked it over long and ear
nestly, and at last arranged to stay that
night at any rate and see if it visited us
again.
"After another days sport, during
which we forgot our fears night came on,
and we once more retired to our rooms,
but not to bed.
II was very tired, but sat up watch
ing until long past the time the apparition
had appeared on the previous night, and,
then, overcome by fatigue, I threw aside
my fears, and, throwing myself on the
bed, was asleep in a moment.
II could not have slept very long-not
many minutes-when / awoke with a
start, and felt at once that the thing was
by me. In terror opened my eyes. Oh,
horrors! The bust Of the woman was ly-
ing by my side on the bed, with her head
upon the pillow!
"What happened after that I do not
know, for I must have lost consciousness
for a moment, and when recovered the
fearful ching had vanished. jumped up
from the bed and rushed instantly into my
neighbours room, but he was lying upon
the rug in dead faint. loosened his COL
lar and poured cold water on his face, and
as he opened his eyes and revived little 1
made him take good draft of brandy
from my hunting flask, which had with
me.
'sHe quickly came to himself, and sit
ting up he told me he had dozed off in his
chair and had been suddenly awakened by
the touch of death cold hand upon his
forehead and found the apparition close
to him, gazing with entreaty in her eyes
into his face. Overcome with horror, he
had tainted away as found him. We sat
together and talked long and earnestly and
at length decided that we would make the
best excuse to our host, urging some sud
den call back to our homes, and would
leave the house that morning. I am afraid
Jefferson must have felt hurt at our sud
den departure but stay we could not, so
we came away, and here am"
Gascoyne and sat talking and conjec-
turing about the mysterious visitant until
late that night.
Weeks and months passed, and it gradu-
ally became only terrible memory of
which we spoke now and again, until one
day Gascoyne knocked hurriedly at my
door, and saying In an excited manner,
"Put on your hat and come with me" he
led me without another word again to the
old Ring Of Bells. AS soon as we were
seated in tho little room behind the bar he
began in hurried manner:
"I've just had letter from Jefferson.
1t seems he had q Christmas party at Hey
ton Grange last week, and one of the
guests who had been placed in the room I
slept in shrieked out in the middle of the
night that she had seen ghost, and when
they had Gained her sufficiently to speak
coherently she declared that it took the
form of the bust of woman. Jefferson
Immediately remembered our hasty flight
and the curiously embarrassed manner in
which we made our excuses for leaving
him SO suddenly, and believing now that
it must have been in some way connected
with the apparition that SO terrified his
lady visitor he made up his mind there
and then that together with the bravest OF
his visitors he would himself watch on
the following night.
He did SO, and soon after midnight the
restless spirit returned once more. He and
his friend nerved themselves and spoke to
it, demanding the reason of its presence III
the house. 1t gazed upon them for mo-
ment, and reckoning them to follow ii
foated out and led them through secret
door on the top landing into small room
under the roof, where they found an old
worm eaten chest, into which the appari-
ton seemed to disappear.
"They rushed down stairs, and quickly
returning with two or three of the men.
servants they broke open the lid and were
Mortified to discover the lower part of q
woman's body, which, from It's decom.
posed state, though it was partly preserved
with lime, had evidently been there for
many years.
"On inquiry they at length learned that
long time before murder had been COM
mitted, and the murderer, who was the
husband Of the unfortunate woman, had
severed his victim at the waist, and that
her bust having been discovered it had
been buried in the churchyard, but that
all search for the lower part of the body
had been in vain.
GAS soon as Jefferson and his friends
could arrange with the authorities the
CHASTITY object in the trunk had been buried
beside the bust"
That was Gascoyne's tale, and he was
able to inform me from further com.
munication he received from Jefferson that
the midnight visitor had never appeared
again.
My friend was a man for whom enter
tanned the highest regard, and had every
reason to believe In his integrity. He de-
clared to me that every part Of this strange
narrative was true, and have never been
inclined to doubt it.-Omaha World Her.
aid.