The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-09-06


I might get it for nothing, but a guilty
conscience smote me.
IF you win warrant that the ghost you
speak of is not woman ghost, III take
the house Immediately" l said.
Hall right. sir, an no kid" was the
quick retort. You come back. sir, to Mr..
Smith, hand the hagreement ii be made
out in jiffy."
! did go back to Mr.. Smith, and the
| agreement was made out, not i'll a hurry,
but in half an hour.
| paid a deposit of five pounds and was
asked for no reference or information of
| any kind. | was offered the choice Of
buying the furniture by easy installments,
| or of having 1t taken away-anything l
| liked When l had signed the agreement
| for three years ! was told that they had
| offered to let 1t for ten pounds year
without securing a tenant People were
so afraid of ghosts.
1 am not an avaricious man, and was
satisfied with my bargain. l had what
wanted--a place where l would be abso-
lutely quiet-where no woman would annoy
me by her unwelcome neghborhood
When 1 told Mrs. O'Islaherty that 1 had
taken a beautiful, quiet secluded house in
the country, where nobody ever came ex-
cept ghost with his throat cut, the good
woman screamed. But little persuasion
and explanation brought her to more
| reasonable condition of mind.
| 'Shure sorr, an it's no worse than my
| husband they can be-" she argued at last;
an I'll be rid o. the spalpeen, anyway"
| A week after that we were Installed, and
1 was in a heaven of delight 1 had made
an arrangement that the furniture should
be left as it stood. The estate agent prov
ed to be the most obliging of persons. He
was ready to do anything to make me
feel comfortable in my new quarters.
And 1 was comfortable. The remem-
brance of those giggling hussies next door
to me in Fulham made 1.-The Rest" as my
new place was called, place of rest in
deed
Nobody seemed to pass it even. The lane
in which it stood led only to it, and fin
ished there. No shouting carriers, no noisy
| tradesmen, no tramps. My nearest neigh
| bors, rickety old farmer and his half
blind and quite deaf old wife, were fully
| five hundred yards away and the only
| person Iemet in my first days walk was
their man, species of farm laborer and
hoster combined, who CAPPED at me and
said, "Mornin' sir" and then looked as
if he had done something wonderful He
was not likely to annoy me, that was GER
tain.
On my second early morning walk no.
ticed three other men, foreigners evident
ly and strangers to the neighborhood
who had probably lost their way. for they
/ were standing at the corner of the turn
pike at the bottom of my lane looking
in the direction of my place and con-
versing in a vernacular which l did not
| comprehend although / understood
French and German pretty fairly.
They seemed surly fellows,R for they
scowed ut me in spite of my breezy
'+Good-day, sirs," as l passed, and fhen
they strolled on leisureiy towards Burn
ham
They did not seem pleasant company,
I a,f., 1lrr fn11
faced, hungry-eyed fellow all muscle
and bone, who had big ugly scar run
ming across his eye and cheek, looked as
if he would murder a fellow creature for
sixpence But am not a nervous man,
when other men are concerned, and 1
would at any time rather face three arm
ed burglars than one woman, so the mat
ter passed out of my mind
The next morning received the follow
ing curious epistle:
"You are in the wrong box, and l advise
you to get out of it, or another box may
be found for you, six feet by one and a
half, and you may be carried away in it.
Get out of this place. 1t is not salubrious
for you. People who live at The Rest
are known TO die suddenly"
No signature. A threat! People who
live at The Rest are known to die sud
denly" Hem had not heard of that.
joke-a stupid, practical joke, most
likely Some woman's idiotcy, perhaps
| looked at the writing again. and to
be sure it was a womans! l felt easy in
mind then. No doubt it was a little
spiteful trick of those hussies in Ste
phen's road,
AS to the ghost he was a perfectly dis
Greet and invisible parsonage Neither ]
nor Mrs OFlaherty had caught glimpse
of him.
Some three or four days after the first
mysterious epistle, a second one came:
"You won't get out of your box, then?''
it ran. VERY well, you will have to be
put into another-the one / mentioned, SIX
feet by one and a half. You are warned
Be wise in timen'
This seemed to me a reasonable explain
alton, and the handwriting was a mans
round, bold and firm.
I took the letter to Mr.. Smith and
asked him to advise me.
That's something new" he said; land
that isn't a ghosts work. That's a trick
of somebody who wants to prevent me
from letting the place. so as to be able
to buy 1t for nothing. That's 1t, you may
be sure. Don't bother yourself about IT,
The whole business IS as clear as day
light. It's a conspiracy to reduce the
value OF the place-that's ALL"
Then you would advise me to take no
notice of it?" ] asked.
"Of course, advise H. You have no
| reason Whatever Tor alarm. NOW, L am
on the track, and I'll find all about it."
This seemed to me a reasonable explain.
alton, and l went home satisfied.
/ was sitting in my study reading The
mornings paper when I heard a crash
like a cannon shot, followed by roars and
smashes and then by shrieks and means
A cloud of smoke and dust rose from the
vicinity of the kitchen, and, rushing out
! beheld great gap in the kitchen wall
The window had been blown clean out
and the bricks of the wall, where the
kitchen range had stood, were scattered
all over the paved yard by the side Of IT,
climbed breathlessly over the wreck
and entered the Kitchen.
There was Mrs O'Flaherty. more dead
than alive, but alive happily, and I'M
hurt except for few scratches on the
face and neck, leaning against the 90
posite wall. white as a sheet, trembling
as in fever, and grooming as II her
limbs were smashed.
whats the matter. Mrs. o'Flaherty?'
| / cried.
"shure an it's dead am" the poor wo.
man answered, IAN yen have to bury