The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1896-01-02
THE GHOST LAID.

The Brewers were not at all a supersti-
tious family. Had they been they would
have moved to the city and taken fiat
when the father failed, instead of going to
that ramshackle old house at Comeck. /
was lovely old house, without doubt,
but
! Well, Mr. Brewer fixed the house up SO
that it would do to live In for awhile at
any rate, until better times should come
and they had furniture enough to make
them comfortable. Grandfather Brewer
declared that he didn't care for even bed
when he had his wheel chair, and, in fact,
any one Of the family would have been
content to sleep in it.
This wonderful chair was patent one,
and when grandfather was not using It, or
the twins were not pushing each other
around in it as a "chooohoo carr or a
steamboat, its four legs were allowed to
stand upon the floor the wheel legs being
raised under the seat so that they would
not be in the way. This was all that was
wonderful about grandfather's chair, ex-
cept that it was covered with fine, soft
broken. 1t stood in the corner of the sit
ting room nearest the bay window, when
not in use and was quite an ornament.
AS you may have inferred from what
have said, the Brewers had very little
money, and in consequence they had to
condense themselves, as it were, to fit the
part of the house which was furnished
The sitting room was a large, square room
bod.
into it. Mr.. and Mrs. Brewer had one
room, Tony and Ben another, grandfather
the third and Emily slept in the nursery
with the twins.
Everything went on very smoothly In
the Brewer household until one night En-
lily commenced to hear noises. They were
queer noises that seemed to come from the
sitting room, and she couldn't just ac-
count for them in the sleepy state of her
senses at the time, but she wasn't afraid
oh, no. So she did not mention the fact to
the family that she had been kept awake
nearly all night by strange sounds.
But the noises were really there, for To-
ny and Ben announced one morning that
the house must be haunted, as they had
heard such peculiar whizzing sounds dur
ing the night 1t wasn't long before the
whole family became aware that something
that wasn't visible in the daylight occu-
pied the sitting room at night.
''If it's a person." said Ben. "I'll fix
him." And that night he tied cords in
many different positions about foot above
the floor, hoping to trip up the intruder.
But if he expected to hear loud thump
from the falling Of heavy body which
had been tripped by the cords he was dis
appointed. All the sound that was heard
was the same old whir-whir-w hizzing
that they all knew by heart now.
"Spirits," limited Tony darkly the next
day when they found that the cords had
not been touched.
And Emily, who was of very senti-
mental turn of mind, wove q sad romance
about beautiful girl who had lived there
many years ago, when the house was new.
The beautiful girl according to Emily's
tale) had been wooed and won by dash
ing soldier. who had to leave his promised
bride and take up his duty on the battle
field. The girl had promised not to mourn
in his absence and set herself to work to
make her wedding garments. So she sat
at her wheel and whiled away the weary
hours by spinning and weaving and think
ing of her soldier lover. For long time
she kept this up, singing blithely at first
and sitting at the window, where she could
catch the first glimpse of his return. Day
after day her singing grew weaker, as her
lover failed to come, and before her we'd
ding garments were finished her singing
had been hushed, her work dropped, and
she had died. The whirring and whizzing
noise, Emily declared was the ghost of the
beautiful maid working her wheel to have
her wedding garments finished by the time
the dallying lover turned up.
Mr.. and Mrs. Brewer didn't try to solve
the problem in any such way as this They
said that even in the best built houses
queer noises were often heard, and they
must expect it in that old house.
Grandfather was very much interested
in the noise, and he told Emily he thought
her solution was captivating, and he in
tended to leave the lamp burning in the
sitting room and see for himself the ghast-
ly maiden at her spinning wheel.
That night he left light in the sitting
room in order that he might keep watch,
and the next morning announced that he
had solved the mystery.
"If you will all stay awake tonight, you
will probably see the ghost, too" said
grandfather mysteriously, and conse-
uuently the children each took nap in
the afternoon and drank a cupful Of strong
coffee in the evening-the latter without
their mothers knowledge, I am sorry to
say-to keep them awake.
The waiting was very tedious, and 1t
must have been about IL O'clock-the time
all well regulated ghosts make their ap-
pearance-when grandfather whispered:
"Shl There she is nowp' And in min
ute six pairs of eyes were directed through
the door into the sitting room.
"Where?" whispered Emily. II don't
see her."
Then grandfather pointed to the corner
near the window where his patent chair
stood, and there was-what do you sup
poser
With a whiz-z-z and a whir-r-r, the
wheels of the patent chair were rapidly re-
yolying one after the other as a little mouse
ran around them in the manner of SPUR
rel exercising ON the wheel in his cage.
The mouse was having the best kind of
time, first on one wheel and then on an
other.
"There's your lovelorn maiden spin
ming, Emily" said grandfather, land
there are your spirits, Ben. The mouse
certainly has good taste to prefer my
chair" he added, "and I'm sure hope he
derives great benefit from his gymnasi-
ump'-Providence Journal.
A Wou.c ne aaureaSo Money.
An amusing story is told about one
of the candidates for the vacant lau-
reateship. On the death Of the Duke of
Clarence he sent to morning paper
some verses lamenting the event. The