The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-10-13
TWO children were in Inc rectory ol

CT fourteen years. They were the sons of comfortable farmers, and were in- tended for the priesthood. The younger one went to an auction one day, and everybody noticed that Thorel pushed his way through the crowd un- til he reached the child and touched him on the shoulder. Then he disappeared. A few hours afterward the row com menced. The child had hardly re- turned from the rectory before fear ful racket commenced in the establish ment. Noise like the blows of ham mers was heard under the floors and ceilings, and everywhere throughout the building Sometimes the rapping was gentle and regular, and sometimes 1t increased until it actually shook the building. In fact, the noise could be heard nearly a quarter of a mile from the place. Consequently a crowd in cluding all the inhabitants of Cideville. constantly surrounded the reotory and vainly sought for the cause of the phe- nomena
 While these mysterious noises kept up their incessant concert, producing the exact rhythm of well-known airs. the windows were broken, the tables danced and waltzed about the place; chairs jumped up and remained sus- pended in the air; dogs were picked up and thrown against the ceiling; broom sticks and breyaries flew from one win dow to the other, in and out of the place; fire shovels and tongs left the fireplace and had waltz all by them selves, hammers and other implements flew about the place and dropped again upon the floor as gently as if each had been placed there by the hand of a child; big desk full of books started to fall down horizontally upon the head of one of the witnesses, M. R. De Saint Vincent. when, suddenly abandoning all the known laws of gravitation It turned upward and finally fell at his feet
 But all these phenomena were noth- ing compared to the case that was offered by the shepherd. He saw be- hind him the shadow of man in blouse, whom he did not know until the day when he was confronted by Thorel. Every time he cried out That's the man Every time that the child spoke before witnesses of the appearance of the phantom, they testified that they saw behind him a sort of vapory shad- ow. But the boy was subject to a still more singular hallucination. A black hand used to come down the chimney and slap his face. Nobody saw the black hand but himself, but everybody in the room could distinctly hear the sound of the slap and see the child's red cheek,
 NIaA @f lN,a1o crowded day and night As one might easily imagine, the lovers of the mys- terious came from all parts of France to visit it. and all sorts of prescriptions were handed in to break the spell upon the establishment. One of the crowd stated that he had read that the spirits were particularly afraid of sharp pointed weapons; and many among them, even at the risk of being charged with dabblipg in superstition, procured long swords and prodded the air in the places from which the sounds were heard. They were about to give up the game, when suddenly one swordsman, more fortunate than the rest, evidently landed one of his thrusts, for all in the room could distinctly hear a groan from behind the wall, and afterward the word pardon"
 Certainly we will pardon you' said the cure, but on one condition, and that is that you, whoever you may be. come yourself in person and beg the pardon of this chld''
 Will you pardon us all?"
 How many are you?"
 We are five, including the shep- herd"
 The cure then said that he would pardon all, and immediately everything became silent in the rectory, and that terrible night was closed in peace and prayers.
 Next day in the afternoon Thorel came to the rectory. His attitude was humble and he seemed penitent; but he endeavored to hide with his hat some wounds that were on his forehead It was at that moment that the child, mo- ticing him, cried out:
 That's the man; that's the fellow who has been haunting me for the last two weeks
 What do you want, Thorel?" asked the cure.
 T have come from my master" said he, ''to get that little organ that you have here"
 No Thorel, no; you never received any such order It is not for that that you have come here Be frank now and admit that you have come to ask the pardon of this child"
 'I have" said Thorel; and he fell upon his knees. But while he was ask ing pardon he crawled up to the boy and seized him by his blouse, and, &C., cording to the testimony of the wit nesses, from that moment the suffer- ings of the child became more intense and the mysterious noises in the recto- ny of Cideville increased. The cure, in order to avoid being touched by the shepherd, was obliged to beat him back with his cane.
 It is needless to say that the court of inquiry did not get to the bottom of the affair, and that. like many things of the kind, the queer trick will remain for long time a puzZle.-New York Sun