The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1896-02-15

Mabel laughed. II don't suppose
he is. But that ISM t what mean. /
want to know if he is courageous
enough to 60 there and see if it really
is haunted" -
"Oh, I dare say he's pretty brave;
he says he is, and Mr.. Humphreys
thinks so too, [ believe"
eyes, papa is so enthusiastic over
him-l mean Mr. Steele's kind heart
and religious feeling; he thinks he
must be good man and not easily
frightened" She looked at me
steadily. And [ want to know if he's
a man fully to be trusted;
"With untold wealth?''
''No, to see ghost
"Ah! I see!'
"You're brave too, aren't you, Mr..
Wolcott?' :"
"You're very kind to say so, but
assure you there never was worse
coward than [ am. I've no courage
at all-I'm all brain! Now there s
the difference between Mr.. Steele and
myself
Mable rose. eyes, I see the differ
ence," she said. ri am very much
obliged to you, Mr.. Wolcott, for
your good advice. I wasn't sure
whether he would undertake it..
Brain is good thing, so is courage;
| prefer a happy mixture And with
a pleasant little nod she sailed off.
[ never saw until afterwards what
a comparison 1 had made-one all
courage and no brain, and the other
all brain, and no courage. I had
muddled things badly, that was evi-
dent, and the worst of it was that
she never gave me an opportunity to
let her know | had not intended any
eisrespect to her future liege.
All this time Sol. Humphreys never
ceased talking about buying the
large house. At last Mabel made
the proposition that some night we
three, Ned, Butter-Scotch and myself,
should go there and stay until morn
ing, and if our report was mo
ghosts" she would not say any more
against the purchasing scheme; but
if anything diabolical or mysterious
happened, that her father was to
give up the idea. Our consent being
asked, we cheerfully gave it, and as
one time was as good as another, we
decided to make the experiment that
night.
Armed each with a stout stick and
a pillow, we advanced upon the
haunted dwelling about nine
O'Clock, and were admitted by
the man in charge, whose head
quarters were iIl itsiraine
building, which communicated
with the house by a. long entry at
the end of which was an iron door.
This door was closed and bolted
after us, and we were left to make
cur own way.
|, for one, did not expect to see
anything supernatural, but Mabel's
stories were very vivid, and l would
have liked to obliged her by seeing
something uncanny. We had
brought a lantern with us, and But
ter-Scotch had very self-sacrifcing]y
taken charge of it. So we ascendcd
the stairs, and made a tour of the
upper floors, then descended, and
made another tour of the ground
floor and cellar, and Butter-Scotch
considered, the exploration so
thorough that he strongly advo-
Gated going home and to bed, and
bringing in sealed verdict, sno
ghosts" But we wouldn't hear OF
it. So, having made sure that the
front door was unlocked on the in
side, and could be opened instan-
taneously ly if the proposed ghost were
disposed to be violent, or use Ian
guage unfit for "ears polite" we
made ourselves as comfortable in
the hall as circumstances of no bed
and an indefinite ghost would allow.
len o'clock-no ghost: Eleven
not a sound. Eleven-t -thirty-"Ned
you're snoring.''
"Oh, no; was thinking how"
"Great HeavensP' whispered But
ter-Scotch.
"Where? where?' we asked stimuli
taneously.
Butter-Scotch wiped moth off
his cheek.
Il thought you saw something"
Ned said to him, irritably.
"He went in my eye. Probably
you'd cry out if a beetle went in your
eye"
S'That's all right, Scotchy. You're
game, eh: old MANI"
This is sheer nonsense Mr.. Steele
explained.
Whirr- rr-rr fizz, thupp!
tter-Seotch yelled, and started
up.
SSit down. Don't you know a
June beetle when you hear one.''
"Was it indeed?" and Butter
Scotch wiped his forehead.
Suddenly there was crash some
where in the house. -.
'By George!'' gasped Ned, "we're
in for it, boys 49,.
l don't know how long we waited,
but it began sagain-frst a sneeze,
then kissing sound, then a pail
rolling down stairs, followed by an
assortment of dust-pans and fire.