The Hazel Green herald. [volume] (Hazel Green, Wolfe County, Ky.) 1885-19??, 1896-02-06

4 AGtt&slttA Au&s TrNtieN ctr W llklotp.
with conviction Il. lis au exploded sv,-
| p~rststson.~
s'Oif Is II. them - answered Mr.. las
per. Well. cxn ten you II is nothing
of the sort. bus real. certain fsact. and
I'll prove i TO you. and scsa SOU ny
could mot sleep last night. some years
| ago knew q lawyer; ne lived next door
10 me. and was reckoncd very respect
able member OF the profession. Now.
this man was am awful scoundrcl and
swiDe!cr; used TO get people 20 intrust
him with their money TO i.4vess. and
then make away with IL WIN.
knew three sisters for whom he wns
trustee. and whom he completely
ruined. Well. at last this man failed
for / don't know how many thousands.
and numbers were involved in his ruin.
among otherr the three sisters told
you of. Then the man shot himself
Now, that man had not the soul Of
man az all--he had the soul of a rat.
miserable. sneaking ,ermin OF rat,
and when he died his soul went into :
rats body. IL was late one evening
when saw big blacli rat run through
ray room. which WAS on the other side
Of ting wall 70 his 1t was an enormous
rat quite black. with long. white
whiskcrs. and very bright eyes. md il
ran squeaking and shrieking through
my room, and then disappeared. I
could not see where ii wens to. The
next morning heard the ninp had shot
himself Then I knew II ssas the mans
soul WHICH had gone info the body OF
this black rat, OF course. they had an
inquest and brought in The seniict:
Temporary insanity and they had
big funeral. and all his relations came
They invited me, aid went, out of
politeness, yon know: but when they
came TO that bit IN the service about
the soul Of our tiear brother resting IT,
peace, why.l could have laughed in
their faces. for knew Il WAS not rest
ing in peace az all but careering away
somewhere IN fhe body Of thar blnch
rat" STA III @.f
Sic William, who had been looking
grave during this TRADE. here broke
into smile. and observed: III -.
Well old fellow. dare say sou are
not 70 far out; ii would be the fittest
punishment for such a scounhrei as
you describe But did you never see
the rat again2'' NV ~ = ~sn', =. -
Yes. many times: but the last time
OF all was here, in this very house"
cried Jasper, excitedly. 1%
''Indeedl" said Sir William. "Wby.
then yon must have brought il with |
you." s.::s..s-.-,-..---..s
NO such thing" retorted Jasper. |
scorlfully: "a rat Ike that does not |
want to be brought anywhrrr. But"
he continued, II amconfident IL is also
identical with q little dark man who
has taken the lawyers house. and who |
goes to business every day carrying nj |
black, shiny bag. watch him every
Good morning Sir R;,t.' under my |
breath. You mark my words. though. |
and look out for that rat. got up aud |
chased it all round the room and ont |
into the passage. and am confident II |
Disappeared III the drpins You have |
not seen the last Of il vet" q
Before Mir. jasper had been very tong |
in the house II Became evident that his |
mental drrangc WAS of a mare
serious character than had been inn
agined. AZ times ne was quiet artl |
lucid enough. and then lie would SID /
denly break out into some incoher-nt /
rhodomontadc Ills inconscnient pen.
chant for me still continued. and lie /
would haunt the schoolroonI with gif i
Of fruits and flowers. or sweets 4i,i
music. or anything for which he mad |
heard me express q liking.
One morning, soon nftcr breakfast. ! l
Was on the lawn with May, shipping
dead roses of the bushes and gathering /
fresh supply for the table.
"Here comes Uncle Jasper; let 10
hide" said May.
turned and beheld SIR. Jasper a,;.
vnncing In his peculiar ambling fash.
ion. Flight was impossible. so ! held
Mays hand and waited until he CAME
up with us. lie held an enormous fuI'-
grown crimson picotee in his hand ar,i
rame eagerly up to me.
'Ah! my princess, / have found you;
/ have hecn looking everywhere for
you to give you this" pressing the
gaudy blossom into my hand. "Don't
you remember the old rhyme, MISS
Monroe?
THE rose is red. the violet's blue.
Carnations sweet. and so are you"
you! you'll" he cried; you are my
rose and my cnrnation and my morn
ing star. all rolled into one. L."
Where this outburst of poetic clio
quence would have ended know not.
tor at this moment Simpson, the butler.
came up to Mr.. Jasper.