The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1897-11-11

"a, there. hIiled to the marrow, but ~
last faint streak Of dawn cleaning
through the window resssured me In y
measure. got up and into my clothes
and wen, out of that house like one In q
dream.
Low managed to attend to my work
tl.at day don't know. hardly remem-
Der one incident Of the IL hours. ]
was crwhelmed with dreadful antici-
pations of events. to transpire during
the coming night. The third night.
The third night was the additionally
fated night!
was tempted to unbosom myself to a
friend and get him to go and sleep with
me, but was too much ashamed of my
pusllanimousness. Better suffer any
thing ut, the hands of u spook than have
myself the laughing stock of all my
friepds.
This time / was determined to see /,
out. | would sit up all night to watch
that clock and see with my own eyes
how it was managed and by what
means.
l accordingly made arrangement for
u big fire to be kept up all night, sew
eral extra lights, something to eat and
drink, my pipe and plenty OF books.
Then shut my windows. dragged
down the shades so that the light would
not be conspicuous from the outside.
and prepared myself for the ghostly on
slaught.
That / should have lived to encounter
a real ghost! must have been born
under the necessarily peculiar circum-
stances qualifying me for supernatural
encounters. I devoutly wished other
circumstances had been employed.
BY this time was ill-phy ysically Ill.
| could neither eat, drink nor smoke.
could only think. and my mind was in
| perfect whirligig of confusion.
How the hours dragged. as hours will
that are unemployed. almost thought
time loitered with malice aforethought.
When ones head is on the block they
| say it is relief for the AK to fall. Ibe-
lieve ! could have anticipated and suf-
fered decapitalion less disagreeably.
At ten o'clock 1 wound and set by my
watch my precious alarm, and placed it
| in its Gust tomary place upon the mantel.
| 1t was Il capricious little affair at best.
and lately had to be laid upon its back
in corder to keep proper time-in fact,
| to run at all; SO l turned it on its back
| as usual, and sat down to watch it. The
rain had cleared up, but the wind con-
tinued to howl around in n hideously
unpleasant manner. / don't think
have ever heard wind blow as it did
upon that particular night. Imagined
it to be thick with inky devils that bel
lowed and groaned and laughed and
shrieked all in a breath. The branches
of n sycamore tree scraping against the
roof made my flesh creep. while the
wind surging through the wild orange
trees created queer whistling sound
which ! never heard before or since.
Oh, the interminable time sat there,
sick at heart, worn out in mind and
body watching and waiting for-I knew
not what-Buck Anderson's ghost to
come and take it. out of me- A sweet
state had worked myself into, truly
How would it end? What would he do
to me? Fall upon and belabor me?
A small matter. was not afraid of
what any human could do to me;
could yield up my life with as much
grace as the next man; but ghost
what means would he employ? lcould
not anticipate it, l would have to see
it, have to experience it.
I glanced up at the little clock, and
If knife had been plunged into my
heart the emotion could not have been
otherwise than it was when ! saw that
it had moved! The clock had moved
noted matched with certain figure in
the mantel lambrequin upon which
had rested my eyes had Enthusiastically
moved. Ibroke into cold sweat. My
throat hurt me horribly. and felt my
hair rise upon my head. was power.
less to change the position of u finger
1t had moved! There was no chance
for doubt. It was fact.
gazed spehbound, all my senses alb
sorbed into that of seeing For hours
and hours sat in a state of half con
sciousness watching the clock move
Slowly, slowly, to the left, almost toe
slowly to be perceptible, until it had
turned entirely round. Then slowly
slowly. round again. Round and round
again and again, winding my poor brain
into very Gordian knot. while the slow
hours dragged by, and the fire burnt
lower and lower and went out; and the
wind subsidized, and the cold crept in and
numbed my corresponding body. Then
all at once I saw the clock tip over the
edge of the mantel. and come crashing
to my feet. ! had just strength enough
left to examine the position of the
hands. Twenty minutes after three
o'clock! I fell back into my chair in g
deep swoon.
l had a spell of serious sickness afte,
that. l think was in a condition fol
it anyway. and that nights vigil
brought it to a climax. l was i'll for