Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-10-31

loud rapping IN my door and a croakin,
voice warned me that it was noon.
l had intended to leave Bucktown I'M
that day, but prompted by curiosity ant
anxious to investigate | unpacked IN,
gripsack for a comfortable stay.
You must understand that this was IN,
first experience with a ghost, and fearet
l might never see another.
At breakfast my landlady waited on M
in silence, though once detected her eye
following me with a peculiar expression
! She wanted to ask Inc how l enjoyed til,
night, but / would not crafty her by vol
unteering a word.
My host was more outspoken.
Reckon We didn't get much sleep,
said he, with a queer smile.
odd you hear a%nythingi" l asked.
"Well, l did, ye-es," he said, with
drawl. "But We didn't disturb me any
l knew ye'd hev trouble when We went il
tibet room ter sleep"
That afternoon l slipped out to the tree
but to my amazement l found that thu
twig l had broken from the branches was
gone. Finally l found under the lower
trunk of an apple tree an open place from
| WIiltH q bllio1 DldllSh ildo CN lSlCliuly DCGI
wrested, but on looking further l discov-
cred that every apple tree in the orchard
had been similarly disfgured.
"More mysterious than ever" 1 said,
''but tonight shall decide"
That night l pleaded WEAKNESS, which
no one seemed inclined to question, and
sought my couch earlier.
"Goin ter try it ag'in?' asked my host.
eyes, and I'll stay all winter but what
I'll get even with that ghost" l said.
That night l kept the candle burning
until midnight; then l blew it out.
Instantly the room was flooded with q
soft light, and at the foot of the bed stood
my ghost, the identical ghost of last night.
Again the bony finger beckoned, and a
sepulchral voice whispered, Follow
mel" l sprang from the bed, but the fig
ure darted ahead of me. 1t flew through
the doorway and down the stairs and l
after it. At the foot of the staircase an
unseen hand reached forward and caught
my foot, and l fell sprawling headlong,
But in a second l was on my feet and
pursuing the ghost. 1t had gained on me
a few yards, but l was quicker, and just
as we reached the outside door l nearly
touched it's robes. They sent a chill
through my frame, and / nearly gave up
the pursuit.
As it passed through the doorway it
turned and gave me one look, and l caught
the same malignant light in its eyes that
I remembered from the night before.
In the open orchard I felt sure l could
catch it.
But my ghost had no intention of allow
ing me any such an opportunity. To my
disgust it darted backward and into the
house, slamming the door in my face.
In a frenzy Of fear and chagrin l threw
myself against the oaken door with such
force that it's rusty old hinges yielded and
I landed in the big front room of the inn
just in time to see the white skirts of the
ghost fit up the stairs.
Up stairs ] fled after it and into an old
chamber. There, huddled in a corner, l
saw 1T. In the minutes delay it had Sc
cured a lighted candle, and as l entered it
advanced to daunt me with bony arm up
raised to great height.
Caught" l cried, throwing my arms
around the figure. And I had made the
acquaintance of a real live ghost.
The white robes fell and l saw revealed
my hostess of Bucktown inn.
Next morning when l threatened to call
the police she confessed to me that she
masqueraded as a ghost to draw visitors
to the out of the way old place and that
she found its tales of being haunted highly
profitable to her. -Baltimore Herald.