The Yale expositor., 1898-01-07

IL WAS ANahNy ApAhNhg anu ct hON ANeh
cy Black; her whole body had a semi
transparent appearance, just as your
hand looks when you hold it between
yourself and a strong light her cloth
ing, apparently the same worn in life,
had a wavy, seething, Pickering look.
"In the name of God, Nancy Black,
what brought you here, and whence
came you?" l exclaimed.
A hollow whisper followed.
Thank you, my old friend. for
speaking to me, and, oh, how deeply 1
thank you for thinking Of me tonight
Il shall have rest"
"Restw l heard echoed, and a jeer-
ing laugh rang through the room that
made her culver at its sound.
81 have been near you often; but al
ways failed to find you in a condition
when you would be en- rapport before
tonight. What l came for l will tell
you; whence l come, you need not
know; suffice it to tell you that were i
happy / would not be here on such an
errand, nor on such a Dight-it is only
when the elements are in tumult and
the winds wall and moan that we come
forth. When you hear these sounds 1t
is souls of the lost you hear mourning
their doom-'tis then they wander up
and down, to and fro, their only release
from their fearful home Of torture and
undying pain.
II nave come to tell you that you
must go over to the old house, and in
the back room l always kept locked.
have the carpet taken up from toward
the fireplace. You will see a plank
with a knothole in it. Remove that
and you will find what caused me to
lose my soul-have prayer said for me,
for tits well to pray for the dead. The
money and jewels give in charity; bury
In holy ground the others you find, and
pray for them and me. All, Jeannette!
you thought your old friend, though
strange and odd, pure and innocent. 1t
is bitter part of my punishment that
l must change your thought of me.
Farewell. Do not fail me, and l shall
trouble you no more. But whenever
you hear the wind howl and sweep
round the house as 1t does tonight
know that the lost are near. 1t IS
their swift fight through space-flee-
ing before the scourge of memory and
conscience that causes that sound.
THAT tomorrow you may not think
you are dreaming, here is a token" and
she touched the palm Of my hand with
her finger-tips, and as you see, my
child, to this day there are three GRIM
son spots in the palm Of my hand that
nothing will eradicate.
do not fail me, and pray for us,
Jeanette, pray" and with a longing.
wistful gaze and a deep, sobbing sigh,
Nancy Black faded from my sight.
Am l dreaming" / exclaimed as
rose from my chair and rang the bell;
when the servant entered, / bade him
attend to the fire and light the lamps.
and l went through the room to see il
any unusual arrangement of the furni-
ture could have caused the appearance,
but nothing was apparent, and l bade
him send my maid to attend me in my
chamber, for l could not help feeling
unwilling to remain in the library any
longer that evening.
While making my toilet for the night
my maid said:
Have you burned your hand, mad
am?"
Glancing hastily down I saw three
dark crimson spots upon the palm OF
my left hand. They had an odd look
scared as though touched by a red-hot
iron, yet the flesh was soft. not burned
and not painful. Making some excuse
for it, did not allude to it again, and
dismissed her speedily, that might re-
feet undisturbed over the singular oc-
currence. There were the marks upon
my hand; l could not remove them, and
they did not fade. In fact, their deep
red made the rest OF the palm lose it's
pinkish hue and look pale from the
strong contrast. Could l have been
asleep and dreamed 1t all, and by any
means have done this to myself?
thought, but finally concluded that on
the morrow I'd go over to Nancy
Blacks old residence and settle the
question; and with that conclusion had
to content myself until the morrow
came.
When morning came l took the
keys, and, with my maid. went over to
Nancy's house. 1t had never been dis
turbed since her death, which was sud
den and somewhat singular, and the
furniture remained just as she left 1t
when taken to her last resting place.
We went to the room Nancy had di-
rected. l bade Sarah take up the car
pet, and, sure enough, there was a
plank with knot-hole in it; so l sent
her from the room, and lifted the plank
myself, and there, between the two
joists, rested a long box, the lid not
fastened. Opening 1t, was Mortified to
see two skeletons-those of an infant
and of a woman, small in stature and
delicate frame. In a moment 1t flash
ed before me that l saw all that re-
mained of Nancy Blacks young sister,
a girl of II, who had left home some
what mysteriously years ago, and had
died while absent-at least, that was
the version Nancy had given of her
absence, and no one had dreamed of
Il,.