The Washington weekly post., 1899-12-19

LDfJs 30l OoN thihh II N"tsS -
err
NO. I don't It IS some trick. / tell
you. Leave me 10 find 1t out"
Mr. BraF shook his hesd doubtfully ana
retired to bed In his turn Left alone. 1
started on an exploration OF the house
with a lamp In one hand and revolver
IN the other. / examined all the doors
end windows, and found them securely
| boited and barred. l looked into what
rooms / could, from cellar To attic anu
found them empty. II was quite eiear
that beyond the inmates OF the house
there was no one. Then I made for the
happy hunting ground Of the ghost.
1t had lately been showing. but now the
| night was frosty and clear. A bright
moon dispelled the darkness, ana the
white world without was as clear as day
The Long Gallery stretched the whole
| length Of the west wing On one side a
row of tall windows admitted good light
on to the pictures on the opposite vail
There was a sair collection of these, put
the Allistons had never been sCnlclentlS
artistic in their tastes or sufficiently acute
! in their judgment to acquire master
pieees.
The portraits of Helen's ancestors were
or most interest TO me. There was long
series OF them, dating from the Iudor
time anc repre- senting some OF the Desl
work OF the masters. These were let
into the oak paneling with tier gllded
frames. and could not be detached from
| the wall At The farther end of the gal
lery was an ornate window OF stained
glass, and through this the moonlight leli'
now weaving colored aTabesques on the
floor and portraits. Here / paused before
the picture of Lazy Marian Alliston.
She must have been a supremely beau
tiful woman. this JacObite consplrator.
With the high spirit and strong will Here
she was portrayed as tall and stately ot
| figure. A proud expression was On her
almost swaTthy face, and in The slender
est Of white hands she gripped walk
ing cane. In dress Of rich brocade, with
Jewels on neck and arms, red-heeled
shoes. and the towering head-dress OF
the period, she looked every lEch queen,
and i'm her day must surely have moved
and ruled as one. l could imagine those
imperous brows frOwnins at the menuoh
OF the eiector! i could fancy those nrm
lips speaking the curse on her TOO nasty
husband. There vas something about this
fair dead woman which reminded me or
Beatrix Esmord; filed with the JOY OF
life and born TO dominate by the rover
of beauty and intellect. Yet she failed
as Thaokeray's heroine failed; but diec
more nObiy, in the prime of loVenness
| without withering out into sad old age.
Had Sir Walters rapier not struck
through the proud heart she might nave
| been a Sarah Jennings. As 1t was she
was thwarted by fate; and it was her
sad destiny to appear as bird OF Ill
omen to those who sat in ner seat OF
pride. Yet | could imagine her wrath
when alive at the idea that her fair
phantom would descend to soaring an OH
cook and her plebian husband How IRON
| ical fate,
But all this preamble leads to nothing.
Although l watched in the gallery until
dawn | saw no ghost 1t was bitterly
cold: and the vigil was uncomfortable and
i'm vain. Lady Marian did rot appear. L
did not even hear the rustic of her skirts,
much less set eyes on her face: and when
/ descended to breakfast. after an hour
or so of sleep, it was TO laugh at the
superstitions of my friends
1T is as I thought" said I. Parsons
and Mrs. Jackson both dreamed they
saw the phantom. Lady Marian is too
wise to revisit the scene of her death.
"Ah. but she don't appear every night.
protested Mrs. Brag, wisely. You wait.
Goeffrey. She'll freeze you blood yet
Not while she knows that an armed
watcher has his eye on her, Mrs. Brag."
You still believe it is trick, Goef-
frey?'
IF Lady Marian's phantom is not mere
ly the creation of Parsons and Mrs.
Jackson's dreams, | still believe IL Is a
trick"
But trick or no trick, all my vigils were
in vain Night after night for quite two
weeks I watched in that Internal gallery
for the ghost which never came. Yet. not
| withstandng my disappointment l could
not rid myself of the feeling that there
was some mystery about the apparition-
1t was possible that my public announce
ment to shoot the so-called ghost had
scared the person, who, / truly believed,
represented 1t. With this idea | went on
a new tack, and once more assembled the
household.
II have watched for fourteen nights.
| more or less | said, land no ghost has
come TO scare me. Therefore. l believe
Mr. Parsons and Mrs. Jackson have been
deceived in thinking they saw one. There
Is no phantom here, 50 you can all set
your minds at rest. For my part" and
this was the most important point of my
speech. II intend to watch no more. If
Lady Marian comes again she must go
without an audience. Now all Of you go
away, and let me have 10 more of this
rubbish
Butler and housekeeper were both in
dignant at my aspersions, but they knew
better than TO protest openly, and went
away With the rest of the servants to
grumble in secret. An air of calm pervad-
ed the tale, and Mrs. BTag began TO pluck
up courage. Also Helen, TO prove what
was undermining her health, became
more cheerful and less hysterical. Ny COM
mon sense had exercised the ghost SO far,
but it had not solved the mystery. Deter
mined to fathom this l still continued 10
watch in the gallery. But no one knew OF
my vigils, not even Helen, so if the
trickster came, he or she. whatsoever il
might be, would find me waiting.
For two or three nights the gallery was
empty as the palm of my hand. But on
the fourth night my chance came. and
with ii the ghost
1t was about midnight, and the moon
shining through the clear glass Of the side
windows and rejecting her light FROM an
expanse of STOW made the gallery almost
as brilliant as day. | was hidden behind
a curtain midway along the gallery. and
half drowsily was looking out into the
maze of shadow and silver radiance Sud
denly in he absolute stiffness / heard a
faint sound. 1t was q tapping OF heels,
the rustic Of silk skirts, and in a moment
under the painted window | saw the ghost
IL appeared from nowhere, and l must
confess it startled me very considerably.
IL was Lady Marian sure enough.
was sufficiently close 10 it 10 see that.
There she stood with the tall head-dress
and cane. and rich brocaded gown. exactly
as she was represented in her portrait /
caught Just a glimpse of her face. but 1t
was not sufficient for me 10 say with Ger
tainty whether il was Identical with that
in the picture. But the figure was cer-
tsinly the same l sat quite still and
watched, and waited, enc finger ready on
the trisger OF my revolver