The Washington weekly post., 1899-12-19


E ceeded IN Injecting the whole house with
& her fears. Not a servant would enter the
{ Long Gallery. as IL WaE called, after dark
and even Mr.. Brag. skeptic as he was,
became uneasy when he came TO think 0f
! What 1t might mean.
I The girl herself did not look so We'll "a
{ when had lea for my holiday. She was
pale and thin, aud singularly silent. Her
I eyes, too, seemed unnaturslly bright. Aft
/ er Mrs. Brag had delivered herself Of the
/ story, and had stated her intention 0f cali
ing N the vicar 10 exercise the ghost !
Was left alone In the drawing-room witn
I Helen.
/ My darling. you lock H." / said clasp
ing her In my arms surely you do not
believe in all this nonsense"
I She shivefed. "I don't know" she said.
nervOusly. Both the hOusekeeper and
I the butler have seen the ghost Mrs. Brdg
I Is always talking about II, and really /
am beginning 10 think there must be
some truth in it
! Nonsense, nonsense, All this talk and
! fuss has mace you nervous and i'll; nasn't [
Z IL, dear2'
Yes. Geoffrey; was quite well until
+ the ghost came"
] saw very plainly how matters stood.
Helen was sensitive and highly strung,
and Mrs. Brag's foolish talk had wrought
ner up TO such a pitch that the tortured
nerves reacted on her delicate body. She
was never a strong girl, but she was al
ways very healthy. Worry was evidently
what made her Ill. / no longer wondered
that the Allistons had d.ed when Lady
Marian Was rumOred 10 have appeared.
They were a nervous race. / realized,
] fhgFgfaFA fkaf 4 4
. 10 exercise this spirit, IL sucn IL were,
Helen would become seriously i'll, and
might even die.
/ 1T is a good thing returned" / said
to Mr.. Brag, when Helen retired to dress
for dinner. THAT girl will die If this
sort Of thing goes on"
/ Il dessay, / dessay. Geoffrcy; but how
do you propose 10 stop it?"
I Find ont the trick, to be sure"
But 'ow do yOn know it's a trick,
/ GeOffrey?'
I'm sure of it. Tell me, have you seen
the ghOst?"
'Lor, no. / amt a coward. Godfrey.
but wild 'orses wouldn't drag me to that
gallery al night. | amt seen II, but Par
sons and Mrs. Jackson ave"
"Or think they have. What they have
seen is some one dressed up as Lady
Marian, mark me. Or else they suffer
from hallucination. Parsons is sober, /
know"
"Oh, yes; and even if he amt, Mrs,
Jackson Is. She never touches a drop TO
my knowledge. No, 'tain't drink, what
ever il is"
And they both declare that they have
seen the ghost?"
"Lor', yes. They take their oaths they
have"
Then il must be a trick. And IL !
catch the person who is playing it III
well, I'll make the false ghost real
one. VIII you let me take charge of this
matter, Mr.. Bragg"
"Of course, Geoffrey. l was just wait
in for you TO come back Find out what's
wrong, and knock all this stuff out OF
my old wOman's head. She's mostly in
/ Mysteries o nights"
And no wonder, when Helen looks so
III. Believe me, ghosts went out when
gas came in. / think l shall manage TO
| prove TO you that this spectral lady Ma
! ian is very substantial flesh and blood ~
But she may not be- urged MIR. Brag,
somewhat obviously. Lots of these Ugh
families ave their ghosts to see 'em into
the next world. | believe Besides, who
could be playin this wild trick?'
"Ah, that's just what We have to find
out"
But IL was not so easy to find out. /
questioned Mrs. Jackson and Parsons in
the most exhaustive manner. They cor
rOborated each others story with such
verisimilitude and wealth of detail as 10
leave no doubt in my mind of their good
faith. Evidently they had seen a bro
caded lady in the picture gallery; but, of
course. il could be no such thing as a vis-
liant from the other world, That was
/ where they went wrong. / was certain ii
was some one playing q trick.
! "Oh, you may laugh sir" said Mrs
Jackson. She was such a stiff old dame.
But / do assure you that / saw the ghost
with my own eyes. ! was coming through
the long gallery from Miss Allston'S 5
room, and in the moonlight 1t came on,
| clack, clack, clack, in high-heeled shoes.
l could hear distinctly the rustic of the
dress, and as it swept past me i smelt a
perfume like that of dried rose leaves. it
was Lady Marian sure enough, as l saw
from the portrait in the gallery. / tainted
dead away, Mr.. Beauchamp, sir; and
when l came to myself il was gone"
confess 10 feeling a trife uncomforta-
ble at all this. Then Parsons took up the
story.
Il didn't faint, sir, not bein' a woman, -
said he, but my flesh was mighty creepy
| as ii went past. | started at il like a
stuck pig. though II was plain enough in
the moonlight. 1t vanished all of a sud
den by the painted winder at the end of
| the gallery"
What were you doing in the Long Gal
/ lery al that hour, Parsons|'
| Comm from master, sir. He'd a bad
cold, and | took him up some 'ot rum and
water. l wouldn't go 10 that there gallery
again. sir, for all the crown Jewels. 1t
vas a ghost, sure enough"
! oh, was itr' said /, showing plainly by
my tone that did not think il was. ''Call
! the servants, Parsons"
/ In a few minutes all the domestics in
/ the house were assembled and a very
/ white-faced crowd they were. Many Of
them would have been frightened away
/ from the hall had IT not been that the
/ place was such a good one. / suppose,
! too. il was q ease IN which they felt there
was comfort in numbers. l harangued
/ them pretty freely for what l termed
/ their nonsenSical fears.
/ Men and women come 10 years Of
sense" l went on, "welI-Pm surprised.
/ HOW can you believe such rubbish. Some
one OF you is playing a trick; and who il
| is shall find out so beware all Of you"
! or course they protested vehemently
But that was 10 be expected. However" {"
| said. you can take this warning from
me- l shall watch in the gallery myself
with a straighJ-shooting revolver, and II
! that ghost appears IL shall have a taste OF
! IL. ! am not going 10 have your master
and mistress and Miss Alliston frightened
by this silly trick"
Again they all protested. But sent the
lot Of them away with more blood in their
cheeks. Then ! turned upstairs TO dress
for dinner. As did so noticed a pretty.
! Iimid-lO0king young woman whose face I
did not recognize. She glanced at me un-
easily. and was evidently disturbed"
Who are your 1 asked, abruptly,
pausing before her.
Jane Riordan. sir" she replied with
curtsey- Il am new here"