The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-11-27

courage hsean 10 rise. and wholesome
rplrit Of sccpticlsm 10 lake The plsce "'
his former superstitious awe; ano "hen
Mr.. MIlwraith pointed out the part Q!
..-e dusty wall most infested oy ,ne spm'. .li'.
rappinrs he nearly caused his entertainer
10 faint, by coolly suggesting that tho
noise might have been caused by the peo-
ple In the next villa moving about In their
cellar.
"Oh. that is impossible; for the fact is'
the occupants OF the next vita are tee,O-
talers. and never use their cellars. was .n1
grave reply. NO. no; " ~ Simply 'nae
an a medium and am followed every
where. and see spirits and talk with the
dead oftener than 10 with tho lvlhs' i.
II wanst had a hand in the ketchihs OF
= mecium-ahem, | name | was present
nj table-rapplng business. obseNeo
Msweeny. slluding TO an incident alreauy
recorded by me; but the medium there
was a regular imposter-tried 10 stan d
particular friend OF mine, after making
The table tell some awful whoppers: but
you haven't got 10 make your pread % ~
and / don't understand IL with YOU m
thinking Imagination goes long way.
.Will you believe it II you hear the
manifestations yourself?' said Mr.. M IL
wrath, with undampcd enthusiasm.
Here. YOU mane?" inquired my chum'
with loving glance, 1 suspect ia tns
direction OF the whiskey barrel
'.Yes, here--will you stay down here
Msweeny FASTENED TO say that ne
would stay there all night III the other
would allow him: and thus II was ar
ranged The evening passed pleasantly
upstairs where the most eNtraofuinHrE
stories of ghost seeing Snd SECOND sisht
were poured into 'Sweeny by Mrs. An
SON and the retired merchant, ana then,
after supper n. and his host again lie
a.. a whirh they sat
in solemn silence for nearly an hour. AZ
eleven o'clock Mr. NJ lwraith. TO whom
spirii rai,pings were SO common an oc-
currence as not 10 excite great interest
said he would retire, and, much 10 Nj
Swecnys concern, he did leave the cell
lar. after which the little courage pos
sessed by my chum slowly and surely
evaporatcd Possibly he would have for
titled himself from the barrel. but Mr..
MIlwraith had taken the key Of the tap
with hlu About twelve o'clock when
the whole house was still ~ the grave,
vi Sweeny started up In his chair anu
listened loonine grsvely and increduious-
IL round the cellar, with his hair almost
rising on end a. he did So. lie heard
sound. the distinct SOUND OF footsteps, Dut
whether il was above him or under him
ne could not tell The only thing he
knew was that they were near him-so
uncomfortable near that he half expected
20 feel the breath OF the invisible walker
ON his face The feet seemed TO walk
straight across the floor. with hollow.
cayernous sound, and 10 pause In iron,
or The barrpt 1T wfrfrft "A Ms~eeas--h.ia
taken so deep an interest. Then there
Was a sound like the putting down OF
big can on the brick floor In front of the
barrel, atswhich MSwceny was now star
fng with distended eyes. then the distinct
sound of the turning OF tap. and then
the musical gurgling OF whskey flowing
from the tap and falling noisily into the
can, All this seemed 10 take place be-
fore my sacred comrades eyes-rieht un-
der his noise in fact--yet the sawdust on
the floor was not so much as ruined by
the footsteps. the tap seemed unturned.
and no can or flowing whisky was 10 he
seen rub his eyes. or pinch himself or
desperately tug at his hair, as he liked.
Good Lord above us. what does II
mane." he thought. with dcathly sweat
breaking out over his body. and making
feeble attempt To rise on his shaking
legs There's something In II after all.
Can Il he possible that spirits are fond
of spirits and are carrying away some
10 have wake somewhercs- ewheres
over beyant there where they livef Sure.
I can't be drunk or dramlng-all that
tasted Is out OF me head hours ago. Faix,
the sooner I'm out of here the better
Still unwilling To make an ignominious
flight. and half suspicious that the
sounds came from below the floor. he got
hold OF q long spigot and priced up one
OF the bricks of the floor with the dis
covery that below there was nothing but
the damp earth Then he replaced the
brick and scrambled out OF the cellar as
quickly as possible. He was poking about
In the room above. which happened TO he
the scullery bearing the lantern which
he had brought from the cellar. when Mr..
Mllwraith appeared, and heard his story
with a satisfied smile.
my dear sir. you need not trouble to
search for them-I did So too ai first but
they ARE rot 10 be- found that gentleman
FASTENED 10 assure him
istili 10th tu give in MSw--uv said
'M-bbe u might hnNe b-en svne one in
tie green d, hind ~ Your lave, u ~
ouf and have a look rolnd
This vus az once agreed TO- MIR NJ IL
wrath only telling him tn do so as u'trk-
lN 80 rosxiilc 49, tho la'iire and servants
we're ell IN bod.
Tne 0-rtrr- rsuur 1t-tfrc- -l1srei -~-t4 iee+t a.
md bolted from within These fastenings
Msweeny undid. while Mr.. Mllwraith
retired TO his books by the parlcr fire
= Outside there was neither moon nol
stars. and every window behind IN both
villas being In darkness. MSwccny, who
had Intentionally left tho laniern behind
had 20 gropc his way. after softly clos
Ing the door behind him. Scarcely had
he gone thus two yards from the house
when he was strlck y violent blow be-
tween tho shoulder "a heavy. hard blow
- from ilst ~ iron. and he jumped
round with loud and angry
'',vlisf the dttil 10 YOU name why
what, there robody there"
fie stood there sroaning and SquirIhing
trying IN vain 10 get at the injured place
with his hands. which I can testify was
next day not only swollen. but nearly all
the colors OF the rainbow. and peerinc
blankiy at the closed door outside Of
which he had fully expected 60 see his
assnilant NJ Swecny's feelings at the
moment cannot be described by me. as
This part ~ his narrative was incoherent
and vague 1 suspect. however, he
droppcd--that his trembling legs gave
way and that for some moments he was
covering In abicct terror on the damp
ground. offering In all probability the
most piteous entreaties for mercy. and
promises OF less scepticism in future AZ
length, however. seeing that the attack
was not repeated. he again turned 10 ex-
piore the green and garden. and had sat
isfled himself beyond doubt that no hid
den assaiiant iirked within It's walls.
when. as suddenly A. he had before been
nearly knocked over with the invisible
iron fist a hand seemed 60 descend from