The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1901-06-28

walked briskly away. So he crossed to
a store where fireworks were sold and
invested the whole amount I'm fire.
crackers. few matches and one good
sized Roman candle. With his treas
ures clasped closely I'm his arms and
his heart wildly beating he FASTENED
toward home. Ii was after 10 o'clock.
and he congratulated himself on max
ing his purchase before the store closed
for the night.
The night seemed 10 grow hotter the
atmosphere more dense and suffocat-
ing. The old woman slept a little fit
fully and dreamed bad dreams. Some
times she turned and tossed and fan
cied that she saw pale. beautiful wo-
mans face. sharp with anguish at the
loss of her only child.
The bells tolled -. At the signal
there was an uprising of sounds from
the great city. Voices rose up in wild
cries, gunshots snapped and cracked,
and cannon reverberated heavily
through the night. But these were
without. They interested the people
generally. They made no impression
on the old woman individually. She
slept on. until crash, rush! bang! roar!
crash. and she awoke 10 find that the
end of the world had come and that
she was already in pandemonum. The
pace was filled with the smoke Of pow
der. The cracking and crashing were
terrific. The fearful noises came from
Experimentation, above, all about
her. The smoke grew dense and envel-
oped her. 1t suffocated and choked
her.
A demoniac shrek, derisive, mock
ing, mingled with her own startled
cries! She sprang 10 the floor but her
bare feet touched fire and were Bills
tered. Evidently the gates Of hades
were opened and the devil already had
possession OF her. Yes, there was one
of his captured souls now, ghostly and
spectral, wrapped in a winding sheet,
dancing madly back and forth, to and
fro, across that narrow shaft Of light.
1t turned and twisted and writhed.
Sparks of fire seemed to emanate from
IL at every moment and explosive
sounds 10 come from its presence. Ever
and anon great blotches OF fire shot
upward from the waving hands and
struck the low ceiling with a crash
like the crack Of doom. Horrors, the
great creature came nearer!
Confess! Confessw it Kissed. 1t
glided to the door and swung it wide.
GO forth and confess" And it laugh
ed again, swinging its spectral wind
ing sheet TO and fro in awful glee. The
old woman gave one high pitched
scream and rushed and stumbled out
into the black hallway.
The explosion in her room had called
out nearly every tenant in the build
ing, lights flashed here and there as
pale faces peered from their doorways,
and the place was rapidly filed with a
swarm Of witnesses. Into the presence
Of these the frightened old woman
rushed, the phantom close at her heels.
81 do confess. | confess everythingw
she shrieked. Yes, yes, Laura is the
child Of Mary Marsden! | stole her!
l am Harriet Carey! It's all true! Oh,
good ghost, save me, oh, save me!'
THE paper" Kissed the ghost,
clutching at the old womans arm with
clawlike fingers. The birth paperw
She shrieked in new terror. "In the
little tin box" she gasped. Laura
knows-the one l keep lockedw Then
she fell fainting TO the floor. In the
midst Of the confusion that followed
the ghost slipped quietly back into her
room and vanished. Only the narrow
shaft of light revealed the escape Of
the sheet wrapped form out through
the window; only the walls heard the
muttered words. ~ cyclone or an
earthquake might do the business" as
the phantom figure crept in at another
window and was again swallowed up
by the gloom
When the gray light Of the early July
morning crept stealthily into the old
tenement house il rested very softly
on SpoOk fast asleep i'm his wretched
bed. The old sheet which covered him
was burned IN places and more soiled
than ever, If that were possible. His
fingers were blackened with powder,
and his thin face looked very white in
the gray light. But there fingered on
it no traces OF a midnight revel. On the
contrary, it was unusually peaceful
and overspread with a shadow Of con-
tent. Poor Spook! Faithful Spook!
He smiles in his dreams. Happy Spook!
Already some bright foreshadowing
Of the future is shedding its golden
IlgllWN hl,4,1L '-I./aLNJlt Il