The Lamar register., 1901-05-08

light hand upon her own. She shrieked
wildly, and ran headlong down, only
to find the whole family in the hall,
looking pale and frightened. and EVIL
IDENTIFY ready to face twenty ghosts. for
the benefit of whose heshless noses Mr..
Cowley grasped the tongs.
Good gracious. Rose!" exclaimed
her mother, trembling from head to
foot. What is it? Have you seen
anything"
NO" said Rose, looking extremely
silly; but l was all in the dark at
the head of the stairs. and fancied
some one touched met"
II wish to goodness you would be
sure of your danger. young lady. be-
fore you scare us all out of our wits
another time!" said Mr.. Cowley. lead
ing the way back to the drawing-room
and disposing of the tongs in their
place once more. "I made sure by your
squalling that old Queen Bess. at the
very least, was after you. If you are
going to fancy ghosts in every direc-
ton, you had better go back and take
shelter with Mrs. Grimes as soon as
you can. Why, here's Kitty, who
couldn't bear the idea of this house.
and look at her now. She don't like
it, and she may believe there are
ghosts here. but l don't think she
would invent them for herself before
hand, as you seem to have done. No
more nonsense, Rose. II you please,
or every one in Banley shall know
that you, who were SO eager to get
here, were the first to cry out 'Wolf!'
half an hour after you came
| Mr.. Cowley, having delivered his lee
ture, resumed the perusal of the Times.
Catherine said nothing, it is true, but
even her crochet needles, as she
worked, seemed to assume an air OF
superiority over Rose. That young lady
sat- looking sulky beside the fire. HUI
man nature prompted her to throw her
book at GATHERINGS head. but young
| lady nature came to the rescue, and
prevented any such untoward act. At
last her sense of injury subsided as she
drew near the lamp and began to read.
Certainly she had chosen the queer
est volume possible for such place.
1t was Mrs. Groves Might Side of Ma
ture." book well calculated to give
sound nightmare even to the most
incredulous opponent of the ghost
theory.
For some minutes she was very
| quiet; but Mrs. Cowley, looking up
from her knitting, got glimpse OF
| the illustrated cover, where, beside the
old hall clock, and by the light Of a
splendid harvest moon, a genuine Or
thodox ghost. in a winding sheet, is
appearing to n terrified maid-servant.
just preparing to faint upon the floor.
One look was enough for Mrs. Cow
ley. She uttered an exclamation that
drew every eye to the unlucky book.
at his daughter, as II he had thought
she had suddenly gone mad.
What could have possessed you to
bring that horrible thing here?" he
asked sternly. "It is the greatest non
sense, only fit to go into the fire.
have half mind to make you put 1t
there now!'
Miss Rose. at that moment, owed her
entire family a grudge; and, having
frightened herself to death with the
grisly tales she had been reading, sud
denly determined to frighten them
also.
"If l can't sleep wink tonight for
thinking of these dreadful things,
neither shall Catharine," was her am
liable resolve. So, putting on her sweet
est smile, she looked up from the OBJ
noxious book into her fathers face.
Dear papa, you are just a little pre-
JUDGED against Mrs. Crowe-you know
you are"