Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1897-1902, 1901-04-19

merouS questions about the mansion
on the hill He answered them truth
fully; but he added, with shake of
the head. as expressive as Lord Bur-
leigh's, He wished no harm might
come of it" for they laughed at the
idea of ghosts, and one OF the young
ladies begged so hard to live in real
haunted house that her papa had act
ually sent for the agent.
The landlord laughed. drew a long
breath, and solaced himself with a
great draught of his own ale.
At that moment the agent himself
was seen descending the stairs: the
landlord, hurrying from behind the
bar, threw the door wide open. with a
low bow. But Mr.. Grant declined the
polite invitation, beckoned him out
into the passage. and closed the door
upon the gaping and disappointed
ruSticS.
Il want to speak to you a moment.
Grimes" he said. impatiently. is
there no private place in this house,"
ITO be sure-to be sure. sir" replied
the host step this way if you
please. Becky, my love. pray go and
mind the bar a little while. We want
the parlor to ourselves just now"
Becky. who was the meek-faced mis-
tress of the establishment. being thus
addressed. took up the stocking she
was me. ding and went out without a
murmur. The landlord closed the
door behind her, and the agent nodded
apprOvingly.
Capital training you have her in.
Mr.. Grimes.
We'll, sir. ones obliged to keep the
whiphand or there's no end of kicking
over traces. you know. Now Becky.
there. is the best woman in England.
though | say it as shouldn't. But l
should never dream of telling her so.
The house would not hold the two of
us together ten minutes afterwards"
Quite right, Grimes. The less you
praise a woman the better she behaves.
as a general rule. 1 think. But now
let us so to business. I'm very much
bothered in my own mind Grimes, and
| want some advice"
Grimes. who had been busy over the
fire with some mysterious preparation,
which the agent affected not to see,
now returned TO the table. bearing two
steaming tumblers of rum-punch,
which he put down with an air of tri-
umphant dissatisfaction.
Il do believe the very best I ever
made yet. Mr.. Grant" he observed. as
he placed one cosy armchair before
the fire for his visitor. and ensconced
his own plump person comfortably
within the depths of another.
Good it must be- then. to a dead
certainty" replied the agent. taking
long. delicious draught. Enough to
make a man forget one-half his trou-
bles and snap his finger at the rest"
Il hope il will make you forget
yours, then. sir" replied the landlord.
why he had been summoned to this
particular conference
All no such luck as that, The
trouble tonight is not exactly trou-
BILE. after all. l am bewildered and
bothered. | want to do a thing. and
you know the old Hall?"
The host nodded his head
Il should think / did, sir,
and you know what stories people
tell about the place."
THAT | do. Old John Jones. the
gardener, has made my flesh creep
many a time with his tales of the tur-
ret-chamber, and the buffers pantry,
and the secret room where the priests
used to hide away many, many years
ago"
John Jones is an idiot" said the
| believe the house is as quiet and
peaceable as this old inn of yours
Mr. Grimes took a sip of rum-punch,
and said nothing
Il have been through the place a
hundred times-I dare say more-and
| never saw anything there, nor heard
anything either, for the matter of
that"
Did you ever go there at night,
sir?" asked Mr. Grimes, with a signifi-
cant smile.
NO, | can't say that | ever did"
And the agent smiled, too. But you
don't mean to say that you-a sensi-
BILE, clear-headed man-really believe
the rubbish they tell about the place
now, do yOu?"
DO you. SIR"
"Of course not
well, | should be sorry to have to
sleep there myself, that is all l know
about it,"
Now. Grimes, tell me plainly what
you think you should see?"
Well, there's lot of ghosts to
choose from up there" said the land
! lord, meditatively. you pays your
money and you takes your choice
you can have a Jesuit priest, reading
MS mass-book; or old Vernon, count.
ing his mOney-bags; or a young man
seated by a table in a room fixed up
/ in grand style, with a woman old
enough to be his mother, sitting on a
sofa with an ugly look upon her face
and another woman peering through a
window back of her, looking uglier
Ii possible, than she; or you can have
| good Queen Bess looking after the far
thing she dropped
"Pshaw! When was Queen Bess at
Banley, l should like to know? Why
1t was not built till she had been dead
more than fifty years. What do they
want with her ghosts there?"
Cant say, sir. But most old houses