The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1902-07-04
GHOST GIVES A ROSE
cHAsMiNG STORY RELATED EY TIE
MEXICAN HERALD.
Gentle spirit visits Childhood Fr'en"
and Leaves n GIFT "for old Tlhe'
and lear membrances AE"o
spanish Courtesy.

In the lovely moonlight few even
! incs ago a Mexican lady sat Wltnln
the embrasure of a window In mel
| country house. looking out on little
SQUARE where We're trees and shrups
, and {: fountain that murmured pain
! lively. The moon began to SHINE DC
| lind the towers of great church near
at hand, forming picture which kept
| he lady at her window. she hau
| travelled far. in Italy and in Spain
out, she thought, Il have seen moth
ne more beautiful in any land
While the lady kept watch In the
window, drinking in the beauty OF inc
picture which the yellow moon hau
painted for her, figure emerged lroIl
he shrubbery of the little plaza
crossed the street and approached her.
t was a man, thin, very pale, dresseu
wholly in black. His eyes seemed pre-
ernaturally bright, and he smiled as
,e cap,e to the window where sat one
who had known him from childhood
But a shuddering fear fell upon the
lady, for the man, though smlllng'
spoke not. He had come quite near
and was gazing into her eyes lntently.
She was held as by spell; an I'M
pulse to run from the WINDOW seat
and hide within the rooms came upon
her, but she bravely resisted.
At last she summoned courage, and,
with faltering tongue, said: FRAY
come into the house, Senior L.; the
zaguan door is ajar. We may talk
better, perhaps, within the house.
But the man outside, clasping the
window bars with two white hands,
made no reply.
Then the lady said: you are
strangely pale. Are you ill? May
bring you a copita Of brandy; | have
some very old and choice
The man tried to speak, failed, trie0
again, and then said in a low voice,
thrilling, unforgetable: Did you not
know that | was dead? | died a week
ago, and there is sorrow and weeping
still in my house and l dare not re-
turn there, even to see my loved ones.
| felt that | must see old friends and
familiar faces, so l came here. have
many visits to make tonight The
bright eyes of the dead man shone
with a mysterious light.
The lady had summed up her cour-
age and said: Yes now l remember
that they said you had died. l felt
sorry, but we had not of late been
good friends, and so l did not grieve
as once | might have done. We knew
each other in youth and were chill
lren together. l am not afraid of you
now, and again ask you to come in
Pray enter. Pray enter"
lNxYt hn Il
can pass through here said the
orfght-eyed ghost of the night, and
lie entered as if the window bars eX-
sted not.
Taking the lady's hand the dead
nan wandered out into corridor,
Town into a great garden. The air
vas full of the perfume of flowers.
The dead man piuclked a red rose,
moist with the dew and gave it to the
ady.
This for old times and dear remem-
frances of childhood he said, and he
walked away and seemingly through
he garden wall.
The lady called servant; he locked
he zaguan door, the lady went to her
edroom, placed the rose in vase
With water and soon was sleeping.
In the morning she wondered, on
rst awakening, if the vision of the
light had not been of the fancy, |
yrought perhaps by the witchery of |
he moon. But the rose was in the |
ase, the rose given ''for old times |
nd dear membranes" Mexican |
[erald.