The Jennings daily record. [volume] (Jennings, La.) 1900-1903, 1902-05-16
CHAPTER XII

From that fatal evening a new life
began for Mr.. COwiey. He was no
longer monarch of all he surveyed :"
for in every darkened room. in every
obscure corner of the haunted house,
lurked something unseen and unheard
by others. but full of mysterious life
and motion for him. If mouse
squeaked behind the wainscot, it would
send him scurrying along the passage
at the rate Of ten miles an hour; if
door shut suddenly it made him trem-
BILE and turn pale: If q light &hone in
window if a board creaked unex-
pectedly beneath his feet. he was apt
to start. and exclaim, Lord bless
mel" in tone that did Mrs. Cowley's
very heart good. In one word, the
worthy banker, from snug, good
tempered denizen of Mecklenburgh
Square. had become transformed into
that strangest of animals, a haunted
man! His sleep was no longer peaceful.
for he was perpetually dreading a
ghostly visit; while Mrs. Cowley snored
Dlacidly and provokingly at his side.
His coffee lost it's relish; his tea it's
flavor, and his nightly glass of Holland
and water was taken more to screw his
courage up to the sticking point rather
than for an actual pleasure it gave to
him IN the peculiar and unwonted state
of his mind.
He was horribly frightened. He
hated that house with shiverfng ha-
tired; he told himself that If he saw an
other actual apparition there some
thing dreadful would happen to him;
he would have a fit-an apoplectic one
very posi- bly-or perhaps. a stroke of
palsy, which would leave him with his
face awry, 1t was horrible thought:
but he kept it manfully to himself. He
would have suffered those slow tor
lures of agonized fear q hundred times
over rather than own to the wife of
his bosom that he had erred in select
ing such a place for his residence. He
might have said as much to some gen.
tieman friend. If one had CHANGED to
come In his way: but his Whenever!
That was concession too great by far
for the worthy Englishman to make
No, the husband like the king. could
do no wrong. and he was determined
to uphold that doctrine to the last
gasp in his own family circle!
Do you think that same circle. mean
while. was unaware of the struggle
unconscious of his fear? Not bit of
It! Mrs. Cowley. as she awoke each
morning from a refreshing sleep and
saw him lying pale and uneasy upon
his pillow smiled grimly to herself
and wondered how long he would take
to come to his senses again. His
daughters. too, were rejoicing in the
pangs their own mischievous arts had
caused even when they asked after
''poor papas headache" in such mel
tifuous tones each morning at the
breakfast table And Mrs. Mccarthy
deceitful old sinner that she was
laughed till she cried sometimes over
the broths and jellies which she made
each day and which she pressed upon
his acceptance with a face as long as
an underteker's.
The whole house was in league
against him, and the poor wretch knew
It not. Yet he stood II out manfully;
ind there seemed some danger that be-
tween his uneasiness and his obstinacy
he would grow seriously i'll. Besides
Christmas was fast approaching and
the girls wanted to dance the New
Year In and the Old Year out. at thai