Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1902-08-12


would not survive, for there wa Bit
ter hatred in the hearts Of both, and
both forgot the presence OF the fair
young girl, who, in her white cham
j -ber-robe. eowered in the corner. ofthe
room, and watched her father fight
4 ing for the life-bloodof her husband.
"T1e fight did not last long. The
captain, a better swordsman than his
uncle, younger and more active, too,
= tried to disarm Pierce; but a sud-
den movement of the elder man
sealed his own fate, and the father of
4 Lady Isobel fell with her husbands
sword-point in his side.
g One word--oneword, Ralph, be-
fore l die' he whispered. And the
y young man bent over him. Lowerp
4 gasped the dying man, lowerp And
as his son-in-law stopped down to him
\ Sir Pierce sruckupwgrdswith sud
i. den movement, using a dagger which
I had lain concealed in his left sleeve,
and Capt. Wilbraham, stricken trait
orously to the heart, fell upon The
! body of his father-in-law.
Poor Lady Isobel. who until that
moment had covered in her corner,
almost unconscious with fear and
horror. gave one loud shrek. pressed
one long. despairing kiss upon the
upturned face Of her dead husband,
whose blood besmeared her bed-robe,
and. with a rush, threw herself head
long from the window Her Shrek
aroused the house. and two days later
three corpses were carried to the old
graveyard Of HOLLYWOOD church.
where all the Wilbrahams lie buried.
Lady Isobel was buried there beside
her husband; but her spirit cannot
rest, and on every anniversary of the
tragedy-some say. indeed, on other
nights as well-Lady Isobel visits her
old bedroom just as the turret-clock
strikes three.
"She goes to the corner from which
she watched the fatal struggle which
ended in the deaths Of her husband
and father; she tries. as she tried on
that night long years ago to shrek
for help, but no sound comes from
her lovely lips.
Those who have seen the ghost
and | know many who have done So
have seen the stains Of blood upon
her chamber-robe, and say that, after
striving pitifulllyto call for help, the
ghost Of Lady Isobel-as Lady Isobel
herself did on the night of her death
--glides to the window, throws her
self from it, and disappears. Then
sometimes-not always-a long, loud
wall is heard from the garden, and
next morning the window of the bed
room is found open, although it was
securely closed and bolted the even
ing before
"Oh, youmaysmile, Miss Anstruth-
er" - for Miss Anstruther was
laughing at the solemnitywith which
Capt Wilbraham was finishing his
story-"but l can assure that l would
not sleep in Lady Isobel's bedroom
for all the wealth of the RothchiIdsw
q would for less than that"
laughed Mary Anstruther. Sand
what is more, Iwillw
Everybody laughed excepting Miss
Simpkins, who declared that "those
Anstruther girls were always trying
to put themselves forward and make
people talk about them"-and most
of us tried to dissuade Miss Anstruth-
err from sleeping in the room She
would not be persuaded, though,
and about II, after bigfre had been
lighted and the old-fashioned room
had been made as domfortableas pos
siBle, we all escorted the obstinate
young lady to it, and badeher good
night.ya" nia cesar. .cm's5at
"Good-night and pleasant dreams
to an of you; and. you mayloolafor a
full, true, andpartioalar account of
ILadt IsObel atJbreakfast-timeuto-
m6ffdwphfried MARY rAnstrutber,
/ gailyy niih- ..a4a;ass
ta''Nothing ghOstly about the FRon,
TAT all eventgr jaughediATarYs as she
l'BegaHundFessmg uo.4H 80, ut.
Mary Anstruther was not.a senti-
mental girl, and the-story Of Lady
IsoBel'had not pss'fFtiioulaIly impressed,
her. As-she-HRdFessed by the glow
Of The big wood fire. her thoughtsrani
far more upon the possibilities Of Of
some of the guests at HOLLYWOOD try
ing to play ghost than upon any