The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-02-10
A TALE BY A TRUTHFUL DETECTIVE.
BX w. A. CURTIS.

The Queerest job in my line that l
Vghost. if you may speak in that way
OF a thing of air. 1t was in England.
They had heard of me there and after
I had been over a little while tax nS
in the sights, j young man came TO see
me and said ne wanted me to help him
tOcate some money buried down On a
country seat Of his.
q cant offer you much" sand he.
for haven't anything to offer unless
lam lucky enough, with Jour ASSISTANCE,
20 locate the money. Ii L don finI
1t. my country seat VIII be sod to pay
Aebls ana the last Lord SeItonUury VIII
he penniiess
What about this money!" said l.
81 ancestor, the first Lord Seton
bury. is known, or supposed to have
buried a great treasure somewhere on
the estate.
Where? Have you any means of
guessing where?"
ON. yes. We cal guess where II is.
His ghost haunts the vicinity and IS
supposed TO do so because of the reas-
are icing on his mind and not allowing
him 10 rest in his grave"
You are sure the trasure hasn't al
ready been dug up? l should naturally
suppose from what l have heard of the
way ghosts carry on, that you esteem
ed ancestors spirit would have gone to
whatever place he buried the money
and gone through the motions of bury
ing and all that, and if anybody had
ever followed him right up, they would
have Ound where the money VS."
That's just the point. Nobody ever
followed it, SO they dug promiscuously
without result, though they dug at the
roots of nearly every tree or the place
and examined every We'll"
Let's study his thing awhile" said
l. Who was the ghost. how much did
he nave, where is the money. what red
son have you for thinking there was
any money. and who has ever seen the
Ehost?"
Lord SeftOnbury anded me two let
ters. old. yellow and the ink so fad, d it
was hard to read. This was the first
one
"Worshipful Cousin: L have seen ye
perturbed spirit of our late uncle. 1t is
his wQGt to appear on ce2 tain nights of
ye month clad in ye full! panoply OF his
knightly station, casquc on head, haI-
berk on breast. sword at side. 1t leaves
ye castle and enters ye garden shrub
berry. Now what it d0eth there. how
far it pursueth its organizations, no
man can say. for there be none who
have dared dog its 5,eps. After II space.
1t is again beheI6. coming from We
shrubbery . wher : 1t enters We castle
again. knowing hat our IaTe uncle
amassed a grea sum of money in We
retaining of So re share of we cOnfS-
Gated property # his gracious majlsty's
wickedly rebe. Gus subjects. n know
ing that no tI1ce of this money is TO he
found anon his effects. L am of We
opinion anG so are all with whom ]
have held inverse, that he buried We
money soT ewhere in We garden. there
10 lie until he DarlOuS period OF war
be over. Moreover. dying before ne
could eXhume it and there being some
faint OF cruelty attaching to We attain
ing of il and diShonOr to We retaining,
1t Is plain that Smitten i'll conscience
and unable to rest in his grave. our
uncle haunts We place where lies ye
money. Wherefore. in order that our
beloved kiEslnan NAV rest in peace il
a~DDeareth right and seemly TO me that
we eXnume We treasure n bestow 1t
upon good works. let us say in We en-
duement of our cathedral. which wouId
be pleasing 10 him because of nv con-
nectiOn herewith, and moreover. it. l.
sadly needed"
This letter was from a canon or a
cathedral. One of the dead mans neph-
ews. two nephews. and who would have
been his heir. except for the fact lie
WAS in the church The other nephew,
the heir. didn't agree with the canon
He said:
"Our uncle cannot rest in his grave,
nathless. it Is not because of an uneasy
conscience. A peer of ye realm and We
founder Of a noble line, it grieveth him
TO feel that ye family is not to have this
great sum TO support itself in We state
In which he would have them live.
True. our inducements are large. but
with ye money now lying useless amid
we worms of we ground. it could We III
splendor with England's greatest. / do
favor ye exhuming of We money. hut
not ye bestowing OF 1t upon ye cathe-
dral. AS ye heir. I shall bestow it. an
accordance with our uncle's evident
desire, in we enhancing of u flmily's
GpIendor and now o We much de9tr-
ed end that his troubled spirit ind
sweet peace and calm repose aud walk
40 more"
so far. so gooI. Those Ia knew
about the ghost. but they have been
ghosts themselves for several centuries.
Who is there who las seen the ghost?
Have YOu?"
NO. for the old mansion has BEEN
rented to other people for two kenera-
lions. Fact is, the ghost hasn't b=e1
seen for sixty years or Whereabouts.
Couldn't have rented the place. IL it
had. But there's an old retired inn
keeper here in London. eighty years cd,
with all his faculties. who lived an the
place until he was twelve. He has seen
ct"
i found the old inn-keeper. He had