Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-04-22
E fe IFS
 Ghost
By HENRY CLEVELAND WOOD.
$ & $ & s E $ $ E se $ $ $ s s $ $ Copyright. 1903 by Daily Story Pub. Co.l

a meaning laugh, as her niece waved a farewell from the front gallery.
 Certainly not," answered Dulci' mer, lightly.
 We were eating the bread of idle ness at one of the smaller resorts on the Florida coast. Closely attached to our little party were two others. Horace Mum and David Barrister. the former a young eastern broker. the latter a successful orange grow CT, whom Dulcimer had met the sum. mef before. In Dulcimer's treatment of each there seemed no partiality ? shown.
 had an enga cement with Mum and Barrister for Christmas day to take small boat and fish, but with the morning came a. persistent head. ache, which compelled change ot plans. I gave the two lunch that had been prepared, and small flask of orange wine, which Barrister put in his pocket, and they pulled Gff without me.
 Along toward noon my wife was reading from a popular novel, Dulci. mer was busy with her embroidery, dhS | WAS IlSOGIlllG duo oOLAAS all ternately in a hammock, when hasty footsteps suddenly claimed our att tention, and almost before we recog. nized the intruder a shadow fell across the gallery. Horace Mum stood in our midst, his garments dripping with sea water, his face strangely pale, his eyes filled with somber tidings. r
 "The boat overturned-I swam ashore" he faltered, and seemed al- most exhausted
 Good Heavens!" I cried, springing to my feet. Where is Barrister.''
 Mum looked first at Dulcimer, then at me. She had risen, and stood with eyes fixed on him in gaze of fasci- mated terror, while she shook vio- ment understood it was the other one she loved best.
 Where is Barrister?" I repeated. g"I tried to save him!" Mum cried, brokenly, but he sank at once and was carried out to sea. had hard work to save myself, the waves-'' The speaker suddenly swayed and fell unconscious at Dulcimer's feet.
 This tragic termination of the days outing was a very great shock to us all, especially Dulcimer, and on Christmas night, beyond the mid hour, she came to my wife the pie ture of alright.
 She insisted that David Barrister had appeared at her bedside, his gar ments dripping with salt water, sea- weed tangled in his hair, and death like pallor on his face. He carried in his hand small wicker flask that had long been in the water, and held it out to her, but when she reached forth to take it the form vanished
 we must get Dulcimer away from here" said my wife, concernedly, 8 day or so later. ''She needs a change of scene"
 We went to St. Augustine. The evening while sitting in the open square of the hotel listening to the music, Dulcimer, who sat next to me, suddenly began to tremble, and as arose to throw wrap gabout her shoulders, I caught sight of Horace Mum coming through the archway of the entrance. Dulcimer's back was toward it, and she had not turned around
 Are you ill?" asked of Dulcimer, in alarm.
 Ut is nothing she answered, in low tone. "I am better now.''
 While she was speaking Horace Mum presented himself. He had only reached St. Augustine that even ing. As Dulcimer turned to speak to him, I saw that my wife was GOV ert1y watching the effect of the meeting.
 "You must not be too hard on Dulcimer," I ventured, when in the privacy of our room. Ut will take some little time for the shock of Bar rister's death to wear off" Dulcimer and Horace Mum did not meet again until the following win ter, and second peculiar circum- stance attended this meeting.
 While at the theater, some late ar rivals came in at the beginning of the second act, and all at once Dulci- mer began to tremble.> I glanced back of me, and, as had suspected, I saw Horace Mum just then appear at the curtained entrance of the cor ridor leading to the parquette.
 Horace Mum remained in the city about fortnight, and in that tinoe we saw him frequently. I think my wife began to be very hopeful, when, after Christmas night, her plans were shattered by Munn's abrupt depar- ture, and Dulcimer's fearful comics sion that she had rejected him.
 You must not censure mel" she cried, "for last night there came once more to my bedside the poor drip ping figure holding out to me your wicker flask. Twice, on Christmas night, has this strange apparition ap- peared; twice has it offered me the 1 flask. What is the meaning of it?''
 The following June we sailed for 1 the old world for few months travel. Midsummer found us sailing the majestic fjords of picturesque | Norway. l The morning after our arrival at Trondhjem, while we were breakfast ing, suddenly in our meal an exclama- tion from my wife drew my atten- tion to Dulcimer, who was leaning back in her chair, trembling violent ly, her face quite pale. As I rose to