Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1903-05-28

those who saw ghosts. l answered the
question with an eager affirmative and
ended my account Of what l should do
in case of such good fortune with an
inquiry IS to the nature Of the ghost
under consideration. "A mischievOus
spook called Old Kraft Hildeburg
answered, shivering as. if afraid that
there might be some truth in the story.
1t appeared that a noble family named
Kraft had held the estate some eighty
years before, and though no one knew
anything more about it, the ghost Of
an old woman Of that family was said
TO walk at night, after uncertain inter
walls. Two Austrian comrades who had
come from town with me drove back
alone, leaving me agitated at the
thought of the sweet goodnight l half
expected. But Hildeburg had van
ished and the day ended with several
glasses of strong punch with her
father and Mannelin, until, almost
overcome by sleep, I followed the SER
want to my bed chamber. It was an
old fashioned paneled room, with an
ancient bed in one corner and an old
writing desk diagonally opposite. Dark
curtains hung on all four sides of the
bed, and on stand near by the SER
want had placed two candles, whose
light did not drown the pale moonlight
that in the farther corner fell upon the
writing desk. AS I laid my watch on
the table I saw it was half past II.
was so sleepy that, still half clothed,
l blew out the candles, flung myself on
the bed, and in three minutes was fast
/ asleep.
I cannot have slept more than half
an hour when I was awakened by
J fearful report or crash that must have
| happened in the room. l opened my
eyes, and, half giddy from the fumes
of the liquor | had drunk from drowsi-
ness, and the surprise, I tried to think
what l could have heard. Some heavy
object seemed to have been overturned
in the room. I looked and listened
but there was nothing to hear or to
see but the uncanny moonlight on the
dark writing desk. All at once there
was a scraping and scratching just
behind the wall close to my bed.
whir1ed about and stared; this was no
testing matter! And as l stared blast
of icy air passed over my face, the bed
curtains fiuttered a moment this way
and that, and suddenly something
jerked the bed clothes.
''Heavens."- cried in panic and
Ica oh no
place was really haunted. I swung my
feet to the floor and sat sidewise on
the bed. More I could not do, since
the thought of the unknown, in spite
Of the sportive way in which it had
announced itself paralyzed my limbs
Even this drollery was in itself fright
full in it's diabolical humor. Again the
curtains waved and the icy breath
blew upon the left side of my face and
on my neck. And while I shivered
heard behind me shutting steps, ap-
parently passing through the wall; a
thin, quavering, female voice moaned
something unintelligible, and while
listened with new terror there stands
already only a step to my left a bowed,
aged female form with a mantilla of
bygone days upon her head. Only a
moment it stood still to catch it's
breath, for it gasped like a narrow
chested old woman who has gone up
and down flights of stairs and through
long corridors. Then it shuffied with
gathering slippers across the room to
the writing desk, where it paused
With corpselike hand it CROPPED over
the old desk as if feeling for the key
hole; I saw the outspread lank fingers
move about. Presently it produced a
bunch of little keys, selected one of
them, stuck it in the keyhole, and let
down the writing leaf Immediately
it pulled out one of the little inner
drawers, peered into the hollow open
ing, and put it's hand in. Then I heard
a key turn and saw the figure draw
out an inner secret compartment from
which it quickly drew packet, opened
it, and unfolded paper in which still
a third was contained. This last. it
smoothed out. All this I saw by the
dim light of the moon. And then l
saw distinctly how the old woman
opened another drawer and took from
it something which must have been a
knife eraser; next she bent lower over
the flattened paper, which now looked
like some important document and
read. in it, the phartom readl after it
had put on a pair of eyeglasses. Now
she put her finger on a passage and
began to erase something. Although
her back was towards me I recOg-
nized every movement. She wheezed
over her work, blew away the dust,
coughed like a consumptive old notary,
blew again, moved her finger over the
erasure, and once again scratched
away. At last the work seemed end
ed. A low, short, hoarse cackIe froze
me to the marrow, and without being
able to stir I thought to myself, Here,
once upon a time, a document was
falsifed, a birthright, an inheritance,
a life's happiness stClen!"
Suddenly the knife was put back in
its place, with the apparently histori-
cal naturalness of such demons, the
papers folded one within another as
before, each drawer replaced, the writ
ing leaf slammed to and locked. The
figure turned, glided back toward
where [ sat, incapable of movement,
until it stood close before me and
stared at me. Never shall I forget
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