The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-02-19
- By
Charles Dickens
W

~ &c AAoAAAS HAOD1. Lie wv Jul = 49, 49,
blocks Of stone: and two skeleton journeymen
In the shadow Of their sheltering sentry-boxes.
about to slash away at cutting out the grave
Cloisterham. Likely enough, the two think
little Of that now. being alive. and perhaps
or Say Say one Of the twO'
door. He would seem to have been cleaning
himself with the aid Of a bottle, jug, and
visible in the bare brick room. with rafters
overhead and no ~plastered ceiling, into which
ne "A APe% yod ms TeH yiSl9or'
Il am ready: Mister Jarsper. Let the old
uns come out If they dare, when we so among
their toms. My spirit is ready for EN-
DO you mean animal spirits, or ardent?,
"and 1 mean 'em both"
He takes a lantern from a hook. puts a match
or two in his pocket wherewith 10 light 1t.
should there be need; and they go out together,
dinner-bundle and all.
Surely an unaccountable sort Of expedition
ing among old graves. and ruins. like a GhouIe-
that he should be stealing forth to climb, and
dive, and wander without an object. is nothing
extraordinary; but that the Choir-Master or any
one else should hold it worth his while TO be
with him, and to study moonlight effects in such
eountable sort of expedition, therefore,!
Ware that there mound by the yard-gate,
Mister Jarsper."
II see it. What is it?'
Mi. Jasper stops. and waits Cor him to come
lime?'
Ayr says Durdles; quick enough to eat
your boots. With a little handy stirring, quick
enough to eat your bones"
They go on, presently passing the red win
dows Of the Travellers Twopenny, and emerging
into the clear moonlight of the Monks Vine
Corner: of which the greater part lies in shadow
until the moon shall rise higher in the sky.
The sound of a closing house-door strikes their
ears, and two men come out. These are Mr..
Crisparkle and Neville. Jasper. with a strange
and sudden smile upon his face. lays the palm
OF his hand upon the breast of DurdleS stopping
him where he stands.
At that end of Minor Canon Corner the shadow
IS profound in the existing state of the light: at
f brea epdi b, too there 1 Is a piece ios of old dwarf wall;
what was once a garden, but is now the thor
oughiare Jasper and Durdles would have
ping so short. stand behind it.
Those two are only sauntering," Jasper
yoon.p Ect uih keep will auie sp h oqt into or th t5e w m2o Gdtsih
US, or want TO join US, or what not"
so Dnrd fTarm n96s assent fTsm bt and 6n1 fails to 9as munc faIas
his arms upon the top of the wall. and, with
his chin resting on them, watches. He takes
no note whatever of the Minor Conon. but
W tTifSse Ne9ii,s, 9 as th9 y his eye e. We're at the
him. and were going to fire. A sense Of de-
sTrn power is SO expressed in his face that
cheek.
Meanwhile Mr.. Crisparkle and Neville walk to
say, cannot be heard consecutively; but Mr..
Jasper had already distinguished his own name
This is the first day of the week. Mr..
as they turn back; and the last day of the
week is Christmas Eve, -,-,
Inc echoes were favorable at those points, but
as the two approaeh, the sound Of their talking
shattered by the echoes. but still capable of
being. pieced together, is uttered by Mr.. Cri-
sparkle. As they draw stIll nearer. this frag-
mP @fn sb of a n reply is heard fiev Not Not deserved yet
Jasper again hears his own name, In connection
WITH the words from Mr. Crisparkle; .Remem,
Then the sound OF their talk becomes confused
again; they hating for a little while. and some
ing. When they move once more. Mr.. Crisparkie
is seen to look Up at the sky, and TO point be-
fore him. They then slowly disappear: passing
out into the moonlight at the opposite end Of the
moves. But then ne turns TO Durdles. and bursts
into a fit of laughter. Durdles, who still has
that suspended something in his cheek, and
who sees nothing to laugh at. stares at him until
Mr.. Jasper lays his face down on his arms TO
something, as If desperately resigning himself
to Indigestion.
stir or movement after darl,. There is little
enough in the nigh tide Of the day, but there
cheerfully frequented High street lies nearly
parallel to the spot ,(the old Cathedral rising
between the two), and is the natural channel in
which the Cloisterham traffic flows, a certain
awful hush pervades the ancient pile, the clois-
people care 10 encounter. Ask the first hundred
citizens of Cloisterham. met at random in the
night between these eeric precincts and the
thoroughfare of shops, and you would find that
ninety-nine declared for the longer round and
is not to be found in any local superstition that
attaches 10 the p~recincts-albeit a mysterious
danyg;ling from her neck. has been saen f fit fIPe
about there by sundry witnesses as intangible as
herself-but it is to be sought in the innate
shrinking of dust with the breath Of life in n
from dust out Of which the breath of life has
passed; also, in the widely diffused, and almost
as widely unacknOWledged, reflection. sIf the
dead do, under any circumstances. become WISH
BILE to the living, these are such likely surround
ings for the purpose that /, the living, will get
out of them as soon as 1 can
glance around them, before descending into the
crypt by a small side door. of which the latter
their view is utterly deserted. one might fancR
that the tide of life was stemmed by Mr.. Jas
per's own gatehouse. The murmur Of the tide
is heard beyond; but no wave passes the arch
way, over which his lamp burns red behind his
curtain. as If the building We're a lighthouse.
They enter. locking themselves in. descend the
rugggG STOPS ; anu are 90~n h IN the Crypt The
IN at the groined windows, bare Of glass. the
broken frames for which cast patterns on the
ground. The heavy pillars which support the
roof engender masses Of black shade, but be
down these lanes they walk. Durdles discoursing
Of the old uns', he yet counts on disinterring.
whole family on EN- to be stoned and earthed
up. Just rs If he were a familiar friend OF the
time overcome by Jasper's wicker bottle. which
oirculates freely;-in the sense, that Is TO saw
that if s9nfS white en MT. fT 5aiSer into SpI Mr.. ,i Rsrdle IS
mouth once, and casts forth the rinsing.
They are to ascend the great Tower. On the
steps by which they rise 10 the Cathedral. Dur
dies pauses for new store of breath. TIE steps
are very dark, but out of the darkness they
can see the lanes Of light they have traversed
Dur6les seats himself upon a step. Mr.. Jasper
v WICKER bottie Which has somehow %aT Pai IIem i1 1he
DurCles's keeping) soon lntimates that the cork
has been taken out; but this is not ascertain
able through the sense of sight. since neither
can descry the other. And yet, in talking. they
! ff1rp fa ono another DG fhONph fhafr fono- o-1r
commune together.
This is good stuff, Mister Jarsperi'
1T is very good stuff, L hope. / bought il on
purpose"
They don't show, you see. the old uns don't.
ut would be a more confused world than il
is. If they could"
well, it would lead toward a mixing Of
mark, as II the idea OF ghosts had not previous
" presented itself to him in a merely inconyen-
lent light, domestically or chronologically but
do you think there may be ghosts OF other
What things? FlOwer-beds and Watering
pots? horses and harness?
mo. sounds
What sounds
Cries"
No I mean screeches. Now ri tell You.
Mr.. Jarsper. Wait a bit till I put the bottle
right Here the cork Is evidently taken out
right This time last year. only a few DAYS
later, I happened to have been doing what was
correct by The season, in the way Of giving n
the welcome it had a right 10 expect. when
them townbcys set on me at their worst. AT
lenSth / gave EN- the slip, and turned I'm here
And here / fell asleep. And what woke me
The ghost Of a cry. The ghost Of one terrihc
of the howl Of a dog. q long dismal WOeful howl