The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1906-12-08


grandfather had made me his con
slant companion. He was an Tuner
ant preacher of western England-his
circuit calling him from walled Ches-
ter on the west to the novels OF the
charcoal burners In mid-England'
and during the years Of his itinerancy
] followed him In the pursuance OF
his duties through sun and rain and
winter gale.
repea. this IN order to explain
tust how / regarded my grandfather
in the light of a certain hcreditament
he left to me, his diary, but winch
he expressly forbade me opening
until ! had passed my twenty-htth
birthday.
There were many things | witnessed
ard heard in my boyhood for whlch
I could find no explanation until |
broke the seal of this book wherein
the magnitude of my grandfathers
very soul stands revealed. The first
entry in the diary is as follows;
My beloved grandson, in this
diary are TttDIu'u fN'blc WIZ "''"
for thy especial ediiication. without
comment | leave 1t with thee to Judge
whether | have been the victim OF
terrible mind disorder, or whether l
am gifted with perceptions beyond
the usual ken Of man.
1t was in the first years OF my
study of the occult long before thou
-, h,r Npru n H.
sire's heart, that | was journeying to
Blore Health. When night came down
fate led me to the door of desolate
inn slowly dropping to ruin In the
perpetual shadow Of grove OF oak.
The aged host greeted me most
cordially, for at his inn guests were
not frequent and therefore the more
welcome. In the parlor back OF the
denuded bar | found his old wife and
his daughter, the only other persons
about the place, moving silently here
and there preparing the evening meal
The daughter was young and tall and
straight and strong and her hands
were coarscned with outdoor work
for It appeared, she was now the
burden bearer of the family,
After the supper was cleared away,
The aged parents entertained me with
"reminiscences OF past glory, OF
when the inn was now and the great
tide of travel used to pass its door
Then In saddened tones they told Of
how the opening of new thorough
fare had diverted custom to other hos
telries. so when the daughter was
married to a wellto-do young farmer
they closed the inn, pcriorce, and
went and made their home with her
but one Inflated day the newly
welded husband rode away to a
neighboriug market town and never
returned.
After due time the farm and tene.
ments passed into the possession of
the next heir-at-law, a cousin OF the
husband; and the old couple with
their dowerlcss daughter returned to
the deserted inn. now racked and
wrc> kcd with storm and long neglect.
Thou canst see the gables of the
farui over yon above the trees" said
the mother. and we might be living
there now mid comfort and plenty If
Iisbeth would only hearken to us and
wed with Carver ballard, the cousin
who succeeded to the estate.
Then lisbeth, lifting her sorrow.
laden eyes to portrait of her hus,
band on the wall said; Mother,
thou needst not grieve for the rich
living at the farm beyond Whitsun-
tide, That day | promise To give my
hand to Carver ballard an he still de.
sires It."
Then a gloomy silence fell like a
funeral pail over us, and We sat about
the fire absorbed In our own thoughts
until there came the sound of a quick
step mp the pathway and an i'm
peratiye knock ut the door, and Gar
yer ballard entered He was dark.
hardfeatured. harsh-spokeu man
whom any tender young woman might
well have stunned.
could not understand it then but
intutively felt that he was a man
with a guilty conscience. And In the
light of the recent narration. | fell
Go comparing his features with those
OF the picture hanging above his head
AS my gaze wandered from one 10
the other there came TO me n sense of
q presence in the room, a conviction |
could neither define nor evade. and
while | stroye TO analyzo critically
this impression strange metamor.
phosis seemed 10 come over my serses
and | felt myself drifting, MS it were.
iuto a state of double consciousness
Still with that sense OF divided
ego with the voices about me echoinr
vaguely through my brain, | thought
myself riding along country road.
suuken and SCARED deep with old
cart ruts. road | had never Travelled
before Under the influence Of this
unseen force. | appeared to come 70
where the crumbling shell OF an an.
cicnt oak spanned the path, reached
into the hollow trunk and drew forth
a .pqde corrcded with rust. and roll
FMS he log away | began 10 dig into
the da-lp. soft earth IN my trance
corthucd TO throw the dirt To the
right and to the left until from out Toe
brown loan appeared the face in th,