The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1907-12-24

my rich supper. so 1 smokas .,~.
Ply put the candle and after oorsJa,
cradle effort vent OF - - e
put was almost lmmedfateIv -.
~ me same beautiful aurarf,to1
oenuine over me. I sprang an in baa
iuooeu my eyes again and again then
pInCheh myself to see II wee realty
i."S-i could not persuade myself
= Was not a real face. | hrtsbe5 a~sv
tne l4iusion and tried to divert nv
niIhd by looking about the room.
rieared my throat, whistled. and s<oka
% myself out loud, arose from the
Ded n went over to the window The
CnF!stHlas moon shone full uron the
oid Hail and threw rich g1les uro,,
the tapestried floor. the hare ,oughs ~
ehe ems scarcely stirred at all. the
landscape was brightly lighted. the old
rose garden vas asleep in the moon
Hgnt dreaming OF last roses.
anu the opposite shore OF the bay lay
ilke a band Of delicate ribbon along
the horizon in the faint December
maze walked to the east window
overlooking the lawn. and there I be-
held Va spectacle which ~onfounded
ana beWildere1 me even more-the
gates We're thrown wide open. and the
qualntest old cOachs. with dummy
drivers in cooked hats. were entertrg
ana as fast as one coach would dis
charge lis curious occupants il would
disappear as If by magic. to he sue
ceede1 hy another Of entirely different
type, and with even more ~trangeI
clad people. but everything proceed
Cd as quietly and orderly as a countr
funeral l felt irritated rather than
frightened to think my nights rest
was to be disturbed by a party of pre-
sumptuous masqueraders-it seemed a
queer fashion to be called on the very
night Or my arrival, and at such an
un1ashicnable hour. too. but / noticed
very closely again the people were en-
tcring the house by the dozens. but
there was not a footstep, not a sound.
not even the creaking Of a door, |
relt a SICK, faint. floating sensation as
one experiences just as he is going un-
der an anaesthetic. but has not quite
reached the stage of complete uncon-
sciouspess-I staggered to the bed and
Tell heavily across it-immediately the
beautiful woman approached and bent
tenderly over me again-It was Me
chelle'! the phantom bride of Bever-
~ Hall! She started toward the door
and beckcned to me appealingly-I
stared as one transfixed. a superhu-
man resolution possessed mel fol-
lowed. some sort of spirit influence
told me she was a r~evenant and inter-
mediary of the neither world, a. that
she was about to revea something
or good, or point me to the hidden
treasure. She was 50 divinelv fair n
lldl L attempted TO IOuCn
her, but nothing-only a sensation o.
warmth, like the hot steams one fire.
quently PASSES through along the
highway at night, and which old pee-
pie say are spirit paths. l now began
to feel somewhat calm, so gently and
50 coax:ngly did she persuade ME
along-sne led the way down the loGc
flight Of stairs, and into the same
room where I had eaten supper bur a
few hours before! But so changed
hardly recognized it. The assembled
phamtOmE. as Mechelle entered, arose
and extended their arms. palms down
ward, on a level with their eyes, but
there was one who paid not the slight
est attention to our presence, for a:
the foot of the table sat a curious
parsonage, clad in a black gown and
Students car. like the alchemists Of
old, a spotted viper coiled and with
ed at his elbow as he bent over 2
flaggon If red liquor, muttering some
Unintellie}ble and mystic incantations
"Mechelle," my spirit guide, anF the
other phamtoms arose and drank thu
red liquor from glasses, and as II
touched their lips it turned into I
blush flame. By a sort of second sight
I knew instantly that the assembled
phamtoms were the d~isembodied spIr-
its Of those who for generations and
generations had owned and occupied
my house and were keeping then
Christmas festivities. There Werl
three loud knocks under the table
then l felt the whole floor begin t
descend with a rumbling, grating
sound like a bad working eleva Sr
and in a moment more we stood dowr
in my cellar before a huge iron door
which l will swear was not there Wher
1 inspected the house the evening be
fore.
The strange man in the black Cow
then poured some of the liquor 81
the grourd-the iron door opened in.
ward. and the phamtCms glided in {
procession down to an underground
chamber, which was dimly Lighted
with the same blue ethereal haze as
the room above-I knew then | was il
the bank tunnel. where immense trea
I sures were concealed, and of which
my servants had Spoken so earnestly
the evening before. l looked abou
me and spied a rusty chest to tn
right filled with gold, and in my gree
made a rush for it There was {
sound like the rushing of wind, tn
blue lights were extinguished, the irol
! door, grating roughly upon its hinges
closed with a sudden jar. and | wa
, hopeleSsly entofnbed in the brick tur
| mel of Beverly Hall, | sank to tn
floor in Utter despair, the atmospher'
was so damp and horrible. and reek
! ing with slime. Byron had himseI
: lowered for a night down in the hor
; rible dungeons of the Venetian Deges
! thai he might accurately describe tn
suffering of the victims who perishet
amid its silence and its on
, Who can describe the fortunes of Ha
= r~ancourt doomed for fifteen years il
: a horrid oubliette of the Bastle
: whose iron bars required for their riV
citing the work of nineteen men 70
twenty DAYS. Or the Sufferings o
: Dessault. who passed sixty years in
narrow loathesome cell. or the incori
y ceivable horrors of Latude. consigaet
by lettres de cachet for life in tt
Bastile; o. ever of noble BonnivarJ
and Court de Charney, the long SUI
! fering prisoner of Fenestrella-
: thought of them all, for | a befnr
me then the actual experience o
death in life-I was consigned to
, living burial amid the an
solitude of {, brick tunnel. Hope oftel
succeeds the oments of blacklist de
) spair-I collected my Wlts-l recalle'
all the remarkable escapes OF en-
tombed miners. and their means. cas-
= sinova's wonderful escape from n
prison. and ever the miraculous eS
cape of the treasure hunters from
King Solomon's Mines, 50 wildly re
lated by Rider Haggard, and then
arose pCn my feet and listened.
= heard the dripping of water down |
u - r|n ~ Anl II ma