Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1910-07-27
WAS He
A .SPOOK !?
BY EDWIN I. GARRISON
Copyright. 1910. by American Press
Association. 4

or the party declared that the PSYCHE
cal research societies would one day
prove that spiritual bodies revisited
their former haunts. In support of his
belief he told the following story:
Ebert Ellison was a prodigy at
school. carried off all the prizes in COL
lege. could declaim in almost any Ian
guage, was the best shot. swordsman.
whist and chess player. artist. must
clan. that the sun ever shone upon. As
for lovemaking, no woman could resist
him.
was member of small social cir
Gle in a place where Ellison spent
some time. He appeared like a rising
sun. In very brief period he had
captured every one of us. young men
and young women alike. He came on
the LIST Of June. and on the I'd, by his
experiences in the water. saved two
girls and man from drowning. On
the Sd he won the championship at
tennis: on the 4th he beat profess
sional billiard player. Then followed
series Of feats calculated to put to
the blush the athletic youths of an.
cient Athens.
BY this time every girl, in the place
was in love with him. He was a hand
some chap. with a Byron head and
neck. and could write verses that
judges of such matters pronounced re-
markable. One Sunday when a par
son was i'll Ellison supplied his pulpit
and preached the most remarkable SER
mon that was ever heard in that
church.
One girl among those who fell in
love with Ellison seemed to find favor
In his sight. She was Lois Beverly. a
quiet. demure creature with large.
dreamy eyes. She was not prominent
in any of the affairs going on in the
place. but was held in a sort of rev.
erence by the others Had it not been
for her retiring disposition she would
have been a belle. for she possessed a
beauty in repose that was very effec-
tive. Many Il young fellow on first
seeing her thought he would fall in
love with her. but when he came to
talk with her was chilled. Was it her
want of interest in him or that she &C.
cupied plane too far above him? 1t
was certainly not her stupidity.
When Ellison appeared she became
another person. She was often seen
chatting with him with great ANNA
ton. to say nothing of flashes of wit
Before long we were all watching this
couple. who seemed to be the compile
ment Of each other. We agreed that it
required universal genius to awaken
her dormant faculties. Every one was
saying. What pair those two will
maker
The only difference between Ellison's
bearing toward Lois Beverly and other
girls was that he seemed to be intent
upon fascinating her. He would when
chatting with her keep his eyes fixed
on hers as though mourning his soul
through her orbs to mingle with her
own soul behind them. At such times
there was an absence of his own bril-
Hancy. He seemed rather to be excit-
ing hers. There was a suggestion of
something plaintive both in him and in
her. Many a time l have watched
them when they were together, too far
to hear what they were saying. and it
eemed to me that be was playing upon
her as he would upon either.
Then one day everybody was asking.
'What has become of Ellison?'' No.
body knew. He certainly wasn't with
us any more. OF course we all turned
to Lois. All she would say was that
she didn't know any more of Mr.. ELI
sons whereabouts than the rest of us.
He didn't reappear. and Lois sank
back into her former condition. The
only change was a profound sadness
that had settled upon her. and the
dream in her eyes was intensified. .
Ellison never returned. Some time
after his disappearance the woman
who owned the house where he lived
told me that at the time he left her
she had found a drop of blood on the
hearthstone in his room. asked her
If any one was with him at that time
and she said there was no one. He
had gone up to bed at 10 o'clock. the
house had been carefully locked-she
was fearful OF burglars-and no one
had been in during the night. In the
morning when her lodger didn't come
down she went to his room. 1t was
empty, the bed had not been slept in
and drop of blood was on the hearth
Lois Beverly grew frail and lived
only about six months after Ellison's
going.
l got it into my head that the fellow
was some sort of spook. At any
rate. could never trace his anteced.
ents or his identity after he left us
One day, having nothing better to do
wrote out an account of the case and
sent it to a society for psychical re-
search.
After some weeks received reply
from the secretary. It stated that the
society had discussed the matter OF
Ebert Ellison. but that there was
nothing in it that any one could grasp
One of the members had made sug
gestion to which l was welcome. II
was this: In the sixteenth century lived
a Scotchman named Crichton. who
was universal genius. He spoke q
dozen languages and could dispute or
any subject in Latin. He excelled In
all exercises and sports. While in the
service Of the Duke Of Mantua as tn
tor to the dukes son: he was assas
sinated. Ellison's accomplishments, his
vanishment and the drop Of blood or
his hearth would seem to indicate thai