St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1910-11-19


brother had already everything that l
lacked save only her: was | to be be-
reft OF her through any Vaccinations
of his to draw her within the sphere
of his interests? l taxed her with Wis
iting him; she admitted it and, weep
ing, explained that she had gone only
to intercede for me. She wanted us
to be friends, and, above everything
else, she wanted Philip to sell us the
mansion upon favorable terms, as he
purposed travelling abroad and was
not bound to it by any such intense
attachment such as she had con-
ceived. Philip had almost yielded to
her request I, however, am not of a
temperament easily placated. 1 sus-
pected that my brother was partly in
strumental in the changing of our ia
theirs will. | refused to have any
kind of dealings with him. 1 scolded
her for visiting him, explained the
misconstruction that might be put
upon such an act by village gossip,
and she promised me never to see him
again.
"a few weeks ago I learned from
servants chatter that the Sykes man
sion was reputed to be haunted by the
spirit of a woman. The butler had told
a village crony that the figure of a
woman walked through the rooms and
passages at night. He had seen it,
mad taken it for a sleep-walker and
essayed to catch it, but it had van
ished before his eyes and his hands
had grasped only thin air.
II am something of a student and
often sit up alone all night with my
books and papers. l am at present en-
gagged in writing a monograph upon
our American bats. Sometimes my OBJ
servations take me away for day or
two, so that my wife and | see not
too much of one another. Indeed, of
late since the episode | referred to,
we seem to have begun to drift apart.
I am not believer in the supernat-
ural, and this foolish gossip of the
butler aroused the most terrible sus-
picions in me. I resolved to discover
for myself what truth lay in the ru-
NOR.
pretending to be about to set off
on two days journey for the pur-
pose of securing specimens, | came
back at night and concealed myself
in an old building, now unoccupied
but formerly used as barn by my
grandfather, adjoining the mansion.
From here | was enabled to obtain
clear view of large part of the in
terror, which Is built in a rambling
way and can in this manner be over
looked. l saw my brother lower the
light in his study and minute or two
later saw the lamp flash out in his
bedroom The lower portion of the
house was plunged into darkness. 1t
| was past midnight. l was about to
dismiss my project as chimera, feel
| ing much ashamed of my suspicious,
when an irresistible impulse impelled
me to go to the open window of the
darkened study. Actuated by the same
| instinct which seemed to force me on
ward against my will, crept in noise
lessly, traversed the room, and
| emerged into the corridor. From the
far end a yelled figure came gliding
toward me. For moment the eerie-
ness of the situation, confess, rooted
me to the spot with horror. 1t came
nearer and suddenly l found myself
looking into what can swear was the
| face of my wife. Another moment
and the figure had passed me, with
| the same noiseless tread, and van
| ished into the distance l do not know
how long I remained there. When I
tage, fumbling with pistol l dashed
up to my wife's room and hammered
violently upon the door. Suddenly she
came out and confronted me. She was
robed in dressing gown and looked
up with innocent, frightened eyes, as
though just awakened out of sleep. I
made no answer to her terrified ap-
peals, but rushed out of the house and
came straight to you, knowing that if
there could be any supernatural solu-
ton of the difficulty you would put me
out of my suspense. While the period
| between our encounter in the mansion
and that in my own cottage seems al
| 1AooI wv " nave CudDlCu uST W
return and assume the role she played,
l confess that look upon you as the
last possible refuge left me before I
commit some act of desperation"
1t was impossible not to be deeply
impressed by the evident sincerity of
the young man and by his deep dis
tress. For my part, I was inclined
to believe the worst. But glance in
to Brodsky's impressive face convinced
me that he did not share my sus-
picions. Brodsky's opinions of women
were curiously fine; as l learned after.
ward, and hope subsequently to be
able to tell, his life had been nodded
by one of the noblest character, who
had died before the day set for their
marriage, leaving him to cherish her
memory as continual inspiration.
We determined to start at once for
the village, which was some Is miles
distant. situated in the heart of a
sparsely settled farming country. II
was decided that, birth in view of the
young mans exalted condition and in
order to enable us to pursue our in
vestigations freely, which conscience
would not have permitted had we beer