Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-02-18
cold meat and tea. "Drat it! you're a.
white as a spirit"

cold meat and tea. 'Drat it! you're al
| white as a spirit"
Tonight" murmured Mercy, clinch
ing her small hands at her side.
80 he told me when he went away,
said Sally,
Mercy did not taste her dinner. Sh,
paced up and down her prison like ont
distracted, mutely praying for help t
| the Power that had befriended ant
life. hfe' Ae' '"''0SH oil A'i ''' ~
Presently her eyes fell upon the cup
board above the bed. She opened Ii
looked at the rubbish crowded into IT
narrow space, and a thought, an in
spiration, flashed like lightning across
her mind. Could she do It? At leas
she would try. ..
J In fever of apprehension she wait
ed for night to fall. Should Discordt
appear before she had time to make
her experiment, all would indeed bt
lost. Fortunately, the twilight gather
ed dark and threatening. A wild wint
sighed round the old, black house; rair
fell at intervals-Mercy could hear II
on the roof and against the pane.
Just before the last Of the daylight
board the box Of red ochre, the pot OF
paint, red also, and, with little water
from her Jug, mixed the two together
Then she drew a sheet from the bed
smeared 1t in a frightful manner, fold
ed 1t carefully, put 1t, with the paint
pot into the cupboard, and flung her
self down upon her miserable pillow az
IL in utter dependency and pain.
A foot on the stair! Her heart gave
great, suffocating bound. But no! II
was only Sally with her supper.
you look mighty cast down." said
the old woman. Here's a sausage that
I've fried for you-eat 1t. Maybe twill
raise your spirits. Oh! that drafted
ghost has begun again, has he?" with
a frightened glance around the room
as a great commotion sounded sudden
ly in the chimney.
yes" shivered Mercy; "the way he
goes on Is dreadful. Oh, Sally, take me
downstairs with you-I shall die here!"
Sally grinned.
"Do you think me a fool? Mr. Dis
cordo told me expressly that you wasn't
to leave this chamber. So, ghosts or
no ghosts, here you'll have to stay
Maybe, II you ask 1t as favor, Dis
cordoIl take us from this place alto
gether. We'd be glad enough II he
would both Joseph and l."
The fir-tree at this moment dragged
its boughs along the dilapidated clap
board with a hoarse shrek. Sally
dropped her tray and fed from the
room as fast as her old legs would carry
her.
Downstairs she went. to the kitchen,
where Joseph sat quaking over a fire
Of green apple-tree boughs.
1.-THE old mans walking!" announced
Sally, her gray hair bristling upon her
head; "there'll be no rest for anybody
in the house tonight. wish you'd been
hanged afore you ever told your fine
gentleman Of this place, which Is no
wise fit for living folks to abide in"
Joseph was too far overcome with
terror himself to take umbrage at the
words of his spouse.
"The ghosts have got into the fire, y
he muttered; "it's sputtering and
groaning and fizzling, but it won't
burn. Shut the door, woman, and
bring out the brandy bottle-let's take
something hot"
A gust Of wind tearing through the
crazy old hall at that moment, wrench
ed the latch from Sally's hand, and
banged the door violently against the
wall. The pair yelled in chorus. Sally
was the first to regain composure. She
went to a closet, produced bottle OF
brandy, and poured strong draught
for herself and her lord. Then the two
sat down at the dull fire, to quake at
every fresh noise and listen for Dis
cordo's arrival.
Suddenly an appalling sound broke
the silence Of the kitchen-a long, la
mentable human shrek, somewhere In
the upper portion Of the house. 1t
floated down the stair and filled the
room-a terrible, agoniZed cry. Direct
ly after, both heard a fall.
Sally started to her feet and seized a
candle.
Come with mel" she cried.
"Oh, Lord! where?" quavered Joseph
ITO her room, you fool! Did you
hear that scream?"
The two mounted to Mercy's cham
ber. Her door was fast, and though
they listened intently they could hear
nothing inside.
Mercy" called Sally in a trembling
voice.
A deep groan answered. The woman
put her mouth to the keyhole and call
ed again:
What ails you, girl? What's the
matter in there?"
Another appalling groan. She took
key from her pocket, unlocked the
door and looked in, while Joseph peer
ed warily over her shoulder.
For q moment they could see moth
ing. Then from the bed In the corner
out Of the intense darkness and silence
arose a shape, tall, terrible; shrouded
in white from head to foot, and smear
ed down all it's grim length with the
ghastly sign Of murder-a shape which
In the f1aring, uncertain light OF the
tallow candle, was enough to make the
hair rise and the blood grow cold with
horror. He had come back from his
rising bodily from the bed on which
the foul deed had been done, twenty
years before!
The apparition moved toward the
pair at the door. A wild flutter OF
blood-stained garments, a shrek Of
wind in the chimney, and with a ye!
fit to raise the roof, Sally dropped heI
candle and retreating backward, miss
ed her footing and fell headlong down
the stairs. At the same instant, the
desperate hand Of the ghost wrenched
Joseph's crutch from his hold, and pre-
cipitated the wretched cripple after his
companion.
Dashing off the smeared sheet which
wrapped her, Mercy leaped over the
fallen bodies of her jailers and gained
in one breathless rush the entry be-
low. BY gleam Of freight, which is
sued from the kitchen, she found the
outer door leading to freedom and the
blessed protecting night. 1t was fast
With all her might she pulled at the
rusty bolt, drew it back with much diff
ficulty, and with one look at the bodies
lying in heap at the foot Of the stail
were they senseless or dead?-Mer-
cy sprang like a deer across that ac-
cursed threshold, and wildly away from
the haunted house under the hill.
CHAPTER XIV.
A Blow in the Dark.