The Washington herald., 1916-01-02
To-
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The Ghost That
[ Laid
BY BURNETT FALLow.


morbid thought. the. outcome Of re-
cent unpleasant experience. which had
made a deep impression on my mind
A wei known visitant to the village
where had recently settled as a doc
tor was an old woman locally spoken
Of as ''Peddler Betty For many
years she had been a constant visitor
selling tapes, cottons, needles, laces
buttons, etc-in fact, the usual ped
dler's miscellany. So far as was known
she had neither relations nor home. At
last poor old Betty could scarcely hooole
over her round. She gave out In the
autumn, and as winter drew near she
was advised to seek the shelter OF the
poor house. But she declared she would
die as she had ever hved-free!~ And she
was true to her resolve!
A man selling traps In Hemlock Hoi-
low had found Peddler Betty frozen to
death under a large tree. He reported
the matter. and an inquest followed In
due course. / examined the poor re-
mains. and gave evidence at the inquest
Death from exposure" was the verdict,
and the town laid her to rest in name
less grave
It was Of poor old Betty had been
thinking as I stood at my window; for
though 1 had met with death In many
forms. never before had seen such
beautiful face, to which a purified do
parted youth had returned, as slept
peacefully in the rude coffin And had
said to myself many times: "She did not
die alone" One was with her who
never forgetsP'
The villagers were a superstitious COM
munity. and so. when II was said that a
light had been seen dancing about Hem
lock Hollow and taking the form Of a
brilliant star. the villagers with hushed
voices, declared that the spirit OF Betty
could not rest. and so returned to her
old haunts to overlook any who had done
her i'll during her life. And all declared
they would not attempt to cross the great
Hollow after dark lest they should be
spirit-Ied to some terrible doom
These matters had been engrossing my
thoughts when a knock announced John
Gilbert.
John was a true local character"
For forty odd years he had crossed
hill and dale on his daily round of de-
livering goods to outlying farms
We'll. John" was my greeting, and
what is 1t this timer
Bill Gardner's wife; they live over
in the Hollow"
This case. then. demands immediate
IF any good is tS be done"
But 1 can't cross Hemlock Hollow
after dark"
But I can, doctor. Boy and man.
for forty-odd years i"
Yes, yes, John" interrupted
''wIl your
Ready this minute, sir"
The first part Of our journey wound
through the village by the high road.
Later we entered a narrow, tortuous
lane, and a mile farther on came to
the boundary of the wild tract of land,
many acres in extent. known as Hem
lock Hollow.
THE air seems thick with driving
snow. and cold the winter looks,
John" said I. repeating an old quo
tation.
''Um-er-it might be as well to hurry
a bit, doctor"
But this promises to be an exception
ally dark night"
I'VE can't go wrong. doctor, II We fol-
low the guides Here they be-on our
left hand" And he pointed with his stick
to little heaps Of chalk. placed at inter-
vals, and leading on ahead into the dark
ness which had already blotted out OBJ
jects in the distance. They goes right
across the Hollow" he explained, land
are 50 placed to guide the villagers home
ward after they've been shopping on Sat
urdsy nights. We-can't go wrong" In
spite of which assurance there was
note Of doubt In his voice.
Disquieting thoughts continued to dis
turb my peace of mind. At last abrupt
ly inquired Of my companion
What ails you tonight, John?"
''Well-ghosts,"
The answer was so unexpected that
was quite startled.
What nonsense was my sharp re-
joinder.
Not so sure of taat. doctor There's
more than one person who's seen the
81 ~ RRkf
Hollow on dark nights, bright and star
IKE, and often accompanied by the
mournful bowling of a dog"
IF you harbor such silly superstitions
in your head, ii will unfit you to act as
my guide, and I shall regret having
brought you"
sril-not-dfsappotnt you" And again
I noticed he spoke with considerable hes
itation-
I changed the subject by attempting TO
Lead his thoughts into other channels; for
I had disgusting thoughts of my own
They were confirmed as few big snow
nakes began to come upon us A very
heavy snowstorm was about to come
upon US. And. with the assurance given
by the everthickening snowrakes that
the ground would soon be whitened under
our feet. came other unpleasant thoughts.
John" said I. expressing what was
on my mind, IF by any chance you
wandered away from these guides. how
would you lead me to my destination7"
by the wind"
The wind has ceased
Let US hurry forward, siri"
Ten minutes later John stopped abrupt
ly. The guides had disappeared.
I've done my best" said John, with a
hesitation that confirmed my worst sus-
picions: "but In spite OF my having
crossed the Hollow. boy and man, for
forty-odd years, I've never before had
any doubt Of my way"
DO your best, John"
For the space of a few minutes he
stepped out with seeming confidence,
and I began to hope all would end
we'll But q short time later he STOP
ped so suddenly that I collided with
~, =,