The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-12-20
A GOOD GHOST STORY
written for The Catholic Bulletin BY
Helen Hughes s4ielscher.)

The reading public were promised
great treat on Spiritualism a few
weeks ago. and since then the great
opponents OF the cult have unrolled
the workings of their minds to us with
little profit except to their own ex-
chequer Conan Doyle made no deep
er plunge into the unchartered coun-
try than his Catholic mother, who
gave him some idea of the doctrine of
Epprgatory, and Oliver Lodge did not
get farther than 10 convince his read
ers that he was quite taken with the
good-looking Mrs. Piper. Booth Tar.
kington today exemplifies the fact that
he knows very much less about the
spirit land than about the small boy
whom he can depict with such anus.
ing skill. Now here goes for a really
Eand truly ghost story.
Mr., Patrick Callin was a steady
Emiddle-aged, well-to-do farmer on
Prince Edward Island. Heawas mar
fried and the father Of ten children
Etwo Of whom became priests, one a
Sister in religion and two physicians
| mention these details to show the
character of the man who related this
Etale, 1t might also be added that
|his. word was as good as his oath in
/; the part of the country he lived in
This happening took place about
i the winter of 70 Mr.. Carlin's
mother, a good old lady, was taken
with pneumonia, and after a weeks
ILLNESS died. When the folks went into
town to get supplies and make ar
rangements for the funeral they
Ilearned that Mrs Carlin's brother
who had been i'll with typhoid fever
had passed away, and that the funera
would take place on Tuesday, and thai
|. the body would be brought back t
| his old home, about twenty miles from
where Mr.. Carlin lived. The funera
|, of old Mrs. Carlin was arranged fol
Monday. Monday evening the Carlins
were home again, where the children
way for the week past while the
mother was absent at the old lady's
|! sick bed and wake Among Othel
| things that had gone wrong, the clocl
had not been wound, and as it was the
/ only timepiece in the house, the!
! could merely guess at the time. Mrs
| Carlin was quite overcome with thu
| hardships Of the past week and tht
news of her brothers death, so it wa:
decided in family council that she
should remain at home with the chill
dren, while Mr.. Carlin would rise yer!
early in the morning and drive alone
| to the funeral. Mrs. Carlin possessed
or believed she possessed the facult.
| Of waking at any hour she set he
mind on, and as the clock was rul
| down, ii was the best they could do
| When she awakened Mr.. Carlin thu
following morning it was still quite
dark, but he arose, hitched his little
bay mare to the cutter, or, as We
| called it then, haunting Sleigh ant
was soon on the road.
In that part of the country it wa:
Icustomary to make use of the rivers
for highways when they were froZe1
| over, and the Hillsborough offered {
smooth track for many miles Of hi:
| journey. He drove along, expecting
| every moment that the morning would
break, but it only grew darker an(
darker, and he knew then that he hat
| mistaken the time and it was still
night. He was warm in the buffalo
robe and the rhythmic beat of the little
| bays feet lulled him to drowsiness
| He had lost a good deal of sleep dur
| ing his mothers illness and death
! His head sank low in the collar of hi:
| coat, his eyes closed, but his faithful
| beast kept on. A light snow fell with
out any wind, and that might have
been the reason that the bay misset
the turn that would have led off tn,
| ice below Mount Stewart and joinet
1.-THE common road. On she went up thu
| treacherous Pisquid rivera branch
Of the Hillsborough-full of spring
holes that never froze over, even il
| the severest winter, and which wa
| seldom used as a highway for thi
Every reason. Z ."%
| Mr.. Carlin slept on, when suddenl.
the mare stood still. The jar threw
him against the dashboard, startin;
him wide awake! 1t was SO dark tina
he had not the least idea Of where h
L