Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-08-15
AS ONE WOMAN SEES 1T
The Story Of Sylvester RimInl un.
folded by Time In Fragments
Like Patches for a Guilt
BY SARAH ID. LOWRIE

Like Patches for Quilt
BY SARAH d. LOwR1E
TNHE difference between movies and real
l. life Is in the editing, not in the story.
The affairs of a group of persons come to
you In real life in the fragmentary. way old
bits OF silk come to the country grand
mother who Is known by her neighbors to
be collecting patches for a quilt 1t may
gether.
1t took me ten years to piece together the
story of Sylvester Rimini. had 1t In
such fragments that it was only this sum.
mer l realized that 1t was a story or had
a sequence that was in any way leading
up to climax.
l. to me:
The little villages in these parts cele-
brated the Fourth Of July by n combination
picnic and dance In some agreed upon viii
iage green or picnic grounds, The noun
tain folks, the .trappers and the lumber
men, guides, villagers and farmers for
radius of twenty FIVE miles, perhaps, bring
their families or their girls" and. start
night Of It,
There is a curious bit Of folklore from
q, forgotten source--Guy Fawkes Day in
England possibly--that is part of the days
celebration. There is a procession through
the village street and on to the green Of a
string of wild young fellow wearing masks
ana a, dressed in rags and tags. 1t is called
The Horrib)es"!
! was watching this onslaught of shout
ing roughs years ago, and the reflection of
terror amusement and gawky wonder re-
hected on the scattering ranks of picnickers.
when drunken laugh and rasped-.ou
curse with-"Come on there, Berthe.
what's you fraid Of" made me turn and
look at the reveler behind me.
LIE WAS a drunken old man, as crooked
IL MS a dried stick. with a red face and
watcry eye. He had by the hand n young
girl-a mere child of sixtcen-who might
have been pretty If she had not been so
scared and white. Her eyes had per-
manently frightened look out of them. She
held In her arms n wlzcned, month old
baby.
That was my first sight of Sylvester Rim
ini and Of Bertha May Rmlni his
lately acquired wife, the third that had
found him willing to lcgalize the relation
purchased for season.
His purchase of Bertha May had been
n scandal even in his scandalous life. His
second wife had died and his housekeeper
for season had broken down from pre-
mature old age and was about to be taken
to the Town Farm. He had agreed to let
her stay bed rid in the attic if she had
mind to, If Bertha May was allowed to
stay, too, and take care of him downstairs
in the way of cooking and whatever else
Bertha May had just turned fifteen and
had suddenly buddcd out into being a
young girl Her mother, sick, frightened
for her and for herself, agreed to the pro-
posal and what it implied, but she fore
stalled part of the trouble by having Syl-
n M Par ha,,
daughter. and then went suddenly childish
and utterly silent for the rest of her sick
life.
Tn THE course of some five years Sylvester
L Rimini died. very much to the relief
OF the village on lockers and to his kith and
kin. Though he died rs result of
drunken orgy. the marvel to the onlookcrs
was that he had not harmed his wife in
any of his brawling states as he had been
known to do with his former companions.
He left her and the two children that
she had borne him farm and n new house
he lately had built in the village and only
few debts. Before his funeral the Of
iiciating clcrgymal. appealed in vain to one
member of his family after another for some
circumstance in his character or life that
would adorn funeral oration. No one
could think of any good thing to say of
him. So the minister was confined to Civ
ing his dates Hero he was born in IS,
here he went to school in IS, etc"
What struck me- then as memorable was
the curious rcitcratiOn of the minister lie
gave the facts. bare as they were. over and
over again. This later was explained Ms
caused By delay in completing the coffin
box: 1t was full foot too short and had
to be rrctihrd at the last moment. The
custom was for the minister to preach until
signaled to stop by the undertaken.
COME years after Sylvester RimMi's
~ sordid death and after Bertha NAV
had married again and gone to live in the
new house in the village, was dining
with friend who had rented the farm.
quaint and charming summer cottage. The
original kitchen had been turned into n
dining room, the great old stone fireplace
smoked raftcrs and deep set easements max.
ing it the most interesting room in the
otherwise quite remodeled house. As we
sat dining I heard sound of carriage
wheels and horses at the stoop beyond and
remarked to my hostess that she was having
callers at n late hour.
She waited until the maid had left the
room and then she said with hurried eau
tion-"Ihnt ism wagon, there is no one
there It's just sound. 1t is why the
place is supposed by the village to be
haunted! You know old Sylvester Rim.
ini was said to have half killed his second
wife up here and that was the wagon or
You've surely heard that tale? No? We'll
of course 1t is some echo from the main
road down the hill, but we don't speak of
1t before the servants" And that was the
third fragment of the story of Sylvester
VNHE other day ! was driving with some
friends and. the carriage being rather
full, | was given the front seat Now II
so happened Bertha May Rimini's sec.
ond husband George Spring, was the driver,
and ] asked him about the ghost on the
old Rimni farm.
He said that hc had been hired man
there and had heard of the haunt" and
one night he was sleeping in the attic over
the kitchen when he got awake to find some
one with a lighted candle moving about his
room only the candle was very faint and
he could not make out the person. He
spoke to it and it did not answer, then he
threw his boot at 1t, but it went right
through the arm and the candlestick and
the light only wavered but did not 90 ont,
BY that time he was scared and divcd out
of bed for the door
but 1t was lust n tightening bup 7