Evening star., 1921-04-17

AN OLD PRINCE
would not sleep well in the Tower of
London. but would be disturbed by Un-
Gle Clarence's angry ghost There are
equally authentic references to
ghosts in Measure for Measure,
Romeo and Juliet" Lear and
"Cymbeline." You know of a great
many ghosts in books-tterary
ghosts, as it were. Marley's ghost
has frightened you into giving up a
dollar at Christmas. and in the case
of some of you that is proof Of the
tremendous power of a ghost. You
haunted houses in Virginia and Mary
land. and you could hardly believe
that a house could be properly haunt
ed without ghosts? Ghosts. perhaps
are just as well established as many
other things you consider as facts.
The Rambler is not saying this ir
defense of ghosts. He feels that
ghosts are well equipped to defend
tn emselves. Hamlet knew that
ghosts could be dangerous if they
had a mind to, and he followed his
fathers ghost because it beckoned
him and waves me forth again" and
because he did not set his life at a
pins fee, "And for my soul what can
it do to that. being a thing immortal
as itseIf?" Horatio had pretty
clear estimate of the danger of the
ghost. and warned Hamlet that i,
the dreadful summit of the cliff. that
beetles Ger his base into the sea-.
He thought that there the ghost
might assume some other horrible
form, which might deprive your SOW
ereignty of reason and draw you into
madness"
But the particular ghost story
which the little old spirit on the ink
bottle urges the Rambler to tell fol
lows:
The day was not far spent. but the
shadows Of the oaks made the ceme-
terry dim. The Rambler put away
the notes he had been making and
moving of to another part Of the
great and beautiful burying ground
he sat down on a fat tombstone to
rest. He observed. as everybody else
has observed. that some graves are
carefully tended and others not: that
some have costly monuments, others
simple markers, and that at some
graves no epitaph tells who sleeps
below. He called to mind that verse
of Horace's ode to Lucius Sestius,
which runs:
Death. with impartial foot.
Knocks at the hut.
As the most princely gate.
favored friend, on Iife's brief date
To count were folly:
Soon shall. in vapors dark.
Quencled be thy vital spark.
Embark.
Then he fell to musing on whether
there is equality in death or after
death. A little way on was a ragged
green box-brush. about which grew
tall. rank grass. In the shabby green
cry there appeared to be a form that
was not shapen like a gray tomb.
It had the outlines Of woman. The
Rambler lighted his pipe, and as the
thin blue smoke rose among the
oaks this is what he thought he saw
and heard:
THE form that was not shapen like
a gray tomb came toward him.
1t was a woman. She had rather a
naughty air. as SO many women have.
Her bones were old and yellow, and
they ratified as she walked. No
doubt she had been a beautiful
woman. yet to this favor shall she
come at last" Her dress, which seemed
once to have been of cream -colored
satin, was now nearly as gray as the
gown of Quakeress, and it was
stained with rust. The skirt was
full. with big, wide fiounces from
the hem to the hips. You can see
skirts like it in old pictures and in
the National Museum. The sleeves
were long. with much putting at the
shoulders. and the bodice or BASQUE
was low cut, showing the yellow ribs
of the wearer. AS she came near
she raised the bony fingers of one
hand to her eyeless sockets as though
adjusting a lorgnette. and looked
calmly at the Rambler. Elsewhere
than in graveyard this specter
would have seemed fearsome. but it
harmonized so with the shadowy
oaks. the dim light and the irregu-
perfectly into the scene. The Ram
bier spoke to her. But being some
what at loss just what to say. he
said:
Il suppose you are acquainted with
the good woman whose tomb is
She liked not the question. She
gave rather a disdainful toss Of her
bare skull, and in a voice. we'll mod
ulated, but still having In II some
hinge on vault door. she said: 81
know the lady you refer to. but she
is not a speaking acquaintance of
mine: We live in different neigh
borhoods in this cemetery. Our fam
lilies belong to different sets"
claimed the Rambler. land does that
make a difference even among
zone should not expect persons of
different spheres in life to be par
ticularly neighborly just because
they happen to be dead. The lady
you speak of. / think. lived up in
the brickyard section where Dupont
Circle is now. or out in the suburbs
where Sheridan Circle is, before she
came here. while my family lived on
Indiana avenue, At one of the moon
light receptions which hold at my
lot on Tuesdays l have heard 1t
whispered that the lady. at one time,
did her own housework" AS the
specter said this its bones seemed
| to shudder, but the skeleton in the
dress that had been cream-colored
satin. continued:
II have also heard that her par.
ents were engaged in trade; that her
father ran a merchant mill on Rock
creek, Cabin John or Pimmitt run;
that her grandfather was a toll
gate keeper on the Marlboro pike
and that her Rreat-grandfather al