Year: 1867

times at midnight the man of the house
has been aroused by sound like the
shoveling of earth in the cellar; but
has found nothing but darkness.


Hundreds of curious people have visit
ed the house in the hope to explore the
mystery of the strange noises, and among
them is a respectable lady in the neigh
borhood, who is said to have the gift
of spirit vision. Once she came with a
male friend to watch through the night,
and her companion relates that not far
from midnight they heard the same
shovcling of earth in the cellar. He
rose to ascertain the origin ofthe sounds,
but she held him back, saying, "Don't
&c; it is the tall, dark man; he is dig
ging a grave for the woman he has muir
dered." The same night they heard
footsteps in the hall, and SQUADS IS IF
woman weeping. As they opened the
sounds ceased, but the lady states that
the spectre woman kept on in her walk,
wringing her hands and every now and
then lifting her eyes imploringly to
heaven. She had a queenly figure,
beautiful but pallid face, a wealth of
dark brown hair. and wore a flowing
dress of black silk, with q heavily firing
ed black mantle. For half an hour she
walked there; then slowly, still wiring
ing her hands, she went up the stair
way. This was long before the old
servant had been discovered or any
thing was definitely known of the for
mer tenants of the haunted domicile.


Not long after this another lady, who
is also said to have the gift of spirit
sight, visited the house in the day time,
in company with two female compan-
ions. She relates that she had no soon
er crossed the threshold than she was
accosted by beautiful woman in a
flowing gray robe, who begged permis-
sion to speak through her to her friends
and to the family who lived in the cot
tage. She assented, and dozen men
and women having assembled in the
parlor, she fell upon her knees and
made prayer that is reported to have
drawn tears from all who were present.
Then rising to her feet, she told, in
the person of the ghost her story.
She was, she said, the niece
of the Colonel. She had lived there
in unholy relations with him until
the murder of the peddler. The deed
was done in broad day, when both she
and the old servant were in the cottage.
The Colonel had asked the peddler to
saw some wood for the family, and
coming upon him when he was off his
guard, had taken his life without his
making a struggle. In his haste to
hide the body and the poor pack which
was the reward of his crime, the Colo
mel neglected to spread with fresh earth
the blood dampened ground, and to
wash off the stains which covered the
whole door of the wood-house. These
tell-tale tokens of the terrible deed she
saw before the day was over,
and she charged the crime upon
her uncle in the library. He
only said that rather than starve he
would kill every peddler in creation.
Then she left the house, after he had
gone ont to cover the traces of his deed,
to sprinkle the ground with earth and
hew the wood-hOuse doer into ten thou
sand pieces. She had kept the terrible
secret, for she loved the wretched man,
and after ten years of miserable life
had followed him to the world Of retri-
button. lie was still chained to the
scene of his crimes, but she, by years of
penitence and prayer, had made some
expiation. Her final release from the
place, whose very sight was to her
torment, was conditioned on her making
this public confession.


Concluded To-mOrrOW.