Newspaper Page Text
VOL. VI
J. H. & W. B. SEALS} PKwim;TOi£,
ATLANTA, GA., FEBRUARY 19, 1881.
Terms in Advance: { T< “* r * a - 50 -
Bln(lc,f«p7, 5c.
NO. 288
JIOJrOTOST.
ET LOUELLA STYLES VINCENT.
“’This be my canvas and I’ll show to you a pic
ture I have seen.”
Here in the foreground leaves on leaves,
A faded fence and faded eaves,
Shut out the left, the brown marsh weaves
Its nodding heads 'to loosen’d sheaves.
And beyond that the river heaves
In broken waves and ceaseless grieve.
Along the shore, and rank marsh grass
Pea, trees, and sky
Where gulls skim by
Then whirling quick repaaa.
Across the sky, one leaden cloud
Is fastened like a burial shroud,
And on the darken’d sea a bark, so proud
In sunlight, lies asleep, with furled sail,
And on the land a ! onsr the cattle trail
The cows forlorn pass by;
The grey geese carp their shril y cry
A nd sea-crows homeward fly.
Awhile the dim trees in the west
Hide 'neath the twilight's breast.
And over there two dull grey eye*
Are i ooking from a soul that lie*
In Rhadow, to the leaden skies.
And lower where the grey gull flies,
And lower where a rowerplies
His oars—whose grey wake dies
A moment after—theu alone
The grey gulls fly.
From leaden sea to leaden sky
A pictured monotone.
Bbumswick, GA., January 1880.
haunteThouse
IN KENTUCKY.
By JASPER KOS< OL
CHAPTER I.
It was in the month of October of the year
1874, that I made my first visit to my uncle,
residing in the mountains of Kentucky. Upon
arriving at the railroad station nearest my
uncle's residence, and having procured the
services of a farmer and a couple of horses, I
set out to complete my journey upon horse
back.
The sun was just retiring behind ths, s»r?-.
mit of a lofty mountain when we reached our
place of destination, which was about a day’s
travel from the railroad. My uncle’s dwell
ing was a tolerably large farm-house situa
ted in the midst of a wild but picturesque
Bcope of country, a great portiou of which
was covered with forests, and whose surface
was broken with high and rugged hills.
My uncle, a widower of about fifty years
of age, lived witn his two sons, the elaer of
whom was the possessor of a pretty and in
telligent wife, who occupied the digRified po
sition of mistress of the house.
I was cordially received by my relatives,
and soon felt myself perfectly at home in
their midst, although it was ihe first time I
had met with any of them.
The farmer who had acted as my escort
through the day, wishing to remain over
night with an old friend residing about two
miles on the road over which we had come,
immediately set out on his return homeward.
At length, to my delight, supper was an
nounced ; for I confess tuat I was quite hun
gry after my fatiguing ride, and soon we
were seated around the table, upon which
was placed what might be called an old-fash
ioned but sumptuous repast. A blessing had
just been asked by my uncle who occupied
the too. of the table, when my younger cou
sin, whom 1 had not yet seen, entered the
room. Upon being introduced to him he ex
pressed himself much delighted with meeting
me, and, taking his place upon the opposite
side of the table, said as he turned to his
father;
“Well, anew ghost has appeared at the
haunted house.”
“What’s that?” asked my uncle with an
a ir of indifference as he served out the chick
en.
“As Tom Hall and Andy Nelson,” contin
ued the young man, “were passing the old
house last night, they saw a young girl look
ing from the window.”
This intelligence was received by the group
with a light laugh.
“The haunted house.” said I speaking to
myself rather than to the party.
“Yes,” responded my younger cousin; and
then for my benefit he entered into a detailed
account of the house in question, the sum and
substance of which was as follows:
; About two miles from my uncle’s residence
in a secluded spot stood an old and soinew bat
dilapidated building, where it was supposed
a family of travellers were murdered many
years ago. The bouse had been uninhabited
until a few weeks previous to this time, when
the property was purchased by a stranger,
of whom nothing was known by the commu
nity, not even from whence he came Im
mediately after the purchase the house was
found to be occupied by a strange woman
who shunned society and avoided all inter
course with the neighbors, and whose singu
larity had won for her the title of ’the witch.
Many of the neighbors testified that at vari
ous times they had seen stiange apparitions
and heard mysterious sounds about the build
ing for which they could not account. And
upon the night preceding my arrival at my
uncle’s, t» o men of the community named
Thomas Hall and Andrew Nelson, declared
that w bile passing the house they had dis
tinctly seen a beautiful young girl, apparent'
ly unhappy, gazing from one of the win
dows.”
“■Why do not the people search the house?”
I inquired.
“Well, many visits were made to it during
daylight,” returned my cousin, “before it
was purchased, but no discoveries were made
to account for these strange apparitions; but
the old woman who lives there now refuses
to receive company, and, in truth none are
desirous of forcing themselves upon her.”
“How do you aecourt for the young lady
being thereP’ I asked.
“ It is said," put in my elder cousin's wife,
speaking for the first time during the con
versation, “there was a young girl in the
family that was murdered.”
“T>— s she ever been seen before?”
*W il, there has been some such report
- fl in through the country,” replied my
\ un er cousin, “but nothing reliable. But
tea ry of Tom Hall and Andy Nelson can-
n t b well- disputed.”
*S ppose we take it upon ourselves to
si er • 1 the old building and see if we can
n ak any discoveries,” I suggested.
THE SWISS GIRL WITH HER COW.
“Agreed,” responded both of my cousins.
To this arrangement some little objection
was made by uncle and cousin’s wife. But
finally it was settled that upon the following
night we would set out upon a secret expe
dition to the haunted house.
CHAPTER IL
It was past the hour of nine upon the night
appointed for our visit, when having care
fully examined my revolver, and my cousins
having buckled on tbeir pouches and powder-
horns and armed themselves with their rifles
and hunting-knives, we set out on our pro
posed expedition.
The sky was overcast with clouds, making
the darkness so intense that it was with diffi
culty we could distinguish the surrounding
objects. But my cousins, being familiar with
the country, led the way across several fields
and scaling a high rail fence we entered a
dense wood. Here all signs of a path were
lost and the darknes was so intense that my
cousins, notwithstanding their familiarity
with the ground, experienced considerable
difficulty in making their way through the
briers and dense undergrowth. In truth,
had I not feared derision and being charged
with cowardice and superstition, I believe I
would have been as forward in suggesting a
return as I had been to propose the expedi
tion. But slowly onward we wended our
way over the trunks of fallen trees and huge
rocks until at last one of my cousins informed
me in a low voice that we were near the spot.
1 strained my eyes to discover some sign of
human dwelling, but only trees and brush
surrounded me. The trees had become quite
snail, for this was as 1 afterward learned the
once cleared lands of the estate, which during
its long desertion had been reclaimed by the
forest. But suddenly emerging from the
woods we entered an open space beyond
which was discovered the dim outlmes of a
building.
I _ Witu steaithysteps we advanced until with-
; in a few feet of the house, where we paused.
| Not a sign of life was visible, not a sound
issued from the interior of the building. An
j air .of loneliness and desolation hovered
j around. All was wrapped in gloom and
j silence. The anxiety which I now felt proved
i that I was not free from the superstition of
which I had flattered myself to be exempt,
j Not a word had been spoken when our at
tention was attracted by a slight sound,
j Then suddenly a window blind of an upper
, room was softly opened and a brilliant and
I unearthly light shone forth revealing a figure
robed in white, with a young and beautiful
1 female face peering out into the darkness.
, There was nothing frightful or hideous, as
i we had expected; on tne contrary the sweet
face wore an expression of sadness which
went to my heart, filling me with a feeling of
pity and sympathy.
her agitation as to give us a brief history of
her life, which was as follows:
“Of her father she knew nothing. Her
mother, whom she remembered as the sweet
est lady on earth, died when she was quite
young. After her parent's death she hved
with an elderlv gentleman who was very
kind to her. One evening when she was
about ten years of age, she was taken out for
a walk by the housekeeper (the woman who
had just attempted to murder her,) but in
stead of returning she was conducted to a
wood, where they found a close carriage
driven by a rude looking man, into which
they entered. She was conveyed to a home
situated in a wild and lonely spot, several
days journey from her home, where for sev
eral years she was kept in confinement,
! rarely seeing any one except the woman, her
j jailor, and a lady giving her name as Miss
] Gray, who acted as her governess, and by
1 whom she was informed that she was very
j poor, and that she (the governess,) had been
j employed to prepare her for a teacher.
I One night shortly after the departure of
her governess, she was hurriedly removed to
a second house, equally as gloomy as the first;
from which place she made several attempts
to escape but was each time prevented, and
threatened with severe punishment. Sever
al weeks previous to this eventful night, she
was removed to the house in which we had
discovered her. Here she was kept in close
confinement, and in profound ignorance of
her fate. This night almost immediately after
she had retired, the woman accompanied
by a man of whom she had a dim recollec
tion of having seen somewhere before, enter
ed her room. Seeing the woman carried a
dagger, and divining their intention, with a
cry she sprung from the bed and began plead
ing for her life. But at the command of the
man, the woman raised the dagger to termi
nate her existence, but so slow was the move
ment, she grasped her wrist, and nerved with
desperaation had succeeded in averting the
blow until my providential interference.
CHAPTER HI.
Shortly after the conclusion of the young
lady's story, we were startled by a rap at
the front door, and my cousin hastily reload
ing his rifle, descended to ascertain the cause
of the visit. After a few moments which
was prolonged in consequence of the door be
ing locked, and the visitor being obliged to
enter through the window, he returned fol
lowed by the pnysician, a venerable looking
old gentleman, w'ho gave utterance to an ex
clamation of astonishment as he entered the
room.
After a brief examination of the lady’s
wound, and pronounced it a mere scratch,
the physician turned his attention to the wo
man who now lay quietly upon the lounge,
whom he also pronounced not seriously in
jured. We then removed the bloody corpse
of the man who had perished in the tragedy,
from the room. Whieh being done the phy
sician seated himself and began inquiring in
to the particulars of the affair, which were
satisfactorily given.
The sound of wheels which stopped near
the house now announced a new arrival, and
again my cousin descended to receive the
visitors, and soon returned followed by bis
brother and wife, with an old colored woman
j who acted as servant in my uncle's family.
1 My elder cousin had taken the liberty to
1 mount a horse which he found secured near
| the front gate, and which was evidently the
| property of the man who had been killed;
J and the clouds having passed away and the
| moon arisen, he proceeded without difficulty
| to the house of the physician, from whence
j he continued on his route home, where he
| found the family awaiting us, and having
| briefly narrated our adventures, bad harness-
1 ed the horse and accompanied by his wife
1 and the servant, set out upon his return. By
; following the highway the distance was
1 twice as great as that we had come; but the
road being tolerably good, and assisted by
the light of the moon the journey was soon
I accomplished.
j I will pass over the horror of my cousin’s
| wife as she entered the bloodstained room,
| as well as that of the servant who seemed
i constantly on the lookout for ghosts.
We then moved the bed of the young lady,
; together with the lounge upon which the wo-
j man lay, into an adjoining room; and the
j young lady apparently much relieved by the
presence of her ow n sex was prevailed upon
■ to retire.
1 The physician, my cousin and .myself de-
| scended to the lower story to await the
1 dawn of morning, while my cousin’s wife
j and the old servant remained upstairs to
j watch over the young lady and the wounded
i woman; my elder cousin remaining with
j them as they declared themselves unwilling
| to be left alone.
Morning at last made its appearance and
we were informed bv the physician on his
i return from one of his visits upstairs that the
1 young lady was sleeping quietly and the wo
man's reason had returned.
Shortly after my uncle arrived bringing a
supply of provision, and a meal was soon
prepared by the old servant, wh.ch having
been partaken of, we were informed by my
elder cousin that the wounded woman de
sired our presence upstairs, which summons
we immediately obeyed.
The young lady in full attire sat in the
arm-chair. Although her face was pale she
was perfectly calm. An expression of
gratitude passed over her countenance as we
entered the room, and upon my inquiring af
ter her health she replied in a voice of much
sweetness that she was quite well, adding
with emotion that she owed her life to us.
The woman who sat upon a lounge sup
ported by a pillow, after a moment as if in
thought, said in a subdued tone, as if speak
ing to herself:
“I must die.”
“Oh, no,” returned the physician, who
stood near her; “I think you will recover.”
“No, no,” said the woman despairingly, “I
can’t get well, and why should I want to get
over this hurt only to be hung? No, I must
die, But I have something I must tell.”
Then taking from my pocket a small diary
and a lead pencil, I took down her confes
sions as nearly as I could in her own words,
which was as follows:
“This young lady was the daughter of a
wealthy gentleman who lived near Phila
delphia, named Walter Glenton. Mr. Glen-
ton had a nephew named John Marcus, who
for a long time cherished the hope of being
his uncle’s heir, as he did not marry until he
was tolerably old. At last Marcus’, hopes
were blasted by his uncle’s marriage,
“Mr. Gienton died a few weeks after his
daughter’s birth, and when she was only six
years old, her mother died, too. And Edith,
io that was the child’s name, was taken by
Mr. Samuels, her guardian to be raised. I
was Mr. Samuel’s housekeeper, as his wife’s
health was not at all good. John Marcus
never got over his disappointment. He of
fered me a large sum of money to help to get
his cousin out of the way. At first I refused
but he kept on at me until I consented.* (But
to keep people from thinking he had any
thing to do with it he left home. Every
body thought he had gone to Europe, but
about a year afterwards he secretly returned
and we managed to take the child to an old
house in the mountains where we kept her
tid away for some years. Most every one
thought she and I were drowned. In the
meantime Marcus returned for the first time, 1
as people believe i, but as Mr. Samuels had j
doubts as to Edith’s death, it was a long j
time before he got possession of the estate, j
Wu hired a governess for the child, hoping
she would forget her home. We intended to j
take htr off and let her support herself by :
teaching school, but I was to stay close to ;
her where I could watch htr movements. |
Shortly after the governess left us a new |
search was gotten up. Marcus thought she
must have told something somewhere that
had reached Mr. Samuels’ ears causing him
to believe that Edith was still alive; and for
fear the bouse would be searched, we re"
moved to another. There she tried several
times to get away, but we always prevented
it. A few days ago we brought her to this
place. We brought her down the Ohio river
in a small boat managed by two men that
Marcus had hired, and after we landed we
brought her the rest of the way in a carriage,
arriving here in the night. We now thought
we were safe. But last night Marcus came
in (he had just co e from Pennsylvania) and
scared me with the news that the detective*
were again on our trail. He declared he
could neyer feel safe while the heiress was
alive, and proposed that we would murder her
and conceal her body, which he said we
could easily do in this lonely place. At first
I refused, but he offered me a large sum of
money and declared that liberty of both of
us was in jeopardy while she was alive. I at
last consented, and he, saying that he reck
oned Edith was asleep, handed me a dagger,
and taking up the candle ordered me to lead
the way, which I did more like a machine
Suddenly the figure vanished, the blind
cloeed and all was again wrapped in darkness.
“It is the ghost,” said my younger cousin
in a whisper.
“Do you suppose it is really a spirit?” I
asked.
“What else could it be?” continued my
cousin, “what could a young girl be doing
here?”
“Let us go in and see,” I suggested.
“Pshaw!” put in my elder .cousin, “it is
doubtless the spirit of the young girl who was
murdered here, and what could we do by go
ing in?”
"Whether a spirit or a girl.” I returned,
“I am sure she will do us no harm, and for
my part I am going in.” And with this I set
about searching for an avenue of access to
the interior of the building, for the sorrowful
expression of that young face filled me with
a longing to solve the mystery af its being
there.
My search was soon rewarded by the dis
covery of a loose blind, which was soon
opened, and with some difficulty having
forced up the sash, I entered.
I now found myself in what appeared to be
an empty chamber, although the darkness
was so intense 1 could not even see the walL
Finding my companions had not followed I
. iwfopwwSwiKiwi
when suddenly a bright light gleamed into
the room, apparently through the crevices
, of a door in front of me. Then a sound as
of muffled footsteps fell upon my eager, lis-
ening ear. In a few seconds the light had
vanished and the sound bad ceased. “What
can it be?” I asked myself. I had but little
time for reflection; the next moment I heard
a sound resemtling the opening of a door, as
I fancied in the direction of the apartment
in which 1 had seen the young girl. This
was almost immediately followed by a faint
cry; then came a plaintive voice ae if in pit
eous tones of entreaty. I grasped the butt
of my revolver and groped my way to the
door, through the crevices of which the light
had gleamed. My eyes having become accus
tomed to the darkness, I had soon opened it
and was in the halL
A bright light streamed down the straight
stairway, which evidently issued from an
open door above. The words of entreaty,
mingled with sobs, now became more audi
ble, from which I distinguished:
“Oh, don’t kill me! What have I done?
Let me leave and 1 will go where they shall
hear from me no more!”
“Why don’t you strike?” broke in the harsh
tones of a man.
This was followed by a piercing shriek
which I never shall forget. It rang through
the house, sending my blood rushing violent
ly through my veins. Then came shriek
after shriek, which reverberated upon the
air, echoing and re-echoing through the hall
and chambers of the old building.
Overcome with excitement and scarcely
knowing what I did I darted up the stairway
and stood before the open door, through
which the light had proceeded.
What a scene of horror met my gaze!
There stood a tall and muscular woman with
a savage countenance. In her hand she held
a glittering dagger with which she was at
tempting to stab a young girl, which I recog
nized as the same I saw looking from the
window.
The intended victim with both her delicate
white hands clung with desperation to the
woman’s wrist, endeavoring to arrest the
murderous blow. Her dark hair fell in con
fused masses about her shoulders. Upon her
pale, upturned face was depicted the' great
est terror. Wild, piercing cries issued
from her colorless lips, while blood trickled
down her white night-robe, which fluttered
in the air as she was tossed to and fro by the
powerful arm of the woman. Near the door
stood a low but powerfully built and appar
ently middle-aged man, dressed in an elegant
suit of black. In bis hand he held a candle,
and his hard and cruel face wore an expres
sion of anxiety and excitement as he wit
nessed the scene before him.
“She will arouse the whole country by her
screams,” he ejaculated with agesture of im
patience. Tneu suddenly placing the candle
upon a small table he seized the struggling
girl, who fell unconscious into his arms.
“Now strike,” he muttered in a hoarse
but firm voice. The woman’s arm now being
relieved, the dagger was raised aloft, the
steel blade flashed back the light of the tal
low candle and was about to fall and bury
itself in the bosom of the fainting girl, when
I, forgetting that I was witnessing the
scene of many years before then being en
acted by spirits, dashed into the room and
raised the revolver, which I still grasped in •
my hand, and struck the woman. But did
the blow descend through the air, touching
nothing? No; on the contrary it seut the
woman backward at full length, the dagger
pierced the floor, snapping the blade from
the hilt.
The man now becoming aware of my
presence, instantly relaxed his hold upon the
insensible girl who sank to the floor, and
snai ched a revolver from his bosom.
Not wishing to shoot him I sprang for
ward with tne intention of striking him
down, but by a dextrous movement he evaaed
the blow end before I could regain my bal
ance there was a report of his revolver and >
the bullet whistled past my ear. Now to my
horror 1 discoverer that in striking the wo
man I had by some means or other so injured
the lock of my piece that it refused to work.
There was a second report and a second bul- 1
let whistled by my head. A hand to hand
combat being the only choice left me I sprang «
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