The Boy Soldier; Or, Garibaldi's Young Captain — page 204: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE BOY. ‘SOLDIER; OR, GaRIBALDIS. eae CAPTAIN aa —— f <f We sat facing each other for fully five minutes, and my heart.was beating violently, ;< | “TI filled out a,goblet. of, wine, and took a long ‘drink, to keep up,my courage, cf ‘Tt’s S very warm, to-night,’ el ls trying 2 commence a conversation. ff ‘It is,’ said the ghost,,in sepulebral tones ; ; its always warm where I come from,’. ; ““* And where did you come from ?’ said I, <C* From below®d vinci ier ot beorun ea’ aid ‘The deyil ! thought L; this is jay 1» Ehost, avila no mistake, and. my hair began to eLedp on, my head, I’m certain, it stood,on end. ;- , <¢ “Will you haye a drink t said I, Tacit the ghost a, goblet ofj wine. jsi5 99 ‘ « Thanks,’ said, the, man ,in lack, taking. the wine from my trembling hand, and looking mELY, through me with his glowing eyes. *“*¢ Thanks,’ said he, in that same gad,, sepulebial Op sis ‘Tm very thirsty ; ; it’s Few oy where I come rom.’ “ He drank the wine with a sour- looking face, a as if the liquid was gall. ‘““We did not speak for some time. ~ He was watching me, and Iwas watching ri like two,cats in the dark, just before uhey, spring at each other’s, throats, ,;, , ‘‘ His fingers. were long, bony; white, with sharp nails, and as he spread them out on his kneesand erinned at.me, I could see two rows of teeth, which looked more like the fangs of a serpent than any - thing else, ‘“ Besides all this, his face was thin, narrow, and | of a tallow, colonr.., 4 , ‘““ His.nose was hooked, and his eyebrows, widely arched, and above them, his temples, looked,all, bare, and there was little hair on his head, exceny on the top. 5 The more, I. looked at him, the more, I hated him, but- what. was to be. done? , did not like to run away, but looked at the vestry door very anxiously. ‘“*The door is locked,’ said the man in black, with glittering. eyes, I knew not what to do, but, at last I trimmed up the candle, and. taking up.the,pack,,; ; ° « ‘ Will you have, a.game of .cards.?’ said, ve «Not the least objection,’ was the;answer. “In an instant he.rose,to his feet. with,a. sqadan Spee that startled me, and sat on the edge of the table, »-;, ‘‘ T could scarcely breathe, but still I said, “ ¢ What shall we play for ? ‘“¢ Anything you like,’ was the answer.,. ».- “ L, shuffled the pack, but this, did not suit him... ‘‘ He took the cards, and played with them for a second or two, and it seemed to me the cards flew about and around him as if they were enchanted. ‘He dealt, and I Jed, “But, lor! it was no use of me attempting to play with him, ‘‘ He won every game, and I drank deeply of the wine. ‘‘T had lost all my money. In fact, [played him for the very clothes on BY; back, aye, down to the boots I wore. “‘ He won sll everythin g, y “ Bach game he won made him more: anxious to play again. “But I had aati to play,for now, and was getting so drunk I could scarcely see, * But I saw plainly enough that while his, long, bony fingers shuffled the cards, he, was grinning most hideously at, me, and his eyes. seemed to pene- trate my very heart, cl 1 188 inhy } ri VO a | A , iG Ts there-anything else you will play for?’, said he, in a solemn speak which aS la my blood run cold. - everything Dve.got.in the svorld, and; now he,asks me if I've got anything else ’'d. like to play fory ° ‘“ Perhaps it’s my. soul he’s driving at; thought I, “The blood. rushed to my face,» and: my band trembled, as I seizédi;an empty wine batille and flourished it over my. head. jas if ‘Devil,..avaunt!’> I cried, SEemeenncal abot. ‘ Angels and ministers, of grace defend usi;;be ye | a spirit of, health;,or goblin damned, Avaunt ! quit my sight,my name is Danger.’ “But the ghost did not stir. A‘ He Jaughed loudly; till the‘ old Fas shook again, and the clock struck twelve !) euTis the witching hour of night, mien cme | yards‘yawn,” said he, with a ghastly smile. “TL stopped,to hear no more; ) “With one: blow I closed with the ghostly stranger, and broke the bottle over his head, - “The fight that then took Byece between us was 9 terrible, and deadly. | ‘‘T was sobered in a,minute, but ae dlatehedis me in, his arms, and would. have borne-me away, but my legs caught the tressels which supported the dead man’s coffin, and:\down it came with a crash, broke the coffin, and out rolled the dead body ! «: 'f Here was,an awful sight. ) “ Beyond this I remember nothing, recollection of having hit right and left, but. the last thing I can recall was) the, ghost. laid).me,low, as flat as a pancake, with the three- legged ee and, “tt ¥ With a horrible laugh, he vanished fhnene the window, shouting ‘ue, shall meet agann!’ “Next morning I found myself lying down across the dead body of the chaplain, wad my bEAd all cut and bruised, | ‘“‘T had a couple of black eyes, in My jaws was, loose... . ‘‘ Large bumps had risen.on my cheek hones ane my lips were swollen to the size of those of an African negro, ‘ “When discovered I, was moaning and Broat ing ; | a I told my stor y. to all the yillazers and Sere t Sc about, and, they believed firmly, as L did,,and) do now, that I had encountered the Black Spectre) of the Ruins, about which there has been so much talk in those parts.” ¢ “Well if, they believed it was a ghost, I don’t; i laughed the Count. “<c Nor 52) +3) hid do,? said Buttons, whose eyes were starting out of their sockets, with, the story... ‘But [L hayen’t.finished yet,” said Batty, tossing off ay, bumper of wine; , , “Well, what happened afterwards a said Hirank: “Not much, we buried the old,chaplain next day, and, strange to say, the, village clerk ;had his right eye ‘bandaged, and a, large white ~cloth round his head, for he, too, it seems, had met with the, Black Spectre, somewhere in his travels,on that, same night, and had been,served out just as I had.been. “JT should, not,,have noticed this strange ,ad- venture but-for,one thing,’’ said. atty, solemnly, ‘and that one thing, proved to me that [ had ‘seen a real ghost and no mistake.” “What, was it?” 1 & he screamed out, “< We'shall, nacet again.” «And did you ?” “ Why, when, he vanished through the window, a ee YE Na “Oh, the devil thought L, this ae hag won I factiy and every “tooth. 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