Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 501 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

and < a ee et “ae. “2p ee yr Pe a ae ee - “Tell us, then, Miss Raw, I beg of you,” said Edgar, in the patient tone he was accustomed to adopt with ber. ‘* Who did occupy the cell?” ‘‘One as is no more,” was the response, in a profoundly sepulcbral tone, ‘* But who was the person?” ‘* Find out!” And she marched of so stiffly that one half-expected to hear the clanking of a cavalry saber at ber heels, ‘*Make no change at present,” said Mr. Wil- jard. ‘‘ And as for the eccentric lady, if she doesn’t seriously annoy you, she can have her will at roaming around here, at Jeast for a while.” ‘*Ob, she isn’t annoying, sir.” returned the foreman, bustling away. ‘ Fact is, we find the old gal rather amusing than troublesome.” The party made the tour of the entire in- terior of the old house, and then returned to their original station on the lawn, at the head of the driveway, where a number of rustic seats had been placed. Edgar turned to his lovely betrothed with the grave tenderness that had done much toward winning her heart, ‘“‘T think we shall be able to .make the old bole homelike, my darling,” said he. ‘ Don’t ou?” Edna’s happy smile was a sufficient answer. “Why, of course you will!” mterposed Mr. Gray, in his blunt, practical way. ‘It’s a fine old country place that any man ought to be proud of. I think I'd rip out some of the old nooks and crannies in the bouse, though, Edgar.” ‘That shall be done, sir!” cried the young man, eagerly. ‘‘ By the way, what di ou think, sir, of the foreman’s latest discovery? You must have had so much experience in the secret corridor and chamber line.” ‘** Perhaps so. I may take a look at that secret chamber again.” Here the foreman put his head out of one of the upper windows, and indicated by signs that yet another interesting discovery bad been made, Edna remained seated while her father and Willard re-entered the house. She was hardly alone before her attention was attracted by a sort of harsh, cackling call, and she perceived Miss Raw standing on the opposite side of the driveway, and at the head of a nar- row path that seemed to wind off down among the shrubbery and trees, ‘*Come here, you!” called out the strange woman, ‘That is, if you ain’tafeard. I want oul , Mucb as Edna disliked the woman, she did not fear her in the least, and an uncontrollable curi- osity induced her to obey, even while wondering at herself for doing so. “You evidently think you bev got a dead sure thing in that gold-buckled, diamond-fastened young feller of yourn, don’t you?” said Miss Raw, placing her gaunt arms akimbo, with her sourest and most exasperating expression. ‘**‘ And he—oh, yes, he doubtless ’magines he’s all hunk fur the estate, an’ no one to say him nay. Well jest you foller down that path a spell,” with a directing gesture, ‘“‘an’ mebbe you'll see why yow’re both on you countin’ your chickens afore the shells is bu’sted ” **Are you out of your senses, Miss Raw, or what do you mean?” impatiently demanded the young woman, yet with her sudden curiosity steadily increasing. Miss Raw gave a contemptuous snort, in her most war-horse or war-trumpet manner. ‘Dare to find out what I mean!” taunted. find out.” ‘Since you are not to accompany me, I'll do so,” returned Edna, with a disdainful laugh. ‘* Though it is only my foolish curiosity that prevents me ordering you to go about your busi- ness, m’am.” ; And she forthwith did so, with a fearless and springing = , Presently, however, the bird-songs and sun- shine seemed to die out of the trees, and she at last came to a terrified pause in an open space, whose features were more or less familiar, She was once more at the scene of her tragic adventure, at the bottom of Bleak Hollow, hav- ing unwittingly approached it by the path lead- ing down circuitously from the Manse lawn, owever, Edna had long since shaken off her superstitious memories of the place, and was about to advance with a resolute step when she perceived an old man, standing, in a stooping posture, with his back toward her, over the very spot where she had seen the murdered ihe stopped and b es and coughed, whereupon the man erected himself and turned.” mS Then a sbriek of supreme terror was frozen on the young woman’s a Erect before her, with a scowling and suspi- cious look, was, to the best of her belief, the old man whose lifeless remains she had seen buried —John Willard, the miser of Willard Manse! C : THE DEAD ALIVE. Art first Edna was surprised at her own nerve presence of mind. She controlled herself sufficiently .o note that, she “Dare to foller that path alone and ee ee though the person before her ought to have been God-forsaken spot, my dear, and across -,) Springsteel Steve. an apparition, in the logic of past events, he seem- ed to be nothing of the kind, In fact, though the man’s face was repellently cunning, secretive and evil, there was nothing ghostly or in the least degree superhuman in his aspect. While shabbily dressed, he at the same time gave the impression that he was possessed of ample means; and he carried in one hand a fad- ed gripsack, as if bent on a journey, or newly returned from one, and in the other a long slender bamboo wand, resembling an angling pole, but forking at the smaller end into three tips, which glistened as if made of silver or platinum. He bent his cunning gaze curiously upon the young woman, and when he began to speak, which he did after a long pause, her supersti- tious fears were strangely enough revived witha sort of shock; for his voice was hollow and sepulchral, and there was something unearth! in the malignity that occasionally glinted in his cruel gray old eyes. ‘*So,” sneered the Presence, as we shall call him, *“‘ you’re the young lady who saw me dead and buried, eh?” Edna’s curiosity was a good foil for her terror; and, forcing back some degree of composure, she managed to reply: ‘**Tf the evidence of my senses was not wholly at fault, sir, I certainly did see you thus dis- posed of a little more than five years ago. You are now standing on the very grave in which I saw your lifeless body interred.” The Presence leaned upon his strange staff, and laughed noiselessly. ‘True, true!” he chuckled. ‘But I did not remain in the grave, eh?” ‘*No; you did not. What, then, became of your remains, sir!” He suddenly became very serious, **Follow me!” said he, authoritatively. will show you.” He strode to one side, straight into a wall of bushes aud evergreens, which seemed to open before him, revealing the entrance to a secret path all but obliterated by grasses and weeds, and Edna managed to follow, though feeling now as if she were in a species of waking dream. The path was so tortuous and narrow that her skirt was torn by the thorns and prickly vines that hemmed it in, but which did not 8 to discommode her strange guide in the east. At last he came to a pause, The path bad ended at the foot of a large and lofty rock, part- ly curtained with running vines, where there was a small, comparatively-open space. **Look at me!” said the Presence, with a se- cretive smile. ‘*‘ With this divining wand of mine in your possession, you might have discov- ered my buried body without my assistance. For there is gold on the body, and wherever there is gold buried this wand, which is the treasure-seeker’s friend, infallibly indicates the exact spot.” He was waving the queer staff slowly over his head as he spoke. Whether it afforded him any token or not, he presently picked up a stone from the ground, which had steadily grown more stony and ster- ile as they proceeded, and cast it, saying: ** Mark where this falls, for the spot thus indi- cated will be my second grave, where my body reposes undisturbed at last, Edna did mark where the stone fell, and then bare she a i pk we to eee her extraor- inary guide, he sappeared, She rubbed her eyes and stared, The Presence could not have poms her on the narrow path—her own figure filled it completely ; he could not have gone to right or left, by rea- son of the impenetrable barriers of hazels and prickly vines; nor yet on over the gy pn rock any more than straight into its granite breast; and yet he had vanished absolutely. What could it have been but an apparition, the phantom of the murdered miser? er sense of the supernatural at last recurred to her with a sudden shock, and, as if to com- plete her terrified bewilderment, a hateful laugh at this instant caused her to turn. ; There was Miss Raw contemplating her with something specs hes aon n her smile. Edna could bear no more, Shriek after shriek burst from her white be she was conscious, in spite of her terror, of a mad desire to spring upon the hideous woman, and strangle her, and of being only withheld by a refusal of her frame to answer to her wish; and then she knew no more. She recovered on the same spot to find herself in her lover’s arms, while her father was trying Aes — some brandy between her lips fromn a They had just come to her aid, summoned thither by her shrieks, and both were looking very anxious, ** What in the world brought you to this mee eak FEacloal too, for all the world?” exclaimed Mr. **Do not ask her now,” tenderly suggested Willard, ‘ Waittill the poor child is thorough- ly composed.” “Ty ; ys h ’ i > “S a eee ce re ce ec deat eee RR A — yi ae, 5 Sy Pe “ot a Qt A as et i z a _——<—- ow rad eat gt a eS oe ee — $b -_ on ee a or 46 a nn de 7 A | i > mz . : ot > te . < he * om ~~ oe) — *8 * * - +, ‘ 7 a? 11 But, to their surprise, Edna got at once upon her feet, and collected Lerself almost instantly. ‘**No, no!” she exclaimed, hurriedly, but with- out panic. ‘* Now that you are here, there can be no better time than the present for clearing up this horrible mystery. here is that hide- ous creature?” They looked at her inquiringly. ** Miss Raw, I mean! Did you not meet her when you came running oe this path?” ‘**No; neither of them had seen Miss Raw since in the foreman’s presence, half an hour previously. ‘**Ah! you could not aid without somo delay.” But there had been nodelay. Her screams were still in the air, when, guided solely by them, they had found their way into and rushed along the unsuspected secret path. Edna looked around her. ‘*Where could the woman have gone?’ she murmured. ‘‘Could she, too, have bad the phantom’s power of disappearing into the very air. She then related what had happened to the minutest detail. But the astonishment of her hearers was more easily evoked than their credulity. Willard, it is true, listened to the extraordi- nary tale with a sort of troubled gravity and rplexity; but hard - headed r. Gray— Sorin 1 Steve—who had about as much re- spect for the so-called supernatural as a Scotch collie has for the Covenanters’ creed, shook his heed grimly. ‘You must consult a good physician without delay, my child,” was his first comment. ‘“ This will never do,” ‘* What will never do, father?” He tapped his forehead suggestively. ‘** What you saw five poate ago, my dear, was all right. It sounded fishy enough, in all con- science, but it was more or less corroborated, But when a person gets to seeing ghosts of old men who are murdered and buried, then the pill-peddler should be called in to take a hand, without any delay.” ‘* Thank you, father; you are very consider- ate, but I require neither pills nor pill-peddlers, I have described nothing but what I saw.” ‘“*Then Mr, Miser Willard must still be alive and active, in spite of what you also saw so cer- tainly five years ago!” persisted Gray. ** Ghosts don’t bold matter-of-fact conversations with one, after the maaner you have described, besides pointing out where they themselves are lying buried. It won’t wash.” Edna turned appealingly to Edgar, who had been reflecting with knitted brows. “* There is an easy way to getat confirmation for some of this mystery,” said he, kissing her reassuringly. ‘‘ Pray wait me here, I shall not be long.” He disappeared down the path, and when he again presented himself he was accompanied by the foreman of the workmen and another man, both bearing picks and spades. From the two men’s eager and interested look, it was evident that something of Edna’s adven- ture had been. disclosed to them, as a prepara- tion of what might be hands, Edna had already indicated the spot where the pebble tossed by the Presence had fallen, and the men were soon bard at work on the stubborn ground with their implements. The ground was gravelly and hard, with mineral suggestions, and digging in it was slow work. Edna and Edgar looked on with an intense could nut help sharing in a certain measure, ‘* Has that ground ever been dug over before, think you?” be asked, as the two men came to a sweating pause to rest, “Yes, sir, or there was a natural t one time that’s since been filled,’ replied the foreman. ‘' Otherwise we could make mighty little impression on it.” As an illustration, he struck his pick into the riven point, after penetrating a thin layer of >. rr stony soil seemed to encounter a surface as hard as iron, on “i “Something petrifying in the soil, too!” con- .F. tinued the foreman, ‘“ Look there!” And he tossed out of the balf-hollowed trench several specimens of what seemed to be wooden twigs — My and chips turned into stone. Then the digging was resumed, and it pres- , or, ently grew much easier, an” Eee A —. - then, have come to my — 1 ee i demanded at their — ia a i whe » | . ' >, aie ox tt degree of interest, which even the old detective — pi a ¢ hole here at ae ol “iy gone in an undisturbed spot, and the hard- — jp! At last even Mr. Gray looked down upon the © = result of the labor wi ee and awe. cause of its unusual weight, , lt was the co of a man, partl in an old rug, likewise in good condition. The face, upon being uncovered, was the same that Edna had seen five years before—the face ‘ petrified - and in a wonderful state of preservation, rolled — ~ . . unmitigated astonish- R yhad been disentombed, and liftedon the edge of the trench with much difficulty, be- of an old man, with wide-staring stony eyes and blocd-dabbled white beard—the face, to all — lard appearances, of the murdered miser of W Manali ADA a — oe rated é > * rp," J