Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 March 1895 — A GHOST STORY. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

A GHOST STORY.

.Texas Siftings.

ETHO U G H opposites in temp er a m e n t, they were friends. John Oakley was always cheerful. It was said of him that he might smile at the undertaker

who put him in his coffin. Although inclined to be cynical, he was never morose. He was a pessimist and a humorist at the same time. Frank Aldrich, on the other hand, wore the air of settled melancholy. He, however,- had the- unmistakable bearing of-a-g-entleman and was in good financial circumstances. He was a man of few words, and Oakley was the only person with whom hewas ' intimate. As for female acquaintanees, he had none whatever. He came to New Vork from Chicago, and nobody knew anything of his previous life.. Both were bachelors and they lived in New York. One evening Oakley called at the luxurious apartments of his friend. Aldrich was seated in front of a

cheerful fire in the grate, but was more depressed and gloomy than ever. In fact, of late his melancholia had been steadily increasing, and to dispel it, if possible, was really the object of Oakley's visit. After the latter had made several ineffectual attempts to cheer him up, Aldrich said, earnestly: “Oakley, do you believe that the dead ever revisit the earth?” Blowing a cloud of smoke at the ceiling, Oakley replied with great solemnity: “Yes,when the party who sees the celestial visitor has been eating lobster salad for supper.”“Oakley, will you try and be serious once —just once.” “Yes, I’ll try; but I am not an expert at the business. To be serious, however, I will say that I do not believe the dead ever revisit the earth. Possibly they find the angels so much more entertaining that they have no further use for such scrub stock as inhabits this earth, or else they can’t come back. If they can, why don’t they do it?” “They do,” replied Aldrich, earnestly. ‘T know of a well authenticated, case. A young man of good circumstances in a Western city loved a beautiful girl——” “And she amusqd herself by making him believe that she loved him and then quietly dropped him. Is that the way to story runs?" “It was more serious than that. They were actually engaged, and she really did love him.” “And they were separated by a cold wave of realism,” interrupted Oakley.

“She made the acquaintance of an English lord, the prospective heir of a great title, she was very rich and ambitious of social distinction, so she jilted the American lover.” “Of course. She was a typical American heiress. A monkey with a title would not be entirely safe with her. Well, it was plucky escape for the American.” “He didn’t look at it in that way,” replied Aldrich, gloomily. “The iron entered his very soul. He plunged in the forests of the wild West and lived far away from civilization. He wanted to be alone with his misery.” “And my lady?” “She became a lady, indeed, for she married her English lord. The wedding was a great social event. After a brief tour of the American cities, the bridal couple sailed from New York for Englands” “Aldrich, this is not as interesting as a dime novel. If you have a ghost, ple'ase trot it out. By the way, dftl it ever occur to you that ghosts are not fools. They never appear to more than one person at a time and then always at night.” . Aldrich did not appear to hear Oakley's remarks, and continued his story. “he neglected her almost from the day he married her. On the steamer he spent most of his time in drinking and gambling and flirting with the lady passengers.” “Well, you see, being an English nobleman, he had a reputation to sustain. ”

“One night they had a quarrel it their stateroom, He probably tolc her that lie only married her-for hei money, and, leaving returned-to his cards. Then in the | utter wore of her desolation she re■jnernbgred her discarded lover anc thought of~what might- bavFbeeh.'’ “What an imagination you havt got, Aldrich. How did you “know that she ever felt the slightest re morse?” “By what happened half an houi later. The night was foggy anc ■ 'rainy. The steamer was in raid- ; ocean. The man at the wheel hapi per.ed to look.up. and he saw a fig- ' ure in white standing on the rail. i raised its bands above its head anc he heard an agonized voice cry out “Frank, Frank! where are you?” “Anybody else see it?” ; “Yes,” said Aldrich, in a low, intense —voice, “thousands of milet away, in the wilds of Oregon, a lone camper was lying on his pallet, gaz ing through tear-dimmed eyes at the unutterable glory of the star-be-spangled firmament, when he heart; a too familiar voice call his name, and for haira“moment 11 e saw the radiant - vision- of a never-to-be-forgotten face, with the love light in her eyes, and all was dark and. sijenf as before.” , “Frank!” eqelaimed Oakley, grasping his friend's hand, “forgive me.

Had I known you were telling me the tragedy of your own life no jesting word would have escaped my lips:” “Oakley, I know you better than you know yourself. I realize that you have a warm, sympathetic heart. ' “Aldrich, might it not have been a dream?” “What is life but a dream from which Death awakens the sleeper? That dream was ten years ago. Last night I had the same dream, only her face was sad and mournful and her eyes said reproachfully: ‘Why do you stay away from me so long?’ ” Thefd was a silence for several 7 minutes. Then Oakley arose to his feet and said, earnestly: “Frank, shake off these morbid fancies. They have given even me the blues. What won’t they do for you if you encourage them? Never give up hope. Hope is the dream of the living. Despair is the nightmare of the dying. Hope is every where. You can pluck it from the bushes: you can grasp it in the air; you can' dig it out of the ground. Do something. Plunge inter business -try politics —in a word, do anything except brood over the dead past.” Aldrich shook his head, but said nothing.“Well, I’ll bid you good night. By the way, I have a suggestion to make. lam going South. ■ Supposq: you go along with me. You need a change. A change of climate and other associations will do you a world of good. What do you say?” “I expect I do need a change. I’ll think it over,” and the friends parted. And Aldrich did conclude to take the advice of his friend, for they found him next day dead in his bed. with his glassy eyes fixed on the photograph of a beautiful woman. The coroner's verdict was “suicide by morphine."