THE GHOS
GUINE
A New Year's Story t
Ofo
[Copyright, 1901, by
ORD and I bad been
the best of friends
*at? ro.irs! Although
an artist by profesfc?s*on'
be was as fine
f<^-gggjfe> - a fellow as you
" would care to know.
What was even more remarkable, lie
always paid his bills.
For some weeks before New Year's
he had been boring me about a dilapidated
old Connecticut manor he want- j
ed to lease. It stood a couple of miles j
from Edgeville, be said, ou the old |
r<-?wl little more than a stone's i
AA/OWVU * VMU,
throw from Long Islaud sound. Hp
explained to me that the place could be
leased for a mere song, that it was secluded
and yet convenient to the city
and that It would make an altogether
ideal place for him to work.
As his legal adviser I told him to go
ahead and take the place. He was
working bard on some book illustrations,
and the country air. 1 thought,
would d#o him good. But, strangely
enough, he hesitated. He kept insisting
that I run down and see the estate
first. I tried to impress on him that I
was Just a little too busy to leave,
but be bothered me so long about the
^? ? ? j ?1 alwtiit- with (tint I
mailer uuu cuu>m owm. .. ?? .
such an air of 111 repressed mystery
that I ultimately gave in. After a tiual
urgent appeal I agreed to take a couple
BETOXD WAS AN ORCHARD BUN WILD.
of days off at New Year's and run out
with him and have a look over the j
place. In fact. Ford told me that uuless
he secured possession by the lirst
of the year the property would revert
to its original owner, a broken down j
old army officer by the name of Guiuey. I
Law was not Ford's strong point, as ;
I very clearly saw when he tried to
explain just why it was he had to occupy
the premises before midnight of
the 31st of December. He could only !
tell me that unless possession was
openly disputed before New Year's day
the property would pass out of the administration
of the Hampton Trust and
Realty company, from which be was
leasing it. and revert to the original
claimant, the old army officer. Old
Guiney, he said, was now an invalid,
and had long since expended the last of
his shattered fortune in a passionate ?
effort to retain possession of the home
of his childhood. Ford said he did not
intend to treat the old gentleman shabbily
whatever the outcome.
Most of this Ford tried to explain to
me in the smoking car as the NewYork
local drew close to Edgeville.
When the train pulled up at the little
gDowbound station, we were tue only
passengers to alight. As Ford lingered
for a minute or two to watch the
last car rumble away through the falllag
snow 1 dolefully confessed to myself
that I was facing the prospects of
a remarkably dull New Year's. My
companion explained that Guiney
manor was some two miles away, ami
that we would have to cover that distance
on foot. The road was an exceptionally
dreary one, aud as we
trudged on past lonely, snow covered
? "' KIool- l^fibin<r SlfPtftlPS nf
it UI5 auu uuun
farm land I inwardly remarked that I
had never dreamed such desolation
eouhl exist within sixty miles of the
great crowded city which we had left
behind us.
Suddenly Ford turned to rae and
spoke.
"Have you any idea why you're
here':" he asked.
1 replied that since he knew more
about mixing paints than making bargains.
and squeezing tubes ratber than
squeezing landlords. 1 assumed I was
there to settle ou some final Sgure and
draw up the necessary papers.
Tint's not it at all!" declared my
companion, shaking the snow from his
hat rim.
1 mildly inquired just why it was
then.
"It's to see a ghost.'" said Ford, quite
solemnly.
There always were times when Ford
was hard to put up with. This was one
of them. I let him know in neither a
hesitating nor half hearted way that a
man at my time of life does not care
to indulge iu ghost chasing through
tumble down old manors as an avoca- ;
tiori and that the quest of spirits as a
holiday amusement was not altogether ;
the sanest way of beginning a new !
year. But Ford was quite sober about j
it.
"I tell you. Wetherell. this isn't non- i
sense. I'm as sane as you are. There's i
a ghcst iu (Juiney manor, and I've seen I
T OF
MANOR :
l
]
>y Arthur J. Stringer. ]
Arthur J. Stringer.]
it with my own eyes as plainly as I see
you now. I've seen it. and I intend to
lay it. I couldn't sleep at nights for it.
and It got 011 my nerves. None of the
people about here will go near the
place. That's why it lias never been
sold or rented. They say that over ;
eicbtv Years aco a woman was mur
tiered there and burled in the cellar
and that she still haunts the place.
That's all nonsense, of course, but for
all that there's something mysterious
and uucanny about it, and I mean to
follow it out to the bitter end. You're
cool aud level headed aud analytical,
and so I want you to see me through
with it!"
We turned in through a broken wall
topped by a thick tangle of brushwood.
Beyond this was an orchard run wild.
Beyond this again, in the midst of a
dark little clump of spectral looking
trees, stood a rambling, old, many gabled
structure, looming up gloomy, des
olate and forbidding through tlie gray
afternoon.
It was certainly not an inviting looking
place. Even the village expressman
had declined to do more tbnn leave
Ford's boxes and trunks outside in the
snow on the tumbledown veranda. We
went up the dilapidated steps, and my
companion unlocked the massive front
door. Then for two hours we worked
like beavers, hauling in and unpacking
the boxes, building a lire in the massive
old lireplaee and doing what we could
to make ourselves comfortable for the
night in the big dark paneled room
which Ford spoke of as the "long
room." The old colonel. I learned, occupied
two little rooms in the extreme
south wing and did not so much as
make an appearance as we pounded j
our furniture defiantly about the place, j
I snsrirosted that we both look thor- |
ougbly over the building while there
was still a little daylight. We went
from room to room, peering into twilit
closets and probing about gloomy passages
till it grew dark, and Ford went
back for a lamp. The hours slipped
past, but still we searched about the
strange old house. It grew late, and
we found nothing but dust and cobwebs,
'though I believe Ford would
have kept up the search till New Year's
morning had I not somewhat disgustedly
protested that a hot dinner would
suit me better than a ghost.
Ford cooked the dinner himself, and I
must confess it was an atrociously bad
one. Over our coffee and cigars, however.
my good nature returned. 1
laughingly inquired for a little more
information about our esteemed friend,
the ghost, and timidly insinuated that
perhaps the pugnacious old colonel had
a more or less active hand in the matter.
But Ford wouldn't hear of such
.. ... --y 1
a tning. "ice euiuuei is u^icj/n uwa
cau scarcely walk. He even leut me
tliat long uarreled old rifle leaulDg
against the fireplace there and said he'd
be greatly obliged if I'd fill this fool
ghost full of lead for him. And I would
like to see how an apparition takes to
bullets. But, besides all this, Wether
ell, our ghost, is?a woman!"
"A woman!"
"Yes, a woman, and with one of the
most remarkable faces I ever saw. The
fact is. there couldn't be a more beautiful
face! S;.e suddenly appears, from
nowhere at all. apparently, and is always
dressed in white. I know it
sounds trite, but if you'll only wait"?
He broke off, for at the back of the
house a bell rang loudly. There was
something ominous, disturbing, unnatural.
in the sound of that clanging bell
as it echoed cavernously through the
huge empty balls. Ford did not move.
The bell raug again. A little shiver
crept up my spinal column. For the
A.1 % /! oiMtn/larl
ItiliU ililiC luv urn ovwuuvvi.
"It*8 the front doorbell.'* whispered
my companion, 'it's one of the sign?
of-it!"
I seized the lamp and hurried to the
door. No one was there. Outside an
"i'm the family ghost."
unbroken drift of snow lar oti the
TCTanda. 1 could see the bell was n
puli bell aDd that the wire ran in some
one direction under the floor. Just
where, 1 wanted to find out. Standing
in the hall was a garden spade, which
we had used to shovel snow from the
veranda. 1 took this spade and worked
one corner of it iuto a crack in the
flooring. It was but a moment's task
to loosen the board and remove it. The
bell wire ran directly under the opening.
Even as I scooped over it I could
*ee it move. The next moment the bel!
rang again.
"It always rings five times!" said
Ford excitedly.
I held the wire tightly In my hand
and waited. Two minutes later I felt
a sharp tug at it. The bell was silent,
so the wire was pulled again, almost
Impatiently. It did not seem a ghost
[ike toucli.
"Listen." whispered Ford suddenly,
creeping to the door of the Ion?: room, j
Was it my imagination, or did I reallv
hear the sound of groans? I followed i
Ford to the door and looked in. The !
room was dark but for the dim light ;
from the dying coals in the fireplace, j
At first I thought It was some trick of
the mind or the eye, sonic picture con- ;
hired up by tense nerves and too active
Imagination, for out of the gloom that
hung over the far end of the long room
shone a woman's face white as death.
The eyes were wide with terror, and
a look of unutterable horror hung
about the drawn inoutli. I kept my
eyes riveted on that mysterious face,
for it stood out of the velvet darkness
surrounding it as vividly as though a
calcium had been thrown over it. The
head was framed in what seemed to be [
an old Quaker bonnet of the last century.
And then I saw something. It
a 7itti(. thimr. but it drove the cold i
chlM out of my legs. The ghost hud
moistened her lips!
I heard a sharp click at my side. I
turned quickly and saw Ford with the
barrel of the colonel's rifle trained directly
011 the woman's heart.
I threw up my arm. hut too late.
There were a flash, a deafening report
and the sound of a stilled scream from
the far end of the apartment.
I upset a table and two chairs before
I got across the room, but the next
ESSfigjisssff
i T
>
Puck: "How Time :
moment I held a living, broatliing.
wriggling figure in my arms. Her
bands were already thrust in through
a sliding panel iu the wall, and she
panted and begged me to let her go.
Ford came to his senses and ran for
the light, while 1 carried tuy captive?
and she was uo light weight ? firmly
but gently to a chair and placed her
in it.
"Art. v.,11 ImetV" limited Ford, hold
Jug ilie lamp with a shaking hand hefore
her.
A little laugh was her only reply.
We both looked at her sternly and
could say nothing. She wiped the tlonr
from her face and then casually remarked.
'isn't it lucky I took the trouble
to draw those bullets!" Theu she
sedately took off her old poke bonnet,
and a caudle, which had been placed
ingeniously under its rim, fell out. It
was practically the old trirk actors.
have adopted for the ghost in "ilani-j
let" when they put a light In the vizor
of the ghost's helmet to illuminate his
spectral countenance.
"Who are you and what do you mean 1
by this':" 1 demanded sternly.
The girl looked from Ford to me with I
half roguish aud half defiant eyes.
"I'm the family ghost,"' she saw demurely.
Then she grew more sober. "Colonel j
(b'nlney is my father, but he doesn't;
dream I'm the ghost. This is our home.'
but men?wicked men?have tried to'
cheat us out of it. Father told me the
place would be ours again if we could
only hold it till New Year's. There was
no other way I could think of, so 1 - I !
turned ghost!"
;
Artists are strange folks. I firmly1
btlievc Ford is going to marry that
reckless young woman who did her j
best to frighten hlrn Into acute neu-1
rnsthenia! j
WHEN THE |
YEAR IS NEW
By Jonatli&n Joyce.
[Copyright. 1901, by W. Vail.]
All ancient and modern peoples. how. |
ever differing is to the day from which j
to reckon the beginning of the new I
year, have honored the occasion with
Joyous festivals. The Romans I:ad a
fcUiM-rstitlon that every individual word
and action of tiie lirst day was an
earnest for the whole year ahead. !
According to the orthodox Jewish
chronology, the year oiU'rJ began at sunset
Sept. j.">. 1001. of the < bristian calendar.
the 1st of the month Tishri. The
.Jewish .now iear irsnv.-u is ?-.-i:ivw
Itosh llashona. This is the Jewish \
civil year, the eeclesiastieal year be- t
ginning with the vernal equinox in t
March. f
The neighboring peoples of I lie Jews | c
in their original habitat-namely, the j I
Egyptians, Chaldeans. Persians. Syri- 1
am*, Plxrnioiaus and Carthageuians? c
each began the year at the autumnal (
equinox, or about the -1st or 22d of ]
September. The Greeks began their 1
year at the winter solstiee until the t
fifth century B. C.. when a new cyo'.e i
was introduced, beginning at the sum- s
mer solstice. The original Itomau style j
trno l.uo>in thu vonr with the winter f
nno iv >/v^? ? ? ? <- > ? - - ?? -? ^
solstice, which is about Dec. -1 or 22. t
but Caesar changed it to Jan. 1 so that
the year wduld begin with the now s
raooD. <
Before the adoption of the Gregorian ]
calendar the Christian nations had dif- t
ferent dates for the beginning of the j
HE AGE OF WHEEL;
rtifs lately! I Just put up 1901. ami here 1
year. By the Florentine calculation,
which was iu use from the tenth ecu- ]
tury uutil 3740. tbe year began March <
l?r?. Iu France the year began under j '
the Merovingians. * "arlovingians and j 1
<*npetans at different dates ? first. I
March 1. then Dec. 2.r> atid finally I ]
at Faster. ?diaries IX. in lof?4 or- j
dered the year to begin on .Ian. 3. In J
V.iiflnmt from the fourteenth edit HI X : 1
to the change in 17.VJ the legal ?n<i ec- j
clesiasrical rear began March L'.*.
During the French revoltuiou a ?!- |
endar wa> instituted which begun the j
year on Sept. I'l. This wbs in use from i
17J>- to .Fan. 1, liwtl. The Chinese New i
Year is a movable event, regulated by j
the phases of the moon.
Am-ieut nations of northern Kumpe ;
began their year from the winter so!- !
stiee. in the East Indies the year .s j
lunar, beginning with the first quarter >
of the utoou nearest the itcginning of j
i 4 .nini!' ill*- ancient i
vintiK the year began at the winter !
solstice and with the Mexicans at the j
vernal equinox.
Not only the Kotnans ami tlie peoples |
affected by their eivilizatiou. but the j
Druids and Faxons celebrated tin m\v ;
year with feasting and giving gifts. |
At one time in Koine and later in Kng- 1
land the custom of giving was debased ^
| into a tribute, the nobility and even i
the common people feeling obliged by i
custom to send gold to their sovereign. !
A Fatal Homt,
, j ,i^|i Ti.ankftf ?hh." nig'-t ! :r'?r! to
On < i)ti<l!iM< ni;h'_ '.? ?. ;? ?#
M* ?-t?r?ly wouldn't.
^Ur *^*ni 'n r'"*t
h? ditn got ten test l*w#r.
^9* # j And ysr* upon di? ?w ;
^ i m",n
' XL'' * Mis gobbHn' dsys *m '?.
i
THE CANPTi
...Nl
f? itim '
>
:
^ Highland Sketch
j*
[Copyright, 2901, b;
EW YEAR'S is more en^2/
thusiastlcally observed by
the canny Scot in his na?
tivc land than in any oilier
country. It is a day
entirely given up to l'os*v*
teriug domestic hannoiiy
and repeating the gloriuis
gospel of peace on earth and good
vill toward men. No other period of
lie year is so potent as this with
lie Scot in healing the wounds of
riemlsliip and in warming the hearts
>f his countrymen toward his fellows,
u the homes of the poorer classes tlatest
of good cheer is spread, his dear....
;,.,.;?rwt nn,l wloitcvor
Ml lilVUUn .lit iuiium
?!se may grace his table, the plum
nuldiug, surrounded with mountain
leather, and the inevitable haggis, are
here and, if possible, a small keg of
enI "mountain dew" is placed oon>pieuotisly
In the center of the tabic.
? bunch of mistletoe is not far oiT.
md no guests are permitted to leave
heir seats until the keg has been
emptied of its contents?customs
strongly savoring of paganism, wirh...?
-'/."i.t on/1 hanrteii down from
Mil UUUUl. M UV*
uathen ancestors. who were, neverheleas,
in their own time ami way
food men and true.
S. g
le is :iround again!"
To the American cook nothing is more
mysterious than a Scotch plum pudling.
which all loyal Scotchmen insist
nn having on New Year's nay. Afier
the ingredients have been given out.
too often when made by a novice The
pudding has come to table in the form
>f a thick soup.
It is a custom 011 New Year's day
Biuong a number of the country squires
scorn's PLUM PUDDINU.'
*nd wp:iivhv farinors iii thp north of
Scotland to organize hunting parties.
<">u such uotinps the plum pudding is
Included !n the bill of fare. Instead,
however, of having the puddinp made
ht fore "tart nip out. il is customary to
take the ingredients nlonp. mix them
and boil in a pot slurp over :? lop lire
at the cfirupinp pround. The writer
participated in one of these huntinp
excursions. where a hip. burly, kilted
Scotchman who had never made a
plum puddinp was delegated to act as
cook. Before startitip out he had carelessly
put the precious fruit, flour and
r scors
EW YEAR
by Thomas Mackail. j
i
C Thomas Mackail.]
sugar in what was called the "strong
box." This likewise contained stores
of powder, shot. caps, soap and various
other et ceteras. On our arrival at a
suitable camping ground Scotty was
left behind to get dinner ready. After
opening the "strong box" and eliminat
wwi
U,?* I :
RETURNING HOMEWARD FROM "FIRST
FOOTING."
ing nil foreign lwdies as carefully as
possible the pudding was duly mixed,
tied up In the cloth after the established
manner and placed in the pot. Many
a time was it taken out and its state
examined by the point of tlie fork before
it was at last, after boiling all day,
pronounced thoroughly cooked. On the
return of the party dinner was ready,
which consisted of Scotch kail, a leg of
roast beef, spuds (potatoes!, haggis
. o?,i nnut?and tho niidrlinir! No
auu vvu pvMw ?."? ?..<w j,.. 0 _
one who has not been restricted entirely
to one species of food for a long
time can form any idea of our crushing
disappointment on tasting that pudding!
On digging a knife into the heart
of it we discovered that It consisted of
caps, buckshot and lumps of suet. To
spoil a plum pudding on New Year's
day in .Scotland is practically next door
to committing a crime. On this occasion,
however, the flasks were produced,
and the cook was soon forgotten In
song:
A' Plumbs the prophet's ion despise
An' a' sorrows be forgot;
Treason's in oor December puddin' / '
And death within the pot. Mfc .
Auld year tareweel thy days (.1 fear),
An' merry days er dine.
But let us not forget the day
The puddin' ow're brither fizzled.
Followed by the chorus:
Weelcome be ye that arnie here,
Weelccme a' an' mak gid cheer,
Weelcome a' another yeer,
Weelcome a'.
A custom which Is generally observed
by the working classes is what in
called "first footing." At all hours of
the early morning of the lirst day of
the new year an effort is made to be
lirst to call on their friends at their
hemes. The one who is lucky enough
to be first to catch bis friend in is invited
to partake of short bread cake
( and a nip o' whisky after the usual
I handshake and a "Draw New Year."
! By the time lie has made all the calls
I he can remember making, the first day
; of the new year is dawning, and Seotry
; can be seen sailing majestically homei
ward, his inner man filled with New
! Year's hospitalities. Those living In
J the country will walk many miles to
bid a braw New Year to their friends
i in the city. It is no uncommon thing
; to see a family of live or six leave their
borne about 10 o'clock at uigbt and
walk three or four miles in a snowstorm
in order to "first foot" their relai
tives or friends living in the city. Very
often they are disappointed in their
! surprise visits in finding the object of
j their journey was not at home.
On returning homeward, however,
j they will sometimes meet their friends
j whom they intended first footing aud
j to learn that they had gone to first foot
j them, and vice versa.
The bjrth of the new year is anj
nounced in the town and cities by the
J striking of the local town hall clock on
i the hour of 12 and followed by the
1 ringing of the church bells. It Is soon
after this that first footing begins.
I Long before the approach of 12 great
: crowds of people surround the city bail
1 - *? ?1? b" bonil i\ f fill*
aim eageriy wtm-u m- >>* .....
j clock as it approaches the last hour of
the old year. Every oue hi the big
: crowd has a bottle of some description
i in his possession. Immediately the big
! hand of the clock marks the tirst
stroke of 12 every bottle is thrown simultaneously
against the walls of the
| hail, followed by n tremendous crash.
This Is an ancient custom, but is now
j rapidly dying out. It is still practiced.
however, every New Year's eve against
, the old walls of the Trou church in
' Edinburgh, the capital.
In the highlands the new year is
> ushered in by rhe tolling of the auhl
: kirk bell and the playing of bagpipes.
| In a clear, frosty night to hear this
much maligned instrument played by a
thoroughbred highlnuder among the
hills and from a distance of a mile the
notes are stripped of their harshness
and Reetu to We wafted across to you
by the clear atmosphere in one harmo|
nious melody. It is really beautiful
and inspiring.
I Now Year's day is observed as a genI
era I holiday throughout the country.
J The churches are open in the morning
only, and in the large cities the day,
would seem like a Sunday were it not
for that disturbing element, the saj
loon keeper, who always makes it a
I business point to keep open in Soot!
land on all public holidays, much to
j the annoyance of law abiding citizens.
I
4