The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 27, 1901, Page 12

12 v THE SUNDAY CALL. o stery, w winter evening times. but he answered nmot, and I wan- ANT SRIG tieet ¥ M‘: s it A PR St mmw“fh. celf lost in the old Pres- around through the paths and perl- people on the cars, on the street ons ball of yarn in and say slowl jw It border s 5 - - corners and congregated togeth- winds my ball? who winds my ball = : wn, Winkles, lost entirely. My imaginations er laugh at. abuse and make That evening I had picked my place: it were the rightfifl beyond compare. A light of Spiritualists and their teachings was old Mohler's carpenter shop. I called v g woman, Hortense Spiller, wio had and their doings. I have heard them often Bob Figgert out on the porch and told . ) been the organist at the old Presbyterian jeef at what spiritualists call “occult him where T was going; he sald it was a N . < recently been drowned in old sclence,” but every time I have heard capital place. It was gloomy, enough, I 4 vir pest. Catawbaw and she was buried in that old them thus jeer I have felt strongly in- N assure you, for the tulip trees almost - 1 knew her well in her life- clined to turn upon them and tell them covered t ry, lonesome, ghostly, £ many times at church T had of all the ghosts and spirfts I myself have Mohler had been hear r play sweet anthems, and It seen. If you will listen to me I will tell he was one of . hat I never heard sweet- you about a ghost I saw one Halloween characters who ” mus and anti- night. Away back old Virginia they ve with daylight and he only : knew where she celebrate Halloween evening as faithfully 1 tha shop after the sun b was directly I heard a volee and as devoutly as any other morn or went I never shall forget when, . ft, you; soft, you.” T lis- evening was ever cclebrated. In those lit- with my i ball of yarn, I slipped two men carry tie old Virginia villages all the girls and around by the back gite and went to old up ¢ arrow winding boys gather together and roast chestnuts, Mohler's car b 1 knew the < 1 hid behind an old swap chincapins, and tell ghost stories in words well—mot} taught them to 2 ' nd listened and front of a great big log fire. It's the cu me ho winds \1? who winds my w t blowing and the tom there in the South, and Halloween ball?”’ I slipped along and went into the fs were creaking. Af- evening swings around with all its weird Mohler pre s: the old house was de- words cannot ex- fancyings. One night in old Fincastle my serted and I can't tell you in words how % s 1 surprise—I saw sisters had all their acquaintances at our lonesome it looked went softly up to B pped in her burial old plantation; the negroes had made tle old carpenter shop: I threw my a Hortense Spil- great big log fires and the old home was 1 through a broken window s 1t her hand and tried to brilliantly illuminated; it was Halloween Pane. art stood still; 1 waited a s . stood stark still, trans- night and they called it a country party I'"‘"“"‘,“,““'"’;]"""” b "“"Y"’ the other all of ya said, as mother z a monument. 1 saw her eyes 1 can never forget that night because I ught me to say, “Who winds my e and was seareq Wide open, her face pallid, her figure saw Mohler's ghost. Mother had made lit- who winds m ball?”” Like light- tle balls of yarn, wound from either end, ning flashing the old carpenter shop was and Mammy Hannah had them—some doz- il inated; I felt the hand of some one en or two—in a basket. Sisters had ar- Pulling the string of yarn; I looked inside ranged the mirrors and when the old clock hd there I saw old Mohler: he gt in the town tower struck the hour of mid- « e B gy e ik I co feel h u g the yarn in night each one’of the girls was presumed my hand. He was there, though he had to stand before the mirror and comb her been dead and burfed In the Episcopal hair and see reflected in the glass her fu- church-yard some three months befors. ture husband. The balls of yarn were dis- 1 &id see him—I dropped my ball of yarn bl : and up to this very moment I have never ributed among us; each one was to go : = o 8% ogain attempted to celebrate Halloween. in her winding sheet. It r specter of Hortense. The shone lightly down. [ eamed; I remember The next I knew I night we didn't go rcus, and the spirit or ghost of Spiller to this very day as she there in that old graveyard s me still.” from Newecastle, Va., to Newport, Giles Cour wing of that big building, far off from the kitchen. ty? About 2 o’clock p. m. my brother who was | I was alone, and gcared, too. The room was a large practicing law at Newcastle, discovered that | one and I noticed that the locks on the door were of In the Smiley estate a deposition had to be taken at | the colonial size--big, heavy, massive—and I found Wewport 8 S’ s 1t - a the ‘road that they were very rusty. The ceilings of that room PERIT i, skt were pernaps nineteen feet high; no carpets; and the sandy and the rcute circuitous. I left Newcastle at | fyrnjtura was that heavy old colonial mahogany. The the appointed time; Gus, the negro, groomed and sad- bedstead was great, heavy, massive and tall, and the died the best horse. Nothing particular happened | bed was a Southern feather bed: and remember the until after I had topped the mountain and was grad- air was warm, the atmosphere oppressive; another ually going down into what is known as the Sinking storm threatening; it was midsummer.- 1 was restiess : and could not sleep, : is blg room, Creek Valley, when suddenly & little black speck ap- | 200, could niotisleep, and the walls of this big'T peared on the horizon. Being a Virginian and know- the walls of the main hall, were frescoed and ing of the terrific thunder storms in that locality I inted in the most lavish and weird manner. I saw became une my horse, wet with foam, became | dreadfully tired traveling on the hot day and heavy | room became brilliant and I looked at and studied sand. The clouds thickened and we knew a thunder | the pictures on the walls. storm was fast approaching, for then the heavens | It was long after midnight, for I heard the bell in | ] 1 CAN 1 ever forget a lonesome ride on the pike | me a candle and conducted me to a room in tne east I the lightning flash. It was sheet lightning and would light up the whole room; and when it flashed the o 1 TS the tower toll the midnight hour. I must have dozed thundered from pole to pole. We were on-the motm- | (o (VS 00 U0 VT OB A e sound of a erippled tains—the Blue Ridge, a spur of the Alleghanies. The | one walking fn the' big corridor coming closer and rain fell first in large drops and afterward poured | closer; it seemed to me as though it walked with a down on us, The lightning flashed and in the saddle | crutch or a cane. I waited and at last it came to my I could see tree after tres struck down by its fierce | door. Words cannot express my fear; the door opened fire flames. My horse refused to budze and stood | With a creak and the quecerest oid woman you ever stark still in the road. I mever did see it rain so hard | SEW OF thought of entered. I was wide awake, % 5 g o *._ | though I feigned sleep, and T saw her well; her hair before and believe I never shall again; the thunder's | ya5 a3 white as the driven snow and she wore a mutterings were terrific and lightning flashes | crutch under her left arm and her eyes looked bril- appalling. When the storm passed over it was almost | liant and piercing; she had tled around her head an twilight and Bess, my horse, agreed to go on. We |old cotton bandana handkerchief; she wore linsey were then some fourteen miles from Newport, Giles | clothes, homespun, of a grayish color tridmed in \ County, and night was fallir black; she carried In her hand an immense bunch of 3 keys. ] The Smiley plentation lay directly in slght—the | g came directly across to my bed—harrors—as hope of shelter on that lonesome mountain road. | she came up closer I noticed that in her belt she wore ed the gate and rode up to the queerest, oddest | & long glittering knife. She looked at me, looked at st celebra plantati in S oat W ¥ the knife (remember, please, that I was feigning and most celebrated plantation in Southwest Virginta. | g0 5005 2t i) dhie waved a candle in front of I had heard before a great deal of the Smiley planta- \ my eyes—my God, can I ever describe my feelings tion and the traditions handed down from colonial | then? Many would have grown gray that night. Af- days with it. When a child I was afrald of Sinking | ter a heavy sigh she placed back into the scabbard Creek and cn the Smiley plantation what was known | her knife, counted her rlus;'y kl han:il left ](he n}nm - Dend Alan's~Hole.V" T rede 3 zate and | through another door. eard the door close after b sl s uI:"e('iUo;her Eate aad | her: the sheet lightning was flashing all the time and a iy s g som, for Shelter | 1 ,uld see those horrible pictures on the walls. 1 heard for the night from another storm which was' threat- | the door lock and listened to her crippled departure ening—and, by the ay, Mr. Neilson was a very |as it resounded down another corridor until it died wealthy and a very eccentric Scotchman. When no | at last away. It was horribly warm that night: I one else would purchase the Smiley plantation and | Was in a feather bed and it was midsummer. Do vou | belleve me when I say 1 didn't sleep one wink that night? And oh, if ever any one welcomed the dawn of d; I was that one. At last Mr. Neilson called me, but T was awake. I dressed and pretended to take breakfast with him, but oh! that night of horror. 1 ope estate Mr. Neilson, an cld bachelor and a woman- hater, bought it, and it is the finest, largest and most fertile plantation in all that part of Southwest Vir- ginta. Mr. Neilson reluctantly. agreed, after telling him my errand, (g shelter me for the night. He him- | I arrived at Newcastle, Cr=ig County, just before self put my horse away and I entered what Is known | sunset and I saw my Uncle Clift and others plaving as the “‘ghost castle” in that part of Virginia, euchre under the locust trees, I dismounted and my brother's negro took Bess away. I had performed I cannot express my surprise when I entered that | the services, but oh, how faint I felt. I told them large, roomy, dilapidated housc, large enough to ac | where 1 staved the might before and also my experi- compmodate the guests at almost any hotel in any city, | ence, and can I ever forget the horror when Uncle The old colonial halls were immensely broad; the cell- (;‘Hfl, an old m;n rulr;d "O'tr: bus&s‘oss. ldhrew“u;; hklls ings were some seventeen or eighteen feet high; there | Nands, knocked over the euchre table and spolled the were no carpets; the floors were glazed and waxed, | S2m¢ In exclalming “Why, that was Mrs. Smiley J, . I knew her well in her lifetime; your description of At last Mr. Nellson came and We had supper in his | per {5 absolutely perfect; she wore that Kind of kitchen. He cooked it and I think ate it. After a | clothes: she was crippled; she wore a crutch under while Mr. Neflson suggested that I retire. He gave | her left arm, and Smiley murdered her.” The Emgrald Mimgs of Clecpatra JOURNEY of exploration to what emerald being due to the presence of & are known as the emerald mines of small quantity of the al chromium. sersons have felgned death with rvelous exactness, but € a life, or seem Yo other sign of man was The man at the wheel turned no answer—just eig is as ng the spokes of the Cleopatra,is described by D. A. These mines of Northern Etbal seem to R iy - . v Mo g e MacAlister fn the new number of . DAV Femained untouched since the decline » cemetery was s low s e mysterious ship the Geographical Journal. They lie in the 204 fall of Rome caused them to be de- e s : o mountain range that extends for a long Scrted. According to Mr. MacAlister. the distance varallel to the Red Sea and a "OrXIN&s are only small passages, hardly 1éw leagues w mgre than burrows, excavated in the em- w with horror evidently been A young 1 who rothed dled on the eve of of 1ts coasts, in a lati PNt R ioh : 5 tude rather south of Bofu, on the Nile. ¢rald bearing schist, and Zometimes ex- t t erve: a 1, had s This, like some other parts-of the reglog, 'chOin& & long distance. Many scattered & ses sanet ok B b e e wg ek ooy : ATT BRITTS was the queerest, odd- that all the Fincastle inhabitants regard- SuCh as. the Porohyry samrcien ot oy ruins may also be seen—dwellings, watch- wee pecformed dismantled in a and . est_character you could ever imag- ed her as such. She was the dire dreac Dokhan, was far better known than it fs °WerS and tombs, besides those of fen P nd after the ma d by her crew. The cap- ine, and they all sald she was a of all the chilaren. She used to visit Fin ‘ now and_more thickly peapted about jettements. In these, no doubt, the min- I gy gy e ed o leave the ship, and, witch in her lifetime and when she castle quite frequently. She used to comy | Twenty CHRracs age: cad ol e oy ing population used te itve. aud ihe differ ) g oA 1 was dead her spirit or ghost haunted old -With her baskat of eggs and her bundl \ - i ly g ha 4 Sty uggest they were occupied ng resting place. in strength failing, he had lashed : y 3 ¢ of chickens, and seemed always to bc i | present ‘ome, so far as we-know, have for & long time. Some are mere hovels, 2If to the wheel and literally died at ¢ o Houston’s Hollow. We called her a witch jooking at the children In the lanes, She I fsolated explorers, at long Intervals, VeI¥Y Toughly built; others show a mors steering his craft for hundreds g because she told fortunes and chewed to- was bad at heart and the children fearec i found thélr way. into the treasure-house C2reful construction: Witie a third group es with hands that held the wi baccd. She could spit on a dime or a her dreadfully. One time—I never shali of ‘anclen! - - 5oy, are well finished. Mr. MacAllster also e wheel = ent Egypt. When its rulers first found thi < aing Sodt s firm a grip as when alive. Rty nickel across the pike with her tobacco forget—she didn’t come to Fincastle, anc nde Teex-cut temples. for the soft spit. Whenever the children playing in we didn’t know whatever had become of used the emerald for personal adernment Stone lends itself to that kind of archi- place at an “electric light cz e the plague has been prevalent in the lanes heard the name of Catt Britts her. After a few days I went squlrre i is certain. Whether the larpe, clear green l;elurv. He thinks that thelr pillars, ; the presence of 10,000 searching parties go through the they ran helter-skeiter in every direction; hunting with Philip, my dog. I hunted Al stones which, according to ancient author- though very primitive in style; indicats last 1 ames Somerville, ges inspecting the houses with the | i they were always afraid of her and she through the hills and pikes, and at last, y fties, ornamented the Egyptian temples ESyptian designs, with traces of Greek to t T € the “hous ki . et 1n ;. influence; ome, indeed, contat > nt and secured such g ldea of seeing that all cases of death by Y always did everything to frighten them. when night was falling, 1 found mys were really emeralds is a matter of dis- . ontain & t his victory 'Wwas assured .‘,,",,‘I the plague are reported to the fluthorllle: | Whenever she came to town-to market Houstons Hollow. It was the abode of crumbling inseription n'that language. pute, but this gem—owing to its regu- Broken pottery, so 0 me Spsngg Rervgeor g b grees atering a suspected house on day | l'fi:n?:“;fll :fifa :fffie.fl‘:dcé’;fcfi“é,‘."{" Catt Brftts. o lar shape, which is commonly a six-sided abundant, hulytk:ete ‘:’;“7.103&'::&“?}:3 his hold on the han saw a group of natives ay “Here-comes Catt Britts,” and we'd HoootS or =¥ anine f."e‘;n;’w'_flg,"“ . prism—and its beautiful tint that stands the neighborhood attracted visitors for footing on the pedals Something in the appear- iy ip every dircction-climb oVer of broak BT Cott “Britte house® Thote was Jess in meed-of the Japidary’s art than 30 DUL business purposes. ot fall from the machine, how- one of the players attracted the \ down fences to get out of the lane and no light and night was falling fast. The 47 ' many others, it probably formed vart of tlfnz- .“e':lal"glng this, there was In those ntic cheers dashed b n of one of the inspectors, who td get away from Catt Britts. I told you hollow was lonesome and gloomy beyond the regalia of Princes at & very ear'v jatiom ara oo instead of a nomad popu- ng the race placed his hand upon the man’s shoulder. X B o™ o e ™n ietin samethins, i o gompare. Philip, my dog. fiaw‘:‘y‘ln i Period. That it was Known to the Ro- rather freamone Foe ne omiot,lave been As he passed the finish To his amazement, the man swayed and will ligten to me, about the witchcraft of and looking up at me. I didn’t know whats e e e e s o o ‘rawings of petsons, animals #nd tribal pitched forward and fell to the ground. fell to the floor. Upon examination, it was Virginia. It isn’t the uneducated alone ever was the oatter. He mi ahead @ lit. I visited used to serd their treasures to the Marks are scratched upon the rocks. The When he was picked up he was found to found that he had been dead some time, who belleve still in that song and story. tle way and again came back and whined ||f [ gem cutters of the cabital. Ever since SUbjects are various enough; family scenes X and, what was more, the doctors but in order to avold having the Mouse ; (||l There are many witches to this very day &nd whined. After a littie whilo, wared (114 then the stone has been highly esteemed. Sworder iag Pspriich, e weapons declared that death had come to him marked as plague stricken, the other in- in the mountains of Virsiolsi' there are hearly to déath, T went up the hollow-"it In the middle ages few jewels commanded camels and dromedarics” hosser ioe when he was seen to lose his hold of the mMmates had concealed the fact of his death N rits and witcheraft, Catt Britt was the nearest and closest way home— & higher price, for, Ia addition to its goats and oxen, besides thex. gagelles aod o th v \%4 | spirits an: 8 was the and directly saw old Catt Britts coming. e dowed it wi . §azelles and handlebars. It was a dead body that haq Hearing that the inspecting party was ncess of them She carried with I mever shall forget her appearance that beauty, fancy en With medicinal Ostriches. Some of the figures evidently ridden the last twenty-fve yards of the SPProaching. they had hastily placed the b y her her little pra and told for- night: she was lighted "up with Tisntnine | Bl e & vy, Tmcaeo s Kx wwet vy § SOLIEMEUAE thon Sthtre . Bue, a2 o »dy in a chalr and put some cards in tha nes, ant what I know buj he glowed like a foxfire. Sh lepay. and & cure for sentery. Like . they recall to memory the Sinaitic race ! ; g &l e. She came i On & recent voyhge the sealing schoon- 9¢ad hands. Then they had gathered HUGRGAIRL (1| about Catt Britts he was reading up directly in front of me and said: i1 ks the sapphire. it guarded the chastity of Tmechbons which some forty years ago e orising about 200 miles off 8bout him as if both_the quick and the fortunes in Fincastle. Catt Britts was a “Iugh Grant, what are you doink hewcs the_wearer, and resented any tres by - gore beileved to be memorfals of the wan- er Arfetis was cruising abeut miles o gt ¢ il| reat, big, tall, raw-boned woman, repul- Why are you in my hollow? What made - bredk) ;-»‘- fate: Ppass by of the Israelites. To this attrac- the coast of British C()Lumblerhwbenxshe de: €l gaged In a game of cards. “vf beyznd :onuulr& !? helghtalhe was i,om 405 draw back?’.and then she van- | M ':el ::l“nho“ l;x::‘lied‘l;:eu'zl‘:h. more gv‘. ypo(he-lsh(hedh\:ehg;rnfesnnr B i sighted a dismantled ship. e Arietis X at least five feet eleven inches. She knew ished. an I ever forget that night? osal o ese vir- '‘almer gave the deathblow, when he bore down upon the derelict, and as she Lymph taken from the lymphatic glands ! she was mean-looking and seemed to don't know how I ever d?a get out"ot m-: tues, it is still highly valued, nor do ws demonstrated them to be—as no doubt are ot mear enough a man was seen on board of goats is now belng tried in cases of il glory in that knowledge. Her eves were hollow, but at Houst ns zate Philip |l condemn its brilliantly colored relative, ‘he%e of the emerald mines—only the §rasping the wheel and apparently steer- apoplexy. = $0 Do & Witeh, Gad alie iosied 16 e Toe Soopre: 404 T wes swaySinw, Heastons H3 I the aquamarine, or bervi, which is prac- ably earlier than the Christian era— Lan. : tically the seme mineral, the tint of the don Standard.