Page:Hallowe'en festivities (1903).djvu/94

90 We accordingly struck off through the field. Getting out of the woods we found it a little lighter, but it was still disagreeably dark. Through the pasture we went, and finally came to a plowed field, in which the young crop was just starting up. Here the walking was much better. Bill, who was the oldest, trudged along ahead, and we followed after in Indian file.

Suddenly Bill stopped, and in frightened accents cried out: "B-boys; 1-look th-there. Wh-what's th-that?"

Gazing in the direction in which Bill was pointing, we beheld a sight which nearly took our breath away with fright. Right before us—certainly not fifteen feet off—was a most awful spectre—a ghost—there could't be any doubt about the matter; there it stood, a tall figure clothed in white, with great white arms stretched out as though about to catch all three. On its head was a bright sort of helmet, and underneath the helmet a face—not of the dead, but of glowing fire. It seemed to us that the fiery eyes were fixed on us with a malignant stare. We were spellbound with fear.

All the stories of ghosts and goblins that we ever heard rose up in our minds. We were too frightened to speak or even to run away. What good in flight? Cannot the demon, or ghost, or whatever it is, overtake us? It began to move! The long white arms waved in the air as though about to grasp us! The head nodded as though the goblin was chuckling to himself before seizing his prey. He was about to start for us, when, with loud cries, we dropped our fish and started off on a wild run through the field, each, in fancy at least, feeling the awful presence of the phantom close behind him.

Scuttling along in our wild retreat we reached the fence which formed the other boundary of the field, and over it we tumbled in hot haste. As we struck the ground on the other side we were saluted by a gruff voice:

"Hullo, thar! What's the rumpus?"

And looking in the direction whence the sound came, we beheld another apparition, but this time a welcome one. It