INDIAN GHOSTS.

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on convenient bowlders. In the arched mouth of the cave, Messrs. Saley and Frost had constructed a rude framework of joists, to support a curtain of shawls; green branches were piled in the farther end, so as to form a backing; and boards, loosely laid across the little brook, made a platform upon which the medium might sit on a camp-stool. In composing his sketch, the artist has been obliged to omit the curtain and most of the bough backing, so as to permit the light to shine through, and show the arrangement of the platform and framing.

The spectators at this weird gathering sat silent for awhile, and the stillness of the forest was broken only by the noise of the brook, the chirp of insects, and the rustle of the leaves as they stirred in the warm wind of spring. Suddenly the curtain was pushed aside, and the form of an Indian, fully accoutred, came out, stepped into the stream, and, stooping, made the motion of drinking some water from his hand. All eyes were riveted upon him, when some one suddenly exclaimed: "See! -up there on the rock!" and high overhead appeared the giant spirit form of Santum in bold relief against the moonlit sky. Presently an Indian squaw was seen upon the verge of the rocky ledge to the right, peering down upon the startled group. Thus, at one time, three ghostly visitors were in sight, and while the audience gazed, all three disappeared. Then successively appeared at the cave's mouth, Honto, who knelt and made as if drinking from the brook, and several other red squaws and chiefs, each dressed after his or her own fashion, with plumes and beads, and the other braveries these simple aborigines love so well; William Eddy, meanwhile, talking within the cave so as to be heard by all.

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SANTUM'S GRAVE.

A spirit-voice presently called out that they had been there long enough, and if they would go to the old Indian camp-ground hard by, more wonders would be shown them. The spot indicated is a level plateau not far from the Eddy house, and bears the traces of former councils in a circle of ancient hearths, where, beneath the sod, are to be found the vestiges of fires long since extinguished. Great maples, beeches, and here and there an oak, stand about the camping ground; giant sentinels, beneath whose shade, within the memory of men now living, the relics of once powerful tribes were accustomed to gather from time to time to celebrate their feasts. At one side a flat bowlder set on end, marks the spot where Santum (or, perhaps, in view of his frequent appearance before my eyes in his spiritual form, I should say his body) was buried. He might, if one familiar with the classics should suggest it, say to me upon some occasion when we should meet in presence of the right kind of a medium, what Socrates did to his friend Crito, when asked by the latter where and how they should bury him. "Bury me in any way you please, if you can catch me to bury. . . . Say, rather, Crito, say if you love me, where shall you bury my body.'

Santum's tumulus has almost disappeared under the wash of a thousand rains, and a large maple, whose trunk at four feet from the ground measures four feet seven inches in girth, has sent its roots into the chieftain's dust, and, for aught I know, may have incorporated it in the cells and fibres of its own heart. Upon the sketch will be noticed a rude cross chiselled in the

stone by one of the Eddy boys.

But, to resume our story:

AN EDITOR'S GHOST.

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Our wonder-seekers having reached the place indicated by the spirit-voice, hastily improvised a "cabinet" by pinning some shawls around the trunks of three trees, and William entered it. After a brief interval, the phantom shape of Achsa Sprague, a mediumistic speaker of some note among the Spiritists, emerged, and in a natural voice, addressed her hearers upon the one absorbing topic for about fifteen minutes; her form and the very play of her features being clearly revealed in the bright moonlight. She was followed by Mrs. Goss' brother, who walked some twenty feet from the "cabinet;" and next by an Indian, who ventured a like distance away from his medium, and then swung himself up on the branch of a tree and vanished.

The evening's wonders closed with the appearance of the spirit of the late William White, editor of the Banner of Light, the principal organ to the new creed. Mr. White was dressed in black broad-cloth, and had on a white shirt with studs in the bosom, whereas William wore his usual rough working suit, and brown check shirt without collar or cuffs. In his hand the spirit held a copy of the journal he once edited, which he opened, and showed the characteristic heading that the publication of thirty-five successive volumes has made familiar to thousands of persons.

The next morning Messrs. Saley and Swift revisited the cave to search for foot-prints in the soft earth, at the places where any mortal climbing the rocks would, of necessity, have trodden, but there were none to be seen. The spectres had materialized themselves on the spots where they had respectively been seen.

CHAPTER V.

PORTENTS AND MARVELS.

F a competent person were to collect and arrange in

picturesque form all the psychological experiences of

the Eddy family, as related by them, the result would be a book of as romantic interest as the story of Zschokke's life. But I hardly think that the mere gift of clairvoyance, to say nothing of absolute mediumship can be esteemed a great personal blessing. I doubt if man's relations to his own world are not so exacting as to make it the reverse of beneficial, at least to himself, to be in constant and close sympathy with the other. The visions of the lucide are beatific, but do they not make him less satisfied to pursue his homely round of duty upon re-awakening? If one goes from bright sunshine into a cellar his eye feels the darkness more dense than it really is. The place has not changed since he last left it, only his iris is contracted.

This question forces itself upon the thoughtful observer at Chittenden in a peculiar manner. Seeing and hearing so many marvels in connection with this family and its history, the cui bono query will intrude in