Printed and published by the ; Prap»« g^ ' Hbnky Skktc of Symondß-street, f®°< General Steam Printing Office,■ Wj p-wgl.-, Btreet,|in the ProvJnce ofAncWana, t> eW^M "?!*• BATDBDAY. ATOWST U, W"



0 iic thf •t %* id -ioh in ' s" T H '&id Shower ftargo, ONK ■Jrom 7 a.m. to & from 6 till 10 private, and Bup j, Turkish towels, a, respirators, soap, »te) for Ladiog every ,lo attandonoo, Onb address:—Victoria eyhonnd Hotel, and ■fii Furniture Mark'



.8. your ■ cstab cnd me «otol, ickland. Hotel, 27,1879. , and hav< housohold .* & King. May 24,1879. mmending you i household pur i,wo years. I aka the prevention of Christmas, Baa. , Others. . Bllnoß. /BNBTIAN BLIND OK AND OR ■ STREETS x< _ •VtfETIAN] BLINDS ! VENETIAN 1 / BLINDS! xn "Made of the beat Californian Pine, guaranteed udlroottowarp or twlrt. Our BUnda surpass aU me imported Blinds, Wood or Iron. We nave a i very large stoofc of woll-aeasoned Pine Tim -1 ber: also a Large Stook of VENETIAN BLINDS on hand, assorted aizos. Wiro Gauze linda made to order, and forward to all parts of tho Co) wy at the shortest notice. A. & A. BUSB-k (Late &. Horton Busby), VENETIAN BLIND MAKERS AND WIRE WORKERS, CORNEH'OF COOK A"ND GREY STREETS KELLY'S I^OYAL MAIL LINE OF COACHES to Ohinemutu, Hot Springs, Rnd Tuurangu, leaTiDg Tauninga every Mon day Wednesday, and Friday, at 8 a.m.; and returning every Tuesday, Thursday, and Satur day. Through td Napier, Wednesday, atß turn. ! Fare, £5. Livery and Bait Stables, Spring-street, i Tauranga. Buggies, Waiojonetteß, and Vehlolea of all kinds for Hire. Booking OiUoo, Spring. ♦ street. ,~ -•■



,Ie the low dter , and busi locking ,erdrew 'olved a ;h, how ful. All i from my v sin ess, I •ally took ie house, wife, who tier, and all about peg again . could to my folly -B, and I io)e, un (y up the io reply. left her I xclaitned, hush 1" she ao when I -. Oh I have -, and then as ell on me in a teven a fusee is within call. ater she had her if I could ,and g.op. Mfed her lace, ..i^l her round. iclnimed: " (Jh way out of tnis jt the nlxurditvof mcV" l'io in"r4)iDS me by >V in £: "] ■ We are mV , .rderers ! I saHJf nv r ° 3, stripped of <Ks>f" ;t round thorn. V"' , or wo ahj'J, i*^"lA jy may Jvs J> «? Sa ns\ er us." "*g *■' c hnd not got drowsy me in the gloom of the t was November —and ,he replied ; " I did not rror-struck a* I was, when icended the stairs again, I 3 if I could find any thing; »r, I shall never forget the us go." Jess I felt a little creepy and ; was myself again in a moment. ■ trembling, and fearing another jgan descending the stairs with . a lieht from below shot up to us. jhed me convulsively, but was re by hearing my wife's voice calling .frank! Mary! Where are you!" jre," I said; "all right." ideed," she replied, "I think it all g to give such a rright." c had reached her by this time; and by licht of the lantern she had brought, j caught sight of Mary's blanched face ; To my life's interrogatories respecting et illneas, the poor girl assured her that le was not ill, but teriilied. "1 will tell ou all," she added, "when I get home." I was thankful for the light, and left them walking on, whilst I ran up for Mary's painting materials, and locking the door, I put the key in my pocket, meaning to re turn again after dinner and try to elucidate the mystery. When I joiued them, Mary was asking my wife how she dared come alone all the way from my house to that dreadful place. She replied, she would rather do so at any hour of. the night than be kept in suspense, and added: "As soon as the day began to close, 1 looked for you; but as you did not come, I thought Frank must, have called for you, and was lionizing you in the town. But when fully au hour after dinner was ready, he camo back without you, and rushed off like a madman when I asked for you, I was fora moment bewildered; but thinking you must have been taken ill, and that Frank would want help and a light, I hurried to the kitchen for a lantern, and told one of the girls to put on her things and accompany me to the Duke's house, for you were there, and must have been taken ill. But would you believe it. She flatly refused, .saying" it served you right tor going there; you would never be found, tor never a person going near that house after gdark was ever seen afterward." I ridiculed her nonsense, and appealed to the others; but neither would go, so I had no alternative but to come alone. When we reached home, I went to the cellar, and got a bottle of Moselle, aud made Mary drink oil'half a tumblerful; aud then we sat down to dinuer. We were just settled to dessert, when a friend dropped in for a hand at whist, and wondered at our being so late. I told him the reason; and then asked Mary for her story, as I had forbidden her talking about it until she bad got her dinner. She began : "After you left me, I worked on for a long while, until, feeling hungry, I looked at my watch, and found it was past two o'clock. I then ate my sandwiches, and after taking a turn through some of the rooms, settled into my work again. I had not been long tbus occupied when I was ar roused by strange irregular noises which seemed to come from the lauding above. I then awoke to the consciousness that I had been hearing a scuffling of feet for some little time. The scuffling commenced again; and I got up, moved cautiously to the_ door, which was ajar, and looked out just in time to see an old hag disappear in a doorway above, and the door close softly behind her. 1 stepped up, and noiselessly opened the door, and peeped in; but to my great sur prise, the room was empty. I walked in to see if there was any other door through which she could have passed; but there was not; nor was there a window she could have got out of. I was fairly puzzled, for you know I don't believe in ghosts. I want



'TOOm I too. c crevice. *jJ \ grained by daylffi •mitting a lurid gC1 . did not stay lono" t !l •t, and tramped down a'tZ c door partly open. IWj1 I Cir footsteps die away i n T. 1 lit, and all being quiet, I sS tlie stairs, and peeped into tk here before a fire of red embetf' old nag 1 saw %o up in the afts? ■ii She was stirring something «,' j <? on the fire, gibbering and mntteriii, th witchea in Macbeth. She tnJa B l.nd I thought her gaze fell on «f itself sliding down, and rememberS 1 i until I was again aroused by th* ! c «> demons coming up with anotfer ; 7 What could I do? They Zw I .; ap. I knew now that the old wild I t seen me, for I was left unmolested: ! I might gain my room before thw I possibly reach it, and they would not [ me above their own din. I did so and F vno more until you roused me." ' f 'hen she had ended, I said: '%m -, do you not think you must have! pped off to sleep whilst waiting for m "' i your gloomy surroundings caused thai ry ugly dream 1 You know it hag ben oved that One minute's doze suffices tU ml for vagaries ■Which, in our wakinghoiri . ould take weeks to perform." * I " No," she replied; " I did not deep one I noment. Besides, should I sleep, do joj .hink, in'broad day, especially after .In*. , the old woman vanish out of my sightf" " Then yotJ do believe in ghoste I" HauriW B "Tndeed, I do not j but it is all M puzzling." ••A-uyou are certain shodid notcotne out again ?" "Quite positive; for I did not take my eyes off the door until I was in the room and I walked into the large fireplace', and looked to see if she had hid herself there. Btlt it was all clear up to the «ky^'• Well, I would believe in its being haunted rather than in its being a den of wholesale■■;'■ murderers. Were our town a seaport or near the sea, 1 should think it wigahinnt for smugglers, who had liad a rcafSi with the coast-guard, and had brought ho uo their dead to give them burial. Tten i thought of the resurrectionists or body-snatcher!- « but there was no medical school in the neigh' bourhood, orlwould have putit downatonce ■ to one of those worthies. The more I thought, the more I telt convinced ie was the result of my cousin's disordered imagination. from being left all alone at nightfall in such a ghostly building. After a while I said: " Whist ont of the question to-night; no one's thoughts would be in his or her hand; so, if Tom would liko a stroll, I am ready for one." He eagerly accepted the invitation; tut ray wife and Mary both sprung up and iuter cepted us on the way to the door, saying I should not go out. She knew I meant to go to the House, and if I did, she would go too, I pooh-poohed the idea of going there, especially after what Mary had told ns. jS "You don't believe a wordlbare tott you—l am sure you do not; I can see it by <■>■. the twinkle of your eyes 1" she exclaimed— " And don't you go, Tom, let me begofyoa" (Mary had a special interest iv Tom); "aud then be won't care to go alone," **> fco Tom promised, fully meaning to keep § the promise, lam sure; aud we were allowed , to pass. As soon as we got outside, I said : "Well : Tom, I did not promise, nor do I wish to . I break yours; but lam off to the Duke's. I. have the key in my pocket, and wish to ' satisfy myself ; to-morrow may be too late." " Then" you boliave Mary's story"! he '•Well, I am bound to believe it: but it is not murderers or ghosts, and I'll find out , |f before I come back. But don't you go in until I return, or you will be sending my wife after me, and all will depend on quiet,' " Nay," he said ; "if you go, I will. No great harm in breaking a promise Of thai ' kind; and it will bs forgiven whenl plead anxiety for your safety." "Agreed," 1 replied. "But we must have a light. And if Igo into the kitchen for my bnll'a eye it will create suspicion there, and the news will be carried into the parlor/1 " I have one at my lodgings," he said; " and it's on our road; we can call and get' tWe accordingly did; and Tom suggested ofei^feiHg' a pair cf pistolsJn case of need. : I firmly beliave Tom hoped for a bruea mtn f thu, villains. „ ■> j h,. Arriving there, we walked round we house before entering it, and peeped Into ; every nook we could find. At last we i directed our glance to the upper regions; , ; and about half-way up the circular tower we thought we could discern a light, ■Inu ;; was the wing Mary had chosea for her ; sketch. Tom could see it too. So we de termined on entering, and if possible solving the riddle. As we reached the second landing-it was a noble staircase with us carved balustrade-we heard voices and thumping as of beating heavy substoncW against the walls. When we came to foe story whence we saw the light on the ouraide, Tom produced his lantern to find the door, for so well did it fit that we could see no crevice of light to guide us; and having qnietly opened it, we peeped in; but all wm dark ; we entered ; but it was quite empty, ; and the tapestry being stripped from tne walls, showed nothing but the rough stones. All was now so quiet that it really seemed as though we had disturbed demon phantoms , at their revels. , I said to Tom: "Whatcan be the mean ing of this?" , When just as he was going to reply, we ■ nohes commenced agaiu, and we stepped ■ outside and listened attentively. At last Tom suggested: "One of these-, niches, which look panelled out for statues, must be a door." ; . ~„ We examined the one carefully next ">a room we had just left, and sure enougn came upon a secret spring. Tom put w* light out of sight and put his hand on Ms > pistol. I very gently pressed the spring, when it noiselessly opened sufficient for m to see into the room. There was the old hag f still at her brew, and one man with a knue dismembering the limbs of his victim. ...»» stopped his work to address some being* out of our sight; aud we, having seen enongn. quietly closed the door, darted down etairs - and soon reached home. Tom was always very pale, with large dark eyes; and wnea he entered the room where his wife ana _ Mary were, his look told in a minute wnere he had been. . ■< :::%lssmM "Yes," I said in reply to their queries, "we have been there, and have seen enouga to appal tha stoutest heart." Here I cau^t Toms-well dissembled look of affright, .auo. could contain myself no longer; I iWDB myself on the couch androaredwithlaugUter- I laughed so loug that ruy wife begau » think my braiu was turned. She lookedat Tom, but he kept his countenance,, and con tinued his idiotic stare. At last, seeing they were really frightened, I gasped out: "Murder will out! The corpses were pig*, scalded pigs: and the hag was the oia woman who sells such splendid biai* puddings I" 1 When I took the key back to the old vi»", I asked him why he had his butcher *»op at the top of the old building. ' r "Oh, sir," he replied, "don't tell on n«. You see, sir, I make a little by letting it very cheap to these people. I should not t>e < allowed, were it known. They use w*\ room because no one knows of it, and tney are unmolested. I can show the li°u™ without showing that room, to the strangers who vint the town. I used to make a gooa _. bit by showing it in former times, but very few come to see it now." T ' I never hear of haunted houses now W'l' think of the pig-killerg. —Chamber/ Journal^ M AIiTI'S Beautiful Song "WHEhE ISHKiAVKNi." J ast received at the-AuOKliAlw | Mosio Warkhqi be f. ;^-_<U S