Once upon a time
three soldiers took shelter in the building for the night, and
rummaged it from top to bottom, when they found old Father Red-cap
astride of a cider barrel in the cellar, with a jug in one hand and
a goblet in the other. He offered them a drink out of his goblet,
but just as one of the soldiers was putting it to his mouth--whew!-
-a flash of fire blazed through the cellar, blinded every mother's
son of them for several minutes, and when they recovered their
eyesight, jug, goblet, and Red-cap had vanished, and nothing but
the empty cider barrel remained."
Here the half-pay officer, who was growing very muzzy and sleepy,
and nodding over his liquor, with half-extinguished eye, suddenly
gleamed up like an expiring rush-light.
"That's all fudge!" said he, as Peechy finished his last story.
"Well, I don't vouch for the truth of it myself," said Peechy
Prauw, "though all the world knows that there's something strange
about that house and grounds; but as to the story of Mud Sam, I
believe it just as well as if it had happened to myself."
The deep interest taken in this conversation by the company had
made them unconscious of the uproar abroad among the elements, when
suddenly they were electrified by a tremendous clap of thunder.
Pages:
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328