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Show The Haunted! Hall A ROUMANIAN TALE By HELENS VACARESCO Ltd)r-ln-Wilrin( at the Roununlin Court (Copyright. IMS. br Joieph H. lsowlu) "Sultana, you aud your brother will havo to sleep hero and guard tho corn," ald tho young girl's mother. It wns after sunset, nnd tho peasants peas-ants had all returned to their homes In tho neighboring vlllnge. Tho oven-Ing oven-Ing wns beautiful, and the eastern sky, Ut up by delicate clouds shading from tho palest pink to violet, made an ex-lulslto ex-lulslto picture. "Dear mother, sleep hero," replied Sultana, In nn awed whlspor, "wo know tho corn must bo guarded, nnd thnt tho Tziganes (Bohemians) nro rapacious and daring, but everyone In tho vil-lago vil-lago says that yonder place Is haunted. My brothers need havo no fear, for tho spirits of tho dead only Bhow themselves them-selves to young girls when, when " "When they aro pretty," quickly put iu her mother. "Hnvo you over been curious enough to look nt yourself In tho fountain, or the woll? If so, you may havo scon frowning nt you n very brown small face. You are always frowning, Sultana, and no spirits will show themselves to you. You nro not pretty enough." "Yet Constnntln told mo" "Constnntln is in love with you, nnd covets tho house nnd cattle; ho hns every reason to declaro you aro pretty," pret-ty," muttered tho old woman between her teeth. "Well, good night, child, I hnvo no timo to spare. You must bo tired, bo lie down on the straw and rest. In half nn hour tho moon will rlso nnd keep you compnny." With those words Sultana's mother lifted a bundlo of straw which had fallen from the last wagon, pushed It towards the girl nnd thon took tho path that led to tho village vil-lage As her footsteps died away, Sultana looked round for her brothers, and, not seeing them, she walked n llttlo way, finally finding them fast asleep near n hedge. Something like pity for hct toiling race moved her heart; but peas- HE IMPLORED HER TO TOUCH HIS IJLOODSTAINED HANDS. ant girls rarely stop to nnalyzo their feelings and prefer dreams to tho reality real-ity of thought. Tho vast plain stretched around her like a sliver sea In the twilight nnd tho gleaming vlllago lights on tho hill seemed to bo tho only sentinels to whoso caro this vast stretch of laud was confided. Tho ruins of nn old cas-tlo cas-tlo rose ut tho foot of tho hill, and towards this placo Sultana wound hor way, wondering to herself If It wero really haunted; and If It wero really possible that tho legends sho hnd so often heard woro true. "How unlikely," she muttored to herself, her-self, as Bho pushed back tho yellow muslin handkerchief on her hoad, and let tho night air fan hor curly black hair, nnd caress her email, dollcato face. As she stood there, gazing at what had perhaps in ages past been n houso of revelry nnd grandeur, tho moon rose. Sultana remomborcd a story sho had heurd in her childhood, that tho moon burned to ashes all tho young girls she mot on tho plain when sho flrst rose. Thinking of this, she slowly returned to her bed of straw, laid horselt down and was Boon nsleop. All at onco she awoko bewildered and troubled, and saw standing a few paces from hor the shndowy form of a woman, wom-an, who seemed to bo beckoning hor towards the ruins. At tho same moment mo-ment sho becamo awaro thnt soft, Invisible In-visible music wns playing around her. Sho rose quickly and, running to the ruins, found to her great surprise a door she had nover noticed boforo. Opening It, sho discovered soma steps which led Into what had been In ages past an Immense banqueting hall. At a long tablo gorgeously decorated with silver caudolabrn and ladon with ex-qulslto ex-qulslto fruit and flowers sat about n hundred lords, nnd ladles. That this wns a brldnl party Sultana understood at onco. It nlso struck hor that Bho was Invisible to nil the company, with tho exception of n hnndsomo youth, who woro n whtto satin costumo nnd n long, dark green volvet cloak. Novor In hor wildest Imagination hnd Sultana seen n faco so distinguished and hnndsomo as this youth's who seemed to watch hor with Imploring .oyes. A beautiful woman sat opposlto him. Hor rich dress was nlso white nnd gllatoning with diamonds, Thrown ovor tho brick of hor chnlr wns a groen mantle, similar to that worn by tho youth. Tho music had stopped on her entering tho hnll and a deop sllonco ensued. en-sued. Sultana's oyes followed tho young man's movements, nnd wr n pang of disappointment and Jealousy nho dlscoTcred thnt he was tho bride-rpoom bride-rpoom and the lady opposlto his bride. Vet ho took no notlco of hor nnd his gaze was flxod on Sultnna with a look full of lovo nnd rovorenco. Sultana tremblod with expectation 'nnd oxclto-ment. oxclto-ment. Would ho not Bpenk to her or bid tho sorvantn question hor as to her Intrusion and dcslrcsj But ho sntd nothing, and Sultana was beginning to feel wenry of tho unchanging un-changing spectnelo nnd tho sllonco of the dazzling compnny, when suddenly tho strains of music were ngaln heard, wild, weird music, which seemed as it it would rend the violins. At tho same moment a strong smell of roBos pervaded per-vaded tho room nnd tho guests all rosa with animated nnd uneasy gestures, pushing their chairs aside. Tho brido-groom brido-groom was tho first to rise. Ho lifted bis glass and seemed about to drink, when suddenly ho throw it violently to tho ground, and, solztng n knlfo, flung it Into tho bosom of his brldo. Tho girl fell back with n scream, and horror-stricken Sultana watched her life blood oozing down hor white satin gown. In hnsto tho youth rushed across tho tablo, smeared his hands In tho wnrm blood nnd to Sultana's terror, approached her with n humblo nnd bo-seeching bo-seeching nlr, showing her by his gestures ges-tures that ho wns begging of her to touch his blood-stained hands with hers. Sultnna, almost besldo herself with fright, tried to rush out of the hall, but nil the nssembly gathored round her, nnd, falling on tholr knees, showed by signs thnt thoy wero Imploring Implor-ing hor to fulfill tho young mnn's request. re-quest. When Sultnna returned to hor mother's moth-er's houso at dawn tho old woman stood nghnst at her Beared faco. "Tho full moon has dono you somo harm nftcr all. How your hands burn. You must come to bed nt onco." For some days Sultana remained unconscious; then 'delirium solzed hor. She raved continually about tho unknown youth and tho sccno which had taken placo In tho haunted castle. "She hns gono mnd," Bald the neighbors neigh-bors to each othcr.'ns one by one they camo to Inquire and saw tho poor girl throwing her arms ovor hor head or hiding her faco In her hands and crying cry-ing bitterly. Yet Sultana recovered. Sho nover aiiudcd to whnt was uppermost In her thoughts. Soon nftcr sho hnd regained her usual health sho resolved to question ques-tion an old witch, who wns supposed to bo well versed in mnglc of all klnda. Hnvlng entered her miserable little hut, which wns filled with all kinds of curious looking objects, sho sat down on a low stool beforo the fire and said: "I am told you possess powers unusual to most people I have, theroforo, come to ask you to tell me all you know about the haunted castlo lying nt the foot of our vlllago. If you do not know Its history, enn you not by yout mnglc spells And it out?" Tho old witch answered: "I know Its history and will tell It you. Threo hundred years ago tho son of n mighty hoynrd (Roumanian chief) who inhabited inhab-ited tho castlo fell in lovo with a beau, tlful peasant girl. His parents, ol course, opposed the mnrrlago and betrothed be-trothed tho unhnppy youth to tht daughter of another hoynrd, who wai immensely wealthy and powerful. The poor peasant girl poisoned horsolf boforo bo-foro tho mnrrlago took placo. On tht vory ovo of tho ceremony tho youth on-trented on-trented his flunceo to rolcnso him from his engagement. Sho wns a bad and heartless woman, who laughed In hit fnco, nnd tnunted him, telling him thai sho was quite content to possess hit riches without possessing his heart And thon nt n Inrgo dinner given it. honor of' tho brido " "Stop! I know tho rest; he stnbbec" her." "I seo you have heard tho talo boforo," bo-foro," Bald tho witch. "Do you also know that tho wretched souls of theso peoplo who died bo long ago return by night and hnunt tho castlo hnll, where thoy nro bound to go through tho ter-rlblo ter-rlblo sceno continually until some living liv-ing girl, who resembles tho girl tho youth loved, will consent to touch the young man's blood-stained hands? This Is tho only means of lifting his heavy curse and frightful punishment It Is likely to Inst forovor, as he will never find n human being capablo of such a sacrlflco, as tho Instnnt she touches his blood-stained hands eho must die." A week nftor this conversation had taken place, Sultana was found dead In the hall of the ruined cnstlo nnd carried car-ried tenderly by hor peoplo to her homo. All who saw her wero struck by the peaceful nnd happy look on hor fnco, and n few days later, nt her funeral, the astonished pensanta noticed no-ticed tho prcsenco of n tall nnd extremely ex-tremely handsome youth, wrapped in n long black cloak, who spoko to no ono, but lingered by tho gravo after all the others had left. Tho priest, whose cottage overlooked tho cemetery, rolated that he saw the myBtorlous youth lie down on the freshly filled gravo and slowly sink Into tho earth that covered Sultana. |