{"product_id":"2940012769824","title":"The Haunted Homestead","description":"THE HAUNTED HOMESTEAD.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    A residence for woman, child, or man,\u003cbr\u003e    A dwelling-place--and yet no habitation;\u003cbr\u003e    A house, but under some prodigious ban\u003cbr\u003e    Of excommunication.--HOOD.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn childhood I always had a fearless faith in ghosts. I desired before\u003cbr\u003eall sights to see them, and threw myself in the way of meeting them\u003cbr\u003ewhenever and wherever there seemed the slightest possibility of so\u003cbr\u003edoing. Whenever there were mysterious sounds heard in the night, I\u003cbr\u003elistened with breathless interest, arose from the bed in silent\u003cbr\u003eeagerness, and went stealing on tiptoe through the dark house in the\u003cbr\u003ehopes of meeting the ghosts. Once I met a severe blow on the nose from\u003cbr\u003ethe sharp edge of an open door, and once a tom cat, who made one spring\u003cbr\u003efrom the top of the pantry shelves upon my head, and another thence\u003cbr\u003ethrough a broken window pane. I would have liked to fancy him a ghostly\u003cbr\u003ecat, only I knew him too well for our own \"Tom,\" the cunningest thief\u003cbr\u003ethat ever run on four feet. Another time, perambulating through the\u003cbr\u003ehouse at midnight, I surprised a burglar, who, mistaking me in the\u003cbr\u003edarkness for the master of the house, the watch, or an ambush, jumped\u003cbr\u003estraight over my head (or past me, I hardly knew which in my\u003cbr\u003eastonishment), and made his escape at the back door. But I must say that\u003cbr\u003eI never met a ghost, or even a \"vestige\" of a ghost until--but I think I\u003cbr\u003ewill begin at the beginning and tell you the whole story.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the Newton Academy, where I was educated, among two hundred fellow\u003cbr\u003epupils, I had but one bosom friend and confidante--quite enough in all\u003cbr\u003ediscretion for one individual, though you are aware that most young\u003cbr\u003eladies have at least a dozen. My female Pythias was Mathilde Legare, a\u003cbr\u003ebeautiful and warm-hearted Creole from New Orleans. Orestes and Pylades,\u003cbr\u003eCastor and Pollux, the Siamese twins, are but faint illustrations of the\u003cbr\u003ecloseness of our friendship. To say that we were inseparable is nothing\u003cbr\u003eto the fact--we were united, blended, consolidated; and the one \"angel\"\u003cbr\u003eof Swedenborg formed of two congenial spirits, is the only sufficiently\u003cbr\u003eexpressive example of our union of hearts. It was of little use for me\u003cbr\u003eto study a lesson, for though I had never looked at it, if Mathilde only\u003cbr\u003ecommitted hers to memory I was sure, in some occult manner, to have mine\u003cbr\u003e\"at my fingers' ends\"--or, on the other hand, if I studied, Mathilde\u003cbr\u003emight play--she would recite her task just as well. Moreover, if I told\u003cbr\u003ea story Mathilde would swear to it, and _vice versa_. In short, we two\u003cbr\u003ewere in all cases \"too many\" for all the rest of the school--principal,\u003cbr\u003eassistant, masters and pupils--and we afforded a striking illustration\u003cbr\u003eof the truth of Robert Browning's lines--though I suppose the latter\u003cbr\u003ealluded to \"a true marriage,\" and not a schoolgirl friendship:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    \"If any two creatures grow into one\u003cbr\u003e    They should do more than the world has done,\u003cbr\u003e    By each apart ever so weak,\u003cbr\u003e    Yet vainly thro' the world should you seek,\u003cbr\u003e    For the knowledge and the might,\u003cbr\u003e    Which in such union grew their right.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs Mathilde was rich and I was comparatively poor, this friendship\u003cbr\u003ebrought me many advantages, among which was the privilege of annual\u003cbr\u003etravel and change of scene. About the first of every July, Mathilde's\u003cbr\u003efather and mother would leave their sugar plantation in Louisiana, and\u003cbr\u003etravel northward. They usually arrived at the Newton Academy about the\u003cbr\u003etenth of the month, in time to be present at the annual examination and\u003cbr\u003eexhibition of the pupils. Upon these occasions, Mathilde, who possessed\u003cbr\u003equickness and vivacity, rather than depth or strength of mind, generally\u003cbr\u003eachieved a brilliant success; though she often told me that her triumph\u003cbr\u003ein being first at these milestones on the road to fame, was nothing more\u003cbr\u003ethan the success of the swift-footed, careless hare over the slow and\u003cbr\u003epainstaking tortoise, who would win the race at the goal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHowever this might be, Mr. and Mrs. Legare were equally proud of their\u003cbr\u003edaughter's genius and beauty, and to reward her \"industry and\u003cbr\u003eapplication,\" as they called it, they took her each year to spend the\u003cbr\u003elong vacation of July and August, with them, in making a tour of the\u003cbr\u003eVirginia Springs, which are the most frequented by Southerners, for the\u003cbr\u003econvenience of bringing their servants with them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUpon one occasion, however--that of the vacation preceding the last year\u003cbr\u003eof Mathilde's residence at school--Mr. Legare determined to vary their\u003cbr\u003eusual route by going to the Northern watering places of Saratoga and\u003cbr\u003eBallstown. And, as usual, I, with the consent of my guardians,\u003cbr\u003eaccompanied the party as their invited guest.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47121011146992,"sku":"2940012769824","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012769824_p0.jpg?v=1763572128","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012769824","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}