184r 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[May, 
[COPYRIGHT SECURED.] 
COVETOUSNES S. —From A Picture BY Petrol BONHEUR.— Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
“Johnny must not go out of the yard ” was the caution 
which his mother gave her little boy. They were spend¬ 
ing a month in the country, and Johnny, all unused to 
such a life, found wonders enough to occupy his attention 
for a long time, without wandering out of the safe bounds 
of the ample yard surrounding the dwelling. But as 
these grew familiar, he longed to see what was beyond. 
Especially did he want to go across a field which lay op¬ 
posite, and see how it looked in the woods which border¬ 
ed it. There must be wonderful things there, he thought. 
His nurse had told him stories about Indians and mon¬ 
keys, and curious birds that lived in the woods, and here, 
he thought, was a chance which he might never have again 
to see them for himself. So one morning after dreaming 
all night about it, he slipped away unperceived, and soon 
reached the edge of the unknown land. “ Grapes 1 
Grapes!” he shouted, as he saw the ripe clusters hanging 
from a wild vine, and quickly grasped a bunch. What 
strange noise was that he heard ? “Ca-dork—dork—dork.” 
Just then remembering that he was doing wrong, his 
heart fluttered with alarm; nor was he less frightened 
when on turning around he saw what appeared to him a 
real monster, eyeing him keenly, and uttering that fear¬ 
ful “Ca-dork—dork—dork.” It was the farmer’s pet 
Brahma rooster, an enormous bird, enough to frighten 
any child, and no wonder the little fellow dropped the 
grapes and ran for the house, screaming with all his 
might, “ Mamma 1 Mammal” In telling of it, when safe 
at home again, he greatly amused his friends by very 
solemnly assuring them, that the “ big thing with feath¬ 
ers on ” hallooed after him, “ Cut, cut, cut,” “ and,” said 
he, “ I did cut just as fast as I could, and I’ll never go out 
of the yard alone again.” And he faithfully kept his word. 
Revenge. —Different persons have various ways of 
taking revenge; the following was a humorous man’s 
way. lie called at a house to see a friend and inquired, 
“ Is this Mr. Jones’s house ?” “ No, it aint,” replied the 
servant, very snappishly, and slammed the door in his 
face. Thus repulsed, the man walked away, but suddenly 
an idea struck him and he returned for his revenge, no 
rang the bell, and when the same servant appeared, he 
snapped out as shortly as possible, “ Who said it was ?” 
and retreated, well satisfied with his peculiar revenge. 
A CSeianiime CwSiost.—(A Fact.) 
“ No, I never saw one in my life, and never saw any¬ 
body who had seen one, either. And what’s more, I 
don’t believe in 'em. Just show me one—a genuine 
ghost,—and then I’ll have faith.” 
“ Well,” said old Aunt Debby, “I have seen a ghost,— 
as real a ghost as anybody ever laid eyes on. ’Twas 
more’n thirty year ago, just after I buried my first hus¬ 
band. I was lookin’ round for a place to live in, and 
heard of a house in Jackson-strect, where the rent was 
very low. One of the neighbors told me it was offered so 
cheap because no family could stay on account of a ghost 
of the man who had lived there last that haunted it. 
“ Did I feel afraid ? No, not a bit; for I didn’t believe 
in such things; and besides, I had known the old man 
well in his lifetime, and been good friends with him, too. 
I didn’t know any cause why he should turn to be my 
enemy after he was dead. So I took the house, glad to 
get it at so low a price; and moved in my furniture. To¬ 
wards evening, I went over and made ready to pass the 
night there. Was I alone ? Aye, — that I was, all alone, 
for I was a poor widow, and my children across the sea. 
“ ’Twas a warm night, and so I opened the doors and 
windows, after I had lighted my lamp. Then I sat down 
by my table, to knit awhile, and read my chapter in the 
Bible, before going to bed. I was a knittin’ and a rcadin’ 
together, with the Bible open at the Ninety-first Psalm, 
when all of a sudden, I heard a strange sound upstairs. 
It was a low cry, just like a wailin’, sobbin’ child would 
make; and seemed to be goin’ round and round the gar¬ 
ret. ‘It’s nothin’ but the wind,’ says I to myself, but 
when I looked out o’ doors, and saw how still and quiet 
every thing was, with the stars a shinin’ down so calm, I 
knew it couldn’t be the wind. Then I thought it might 
be a rat or a mouse, but I knew very well that no such 
animal could make that sad, melancholy moan, which 
seemed to pierce to my very soul. I listened a little 
while, tryin’ to think what could make such a strange 
noise, and at last says to myself, ‘ Deb, that is a ghost, 
sure enough, and no mistake.’ 
“ Frightened ? No; at any rate, not much, for I had no 
cause to fear aught on earth, or in the grave. I read my 
chapter through,—all about the angels havin’ charge 
over us, and the ‘terror by night’—and the rest of the 
dangers. But all the time, the sound—that awful wail,— 
kept on with its solemn voice. I heard it coming down 
stairs, and with it a gentle footfall,—down, down, a step 
at a time. It reached the floor, and then stopped. I 
looked—for I could not help lookin’,—and there, right at 
the doorway, I saw standing in the dark, two gleamin’, 
flashin’ balls of fire 1 Now, I began to be scared,' but I 
gathered up all my courage and spoke out loud, ‘ Conic 
forth!’ And up leaped—a big black cat! . . 
“ That was all there was of the ghost. I knew the cat 
as soon as I saw it plainly; and it knew me too, and 
came towards me, purrin’ and moanin’ by turns. You 
see, the old cat was weepin’ for its dead master: and as 
it stood in the door, the candle-light on its eyes made 
them look like balls of fire. That was the only time I 
ever saw a ghost: and I don’t believe anybody ever saw 
a better one. I kept the old cat, and well I might, for 
she had saved me forty dollars rent, besides drivin’ away 
the rats and mice from the house.” 
