The First Fatal Hallow Eve

First, at Black Hall all was in readiness, not only for the ball and the
supper, but for the accommodation of those lady friends of the hostess
who, coming from a great distance, would expect to take a bed there.

And all was in readiness at the village hotel at Blackville, where
gentlemen, coming from a distance to attend the ball, had engaged rooms
in advance.

Nevertheless the landlord of the hotel was in a "stew," for there were
more people already arrived, on horseback and in carriages of every
description, from the heavy family coach crammed with young ladies and
gentlemen, to the one-horse gig with a pair of college chums. And the
distracted landlord had neither beds for the human beings nor stalls for
the horses. But he sent out among his neighbors, and tried to get
"accommodations for man and beast" in private houses and stables.

"And the coach be come in, sir, and what be we to do with the
passengers?" inquired the head waiter.

"Blast the coach! I wish it had tumbled down the 'Devil's Descent' into
the bottomless pit!" exclaimed the frantic host, seizing his gray locks
with both hands, and running away from before the face of his
tormentor--and jumping from the frying-pan into the fire, when he came
full upon his daughter Bessie, who stopped him with: "Pop, you must come right into the parlor. There's a gentleman there as
come by the coach, and says he must have a bed here to-night, no
matter how full you may be, or how much it may cost."