Mr. Uriah Lamp, the lighthouse keeper, has reported to this office that past midnight, upon the Fen Path, he saw pale lights moving on the fen. He made no claim as to who carried them, nor what errand they served; he said only that no honest business takes a lantern there. The Fen Path is a narrow road, and the fen is a dark place for any man’s foot at that hour.
Mr. Lamp is not a man given to invention. He is a melancholy and timid man, and he reported the sight with the plainness of one who keeps a light by trade. He did not say whether the lights were many or few, nor whether they stood or went along. He said only that they moved, and that he had seen them.
The Courant sets the matter before its readers without embroidery. It may be a wanderer with a lantern, or it may be a mischief that wishes not to be seen. We do not say what the fen might hold at night; we say only that a quiet, sober man has told the town he saw lights where no light ought to be, and that the town may judge for itself. Those who have honest business on the fen will not need the warning; those who have none will not heed it.