Kenosha tribune & telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1856-1859, 1857-12-03
&C IT,
A STORY OF A HAUNTED HOUSE.
BY HoLME LEE.

| vI.-THE GHosTLY FooTsTEPs-coN-
TINUED.
! T HE girl could not remember, bu
| ffTvttn She went in and looked. II dlt
| " not notice that there was a dpo
Ivy behind it, Grizzie, so it must hay'
| % been moved, or I should certainl.
1haye seen Il" said she. is the doc
locked up?''
f. Heshook itstrongly, and replied, eye
It'll fast; but the fastenings are without
THE bolts are gone from the staples IN
side, and there is no key, unless the on'
THAT belongs to the outer door opens TIM
also. 49, 80 -.e rr gnI
He fetched it and tried, but it turned
in the wards without unlocking it. HI
made Adie repeat her description of The
footsteps, and questioned her particular
ly as to whether she had heard any Other
noise, to which she replied that she hae
not.
'I will look further into the matter
tomorrow" said the engrayer seriously
IssWe have little to lose, it is true; but
evil disposed persons have been known
to make use of such legends as attach te
this house in NEVIS Court for bad pur
poses. 1t is well to be on our guard
The cabinet has been moved from with
out; something has been introduced
through the wide crevices between the
door and the wall, and so it has been
pushed forward"
That night both Nicholas and Adie
lay long awake; the one listening for the
footsteps, the other revolving the even
ing's occurrences with alternate thrillsloi
Joy and pain; but no sound. disturbed
the stiffness, except the loud Minister
clock and the gusts of signing winter
wind. The following morning Nicholas
rose early long before Adie was awake,
and went down into the court,an thence
by the common stair into the corridor.
He carried with him lantern and mar
rowly examined the floor, which in the
thick dust showed traces of feet back
wards and forwards. This Circumstance
convinced him that some actual person
had occasioned the previous nights
alarm, and that it was not the ghostly
yisitant Adie had heard. He tried the
door Of the closet, but could bot stir it /;
and then returned to his room, where he
applied himself as quietly as ? ssible to
undoing the closed up entrane from it
to the corridor. This was a work both
of time and difficulty, and it was still I'M
done, when he heard Adie moving in
her room; he Immediately desisted, and
lest she should be troubled by needless
alarms, he made every thing look as
much like what it did before asposssible.
After breakfast he fetched a blacksmith
and had the cabinet secured to the wall
of the closet by several strong staples;
lit then completely covered the door, land
made an entrance by that means next
to an impossibility. ts 8ss e'aa E
Royston came while the man was at
work, and expressed his approval OF
| Nicholas precautions; he afterwards ex-
amined the corridor with him, and sug-
gested that the door into it should be
opened, that the nocturnal visiter might
be detected. The engraver privately
told him what he was doing, but said
Adie must not know, or she would be
in a constant tremor and excitement
Laurence promised to repeat nothing.
. After that day the engraver never left
Adie alone in the house; Martha return
ed; and the weeks crept on until nearly
Christmas. The footsteps were heard
no more, and the first impression o.
alarm died away; Nicholas even began
to talk of once more closing up the door
because it admitted draughts, but the
doing of it was deferred from day &c
day, until it was forgotten again. But
one black moonless night, as the engra
yer lay awake, he heard sound pas
sing by the wainscot that caused him tc
start up in haste. 1t was of stealthy
nackd foot, and a hand drawn along
by the wall as if feeling the way. He
passed into the large room; and succeed
ed in opening the door noiselessly, bu
when he flashed his light into the cor
ridor, it was silent and empty, only 6
rush of wind sweeping up it extinguish
ed his candle. He went no more to bed
but sat listening and expectant; bu
the visitant, whether of flesh and blood
or of shadow and spirit, came not again
| This time he did not think fit to speal
of what he had heard to any one. How
ever, Martha, whom nothing escaped
had been startled by the same noise, and
had moreover seen with wonder fig
ure which she well knew steal acros,
the court shortly after. In the winter
nights lighted oil-lamp hung inside tn,
gateway of the court. Now possibly
that secret visitant had not calculated
that there were such wakefuI eyes ant
such industrious thoughts upon his tract
as Martha's discovery entailed. He
web, which had hitherto run tolerably
straight, was all at one thrown into IN
extricable ENHANCEMENT.