The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1860-04-11

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better adapted for such phenomenon than
Ihe high road to Persia fine old manor
house in Staffordshire. that had been petty
stronghold in the time OF the civil wars
Rupert led sailed out Of it at the head OF his
Babesters, and Cromwell had
stormed it with his Ironsides, smiting Agag
that is to say, its then possessor. Sir Jas.
per Seton-hip and thigh. He was cut ts
pieces in the great hOll, which is now the
mushroom, or was, in the days knew it
and the clash OF steel is still to be heard
there in wild winter midniehts, although |
cannot say that ever detected it myself,
for certain. There were. however. the most
mysterious nightly sounds in that old house,
whose furniture, though good and costly, was
throughout, from garret to still.room, ex'
ce, dinghy ancient. Inever was, indeed, in
any dwelling. .hou.e where Antiquity had it
so much her own way. 1t was full OF un
necessary and unexpected flights OF stairs, Of
tortuous passages, OF long, dark, slippery
galleries, and especially full Of lingering
echoes. always dying out, and never dead
Nne-tenths of the mysterious noises came,
of course, from these same echoes !; but who
made the other tenth, and set the noises go.
ing, was problem not 60 easily solved.-
Who emp,ied sacks Of potatoes every night
down the wide un.carpeted oak stairs in the
aforesaid musc.hall. was quite an open
question for everybody agreed, though
there were no potatoes TO be found there,
that that was the operation which the dis
turbance most resembled. Who went about,
and seemed to listen-with list-slippers on
at the chamber doors Who rang the
drawing room bells when nothing was wont.
ed, and everybody had gone to bed! My
answer, on account Of the philoaophic char
acter of my nature, was always, Rats. The
house so swarmed with them, that it might
have been call ed Rats Castle. The arras,
in such of the chambers as were not in con-
slant use, was rnt-eaten as well as moth-eat
en-. The wainscots were riddled by rats
and they were only kept away from the pro-
visions of the household by a patent sale,
that was the one modern contrivance in
Burlby Hall. Nevertheless, the old place
was the very home Of Christmas hospitality
and had for me who did not care for rats
only one source Of annoyance ! dared moi
indulge in two of my Usual cuetoms-gettine
up esrlv in the morning, and sleep wa king
at night-for fear Of being shot by Captain
Seton, the eldest son OF Sir Arthur, who
enraged by the state OF terror in which the
female portion of the domestics were plung'
ed, perambulated the house at all hours witt
a revolver, wherewith he had pledged him
self to put an end to all disturbers o
the household peace. His sisters; being
Setons, were, of course, afraid OF nothing
but confess that, for my part, did not likt
the six -barrelled implement Of the young
dragoon at all. The nightly noises, how
ever, were not whit decreased by this am
ateur watchman and one December night
when o grim north easter was trying door
aud windows from without, and the rats wer
at work as usual with their potato-sacks an
list. slippers within, he added considerably t
the general tumult by ringing huge han
alarm bell-which he had had placed in hi
bedroom in case OF such an emergency-an
oil the inmates of the mansion focked to tn
summons as bees are gathered by the hives
man. We found the captain In his dressin
, gown, in the centre of the western gallery
standing by an ugly mark in the psnellins
which he had made with the muzzle of hi
pistol.
"Here he is," cried he "the fellow wer
d through here, I'll take my oath ! | hear
him listening at my door, and was out in
e minute taking q snapshot at him, but tn
II thing missed fire."
"Heard whom !-heard whom !" inquire
" Sir Arthur.
IL don't know how should I Z" reptile
. the young man. "Perhaps a ghost; or
= not, somebody who was never SO near bein
% a ghost, I'll warrant him, as he was 6'
e minutes back. I'll have this panel broke
y in. No, father, we'll not leave it till tc
e morrow, if you please that's how thes
% things 90 on-let's do it at once. There
o a pickaxe in the stable.yard go and brin
u it, Thomas"
70 SO the pickaxe wos brought, and-S
l. Arthur unwillingly assenting-we broke
Z the black oak panelliug into q hundre
g splinters, and then through thick stor
T. wall, without a hinge or entrance, as
70 seemed, of any kind in it, into chamber,
n the existence of which no person in tt
II house had ever known. A modern chamb'
:" "a small sitting.room, barely furnishe
y with chairs and table Of date Of construc
y" tion later by at least two hundred years thu
anything in the house, except the pate
y safe but there were no windows to Il
y room, nor any means Of ingress that cou
u" be discovered, save that very rough one
y our own. I do not think that either gho
10 or burglar could have affected us all mol
y strangely than the sight Of that untenant'
u and unknown modern room. 1t is still to
D. seen In the west gallery of Burlby Hall, Il
sole approach to it-for 90 the Setons vi
have it-yet lying open between the splil
r tered planks and broken stone-work, y.
g when IL was first found. The mystery col