Litchfield enquirer., 1862-03-27
Alisfellanp.
From the Sunday 1'imes.] THE HAUNTED ROOM. INV plIU IKE pREcT0S
BY PAULINE PRESTON.

My friends, the Marvcls reside in an odd old fashioned country house. mile or two distant from little village, which is. to all intents and purposes, altogether out of the Worid.lts inhab itants are chiefly elderly maidens. Its church | is tottering ruin it's school-house- q plank boarded structure, under the care of the most entirely uneducated as well as the deafest old gentleman in the place and its one store is l hands of Miss Charity Grimes. who never eau find her spectacles in time to search for anything Q customer inquiries for. The dust of ages has gathered upon the tattered volumes in the circu latng library. for all the old people finished them twenty years ago, and the few young people re- gard reading as an old fogyism. There is no thing heard of, and nothing known in the vil lnge. Even the octogenarian minister repeats all his old sermons annually, having them mark ed in regular order for that purpose and there is not single instance on record of solitary mem Der of the congregation remaining awake during the delivery of these discourses. ...,.
 With such village in the neighborhood. and nothing to be seen on any hand save scrubby woods and marshes, the Marvel mansion may without exaggeration, be considered secluded 1 spot, and any one who has ever seen the bright. eyed rosy checked, fnn-losing girls who inhabt it would as soon expect to find them upon the de- sert of Sahara Certainly they never would have buried themselves in such an out of the way, beau-deserted spot in their sober senses and with their eyes open.
 Mrs. Marvel had purchased the house princi pally from the representations of the agent iu whose hands the property had been placed. He described it as . splendid family mansion, within walking distance of a flourishing town, and sur rounded by the richest and most easily cultivated ground ever seen or heard of. It was to be sold on Ivy 1Ovu onH dsnr k< the agents candid confession, had one disadyan tage. .,- l..,.t-... ..I.,,,
 " I will admit it to you, madame" remarked the gentleman. You shall never say have deceived you. The house is said to be haunted Is that an objection to your mind !"
 An objection! stuff that nonsenser' ejacul ated Mrs. Marvel. Why should such a silly report be any objection to me- Mr. Oily?"
 "Just the remark should have expected from woman of your superior judgment, Mrs. Mar vel" said the lawyer, rubbing his hands. "l may consider that house taken, in that case, fol l you'll be charmed. I'm sure." ee-'...
 So good Mrs. Marvel wentup to see the house arrived on the spot about dusk, took twilight view of the apartments and flew back, just ii time to catch the returning train, the plausible agent talking all the while in praise of every l thing on the property. '. On the following day she became it's purchas CT, and the fated family moved thither in les: than month from that day. A few hours sui feed to prove the awful facts that the famil, mansion was damp. that it's roof leaked, tha there were mice in the cellar, and reaches in thu pantries that the parlor chimney smoked, anl that the haunted room had stain upon its wal land floor which could not be eradicated by nor tal ,scrubbing brush That the fruittrees hal not borne anything for years, and that the grape
 vlne was only productive of long green worms ! All this could have been borne, if not amended but for the dearth of society, and the utter i'm possibility of buying anything but worthless heed les and rotten spool cotton within twenty miles
 These facts were enough to drive the Marvels !,
 distraction, and for while they bemoaned the; hard fate piteouslY. They were a light- -hearts, set, however, and Mrs. Marvel had been IS th lefty for the purpose of giving the agent i nac , of her mind, and the Misses Marvel had writte frightful accounts of their situation to all the !, young lady friends, they began to be comforte. and get to work to arrange everything as Be, santy as possible, with the view of selling arai ' los soon as they could find purchaser. The ia. hope was futile DO one wanted to buy the plac land the fowery advertisement remained on u
 acents hands until it grew brown and dusty.
 Mrs, Marvel summoned man from town repair the roof, bought bushel of pills for u destruction of the mice and roaches, covered u ]. dark stains in the haunted room with delica ; wall paper and pretty carpet, and made . hon
 of the old place after all while the rosy checks
 young ladies named the place !" Daisy Dingle