The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1864-12-02
THE HAUNTED HOUSE.


was 20 be obtained for man and beast n. tte 10.
borlously cTeaking sign voluntarily Informed
the passer-by.
Having seen Pluto well cared for and IN a
clean stall, I sauntered into the bar-roonl. and
having nothing better TO do, sat down TO listen
to the conversation Of the half dozen loungers
there congregated
looked over the books on the table. bnt thew
were all dry essays on agriculture and cookery.
and let them pass. l was young then-just
| tW9nty-three-and was travelling solely to pass
away the time of my summer vacation Il was
then member Of the T Law School, and
from the love of adventure
| As yet, however, very little in the way of
! adventure had befalen me. Life had gone ON
ratner mane1onously; and [ had strayed away
| here INTO the backwoeds of Maine in ihe vain
| hope that / might find something strikincIy out
| OF the usual way.
Evidently, my entrance had interrupted the
conversation OF the gentlemen for there fol-
| lowed pause broken at last by tall military
| looking man IN rough coat and top boots.
II here was daughter, wasn't there, land
| lord p he asked
eyes, replied that individual so shortly saat
scrstlnlzed him more closely than had done
before The scrutiny threw little light on his
character. His physiognomy was perfectly an
readable. lie might or might not, be a bad |
man. He was short, thick-set, with red face.
bushy eyebrows, and coldly y-ghttering STEEL
blue eye.
well, II was a startling affair for this one |
horse place." continGed he of the top boots. re- |
moving his cigar. 1T happened four years ago, |
you say, and the daughter has not been heard !
of since! Strange -
eyes, it will be four years come next Christ /
mas, sad a white haired old man who had not /
spoken before. "a terrible night, SIR freezing I
cold, and the snow ia ling SO thicL that it would
have blinded you. And that night old Roger
Hampton and his wife were murdered and from
that day TO this no human eye, so far as we
know has ever looked on Margaret Hampton
'What do you think became of her, Gran
ger 2 asked one of The men addressing the old
man.
81 think? know not what to think. 1t
was currently reported that she dealt the death
wounds, and then fed to save herself from sus-
pieiQni but I baheve nothing of the kind ii
ana OF that n1jiiFFue n1jiiFFu siogeH an affects sne angels
in heaven"
''Of what were you speaking, gentlemen, if
/ may inquire % l asked dra ing up to the ta-
BILE where they were sitting.
'AASASNA 'NNhAAN
People always like to tell what they know, if
properly requested to do SO.
awe were talking over a tragedy that occur
red near here, some four years ago, in an old !
mansion. known as 'Hampton's Death, >" replied |
he Of the top boots. .'Mr. Hampton and his |
wife were murdered: and their only daughter, |
Margaret, a girl Of eighteen, or thereabouts, |
has never been seen since"
Indeed" | said, ''but that is very singular
Who resides at 'Hamrton's Death now ?"
ssBless you, young man, cried the landlord,
''you couldn't hire any body to enter the doors
on a sunshiny day; and as cor living there
why the place is haunted and one foolhardy
Young man who went there to pass the night
on a wager, lost his reason before morning
He's been wandering ever since, but no one
knows what he saw there"
s.Humph! and SO the place IS a ruin 2"
"Getting to be, sir. You can just see it from
the window there
He pointed out, and saw at the distance Of
half mile, perhaps, the chimney of large
house, clearly defined against the red sunset sky
.sDid Mr.. Hampton possess any property 2
I asked.
.eIt was generally supposed that be lad q
large sum Of gold about him. said the landlord,
| s,but nothing was proved after the murder
/ There was some thousands of dollars worth OF
real estate
s'And who was the heir of that 90
s'Ay wife, SIR said the landlord. "She was
| the next kin after Margaret-the niece OF Bfr
| Hampton. But the old house and its immed-
ate grounds are dead weight on our hands,
we could not give them away"
made few more inquiries and then the
! conversation turned to other topics; and soon
afterwards supper was announced. AT the sup
per fable ! saw Tie iandIady-a tall, handsome
woman in the prime of life, and an arrogance
particularly insufferable in one BY duty bound
to be respectfully entertaining
/ was shown TO my room soon after supper !;
an airy apartment directly over the bar-roo M
My curiosity was aroused
The story had heard about 'sHampvon's
| Death was romantic enough to excite the M
terest of almost any young man OF three and
twenty, and perhaps had a full share OF ro-
nance in my composition,
4 7 threw up the west window and looked out
The evening was beautiful. There was slight
breeze blowing and the pale moon had Just risen
The gray old front in Hampton Death" was
distinctly visible, looming gloomily from a mass
ef evercreens TWAS singular feature IN that
backwoods landscape, built in an old Though
not inelegant style of architecture. fell to
4 specrlating about it. The man who had plan
ned that building was superior to bis neighbors
He had both taste and love OF the beautiful
There was a pleasing harmony between the
stoae gables of the house and the dark pine
> forest Stretching away for miles behind it Bu
) this distant view did not satisfy me. | wantet
to see the inside, to tread the long closed cham