The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1866-02-12


"Sorry gents,s said the landlord, in reply to
their interrocations. abut owing to the great
trial which is to come off tomorrow, every
bed is engaged and 1 have not spare nook in
the house. 49,. Lax, =. s..,-...s d.5,, ,idt 4
y "Trial OfwhatW l.t 7it1 -..i. Z asistl44r5 I
"Can it be possible that you have not heard
of the murder of Jeanette Rochelle sby young
Fallow, whose case is to come up tomorrow ?S
@No, we've just arrived in town aud were
ignorant of the fact. But cannot you give us
a sofa or lounge in the parlor or any other
convenient place % lia,s ,'.i.,.'I Fl
"Impossible, gents; every inchis bargained
@Well, then, direct us to some private house
where we can stay for the night ~ Is 81 =
iu There is not spare bed in the village-ex-
cept one, and that don't think you would
fancy much"
"Anything is better than walking the streets
all night. What is the objection to the one
SHushw replied Boniface, seriously, the
house is haunted.' .s4s,ai. .l- i3ale a w
"Bah p sneered traveller number one tfI'm
not 3s afraid aMis ofsny ofy0ur h0bsoblns Where
"The one directly opposite with closed shut
ters." '.'s -. ~. -.'l''''''
5s'. "WeI, give us an armful of wood, a light.
some food and drink, and Wen risk the con-
sequences p Z -i.i'--a =
With many dubious shakes of the head and
sundry shrugs of his broad shoulders, the land
lord brought the desired articles, handed.oye
key, and wishing them pleasant time, re-
marked in parting:-
you'll find the house well furnished, and
the bedroom directly over the parior."
"Good night" replied the travellers, and out
they went, crossed the street, passed, through
the creaking gate, unlocked the front door and
entered the mysterious dwelling.
n x1ry,a ,,Jxo1 4
whose name was Walker; 1--WE start off on
trip of pleasure, and get stuck into haunted
: house the very first night. But never mind:
wen make ourselves as comfortable as posi-
Bile, and if his ghostship pays us visit, let him
look out for himself" .7 81; - ~
So they built rousing fire in the crate
drew stand up before it, and while Walker
concocted hot punch, his companion spread
out the viands, and they set to, eating onlv as
beverage, and smoking their eheroots, thew
made a careful inspection of the whole house.
found it splendidly furnished as the landlord
had told them. but discovered nothing un1Is,,-
al, or signs Of anything supernatural. Care
fully closing all doors after them, they then re-
paired to the bedroom, and they were yery
4 few moments after neatly tucked in he'd.
where Walker soon fell into a sound sleen'
and his companion, DeMarr, was Just follow
ing suit, when he imagined he heard the door
open. He Immediately jumped I'D, and going
Ii to the door found it was indeed ajar. After
carefully searching the hall, he closed the
door, and placing a table against it, went to
~ Scarcely had his head touched the inflow
when noiselessly the table slid away, the door
flew wide open. and in stallked huge white
hgure, with. the usual ghostly accompani-
ments, and of course approached the bed. Be-
ing sensible young man, and naturally en-
dowed with strong nerves, he was in no ways.
Disconnected. On the contrary, he concluded
IT was a sell, and sitting up in bed, quietly in
quired of the spectre what it wanted
fi9l Retreating toward the door, it beckoned him
to follow. ,asdi DE- 5.,g ID. 1870.
y Mic cum rouse" said DeMarr; tsyou've
got to speak before you can get me out of this
bedroom. What do you want ?"
Follow me-" said the vision.
- swell" thought DeMaIr, ut has not GOT
voive to frighten anybody; besides, / am not
a coward, so here goes" and he Slipped into
his pants and boots, and followed ont into the
hall, down stairs; then down cellar, stopping
In the middle of which the ghost raised large
10 stone, disclosing another pair of stairs. down
which he pointed DeAIar to descend. d
"No You don't old fellow" he answered..
F, $50 down first yourself"
"Down v'said Mr.. Ghost, and down he went
the ghost after, and the stone closing tightly
~NA@~NA a
long, narrow passage, lit only by the sort of
phosphorescent light emitted from the figure
which, with long strides was leading him
wnlther? "A strange suspicion suddenly cross
ed his mind that there might be something in
this midnight adventure after all. Suppose he
was led into some snare where he was wanted
to commit a horrId deed!; How could he es
cape? He looked behind but it was all dark
there was no backing out, and besides. Il miohf
{ turn out hoax; SO on he pressed. After 90
ing, as 1t seemed to him a mile the passage
turned abruptly to the right; they assembled a
long hight OF stone steps; and after about half
an hours walking, again descended by means
OF rope ladder. On, on, went the ghost, and
arter nun plodded DE Mari, now beginning to
get tired, and-it must be admitted-a little
shaky. However, he was bound to see the
thing out, and so struggled on, now upstairs.
now down, till it seemed as though they must
have gone through the whole village. AT last
they came to heavy iron door, which swung
open at touch, and admitted them to a LONE
narrow room, hung with heavy damask dram
cry lathe opposite end to that at which they
# entered. Two smoky lamps depended from
the ceiling, throwing a gloomy light through
X the apartment, which was entirely furnished.
Z As DeMarr entered, he cast hasty glance
around, and his eye falling on the curtains. he
was convinced that he saw them move as
. though some person was concealed behind
their folds. This Immediately aroused his
former suspicious, which were not at all allay-
ed by the figure producing large doub e-edg-
ed sword, which it placed in his hand, and mo-
TONED him to thrust through the drapery.
70 The horrid truth at once flashed through his
mlna; he had been brought there to commit
acoid.niooded murder! 10 slay some inno-
cehe victim VINO had never wronged hm-one
Wnom ne had never seen How could he com
nut such horrible deed? Impossible!
WIN resoute determination, he flung the
weapon from him, and started fol. the door.
when tne ugureb by his sidequietly laid its hand
on his shoulder. IL seemed as thoucb ten
thousand electric shocks had passed tRronob
his system from that slight touch, and he
. screamed out in agony.sfrg --o.--T', = NAs
once more 1t handed him the sword aud
pointed TO the drapery. The cold sweat nonr-
ed of in stream, and, trembling i'm everv
limb, poor DeMarr dropped on his knees. and
begged the demon TO let him of. Butprayers
and supplicatious were alike in vain: f. was
immovable; there was no getting out of the
scrape, except by doing as 1t directed him to
do So, folding his hand, DeMarr essayed to
say his prayers, asked forgiveness for the crime
he was about to commit, ETC., etc., and again
grasping the sword, advanced with tottering
feet toward the curtain. iBnt his heart once
more failed him; he resolved to die rather than
60 through with the awful tragedy, and again
hung down the weapon. once more the spec
tire touched his shoulder, once more the blood
chilled in his veins, and he fell PROSTATE TO the
floor.
On recovering, he found the sword again in
nus grasp, and the figure still pointing its long
finger to the drapery. 70Nt't
DeMarr repeated his prayers, arose, feeling
that such another shock would be worse than
death, staggered forward, and with ali his re-
manning strength thrust the sword through the
curtain. a..-.r .t-... O. VIZ
Did heart-rending shrek arisep No. #
was gurgling, choking groan which fell ON
his ear, followed by an awful voice which ex-
claimed: lssialsf 3 .tf =.
Thunder and lightning! what are YOU
ramming your finger down my throat for?"
And Walker kicked him out ofbed. rt
at was ever my inyariable custom in my