Wyoming democrat. [volume] (Tunkhannock, Wyoming Co., Pa.) 1867-1940, 1867-12-04
PA

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with cold, clammy perspiration -. #'s
"ls he alive n he rather gasped than
said. ..,-s s-........ .....,.e ...-......
"No, nor has there been any life in him
since his breath went out" I replied. 1886
"Merciful God - he calculated, ner-
vously, grasping a chair for support, what
rang the bell, then 2
THAT is the mystery am trying to
solye," said |. sit is possible there may
be some person concealed here" r.
Iopened door of deep closet as /
spoke, in which hung the clothes of the
deceased, and went in and examined it
thoroughly. No other human being was
there, and nothing had been disturbed
There was no other outlet TO the room ex-
cept the door communicating with the
apartment in which we had been catching,
and the two windows looking out upon a
lawn, and the sashes were closed and the
curtains drawn, showing no signs of recent
disturbance. | then re-examined the
room, and particularly the bed, but without
making any new discovery.
This is all very stranger' said ! half
musingly, and looking iuquiringly at Carl
- very strange, indeed = r.s s.. ...
4" 1t must have been something super
natural" he added, in a hollow whisper +;
and moving over to the chest in the corner
he sank down upon it. As he did so, the
sharp click of the spring lock caused him
to spring up as if shot. For moment or
two he stood trembling, and then he said
with more nerve :e s.s...s.-..s
Al believe am a cowardly fool to be
scared at every thing! / do not fear any
thing human, though" he added but this
unearthly business unmans me-" .....
81 now re-examined the corpse to be sure
there were no signs of life 10 it, and found
not only death there, but the beginning
of decomposition. Perfectly sure of this,
we went into the other apartment and sat
down, to wait through the remainder of
the night and ponder the mystery. Scarce
ly were we seated before we fancied We
heard dull muffled sounds in the bedroom,
followed with something like smothered
human groan. CARTS teeth DOW chattered
with terror, and confess / never felt less
courageous in my life. These strange
noises continued only for short time and
gradually died away into silence, after
which we were disturbed no more,
In course of time our friend was bur-
led, and sometime after the funeral we
proceeded to open his strong box, or chest,
according to ais direction. Then it was
that our supernatural mystery had natu-
raj bat most terrible explanation.
In that chest was the black and decay
ing corpse Of one whom we all knew in
life. ..... .'
"The following is our conjecture;
"Cognizant of Adolph Hofer's money
and jewels, of their place of deposit. and
of our mode of watching the dead, he had
on that eventful night, entered the dead
room through window at an early hour,
and concealed himself in the closet till
midnight, and then set about his work Of
robbery. Some accidental noise having
alarmed US, as he could tell from our con-
versation, be had, either in his haste to
secrete himself, or Intentionally to frighten
US still more, rung the bell in. the manner
stated, and then got into the chest, which
had powerful lock spring. My friend
Carl, by accidentally sitting down on this,
had sealed his doom; and his subsequent
groaus and terrible efforts to burst from
his narrow prison were the strange noises
which had so disturbed Us the second time.
The mans death was a fearful retribution,
and the discovery of his dead body spoiled
an otherwise wonderful ghost story