The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1868-11-05
EYsTERYg Ok TizEs Z TIIATCianD
"a 3 HOUSE. ,ss .i,a
: 7IcONTIgUHp.l ]

MYsTERYs OK TKza TTIATCIaInD
]. "a s HOUSE.
rs Y IcoNTIEURp. /
: Aslong as the sun shone, and the
roses Sbloomed, and the nightingales
sang about the wind oIs till midnight,
i tried hard to shut my ears to the
memory of old nelly IS hint, and took
good care not to mention it to my
aunt. il the servants looked niyste-
Tiouss Iwould not see thems If they
whispe pered together, it was nothing to
me. There was 80 short O time for
the stars to shine between the slow
darkening of the blue sky at night
and the early quiokening of flowers
and birds and rosy beams at dawn.
that there was literally no space for
the accommodation of ghosts So
long as the summer lasted, the
Thatched House was a dwelling of
sunshine and sweet odors and bright
tancies for me. 1t was different,
however. when a wintry sky closed in
around us when solitary leaves
dangled upon shivering bonghs, and
when the winds began to shudder at
the windows all through the long
dark night. Then 1 took fear to my
heart, and wished that I had never
seen the Thatched House.
Then it.was that my ears became
gradually open to the dreadful MUIR
murs that were rife in the house;
then it was that I learned the story
of the weeping lady, and of her foot
step on; the stairs. OF course I would
not believe, though the thumping of
my heart, if I chaneed to cross q
landing, even by twilight, belied the
courage of which / boasted. for
bade the servants to hint at such folly
as the existence of ghosts, and warned
them at their peril not to let whis-
per Of the kind disturb my aunt. On
the latter point I believed they did
their best to obey me.
Aunt Featherstone was dear old,
cross, good-natured, crotchety, kind
hearted lady, who was always needing
to be coaxed. She considered herself
an exceedingly strong-minded per-
son, whereas she was in reality one of
the most nervous women L have
known. Z verify believe that, if she
had known that story of the foot
step, she would have made up her
mind to hear it distinctly every night,
and Ivould have been found some
morning stone dead in her bed with
fear. Therefore, as long as it was
possible, I kept the dreadful secret
from her ears. This was in reality,
however, much shorter space of
time than / had imagined it to be.
About the middle of November,
Aunt Featherstone noticed that I was
beginning to look very pale, to lose
my appetite, and to start and tremble
at the most commonplace sounds.
The truth was, that the long nights of
terror which passed over my head,
in my pretty sleeping-room off the
corridor: were wearing out my health
and spirits, and threatening to throw
me into fever; and yet neither sight
nor sound of the supernatural had
ever disturbed my rest-none worth
recording, that is-for of course, in
my paroxysms of wakeful fear, [ fan
cied thousand horrible revelations.
Night after night [ lay in agony, with
my ears distended for the sound of
the foot-step. Morning after morn
ing 1 awakened, weary and jaded,
after short, unsatisfying sleep, and
resolved that I would confess to my
aunt, and implore her to fly from the
place at once. But, when seated at
the breakfast-table, my heart invari-
ably failed me. I accounted, by the
mention of q headache, for my pale
cheeks, and kept my secret.
Some weeks passed, and then I in
my turn began to observe Aunt Fea-
therstone had grown exceedingly dull
in spirits. "Can any one have told
her the secret of the Thatched
HouseP" was the question I quickly
asked myself. But the servants de-
MED having broken their promise;
and [ had reason to think that there
had been of late much less gossip on
the subject than formerly. L was
afraid to risk questioning the dear
old lady, and 30 I could only hope
and surmise. But I was dull, and
the Thatched House was dreary.
Things went on in this way for some
time, and at last dreadful night ar
rived. I had been for long walk
during the day; and had gone to bed
rather earlier than usual, and fallen
asleep quickly. For about two hours
/ slept, and then I was reused sud-
denly by slight sound, like the
creaking Of q board, just outside my