Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1868-01-09

UuG SatlSlacUOIy W tue SIoup dEuunu tue Ae fo
my own part, I deemed the whole suppositior
simply absurd. The fact of the matter was simply
this The trap-door may not have been opened by
Chisolm for there was no reason to believe thai
he had been even made aware Of the locality OF
existence of such thing. 1t was too weighty tc
be removed orlifted by cat Itfollows that some
unknown hand supernatural we will not say
opened this entry to the secret passages and open
ed from the room where Chisolm was sleeping; fol
the secret spring was located near the centre Of
the outside of the door or lid. The mere fact oi
the cats sudden appearance, had nothing to dc
with the ease Instinct would have taught it tc
make its escape, never mind who or what opened
the door Of its prison house But, admitting thai
Chisolm did open the trap-door; he must have
had some object in doing 80. A man put to bed
after a long and fatiguing tramp of twenty miles
is not likely to get up and open secret passages out
of mere curiosity. IF he did get up, he mus'
have been aroused by some unusual noise And
if so, he must have gone to work very coolly and
deliberately to ascertain the cause of it, for the
trap-door was not easily found or, when found,
opened without considerable pains Is it at al
probable, then, that such man would be frighten,
ed to death by the sudden appearance of cat?
"But what about poor Chisolm?' I asked, the
protracted silence becoming too irksome to be en-.
dured complacently.
"Wen," said Mr.. Matthews, we had him ex.
amned by two intelligent physicians and they both
pronounced it a case of internal hemmorhage Of
the lungs the immediate cause of which was
doubtful, but likely to have occurred anywhere and
at any time The remote cause was supposed to
be an old wound in that particular locality. We
asked if any sudden excitement-a fright, for in
stance would occasion hemmorrhage of this na-
ture. He replied-the oldest physician did-that
30 instantaneous death was scarcely possible to be
thus occasioned; that the poor fellow must have
been bleeding internally for some time
swell, well; only God knows what was the
cause of that unearthly Scream said Mrs. Mat
thews, who had hitherto maintained profound
silence on the subject. 'Internal hemorrhage, if
I am correctly informed, is accompanied by no Vi
olent pain; and if poor Chisolm had been bleeding
in his sleep, the probability is that he would have
gradually sunk, until life became extinct. shall
never forget that glance of terror towards the stair
case, moment before he fell. Only God can
fathom the mystery"
Frank, who had been thoughtfully gazing into
the fire, suddenly jumped to his feet as Mrs. Mat
thews ceased speaking, and, confronting the old
gentleman, said, in tone quite unusual to him /:
"If were in yoai place, Mr. Matthews, I
would never expect guest to lodge in that cham
ber again and, must confess, that it is quite in!
explicable to my mind, why you should thus har-
row up our feelings, and then request us to pass
the night in such place. IF you had said moth
ing whatever about the matter, I have no doubt
that Claude and myself would have passed pleas
ant night in the chamber thus alluded to; but,
now, anything like sleep is quite out Of the ques-
ton, there or anywhere else.
"Has the chamber been occupied since the night
of Chisolm's death ?" asked. ~...
"No, sir, replied Annie.
"Well, Frank, what is your decision? Shall we
occupy it or not?'
"We are bound to occupy it now," was his re-
ply.
"By no means |" said Mr. Matthews. "You
quite at liberty to act as you choose in the mat
ter I confess, however, that it would afford me
no little satisfaction to have you decide in the af
frmative. You are both young men, in good
health, and, I presume, welarmed One can
sleep while the other watches and, in case of any
thing unusual occurring, you can easily defend
yourselves until Charlie and reinforce you. We
will remain down here all night, ready to assist
you in any emergency"
Frank relshed the old mans contemplated mode
of action; and, slapping me upon the shoulder,
said "WE'LL 60 ''