The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1868-09-09

no'e Deeu nriu IN tDaI IOntly pIac
since the day VIII, n nou dering franz
OF the owner went to It's long home.
The explanation of that mystery il.
wolves us in deeper one. One nigh
in September man from Ludlow wa
passing the house just alter the factor,
bell had announced the hour of nine
As he neared the house he heard
groan: 1t was single groan, and theI
all was still. But it was such a groat
as no one utters twice, and he WHIT
hears it never wishes to hear it again
He felt it his duty to rush into tht
mouse, but dared not. After long hesiia
| ton he went his way, specializing
whether the widow had murdered hel
idiot son or had been murdered by him.
and when he saw them both come
quietly into the village. the next morn
ing, he doubted 6rst his eyes and -nexi
his memory. =. %
But the same errand again brought
him past that lonely hou, e few mig hts
later. Again he heard the 9 O'clock
bell as he approached the house, and
again, as he was opposite the house, he
heard that dreadful groan. The next
night 10 walked out with a Heis hbor, so
timing his steps that when near the
house both heard the mortal sound.
Both were certain that it came from
The house.
Three went out, Eve and fifteen and
thirty. All heard the groan, and all
agreed that it was exact to its time to a
quarter of a minute. Old Captain
Hardcastle said that if he were shut up
in a dark hole as dark as midnight he
could tell within ten minutes when the
time for his "eleven o'clock" came, but
he couldn't keep time with q ghost.
One guessed the spirits heard the bell.
The agent stopped the bell one night,
but the groan was heard as usual. And
it was not similar groan repeated ev-
cry night. 20 No ear could tell any diff
ference not made by the same direction
and force of the wind. Some won
dered whether it had been repeated ev-
cry night since poor Jones ''broke his
neck Others said that if they were
the widow, rather than live a month
in that house they would confess the
murder and be hanged.
One night the lawyer and doctor of
Ludlow, both young men, went quite
early. They went into the house and
"wanted to wait till the moon rose"
The widow gave them scant welcome
she had not forgotten Ludlows prudence,
and she always coBjectured that her
present guests had their share in that
affair. Without candle she sat there
stretching her skinny hands to the
=biaze, for the night was chill. The
gawky boy, who would be nearly seven
ieet long if Strengthened out, and
who seemed to have acquired his loagi-
tude at the expense of his latitude, as
if put throuh a rolling mill, sat there
in kinks ard silence They heard the
factory bell, they heard a cricket. they
heard lusry rat, but they heard no,
groan. .
A half past nine they went out to
large, shivering, impatient crowd that
had missed their groan and felt misus-
ed. In an instant more the rroan was
heard in all it's perfection. Onr friends
hurried back to inquire whether the
lawyer had dropped a glove. The
widow was making up trundle bed
that had been lurking unsupported by
them beneath the large one in the dark
est corner of the room. They admired
this contrivance for economizing space.
Could the widow move it easily? She
ran it in and drew it out again. By
this time the lawyer had found his
glove in his pocket, and again they
wished the widow goodnight. .-
Meanwhile the outsiders had heard
TWO extra groans. The first was some,
what different from the usual one, but
the last Uas exact.+ycs Ha gsssTsgr -
81 have found" said sthe lawyer,
"that Ludlow has expended at least
three hundred miles of travel on foot,
and all in the night, and q hundred
hours loafing by these old bars, just to
hear that woman drew out her trundls
bed for, that Jacobs ladder idiot"
"And let me recommend you," added
the doctor, "when you find anything
you cannot explain, not to jump at the
conclusion thatit is supernatural. 1t
is more than probable-it is certain
that if you knew enough you could find
a physical effect"
And SO they all went home and went
to bed
And in the spring the grass grew
again around the widows bars.