Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1869-11-19
NO. Al
'Why not ?'
It's always on that spot"
. Is there cellar under the house ?"
EsNo' -

j tcdltt LoG uutiSIStalu btllS, l WOulU
have sworn that had heard q dog, and
thHt tie knocking WAS beneath the floor.
But even while [ WIS thinking Of il, my
chair WAS shaken SO violently that [ could
hardly keep my seat. hold on rs [ would
Then plcaiings, as il lor mercy, and
sLrick8 and groans followed each other in
quick succession and, bravo as I supposed
myself to be, my nerves began to tremble,
and cold sweat began 20 start upon my
forehead. In vain l tried to reason that
II could not be from supernatural causes !;
that the spirits Of the departed aro not al
lowed 10 revisit the earth. Thery we're tho
effects, whatever the cause ; and they
were entirely beyond my comprehension.
"Was there ever murder, was about
to ask, committed in this house ?" when
[ was interrupted by the screaming Of the
younger woman.
= Murder . Heaven have mercy up
on me !"
At the same instant tue light that stood
upon the table was extinguishcd, though
no one was near It ana the house shook,
and the rGppinG3 Wcr0 renewed with ton
fold violence. Evidently, I thought, |
had touched the key y-noto of tho mystery,
when I heard terrible groan, and saw,
OR thought [ saw (Which was il p q form
in front of me.
Was there ever q murder committed in
this house % [ asked again ; though /
fairly shudderei at the trembling and un-
natural sound OF my voice.
" Murder Look there he stands !''
replied the mother, prostratiug herself
upon the floor, and hiding her face.
''Its his spritr groaned the ola woman.
81 told you he'd come"
Proof positive this to my ml2.d that
was not miStaken-that others saw IS ! aid.
Spirit or mortal, there was somebody there.
[ closed my eyes, to be certain that it was
not al optical delusion; and when I re-
moved my hands and opened thom again,
it still stood there.
Il was the form Of al old man, with long
gray hair, strongly marked features, deep
set eyes, CT peculiarly cunning expression
-fox-like, would be the most proper term J;
and in one hand he held q paper that rat
tied as if blown about by a strong wind.
His head was uncovered, and bis neck
bare, and both were hacked and bleeding,
great drops trickling down, and falling IN
@ spatter upon the floor. Once or twice he
opened his mouth as if TO speak; but there
was only q horrible gurgling sound-that
which we call the death-rattie. How long
We retained our relative positions / cannot
tell. To me, it seemed an age. Stir [
could not. / was completely under the
power Of tho terrible fascination. At
length, however, the ghost, spirit, call it
what you will, appeared to step toward
me, and stretch its hand as if to lag it
upon my head. Then all my manhood de-
serted me. With q great groan, shrank
back, and fell upon the floor, my chair be-
ing lifted by unseen hands, and dashed
down again, cracking IN every joint
Quickly reason came to my aid, and /
rose, and looked anxiously around. What
ever there had been before, there was mono
in the room then except those Of mortal
mould; and all was silence, except the
storm that was Still! raging without. I
scraped open the omberg, lit The candle,
and looked at my watch. It was twelve
o'clock. The young woman and the chill
dren were still huddled ii a corner, and
the old one rocking herself, as she had
never ceased to, so far as was aware.
"Would the spirit return ~
Without intending to do SO, had spoll-
en- my thoughts aloud; and the grandmoth
er answered, 'Not tonight, J think. You
had better go to sleep, sir
Sleep 1 would have sooner thonght OF
sleeping in madhouse, with all the deni-
zens free to attack me at any moment. l
knew it was vain to ask questions. ! had
tried that before and failed; so | had moth
ing to do but to sit and ponder Oh what L
had seen. But was not to bo allowed to
remain without sensations. Scarcely half
an hour passed without tho manifestn-
tions" being renewed in some shape. Now
it was the bowling of dog; now the slam
ming Of shutters and doors now Shrielzs
and groans and now the knocking upon
the floor. No wonder that [ was sick and
nervous when morning came, and gladly
escaped from the hacQted house, leaving
the inmates, worn out with Watching ana
fear, asleep upon the floor.
Somebody moro familiar with spirits
than I am must explain the matter I
cannot; but this L know, that il, i'll reali-
ty, it WAS the shade OF q departed enc, [
trust never IL .cH his power exercised
again.
For many years the matter remained III
my mind Ill just the state it was when I
fled from the tumble down house on the
moor. Then circumstances made me visit
the vicinity again, and heard that other
travellers had been similarly affected, and
the matter had at length undergone judi
cial investigation. Tho house had been
etons found there one apparently al old
man, and the other of dog. Then It was
that an old mise1, one Jones
had suddenly disappeared ; that the occu-
pant of the house had about that time paid
off a mortgage upon it, and subsequently
hanged himself.
This was enough to satisfy the gossips !;
and, if rumor be true, never after the bones
of the murdered man had been decently
buried, were the inhabitants disturbed
either by ghostly sights or sounds. 70
satisfy my curiosity, [ rode by the house
again but it was unoccupiei. The old
woman, I was informed, was dead the
younger one had fed, fearing she wonld
be arrested as al acc0mplice las she with
out doubt wasj ana the children were wau-
dering imbecle and homeless, driven, an
old lady told me, g by the spirits.
Eispat9:. % the Chicago Tribune.
The EIecliGn IL II Gn9S0ta.