The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1871-11-16
THE HAUNTED HOUSE AT HART.
FORD.
ny MRS. THOMAS j. woIRELL.

healthy, and clear. headed as II man.
Brought up with the strictcst busl-
ness habits in wcllrcgulated house.
hold, consisting principally OF men,
she escaped, in Il great measure, a
taste for those friyolites which so Of
ten neutralizc the better qualities Of
an equally sensible girl. She mar
ricd happily, become widow some
seven years after, married again,
and, on the death of her second hns-
band, cmigratcd to America. She
was residing in New York when the
yellow fever of 81 first made its ap-
pearancc. Sharing the general pan
ic, she conceded to the wishes OF
American friends and left immcdi-
ately, with her three little girls, for
the more salubrious climate of Hart
ford, Connecticut, where she design
ed remaining until the pcslilcnce had
passed away.
This slight sketch is necessary to
the interest of my story. Every
household, however great or humble,
has, | believe, its superstitious le-
geud If English, its ghost; if Irish,
its fetch; if Scotch, its wrath. Now,
our family legend came down from
my strong-hcarted, healthy grand
mother, who had no nervous iancics,
no dyspeptic misgivings, and who
held superstition in the protoundcst
contempt, as pertaining only to the
Ignorant or diseased Imagination,
She never attributed the strange
phenomena of the Hartford house to
supernatural causes; but as her good,
sound sense and acute penetration
could never present more tangible
reason for what occurred there, the
legend came down to her more cred
ulous listeners rs my grnndmolhcrs
story of the Muntcd House. In
her own words give il, then, with
out comment or circumlOcutlon:
On arriving at my place of dcstina-
ton found II handsome, Old-fashion-
cd mansion, somewhat on the skirt
ofthc beautiful, clcanly little town OF
Hartford. There was no other hous-
as for several squares and rs tins
stood some distance from tho main
road, surrounded by its pretty Yam
kcc garden, it presented rather an
imposing appearance when compar-
cd with the more humble cdlllccs OF
the ncighborhood, its symmetry be-
iug only marrcd by II curious little
wing attached to the main building,
and which did not appear, from its
more modern architecture, to have
originally belonged to the rather
stylish old mansion. The family
consisted of DR.. Marston, his wife,
and grown daughter. They did
not profess to take boardcrS, but, the
house being more colnmodious than
was necessary for their Requirements,
they had advertised for Il lady board
cr with one or more children. Most
gladly did avail myself of the offer,
and forthwith prepared to make my
self comfortable in my new home.
The apartments accorded me were u
parlor and bedroom Oh the ground
floor for myself and eldest daughter,
and a smaller slccping-room, for the
younger children, in the story above,
Everything was done to make me
happy and contcntcd by my kind
hostess. The Doctors avocation
took him much from home, and cX-
ccpt at meals, | seldom saw either
him or his wife. The daughter
would sometimes drop into my par
for awhile. She appeared to be al
amiablc girl, but there was an air Of
restraint about her which | couldnot
reconcile with the natural good
breeding which characterized the
family. However, | was so glad to cs
cape the fearful scourgc ofpcstilcncc,
that with my books, my needle
work, and my three little ones, who
claimcd no small share of my attcn-
tion, | did not feel the want. of COM
panonShip which u stranger ycarns
for in a new home.
The weather was excessively sui
try, and, at my request, Mrs Mars!on
had removed the carpet from my
slccping-ro0m the day after my arri-
val. There was u cloSCncSs in the
air of the apartment which, | fam
cicd, was augmented by the presence
of n bright scarlet carpet, which
looked warmer than it really was,
from the intensity Of its hue. Every
thing was now to my mind, and ]
began to experience that sense of en-
Ijoymcnt which comes with the con-
seriousness of a quiet home even in Il
strangers land.
One morning, rs ] sat in my bed
room, engaged, as usull, with my
needle, II feeling of oppression caus.
cd me to look up from my work,
and, to my astOnishmcn. saw is
suing through the chinkS of the
floor yapor, which, as ii rose. form
cd itself into II sort Of column in the
centre of the apartment. sat
watching it until Il sense of faint
ness warned me to action, when !
rose and stepped out upon sort of
vcrandah which surrounded my side
of the hOusC-fOr as told you, my
bedroom and parlor were on the
ground floor. Tho outside air re-
vivcd me, but 4 feeling of curiosity
still chained me to the spot where
this phenomenon had presented it.
self The windows and doors were
always OF o. except at night, and yet
this cloud vapOr remained as mo-
tionlcss as statue. After tho first
emotion of amazcmcnt had passed
away, Icrosscd to another entrance
, to the house and summoned my
landlady to unravol the mystery for
me if she could. She expressed no
, surprise at my recital, merely re-
f marking that they had often been
). troubled by the appearance of this
curious gaseous object, bat they ncv-
er could discover the cause and as
: the Doctor had said that it was per-
fectly innoxious, they had given it
, no further attention. inquired if
there was not a cellar underneath my
, | rf ,,1 tl,t