New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-06-30
RomANcE IN a sTAeE.coAcH.


lous, the other young and very silent Di-
viding the front seat with myself was a
large and powerful man, about forty OF
forty-iive years Of age. From his manner,
/ took him to be one Of those rowing char
acters so often found in the Southwest, half
gentleman, half gambler. But there was a
settled melancholy in his face and around
the lines of his mouth which belied his light
conversation and frequent boisterOus laugh
ter. He seemed a man who knew that
nothing could cure his grief, or may be ex-
plate his crimes; but nevertheless would
endeavor to wear the manners Of a gay and
thoughtless trifer. Familiarly saluting us
ali upon entering the stage, and finding the
old lady ready enough to talk, be had, as /
could easily see, without at all enjoying it,
kept up running fire Of conversation, as if
TO avoid falling back into bis own thoughts.
The yelled lady sat as quiet as a statue of
silence, never appearing to hear even a
word of the quite agreeable conversation
and anecdotes kept up by those around her
The night waned apace, and the matrOn
as well as the gentleman had pretty well
talked themselves out Of subjects. Turn
ing suddenly to me he said in his hearty
manner:
Il say, neighbOr, don't you think that
you owe us a story or twol I've told fifty
since we left Arcadia"
felt the obligations, but pleaded my
poverty in the matter of anecdotes.
"Well, give us your hisOry then. That's
sure to be worth hearing. Perhaps there is
a murder or a tragedy of some kind in it,
and that would keep us awake" He then
looked hard ct the yelled lady before him,
and asked Don't you think so, ma'amW
But the old lady's affirmative answer
gave no chance for the party addressed to
reply, if she had so intended. He seemed
90 take an interest in her apparent sorrow.
Imodestly protested my inability to draw
from my personal adventures any such in
teresting events, and felt rather bored at
his persistence, unable as / thought myself
to Oblige him. Suddenly the events which
recently occurred at M came to my
mind, and resolved to relate them to my
fellOW-travellers, for want of something
better. So, briefly stating the reasons which
which, Of course, are familiar to the reader,
began my tale, as follows:
The reader will perceive that / changed
the name Of the place. This l did for
obvious reasons.
If had bought the house in Beechwood
without seeing it | could not have been
more surprised than / was when l came to
90 over it the first day Of my arrival. The
rooms ail appeared so large, the staircase
80 crooked and narrow, and the closets so
dark and mysterious. The trees which sur
rounded it, and which | had previously
thought so charming, even seemed to add
to the gloom of the place. My wife, who
had accompanied me in advance of the
family, was also impressed in the same
manner, and her thoughts appeared to
dwell upon dark and fearful subjects and
ut night would not consent to going to bed
until had locked and barred each door
and window, and ransacked the deepest
and most remote corner of the many
closets.
had never felt such dread Of dark and
uninhabited places as / experienced when
doing this duty, but thought that they
we're In part the effect Of the gloomy
weather and my wife's timidity. All night
/ rested badly; my dreams were frighttul,
and more than once / was awakened by
my wife, who complained Of like troubles,
and implored me TO stay awake and keep
her company. The very air in our vast
bedroom seemed to Cypress me, and |
wished for daylight with the eagerness of a
shipwreoked traveller. / listened attentvely
for hours, but heard no suspicious sound
not even a rat; yet we were both uneasy,
as II some impending evil hung over US.
And 50 the night passed slowly away, with
out single event occurring to confirm our
fears or 20 give color to our uneasiness.
The following days found us too busy TO
be troubled much by supernatural fears,
and with time came familiarity with the
peculiarities of the old house. We were
fast falling into feeling of home, which
even the mysterious box of papers found
hidden under the floor of one of the closets
had not much disturbed. But. as my wife
has since remarked, there was to be no
such thing az happiness for us in that
house, One day servant, who had been.
scrubbing the floor of our bedroom, came
to us, and with terror depicted upon every
feature of her countenance, told us I" to
come and look" There were marks Of
blood upOn the floor, as plain as if they had
dropped there Yesterday. And in spite Of
al her efforts they could not be etfaced.
Yes, there was a large spot, as If pool had
been formed by the life current as It poured
from q CHASTITY, gaping wound, made by
the knife of an assassin, and leading from
il were drops and splotches, as If the
murdered man had been dragged across
the floor TO the chimney, where the
body might have been destroyed and
all evidence of the horrid tragedy ObliteT
ated. can not describe the horror thai
the sight of these blood spots inspired with
in me- That mysterious tragedy had beer
enacted within this room 1 could not doubt
snd whenever found myself alone in 1t,
could see II rehearsed before me in ever
detail. II il needless for me to state tina
fhs room became hateful to me; to sleep Il
IL was equally impossible, either Tor M,
wife or myself. We removed to that hith
ERIC used as our parlor, which was on tn
other side of the house. / do not know
whether il was Imagination or not, but W
felt easier in this room, and our lie OF tn
Seminary-for so was the old place called
began TO have its joys and its gay episodes
The good people around Beeehwood cam
one after another to see us, and all 81
reared to vie with each other in giving u
warm welcome.
Bmt both my wife and myself could So
that there was something they all held bael
from us-some mystery which they ieare.
orDdared not tell. This fact struck us vat
particular force whenever we spoke OF tn
FORMER owners Of the place. IL was IN cor
nection with some one Of these that the darl
deeds had been committed Wmch' eFl
IDENTITY. still filed them with horror to thin
about much more to allude to. We wer
too proud to ask, and too susceptible TO rio
icule 10 show by the slightest sign that "
had suspicion Of the awful things ina
had. doubtless, transpired within the Gar
recessos OF the old mansion. We hoped ina
in time the mystery would be solved by IN
voluntary confidence Of our neighbors, ant