Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1872-03-28
VOL. XXVII.

thoroughly convinced OF their real eX-
istence before eXposingmyself to laughter
and ridicule by relating so improbable a
story.
1t was not long that I was kept in sus-
pense. A day or two after, about four
o'clock in the afternoon-a most un-
ghost-like hour-I was reclining on my
lounge between the door and the window,
reading The Woman in White, then Just
out Suddenly, as turned leaf, l heard
faint grating sound, as of key, Just
behind me, and then voice speaking in
low, indistinct murmur, inexpressibly
hollow and sepulchral.
did not stir. | arrested the hand
which was about to turn the page, and,
holding my breath, listened with deliber-
ate eagerness. I would now be certain
that this was no fancy playing me fantas-
tic tricks.
For an instant only came the indistinct
murmur, and then silence. The sun
light was streaming down in slender, gold
en- threads through the gently-swaying
branches of the willows; out on the lawn
l saw the gardener at work, and on the
beach heard the merry voices of the chill
dren: l felt courageous. Rising l
searched around the room, under the bed
and lounge, and in the triangular cup
person could be concealed. Not liv-
ing thing was to be seen, and was about
closing the closet-door when 1 heard dis
tinctly low, faint laugh, close in my ear,
and then moaning sigh or groan, which
seemed to die away into infinite distance.
/ confess that at this instant my nerves
did fail me, and cold shiver ran curdling
through my veins. hastily closed the
closet-door, and, without waiting even to
snatch up my book, ran along the gallery
to the other part of the house.
Should tell my sister and brother-in-
law? No; I still shrank from the thought
of their laughter. Should return to the
room which appeared haunted by some
invisible presence, and sleep there again
alone? 1 must confess that did not like
the idea; yet what good reason could l
give for so suddenly changing my apart
ment? Finally-and the reader will
credit me with the possession of almost
more than feminine courage in so odoing-
I resolved to keep silence for the present,
and spend the night, as usual in my little
office-room.
The first few hours passed away quiet
ly, and I was just falling into a doze,
when / was aroused by the door of the
corner closet slowly creaking. A faint
moonlight illumined the room sufficiently
to enable me to perceive that this door
stood aiar, though l distinctly recollected
having closed it before retiring. 1t had
neither lock nor bolt by which it could be
secured.
I sat up in bed, watching the closet and
looking alf-fearfully around the room;
and as I looked, with my eyes fixed upon
the half-open door, heard within jingle
of glasses and phials. 1t was sound not
to be mistaken, and almost at the same
instant voice said near me, in hoarse
whisper:
"Bym1g light"
l started up, trembling, and, with a
cold perspiration breaking out on my
forehead, reached for match and the
lamp and tried to strike light, but in
and as I dropped the last in despair l
heard the voice which had before spoken
say, slowly and distinctly
'tP0ison!"
My first impulse now was to flee from
this haunted room; but, as I arose for
that purpose, a feeling such as | had never
before known-a feeling of superstitious
fear and horror-overcame me, and, had
my life depended upon it, l could not
have passed that closet and sped through
that long deserted gallery alone. I sank
back upon my pillow and drew the sheets
about my head, and remained thus until
daybreak.
1t was now no longer question with
me as to whether I should or should not
inform my relatives of what had occur
red. I told them the whole, and, as ]
expected, was met with laughter and
badinage.
"Try it yourself !" was all I could
say in answer; and on that night my
brother-in-law, Mr.. Walton, agreed to oc-
cupy the office-room, remaining with my
sister.
"Well, Richard, did you see or hear
anything of Louisa's ghost?" inquired my
sister, p1ayfully, on our meeting at the
breakfast-table in the morning.
II saw n0thing% s@b he .i1 answered, rather 5?5
appear as though, more than once during
the night, l heard some unaccountable
sort of moaning and sobbing child's
voice, and very distinctly the shutting ot
small door, And this last sound" he
added, decidedly, certainly came from
the closet or cupboard in the corner of
the room"
Emma opened her eyes and looked
frightened.
"Good gracious, Richard! you DOM
really think that you heard these sound:
in that room, with no one there but your
self?'
ut is very unaccountable at present,
admit; but you know that l do not be
lieve in the supernatural We must ex
anime more fully into this matter"
For some days he kept sole possession
of the room, reporting once or twice tina
he had again heard the mysterious noises
and in especial the grating of rusty key
as in the lock of the corner cupboard
was very distinctly audible. Three times
he said, he had heard this sound
and yet, as we all knew, ther
was neither lock nor key to the close
door, only traces of one that had beel
there. He had examined all the door
and windows, had searched the who'll
room minutely, but without discoverin.
the slightest clew to the mystery. Their
was no room adjoining, no cellar below O
garret above whence the sounds coulC
have proceeded, and the whole thing wa
most singular and unaccountable. Ant
Could it be possible, after all, that ther
were in reality such things as spiritua
manifestations? My own mind echoeC
the inquiry.
Our nearest neighbor was farme
who lived about mile distant, and O
himself and his wife we made INQUIRE
in regard to the former occupants of, tn
house.
1t had for twenty years within hi
memory, Mr.. Grover said, belonged to
small planter, an illiterate but good sol
of man, who had finally sold out in lot
and purchased better place farthe
south. Then the house, with a part c
the land adjoining, had been taken by a
Englishman, who was known as DoctC
Mather and was understood to be yer
learned man and writer. MI
Grover and the rest of the neigh
bors believed him to be ga littl
cracked" He used to go about the cour
try gathering sea-weeds, plants and il
sects, but would repel all approach to az
quaintance, and reply very rudely to an
inquiry of the country people as to tn
use or purpose of his collections. He ha
wife, with whom it was said he lived O
bad terms, and three sickly children
whose presence he would scarcely tolerat
| :.