The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1873-12-05
SELECT STORY.
THE SHADOW OF DANEHAM.


hedges of priyet and yew, the yellow
gravel and the green turf, we're all in
perfect English order Majestic elm
trees threw long and Pickering shadows
on the grass; the ivy, in tangled masses,
twisted up the ancient brickwork, and
waved its banners from the gables; climb
ing roses and jasmine festooned the null
lioned windows, and scented the sum-
mer air; while the simmer sun shed
a soothing brightness over the whole
fair and peaceful scene. But. strange
" out of keeping with the sur
rounding order, strangely inharmonious
with the beauty of the rest of Daneham,
were the three rudely brieked-up win
dows which defaced the the southern
front.
They were a gay and thoughtless par
ty, who were exploring the home and
grounds of Daneham on that sunny Au-
gust day. From the terrace on the roof
to the dungeon in the basement, they
had ransacked the ancient mansies, and
worried thesoid house-keeper who show
ed it with questions and exclanations;
they had wondered and admired their
utmost, and ut last believed there was
nothing more 10 see.
"Stay," said young man, one of the
party, as they were preparing to depart.
"We were forgetting-there must be one
thing more. Where is the haunted room?
Surely house like this must possess a
ghost"
The house-keeper did not answer at
once. "You think there must be a skel-
eton in every house then, sir?" she said,
at last:
'In house so old and with such a
history as this, should say certainly;
some fofsaken maiden in white garments,
or some criminal in clanking chains.
And now / remember-what lis the Sc
cret of those bricked-up windows we saw
from the south gardens?"
The house-keeper hesitated. 1t was
plain there was something to reveal.
81 knew it," he said. ave must see
the place and hear the story; the more
terrible the better. Pray let us have it
i love horrors"
He was young, handsome, and gay,
and was dressed in the height of the
fashion; evidently a fayorite of Fortune,
whose acquaintance with horrors was OF
the slightest. A young lady, a fitting
pendant to himself, and to whom he had
keeps particularly close all day, shook
her glossy ringlets and echoed his words
"Pray, madam" she said, wfnningly
'do not disappoint us. If we have seen
all the rest, please be SO kind as to show
us the haunted room, and tell us the
story of the ghost.y
But the house-keeper looked grave.
"There is no ghost, ma'am," she said
There is no love-lorn damsel, and there
has never chain clanked at Daneham
that I heard Of"
"But you cannot deny that there il
some story connected with those win
dows?' said the gentleman again.
"The windows belong to the old ban
queting-hall, and there is story, Ger
tainly, but Sir Lionel does not mucf
like to have the door opened or the stor.
told"
"Ifit be forbidden, of course we can
not urge it," said the young lady, grace
fully; 81 am sorry, but there is no NOR
to be said"
at is said the house-keeper, touched
perhaps, by the look of disappointment
that sshadowed the pretty, lively face
"and, if you verp much desire it, vii
open the door, But warn you ther
is nothing to see"
Ofcourse, no one belived her asser
ton, and ali followed her eagerly to tn
chamber of dread. She led then
through long corridor lighted from
above, and left them for few moment
to procure the key, which was not, lik
those of other rooms, on the rim
she carried in her hand, while the
awaited her return, in delightful tire
NOR outside the door.
1t was heavy paneled door of oal
black with. age, and, like all the othe
woodwork of the gallery, highly orna
mented and carved. One of the bolde
spirits of the party tried the lock, but
was firm and unyielding; and the prett
young girl laid her ear against it an
pretended to listen, and in this attitud
she was caught by the returning house
keeper, and gathered herself up with
laugh and blush.
"There is neither sight nor sound,
said the old lady, smiling. "No step c
voice has echoed in that room for man
long year, and, except when this doc
is opened, it is never visited by a ray |
light.
She unlocked the door. The key turl
ed hard in the rusty lock, and the unu
ed hinges creaked and groaned as Il
heavy door swung back With kir
of little shiver the pleasure-party shrar
closer togsther, and, pressing forwar
looked over each others shoulders I'M
the room, and saw-nothing.
Darkness there and nothing more
The room was large and lofty, with pal
eled oak walls and carved oak cornic
The door opened midway, and eth
end was lost in the gloom, but straig
before them rose the three tall window
in which few fragments of stainC
glass still kept their places, but whel
through more sof the empty mullior
projected the rude and heavy brickwo
that excluded the sunshine. In Il
faint light that struggled in from t
gallery they could see that the dust i
thick on the oaken floor and the lol
table, while spiders had tapestried t
walls, and swung their gossamer banne
from the fretwork of the roof. 1t "
difficult to imagine that the scene of su
silent desolation had ever rung to t
ab0x,to IF ho;ofauaus wiuolrv Ar anho