Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1874-01-22
A MYSTERIOUS HOUSE.

II 10 possible that nome Of the readers
cf Lomdow .Seeiefy may b. fond of ghost
stories. aud therefore I relate for their
bepcfs the following legend about . GER
tain London house For obvious reasons,
! suppress the names Of persons. and ex-
Oct localities. and I further desire IL 90 be
understood th., do not hold myself re-
sponsible for accurate truth Of al the de.
tails Of the story; I need only add that
the events arc TO be taken as having oe-
CURED some years ago.
Some years ago. then. . gentleman.
whom We will call Col Somerville, was
de.:s0us Of buying house in the vest end
Of tcws. aud passing one day through a
veil known square. he observed . house
Co be sid, which seemed TO him, as far
% outside appearances aud situation we're
concerned. to be The very thing he wanted.
The printed bill referred him to firm Of
estate agents in the city. and to them he
at once vent; though he could not help
entertaining a misgiving that the price
would be extraordinarily high. and boyoud
HE means. No harm. however. could be
done By simple inquiry. He was agrcea-
bly asioaishcd to end tha, the sum de-
mandcd was only four thousand pounds
Nos being . commercial man. he could
net help expressing his astonishment at
che small SUN demanded and naively in
quired IL che mansion was very much out
of repair. The representative Of tho firm
replied unhssi.asingly that the house was
in good repair and would not require more
than the usual outlay upon decoration -
The Colonel pressed his inquiries. aud.
as he seemed to be likely and desirable
purchaser, he was soon informed Of the
circumstances under which the house in
question was 70 be sold. Ii had belonged
g. queer old gentleman who lived in
Cierkeusell, aud who bad died iutestato,
aud the sale was ordered by bis next oi
Hin, Who bad been found with some diff
Guilty. This old gentleman had died
strangely enough. in the very nc, Of draw.
ing up his will. He had just penned the
words: And desire that my house in
-squarc should be-" when some kind
Of Ct seized him. anj be was discovered
ssc next morning by his housekeepcr.
dead in his chair. Now. the next Of kin
vas found in Australia. or some remote
colony. and vas anxious to realize the
property as quickly ss possible. The
house iE-square had been uninhabi,ed
for years There was not scrap Of fur
ni,urc in il; bat il had been scrupuiously y
cared for aud kept clean BY an elderly
deaf woman. who did not live In il. bu,
used TO 60 to il every morning aud spend
almost all day there. and preserved il in
such condition that the owner nigh,
have furnished il at any time and come
90 live ,acre without experiencing any
sense Of discomfort which would ordinari.
" arise from residing in q house which
had not been inhabited for long time -
il was veil known. I may add. that the
elderly eare-,aksr never siep, there. The
Col. vent to view the house. He found
that he had not been deceived BY external
appearances. or hy the description OF the
scccmmodation detailed BY the agent; II
vas. in short. just such house as he and
his wife wanted for . town residence. and
in due course The purchase vas completed
As i've Was in no particular hurry to eEter,
snd ~ Mrs. Somerville happened to be
uawell at this particular time. and unable
60 e,ne 90 London 10 superintend the fur
nishing. he eonsen,ed himself with pre-
paring . bedroom fer his own use. on tho
frss soor. and another for his vale, on the
eoor above. lie retained the services cI
she elderly deaf woman. Who appeared to
be gsatefal foE mis- consideration. a. she
alleged .aa. the ray she received for her
trouble vas almost NIL that she had TO live
On. The house became the property o.
the Colonel as Midsummer. 1855. To.
ward the end ef July the rooms msution,
cd we're furnished in temporary manner
fer ;he accommcdatiou Of the Colonel
Who. st tia, time. uas frequently calico
se town IN business. but it vas not ill th,
erst week in August tha, Col. Soncrvil'c
acccuyasied By valet uho had BEEN il
his service about swo years, actually en-
tered - o resident. But in sha, house b,
culs renained cue aighs. aud he nevel
slept there again.
He arrived in tewn about midday os
the "Wednesday in tho srss week in Au
gust. The day vss oppssssively gloom,
and duh in the country. and all LcndOs
seemed 10 be seethiag in sallen heat
He vent vita his vale; 10 bis new hous'
ia--sqsare. The sabman took the far
oGssea 70 him without grsmblipe. sbserv
ing las he glanced somsshss suspiciOusl,
% the kss>e). This 10 the 6rss time =
sses drove gentleman. nor . LADY uei,h