Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1874-02-27
A MYSTERIOUS HOUSE.

land therefore l relate for their benefit the
following legend about a certain London
house.
For obvious reasons, | suppress the
names of persons, and exact localities, and
1 I further desire it to be understood that
do not hold myself responsible for the
accurate truth of all the details of the story;
I need only add that the events are to be
| taken as.having occurred some years ago.
Some years ago, then, gentleman, whom
we will call Colonel Somerville, was desir-
Gus of buying a house in the west end of
the town, and passing one day through a
4 well-known square, he observed house to
be sold. which seemed to him, as far as
outside appearances and situation Were
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 went ; though he could not help
entertaining a misgiving that the price
would be exorbitantly high, and beyond
his means. No harm, however, could be
done by simple inquiry. He was agreea-
| bly, astonished that the sum demanded was
only four thousands pounds. Not being q
commercial man, he could not help ex-
pressing his astonishment at the small sum
demanded. and naively inquired if the man
sion was very much out Of repair. The
\ representative of the firm replied unhesi-
tatingly that the house was i'll very good
\ repair, and would require no more than
the usual outlay upon decoration. The
| colonel pressed his inquiries, and as he
! seemed TO be likely and desirable pur-
chaser, he was soon informed of the Cir
cumstances under which the house in ques-
tion was to be sold. 1t had belonged to d
queer old gentleman who lived i'll Clerken-
welle, and who had died interstate, and the
| sale was ordered by his next Of kin, who
| had been found with some difficulty. This
| old gentleman had died, strangely enough,
/ in the very act of drawing up his will
He had just penned the words : And [
desire that my house in - square should
be" when some kind Of fit seized him,
and he was discovered the next morning
| by his housekeeper, dead in his chair
Now, the next of kin was found in Aus
| tralia, or some remote colony, and was
as possible The house in - square had
been uninhabited for years. There was
| not a scrap~of furniture in it (; but it had
| been .scrupulously cared for and kept clean
by an elderly, deaf woman, who did not
live in it but used to go to it every morn
ing and spend almost all day there, and
preserved it in such condition that the
owner might furnish it at any time, and
come to live there without experiencing
any sense Of discomfort which would Or
dinarily arise from residing in house
which had not been inhabited for a long
time. 1t was well-known, l may add,
that the elderly care-taker never slept
there. The Colonel went to view the house
He found that he had not been deceived by
external appearances, or by the descrip-
ton Of the accommodation detailed by the
agent it was, in short, just such house
as he and his wife wanted for a town resi-
dence and in due course the purchase was
completed. AS he was in no particular hurry
to enter, as Mrs. Somerville happened to
be unwell at this particular time, and I'M
able to come to London to superintend the
furnishing, he contented himself with pre-
pairing bedroom for his own use. ON the
first floor, and another for his valet on the
! floor above. He retained the services of
the elderly deaf woman, who appeared to
| be grateful for his consideration, as she al
legged that the pay she received for her
trouble was almost all that she had to live
on. The house became the property of the
Colonel at midsummer, 1856. Toward the
end of July the rooms mentioned were furn-
ished in temporary manner for the &C
commodation Of the Colonel, who, at that
time, was frequently called to town on
business, but it was not until the first
week in August that Colonel Somerville,
accompanied by valet who had been in
his service about two years, actually en-
only remained one night, and he never
! slept there again.
| He arrived in town about midday on the
| Wednesday in the first week in August
The day was oppressively gloomy and dull
in the country, and all London seemed to
be seething in sullen heat. He went
with his valet to his new house i'll
square. The cabman took the fare offer
ed to him without grumbling. observing
las he glanced somewhat suspiciously at
the house,) sEThis is the first time as ever
/ drove gentleman nor a lady neither, to
this here house," and he went away as
quickly as he could.
Col. Somerville took no notice of the re-
mark at the time, though it came wildly
TO his recollection afterward.
Having deposited his luggage, and seen
that his room looked tolerably comforta-
BILE, he told his servant that he intended to
dine at his club and should be home about
eleven. The elderly deaf woman l should
say was in attendance.
Well, the Colonel transacted his busl-
ness, dined at his club with friend, and
returned to his house shortly after eleven
O'Clock. His servant, an active young fell
low, opened the door for him, showed him
to his room, asked for his orders for the
morning, and having received them retired
to his room above.
It was hot in the streets as Colonel
Connervilla drove home: it was hotter still