The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-04-16

most matter-of-fact people nc times
experience, was strong upon me- Aster
4 was in any stndio, however, with the
familiar objects of my work -a-days life
about me, the sensation soon vanished.
and I sat down to contemplate by the
tdim light Of the candle picture upon
which had been working during The
day. I observed that il had almost slip
ped from the frame, and being a full
length and somewhat heavy, 1 determin-
ed to get nail and fasten il more secure
ly. fearing some catastrophe if left it
/ in its present condition.
1 & My. hammer and nails were always
kept in an old oak press, which stood op
posite the door. II was quaint piece
of furniture covered with Curious car
wings, and had belonged to my prede-
cessor, Mr. Heseltine, whose sudden
| death had cast such a gloom over the
place. / had taken it together with
some fixtures, at a valuation, when en-
tered upon the occupation of the room,
and, as il was heavy and cn N nhersome. il
had never been removed from the dark
conner where 4 had found il. rThe up
| per part contained cupboard in which
L kept all sorts of odds and ends, my
| tocls included. As the door of this cup
! board had chronic tendency 70 swing
open, / usually turned the key when l
.-A I . q
shut il, leaving the key in the lock. On
this occasion however, / found the key
was gone, and naturally concluded that
Holding the candlesclose to the ground
looked about forai il. was not to be SEEN
Concluding that / must have inadver-
vertently locked it and put the key away
somewhere, gave up the idea of mailing
in the picture that night as it was get
ting near the time for my train. I
therefore pushed it close into the rabbet
of the frame, knowing that it would not
be interfered with until / came in the
morning. then took the candle, left the
room, and locked the door. Taking out
I VIE ACyR RsO~EC0E0 0O"b anu
placed the candle on the mantlepiece in
the hall, and was just lifting my hand
to put on the extinguisher, when the
action was arrested by the sudden shut
ting of door up stairs. The sound
was so loud and distinct, that, coming as
it did unexpectedly, and at that late
hour, IL caused me to start violently.
II came evidently from the first floor.
Had not shut and locked my studio
door myself. I, should have declared
| from the direction Of the sound that it
was my door which had thus awakened
the echoes of the empty house, The on
ly other door 1t was the one lefding to
the studio of Mr.. Middleton. and in the
qHietrush of tho1ght that foil owed the
sound. reflected that he must have
left his room open, and thai, the wind
had caused the door to slam. There
was no time for further reflection, how
ever, for, before the sound caused by
the slamming of the door had died away
heard footsteps coming down the Sec
ond fight of stairs. For moment I
was really alarmed. The previous death
like stiffness of the house, the lateness
of the hour, and the extreme improba- :
bility of any of the inmates being there
at that time, all rushed into my mind
and brought back, with a sensation
which amounted TO positive pain, the
strange chill had felt on first enter
ing the house. Fears of the supernatur-
al, however, are soon dissipated in the
presence of substantial bodily forms, and
drew breath of relief as / saw by
the dim light of the single candle on
/ the mantlepiece a human figure,
clad in matter-of fact coat and trow-
sers, descending from the landing of the
first fight. The noise and unhesitating
step had caused me at once to dismiss
i the idea of burglars, and knew it
it must be either Howarth or Middle
ton. / had again taken the candle in
my hand, and was shading the light
from my eyes SO that might better dis
cern the approaching figure. My utter
smazement may be imagined when al
length made out the features, and fonnd
they were those 'of an entire stranger
He had reached the bottom of the stair.
and was coming toward me with quicl
step along the center of the hall, looking
to the right nor to the left, neither
| A,.k s.h II Ahe. hall G0or
, There was nothing remarkable in his ap
pearance. He was a man of middl,
height, we'll dressed, in frock coat
. gray tweed trowsers, and a tall hat
which he wore somewhat off his forehead
He had long brown beard moustache
. an open intellectual expression of coun
tenanee, and gentlemanly bearing
W hich impressed me so favorably tina
any suspicions as to his motive in bein
there at that hour were at once dispellec
I naturally thought that, being a stran
ger he would offer some explanation a
to his presence at such a time, but h
passed on without taking the slightes
, notice to me. When he came quit
close perceived that the left eye, tn
one next of me was fixed as if the sigE
? was gone, but this was no explanatio
of the fact of his not speaking, as h
j must have seen me as he came dow
stairs. Had there been anything in th
the least degree suspicious in his appeal
, ance, / should have claimed the righ
= which felt as mine, to challenge h
motive in being there at that hour; b,
his whole bearing forbade this, and
could only attribute his silence to an al
= sence Of politeness. which seemed at vi
rance with his refined bearing.
ID He had passed me BY, and was with
4. a few PAGES of the door before ! bad fai
r ly recovered from the surprise the who
70 affair had occasioned. i was determi
in ed, however, that he shonld not leav
10 the house without a word and advancir
,lfl step or two behind him, said simpl
"Good evening" The moment | hi
4 uttered the words, he stopped suddenl
..,,sto a~0,,rH ~ as 40 cr1rn a