The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1876-01-22
A Haunted House.
HOW DIR. TODD EXORCISED THU SPihiIS'

Hardly were they settled in their new
home when there began to be rumors
that the house they had occupied was
"haunted." 1t was large three-storled
house with brick ends, wood front and
back. 1t was we'll lighted with null
titude of windows. 1t stood III the
midst of n thick neighborhood, other
houses clustering all around it, In
short, there was nothing about the
house, inside or out, that would lead
one to suspect it was the place where
ghosts would resort 1t was the last
place one would select for a murder to
be committed and yet the house was
said to he haunted. 1t stood empty,
and strange noises We're heard III it.
Sometimes it would seem to be filed with
groans, then again with signs, and then
the patter of little feet would be heard,
and then the walls of an infant The
neighbors became excited. Some hoard
noises of all sorts, some only one, and
some almost heard them. In the night.
when all was stiffness and darkness, the
noises were almost fearful. Some felt
sure that all was not right there
some said " strange secrets lie con
cealed within these wallis some were
very sure that murder had been com
mitted there, and the dead one Was
haunting the place. They were not
exactly sure whether the murdered one
was a full-grown man, as the many
groans would seem to indicate, or
whether it was little child whose feet
were pattering on the naked lloor.
They were almost afraid to go past the
.. haunted house" in the night and no
one even in the daytime dared to enter
it.
As had occupied the house last, ana
as | had lost my little infant boy there,
it was natural that should hear of it;
and. though / believe no one actually
accused me of murder, yet they shook
their heads and arched their brows, and
thought the whole thing wonderfully
strange. At first paid no attention to
it; but as the hints became louder and
the whispers deeper, and the murmurs
clearer, saw it would injure the char
acter of the house and prevent the
owner from renting it, even If it did
not injure me. / must confess, how
ever. that though could never hear any
noises as / passed by in the evening,
vet the testimony of so many staggered
me. l determined, therefore, to invcs-
tlSuto IL lily sui, anu thdI W.
So [ procured the keys, and strange to
say, went towards the house, and was
seen to have the hartlihoOd to enter it
alone. The neighbors gathered round
the front door in tho street to watch the
result. | said nothing, but went in.
A few mono nts satisfied me about the
little feet that battered on the floor!
There had been many such, for the rats
l. fJ,ni hnnJ n,t1a,.
gnawing the floors, tearing off the paper
from the walls, scattering the plaster,
and leaving their little footprints very
could find nothing that cast any light
on them. The house was silent as a
tomb. The sunlight streamed in the
the hours of JOY and sorrow l had
passed there. There I had had happy
home, had rejoiced over my frst-born
child, and had there seen him breathe
out his young spirit to God who gave it,
was silence till l opened the door of the
chamber where my child died. Then
instantly there was sharp deep groan.
What could it mean? The people
about the door heard it, and what an
! awful 1eclluS tcITOI WcHt tuIcuSil
them. / was not frightened, but
l was at loss to account for it. 1t
evidently had been called ont by my
opening the door. But the room was
perfectly bare, not thing in it. Soon
the groan was repeated. l now went to
the chimney and tore away the tireboard,
and looked up. And there, Just in the
throat of the fireplace, was-not ghost,
| ,,<,
chimney, and had fallen down and
lodged in the throat so that it could
swing backward and forward, and.
when the wind blew, it would groan
sharp, or shrill, or deep, according to the
strength of the wind. Thus twas that
on my opening the door and letting the
wind into the room, the single swung
and nearly filled the throat, and the air
rushed and groaned past it, l took
pains to call up the people, and verify
believe they wished rather to go home
than to go in. l put back the fireboard
and opened the door, made them hear
the groans, took away the tireboard
again, showed the single and how it
ratified and groaned, then took it away,
and put things back, and opened the
door, and-there were no more groans.
A little ratsbane scattered on the floor
stopped the pattering OF little feet.
and the house ceased to he haunted;
and vet it was haunted as really as any
one ever was, as verify believe.
THE BEST FARMER.-The best farmer
is he who raises the best and largest
crops on the smallest surface at the
least expense, and at the same time an
nnally improves his soil: who under