The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1877-04-04
Two Dollars a Year.

dar was any mice in de trap what he'd
SET, and sure's Tse alive dis minute,
marster, somebody in dat are closet hol |
Tered out, Who Is YOU? Who dat talkiu +
dar?' We all heerd it, We did"
Mr.. Walton turned around and once 4
m lre looked into the closet. Then, TAX /
ing the t0ngs from the hearth he inserted /
them behind the bit OF board which !
have mentioned rs nailed to the wall +
and wrenched it away, exposing as hc
did so, a small aperture surrounded by
metallic ring.
Il have discovered the mystery at
!" he said, turning TO Us with smile.
1T is no ghost, but simply speaking
tube. Stay here, and when You hear
the spirits, place your mouth TO tAls and
answer hem.
He left the room, and in few minutes
We again heard the mysterious sepulchral
voice in the closet, only much more dis
tinct now since the board had been re
moved.
"HoO are you all ?"
summoned courage 10 answer:
"Much better :" And then there came
low laugh, ghostly enough, certainly, 10
have caused our blood to curdle had we
not been aware of the identity of the ap
parent ghost.
And so it was explained, and the mys-
| terry of the haunted closet cleared up
There was, as Mr.. Walton had said, a
speaking tube communicating between
| IL, -,,n,.2 .,-,... -
placed there, doubtless, 10y the eccentric
English naturalist, DIR. Mather, tor his
own convenience and he, on leaving the
house, had simply carelessly boarded over
the mouths of the tube, not dreaming Of
7 or Indifferent to, the consequence OF TINS
negligence. Probably it had been these
very mysterious sounds which had driven
away the last occupants Of the house; and
certain it is that, but the fortunate dis
p covery of their source, We ourselves mlgh
have been won over TO the ranks OF spur
I itualism and ghost.beievers. such re
0 suits have, ere now, been produced py
5 slighter causes than these
The explanation of the various sound
. heard by us in the otiice-room Is yer.
n simple. The corresponding mouth OF tn
n tube was in a closet in the nursery, pre-
o cisely similar to that in the office
e Momma Abbey stored in this closet tn
V cups. pitfalls, and-so-torth used in tn
h nursery, and to secure these from tn
# children the closet was generally kel
r locked. 1t was the opening and shuttm
l. of this closet door, with the grating
l the key in the rusty lock, that had :
Or alarmed me; and when it was open, an
he search going on among its contents f
A, some special article, the noises thus mac
ot and the words spoken in the closet cou
be be heard, more or less distinctly, in ii
IT Office. Also, when the closet door VI
lg suddenly shut to, it would produce
current of air through the tube suffice
l to slightly open the loosely hung door
ed the Office cupboard. Master Fredd,
its idea of setting a mouse-trap in the clos
tie baited with poisoned food, had add
de much to the effect of the mystery and
IN, was little Mary's voice which had plead
ID so pathetically for the three victims
oh her brothers experiment, imploring Il
tie they might be buried under the magno
ur- tree.
ice Mr.. Walton used to say that it was
ok most pity that the secret Of the II
ner should have been discovered, and there
so capital n ghost-story spoiled.