Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-09-13
ABOUT 4 SILVER BELL.
BY rRANk II. CONVERSE.

fOrerunnerS OF dyspepsia, anu the
claptrap of modern spiritualism as
two-thirds charlitanism and one
third credulity.
In no way, however, do / attempt
to account for, theOrize upon or eX-
plain away the facts which | have
written down at the oft-repeated
solicitation Of brother Frank, who
must have inherited from his HUI
guenOt ancestry the tinge of super
naturalism in his nature-a tinge,
however, which, thank goodness
is only manifest in the belief which
he shadows forth in his favorite
quotation:
There be more things in heaven and earth'
HoratiO.
Than thy philosophy dreams Of
And Pm sure it's fortunate
thing that I'm so constituted, for
my husband is not rich man, and
/ don't know that we should ever
have owned a roof over our heads
unless it was a very humble one-if
he hadn't inherited what is known
by the tOwnspeople as the sold
Hazeltine Homestead" where we
have lived for almost twelve years.
And when / tell you that the
house, with its live oak frame, was
built nearly two hundred years ago
by "wicked Sir Harry Hazeltine''-
so the family record calls him-that
there is one chamber with q bent
and twisted hook in the middle of
the ceiling, where Sir Harry hung
himself, and another, in the unused
part of the house, where somebody
rocks cradle and croOns weird
lullaby on stormy nights, you will
mt once see that anybody troubled
with weak nerves, or naturally
timid, would be in perfect misery to
live there.
Especially when in winter the
wind hoWlS and shrieks through the
empty rooms, and the rats, of which
there are legions, make such a
racket behind the wainscOting that
you would think the house was
coming down.
But don't think Pm silly enough
to make all this a preamble TO a
ghost story. Dear me! No indeed
Pm no believer in such things, as
told you before.
AS if, when our Heavenly Father
has taken a soul from earth, it would
ever want to come back when it had
once entered that place where there
is no more death, and all tears are
wiped away! Nonsense!
No. What Pm going to here re-
cord for Franks special benefit,
concerns a bella quaint-looking
affair of solid silver, with an ebony
haudle-On which is carved horrl-
bic evil face, that even l don't care
very much to look at; as the Scotch
say, it doesn't look "canny."
You see, after we moved in, and
had got fairly set to rights, the first
thing i die was to send for Mrs.
Kelly, and institute such q house
cleaning as I'll venture to say the
place hadn't known for century at
least; and such quantities upon
quantities of rubbish as were UNI
earthed-why, Harry says that an
antiquarian would go wild over
some of the things.
| remember there was a musket
and an old cavalry sabree in one
closet, with "COlonel George Hazel
tine, from his wife, a. ID. l77O," on
the scabbard, and Harry, who is a
perfect epitOme of genealOgy, told
me a beautiful story about this an
cestor of his; but / haven't time to
tell it here, or to speak at length of
the moth-eaten regimentals, the
brOcade silk dresses, the toilet fix
ings, and l don't know what all, that
we unearthed and do you believe
that the silly fellow wouldn't have
a thing destroyed, but had them all
packed away in an old chest in the
attic?
In cleaning and Oiling an old buff
fet of carved oak that has stood in
the dining-hall since the house was
furnished-for Harry has the bill of
the London merchant who furnished
the house in 1910, and sent part Of
tine furniture over in a vessel called
the "Good Intent"-I found q sort
of secret closet about a foot square,
and in it was this bell.
/ didn't think much about it at
the time, but when Harry came
into the room / took it from the
mantel and showed it to him.
But such a look as Harry gave
me, and turned whittier than a sheet.
"GOOd heavens, BesSieo he said,
chill, "Where did YOU discover that
cur-that curious thing ?" but he
was going to say something worse
than "curiOus."
/ told him, of course, and after a
little he told me that this was an
heirloom which had been in the
family for generations-that all
sorts of strange notions We're preva-
lent regarding it.
Oh, dear, | can't begin, and don't
want to tell half the hOrrid stories in
connection with it; and | saw that
he really felt sO-well-nervous
about it, that finally l set it away on
the highest shelf in the china-clOset
behind the preserve jars.
As | did so, l suppose my hand
trembled Il little, and it struck the
strangest clear, metallic sOund-one
perfectly indesCribable-like moth
ing that / ever heard before or since.
All l could think of for the mo-
ment was the sound of the first
stroke of the church-bell which
tClled the years of mothers age on
the day she died.
But l said nothing, and, as if by
mutual consent, neither Harry nor
myself made reference to the mat
ter for more than two years after
ward, Baby Edith being then about
ten months old.
We were in the habit of using our
sleeping-rOom, which was nearly !
over che large old-fashiOned hall, as |
a sitting room in the evening, it |
being more easily warmed than any
Of the others, though it was a very |
whispering gallery of strange sounds |
that came echoing through the long |
corridor with startling effect upon |
windy and stormy nights.
But / had become accustomed to /
regard them with as little concern |
as Harry himself, who had been |
born and brought up in the old
house.
| remember ii was the second
week in January of last year, as
Harry finished reading our evening
in the Bible and L listened
to the regular breathing of little
Edith, | remarked half-laughingly,
that the white woman was rocking
her cradle with more than usual
for in the occasional lulls
i'm the storm without the mOnot-
jnOus sound from the chamber in
The unoccupied portion of the house
from whatever cause it proceeded,
was unusually distinct.