River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-12-02
THE HAUNTED HOUSE.


The first of May be it, then. As there
is nothing to move but ourselves and
our personal luggage, the proceeding
will be by no means as formidable as
it might under some circumstances.
What is the number of the house,
mo. 66 Beccles street"
"You say the house has been unten-
anted ever since the owner went abroad?
So beautifully furnished and the rent
so low, that seems a little strange"
"Well, Minnie, have not told you
quite everything about the house. 1t
has for many years borne the reputa-
ton of being haunted"
"What nonsense said /, promptly.
"Nonsensel That is the correct
word; nevertheless, no one but the own
er has ever lived in that house, simply
on account of the absurd stories assOci-
ated with it, On certain days in the
year. late in the evening, a carriage, ac-
cording to the legend of the neighbor-
| hood, drives up to the door, from which
an old lady descends and enters the
dwelling, and prowls through it for the
remainder of the night; sometimes ac-
companied by ghostly maid. That,
my dear, is the solitary disadvantage
attaching to No &c. If you have
strength of mind enough to forego it,
we get, upon lease Of five years, an
admirable establishment, furnished
from top to bottom, at rent merely
nominal, and escape all the expense
and vexation of freighting our present
belongings to town, and also"
II have decided. Reginald" ! inter
rupted. II hope | have u little more
common sense than to believe in haunt
| elk houses at my age"
Numbered by years, my age was only
twenty; but in character and expert
ence | felt ut least fifty.
So, few days later, Reginald and
the landlords agent closed the bargain,
and began to look forward patiently
to the day we had fixed upon for our
removal.
| had, in fact, grown tired of the mo-
notony of our country home, although
once it had seemed paradise. Our
rustic pursuits had not altogether pros
pered; a superstitious person might
have supposed some enemy had cast
an evil spell upon them.
With three or four COWS, we had to
| buy all our milk; our fowls, If they laid
any eggs at all deposited them with
such care and secrecy that they were
never found; the raising of our vegeta-
bles cost us their weight in gold; the
! industrious cultivation of our land and
the lavish distribution of seed only
produced enormous crops of weeds; in
short, whatever we undertook seemed
to result in Notifying failure, so that
two years of this kind of experience
had sufficed to disgust us.
On the first of May, about three
o'clock in the afternoon, three persons
might have been seen by the curious
observer on the little platform at Slow
borough, waiting for the train. These
were Reginald, myself. and my maid
Sarah. 1t was raining dismally.
Now, my dear" said Reginald,
standing under my umbrella exactly
at the point necessary to absorb all the
water that rolled off it, and looking as
if he had slept the previous night at
| the bottom Of some river, Il follow
you, you understand, in the next train,
so have tea and everything ready for
me upon my arrival, which will be by
six O'clock. Just give the address to
| the cabman, when you arrive at the
| house, go in and take possession. and
make yourself perfectly at home"
1t was still raining when we arrived
at the station-by this time a perfect
down-pour. gave the address to a
cabman, and got into his vehicle.
The street had named seemed fur
ther off than had expected; but at
last, however, we stopped. 1t was now
not quite dark; and our cabman, hay
ing let us out remarked, Here We are.
mum; this is the 'ous!' pOcketed his
fare, and left us standing on the pave
ment.
We rushed up the steps and thrust
the key into the door; but the lock
would not yield. For five minutes We
worked at it in vain. What was to be
done?
1t was not often that Sarah had n
lucid idea; but now, fortunately, her
wandering glance catching sight of a
cellar window, suggested one. She pro-
posed entering the house by that sub
terranean avenue, and attacking the
front door on the other side.
agreed. Five minutes later stood
in the passage, very wet but victorious.
The establishment was at our disposal.
BY this time Reginald was long over
due--doubtless detained like ourselves
on the railroad; and we expecting him
every minute. Sarah and | made a
fire in the admirably furnished kitchen,
and while drying ourselves-for the
trunks not having come We had no
| change Of clothing conference
with regard to supper.
decided on sending her to purchase
such things as we needed for nasty
meal, and, said |. as she was about to
vanish upon this errand, "Be careful
that you don't get lost, Sarah. Re
member the number and street, ami |
repeated both, which she i'll turn re-
peated after me. And now | was alone
in the strange house-haunted it was
said, and certainly for years untenant
ed. My misadventures had made me,
perhaps, little nervous.
Sitting by the fire, | listened eagerly
for Sarah's return, and SO long quarter
of an hour passed, and then another,
and finally an hour. and yet she did not
come back
confess that was frightened. And
Reginald where was he? On and on
slipped the minutes-the hands of the
Dutch clock which, for occupation,
had wound up and set going seemed
to tick them off like seconds. Nine
rang out and could have cried. Great
Heaven, what could it all mean2 Where