River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1881-02-17

again. / know ] am not; and as for
Helen, poor girl, it has nearly, if not
quite, killed her."
| Ny curiosity was now thoroughly
aroused; and with, perhaps, less of tact
and good taste than | ought to have
shown, l piled him with questions, to
all of which he gave vague and unwil-
| ling answers. Somehow the subject
was renewed at Kings Lea, the place
to which we were bound. Mr.. Easton,
Harry's friend, said he was possessed
with the most ardent desire to see the
apparition which Danvers acknowledge
ed to have seen twice ina certain room
of the old hail. and |, little troubled
| by fears Of the supernatural, expressed
decided opinion that | should like to
see the ghost who could drive me from
a place ike Rivington hall, if | was its
| fortunate possessor.
Between us, think, we pushed mat
tiers too far; and at last Harry said, in
tone of deep annoyance: "I'll tell
you what it is, my good fellows, you
shall Judge for yourselves whether am
/ the fool you both take me for. We
will all pass an evening in the oriel-
room at the old hall, and | shall be
| curious 10 see how you like ii"
Mr. Easton and | eagerly took up
the challenge, 1t was arranged that,
the next day but one being the last of
the month, on which alone-so Harry
told us-the spectral appearances were
visible, we should meet at Kings Lea,
and proceed together to the hall, Dan
yers agreeing 10 tell his wife that we
were engaged to dine and sleep at Eas-
tons.
1--WE must be at the hall before 10
o'clock" he said. "That is the only
time at which anything is seen"
On our way home we called at the
cottage of an old man who was former
w gardener at Rivington hall, for the
keys of the house.
''NOw don't ZEE be going there, Mus
ter Danvers, now don't 'ee," he i'm
plored. mo luck nor good never came
of it, and never won't. It's tempting
Providence, like, to put yourself in the
DEVILS clutches"
My curiosity was strongly excited. 1t
was as much as l could do to refrain
from speaking of the old hall before
Mrs. Danvers; and during our walk the
following day after the cartridges, l en-
treated Harry to tell me what he had
seen. This he firmly declined to do,
but added:
~ will tell ynu this much: We went
| to the hall, rs you may remember, on
our return from Italy in the spring.
| Old Jennings the man you have just
seen-and his wife lived there in some
rooms over the stable, and kept the
| house aired and in tolerable order.
I When we arrived we found everything
ready, and supper laid for us in COM
! Portable dininE-rOOm. 1t was late, and
we went to the rooms prepared for us
in the new wing of the house, and slept
soundly. The next day Helen wished
to explore the place, and we sent for
Mrs. Jennings and the keys. There
were a number of rooms almost bare of
| furniture, and the best the house con-
tanned had been collected to furnish
those prepared for us. At the further
| end of the drawing-rOom was door,
| concealed by heavy velvet curtain.
Helen laid her hand on the handle, but
Mrs. Jennings hurried up to her.
That's n locked door, ma'am; that
don't lead nowhere, it don't. Don't
zee try to open that, my dear
/ lady - "Why not?" asked my wife
with some surprise. The old woman
! changed her tone at once. at isn't Il
Goor, ma Fam, only sham like, and |
was afraid you might hurt your fin
| gers" but if it is not a door, why is
there curtain hung before it?" persist
| ed Helen. "Just for ornament, maybe,
or to keep of the draught," said Mrs.
| Jennings, confusedy. THE draught
| from a sham door," laughed Helen.
But the old woman hurried away with
out saying more. Some days passed,
and we began to feel quite at home,
/ and to plan many alterations and inn
provement to be carried out in the
| course of the summer. 1t was now the
| end of MAY, but the evenings were still
| chilly. We were sitting by bright
wood fire III the drawing-room, on the
evening of the 31st, when the church
clock began to strike 10. The church,
as YOU have seen, is nearly half n mile
! distant, but it has a remarkably loud
and sonorous bell, so that we heard it
as distinctly as if it had been in the
| house. At that moment an icy gust of
wind swept through the room, and a
sound, as if of a heavy body falling,
came from the further end, near the
mysterious door. Helen jumped up
and caught hold of my arm. what
was THAR" she said in a frightened
whisper. [ told her | thought it was
something falling in the room over
head though l heard plainly that the
sound did not come from above. She
was treasured by my matter-of-fact an
swer, but still stood, holding my arm,
! till in few minutes the same icy cold
wind passed over us again, with a
strange, sickly smell. | own that a
shudder ran through me, though | did
not know why, and my wife was so ter
rifed that she would not remain anoth-
err moment in the room. The next day
| | was obliged to go on business to
/ Staunton, and only returned in time for
dinner. | noticed that Helen was pale
and silent; and as soon as the servants
| had left the room she said, grayely:
Harry. that is not false door in the
/ drawing-room. There must be q small
room there with q window like this"
/ The dining-room had large bay win
| dow at one end, raised by two or three
/ broad steps from the rest of the room.
so YOU have been making investiga-
| tons, Mrs Blubeard?" | said, laughing
/ mo, | have not been into the room.
To say the truth, l think l should have
/ been Il little frightened alone; and, be-
| sides. did not like to tell Mrs. Jen-
nings that | had found out that she had
/ told me a story about it. But | was
walking on the terrace, and 1t sudden
/ ~ occurred TO me that the large win
dow which corresponds to this one
must be in some room we have not yet
seen. 1t was closed with shutters; and
then / thought of the false door in the
| drawing-room. | measured the walls
by PAGES, and | find there must be a
square room there lighted by the large
window" Shall We go and explore it?'
l asked. 'Not tonight, please said
! Helen, with Il shiver. Let us stay
here tonight" And so we did. The
next morning the sun shone brightly,
and my wife seemed to have forgotten
her fears. We made an excuse to get
the KEYS from Mrs Jennings; and,
after some difficulty, for the lock was
very rusty, We succeed in penetrating
/ to the l0cked-up room. 1t was, as
Helen had imagined, nearly square,
! and raised by two or three steps above