Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-01-28
A CHAMBER OF DEATH.
The Terrible Secret an Architects
Measurements Disclosed.

The London correspondent of the
New York Times contributes the follow
ing sombre romance:
The owner Of the place, q jovial old
country gentleman, with large family,
began to find his house somewhat too
small for the requirements of the count
less guests with whom he delighted to
fill 1t. He sent for an eminent architect.
and consulted him as to the possibility
OF adding a room or two without injury
to the appearance Of the building. The
architect went 10 work at once, inspected
the house within and without, made
sundTy measurements, and returned to
his host with the complacent air of a
man who has found out something
worth knowing.
I'm fortunate enough, said he, with
a smile, ''to have come just in time to
save you from very useless labor. Do
you know that while you are talking of
adding new rooms to your house you
have room in it at this moment which
you have never used YETI" "What on
earth do you mean?' asked the bewil.
dered squire. II mean" answered the
professional, with quite scientific sups-
riority, that the measurements l have
just been taking leave several square
yards Of the houses area unaccounted
for; in other words, there is somewhere
within IFS walls a secret chamber of
which you know nothing" The
squire laughed the idea to scorn.
but his wife, captivated by the ro.
mantle suggestion of possible
"Bluebeard's chamber" in her own house.
at once ranged herself on the side Of the
architect. and insisted that the mysteri
Gus room should be searched for and
found. eff it exists, put in her hus-
band ut not only exists" rctorted the
architect, somewhat nettIed by the inn
piled doubt OF his judgment, "but am
positive that | can point out the very
spot where it is to be found. Pick hole
IN the wall that closes the east end of the
great corridor on the third floor. and If
you do not find the secret chamber living
behind it, ! will gladly pay all the ex-
penses OF the search. The proprietor.
beginning to feel interested, in spite OF
himself, at once agreed to the
proposal, and the workmen were
promptly called in. A few
sturdy blows sutficed to bring down the
wall, already crumbling. Behind it, to
the great exultation of the architect and
the amazement of the still incredulons
squire, appeared q moldering oaken
door, which was speedily driven In, re-
vealing dark recess, from which
exhaled strange, sickening odor. The
architect, taking lighted candle from
one of the bystanders-for by this time
the whole household had assembled to
watch the progress of the excavation
squeezed himself through the aperture,
but instantly sprang back with cry of
horror. The squire. mOre-> courageous
or less impressible, entered in his turn.
and this was what he saw:
Hidden in the thickness of the wall
lay small oval chamber, once lighted
by narrow, diamond paned window.
which had been completely bricked up
from the outside. The furniture was Of
rich antique cast, the carved oak table
spread with costly dishes and silver
dagon; but dust and cobwebs covered
all, and the very hangings were rOtting
upon the moldering walls. Rats were
heard scraping and gnawing behind the
wainscot, and huge Shiny beetles were
crawling about the damp blotch floor.
The crowniDg horror of this living tomb.
however. lay elsewhere. On the mil
dewed couch beside the table a human
skeleton was shrunk together in a pos.
ture of hideous distortion, while another
sat crouching in corner, with its bony
tingers thrust between its yellow rattling
jaws, as If the wretch had gnawed his
own flesh from his bones in the despera.
ton Of the last agony. The news
of the ghostly revelation flew
abroad like wildf1re, stimulating the
local antiquaries to solve, if possible, the
mystery of this horrible secret. Their
zeal at length ferreted out the legend of
q death bed confession made by the
hereditary owner of the place, IN the
days of James l. In vengeance for his
wife's infdelity he had decoyed her and
her param0ur into the fatal chamber,
where he built them up alive with his own
hands. As further refinement 0e
cruelty, he had previously spread the
table with splendid banquet, every
morSel OF which was poisoned, thus
giving the poor wretches only the choice
OF starvation or suicide What horrors
that lonely chamber witnessed before the
end came none but God can tell; but the
distorted attitudes of the two victims
sufficiently showed in what fearful ago.
MES they must have died.