Litchfield enquirer., 1881-01-27
'uld reach without disturbing the rest of the

could reacn without disturbing the rest of the
 house. a3 il3 ss1. '' -J- ,
 L. I was about to take up my candle and go
 when imagined heard sound behind me
 In my state of nervousness, started, and had
 almost dropped the candle. looked toward
 the window; but the curtains hung motion
 less, and were parted as had left them.
 A thought struck me. If my visitor were
 to return after had retired how should I
 know? I pondered the matter little, and
 then proceeded to action Trickery must iu
 this case be met by trickery. I went to my
 work -boA, took out a reel of thread, and drew fod g few yards. There were contamination
 CTS on each side of the window, about two feet from the floor and between these l
 stretched and make fast the length of the thread, so that no one could enter the room
 from the window-recess in the course of the
 night without breaking the frail barrier Lad
 erected. This would afford me sufficien, proof as to whether the privacy of my sleep
 ing-room had again been invaded Taking l up my candle and the bit of cloth. then pass.
 ed quietly out locking the door of the room
 and carrying the key with me felt my I self stronger in the presence of my children,
 and soon managed to fall asleep
 1 q CHATTER II.
 My first quest next morning on leaving the 1 oP~i suioHb WuctC uHO SICpS was LOT JUG pur- pose of ascertaining whether my bedroom had
 been again entered after had left 1t on the previous evening, unlocked the door, and
 cautiously looked in. Enough light came
 through between the drawn curtains to show
 me that the room was apparently as left it. l advanced to the window and found the
 thread there, unbroken, and evidently un touched. l must confess felt somewhat dls-
 appointed My fears>had probably exagger-
 ated my conceptions of the danger, and had
 anticipated a second visit as more than prob | able. After thinking, however, came to the l conclusion that it was better as it was. Had
 my strange visitor for any purpose entered my
 room second time, and found that I had quit
 ted 1t, the effect might have been the reverse
 of favorable to discovery of the trickery,
 which discovery could best be forwarded by l my making as little change in my usual habits
 as possible. It was not improbable, seeing
 that no suspicion had been aroused by the
 knowledge thatI had changed my sleeping apartment, that the ''ghost" might be en-
 boldened to pay me visit on the following l arrange for the interoeption of my strange l visitor, and the detection of the trick.
 ] In the course of the morning had made up 1 my mind how should proceed. Mrs. Wee l vii generally left after breakfast on her er-
 rands to the neighboring village or elsewhere. not generally returning for few hours; and thought this good time to obtain an inter- view with Andrew, the old gardner, who, 1 saw, was engaged trimming the walks in front of the door. l had no doubt now that what had seen had been also appearing to the ser | wants who had so suddenly departed on :he | previous evening; and had no doubt also that Andrew knew the whole story of the ghost having been again seen in the house. ] open- 1 cd the parlor window, and spoke with him over the balcony. twill you come up stairs, Andrew 1 should like to speak to you.". He stood for moment in hesitation, scratch l ing his head. I think he would have prefer
 red anything to entering my house at that mo- l ment; but evidently he did not see his way to refusing. A few moments later he was in the drawing room.
 Andrew" began. with some intentional soiemnity of manner. you see the position I ] an ln." His expression indicated that he ] considered the position an exceedingly un- | pleasant one, ''Fhe story has got about" went on, 'that this house is haunted" He
 turned pale. ''You think it $ haunted ?" l asked, looking at him tixedly.
 r lie hesitated for a few moments, shook his head slowly, and succeeded finally in saying l "W'at ts folks to think, maani?" ..s.v T acknowledge" answered, ''that the thing has queer look. When people ap-
 pear and vanish as suddenly as they came, it ! is difficult to think of them as creatures of flesh and blood like ourselves" H "'Taint possible like." was Andrews com
 ment; and observed that with the words, l his face took more healthy hue The quiet
 tone had assumed treasured hlm. Ghosts, when they can be reasoned about, lose half their terrors.
 "No,," answered hirs ''it is not pnssible But Andlew, it we look at these things from
 another point of yiew"- ....t =. "Be there another ?" he eagerly asked as I
 paused to allow him time for expression of opinion. +.si' ' <fr" i ..r
 Yes" said; "there is another Before l believe in your interpretation, Andrew be- fore believe it possible that spirits can wan der about the world for no other reason than
 to frghten people, must test miue"
 His eyes, awakening to new interest, were looking at mine inquiringly. s-..-s. explained at once. What mean is this, 1 suspece a trick. Somebody has spite against the owner of this house. somebody has an interest in keeping it empty" Andrew was naturally shrewd. As spoke
 there came into his face new look of keen ness. He smiled. ''There has been queer things done, he observed with a cautious iu- partiality
 You have been here some weeks" said. Have you heard anything during that time about this house. about the people who own 1t am told they lived here once" s..i-.. Thus stimulated, Andrew told me that the house and grounds had originally belonged to Lord B., father of the present lord, whose
 park was commanded by our front windows On the marriage of a favorite sister with Mr. Roupel, man somewhat beneath her iu pesi- tion, he gave her the house. Here the mar. ried pair lived, in much unhapiness it was aoiH and horo fhnsrc cvlx ol,;ll l was born. After running through his wife's
 money, the husband died. When left alone, tie widow, and her now grown up daughter, determined to let their house and live abroad. The rent of the furnished house, with it's ex- cellent garden, would bring them in an income sufficient to enable them to live quietly in some foreign town. But while this project was being discussed, the widow died, sudden ly and mysteriously. An inquest was held over her for strange suspicious were circu
 lated abroad The verdict was that she had died of the family complaint--heart disease. But there were those who still spoke mys- teriOus)y about the circumstances of the death
 and declared that the poor lady had met with foul play. 572 se x a
 Now. this was the germ of the ghost story,
 for it was said far and near that Mrs. Roupel. if she had really been murdered-and mur
 dered by her own child, as some dared to
 whisper would never rest in her grave. And when singular appearances came and went
 and strange sounds were heard in the house,
 now empty save for an ancient housekeeper,f the suspicion scarcely spoken of at first above the breath, so dark it was and monstrous, was
 by and by openly discussed. t0 On this part of the story old Andrew was very ready to dilate. He warmed to the theme, indeed, and would willingly have giy-. en me. had desired it, a full aud particular account of the various people who from time to time had been driven from the premises.
 But l holding still to my point, that trick had
 to do with it, restrained his flow of language, and endeavored, by close questioning, to fnd out what he knew about the daughter of Mra
 Roupel, who, if hls story were true, was the present owner of the haunted house. ,,s ,s -,... elicited the following facts Miss Roupel was nineteen years of age about the period of