Litchfield enquirer., 1881-01-27
THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE.
IN THREE CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER I.

garden healthy neighborhood within easy
 reach of a railway station good boys school
 near; not far from London; cheap ]" Thus,
 with something more thania suspicion of scorn
 in her voice, my sister Margaret ran off on
 her fingers the list of my requirements for a
 house. -,-.e.-.-s.sKg
 I had just returned from India with my six
 children, and was anxious to settle them
 comfortably before their fathers return. -
 You want every comfort" /" continued my
 sister, '.and you don't want to pay for every
 comfort. l believe ynu Anglo Indians think
 we live upon nothing in England." se<Ys5
 Her husband cane in as she spoke. Turning
 to him, she ran over again, with slight exag-
 geratiOn and deeper infusion of contempt,
 the catalogue given above
 He took seat Difficult, he said, oracuJ
 larly: "but it might be done. have it p
 said he turning to his wife.
 "What? The right house.! Then you are
 cleverer than thought you"
 Do you remember the story Williams told
 us yesterday ?"
 'Now, James, said my sister, rising to her
 feet, and looking at her husband severely, Eff
 you advise Eleanor to take that house. you do
 it on your own responsibility. l wash my
 hands of it.
 ''Sit down agaln. Margaret he said "Be
 reasonable, my dear. Is there any sufficient
 IedSou "Hy I1icauf snouiu uot taht that
 house ?"
 There IS one very geod reason-she will
 have to do the house work herself. No ser
 vaht will stay week. ..
 ''She has an Indian servant at any rate,
 who must stand by her."
 ''But think of herself, of Der feelings. You smile, James, o, yes; know you think me
 absurd Very likely 1 am absurd; but re-
 member this-there's no smoke without some
 fire. Besides, knew the last tenants Mr.
 Green is not an idiot. She told me-
 Stay moment" ssid my brother-in law. 1 and he addressed himself to me. 'Eeanor, tell me the truth are you believer in ghossa' 4a4 +-~ -tf | "Does this mean that the eligible house is haunted ?' exclaimed much stimulated by .what I had heard If so, l will take it at once. Write to the agent for me, James"
 Il do believe you are all going mad said my worthy sister, holding up her hands in horror. James, you are sensible man. You know things ought not to be done in hurry, l Eleanor, list, n'to what heard from the last tenant. e She. told me with her own lips; it is none of your second hand stories-"
 ''No," 1 interrupted ''dont tell me- If there IS ghost it will show itself. If there is not, might be set thinking of your story, and might imagine il; or at least"--correctinp l myself-'I might be betrayed into telling l soi"ebody else Somebody else might imagine 1 it."E r9 > My brother-in law thereupon entered into an elaborate description of the house, winch 1 had everything 1 coid desire, and he believed could have it for n rent which was so small, | considering it's advantages, as to seem merely nominal. The fact is" he said, ''their prn- cpal object is to have the thing off theIr hands. Tenants have been coming and ten ants have beeu going, and some have paid and some have not paid. The place has got bad l name in the neighborhood The owners how. 1 ever, think that If respectable tenant comes 1 and stays for some time, it. will have good l effect on the public mind. But, as Margaret says, yol must count the cost. Your servants will be sure to hear the ghost story. .s They 1 will see visions and dream dreams. You may have to do good deal of the work yourself l By the by. there is an old h0usekeeper, a Mrs. Weevil, who lives in the lower roon,s." Gould we not get rid of her ?" said ,"She l might tell the servants" -as e3 3ff ~''I am afraid that would be easier said than l done, <" he answered. ''She has some claim 1 upon the family. But they say she is quiet 1 old sOl.l, who interferes with nobody. You might warn her, you know" f''' ' a5
 Well. said, ''let us write.to the agent, and see what can be done." r'ea2'ae
 The result of all this was that. a week or two later. on a placid afternoon early in the 1 month of August, 1 drove up with my chil- ] dren, servants, and luggage before the deep. porch of one-of those moderately sized coun- try houses which abound in the Cnnnty of Sur rey. It was to be my home for the next ] twelve months-servants and ghosts permit ting. ,.. fss.rs.,s ..:s- .fe .,..f.a,s E..
 For once, description and the expectation 1 that followed hard upon it were, I felt, abun- Hanf lU i,rofif ifsad Nxy ,i | paradise indeed i; and joyfully, on the evea- | ing of our arrival, 1 sat and wrote to my husband of our good fortune. The house was beautifully situated, and was itself pictur- esque, with It's deep porch in front and the. l neat balcony that surmOunted it. It as an l irregular building, and its red brick walls | were half smothered with ivy and clematis Beyond the garden in front was broad lawn, bounded by the grand old beeches and elals l which form 8 belt round Lord B--'s estate. During the first few weeks, nothing happened to change my good opinion of the house. s-.E ,.+ There was one circumstance did not like but persuaded myself 1t was trivial, and to | be affected by it proved ultrasenstiveness; besides, had been warned beforehand Two | of the lower rooms were occupied by an old l woman. She was pensioner, was told, of l our landlord. Many years ago, she had been nousekeeper to some relatives of his, who | lived in the house. and she had lived in it ever since. l wished to see her and have some con- l versation with her. disliked, in the first place, tha, any one of whom knew nothing | should be in my house; and in the second l place, was anxious to warn her to keep the 1 ghost story (whatever that might be) secret My three English servants were north country | girls. had taken good care that they should l oe utter strangers to, the neighborl1ood but knew. if the possibility of seeing ghost were suggested to them, they would promptly make the possibility certainty, and then my trou- bles would begin. .@.H sent polite message to Mrs. weevil, ask | ing for an interview, and she came to my room. She was not a prepossessing woman. Her age might be somewhere between sixty and seveaty, and as she dropped an awkward | courtesy on entering my presence, I felt she was giving me ahomage which she did not pay willingly. 1 said I understood she had per mission from the owner of the house to occu- py certain rooms in it. 94 ''
 f'.Yes ma'am," she said ''but not from the owner as is the owner of the 'ouse now, ma'am." F7h.a f1s She manifested, thought, a certain ill-cen- cealed sulklness as went on to ask her if she could not be induced to find accommodation for herself in some of the cottages on the ad joining estate, SO ss to give us the house to ourselves. She stubbornly refused. E''No, ma'am," she went on to say s.I am an old woman as has lived here for nigh twenty years. and 1 never gives trouble to no one. l only wishes to be let alone and means to stay, ma'am-yes, means to stay" 1 saw that it would serve no purpose at pres ent to try to dissuade her, and as I did not wish to quarrel with her I changed the con versation. said 1 understood there were some foolish stories current abonf the house being haunted. and I hoped, whatever she thought of it, that she would say nothing to my servants on the subject. ~ s3} .5 ?
 If your servants I'll let me alone. nla'am. I'll let them alone. has rio wish to meddie with any lady's servants ? 1s5fsTSs l then permitted her to- go She was Ger tainly DO trouble about the house, and she was very seldom seen either by me or the servants. Soe only went out occasionally, as if to make