The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-08-19
THE HAUNTED INN.

AONu NfliCu was uSCO. DIT bilC
time of which [ speak. as an inn. 1t
had been built many years before by
visionary immigrant from the old world,
in imitation of his ancestral home.
WHY such an out-of-the-way spot had
been selected for a home no one ever
pretended TO guess. But certain it was
that the owner had expended all of his
available means in its erection, and had
toiled and starved, and finally died of
broken heart, his utter want of practical
training totally uniting him for wrest-
ing living from the barren hillSides
which he had selected for home His
wife soon followed him to the grave,
and his children scattered, no one kneSv
where. And thus it was that the once
pretentious mansion went to decay for
want of tenant, and would have rot
ted to the ground had not the spirit of
improvement and enterprise finally in
vaded the region in search of the hid
den treasures of the earth.
When [ visited the spot a small vii
lage had sprung up around the old
house, and that had been taken possess
sion of. and the few rooms not utterly
ruined by decay had been converted in
to so-ealled tavern.
The landlord might have starved, how
ever, if he had depended on native Gus
tom, for the old house, during those
years of solitude, had gained an unsa-
worry reputation, and in the absence of
other tenants many-tongued rumor had
peopled it with ghosts.
Its reputation had reached me before
visited the place, but as had always
felt an inexpressible longing to sleep in
a haunted room and make the personal
81. e
denizens of the other shore, | was not
sorry to learn that the haunted inn was
the only place in the town where could
find resting-place.
l was somewhat taken aback, howey-
er, when the landlord informed me. in
tones of broken English and poor whis-
ky, that every bed and every room in the
house was full. [ could not but admit
the eternal fitness of things. inasmuch as
he was full, too; but begged him to |
set his few remaining wits to work to |
ace if he could not find peg for me to |
hang up my tired bones upon. After |
grave consultation with the landlady, it |
was concluded that they could make me
a shake-down, if | did not mind sharing
my room with another gentleman who
had already retired.
There was nothing for it but to accept |
the situation, and did SO in good faith.
BY the time the shake-down was COM
pleted had finished my supper and an
nounced my desire to retire immediate
ly. The landlord was by this time too
far gone to render any assistance, and
as the landlady weighed not less than
three hundred pounds, / excused her
from attendance, and acted as nv own |
usher. She furnished me with the re-
mains of tallow dip, and giving me a
few general directions concerning the
location of the room, babe me good
night.
/ fortunately stumbled into the right
place, for hasty glance revealed the |
had just time, however,
% bolt the door when the light went out,
md it remained for the moon, which
,hone brightly into the window, to light
ne to bed. and to reveal the location of
he other bed, on which the stranger
slept.
/ am not naturally nervous, but I con-
ess that / would much rather have
Known who my roommate was and the
bought of what he might be kept me
wake for some time. To add to my
the wind had risen, and it
vhistled through the cracks and around
he gables of the old mansion with a /.
weird and mournful cadence which was 4
my thing but soothing to my tired and
lready overweight nerves.
AS 1 lay there the sounds momentari- :,
7 increased in hideousness. thought =
+ all the stories had heard of the ours .
d old rookery, and as / did so the '
ounds became more and more like the u
hrieks of the damned, or the wall of IL
)st soul. / finally became so nervous y
nat resolved to arise and go below. "
But now, as / rose in my bed for this
urpose, / found myself subjected to a
ew source of annoyance. The mock /"
lg wind. which had appeared to me q
lore than once to syllable human sounds u
anne at length upon my ear, distinctly a
har9ed with tones which could not be u
1t was the hard, suppressed o
reathing of man. l listened still, and
came anew, stronger and more fully g
pom my ear. It was like the thick res
irations of an apoplectic. Whence it II
roceeded / knew not; but that it was
ear me was certain. A suspicion of M
,bbery, possible assassination, flashed et
pom me, but was instantly discarded as
oreign to the people among whom was IN
aveling. &c
The moonlight now fell upon the cur ge
lined bed opposite to me, and / saw IA
e tattered drapery move, as if the PC
anne upon which it was suspended nl
ere agitated. watched, | confess, Ia
18th more peculiar feelings of interest. 10
vas not alarmed, but an unaccountable M
lxiety erept over me. At length the re
Irtain parted, and naked human leg Tn
as protruded through its folds; the I'M
OF came with dumb, dead-hke sound lnl
the floor, resting there, it seemed to an
p at least half a minute before the | po