The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1882-04-28
THE HAUNTED INN.

The HAUNTED INN.
Many years ago, long before the day
of railroads, there stood. in the then
wild mountain regions of Western Penn
sylvania-a large. rambling, tumble
down building, which was used. at the
time of which l speak, rs an inn. II
had been built many years before by q
visionary immigrant from the old world,
in imitation OF his ancestral home.
Why such an out-of-thc-way spot had
been selected for a home no one ever
pretended 10 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 n
broken heart, his utter want of practical
training totally uniting him for wreSt-
ing a living from the barren hillsidcs
which he had selected for home. His
wife soon followed him to the grave,
and his children scattered. no one knew
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 i'll search of the hid
den treasures OF the carlh.
When / visited the spot a small vii
lage had sprung up around the old
house. and that had been taken posses
sion of, and the few rooms not utterly
ruined by decay had been converted in-
to Il so-callcd 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, iad gained an unsa-
vory reputation, and in the absence of
other tenants many-tongued rumor had
pcopled it with ghosts.
It's reputation had reached me before
visited the place, but As | had always
felt an inexpressiblc longing TO sleep in
haunted room and make the personal
acquaintance of some of the dissatisfied
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.
/ was somewhat taken aback, howev-
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
see if he could not find peg for me to
hang up nv 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 landady weighed not less than
three hundred pounds, / excused her
| from attendance, and acted rs my 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 a hasty glance revealed the
shake-down. j had just time, however,
TO bolt the door when the light went out,
and it remained for the moon, which
shone brightly into the window, to light
me to bed, and to reveal the location OF
the other bed, on which the stranger
slept.
| am not naturally nervous, but l con-
fess that l would much rather have
known who my roommate was and the
thought of what he might be kept me
awake for some time. To add TO my
nervousness the wind had risen, and il
whistled through the cracks and around
the gables of the old mansion with 8
weird and mournful cadence which was
any thing but soothing TO my tired ant
already overweight nerves.
As lay there the sounds momentari
" increased in hidcousness. | thought
of all the stories / had heard of the ours
cd old roOkery, and rs i did so thu
sounds became more and more like thu
shrieks of the damned, or the wall OF :
lost soul finally became so nervous
that resolved TO arise and go below.
But now, as / rose in my bed for thi
purpose. found myself subjected TO ;
new source of annoyance. The mock
in~ wind, which had appeared to M
more than once TO syllable human sound
came at length upon my ear, distinct.
charged with tones which could not b.
mistaken. 1t was the hard, suppressed
, breathing of man. ] listened still, ant
it came anew, stronger and more full
i. upon nv ear. Ii was like the thick res
pirations of an apoplectic. Whence
proceeded knew not; but that 1t wa
near me | was certain. suspicion
robbery, possible assassination, flashe'
upon me, but was instantly discarded a
foreign to the people among whom wa
= travelling.
The moonlight now fell upon the cur
tanned bed opposite to me, and l say
the tattered drapery move, rs If Tn
frame upon which it was suspende
, were agitated. / watched, ] confess
with more peculiar feelings of interest
Twas not alarmed, but an unaccountabl
anxiety crept over me. At length tn
curtain parted, and a naked human lie
was protruded through its folds; tn
foot came with dumb, dead-like SCUM
to the floor, resting there, it seemed I
me, at least half a minute before tn
BODY to which it belonged was disclose
to nv view. Slowly, then, pallid an
notwithstanding figure emerged frol
the couch, and stood with its stark lines
ment clearly drawn against the ding
curtains behind it. 1t appeared to b
balancing itself for moment, and the
began to move along from the bed. Br
there was sometime horribly upnatur'