The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1882-03-09
[From Blackwood's Magazine.1
THE OPEN DOOR.
I Inscribed to a dear and happy Memory.l
CONTINUED.

Oouf y Ou ulC LII ~ WIZ
$ "Yes, l am in it, Doctor | though
;. I had better speak to you. Of courS
/: you are treating Roland all right
but the boy is not raving, he is 6
sane as you or me. It's all true"
'As sane as -I-or you. | neve
thought the boy insane. He's &C
: cerebral excitement, fever. | don
know what you've got. There's some
thing very queer about the look o
your eyes"
Come said l, you can't put u
all to bed, you know. You had bette
listen and hear the symptoms in full.
The doctor shrugged his shoulders
but he listened to me patiently. HI
did not believe a word of the story
that was clear; but he heard it al
from beginning to end. MY dea
fellow" he said, ''the boy told me jus
the same. It is an epidemic Wher
one person falls victim to this sort
Of thing, it's as safe as can be
there's always two or three"
''Then how do you account for it ?
I said:
"Oh, account for it!-that's differ.
ent matter; there's no accounting for
the freaks our brains are subject to
If it's delusion; if it's some trick OF
the echoes or the winds-some pho
netic disturbance or other"
'Come with me tonight, and judge
for yourself" I said.
Upon this he laughed aloud, then
said, "That's not such a bad Idea; but
it would ruin me forever if it were
known that John Simson was ghost
hunting
There it is said L; you dart down
an us who are unlearned with your
phonetic disturbances, but you daren' t
examine what the thing really is for
fear Of being laughed at. That's
sciencew
''It's not science-it's common
sense" said the doctor. "The thing
has delusion on the front of it. 1t is
encouraging an unwholesome ten
dency even to examine. What good
could come of it? Even if I am con-
vinced, [ shouldn't believe"
II should have said so yesterday;
and [ don't want you to be convinced
or to believe said l. IF you prove
it to be delusion, [ shall be very
much obliged too, for one. Come;
somebody must go with me"
"You are cool" said the doctor
you've disabled this poor fellow of
yours, and made him-on that point
"a lunatic for life, and now you want
to disable me- But for once, I'll do
it. To save appearance, if you'll give
me bed, I'll come over after my last
rounds
It was agreed that / should meet
him at the gate, and that we should
visit the scene of last nights occur
rences before we came to the house,
so that nobody might be the wiser.
1t was scarcely possible to hope that
the cause of Bagley's sudden illness
should not somehow steal into the
knowledge of the servants at least,
and it was better that all should be
done as quietly as possible. The day
seemed to me very long one. | had
to spend certain part of it with Ro-
land, which was terrible ordeal for
me-for what could say to the boy?
The improvement continued, but he
was still in very precarious state,
and the trembling vehemence with
which he turned to me when his
mother left the room, filled me with
alarm. "Father?" he said quietly.
"Yes, my boy; l am giving my best
attention to it-all is being done that
l can do. I have not come to any
conclusion yet. | am neglecting
nothing you said," cried. What |
could not do was to give his active
mind any encouragement to dwell
upon the mystery. 1t was hard
predicament, for some satisfaction had
to be given him. He looked at me
very wistfully, with the great blue
eyes which gazed so large and brilliant
out of his white and wan face. You
must trust me- I said. Yes, father.
Father knows-father knows" he
said to himself, as if to soothe some
inward doubt. [ left him as soon as
| could. He was about the most pre-
cious thing | had on earth, and his
health my first thought; but yet some
how, in the excitement of this other
subject, put it aside, and preferred
not to dwell upon Roland, which was
the most curious part of it all.
That night at eleven | met Simson
at the gate. He had come by train,
and | let him in gently by myself. l
had been SO much absorbed in the
coming experiment that [ passed the
ruins in going to meet HIM, almost
,,,;+bo,,+ fbo1~b+ ;f Won coo 11nJo,
stand that. | had my lantern; and
he showed me coil Of taper which
he had ready for use. There is
nothing like light" he said in his
scoffing tone. 1t was a very still
night, scarcely sound, but not so
dark. We could keep the path with
out difficulty as we went along. As
we approached the spot we could hear
low moaning, broken occasionally
by a bitter cry. perhaps that is
your voice, said the doctor; Il thought
it must be something Of the kind.
That's poor brute caught in some of
these internal traps of yours; you'll
find it among the bushes somewhere.
[ said nothing. | felt no particular
fear, but triumphant satisfaction in
what was to follow. | led him to the
spot where Bagley and l had, stood on
the previous night. All was silent as
a winter night could be-so silent
that we heard far off the sound of the
horses in the stables, the shutting OF
a window at the house. .Simsor
lighted his taper and went peering
about, poking into all the corners
We looked like two conspirators lying
in wait for some unfortunate travel
ler; but not sound broke the quiet
The moaning had stopned before W.