Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-10-18
THE EAST WING.

mere IeIdle the SlOfE OF 4 dream ana
Its effect. The cause will probably be
accounted for in years to come, when
dreams will be considered rational
subject of conversation. 1t may be
read with interest by those who fire.
quented San Francisco society in early
. days, as the actors We're movers in the
little circle that then existed.
The house in which the events took
place stands on the north side of Clay
Street Hill. Since / lived there (ten
years ago. the place has been re-
modelled; but in those days it was
-dreary looking edifce, and the street
was cut through to only block beyond,
and was unpaved, which made it very
rock, and rough looking for a place
which was considered quite fine for
those days. Moreover. the house had
been standing there fifteen years when
I went into it, making it seem quite
like an old family residence. So no
one thought it at all strange that there
should be both q ghost and history
connected with it.
AsIsaid before, after left the whole
place was remodeled, and, l should have
added, particularly the east wing. This
part of the house once had windows,
and was entirely covered with running
vines, and almost hidden by the broad
spreading branches of an old tree-a
tree you would expect to see in grave
yard, sheltering tomb, but certainly
not in the garden of a family residence.
And, indeed. it used to seem to me as if
=. the eccentric person who lived there
had chosen to attach to his home the
last resting place of the family bones.
To me, at least, who knows the his
tory of the place, and had even been
one of the actors who have given the
neighborhood Il dark reputation. this
corner of the house is tomb, and can
never be made to look like anything
else.
Before going further 1 must state
some embarrassing events in my own
life. the most painful of which was the
sudden and mysterious disappearance
of nv mother before I was vet two
years old. My fathers life seemed
ruined by this loss, and, regardless of
the fact that his only child would be
left alone if he did not try to live for
her, he seemed willing to die, and l can
only remember him as an invalid for
whom / felt some awe and a great deal
of respect, and whom never for a
moment, even after his death, could |
possibly disobey.
The house in which I lived was some
distance over the sand hills from the
one of which l write: but from my nur-
sery window could see distinctly the
old Clay Street barn as / then de-
lighted to- call it. And when / became
weary of watching the bay, or the ships
sailing through the Golden Gate, or the
Jog, which, to my imaginative mind,
seemed like some huge genie that would
atslast take me up and along with it, 1
would turn my eyes to the old house on
the hill. and weave strange stories to
myself about the dark corners and
weird rooms which l felt sure formed
its interior.
Its owner. John Finger, was week
" visitor at our home, and was, with
the exception of Briggs, my fathers
LAWYER and my subsequent guardian,
the only person who ever sat at table
with us in my fathers house. From
childhood | felt an instructive fear of
this person, and, much to my fathers
disgust, / always insisted upon running
away whenever he appeared.
Lean remember Yet the awful thoughts
that used to come to me whenever,
while standing al my window hugging
my doll. would see him come out and
shlft the door behind him. 1t was the
particular manner in which he did this
that frightened me. for it always seemed
I'd me that something or some one held
II ON the inside, for ne would frequently
reopen it and shut it again. as If he
were augrs. But perhaps the door was
heavy or fanciful, but always held my
doll a little closer, and would whisper:
I'D rather be carried off by the fog
than be shut up in that house-wouldn't
you. dearaa''
As became older, the fear actually
grew upon me that some time, in some
inexplicabfe manner. should wake up
and find myself shut in behind that
heavy door, and, at last, when my father
died and left in his will the wish that L
should marry MIR. Finger, it seemed
- ~a+....ol To thix,l of him MY huS-