, 1883-12-08

| ana ClaSpeQ the hand around tine
handle of the knife, and pushed the
table closer until it held the elbow
of the dead man in such a position
as would keep the arm from falling
again. Then he gathered up the
cards, put them into his pocket, took
up his hat, and in an instant the
whole scene had disappeared, and l
fell back in the bed and knew no
more until morning.
might give a long description of
my terrors and work up a thrilling
tale, but as 1 am simply narrating
facts 1 must say that 1 was fright
ened was more surprised than
anything else, and the whole took
place so suddenly that had not
time to get frightened until it was
all over, and when / awOke in the
morning it had almost passed from
my mind, as l thought it but dream.
But when l rose and went into the
room saw tEat the table stood by
the side of the lounge and all my
photographs and papers were on the
bureau. still did not attach great
importance to that, even, as l had
walked in my sleep some when l was
young, and in the press Of business
the next day it went entirely out Of
my mind.
That night I was reused in pre-
Cisely the same manner as before,
and saw the same thing precisely.
In the morning the table stood by
the sofa again, and all the things
that had been on it were on the
bureau. This surprised me a good
deal, and / must confess to feeling a
little "crawlly" about it; still, much
occupation during the dav almost eff
faced the impression before night.
The third evening l spentwith some
friends, and returned about IL
o'clock, and almost Immediately re-
tired, to go through exactly the
same experience; and then in reality
l began to feel uncomfortable and
not to care about getting to bed. l
determined to fix things so nobody
rcOuld move that table. l did not
believe in supernatural agency, and
l took a rope that had been around
my trunk and tied that table fast to
the leg Of the bureau and tied more
knots than l could have united in
haitian hour, piled some things on
the top and went to bed, leaving the
gas fully turned on. l awoke next
morning after having been the un-
willing witness Of it all again, and
the rope lay on the floor and all the
things with it.
declared to myself that l would
not sleep in that room another night,
though did not think spirits had
anything to do with it. l called a
chambermaid and asked her if she
could not sleep in the room with me.
She said that it was against the
rules, but that she would speak to
the hOusekeeper. So Katy did, and
the hOusekeeper came down. l had
a conversation with her and asked
her If any one had ever complained
in any way Of that room. She hesi-
tated, and finally said that a sick
lady once had insisted on being
changed to another room, but did not
offer any explanations. l did not
either, but decided not to give up
without one more trial, and this
night determined not to fall asleep
at all, and so l sat up reading, or
rather trying to read, until nearly
u and then l did not quite feel as
though l wanted to remain in the
same room, and l desired as much
protection as the alcOve room would
give, though there were butcurtains
to separate the rooms.
So l sat up in bed there for about
half an hour. All in an instant the
whole thing was before me again,
and l did feel somewhat queer and
chilly, but l watched the progress Of
the whole tragedy again, and, as l
decided, for the last time.
AS soon as was feasible in the
morning l sent for Mr.. Adams, the
clerk, to come up, and asked him if
he would tell me whether any muir
der had ever been committed in that
room, and he declared there had not;
but when 1 insisted on finding out
whether a tragedy Of any kind had
been enacted there, he admitted that
once a man had committed suicide
in that room. He had been sick and
was desponlent, and so had taken
his life.
1 felt sure, then, and told him so,
that that man had been murdered,
and under just such circumstances
as had seen. Mr.. Adams could not
give the details Of the position Of the
| body OF the supposed suicide.
was then assigned to another
room, and as long as remained l
saw no more of my ghostly vision.
1 promised Mr.. Adams to say moth
ing about it, not that we believed in
ghosts, either Of us, but for the hO-
tel's sake; and l went my way to
Europe after a few days, and re-
mained there some years. On my
return simply passed through New
York and had almost forgotten the
whole affair. After several years
residence in America again, and af-
ter travelling the whole length and
breadth Of our country twice, it Is
quite natural to suppose that should
! ho,,o foruottan all ahout H. One daV