The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1884-11-15
A GHOST STORY.
Mysterious Noises and Sepulchral
Utterances.
A Haunted Portrait--How and by Whom
the Ghost Was Laid-A Grateful
Maiden and a Happy De-
nOuement.

We moved into house, mother,
Teddy, Rosaleen and l. l was Ursula
Despard, and Teddy, my fourteen-year-
old brother. The rent was so reason
able that mother and fastened to sign
the papers, fearful that some one would
secure the bargain.
No. 2,018 was just like the other
houses in block, which is sufficiently
described in the term ''a row of Phila-
delphia bricks" We were all going to
be very happy there, we knew. The
amount of rent was SO much less than
we had expected to pay that it would
enable us to supply some much-coveted
articles for Rosaleen's trousseau. Rosa
leen, our beauty, was to be married to
naval officer; we had only so much
money, and naval officer-well one
knows the excessive style implied in
those words!
We congratulated ourselves upon Sc
curing such nice establishment from
which to launch our paragon. The large
room on the first floor, which had evil
IDENTIFY been once used as an office or
library, we converted into a sitting
room, where, in the evening, we
gathered with our work or books, where
we held council, or made ourselves easy
for talk. Here, too, we wrote our
letters and received intimate friends.
1t was our home room-the one room in
the house where we felt perfectly free
and unconstrained.
Residents "taking off, was but three
he OF MI %
sewing and doing and fixing caused us
TO keep late hours. On Saturday night
fatigued by week of continued strug-
CLING with silks and satins, we left Rosa
leen to finish letter to her future 'slord
and master, Lieutenant Harry De Wire
remember looking at the clock in my
bedroom, which marked near APP
proach to midnight. How long l had
been asleep know not, but it could not
have been long, when 1 was startled
from sleep by succession of terrible
screams. heard Rosaleen tearing up
stairs. | rushed out to meet her, and
she fell fainting into my arms.
When Rosaleen recovered, she told us
that she had about finished her letter,
when she became conscious of a most
unearthly, hollow groan, which she
could not compare with anything NOR
tai. 1t did not suggest crash, or any,
thing loud, but it had deep, hollow,
soul-thrilling quality, which penetrated
every bone in her body. Rosaleen,
being courageous, tried to convince her
self that it was imagination, and so re-
manned. A few moments of silence was
followed by an awful Gathering of
chains. The element of noise entered
into this sound; when Rosaleen started
to rush from the room she heard,
distinctly as she ever heard in her life,
the words: poison them!'
Rosaleen was not superstitious, there
fore was surprised to observe the de-
pressing effect this incident had upon
her bright temperament She insisted it
was portent of evil. The rest of us
PERSISTED in making light of the sounds,
until she gave us to understand that it
was no joking matter with her.
Monday night Teddy came home very
late, and man-like went to the cup
board, obtaining some cake, then enter
ing the sitting-room, began to eat. He
went to Harry's picture for some cause.
Again was l aroused from slumber as
Teddy broke into my room, crying:
20, Lula! Come down stairs! The
picture spoke to me!'
l slipped on wrapper, and together
we entered the room, The gas was but
dimly burning, and the customary rat
tie of the street had ceased. The deep
tone of neighboring clock measured
out it's midnight strokes. Teddy was
CHASTITY pale, and felt myself shivering
with dread of some underlined fear.
As the last stroke died away / recog-
nized the unearthly moan. described by
Rosaleen as SO entirely different from
mundane noises. Every muscle in my
body was quivering with intense excite
ment, and q cold perspiration broke
out upon my forehead.
The mysterious noises seemed to pro-
coed from the picture of Lieutenant
Harry De Wire, which hung quite low
on the wall suspended by a long cord.
Rosaleen directed the hanging. as i
strongly suspected for certain osculatory
performances not unknown to girls in
love. As I drew near the portrait a
hollow voice, with melancholy cadence,
walled out:
..De Wirep'
I sank to the door in dead faint, and
when l opened my eyes found myself in
~ reom upstairs, surrounded BY aux-