Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-12-11
The Stutp Teller.
BEHIND THE TAPESTRY.

Ten years ago was in the first sorrow OF
my widowhood. I was childless, too; and
when the grave closed over my husband l
thought there was no place left for me in the
world.
Twas rich, young and my friends and my
own reflection in the glass told me that
was beautiful.
I did not care for the people who fiatter-
ed and made much Of me, but l turned,
even in the first days of my trouble, to one
friend.
She, too, was young and beautiful. We
were schOolfelloWs; we were engaged at the
same time; we were married in the same
month of the same year.
During the three years of my married
life we had seen little of each other, but
when my husband died, and Mary Clifford
wrote to me tenderly out of her full heart,
I answered back her love.
She asked me to stay with her and l
went.
I stayed with the Cliffords couple of
months. During that time the house was
quiet, visitors few-they escheWed, compa-
ny for my sake.
At the end of two months left them, COM
forted and helped, and with many prom
ises of a return by-and-by.
Circumstances, however, too varied ana
too many to mention, prevented that second
visit taking place for a couple of years. AT
the end of that time great longing came
over me to see Mary Clifford again. | must
write to her and promise visit. L dig So.
By return of post 1 got short but char
acteristic reply:
DEAREST HONOR: Of course long to see
you, but unfortunately the house is full Large
as it is, it is crammed from cellar to attic.
"My dear I don't want to refuse you. do
long to see you. Will you sleep in the tapestry
room? for, of course, it is empty. l dare not
put any BODY else there but dontt think you,
Honor, will be afraid of the ghost. If the Tap
estay room will do, come. and thousand well
comes. can put up your maid. Your loving
friend, MARY CLIFFORD.
To this letter made short answer:
II do not believe in the ghost. The Tap
estry room will do beautifully. Expect me
tomorrow"
The next evening I arrived at Aspen's
Valein time for dinner. The Tapestry room
looked charming. I fell in love with it at
once, and vowed laughingly that the ghost
and would make friends.
Ny maid, however, looked grave over
my jesting remarks; it was plain that she
believed in supernatural visitations.
The tapestry room was quite away from
the rest of the house-it was at the extreme
end of the wing. No other bedrooms were
in the wing.
Altogether, this wing of the old house
seemed dead. Visitors only came to it out
of curiosity they paid brief visits, and pre-
ferred doing so in broad daylight.
Old as the other rooms in the wing look
ed, the Tapestry room bore quite the palm
for ancient appearance.
The furniture was all of the blackest oak !;
the bedstead the usual fOur-pOster upon
which our ancestors loved to stretch them
selves. But the curious feature of the room,
that which gave it its name, was the tap
estry. Not an inch of the walls was to be
seen; they were hung completely with
very ancient and very faded tapestry. One
Dame Clifford, of long, long bygone days,
had worked.it, with the aid of her maidens.
She had come to an untimely end on the
very day on which the great work Of her
life was completed.
1t does not matter to this story what be-
came of the proud and fair dame, but it
was her ghost which was said to haunt the
wing, and the Tapestry chamber in partic-
ular. Warden, my maid, as she helped me
undress, looked quite pale with terror.
'They do say, ma'am, as Dame Clifford
appears with her head tucked under her
arm, and threads from the old tapestry
hanging to her skeleton fingers. She's
dressed in gray silk, that don't rustic new
er bit, though tits so thick it might stand
all alone, they do say. 'Tis awful lonesome
for you madam, to sleep here alone and 1'll
stay with you with pleasure if it comes to
that, though my nerves arn't none OF the
strongest"
l thanked Warden, however, and assured
her that was not in the least afraid; and
she, with well-relieved face, left me alone.
I heard her footsteps echoing down the cor
rdor-they died away. l was now out of
reach of all human help, for in this distant
room, in this distant wing, no possible
sounds could reach any other inhabitants of
Aspen's Vale.
think 1 have implied that was brave.
In my girlhood, in my short married life,
even in the sad depression of my earl wild
oWhood, I had never known physical fear
nevertheless, when the last of Warden's foot
steps echoed out and died, and that profound
stiffness followed which can be oppressive,
| had curious sensation. 0
did not call it fear, / did not know it
for that grim and pale-faced tyrant; but it
made me uncomfortable and caused nay
heart to beat irregularly.
The sensation was this-I felt that / was
not alone.
Of course it was fancy; and what had l
to do with fancy?
determined to Danish this uncomfortable
feeling from nv mind. And stirring the
fire to cheerful blaze, l drew one Of the
black oak chairs near it and sat down.
Warden had looked so pale and frighten-
ed before she left me, that out of considera-
ton for her feelings | had allowed her to
leave the jewels l had worn that evening
on the dressing table.
There they lay, set of very valuable
brilliants. There was an old fashioned
mirror over the mantel-piece, and as | sat
by the fire l saw the reflection Of my dia-
monds in the glass. AS l noticed their
sparkle, again that strange sensation re-
turned, this time more strongly, this time
with cold shiver. was not alone.
Who was in the Tapestry chamber? Was
it the ghost? Was that story true, after
all? OF course 1 did not believe it. |
laughed aloud as the idea came to me. 1
felt that l was getting quite silly and ner-
vous. There was nothing for me but to
get into bed as quickly as possible.
and go over to the old-fashioned fOur-pOster,
the glass over my head. 1t was hung in
such way as to reveal a large portion of
the room, and | now saw, not the diamonds,
but something else.
In the folds of the dim and old-world
tapestry saw something move and glitter.
| looked again; there was no miStaking
tit was an eye, q human eye, looking
tixedly at me through a hole in the canvas.
Now / knew why | felt that | was not
alone.
There was some one hidden between the
tapestry hangings and the wall of the cham
Der. Some one-not ghost. That eye was
human, or had dnever looked on human eye
before. l was alone with thief, perhaps
with worse, and gems of immense value
law within his reach. 1 was absolutely
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