Daily south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1881-18??, 1884-10-03
THE BLUE CHAMBER.

A small party of ladies and gentle
men engaged in conversation were t.
ting after d nnerin tho spacious grounds
of an ancient manor.
The doors Of the mansion stood wide
open. The evening breeze whispered
and rustled through the branches of
the huge lindcns, the shadows grew
longer and longer, ink-black beneath
tie leafy roof OF boughs, lighter on the
patches of turf.
1t was mild summer evening, still,
yet full OF strange, mysterious sounds;
the soft brEze Dated into the doors,
bearing with IL the heavy fragrance of
the flowers. In the gathering dusk tho
members of the gro Up could scarcely
see each other.
Conversation languished, passing
from subject TO subject no one seemed
inclined to enter upon lengthy discus
SION.
Suddenly one of the party began to
relate an anecdote Of ghost he had
seen on an evening like this The plan
was succ ssful. Several tales followed,
but the young daughter of the house,
Anna. continued TO ask for more. II
was so amusing to hear these marvel
Gus stories, imagine the white and
black spec ers, moving noiselessly in
dense shadow or dazzling moonlight.
feel strange horror chill her blood and
then lean against her mother, finding
safety in her embrace. She could not
endure Candidate Holst's way of taking
these stories; his scornful comments
tore ugly rents in the dreamy veil in
which she wrapped herself
lie was medical student and had
witnessed many similar things in the
hospital. IL wasowing TO sickness acting
upon different individuals. Fit her the
patient. when his imagination was eN-
cited, mistook towel, on which the
m ION was shining, Tor phantom, and
the shrieking of the wind in old houses
for ghostly cries and the clank of chains,
OF the whole affair was pure hallucna-
ton. A person IN healthy, normal
condition never saw ghoss.
The whole party opposed his v'ew
There was surely some truth at the bot
tom Of all these tales. The re was q
thousand things which could not be ex-
planned by natural causes.
Anna was warmly Sc onded by
Holst's younger brother Hector, who
had arrived al the hou.e with him
this morning; though was influenced
more by courtesy TO the pretty young
girl than because he felt any lear of
ghosts. He could not bear to have his
brother appear to place himself in such
contemptuous opposition TO pair of
such beautiful bright eyes, so he fought
a stout battle against his own convic-
tioDs.
''rbe history Of such things" said the
Candidate, "is contrary TO sound sense
and reason. They are mis- rible relics
OF the darkness of the Middle Ages,
which can only check progress. 1t
would be an utterly idotc proceeding
for dead folk to walk abroad aud terrify
the living. Tradition carries such tales
from generation 10 generation, and il
not subjected tO severe scientific criti-
cism they retain their vitality and ARE
believed. 1t is the same kind of super
stition as that which makes simple folk
afraid to SIT thirteen A table. In nine
ca es out of ten, nothing happens, and
there isn't even one person who thinks
Of the matter. In the tenth, perhaps,
one of the company dies, which is GER
tsinlY in accordance with the course Of
nature, Instantly it is said. You
remember; you remember, we sat thir-
teen at table that day. So the super
stition obta ms nourishment for a long
time No, thank God, the fresh breeze
of knowledge will sweep away all such
things like dank, unwholesome TO s."
'Nes, we old people must be pardon
ed" the mistress of the house gently
inierposed; 1--WE don't come so much
In contact with the fresh breeze of SCI
ence as perhaps we ought. We I've,
they say, wholly in tradition, and this
thrives nowhere so well as In an old
manor like this. 1t is very dit cult to
release ourselves from the ideas in
which we were reared, and which our
ancestors believed. l am far from
what is called superstiious; have
never Deen III COnIdCI Wltn JneSe
strange spirits-yet not for all the
world would sleep in the blue
chamber"
81 he blue chamberr cried the whole
party in tones OF astonishment.
'Yes, we have here, as in so many
old manor houses, room that Is said
to be haunted. Many hundred years
ago man was murdered there, and
since then ghosts have taken possession
of it. The servants talk of strange
sounds and sights; none OF them like
TO pass it after dark"
was sitting thinking that | Should
be delighted to occupy real haunted
chamber, sad Hoist quietly at is a
sin to have it remain unused forever
Perhaps / can help dispsl this foo ISL
superstition, for / am convinced l shall
sleep undisturbed.
At first the mistress of the house
would not listen to such plan, bur
when the whole party urged and AIMS
clasred her arms beseechingly arounC
her neck she OF last yielded.