Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-06-14

tenant OF No. III. welham Square haa
Just given me notice Of his intention 70
depart from il. and IL occurred 70 me
that It would be interesting 20 follow
what seemed "a be the family destiay.
and try living in the house my
self. 20 say nothing OF the fact
that II was admirably suited to
my requirements. felt fully
capable Of confronting any number oil
| ghosts. and my wife was neither timid
nor superstitious. Accordingly, Of the
beginning OF the new year we cstab-
lished ourselves. with our two babies
and nv sister Ellen. who lived with US,
in wclham Square. greatly delighted
with the proximity Of my work, with
| the solid masonry. spacious apartments.
and roony passages of our new abode,
ard with the remnant OF eighteenth-cen-
fury fashion and grandeur which seemed
to pervadc the neighborhood. And 10
Welham Square we lived prosperously.
without any kind Of disturbance, for
upward Of six months.
In the course Of July my wife and
the children left home to spend q cou-
pie Of months at the seaside. | in
tended to join them when the time
came to take my holiday, and in the
mean time stayed in London. going daily
to my work. Ellen stayed on with me
10 keep house in the absence Of her SIS
| ter-in-law.
One evening four or FIVE days after
my wifc's departure was sitting in
my study. large room with door
leading into the drawing-room, and a
heavy curtain hung over my side OF the
door. 1t was past IL; my sister
had retired half an hour before,
and the two maids who were
left in the house were presumably
in bed and asleep. was, therefore,
surprised to hear heavy and somewhat
slow footsteps-apparently those of a
large Understanding the stairs from
the ground floor. The front door |
knew was locked and chained, nor had
! heard anyone ring. The steps paused
for moment OH the landing outside
my door, and then heard the intruder
proceed TO 60 up the next flight Of
stairs, leading TO the bedrooms on the
second floor. | sprang up. seized a
candle, and opened the door. AS |
stood on the threshold Of my room |
seemed TO hear footsteps, as of man
heavily mounting the stairs at the top
of the flight leading up from my room.
But though held the light above
my head could see no one.
Everything wore its usual as
pect. walked quickly up the stairs,
but nobody was visible. searched
all the empty rooms, but with no re-
suit. called up Ellen and the maids,
but none Of them had seen or heard
anything. | am ashamed to say that |
made specially rigorous investigation
Of a large room at the back of the house,
which we used for a night nursery, and
which tradition declared to have been
the abode Of my Inflated kinsman,
Ronald Massey. then went down
stairs and completed my search of the
entire premises. Everything was in
order, and at the end Of All hour ! went
back to my study and my book, rather
annoyed with myself for having spent
so much time in SO fruitless an explora-
ton, and determined to think no more
about the matter.
II was the next night after this that
| suddenly started up very wide-awake
with q conviction that somebody was
in my bedroom. | seemed to hear still
ringing in my ears the sound Of long
drawn human sigh. sat up, trembling
with excitement, and looked about in
in the dim twilight Of dawn in late
July. | could see no ore. but | did
not feel alone. The feeling of suspense
became unbearable. ! jumped out Of
bed and walked with nervous determi-
nation to the window, where | turn
ed round and faced the room, such
light as there was being behind me. /
saw no one. Again | walked across
the room, and as ! did so | felt unmis-
takably that wave of air that meets one
walking in the streets when some one
on foot passes close to him in the OPP
posite direction. | seemed to feel the
light Craze of apassing substance against
my night-gown. was dimly conscious
of faint, indescribable odor, calling
up recollections of time of life long
but indefinitely passed. And while |
stood fixed to the spot with surprise
and horror, my heart beating vi
olently, | heard distinctly four long,
heavy steps passing from me to-
ward the window. The floor creaked
under their weight. The next instant
felt that was alone. But it was not
until long after the morning was as
light as noon that fell asleep again.
Iawoke much troubled in mind, and
doubling whether | should not. like
my fathers, be compelled to leave this
uncanny dwelling; but when in some
measure restored by breakfast, de-
termined TO say nothing to my sister
at present. but wait and see whether
the situation would in any way develop
itself. My resolution was fated to be
put TO the test sooner than expected.
! did not get home that evening till
close upon dinner-time. When | en-
tered the drawing-room Ellen greeted
me with, "0h. Edward what do you
think has happened? Skies is dead ="
Now, Skies was gray parrot belong
ing to my wife. He was so called be-
cause when he first came to uS it was
affirmed Of him, perhaps rather libel
lously, that, like the hero OF Mr.. Caver-
ley's poem, he habitually swore."
He certainly did from time to time
blaspheme somewhat unreservedly.
was secretly not altogether sorry
TO hear of his demise. So | answered
with much composure, "Did the cat
eat him?"
no" said Ellen, "he died in the
most horrible commissions.
went up TO get ready for dinner,
thinking more Of how to prevent my
wife from replacing Skies by another
clamorous bird than of the manner of
the lost ones death, but in the course
Of our meal il occurred to me that his
fate was an odd one.
How did Skies come to have con-
yulsions?" asked.
- NIl- "a .... -.