Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1886-09-08

Instantly a gust Of air blew the camille
out. And as we stood there in the cold
we distinctly heard-a groau. It was
no fancy. 1t was Ions -drawn, wall
ing moan of inexpressibIe horror and
pathos. 1t died away in despairing
cadences. 1t seemed like the sorrow
full lament of soul in torment. As we
stood there grasping each other S
hands, with our hearts throbbiDg in
great pulsations, it came again. o. the
horror oft! It seemed ~ b., in the
room and close to us. The cold was
deathly, the silence broken only by that
weird and awful moan. Once more it
rose and fell-and somehow or other
the next moment we found ourselves
in the kitchen. with shaking limbs and
ashen faces, relighting our extinguisll-
ed candles. Then we looked at each
other.
THAT was no fancy, Will,'' said my
brother.
'.Fancy-no,'' 1 replied, my teeth
o ch' sa;ngg T.; in a. my head. What are
For my brother had relit the candle
and was moving away.
I'm going to have another look, -
he said.
"But, perhaps" I suggested, s'the-
the ghost extlnguishes the light
''Iu give him another chance" said
my brother. cody. Come along, YOU
cbattering IDIOT l was too shattered
to resent this unflattcring description,
and with a quaking heart I followed
his foolhardy footsteps. This time he
opened the door more cautiously, and
we entered with every nerve strung to
its utmost tension. Holding the candle
on high, we looked around. Pure
vacuity. And the sound came not
again. "Poor: old 4 chap" said nv
brother. ''He can't stand tue light.
Shall | blow it out agaiD?'
If YOU d." said I. '.But. iok.
ing arart. who is going to sleep 10 this
room? I'm not. for one. And this
would naturally be the governors
rOOm."
NV brother was struck.
You re right" he said; 1--WE must
get to the bottom of this Wen find it
out somehow. Aud row I think W..
may 20 to bed. Ill just look round.''
lie examined the room carefully.
but there was nothing to be seen
neither was there anything t. be heard,
So we gave up the thing for tina,
night and went to bed. l could not
sleep a wink. My nerves were COM
pIetely unstrung. After night Of tos-
ing and fever, [ awoke unrefreshecl
and nightly pleased to tinl myself in
broad daylight.
At noon that day l had to run the
gauntlet of my friends. And, am
bound to say, lied like Annanias. A.
the day grew on grew more and
more uncomfortable and fairly dread
ed the ordeal of the ensuing MI ht. AS
before we dine.l in town. 1t was a
fine night and we took a walk around
the square before turning in. The
houses Ill looked cheerful with their
brig hit lights. Ours alone was black
and gloomy. We agreed that at 2 o.
clock precisely We would again visit
the haunted room. There was no dan
ger of our going to sleep tonight. We
were painfully wide awake. All sorts
of wild conjectures crossed my mind
as wesat by the kitchen fire, waiting
for the appointed hour. Perhaps some
maniac had taken up his abode in the
house and roved about at night utter
ing that awful noise. Or perhaps SC me
willy person had fancy to live rent
free and had adopted this method of
frightening the tenants away. In any
case the effect was sufficiently horrible
Tue shock to onos nervous s1stem Was
the same. whatever the cause.
The whisky ebbcd fast. but not 50
fast as my courage. My brother, COO!
and practical, was deep in thought.
He was not likely to indulge the wild
speculations that crossed my brain. He
was seeking some material explanation
OF the weird phenomenon. At last the
hour began to sound. At the first
stroke my brother rose and took up the
candle. l had prov ded myself with
second candle Oh my own account. We
examined the rooms on the ground floor
without success. We assembled the
stairs and paused outside the haunted
chamber. The: passages and the stairs
above us were thick with shadow. NV
brother turned the handle, aud the
weird sound died away as we entered.
In Il moment it came again. 1t rose
and swelled and died sorrowfully away
1t WAS singularly human. Yet it was
beyond all description uucarth]y.
No banshec could wall in sadder
or more thrilling tones. We stood
there Exc Dante and Virgil, except
that the author Of the "!nferno' and
his guide did not wear carpet-slippcrs
or carry brass candlcsticks. Neither
had they such extraordinary rough
heads of hair as We had. l felt mjne
going gray fast. And cold stream of
terror trickled down my back. NV
brother stood still and listened irtentlv.
The ghost groaned again, and vet
again. Infsc;, he kept on groaning.
It was frightfuI. I he wall began in a
whisper; It swe]led to an acu:o pitch:
it died away in Tote, of woe that
thrilled ones heart. Ia was awful to
stand there, waiting TOR the sound to
come again. My mAeter-of-fact brother
spoke.
"He's in good voice tonight" he
said, approvinsly> IA bit hoarse, but
don't wonder at that. Still l wish
he'd try another key. He's been at
this long: enough. And he might
get himself tuned-hush!'' quite
some supernatural VISITATION
to rehake this ill-tined levity. None
came. My brother having politely
waited until the ghost had finished,
Segan again:
''All these groans are exactly alike
he said, considering. That's odd,
snt it?' Will, LII tell yon what.
The ghosts up the chimney" Once
more the sound came, as though to
confirm his words. And it Certainly
lid appear 70 proceed from the reg ca
If the tirep': &c.
Still, resumed my brother, thought
ul'y. "a ghost in chimney is an un-
sort of thing. Will. we'll
AVE that chimney swept. Fancy
.host coming down with the SCOT.
Veil see about it the fir:t thing to-
This awful threat appeared too