The Columbus journal., 1886-10-27

so am l." said he. and taking up
the brass candlestica he went towards
the door, 1 followed him-ciose. We
passed along the passage, our stealthy
FOOTBALLS making a faint sound on the
uncarpefed floor. We heard and saw
nothing. We assembled the stairs.
Every individual stair creaked horribly,
but that was all. No ghost
My brother suddenly opened the door
of bedroom on the first floor. Instant
Iva gust of air blew the candle out.
And as we stood there in the cold we
distinctly heard-a groan. 1t was no
fancy. 1t was a long-drawn, wsiling
moan of inexpressible horror and pa
thos. It died away in q despairing ca
dences. 1t seemed like the sorrowful la
ment of soul in torment As we stood
there grasping each others hands, with
our hearts throbbing in great puisa-
tions, it came again. o. the horror OF
it! 1t seemed to be 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 extinguished can
dies. Then We looked at each other.
THAT was no fancy, WILL" said my
brother.
"Fancy-no." 1 replied. my teeth
chattering g in my head. 'What are you
going to dof"
For nv brother had relit the candle
and was moving away.
I'm going to have another look" he
said. .....
but, perhaps" l suggested. ''the-
the ghost extinguishes the light"
..Ti give him another chance"
said my brother. coolly. Come along.
you chattering idiot" l was too shat
tered to resent this unilattering de-
scription. and with quaking heart /
followed his foolhardy footsteps. This
time he opened the door more cautious
II, 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 chap" said my brother.
He can't stand the light. Shall blow
it out again.
If YOU do" said l. "But. jok-
ing apart. who is going to sleep in 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. We'll find il
out somehow. And now I think we
NAV 90 to bed. I'll just look around. "
He examined the room carefully. but
there was nothing to be seen. neither
was there anything to be heard. So
we gave up the thing for that night and
went to bed. could not sleep q wink.
NV nerves were completely unstrung.
After a night of tossing and fever,
awoke unrefreshed and nightly pleased
to find myself in broad daylight.
At noon that day had to run the
gauntlet of nv friends. And. am bound
to saw, lied like Ananias As the day
grew on grew more and more un'
comfortable and fairly dreaded the or
deal of the ensuing night. AS before
we dined in town. 1t was fine night
and we took walk around the square
before turning in. The houses all
looked cheerful with their bright light:
Ours alone was black and gloomy. W.
agreed that at ? o'clock precisely VIZ
would again visit the haunted room
| There was no danger of our going t(
sleep tonight We wero painfully wide
awake. all sorts of wild conjecture.
crossed my mind as We sat by tht
kitchen fire. waiting for the appointed
| hour. Perhaps some maniac had takeI
up his abode in the house and rovet
about at night uttering that awfu
noise Or perhaps some WHY person
had fancy to live rent-free and hat
adopted this method of frightening thu
tenants .way. In any case the effec
was sufficiently horrible. The shock t
ones nervous system was the same
whatever the cause.
The whisky ebbed fast, but not 81
fast AS nv courage. My brother. coo
and practical, was deep in thought
He was not likely to indulge the viii,
speculations that crossed my brain. III
was seeking some material explanation
of the weird phenomenon. At last tn
hour began to sound. At the first strOk'
nv brother arose and took up the can
die. l had provided myself with ;
second candle on my own account. W.
examined the rooms on the grOun'
floor without success. We ascende'
the stairs and paused outside the haun,
ed chamber. The passagers and tn
stairs above us were thick with sEad
ow. My brother turned the handle
1 and the weird sound died away as W
entered.
| In a moment it came again. 1t ros
and swelled and died sorrowfuIly away
1t was singularly human. Yet it wa
beyond all description unearthly. N
banshee could wall in sadder or NOR
thrilling tones. We stood there lik
Dante and Virgil. excep: that the AL
thor of the Inferno and his guild
did not wear carpet-slippers or carr
brass candlesticks Neither had the
such extraordinary rough heads of hal
as we had. felt mine going gray yer
fast And a cold stream Of terrO
trickled down my back. My brothe
stood still and listened intently. Th
ghost groaned again. and yet again
In fact, he kept on groaniny. 1t wa
frightful. The vail began in whii
per; it swelled to an acute pitch; it die
away in a note of woe that thrilled one
heart. 1t was awful to stand thert
waiting for the sound to come agair
NV matter-of-fact brother spoke.
Hes in good voice tonight" h
said. approvingly. "A bit hoarse. bt
don't wonder at that. Still, wis
he'd try another key. He's been at tn
long enough. And be might got hin
self tuned-hush" quite expecte
some supernatural visitation to rebuk
this ill-timed levity. None came. NJ
brother. having politely waited unit
the ghost had finished. began again:
"All these groans are exactly alike.
he said, considering. 'FThat's ODD
isn't it? Will. Ill tell you what Th
ghosts up the chimney" Once mol
the sound came, as though to confirI
"a \