Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-10-10

the TUNES OIL "ulSky dho ~
fire had their inevitable effect and we De
gan to doze.
lido not know how long I had been
asleep, but l suddenly awoke with a Vlo-
lent start. A cold shudder ran through
me from head to foot. had a. indetna-
BILE sensation Of something strange and
terrible. Irose and stretced myself anu
tried to feel at my ease. But I could not
touched my brother and he awoke.
"Hello!" he SAID. whats the natter'
Why, I've been asleep! What's the
timer"
1.-TWO o'clock" said L.
aust the time for a ghost" said he with
unseemly levity. ado you know
VIII, l don't think he'll come here.
Ghosts are uncomfortable things and
don't like good fires. Get toe
much of them where they are, I suppose
Let's go and look for him"
Anything for a change" said l.
although the thought Of perambulatlng
that great lonely mansion in the dead
of night was anything but agreeable. =
am wide awake"
80 am l." said he; and taking up the
brass candlestick, he went toward the
door. l followed him-close. We passed
along the pass age, our stealthy footballs
making a faint sound on the unexpected
floor. We examined the rooms on the
ground floor. We heard and saw moth
ing. We assembled the stairs. Every In
dividual stair creaked horribly, but that
was all. No ghost.
My brother suddenly opened the door OF
a bedroom on the first floor. Instantly a
gust Of air blew the candle out. And as
we stood there in the icy cold we dis
tinctly heard-a groan. 1t was no fancy.
1t was a long-drawn, wailing moan OF in
expressible horror and pathos. 1t died
away in a despairing cadence. 1t seemed
like the sorrowful lament Of a soul in
torment. AS we stood there grasping
each others hands, with our hearts
~throbbing in great pulsations, it came
again. Oh, the horror Of i'll 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 our
selves in the kitchen, with shaking
limbs and ashen faces, relighting u ex-
tinguished candle. Then we looked at
each other.
THAT was no fancy, WILL" said my
brother.
"Fancy-no," l replied, my teeth chat
tering in my head. what are you going
to do?"
For my brother had relit the candle and
was moving away.
"Tm going to have another look" he
said.
"But perhaps" l suggested, "the-the
ghost extinguishes the light"
"PIl give him another chance" said my
brother coolly. "Come along, you chat.
tering idiot" l was too shattered to resent
this uniattering description, and with a
ouaking heart l 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 chap" said my brother. "Hc
can't stand the light. Shall 1 blow it out
again?"
"If you do" said l. "But, joking
apart, who is going to sleep in this ROOM
Pm not, for one. And this would naturally
be the governors ROOM"
My brother was struck.
You're right" he said: I'VE must get to
the bottom of this. Well find it out
somehow. And nov l think we may &c
to bed. Pu just look round"
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.
l could not sleep a wink. My nerves were
completely unstrung. After a night of
tossing and fever, l awoke unrefreshed,
and nightly pleased to tiud myself in
broad daylight.
At noon that day l had to run the
gauntlet of my friends. And, am bound
to say, l lied like Ananias. AS the day
drew on, l grew more and more uncom-
Portable, and l fairly dreaded the ordeal
of the ensuing night. AS before, we
dined in town. 1t was a fine night, and
we took a walk around the square before
turning in. The houses all looked cheer
full with their bright 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
danger of our going to sleep to-night.
We were painfully wide-awake. All
sorts Of wild conjectures crossed my mind
as we sat 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 utterinS
that awful noise. Or perhaps some willy
person had q fancy to live rent-free and
had adopted this method of frightening
te2ants away. In any case the effect
was sufficiently horrible. The shock of
ones nervous system was the same,
whatever the cause.
The whisky ebbed fast, but not so fast
as my courage. Ny brother, cool 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 pro-
ydied myself with a second candle on my
own account. We examined the rooms on
tho ground floor, without success. We
assembled the stairs, and paused outside
the haunted chamber. The passages and
the stairs above Is were thick with
shadow. Ny brother turned the handle
and the weird sound died away as we
entered.
IN moment it came again. 1t rose and
swelled and died sorrowfully away. 1t
was ~singulGrly human. Yet it was beyond
all description unearthly. No banshee
could wall in sadder or more thrilling
tones. We stood there like Dante and
Virgil; except hat the author of the an
ferno" and his guide did not wear carpet
slippers or carry brass caudlesticks
Neither hal they such extraordinarily
tough heaGS Of hair as we had. felt
mine going gray fast, And n cold stream
of terror trio led down my back. My
brother stood sill and listened intently.
The ghost grJanCd again, and yet again.
IN fact he Kept On grooming. 1t was
! frightful. The wall began in a whisper;
it swclled to an acute pitch; it died away
in a note Of woe that thrilled ones heart.
Il Wa awful TO stand there, waiting for
the sound 10 come again. My matter-of-
TACT brother spoke.
He's in good voice tonight" said he,
ayprovingly. ~ hi. hoarSe, but don't
wonder n that. Still, l wish he try an
49, l.. H.. l..... -. tk;, 1Nny annrrvh