Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-06-22

but this time thew did not occur till
late. Taking a loaded pistol with ms,
! went upstairs, resolved to find
the cause OF the mysterious sounds,
leaving my wife and the children be-
low, where the bright light of lamp
served to keep up their courage. ]
took no light with me. thinking that
could solve the mystery lust as we'll, Il
not better IN the dark. IC was seven
O'Clock when / took my position in
the room overhead Of the parlor,
where l noticed the sounds always
came from. 1 sat IN the dark for two
hours, waiting to hear the strange
noise. 1t did not occur very soon,
and ! thought it would not come at
all, but just as the clock below in the
kitchen was striking nine it suddenly
broke out. 1t sounded quite near me,
though I could not make out from
what direction Of the room
it came, and had an excellent OBJ
pOrtunity to hear it. 1t was a low,
moaning sound, lneXpressibly mourn
full to listen TO. 1t seemed to be q
woman who was in deep grief, and she
appeared to be grieving and moaning
about something. ] strained my eyes
through the darkness, with my weapon
ready to shoot any object which pre-
sented itself, bnt as before 1 could see
nothing. 1 telt my hands carefully
along the walls of the room, but no
door or opening OF any kind reward
ed my patient search. AS before I
was completely puzzled by the queer
sounds, which had now ceased as
abruptly as they had began. Before
could pursue my investigation
further, piercing screams from down
stairs caused me to hurriediy run
/ below, where l found that the bump
ing noise had commenced on the Gel
lar-stairs, Bump-bump, 1t went
/ down to the foot of the stair case,
where, as before it finished with the
/ sound Of a heavy blow followed by a
! smOthered scream. and it frightened
| the children so that they screamed
/ with terror, while my wife WAS so
! worked up that she tainted dead
away.
There was now no further use in
! closing our eyes to the plain truth.
/ Hawthorne Farm was haunted. The
fact was plainly apparent. What
/ caused the strange noises If not dis
embodied spirits? Next day 1 remov-
ed my family to a cottage some dis.
tance from the haunted farmhouse
! which l hired for their temporary re-
/ CeptiOn. 1 then went back to Haw-
/ thOrne Farm, determined to give the
/ place a final examination before
left it forever searched every room
from the garrett to the bottom thor
oughly, but daylight revealed no
more to unravel the mystery than
lamplight The farmhouse was a two
story building with two rooms on
each floor, including Two garrets,
front and back. The garrets were
. dreary places, with slOplng ceiling,
/ partly lit by a scuttle overhead. / eX
/ plOred them thoroughly, but they con-
tanned nothing but dust and cObwebs.
/ I then examined the other rooms,
especially the one where the crying
sounds occurred, but no discovery re-
warded my quest. spent hall day
exploring the rooms but 10 no pur-
pose. Nothing could be found to
throw any light on the mystery. /
then descended to the cellar and eX-
amined 1t tor several hours. 1 found
nothing peculiar about the cellar. 1t
was like the cellars in most farm
houses, excellently built. the walls
which composed the foundation OF
the house were OF strong masonry,
closely cemented together 80 that not
even a mouse could squeeze through
The floor was composed OF stout
planking, and two or three small
windows in the walls admitted a
meagre light into the cellar through
their dusty and cObwebby Panes.
The cellar contained nothing but a few
old boxes and earthenWare Jars.
Thinking that the explanation OF the
strange affair could be found buried
at the foot OF the Cellar-staIrs, / had
the ground dug up to the depth OF
several feet, but nothing was found.
[ was dumbfounded it was the most
puzZhng affair had evereEcountered
I kepU the matter as quiet as possible,
but it gradually leaked out, as such
things will, and crowds Of curious peo-
pie came from the surrounding cOuu-
try to gaze at the haunted farm and
CLEAN what information they could In
regard to it. I questioned the neigh
bOrs about the matter, but none OF
them knew anything about the farm,
as they did not live very near it. All
! could learn was that the last family
occupying it had moved away some
months ago, since which time it had
remained vacant until / had taken it.
Nobody could see why it should be-
come the scene OF supernatural mani
festatiOns, as there was no record OF
any terrible occurrence happening
there. Nevertheless, Hawthorne
Farm was haunted If ever q place
was, and I had been shamefuIly swim
died by a rascally real estate agent.
The latter must have known the stlg-
! ma on the farm, when he disposed Of
, the farm to me at such cheap figure.
: tried to hunt him up, but he had
left for PARTS unknown. The farm
was now a white elephant on my
hands, for I could not occupy it my
self. and could not dispose Of 1t to
any body, knowing the strange mys-
terry connected with it. But while
was debating what to do with the
!. place. the matter was settled for ms
! IN a manner quite unexpected.