The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-03-17
TALE OF An OLD HOUSE.

an old. old house where the PINK stuoco Is
s.u,~r Grow, it, wall. and whcro the boauti-
sul iron balconies arr fast hcine eaten away
by the hungry red rust gna"mg 'easci'S>S
81 its exquisite hand wrought scrolls ana ara
lo.ones The doors and Windows are 9uafd
al bg heavy haticn shutters so 'ons
closci that the hinges have become 50 81
one could not. Il one chose. open thcin 10
the blessed light Of day.
Bevond the hoa,e aud facing the street hu
deop. narrow garden, shut ia by " h41h Oi"N
wal over Whose top q spray oil gessahlhe %
q riotous ross occasionally filings out a banner
and aauuts n IN the wind IN the braNado
beaufy. but beyond that one can Only see'ln'
the TAN orau-e trees within are White VIII
hloom or yellow wiki fruit, rs the season
mas bo
II isa house that has ovidcn;ly come down
,n tbe worl4.~ and that bears unmistakable
.vi8ercs OF laving seen better days. society
md fashion that once tripped mp MS bro''
stem. and smiled and smirsed at Itself IN tne
ornate ciileI mirrors in tie long saioon' ms
,nud 10, TO- the ,road boulevard Lspian'
ME beyond. and .elt a. stranded IN a sac
street where mo- ON. wants 10 i've S'hleHO"
the l-arv ut.ars and pant roof Soon mls'f
altr CONSCIOUS 90 HHt NNtat @"f w.
down uuon the p'acards nailed on either door
po.t. In which the public is informed thai
his house 4, % rolt. and that one Is TO Apply
10 Messrs rIaus0 blank.
tho ssrre..iln of she dAvri estate. 10 one
wants 90 rent it. however, and when Inc aa'
ycrtisemea.s grow faded by the sun or SOD
den by ihe rain. ia.l ocjectedly or on the
stens. Blank g. Blank send round their Office
boy. WHO nails on O fresh poster, which, IN
turn. shares the fate Of is predecessors
Nina C~larlenticr. who lives just across
tie street. aal who leans comfortably out OF
the window % have q chat With the baker
nbort her own house. says 10 him Tor the
hundrcl'h time;
.Ah. N.lru Cragnou. it viii DO to soino
one else SOP bring tie brcal soon IL IS no'
Iwho wlI Eyc ina house rot it for O piS. II
i. Yesterday Nseu Paul comes for the rent
,ion Dieu. Msisl, I say, and is d, rent you
asa for this coop. thl-s,yt Locl..t the roof
Like a sirvoi When 10 rains a ia would be
drowned!
..Nais. oui. Interrupts the baker, as ma
dana rluses Tor breath. "sut whore VIII you
got Over there. peilap,.' and he hourishei
advised loaf Of bread toward the dAvrI
house across Tho way, where tho red and blue
posters were distinctly visible.
Nine. C"narpeutler Clvca gasp and thre"
out Der hands IA a gesture % alnazenu0Ht am
deprocation
anon D.eui no. shccried, "a am not super
%stitious. DO. / 90 to mass and make my con
fessian. as e. good Christian should, but one
has ones little preiudiccs, and one knows
quite w,l that u taat house Is NOT haunted
items, 10 WIS always strange, that house, no
one coming or going. DO tctes, no anything
but silence. and now and Nine ChulPcn-
tier threw out her hand, IL a gesture that IN
cludel every possibility
1t was a iaVoriic topic with her, this
d,Avril house. aal sho would dearly have
liked 10 tel the baker the latest story about
it. That Titiuc and Luisette and Francois
had heard some one within moving, moving,
moving with muiiicd steps across the rooms
But the baser hai taken advantage Of tue
very first pause IN the story 70 deposit her two
loaves Of twisted bread on the window sill,
and now ho was far down tue street, whist
ling as ho went. Nine. ChaIpentier was
naturally inceu=9d She tossed the loaves
,o~ntemptuonsiy ON the table.
..Rahi' she said. heavy as lcadl Il Is
what one might expect from a man with 10
sympathy and no imagination
Mine. Charpentier voiced the belief Of the
n~eichborhood when she said that the dAVril
house was uncsnny. ltmight not be haunted.
but what were the strange noises one heard
Had not Toinctte. tiens, Il not Toinette
then Luiscttc, or perhaps Jean-well, mon
Dicu. it was al one aud not worth a breath
dihercncc-had not some one heard, a. they
were coming home late NJ night, deep sobs
from behind the closed shuttersi II one
stood on tip toe one was Just on Z level Will
the window.
1t was the talk Of the neishborhood Wher
Nine. Charpcutier and Nine Blanc met al
the little cafe. where they went 10 fetch q
pint OF vim ordinair, they stopped and talked
IL over with their fat hands resting on then
n,npl5 hips. Whom a woman went 10 The
priests 10 buy n scapuiaf - hang around tbs
baby's neck 10 help 1t through teething. an'
stopped for a moment al "A friends for Il bi
of gossip. she was sure - hear some tresl
story about the haunted house that woul.
sond her homo making the sign OF the eros
and tightly clasping the bit Of prayer or hol,
relic sewed up in the scrap OF stS.
Ii had been many years since the repor
that the house was haunted gained currency
but II was only within the last few month
that Blank q Blank had displayed on its doo
post their auuring assortment o. posters
only. indeed, since Nine dAvril died. Dur
ing the many years in which The house wa
shut 60 securely against prying curiosity an
In which the rumor gained strength, no on
had ever been permitted % penetrate behlh
those closed doors Savo only the priest sn
physician.
The n,ichborhood, which never suifere
anything 20 happen unseen or unhear'
would have told sou II you would nav
,,opusd lor q moment and leaned over III
Nttlo counter in Nine ~Cherpenucr's shol
and II YOU had cyincod the laintest curioslt
in the subject. that no ono was ever sec
about the house across the street but a qua1
room.
Almost white. tail and thin-hke q ghos
IL j. Size who always answers the ring az II
garden gaze. NOT that That s often Na 80
The butcher with a bt OF meat, the bake
the milkmau. for. just heaven, one must h'
even IN a house ltse that For the rest. ever
SATURDAY. a. regular aS clock work 4
msieur mas sec for himself II he choose
tu.i H. the vlock strike, ten. one may see Il
,riest and the physician meet at the INT
uNtFn 49, 3
way-no moro-tbey disappear In an houi
perhaps more. perhaps less, they come GU
That IL ull could tell m'sieur no moro II
wa at confession. and he was the fatnerc col
lessor himself and Nine CharPcntit
strucgod her shoalGc.s - 20 ~nere III
great gold hoops dangied In her big ears, an
made s. gesture that saic, plainly a. word
that Size washed her hands Of al that "ei
on behind the closed doors OF the dAvr
house.
As for Adele, tho stately q~uadroon WI
opened the gate Tor the priest and physician
she could have told the sccretsot that guardf
house. for about ber they all ceutcred ~
knew that when once the heavy door swuu
70 and the three stood facing each other
the narrow iata where the priests cassoc
brushed against the physicians broadciotl
that they would motion her forward and 81