The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1889-01-09
A TALE OF TERROR.
by JAMES SEYMOUR.

Some years ago (said my friend, n real
estate AGENT l mad an office on La Sale
street Chicago. TO it came Mrs. Capel
whom had known in Boston. She want
ed a house. had one on my list In Hal
sted street. Her family consisted of her.
self, child between 6 and I, and n SER
want. / rented the dwelling, but was as
tonished in about ten days TO find her
back she stated that portion of the
premises which sho did not require she
had locked BY some supernatural cause
the doors would fly open. She had heard
some rumors In the neighborhood that the
house was haunted, but paid no attention
10 such supersttious gossip. Then she
proceeded to tell the following singular
story, which | will give in her own words:
One night as Margaret, the servant, and
] went up stairs ! saw the door ut the head
stood open. We went into the extension.
All was quiet, the dust lay thick on the
floor and the spiders had spun the webs
across the wall, and one huge mesh work
lay directly across the narrow, crooked
stairs that led downward. | remember
thinking as we descended that IL would be
q terrible place for anyone to fall. At the
foot was bit of cracked and broken
tagging and as / looked Mt il | fancied
involuntarily the dull, sickening thud of Il
heavy body thrown from above tho stones.
The thought was so re that it made me
shudder in spite of myself bat | shook 1T
off as unhealthy and morbid. We secure
" fastened both doors and began to hope
that we should DO troubled by no more
mysteries.
ION Saturday evening wishing to finish
a piece of work with which l was busy, !
sent Margaret TO put Alice TO bed instead
of going myself as usual. The room II
which l was sitting was not directly be-
meath my bedroom and l G'd not hear
the girls footsteps when she left the
chamber to come down. ] noticed that
she remained away for longer time than
common, bat / supposed that the child
had proved wakeful and difficult to get to
sleep, and L thought little of her absence.
TIE sound OF n heavy fall on the stairs
suddenly startled me. Rushing oIt | saw
the door at their head again wide open, a
blackncss so dense that 1t seemed like q
curtain paipable to the touch, shut OIL
all that might be beyond, AMI at tie foot
OF the steps lay Margaret in swoon.
1t was the sound of her TALL that ] had
heard. As / approached her | found that
her consciousness was beginning to re-
turn, and, at the same instant, my ears
caught faint, soft rustic III the darkness
above, and the door closed with a hard
slam that resounded through the house.
My foot was on the lowest step. | would
have reopened it in another second. but
Margaret caught my dress.
For the love of God, don't 60, she
whispered; what you'll see there isn't
what He meant should ever be, aud she
held me with force of which would not
have believed her capable in her weak
ness
Promise me, promise me, she whis-
pered And seeing that it was the only
way to calm her, l promised not to at
tempt to enter the extension that night.
Il helped her into her own room, shocked
at the state in which l found one usually
so calm and sef-controlled, and passed
the hours till daylight in watching alter
nately with her and with Alice, who was
restless and feverish aud muttered TO her.
self in her sleep. Once more that night
the door opened and shut with the same
loud noise as before, but otherwise we
were undsturbed. The strangeness of
our situation did not frighten me. felt
myself mystihed, defiant, enraged by the
events which had taken place since j en-
tered the house, and i was glad that Mar
garet did not seem inclined to speak or to
tell me of the cause of her downfall. She
eyes fixed on the opposite wall. Toward
dawn she suddenly broke the long silence
by saying, musingly:
we don't know what has been done in
the old time by them that lived here, nor
what their punishment is.
Hush, hushl l answered, unwilling
20 encourage her talking, and to change
the unwholesome current OF her thoughts
j drew aside the window curtain. A faint,
pallid light was already tingeing the east,
the token of the coming day. The
night seemed 10 calm the girls WORKOUT
nerves. She drew long, weary sigh Ike
a tired child, and in few moments
dropped into deep sleep. When Alice
awoke on Sunday morning she proved so
feverish that l kept her in bed, and
question which she asked me in the course
of the morning frightened me with the
idea that she must be worse than l had
thought her.
Mamma, she asked, who is the pretty
young lady that stands sometimes in the
door at the head of the stars, and looks
at me so with her great dark eyesI / kept
thinking of her all the time; she seems SO
sad and sorrowful that can't forget about
her.
Il supposed the child was light headed
from fever, and gave her some tritling an
swer. About ten o'clock, as / was passing
through tho upper hall, / saw that mys-
FERROUS door swing back upon its hinges
flat against the wall, exposing the pail
like blackness of the evening before. l
did not hesitate. Forum ately my feet
were clad in slippers which mufficd my
football, and, making as little noise as
possible, l stepped to the landing,
mounted the half dozen stairs on the
opposite side, and advanced some PAGES
in the darkness along the hallway of tho
extension, when / could touch with my
hand the casing at the top of the narrow
crooked stairway / have before men
TONED. / paused, and, leaning. against
the wall, turned 50 MS 10 command q view
OF the door which judged must still be
open, since l had not heard it shut.
Strangely enough, / could see nothing in
any direction. l knew that a lamp was
burning dimly in our upper hall, in a
straight lire from my standing place,
but not CLEAN penetrated TO me. The
darkness hurg upon me like q corpo.oal