Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-09-10
PART III.-CHAPTER ",


 frightful occurrences of the night in the Lobdell House flew fast and thick through the town all the day. The fame of the Ill spread abroad over the sandy peninsula, and for the time there was hardly any other topic in the minds or upon the tongues of men and women. Groups of people, old, mid dle-aged, youth, boys and girls gath cred upon the streets at a respectful distance from the old house, and gag ing in awe at it, spoke in low tones and with bated breath of the last rumors about it. In the terror and dis tress in which Mrs. Willis and Helen had that morning abandoned their part of it, they had left the hall-door open. No man venturcd to go up and close it. Helen sadly needed the arti- cles of dress and toilet which she had packed in her trunk the night before, and Mrs. Willis wanted her own ward robe; but the man who was bold enough to enter those rooms was not to be found in Provincetown. The more pressing needs of the ladies were supplied by their sympathizing friends and neighbors; but neither friendship nor money could have induced any one to go to the now untenanted house for their effects.
 Our tale is so largely based upon facts, and the thread of fiction that runs through it so thin, that the writer feels like stopping at this point and answering the objection that may be made in some quarters, that no such effect as we have described would be produced upon people by tales of super- natural events occurring in an old house.
 To those who think thus, we would say that they fail to take into account the time, and especially the locality of these last scenes of the story.
 Should such things occur to-day, particularly at the West, committee of unterritied men would probably visit the infested house, thoroughly armed, and discover any traces that might re- main of human agencies.
 But we are not writing of the West nor of the present day. It is of New England that we are telling, where, even among intelligent and educated people. lurking if unexpresscd belief in the supernatural has descended from the over-religious and darkly super. stitious Puritans, who burned witches at the stake less than two hundred years ago. And we are telling of time removed thirty-five years from us, and of a New England sea-faring com. munity-the most likely people under the sun to yield to an implicit belief in things apparently supernatural in thcl origin. So we are simply portrayine life as it was, at the time and ptk,e named.
 All day had the people come and gone. gathering in groups in the vicin. ity of the old house, and passing from group to group to learn every report that had been set afoat.
 As night came on, all these gather ings slowly dispersed. Curiosity was by no means satisfied; but nobody wanted to remain in the vicinity of the house after dark. AHAS IlSuL was uaTk rom twilight, Ton rods off the house could not be seen at all.
 It was at this prudent limit that the loafing company of old sailors were near eleven o'clock of that night. The fascination of the super- natural, too powerful to be resisted by men of their peculiar education and experience, had drawn them away from their customary haunts. The stories and the settlements, of the day would not permit them to rest peace fully in their beds, and they had come up here to breathe the atmosphere of mystery and terror. It will be useful to the reader to overhear their talk.
 Both gone dye sayP'
 "Yes; they went to Bos' n this arter- noon"
 Poor wimmin! how did they stand
 Better'n you could expect. Mis- Willis was weak as a cat, with all the hagh-str1kes Qt is presumed that this