Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-08-05

sound of his hoofs echoing away in the dis
| tance came back to me, and shuddered as
thought of what had seen. After a terrible
trudge for three hours / reached home. A
tremendous search had been made for me,
of course, but no one dreamt of looking for
me where 1 really was. The horse had
found his way home, and / have never found
out what frightened him so.'
My friends account was over He lit his
cigar, which had gone out during the mar
ratiye, and settling himself comfortably in
his chair said: "Well, old boy, that's a
case 1 don't feel at all inclined to investi-
gate by myself, but I'll DO it with your aid.
You know, a genuine skeptic is great ad-
dition in such things, so well get to the
bottom Of it somehow"
My feelings at that moment were not diff
! fcult to describe. / disliked the whole af-
fair, and wanted heartily to get out of it;
and yet something urged me to go through
with it and show my friend that the house
was all right that Imagination did it all,
that the horse may have been frightened at
anything, and that very possibly there
really was someone in the house all the
/ time, and Imagination had done the rest.
Such were the somewhat mixed thoughts in
my mind at the time. However, in few
moments all was settled and we had agreed
to go the following night, search the mouse
first, and then sit up all night in the room
next the drawing room. Then we both went
to our separate bed rooms to think the
matter over and get long sleep, as neither
expected to get any the following night.
Next morning at breakfast we both
talked about the coming night and how best
to meet its requirements as regards food,
etc. We agreed to take pistols for weapons,
horses as a means of conveyance, and abun-
dant food wherewith to fortify ourselves
against possible attack of ghosts.
The day drew on toward its close. II was
very hot aud sultry weather, and not a
( breath of wind stirred the murky atmos-
phere, as at 4:3O p. NJ. we bestrode our
horses and made off in the direction of the
"WhIte House" A long gravel road,
lonely in the extreme, led us across the wild
uncultivated moorland for six or seven
miles, then we saw a copse of fir trees which,
my friend informed me, were the trees
which sheltered one side of the house. In
q few minutes We had passed through the
front garden gate and were among the dark
| fir trees, and then as we turned sharp
corner the house burst full upon us. It was
square and ugly. Great staring windows
in regular rows met our eyes aud conveyed
an unpleasant impression to the brain-at
least, they did to mine. From the very mo-
ment we had passed the front gate till left
the house next morning, felt a nasty, sick
sensation creep over me, a feeling of
numbness and torpor which seemed to make
the blood run thick and sluggish in my
veins. The events of that night have re-
mained engraved on my brain as with fire,
and, though they happened years ago,
can see them now as vividly as then. Only
an eyewitness can possibly describe them,
should he wish to do justice to them, and
so my feeble pen shall make the attempt
1t was about $50, and we had settled our
| horses in a barn outside for the night
There were only two walls to keep the barn
in position, and these were simply a row OF
rotten posts. half decayed in places SO we
securely tied the horses, and with good
supply of hay. left them for the night. We
then approached the door and, after fumb-
| ling in the lock for some time. Pelham
succeeded in opening it. A sickly, musty
odor prevaded the hall, and the first thing
we did after thorough search, which re-
vealed nothing, was to open all the doors
and windows all over the house, SO as to let
in what little air there was Then We
went upstairs into the little room next the
drawing room, where, according to Sher-
leigh, strange things had occurred. But the
window was all in pieces, and hardly an
entire pane of glass was left, and we were
forced to select another room on the same
floor (i. E., the second) and looking out on
the same copse of pine trees, whose branches
almost touched the glass, SO close were they.
1t was very ordinary room; a fireplace,
no furniture but rickety table and three
chairs, one of which was broken. The only
| disagreeable feature we noticed about the
room was its gloominess; il was SO very
dark. The trees outside, as have already
said, were so close that the slightest breath
of wind rustled their twigs against the win
dow. We soon had six candles fixed and
burning in different parts OF the little room.
and the blaze Of light was still further in
creased by o. roaring fire, on which kettle
was singing for tea, and eggs boiling in
saucepan, and at 7:30 we were in the mid
| die of our first tea in q haunted house. 1t
was, indeed, less luxurious than the dinners
l had been used to lately, but otherwise
there was nothing to find fault with, and a
little later the tea things were cleared away
in heap in corner (where, by-the-by,
they are to this day), and we were sitting
round an empty table, smoking in silence.
The door out into the passage was fast
shut, but the window was wide open. The
sun had sunk out of sight in beautiful
sky of wonderful coloring. Small feecy
clouds floating about caught the soft after
glow and looked unearthly as seen through
the thick fir branches The faint red hue
of the western sky looked like the reflection
of some huge and distant confagration,
growing DINNER and fainter as the dark
engines of the night played upon it, extin-
gushing the leaping flames and suffusing
the sky with red reflected glow. Not a
breath of air stirred the trees. NY friend
had left the window and was poking and
arranging the fire, with his back turned to-
ward me. I was standing close to the win
dow, looking at the fast-fading colors, when
it seemed to me that the window sash was
moving. looked closer. Yes! was not
mistaken. The lower-half was gradually
sinking; gradually and very quietly it went
down. At first 1 thought the weight had
slipped and gone wrong, and the window
was slipping down of its own accord; but
when 1 saw tie bolt pulled across and
fastened as by an invisible hand, 1
thought differently. My first Impulse was
to Immediately undo the bolt again and
open the window, but on trying to move
of motion and could not move a muscle of
my body. was literally rooted to the
ground. Neither could move the muscles
of my tongue or mouth; could not speak
or utter a sound. Pelham was still doing
something at the fire, and could hear him
muttering to himself, though I could not
distinguish any words. Suddenly, then, 1
felt the power of motion returning to me,
my muscles were relaxing, and turning,
though not without a considerable effort, L
walked to the fireplace. Pelham, then,
for the first time noticed that the window
was shut, and he made a remark about the
closeness, of the night, asking me why
closed it.
"Hulloa," he went on, before had time
to answer, "by the Gods apovei what is
happening to that window? Look-why it's
moving!'
/ turned. The window was slowly being