Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-06-05
THE HAUNTED CHAMBER.

THE HAUNTED CHAMBER.
There is a great deal of senseless
twaddle about ghosts, said Elder Boo
die, one evening, in his autocratic way,
and in a tone of voice calculated to
annihilate at one fell swoop the whole
theory of the canny visitaDts of another
world, who are restlessly bent, in con-
sideration of some outrageous murder,
never clearly brought 10 light, to be
content only by revisiting at particular
seasons, as the immortal Will Shake
speare has 1t, the pale glimpSes of the
MOON
Il have seen people, very sensible peo-
pie, too, concluded the elder with addi
tional impressiveness, who would sit
for hours together, with wide-open eyes
and wonder-stricken countenances,
listening to the idle superstitions of big
ger fools than themselves, aud swallow
ing every word of il. ! have lived fifty
years in the world and have never yet
seen ghost, and no sensible person
ever did or ever will see one, in my
opinion
Tell us the story of the haunted
chamber, father said Ellen Doodle, a
charming girl of seventeen, who was
bnsily knitting at light stand near
her mother Il think that is good
one, for il shows how easily people may
be deceived by appearance. If they fail
TO investigate
1T Is the nearest / ever came TO see
ing one of the disembodied dignitaries
we read Of playfully remarked the
elder; but if Mr.. Chillingworth thinks
IL worth his while 10 listen to a practi-
cal exposition of the theory, L don't
mind relating the story of the haunted
chamber, as We call it
Mr.. Chillingworth Geographical en-
gineer. to whom L was attached as
assiStant) slgniiied his interest in the
proposed narrative, and the elder began
his recital:
Il was teaching school in Calais in
the winter of ~, and was boarding
round in the district, as was then the
custom in the more rural townships of
Maine.
Il was booked for one week at Dea-
con Grail's. He was a well-to-do far
mer, residing in large, old-fashioned,
weather-beaten house, situated but d
short distance from the school-house.
His family consisted of wife, two
sons, and a niece. With the exception
|
was an orphan of twenty-and l thought
her very pretty at the time'-here lie
glanced significantly at Mrs. Doodle,
who dropped her eyes confusedly-'the
junior members of the family were my
pupils. At every place where l had
previously boarded, il was mysteriously
whispered in my ears that Deacon
Grail's house was haunued-or, at least
one particular chamber of 1.-THE same
\ III which the Widow Childs Susan ;
mother) had died. The room hal al
ways been kept since exactly as at the
time of the widows deceaSe. The same
bed, the same hargings, the same fur
niture-an exactly the same as on the
day of the funeral, seven years before.
On the first evening of my arrival to
board at the deacon's-my mind being
full of the prevailing superstition, for
was not then thoroughly disciplined to
a better understanding of these things
the conversation naturally turned
upon the subject of ghosts, with view,
on my part, to the elucidNtion of the
haunted chamber. l readily saw that
the deacon and his wife both believed
in them. They were a good-natured,
narrow-mlnded, superstitious couple,
and it was soon manifest from the tenor
of their conversation that they religious
ly believed every word that had heard
said by outsiders.
Being naturally skeptical on the
subject, l ignored the idea altogether;
and to show my bravado, AS well as the
sincerity of my belief, L proposed TO
take up my quarters permanently in the
haunted chamber. This was at first
objected to by the deacon. who was an
Exceedingly timId man. on the score
that l might receive some personal
Injury from too close a companiQnshIp
with the mysterious spirit that was
lsupposed nightly to haunt that particu-
lar locality; but l overruled his objec-
tlons on the ground that ghosts were
generally presumed to be mild and inoi-
fensive, rather than beligerent or de-
structive. AT length curiosity got the
better of his timidity, on hearing Inc
talk so confdentially of my prowess.
and so deprecatingly of the ghosts, and
he finally consented to the arrangement;
Though l could see by his looks that he
Istill entertained grave doubts Of the
safety of the enterprise. The haunted
lchamber was accordingly assigned TO
me, and at balf-past nine / retired TO
rest, with some very curious feelings
hO 4Ol ~ " a.
lpositIve fear, as the term is literally in
lterpreted, but a species of awe-ot
shrinking dread of an underlined some
thing. very closely allied to it.
1 first took a cursory glance at the
room and its appurtenanees, with the
Icandle elevated above my head, so as
10 throw reflection upon every object
therein contained at once, and then
carefully examined each article OF fur
niture separately. i rug carpet Of
home manufacture adorned the floor,
which was evidently a work OF unre-
milting labor and perseverance TO some
body. A chest of old-fashioned drawers
stood in one corner of the room, long
since grown dusty from disuse and
neglect. with festoons of cobwebs PEN
dant from the ceiling above it. Two
or three high-backed, antiQuated chairs
sat primly back against the walls. with
stuffed cushions of faded crimson that,
AZ some by-gone period of the family
history, might have been justly esteemed
As pretty specimens of homemade
handluork- A small. round iGht-stand