Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-04-18

Dahno,s "sooio' 10 depart. So the
h ys We're permanent fixtures. But
htm hue mansion was large enough; and thew
nao !neif own living rooms and DORM.
Tory IN an attached wing. In
On our first night at Maplewooa va
we're Kept up until very late. II uos
almost midnight before our bods h %as
oeen set up. and while the servants
were at work in that department. nv
vile Mollle and myself worked ~ a ~
ranging Il library. The clock baa
Just struck twelve when Peters w;faM
ner name was Lucy-looked in and in
formed us that the chamber was mr..
ranged. L was hanging q picture, and
M1sned to finish it before I left. Il
Mollys dressing-case was in q small
uf1ng-room upstairs, and she said she
would run and get it while T hung tho
picture. She took q lighted candle and
Men.: = mad finished my work to nv
satisfaction, and had just folded up nv
s%tep-!adder. when my wife came rushing
ln' with her candle extinguished, and
as she dropped her dressing-case upon
me f1oor caught her in my arms. She
was pale and frightened, and looked
over her shoulder as though expecting
that something had followed her. As
soon as she could speak L heard her
story.
she had gone to the tiring-room and
got her case, and as she reached tho
mead OF the broad staircase on her re-
turn she had seen, upon the landing at
her right, a female figure, ROBBED in
white, with blood upon it's ashen face.
II with dabs Of blood upon it's SNOWY
drapery,
m,Oh, it was dreadful!" said my wife.
The spectre waved its hands in a
threatening manner. and said to me in
an awful whisper: Woman, there is a
curse upon this house. and upon all
who follow in the footsteps of Ralph
Severns!" And then she pointed to a
gaping wound upon her forehead. and
with a cry of terror L fed down the
stairs"
Surely this was not a pleasant open
ing; but / urged it upon my wife that
she had not been harmed; and, further
more, that a respectable ghost would
have appeared to me rather than to her.
1T was cowardly," ! told her, "to
fr1ghten a oma when there was o
strong man in the house who was alone
responsible for the interruption of
strangers upon the solitude of her
ghostship." And 1 kissed her. and
asked her if she would wait until I had
e the spectre. She said she should
not fear while l was zeal her; and of
her W thought she declared that if
the COLLINS had not harmed Seth Dab
ney, or any member Of the family, in all
these months, they could not possibly
have come to harm us who were inno-
cent of all thought of offence.
1t was half an hour after midnight when
We retired The chamber which we
had selected was the pleasantest one in
the manslon-a large square room, with
a deep bay-window looking down upon
the lake. The hangings were of green
velvet, heavily fringed with gold, and
the curtains, though slightly yellow
| left a small lamp burning upon the
dressing-table and, being very tired, L
fell asleep soon after touching the pill
lows.
How long I had slept I cannot say,
but it could not have been an hour,
when l was awakened by my wife who
wa cliYging to me in fright; and as I
awoke [ heard a low moaning sound, as
Of some II in deep distress; and pres
emily a whisper, as though the speaker
We're close to my cara whisper awful
and distinct-and these We're the words
that were spoken:
"A curse there is upon the house, and
upon all that follow in the footsteps OF
Ralnb SayarnSi EEWApEt3
The lamp had been extinguished, and
while the foregoing words were being
whispered the apartment was pervaded
by a ghostly light - s%ulphurous,
deathly, waving glare-and presently a
female figure appeared at the foot of
the bed-the same which my wife had
seer upon the landing. 1t was robedi in
white, the face pale and CHASTITY, and
dark spots were upon the brow and upon
the robes. 1t was surelynothing of human
mould, for it stood upon the air, and as
l sat up l could see it's feet treading
empty space on a level with the bed
frame! With a threatening wave OF the
hand the figure bowed its head, and
melted away into thin air-melted away
with a %sorrowing sigh-and the ghostly
glare faded out, leaving only the pale
glimmer Of the star beams to break the
midnight gloom.
AS soon as I could collect my scat
tered senses 1 broke from my wife's
grasp and leaped out upon the floor,
and quickly lighted the lamp. The
doors were fast-locked as l had left
them; the windows had not been
touched; the hangirgs were all intact;
and nowhere, after strictest search,
could l find the slightest trace of any
method of ingress OF egress to q ma
terial body.
If my wife had held the reins of di-
rection we should have packed up in
ths morning, and left, for she was not
c.siy convinced that she had seer a
bona-tide ghost, but she believed that
the terrible visitation would be repeated
80 long as we remained beneath the
roof. But 1 was not to be driven off so
easily. 1 spent the greater part OF the
remainder Of the night in thinking, and
thought a great deal; and in all M,
thinking there was no thought OF