The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-07-09
THE PHANTOM CHILD.

night smoking by the fire, each with tall
drink at his elbow. we talked Of Mr.
Myers and physical research, of spooks and
vampires, of luminous shadows and wan
dering, wailing ghosts, when Brooks, who
is large rcd man with soul attuned to
tales of diablerie and fatal sympathy
with things eRrerIa5oral, told the follow
ing from his oTn intimate knowledge and
experience:
wife and 7 sDe1t our honeymoon in
the house Of a friend Of mine in a lonely
but picturesque part Of Sussex. We had
the house TO ourselves, not only because my
friend desired not 70 intruoe upon our first
| corjugal happiness, bit also because lie
hated the house and seldom lived init. He
had had some years before great grief; his
| wife, beautiful, fragile creature, had died
in child bed, after short period CT perfect
wedlock. leaving aim the lonehest and
most melancholy of men. &c had made
| his ancestral home Il treasure house of art
to enshrine the crown and center of all
his bride, SO that when she was gone its
beauty and its interrst were fed for him.
We, with the sSfdshnezs of the newly mar
ried, forgot WHIT the s5ece meant for him,
| and reveied in it's beaNties within and with
out.
1t was called Silverladies because of a
notable plantation of hircses that protected
the house from the bitter winds of the
north and east, and thai rustIed and swung
in the breeze with plaintive grace and
whitened into fair, slim ghosts in the moon
! light Within the furniture, the rags and
carpets and tapestries, tie pictures and
pottery, the metal work and Iacquerware
and the books were constant springs Of de-
| light to US; and they were all SO harmoni-
Ously and unObtrUsiTegy disposed through
out the house that every Day, almost every
waking hour, brought Us a Dew discovery
| Of beauty-beaUty, but no mystery.
! A year later we were there again with
our first born. AT the beginning Of the
| last week of OUT shy OH hest Joined rs to
receive some additional company, whom
he felt compelled to trent with more cere-
mony than We required He arrived just
before dinner. He WIS courteous and kind;
he tried to be cheerful and taIkative, but
frequently helEpse5 into abstraction, and
he retired to hi3 F0em ear1y.
| When I Withdrew 1 found my wife-not,
as was her wont, snuGgled into bed, for it
was autumn aiIac, bat sitting rocking
herself by the bedroom fire, with her hands
behind her head.
WILL" she said, when I stood before
her, you never told me that Mr.. Clyde
had child"
"a child?" said
81 suppose, she continued, "he is good
father, and always takes her about with
him. A lovely childp'
81 have heard,'' said, "about one child
he had"
''He must" said she, E'take her about
with him; for / never s2w her before to-
night. o Will the most delightful play
mate fer our darling! TIE sweetest, pretti-
est child in the world, with her long,
golden, curling hair falling over her
shoulders, and with nothing on but a dear
nightgown, and'a black kitten trotting be-
hind her. twining about her little legs till
thought she would bG tripped up ever SO
many times"
''Where did you see this child, my dear?"
"On the stairs as l came up to bed. She
toddled On before nle and went in at the
door opposite ours"
Which," said I, sis rcom-the only
room-we have not been into; it is always
locked"
$50 it Isl" said she.
tits all right about the child, Isuppose,"
said I, ''but did not know Clyde had child
living. The only child | ever heard he had
died mere infant, 1 believe before her
mother"
81 shall be very sorry if that is true"
said my wife. II think achild would have
done Mr.. Clyde so much good; it would
save him from his weary depression and
! loneliness. However l shall find out in
the morning what child it was"
Next morning my wife made it her bust
ness before the new company arrived to in
Quire concerning the child. The house
keeper Ito whom she first referred) declared
with emphasis that there was no child in
the house except our own, which was GER
tainly too young to be toddling about with
kitten. But my wife said) the woman
looked somewhat as3lance and was over
emphatic; phenomena which her astute
mind regarded rs suspicious. She there
fore wentto the master Of the house, whom
she found walking in the sunshine on the
terrace in front OF the house
Il am curious, Mr.. Clyde" said she,
"about the child / saw on the stairs last
night"
He turned shade paler than was his
wont and looked troubled. He made her
wonder and shivcr she declared) by the
strange suggestiveness of his reply.
$50, Mrs. Brooks" said he, you, too,
have seen it; I wondered if you would. 1
have never seen it."
"Do you mean," she asked, that it is
not real child of flesh and blood?"
That's what / mean" said ne
But the ca5?-the kitten?" exclaimed
my wife SIS thst not reaI?''
There has not to my knowledge" said
he, been cat in the house for years"
Good graciousln exclaimed she.
He seemed on the point of explaining,
when the approach of carriage with bag
gage drew him away to receive his new
guests.
IN tell you about it," he said, "by and
bye"
We met the new guests at luncheon-aSr
and Mrs. VGnsittart and two grown up
daughters. Mrs. Nansittart was a good
humored, ratronly person, clearly fond
OF taking charge Of people. After lunch
she took my wife's arm and led her away
TO have look az the baby. That done, she
sat down with my wife by the baby's era
die, and, her lace full of concern, said:
so l hear from my old friend, the house
keeper, that you, too, have seen the child.
That gives us an exclusive interest in each
oLAeT, LOT we aTS Jhe Only people IN the
house, or, for that matter, in Mr. Clyde's
present circle Of acquaintance, 1 believe,
who have seen it. flow much, may ask,
Lave you SEEM"
Il saw the child on the stairs with a
black kitten"
NO further than the stairs?"
NO further. II went in at a door on the
right, ana the door was closed as I passed;
it is always closed"
"Ner always. But never mind that: and