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

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passed and then broke into food of tears.
She had been turning all that was said
o7er in her mind, and she had come to a
sinister conclusion.
81 believe" she declared, shat Mrs.
vansittart meant to imply by what she
told me about poor Mrs. Clyde that the ap-
partition of this phantom child meant
death to her children. And what if my
seeing it should mean death to my darling
BABY Oh, Will it makes me sick with
! dreadI''
l tried to comfort her after the manner
Of husbands, and to dispel her fear Bnt
nhe shook her head ard would not heed
me- then advised her to lay the whole
matter-fer dread included-before Clyde.
Before dinner she inveigled Clyde into
his study and got, from him the following
story: "In the bJ1ccansering days of the
last century" said Clyde, ian ancestor of
mine, the then second son Of the hoCse, was
in the navy. Re Is said to have been a
bold, bad man, though his portrait, which
I'll show you, presents only a rosy, jolly
sailor, who might, however, at times have
an awful temper. His elder brother died
childless, and he inhe14.sd and brought
home presentlya foreign Wife from Heaven
knows where. They had daughter, it is
saba fair haired creature whom the for
eign woman hated with the hatred of the
Pit. Tho child, too, had favorite cat,
and the foreign woman could not abide
cats.
what followed the story is not quite
clear about. The child, however, died
either through constant Ill treatment or by
some immediate violence, and my ancestor
took some terrible vengeance on his wife,
SO terrible that, it is said, she was ever
after his trembling slave. You shall see
her portrait, too, and note how the face
seems impressed with q continual terror
terror of which, 1t is said, she speedily
died. But the strange thing Is that in
memory of these things it is not the ghost
of the mother that visits the house but the
ghost Of the child; and the only explana-
ton can offer is that the child las is said)
was passionately fond Of her mother. The
spirit Of the child and OF her kitten appear
at singular and oninous intervals.
"The apparition is said to prognosticats
en- infants death, and must confess it has
been strangely coincidert with the two
griefs of my life. Ny dear wife first saw it
I, as I told you, have never seen it
just before tho death Of our littlo girl. She
at first she thought it was her own child,
except that she did not understand the
presence of the kitten. Is entered Ihe room
you know Of on the right, which was then
her room, and she followed, overtaking it.
She was surprised to find the door closed
when she came to it, and still more sur
prised to see her own child asleep in her
cot, and the strange child with the kitten
e-,Al 49, 1,>a4c E.,
little while, with a sense uDon her of the
evil unknown.
Then she remembered the tradition she
had heard that the apparitiou OF the child
With the black kitten foPeboded death, and
she turned and fed from the room. She
came to find me. We returned to the room
together, but the apparition was gone.
She was terribly overcome with the dread
Of what was to ensue. She was sure our
child ,zas going to die, and she insisted on
sending at once for the doctor to discover
whether there was not in her some lurking
ailment. He came and found nothing the
matter and tried to reason away my wife's
fears, but without effect. Then bethought
me Of the other tradition, ard reminded
her Of it-thGt whoever having seen the
apparition should discover and explain
"
the threatened child. She caught at that
with fervent hope. She prepared to see the
childish ghost again. She waited night
or two in her room to receive it, but it did
not come.
''Then another night she remained down
stairs till her usual time for retiring, and
then when she Withdrew she saw as before
the child climb the stairs before her and
Il i,,ryN Of
it, and saw it, as before, sit with the kitten
before the fire. She could not see the face
of either, though she had an unconquer-
able longing to do so. She sat down a long
way off and waited for what would hap
pen. After a while there caIne-something
happened too frightening and horrible for
me to tell you'll should be afraid, Mrs.
Brooks, for the effect upon you if told you;
but she could see and could thiGk of no ex-
PLANTATION, nor could when she told me of
it. Next night she tried again She fol-
lowed the LITTLE appaTition up stairs, en-
tered the room after it and with nerves at
cruel tension waited for the event 1t hap
pened as the night before, but still she
could see and could think of no explana-
ton. And then-then the next. the third
night our child died, died of croupl
wife would not leave that room. She was
a woman of high spirit, and she was de-
termined to get at the root Of the mystery,
and to lay the poor little death dealing
ghost She did not, however, see the
creature again for about year-not until
she lay expecting to be mother again. 1
tried to prevail on her to quit that room;
pleaded with her to leave it for my sake,
F,- h, ~; l-ol H.
remain there. She did remain, and at the
critical time she declared that the ap-
partition came into the room, and sat down
by the fire, showing its face-she died
with cry OF agony on her lips"
Clyde. / suppose had not, in his preoc-
cupation with his own gricfs, perceived
how all that story of his pierced my wifes
heart; how she was in that same condition
of terror for her child as his wife had been
in. She left him and came TO me with her
woe. She also, like Clyde's wife, was a
woman Of resolute spirit, especially where
her child was concerned; and she told me
she was determined to explain the mystery,
to lay the ghost, and so TO save her threat
ened child. l said, Every we'll" if she was
resolved | would not balk her.
Immediately after dinner I went to the
housekeeper with whom, I may freely say,
l was something Of a favorite) and ex-
pleined to her the taking my wife was in.
tits our child she is so alarmed about"
said l.
And well she may be, poor thing" said
the housekeeper, considering all that
BIS come of seeing the poor Gttle image on
the stairs even in my time. There was
dear Mrs. Clyde's two misfortunes and
Ms. Vansittart's last year"
'TAIrs Vansittaxt's?" : said. what was