Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1890-11-05

rs soon as could collect my scattered
senses | broke from my wife's grasp
and leaped out upon the floor, and very
quickly lighted the lamp. The doors
were fast-locked, as | had left them;
the windows had not been touched; the
hangings were all intact, and nowhere,
after the strictest search, could | find
the slightest trace of any method of in
gress or egress to material body.
In the morning Seth Dabney made it
his business to ask me how [ had rested.
| told him [ had been seriously dis
turbed; and l gave him to understand
that if the spirits of Ralph Severn's
departed victims wished to inhabit the
place | should leave. [ could see by
the old mans face as he turned away
| that he was we'll satisfied.
When left to myself 1 went up into
our chamber, taking with me hammer
and a chisel Around the chamber
was high oaken wainscot, and this |
proceeded to sound with my hammer;
and very soon | found place opposite
the foot of the bed which gave back a
! hollow sound. A critical examination
revealed TO me the fact that at this point
panel three feet long and two feet high
was loose, and [ could detect slight
abrasions upon it's surface. as though it
had been slid behind the casing; but 1
could not move it without breaking it,
as it appeared to be fastened upon the
other side. But that was good begin
ing.
Upon going outside / found that the
wall In which was the loose panel was
toward chamber which we had as yet
appropriated to no particular use, as it's
single small window left it far from
pleasant From this chamber, next to
the outer wall of the building and to-
ward my own chamber, opened closet,
occupying not more than four feet of the
division partition, so that from this
closet to the opposite wall there was left
a space of at least three feet between
sealed up-and it was into this space
that the sliding panel opened.
My next field of examination was be-
low, and was not long in discovering
that the space directly beneath the
movable panel, and occupying half the
underlying area of the dark chamber,
was also sealed up, but so adroitly cut
into by closets and cupboards that only
a we'll directed examination could have
revealed the fact. Never mind tie de-
tails of my persistent search. 1t occu-
pied time; but | succeeded in the end.
[ found an entrance into this last named
sealed up space from the cellar, and
there / found what | had anticipated. |
found powerful argand lamp, with a
polished concave reflector, and also two
large mirrors set at proper angle for
throwing a reflection upward; and di-
rectlv in the line of this reflection was
the sliding panel in the wainscot Of my
chamber.
| also found here long white robe;
and it was no longer a mystery how the
ghostly spectacle had been produced.
The reflection of the operator below
had been thrown up through the open
panel upon the white curtains at the foot
of the bed and those curtains had been
carefully arranged to perform their part
in the optical illusion. And one other
thing | found in this secret place; [
found speaking tubes leading upward,
and upon returning to my chamber |
where the wall paper was perforated,
and upon putting my finger through |
found the end of the tube. And thus
the dreadful whispers were accounted
for.
Seth Dabney had spent both time and
money in perfecting his arrangement for
frightening tenants away from Maple
wood, and he had hoped that for mere
nominal sum he might in time be able
to purchase the estate; but his hopes
were crushed when I appeared before
him with the proofs Of his wickedness
in my possession.
To save himself from a public trial
and certain condemnation he finally
confessed to me all his iniquity. He
showed me how he had arranged
wooden troughs under the caves and
deep down in the cellar in which to roll
cannon balls for the production Of
thunder, and he showed me other
speaking tubes leading from a single
point below to various points above, by
means of which he could cause the
same voice to sound in different parts of
the mansion at the same time. He con-
fessed also that his wife and his sons
wife often appeared to female guests in
ghostly guise, which accounted for my
wife fright upon the landing.
l sent for Lille Atherton, and in the
depth of her gratitude for the regained
estate she allowed Seth Dabney and
his family TO depart free Of justice, and
we heard of them no more