The Portland daily press., 1892-02-26
ROBINSON'S GHOST.


such men as we area party of three
lawyers, a doctor and a journalist-"who
pride ourselves on our common sense, to
discuss such stuff seriously. Modern
science has thrown SO strong a light on
those illusions that they ought to be rec
ognized everywhere for just what they
are-nothing more than the result Of
mental disorder. What do you say,
Robinson; do you believe in ghosts, as
our friend, the doctor, seems to?" The
speaker contemptuously threw away the
stump Of his cigar as if it were the Of
fender he was berating instead of the
doctor, who had just been spinning an
after dinner yarn of supernatural kind.
"Do believe in ghosts? Well, really,
Brown, don't know. But your speak
ing of the sciences reminds me once
had remarkable experience with a
ghost" Robinson reached for the bot
tie, filled his glass slowly and held it up
to the light with an air of reminiscent
meditation. After short pause he went
on, in answer to our inquiring looks:
"It was five years ago, just after I had
opened my Office here and taken young
johnson into partnership. One hot July
morning | received a telegram asking
me to go at once to B, a little town
out on Long Island, to draw up will
for man who had been one of our best
clients. johnson was out of town, so l
had to attend to the matter myself.
"A glance at the time table showed
me that should have to stay in B
several hours, and just as | was leaving
it occurred to me that itnight be worth
while to take my camera along-John-
son and were both Kodak fends' in
those days-as my business might not
detain me long, and l should probably
have an hour or two to spare. L had
barely time to catch my train, SO has
tily picked up the camera from my desk
and rushed off. Just as expected, /
soon finished the will and started out to
get some views of the sleepy old town.
But B is rather commonplace vii
lage, and saw nothing thought worth
swapping my camera at till | had
reached the outskirts of the town, where
/ found picturesque old mansion that
caught my fancy.
'It was quaint, rambling old house,
gabled rooted and overgrown with vines.
It seemed to be deserted-in fact, almost
ruin. 1t stood at some distance back
from the road, and as there appeared to
be no one living there went into its
garden, which was an unrestrained tan
gle of weeds and tall grass, to get a
nearer view of the building. was just
about to take picture Of the porch
when an old man appeared in the door
way. He was very feeble, but a rather
fine looking old boy. l at once began to
apologize for trespassing on his grounds,
but he stopped me and told me to take
as many pictures as l wished. He turned
out to be the man in charge of the place.
81 soon struck up an acquaintance with
him and was not long in winning his
good graces. He told me the house had
not been used for many years; it be-
longed to Mr.. s., who lived in Eu-
rope and who had left this place in his
charge, he having been the gardener
He was very willing to show me around
and invited me to look at the inside of
the house, which was glad to do. The
first glimpse of the interior pleased me
so much that decided to make view
of it for my first picture.
'tThe door opened on a broad hall run
ming clear through the house; there was
large winding stairway at the back
with landing place half way up, upon
which there opened beautiful oval
window, overgrown with ivy. The light
was good and | snapped my camera at
this fine old stairway and window. l
took a number of views of the house and
grounds and had barely time left to
catch my train back to the city.
"For some time after my return was
very busy, as johnson was away and all
the work fell on me, so it was at least
month before got the negatives of my
pictures of the old house. But l remem-
bered all the incidents well, and was
much pleased to find my views as good
rs they were, but you may imagine my
astonishment when looked at the mega
tive of my first picture and ,Aw in it the
figure of beautiful young girl standing
on the landing place Of the stairway.
''The whole negative was excellent;
the girls picture was especially clear
and well marked. How on earth did
she get there? had certainly never
seen her before, and | was absolutely
certain that there had been no girl on
the stairway when | took the picture.
But there the stranger was standing,
as if she had paused moment on her
way down stairs, with one arm slightly
raised and leaning forward trifie, as II
looking at some one in the hall below.
1t was utterly inexplicable to me. had
never seen that face, and the gardener
had told me that the house was not in
habited. do not believe that there
could have been such girl in B,