The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-06-26
THE WALLED-IN ROOM.
THRILLING STORY OF MEXICAN
LOVE AND REVENGE.

LOFh AND REVENGE.
A st. Louis Merchants Wonderful TX
| perience in Durango-Voices of the
| NiEht-Awful Sights in the Charnel
Chamber-A Strange Story.
From the ST. Louis Republic.
One Of the quietest and most practical
citizens of st. Louis has queer story to tell
in connection with his recent stay in Du-
range, Mexico, where he has spent several
months looking after the mining interests
OF a firm in Chicago, with which he has
been connected. He had mentioned his
experience to a friend, with whom be is
quite intimate, aud a Republic reporter
called on him yesterday and urged him to
give the story to the press.
ITO tell the truth, have been trying to
keep the matter secret" he said frankly.
There Is something about it that puzzles
me very much-something that don't at
all understand, and feel reluctant to speak
about it.n
After some urging, however, and a prom
Use 20 withhold his name from the public,
be told his story:
Il want to tell you frss," he said, that
don't understand what they call psychology
ical phenomena. and l don't believe In
them. Such thing as superstition is abso-
| lutely impossible for me. | would scarcely
believe In ghost if l were to see it, I
would consider that | was being deceived
by somebody or something, and that the
apparitisn could be explained on perfectly
natural grounds. This will show you that
the occurrence / am going to describe
naturally gave me great deal OF trouble,
| and that l am worried about them because
| don't understand them.
| IL went down into the province of Dur
ango, as you know about tn rec months ago
The place in which / was located during
| that time was a very old and very pictur-
esque town, scattered over the slope OF a
mountain near the mines with which my
| business was connected, and a long way
from any railroad. Knowing that I would
be detained there some time looked around
for comfortable quarters, and after day
| or two found, away at the upper end of
the town, house that was presided over by
| an old Mexican woman, the only inmate,
| who rented me one room and charged a
price that would have made a st. Louis
| landlord green with envy. The house had
been quite a large aud prosperous one at
some time, l should judge. for there
we're ruinous walls indicating that IL
had once inclose a handsome court, with
flowers and fountains in it; but now
nothing was left but the front of the house,
consisting of three or four rooms strung
along in row. My room was at the end OF
the string, and there was no door OF com-
munication between that and the next
room, in which the old woman slept. To
get into that part Of the house one had to
| go outside and walk to the door along It,
tie path through the tangled shrubbery. /
have told this particularly, because it was
necessary for you to understand what hap
| pened.
II was 80 tired the fret night slept like
| a log, yet did not feel refreshed when |
awaked. | felt as though some trouble had
been weighiug me down all night, aud l
caught myself twenty times trying to think
what it was. The impression had not really
worn away when night came again, and |
settled myself to sleep once more, hoping
that would have fine nights rest.
But In the night l was wakeped with
start. The sound that l heard-it could
not have been that that walked me, for it
was low and faint-but there l was, wide
awake in an instant and thrilled with Gu
rious sensation Of fear. What heard was
the crying and sobbing Of woman,
mingled with tones Of pleading and some
times word or two of something that
sounded like prayer. 1t was evident that
some woman was in grievous trouble My
first thought was that the old woman from
whom had rented WAS being murdered in
| the next room. Snatching my revolver, |
dashed out of my own room around to the
door Of hers.
Here! Mother Mother Ganor cried,
beating on the door of her room and pres
entity she opened the door a little way,
grumbling and cross at having been dis
tHrbed
"'What is the matterP she retorted in
choice Mexican. Nothing is the matter
nothing at all. am no fool to lie awake
when might be asleep. Believe me. l have
slept like an angel.
with which she shut the door in my face.
| / went back to my ROOM deeply puzzled
but at last told myself that the old woman
had been troubled with a nightmare and
had talked IN her sleep. And. after taking
an hour or two to convince myself that this
was true, went to sleep also and slept until
morning.
II must admit that when night came
around again was not so thoroughly con-
| Weed. l had been debating the question
with myself all day, AMI was more unde-
| cided than ever. l was late before l gave
up the proplem and closed my eyes, and l
| had scarcely lost consciousness of m yself, l
think, when | was suddenly broad awake
again aud sitting up in bed. You must &C
knowledge that | had good reason FOR being
startled-for, through the intense silence of
the night came the low and exuuisitely
sweet tones OF woman's voice. singing In
English, DO They Miss Me at
| Homer The voice was low
| as 1t would naturally be coming
through that thick wall. | spraDg out Of
bed, and with one ear TO the will l listened
eagerly. But scarcely had l taken that
position when the song ceased and the
sound of sobbing began, and that, in
turn. went into a wild peal of maniac
laughter. Then everything WAS STILL and,
though l waited in agony, no other sound
| came.
81 knew that by this time that the voice
was not that of the old woman, for hers was
harsh and cracked enough, while this was
sweet, cultivated and American. l began
| to feel sure that some unfortunate girl was
now confined in that room. or perhaps shut
| up Ia some closet between the two rooms l
determined not to rest until had inveeti-
| gated, however rude | might seem. Per-
! haps human life might depend on my
scrutiny, slid to myself.
The next day, on pretense OF finding the
! old woman and buying some matches from
| her, | went into the house through the
kitchen, passed on into the next room and
| finally into her room. She was out, and
| looked about me in anna cement Nowhere
was there closet or any other place In
which it would be possible to hide any one
away. The wall which separated her room
from mine was a dead, blank wall, with not
| a break to mar its smooth surface.
while | stood there the old woman came