Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-11-19
paper ON which her dying lover had traced
a few words of farewell;


she watched the rude but loving mourners
bear him to chamber in the house and lay
him as If asleep upon couch. 1t was the
sleep of death from which kisses on the cold
lips or warm caresses on the pallid brow
could not awaken him. Day by day she
faded like lily that is denied moisture,
and within few short weeks her spirit
fled to join his in another world.
Since then the Hunter house has had
many owners and many occupants, but
every year upon the anniversary OF that
stormy night in 1887 the stroke of horses
hoofs are heard without, the old knockeI
clangs, footsteps sound upon the stairs
and the occupants of the south room-the
same in which Philip Marstons body lay
receive ghostly visitant. Such being the
case, few care to occupy that apartment
during the latter part of June. The last
authenticated instance of anything being
seen there was as follows:
Ten years ago the house was owned and
occupied by family named Thunsden,
among the members of which was a neph.
ew named William Black, a young and
rising member of the bar Early in the
summer of 1882 the Thunsdens went on
their annual pilgrimage to one of the
Virginia watering places, leaving young
Black to occupy and care for the house in
their absence. He was the sole inmate as,
according to southern custom, the servants
lived in separate building, and indeed il
would have been difficult to have coaxed
any darby to spend a night there at any
time
Several days had gone by without Incl.
dent until the night of June IS. Black
had started to go to bed, but was suddenly
seized with an unaccountable loneliness
and distrust of his solitary condition, and
upon reflection recollected that this was
the anniversary. He was a man of noted
courage and physical strength, and not a
bit superstitious Nevertheless, like most
of us, the coincidence gave him creepy
feeling and he resolved on having COM
pany Taking his hat and cane he went in
search of a fellow barrister of his own age
and with whom he was intimate, one John
I. Jones, who held forth upon the court
house square and kept bachelors hall over
his office
Ascending the narrow staircase he found
his chum ensconeed in bed, but not yet
asleep. In response to Blacks invitation
TO go and spend the night with him he
good naturally consented, and they were
both soon en- route for the Hunter mansion
1t was about II 80 o'clock and as beautifully
calm and clear a moonlight night as heart
could wish when they entered the house,
and after locking the hall door went to
Blacks room-the south chamber. Young
men make short work Of toilets, so they
were quickly in bed, and neither being
sleepy Black started to tell Jones the
story of the haunted room. He had just
finished when the old cracked bell in the
court house, tower struck midnight and as
the last reverberations died away a horses
hoof strokes could be distinctly heard upon
the gravel walk without.
Suddenly and without warning the win
dows commenced to rattle in their case
ments and a noise resounded from the roof
as If torrents of rain were descending upon
its weather beaten shingles. All this time
the moon was throwing its mellow rays
into the room, lighting it up to a mezzo-
tint, and the shadows cast from the trees
showed that no breath of air was stirring
Then came the clang Of the old knocker
upon the hail door; the noises ceased as
quickly as they had begun, and all was ST.
lenoe.
Jones and Black were brave enough, and
would have faced the devil and all his
imps in broad daylight, but this was more
than they had bargained for. The noise
had been startling, but the silence that fol.
lowed it was 80 intense that it was almost
palpable. Then 'tap''-''tap"-''tap"
'tap"-came the unmistakable sound of
footsteps upon the stairs, slowly and
YEARLY mounting They ceased for a sec
ond or two upon the landing outside, the
door swung noiselessly open, and figure,
clearly seen in the moonlight, entered and
crossed the room. Both men lying on the
bed saw 1t plainly, and afterward de-
scribed it as that of young and beautiful
girl, tall and slender, with golden curls
framed around a face of marble pallor,
wide open blue eyes, and clothed from
head to foot in 6eecy white, with a single
white rosebud nesting above the ear.
Advancing slowly to one of the windows
the figure stood a moment with clasped
hands, looking wistfully out into the
night and with the full glow of the moon
light upon its upturned features: then it
turned, approached the side of the bed
were Jones lay, stopped and placed hand
cold as earth itself upon his forehead. Up
TO that moment he and Black had been too
frightened to move or speak, but when that
icy hand was laid upon him the spell was
DIOhtus nc
longer, and with yell both of them
tumbled out of the other side of the bed
from where the figure stood, and bounded
down the stairs.
How they ever unlocked the hall door Oh
got outside neither of them could ever tell,
but when they came to themselves suffi-
GENTLY to take in the situation they were
making record time, clad only in their
night Clothes toward Jones' office. They
did not go back to the Hunter house that
night; in fact it was some days before they
could summon nerve enough to go in day
light and get their clothes.
Since then the night of June IS in each
year finds that room untenanted Sin.
gularly enough the noises described are
never heard elsewhere through the house
but If anybody is earnest in search for a
new sensation he can easily obtain it by
visit at the proper time, and a night spent
in the south chamber of the old Hunter
X. Gordon in Atlanta Con
stitution.