Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1892-05-07

dear Ms. clyde's two misfortunes and
Mrs. Vansittart's last year.
"Mrs, Vansittart'ssn said What was
thatf''
"She wns telegraphed for home, cause
her daughters child was dead "
That, must confess, impressed even me,
and made me more than ever anxious to
get to the end Of the mystery declared
to her my wife and | must follow the APP
partition that very night or whenever 1t ap-
peared, and begged that she give me tho
key of the room
WHAT" she demanded, do you expect
10 see it, too' They say that never has
man seen 1t, nor not all women; never have
seen it, but must say don't hold with
ghosts of any sort, and it's shame for
them, whoever they are, to make a ghost
of poor little haby," However, begged
she would entrust me with the key. She
at first demnrred, but at length said she
might-the more easily because Mr.. CLYDE
had ordered fires to be kept up in the room
every night during the cold season. and
therefore she had the key to her hand
The result was that when my wife with.
drew | went with her When she reached
the bottom of the staircase she whispered
10 me, looking up with a fixed eye: "Do
you see IL | saw nothing. | followed
silently, till she came to the fateful door
through which according to my wifej the
apparition had disappeared tried tho
door. II was certainly locked, but opened
1t with the key and passed in with my
wife. When we were quite within the
room and In the light OF the Pickering
flame Of the fire my wife caught my arm
and whispered again "Looki Do you see
itt"
| saw nothing
For the rest had better tell directly
what my wife saw; for saw nothing-till
the end, when there was something tan
gible to be seen. We sat down together a
little way from the fire, she holding my
hand, which she would catch at hard and
hold on to, Mt, suppose, poignant instants
OF her vision
She saw the golden haired child sit on n
footstool quite close to the fire, and the
black kitten sit near her, both gazing in
tently, and as IL were with content, mt the
flames
They sat, and the Goals assuring us of
our touch with the real world blew hiss
Ing jets OF smoke, which would break into
rushing fame illuminating all the room.
and the cinders cracked and fell together.
dropping fragments out upon the brass
fender with chatter that made US start
all that, OF course, ut intervals which
seemed hours long Then mt length she
saw hand-nothing but shapcly, ghost
ly hand and wrist-flash from the dark on
the left hand side of the fireplace, seize the
black kitten by the neck and catch It
away; an instant after the same hand
flashed down upon the child; the child fell
forward against the fire and with piercing
scream of agony Disappeared
My wife started forward with scream,
so that TO this day IL is impossible for me
to decide for myself which | heard-the
scream Of nay wife or the cry of the child
the sound of this world or of the other.
My wife had tainted; carried her out
of the room and locked the door. Thought
it was not worth while to disturb the
house, but when had brought her to and
heard all she had seen she insisted that
she could not rest that night till an at,
tempt bad been made to solve the mystery
and 10 lay the ghost.
returned down stairs, found CLYDE and
old Nansittart and told them what we had
done. Clyde seemed good deal put out;
he believed nothing but trouble would
come of this meddling, however, since we
had gone so far he was prepared 10 see us
through with 1t. So we all went to the
haunted room-women and all
We all agreed that the ghostly hand was
the center and origin OF the whole ma.
chinery, so To say, of the appartion, and
my wife and Mrs. Vansittart declared that
the hand came from the left hand side Of
the fireplace. Now there tas all over the
walls Of the roomI Clyde had fastened
some grecnish colored material of canvas
texture as n background for his pictures,
which were here as everywhere. Receiv
ing his permission to Judo that part OF
1t ! drew the pins and disclosed an old
fashioned flock paper. He swore and de
clared he had instructed the workmen 10
strip the walls before putting his stuff up
Stripping away a piece of the flock paper
disclosed first one common wall paper
and then another, till | came to fiat, sound
wood work. Stripping everything freely
away from that saw on close examna-
tion small, tight fitting cupboard door
That discovered ] paused, and we all
looked at each other. What strange secret
of the house might be exposed by the open.
ing OF that doorl
Prise awayi' said Clyde to me, handing
a chisel with a malignant ferocity which
startled me.
With some effort the door was forced
open-and loi grisly sight that made the
women screaml 4 skeleton hand-a right
hand-with precious flashing rings slip
ping over the joint Of one of the fingers
hung by loose silken cord from a hook,
while below ii on the floor Of the cupboard
lay small complete skeleton Of a four
footed creature, which we determined could
be none other than kitteni
Strange and horriblei And what did IL
meant gave my guess then, as give 1t
now. The hand was the hand OF the for
eign woman who had hated her own child
and hated cats, who had in that very room
struck at her child through her child's
kitten-had probably tas the vision seemed
t1signify1 seized the cat, and in her passion
Lad killed II and in her fear had hid it,
and then had struck at her child, not with
intent to kill, probably, but so rashly and
violently that the child had fallen against