The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-02-23

ever. than his tail dropped between his legs
and he began 20 whine aud SILVER.
At home be remained crouched under a
sofa. but Immediately on regaining the
street he became as frisky as formerly.
Early In the Summer of 1886, when Mr..
Whiting and his family were in the coun-
try. Butler Whiting, Mr.. Writings brother,
was invited 10 sleep in the house.
On the first night he came Ia rather late
and went up to the front room OF the second
story, where he uudressed and went TO bed.
1.-The night was hot and the front WIN
dows were wide open,n said Butler Whiting.
"a lamp on the opposite side of the street
threw a dim light into the room-just
enough to make objects in it visible.
my bed was on the east side Of the
room, with the head board against the
wall between the door leading to the hall
and the door leading TO the hall bedroom
adjourning.
"Betore | went to bed put my revolver
on the mantelpiece over the fireplace on
the opposite side of che room. / had not
the slightest thought that the house was
haunted.
81 was rather restless in bed, owing per-
hsps to the heat, but finally fell into a
doze.
"Just how long had bean In bed / dc
not know but all at once was aware that
somebody was In the room.
''Just about opposite the foot Of my bed
saw
THE DARK FIGURE OF MAN.
There was not light enough to distinguish
his features, and didn't wait to make any
close examination of him.
she appeared to have entered from the
hallway. and was moving when l saw him.
II supposed, of course. he was a burglar
and jumped up and called out 'Stopp He
continued to move across the room and l
leaped for the mantelpiece and seized my
revolver.
''He had reached the entrance to the mar
row passageway which connects the front
and middle rooms.
:" 'Stopp / called out, 'or IF frei'
she disappeared into the passageway 40 |
pointed the revolver at him and fired.
AS soon as the echo of the shot subsidized
| listened, but could hear nothing. | i'm
me diately lighted the gas and looked into
the passageway and the adjoining room,
but saw nothing. & ~
''Then l went out and got a policeman,
and we made thorough search of the
whole house from the cellar to the attic.
We searched every closet and nook where a
man might conceal himself.
"But there was not the slightest trace of
8 man anywhere. or the slightest thing TO
show that the house had been entered, un-
less it was the shutters in the rear room,
which was under the impression Of hay
ing closed when went to bed. but which
were open. The doors In the rear and In
the front were locked securely, as they had
been when l went to bed.
"What was even more remarkable. after
the most thorough search we were unable
to find any sign OF the bullet There was
no bullet mark In the passageway or In the
room beyond.
oTrdaed ali avfdauoa Was M antfraIr iaolr
ing that the policeman
DrsCREDIrED MY WHOLE STORY,
aud came to the conclusion that had been
dreaming"
''That was the only experience of the kind
you ever had In the houseP' ltl
after that ! cleared out" said Butler
Whiting, land / have never staid in the
house sincen
Miss Florence Whiting, Walter B. Whit
ings daughter, who was IA years old at the
time, gave this account of her experience In
the winter after her uncle's adventure:
ut was about 4:30 O'Clock in the after
noon, and had just come out Of my room
on the third floor in the rear
''As it was winter the halls were In twi-
light which came down through the sky
light The gas in the hall had not been
lighted. AS l came out OF my room | saw
somebody in the front end OF the hallway
at the door.
Nobody had ever told nae anything about
there being ghosts in the house, and 1 sup
posed 1t was one of the servants or somebody
In the family. I1
"The person was In the shadow nt the
front Of the hall and could not see who it
was, so l called out: Who's that?
II was standing just at the head OF the
stairway then, and the person, without
making any answer, started TO come toward
me along the hall.
AS soon as the person came out from the
shadow and into the light of the skylight |
saw 1t was a man.
"He was short and deformed, and as he
walked toward me he appeared to be half
crouching. His arms were bundled up un-
der long black cape which he wore, as il
he carried something, and when l first saw
him the cape half hid his face.
HE came on toward me, and I looked
full In his face.
1T WAS CHASTITY PALE.
like the face OF a dead person. He had nos
beard or moustache, and his hair wa dark
and cut short.s9o1 z2 n sgtqsc,
His eyes were very large and dark and
stared at me as he came near.
HE came quickly toward me, and before
l realized what was going on be was so
near that | could have reached out and
touched him.
Then he muttered something in a whis-
per which could not understand. I
shrieked and rushed down stairs. In a
minute everybody In the house was up
stairs searching for the man L had seen. but
there was no trace of him." as
Emily Ward, Mrs. Writings maid, who
has been with the family several years,
ays that she saw the man on two occasions,
My ROOM" said Miss Ward, twas on the
third floor in the front. The children slept
In the rear room adjoining. One night In
the second spring we were in the house
was awakened by band in the street.
las | remember. 1t was about 2 o'clock
in the morning. | got up, lighted the gas,
turning 1t low. and looked out of the win
dow while the music went by.
'When l turned around to leave the vim
dow / saw manstanding by the foot of my
bed. The gas was not burning very high.
but | could see him almost as plainly as il it
was in the daytime.
He was not an old man, and he was
dressed in black. There was a patch of
white at his neck which appeared to be a
white tie. His face was smooth and very
white, and his hair. which was quite short.
was dark, with just little gray In it.
HIS EYES WERE BIG AND BRIGHT.
and he had large mouth, with very large
white teeth, which / saw plainly when he
grinned at me.
"When l turned and saw him he was
standing in crouched position looking over
the bed at me.
/ had made a few steps toward the bed
before had time to catch myself, and then
was frightened and gave cry and said:
Who are youp'