The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1892-02-04
LACKS TRUTH ONLY.
COLD FACTS DESTROY AN ENTER
TANNING GHOST STORY.

Rem iuiscences of Lord LyttOn Which 4 re
More Valuable ia Relation Than in
TruthfuInes= - An Alleged Haunted
Room which Did Not Exist.
Romantic Lord Lytton was, but not
superstitious. His death. however, has
revived the story of the yellow boys
room, the ghost chamber said to exist at
Knebworth house, the beautiful ances-
trail home Of the Lyttons for more than
600 years. At Mr.. W. p. Frith's door
must the charge be laid of having put
the interesting tale in circulation, for we
find it first III his engaging volume of
"Reminiscences" After relating West
woods experiences with the weird wom-
an of the MaisOn Blob, the painter sup
plements the story by another anecdote
of more tragical significance.
lat Knebworth," he says, the seat
of Lord Lytton, there is a bedchamber
called the yellow boys room" He then
proceeds to relate that during a visit to
Knebworth, Lord Castlereagh, while the
guest of the grandfather OF the late
British ambassador to Paris, was as
signed without a word Of warming to the
mysterious and haunted room. Feeling
very tired ne soon dropped into sleep,
bnt his uneasy slumbers were troubled
and it was not long before he awoke.
What it was which startled him his lord
ship never knew, but the sight which
met his eyes as be gazed at the still burn
ing fire in his room was startling enough.
The figure Of d boy, with long, yellowish
hair streaming down, sat in front of the
fireplace with his back toward the Irish
noble1nan. AS the latter looked, the lad
arose, turned toward him, and drawing
back the curtain at the bottom of the
bed with one hand, with the other he
drew his fingers two or three times across
his throat. OF course the impression
produced on Castlereagh was decidedly
disturbing. Bulwer insisted that he
must have been dreaming, but his lord
ship declared with emphasis that he saw
the figure as distinctly as he saw his host
at that moment, and that, far from being
asleep, he was wide awake.
A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE.
Mr.. FIRTH then adds that Mr.. Bulwer
did not tell Lord Observation-Disclosures
carotid cutting Castlereagh'-that the
yellow boy always appeared to any DDS
who was destined to die a violent death
and always indicated the manner of it
to his victim.
A more amusing and less unpleasant
incident is tDid Of the same chamber at
Knebworth 10y our artist author, the
subject being Il timid. brother
painter who spent a night at the poets
lovely and stately retreat in HEREFORD
shire. The father of the author of ''Lu-
cile," Mr.. FIRTH says, cOnfided the de-
tails Of the Castlereagh story to his
guest on allotting the yellow boys room
to him, remarking on bidding him good
night, You will not be frightened, will
your" ''No-o-O," said the painter, with
an ashy face. We'll, it is getting late:
what do you say to retiring2 Yes, that
is your candle. Too warm for a fire in
your room. You don't mind? Good
night" The rest Of the story shall be
told" says Firth, lin my old friends
words as nearly as can remember them.
! mad SEEM" he went OIL, the Internal
room before dinner, and | thought it
looked IA ghostly sort of place. and when
| reached it that night what would | not
have given to be back in my own room
at home! | looked under the bed, up the
great, wide chimney, and had a shock
from the sight of my own face in the
looking glass. No ghost could be whittier
than | was. | don't believe in ghosts.
you know. but still it was really too bad
of Lytton to tell me such things just as
| was going to bed, and then to put ne
in the very place! There was an awful
Old cabinet. | managed to pull open the
door and vas Juggling at the other, when
my candle went OUTFLOW. | don't know
somebody seemed to blow it out. |
can't tell you what became of it; all ]
know is | jumped into bed with my
boots on, and lay trembling there for
hours. Frith-literally for hours-till
sleep took me at last: and w was !
more thankful than when | awOke and
saw the sun shining into the yellow boys
ROOM"
NO TRUTH IN STORY.
The circumstantiality with which Mr..
Firth tells these short tales must con-
vince his readers that he is thoroughly
satisfied in his own mind that the Incl