The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-10-10
THE HAUNTED ROOM.

ia : use is very foil, Florence, and l
thought ". would not mind sleeping in this
room," said Mary WarnefOfd, as she ush-
cred me into a large. airy bedroom. into
which the bright rays of the setting sun
we're streaming gloriously on certain alter
noon in bygone June.
81 really see no visible reason why l
should do So" 1 replied, iestingly, with a
smile. ~ think 1t is about as charming 8
room as 1t we'll can be-
1.-The room Is fairly pleasant In It's way"
she returned, earelessly. "Only, as you
know, il is supposed to be haunted"
'Hauuted?" I repeated, rather aghast
DO you mean TO say that this is the haunted
room ?"
eyes. 1t is the room that is said to be
haunted" she replied. quietly. DO you OBJ
tect to il? II so. pray say SO. dear"
Her words woke me to sense OF my duty
to MY hostess.
IL most interesting"
VERY Interesting, no doubt. to those who
believe In ghosts. SIZE returned quietly. Il
do not, or l need scarcely say should not
have put you in this room"
"0f course, l know that, and OF course
the ghost question is all nonsense" l agreed
Just so, dear" she returned in the same
tone. al know you were blessed with
little commOn-sense. and that is why
selected you as a suitable occupant for this
room. We all know that you are above
anything Of this sort and do not possess
such inc0uvenient things as nerves"
And with this fiattering assurance ringing
IN nv ears | found myself alone in the
haunted room at Warnetord Abbey.
looked couriously around il. a charm
ing room certainly, but haunted, the
haunted room.
Now the haunted room at Warneford Alb
hey was about as we'll known as the haunted
house in Berkeley Square, and for years it
had been closely locked against all possible
intruders. II was an understood tact that
the late Sir Charles NarDefOrd did not like
any mention Of the WarDeford ghost to be
made IN his presence. There had been
charming mystery about the NsTnefOrd
haunted room. Every one told different
story about 1t and every one was quite sure
that his version of it was the true one.
Some people swore IL was a man; some
people knew for a fact IL was a WOMAN
others were sure il was 8 monster, too
dreadful IN its hideOusness to be described,
and others had been told, on reliable author
Ity, that il had a tail and clOven feet and
its form altogether was the reverse to heav-
sny
But wheg Mary's husband, the present
BsroDet, came into the property, which be
did very shortly before the time this story
begins. be took quite an original view of the
case and proclaimed far and wide that there
was no ghost az all, much less 8 mon ster.
Mary backed him up about it. They IN
locked the room aud had it thoroughly done
up and refuTnished and gave il to be under
stood that they could not understand bow
any one in his SENSES could possibly have
believed that there could have been word
Of truth in any Of those old, foolish super
stitious stories.
And it was thus that Mary coolly intro
dHced the first guest into that haunted
room.
Did quite ike 1t when l found myself
alone there? OF course il is nice TO be told
that you possess plenty Of commOn-seDse,
and that your nerves are good, and equally,
of course, 10 proclaim yourself no wiser
than your DeighboTs, and your nerves only
Indifferent, in the face of such high praise,
is moral impossibility, but there is great
deal Of difference between proclsimiDg a
thing and thinking Ii. My duty to my
hostess had forced me to treat the matter
Ia a eonventionaly light manner, but no
sooner did l find myself alone than began
to think that there Is an unnecessary
amount of conyentionality in the world,
and that If one might sometimes indulge in
an outbreak of sincerity il would be an H.
finite relief to ones feelings.
But had not INDUCED in one, and there
Twas in the haunted room, feeling very
much "a he man who once jumped big
70 keep up his character as hard rider,
must have felt.
i gaZed around the room Ia an awestruck
manner, and came quickly to the conclusion
that the thing | liked the least in II was the
bed. a. heavy, dark. old bedstead. on
which was carved innumerable extremely
Upattractive objects. Heads Of murderous-
looking men and women. interviewer among
horrible, open-mouthed animals, which had
never been copied from any Of the species
70 bou of,f In RI a
were none the less CHASTITY because their
proportions were a physical imposslbiliiy.
No, certainly did not like the bed in which
was doomed TO sleep that night at all.
However, luckily for my peace of mind, !
had not much time to spare in meditation.
We had arrived just in time to dress for
dlnneI-papa, Molly aud land when Mary
lett me had only half an hour In which 70
Unpack my dressing-case, rummage in my
box for some evening clothes and dress
of our family, and therefore, of course,
monopolized the almost undivided attention
Of our mald.l
We spent a pleasant enough evening
mary understood thoroughly how to keep
things going, and 1t was long after II
o'clock when we ladies tT0o ped upstairs TO
bed.
Molly came into MY room for few mo-
meDts and commented condeseendiDgly upon
the fact that 1t was a nice room. / fancied
she was rather annoyed to ind much larger
and more deliberately furnished than her
own. Molly was a capital girl In some
ways, but just trifie spoiled Ia others, and
she used TO Ike TO be thought very i'm
portant young LADY, and to get the best of
ever hing. Anyway. she did not stay long
VII evening, but after few re-
lOw Miss jameson Carr Muir
American beauty-had hated
Ming, ana how much more she
IT before the next few DAYS
e went yaNning of to her own
ext door TO mine.
again found myself alone In the
haunted room. But this time was resolved
not to think about 1t. ! was nervous, and
knew that the more my mind dwelt upon
the matter, the more nervous l should be-
come, and so hustled energetically about
the room, beaped Goals upon the fire, which,
bad the season had its due. oughL TO have