The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1892-04-30
-.ror some time after my return | was

TOR some time after my return | was
very busy, as johnson was away and all
the work fell on me, so it was at least a
month before got the negatives of nv
pictures of the old house. But remem-
bered all the incidents we'll, and was
much pleased to find my views as good
as they We're, but you may imagine my
astonishment when looked at the mega
tive of my first picture and saw in it the
figure OF beautiful young girl standing
on the landing place of the stairway.
"The whole negative was excellent:
the girls picture was especially clear
and well marked. How on earth did
she get therey | had certainly never
seen her before, and | was absolutely
certain that there had been no girl on
the stairway when | took the picture.
But there the stranger was standing
rs if she had paused moment on her
way down stairs, with one arm slightly
raised and leaning forward triie, as if
looking at some one in the hall below
1t was utterly inexplicable to me. had
never seen that face, and the gardener
had told me that the house was not in
hahited. l do not believe that there
could have been such girl in B,
yet there she was AS far as one could
judge from SO small a photograph, it
was a face of rare beauty. | was COM
pletely nystifed.
.'As luck would have it was obliged
to go to b again the next day, and
took my negative with me, promising
myself to look for the mysterious beauty
of the stairway, for the face had
strange fascination for ME, and | deter
mined to find the girl whose picture l
had so unaccountably taken, if could
possibly do So
Il hurried through my business and
rushed off to seek my friend the gar
dener. | fo,.nd him and at once showed
him my puzzling negative. The moment
he saw it he dropped into seat on the
bench beside him as if he had been shot,
trembling like a frightened animal and
with look of terror in his eyes, In a
moment or SO he found his breath ard
gasped:
.'Good God. it's Miss Annier
" GU may imagine my surprise. The
old man looked at me and at the picture
with scared look, as if he suspected me
of some nnholy relation with the devil.
But after awhile he calmed down a
little, and a good stiff drink from flask
| happened to have in my pocket seemed
to brace him up and persuade him that
was not an imp in disguise, and after
awhile succeeded i'll getting the follow
ing explanation from him, which will
condense for you. not trying to repro
duce his words and his Scotch accent:
During the war of the rebellion Mr..
s. lived in this house with his wife
and an only daughter. Miss Annie, a
beautiful girl, who was about twenty
years old at the time of which am
speaking. She was the idol of the fam
lily and loved by all who knew her. She
was to have been married to John R,
fine young fellow who lived near by,
but when the call for volunteers was
made her lover went off to the war. She
was almost overcome with anxiety for
him, for her heart had gone with him.
One day soon after one of the early bat
tles-l forget which one-my friend the
gardener came up from the town with a
telegram. He met Miss Annie coming
down the stairway and gave her the
message. She stopped ON the landing,
opened the envelope and read the tele-
gram.
''She stood perfectly still for an in
stant as if she could not realize it and
then-the gardener was just in time to
save her from falling, as she tainted.
The telegram announced the death of
Lieutenant John R, killed on the
battlefield. Miss Annie never recovered
from the shock, and she died insane in
few months. Her mother soon followed
her, and Mr.. s. left the town, a
lonely, brokenhearted man, and never
has returned. The place has never been
rented because it is sail that the un-
fortunate girls spirit ha}sats the house,
and especially the stairway, where she
heard the news of her lovers death.
had photographed the ghost.
Nov that | knew the story of the girl
that picture took stronger hold on me
than before and the mystery was only
intensified. could not set rid Of that
face. It haunted me more surely thar.
the poor girls ghost ever haunted the
stairway and could not shake off the
fascination. In short, had fallen in
love with a ghost, and envied that
Lieutenant John R.
1T was a horribly uncanny feeling,
but calling myself an ass did not help
me to forget the face. And then the
puzzle of it all, the problems it suggest
ed. Could it be that the camera was