The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1894-01-27


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.
as if she had paused moment on her
way down stairs. with one arm slightly
raised and leaning forward trife. as if
looking at some one in the hall below.
It was utterly inexplicable to me. had
never seen that face. and the gardener
had told me that the house was not in
habited. | 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 face Of rare beauty. was COM
pletely mystiGed.
LAS luck would have it was obliged
to go to B again the next day, and J
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
pushed off to seek my friend the gar
hener. found 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 frightened animal and
with look of terror in his eyes. In
moment or so he found his breath and
gasped:
"'Good God, it's Miss Annie!
You may imagine my SURPRISE The
old man looked at me and at the picture
with scared look, as if he suspected me
of some unholy relation with the devil.
But after awhile he Gained down a
little. and good stiff drink from a 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 in 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.
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-I forget which one-my friend the
gardener came up from the town with
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
slant 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 said that the un.
fortunate girls spirit haunts the house,
and especially the stairway, where she
heard the news of her lovers death.
had photographed the ghost.
Now that knew the story of the girl
that picture took stronger hold on me
than before AMI the mystery Syas only
intensified. could not get rlA of that
face. 1t haunted me more surely thai:
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
able to open a new world to us? Was
its unerring vision clear enough to
pierce the mists of a spirit land and as
sure us of the reality Of ghost? And
if so. how was it to be explained? laid
the matter before the Society for PSYCHE
Cal Research, but they only talked
long time about it without suggesting
much, and for all l know they're at !;
yet. But l never shook off the spell o.
that phantom face"
Robinson paused moment, lost in a
far away dream. Brown, the skeptic, at
length aroused him with short "Well?"
Robinson lit fresh cigar and continued:
''For a week after my return that
picture, the mystery and the beautiful
face had such an effect on me that it al
most untitled me for work, and | was
heartily Glad when Johnson came back.