The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-08-04

OH 1uOnk was seen no luuer tnuu --ss- =.
by man who lives here and whose word !
have every reason to believe. have ar
ranged with him that we call at his house
on our way all three Of us to spend the
night in tho old mansion, and then-nous
verrons"
To tell the truth, did not quite fancy
the idea. Fortunately for ME- I only half
believed the story, and SO, stepping out
| briskly, we soon reached the pretty little
house belonging to MaX's friend This
man, DR.. Appleton, was the first to revive
my fears. Markham" he said solemnly,
"I'm half sorry promised. This Is too
serious q business for us to meddle with.
| / saw that thing again today in broad
daylight, and l never In all my life saw
such devilish looking face" "Oh, bosh,
mani" said Max. 'It's too late now to
turn back. We hav. barely Is minutes to
reach the house. A brisk walk will pull
up your courage. Como on" Making
some remark about fools vonturing where
angels fear to tread, tho doctor put on his
coat, and in few moments wo were again
under way.
A 10 minutes walk brought us in sight
of the old abbey. Cold and gaunt the
ruins looked in the moonlight, like u skele-
ton of the past. At its back wood Of
pines swayed in tho night wind like an
army of ghosts waiting for leader, and
llttlo farther on, surrounded by the shadow
of the trees, stood dosolato looking
house, with empty windows and broken
panes, the worry picture Of all that was
haunted and uncanny. Making our way
| nnInr tha oh n1puy Nf fhn xNrn pancbcI
the back of the house and with little diff
1lculty forced window open and were
soon inside. By the light Of the moon
shining through the blindlcss windows
we made our way to what appeared to be
tho dining room, and then, closing tho
shutters and lighting o solitary candle,
We sat down ON a couple Of empty boxes
to await results. Wehad not long to wait.
Exactly as o neighboring clock struck II
we heard sound that made our very
hearts stand still. We sprang from our
seats and stood looking at ono another in
CONSERVATION and dismay. 1t seemed as
If on tho very stroke of IL the house had
received some blow that shook it to its
foundations. Every door seemed to open
and creak and bang one after another as
| luG WlUu Nlll phNpV Oll ito N"J
from room to room. lnstinctively We
turned our eyes to the door of the chamber
We occupied. 1t was open. There was
something standing there. The moon
flashed out from behind a cloud. 1t was
the monk.
l could hear my heart beat like drum,
/ was almost sinking with fright when
suddenly, with hollow, grating laugh,
tho figure disappeared. In a second we
had picked up our things, opened the win
dow, jumped to tho lawn and were run
ming as Alst as legs would carry us in the
direction Of Appletons house Markham
was the first to recover his composure
"What darned fools we are, he said, but
upon my word never got such fright in
my life. :" That sentiment was heartily in
dorsed by Appleton and myself, and we
both so strongly opposed the idea of fur
ther investigation that Markham gave in.
and the doctor put us up III his place for
the night
With the daylight, however, our courage
returned, and after good breakfast we
took walk around the old house be-
fore returning to the city and vowed that
the three of us would make another at
tempt that night to penetrate the mystery.
Daylight is wonderful thing for dis
pelling ghosts and ghostly fears, and we
could hardly believe that we were the
same men who the night before ran as fast
as legs could carry from that very room
that the following morning we so con-
tentedly examined 1t was exactly as we
had left it, There were the two boxes on
which we sat, there the grease of the
candle, and there the open window
through which we had fled.
The doctor was inclined to regard the
matter in a very grave light Up to that
moment he had not given much thought
to the domain Of ghostland. He therefore
considered the apparition direct rebuke
for such negligence. Markham simply be-
lieved that his eyes had deceived him, but
how we three saw the same thing and
heard that awful laugh he could not ex-
plain. We visited oil the rooms, saw the
nursery where the monk had been seen
bending over the child, and lastly turned
our attention to the basement. Tho eel
lars were large and freely admitted light,
except one which faced toward the abbey.
When we entered the latter and got accus-
toned to the darkness, q grewsome sight
met our eyes, which startled us nearly as
much as did the apparition of the previous
night. Hanging from beam in the cell.
ing was the rope and moose by which the
unfortunate butler had hung himself.
There 1t had remained, white with mold,
swinging softly in the draft, grim trophy