The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1894-06-13

Their mother left the room, but soon re-
turned saying, 1T was nothing After
this We settled down to our work, and
the morning, though perceptibly chilled
by my little episode, passed quickly by"
At this point in the narration all the
ladies drew closer together, and forming
circle about the narrator urged her to
proceed.
"Some nights after this" continued
Miss Blunt, 81 awoke suddenly from my
sleep, and there, Standing by my bed,
almost bending over me, l saw clearly
by the street light, which fell directly in
to my room, this sane little woman, all
dressed in brown, with the white hand
kerchief crossed upon her breast, and
looking earnestly at me as she had done
some days before. sprang up quickly
and called to her as l fastened to light
the gas, but she was not TO be seen, nor
was there any sign Of any one having en-
tered my room. Il is not necessary to
say that l bolted my door securely, wrap
ped myself in the blankets and sat up the
rest of night. This time concluded that
my cousins wife had some demented re-
lative or friend confined in the house,
and that she had escaped accidentally
and made these excursions into my room.
l determined to speak to my cousin in
the morning and obtain the truth from
him, and thus protect myself against
further alarm and fright. When / de-
scended the next morning, ! was so fol-
tunate as to meet my cousin alone in the
lower hall. Come into the library and
let me speak with you,' I said. He led
me into the room, saying, laughingly,
Have you, too, seen the ghost? Indeed
l have l replied, and then told him of
what had happened to me. He seemed
annoyed. It's very strange, he said.
No one is confined here in the house.
Soon after we came this same little brown
woman appeared TO my wife, When she
told me of it laughed at her. In a few
| days, however, the thing repeated itself.
Both ofthe girls have seen her. my
self have not yet been honored. Seri-
ously, though, begin to fear there is a
mystery. Something must be done. My
wife and daughters wished to give up the
house a month ago, but felt that there
must be some mistake, and | determined
TO remain and prove to them that either
it was their overweight imaginations or
something which would in time explain
itself naturally"
"At breakfast my cousin related my
experience to the family. We discussed
the matter seriously. That same day
my cousins wife heard low cries of dis
tress in one ofthe vacant bedrooms.
Summoned by her, we went into the room
Immediately, but found no one. On the
night of that day was again awakened
from my sleep by the appearance at my
bedside Of this same little woman as
silent and pathetic as ever.
"0n the following day the cries of dis
tress were again heard in the vacant bed
room, but no clew TO them could be dis
covered. 0fcourse the whole household
was aroused and excited, and there was
little rest for any of us. Had it not been
for the ardent feeling of my cousin con-
cerning the old family house nothing
could have held us there day longer.
Approaching his pride in the matter we
determined to wait awhile, and with the
assistance of skilled detectives see if the
mystery could be solved.
"a week passed, detectives came and
went, but they discovered nothing. In the
meantime, however, the little brown wo-
man appeared twice to me in nay room
and as often to my cousins wife. When
We called or rang for some one, she dis
az aIpeared as suddenly and as mysterious
ly as she had come.
Il can give you no idea Of the sensa-
ton she produced upon those who saw
her. Above everything We saw at the
time and recalled afterward those pathet-
ic eyes of hers, looking oeseechingly into
ours. Whoever she was, she was a wo-
man of deep SORROW, and in some way,
We all felt, she represented some terrible
tragedy or undying grief.
"One evening at the end of a week Mr.
Graves, young detective, called and
asked TO see the family. He was shown
into the library, and drawing package
ofpapers from his pocket begged leave
to lay before us some information which
he had obtained. Somewhere in New
York, 1t seems, is kept a record of all the
old houses in the city. This enterprising
young detective, bafiled by his investiga
tons at the house, was convinced from
what he had learned that the affair par
took of the supernatural consequently
consequently he had gone into these
records and hunting out that of this old
family in Bleeeker street. What he told
US contained the only explanation of the
little brown woman which we have ever
had and as my cousin gave up the house
Immediately none of US has ever seen
her since"
"What was it ?" asked in awhisper
the group of women.
"After this house had passed from my
cousins family" continued Miss Blunt,
"it was occupied for some years, it seems,
by NJ. Grovoche, French wine merch-
ant. He lived alone in Bleecker street |
with his servants and was supposed TO |
have amassed large fortune. When
some years had gone by in this way, he
suddenly disappeared, and for many |
years no explanation could be discover
ed. His mother, a peasant woman from
the Gironde, came to this country in the
hope Of finding him. She spent the re-
maing years of her life in the search,
and the devotion and energy with which
she pursued her purpose made her at one
time a familiar figure to the police Of
New York, and especially to the people
in Bleecker street, where she was fre-
quently to be seen. The poor woman
died without obtaining any clew to the
fate of her son, and soon the whole mat
te. was lost sight OF by those Who had
taken an interest in her. A few years
after her death man died in New Jer-
sey who left confession 10 the effect
that the house of NJ. Groyoche in Bleeck-
er street had been entered bv him one /