Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1895-07-09
A NAVAL YARN.

A NAVAL YARN.
tsin an Englishman and his son. The IA
ther was retired army officer of some
MEANS and they were travelling for pleas
ure. They took a fancy to Tien-tsin and
decided to settle there for awhile. Looking
about for house, they were much attract
ed by one just outside the city, which
stood near the waters edge and command
ed beautiful view of the harbor. Their
friends, and more especially their Chinese
servants, cried out aghast, "They must
not think Of such thing" The house
was haunted. No one had lived in it for
years. 1t was as much as ones life was
worth even to pass it after nightfall. The
Englishmen, however, were not to be
frightened off by any such silly stories.
They rented the house and moved in.
For several months all went we'll. Both
father and son were delighted with the
place and finally decided to buy it. One
evening the son, who had been dining in
town, came home quite late. AS he opened
the front door he heard what seemed to be
scuffle in his fathers room. Before he
could reach the top Of the stairs soul
piercing shrek rose high above the con-
fused din. Then all was silent. Rushing
into his fathers room, tho young man
found him lying on the floor in pool OF
blood. There was no one else In the room,
nor was there any apparent way for any
one to have left it without passing him in
the hall. A knife was sticking In the
breast of the wounded man, a wicked
looking Malay knife, with curiously
carved handle. The young man stepped
into the hall to call the servants to his ia
theirs assistance. When he stepped back
into the room q moment later, the knife
had disappeared!
Tho wounded man never rallied. He
lived several hours, but was not able to
speak. His face was distorted by an ex-
preston of unutterable terror, and he died
with the look still In his eyes.
The associations of the place were too
painful for his son to remain there longer.
He offered largo reward for the discovery
of his fathers murderer and left minute
description of the knife that had SO mys-
teriously disappeared Then he packed up
his belongings and returned to England.
The house stood vacant, Of course, more
dreaded than ever
Months passed, perhaps years. do not
know, but after certain lapse Of time one
Of our men-of-war visited the harbor Of
Tien-tsin. Several Of the officers were
ashore one night dining with party of
foreign residents at the club. Some one
told the story of the haunted house and
the murdered Englishman, adding that
the natives said that the murder was re-
enacted every night at the same hour. Our
officers expressed lively interest In the
narrative
Lets visit the house some night, one
Of them suggested, "and see the show"
"Why not tonight" exclaimed young
Dane whom we will agree to call A. "We
have plenty of time, and the steward Of
the club has the keys of the house. The
Englishman left them with him when he
went away
The men were all young and keen for
adventure. Perhaps the excellent club
punch had made them even Drawer than
usual Anyhow the suggestion was re.
ceived with acclamations. The keys were
called for Some one produced lantern.
The rest filled their pockets with matches
and candle ends. When they were ready
to start, they looked about for A. He was
nowhere to be found. The party set forth
without him. One of our officers could
not refrain from expressing some amuse-
ment that the organizer Of the adventure
should prove the only ono afraid to carry
it through.
"A. afraidP' cried one Of the club men,
bers. "You don't know him. He doesn't
know what fear means. I'll wager he's up
to some deviltry at this moment. Proba-
bly, he has gone on ahead to put Oh pill
lowcase and play ghost for u.s."
They had to hurry to reach the house at
the intended hour.
"There it Is, !" some one said at last, and
Lieutenant B., who carried the lantern,
looked at his watch by it's light and an
nounced that they had just three minutes
to spare. The door was unlocked with
difficulty, for tho fastenings had grown
rusty from disuse.
"By Georgel' cried the first man who
stepped into the hall, "there's something
going on up stairs"
"It's A." said his friend, laughing,
and they all started up stairs, Mr.. B. |
walking ahead with the lantern.
A cry of agonized despair startled the
smiles from their lips and quickened their
steps to a run. B. pushed open the door
Of the room from which the sounds had
come. As he did SO, and before he could
see anything, the lantern was dashed from
his hand and the door slammed behind
him. He stood still in the darkness for
few awful. terror stricken seconds. Then
he took step forward and tripped over
on the floor. He stopped over,
and his hand encountered a pool of warm,
oozing liquid. II flashed on his mind that