The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1895-07-19
THE DANKLY HALL SPECTER
By X. j. TURNER.


could afford it, to rent one of those old
fashioned and picturesquelookng halls
which abound in Essex, and there to de
vote his days to the pleasures and pur-
suits of Il country life.
l knew that, having pulled off few
successful coups i'll the city, he had.
some weeks ago, secured as Il great bar
gain II kind of medieval old ruin in one
of the eastern counties and had then and
there installed himself with his wife and
two little girls.
He had more than once pressed me to
run down and see his new place, but
pressure of business had up till now pre-
vented my getting away. was contem-
plating fixing an early date one March
morning. when the receipt of the follow
ing letter from friend GeOffrey made me
Dear Henderson: For Gods sake don't
delay day longer in coming to see me:
SINCE l wrote last we have had the most
rented the hall that it had the reputation
Of being haunted. and that former occupants
hal only stayed short time: but the mere
mention of ghost increased the value Of
the place in my eyes tyou know my affection
for anything eere). and made me eager to
close.
But l never bargained for anything like
the astounding CipiDlHtleS OF our Specter
My wife is in a highly nervous state; the
children and servants who we brought with
us are in fear of their lives, and can't make
1t out at all: Ny wife had always leaning
seen and heard here almost make ME Il
convert to Stead's theories.
| want some level-headed man like your.
self to come down and Investigate. DC
make an effort
Unless you wire to the contrary. shall
meet you BY the 6:30 train ut Bishop Stort
ford Yours in n,E ErSsSt sHXie HX.,,uno<n
In spite of the attempted levity of my
friend, | saw clearly from his letter that
he was in Il very lerturbed state of mind
and wanted Assistance. SO | duly caught
the train from Liverpool street, which
landed me ut Bishop Stortford at $50
Geoffrey met NE ON the platform with tvi
dent satisfaction, and as he drove ME to
his place, Dankly hall, SOME three miles
distant, he related his experiences
They had not been long installed with
old caretaker and his wife, who had lived
thirty years at the hall, when the spirit
ual tenant of the place became very much
in evidence. Mysterious footsteps were
heard ascending the great staircase, &C.
companieG, occasionally, by the rafting
of chains; bells We're suddenly rung in
the middle of the night, and the fall of Il
heavy body usually terminated the mani.
fiesta tons. Drummond. while delightine
in the romantic assOciat tons of Il haunted
house, had no belief in the specter's ex
istence, and had made every effort to
trace these noises to a natural cause. He
had sent all the others to bed and sat VI
armed, prepared to do battle with the
unseen visitant: but while the noise CON
tinued, not Il sign could he catch of any
semblance of Il ghost, transparent OF
otherwise.
A friend who had run down for the
night, and who was 9ccommo!ated i'll
the ol,l-fashione.l guest chamber, had been
discovered standing in the middle of the
long corridor in Il state of comparative
nudity and AFFECT terror; and, on inferno
CATION. swore soleihnly that just after
midnight a great skeleton hand hoteret1
over his face and Appeared about to stran
gle him, when he dashed it away from
him. and the next, thing he knew he was
in the corridor yelling like a mailman for
an ABC time table.
The vicar, invited to dinner, had during
the circulation of the port received a VIC
lent blow in the back of the head from
some unseen hand, and, cogniZant of the
associations of the hall. had started ou'
instanter for the vicarase without his hat
or umbrella.
Again at dinner. while entertaining
some OF the nelghDOrlnS magnates,
skeleton hand was seen to glide swiftly
from the ceiling, traversed by large
wooden beam, and snatching up the
tablecloth in it's bony fingers, scattered
the dishes and adorpments over the per
SONS of his guests, who We'd with each
other in getting through the doorway:
Thes" astounding occurrences, poured
into my ear as we sped along toward the
scene of their enactment, made me. in
spite of my skepticisn,., feel just a little
creepy" especially when we came in
sight Of the decidedly grim-looking pile
in which my friend had chosen to lake up
his abode However, after good dinner,
fortunately undistrubed by the ascension
of the tablecloth, | began to view things
in more cheerful light. Mrs. Drum
mond. l could see while endeavOring to
maintain a calm exterior and cordial man.
ner, was in constant state Of watch
fulness and suppressed terror. The serv-
ants entered and left the room in OBJ
vious trepidation. 1t had required all
Mrs. Drummond's persuasive powers,
combined with liberal terms from her
husband, to induce them to remain In the
house at all. | ought to mention that the
hall dated back to the Fourteenth cen
fury, and was partly in ruin. There was
still enough of it habitable. however, to
constitute a fairly large house. There
was the typical large square hail on ell