The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-09-15
pARr L

lOuse was rlcn IN Olutlmc aSSOcililoiS,
snd the company was responsive equal
ly 10 the gay and the grave. The first
vos in March. the second sas the home
of my friend Philip Let.erby, and the
thiro was the group of guests he an
nunlly entertains in observance or hos
ritnble custom that his family has never
permitted 10 lapse. The conversation
of such circle will gravitate TO super
natural experiences and this one was
no exception. Many sucn had been re-
lated at secondhand, when Abner Let
terby. Philips father, addressed us. lie
lad been sitting nearest the fire,
thoughtfully leaning forward upon his
hickory staff. If close approach TO the
portals Of the unknown should yield
foreknowledge of it's strange laws, he
could have spoken with abundant au-
thority.
Ihave never told any of you" he said,
swhy the old Budthorne place is called
Isrhe House of Fear AS the grandson
of the last owner who lived in IT is here
to-night, this is good time to tell it,
"You will oblige me very much by
doing So" responded the young man re-
ferred to.
Philip had accidentally found him at
the village inn that afternoon ana had
,persuaded him to become one OF MS
quests. He was travelling for the bene-
a. Of his health and had come to the
neiphborhood to visit the original home
stead of his family. He was about twen-
ty-five years of age. pale and thin' but
still holding fast a sustaining residue OF
his normal robustness and strength OF
manhood.
..The house has been without tenant
for almost forty years" the old man
hogan In quavering voice that added
much to the weird gravity of his narra-
tive. MARTIN Budthorne, your grand
father. sold il to the father OF Arm
strong. the present owner, when the
nwfui thing am going to tell Of, hap
pened, and went west. He ADVISED AIm-
strong 20 build new house at the other
end of the farm and never to go into the
old one. 1t was matter of great won
der Mt .he time, but the fnct that no
one can live in il has now naturally De-
come a matter of course.
"Martin had a brother John, the worst
how TO rove about 1 ever saw. lie
co,,ldn't be contented anywhere very
long and when their father died, he
soon turned his share of the estate into
,,oney and went gadding about the
world. One night he came home TO
Martins house unexpectedly. Every
bodv saw that he was on his last legs.
1ya was in bed when / went over TO see
him. and l made up my mind he hadpt
N week 10 live. He wanted to talk that
r;oht went over and he told US many
.,or;es of his travels. lie was one CT
these chaps that gather up all sorts OF
odd things and he told Martin that sew
srai boxss of them would come in few
days.
.srhe last city he had spent much time
iu. he said. was Bagdad. and he had
mnde IL his headquarters while look
ing around over the scenes told about
in the Arabian Nights That is speci-
rren of the crazy notions he was always
taking. He told us he had bought from
an Arab there the finest curiosity he
had ever seen. 1t was n round ball
made entirely Of small pieces of boae
cut from human skulls. The skulls
were of men and women who had died
awful deaths. Some Of the0 were Grim
inals that had been executed by being
behea7 I'd or tortured, some had Been
Murdered, some killed in earthquakes,
storms and all sorts of terrible acci-
denta. The Arab had told him there was
some spell on it, but John declared he
didn't put any fafth in that. He nd
vised Martin to keep IL, as it might be
valuable IS cvr'osity.
~Jdin died the next night. About ten
days afterward the boxes came, and
Martin sent for mo to come over and
help him unpnck them, for we had tried
TO fancy What scrt II trlnkets the boy
had wasted his money on. We soon
saw that our widest fancies fell short.
Those boxes held the most useless
things that good dollars could be squan-
deretofor. ] won't try 10 describe them,
but will hurry Oh &c the bone ball we
were most anxious to find, and .hat we
did come across at last. i stopped TO
lift it out. and. supposiug ball of bone
would be light, | did not use much
strength, hut / was aatonished 10 find
that did not even nudge it, and that
1t required good muscle TO get il out.
u had never been as much surprised in
my life. 1t was only about six inches in
diameter, but il would have outweighed
a solid ball of lead of its size. Iwarned
Martin of this as handed IL to him.
but he was not prepared for such an ex-
traordinary weight and almost let i.
fall.
"He put II on the table and rolled II
about as we examined IL. AS John had
said. il was made Of small squares of
bone, ccmented together with wonder.
ful skill and polished until you co1ld al
most see yourself in H. Martin at last
took Lis hands from II. and then an.
other extraordinary thing happened.
Instead of lying still, Il rolled around
of its own accord until q small black
circle came uppermost. We put IL back
again and again. with the circle down.
and every time IL righted itself. This