The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1897-01-28
THE HARDY HOUSE.


las as the negro porter drawled out in
his lazy voice:
'An-nis-tonp'
'.Oh, I am SO tired'' Bess said in
such faint voice and with such a
white, tired face that hurried her into
the fly waiting at the dingy little sta
fi9n.
~To the old Hardy house, /" I ordered
briefly to the driver as he closed the
door, and even in the gathering dusk
Loo and noticed his start of surprise.
depend upon it, the house is haunt
edi'' cried imaginative Loo. The man
looked as if he had seen ghost.
I gave her a warning glance, but
Bess had not needed; indeed she seemed
to have fallen into a doze, which lasted
until she was lifted out and carried
into the cottage in the strong arms of
Anne Duty.
Diminishing the man, Loo and I lin
,gered outside awhile trying to make out
something of our novel surroundings,
but beyond the low, rambling old house
we could see nothing, not even vii
lage light, SO closely were we shut In
by great trees.
Loo shivered slightly.
s'How dark and weird it 1ooksP' she
whispered, running into the brightly
lighted front room, where Anne Duty,
having deposited Bess on the broad, low
lounge, was already occupied in max
ing tea.
ST wish DR.. Cross had telegraphed
old Dr. Deering to meet us at the sta
hion. It would have been little less
lonesome, grumbled Loo, later on,
when Bess had been left comfortably
%sleep in he wide, low ceiled room on
!EaAe ground floor, the only one that had
tE,een got ready, Anne explained
ST think Dr. Deering has been put to
AenDngh trouble for us, renting the house
and all that, I was beginning to re-
mGmstrate, when Anne Duty coming in
interrupted me.
miss Katherine, !" she began in what
Loo calls her graveyard voice, Miss
katherine, don t want that what I am
going to say should brighten you, but I
can't noways reconcile it to my con-
science not to tell you. A ghost walks
this old rattletrap Of house. -
I couid not help laughing-her tone
vas SO sepulchral- she went on
without noticing my levity, while Loo
listened with wide eyes,
E'The man that brought me out with
the boxes this morning said he had seen
it, and you couldn't hire him to come
near the place after dark; that lots of
folks out late of dark stormy nights had
seen blue lights burning in the room up
stairs, and he said he wasn't the only
,apne that bad seen white figure fitting
fhrough the dark hall, though nobody
has lived in the house since, two years
ago, wicked, swearing young fellow
died here, crying out at the last that he
had sold his soul to the devil for drink,
and it was burning him up.
ttAnd Miss Katherine, honey, would
you believe it, every blessed bit Of fur
niture that had been sent ON ahead was
piled up out there on the porch, just as
they dumped it down, not stick put
I'm out Of the weather? And blessed
thing it hash t rained
Anne paused at last for breath.
Loo looked fearfully around the
cheerful but rather dilapidated little
room, and, moving her chair nearer
mime, she said in low tone, as if afraid
lof the ghost overhearing her:
81 can't imagine what induced old
DR.. Deering to send us to this horrid
soid haunted house anyway. He might
have known
''Loo,'' interrupted sternly, for her
voice was beginning to tremble, and I
have all mans horror of Mysteries,
F'you know we'll enough DR.. Deering
has been kindness itself What claim
have we upon him, should like to
know, except that we are friends and
patients Of old Dr. Cross? And you, as
well as I, saw the letter in which he
described this old house and said it's
location made it the very place for Bess
TO recover her shattered nerves, quiet
and SO near the sulphur water DR..
Cross has sent her here to drink.
.'And now, Anne" turning to our
faithful old servant and friend, "you
have too much sense, know, to utter a
word Of this nonsense where Bess can
hear it, and I advise you to get it out of
your own stupid old head as quickly as
possible. As for me, y yawning, II am
too tired and sleepy to sit up any longer,
ghosts or no ghosts And in short
fime the old house was wrapped in
darkness and silence.
/ had been asleep I don't know how
long when suddenly I felt rush Of
cold air and heard sound like low,
hobbing sigh.
"Oh, Kitl'' walled Loo under her
sbreath and clutching my arm convul-
lsively, did you feel it? Did you hear
NJ What was it?"
II felt the wind blowing in through
i broken window" answered coura-
Decusly, for, though Twas only 30 and q
GIRL ] had not been the head Of the
family 90 many years for nothing. &
/ Anne Duty came rubbing inwith 4