The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1897-05-10
A HAUNTED HOUSE.

A stEange Door and Strange Story That
Always Clung to 1t.
The pension examiner, who had
been on duty in a southern state,
was in Washington for week or
two, as is the custom among that
class of public servants, and he was
telling of what he had seen and
heard in his bailiwick
"Oh, yes, he said in response to
a query, there were 'ha 'nts' there,
for where are they not where the
darky prevailsl But the real ghost
of the whole section was III an old
house known as Harley Hall. The
house was nearly 100 years old, and
as far back as the people could re-
member it had the reputation of be-
ing haunted. This reputation had
primarily grown out of the fact
that in one of the great rooms of the
house was a door, leading some
where, which never had been opened
as far as known and which resisted
every effort to open it. The room
was wainscoted in oak nearly to the
ceiling, and this door was only
about feet high and 3 feet wide
and seemed appropriate as the en-
trance to a secret chamber. 1t had
heavy iron hinges and heavy iron
latch and staple, eaten deeply by the
rust when l saw it.
tGTn fn a C11p0pSfIOn from
the owner of the place, who was
showing me over it and telling me
the story of its ghost, l made an
effort to get the door open, both by
pulling at it and by putting my
shoulder against it and pushing with
all my strength. l even went SO far
as to rig a kind of clumsy jack
against it to force it open, but 1t re-
fused to bulge an inch / could tell
that it was a well made door by the
sound it gave forth when pounded
on, but there was no reason appar.
ent why it should not open to re.
veal what was on the other side of II
1.-The story was not very weird
one, consisting mostly of the rumOl
that on certain nights this door
opened and a former master of the
house came forth to wander about
He had never done any harm or any
good to any one, and on the whole
the ghost story was rather tame
But the door was there, and there
was a mystery about it which was
still unsolved through all the years
Last year the owner of the house
at my suggestion, opened the ole
Hall for summer bOarders, and lee
the van and took the room with thu
mysterious door in it. Many's the
night I've sat and watched tha
door, and often of moonlight nights
I've sat in the open window, wait
ing to see if the sweetness of tht
southern summer night would no
tempt the old master to wander, bu
he never came forth TO meet me.
Zone night, though, came tn
revelation of the mystery. A cur
tain in one of the windows of a wins
of the house was blown into a can
die flame, and five minutes later
fire was raging Half an hour late
the fire was out, but the wing ad
joining my room had lost its uppe
half, exposing the wall of the mai
building. In the repairs that follow
ed this wall was partly removed
and it was shown that the mystt
rious door was not a door, but merel
joke on posterity, played by tn
original proprietor. who had had
heavy piece of oak put in the vain:
coting and had carved it with hi
own hands to resemble a door. Th
hinges and latch he had put in
carry the trick TO the very end. Ths
door" concluded the narrator, b
actual measurement was II incht
thick and solder than a stone wal
go that it was no wonder nobod
could ever open it. ."-Washingto
Star