The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-04-03

tapers which I kept lighting one after
another, and black shadows seemed to
march on either side of me. The noise
OF my footsteps awakened muttering
echoes in distant regions, and now and
then the ghostly fitting of bat or an
owl made me catch my breath. There
were soft whisperings in remote cor
ners, and sounds like sghs, and low
chucklings, and stealthy footballs. Nor
did the fact that l was wet cold and
hungry diminish the effect which all
this exercised upon my nervous sys-
tenn.
AT length / found stairway, built
of stone, but partly in ruins, by means
of which | succeeded in reaching the
second story. This was i'm a condition
slightly less dlapidated than the
ground floor, but still forlOrn and dis
mantled. Traces were distinguishable
of a form of grandeur; a few rugs of
tapestry hung on the walls, and there
were carvings on the woodwork, though
much decayed and defaced. At length
| entered Il room which seemed in bet-
ter preservation than the other, and
here | resolved to pass the night.
The room was comparatively small,
being not more than twenty-five feet
long, there was a door at each end, u
fireplace on the right, and on the left
side two narrow window slits, sunk
deep in the thickness of the wall.
Through these slits the moonlight fell
across the oaken floor.
The first necessity was a fire: and in
order to get fuel, l was obliged to tear
away strips of wainscoting, thereby
causing great CONSERVATION among the
colonies of mice. rats and beetles that
had made their home behind it for gen.
erations. 1t came away easily, however,
being indeed almost ready to drop with
age; and it burnt like tinder. | know
not how many manorial rights of house
martens the fire may have violated as
it roared up the chimney, nor did that
consideration interfere with my en-
joyment of the heat and light. As the
moisture evaporated from my gar
ments, so did the uneasiness from my
| nerves; insomuch that / should not
| have been seriously disturbed had a
banshec drifted into the room and seat
ed itself on the hearth beside meat
least, so / thought then.
/ now searched my pack for some
| thing to eat; but found only some frag-
| ments Of bread, sadly disintegrated by
water, and single rind of cheese. This
was little enough, but better than moth
| ing; besides, there was a finger or two
| of whisky left in my flask and plenty
| Of tobacco in my rubber pouch. / soon
| began to feel reasonably comfortable
While hunting through my pockets 1
| had come across the little leather-hound
volume given to me by Father O'Hea;
| it had fortunately suffered but little
| from the rain, and [ undid it's clasp
| and attempted to read it. 1t was writ
| ten in the angular hand of the period
| and was legible enough in one sense;
| but the language was the monkish lam
guage of the period, and the contrac-
| tions were so numerous that | made lit
| tie headway. 1t was, as / had sur
| missed, in the nature of a family chron-
| icle, and the family name appeared to
| be Sulane. Turning over page after
page of the volume. something that
| looked like a bit of rounded narrative:
| hut before ! had mastered a dozen
| lines, my attention was distracted by
| an odd noise in a distant part of the
| building.
| laid down the book and listened, and
| 1 must confess that, for Il few mo-
| ments, the lOudest sound | heard was
| the beating of my own heart But soon
| the other noise was repeated. 1t was
| not like anything | had heard during
| my exploration of the great house. A
| conversation between several persons
| was being carried on in some neigh
| boring room: the voices We're muffled
| by the intervening partition. but they
| were unmistakably human voices,
some masculine, some feminine: and
occasionally there was a metallic or
clinking noise. as of knives and forks
| and dishes. The inference was in
evitable that IIwas not alone in this
venerable ruin, and that the other occu-
| pants were enjoying a comfortable sup
| per.
| Now, my first feeling had certainly
been one Of disagreeable apprehension,
but my second thought tended to re-
assure me. Either a portion of the
house was still inhabited or else some
| party, driven as / had been to seek
shelter from the storm, had established
themselves there for the night, and
were taking pot luck together. In any
event. | determined to present myself
to them and to trust to their hospital
| ity for the rest. My appetite was by
no means satisfied; and, whoever my
neiShbors were, they could hardly fail
to be preferable to the ghostly solitude
l had been supporting.