Evening journal., 1899-12-28
S. sPccK FURNITURE. #1
If Not This, Then What Could II He2
"A Peculiar Story.


told by well-knpWn professional man
at stag dinner, and the unusual ex.
perience stated in his own words is
we'll worth repeating:
Gin the spring of 1892" he said, II
was living in house in North Ram.
part street, which I had taken on a
oneyear's lease, expecting to build.
Our family consisted OF myself and
wife. our little boy, then only years
old, and my unmarried sister. The
house was a two-story brick, which
had been built before the war and the
interior arrangement was very sim
pie. The front door opened on a hall,
which contained the staircase and ran
all the way through on the right-hand
side, while on the left was, first, our
parlor, then the dining-room, and last
ly, a small unused apartment not
much larger than a closet. Upstairs
were bedrooms, and in the rear was a
detached kitchen. We allowed the lit
tie room on the first floor to stand
vacant for several reasons. To begin
with il was actually too small for ac-
tual service, and it was badly lighted
! by only one high, narrow window, be-
sides some Of the plastering had fallen
from the ceiling, and / was afraid the
rest might come tumbling down on
our heads. That was undoubtedly a
source Of danger, end prevented us
from using 1t for storage so we sim
ply left it as we found it-entirely en-
PITY / suppose the room was con-
structed originally for a pantry.
have been a little particular in de-
scribing these details because, as you
will see, they have a direct bearing on
my story.
I'VE had been living in the house
almost a year" continued the speaker.
when one Sunday in June, as nearly
as | can remember, | went with my
wife and child to see some friends
near Audubon Park. My sister was
visiting at Biloxi at the time, and we
let the servant off for holiday. We
| got back at 5 o'clock or Whereabouts,
for l recollect It was still quite light,
and as we were walking toward the
house / noticed that somebody had left
a stepladder standing directly in front
| of the high window opening into the
| little disused room on the ground
floor. That's rather a cordial invita-
ton to providers, ! said half joking.
Let's see whether any have ayailed
themselves of IT, So when we went
inside we walked back together to the
last.door and pushed it open. Why!
what does this meanY / exclaimed in
establishment. There was nobody
there, but the room. which had always
been entirely vacant, contained sew
eral pieces of furniture. A rough.
looking table stood in one corner, with
an old-fashioned straight-back chair in
front of it and opposite was small
bed cot. There were some papers and
other things on the table and relig-
ious print stuck on one of the walls.
] started to go in, but my wife held
me back. Don't so in she pleaded
tho plaster may fall. Those things
must belong to the cook. 1t struck me
very strange that the cook should
move in without askin~ permission
but I noticed that my Nlie was very
nervous so l drew the door to and We
went into the parlor A few minutes
later / walked outside to shift the
ladder, and as ] picked it up / glanced
through the window. The room was
4 perfectly empty
Il am not superstitious. and the
proof of it is that l thought immediate
ly l was the victim of some practical
joke. 1 re-entered the house quietly
4 from the rear and again / opened the
door. The room was as empty as a
drum, and it was evident at a glance
that no sort of trickery was remotely
possible. / won't attempt to describe
my feelings. I was so shocked, so be
wildered, so frightened to tell you the
truth that for a moment or two l was
sumply rooted to the spot. Then
pulled myself together somehow anC
went back to the parlor. My wife
saw at once that something was
wrong.
ITS that room" I blurted out
There's nothing in it now-not Z
sticlxv
"And Immediately / had a case O
Mysteries on my hands. That's abou
all there is to the story. Next morn
ing / examined the place carefully b!
broad daylight, and IL was plain from
! the dust on the floor that no furnish
! ang of any kind had been there 70
years. We left the house before thu
end of the week, paying a months for
felt on the lease, not because We be
lieve in spooks, but because we didn'
care to stay in a place where unac
countable things happen. It's bad 70
the nerves. My wife and / have talkel
the matter over a thousand times
carefully comparing notes, and as IA
as we know we both saw the sam
/. things. Ny boy must have seen them
too, for when we went back into tn
parlor he asked his mother 'whethe
that wasn't Aunt Hatties chair Aun
Hattie is an old relative of ours, VIII
has q favorite straight-bacl1 chair, sim
liar TO the one we saw in the room
= OF course we have never allowed oul
selves to refer to the occurrence be
fore the child, so ! am unable to sa
positively what else he observed
I What I saw myself was as plain an
= as distinct as you are at this moment
I / even noticed that one of the tabl
I legs had been mended with a piec
8 OF slat, and my wife remarked III
same thing. The house is still stand
. ing, and has since been occupied b.
= several successive tenants. AS far a
r am aware none of them have eve
s had any unusual experience"