The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1900-10-02

uOue Ill LndIly pSrlOOS VI lie WOT1u
history and gave of his substance to
the poor at all times we may cherish
the hope that he Jared as well as any
feudal baron.
The law of nature is that the long
armed and INSCRIPTIONS shall prosper,
and why not in the beyond?
A keen and prosperous lawyer named
Don Nicolas Valdemoro, about so years
old, was the next owner. How he ar
ranged that little matter Of the title 1
don't know. He probably satisfied for
song any legal heirs Of the Allendes,
and Marron's estate had passed into
the hands of his only nephew.
The Licenciado Valdemoro was from
Puebla and as keen as the Pueblanos
have always been reputed to be. A
Philadelphia lawyer would have had to
take his dust on the highway of pro-
fessional competition. And he was
hard headed. He had come to Queren-
daro in 1888, two years before Marion
died. He liked the place and when the
time came bought it. His family con-
sisted of his wife, Elena, and three
children of between IL and IS, two
boys and a girl. He had perhaps ten
servants, including the chief gardener,
who had poems under him, and they
don't count.
People talked about Marron's uneasy
ghost walking about the rooms at
night without any regard to locked
doors. Servants staid but few weeks
as a rule and went away with queer
tales to tell. The licenciado grew nerv-
GUS and, finally taking house a few
blocks away, began tearing down the
Allende- Marion casa. He confided to
his friends that he had no fear of any
thing phantasmal; but, his wife not be-
ing able to keep servants long, 1t SEEM
ed best to pull down the house and
build a new one on its foundations,
and then he would have something
modern, with the up to date conven-
fences that women like so well. 1t was
a year and a half before the Valde
moros went back to the place, into
house spick and span, brand new and
smelling of fresh paint and paper, with
a private electric lighting plant and
electric bells all over the house, which
was of one story, like the old place.
The parish priest blessed the premises,
and there was grand fiesta and any
amount of champagne. The ghosts
were surely banlshed. They might
walk in the orchards, said the licencia-
do, and much good would it do them.
And the ghosts did remain away IN
til a year ago, when they came back in
troops and with any amount Of accu-
mulated ingenuity. You would have
said that it was Colonel Marion and
all his desperate gang The pride Of
the licenciado's heart was his collection
of oil paintings, many of them selected
by him in Europe and valued at many
thousands of dollars. He liked to show
them to his guests and expatiate on
their merits.
He had sometimes talked Of having
a portrait painted of Colonel" Marion
as sort of fit historical subject, and
perhaps If he had carried out his pur
pose things might have gone better
with him. But the Sonora de Valde-
moro objected and put her plump Mex
lean foot on the project.
One morning the licenciado went In
to the big sala, or parlor, for some pur-
pose and noted with indignation that
several paintings had been pulled from
their frames and lay on the floor. He
called I'D all the servants and read the
riot act to them. They got down on
their knees and assured ell senior am0
that they could not have been guilty
of such vandalism. 1t was evident
that they were sincere and badly
frightened into the bargain.
A week after, the pictures having
been duly restored to their frames, the
same thing happened again, only this
time several costly paintings had been
ripped from the frames and slashed as
with knives. Valdemoro was wroth
and consulted the chief of police, who
sent two trusty and confidential men
to stay in the parlor nights. They re-
manned on guard ten days, when one
night they saw pictures falling from
their frames and heard a smashing Of
holdings which terrified them. They
bolted into the patio and staid there,
yelling for the licenciado, who arose
and went to the sala and saw things
for himself. His hair stood up all over
his'head. He was badly scared man.
He swore ripping, gentle oaths in the
creole manner too. 1t was plain that
the supernatural visitors were no ad-
mirers of the fine arts.
So the pictures were taken down,
packed and sent away for storage.
The parish priest and his young assist
ants came and exercised the demons,
and things went well for few months.
Marion had never been addicted to the
use Of holy water.
One afternoon in summer servant
was sent from the family sitting room
to the dining room for glass Of water.
She came back and said that midway
in the big dining room somebody had
! built a wall and that she could not
pass beyond it. Her face had grown
singularly white, and her knees shook.
| The sonora went to the dining room,
and she, too, ran up against the invisi-
BILE wall. Then she properly and de-
corously, as Is customary under such
| circumstances, tainted dead away.
When the licenciado, who was away
from home, returned, he found his wife
in high fever and delirious. The serv-
ants told him what had happened, and
he was naturally incredulous. He went
| to the dining room, but found no wall.
Then he cursed them for pack Of I'M
beetles. But he was uneasy in bis mind
for all that.
The next day he remained in the
house, his wife still Ill. Once he arose
and went to his library to fetch book,
and Just inside the library door he
| found wall. solid, on which you could
rap with your knuckles and hurt them.
He had a queer feeling about the
stomach and in the throat and went
back to his bedroom to reflect and col
lect his senses Then he returned to
the library and found the wall once
more. 1t was rough wall he could
tell by the touch, but he could not see
it. He retired discounted.
Next morning, he having said moth
ing about the matter, he went once
again to the library and found no wall.
He accused himself of being victim
of hallucination. But his brain was
dizzy, and his nerves were unstrung.
The invisible builders were active
for weeks. There were times when the
dining room was INSTRUCTED, and al
ways IN the middle. s&yoss which