The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1900-01-26
A CURIOUS INCIDENT.
AN UNUSED ROOM THAT HAD A
DASH OF MYSTERY IN 1T.

DASr1 OF MHS cHf IN lie
4 Transformation That Was Quickly
and Silently Effected, or 1t May Be
an Optical Illusion That Deceived
Three Pairs of Eyes.
In the course of the after dinner talk at
a little gathering few nights ago a well
known professional man Of New Orleans
told the following singular story: I'm the
spring Of 1892" he said, II was living in
q house on North Rampant street which
had taken on q one year lease, expecting
to build. Our family consisted Of myself
and wife. cur little boy, then only B
years old, and my unmarried sister. The
house was u two story brick which had
been built before the war, and the inte-
rior arrangement was very simple. The
front door opened on q hall which con-
tanned the staircase and ran all the way
through on the right hand side, while on
the left was first our parlor, then the din
ing room and lastly a small unused
apartment not much larger than a closet.
Up stairs were bedrooms, and in the rear
was u detached kitchen.
1--WE allowed the little room on the
first floor to stand vacant for several rea-
small for actual service and was badly
lighted by only one high, narrow window.
Besides, some of the plastering had fall
en- from the ceiling, and was afraid the
rest might come tumbling down on our
heads. That was undoubtedly n source
of danger and prevented US from using it
for storage, so we simply left 1t as we
found it-entirely empty. l suppose the
room was constructed originally for a
pantry. have been n little particular in
describing these details because, you
will see. they have direct bearing on my
story.
1--WE had been living in the house al
most q year," continued the speaker,
when one Sunday in June, as nearly as
/ can remember, l went with my wife
and child to see some friends near Audu-
bon park. My sister was visiting at BIZ
loxi at the time. and we let the servant
off for holiday. We got back ut
o'clock or thereabout, for l recollect it
was still quite light. and as we were
walking toward the house l noticed that
somebody had left stepladder standing
directly in front of the high window
opening into the little disused room on
the ground floor. That's rather a cordial
invitation to prowlers,' said, half jok-
ingly. Let's see whether any have avail
ed themselves of it,
$50 when we went inside we walked
back together TO the last door, and |
pushed il open. why, what does this
mean?' l exclaimed in amazement. There
was nobody there, but the room. which
had always been entirely vacant, con-
tanned several pieces of furniture.
rough looking table stood in one corner
writ plI fnS etr ni,yhf n1lo al
chair in front OF it, and opposite was a
small cot bed. There were some papers
and other things ON the table and q reli
gious print stuck ON one of the walls.
Il started to enter, but my wife held
me back. Don't go in she pleaded.
The plaster may fall. Those things
must belong to the cook 1t struck me
as very strange that the cook should
move in without asking permission, but
noticed my wife was very nervous, so /
drew the door to, and we went into the
paror. A few moments later walked
outside to shift the ladder, and as pick
ed it up l glanced through the window.
The room was perfectly empty.
Il am not superstitious, and the proof
of 1t is that thought Immediately was
the victim of some practical joke. | re-
entered the house quietly from the rear
and again l opened the door. The room
was empty n drum, and it was evil
dent at a glance that no sort Of trickery
was remotely possible. l won't attempt
TO describe my feelings. was so shock
ed, so bewildered. so frightened, to tell
you the truth. that for q moment or two
I WINS simply rooted to the spot. Then
! pulled myself together somehow and
went back to the parlor. My wife saw
at once that something was wrong. It's
that room" blurted out. There's moth
ing in 1t now-not q stick! and immedi-
ately had case Of Mysteries on my
hands. That's about oil there is to the
story.
Next morning examined the place
carefully by broad sunlight, and it was
plain from the dust on the floor that no
furnishing of any kind had been there for
years. We left the house before the end
of the week, paying a months forfeit on
the lease, not because we believe in
spooks, but because we didn't care 10 re-
main in a place where unaccountable
things happen. It's bad for the nerves.
"My wife and / have talked the matter
over thousand times, carefully compar-
Ing notes, and as far as We know we
both saw exactly the same things. My
boy must have seen them, too, because
when he went back to the parlor he ask
ed his mother whether that wasn't Aunt
Hatties chair. Aunt Hattie is an old
relative of ours who has a favorite
straight back chair, similar to the one
we SAVIOR thought we saw-in the
room. or course we have never allowed
ourselves to refer to the occurrence be-
fore the child. so am unable to say posi-
lively what else he observed. What !
saw myself was as plain and distinct as
you are Mt this moment. even noticed
that one Of the table legs had been mend
ed with piece of Stat. and my wife re-
marked the same thing The house is
still standing and has since been occu-
pied by several successive tenants. AS
far as am aware none of them has ey-
er had any unusual experience. New
Orleans Times Democrat.