The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-17
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AEHO LIVES
NEXT DOOR?
Tile Legend eta Lmaon Street

Yes. you could lock the cellar up aft
erward every night. and the maids woul,
never know what was going on if yor
wore "A pair of goloshes and left then
down here after you had done.
Every night" 1 said Il could breal
through in one"
Ihen 1 think | would try dear" sal,
my wife. 1t will only be into the Gel
lar, and if you found that there wa.
anyone there you could easily brick tn,
hole up again"
The next day. having arranged what
should require. / visited an ironrnonger
to buy couple of long chiscIs, a small
Srowbar, ana short handled, heavy
That afternoon | busted myself covering
the head of the hammer with thicb
/ leather. which / bound on with conner
WIRE. ana as soon as the maids were safe.
, ~ IN their bedroom that night my wife
/ carried the lamp and a candlestick down.
stairs, while followed with the tools
| me preparations were few. / borrow
60 q Kitchen chair. and a stool from the
| scuiery. upon which TO stand the lamp,
| my wife insisting upon keeping me com
pany, and saying that she would sit down
anu attend TO the dark lanthern so as To
| direct the rays from the bulls eve well
upon the bricks at the bottom of a mar
row, doorway-like BIN where | intended
10 work. Then, slipping OFF coat and
Maistcoat and turning up my sleeves, |
l did not get through the wall that
night, but | perspired freely, and made
| a pretty good hole. wondering the while
at the quality OF the bricks and mortar
USED IN the days of George H.
Inc next night / was at it again, find
| ing the task harder and harder.
Inc third night came, and | was not
through; but had thoroughly realized
what bad workman l was BY the time
| LETT oil. with my body terribly heated
ana lt my ardor much cooled.
LOOK mere. / said, IF | don't break
through tomorrow nigih / shall give il nm
as a bad job, for I'm sick of it
eddy, you must go on nowr'
-Four hours good work the next night
upon brickwork two feet thick slifficed to
make an opening amply large enough for
I me to pass through easily. and then /
PAUSED, covered with mortar dust, to wipe
my face and think, listening the while
and not hearing a sound
NOW, then. l said at last shall /
take the ianthorn and go through"
Yes, said my wife, excitedly, and
then-'No, no: don't go in yet; the place.
may be fun of foul air
Very WELL" | said, giving up willing
~ lot was very tired; and we returned
door
We neither of us slept much that night,
ana the next day was one weary time OF
suppressed excitement When al last rho
hour came for descending to the cellar /
iound that my wife was as ready and
eager as | was.
/ must confess to Slight sense of
shrinking when | closed and locked tn.
cellar door after us. for one of the neigh
boring church clocks was lust striking
l., ana could see by the candle | car
REQ that my wife was very pale. But
her eyes met mine without shrinking.
ana exchanging lights. / stepped into the
tan, arched bin. rather encountered with
bricks. bent down close to the hole.
thrust the turned-on lanthorn before me
held 1t at arms length within the adjoin-
ing cellar turning it in various direc-
lions Tor a minute and crept through and
stood W among the brick rubbish which
hid tallen Then. with a strange, creepy
sensation attacking my spine | once more
turned the light about. and ended by
ASKING my wife to pass me the candle
Taking it from her | set it upon the
hoor dozen feet or so away. and re-
turned
Give me your hand, dear"
look 1t at once. and she passed di-
rectly so quickly and nimbly that she was
directly after by my side. retaining her
grasp. though, tightly
Well?' she said, in an awe-stricken
whisper.
We'll" / replied. lightly: here we are.
Look. | continued, as | directed the rays
from the bulls eye in all directions along
BINS and over ceiling and floor; "a cellar
dust and cobwebs"
Except that it is so full of dirt. it is
exactly IKE ours, dear, whispered my
wife. huskiiy.
Exactly; only that so far as | can see
there is not single bottle of wine VIVA!
are you looking at?"
= was trying to make out whether
there were any footsteps in the dust
Not a step dear, 1 said as | made the
light play about "HaIloa this seems to
be deep bin; it's almost like a passage.
Ii goes In ever so far
| advanced toward the centre oneninp
on my left, and making the light play
down 1t saw, some ten or dozen feet
m something which looked queer. and
advancing | found that the tall bin-free
from mid-division halfway up-seened
to he prolonged into a passage, probably 1
leading into another cellar
me object on the floor proved to be !
BOARD, upon which lay a hardened mass
of mortar blackened with dust. and with
a Drickiayers trowel nearly rusted away !
sticking in the top. while upon touching /
the handle with my boot toe it crumbied |
What does that mean?'' whispered nv
wife, who had followed
should say it was brought here to |
brick up some choice wine: but there is !
no closed-up bin visible. Lets see; that's /
the side facing the street Come along. |
dear. let's look at the other cellars"
we passed out, to find a complete repe-
tition of our own basement-two more /
cellars being quite empty; the last which |
ran beneath the pavement, having still /
WITHIN II dust-covered heap of Goals.
stone stairs, to find glass door standing
wide open and leading into a passage and
hall exactly like our own in plan. l,ut
whether the floor had been covered il
was impossible to say, for it was half an
nch deep in "A fine dust. over which | |
stepped gingeriy for fear of raising
loud
No stems" | said. checrfllly .but the
1lace has been. or is, furnished I.ook.
here's a hali-seat and sideboarrl Ynn
AN see at glance that no one can have
'eeh mere Tor many years. | shouldn't he
If we find some fine old Geor-
;ian or Queen Anne furniture No we !
ina MT. ! added directly. as / made the
lght once more play about through a /
doorway; this place is fun OF packing
There was no temptation to look far
her, so ! turned back and made for tho
ront room, which in our house was NV
The door was wide open. and at tho
lrst glance We could see that there were
bookcases upon the walls. while a large
able occupied the center. covered with
trdnSe-lndking. dust-covered objects that
temed ike pieces Of machinery There
vas IA tall stool or two. and a faint re-
lection from one of the cobwebbed win
"Ws showed that though bricked tfp on
till there
We crossed the hall to find that the
lining room was also wide open: but
t had evidently not been used Tor the |
anne purpose as ours There We're the | ,
ohwShs and dust. and massive dining
DOM table with extra leaves. but covered |
loosely with what / now made out to be
lands. bottles, chemical retorts, and re- :
tiNers in addition to various other OBJ |
-cts apparently used for scientific pur-
oseS' while the fireplace was bricked out |
) form a kind of furnace
We left the blank-lonking place after
vain effort to pass through into the
ack room looking ON the garden by the
reat folding doors; which formed one /
nd OF the room, but they were fast \