The Washington times., 1901-09-01
A HAUNTED ISLAND


large Canadian lake, to whose cool wat
ers the wealthy inhabitants of Montreal
and Toronto flee for rest and recreation
in the hot months. 1t is only to be re-
GREETED that events of such peculiar In
terest to the genuine student of the psy-
chical should be entirely uncorroborated-
Such unfortunately. however, is the case
Our own party of nearly twenty had
returned to Montreal that very day, and
1 was left in solitary possession for a
week or two longer, in order to accom-
plish some important reading" for the
law which l had foolishly neglected dur
ing the summer.
1t was late in September, and the big
trout and maskinonge were stirring them
selves in the depths of the lake. and be-
ginning slowly to move up to the surface
waters as the north winds and early
frosts lowered their temperature. AL
ready the naples were crimson and gold,
and the wild laughter of the looms echoed
in sheltered bays that never knew their
strange cry in the summer.
With a whole island to oneself. two
story cottage, canoe. and only the chip
munks, and the farmers weekly visit
with eggs and bread, to disturb one. the
opportunities for hard reading might be
very great II all dependsi
The rest of the party had gone off with
many warnings to beware of Indians. and
not to stay late enough to be the victim
of frost that thinks nothing of forty be-
low zero. After they had gone the lone
illness of the situation made itself un-
pleasantly felt. There were no other ISL
ands within six or seven miles. and
though the mainland forests lay a couple
of miles behind me. they stretched for a
very great distance unbroken by any
signs of human habitation. But though
the island was completely deserted and
silent. the rocks and trees that had ech-
oed human laughter and voices almost
every hour of the day for two months
could not fail to retain some memories
of 1t all; and / was not surprised to fam
cy l heard a shout or a cry as / passed
from rock to rock. and more than once
to imagine that / heard my own name
called aloud.
la the cottage there were six tiny little
bedrooms divided from one another by
plain unvarnished partitions of pine. A
wooden bedstead, a mattress. and a chair
stood in each ROOM but l only found two
mirrors. and one of these was broken.
The boards creaked a good deal as
moved about, and the signs of occupation
were SO recent that 1 could hardly be-
lieve I was alone. l half expected TO
find some one left behind, still trying to
crowd into box more than it would hold.
The door of one room was stiff, and re-
fused for a moment to open, and il re-
quired very little persuasion to imagine
some one was holding the handle on the
inside. and. that when it opened 1 should
meet pair of human eyes.
A thorough search of the floor led me
to select as my own sleeping quarters a
little room with a diminutive balcony
over the veranda roof. The room was
very small. but the bed was large, and
had the best mattress of them all. 1t was
situated directly over the sitting room
where 1 should live and do my reading
and the miniature window looked out to
the rising sun. With the exception of a
narrow path which led from the front
door and veranda through the trees to
the boat landing, the island was densely
covered with naples, hemlocks, and
cedars. The trees gathered in round the
cottage so closely that the slightest wind
made the branches scrape the roof and
tap the wooden walls. A few moments
after sunset the darkness became inn
penetrable, and ten yards beyond the
glare of the lamps that shone through
the sitting-room windows-of which there
were four-you could not see an inch be-
fore your nose, nor move a step without
running up against tree.
The rest of that day l spent moving my
belongings from my tent to the sitting
room, taking stock of the contents of tie
larder, and chopping enough wood foi
the stove to last me for a week After
that, just before sunset, / went round
the island a couple of times in my canoe
for precautions sake. had never drean-
ed OF doing this before, but when a mans
alone he does things that never occur to
him when he Is one of large party.
How lonely the island seemed when I
landed againi The sun was down, and
twilight is unknown in these northern
regions. The darkness comes up at once
The canoe pulled up and turned over on
her face. / CROPPED my way up the little
narrow pathway to the yeranda- The
six lamps were soon burning merriIy in
the front room; but in the kitchen, where
1 .dined," the shadows were so gloomy,
and the lamplight was so inadequate, that
the stars could be seen peeping through
the cracks between the rafters.
/ turned in early that night. Though It
was calm and there was no wind, the
creahing of my bedstead and the musi-
cal gurgie of the water over the rocks
below were not the only sounds that
reached my ears, AS / lay awalte, the
appalling emptiness of the house grew
upon me. The corridors and vacant rooms
seemed TO echo innumerable footsteps.
shuffiings, the rustic of skirts, and con-
slant undertone OF whispering. When
sleep at length overlook me, the breath
ings and noises, however, passed gently
to mlngIe with the voices of my dreams.
a week passed by. and the reading
progressed fayorably. On the tenth day
of my solitude. a strange thing happen
ed. awoke after good nights sleep to
find myself possessed with a marked re-
pugnance for my room. The air seemed
TO stife me. The more l tried to define
the cause of this dislike the more unrea-
sonable It appeared. There was some
thing about the room that made me
afraid. Absurd as 1t seems, this Feeling
clung to me obstinately while dressing,
and more than once 1 caught myself
shivering, and conscious of an inclina-
ton to get out of the room as quickly
as possible. The more I tried to laugh II
away. the more real IL became; and when
at last / was dressed, and went out into
the passage, and downstairs into the
kitchen. It was with feelings OF relief.
such as ] might imagine would accom-
pany ones escape from the presence of
dangerous contagious disease.
While cooking my breakfast, / CAREFUL
b. recalled every night spent in the room
In the hope that | might in some way
connect the dislike / how felt with some
disagreabie incident that had occurred in |
t. Iya.ss .