The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-20
THE TYPEwRIrER's GHOST.
This Is Considerably Stranger Than
Fiction-if True.

This Ii Considerably Stranger Than
Fiction-if True.
1T Is a mistaken notion that ghosts on
ly appear at night and In the Darkness -
remarked a solemn looking young man to
his neighbor at dinner. Il have seen one
in broad daylight in Wall Street"
How absurd" laughed the pretty girl
to whom he was talking
Fact. assure you." continued the Sc
rious youth. II have seen her several
times. and I am sure she Is ghost How
do know? oh, by her general appear
ance. Once l saw through her-and, be-
sides that, she seems to sort OF feat in
stead of walking But the thing that real
ly convinced me she is a spiri. is that
am sure l am the only person that sees
her. The last time she appeared to me
vas month ago. Did l tell you she was
typewriter? That Is, l imagined she
must have been one when living. She car
rieS roll OF papers and Is almost as pref
ty as you are. Well, as | was saying, no
enc seems to notice her. newsboy ran
right up against her, or rather, as it
seemed to me. through her. and he never
sw3rved. and horrid old stock broker
know. who always stares at pretty wo-
man. passed her by without a glance. She
is evidently haunting me alone. but why
cannot imagine. l feel cold shivers run
down my back whenever l meet her, and
am sure 1 am singled out for some pur-
pose. What would you do about it?'
Are you really serious?" eueried his
companion.
Il really am returned the man with
apparent conviction. i am haunted by
the daylight chest OF pretty typewriter,
and | feel that / have a mission to give
peace to her troubled SOUL
rs Mr. y, little queer?" asked the
girl OF her hostess after the women had
returned to the drawing room. And she
related the foregoing conversation. Was
he trying to quiz me, or did he. like the
Ancient Mariner, feel impelled to tell
his tale to some particular person, and
therefore single me out?"
week or two later. says the writer,
who tells the tale in the 'Ney York Tri-
bune" she again met Mr.. x This time
1t was at ball. How about your
ghost?" she asked him flippantIy.
Il have found out all about heri" he
exclaimed solemnly- Come with me in o
supper and l will tell you all her his
tory. You know he began after he had
supplied her and himself with chicken
croquettes and salad. and taken his seat
at the little table, that 1 told you that
l thought 1 was haunted by that girl for
a purpose, and so l was. The day after
talked to you about her l saw her again,
and l thought l would follow her Try
as l might | could not oyertake her; she
was always about ten feet in front of me-
Sometimes the crowd would separate u.s.
but | would soon see her again fitting
q 0n lr=-a.r nj . b. \
continued for couple Of blocks in Wall
Street and then turned into Pearl Sire ct.
stepped before an open stairway n KIT 10
small cigar shop, and, turning toward ne,
beckoncd slightly but unmisi akably, then
glided up the stairs, I following.
"At the top was an open door leading
into an empty office, where near an open
window was a desk upon which stood a
typewriter. Once more the girl turned
toward me. pointed to the desk. and then,
to my horror, sprang out on the narrow
window ledge and apparently plunged into
space. l rushed to the window and looked
down. In the street below the people We e
walking to and fro as usual. and, to my
great relief, there was no evidence of the
tragedy l had feared, for, although I ted
you | thought she was a ghost did not
actually believe it until that moment Go
ing downstairs l entered the cigar shop.
anu buyiHb SDuic Ci=sdGttlto lic
proprietor in conversation, in the course
Of which he told me that Ave years be-
fore tragic event occurred in the build
ing. A young girl committed suicide by
jumping from the window Of the room
above. There had been some money lost
in the office where she had been employed
as typewriter she had te7n suspected, and
her seIf-infiicted death confirmed her en-
plogers in the belief of her dishonesty
As he talked 1 began to discover the rea-
son why l had been haunted. / am OF
what is generally known as a receptive
nature-that is, I have been told SO by
my friends that experiment with magnet
ism and the so-called spiritual manifesto
ticns. My theory is that l was chosen en-
that account to prove her innocence to
the world, for / went to her employers,
told them the whole story. and insisted,
despite the skepticism, upon a thorough
examination of the dead girls desk. Back
of one OF the drawers was an empty in
closed space formed by the construction of
the desk; the back beard OF the drawe
had become slightly showed down. and
through this aperture the missing money
had undoubtedly fallen. for it was found
at the bottom OF the empty box-like space.
OF course, she in her spiritus lized condi-
ton became aware of this fact, and. as
was but natural. sought a medium to
whom she could discover it,
Did Mr.. X. make that all up. do you
think" said the society girl afterward,
''or does he believe it himself?"