The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-04-10
THE HAUNTED RED HOUSE
Ahe FRANK OF Mischievous Boys
Told BY One OF Them In After
Years.

In"ulI Iee nloore ana hrst published
l. inc enquirer OF 1870. In its last issu
8 al eAceilent ghost story, which wi
G DC enjoyed by our readers even il the
@ are not acquainted with the local sur
| rOundings:
! mere still stands on the cross sire,
IN 1orkVille, opposite the residence O
J lhe late Colonel Wlthcrs boon and q
present occupied by MIR. Whit. a hous
: oul!t by John Mcknight, carpenter
ana known in my day as "thc re,
house, wv
Mcknight sold the house in few
years and moved to Florida II passc,
rom one hand to anCther-fr, uuen,l,
Chahgihg hands. IT bore an i'll name
; otrahgc and unaccOuntable noises haC
peen hea in it 1t was said to be {
naunteo house, and, therefore, was otter
without tenant
A man named Alternately. from
; charleston, sailor previously, moved
!, up 10 loIkVlllc, bringing with him some
tiunks OF dry goods on speculation.
he rented the red house, and in one
Oh the lower rooms laid the goods out on
"a long table, in default OF a counter,
ready for inspection and sale Himself
MS wlfc and his mother, occupied apart
mcnts upstairs. They soon to d of
oeing awakened at night by the sound
Oh crush, like goods falling off the
'aolc: as soon as they could get a
cahdle llghteo they hurried down stairs
no one could be found. The table,
Inough' was overturned, and the goods
all lying on the floor On examining
them not piece Was gone, snd nothinG
| else they could discover appeared to
nave been disturbed. Looking to bolts
ana bars with rcdoub ed vigi ancc, they
sGt the lao!e up as they were before
| dardiy retired to their beds until they
| neard the same sounds OF a crush On
eolhS down, II was repctiti II Of the
nrst disturbance. Table overturned
goods on the ilOor-but not the wrap
ping OF iingcr to be missed. This, 40
orhathy, his wife and mother, all solemn.
~ affirmed, happened night after night
ihey also neard, they said, strange rap
pings IN different parts OF the house for
any way explain. The reputation OF the
house confirmed in his mind by those
mysterious occurrences determined
Aoernathy to move his family, as soon
as he could get another house to 20 in.
hrmly believing this one to be a haunted
house.
For long time "the red house" was
without an occupant, and had consc.
quently fallen much out OF repair. 1t
nad got into DR.. Crcnshaw's hands, |
think, when an opportunity OF renting it,
II IN better state, induced him to have
IL hXcd up. Alternately had moved into |
inc country; but, being a jack of all |
'rade',' Dr. Crenshaw got him to take |
the JoD or glazing it, the windows being |
nearly guiitlcss Of glass, there being |
scarcely pane to the sash.
Alternately came to town and went to |
work quite readily, for in daytime he
ana not mind being in the haunted
mouse. One evening, having been drink
ing good deal duling the day, he laid |
down before the fire he usually kept UP
IN one OF the tireplaccs when he was at
work, and fell asleep. He did not
awaken until next morning, and then
was proud beyond measure at the &C.
cldent, boasting that he had stayed all
night, alone, in the haunted house.
Alternately, in his elation, began to
banter me for bet that he would spend |
d night alone in the haunted house. |,
or course, caring nothing about the
matter, declined For day or two.
every time We came in contact, he
would again propose and insist on it
AT length, becoming annoyed by his per
| determined on somo fun at
his expense, and agreed to make the bet
with him on Ger .ain conditions. He
was 80 eager for the wager, he sub.
scrlbcd TO anything to get it up. The
stake, by his own choice, was a fine hat,
and condition OF the bet was that after
he once laid down that night he was
not to rise II he did 30 on any account
he lost
After supper, armed with his tools
and bottle OF whiskey, he went into
the haunted house He worked until
late, taking frequent pulls at his bottle
to fortify his courage. He locked and
oarred the doors, and over each lower
window sash drove nail to prevent
them from being hoisted. At length,
tired and sleepy, he laid down on his
pallet before the fire
Outside watching our chance, were
beside myself, William McCaw, Ran
dolph Erwin, and one or two othcrs We
were tired OF waiting, for Alternately
had worked later than we had antcipa
ted. As soon as we saw through the
windows that he had laid down we be
gan operations. His head could hardly
nave touched the pillow till he slept
and 80 sound was his slumber, he WAS
not easily disturbed We were provided |
with one OF old Mrs. McCa'l's cats, a
bladder containing shot to tic to its |
tail, aud William mcCaw had syringe
"hich hSIL hShiiS Nuhit, HllCu Win |
water ready for use.
Alternately had fastened the window |
50 securely, it was great deal OF trouble |
TO get one open. With the help OF a |
crowbar, we at length succeeded IL |
doing 50. We threw in the cat as w.
raised the sash, for she was getting OBJ. |
strcperous, and using her claws ygor.
ously. and then let the sash fall Of it's
own weight. This noise aroused Aber-
nathy for the first time. Around the
room went the cat, dragging the bladder
OF shot after her on the floor "In
shoot some OF you" roard Alternately
:" know you boys are trying to scarce
me-" Rattle, rattle. "I'll shoot some OF
you, ! say" again he cried, afraid to
raise from the pallet on the floor, the
condition OF tho bet being that he was to
lose il he arose The cat found dark
corner, and the fire was nearly burned
out, and rested moment on her
terrified circuit A confederate, under
tho house, gave scpulchral groan, and
| in ghostly voice pronounced the awful
words, This night shall thy soul be re.
| quired Of thee The cat again began
to run around the room as futiously as
before Rattle, rattle, went the bladder
on the floor, and groans issued from
| different corners Of the building "Ill
shoot you III shoot you - halloed
/ Abcrnathy The threat was echoed by
q hollow groan. On went the cat in it's
frantic course, fairly mad itself with
kny 7 o,,tt ata a