The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-01-30
The MYSTERY OF
THE BRIDAL STATEROOM
By Edward Dobson.


sensations. | got up, grOpcd arounc
for n match and struck light.
examined everything In the room, trlct
the door, which | found TO be securely
locked, looked under the berth and
found nothing, ms only a foot space In
tcrycned between its bottom and In,
floor; Investigated all around the foot
Of the berth. and there everything was
as serene as when | retired. | gave
up In despair Of finding any clue 10 the
mysterious occurrences, blew out the
light, and then once more tried TO sleep
The apparitiOn, accompanied by the
three knocks, appeared several times
and 1t was with feeling OF thankful
ness that i welcomed the dawnlng of
another day, as / was then able To
secure several hours OF refreshing
slumbcr before / got up.
when ! got on deck the gale was
pretty well spent, but heavy sea was
still running. The ships ruddcr had
been broken. however, which was the
extent OF the injury which the vessel
had sustained. However, some tenn
por0ry arrangement was effected,
which permitted the ship 10 proceed
slowly. After breakfast. as we were
near port. | went into my statcroom 10
write few letters to my folks which
! wanted 10 post upon landing. While
writing the three knocks again sound
ed. and kept repeating for about five
minutes. An examination revealed
nothing, and | called the Captain, n
bluff, genial, stout old gentleman. into
tile room. but the knocks, i'm order to
bc provoking, would not perform for
him. ! told him my nights expert
cnccs. however and quiet smile H.
Illuminated his features when had
concluded. ! then suspected that he
was not ignorant upon the matter.
and, after n further talk, | persuaded
him to let me into the secret of the
stateroom.
We'll, let me see; what was the
date of yesterday he said rClcctivcly.
Il Informed him.
"'Ah, that npparition was due to
appear last night
Due | exclaimed. Docs IL fire.
qucntly perform for the amusement
of those who occupy this bcrthT
only once n year. You see. about
ten years ago young couple who had
just married. sailed on this ship for
n wedding trip in the South l was
then the Captain. and I interested my
self in the ncwly-wcddcd pair, rs |
love romance. you wouldn't believe
II, sir, TO look nj me. but romance is
the soul OF my cXistcnCC.) The couple
TO be ideal lovers. and they
also came To be the life of the ship
while they were aboard.
Well, just as we were days dis
tance from the port of destination he
the bridegroom. began To act Quccrly,
but did not think his actions were of
much Importance. They retired as
usual. after particularly merry even
ing, but he previously distributed some
money among the crew, who had done
many little things for the pair which
were not in their line of duty. About
midnight. while l was reading I'm my
cabin, woman's piercing scream came
from the bridal couples statcroom. n
pistol shot then followed l rushed
upon deck just in time to see the bride
groom throw his brides body over
board. and himself following II into
the sea. Well. the night was intensely
dark. SO, while l stopped the ship and
lowered n boat. | could find no trace
of either of them. and | proceeded on
my way. Their cabin presented no un-
usual appearance, save for small pool
OF blood which was upon the floor.
The revolver could not hc found and
IL must have accompanied the muir
derer TO his watcry grave. or course
the tragedy. uneXplaina hlc as IL
seemed, created sensation through.
out the ship, and a still greater sen
sation when we reached port and re-
ported II TO the authorities. II then
that the couple had wealthy
connections in an Eastern State. But
the extraordinary fact was also
learned that about six months previous
the father of the bridegroom became
suddenly insane and shot his wife. He
then carried her body to a nearby lake
and jumped with IL into the water.
The two bodies. with his arms en-
twined around her form. were found
on the following day. ana n coroncr's
jury returned the verdict OF murder
and suicide committed 10y the husband
while In a sudden insane frenzy. When
The coroncr's jury. WHO considered the
case OF the bridal couple. heard all
the evidence. they returned n similar
verdict. On the anniversary of the
tragedy the transparent form of the
brides bust and head appears. accom-
panied by the three knocks Icstcr-
day completed the tenth year since the
occurrence OF the tragedy.
"'As for the three knocks Wei. |
remember n peculiar incident which
happened at supper on the fatal night.
While we were engaged In general con-
versation three distinct knocks, as IL
made on the underslde OF the table.
startled us all. Inquiry proved that
n