Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-07-14
DAILY SHORT STORY
A CASE o. GHOSTS.

a house and twenty acres OF land in
the province of Vendee, on the west
coast of France.
The house was only one story high
and was divided into sitting room, bed
room and kitchen Doors and win
dowS had long been removed, and the
floors had rotted away, but room and
walls were all right, and a few days
work enabled the heir to move in. The
usual gossip about haunted houses was
not lacking in this case, and some of
the stories told would have made the
plasterer's hair curl had be not been
firm minded.
Du Bots had been settled Il month be-
fore the ghosts came. He had busted
himself brea king up and carting away
the stones and hauling dirt in their
place so as 10 have ground for gar
den at least. One night he was awak
ened by a curious sound coming from
the kitchen. He slept with both inside
doors open, and there was no cover of
any sort on the floors. The noise he
heard was that of soft footsteps They
seemed TO enter the kitchen door and
cross 10 q corner and return to the door
again. He knew the outside door to be
locked, but he lighted a candle and got
up 10 see what the noises could mean.
They ceased as soon as he was out of
bed, and. naturally enough, the man
believed that he had been half dream
ing, and he went back TO bed and was
soon asleep again The incident had no
weight with him next day; but, much
to his surprise, 1t was repeated on the
second night. He was awakened nj the
same hour by the clock, and for ten
minutes he lay listening. AT the end of
that time the footsteps ceased, and Du
Bols got up and struck a light, to find
everything as usual.
The inside walls had been roughly
plastered when the house was built,
and here and there 1t had fallen off in
patches, and he determined to give the
walls a close inspection and see If any
thing could be found. He meant to do
this next day, but found that he had to
go TO village for supplies and post
pOned IT. That night, at the same hour
again, the noises were renewed. and on
the third morning after breakfast a
search was begun. The outside of the
house was taken first and was gone
over IOOI DN lOOI. WAS ulSCON-
cred to solve the mystery.
When Du Bols came TO search the in
terror of the house he made discovery
almost at once. The ghostly footsteps
had led from the outside kitchen door
to the northwest corner OF the room, a
distance of about nine feet. About Il
third of the plaster had fallen off that
wall, and as the man inspected he soon
came upon a stone differing from the
others by being better dressed. 1t was
plastered In as firmly as any of the
others. but 1t seemed to have been set
In after the wall had been built
1t took Du Bots an hour to loosen
and lift out the stone, but never was a
man more literally rewarded for an
hours work The stone was the door
to cavity a foot wide and four feet
long, and in that cavity rested treas
ure amounting to tens of thousands of
dollars. 1t was in gold, silver and jew
els, and there was not so much as the
scrap OF a pen to say who had con
cealed 1t.
As near as could be ascertained by
the legal records of the province the
house had been erected about forty-fiye
1t udI beFn DuilI anu luildDIleu
by an old man and his wife, both OF
whom had died within few years
The place had then been tenantlpss for
some time and had then been taken
possession of by a fisherman. He had
vacated, and another man had come,
but for Il score of years before Du Bots
took possession no one had occupied
the place.
Du Bots did not herald his good for
tune over the country. Like a wise
man he said nothing and secretly re-
moved his find to Paris. The stone was
reset in the wall and the plaster re
paired. and be had hardly made the re
pairs when ne was waited on by an of
ficer of the law, who informed him that
a queer mistake had been made The
property had been left to another by
his name, and the new heir would
shortly be on TO make good his claim.
The plasterer did not walt for the
rlghtful heir TO turn up. He had never
been satisfied ms to how he came to in
herit, though he had gone on the idea
that the law could make no mistakes.
lie bied himself back to Paris, sold his
jewelry and exchanged his coins and
then did prudent thing by setting sail
for America. He had not been gone
from Paris four weeks before he was
being looked after.
In spite of the repairs the new heir
had discovered the stone and the hid
ing place. Perhaps ghostly footsteps
had also sounded for him, though they
had ceased for Du Bots as soon as he
discovered the Treasure At any rate,
he wanted information and an account
ing. He reasoned very naturally that
the cavity had been made to hold a
treasure and that il would not have
been so carefully concealed again II
nothing had been taken from IL
Du Bots was out of France and liv-
ing in New York when the officers of
the law sought to interview him, and he
has not returned to his native land
IL