davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-24

youthful analysis, but which marked
him with distinction in sharp contrast
to the gentle village folk.
Vague rumors filtered into the vii.
lage as time went on, which gradually
to have been a man of much adven.
ture. He had roamed the wide world
over; been in wars as soldier of
fortune; had been imprisoned, and had
made his escape; was once an orna.
mental figure at the court of France,
and destroyer of many a woman's
happiness.
His manners were those of a Ches-
terfield, although he was reserved and
taciturn to the last degree, and made
no man his friend. He lived entirely
within himself. He came and went
about the village in that isolation of
spirit that some are capable Of build
ing up for themselves, and which Is as
impenetrable as the heart of Sahara.
He received no letters, but many books
and magazines and papers. He spent
long days in his library. Occasionally
he walked in his great garden, gather
ing the flowers as II he loved them.
Thus he lived until the day of a
tragic visit.
In those days a stage-coach carried
mails and passengers to and from the
village. People came and went every
day. and the coach was always sure to
be well filled; SO that when a mysteri-
GUS stranger, with a striking face and
q foreign, accent. was a passenger
alighting at the village there were
many to carry the news. The strang-
er's fine, erect figure was set of by
a military coat. His beard was cut
after a foreign fashion. When he
asked at the inn how he might reach
Whitehall, the word swiftly passed
about that the lonely bachelor was
to have distinguished visitor.
The stranger gave the innkeeper a
princefy fee and was, in consequence,
driven out to Whitehall In the INN
keepers own private chaise by the
innkeeper's son. The great door of
Whitehall was opened by the old
Ihousekeeper, and the mysterious and
attractive stranger swallowed from the
sight of the youth. who looked long
ingly after him as he fingered the
large silver coin in his hand.
And that night was q night Of terror
In the village. The old housekeeper
had come running wildly to the near
est house In her nightgown. with her
eyes starting from her head and her
nightcap awry. She was incoherent
with terror and exhaustion, but It was
gained from her broken speech that
. tragedy had taken place at White
hall, and that the master and his Wis
itor lay dead.
Some Of the village men ran to the
house, entered the door that had been
left wide open by the frightened house
keeper, and went up the stairs to the
room the master had converted into
. library. led by light that was still
burning.
Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-24

Tho room was in great disorder
Sure enough, both men lay dead, theiI
faces bruised and marked. One, the
stranger, had been strangled. AS for
the master, he had evidently shot him
self. He lay within a large closet
the door Of which stood wide open, and
across the sill trickled a stream OF
crimson. Upon each victim was found
miniature of woman of extraordi.
nary beauty. her lovely face smiling
out coquettishly-frorn within frame
OF pearls in one case and a plain gold
rim in the other.
Whitehall. after the tragedy. fell to
some distant cousins, and they came
to live there. They stayed but short
time, however, departing suddenly and
leaving a caretaker in charge of the
place. The caretaken, in turn, left
hastily, declaring that he had heard
weird sounds at night, accompanied By
two pistol-shots, and that he knew
that the ghosts of the two dead men
enacted the tragedy every night in the
old library.
Then the house was closed. The
weeds spreng up in the garden and
sprawled into the trim walks, and
Whitehall had, within year, become
that strange eery thing haunted
house.
III.
When my childhood had passed, and
had travelled about a good deal in
foreign lands and learned what fine
architecture really was. realized that
Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-24

sometimes tying up to the bank at nightfall,
sometimes steaning steadily through the
night We reached the Sud, the vast papy
rus marsh once so formidable barrier to
all who would journey along the river; and
sunrise and sunset were beautiful over the
endless, melancholy stretches of water
reeds.
In the Sud the only tree seen was the
water-loving ambatch, light as cork. Occa-
sionally we saw hippos and crocodiles and
few water birdsS and now and then passed
native villages, the tall, lean men and women
stark naked, and their bodies daubed with
mud, grease and ashes to keep off the mos
quitoes.
On March we were steaming slowly
along the reedy, water-soaked shores of
Lake No. keeping sharp lookout for the
white-eared kob and especially for the hand
some saddle-marked lechwe kob-which has
been cursed with the foolshly inappropriate
name of Mrs Gray's waterbuck."
Early in the morning we saw herd OF
these saddle-marked lechwe in the long
marsh grass and pushed the steamers nose
as near to the shore as possible. Then Cum
inghame, keen-eyed Kongoni, and started
for what proved to be five hours tramp
The walking was hard; sometimes we
were on dry land, but more often in water
up to our ankles or knees, and occasionally
floundering and wallowing up to our hips
through stretches of reeds, water lilies,
green water, and foul black slime. Yet
there were ant-hils in the marsh.
Once or twice we caught glimpse Of the
game in small patches of open ground COW
cred with short grass; but almost always
they kept to the high grass and reeds. There
were with the herd two very old bucks, with
white saddle-shaped patch on the withers,
the white extending up the back of the neck
to the head; a mark of their being in full
maturity, or past it, for on some of the
males at least this celebration only begins
to appear when they seem already to have
attained their growth of horn and body,
their teeth showing them to be five or six
years old, while they are obviously in the
prime of vigor and breeding capacity. I'm
fortunately, in the long grass it was impos
sibe to single out these old bucks.
Marking as we'll as we could the general
direction of the herd we would steal toward
it until we thought we were in the neighbor-
hood, and then cautiously climb an ant-hill
to look about Nothing would be in sight
We would scan the ground in every direc-
Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-24

tanned the keys and wandered into all
! its rooms, gloating over the rare wood
work and the strong, firm frame; and
before went away l had responded
to a sudden inspiration. and HAD rented
the place for a year. with the privilege
of purchasing. The price was ridicu-
lousy low, the haunting spirits that
one was obliged to take with 1t being
considered detrimental to the real
estate value.
I was to be married in July, and
here would bring my bride. I knew
what wonderful and joyful surprise
| 1t would be to Lydia-for she regarded
all superstition with fine scorn. And
what a place for a honeymoon! What
romance that garden offered, what de-
light was promised in those grand old
rooms, Still stocked with gems of an.
tioue furniture, motk.eaten and dust.
laden to be sure, but not beyond resto-
ration. left directions for its setting
in order, and hired brave man to
mako trim the gardens.
At last, we came to our own. The
Joy of those first weeks will remain a
honeyed memory forever. We arranged
and admired and recovered and re-
polished to our own particular taste
until our artistic sense was completely
satisfied. We worked and dreamed
away the hours and talked much Of
the history of the place, laughing at
the absurdity of the haunted idea and
plying the narrow beliefs of the sim
pie people; but. at the same time. re-
joicing over them because OF the
wealth of beauty they had contributed
to our lives.
In September. Lydfa was called to
the bedside of her sister. She took
the maid with her. The cook. who
was left to take care of me. went to
her own little homo each night, so that
I was quite alone in the house after
nine o'clock. / was lonely, as new
bridegroom would be sure to be dur
ing such separation. but was happy
enough in my own way.
Tho day before Lydia returned I
received . call from one Of the old
residents Of the town-the Oldest in
habitant, fancied, from his shriveled
and faded condition. welcomed him
40 q character. He came in the bright
afternoon. but seemed wary about en-
tering the house, even with the glori-
Gus sunshine pouring In at the win
dows in . Hood, and said he preferred
seat IN the garden. He walked
feebly. leaning heavily on stout stick,
and breathlessly assured me that he
would not have made 20 great an effort
had he not been impelled by an over
powering curiosity as to whether we
had been troubled by ghostly noises,
and also by the desire to tell me that
fhia was tha anniversary Of the trag.
edy. It was a windy September night
that It happened, he said, and he quite
remembered how Aunt Sally Waite
shivered and shook In her nightgown
when she brought the horrible news.
Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-24

cheerfully assured him that we
had not seen or. heard anything of q
disgusting nature, and had no fear
whatever.
He waved his palsied fingers warn
ingly, and feebly shook his head as he
said impressively: "You will yet
young man, you will. It's never failed
to come on the night of the anniver
sary. You'll hear and see things to-
night. This house has been ha'nted
for nigh onto fifty year. and them
that's lived here has always heard
wild noises-groans and curses, high
words. struggling, pistol-shots = two
pistol-shots!"
Then, with a dramatic fervor that
seemed like the good old mans last
effort on this earth. he graphically re-
hearsed every detail of the ancient
tragedy. In spite of myself, l felt all
its horror and its reality.
When he had finished, he departed,
creeping slowly away with many a
backward look and ominous shakings
Of the head. ! have to confess that
he left depressing effect, and ! felt
very lonely without Lydia. The golden
days that we had reveled in seemed
very far away: and much as l disliked
to think Of the gruesome past, could
not refrain from dwelling upon 1t with
an awful fascination.
As night q. near, I found myself
prey to all the terrors of my youth
full imaginings. Whitehall again be-
came the Haunted House; and in spite
of all of my efforts to stave 1t of. !
was fast falling into At of the blues.
BY the time that the cook left was
genuinely depressed. The wind sprang
up and moaned and sobbed dolefully
about the house. signing in the chin
ney and shrieking wildly under the
caves. read very late. plunging into
the lively action of the spirited VI
comte de Bragelonne, and hoped, like
Stevenson, to carry the thread OF that
epic into my slumbers.
When midnight struck, the brands
Of the fire flashed up. Then went out.
I laid down my stirring romance,
stretched and yawned. and decided to
go to bed and sleep OF my hapless
mood.
l got up and moved about the room
noisily. whistled and sang. swept up
the hearth. locked the doors and win
dows, and tried not to hear the fiend-
ish wind. But I could not deny it. I
was the victim of such . disquieting
nervous tension as had never before
experienced in all my life.
When ! got to bed huddled under
the blankets and watched the cold
moonlight flooding across the floor
the very door. l thought. upon which
the tragedy took place: for my bed
room had been the unfortunate mas
ter's library. was happy to find my
self really growing drowsy. and was
just on the verge Of slumber when
was suddenly shocked wide-awake by
Il sharp report near at hand.
Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-24

an old male and its gizzard was full OF the
remains OF small FISH.
The whalebill is a large wader, blackish-
gray in color, slightly crested. with big feet
and a huge, swollen bill; queer-looking,
bird, with no near kinsfolk, and so interest
ing that nothing would have persuaded ME
to try to kill more than the four actually.
needed for the public (not private) museum
to which our collections were going. 1t is
Of solitary habits and is found only in GER
tain vast, lonely marshes of tropical Africa,
where it is conspicuous by its extraordinary
bill, dark coloration, and sluggishness of
conduct, hunting sedately in the muddy
shadows, or standing motionless for hours,
surrounded by reedbeds or by long reaches
of quaking and treacherous ooze
Next morning while at breakfast on the
breezy deck we spied another herd OF the
saddle-marked lechwe, in the marsh along
side; and Kermit landed and killed one, after
deep wading, up to his chin in some places,
and much hard work in the rank grass.
That afternoon, near the mouth of the
Rohr, which runs into the Bahr ell Ghazal,
l landed and shot good buck, of the
Vaughn's kob; which is perhaps merely a
subspeces Of the whte-eared kob. 1t is a
handsome animal handsomer than its close
kinsman, the common or Uganda kob; al
though much less SO than its associate, the
saddle marked lechwe The one | shot was
an old ram, accompanied by several ewes.
We saw them from the boat. but they ran.
Cuninghame and I, with Kongoni and
Gouvmali, hunted. for them in vain for
couple of hours Then we met savage, a
very tall, lean Nuer. He was clad in fawn
skin, and carried two spears, one with
bright, sharp, broad-bladed head, the other
narrow-headed with villainous barbs His
hair, much longer than that of a west coast
negro, was tied back.
As we came toward him he stood on one
leg with the other foot resting against it,
and raising his hand, with fingers extended
he motoned to us with what in civilized re-
gons would be regarded as a gesture bid
ding us halt But he meant it as friendly
greeting, and solemnly shoo~ lads with all
four Of us, including the gun-bearers.
By signs we made him understand that
we were after game; so was he; and he led
us to the little herd of kob Kongoni, as
usual. saw them before any one else From
an ant-hll | could make out the bucks horns
and his white ears, which he was continually
Tapping at the biting flies that worried him ;
Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-24

"A pistol-shot!" I whispered, my
cies OF terror; for the sound came
fortunate inhabitant of Whitehall had
died. It was now used as . storage.
closet.
l had half decided that my over
stimulated fancy had been playing me-
a trick, and was about tc. settle back
upon my pillow, when another report.
louder, clearer, sharper. came from the
region of the closet. and made mo
jerk back to my sitting position.
1.-TWO pistol-shots," said to myself
| in an ominous whisper, recalling the
old mans words.
All of sudden I grasped hold Of
my senses and got back my manhood.
keen disgust of myself Fastening my
actions. l Jumped out of bed. lighted
the lamp, and made my way toward
the closed door of the closet. I held
the lamp rather high, and its light
shed itself sharply downward upon the
floor where my eyes were attracted to
something within its rays. I stopped
spreading slowly out across the sill
from beneath the door was q crimson
stain.
Blood" I whispered hoarsely, and
my own ran cold. My terror returned.
felt sudden CHASTITY faintness, and
l nervously moistened my dry lips
with my tongue. The hand holding the
lamp shook as with an ague, and this
seemed to arouse me to a sense Of my
weakness. felt as II had disgraced
myself by the weak fears and nervous
oscillations of this night, and, sud-
denly stung back into strength and
courage by shame, put out a steady
hand and turned the knob. The door
was locked. shook 1t loudly and
peered into the keyhole. There was
no key within.
However, / was now determined to
fathom the mystery, and, shivering In
my thin nightclothes, l gathered keys
from various doors upstairs and tried
them in the lock. The last one grated
q little and then slid back, and the
door was unlocked. set my teeth 4
little and held my breath with excite
ment as ! swung back the door, hold.
ing the light well forward and peerins
within. For . moment l could SEQ
nothing, and then meeting my eager
gaze was--a row Of preserve-jary, two
of which had broken from fermentae
ton and sent forth Q crimson stream
OF fruit.juice! 4
"Lydia's preserved" I said. and. set
ting the lamp down on the shelf,
gave myself up to At Of uproarious
laughter:
It Is Lydia's chief story. She revelss
in the telling Of It. but lido not mind.
II gave ma an interaaffnw night anA
owners Of one OF the most beautiful
old houses In the land.
Copyright. The Fsask a. Msxsey Co,l
Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-24
when he lowered his head / could see

when he lowered his head could see
nothing.
Finally. he looked fxedly at us; he was
$50 yards off and had to shoot standing on
the peak Of the ant-heap, and aim through
the grass, guessing where his hidden body
might be; and | missed him. At the shot
the does went off to the left but he ran to
the right, once or twice leaping high; and
when he halted, at less than 200 yards, al
though | could still only see his horns,
knew where his body was; and this time
killed him.
We gave most of the meat to the Nuer.
He was an utterly wild savage, and when
Cuninghame suddenly lit match he was so
frightened that it was all we could do to
keep him from boiling.
At the Mouth Of Nile Tributary.
The following day we were in the mouth
OF the Bahr Ell Ghazal. 1t ran sluggishly
through immense marshes, which stretched
back from the river for miles on either hand,
broken here and there by flats OF slightly
higher land with thorn-trees The whale
billed storks were fairly common, and were
very conspicuous as they stood on the quak-
ing surface of the marsh, supported by their
long-toed feet. After several fruitless stalks
and much following through the thick
marsh grass, sometimes up to our necks in
water. killed one with the Springfield at
distance of 1870 yards, and Kermit, after
missing one standing, cut it down as it rose
with his Winchester 3O-4O
Next morning we were up at the Bahr ell
Zeraf We had now finished our hunting,
save that once or twice we landed to shoot
a buck or some birds for the table
We steamed steadily down the Nile.
Where the great river bent to the east we
would sit in the shade on the forward deck
during the late afternoon and look down the
long glistening water-street in front of us,
with its fringe OF reedbed and marshy grass
land and papyrus swamp, and the slightly
higher dry land on which grew acacias and
scattered palms. Along the river banks and
inland were villages of Shilluks and other
tribes, mostly cattle owners; some showing
Slight traces of improvement. others utter
savages, tall, naked men, bearing bows and
arrows
The Final Stage of the Journey.
AT night we sat on deck and watched the
stars and the dark lonely river. The swim
ming crocodiles and plunging hippos made
whirls and wakes of feeble light that glirn-
mered for moment against the black water.
Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-24

The unseen birds Of the marsh and the night
called to one another in strange voices. Of
ten there were grass fires, burning, leaping
lines of red, the lurid glare in the sky above
them making even more somber the SUR
rounding gloom.
AS we steamed northward down the long
stretch of the Nile which ends at Khartoum,
the wind blew in our faces, day after day,
hard and steadily. Narrow reedbeds boz
dered the shore; there were grass flats and
groves of acacias and palms, and farther
down reaches of sandy desert. The health
of our companions who had been suffering
from fever and dysentery gradually i'm
proved; but the case of champagne, which
we had first opened at Gondokoro, was a
real service, for two members of the party
were at times so sick that their situation was
critical.
We reached Khartoum on the afternoon
of March IA, 1910, and Kermit and parted
from our comrades of the trip with real re-
greet; during the year we spent together
there had not been a'jar, and my respect and
liking for them had grown steadily. More
over, it was sad parting from our faithful
never see again. 1t had been an interesting
and a happy year; though was very glad to
be once more with those who were dear to
me, and to turn my face toward my own
home and my own people.
An Inopportune Attack of Fever.
Kermit's and my health throughout the
trip had been excellent. He had been laid
up for three days all told, and for FIVE
Kermits three days were due, two to tick
fever on the Kapiti plains. one probably to
the sun. =.
Mine were all due to fever; but I think
my fever had nothing to do with Africa at
all, and was simply recurrence Of the fever
l caught in the Santiago campaign, and
which ever since has come on at long and ir-
regular intervals for day or two at time.
The couple of attacks had in Africa were
very slight by no means as severe as one
had while bear hunting early one spring in
the Rocky mountains.
One of these attacks came on under rath-
er funny circumstances. 1t was at Lake
Naivasha on the day killed the hippo which
charged the boat. We were in the steam
launch and began to feel badly, and knew
was in for bout of fever.
Just then we spied the hippo and went
after it in the row-boat. l was anxious to
hold back the attack until got the hippo,
as when shaking with chill it is of course
very difficult to take aim. just succeeded,
the excitement keeping ME steady; and as
soon as the hippo was dead curled up in the
boat and had my chill in peace and comfort.
- = -
Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-24
OCAL historians used to call it
Whitehall. That was in the days
rhna ana Of Wa shin 1fan,S off.

- OCAL historians used to call 1t
Whitehall. That was in the days
when one Of Washington's Off.
GERS lived there. Then, for immemo-
rial years, the village folk called it the
Haunted House. 1t was mansion of
stately build, approached from the
main road by sweep Of imposing
driveway. It was large and square,
with . pillared porch. It's lofty front
windows looked out across once
beautiful garden, laid out like the gar
dens of Italy and France. But in the
years Of mystery and desertion. the
garden, like the house, had fallen from
grand magnificence into gentle decay.
There were tangled masses Of exotic
flowers run wild. The box borders
had been bitten out at intervals by the
hungry winters of the past. There was
Q battered sun-dial, dead fountain,
q moss-covered marble seat. and mys-
terious paths.
It was here that the village boys and
I used to play when the sun shone
cheerfully and the day was young. The
house exerted its spell upon us. We
peered fearfully in at the windows and
shook the strong old doors, then sour
sled away with shrieks of half-fright-
ened ecstasy. The house seemed to
submit to these familiarities patiently.
But 1t never lost, not even in the sun
shine. that aspect Of cheerless, unholy
sorrow that made it awful.
Perhaps even then, subconsciously,
knew that should spend a night of
horror behind those white, unsmiling
walls when I should have become a
man.
Here let me tell you something
about the tragedy enacted there.
A quarter of century before my
birth, q wealthy bachelor, grandson
Of that oficer of Washington's already
referred to. came to live at Whitehall.
syeh An old housekeeper as his only
Attsadant. He was not well known in
the village. for his youth had been
spent in foreign lands. and only till he
came TO live at Whitehall had the vii.
lage people ever seen him.
He was tall and imposing. but his
handsome face bore clearly the marks
OF dissipated and tumultuous life., A
scar marked his cheek. He walked
with . slight limp from some old
wound He dressed carefully, and
bore the aspect Of great gentleman
man Of the world. with an Intangible
something about him that banned my
Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-24

The story of a night in a haunt
ed house with wild noises all
about, high words and pistol shots
Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-24

j(cotsr;sht. The Fsask A. Msssey Coz
Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-24

TIC 1rI1dl 0ta6e OF TIC JOuIl1ey'
At night we sat on deck and watched the
stars and the dark, lonely river. The swim
ming crocodiles and plunging hippos made
whirls and wakes of feeble light that glim-
mered for moment against the black water.