The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1912-03-08
MYSTERY OF THE DOOR N THE HEDGE
Being the Remarkable Account of the Result of Stroll
Down Lane Taken by the Cynic with
Broken-down Newspaper Man.
~ ESTHER GRIFFIN WHITE.

~ ESTHER GRIFFIN WHITE.
do l believe in ghosts?" asked the
cynic flicking the ashes of his cigar
cite, 81 can't say that / have any fixed
beliefs OF any kind-certainly not any
thing SO elusive as ghosts. Still"
Still" said the other person.
And yet" interpolated Sarah.
"Oh, tell us about it know you
want to- growled the misanthrope.
II don't vouch for the truth Of this
-" began the cynic.
Time honored start" interrupted
Sal.
- will merely tell it as know it"
Proceed" cried the chorus.
"A few years ago, then-if you in
sist," began the cynic, "Edgerton
Bats and I went over in Ohio to rus
ticate. Bats was all gone to the bad
with his nerves. turning night into
day on the Dispatch, and L"
WAS suffering from ingrowing
SHAME on YOU" exclaimed Sal.
Don't interrupt" glared the other
person.
was off on my weight and couldn't
sleep o. nights" continued the cynic,
so we decided to go out into the real
country and lead the simple life. First
we talked OF going abroad but that's
more or less nerve-wracking. and then
we hesitated between a canoe trip in
Canada and a shooting out West.
Finally Bats bethought himself of an
old farmhouse down on the Ohio riv-
err. the early home OF the BAttses. and
we betook ourselves thither, secured
board and lodging and settled down
to doing nothing.
THE house was old large and ram
shackle. 1t had once been a preten-
tious place of the colonial type-its
red brick walls and crumbling white
pillars sagging with English ivy-its
garden filed with fragrant, old-fash-
toned flowers growing in a tangle; its
grounds rolling, beech covered and
sun-patched.
Its occupants were as old and tot
tering as itself-two of Batts's great
aunts. an aged colored man-servant,
and a chore-boy.
Bats and l spent a good deal of
time tramping the surrounding coun'
try, fishing in some sterile streams on
the land. swinging in hammocks and
lying flat on the ground with our
hands clasped behind our heads.
I'VE stayed out of the house as
much as possible-a musty mansion,
full Of shadows. dim corners, odd steps
up and down from one room to anoth-
er, strange and discOncerting sounds
as have all old houses-and an air
OF melancholy.
"One day as we were idling down a
hitherto uncxplored lane. we came up
on a detour, shaded and grass-grown
which suddenly widened to the frin.
ges Of a pond. from which there was a
charming bit of view-the pond oddly
elevated, with a graduated descent on
the other side to a cataracted stream
of which falls" was a part. and
which glittered and roared like a min.
iature Niagara.
1.-The lane turned and followed the
banks of the pond-evidently part OF
an old pleasure-ground. an unkept
hedge bordering the sheet of water.
LAS we dawdled along we came to a
door--a wooden door. set in it's frame
common. wooden door. although
thick and heavy and OF solid oak.
1T had knob and an old fashioned
thumb.key and bell. Of the gong va
riety, was fastened to the middle pan
ell.
1T had such an homogeneous appear
ance. set in the hedge and rearing its
height above the latter's scraggy
greenery. that we both stopped and
exclaimed at it's oddly.
Looks like part Of an old house,
said Bats.
"a house burned down or demolish
ed said. DO you remember any such
mansion?' inquired.
Bats shook his head He said that
he remembered no place of the sort
And that, although he had ranged the
countryside when a boy he could not
recall this pond or the lane or the view
beyond.
For some reason or other the door
took on q fascination for both of us.
I'VE prodded it with our sticks, we
raped on its panels, We turned the
knob-but without result-we pulled
at its bell which gave out a sudden
rusty. gruesome clang; We shook it
We pounded it. We examined its con
struction and noticed its strong, and
oddly unrusted hinges.
why said Bats. should the door
be in such seemingly prime condition
1t shows no sign Of wear and tear, OF
the action of the weather, Of decay OF
delapidation.'
"'l.ets 60 on the other side I sug
gested.
"'Howm We get over:' asked Bats
Il pointed to a gap in the hedge
down the lane a bit.
81 tell you what we'll do I. said
We may as well amuse ourselves
You go round to the other side
through the gap in the hedge and