Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-03-07
LITTLE STORIES or LIFE
ITO LET"
BY ALICE TURNER CURTIS.
ITO LET"
BY ALICE TURNER CURTIS.

explanation when again came the
screams. the las dying away In u
Stifled moan.
The family was by this time thor
oughly terrified. They had heard the
story of the L~eslies, and without wait
ing for further experiences in the
house they moved at once.
with the result that the house
was vacant for a year. Then a family.
consisting of an elderly couple. Mr.. and
Mrs. Walters. and their son, q young
man about %, o in. The re-
mainder of the story was told me by
this son. and l will give it in his w
words as nearly as possible:
II wasn't afraid of any haunted
house. My father was deaf. SO it would
take Il reasonable loud scream to wake
him, n my mother was a sensible
woman. The house Just suited us. We
got nicely settled in a few weeks, and
my elder brother and his wife came out
first night they were there I stayed in
town for the theater. The train l came
out in left a few minutes afer IL, and
l reached the house at about II quarter
before IL. | was nearly ready for bed
when a shiek like that of "a person
struggling for his life sounded through
the house. l hurried into the hall. and
as did so my brother opened his door.
Before either of us could speak u Sec
ond and third scream followed. BY
this time even fathers Leaf ears had
been penetrated. and we all sat up
night before W. felt like sleep.
IN the end we decided not to men,
ton the occurrence. We thought of
several possible explanations OF the
noise. The next morning we made u
carerul examination of the house and
cr NJ ..,1-
to ate trains. thinking we might have
mistaken the shrek of an engine for a
human voice; but all our conjectures
led to nothing. we could find no salts
Factory reason for the disturbance.
Il made inquiries about the Leslies,
ana found that many people believed
that Leslie had stified his wife. and
then aiken some subtle poison which
left no trace; but there was no evil
dence to support this theorx: no sign
of poison had been found, no u
could be given for such. an act, and
nothing could explain the midnight
one night my brother awakened our
mother. telling her hat his wife wa i'll.
She had awakened from a bad dream
almost sufocated. II my mother
worked over her for some time before
h was restored. She refused to tell
her dream. but we were well assured
that it was a repetition of Mrs. Wes-
TONS. The next morning my brother
n his wife went to their home.
i had more experience in that
mousse which l shall never forget. NV
father was to be out one night until
midnight at the meeting of a society
OF which he was a member, and my
mother and l decided to wait up for
him. :
about II O'Clock mother lay down
on the u and went to sleep. The
room was brightly lighted, and / sat
near the couch reading.
Just as | heard my father come in
! was startled by a sudden moan from
my mother. l turned quickly toward
the couch. and as I did so I saw plain
~ that the sofa pillow lay upon her
race: snatched 1T away, and awak-
ened her with some little difficulty.
my father had come into
the ROOM. and as he entered a scream
terrible in its nearness and intensity.
rang out. thrilling us all with a sicken.
ing shock. We left the next day..
This finished his story. No explana-
ton OF these happenings has ever been
given. The Leslies' death remains q
mystery. and to explain the presence
that occupied this cottage after their
death would be to account for a side
or life which we barely touch and can
not comprehend.