Graham guardian., 1913-07-04

10 find the switch. but at this moment
as my face was still lifted In the in
tentness with which was listening
something brushed my cheek-some
thing soft Of touch and swift of move
ment AS grlpped the rail felt this
touch once. twice. thrice. Then my
hand sought the wall madly. and with
SO bad an aim that II was quite min
ute before ! found the switch plate
1 and snapped all the keys. The stalr
! and the halls above aud below me
sprang Into being again. and stood
blinking stupidity upward
Though ! was In a modern house
thoroughly lighted by electricity can.
not deny that this incident, following
so quickly upon the buffers story. oc-
casioned a moments acute hair raising,
accompanied by an uncomfortable
tremor Of the legs As already limited
lny no claim to great valor Az for
ghosts am half persuaded OF their
existence. and. after witnessing pres.
entation OF Hamlet, always feel that
Shakespeare is as safe a guide In such
matters as the destructive scientific
! critics
There we're various plausible expla.
nations Of the failure Of the lights
Some switch that | did not know of.
perhaps In the third floor HALL. might
have leen turned. or the power house
IN the village might have been shift
ing dynamos. Either solution OF the
riddle was credible. Rnt the ghostly
touch on my face could not be nc
counted for so readily. Leaving the
lights on. continued to the third
floor and examined the switch aud
sought In other ways to explain these
I,hpHomcna My compOsnre returned
more slowly than | care to confess.
and think II was probably In my
mind thnt the ghost OF King Georges
Head soldier might be lying in wait for
me. but | saw aud heard nothing The
doors Of the unused chambers OH the
third floor were closed. and ! did not
feel justified In trying them. fhe
servants were housed on this fioor at
the rear Of the house. and door that
cut of their quarters proved on eS
animation to he~tightly locked
The fourth door was only half sto-
~. used for storage purposes. The
roof was gained. ! recalled, by an iron
ladder and hatchway In trunk
room. | ran down to my room and
found a candle. to be armed agninst
any further fckicness Of the lights.
and set out for the fourth floor. had
changed my coat and with couple OF
candles and a Lox of matches started
for the roof. Ny courage had risen
now. and was ready for any further
adventure that the night might hold
for me- Miss Holllster and Cecilia
we're both In their rooms. presumably
asleep. The servants doubtless had
their doors barred against ghostly yis-
itors, and the house was mine to ex.
plore as pleased,
think ! was humming slightly as !
mounted the stair. which. iD keeping
with the general luxuriousness that
characterized the furnishing of the
hot,se. was thickly carpeted even to
the fourth floor. ! was slipping my
hard along the rail and mounting.
dare say. a little jauntily as screwed
my courage to an unfamiliar notch
when suddenly. midway OF the first
half and just before reached tlie
turn where the stair broke, the lights
failed again with startling abruptness
This was carrying the joke pretty far.
and instantly clapped my hand to
my pocket for the box of safety
matches. dug II out and then In my
haste dropped the I'D essential to igni.
tlon and stopped to fiud Il.
The stair had narrowed on this
tiight, and as sought with futile
.eagerness 10 regain the box lid could
have sworn that some one passed me-.
still half STOPPING, | stretched ont my
arms and clasped empty air. and 80
suddenly had ! thrown myself for
ward that lost my balance and roll
ed downward the space of half
dozen trcads before recovered my.
self was badly scared and hardly
less angry at having missed through
my own cItmsiness the Joy Of crap
pling with the ghost of one OF King
Georges soldiers. But the matches
having been lost ln the pitch darkness
Of the stair, could get my bearings
again only 10y clinging to the stair rail
until found the second tioor switch
I should say that two full minutes had
passed between the loss Of the matches
and my hashing on Of the lamps
From top to bottom the lights shone
brightly, But no one was visible. and
heard no sound in any part OF the
house.
As ] began to analyze nlg sensations
during the temporary eclipse OF the
lights ! was conscious OF two things,
The being, human or other, that had
passed me had been light Of step and
tieet Of motion. There had been some
thing uncanny In the ease and speed
Of that passing. was without con.
viction as TO lts direction. whether mp
or down. though Inclined to the for,
mer notion for the reason that the EN-,
ploymelt Of q concealed switch above
seemed the more reasonable argument
And faint an almost imncrccptibie
scent, as Of flower. Ind seemed 20
be part Of The passing. Milne IL
sensitive nnstrll, and was confident
that II did not betray me In this,
gathered up my matches and start
ed again for the roof The trunk room
door or.ued readily, us ON my morn.