Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1913-04-24
better carry on my ghost aunt above

W. nv SHe'tpilSlleu HNSelI at the
mead OF the stairway and quite near
the trunk room door. This door | had
opened, as | fancied that if Bassford
HOLSTER were at the bottom of the
business he would probably wish to
IND his way to the roof again. SO far
as | was able to manage it the stage
was IN readiness for the entrance of
the goblin.
The clock below struck 8. and al
most upon the last stroke | heard a
SOUND that set my nerves tingling. I
cfouched in the dark. whiting. Some
one was coming toward NE. but from
where? The bottom of a veil at mid
night was not blacker than the fourth
floor. but the switch lay ready to nv
hahu and my pockets were stuffed with
matches Of the sort that light any
where. The stairways were all carpet
ed, as | have said, and vet some one
was ascending bare treads, lightly and
with delays that suggested a furtive
purpose. Meanwhile. as a background
for this unreality. murmurs of talk and
occasional laughter rose from the IL
brary.
his concealed stairway. wherever it
was, could not be of interminable
length, and l had counted, l think, fif-
teen steps OF that strange ascent when
it ceased. l heard Il fulnblirg as of
some n seeking a latch. and sudden
" a light current Of air SWEPT by me,
h11t if, o1n,r f,.%..1 ,,,,I;+- ,-., ,14 t.
itself disturbing. l stopped and struck
a match smartly on the carpet and at
fhe same time clicked the switch. T
should say that not more than ten Sec
onds passed from the moment the soft
rush of air had first advertised the
opening Of a passage near me until the
hall was flooded with the glow of the
electric lamps overheard. My match
had also performed it's office, but, find
ing the electric current behaving itself
normally. l blew it out. What 1 saw
now interested me immensely.
In the solid wall near the stair and
almost directly opposite the trunk room
a narrow door had swung outward-a
neat continuance, so light in its con-
struction that it still swayed on its
concealed hinges from the touch of the
hand that had released it. How it had
opened or what had become of the
prowler who had unattached it remain
ed to be discovered. It seemed impos-
sible that whoever or whatever had
climbed the hidden stairway had de-
scended, nor had 1 been conscious Of
a ghostly passing as on the previous
night. 1 had only my senses to apply
to this problem, and their efficiency
was minimized for a moment by fear.
The opening in the wall engaged my
attention at once, and I was steadied by
the thought that here was a practical
matter susceptible Of investigation. I
stepped within the door and lighted a
candle, and just as the wick caught
fire click went a switch somewhere and
out went the hall lamps. But, having.
so to speak. put my foot to the mystic
rious stair, l would not turn back, and
l continued on down the steps.
Great was my establishment to find
that 1 had apparently stepped from q
new into al old house. The stair
treads were worn by long use, the
plaster walls that enclosed them were
battered and cracked, and 1 seemed to-
have plunged from the glory of Hope
field into some dim lost passage Of a
domicile of another era that lay within
or beneath the walls of the Manor. As
l slowly descended, holding high my
candle, I recalled, not without a qualm.
the story of the British soldier whom
tradition or superstition linked to the
site Of Miss HOLSTERS property.
At the foot of the stair l found two
rooms, one on either side Of a small
hall, and these also were clearly part
of an old house that seemed to e
somehow merged into the %I,Ollist, +
mansion. l remembered now that the
mansion stood wedged against Il rough
spur Of rock and that the front and
rear entrances We're upon different lev
els, n it was conceivable that the
back part Of the mansion might inclose
these rooms of an earlier house occu-
plying the same site. Why they should
have been retained was beyond me.
Through the carefully preserved win
dows, many PANIED and quaint, Of these
hidden rooms the Unfolding walls Of
the new house were blank and black.
One door only remained in this shell
of the old house, and I fastened to fling
it open, still lighting my way with a
candle. Before me lay the coal cellar,
at which I had merely glanced on the
morning after my installation at Hope
field. l now began to get my bearings.
| remembered two iron lids in the ce-
mented surface Of ar area on the east
side Of the house where fuel was de-
posted, and, mounting a few steps that
were of recent construction and had
evidently been built to afford communi-
cation between the remnant of the old
house and he subterranean portion Of
the new, l found to my relief and salts
faction beneath one of these openings
a short ladder, through which the court
might be reached. Here. then, the
manner Of ghostly ingress was Illus
trated by perfectly plausible means.
lid Of the coal hole was entirely