The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1915-07-03

a
has NO theory Concerning ~
The gray phantom IL the fret Of |. .~s
OF thrt,isas shert stories The star viii
prses ea satardsys--Editor
Good night"
The Girl called II gaily as she stood
on the threshold OF the old colonial
'parlor"
She lifted a lamp from n tahls
near the door and went out.
She walked down the wide hall
toward the low. broad stair.
Suddenly she stopped. Amos, d,.
reetiy before her was a closed door
and thru that door something was
passlnei
Startled. the girl raised her lamp
and held her ground
With wide open eyes she saw n
form. gray. vague form with some.
thing white about the head. II did
not look her way.
Coming thru the closed door II
glided close to tho wall and van.
ished at Venetian door Just be.
yond.
As II vanished. power OF motion
came 10 the trembling Eirl.
Panic stricken. she fled. back 10
the lights. back 10 the warm. pleas.
ant parlor where her father and
mother still sat talking.
Il have scen"-'she faltered-'T
think | have seen a ghost"
Her mother smiled. but her father
Jumped to his feet.
"Where7" he demanded
In a moment he was without.
lamp in hand. searching. When he
returned, he shook his head.
There was nothing" he said.
Come. will take you TO your
room"
II was abou, week later. Marion
Hariand and her father sat In tho
parlor.
The door opened to admit a white.
faced. trembling woman.
u have seem" she paspsd.
"the shossi"
Mother" the siri calculated.
"s~as IT."
"It was ~ you said. oil In
gray with something white
about the head"
Say nothing 70 tho children"
begged the father.
They promised. But the promise
was not needed long.
Less than n week later. Mea. a
younger sister. burst into the room.
II was dusk.
Something" she said trembling.
passed in the hall. something with
high heels that tapped on the bare
floors"
And less than a week later IA
year.oid Alice and young cousin
were In the lower hall.
The figure suddenly appeared.
Shrieking. the little girls threw
themselves into the arms OF their
parents.
Il know her we'll" said the father.
"One night I felt someone touch me
gently. A dozen time since those
little hands have touched me. Let
1t be family secret"
And 80 1t was kept Thru all the
years the Harland family lived In
the old mansion the gray lady
walked
Thru all the years the small
hands touched the father at night.
Thru all the years the figure came
from Marion's room, down the
stairs. along the hail. to the vene-
tiau door-and vanished!
And the family kept the secret
close. so close that not even the
neighbors knew.
The house was old; no one knew
It's history. But the gray lady be-
came known to every family mem
Der
The Harlands moved. but the
gray lady stayed.
One BY one families moved out
until at last city improvements
came the way of the old mansion.
A sidewalk was to be laid and
much digging was done.
The workman's spade struck
something. A cry brought bis fell
lows.
Together they brought to light a
skeleton, the frame OF small
woman, with high comb at the
back OF the skull whore once It had
held her hair.
The bones we're given decent
burial
And the gray lady? Who knows?
Why was a woman buried under
the old windows with nothing to
mark her grave?
Why did the gray lady roam rest
lessly thru the rooms?
What was her history
Did 1t involve a tragedy 80 hor'
rihle that her spirit knew no rest
who knows?
II can vouch for the truth Of the
story" says Marion Harland. but
how do explain It? don't ex-
plain IT,"
Eayg az AllNEE CTkDTc