Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-08-27
DR.. EdmOndS'
Patient
A Tale of a Haunted
House.
BY cLARlsSA mAcKie

himself from slumber on the Office
sofa and reached apprehensiyely for
the receiver.
81 don't like techin' telephones no
ways when de l~ightning's kyooting
around" muttered Josiah. Hello,
dar!' he called timidly. "Ya-as, sab,
dis am de doctor's-ya-as. sab. He'll
come right away"
Josiah hung up the receiver and went
ND to tie doctors bedroom on the Sec
opd floor. The doctor came out-a tall,
1.-THE. red bearded man, rubbing his
eyes sleepily.
what is 1t, Josiah" he yawned.
"Mr. Dixon got another bad spell?"
Josiah's eyes rolled affrightedly.
mo. sab; 1t was a call from de Ged-
ney place"
"Gedney place! You've made a mis-
take. It's been unoccupled for years."
"Dat's what he said. Tell de doctor
he's needed at once at de Gedney place
on de Hollow road"
"Humphi' muttered the physician.
"Well. you better go out and harness
Daisy and get out my ralncoat."
1t was a dreary ride to the Gedney
place.
Josiah, huddled in n corner of the
buggy, was shaking with fear of the
approaching ordeal. DR.. EdmOnds was
puzzling over the strange summons.
To his knowledge the Gedney place
had been %unoccupied for the past ten
years. AS a family the Gedneys had
died out, all save n son, the black
sheep of his generation. William Ged-
ney was serving a life sentence in pris-
on, convicted of killing a man in a
quarrel. The plea was self defense,
and Gedney had escaped with his life.
The village people had gossiped ever
since the last funeral at the place ten
years ago. 1t was said that the spirit
of the murdered man, Tom Collins,
haunted the rooms of the fine old man.
sion on the Hollow road. Lights had
Hickered there at midnight, and men
struggling home between midnight and
dawn had declared that a mans dim
form festlessly paced the pine grove
that was growing up around the neg
lected house. But little credence was
given to- such tales.
"Here we am, DOCTOR" quavered JO-
siah. 'In jest git out and open de
gate"
The long unused gate creaked open,
and the doctor turned into it, trusting
more to Daisy's instinct than to any
thing he could see. Josiah did not re-
turn to the buggy. He tramped be-
side the doctor, muttering charms un-
der his breath.
They were In the protection of the
front porch now. DR.. Edmonds
brought ont his electric torch and
found the doorbell. He pulled it Wig
Orously, and a resonant peal rang
through the house.
There WAS no answer.
Again and again the doctor rang, and
at last he impatiently turned the door
knob. To his amazement 1t responded
to his pressure.
The door was unlocked!
They entered complete darkness.
Hello, therer' shouted the doctor,
standing at the foot of the great stair
case that wound up into darkness.
anybody here?"
In the silence that followed they dis
tinctly heard the distant striking of the
town clock in the valley below.
1t struck the hour Of midnight, and
on the heels Of the last stroke there
came a sound in the Gedney house.
1t was a cry, a moaning cry, that
sent a shudder through the doctors
strong frame.
Josiah almost sank to the floor.
d ghos'v' he gibbered.
n DR.. Edmonds recovered his nerve,
poked Josiah in the ribs with the au-
tomato pistol he always carried at
night and brought the darby to his
senses.
Some one is upstairs" he said stern
~. Some m who is hurt and needs
me. Understand! Take my bag and
follow me. If you try to run away, re-
member, I'm a dead shotT'
Josiah mutely fell into step behind
the doctor rs they mounted the stairs.
he would have been more terrified
tnan ever If he had remotely guessed
why the doctor had handed him the
medicine case. 1t was that both his
W hands might be free to grapple
with any danger that menaced them i'll
the deserted house.
The cry had come down from the
upper regions of the house. They
searched the second floor and found 1t
untenantec saw by spiders and scut-
ulng mice. Here, as in the lower
rooms, the furniture was covered with
dust.
Now the moaning cry was repeated.
u came from the third story under the
mansard roof.
Ihey reached the narrow upper hall,
went down its carpeted length to the