The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-05-09

most frequent occurrence i5 round abou, the second week in September. Then t was that an amazing adventure hefell friend of his, Mrs. Vertue while she was stopping at a small hotel in Bruges, not far from Van Schellens celebrated old Butch cafe She had. he says. been conscious from tho first of something un- canny about the place. feeling not easy to analyze a::d one that she had never expereneed before.
 Experience In Bruges
 On my first night there," she wrote, T aNol<e with d start to hear a cuckoo clock in the house strike one. The room was full of ,rconlight. and every object as clearly disc.fpible as if it had been day.
 "A feeling of intense exhilaration seiz- ing me. got up. and going to the win dow, threw it wide open and leaned out. My eyes immediately encountered the gaze of some one peering up at me from immediately beneath the window sill 1-iie face I looked into was long. narrow and swarthy. II had a pointed beard and a long moustache. very much hewaxed at the ends. The eyes were dark. and as they met mine they smiled sardonically. have never seen such an evil smile. drew in my head sharply, and when 1 looked again the man had disappeared. got back into bed but could not sleep, and on seeing the proprietress of the hctel in the morning, I mentioned the in cdent to her. adding that l hopeo rnere were plenty of police about.
 :" You need have no alarm madam, she said. the man you saw is quite harmless, merely poor half-witted fellow who oc- casionally wanders abroad at night "She said this in the presence of one or two other guests and I caught them ex- changing glances.
 That night I gain got out or bed, and on going to the window V the same figure. This time I endeavored to take a snapshot of it, but it disappeared the moment I got the camera fixed on it.
 and 1 obtained no result
 The following night l went to supper with some friends at the Hotel St. An toine, and did not leave till close on l o'clock. MT. Kirkwood saw me home, and whilst we were walking along, told him of my experience on the preced- ing nights.
 '' It's about now that the queer man appears I observed and my heart gave one or two thumps when. on turning a corner, we arrived within sight of the l hotel The moonlight was Just as much | in evidence as on the former occasions, but there was no sign of any figure MT. I<lrkwood escorted nae up to the door and was saying goodnight when hand
 suddenly gripped hold of my shoulder, so sharply that gave little cry of pain i" 'Whatever's the matter?' MT. Kirk wood calculated. I hope you're not ill2' Caught Her Shoulders {" Who Is that behind me-? demanded. |" Behind your MT. Kirkwood repeated, 1 in astonishment Why no one! What do you mean?
 '' Nothing I said faintly. 'Only-just for a moment I fancied some one caught hold of me then bade him good night and entered the hotel
 Tn the morning I looked at my shoul- der. There was a bruise. such a. mark as would have been caused by fingers. q left the hotel at noon that day and put up at a boarding house in the new
 part of the town. On my telling one oi
 the visitors where l had been staying, she exclaimed
 "'Did you see the ghost?'
 ''The ghost"' I cried, pretending te
 laugh. Don't tell me the place Is haunted
 ".Why didn't you know? she said At the time of the Spanish occupation of the town, one of the Spanish in- ] quisitors lived In the house, and had