The Tupelo journal., 1915-08-27
Dr.EdmOndS'
Patient
A Tale of a Haunted
House.
By CLARlSSA MAcKIE

DIR. Edmonds' man, Josiah, reused
himself from slumber on the Office
sofa and reached ap~prehensively for
the receiver.
IL don't like techin' telephones no
ways when de l~ightning's kyooting
around" muttered Josiah. Hello,
darr!' 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
up to the doctors bedroom on the Sec
ond floor. The doctor came out-a tall,
1.-THE, red bearded man. rubbing his
eyes sleepily.
what is it, Josiah?" he yawned.
"Mr. Dixon got another bad spell?"
Josiah's eyes rolled a%ffrightedIy.
1 mo, sab; it 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. Tel de doctor
he's needed at ohce at de Gedney place
IA de Hollow road"
"Humph!" muttered the physician.
'Well you better go out and harness
Daisy and get out my raincoat-"
It 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 saw one 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 age. 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
IlchGTeu tucIc Ut uliulllShts ohu "SA
struggling home between midnight and
dawn had declared that a mans dim
form restlessly 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" q%uavered Jo-
siah. "INn 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-
turf to the buggy. He tramped be-
side the doctor, muttering charms IN
der his breath
They were in the protection Of the
front porch now. DR.. Edmonds
brought out 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 it 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.
"De ghos'v' he gibbered.
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 one who is hurt and needs
me. Understand. Take my bag and
1OllOW Liz. II you uy " "a o"oysAC
member. I'm a dead shot"
Josiah mutely fell into step behind
the doctor as they mounted the stairs.
He would have been more terrified
than ever If he had remotely guessed
why the doctor had handed him the
medicine case. 1t was that both his
own hands might be free to grapple
with II danger that m~enaced-them in
the deserted house.
The cry had come down from the
upper regions of the house. They
searched the second floor and found it
untenanted save by spiders and scut-
fling mice. Here. as In the lower
rooms, the furniture was covered with
dust.
Now the moaning cry was repeated.
1t came from the third story under the
mansard roof.
nhov roaohod tho narr0w unnpr hall