The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1918-02-09
The Empty House
Copyright. 1917, Wheeler Syndicate, Ine.)
PenrOd Encounters All Kinds
of Hair Raising Experiences
By o

worst looking place l have eve been
and | bet there is something terrible in
here and then some animal jumped out
from back in there and bit him where
the ottomatick bullets had wounded him
and he said Oh some animal is biting
me right in my wonds Oh now it is
biting me where my leg got broken
"Soon the old mnn died and went to
meet his Maker Well said Harold I
wonder what l better do So he went
back in the cavren and there was some
kind of something green back in there
and he was afraid probly it was the old
mans gohst and he saw something that
looked like some eyes looking right at
him"
"Musther Penrod! ="
This was a hail from the house. Del
la, the cook. emerged from theNkitchen
door and stood upon the back-porch in
the sunset light. She addressed the
silent stable.
"Musther Penrod! Y rout there SIM
where's, why can't y'answer me? Yer
father an mother'SMaway fer dinner
an SOS Miss Marg'rW an I'm not goin'
to wait all night, so if We want amy
thing feat We better c'min an eat it.
IT'S the last I'll cahl YEP
However, she came to the door five
times during the gradual dusk to shout
"Musther Penrod" and various warm
ings; but the stable remained stolidly
unresponsive. Finally she delivered a
real ultimatum, and when it proved in
e%ffectual, retired permanently.
Certainly her voice had reached the
physical ear of Penrod, but it conveyed
no meaning; his mind had not heard
it. Periods self was in a horrible cav
ern in the Rocky mountains with Har-
old RamoreZ.
Like many another good soul moved
to attempt the tranSmutatiOn of vision
into manuscript, this author was not
aware how frail and treacherous are
the processes of the alchemy. The fact
that words are fixed symbols of things
concerned Penrod little; he thought
that the words he set upon the paper
meant all the things he heard and felt
tAAh Iu " Al lis L = CNG - do lC hIOIt
things which so stirred and thrilled
him that his hand had begun to trem-
BILE as it sped, faster and faster, across
the pages.
He shook with horror of the awful
refuge discovered by Harold Ramorez;
he saw a green vapor shimmering in
its sinister hollows; he heard the
shrieking of the canon wind across the
cavern's mouth, saw it lifting and toss
ing the white hair and beard of a
dreadful figure which lay there, naked,
torn and drenched. He fed toward
the green vapor in the depths, only to
turn back, shuddering with CHASTITY
suspicious, while out of the darkness
hundreds of eyes-eyes without bodies,
eyes without faces-looked at him and
began to come closer, and closer, and
closer.
When such a situation is thus con-
ceived and developed in such an au-
thor, it seldom proceeds toward con
~valescence; but rather the symptoms
become more and more malignant in
definitely, relief being obtained only
after the author has had a nights
sleep. So it was but natural that Har-
old Ramorez's suspicious concerning
the green vapor turned out to be well
founded. The yapor proved, indeed, to
he the ghost of the unfortunate Old
Man who had suffered 20 greatly after
arriving at the cavern, and on the
journey thereto, and also, owing to the
Vaccinations of Mr.. Wilson, for six
teen long, previous years.
And, with the typical inconsistency
of all ghosts, this one had undergone a
complete change of character since
passing. Forgetting every former tie
and all gratitude, it seemed wholly
inimical to its former b~enefactor, and
assuming the position of te~rror-in-chief
of a place upon which, in life, it had
pronounced an unfavorable opinion
and for which it had shown no attach
ment whatever, it now appeared to
have no affairs to call 1t elsewhere,
nor any purpose in existence save to
unsettle the reason of one who had
shown it nothing but kindness. For,
in truth, Harold Ramorez feared he
might go mad-and Periods mouth
opened and his eyes bulged fearsomely
as he wrote.
And that very instant the flame of
his depleted lantern died absolutely.
Harold Ramorez himself was not left
in more complete eclipse. Instinct
brought Penrod to his feet at a bound;
and, as he looked out over the side of
the sawdust box toward the open door,
his state of mind was n that needed
the immediate reinsurance of sunshine.
And bright, warm, July afternoon sun
shine was what Penrod fully expected
to see.
Instead, he looked into Egyptian
night.
Therefore it is not surprising that
when Penrod emerged from the stable,
a very few seconds later, breathing
somewhat disconcertedly, he bore in
both hands, ready for all emergencies,
an overweighty but certainly formid-
able weapon, which had come to his