The Washington herald., 1919-01-19

slOEt At lnlTleelllu anu Il slItSlS lOl
temporary shelter from the elements.
Looking at his watch through a
binding mist Of rain. he saw that 1t
was fifteen minutes of 4. though the
darkness was as intense as if it were
midnight. .,
II was the early morning of Decem-
Der 10, 1901. During the first hours Of
the night there had been a strange
massing and Curving OF storm clouds
that made the very air seem charged
with danger. The pale. slender moon
finally became fully Obscured in the
torn and tumultuous sky. After mid
night a cold, dismal rain began to
fall, and as the painting. moaning
wind charged furiously through it the
tops Of the great trees along X street
northwest bent almost to the ground
Policeman Livingstone had just
drawn into the doorway when Special
officer Henderson struggled past with
his head bent toward the angry
winds. Livingstone called to him and
in a moment the two were huddled in
the narrow shelter place.
DO you believe in spirits?" asked
Henderson, in A peculiar hushed
tone.
What's the uroubIe?" Iaughingly
answered Livingstone. Has the
wildness OF this night frightened you
into seeing things" ,"
I'm not frightened" said the spe-
cial officer. but l have never seen
such an unCann- night before in my
life, and I'd be mighty glad il morn
ing were here l tell you the devil is
abroad on a night like this. Why.
little while ago l passed old man
HaTreTs stable on l. stree and l
heard the horses beating their hoOfs
against the stalls and whiunejn as
IL they were friEhteT ed: and a big St
Bernard watchdog that has slept
every night during the past year un-
der the porch OF the house at the
corner, vas whimpering and scratch
ing at the front door 10 get in. 1t
has sort Of shaken my nerves a little
and il takes a lot to do that"
Voice Of Passing soul!
1t surely is a strange niSht-a night
fayoTa bic to the commission of crime"
answered Livingstone. The de-k
sergeant told ME Of a strange occur
renee when 1 turn in my O'Clock
call"
My God, What was that The
two men stared at each other help
le sly for a moment. the blood frecZ
ing in their veins
Through the storm OF the night there
came p long. terrible CTy-a wOmans
CTy-strons. piercing, weird, uncanHy.
High above the tumult of the elements
10 rose. then sank to a dismal. wailins
moan. and was gone.
Down this way" cried Oficer Liv-
ingstone. as the men quickly pulled
themselves together. Beating their
way against wind and rain the men
the terrible cry seemed to come. As
they neared N street another man
running also. passed under the street
lamp At the corner
Halt cried both officers together.
The third man turned quickly with
drawn revolver It proved to be Po-
ice INSPECTOR Matthews. who. stand
ing under an awning near Thirteenth
and ] streets. had heard the mysteri-
oUs cry and was trying to trace it.
Together the three men went up and
down the streets Of the ueighbOrhoOd
hut could find no evidence of trouble
They met no one. and every houss
was dark and quiet. The officers were
mystified
That did not sound like a human
voice to me-" said Inspector Matthews
as they We're parting. 1T was the
most uncanny cry ! have ever heard.
] would almost suspect myself OF
hearing things If it were not for the
fact that al three Of US heard it.
When we were kids" said Hender-
son. they used to tell us. when we
would hear any weird sound in the
night. that it was the passing of a
soul. And that's just what l thought
OF when 7 heard that cry. I've had
enough experiences for one night. I
am nightly glad that its near morn
ing"
The three then separated
Mrs. RooseyeIt's Dressmaker.
Miss Mary Doyle. a roomer on the
third floor of the house in K
street. was awakened in the early
morning John Gross. a Washing
ton newspape- man. was returning
from his nights work and going up
stairs to his room. Miss Doyle look
ed at the tiny clock beside her ned.
II was seven minutes past 4. She
heard Gross enter his room. and in
a few minutes the house was again
perfectly quiet She returned to
sleep.
The house in which Miss Doyle
lived was the three-story home of
Mrs. Ada Gilbert Dennis. a we'll
known dressmaker who was patron
lied by the members of Washington's s
most exclusive society Among her
prominent patrons was the First Lady
OF the Land, Mrs. Theodore Roose-
welt: and Mrs. Dennis enjoyed en-
viable access to the White House
and to the homes OF the Capitals
greatest" She was extremely pop
ulsr.
Mrs. Dennis was a handsome wom-
an She was tall and stately, and
hsd raven-bIack hair. large blue
eyes, and skin as fair and smooth
a. baby's- She was Al years old
and a widow. Her husband. an actor
who had trodden the boards with Ed
win Booth. died in 1896. when the
couple lived in Baltimore: and Mrs.
Dennis then moved to Washington.
with her aged mother-in-Iaw. Mrs.
Jane E. Dennis. She established a
dressmakinE parlor at Thirteenth and
II streets, but as she became known
to society women for her remarka-
BILE skill and tastefulness her business
grew and she was obliged to move
to the home near Twelfth and X
streets.
Means Start Inquiry.
I Mrs. Dennis used as her living
Apartments the double parIors OH
the hrst floor, the other rooms on
the first floor being used by her
mother-in-lRw. Two large rooms on
the second floor were the work
rooms where twenty assistant dress
makers worked every day under the
supervision of Mrs. Dennis. The
remaining rooms in the house were
occupied respectively by Miss