New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-08-07
THE INVISIBLE GHOST

nomenon involved. I couldn't slesn =, :,
room That was all. I felt at once 49,; s.s'
ened and exasperated. Oh, 50 exasperassa 14S
II have told you t,;x> we English ns,.,
have no imagination. 7 came 70 taa p'
c]pg:on, then, that there must ba sor,o.l:
the matter with the gas or that the plnro,;as
gave off poisonous exhalations. | snoto !.
this to my friends husband lie answered ~ :.
everything was in perfect order that all 49,
plumbing had been renewed under h;s ~
supervision before he signed the leasa u
was the sort Of man to take the greatest n.;-
about such things. I have never seen =
Englishman who was more English. He had
even less imagination than had. Neversb.
less, the atmosphere Of that house was hoet;l.
/ can't find any other word for it. Fvarr
body got out of temper there. As soon a.
arrived | lost control of my nerves. The b,,,
band, SO calm, so perfectly Indifferent to evarv
thing but the sheer Municipalities Of life 10
came insupportable and insulting His VIII.
well brought up, reserved, restrained in speecE
and gesture, seemed like an entirely differen.
person. They couldn't keep their servants
1t was hell. tell you-a hell.
II began to think that some tragedy had
occurred under this roof. I ouestioned u.
husband. He told me- with his normal nre
cision and GOODNESS, that tie house had \.
longed to colonial who had had the billiard
ON built on, being extremely fond Of billiards
I never could find out anything else excast
that the colonial had come to bad end IN
the mind Of my conventional host this cool5
cover the worst denominations and the INNS.
shocking adventures, or it could mean 1;mplv
that the preceding occupant had drowned him.
self in Il tit of delirium tremens one evening A.
ter he had drunk too much whisky. And #
was all the same to his successor. 1t NAV be that
he didn't know any more than he had ton
me. These stories had come to him when he
leased the house and he hadn't had curiosity
enough to investigate them. AS for me, was
a girl too correctly brought up in the Old
English manner to press him further.
Don't believe that thought for moment
Of revealing to him what I suspected. had
a presentiment. Bnt what? l should havs
been embarrassed to explain. Moreover Il
was as careful as all the world about me to
be like all the world. If had exposed to him
the idea that lurked in the back Of my head,
he would certainly have advised nv father TO
take me to specialist in mental ailments.
Without rejecting on the facts he returned
home each day in excellent humor, only to bA
come Immediately furious and miserable, en-.
countering nothing but fury and unreasonable.
ness. He never sought to establish the slight
est connection between this exceptional state
of things and the house, which no one entered
without losing his balance.
after few years he and his wife saw
themselves abandoned by all their friends
drew away. couldn't stand them any longer
They quarreled with their relatives, were left
entirely alone, and then, immured together
with servants who were continually changing,
they quarreled with each other and separated
The most curious thing is that the wife, Sncs
she was out of that house, became again what
she had been before, very gentle and even
in temper. The last time the husband crossed
the door sill it was to enter an asylum. lie
was mad--absolutely mad"
"But," I asked, what about the colonial!
Who was he? What did he do? How did he
die?',
II have told you everything know. Some
times when I was in my bedroom, shaking in
all my limbs and my brains shot through with
thoughts of murder, l imagined that he had
hanged himself there. Then I hated him with
all my heart. 1 said to myself: why didn't he
do it somewhere else?' And l still hate him