The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1931-08-07
! Haunted Chamber of
s Golden Gull Inn
By HARRY c. BECK
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ttc} by Mcclure Newspaper syndicate.t
(WNU Service.l

THE wind was blowing in from
the sea; the air was very salty.
The weather-beaten sign over the door
of the Golden Gull shrieked rhythmi-
eally as it swung.
"The wuther'll change old Bilge
Cammell, proprietor of the old Eng
lish inn, grunted; ''the burds is all
nervous-like and the skies is low'rin'."
The sign shrieked again; the cry
of the sea birds sounded shrilly over
the house top. The shutters banged
against the painless weatherboards.
do you always have such an ex-
citing time herew / asked slowly,
with smile.
'Well, yus," the old man answered
after long puff. Il allus claimed that
this ere place O. mine wuz bit out
side the OF worl' But once in while
stranger wanders in."
There was violent thunderclap
outside. 1t reverberated through the
musty inn. Then the rain came down
in deluge and the clouds lowered
threateningly.
"Pitty t. ship in this" continued
Bilge. Come" he added hastily. "Fll
show you your room. 1t looks out to
sea and / 'opes yer'll like it."
I murmured something and followed
the innkeeper's lead up the narrow
winding stair; heard the sign shrek
out again and the shutters bang.
/ entered the room. 1t was not so
bare as l had expected. The old man
lit a tall candle on the washstand with
the one he was carrying. An unmis-
taxable whiff of orange blossoms
rushed by as / neared the window
where some of the gale came through
the cracks. I said nothing.
'sThis is a bad first evenin', sir,
Cammell was saying as he retreated
with a queer look, "but 'tisn't so allus.
And good night"
He shut the door and was gone. This
was an eerie place. The orange-blos-
SONS were all about, it seemed, and
yet nowhere; l gave up and went to
the window. / looked out to sea.
Nothing could be distinguished at first
but In one Of the blue flashes / thought
| saw something on the curve of the
laundering surf out in the shadows of
the rocks.
Then in the darkness | saw white
light slowly sway as If on the mast
head of some vessel. / looked again,
but it was gone The candle fickered
out on the little washstand.
laughed at my Imagination and
went to bed, the shrieking of the sign
and the swinging shutters ringing IN
my ears. Then suddenly all of it
seemed to stop and out of the con-
trasting silence / heard a violin be-
gin soft melody. | was held quiet
by some unseen power.
And as suddenly as the violin had
begun, a tender voice took up the
melody and the violin accompanied.
"Go not out on the sea, my dear,
Nor breast the surging foam;
But hold thee to thy cottage, dear
Wen make Ii bonnie home"
The voice echoed softly through the
room. Each word was rounded so
sweetly that I was spellbound until
the last had died away.
Then my door opened; young man
with curly black hair came In, vio-
lin under his arm He smiled and
said in soft voice:
did you like it?"
I leaped from the bed at this phan-
tom. fell in heap the floor
When | opened my eyes the sunlight
was streaming in the windows.
When I went down to breakfast
said little. Bilge Cammell asked me
If / had slept well. nodded assur
ingly.
1.-THE room you 'ad zur, as a little
'istory. Three years since we 'ad 6
little puff like last nights. A boat
stranded somehow out there on the
reefs in the early mornin'. We saw II
all In the lightnin' and couldn't 'elE
'em couldn't get a boat off
Next mornin' we all wint to the beach
an you'd be surprised what we
found
go on I told him.
1.-TWO bodies-only two One wuz 8
woman, all got up in weddin' things
like with a bunch o. faded orange
blossoms near to 'er some
freak, eloped, as they say, and wus
gettin' married at sea, / s'pose."
pause and three long puffs.
1.-THE other wuz a man, with curly
black air, zur violin wul
near I'm on the beach. Afterward:
we found they were celebrities, him 8
master an her an opry star-'ad 6
voice. too, they say"