The Kenilworth Advertiser. — 1891-10-17 (Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England)

UNCANNY STORY.  As there is muoh talk now-a•days about psychological experiences, parhaps the following incidents may be of interest to your readers. . .  A friend who had been on a trip to the Mediterranean stayed at our house a day or two on his way home from Southampton. Amongst his luggage was a folding chair, which by some °halm was forgotten when he left our house for his own home. When we mentioned it by letter, he wrote saying that he knew nothing about any chair •, it niust have got among his things by mistake, and that we had better keep it; it would do for some odd corner or for use in the garden. The chair was out of sight, and out of mind for months, but when 4my brother, recovering from influenza, came to stay with us for a week or two, we hauled out the aforesaid chair for his use. He took to it at once as "the very thing for a fallow to lounge in and enjoy his pipe." The first odd thing we noticed about the chair was that everybody who sat in it after dark became shivery and creepy. Jack felt it first, and declared that "there was an awful draught," and then that the thing must be wet. I tried it, we all tried it one after the other with the same result; A ret a cold sensation in the back of your neck, which grew into a regular fit of the "creeps," accompanied by that peculiar sensation caused by the hair standing on end. Time passed on, and the old chair was relegated to an unused room. There had been some talk of burning it, but is wasn't burnt. One evening my sister ran upstairs in the dusk for some trifle, and came down again with a white face. There ie someone in the back bedroom, she said, sitting in that old deck chair. _  Jack happened to be with us. He seized a poker and went for the supposed burglar. In a moment I heard him say "Good heavens !" and then he called me. I went in some trepidation, I and saw, as plainly as I ever saw anything in broad daylight, a woman sitting in that chair, and a man bending over her. I saw her face distinctly, and particularly noticed her large dark eyes, and one tooth that stood out a little and appeared longer than the rest. She had a black laoe scarf twisted round her head and shoulders. As we looked the two forms grew dim. I could see the whatnot behind them through the man's figure and through the shoulder of the woman. Another moment and they were gone. We made our old man chop up that uncanny piece of furniture next day, as neither of us felt disposed to touch it again. About six weeks ago the matter eropped again. Our friend was once more staying with us, and one evening he suddenly asked, "Oh, about that chair; have you got it now?" We told him our story, and how we hid burnt it, for we wore sure it was Wanted.  "That's all right, he returned, "I found out who it belonged to, and the associations are not too pleasant." He then told us it belonged to a fellowpassenger of his on the Mediterranean trip, a man who had since been imprisoned on suspicion of murdering his wife. He had often seen the poor lady during the time they were on board, looking so sad. Surely she must have had a presentiment of what her fate would be. Dark Spanish-looking woman, she was rather good looking, but with one prominent tooth that spoils hcr. I knew how she looked as well as he did I Why her unhappy spirit should have followed her favourite seat to our out•of•the way little town, let the wise ones say; all I know is that we were glad the chair was burnt, and even the ashes thrown into the brook, for we all have a very uncomfortable feeling whenever we think of the folding ohair.