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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1924-10-23, Page 31 HOW I LAID A GHOST By R. J. Lee 1 One morning I received a message trope a friend asking me to meet him in the evening, his family having been recently disturbed by certain mys- terious noises, respecting which he wished to ask my advice. I waited up- on him at the time appointed, when he told me he had only been in the house about a week, having but recently pur- chased it from its former occupant. Nothi aestrange lied been noticed for the fii(s,t night or two, but..alout tbe third morning leis Wife was aroused eerier from her sleep by. a noise as if some one was in pain. Thinking it was, prhaps, oneof the children ill, lie went to their room, but they were sound asleep; neither did it .proceed from the servants' apart- ments. On returning he found his wife greatly terrified at the presence of some one in the zoom. She had not seen anything, but had heard the rustling as of a lady's dress. After waiting for a few moments in silence, be heard the sante noise, Which sounded to him as if a female had passed from the dressing -room, through their own, and along the cor- ridor i:o the stairs. There was nothing visible, but the sweeping of the dress and the pitiful moaning were distinct- ly audible. In vain did he search the house, for he could find no explanation of his mysterious phenomenon, until, at last, very much against his will, he was •compelled to acknowledge that, if the house was not exactly haunted, there was something he could not make out. This conviction had been strengthen- ed the next day by ono of the servants calling his attention to a large stain an ane of the fi.00rs at the top of the house, having the appearance of blood, of which a great quantity must have been spilled, as it formed a large patch near the centre, and ran in several di- rections toward the side of the room. Unlike most cases of ghosts' he had heard of, the noises continued in the day -tune as well as night; . and so frightened were the domestics at the disttu•bance that it was with difficulty they could be induced to remain in the place after he had sent his wife and children away. We went over the house together, .and carefully inspected the various rooms -particularly the one in which tee stain appeared, and the bed -room tv, ; �e most of the noises were heard. iett'ei•'we had completed our survey he asked hie if I could offer any opinion as to the cause of the annoyance. "Not unless I hear it," I answered.. 9 have in several cases, succeeded in putting a stop to such things, and, if you are willing, 1 will spend a night here, after .which I may, perhaps, be in a position to say something more about it." "If you think you Can in any way give us peace and quiet," said he, "the House with all it contains is at your service, because if it should get ,abroad that it is `haunted,' its value to me will be nil, for I cannot live here myself, and how could I expect others ?" "Do you know if the former occu- pier was in any way disturbd?" "He says not." "How long did he live here?" "Some five or six -years, I believe." "Do you know whether there have been any complaints from any one be- fore he came?" "No." "Have you said anything to him .bout the blood?" "I asked him if he had seen it; but he -knew nothing whatsoever about it." "Did you show it to him?" "No; he said he world call in some time and have a look at it." "Can you make arrangements for me to be alone in the house to -morrow night?" "At what time?" "The whole night, from—let me see! I' will be here at about eight o'clock." "And do you mean to stay in the house all night by yourself?" "Yes! Why not? If there were more than one, the ghost might be afraid to show itself." "1 would rather it be you than I, then. But, if you wish it, you shall have it so." Accordingly, at the .time appointed on the following evening, I found Mr. fl. himself in the house. The' ser- vants, after providing everything for my comfort during niy watch, had taken their departure a short time be- fore. "Have you heard anything further since I was here? "Yes, seveva.l times during the day; but the noise is not nearly so loud as it was at first, I have been wondering whether any one can he confined in that .room seeretiy. I have beard of people having been built in recesses alive. and the moaning seems to be like one gradually growing weaker, -and hat would account for us' bearing the zoises iri the daytimeas well as at night.' c,We may soon ascertain -if -such a thine has, been done," I replied, "by raking 'a careful examination of the room, to see whether there is space for the carrying out of such a pur- pose." We went up to the room, which was situated at the front of the house. At -sine end •'of it was ,the dressing -room, already mentioned, at the ;;other wits a seopnd bets -room, :d Iong the side of ;,i ram the con? icor couzmunioating with the other apartments on tle same floor, at the and of which were the stairs leading` to the upper story. At a ` glance we could see that the idea suggested was impracticable, and U was abandoned without further search. We visited all the MOMS, in each of which I left a small light burning, saw that the windows were securely fas- tened, and: went back tc make an in-_ spection of the ground. floor.. All, being satisfactory, and Mr. B. assured that I- was not needing any- thing else, ' he handedme the keys, and, wishing me success in my under- taking, bade me "good -night," and left me alone to meet the ghost. After his departure, my first bust - nests was to make the policeman on duty in the neighborhood acquainted with the •circumstances of the case, and got him to call in two or three times during the night, as it might be I should' require some assistance. Having clone this, and regaled my- self with the refreshments provided, I selected a volume from the book -case and repaired to the haunted chamber. It was the first week in September, and the day had been very warm, so I threw one of the windows open, drew an easy -chair to the table, both of which had been brought in for niy con- venience, and commenced the perusal of my book. I depended on the lights for sufetcient warmth in the cool hours of the morning, as the heat of a fire might induce me to sleep while I was waiting for the visitor. I had been reading about half an hour when my attention was attracted by a low, plaintiff anoan, several times repeated. It sounded as if it proceed- ed from a wardrobe standing in a re- cess between the chimney and win- dow. I went very silently to the spot and placed my ear against the door. Yea! it certainly came fan there. I turned. the key and opened it, but discovered nothing, I moved the wardrobe a little forward at one end to see if there was anything at the back. Nal Perhaps it came from the next room, so I made my way there, but with like result. In fact, I could not even hear the sound. I came back, but in my absence, the moaning had ceased; so, with nothing to guide me, I had to wait for its re- currence before I could attempt any dis•covezy. I had determined to pass the mid- night hour in the room where the blood had been found, and just before twelve laid my book aside and repair- ed to that apartment, which was im- mediately overhead. After waiting half an hour, I took a turn through the house and iinally came back to my old quarters, having met with no success. Another hour passed, and still no re- sult. I bogan to think the haunting was over for the night, and niy watch- ing had ended in failure, but, just as tbe morning was breaking, the same cry reached my ear, accompanied by a sound which might fitly be described as the rustling of a dress. Still it proceeded from the same place, and again I examined the ward- robe. Then I opened the'lloor at the top of the grate communicating with the chimney, to see if anything was there. No, nothing was to be seen. Now it sounded as if in the room above, but a journey there proved as fruitless as before. When returning, however, the noise seemed nearer and louder than I had heard it, as though the ghost was in the room I had recently left, and then I remembered Mr. Hi had told me it was in the early morning his wife had been first alarmed. Very quietly I reached the foot of the stairs and passed along to the door, keeping on the opposite side of the corridor, so as to shield myself as much as possible by avoiding the glare of the lights. Still there was nothing visible. 1 entered the room, and could dis- tinctly hear the moaning, but the ghost did not appear. I turned out the lights and then in a few moments saw some- thing =come from the bottom of the bed towards the door. Slowly it moved and trade no noise but the low, pitiful wail, as thoughyin greet trouble. I spoke, and immediately it stood still and Iooked round as though im- ploring' my help, but spoke not. I ap- proached, but it stood its ground, and allowed me even to touch it. We were neither of us afraid of the ether. In less than half an hour I' had learned as much as I could of its sad story, having, in 'the meantime ;minis- tered to its comfort as far as I then could, after which it vanished from my sight never more to haunt that house. Early in the raorning Mr. H. an- nounced himself by a good pull at the bell, being amasses- to know the result of my labors. I told him 1 had seen the ghost, and, having learned its story, had succeed- ed in laying it; hut I . could not give then a full explanation, inasmuch as there were still one or two points' up- on which I needed to be satisfied. , I promised, however, that in thecourse of a week I would tell him all 1 knew. Before that time had expired, 1\Irs. H. and the children returned home, and had almost overcome the alarm the ghost had caused then, .but were still very impatient for me to .go and tell them what I had discovered. At last the day arrived, and I met Mr. and Mrs. II. and their two eldest children. They first assured me, on their part, that thy had not heard the least dis- turbance since 1 had left the house, neither :by day nor night. "Then," I said, "I will give you niy story, which is very short,: indeed..FIad. it not been p'the noises in ypur room,; ..-AND THE WORST IS YET. TO COME I have not the least hesitation in say- ing that you would not have attached any importance to the stain on the fioor in the upper room, which I find now is due to the upsetting of a bottle of furniture polish, and not to any mur- der yoi had an idea had been com- mitted. This was the point upon which I was wanting information and which I have satisfactorily proved. As to the cause of the noises, as the morn- ing was breaking, after one unsuc- cessful endeavor to discover it, I open- ed the door of the grate in your, room, and while I was up stairs, the ghost descended the chimney, where it had been confined from the commencement of your alarm, and when I returned to the room I found, not the shadowy ghost of the human form, as you had believed, but, in veritable fiesh and blood, I beheld—a pigeon! I gave it a saucer of water and si me bread, which was greedily devoured, and after a short time growing stronger, and manifesting a desire to be free, I opened the window and it escaped." They looked at ine in astonishment as I finished niy story, and could scarcely believe that such a trifle had caused them so much alarm. "And is that realty all?" asked Mrs. H. "All, madam," I replied. "I can as- eure you that is ]tow I laid the ghost." e.ock Easily Moved. lst Br:•inete Man—"So, we can't j hold a candle to the kind of goods you! sell? Must be easy to keep your stock I "Invest" in Recreation. Mrs. Nina Moore Jamieson, the well known writer, who was one of the speakers in the Women's Building at the Canadian National Exhibition,. made a striking appeal to parents to recognize the importance of right play • in the lives of their children, "I wish you would all make time to provide recreation for your boys and girls," said the speaker. "In almost every farm house there is a room where the threshers are given their' I dinner. Now any room that is big enough to hold tables at which sixteen' hungry men are fed, is large enough to be a social centre for the family. 1 There are two kinds of entertainment, the kind you buy for a dollar and the! kind you get for nothing, and the last j is a long way the best. Clean out the dirty pond or stream and see that it I gets no further pollution and have an old swimmin' hole. Several dirty ponds near us have been cleaned up, and now when Imi 'ss the soaf p rom the kitchen sink, and the towel from the rack, I know that some boys are having the time of their lives. Those ponds will be rinks in the winter and then it will be 'Mother, can we have the horse and scraper to clear off the snow?' and I'll say, as usual, `Go and ask your Dad.' And the next thing I will hear will be, 'Dad, mother thinks we can have the horse and scraper to clear off the pond.' After a. while I will miss their father and enquiring will be told that he, too, has gone to the pond. At night•the young people of the neighborhood will gather, and someone will build a fire and roast sausages—or smoke them --it's all the .came to them—and I will take them down a kettle of cocoa, It will all be simple, but it will be a great pleasure. Then there is dancing—the room that does for the threshers will do for the ' dancers. It is time that the ordinary pleasures were not considered as be- ing outside the farm life. As to the radio—it will not only keep us from isolation, it will give us a vision of the world beyond our own horizon." Mrs. Jamieson urged that both boys and girls be given an opportunity to earn their living on the home farm. "A thousand occupations are now open to girls," she said. "If a girl can live at home and at the seine time be inde- pendent, she has achieved the ideal form of living. She will be better off and the home will be better off for having her there." g then?" 2nd Ditto ---"Would be if you held a f candle to sit—we sell gasoline." Below the Beit. She was newly engaged, and was confiding in her dearest friend. "Do you know, dear," she said, "Tom and I understand each ,other perfectly. He tells ma everything he knows, and I tell him everything I know, too." "Really," exclaimed the friend in sarcastic tones. "And don't you some times find the silence rather oppres- sive?" The total number of typhoid cases during the Great War was less than the deaths from, that disease during the Boer War. On a Boston street car the front sign reads "Dorchester" and the side signs "Ashmont and Milton." "Does this car go to Dorchester?" "Yes, lady; get right on." "Are you sure it does?" "Yes, lady; get right on." "But it says `Ashmont and Milton' on the side." "We ain't going sideways lady; get right on." Children in the Dark. (Thrughout the South of France on All Soul's. Eve every grave is marked by a ligl pd lantern). The hillside graveyard all the night Rocks with a flickering. sheen of light, Because the living people grace With candles every resting -place. I wonder if the weary men That lie there waken up again And grumble, on their couches deep, Because the light disturbs their sleep, Thinking, for just a moment, they Must work through yet another day. I wonder if the women there, With dust of lilies; in their hair, Keep tight their lids against the gleam Lest it should drive away their dream. But I am sure that there are those To whom the lantern -candle glows With all the .gladness of a rose; The little children that are dead, They feel they have been long abed; The dear, dear children greet each sfa.rk With smiles, for children dread the dark. —Reginald Wright Kauffman. Wonder, Have you ever wondered how some of the queer words and expressions we use to -day first came into the lang- uage? The expression "raining cats and dogs" originated in the days when sea- men used to refer to waves on the water before a storm. as "cat's-paws," whilst the dog has always been regard- ed in northern mythology as symbolic of wind. Consequently, when a heavy rainstorm was accompanied by high winds, sailors would say "it was con - ire down cats and dogs." We shall use the expression "big wig," although these articles are a fas- 1 hion of the pp.st. In other days, how- ever, . a person's importance was ; judged by the size of the wig he wore, and therefore the highest in the land were known to the less fortunate as "big wigs." "Pin -money" is an expression that serves to remind us of the days when pins were expensive, and husbands. al- lowed their wives special sums `for their purchase. Later on the expres- sion was applied to a wife's pocket - money. Another word that has an interest- ing origin is "hanicap." This is prob- ably derived from "hand in the cap," as in former tunes it was the custom Words That Make Us The Passing of Wild Animals. The picture that presents itself to most minds at the idea of the death of wild animals is one of violence and agonized pain. As a matter of fact, few idea -s are mare erroneous: Most. wild animals die quietly. Both animals .and bids dislike any- thing unusual; they will not tolerate the deformed, maimed or crippled, so that when an enamel feels, any unusual symptoms, instinct makes him steal away from .his fellows. He goes as far as passible, and then rests in as retired a place as he can find. A tether' gic feeling comes over hint, and he closes his eyes in sleep. He has no fear of not awaking; any image that might trees his elementary sense of memory would be of waking as he has always done hitherto. Birds in whom the tide of life is running low often fly out to sea, and close their eyes in la„ ting sleep be- fore their tired bodies touch the water, Even captive bred canaries feel this primeval impulse to fly away at the end; they will flutter restlessly against the bars of their cage one clay, and the next morning you will find them "asleep." Most birds of prey have their own hunting grounds and do not peach on their fellows' ground. An eagle had long been known round about a certain mountainside. One day he was seen to be sailing down- wards on outstretched wings, hut his head drooped unusually, as if it were too heavy for a tired body. Lower and lower he sailed, dropping slowly at last into a quiet wood. There he was found the next day by a boy who had watched him fall. A bird -lover once noticed a little songster sittting silently on a frond. of evergreen over a little stream. He was old, for bis feathers were streaked with grey and he had wrinkled scales on his feet. He showed no fear of the man, who often visited the place; pre- sently he settled on his finger and closed his eyes. He took a drop of water from a finger as if glad of the friendly action, and then the man put himback on the evergreen. A day later the man saw him hang- ing from a spruce root, his feet holding on firmly, his beak touching the water, puite dead—asleep and at peace. There are. of course, tragedies in animal lives; the lion and the deer, the fox and the mouse, the hawk and the sparrow. But we are wrong in imagin- ing violent deaths of this type to be painful. The agony is mental, and oc- curs before the attack, when we suf- fer in anticipation. In other words, we suffer because of our brains. The majority Of the animals, how- ever, pass in natural sleep. --Ernest to draw lots from a hat or cap, Clarke. .r. t Here is said to be oue of the oldest homes in Scarboro, Ontario, which has been standing for over 100 years. For many years it was used as a school house for the children of pioneers. School Children and Their Health. Hurrah! School is in full swing again! And what of the health of the boys and girls? "Keep a child robust and sound in body until he is eighteen" say medical experts. "and the chances child. Especially so, in the case of non -Anglo-Saxon mothers. Thus they will come to understand that the school doctor is trying to help their child. And the mothers' intelligent oo-opera- tion is needed to attain the best re- sults. During school age there are aden- are he will remain so throughout life." olds and diseased tonsils to be watch - How important then that its health ed. There are ear -aches and eye should be maintained. A word to strains to be relieved, and teeth to be parents: your e .scalp dis- frequent coldsAre, enlargedchildren tonsilsfre, afrom den- eases, spinal curve and weak feet, all treated. There are skin and 1 aids, decaying teeth? These are's.eri- of which can be helped and corrected sus hindrances to their health. Are iE treated in time. A delicate child is they free from eyestrain? Do they no longer looked upon with pride. In hear well? Are theysound in body so far as we are eager to be health* and limb? If not. then'in school they ashamed to be unhealthy, we are lose a golden opportunity. "Canada a Land of Opportunities!" we say, . and yet in this land are we breeding a race that shows appalling awake to the ideal of our generation. What of the child's teeth? If teeth are last, food cannot be chewed, if they aro •defective, disease germs signs of deterioration? Statistics lodge in them, if teeth and gums are show an average•of'one physical de- (dis•eased, poison invades the system feet for each school child in the and undermines the health. The ohila United States. Fully twenty-five per suffers pain, and no one can be at hie cent. of the nation's children are be- hest mentally or physically while suf• low para How is it with C anada? Ara 1eniztg. your children under -weight? Being tiThat of your child's sight ante underweight does not necessarily hearing? Eyestrain or defective?. mean being undernourished. Ourvision may cause irritability, head - schools aimat wholesome citiserahip, I aches, nausea, loss of appetite, not in - and whether your bay goes into profes- frequently blindnese. And deafness, sional life or industrial life, sound starting with adenoids, hardening was • health is essential to his success. or a cold, may become impossible to What then can we do to make our remedy, unless taken at the beginning, boy and girls fit for the work of life? ! Is your child to be under a handicap? Medical examination in the school Eye and ear defects are in a Urge n',a is not a fad. It is based on medical p ` � measure re�s� �oneible for inattentive - research and confirmed by experience. l nese, bard discipline and failure to be "When the war broke out, over twenty-! promoted. five per cent. 'of our boys worephysi- i It ale comes to this. We consider caily unfit. We must not repeat thatour reputation lost if our young people neglect to the rising generation.. Sys- come• from our schools illiterate. la teratic medical supervision Must be' our reputation secure if they come given to our children during the years ` from our schools with needless. phyla. they are at school. Careful .medical cal defects and handicaps. Let every examination should be given every I -boy anti girl In Canada be given .e child enteeing'the school. And the chance. ,- - , Aft ter' years of service, of the veterans of the London -Paris pas- :•, to be phyz calty strong. e y moth be •present to hear -what i :, w sen er'air service has' been retired. The great plains which is the oldest g e the doctor has to e�ay, and in turn to Thepath to fame ru . ; r• over the i e a funeral ceremony y at Croydon don recentl ask -'1 on the route, was g v n E Y Y Y questions for the benefit of the of difficulty,