2 THE TIMES, NEW BL00MFIEL1), 1A., MAKCII 22, 1881. TRAPPING A GHOST. CONCLUDED, NOTWITHSTANDING these bold words, I must confess that when A li drew started on Ills message, and left me alone for the ayah hail gone down to the village I felt a little uneasy. I did lint believe In spiritual presences, hut I did believe in wickedness driven to desperation. I was bidding defiance to a foe of whose resources I was utterly Ignorant. What If my defiance should betaken up t Mentally I felt strong enough, physically I was conscious of being weak, but I set about the per formance of my household duties, which occupied me fully till the return of Andrew. I took lit in , as Also the joiner and blucksmlth, into the parlor, and told them my experiences of the previous evening. Andrew exhibited symptoms of alarm ; but I found the Joiner a sensi ble man, and Inclined, after what I told him, to take a similar view with myself of the situation, namely, that we were being mnde the subjects of some diabol ical trickery, iu order to drive us out of the house. He asked about Mrs. Weevil, and if I had ever beeu In her rooms. I said I had not. lie proposed at once to visit them. The door of her apartments was, us usual, locked ; but the black smith had little dlfllculty In successfully picking the lock, and effecting an en trance for us Andrew being meanwhile seuttokeepa lookout in the garden, that no one approached the house un awares. There was nothing to attractaltenlion iu Mrs. Weevil's apartments. The Join er carefully examined them, but no means of egress from either of the rooms could be discovered, save the door by which he had entered, the windows having iron gratings outside. We took the utmost care that nothing was dis arranged ; aud any piece of furniture or apparel which we had occasion to dis turb was replaced exactly as found. Previous to this, I should have mention ed, both the Joiner and blacksmith had made a particular examination of the bow-window of my bedroom ; but had failed to find anything to awaken sus picion in the slightest. Our search had so far been entirely fruitless ; and I was begluning to feel more perplexed than ever as, after what Audrew had told me of Mrs. Weevil, and of her son's former relations to the owner of the house, I bad somehow begun to connect her in my mind with the mysterious appear ance which had given it such a bad fame. We were in the act of quitting the housekeeper's sitting-room, afraid that she might return before we had had time to refasten the door, when I noticed the blacksmith kneel down on the floor of the inner apartment, and examine the foot of one of the bed-poets. It was an ancient Ellzabethtan, with heavy faded hangings, aud stood on a floor covered with a carpet, out of which long use had extracted almost all traces of Its, original pattern. At a signal the Joiner stooped down beside him ; and I then observed that the caster at the foot of the bed-post was glistening with oil, as if it had but recently been lubricated; aud we all three then noticed that there was a distinct dark oily streak along the arpet, as if the bed had been moved forward obliquely for a few feet from where it stood, and then moved back again. The Joiner at once rose, and taking hold of the bed found that he could pull It forward easily and without making the slightest noise, till it was About a foot from the wall against where it stood. At this point we noticed that the bed seemed to dip slightly to one side, as if something were yielding to its weight; and at the same moment we observed a paneling slightly open In that part of the wall which bad former ly been bid behind the hangings. I was in a high state of excitement and with difficulty could suppress my feelings, but stood silent as the two men went round and looked into the opening thus discovered. They asked for a can dle, which I presently brought them, wheu we found that the recess was a small place, about five feet high and two deep, and that it was formed of solid mason-work on all sides but the .front. A box, large enough to fill the whole space of the bottom, was attached to the wall by strong iron staples, as if to prevent its removal ; but curiously enough, the box Itself was not locked, though supplied with a hasp and pad Hock. The lid was at once lifted, when we saw stuffed Into it, as if hurriedly, a mass of white garment, whloh we found to be an old chasuble or surplice, that must have formed at one time part of the ceremonial robes of a priest. We brought it forth to the light, and exam ined it; and there, in.the skirt of the" garment, we found that a piece had been torn out, which was exactly fitted by the bit of white embroidered cloth which I had picked up in my bedroom on the previous evening. This was evidence indisputable that, whoever or whatever my ghostly vision was, here at least was the garment that had been worn on that occasion ; the more so, that attached to the upper part of the garment was a kind of hood which, when drawn over the head and face, would give In a dim and uncertain light the grim aspeot that I had seen on the previous evening. I felt within me a burning Indignation that for years the peace and happiness of successive fam ilies lu the house should have been destroyed by the wretched trickery of this depraved old woman, In her mall clous desire to injure the young lady who owned the house, by depriving her of the Income that would otherwise have beeu derived from It. My first Impulse was to leave things as they were in the apartment till the arrival of the old hag, aud confront her at once with the evidences we had dis covered of her malevoleut practices ; but on a second examination of the box, It was found that it contained a false bottom, eiiBlly removed, under which were foiud a pair of loaded pistols. This struck us as being scarcely in keeping with the idea that Mrs. Weevil alone was cognizant of the mlHchlevous opera tions which had beeu carried on here for so many years. These were rather the weapons of a person who was both able aud willing to use them should an emer gency offer. And what was still more puzzling, while we had thus far discov ered the means by which the ghostly reputation of the house had been main tained, there was as yet no trace of the manlier iu which access was gained, either to the bedroom which I occupied, or to any other parts of the house which had been so mysteriously visited. In these circumstances, it was agreed at once to replace everything as we had found them, except that the blacksmith took the precaution of drawing the charge out of both pistols, stuffing the barrels afterward to the required depth with paper, so that, on being probed, they might still appear as If loaded. This done, the bed was moved back to Its place, when the paneling of Itself closed as before. We then left the apartment, the door of which was, though not without some difficulty, so fastened as not readily to excite the woman's susplon that It had been tam pered with. It was now two hours after noon, aud Mrs. Weevil might return at any mo ment. The two men therefore departed, but first arranging with' me that they should return after dusk, bringing the village constable along with them, to await with me the events of the even ing, as I felt certain somehow that the "ghost" would again appear, with the object of driving me from the house, as other tenants had been driven before. Like his namesake in " Rob Roy," the old gardener, Andrew, was not a very good keeper of secrets ; hence it was proposed that the Joiner and black smith should take him along with tbem to the village, and keep him under surveillance till the eveniug. I was glad when I saw them all out of the place, without, so far as I knew, being seen by any one; and still more glad when the ayah shortly afterward re turned with the children, as I could not help feeling alarmed in the bouse by myself, considering what we had dis covered, and especially what we had failed to discover, namely, how the person playing the ghost (could obtain access to different parts of the house so freely as report represented, and as. I had myself in one instance painfully experienced. Unlike her usual practice, Mrs. Wee vil did not return to the house that day till far on In the afternoon ; and after she had entered her rooms I could hear her bustling about with an activity and noise quite unprecedented in my experi ence of her habits. This rather alarmed me. I was afraid she had suspected, from the appearance of her rooms, not withstanding our care in removing all traces of our presence, that some one had been there in her absence ; and this might be sufficient to defeat my hopes of bringing to light the trickery that had been so long and so systematically prac ticed. But I wag still more astonished when, about an hour after her return, she sent a message to me by the ayah that she wished to speak with me, If I would grant her an interview. At first I scarcely knew what answer to make, Were I to refuse to see her, this might complete the suspicion which she per haps entertained ; and if I did see her, I was afraid I might by some word or look betray the knowledge of which I had become possessed. I thought upon the whole I had better see her, and answer ed accordingly. As she entered the room with a basket on her arm, ehe dropped a courtesy ; and from the flow of words with which she at once opened the conversation, she seemed to put on a frankness of manner which I had not before observed in any slight intercourse I had had with her. " Yes, ma'am," she went on, " I were just a-comiu' ma'ain, to say as I would be goln' from the 'ouse for a few days; my son, as is steward to Lord II , being took very badly last night, ma'am ; as he have no one to wait upon him, It holds as I, ma'am, as hls moth er, must do my dooty yes, ma'am." All this she said without once stop ping to take breath ; and I could not help observing that she was slightly flurried In my presence, and seemed to keep talking as much to hide her uneasiness as to enlighten me regarding her errand. I said I was very sorry to hear that her son was 111, and that It was very proper she should, In the cir cumstances, attend to him. " But," I asked, " has he no servant in the house V" "Not presently, ma'am," she answer ed ; "leastways, the 'ouse-mald have gone away over to Brookford for a few days to see her mother, who stays there, ma'am yes, ma'am ;" and she courte sled again in the excess of her civility. After I bad dismissed her I did not know what to think. This was an in terference will) my plans on which I had not counted. I had no one to advise with me, and felt much perplex ed. As evening approached, and the gloom of twilight, I had a strange, nervous feeling, such as I had only once before experienced, and that was In India during the terrible days when the mutiny was at Its ' height, and every footfall mnde us start as If next moment were to be our last. As the dusk deep ened, my anxiety Increased ; and when at length the ayah conduted the Joiner, as I had before instructed her, to my room, I was almost too overpowered to speak. Andrew and the blacksmith were for the time detained lu the kitch en, as I wished to talk the matter over with the joiner, as the most intelligent of the three. As he entered my room, I was sur prised to find a second person behind him, whom he introduced to me as Mr. Burrows, the district Inspector of 1'ollce, who had been on an official visit to the village that day, and who, when he heard the story, volunteered his services in place of the constable. Ills presence ut once gave me relief; and this was enhanced when I found he had had long experience in the London detective force aud was entering with the enthusiasm of his profession into our plans. He had heard already from the joiner what had passed that day ; complimented me highly on the presence of mind I had displayed on the previous evening and expressed acquiescence iu everything that we had since done. When, however, I mentioned to him my unexpected interview that afternoon with Mrs. Weevil, and that she had left the house, he was a good deal taken back. He questioned me closely as to her manner and appearance when she was in my room, and as to whether she seemed much affected by her son's ill ness. I answered his several questions to the best of my ability ; and he, after thinking awhile, paced up and down the room, turned to me and said : " Let everything be carried out as you formerly proposed. Bee that your fam ily retire to rest at their usual time, and with a little appearance as possible of anything unusual going on. If the woman has taken alarm, nothing will be lost by waiting till to-morrow, when her rooms can be more carefully exam ined by daylight. In the first place, will you show me the bedroom in which you were disturbed last night V" I conducted him thither, the joiner following; and after he had ascertained where, to use his own expression, I had first seen the "party," and where and how the party had disappeared, he at once intimated his plans. He said I was to retire to my room as usual, seat myself in my chair by the fire as on the previous evening, and either sleep or appear to Bleep, as was most agreeable to myself. Beyond the window stood a large wardrobe, In which, after the house was all quiet, he and the joiner would conceal themselves, the black Bmlth and the gardener being sat as a guard upon the door of the housekeep. er'a room below. The village constable, be had arranged, would keep watch on the outside of the house, but so as not to be readily discovered. , The duties of the household, in the absence of my servants, fell somewhat heavily on the ayah and myself, and the time passed quickly for me as I bustled about, seeing the ohildren put to bed, after which the ayah also retired. Dur. lng all this time, everything had oeen carried on in our customary way. Mr, Burrows and the rest of his helpers betook themselves for the time to distant apartment up stairs, and the house had resounded all the evening with the mingled sounds of laughter and noise iuseperable from a large family of children such as ours. But now all was silent; the men bad slipped quietly to their different posts ; Mr. Burrows and the joiner were, I knew, in the wardrobe at the other end of my bed. room ; and I was seated in my loung ing-chalr, as. on the previous evening. As I sat In this position thinking, I could not help observing to myself bow near we were all making ourselves ridiculous. The old woninn whom I had suspected wag out of the house; no one else but the ordinary members of the household aud the watchers could possibly be In ; and here was I, Bitting at my bedroom fire, making believe to sleep, with my two men concealed in the wardrobo, all hoping to catch we did not know what. The humor of the situation bo strongly affected me at one time that I could scarcely refrain from bursting Into laughter. But the thought of Mr. Burrows having put himself to so much trouble on my account, com blned with a remembrance of what I had experienced durlug the past twenty four hours, gradually sobered my feel ings, and I shortly found my thoughts floating away In dim remembrance to my life In India to my distant hus band; to our long separation; to the terrible nights and days of that fearful mutiny, whose horrors still rose up be. fore me ; to There was a thud on the floor, and I sturted. I had been asleep, and In my slumber had knocked a book ofr the small table at my elbow. The fire was burning low, and I rose In a confused state to trim It, when my eyes fell upon what I had seen on the previous even ing. In the Imperfect light it seemed taller and more ghastly-looking than before, aud was approaching me from behind. As my eyes fell upon It I gave a loud shriek, and caught hold of the chair to support me. As I did bo, I saw the figure gradually recede from mo, and the room seemed to grow suddenly darker. I am certain that, left to my self, I should at that moment have fainted right away, for the whole thing bad been so sudden, and found me so unprepared, that in my confusion I forgot all about the business of the night. But just as the white figure seemed to be approaching the curtained windows, I saw two dark figures dush quickly upon it from behind, then a sharp and violent struggle, in which all three rolled on the floor, as if locked together in a deadly embrace. The white figure had managed to wrench one arm loose, and in another moment there was the sharp click of a pistol. Thanks to our forethought, the weapon was harmless. By this time the noise of the struggle that was going on had brought the blacksmith and Andrew up to my apartment, and with their help the white figure was in a few seconds manacled and led forward to the light, his white garment an old surplice hanging In tatters about him. He was at once known to the majority of the company it was the steward! He turned his back on me with a stifled oath. Leaving him, now helpless, with his bands fast behind his back, In charge of the blacksmith, Mr. Burrows led the way to the housekeeper's room below, the door of which was found to be locked. It was at once burst open, and, taking a candle with us, we Entered. The outer room was in the same condi tion as I had seen it during the day, but the inner room showed the bed drawn forward, and the paneling of the recess which we had discovered standing open. Nobody was there. Taking the candle forward to examine the recess, Mr. Bur rows found that the box bad a movable bottom, in addition to that which we bad discovered, and that by its" removal an opening sufficient for one person at a time led down a trap-stair into the cellars below. Mr. Burrows and the joiner at once descended, taking the light with them, the rest of us waiting, as directed, in the outer apartment, or the lobbies that led to it. In a few minutes I heard sudden footsteps in my bedroom, and, rushing thither, found that Mr. Burrows and the joiner had reached It from the cellars, into which the trap-door led, the whole of the wood-work of one side of the window of my room being Ingeniously made to move back upon binges like a door, yet bo constructed that it could not be open ed by any one in the room. When the steward was searched there was found on him, besides the pistols, a bunch of duplicate keys, which could open any chamber or any other lock-fast place in the house. The constable having been called in from the garden, the steward, who bad hitherto stood silent and sullen, with a dark expression of malice and revenge upon his face, was handed over to bim and be was instructed by bis superior to convey bim to the local Police office and place him in a cell. The blacksmith be ordered to accompany the constable, and see that the prisoner did not effect an escape. Meantime, the gardener, who, since the "ghost" bad been discovered to be but flesh and blood like himself, bad become as bold as a lion, volunteered to stay in the bouse with us all night and help me to soothe the fears of my poor terrified children ; while Mr. Burrows accompanied by the Joiner, proceeded to the bouse of the steward. I need not burden the reader with details, but may mention that in answer to a quiet tap at the window, the door of tbe bouse was immediately opened, and old Mrs, Weevil was at once In tbe grip of the officer. She wag absolutely thunder struck, and quite lost her presence of mind. Without telling her anything of what had happened, Mr. Burrows asked for her son, the steward. At first she hesitated, then said he was 111 In bed. "No," said Mr. Burrows, "be is not in bed, but he is safe enough by this time In the Police office; so you had better Just tell us all about It." At this Mrs. Weevil entirely broke down and confessed all. It is unneces sary to repeat at length what the reader can guess In great measure for himself; but the sum of her story was this : The mother, equally with her son, bated Miss Roupel for despising his addresses, and took the means we have Been In order to drive each successive tenant out of her bouse. Blie also ad mitted that after tbe sudden death of Mrs. Roupel It was they who bad spread the stories charging foul play against the daughter. In answer to a question from Mr. Burrows, she confessed that It was she who had played the ghost on the previous evening; but she had never before shown herself to any one who did not at once flee and quit tbe bouse. My attempt to get bold of her, therefore, had bo alarmed her that she had great difficulty in escaping j and next morning had gone to her son, and told him she durst not play the part of ghost any longer, as the present tenant was likely to stand her ground, and they would In that way be found out. They were both enraged at thus being at last ba filed in their long cherished course of malicious practices against Mrs. Roupel ; and her son determined to take out bis revenge upon me that night by first frightening me and then robbing the bouse, after which they were resolved to take the first opportunity of quitting that part of the country. Their cupidity had been aroused by the sight of some trinkets in Indian jewelry which I possessed hence the design to rob me. In order to cover their purpose, the old hug was sent to me with the story of her sou being ill ; and as he had a secret means of access to the house, he readily affected an entrance after he supposed the family asleep. It was her son who bad first put her upon these evil prac ticeshad brought the old surplice from Lord B 's house, In Which either of them as occasion offered, was in the habit of terrifying the inmates, and thus depriving the object of their hatred of her chief means of livelihood. Mr. Burrows did not trouble to appre hend the' old woman at that time; but be took care that she should not leave the country till after the trial of her son for house-breaking and felony, when she bad to appear against bim as a witness. He was found guilty and sent to a penal settlement. Mrs. Weevil, Bshamed to show her face in the neigh borhood, departed, nooneknew whither. As for the ghost story, as soon as Its salient points were known in the neigh borhood, tbe house not only lost its bad character, but I became for the time quite a kind of heroine, everybody prais ing my courage and sagacity. I bad the pleasure, some weeks later, of entertain ing In tbe house Mrs. Richard Egerton,, tbe former Miss Roupel, whom the neighborhood, conscious of unjust con demnation, received with open arms. After the term of my tenancy expired the charming bouse let for a more suita ble rent, and ever since I believe it has formed an adequate source of income to it worthy owners. Compensation asked for by a Convlot. About two years ago John Roberts, at that time proprietor of a restaurant in New York, and living in Brooklyn, was arrested and charged with being oneofthe Astoria masked burglars. On the testimony of a woman, who swore that by the light of a lamp she saw his eyes and, although he was masked identified him, Roberts was convicted. Heserved twenty-one months in the State Prison, and then having es tablished bis innocence, was pardoned. Roberts now applies to the Legislature for compensation, and he ought to have it. Honored and Blest. When a board of eminent physicians and chemists announced the discovery that by combining some well known valuable remedies, tbe most wonderful medicine was produced, which would cure such a wide range of diseases that most all other remedies could be dis pensed with, many were skeptical; but proof of its merits by actual trial has dispelled all doubt, and to-day the dis coverers of that great medicine, Hop Bitters, are honored and blessed by all as benefactors. Democrat. . 11 lit Qulek and Sure. Many miserable people drag them selves about from day to day, not know, ing what alls them, but with failiug strength and spirits all tbe time that they are steadily sinking into their graves. If these sufferers would only use Parker's Ginger Tonic, they would find a cure commencing from tbe flrat dose, and vitality, strength and cheer fulness quickly and surely coming back, to tbem, with restoration to perfect health. See advertising column. lOit
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