The Decatur News. (Decatur, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 33, Ed. 1 Friday, July 19, 1901 Page: 3 of 8
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It was a wild, raw November after-
noon.The «ky was dark and lowering;
the wind awept down from the hills
with a mournful, wailing sound, and be-
neath the tall trees, that bent before
the gale, lay heaps of faded yellow
leaves, trodden out of all shape and
beauty by the feet that were contin-
ually traversing the narrow village
paths.
Upon the hills, and out on the broad
highway, the scene was dreary enough.
But the little village of Banley, with
Its red-tiled roofs and latticed win-
dows, all aglow with the blaze of fire-
light, wore a look of cheerful comfort,
which the wintry aspect of the day
rather heightened than diminished.
Banley, lying far inland, was one of
those primitive little places where the
sound of the railway whistle had never
come. There was a branch line, it is
true, some twelve miles away, but few
of its passengers ever found their way
across the bills, and few of the inhab-
itants of Banley had seen the station,
or tested the capabilities of the won-
drous iron horse. Those who had
done so, having returned iiT*Bafety, be-
came oracles among their neighbors,
as people of deep experience, and one
word of theirs outweighed a score
from others, who had not seen tbe
world.”
The village, like most of the kind,
consisted of a straggling street of cot-
tages, with gay flower-gardens in front
and an enclosure or Kitchen, vegeta-
bles and a few fruit trees, at the back.
There was a church and a parsonage,
it is true, but the vicar was non-resi-
dent, being more deeply interested in
the conversion of Irish Catholics than
in the religious state of English Pro
testants, albeit they were of his own
flock. Consequently the vicarage was
shut up, and a consumptive curate
with a sickly wife and a family of seven
children, living in a cottage at the up-
per end of the village, keeping up ap
pearances—by means known only to
curates and their wives on the pitiful
salary of one hundred pounds a year.
Anxious and careworn enough the
pair often looked, but they loved each
•other dearly, and were beloved by ev-
ery one around, so it may be that their
fate was not a hard one, after all.
The curate and his wife, poor
though they might be, were the only
people in the village who could prop-
erely be designated "gentlefolks.” The
Lord of the Manor was non-resident,
the' Manor House Itself being anything
but a desirable home. If all was true
that was told of the sights and sounds
tuat had been seen and heard there at
different times by different people the
poor man was veiy wise in not coming
to look after his property in person.
Hollow Ash Hall was a haunted
house.
It stood at some distance from the
village, upon a green and fertile emi-
nence, shut out from the common ap-
proach, though not from common view,
by a high stone wall and a lofty pair
of Iron gates. There were a porter's
lodge, untenanted, of course, and a
small cottage within the grounds,
which had once been occupied by some
humble dependent of the family, in
the day when that family was numer-
ous and happy, and strongly united by
the thousand sweet ties that bind a
loving heart to home.
Seen from the public road, the Hall
was simply a square, brick-fronted
English mansion, of the ordinary type,
comfortably and conveniently built,
with stables, green houses, gardens
and conservatories, enough to satisfy
all the requirements of modem polite
society. The yew trees at the back,
and the long, bare lawn in front, gave
it a melancholy appearance; but no
one would have dreamed of calling it
a haunted house had they not been told
that It had an undoubted right td the
name. Thole was not even a hollow
ash tree in view, to account for Its un-
usable title. But the villagers, when
questioned upon the subject, would
look wise, and lead you to the top of
a narrow, damp lane, where grew a
solitary tree, that had been touched
by the scathing finger of the lightning
on Its mission of destruction and
death. That was “Hbllow Ash,” and
that was the “Burnt Ash Lane;” down
which lane, as a sort of "short cut” to
the scene of their uncanny revels, it
may be, strange figures were said to
flit as soon as the clock from the neigh-
boring church had tolled the hour of
twelve.
Not only one ghoet haunted the place
—there were at least thr»* or four;
and their names were more familiar
to the persons who owned the manor
than to any curious stranger who
sought to pry Into its secrets. But it
must have been a bold man or woman
who would have dared to ask a Ver-
non a question. They were a silent,
haughty, reserved race, by no means
addicted to the foolish practice of
“wearing their hearts upon their
sleeves.” And if there was one sub-
ject upon which they were more silent
and reserved than another, It was that
of the haunted manor. They left it;
they could not bear to talk of it; and
so the mystery grew by feeding upon
itself, till stories were told of the
place that would have maae the hair
of the bravest and wisest listeners
stand upon end with horror.
It may easily be imagined what a
commotion Banley was in, one day,
when the tidings spread abroad that
a gentleman direct from London was
about to rent the Hall. People stared
at their neighbors and shook their
heads. It could not be; unless the
newcomers hailed from Colney Hatch
or Hanwell, he could not, for a mo-
ment, be thinking of such a thing.
But the news was confirmed in the
afternoon by no less a person than the
landlord of the "Vernon Arms,” who
recited to a group of eager and thirsty
listeners his wondrous tale. The fam-
ilj from London were, at that moment,
beneath his roof. So far from being
denizens of a lunatic asylum, they
were' most respectable people a city
banker, his wife and two daughters,
who came down for a change of air,
and seeing a fine house standing
empty, naturally enough concluded
that it was to let. So, at the "Vernon
Arms,” In an after-dinner chat with
their host, they managed to ask nu-
merous questions about the mansion
on the hill. He answered them truth-
fully; but he added, with a shake of
the head, as expressive as Lord Bur-
leigh’s, “He wished no harm might
come of it,” for they laughed at the
idea of ghosts, and one of the young
ladies begged so hard to live in a real
haunted house that her papa had act-
ually sent for the agent.
The landlord laughed, drew a long
breath, and solaced himself with a
great draught of bis own ale.
At that moment the agent himself
was seen descending the stairs; the
landlord, hurrying from behind the
bar, threw the door wide open, with a
low bow. But Mr. Grant declined the
polite invitation, beckoned him out
into the pasage, and closed the door
upon tbe gaping and disappointed
rustics.
“I want to speak to you a moment.
Grimes,” he said, impatiently. "Is
there no private place in this house?”
A^Tobe sure—to be sure, sir,” replied
ffle nW. "Step this way, if you
please) Becky, my love, pray go and
mind the bar a little while. We want
the parlor to ourselves just now.”
Becky, who was the meek-faced mis-
tress of the establishment, being thus
addressed, took up the stocking she
was mending and went out without a
murmur. The landlord closed the
door behind her, and the agent nodded '
approvingly.
"Capital training you have her in, '
Mr. Grimes.”
“Well, sir, one’s obliged to keep the i
whiphand or there’s no end of kicking ■
over traces, you know. Now Becky, ,
there, is the best woman in England,
though I say it as shouldn’t. But I
should never dream of telling her so.
The house would not hold the two of
us together ten minutes afterwards.”
"Quite right. Grimes, ’the less you
praise a woman the better she behaves,
as a general rule, 1 think. But now
let us go to business. I'm very much
bothMed in my own mind, Grimes, and
I want some advice.”
Grimes, who had been busy over the
fire with come mysterious preparation,
which the agent affected not to see,
now returned to the table, bearing two
steaming tumblers of rum-punch,
which he put down with an air of tri-
umphant self-satisfaction.
“I do believe, the very best I ever
made yet, Mr. Grant,” he observed, as
he placed one cosy arm-chair before
the fire for his visitor, and ensconced
his own plump person comfortably
within the depths of another.
"Good it must be, then, to a dead
certainty,” replied the agent, taking
a long, delicious draught. "Enough to
make a man forget one-half his trou-
bles and snap his finger at the rest.”
"I hope It will make you forget
yours, then, sir,” replied the landlord,
who was dying with curiosity to know
why he had been summoned to this
particular conference.
“Ah, no such luck as that! The
trouble tonight is not exactly a trou-
ble, after all. I am bewildered and
bothered. I want to do a thing, and
yet I cannot tell if I ought. Grimes,
you know the old Hall?”
The host nodded his head.
“I should think I did, sir!’”
“And you know what stories people
tell about the place?"
“That I do. Old John .Toned! the
gardener, has made my flesh creep
many a time with his tales of the tur-
ret-chamber, and the butler’s pantry,
and the secret room where the priests
I Hollobu A-rh... |
i Hall I
■jjr xR
BT MARGARET BLOUNT. jW
CHAPTER I.
•aed to nitre away many, many mastf
ago.”
“John Jones Is an idiot!** said th*
agent, impatiently. "Upon my word,
I believe the house is as quiet and
peaceable as this old inn of yours.”
Mr. Grimes took a sip of rum-punoh,
and said nothing.
“I have been through the place a
hundred times—I dare say more—and
I never saw anything th*M, nor heard
anything either, for the matter of
that.”
"Did you ever go there at night,
sir?” asked Mr. Grimes, with a signifi-
cant smile.
“No, I can’t say that I ever did."
And the agent smiled, too. "But you
don’t mean to say that you—a sensi-
ble, clear-headed man—really believe
the rubbish they tell about the place-
now, do you?”
“Do you, sir?"
“Of course not.”
"Well, I should be sorry to have tc
sleep there myself, that is all I know
about it."
"Now, Grimes, tell me plainly what
you think you should see?”
"Well, there’s a lot of ghosts tc
choose from up there,” said the land-
lord, meditatively. "You pays your
money and you takes your choice,
you can have a Jesuit priest, reading
nis mass-book; or old Vernon, count-
ing his money-bags; or a young man
sealed by a table in a room fixed up
in grand style, with a woman old
enough to be his mother, sitting on a
sofa with an ugly look upon her face,
and another woman peering through a
window back of her, looking uglier,
ii possible, than she; or you can have
good Queen Bess looking after the far-
thing she dropped----”
“Pshaw! When was Queen Bess at
Banley, I should like to know? Why,
it was not built till she had been dead
more than fifty years. What do they
want with her ghosts there?"
"Can’t say, sir. But most old houses
have a story about her and that blessed
farthing. I wonder that she didn’t
take better care of it when she was
alive. It has given her trouble enough
since.”
“Well, let her be where she may, 1
don’t believe she is at Hollow Ash
Hall.”
J’No more do I sir.”’
“I knew it! You are a sensible man,
Mr. Grimes."
“I don’t believe in Queen Bess, nor
in old Vernon, nor yet in the priest
There Is one thing there I do believe
in, though.”
"And what Is that?"
“The last ghost. It’s not yet more
than twenty-five years old, you know.
Tne ghost of the butler’s pantry. You
know what I mean, sir?’
“Pshaw!" said the guest, turning
red.
“Prom things which came to my
knowledge when I was a younger man
than I am now, I shouldn’t wonder
if there was something in that. No
wonder that Vernon could not live
there.”
"Hush, Grimes!" said the agent,
looking nervously towards the door.
"There are some things in this world
that are not to be spoken of.”
"Exactly. And I never have spoken
of that to any one before for many
years. But it's my opinion the gen-
tleman from London will pretty soon
get sick of his bargain.”
"That is what 1 wanted to see you
about. Grimes.”
"The bargain?”
“Yes.”
"What ails it, sir?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Is the gentleman willing to make
it?”
Perfectly.”
“Liberal in his notions?"
"Very. He told me that he would
pay just as much for the use of the
place as if there haft never been any
story about it.”
"Very handsome *f him. People
generally expect tq get a haunted
house for nothing per year.”
"Ah, but he laughs at the idea, and
pays the actual rent of the place just
to prove that he has no faith in
ghosts.”
"Well. I wish film joy of his. new
home, that is all.”
“And so do 1. However, if he has
a fancy It is no business of mine. But
here comes the rub.”
“I don’t see it.”
"Have I a right to let the bouse?"
Mr. Grimes started.
"Why, >ou are agent. ’
"Yes.”
“Then who has a better right?**
“No one. But, you see, I don’t know
what Mr. Vernon would say.”
"Of course he would be pleased."
“Do you think so?”
“1 am sure of it."
“I wish I was. Mr. Vernon la ■
very strange man.”
(To be continued.)
Fl»« Sons in British Ms»V.
Recently Sir Fleetwood Edwards,
koeper of his majesty's privy purse,
seat to the mayor of Lyme Reels a
postofflee order for £3 to ba handed to
Mr. J. Warren, a xaval pensioner of
that town, who has at present fire
sons in the royal navy, "as a n<rk nf
the king's appreciation of this Inter-
esting record.” Mr. Warren is hln>
self tbe son of a naval penaloneci
Teach your children that love is bet-
ter than lucre.
The Trust Froblem.
To a thoughtful mind ths trust problem
is one of serious import. It must be firm-
ly grappled with, for It creeps upon socie-
ty before you are aware of Us existence,
in this respect much resembling the vari-
ous disorders which attack the stomachy
such as constipation, Indigestion, dyspep-'
Bia, biliousness, liver and kidney trou-
bles. Hostetter's Stomach Bitters Is th*
one reliable remedy for all such .11 manta.
Bo sure to give It a trial.
A smart woman can usually fool ■
man all of his terrestrial existence.
Drink Dr. Yepper. Healthful and in-
Tigorating. At soda fountains, 5a.
Gettotaking OXIDINE; results guar-
anteed. Ask your druggist.
Many people imagine they are be-
stowing a favor each time they smile.
Mrs. Winslows Soothing Syrup.
For eiltldrea teething, eofteas tbe garni, reduces t«r
tUmmulon. all.y. pain, cure* wind colic. 25c a Pottle.
A knife-grinder should as a rule be
sharp. _________________
Are Ton Cslng Allen's Toot KaseT
It is the only cure for Swollen,
Smarting, Burning, Sweating Feet,
Corns and Bunions. Ask for Alien’s
Foot-Ease, a powder to be shaken into
the shoes. At all Druggists and Sho*
Stores, 25c. Sample sent FREE. Ad-
dress, Allen 8. Olmsted, LeRoy, N. Y.
He who tells you of others’ faults
will tell others of your’s.
DICKEY’S OLD RELIABLE EYE-WATER
cures lore eyes or granulated lid., etrengtbene weak
area, don't burn or hurt when applied—feele good.
The "bad boy” frequently makes ths
good man._______________
"Faith 1« the nuh«tance of thing*
hoped for," OXIDINE the realization.
Why is it some men pretend they do
not know how to hook a dress?
Her Mind All Made Up.
“Supposing," he said, that I were
to ask you to agree to such a mar‘-
riage as Professor Herron and his
wife had the other day, what would
you think?"
"The same thing I think now,” she
replied, looking down at the figure on
the rug, and tying knots in her dainty
handkerchief.
"And what is that, dearest?” he
asked, attempting for the first time to
take her in his arms.
"That you couldn’t scrape up the
price necessary to get a preacher,” she
answered, giving him a push.
Woman Walking; Delegate.
Miss Ellen Lindstrom, the only
woman walking delegate in the world,
is the leading spirit in the new Domes-
tic Servants’ Labor union of Chicago.
She promises to rival in importance
all the high dignitaries of the men's
labor unions. Miss Lindstrom, by a
word, will bo able to make Chicago—
or a big part of it—do without meals
or else do the cooking herself. She
represents the Scandinavian element in
the new domestics’ union, hut she has
no preference for her countrywomen
in the matter of the leadership, it is
stated.
Visible Asset.
The Chicago Tribune is authority for
this: “You people down here spent
150,000 boring a hole in the ground for
coal, didn't you?” asked a passenger
who was walking up and down the
platform to stretch his legs while the
engine was taking in a feed of coal
and water.
"Yes, sir,” returned the hump-shoul-
dered native, sitting on a nail keg.
"That’s about the size of it."
“And what have you got to show?”
“Well, mister," said the native, tak-
ing a fresh chew of Missouri plug,
••»M’ve still got the hole.”
At Wichita, Kan., a small boy went
into tbe studio of a photographer and
said he wanted his picture taken. "1
want it taken on my horse," said the
boy, and jokingly the photographer
answered, "All right, bring your
horse up.” The boy disappeared, but
in a minute there was smash and bang
on the stairs that almost shook the
buildings, and in came the boy lead-
ing his saddle pony. The photogra-
pher was game, however, and, finding
his bluff called, he mounted tbe boy
on the pony and took his picture in a
sedate way.
It is not always the most pleasant
luty to be a schoolmaster even in New
York City. The other morning fifteen
of the pupils in the room taught by
Max Dudin in the One Hundred ana
Tenth street public school, advanced
in a body upon the unfortunate tutor,
threw him to the floor, and got even
for all the thrashings they had re-
ceived and for all the times they ‘bktl
been “kept in.” One of the boys, the
ring-leader, is in a police station, and
the schoolmaster is in a hospital as
a result of the onslaught on the
teacher.
Blessed is the man who is loved by
the woman who understands him.
An indiscreet friend should be care-
fully guarded.
Was there ever a girl who was not
"accomplished?”
UadleM Can We-r Shoe*
One size smaller after using Alien’s
Foot-Ease, a powder. It makes tight
or new shoes easy. Cures swollen, hot,
sweating, aching feet, ingrowing nails,
corns and bunions. All druggists and
shoe stores, 25c. Trial package FREE
by mall. Address Allen S. Olmsted,
Le Roy, N. Y.
If you make a promise be sure that
you observe it.
SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE: These are two
of the reasons why Garfield Headache Powders
meet with the approval of conservative people;
they contain nothing that harms or deranges
the system and they cure many bad feelings.
Some people seem to keep their af-
fections in cold storage.
OXIDINE is guaranteed to cure Ma-
laria, Chills and Fever. Ask your
druggist.__
If some of us knew half as much as
we pretend to know we would be walk-
ing encyclopedias.
PRICE, 25 c.
WEATHERWISE,
/ OTHERWISE!
Ad*k///A'z WMT DOrTWWUR
M ///7&V' CLOTHING
AND KEEP PRY?
ttwAae or iisjtationj loos roa awvt trade mars.
CATALOGUES FREE
Showing Full Line of Garments and Hatv
...AU .TOWER CCt. BOSTON,MAfiS.
lorar
Snr. death to Lleo. Sam-
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tor sal* tit drugg.
best by Trat—77 YEARS. Won AV CASS
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USECERTAINS'CURE.::
IOxBO CRAYON PORTRAIT. »S«.
teaSO PAbTKt. FORTRAI F. *So. To th.
trad. Duly Swift Portrait h Fr*mo Co ,l>.ll*>,T.x
lir.nl. Uf inf ad To" '»■ rarn *■’ mo h.ndltBt
AgCRIS vTSlllBB our Portrait, snd frame. Write fot
urmt C. B. And.no* A Co., 173 Kim St.. Iran*.. Tax.
METROPOLITAN BUSINESS COLLEGE,
11*11... Tax** Writ* for naw oataloa**. Frae
W. N- U. DALLA3.-NO. 29.-iaOI
Vbea Aasweriog Advertisemeats Kindly
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Tyler, L. W. The Decatur News. (Decatur, Tex.), Vol. 20, No. 33, Ed. 1 Friday, July 19, 1901, newspaper, July 19, 1901; Decatur, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1193816/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .