American short stories : $b Selected and edited with an introductory essay on the short story by Charles Sears Baldwin
General
American short stories : $b Selected and edited with an introductory essay on the short story by Charles Sears Baldwin
American fiction -- 19th century; Short stories, American
It is, I confess, with considerable diffidence that I approach the
strange narrative which I am about to relate. The events which I
purpose detailing are of so extraordinary and unheard-of a character
that I am quite prepared to meet with an unusual amount of incredulity
and scorn. I accept all such beforehand. I have, I trust, the literary
courage to face unbelief. I have, after mature consideration, resolved
to narrate, in as simple and straightforward a manner as I can compass,
some facts that passed under my observation in the month of July last,
and which, in the annals of the mysteries of physical science, are
wholly unparalleled.
I live at No. -- Twenty-sixth Street, in this city. The house is in
some respects a curious one. It has enjoyed for the last two years
the reputation of being haunted. It is a large and stately residence,
surrounded by what was once a garden, but which is now only a green
enclosure used for bleaching clothes. The dry basin of what has been
a fountain, and a few fruit-trees, ragged and unpruned, indicate that
this spot, in past days, was a pleasant, shady retreat, filled with
fruits and flowers and the sweet murmur of waters.
The house is very spacious. A hall of noble size leads to a vast spiral
staircase winding through its centre, while the various apartments are
of imposing dimensions. It was built some fifteen or twenty years
since by Mr. A----, the well-known New York merchant, who five years
ago threw the commercial world into convulsions by a stupendous bank
fraud. Mr. A----, as every one knows, escaped to Europe, and died not
long after of a broken heart. Almost immediately after the news of
his decease reached this country, and was verified, the report spread
in Twenty-sixth Street that No. -- was haunted. Legal measures had
dispossessed the widow of its former owner, and it was inhabited merely
by a care-taker and his wife, placed there by the house-agent into
whose hands it had passed for purposes of renting or sale. These people
declared that they were troubled with unnatural noises. Doors were
opened without any visible agency. The remnants of furniture scattered
through the various rooms were, during the night, piled one upon the
other by unknown hands. Invisible feet passed up and down the stairs
in broad daylight, accompanied by the rustle of unseen silk dresses,
and the gliding of viewless hands along the massive balusters. The
care-taker and his wife declared they would live there no longer. The
house-agent laughed, dismissed them, and put others in their place.
The noises and supernatural manifestations continued. The neighborhood
caught up the story, and the house remained untenanted for three years.
Several persons negotiated for it; but somehow, always before the
bargain was closed, they heard the unpleasant rumors, and declined to
treat any further.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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