Show h ar r LAYING A GHOST by GEORGE F DUYSTERS copyright I 1 bad come all the way from montana to make my fortune in new york city on being driven to the boarding house in a formerly aristocratic portion of the alti to which I 1 had been becom mended I 1 learned that the pace bad been closed up noticing a sign on the opposite side of the street I 1 crossed over and mounted the stairs I 1 rang the bell here heard footsteps within ere the echoes had died away and the door was opened by a young girl who asked me what I 1 wished for a moment I 1 hesitated erang speech told her my ment she looked at me and then at my trunk she seemed at least par trally satisfied by this scrutiny for she said walt a minute and call ma this proved to be unnecessary for ma had followed her to the door and at that moment loomed up be hind her she was a tall pale w oman with jet black hair and a face in which all features seemed lost in a maze of wrinkles step inside a minute sho said and elizabeth will watch your trunk she ushered me into a parlor and proceeded to cross examine me in a manner that would have done credit to a lawyer where was I 1 from how did I 1 come when did I 1 arrive who recommended me to mrs belton what was my bust ness all of which I 1 answered truth fully her daughter stood in the hall and listened attentively alpar antly satisfied with her examination i of her unexpected guest the landlady eald you can have the second floor front the best room me got we haven t any other boarders just now but may have some later all right I 1 replied anything will do for me night tonight to I 1 went out to get my trunk and as I 1 was bringing it in I 1 overheard a discussion between the daughter and ma the daughter said he shai not sleep in that room it s an out rage its no better than murder then the mother s voice somewhat hesitating but hes young and etring elizabeth and maybe he aln t afraid of ghosts that about ghosts I 1 asked the elder woman was evidently cm barr assed oh she said they i the room s haunted I 1 laughed that frighten me I 1 have always had a great loag ing to see a ghost there was a serious anxious look in the daughter s big brown eyes you don t know what it Is she ex claimed we ourselves have never seen or heard any ghost though we live in this house but every man who trept in that room has been found dead the next morning and the man nc of his death has never been als covered the door was locked on the inside and no sound ras heard the physicians could never find out what lad killed them so this house has been known as the haunted house we have lost all our lodgers and no one will come here any more yes added the elder woman fold ing her hands this house Is all my husband left me he used to do a good business trading with the west indies in the fruit line but with a mortgage two years taxes unpaid and no income I 1 dont know what were going to do I 1 confess I 1 was at first somewhat daggered by the peculiarity of this haunted room I 1 had a supreme con tempt for ghosts in general the faces of both mother and ahugh ter plainly showed that spoke the truth and there was a pathos in their voices that strongly inclined me to help them the woman spoke up as it seized with a sudden hope young man she said tell you what do it you 11 sleep in that room tonight to night and find out about the ghost taking your chances after know ing all the facts and having fair warn ing I 1 II 11 give you board and rent free tor a year and thank you beades its a bargain I 1 exclaimed do it I 1 seized my trunk and carried it up the stairway to the second floor the woman preceded me and striking a match lit tho four jets of a chandelier that hung from the cen ter of the belling I 1 sat down on one of the old fash boned plush covered chairs when she had gone to think the matter over my trunk contained some clothing a few old books anda shotgun I 1 had no fear of the two women I 1 believed them to be entirely honest I 1 went over every story I 1 had ever read I 1 recalled trap doors canopies cano pies that descended and smothered the oc capants of the bed panels that could bo moved noiselessly I 1 determined to make a thorough examination of the room and watch the night out it alive in the morning I 1 would hold the lady to her bargain it not well oni herd cattle and hunt in mon tana without taking risks I 1 opened my trunk took out my shotgun fitted it together and insert ed a couple of no 4 shells it ghosts could stand that at close quarters I 1 was quite willing to yield trem tha palm laying my gun on the bed I 1 looked carefully about the room I 1 sounded the walls carefully on every elde looked in and under the bed and then sharpening a small piece of wood into a wedge I 1 thrust it under the door leading into the hall way thus rendering it impossible tor anyone to enter even with a false key A big clock in the room interested me at a distance it resembled an old english clock such as I 1 had seen in many farm bouses in the west but a closer examination convinced me it was oriental work of some kind it stood in one corner of the room near one of the windows and was about five feet high the carpet on the floor was light blue in color and there were no cross seams to indicate any possibility of a trap door I 1 was but I 1 did not propose to take any risks I 1 pushed a comfortable arm chair against the wall between the two windows and with my shotgun across my knees awaited the arrival of the ghost I 1 preferred to meet him or her in light rather than in dark ness it I 1 must so I 1 left the gas burn ing I 1 beard a distant clock strike 12 and was reminded by it that this was the proper time for specters to appear all was quiet however within A couple of wearisome hours passed and the distant clock struck two I 1 was beginning to feel ridiculous I 1 got up walked around the room two or three times and was just about to re sume my seat when a curious sound within the room struck my ear it seemed to come from the tall clock in the corner and sounded as it its bell had been tapped very lightly this was followed by a single tick tack and I 1 saw by a reflection of the light upon the brass that the pendulum was amov ing slightly the next instant there issued from a space between the bottom of the door of the clock and the base what I 1 tor an instant took to be a thin stream of blood I 1 con tess a slight chill ran over me from bead to toot but in far less time than I 1 can tell it the stream of blood resolved itself into a crimson colored snake about 18 inches in length which began to wriggle over the carpet toward me there was no time to think I 1 lifted my gun and blew the snake into rags the report sounded deafening in the closed room almost immediately an other snake somewhat larger than the first one crept out of the clock I 1 gave this one the other barrel and then not knowing how many more there might be I 1 rapidly reloaded my gun I 1 heard a woman shriek footsteps coming along the street and loud raps at the door below then somebody called my name from outside I 1 dared not however remove my eyes from the clock A man s voice called out open the door what Is the matter you had better not try to open the door yet I 1 answered I 1 am killing the ghosts and heaven only knows how many more there may be As no other snake came out I 1 approached pro ached the clock and smashed in the glass door with the muzzle of my gun twined about the pendulum in a glang writhing mass were a dozen or more small snakes about the thickness of a lead pencil and a few inches in length stepping back two or three feet I 1 fired into the lot and then with the butt of my gun crushed some which still seemed to show signs of life dy this time there was a hammering upon the door of my room I 1 kicked away the wedge and turned the key and a policeman entered tol lowed at a distance by my landlady aad her daughter and a few curious neighbors more or less dressed what on earth began the officer but I 1 answered by pointing to two crimson bodies on the carpet one of which was still moving though almost torn to pieces by the shot there are your ghosts I 1 said ad dressing myself to the landlady but as I 1 am not sure we have them all you had better not come into the room I 1 don t know what kind of reptiles these are but from the shape of the head I 1 know them to be deadly venomous the policeman who knew the story of the house simply ejaculated good god I 1 and beat a retreat toward the door at my request an ax was handed in to me I 1 broke the clock into kindling wood and hammered the works flat but found only one more of the progeny scarcely larger than a match in a crack of the wool vork I 1 need not say that I 1 dlan t sleep n the room that night for there was no certainty that the clock held the only nest at daylight all the furniture in the room was carried out ripped up and a thorough search made but noth ing corp morp was found the remnants of the snakes were sent to washing ton where a leathed professor of the pronounced them the deadliest species of viper known in the island of martinique undoubtedly the reptiles had nest ed in this clock before it was sent on from the west indies and had for more than a year lived upon the itco which were plentiful in the old house coming out at night as Is their habit to sting to death any ona who might be sleeping in the bed my landlady held to her bargain and even more she not only gave me board and lodging free but six months later the hand of her daughter there have been no more ghosts at hio though I 1 confess t was a long time before I 1 had the courage to sleep in the second story front room |