Show BREWERS BREWER REVENGE while spending a winter vacation in a delightfully little village hidden awayan te the pine pa oresta forests of t north carolina I 1 found the haunted house and solved the mystery that had enveloped it for more than a century it had been many years since human footsteps had crossed the threshold of the ghost inhabited place and nd the only compau companion ions ot of the spooks shooks had been hats bats owls and buch vermin as feed on decay decar says the tile pittsburg leader ig Is tile place real really ay haunted V I 1 asked a core of villi villagers via with awkward shrugs of their shoulders and nd shaking of heads leads they answered there be them livin aln as has seen the ghosts of the old man and his pretty bridel there are only two of them they walk armand arm aa as it if they waa was lovers agin the ghost of the young man never comes lent cm now as he did in eifel an old man a pretty bride a young man perhaps a loverl the foundation for a tragedy out ot of tragedies grow mysteries I 1 must learn the tile legend of the place its old donald thurston you want to year a tellin it said the villagers when I 1 asked them then for particulars of this mystery lies iles the watchman on the place forthe for the owners who never come a nilah it an want it his grandfather at was head overseer for the old ghost danl a 0 A queer old man I 1 found donald thurston and a fit guardian for a haunted ruin he lie lived alone in g a email small cabin on the place and added something to his pay by cultivating a email small garden rent free at L first st he was disposed to guard the ghost mid lad mystery as apart a part of a sacred trust to be concealed from strangers but as our acquaintance progressed he grew more communicative hobt of the people hereabouts know the story well said the old man for its ten been told by father to son these hundreds years and manya the crying child as has been frightened to sleep by tales of the ghost of the pretty lady it was my grandfather who wrote it all down and tho the papers I 1 have in my tin box where they have laid untouched these twenty years last past the old man blamed himself for the part he lie had to do with it but then he thought lo lie 10 waa was only doing his duty in warning the master little dreaming that murder it if murder it was would grow out of it you may read till alia papers one ot of these daya days it if you wish th they I 1 y tell the story better than ever I 1 could tell it it s A few days later thurston Thur stoa brought out the ithe old tin box and then watched me in silence while I 1 read the story ot of the mystery of the haunted house bouse I 1 will only give a synopsis ot of the story here for it waa was a long one as written out by alien allen thuraton a century ago twenty years before tho the revolution martin brewer an old and wealthy englishman came over to ta car carolina olina and by grant and pur elvase ee obtained a large tract 0 of f land lying along them cape fear river on a 8 high bluff overlooking the river he built a big stone house modeled after the castles of the normans he ile purchased slaves who cleared land and iu in a few years a large farm farin wits under cultivation theu then english and scotch ber servants were brought over the big bouse house was furni furnished s bed and made the ideal country home of 0 f an english gentleman among the scotch servants was allein thurston who was made overseer aud and manager of place he ile it afterward wrote the story of the subsequent mystery when the house was arranged to his taste brewer returned to eu europe rope for or a year leaving the place in charge of his servants fer and slaves when ho be came homo home be brought with him a beautiful young bride site seemed tery very much in love with him and quite contented in her new home he ile appeared fond of her but even the servants noticed that at times he be seemed distrustful and suspicious suspicions of his pretty wife but there was no one for him to be jealous of for none of the few neighbors were ever invited to the house except for the servants servant and the slaves the couple were en entirely entirely tirel alone tile servants talked in whispers among themselves and said that trouble would come of such a mating but for the time all went well and the old man and the pretty young wife were happy enough so far as appearances indicated then the husband and master suddenly sailed away to england on important business he said leaving his wife and the servants in the care cam of bis his confidential manager alien allen thurston before the ship that was carrying martin brewer to england was wits out of sight of land thurston discovered that the young wife who had been left in his care was not alone in ye jfe big house As silently and mysteriously as a shadow of evil a stranger had come and taken up his abode awe there the old servant and manager met him face to face in the hall ball one day he ile had only time to see that the stranger was young and handsome when the latter disappeared through ft a doorway thurston was startled fetal tied but said nothing he ile would watch and wait awhile he ile might have lave been dreaming and tried to believe that bo he had wen been only a shadow A few days later us as he approached the apartment of his young mistress thurston heard hea rd voices within one was the voice of a man the old servant listened but he lie could wil not make out what they were saying 1 in n a few moments the door of the apartment opened and the stranger came out he ile disappeared into another room leaving thurton Thu reton shocked and speechless the old mau kept the secret of th the e strangers g ers presence in the house from th the e lother other servant but a few days later he lie went to his big mistress and asked her who the man was and what he lie was doing there she became strangely embarrassed and answered 1 I cannot tell you now but believe me there la Is no wrong in to his presence here and for my sake say pay nothing about it theold the old man manchook shook hi his head shead ilia his first duty was to his master the next malato mail to england carried to the address of brewers solicitor in bondon a long letter f from rom thurston telling his muster master all about the presence resell ce of the tile stranger three months m months later the master came home he ile had received the letter and to the faithful old servant he raid simply 1 I 1 thank you you at lewit least have been faithful thurston Thurs too trembled erl for the safety ot of the toung wife when he be saw tho the fires AM of jealousy and hate that burned in the eyes of his i master but he dared not warn her to his li wife brewer did not betray his knowledge of the presence in the house of a fi ob tranger when thelmet they met there was no agn of the shadow that hod had come between them thern brewer brought with him from england many presents for hia his wife and some more furniture for the big stone house among the tile latter articles was wits a strange looking old fashioned bedstead in which be he seemed enuch interested and imitated insisted on unpack un pack i g it himself it had bad been the property ol 01 one of his norman ancestor ancestors he aid said the th heil headboard lioard was an immense affair made of oak and was wa covered over s tal and oddle sIgES points against which the pillows of the bed should rest had been carved the heads of 0 two hideous looking dragons with open mouths and eyes of blood red beads leads 1 I am afraid of them take it awall cried the young wife when she saw the carved dragon heads on the headboard 0 her bed 1 I brought it aver over for tor you said her husband while a strange cruel looking smile played about his thin lips but we can set it up in tho the little square room in the west wing of the house if it you are afraid of it mrs brewer started at the mention of the little square room her iler husband noticed it and again that strange smile came to his lips you can see that the servants put it there re 11 he said sald and then bis his wife looked re relieved cleved she Is hiding biding him in that gooral thurton heard the master say to himself as he turned away the day after the bed was put in the roo room nione one of the slaves went there tor for some purpose she lidd scarcely crossed the threshold when with a scream of terror that aroused the household she turned and nd fled thurston and his master reached the room at the same time but before they could enter mrs alm brewer with a it white f face and alook a look of terror in her eyes ran by by them they followed close behind her and lying fall full length on the old norman bed they found the handsome young stranger dead my brother oh my brother speak to mel cried airs mrs brewer as she threw herself on the bed and placed her arms about the neck of the dead man at these words a guilty startled look passed over the face of her husband but only thurston noticed it startling disclosures followed close on the heels of one another that day the dead man had been murdered A small sharp pointed dagger had been pa plunged u n ged into the top of his head and had bad ed entered t ered the brain causing instant death the manawas man was mrs Mm brewers brother who bad been compelled to leave england because he lie was accused of a grave crime of which he was innocent but owing to the death of a witness be he could not clearly establish his innocence who committed the murder there the mystery began in earnest the officers of the law came but found no clew not even the dagger two days after the funeral of her brother mrs brewer went to the room where he be had been killed find and threw herself down on the bed weeping bitterly A few hours later a servant found her there dead with the tears scarcely dry on her checks cheeks and the same mysterious dagger wound in the top of her head when the husband came and looked at the face ace of his murdered wife thurston who was watching saw raw him tre tremble niblo and turn pale paled while a look of horror borror came into his eyes the old servant said nothing but from that moment he believed th the ma the key to the mystery again the officers officer of the law were baffi baffled ed and when a week later old martin brewer was found lying dead on the norman bed of his ancestors with the same strange wound in the head bead they declared declare d that human hands bands had ho not wielded the instrument of death then the big stone house was closed relatives of brewer came from england to take possession of the property but when the ghost of the old man and his pretty wife appeared they went away and returned no more such stich was th the Atory of the tragedy of the haunted house what became of the old norman bed if asked of donald thurston when I 1 had read the story to the end it is rotting there with the old house unless the ghosts have carried it away then I 1 am going to have a look at it I 1 answered the old man finally agreed to go with me and help me find the room that was called the chamber of death we found it after a short search through the crumbling buim and there was the bod bed in a fair state of preservation oil because it had been sheltered the dragon heads were werd idill intact and lind hideous looking things they were I 1 inspected closely and looking into the open mouth I 1 saw something that resembled the point of a dagger bring an tin ax and I 1 think wo we will cl clear or up this mystery I 1 said to thurston and he brought it without a word A few blows on the rotting wood and the mystery of the hilin haunted ted house was revealed in the mouths of the wooden dragons carved on the headboard of th the e bed were concealed two long slender dag gera gem they were attached to a spring that was arranged so that the weight of a person lying down on the bed would thrust a dagger into his brain in his mad jealousy old martin brewer bad planned a strange instrument of death omaha world herald |