Hunter College High School - Argus Yearbook (New York, NY)

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THE ARGUS and usually said something like, when it begins to get dark, you'll think better of it, but that only made us all the more determined and we all felt as Delia did, when she said defiantly, we'll just show them that we mean what we say. So, with suppressed excitement we waited for the, five o'clock whistle, and at length it blew. We didn't waste much time after that, but hurriedly bade our anxious parents good-bye, and before many minutes more, we were pushing our boat off tihe shone, and starting toward the haunted isle. We took turns at rowing, and in about fifteen minutes we had reached our destination. The island was small and bleak. It had no grass or trees growing upon it, only the thre.e-storied, weather- beaten, gray, desolate old house. We found a little sandy spot, and pulling our boat up on the sand, scrambled over the rocks as well 35 we could with our arms laden as they were with blankets and food. VVe had visited this island again and again, and had investi- gated every nook and corner of it, although we had never ventured inside the house. But we knew that it was all boarded up, save one little window near the ground, and it was through this that we now climbed, and found ourselves in a rather small room. It was completely furnished, and we could plainly see that the last occupants had made no prepar- ations for departure, for many things lay carelessly about the room, just as thougih- there were someone living in it at that moment. Only, the spiders and dust had taken full possession of the place, for the.re wasn't an inch of surface anywhere, that was not covered 'with about two inches of dust, nor was thene any corner or piece of furniture, which had no web to boast of. Consequently, it was not long before all three of us were similarly covered from head to foot. After investigating everything carefully, and finding no foot-prints or linger-prints, as we had lhoped, we pushed the door open, and found ourselves in a hall. There were two other doors on that Hoor, one of which was locked, while the other led into a small kitchen, where some dishes stood on the table. Everything suggested a.hasty departure. Come, said Marge let's go up-stairs. No sooner said than done.-We took each other's hands, not because we were afraid, oh no! but just to feel that we were close together- 37

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THE ARGUS A Mhnat Stung All three of us felt mischievous, Delia, Mange, and I. Some- quite exciting enough for do something really thrill- agree upon what we'd do. how, that summer, lthinigs we-.ren't our lively spirits, so we dfe'cided to ing. It didn't take us very long to lt was something we had always talked of, ever since our fam- ilies had begun to make a habit of spending the summers at Stony Creek. And this was our plan. Stony Creek, you see, is a village on Uhe Sound, and there are dozens and dozens of small islands all around, and it was one of these upon which we centered our attention. This particular island was said to be haunted, and it was indeed a hair-raising tale which the natives had to tell of this place. I don't recall the details of the story, exactly, but I do remember that a man who once lived there, killed his wife, and threw her body into the Sound, and then, when his crime was detected, had kille.d himself, and ever since then, anyone who s-tayed in that house over night, would see his ghost roaming through the dese.rted rooms, hear sighs and imoans, and then the report of a pistol !-but no one had ever stayed to hear more than that. Well, we three, Delia, Marge and. I decided to spend a night in that haunted house, and we made our plans accord- ingly. We would go that very niglht-lest our courage fail us 'before another day had passed. We parted soon after to gain consent of our parents, and gieit together a few 'blankets and some food. The latter articles were procured easily enough, but to get the consent of our parents was harder than we had thought. After a good solid hour of coaxing in each home, we had succeeded in making no headway, except to receive the answer- You 'may go, if De1ia's mother lets her go and you may go, if Marge's mother lets her go and so on. But we were not to be daunted, so finally, the thnele of us together, after another hour of combined coaxinig and plead- ing, persuaded 'my mother to say yes and the other two reluctant consents came soon after. Our joy and excitement knew no bounds, and we felt no less triumphant than three Napoleons, after 3 great victory. Our brothers teased, of course, and everyone who heard of our plan looked doubtful - 36

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THE ARGUS and went up the old, rickety, creaking stairs, and found our- selves on the second floor hall, with four closed doors staring us in the face. We stood still for a moment, and listened--no sound.-Each one of us simultaneously breathed a sigh of re- lief and then burst out laugihing. But instantly, we stood ter- rified-what was that awful sound? Our grasps tightened and we looked at eadh' other, three frozen statues, but then as the sound died away, we giggled, for it was just the echo of our laugh, ringing through the desolate place. We moved toward the nearest door, and tried to open it, but it was locked, we tried the second and third doors, but they were likewise unmovablwe. Our spirits rose, however, when the fourth door yielding to our efforts moved squeakingly on its hinges. VVe saw no ghost, no chains, no pistols lying about but just an empty room, with four blank +walls. This is where we'll stay said Delia, see, we'll spread our blankets on thze floor-here. We were all tired and excited, and glad of an opportunity' to rest, so we spread out our blankets, opened our baskets and ate a hearty meal. It was rapidly growing dark, and by the time we were through e.ating we could see the other side of the room only indistinctly. We had planned to go upstairs, to explore that floor too, but we gave that idea up, because we were beginning to feel uncomfortable, although none of us would admit it. Wie bolted the door from the inside, and then cuddled close together near the window, where a few rays of light streamed through the cracks in the wood. VVe talked cheerfully, laughing at everything we could, to keep from feel- ing frightened. We decided to divide the night into three watches, one from nine to twelve, the other from twelve to three, and the tlhfird from three to six. Then we drew lots. Delia was to watch Hrst, I next and Marge third. The time dragged along very slowly until nine, 'when We slettled down in our blankets andptried to go to sleep, but although we were tired, it wfas quite useless, and we could see that Delia wanted' us to stay awake. It was about eleven, when I lin-ally dozed off int-0 a light sleep. Promptly at twelve, Delia woke me., and for half an hour or so, we talked in low tones. She had heard nothing, but the Ihowling of the wind and a few soundsa that were probably imagined. Finally, both Delia and Marge. fell asleep. I huddled up close to them, and shut my eyes 38