Soldan High School - Scrip Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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ff-S . 5 11 ling? -so -fr ef fjs mfgfgf Lurking Shadows . twat, NE fine summer day as I was walking down a street in Boston, I happened to notice a Fine old colonial house, which ig, caught my fancy and straight way I made up my mind to find out why it was not occupied. It showed signs of long disuse, especially the lawn, which was a tangle of the rankest growth of grass I have ever seen. I inquired of some children, playing down the street, about the house, and they answered'that it was the haunted house. I laughed and passed on, taking this for one of those childhood fancies, that after a house has been vacant so long, it becomes haunted. A week or so later I decided to revisit the district in which the colonial house was located. As I turned upon the street several blocks to the north of the place, I saw a truck passing, filled with debris. My mind was filled with apprehension, and the sight of two more trucks, parked in the vicinity of the old mansion only added to my alann, for I could not understand why such a fine old place should be torn down, when a little paint and repairing would have made it as good as new. I hastened on and soon came upon the scene of destruction. The roof was gone and the men were beginning on the ceiling of the second floor. I was now more determined than ever to know the history of the house, so I went to the foreman and asked him where I could Find out about the house. He said that he had lived there and so knew it him- self. Here it is, as nearly in the Words he used as I can remember. Many years ago a family of Five, three sisters and their two broth- ers, one a prominent lawyer, the other an unscrupulous doctor, lived here. The men, who sometimes quarreled violently, gradually became so antagonistic that they fussed all the time. One evening they were arguing in an upstairs room. The ladies paid no attention because they had grown accustomed to these frequent fits of passion. However, after some time had passed and the voices kept growing louder and angrier, they became alarmed and started to go to the room, thinking to settle the argument. Upon arriving at the second Hoor they heard a terrible scream and a thud as of some body coming in contact with another body. They ran to the door, but found it locked: they called, but no answer came from within. After some few minutes had passed, footsteps were heard within the room, and the doctor, smiling evilly, opened the door. Fearfully, they entered and beheld their other brother slumped in a chair, his glazed eyes staring at them and the forefinger of one hand, by some trick of fate, pointing toward the door, where his brother stood. There was nothing to indicate that he had died an unnatural death, 117

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, Y -'I 'f A-f -- ra-Q3 v-f 51:1 5-f f -fini - Y He's on your bus. Tried to get two twos for a one! This remark, coupled with the worried look of the speaker, gave the driver an impression, for he muttered, Poor guy's bug-house. Get me on! You can take another one! What did the guy you're after look like? Big fellow-moustache. Got off two blocks back. You can't kid me. I know he's- But the driver had closed the window and was holding up a sign z- Do not talk to operator. joe's speech will be left out, for various reasons. However, he cooled off, and told the driver to follow the bus till somebody got off. After a long ride this happened, and joe was finally stepping on the bus. He stormed onto the lower deck, looking at all the occupants, to their embarrassment and surprise, but nobody was there that even resembled the stranger in the smoke house. He searched top and bottom. bottom and top, and top and bottom again, but to no avail. The conductor approached. Fares, please. 'Tm not going to pay you! If you'd let me on the Erst time this wouldn't have happened. Oh, you're not going to pay, eh? You heard me. One side, I'm getting off! Just sit down, Buddy. You're going to the end of the line! The motorman called the conductor to him, as the latter was trying to put Joe in a seat. After a little conversation on the part of the crew of the bus, the proprietor of the Smoke House was let off, to the relief of the passengers. It was growing dark as Joe dragged himself up the Eve steps to the house where he boarded. He was wet, tired, and he had lost four dollars. His head felt as though it would pop open any minute. He climbed the three flights to his room, third Hoor back, and flopped on the bed. A mess of a day, right, escaped his lips. As Joe came to Work next morning, he saw a familiar Figure in front of the Smoke House. He started with surprise. There he is, he exclaimed with an oath under his breath, He'l1 not get away this time! But as he approached, the familiar figure started the conversation. Say, Brother, remember when I got change in your store yester- day? Well, here's three dollars of yours. Bud Compton. 116

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2- - - Y V 3 r if A-Y NJTITR A' Y except a thin red line about an inch long on the left side of his throat. There was no blood anywhere, on his clothes, on the lioor, or on the furniture. The sisters stood like statues, so overwhelmed were they at this sudden calamity. They were suddenly jarred back to earth by the grating of the key in the lock, and turning, they saw the door had been shut. The front door slammed and outside a piercing, inhuman wail rose on the wings of the wind and was whipped about among the sway- ing elms, gripping the hearts of the listeners like the icy claw of time. The next day the papers contained an article concerning the suicide of an unidentified man. And that evening the sisters sat up with the body of their brother, the lawyer, which had been placed in the front room of the house. Four candles were lighted, two at the head, and two at the foot, of the casket. Suddenly one of the sisters uttered a scream of horror and pointed, for there on the opposite walls two dark spots were forming. With each passing moment these became larger and darker. In a very short while they assumed the attitude of two men crouching opposite each other and they became very distinct. Thor- oughly horriiied now, the sisters hung drapes before the scene, but the shadows came right through the drapes. Upon seeing this and also that nothing was causing it, they became quite frightened and resolved to move away from the house immediately after the funeral. At last dawn came and with it the shadows disappeared. On the next night everything happened as it had the night before. But on the third night the shadows, after becoming as distinct as on the other two nights, suddenly leapt forward and clasped each other in a death-like embrace. The next morning the funeral was held and that afternoon the sisters left,-never to be heard of again. Since that time live different families, of which mine was one, have rented the house, and each was driven out by those infernal shadows, which have remained, despite the fact that the wall has been repapered for each new occupant, so the owners, for the sisters and brothers had only rented the house, are tearing it down and plan to build on its site a new, modern apartment. Here the foreman ended his tale and I told him I did not believe it. He immediately took me up on my unbelief and we made arrangements to meet that night at nine to go into the house. Fortunately the night was pitch black, and we met at the hour agreed upon, went in, using our flashlights. He knew his way around and so directed me to the front room. Standing on one side of the room he flashed his light on the other, and there, I beheld those grim spectres, the lurking shadows. john Lampe, 8. 118