Ghost Cut Ghost.

Bay of Plenty Times, Issue XX, 13 June 1892, Page 4

Ghost Cut Ghost.

Totl may imagine that daring my career as a detective I have bad some singular jobs given me to work on. There was one little piece of business that I always look back upon with a good deal of professional pride, although the ena was a very sad one. It was a ca#e of diamond cut diamond — gbest cut ghost, I call it — and took up my time for the better part of six laoatlp. About tea miles outside the limits of Pan Francisco — I'm speaking of about twenty years ago — stood a large farmhouse. This house had beeti vacant for three years before I paw it. The original owner had been murdered there, and the house and farm had passed into the hands of his brother, who was a New York gentleman. The New Yorker being unable to find a tenant for the bouse and faroY which bad passed into his hands, left them to take care of themselves. Now, a wooden house left to take care of itself is in a very bad way, and though for a time ths house was not without tenant-, they were not luch as took upon themselves any responsibility for the necessary repairs. Parties of two or three miners occaupnaiiy stopped at the bouse all night; these were its only tenants. But by-and-bye it was deserted by even these chance visitants ; for word began to get about that the house was haunted.

TKe panic caused by this report was such that fox love or money yon couldn't hare hired a carpenter to enter it even in the day-time. Of course I beard of the haunted house ; but as detectives are never called upon to arrest ghosts, I felt no particular curiosity about it. One morning our chief put into my bands a case against aa absconding aeoretary named Coffin. Coffin was the secretary of the White Mouutair. Mining Company. All the funds had beeo under his control, and he bad got away with tome ten thousand dollars belonging to the shareholders. My business wan to find him, fits landlady told me t iat he'd gone away without his trunks or clothes. The only things that were missing were a suit of clothes, a stout pair of boots, one or two clean shirts, some collars, n wide-awake hat, and a black valise. He had left the town at night. No one had witnessed his departure. Here was a good chance for a detective to work by tne inductive process — from small beginnings to work on and on from clue to clue until he bagged his man. All that I could do was to work all the roads leading out of the town. After about a week at this I found a farm, hand who had seen a foot passenger resembliug my man the morning after he had absconded. I followed this trail and soon became positive that I was on the right track. Coffin was a shrewd fellow. He had

planned the embezzlement and escape carefully, and bad made elaborate - preparations for playing what we call j^chttneleon game," that is for changing his clothing, headgear and face, at •very stage. To this end ho had possessed himself of a change or two of clothing, a stock of hats, and any quantity of whiskers ; and he rung the changes on these very frequently. 1 " Thai black bag was the only thing that I had to rely npoo as a pointer. Fortunately, a man on tramp with a black bag was not in those days a common sight ; and I had less difficult? in following CoffiVs trail than might be supposed. The first time I heard of him be wan a smooth-faced

gentleman, dressed in shabby black, looking for all the world like a broken dowrj gambler going to retrieve his fortunes in some mining camp. The next, be was a middle-aged doctor, with a flowing beard and Heavy moustache. Later on, be was playing; the fole of a company promoter, offering to buy up mining claims on behalf of an English syndicate. He was then attirfd; in a check suit, a light bat, j and side whiskers. At this stage I obtained positive proof that I was following the right man, and I thought I should have no difficulty in laying my band on Coffin. My calculations deceive^ me. -I found that he was * doubling,' and tiaeed him almost as far as the suburbs of San Francisco. There I lost all trace of him as com. plftteiy as if the earth had swallowed himuf. Months afterward, fteling vexed and disappointed, I dropped into a nloon st tbe outskirts of the town to g»t a ' liquor.' I had bad aa pretty a dance after Coffin as any man need want, but the interest of the game supported me, and I was determined not to give it up. There were three or four miners in the bar, and one of them was evidently excited. His companions seemed to be ridiculing him, and he was getting what we call • ugly.* I made my way towards the little knot of talkers and overheard the following conversation : * SoTfou Tdi^n't ' tMnk much of your lodgings in the haunted house, Bill ?' * No, j didn't— no two ways about it: € Wh*t did you hear ?* •Twa*n % t what I heard—'twas what I saw.' ' What did you see, then ?' • Why, the doors opeiiin' and shuttin* without anybody touchin' • Nonsense, man !* 1 Nonoenpe be Wowed ! I tell you they did. And woen I drawed my six-ehont«rand fired half a dozen shots clf«n through the door — tnakin' the all-fiWtsl; Vow you ever heard — the door kep' openin* and sbuttin' and

playin' tunes. I felt like a gone i sucker, you bet. My heart began to jump so under my jacket that it's a ivonder it didn't knock a button off. I wouidu't go there again for all the money in the State. But if anybody here thinks I'm a coward, he's only got te say so.* It suddenly occurred to me that I had located Coffin. A vague suspicion of this sort, had, it is true, flitted through my mind before ; but now, without being able to explain why, I felt assured that however impossible ! it might seem, Coffin was tbe ghost ! in tbe haunted house. Beyond the facts that the fame of the haunted house was wide spread, and that everybody knew of its existence, there was nothing to support my theory except the maxim of the most famous of all detectives — a maxim destined to assure his after-fame : " Always suspect that which seems probable, and begin by believing what appesrs incredible.*' I determined to call in the aid of another detective, and visit the place next night. I chose for my companion George Webber, one of the most esteemed members of the force, a man who had proved his worth. Webber was a man of imperturable calmness, and with great confidence in himself. He would have laid his band upon the most dangerous criminal as tranquilly as if he had been accosting a friend.

The haunted farmhouse was situated about a hundred yards from the roadway. What once had been a garden was now a veritable jungle, given up to weeds and bushes. Fortunately, although it was ten o'clock, the night was clear. Innumerable stars lit up the flinty sky- There was no light in the house, no signs of its being inhabited. The windows of the ground floor were broken, and some of doors were open. We entered at the rear. A place of more sinister aspect I never saw. The plaster had crumbled from the walls ; the flooring was rotten j the ceiling looked as though it might fall at any time, the rafters being beet as if they supported a heavy we gbt. The sitting-room, where "Bill" had taken up his quarters a few nights previously, contained a rough table and a few stools, which bad been overturned, 1 could see that the door which led from it to the staircase had been riddled by bulleta. There was a doorway in the passage, but the door , was gone. The door which led into the parlor opened noiselessly.* Our lanterns revealed the fact that the tables, glass and chairs had been overturned, thrown in every direction, trodden upon, and shivered into fragments. Everything denoted that this room had been the scene of a terrible struggle. The keyhole of the door which led into the cellar was sewn up with cobweb 3, The cellar itself was full of dust and debria. Each of us bad a lantern and each inspected for himself. Kunning along the side wall, I detected a wire, and following this I found that it disappeared in an old barrel. Without disturbing the wire, I removed the head of the barrel and found that the wire was attached to an old saucepan lid. A thorough examination revealed nothing farther j so we returned to the sitting. room, I did not tell my companion what I bad seen, and he had discovered nothing. We did not go upstairs, because we thought it would be prudent to postpone further explorations until th© next day, Meanwhile, we darkened our lanterns and deposited them in a corner. The room was semi-dark. Our eyes and ears were on the alert ; but the house waß still as the tomb ; we saw nothiog and heard no sound.

I bad merely told my companion that I expected to make an important discovery. Of its nature he knew nothing. We waited in the most acute degree of expectation and attention until nearly midnight. AH of a sudden we heard faint notes of music, wnich lasted for a few minutes. By-and-bye the music was accompanied by a voice. The sounds were as fine and soft as the voice of a child. I was satisfied that the nusic was the work of human hands and the voice a human voice, but I was considerably 8 tar tied. My companion looked very pale, and strove to rise from the place where he sat. I put my hand on his arm to prevent him. It was scarcely necessary, for he could barely muster strength to wbisper, ' Let's get.' The music was trailing away into feebleness, when the staircase door began to open and shut. I felt sure that the wire which I had seen had something to do with this. I made a great effort to rise. To my astonishmeet, I could not move a limb. I could only bend forward and gasp. A power which I could not iesist made me motionless and speechless. Yet all the time I was burning to * go ' for that door, but I hadn't physical capacity to do so. •

My <v»m pan i.»n recovered fi rst, and seizincr footlt lanterns, dashed from the houHP and made for the roadway. I jumped to mv feet and followed my companion. Ah I did so, I heard a tunk, tunk, tunk ! down in the cellar. I found my mate in tbe highway, his face as white as a sheet. 1 What in thunder ails you, man ?' T j asked, feeling that the most creditable way of drawing my companion's attention from my condition was to heighten the absurdity of his. 'The ghoti!' he gasped. 'I wouldn't go back to that bouse to save my life.' There was nothing for it but to tell Webber what I'd seen and what I

suspected. As I have said, my fellowdetective was as brave a man as ever took up a trail ; and when I told him what 1 bad seen, he became perfectly self- possessed. We spent the remainder of the night in laying our plans. la the early morning he rode back to San Francisco to get the necessary apparatus for carrying them | out. I remained to ' shadow ' the house. Ju«t as it was getting dusk my companion returned, and we re-entered the house from the rear, noiselessly, and with great caution. Removing my shoes, I made my way upstairs, where I fancied I detected a slight noise overhead. There was no sign of this room having been inhabited. The old place was two stories high, with a garret at the top. The garret was evidently reached by a ladder, though none was visible. I surmised that the ghost was in this garret, and that anyone showing his head above the scuttle would get it rapped, even if he didn't get shot. There was a large cupboard facing the entrance to the garret, and in the door of it I bored— on a level with my eyes — a few small holes with a gimlet which I happened to have in my pocket-knife, first drawing it through my hair, to prevent its making the slightest noise. My plan was to play the ghost for the benefit of the occupant of the garret— ghost, or no ghost. For this purpose Webber had brought with him an old fiddle. I removed all the strings but one, told my companion j to allow me to secrete myself above, j and then to make a noise on that one j string, accompanying it with a few! groans and other muffled noises. I hadn't been hid man/ minutes before I heard the darnedest row from below. It wasn't like anything earthly. At first it seemed like one shrieking in pain then it sounded like belligerent cats, and then it died ■ away in a few complainiog sighs. It j was so weird that, although I knew: very well that my mate! was causing ! it, I couldn't help feeling a bit queer. Pretty soon I beard a movement overbead j the scuttle-top was being removed, Next a ladder was thrust down the scuttle. To help Webber to keep up the entertainment, I gave a few groans inside the cupboard. That brought a man down the ladder He'd no sooner reached the foot of it than I collared him. It was Coffin. The moment I touched him he sank down on the floor like — like an empty sack. He seemed as if he hadn't got a bone in his body j he was as Jimp j as a jelly-fiah. While I got him out into the open air, Webber searched the garret, and found all the missing dollars, bonds, &c. We hurried Coffin back to San Francisco, intending to lock him up. He was still unconscious, and we were obliged to summon a doctor, Poor fellow ! He never got over it. When he came out of his swoon he was mad, and had to spend the rest of his days in an asylum. That's the effect it has, sir, when a man really believes he has come in contact with the supernatural, as Coffin did.