THE SPOOK SYNDICATE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXV, Issue 10010, 28 November 1908, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE SPOOK SYNDICATE.

(By Hjort Valdemir.)

Seven of us were seated before Peter Bond's crackling iron-wood fire, swapping yarns. It was a typical South Australian iiight; chilly, and silent with the intense stillness of the desert that lay on all sides but one of Bond's roughly comfortable hostelry. The talk turned upon a gold find in the immediate vicinity, and a tail, pleasant-featured man, who had been attentively silent for a long . while, removed the brierwood pipe that dangled from one corner of his. mouth, and said at last, with ( an unmistakable lunkee drawl : "Nothing doing." "Don't, you be so sure about that, Kelsev." said cheerful old Peter from his high chair behind the bar. "If a boom should happen to come along, it'd pay ycu to keep tnat fine place of yours." "Boom or no boom," said Kelsey with a grim smile, " 'that fine place' is going , off my 'hands as soon as I can find a buyer that'll give back half of what I paid for it." "It's a dura shame," said Peter through a puff of smoke. "Finest place this side of Melbourne. And after you sent the pictures to the girl, too." "She certainly did take a fancy to that shanty," Kelsey observed with a wistful air. - "Said she never expected to be set up in a mansion even back home where they're thick as flies, let along way out here in the wilderness. But she's a name little woman that takes things just as they come. She won't grumble when she finds the mansion's shrunk to a threeroomed board sliack at the end of a sheep ranch." A little, nervous-looking man, who had introduced himself as a soap salesman from Melbourne, leaned forward with an apologetic air. "Yur'e not talking about that handsome nlaee on the hill, with the red and black sale-board on the gate, are you?" he asked. "Yes, sir, that's the very one," Kelsey answered. "It's worth every dollar of what it cost the first owner —seventeen thousand —and anybody can have it for three thousand down." The little man glowed with delightful amazement. "Why, that's the very place my wife took such a tremendous fancy to, when w© passed it a couple of months ago, going down to Perth," said he enthusiastically, "and although' we'd been looking about for a home we didn't even stop to inquire about that one. We felt sure it was .out of our' reach, i'd like to look it over, anyhow." It happened that I had been looking the very same place over that day. My two partners in a mine investment were urging me to seek comfortable quarters for their joint accommodation. They were staunch, dependable fellows of old acquaintance, and the prospect of setting up a bachelor household with them was very attractive. "May I ask why you wash to dispose of such valuable propertey at less than half of its actual value ?" I asked. "Yes, sir. I m not hiding my reasons, which are known to every man, woman, and child in this community," Kelsey answered arimly. "The house is haunted from top to bottom." I had considerable difficulty in repressing a smile. "You don't look like a nervous man. Mi Kelsey, "I observed; "I never considered myself white-livered till J ran up against this spook proposition,'' he replied a trifle narshly. "but I'll admit that it- has about squelched my nerve." "What's the thins like?" I asked, beginning to feel interested as I sized up Kelsey, who was powerfully built and about as unimaginative in appearance as a downeast farmer. "I onlv wish I could tell you," he si.'hed, "but speech fails to describe the horror. You have to feel it yourself to tret anything like the risrht- idea. It has no voice—at least not the kind you can bear with your ears—but it makes you instantly aware of its presence by the terror that precedes its walking. ''First, all the lights go out without amoment's warnimr. And no matter how many matches you have about you none of them will work. Things touch you "without hands ; the house quivers without sound ; and pretty soon a Thing. beains to walk by a light of its own —a sort of fire ".'low that comes and goes." It occurred to me on the instant that I had heard a story very like that of a bier house in the outskirts of Sydney, which had finnllv been knocked down to achance buyer for a paltry thousand. "Anv trasredy connected with your house?" I asked. "Y"es, sir. That's why I got it for six thousand instead of what its worth," Kelsey answered straightforwardly. "In fact I couldn't have bought it at any price if if hadn't been for the spooks. "The house had been occupied only three weeks when the wife of the first owner got up in her sleep and walked out of the second-storey window in the dead of ni°-ht. The nex- mornimr she was found on the asphalt walk with a broken neck. The full-lengrh window of her room was wide open, by which they knew what had happened. "The affair sot into the Sydney and Melbourne papers, and the first thing anyone knew the story sot out that the house was haunted. And haunted it certainly was, although no sensible people believed it at- first. It broke the family nerve completely. When Havens—that was the man's name offered me the property he looked like a man with the palsy. "Of course I had no faith in, that ghost story," Kelsey went on. "J took possession right off, with only my dog Hector to keen- me company, while vvarhig lor the girl to make that long sea trip irom Maine to Melbourne. Hector, by the way, is the .nerviest piece of dog flesh I ever ran across—neier showed the white feather in his life, although he':; been in some hair-raising places, I can tell you. 'First nuht nothing happen-d. Y.V. both slept straight through.' Along ahoti midnight on the second night 1 woke up with a jump just as the light went out all over the house. In the fraction of a second I grabbed a candle and begin to scratch matches, but although I tried at least fifty, not one of them even sputtered. All of a sudden the floor vibrated under me. The windows shook in their fastening, as if driven by a furious gale, although there wasn't a breath of wind stirring. Then a sinvrular coldness floated through the room, and a Thing began to move aboat. nuking no sound whatever, but radiatinc the most awful terror \o\\ fpuld well imagine. I held out til] an icy something touched my forehead : then I'yrlled, and fled, with' Hector whining at mv heels. "1 tried to brave it out the next night. without Hector, who could not be coaxed a toss the threshold: and again T was l routed. After that, a crowd of lu-3ty , neighbors volunteered to solve tV vt ■■<■ • tci'v. and for five successive nights they 1 waited. in vain for the spook. On the sixth night it routed them all."

"I have no theory to offer. I used not to believe in supernatural things, but this experience has queered me for keeps. Xow I'm ready to believe any fool thing." "If nothing ails that house but ghosts,' said the little soap man, whose name was Danders. "My wife was so taken with it, you know.'' "Then you are ghost-proof, tdo?" I observed jestingly, for he bore every evidence of extreme timidity. "Don't believe in sucn things," was, the prompt reply. "Of course all women are more or less susporstitiuus, but J cl manage to keep the spook story from reaching' - niy wife's ears—if I should be -so fortunate as to get possession of the house." "You couldn't keep it quiet," Kelsey said "With conviction, "for -the Thing would soon make itself heard and feit and feared." "Suppose we tackle the situation together?" Banders suggested with an amiable smile. "We could go over the house by daylight and spend the night trying to solve the riddle between us." I agreed to the proposition with a good deal of enthusiasm. My curiosity was in full swing, and, besides, I really wanted to get the 'house, quite as much, if not more, than Banders.' wanted it for his wife. On the following day Kelsey showed Banders and myself through the haunted house. It was"unusually handsome, built like an ornate East Indian bungalow, with deep, graceful arches, and generous verandahs under low, projecting eaves that threw long, cool shadows on the smooth floors. Tlie interior was finished in hard woods with beautiful bits of hand-carving. On the ground: floor were three apartments —an immense library and livingroom combined, a dining-room, and extensive kitchen quarters; the upper floor was fitted with bedroom suites, a billiardhall, a sun-parlor, and numerous little storerooms. We examined every nook and cranny tlwroughlv: and Banders pried about litte a. ferret an places 'that I merely glanced; into, but nothing out of the ordinary was discovered. We decided to spend the night in the library, which was simply but comfortably furnished and well warmed, for Kelsey had built a lire in the little furnace that heated the water .or the bathrooms. We were equipped with half a dozen candles, six boxes of matches, and two sixshooters. The night was still and dark as a poc- ' ket, with the biting chill ox the des. !■,£■'. that season of the year. For a while the steam clicked and bumped noisily through the pipes - ; then it settled into a cheerful warmth, and all sounds ceased. Banders was extremely nervous, although he tried his best to appear at ease. His small, sharp blacK eyes nacl a scared, haunted look; and he found it impossiole to lend himself to the luxurious comfort of his deep-seated easy chair. The dropping of a book caused him to start violently. Jrle apologised in a s-aineiaced way, and braced himself mentally against any further display of nervousness. For several hours we exchanged experiences without pause, for the deathly stillness was a bit disquieting to us both. Then . quite without warning, a- soundless gust of wind swept through the room, rattling the windows, which I had fastened securely : a quiver ran along the solid flooring, and the lights went out in a twinkling. I reached for the matches that lay at my elbow, and struck one after another in rapid succession. No light came, only a sickening sulphurous odor. I heard; j anders breathing hoarsely as'he scraped the rough sides of his match-box in frantic and futile haste, while I tried a second box in vain. T was about to open a third when something passed behind my chair, diffusing n. simruhir coldness that ran down niy spine like a trickle of icy water. Xo sooner had I turned to lace the horror than ;; vague, luminous shape appeared at the far end of the room, only to-disappe.u- an instant later and flare out in an opposite corner. t There was no sound that the ears coind detect but a sort of soughing raised the hair of mv head now and then as it fanned my tense face. Furtive hands groped near me, touching me icily onoe in a while, but my hands found nothing within reach. How long I could have endured the strain of the horror alone, 1 do not know ; but when Banders threw himself upon mc with a wild shriek, I rose and fled toward the great, glass-panelled door. We wrenched it open and ran headlong, until a stout little wire fence threw us both violently backward in the short, stubby grass. • , '"We're a pair of blamed cowards!' I exclaimed contemptuously as soon as my breath returned. "I shall stick if out tomorrow night, even if 1 have to do it alone." Banders wiped his perspiring face m trembling silence, but presently lie admitted that the affair had unnerved him temporarilv. "But' I'll stand by you to-morrow night, if possible," he promised feebly. >"ihis horror must be due to some kind of trickerv ; don't you think so?" "*Yet why should any one want to play such a scurvy game? If the house had any secret passages I'd suspect the presence of counterfeiters, but we examined the place too thoroughly to leave any room for such suspicions. What could ha\e happened to our matches?" he went on in a troubled voice. "That's beyond me," I replied, "but 1 intend to ge't to the bottom'oi the mystery. Tell you what we'll do—lay in a couple of electric torches and keep them abv.ut us till the house-lights are switched oft'. Then if there's any thing visil.le about, the torches will show it." "Fine idea !" Banders cried. "Better get four, so that we can have two apiece in case of accidents." I took the morning train for i'cvtu and procured four freshly charged electric torches, two of which I gave Banders that night when we met in the haunted house. He had thoughtfully bz'ouglit a hamper of sandwiches and a quart bottle of excellent wine for our midnight refreshment. All went well till half past eleven o'clock, when we sampled the provisions. They effectually banished every _\estig? of superstitious dread fro,;] my mind ; ui fact, I actually fell into a light cloze, from which Banders roused me instantly, as it seemed to me, by gently sha.:in g my shoulder. "Don't go off and leave me !" lis Legged. "I haven't the nerve to face that Tiling alone." I rose and took a turn about the room to rid myself of the pleasant drowsiness that had taken possession of ■ne. .Midway to the door, a gust of cold niy struck me" in the face, rendering me wide-awake on the instant. As 1 swung about to look for an open window black darkness descended around me. a door rattled in its 'as-tenings, and I became aware of a cold and fearful presence near me. There was no sound in the room except the painfully loud breathing of Banders, yet something moved near me, touching me now and them with icy fingers—a black, frir-'less Thing that drew out gleams of nebulous light, with its weird soughing.". °T snatched an electric tu'.-ch from my pocket, found the spring and pressed it. There was no my hall-numbed . r:--;p while I fumoled for the second torch, grinned the trigger and found it useless. Sot the faintest glow came from the bulb, although I had tested it and found it in perfect working order onlv an hour before. "Light your torch, Banders," 1 managed to sav iii a hoarse whisper. The dim outlines of a ghostly figure glimmered for a moment, against the opposite wail, diminishng to a mere blur which wavered uncertainly, then suddenly swept past me toward Banders. The little'man uttered an unearthly scream and dashed for the door, which we had purposely left unbolted. The gust of invigorating night air that swept into the room "when Hauders wrenched back the door snapped the tension of my terror, and gave me the free use of my half-paralysed limbs to such purpose that I overtook Banders as he was running at full speed down the road toward Bond's inn. T confess that I was daunted but not defeated, as I assured the panting little man. who presently paused beside me in the shadow of the hostelry. W>? returned to the haunted house, after sunrise the following mornitm - . Rvcrvthini - was exactly as we had left it ; the front door wide open, our chairs close ■ to the table that held our half-finished repast, and in the middle of the floor lay the two discarded; torches.

Ono of these I picked up and idly examined. The. trigger responded to my random touch by throwing out a. circle of strong white light. The second torch had been broken by tho fall. * Banders wont forwaid eagerly and pick-. od up the two torches that lay exactly where lie had dropped them under the table. Both were hi perfect working order. Every match which we had thrown to tho floor "on tho preceding night responded to a single scratch with a bright spurt of flame. . , "It's way' beyond me!"' Banders murmured in blank bewilderment. Under tho genial influence of tho morning light the memory of the previous night's terror softened a, little, but the invstery remained unsolved—luisolvablo it seemod to both. The creeping coldness, the hbi»riblo 'luminous presence which created vibrations without sound, and controlled all 'maimer of lights without touch, (lie uncanny \power of diminishing—aU those thing?, wore utterly inexplicable. "There's only one thing .left f<:: - us, Banders," said] I, after a long, profitless discussion, "and that is to build such a roaring tiro in the fireplace that no human agency can quench it without visible means. Of course I still believe that this ' business is duo to some diabolical trickery, but if a big open fire can be put out like the other lights, I'll yield the victory to the spook." Banders pulled himself together with a ■ smile. "Why on earth didn't we think of that before:" he 'exclaimed hopefully. "We'll , catch them that way if they can be caught. I promise you to stick to the job to-night if it kills, me." Night fell with a spatter of rain that soon subsided in inky darkness. We built a substantial fire in the unused fireplace and laid in a lavish supply of light wood ! and pine knots, with which I replenished' the names from time to time. Banders, though plainly nervous, held himself un- ( der admirable control. , All went well, even'cheerfully, until the gaslights were extinguished ; and. oven then 1 felt no particular, fear, for the rosy ( firelight assured me that no ghost would , da.re venture into its wholesome glow. Suddenly, however, I saw 'something in ( Banders' wide-open, staring eyes that caesjd me to turn my head apprehensively and follow the direction, of his horrified , ■gaze. At that, instant the fire-glow was smotheredr in hissing, seething darkness. , There was a movement behind me, a soughing and trembling that .turned mo ' cold in an instant. Then a pungent, penetrating, familiar odor gushed to my nostrils, clearing my brain as by magic cf every trace of superstitious fear. That trenchant odor had assailed my ■ nostrils once before in a . hotel fire in Calcutta. The momentary 'panic which ac- . companied that moment of confused waking in a smoke-choked room, with tho air reeking of chemicals, had impressed that scent unmistakably upon my memory, i I drew my revolver just as something cokl and mouldy smelling brushed past i me, and I fired at the luminous blurr that hovered toward tha door. Hasty as was ■ mv aim, it went home, for the icy, black • Thing .uttered a very.human scream and doubled back. The next instant a knifeblade ripped through my coat-sleeve, just ■grazing my shoulder. I dropped noiselessly to my knees and rolled under the table, with my revolver ready for action. The chair I had justvacated fell backward with a crash as some one stumbled over it, swearing in a. thin, angry voice. That was Banders; and he was groping for me with an unsheathed knife, an I saw by the faint, dull grayiTses that came in through an uncurtained window. Then I knew that I was facing an ominous situation, which would, have to bo mastered before I could leave that room alive. From where I 'crouched, behind one end of a, table-scarf, I could very dimly discern "the window that looked out upon a. sky from which the rain-clouds had cleared; 'That little patch of grayness enabled me to see the silhouette of a groping figure with an arm upraised a little ■in°its" fending search with the knife that had slit my coat-sleeve I fired at that figure, and it drooped, with a sputter of "pain. At the same moment a. tongue of flame shot from tho hissing darkness of the fireplace, diffusing a n-kani of light by which I saw my second antagonist—a horrible Thing in black, standing in the middle of the room with poised pistol, looking at Banders. who crouched between the window and my hiding-place, rocking noiselessly to and fro, with both arms hugying an injured V Neither of them looked under the table (.life soon enough for their own good, for I had time to send a shot at the hand that hdd the pistol before I dashed from my hiding-place and kicked aside the black reeking mass that smothered the hissing embers of the fireplace. -V burst cf angry flame illumined the whole room and revealed the gratii'ving fact that I was master of the situation. •'Hands up!" 1 commanded. Instantly throe hands rose. The black Tiling had a broken wrist. "You two blackguards may take your stand together to save trouble," 1 added si-ruficantly. "It will be easier for me to watch you* both in one spot. Come now, uet together," I commanded. " The hideous Thing in black shinned across the room, diffusing now and then a phosphorescent glimmer as his voluminous draperies parted. I kicked a pineknot on the fire, dragging an armchair toward me, and seated myself facing my prisoners. l As Banders seemed to be bleeding profusely, I iliing him the scarf that bung over one end of the table. "You have put me out of business for keeps," he grumbled in a very different voice from the timid pipings of the pr«vioiis nights, as he wrapped the scarf tightly about his wounded knee. °'\'ou deserve to be hung," I assured him, "and T should be doing my simple duty in handing you over to the authorities. However,jl confess that I. am extremely curious to discover your motives for this extraordinary trickery, as well as your mode of procedure. I might make you an oiler of release on satisfactory terms." - Banders gave me a keen look. ior your promise to keep silence about this affair for twenty-four hours," he isaid slowly, "we'll make a clean breast of the whole matter." "Done," I answered after a moments reflection. "But I want the absolute truth, mind. For the least variation from facts you shall have what you most dread. , . Ban-tiers looked at his companion, who nodded. "You'll give u» twenty-four hours.' he ncrsisled. I nodded, but he was not satisfied until I had given a verbal answer in very strong terms.'"' Then ue cleared his throat and began his story : "Four years ago the public got.curious about a spiritualistic band of which we two were prominent members, and. tho upshot of it was an investigation that caught us napping and disbanded our company beyond the possibility of .reorganisation. Being experts in th.it business, the idea came to us to form a spook_ syndicate to operate along spiritualistic lines whenever a fine bit of property offered opportunities." "The thing worked without a- hitch ; for all of us know the spirit tricks right down to the ground ; and once wo got hold of a good proposition we had very little trouble bringing it around to suit our purpose. ' We got track of our jobs by searching the newspapers for notices of unusual and -violent deaths. In nine cases out of ten we found the bereaved persons easv to unnerve by a first appearance, and we rarely had any trouble after getting a good start in a house of death. "Generally we drove out the servants after the first night or two; next the women of the family would lose their nerves, and lastly the men would give in. Then tho whole' neighborhood would get hold of the story, "and we'd have the, property in our hands within six months. If the'owner didn't put the figure low enough to start with, we'd let it go and tackle the second owner a- bit more vigorously, and finally he'd cave in and sell for ' a mere song. "Then - one of our gang would take pos- > session with his family, with tho entire s neighborhood watching for developments. I Of course, nothing would happen; con- • seqiiently. at the end of six or eight months "of absolute quiet, the property

would lose its ghostly reputation and wed sell it for its full valuo. ' "Good business, eh?" I askod. "Immensely profitable," was tho cool answer. " ■ "Now about your methods—not that I wish to infringe upon your trade-secrets, but 1 am naturally of an impairing disposi. tiou." "Jim, hero," said Bandera, with n nod towards his companion, "used to do the materialisation act in tho modium business, so wo let him do most of the ghostwalking, while some of tho rest of us attended to the vibration and drafts. Ho always dresses in a combination of whito and 'black, so as to make- himself appear big or little, at will, and ho generally smears himself over with luminous paint to get. the uncanny effects. "The coldness and houldiness that you objected to so strongly, were duo to a combination of chemical manifestations known only to tho inventors. Of course, the lights 'are easily controlled by an outsider." "What about the matches that wouldn't light at night, but. which burned brightly the next morning?" I asked* "Dead easy. I carried a supply of spoilod matches which 1 substituted for your good ones when you weren't looking. Jim changed them back again tho next nioni- '"*£•" * "And the electric torches?' "I fixed the wine just enough to get you very lightly befuddled. While you took your forty' winks, I disconnected tho wires! Jim put them fo rights, too." I could.afford to laugh at my own donso stupidity. "You'certainly played your part well, Banders," I acknowledged'.' "I took you for an arrant, little coward up to themoment that you made that lunge at mo with your knife. I presume you were afraid I'd buy this property and hold on to it in spito of the Spook Syndicate?" "I know wejl enough that you and your two puis, would, burn tho roof down ovor our heads sooner than givo up tho fight once you got hold of tho place," Banders replied. "We knew you all by reputation. You gave us more trouble single-handed, than any other man of our experience, though Kelsey was bad enough. He didn't givo us that roaring big lire to dispose of, though, and " "Oh, by the way, how did yoiii manage to quench that fire ovem temporarily?" I asked.' "By throwing on an asbestos mat dressed with an old-fashioned fire-extin-guisher, while you sat gu/Ang into space. We thought that would finish you." "And because it didn't, you tried to finish me another way?" 1 put in drily. "Now, there's one thing you may us well bear in mind—this night marks tho dissolution of the Spook Syndicate. You understand, do you?" "Well, rather," grumbled Banders. "I adviso you to lose no time in getting out of this community. The folks about this neighborhood aro early risers, so you had best be on your way." "i can't walk," Banders complained sulkily. "Jim will find a very good saddle horso in tho stable below this house, which Kelsey put at my disposal. Take that as far as the station and leave it there." Banders rose with difficulty. Jim gave him his uninjured arm, and tho sorry looking pair hobbled away, with an ominous backward glance at mo. 1 had a secret dread that they might return, so I locked the doors and replenished tho fires intending to keep awake for tho rest of the night. In spite of my resolution, however, I fell asleep in my chair towards morning. A tremendous pounding at the door awoke mo when the sun was two hour.s. high. It was Kelsey. He was preparing to force, an entrance, when I jumped up and slipped back the door bolt. He held an open letter in one hand and looked curiously happy. "I'll bo durned if I didn't think for a moment that tho spooks had got you 1" he exclaimed in a relieved voice. Then he waved the. lutler before my eyes. She'll, be in Melbourne the day after to-morrow," he announced. "I'm going down on tho next train." "Good!" I said. "Tho bride-to-be- will find her 'mansion' ready for occupation. The spooks are laid for good. No questions for twenty-four hours," I interrupted myself to say warningly, "for that's in, tho bond." Kelsey stared hard at mo for an incredulous moment. "You don't moan you've caught anything?" he asked in a wary undertone. "Caught audi vanquished. But I'm under oath to hold my tonguo fill midnight, soI'll savo the story till you luring back, tho mistress of tho 'house. I've changed my mind about buying it. Tho conditions upon which you offered it for sale no longer exist." Ivelsey reached: out and gripped my hand with painful firmness. "I'll tell you what I think of you when I get back," he said. "She's on my mind now."