The Argosy — page 247: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Lady Creighton. 233 hock now and then raised between his eye and the light: “ Franz, I think you told me the last residents here were English.” “Yes, sir. A titled lady, with her two daughters—one a child—and an army of servants. Sometimes they were seen abroad, but not often ; and after a time the young lady was never seen at all.” “ How long did they reside here?” ‘A year, I believe, though it may have been more or less. "Twas whispered that they ran away from what we’ve come to look up. And Pm thinking something took them off in a hurry, seeing how they left things behind them.” “It might seem so,” returned the Colonel, glancing reflectively around him. ‘“ And ——” “Hush !” I exclaimed, raising a warning hand. ‘“ What was that ?” There succeeded a dead silence, broken only by Nature’s quiet voice out in the forest. “Your fertile imaginafion, my dear fellow,” at last laughed the Colonel, emptying his glass. “Not so!” I exclaimed, as we all sprang to our feet at a louder repetition of the sound which had arrested my attention a minute before. ‘““*Twas a woman’s voice—a voice that I know!” cried the Colonel, snatching up a candle and dashing from the room. “It came from the hall above,” he shouted back, as Franz and I prepared to follow him. “Stop!” exclaimed Franz, as we reached the door. ‘ Look at the poor brute !” pointing to his boasted pet, crouching in the extremity of terror under a low couch by the fire. “Come, Fury! Come!” he called, but a whine was the only response, and we joined the Colonel alone. “It’s nothing human, Herr Colonel, you needn’t look,” said Franz, solemnly, as with ashy cheeks and lips my friend darted from chamber to chamber. As he spoke, the same heart-rending wail—sweet as mournful— echoed through the halls, and died away in some remote comer of the building. “Higher! higher!” cried the Colonel, taking the steps two at a time. “Nina! Nina! My darling—my love! I am here, Nina!” he shouted, as the hall was reached. Horror filled my soul. Had my friend gone mad? I looked at Franz. His eyes plainly spoke my own unexpressed fear. No voice answered the Colonel’s impassioned call, yet with frantic grief he prosecuted his vain search, tearing away moth-eaten hangings, sound- ing the walls and beating the floors, despite our entreaties and argu- ments. At last we got him down to the room we had entered so incredulously a few hours previous. He sank into a seat, despairing woe marked on every lineament. “ooale comicbooks.com—