The Argosy — page 74: what you’re looking at

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

wwYy 44 On the Supernatural. evidently, and apparently unable to get over her tremor or to go to sleep. Neither mother nor child spoke a word; but when the day began to dawn the little one said : “‘ Mamma, I did hear that man come into the room and go to the dressing-table.” Her mother had never said a word about what she had heard, nor as to why she had asked her whether she would go into her bed. Certain it is that there was no burglar in the house, and it is im- possible that what I have related could be due to any other than the supernatural. Two very singular occurrences took place just at the time of my mother’s death, which it is impossible to account for otherwise than as the result of the same agency. Being very weary, and almost worn out with long watching by my dear mother’s dying bed, the night after all was over I retired to rest early, after having carefully extinguished the lights. My bedstead was a small tent, with white dimity hangings, a valance hanging round the tester. From sheer fatigue and exhaustion I quickly fell asleep, and never once woke until the bright morning sun made its way through the curtains. On opening my eyes, the first thing I saw, which alarmed me not a little, was the counterpane covered with tinder, the centre of the tester of the bed being completely burned away, leaving only festoons of the burnt dimity hanging round the inside of the wooden frame, with the valance outside untouched and uninjured. The fire had evidently originated in the cenfre of the tester, and it is guste impossible that any spark from a candle could have reached it. Had it been one of the curtains which was so burnt, this might have been the case, but the curtains were untouched. How it was possible for me, for anyone, to have slept through the g/ave and Acat which must have been produced by such a fire is most mysterious. Yet I was perfectly unconscious of both; and that I escaped being burnt to death seems little short of a miracle. About a fortnight after this occurrence, an equally strange and unaccountable one took place ; it was in the same room, which was a very cheerful one, looking out on to the lawn. The house, which was our own, was an old one; that is, the main building, which had been added to, and had the name of being haunted. Very many strange and unaccountable noises were certainly heard in it, but in the room in question nothing had ever before occurred to shake the weakest nerves. I was packing, preparatory to leaving the old home for ever. There was a large china plateau, which I much prized ; and, being anxious for its safety, decided on packing it in a chest of linen, in- stead of with the other china. It was taken to my room the night before it was to have been packed, and rested on its edge against the wardrobe. When I rose in the morning it was lying on the floor in a hundred COMIC OOlKS.CO