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And unbidden guests by W. Bob
Holland. My cousins Kate and Tom Howard,

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married at Trinity at Easter time,
concluded to commence housekeeping by taking one

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of those delightfully expensive furnished unfurnished cottages
with which the fashionable watering place of w

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abounds. From those rear windows one
might almost take a plunge into the surf,

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the beach being at the back door. They went down quite early in

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May, being in a great hurry
to try their domestic experiment, and as

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the evenings were still cold, they
spent them about the open fire, spooning.

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It was upon one of these nights, about eleven o'clock, that they

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were startled by a noise as of
some small objects falling, soon followed by

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the sound of heavy footsteps, and
then quiet reigned again. Supreme at once,

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Tom, poker in hand, boldly
started in search of the burglar,

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followed by Kate wildly clutching at his
coat tails. In a state of tremor,

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they looked upstairs under the various beds, Kate suggesting that in novels they

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were always to be found there.
The dining room was next explored, where

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all seemed well, and lastly the
kitchen, where they found what was evidently

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a solution of the mystery. The
burglar had entered by the back door,

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which was found to be unlocked and
slightly ajar the first excitement subsiding, They

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returned again to the dining room,
where Tom, upon closer inspection, then

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discovered that one of a pair of
quaint little pepper pots wedding gifts, was

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missing, and other small articles on
the sideboard had been slightly disturbed. The

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next morning, when Kate mildly remonstrated
with the Queen of the kitchen for her

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carelessness, she received a shock by
being told that it was her usual custom

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to leave the door open so that
it could be easy convenient loki for the

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milkmaid. They parted with her,
and a new maid was engaged, whose

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chief qualification for the place was that
she was most faithful in the discharge of

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her duties, especially in locking up. While they mourned the loss of the

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pepper pot, it still seemed so
trifling when they thought of that lovely reposse

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salad bowl sent by Aunt Julia,
which stood nearby, that nothing was said

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of the loss outside of the family
and the little household settled into its normal

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state once more of billing and cooing. About a fortnight later, Tom started

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out one night with an old fisherman, one of the natives had a local

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character to indulge in that delightful pastime
so dear to the heart of man,

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known as ealing, And as the
night was dark, the eels were particularly

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sporty, so that it was well
on towards the way small hours. When

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Tom at last returned to the cottage, he found all excitement within. Kate

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was in hysterics, and the new
maid, also weeping, was industriously applying

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the camphor bottle to her mistress's nose. The burglar, or ghost, as

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they had now decided, though windows
and doors being found to be securely locked

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this time, had been abroad again
and had succeeded in purloining nothing. His

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royal ghost Chip had amused himself,
apparently by simply walking about. Oh Tom,

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he had on such heavy boots and
was so dreadfully bold about it,

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said Kate tearfully. From that time, Kate became nervous and refused to be

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left alone. Tom started whenever the
door creaked, and the treasure departed hurriedly

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saying, faith, the house is
haunted. Sure after that, Kate spent

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her days in girl hunting and her
nights in answering shadowy advertisements that never materialized.

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They tried Irish, English, Dutch, and the Heathen Chinee with a

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sprinkling of colored ladies to vary the
monotony. They seemed about to become famous

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throughout the length and breadth of the
land as the family that changes help once

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a week. When they landed Treasure
number two shortly after her advent, we

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were all asked down to w to
help celebrate their happiness, and incidentally,

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to christen the new dining set.
We were not a little surprised to find

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Kate so pale and Tom rather distrait. However, after a delightful dinner that

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should have filled with pleasure the most
exacting bride, we adjourned to the the

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piazza, leaving the men to the
contemplation of their cigars. We were enthusiastic

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in our praise of the house and
congratulated Kate in securing such a prize,

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when, to our horror, she
burst into tears and said, oh girls,

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it's a dreadful place. It's haunted, and then tearfully proceeded with the

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details until we all felt creepy and
suggested the parlor and lights. It was

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not long afterward that Kate discovered that
Tom had also related the ghost story to

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the men that evening, to which
Ned Harris had said laconically, rats and

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bob Shaw laughingly remarked, calm old
Chap, you really shouldn't take your nightcap

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so strong. About the first of
July, the climax came. The ghost

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walked again, this time taking not
only the remaining pepper pot but also a

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silver salt seller. Evidently he had
a penchant for small articles. But unlike

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former times, everything on the sideboard
was in the greatest disorder. Aunt Julia's

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salad bowl was found on the floor, and not far away the cheese dish,

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with its contents scattered. About this
time, one of the windows was

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found half open. A week later, a note came to me from Kate

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saying that she and Tom had gone
to Saratoga to spend the remainder of the

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season with her mother. The following
spring, Tom received a note and parcel

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from mister b the owner of the
house at w which read as follows,

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Dear mister Howard, I send you
by express three articles of silver, which

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my wife's suggests may belong to you, as they are marked with your initials,

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namely two silver pepper pots and a
salt seller. They were found the

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other day during the process of spring
house cleaning in a hole behind the sideboard.

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I forgot to have the hole stopped
up last spring, or to caution

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you against the water rats. The
great fellows will get in you know.

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Kind regards to missus Howard, yours
truly, John B. The next season,

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the Ghost Club was organized, the
badge being a small silver rat bearing

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proudly aloft a tiny pepper pot.
We thoughtfully offered Tom the presidency, but

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he declined with offended dignity, from
the effects of which I think he will

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never fully recover. The End of
the Unbidden Ghosts by W. Bob Holland