How to Make a Haunted House
One winter evening three boys—Jim Thompson, his cousin Will White, and a friend named Handley—approached the door of Bobbie Cargill’s house. Bobbie was a genius for inventions, and they all felt a desire to see his home.
As they reached the door, White, who was a cynic in his own way, raised his hand to the knocker and was about to give a thundering “rat-tat,” when the door silently opened, revealing an empty hall in which the light flickered dimly.
After a glance of surprise at one another the guests entered.
“Close the door! Wipe your boots, and come upstairs!”
The visitors started violently as these words were uttered by a hollow voice, coming from nowhere in particular, and yet quite close to where they were standing.
After a moment Handley said in a whisper, “I don’t much like this. It seems——”
“Hang up your hats, and be quick about it,” the ghostly voice interrupted sharply. “Are you going to stand chattering there the whole night? Hang up your hats, I say!”
This was not a pleasant beginning, yet none of the guests cared to show the white feather.
“Come on!” said White. “Let’s see it through”; and setting an example he placed his hat upon the nearest peg.
Crash! Amidst a clatter as of broken glass the hat and peg fell to the ground. The three boys looked at one another in consternation!
But before they had time to remark on this misfortune, a shriek of weird laughter rang in their ears. “Ha! Ha! Ha!” The invisible person seemed in paroxysms of mirth at their disaster.
“I don’t care for this a bit,” muttered Handley; “let’s clear out.” They were all about to beat a hasty retreat when Bobbie Cargill appeared, apparently much surprised at finding his visitors making an awkward group in the hall.
“How did you fellows get in,” he said, “and what have you been doing? Has there been an accident? Never mind, come along upstairs and have a ‘feed’; perhaps you will feel better then!”
Nothing loth, the three guests followed their host to his own room, which usually went by the name of “The Den.” The upper part of the house was totally dark, and it was with a feeling of relief that they saw a glimmer of light beneath the door of “The Den.”
“Step inside and make yourselves at home,” said Cargill. “I will just run and say that you have arrived,” and he disappeared into the darkness.
Followed by the others, White turned the handle and threw the door open, glad to find a light once more. But the pleasure was short-lived, for the door had scarcely opened half-way when the light went out.
White, however, strode into the room, and his friends were about to follow, when there was a heavy stumble, a crash, and a smothered shout that was instantly drowned in the violent clatter and ringing of bells about their very ears.
“What has happened?” gasped Handley, scarcely able to hear his own voice in the deafening clamor. Advancing into the darkness, a violent report beneath his feet caused him to leap into the air with alarm, whilst in the gloom White was trying to make himself heard above the pandemonium.
“Here, Cargill, get a light for goodness’ sake!” howled Handley, as their host appeared. “I don’t know what on earth has happened; it seemed like a pistol going off.”
“You fellows are making a fine noise between you,” shouted Cargill. “Get inside, Jim, and turn on the light; it’s just to the left.” Jim had no sooner stepped across the threshold and begun searching for the switch, than BANG! BANG!—the very floor seemed thundering beneath him, whilst a rattle as of a thousand pots falling to the ground made the confusion worse. Leaping back hastily, he collided with Handley, and the couple sat down with a ponderous thud.
“That’s right; make yourselves comfortable!” laughed Bobbie Cargill. As he spoke the light was turned on, the jangling bells ceased, and the three guests were discovered gazing ruefully at one another, whilst their host, calm and collected, smiled down on them from the doorway.
It was some time before Bobbie could pacify his guests. Indeed, the situation might have become painfully awkward had they not happened to glance at the table, which certainly looked inviting. Knives and forks glistened cheerfully on a spotless white cloth, whilst dainty mats and sparkling cruets promised a really substantial “feed.” A large center-piece full of flowers added to the appearance of the table, and showed that Bobbie Cargill knew how to do things “in style.”
Following their host’s example, the three chums took their seats at the table and glanced round the room. It was a cozy “Den,” and looked cheerful, with a sparkling fire on the hearth. A thick curtain was drawn across the window at Cargill’s back, lending an air of comfort to the place.
Before each guest was a napkin, neatly mitered, with a piece of bread reposing between the horns, and scarcely noticing what he was doing, White drew this piece of bread from its resting-place.
A sharp exclamation drew attention to him. There he sat, a mass of bread-crumbs before him, and a look of surprise on his face!
“Have you had an accident?” grinned Cargill. “Never mind the crumbs, they can soon be scooped up; wait a minute until I fetch the tray.”
He had scarcely risen when a roar of laughter burst from Jim and Handley. By some strange means the entire mass of crumbs had been swept off the cloth and scattered all over the place.
“You might have waited for me to clear them away,” grumbled Bobbie, and this was the beginning of a heated discussion, which would probably have ended violently had not the host turned the conversation by asking Jim if he would take a piece of tongue.
“Yes, please,” answered Jim.
Sharpening his knife in a business-like manner, Cargill made ready to cut a slice.
But at this point a strange thing happened. As soon as the knife and fork got near the tongue, it leaped from the dish and clung tenderly to the knife. For a moment or two it hung suspended, and then flopped back into the dish.
“Let’s have another try,” said Cargill in a puzzled way. Up it jumped once more, apparently too anxious to be carved to remain still on the plate.
A murmur of surprise escaped the guests as all eyes were fixed upon this strange behavior. Once more the carver thrust his knife near the tongue, caught it neatly as it ascended, and carried it away to a side table, where he was obliged to bury his face in a handkerchief, presumably overcome with grief.
Having recovered somewhat, the host resumed his seat, remarking, “I think that tongue is best out of the way. I am afraid I have nothing better to offer you than some potatoes. You might help them round, Handley.”
Before his friend had time to reply, the lid of the tureen arose slowly and deliberately—ascended and then remained stationary in the air. Only for a moment, however. Suddenly rising yet higher it was followed by each individual potato, as one by one they rose sedately to the ceiling, leaving but one of their number in the tureen.
Their eyes fairly bulging with surprise, the boys looked at one another, at their host, and then at the tureen with its solitary occupant. But this last potato had suddenly awakened to a sense of its loneliness, and sprang into the air to join its companions. Next the whole party of vegetables slowly crossed the ceiling and disappeared behind the curtain, to be seen no more.
Jim wanted to jump up and see where they had gone, but his host dissuaded him, and, anxious to change the subject, asked what he would have to drink.
“I don’t quite know. What is there?”
A wine bottle that had been quietly standing in front of White lurched suddenly forward, as though in answer to the question. At the same moment the table began to heave, the glasses to rattle, and a little stool, covered with books, toppled over with a prodigious crash.
“Haven’t you some other room we can go to?” stammered Jim.
“Nonsense, it is only some silly trick of Cargill,” said White. Nevertheless all three guests wished themselves well out of it, especially when the dim light suddenly grew dimmer, and the shadows in the room increased. In a few seconds the boys were barely able to see one another.
At this point a mournful moan rang through the room, the curtains were seen to open, and a white figure glided from between them and passed out through the door.
“Let’s get out of here, the place is haunted!” cried White, rising from his chair.
“Ha! Ha! Ha!” a ghostly laugh issued from the flowers in the center of the table, and was echoed by the clock on the mantelpiece.
“Ha! Ha! Ha!”—but the guests could stand it no more, and, scrambling and struggling, they rushed downstairs, with White at their head. Panting and scared they did not stop until the hall was reached, when they stood still, staring at one another in dismay.
“What is the matter?” a sweet voice greeted them. The whole party turned to find Cargill’s sister standing at the dining-room door, looking from one to the other in frank amazement. None of them cared to reply. It is no pleasant thing to tell a pretty girl that you have been afraid.
“The ghost, Dolly,” gasped her brother after a moment, and in a shaky voice he recounted their mysterious adventures.
“So the silly old ghost would not let you have any tea! You must all come in here and enjoy yourselves. I believe there is plenty to eat,” and leading the way Miss Dolly ushered them into the dining-room, where the table was laid with enough good things to cheer a king.
But when she had shown each of the four friends his seat there still remained a vacant place at the head of the table.
“Now, gentlemen,” she said with a naughty smile, “as you are all feeling much braver now, I am sure you will not mind if the Ghost sits down and has something to eat, too.”
The boys looked at one another and then at her, but Miss Dolly, taking no notice of their surprise, quietly seated herself in the vacant chair, passed a plate to White, and said—
“Now, Mr. White, please give the Ghost something to eat.”
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After they had all had a good tea, of course Bobbie Cargill and his sister, the Ghost, had to tell the others how it was done. This is the gist of what they said:—
Fig. 1.—Apparatus for producing ghostly sounds.
The opening of the door was a very simple matter. A loop was tied in one end of a long piece of strong cord or string, which was carried across to the wall by means of staples, to a concealed corner. The loop was slipped over the door-catch, so that when the other end was pulled this catch was drawn back, whilst the continued pull on the string made the door open. This loop was made of such a size, that as soon as the door had opened to its full extent the string slipped automatically from the catch, and could then be pulled away and out of sight.
Fig. 2.—Mysterious hat-stand.
In the angle formed by the wainscoting and the floor a piece of simple tubing was placed, one end reaching a room on the ground floor, whilst the other was carried up behind the hat-stand to the height of about five feet. To this end a cardboard funnel was fixed, as in [Fig. 1], which, sticking out from the wall, was concealed by a hat or scarf upon the rack. A similar funnel was placed upon the other end, so that the voice of any person speaking through the tube from the room was carried with undiminished force to the hall, thus transmitting the ghostly messages and weird laughter to the guests.
In most hat-stands the pegs are screwed to the back, and taking advantage of this, Bobbie Cargill had unscrewed those pegs most likely to be used by his visitors, putting “fakes” in their place. To all appearances there was no difference between the “fakes” and the proper pegs, but in reality the former were simply gummed against the rack, just strong enough to bear their own weight, but too weak to support a hat.
Fig. 3.—Prepared hat-stand peg.
By the contrivance of a piece of string the fall of the hat-peg was made to work a kind of booby trap, explained by [Fig. 2], which shows the hat-stand in section. The false peg, A, is lightly gummed to the stand, B, C, against the hole D, where the real peg is screwed. A bent pin or nail is driven into this end of the peg, as seen in [Fig. 3], the end bending downwards. A thin piece of string, F in [Fig. 2], is fastened round this pin with a loop, passed through the hole D, and supports at the other end a tin, G, filled with bits of broken glass, marbles, and such like.
Naturally, when White hung his hat on the peg the strain brought the peg away from the stand, in its fall releasing the string and causing the tin to clatter to the floor. So simply was the whole thing arranged, however, that Bobbie Cargill had fixed it up in less time than it has taken to describe.
The absence of lights in the house served a twofold purpose. In the first place, it made the mystery and eeriness more marked, whilst at the same time it concealed several little matters which had to be hidden in order to insure success.
It will now be necessary to glance at the arrangement of the “Den,” shown by [Fig. 4]. The room was entered by the door A, whilst in the opposite wall is the fireplace B. The window C is hidden by the two heavy curtains at D and E. In the center of the room stood the table F, around which were placed the chairs G, G, G, G. Between the curtains and the window stood the ghost, who after all turned out to be none other than Dolly.
Over the center of the table hung the gas, which, being incandescent, naturally had a burner with a by-pass, and was easily manipulated by means of a piece of string running up the chandelier, carried across the ceiling where it was painted white, and down to Miss Dolly behind the curtains. A weight should be fastened to the switch to make it fall when not pulled by the string, as in [Fig. 5].
Fig. 4.—Plan of the room of mystery.
When White opened the door the young lady lowered the gas by means of her string, and as it was a by-pass the light did not actually go out, although it went sufficiently low to plunge the room in darkness.
Fig. 5.—The weighted by-pass.
Fig. 6.—An exploding cap.
It was an easy matter to cause a collision between the visitors. A piece of cord stretched across the room, at L, L, quickly did its work, and was then pulled away behind the curtain.
The “Den” had not been fitted up so neatly for beauty alone, and if they had looked, the guests might have found a couple of strong electric bells concealed beneath the dainty hangings of a picture by the door. Dolly had but to push a button and these two bells were set ringing like an alarm clock, and with a persistence calculated to arouse the Seven Sleepers.
Handley’s experience required even less preparation. Several good percussion caps were placed beneath the carpet and covered with a piece of tin as shown in [Fig. 6]. In the center of this piece of tin, a hole was pierced with a nail, making ragged edges on the further side. These ragged edges were placed over the powder in the cap, with the result that so soon as Handley trod upon the carpet over the plate the cap was exploded with a loud report.
Meanwhile Bobbie Cargill, arriving under cover of the darkness, added to the uproar by banging a tin can with a heavy stick, and performed this office so lustily that nothing else could be heard.
It is scarcely necessary to remark that sending Jim into the room to turn on the switch was merely a feint to get him out of the way, and to plunge him into the fracas.
A signal from Bobbie was enough to make his sister turn on the light and release the bell pushes, so that when silence was restored, and the darkness dispelled, there was nothing to show how all the commotion had occurred.
By adjusting a screw in the gas-burner Bobbie had previously arranged matters so that even when the gas was turned full on the light was not very strong. Although sufficient to illumine the room, it was feeble enough to hide several tell-tale features.
Besides being an ornament to the table, the large center-piece of flowers served to conceal the end of a piece of tubing which passed beneath Bobbie’s chair to the far side of the curtain. Amongst the frilled mats, too, there were one or two other contrivances to be explained in their turn.
It had been Miss Dolly’s business to make the fake pieces of bread. Taking a piece of bread and breaking it up into very small crumbs, she had then added just enough milk to enable her to mold the crumbs into the shape of a piece of bread again, and had then let the concoction dry, when it had become sufficiently brittle to suit her purpose.
Concealed by the mat in the center was a small indiarubber tube, one end pointed directly to the spot where White had dropped his mass of crumbs, whilst the other ended in a bulb conveniently placed to Bobbie’s hand. He had nothing to do, therefore, but to press the bulb suddenly, and laugh as the wind thus caused sent the crumbs flying.