BAILEY BUGLE. BAILEY. NORTH C/iRQLINA. NOVEMBER, 19^6 P/GE 3
The Old House By Lmm BOYKm-Junlor
(This paper is an outgrowth of a three-weeks unit on
vocabulary enrichment* All wor^ls underlined are found in
the 60-word study—Editor)
There was a dearth of light, and the night was as dark
as an abyss. The old house looked doleful when the two
boys descried it. Part of the house had been devastated
by a recent windstorm, and the grass had not been cut
for many years. Earl and Cliff had heard that the house
was nauntea, out they had tried to dispel these thoughts.
The boys had received an anonymous note telling them to
go to the old house. There had been some dissension as
to whether or not they should go. Then Cliff had said,
"No one can say I’m scared to go there. If you won't go
with me, I’ll go alone,"
"Nothing doing," Earl said, "If you go, so do I."
As the two boys entered the house, Earl made an errone-
OT^ step and knocked over a table. The walls seemed to
absorb the noise and re-echo it louder than before. The
boys stood inert for a moment, but then laughed at cach
other, Earl found an old lamp and lit it, saying, "Boy,
are we lucky I At least we do have some light,"
The words were hardly out of his mouth when the light
was suddenly obliterated.
"Hey," Cliff stormed, "Vvihy did you blow out the light?"
"Me?" Earl queried, "I didn’t. And the door isn't open,
and ever if it were, no wind is blowing tonight, I don’t
like it here. It seems as if eyes are peering at us
through fissures in the walls."
Cliff told Earl to stand by the door while he looked
around the room, and if anyone came, whistle. Earl took
up his vigilance at the door, even though he still
thought the house was fraught with ghosts.
Cliff climbed the stairs slowly and started to enter
one of the rooms—when he stopped. His eyes dilated with
fear. Was he seeing things or were those white, ghost
like shapes really moving around the room? And vohat was
that incessant noise? This was enough to daunt anyone.
He screamed, turned and ran. He went down the stairs
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like a deluge of water
after the damhas broken.
Earl heard Cliff coming,
and as fear is contagious,
he was already out of the
house and running before
Cliff even got to the doer,
Tvhcn Earl reached the road,
he stopped and waited for
Cliff,
"Wiat happened back there,
Cliff?" asked Earl,
"I don’t know exactly,"
Cliff mixrmured, "but you
can bet I'm not going back
to find out."
The boys stood pensive
for a moment; they then
turned and walked home.
Is the old house really
haunted? I really couldn’t
say. But you can ask Earl
and Cliff. They might have
an answer for you.
(•y
FOR
RfSTf^UL SLEEPING
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