Night Stalks The Mansion: A True Story Of One Family's Ghostly Adventure by Constance Westbie, Harold Cameron Page B

refused, I was in a position to make
things uncomfortable for him around the plant. I wouldn't
have done this under any circumstances, but Sam had no
way of knowing that. Also, in the event of a refusal, he
could well be laughed at for being afraid of ghosts when a
whole family could take them in stride and when several
women from the office had spent the night in the house without witnessing anything unusual. I admit it was unfair, but
my conscience was dulled by the necessity of the moment.
    Sam agreed to consider it. The next day he informed me
that he and Margo had talked it over and that they were
willing to work for us.
    They turned out to be the best of the help to date. For
some reason they were not bothered by anything-or anyone
-for quite a while. Dorothy informed Margo that she would
take care of the library, herself, and that we had closed off the third floor. We genuinely liked Sam and Margo and
they seemed to like us.

    There was only one place that Sam refused to go into by
himself and that was the furnace room in the basement. I
never questioned him about his decision. I had reached the
stage where I was willing to let well enough alone. So Sam
avoided the basement whenever he could. I remember returning home one day to see Sam and Janet emerging from the
basement into the kitchen. Janet was holding firmly onto
Sam's hand.
    "I went down in the basement with Sam" she confided
happily. "We looked at the furnace. I was taking care of
him."
    I stared quizzically at Sam, but he wasn't even embarrassed.
After that, when he had to go to the furnace room, Janet
was his companion. Perhaps he felt that her guardian angel
would be on the job and her protection would extend to
him, also. At any rate "looking after Sam" became little
towheaded Janet's self-imposed job. I told myself if this kept
Sam happy and on the job, as well as easier in his mind, I
couldn't object. A couple of months went by without incident and we were beginning to relax. Dorothy looked more
rested and happier.
    Margo was one of the most beautiful girls I have ever
seen. She was also honest and sweet. However, her beauty
was not enough to insulate her against Sam's temper when
he was aroused. The day finally came when Sam neglected
a certain repair to the furnace (probably because it required
his presence down there in the basement for quite some time
and Janet was busy elsewhere). The resultant damage cost
me quite a bit of money, but Sam claimed complete innocence. He said he had carried out my instructions to the
letter but something else went wrong. It was an uneasy
Margo who informed me of Sam's negligence.

    "I shouldn't tell on Sam," she confessed unhappily. "But
he said he'd messed up the repairs you ordered 'cause he
didn't want to spend any more time down there. He was
afraid. So it wasn't your fault, Mr. Cameron-what went
wrong, I mean."
    That wasn't Sam's story. I mentioned it to him later on.
    That night I heard a slamming noise from the servants'
quarters and went up to investigate. Sam was yelling unintelligibly when I opened the door. He had his hands around
Margo's throat and was banging her head against the wall.
    "I'll kill you, woman! I'll kill you good. You told on me
to Mr. Cameron! You're goin' to die, and it won't be a
natural death! I'll pound your head to jelly! You won't tell
on me no more!"
    "Sam!" I shouted "What's going on?"
    He quickly released his hold on Margo's throat and made
a visible effort at self-control. "Just an argument, Mr.
Cameron," he managed to mumble. "Just a family argument. 'T'aint nothin' serious!"
    "Well, we will have no more of this kind of argument.
You ought to be ashamed! Margo is no match for an exMarine-and a commando, at that!"
    I went back downstairs and there was silence from Sam's
quarters for the balance of the night. The next morning
Margo moved stiffly and had difficulty in turning her head.
    "What's the trouble, Margo?" I asked. "Neck