A Vine on a House

About three miles from the little town of Norton in Missouri on the road

About three miles from the little town of Norton in Missouri on the road leading to Maysville stands an old house that was last occupied by a family named Harding. Since 1886 no one has lived in it nor is anyone likely to live in it again. Time and the disfavor of persons dwelling thereabout are converting it into a rather picturesque ruin. An observer unacquainted with its history would hardly put it into the category of haunted houses yet in all the region round such is its evil reputation. Its windows are without glass its doorways without doors there are wide breaches in the shingle roof and for lack of paint the weatherboarding is a dun gray. But these unfailing signs of the supernatural are partly concealed and greatly softened by the abundant foliage of a large vine overrunning the entire structure. This vine of a species which no botanist has ever been able to name--has an important part in the story of the house.

The Harding family consisted of Robert Harding, his wife Matilda Miss Julia Went who was her sister and two young children. Robert Harding was a silent cold-mannered man who made no friends in the neighborhood and apparently cared to make none. He was about forty years old frugal and industrious and made a living from the little farm which is now overgrown with brush and brambles. He and his sister in law were rather tabooed by their neighbors who seemed to think that they were seen too frequently together not entirely their fault for at these times they evidently did not challenge observation. The moral code of rural Missouri is stern and exacting.

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