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ST. CATHERINE'S HALL. [[Underlined]]

     In the autumn I was sent to St. Catherine's Hall, an Episcopal Church school in New Jersey which had been built by the Bishop of the diocese. With its spacious grounds and green lawns sloping gently down to a fast flowing river, it was difficult to believe that the place was unhealthy. There were, however, in the neighborhood, long stretches of stagnant marsh lands from whence rose miasmaa(?) and mosquitoes. I began at once to suffer from this situation. When I could escape the attention and curiosity which I came in for as the youngest girl in school -- as an exception I had been admitted at the age of eight -- I would seek out some quiet corner and there shiver and shake with chills and fever. I have no recollection of ever having been treated or put to bed. Perhaps, as I did not complain, my sufferings passed unnoticed. 

    That it was possible for me to follow the school routine seems remarkable now, but I did manage to do so and was soon learning to read and write. My feverish state made me abnormally interested. When I was told that the school was haunted it made a great impression on me. 

    The story ran that two young girl friends were sent from overseas to be pupils at St. Catherine's. On arriving, one died of fever; the other shortly afterwards died of grief. The had been seen roaming through the empty schoolrooms, clad in nightgowns their black hair streaming behind them. During the evening service they would come to the chapel, pull aside the curtains, and peer in. I felt the presence of those two ghosts, intensely, retrospection of that time is no doubt confused with a dream. One night I found myself alone in the schoolroom; walking towards the chapel I saw distinctly the backs of the phantom girls, their white gowns and their black hair. They were leaning forward peering between the curtains into the chapel!