Plot:
As Mr. Philpotts walks into the smoking room of the club, he hears, “Well, that’s the most staggering thing I’ve ever known!” The narrator hints that the actual comment was not quite so tame.
The speaker, Mr. Bloxom, stands in front of his chair, looking around. He asks Mr. Philpotts, “Did you see him?”
“I heard you,” the other replies and points out that Mr. Bloxom’s cigar is on the floor, burning the new carpet the committee has just had installed.
Mr. Bloxom ignores him and demands, “Did Geoff Fleming pass you as you came in?”
This confuses Mr. Philpotts. “Geoff Fleming!–Why, surely he’s in Ceylon [present day Sri Lanka—my note] by now.”
Mr. Bloxom insists he was just in the room. A few moments later, he discovers his wallet is missing. Geoff Fleming, who should be on his way halfway around the world, must have taken it.
Thoughts:
I found it obvious what was happening from the moment poor, flummoxed Mr. Bloxom began looking for someone who was just there—and couldn’t be there. This is a cute little tale. Mr. Bloxom is not the only club member to have a similar adventure and be relieved of something of value.
The members argue with one another. Surely Bloxom, then the next person is losing their marbles. Fleming can’t be here. Even if he were, he couldn’t have gotten out of the room without someone seeing him, right?
This little tale pokes fun at the various club members and the high opinions they have of themselves. Nevertheless, it is sad, demonstrating the lengths one member will go to measure up, at least in his own mind. Yes, he screwed up, but he must keep his word under any circumstances—then all will be forgiven, right?
One drawback is the use of dialect and slang that rely on the particular time and place. For example, when Bloxom realizes his wallet is gone after his brief encounter with Fleming, he complains that Fleming has “boned his purse.”
Bio: Richard Marsh (legal name: Richard Bernard Heldmann) (1857-1915) was a prolific British writer and novelist. His best-known work is the 1897 novel The Beetle. He began writing boys’ fiction. For a brief time, he served as a co-editor at one of the periodicals he’d been publishing regularly in, but then was let go. After serving time for forging checks, he adopted the pseudonym Richard Marsh and began publishing crime, detection, thriller, popular romance, and humor fiction for adults. All told, he published about seventy-six short stories.
This story can be read here:
I could not find an audio version of this story.
Title: “The Haunted Chair”
Author: Richard Marsh (legal name: Richard Bernard Heldmann) (1857-1915)
First published: Between the Dark and the Daylight, April 1902
Length: short story
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 
You still do pizza and a bad movie ?
We do. I’ve given up on the reviews, though. We watched the 1950s ‘The Man Who Knew too Much.”