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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/20034-8.txt b/20034-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b765f3d --- /dev/null +++ b/20034-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5060 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Scottish Ghost Stories, by Elliott O'Donnell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Scottish Ghost Stories + +Author: Elliott O'Donnell + +Release Date: December 7, 2006 [EBook #20034] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCOTTISH GHOST STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Jeannie Howse and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + * * * * * + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original | + | document has been preserved. | + | | + | Obvious typographical errors have been corrected in this | + | text. For a complete list, please see the end of this | + | document. | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + * * * * * + + + + SCOTTISH + GHOST STORIES + + BY + + ELLIOTT O'DONNELL + + AUTHOR OF + "SOME HAUNTED HOUSES OF ENGLAND AND WALES" + "HAUNTED HOUSES OF LONDON" "GHOSTLY PHENOMENA" + "TRUE GHOST STORIES" "DREAMS AND THEIR MEANINGS" + ETC. ETC. + + + + LONDON: + KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNER & CO. LTD. + 1911 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CASE PAGE + I. THE DEATH BOGLE OF THE CROSS ROADS, AND THE + INEXTINGUISHABLE CANDLE OF THE OLD WHITE HOUSE, + PITLOCHRY 1 + + II. THE TOP ATTIC IN PRINGLE'S MANSION, EDINBURGH 25 + + III. THE BOUNDING FIGURE OF "---- HOUSE," NEAR BUCKINGHAM + TERRACE, EDINBURGH 41 + + IV. JANE OF GEORGE STREET, EDINBURGH 55 + + V. THE SALLOW-FACED WOMAN OF NO. -- FORREST ROAD, + EDINBURGH 69 + + VI. THE PHANTOM REGIMENT OF KILLIECRANKIE 91 + + VII. "PEARLIN' JEAN" OF ALLANBANK 105 + +VIII. THE DRUMMER OF CORTACHY 117 + + IX. THE ROOM BEYOND. AN ACCOUNT OF THE HAUNTINGS OF + HENNERSLEY, NEAR AYR 135 + + X. "---- HOUSE," NEAR BLYTHSWOOD SQUARE, GLASGOW. THE + HAUNTED BATH 159 + + XI. THE CHOKING GHOST OF "---- HOUSE," NEAR SANDYFORD + PLACE, GLASGOW 173 + + XII. THE GREY PIPER AND THE HEAVY COACH OF DONALDGOWERIE + HOUSE, PERTH 189 + +XIII. THE FLOATING HEAD OF THE BENRACHETT INN, NEAR THE + PERTH ROAD, DUNDEE 211 + + XIV. THE HAUNTINGS OF "---- HOUSE," IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD + OF THE GREAT WESTERN ROAD, ABERDEEN 225 + + XV. THE WHITE LADY OF ROWNAM AVENUE, NEAR STIRLING 237 + + XVI. THE GHOST OF THE HINDOO CHILD, OR THE HAUNTINGS OF + THE WHITE DOVE HOTEL, NEAR ST. SWITHIN'S STREET, + ABERDEEN 251 + +XVII. GLAMIS CASTLE 263 + + + + + CASE I + + THE DEATH BOGLE OF THE CROSS ROADS, AND THE + INEXTINGUISHABLE CANDLE OF THE OLD WHITE + HOUSE, PITLOCHRY + + +Several years ago, bent on revisiting Perthshire, a locality which had +great attractions for me as a boy, I answered an advertisement in a +popular ladies' weekly. As far as I can recollect, it was somewhat to +this effect: "Comfortable home offered to a gentleman (a bachelor) at +moderate terms in an elderly Highland lady's house at Pitlochry. Must +be a strict teetotaller and non-smoker. F.M., Box so-and-so." + +The naïveté and originality of the advertisement pleased me. The idea +of obtaining as a boarder a young man combining such virtues as +abstinence from alcohol and tobacco amused me vastly. And then a +bachelor, too! Did she mean to make love to him herself? The sly old +thing! She took care to insert the epithet "elderly," in order to +avoid suspicion; and there was no doubt about it--she thirsted for +matrimony. Being "tabooed" by all the men who had even as much as +caught a passing glimpse of her, this was her last resource--she would +entrap some unwary stranger, a man with money of course, and inveigle +him into marrying her. And there rose up before me visions of a tall, +angular, forty-year-old Scottish spinster, with high cheek-bones, +virulent, sandy hair, and brawny arms--the sort of woman that ought +not to have been a woman at all--the sort that sets all my teeth on +edge. Yet it was Pitlochry, heavenly Pitlochry, and there was no one +else advertising in that town. That I should suit her in every respect +but the matrimonial, I did not doubt. I can pass muster in any company +as a teetotaller; I abominate tobacco (leastways it abominates me, +which amounts to much about the same thing), and I am, or rather I can +be, tolerably amenable, if my surroundings are not positively +infernal, and there are no County Council children within shooting +distance. + +But for once my instincts were all wrong. The advertiser--a Miss Flora +Macdonald of "Donald Murray House"--did _not_ resemble my +preconception of her in any respect. She was of medium height, and +dainty build--a fairy-like creature clad in rustling silks, with wavy, +white hair, bright, blue eyes, straight, delicate features, and hands, +the shape and slenderness of which at once pronounced her a psychic. +She greeted me with all the stately courtesy of the Old School; my +portmanteau was taken upstairs by a solemn-eyed lad in the Macdonald +tartan; and the tea bell rang me down to a most appetising repast of +strawberries and cream, scones, and delicious buttered toast. I fell +in love with my hostess--it would be sheer sacrilege to designate such +a divine creature by the vulgar term of "landlady"--at once. When +one's impressions of a place are at first exalted, they are often, +later on, apt to become equally abased. In this case, however, it was +otherwise. My appreciation both of Miss Flora Macdonald and of her +house daily increased. The food was all that could be desired, and my +bedroom, sweet with the perfume of jasmine and roses, presented such +a picture of dainty cleanliness, as awakened in me feelings of shame, +that it should be defiled by all my dusty, travel-worn accoutrements. +I flatter myself that Miss Macdonald liked me also. That she did not +regard me altogether as one of the common herd was doubtless, in some +degree, due to the fact that she was a Jacobite; and in a discussion +on the associations of her romantic namesake, "Flora Macdonald," with +Perthshire, it leaked out that our respective ancestors had commanded +battalions in Louis XIV.'s far-famed Scottish and Irish Brigades. That +discovery bridged gulfs. We were no longer payer and paid--we were +friends--friends for life. + +A lump comes into my throat as I pen these words, for it is only a +short time since I heard of her death. + +A week or so after I had settled in her home, I took, at her +suggestion, a rest (and, I quite agree with her, it was a very +necessary rest) from my writing, and spent the day on Loch Tay, +leaving again for "Donald Murray House" at seven o'clock in the +evening. It was a brilliant, moonlight night. Not a cloud in the sky, +and the landscape stood out almost as clearly as in the daytime. I +cycled, and after a hard but thoroughly enjoyable spell of pedalling, +eventually came to a standstill on the high road, a mile or two from +the first lights of Pitlochry. I halted, not through fatigue, for I +was almost as fresh as when I started, but because I was entranced +with the delightful atmosphere, and wanted to draw in a few really +deep draughts of it before turning into bed. My halting-place was on a +triangular plot of grass at the junction of four roads. I propped my +machine against a hedge, and stood with my back leaning against a +sign-post, and my face in the direction whence I had come. I remained +in this attitude for some minutes, probably ten, and was about to +remount my bicycle, when I suddenly became icy cold, and a frightful, +hideous terror seized and gripped me so hard, that the machine, +slipping from my palsied hands, fell to the ground with a crash. The +next instant something--for the life of me I knew not what, its +outline was so blurred and indefinite--alighted on the open space in +front of me with a soft thud, and remained standing as bolt upright +as a cylindrical pillar. From afar off, there then came the low rumble +of wheels, which momentarily grew in intensity, until there thundered +into view a waggon, weighed down beneath a monstrous stack of hay, on +the top of which sat a man in a wide-brimmed straw hat, engaged in a +deep confabulation with a boy in corduroys who sprawled beside him. +The horse, catching sight of the motionless "thing" opposite me, at +once stood still and snorted violently. The man cried out, "Hey! hey! +What's the matter with ye, beast?" And then in an hysterical kind of +screech, "Great God! What's yon figure that I see? What's yon figure, +Tammas?" + +The boy immediately raised himself into a kneeling position, and, +clutching hold of the man's arm, screamed, "I dinna ken, I dinna ken, +Matthew; but take heed, mon, it does na touch me. It's me it's come +after, na ye." + +The moonlight was so strong that the faces of the speakers were +revealed to me with extraordinary vividness, and their horrified +expressions were even more startling than was the silent, ghastly +figure of the Unknown. The scene comes back to me, here, in my little +room in Norwood, with its every detail as clearly marked as on the +night it was first enacted. The long range of cone-shaped mountains, +darkly silhouetted against the silvery sky, and seemingly hushed in +gaping expectancy; the shining, scaly surface of some far-off tarn or +river, perceptible only at intervals, owing to the thick clusters of +gently nodding pines; the white-washed walls of cottages, glistening +amid the dark green denseness of the thickly leaved box trees, and the +light, feathery foliage of the golden laburnum; the undulating +meadows, besprinkled with gorse and grotesquely moulded crags of +granite; the white, the dazzling white roads, saturated with +moonbeams; all--all were overwhelmed with stillness--the stillness +that belongs, and belongs only, to the mountains, and trees, and +plains--the stillness of shadowland. I even counted the buttons, the +horn buttons, on the rustics' coats--one was missing from the man's, +two from the boy's; and I even noted the sweat-stains under the +armpits of Matthew's shirt, and the dents and tears in Tammas's soft +wideawake. I observed all these trivialities and more besides. I saw +the abrupt rising and falling of the man's chest as his breath came in +sharp jerks; the stream of dirty saliva that oozed from between his +blackberry-stained lips and dribbled down his chin; I saw their +hands--the man's, square-fingered, black-nailed, big-veined, shining +with perspiration and clutching grimly at the reins; the boy's, +smaller, and if anything rather more grimy--the one pressed flat down +on the hay, the other extended in front of him, the palm stretched +outwards and all the fingers widely apart. + +And while these minute particulars were being driven into my soul, the +cause of it all--the indefinable, esoteric column--stood silent and +motionless over-against the hedge, a baleful glow emanating from it. + +The horse suddenly broke the spell. Dashing its head forward, it broke +off at a gallop, and, tearing frantically past the phantasm, went +helter-skelter down the road to my left. I then saw Tammas turning a +somersault, miraculously saved from falling head first on to the +road, by rebounding from the pitchfork which had been wedged upright +in the hay, whilst the figure, which followed in their wake with +prodigious bounds, was apparently trying to get at him with its +spidery arms. But whether it succeeded or not I cannot say, for I was +so uncontrollably fearful lest it should return to me, that I mounted +my bicycle and rode as I had never ridden before and have never ridden +since. + +I described the incident to Miss Macdonald on my return. She looked +very serious. + +"It was stupid of me not to have warned you," she said. "That that +particular spot in the road has always--at least ever since I can +remember--borne the reputation of being haunted. None of the peasants +round here will venture within a mile of it after twilight, so the +carters you saw must have been strangers. No one has ever seen the +ghost except in the misty form in which it appeared to you. It does +not frequent the place every night; it only appears periodically; and +its method never varies. It leaps over a wall or hedge, remains +stationary till some one approaches, and then pursues them with +monstrous springs. The person it touches invariably dies within a +year. I well recollect when I was in my teens, on just such a night as +this, driving home with my father from Lady Colin Ferner's croquet +party at Blair Atholl. When we got to the spot you name, the horse +shied, and before I could realise what had happened, we were racing +home at a terrific pace. My father and I sat in front, and the groom, +a Highland boy from the valley of Ben-y-gloe, behind. Never having +seen my father frightened, his agitation now alarmed me horribly, and +the more so as my instinct told me it was caused by something other +than the mere bolting of the horse. I was soon enlightened. A gigantic +figure, with leaps and bounds, suddenly overtook us, and, thrusting +out its long, thin arms, touched my father lightly on the hand, and +then with a harsh cry, more like that of some strange animal than that +of a human being, disappeared. Neither of us spoke till we reached +home,--I did not live here then, but in a house on the other side of +Pitlochry,--when my father, who was still as white as a sheet, took me +aside and whispered, 'Whatever you do, Flora, don't breathe a word of +what has happened to your mother, and never let her go along that road +at night. It was the death bogle. I shall die within twelve months.' +And he did." + +Miss Macdonald paused. A brief silence ensued, and she then went on +with all her customary briskness: "I cannot describe the thing any +more than you can, except that it gave me the impression it had no +eyes. But what it was, whether the ghost of a man, woman, or some +peculiar beast, I could not, for the life of me, tell. Now, Mr. +O'Donnell, have you had enough horrors for one evening, or would you +like to hear just one more?" + +Knowing that sleep was utterly out of the question, and that one or +two more thrills would make very little difference to my already +shattered nerves, I replied that I would listen eagerly to anything +she could tell me, however horrible. My permission thus gained--and +gained so readily--Miss Macdonald, not without, I noticed, one or two +apprehensive glances at the slightly rustling curtains, began her +narrative, which ran, as nearly as I can remember, as follows:-- + +"After my father's death, I told my mother about our adventure the +night we drove home from Lady Colin Ferner's party, and asked her if +she remembered ever having heard anything that could possibly account +for the phenomenon. After a few moments' reflection, this is the story +she told me:-- + + +THE INEXTINGUISHABLE CANDLE OF THE OLD WHITE HOUSE + +There was once a house, known as "The Old White House," that used to +stand by the side of the road, close to where you say the horse first +took fright. Some people of the name of Holkitt, relations of dear old +Sir Arthur Holkitt, and great friends of ours, used to live there. The +house, it was popularly believed, had been built on the site of an +ancient burial-ground. Every one used to say it was haunted, and the +Holkitts had great trouble in getting servants. The appearance of the +haunted house did not belie its reputation, for its grey walls, sombre +garden, gloomy hall, dark passages and staircase, and sinister-looking +attics could not have been more thoroughly suggestive of all kinds of +ghostly phenomena. Moreover, the whole atmosphere of the place, no +matter how hot and bright the sun, was cold and dreary, and it was a +constant source of wonder to every one how Lady Holkitt could live +there. She was, however, always cheerful, and used to tell me that +nothing would induce her to leave a spot dear to so many generations +of her family, and associated with the happiest recollections in her +life. She was very fond of company, and there was scarcely a week in +the year in which she had not some one staying with her. I can only +remember her as widow, her husband, a major in the Gordon Highlanders, +having died in India before I was born. She had two daughters, +Margaret and Alice, both considered very handsome, but some years +older than I. This difference in age, however, did not prevent our +being on very friendly terms, and I was constantly invited to their +house--in the summer to croquet and archery, in the winter to balls. +Like most elderly ladies of that period, Lady Holkitt was very fond of +cards, and she and my mother used frequently to play bezique and +cribbage, whilst the girls and I indulged in something rather more +frivolous. On those occasions the carriage always came for us at ten, +since my mother, for some reason or other--I had a shrewd suspicion it +was on account of the alleged haunting--would never return home after +that time. When she accepted an invitation to a ball, it was always +conditionally that Lady Holkitt would put us both up for the night, +and the carriage used, then, to come for us the following day, after +one o'clock luncheon. I shall never forget the last time I went to a +dance at "The Old White House," though it is now rather more than +fifty years ago. My mother had not been very well for some weeks, +having, so she thought, taken cold internally. She had not had a +doctor, partly because she did not feel ill enough, and partly because +the only medical man near us was an apothecary, of whose skill she had +a very poor opinion. My mother had quite made up her mind to accompany +me to the ball, but at the last moment, the weather being appalling, +she yielded to advice, and my aunt Norah, who happened to be staying +with us at the time, chaperoned me instead. It was snowing when we +set out, and as it snowed all through the night and most of the next +day, the roads were completely blocked, and we had to remain at "The +Old White House" from Monday evening till the following Thursday. Aunt +Norah and I occupied separate bedrooms, and mine was at the end of a +long passage away from everybody else's. Prior to this my mother and I +had always shared a room--the only really pleasant one, so I thought, +in the house--overlooking the front lawn. But on this occasion there +being a number of visitors, belated like ourselves, we had to squeeze +in wherever we could; and as my aunt and I were to have separate rooms +(my aunt liking a room to herself), it was natural that she should be +allotted the largest and most comfortable. Consequently, she was +domiciled in the wing where all the other visitors slept, whilst I was +forced to retreat to a passage on the other side of the house, where, +with the exception of my apartment, there were none other but +lumber-rooms. All went smoothly and happily, and nothing interrupted +the harmony of our visit, till the night before we returned home. We +had had supper--our meals were differently arranged in those days--and +Margaret and I were ascending the staircase on our way to bed, when +Alice, who had run upstairs ahead of us, met us with a scared face. + +"Oh, do come to my room!" she cried. "Something has happened to Mary." +(Mary was one of the housemaids.) + +We both accompanied her, and, on entering her room, found Mary seated +on a chair, sobbing hysterically. One only had to glance at the girl +to see that she was suffering from some very severe shock. Though +normally red-cheeked and placid, in short, a very healthy, stolid +creature, and the last person to be easily perturbed, she was now +without a vestige of colour, whilst the pupils of her eyes were +dilated with terror, and her entire body, from the crown of her head +to the soles of her feet, shook as if with ague. I was immeasurably +shocked to see her. + +"Why, Mary," Margaret exclaimed, "whatever is the matter? What has +happened?" + +"It's the candle, miss," the girl gasped, "the candle in Miss Trevor's +room. I can't put it out." + +"You can't put it out, why, what nonsense!" Margaret said. "Are you +mad?" + +"It is as true as I sit here, miss," Mary panted. "I put the candle on +the mantelpiece while I set the room to rights, and when I had +finished and came to blow it out, I couldn't. I blew, and blew, and +blew, but it hadn't any effect, and then I grew afraid, miss, horribly +afraid," and here she buried her face in her hands, and shuddered. +"I've never been frightened like this before, miss," she returned +slowly, "and I've come away and left the candle burning." + +"How absurd of you," Margaret scolded. "We must go and put it out at +once. I have a good mind to make you come with us, Mary--but there! +Stay where you are, and for goodness' sake stop crying, or every one +in the house will hear you." + +So saying, Margaret hurried off,--Alice and I accompanying her,--and +on arriving outside my room, the door of which was wide open, we +perceived the lighted candle standing in the position Mary had +described. I looked at the girls, and perceived, in spite of my +endeavours not to perceive it, the unmistakable signs of a great +fear--fear of something they suspected but dared not name--lurking in +the corners of their eyes. + +"Who will go first?" Margaret demanded. No one spoke. + +"Well then," she continued, "I will," and, suiting the action to the +word, she stepped over the threshold. The moment she did so, the door +began to close. "This is curious!" she cried. "Push!" + +We did; we all three pushed; but, despite our efforts, the door came +resolutely to, and we were shut out. Then before we had time to +recover from our astonishment, it flew open; but before we could cross +the threshold, it came violently to in the same manner as before. Some +unseen force held it against us. + +"Let us make one more effort," Margaret said, "and if we don't +succeed, we will call for help." + +Obeying her instructions, we once again pushed. I was nearest the +handle, and in some manner,--how, none of us could ever explain,--just +as the door opened of its own accord, I slipped and fell inside. The +door then closed immediately with a bang, and, to my unmitigated +horror, I found myself alone in the room. For some seconds I was +spellbound, and could not even collect my thoughts sufficiently to +frame a reply to the piteous entreaties of the Holkitts, who kept +banging on the door, and imploring me to tell them what was happening. +Never in the hideous excitement of nightmare had I experienced such a +terror as the terror that room conveyed to my mind. Though nothing was +to be seen, nothing but the candle, the light of which was peculiarly +white and vibrating, I felt the presence of something inexpressibly +menacing and horrible. It was in the light, the atmosphere, the +furniture, everywhere. On all sides it surrounded me, on all sides I +was threatened--threatened in a manner that was strange and deadly. +Something suggesting to me that the source of evil originated in the +candle, and that if I could succeed in extinguishing the light I +should free myself from the ghostly presence, I advanced towards the +mantelpiece, and, drawing in a deep breath, blew--blew with the +energy born of desperation. It had no effect. I repeated my efforts; I +blew frantically, madly, but all to no purpose; the candle still +burned--burned softly and mockingly. Then a fearful terror seized me, +and, flying to the opposite side of the room, I buried my face against +the wall, and waited for what the sickly beatings of my heart warned +me was coming. Constrained to look, I slightly, only very, very +slightly, moved round, and there, there, floating stealthily towards +me through the air, came the candle, the vibrating, glowing, baleful +candle. I hid my face again, and prayed God to let me faint. Nearer +and nearer drew the light; wilder and wilder the wrenches at the door. +Closer and closer I pressed myself to the wall. And then, then when +the final throes of agony were more than human heart and brain could +stand, there came the suspicion, the suggestion of a touch--of a touch +so horrid that my prayers were at last answered, and I fainted. When I +recovered, I was in Margaret's room, and half a dozen well-known forms +were gathered round me. It appears that with the collapse of my body +on the floor, the door, that had so effectually resisted every effort +to turn the handle, immediately flew open, and I was discovered lying +on the ground with the candle--still alight--on the ground beside me. +My aunt experienced no difficulty in blowing out the refractory +candle, and I was carried with the greatest tenderness into the other +wing of the house, where I slept that night. Little was said about the +incident next day, but all who knew of it expressed in their faces the +utmost anxiety--an anxiety which, now that I had recovered, greatly +puzzled me. On our return home, another shock awaited me; we found to +our dismay that my mother was seriously ill, and that the doctor, who +had been sent for from Perth the previous evening, just about the time +of my adventure with the candle, had stated that she might not survive +the day. His warning was fulfilled--she died at sunset. Her death, of +course, may have had nothing at all to do with the candle episode, yet +it struck me then as an odd coincidence, and seems all the more +strange to me after hearing your account of the bogle that touched +your dear father in the road, so near the spot where the Holkitts' +house once stood. I could never discover whether Lady Holkitt or her +daughters ever saw anything of a superphysical nature in their house; +after my experience they were always very reticent on that subject, +and naturally I did not like to press it. On Lady Holkitt's death, +Margaret and Alice sold the house, which was eventually pulled down, +as no one would live in it, and I believe the ground on which it stood +is now a turnip field. That, my dear, is all I can tell you. + + * * * * * + +"Now, Mr. O'Donnell," Miss Macdonald added, "having heard our +experiences, my mother's and mine, what is your opinion? Do you think +the phenomenon of the candle was in any way connected with the bogle +both you and I have seen, or are the hauntings of 'The Old White +House' entirely separate from those of the road?" + + + + + CASE II + + THE TOP ATTIC IN PRINGLE'S MANSION, EDINBURGH + + +A charming lady, Miss South, informs me that no house interested her +more, as a child, than Pringle's Mansion, Edinburgh. Pringle's +Mansion, by the bye, is not the real name of the house, nor is the +original building still standing--the fact is, my friend has been +obliged to disguise the locality for fear of an action for slander of +title, such as happened in the Egham Case of 1904-7. + +Miss South never saw--save in a picture--the house that so fascinated +her; but through repeatedly hearing about it from her old nurse, she +felt that she knew it by heart, and used to amuse herself hour after +hour in the nursery, drawing diagrams of the rooms and passages, +which, to make quite realistic, she named and numbered. + +There was the Admiral's room, Madame's room, Miss Ophelia's room, +Master Gregory's room, Letty's (the nurse's) room, the cook's room, +the butler's room, the housemaid's room--and--the Haunted Room. + +The house was very old--probably the sixteenth century--and was +concealed from the thoroughfare by a high wall that enclosed it on all +sides. It had no garden, only a large yard, covered with faded yellow +paving-stones, and containing a well with an old-fashioned roller and +bucket. + +When the well was cleaned out, an event which took place periodically +on a certain date, every utensil in the house was called into +requisition for ladling out the water, and the Admiral, himself +supervising, made every servant in the establishment take an active +part in the proceedings. On one of these occasions, the Admiral +announced his intention of going down the well in the bucket. That was +a rare moment in Letty's life, for when the Admiral had been let down +in the bucket, the rope broke! + +Indeed, the thought of what the Laird would say when he came up, +almost resulted in his not coming up at all. However, some one, +rather bolder than the rest, retained sufficient presence of mind to +effect a rescue, and the timid ones, thankful enough to survive the +explosion, had to be content on "half-rations till further orders." + +But in spite of its association with such a martinet, and in spite of +her ghostly experiences in it, Letty loved the house, and was never +tired of singing its praises. + +It was a two-storeyed mansion, with roomy cellars but no basement. +There were four reception-rooms--all oak-panelled--on the ground +floor; numerous kitchen offices, including a cosy housekeeper's room; +and a capacious entrance hall, in the centre of which stood a broad +oak staircase. The cellars, three in number, and chiefly used as +lumber-rooms, were deep down and dank and horrid. + +On the first floor eight bedrooms opened on to a gallery overlooking +the hall, and the top storey, where the servants slept, consisted +solely of attics connected with one another by dark, narrow passages. +It was one of these attics that was haunted, although, as a matter of +fact, the ghost had been seen in all parts of the house. + +When Letty entered the Admiral's service she was but a bairn, and had +never even heard of ghosts; nor did the other servants apprise her of +the hauntings, having received strict injunctions not to do so from +the Laird. + +But Letty's home, humble though it was, had been very bright and +cheerful, and the dark precincts of the mansion filled her with +dismay. Without exactly knowing why she was afraid, she shrank in +terror from descending into the cellars, and felt anything but pleased +at the prospect of sleeping alone in an attic. Still nothing occurred +to really alarm her till about a month after her arrival. It was early +in the evening, soon after twilight, and she had gone down into one of +the cellars to look for a boot-jack, which the Admiral swore by all +that was holy must be found before supper. Placing the light she had +brought with her on a packing-case, she was groping about among the +boxes, when she perceived, to her astonishment, that the flame of the +candle had suddenly turned blue. She then felt icy cold, and was much +startled on hearing a loud clatter as of some metal instrument on the +stone floor in the far-off corner of the cellar. Glancing in the +direction of the noise, she saw, looking at her, two eyes--two +obliquely set, lurid, light eyes, full of the utmost devilry. Sick +with terror and utterly unable to account for what she beheld, she +stood stock-still, her limbs refusing to move, her throat parched, her +tongue tied. The clanging was repeated, and a shadowy form began +slowly to crawl towards her. She dared not afterwards surmise what +would have happened to her, had not the Laird himself come down at +this moment. At the sound of his stentorian voice the phantasm +vanished. But the shock had been too much for Letty; she fainted, and +the Admiral, carrying her upstairs as carefully as if she had been his +own daughter, gave peremptory orders that she should never again be +allowed to go into the cellar alone. + +But now that Letty herself had witnessed a manifestation, the other +servants no longer felt bound to secrecy, and soon poured into her +ears endless accounts of the hauntings. + +Every one, they informed her, except Master Gregory and Perkins (the +butler) had seen one or other of the ghosts, and the cellar +apparition was quite familiar to them all. They also declared that +there were other parts of the house quite as badly haunted as the +cellar, and it might have been partly owing to these gruesome stories +that poor Letty always felt scared, when crossing the passages leading +to the attics. As she was hastening down one of them, early one +morning, she heard some one running after her. Thinking it was one of +the other servants, she turned round, pleased to think that some one +else was up early too, and saw to her horror a dreadful-looking +object, that seemed to be partly human and partly animal. The body was +quite small, and its face bloated, and covered with yellow spots. It +had an enormous animal mouth, the lips of which, moving furiously +without emitting any sound, showed that the creature was endeavouring +to speak but could not. The moment Letty screamed for help the +phantasm vanished. + +But her worst experience was yet to come. The spare attic which she +was told was so badly haunted that no one would sleep in it, was the +room next to hers. It was a room Letty could well believe was +haunted, for she had never seen another equally gloomy. The ceiling +was low and sloping, the window tiny, and the walls exhibited all +sorts of odd nooks and crannies. A bed, antique and worm-eaten, stood +in one recess, a black oak chest in another, and at right angles with +the door, in another recess, stood a wardrobe that used to creak and +groan alarmingly every time Letty walked a long the passage. Once she +heard a chuckle, a low, diabolical chuckle, which she fancied came +from the chest; and once, when the door of the room was open, she +caught the glitter of a pair of eyes--the same pale, malevolent eyes +that had so frightened her in the cellar. From her earliest childhood +Letty had been periodically given to somnambulism, and one night, just +about a year after she went into service, she got out of bed, and +walked, in her sleep, into the Haunted Room. She awoke to find herself +standing, cold and shivering, in the middle of the floor, and it was +some seconds before she realised where she was. Her horror, when she +did discover where she was, is not easily described. The room was +bathed in moonlight, and the beams, falling with noticeable +brilliancy on each piece of furniture the room contained, at once +riveted Letty's attention, and so fascinated her that she found +herself utterly unable to move. A terrible and most unusual silence +predominated everywhere, and although Letty's senses were wonderfully +and painfully on the alert, she could not catch the slightest sound +from any of the rooms on the landing. + +The night was absolutely still, no breath of wind, no rustle of +leaves, no flapping of ivy against the window; yet the door suddenly +swung back on its hinges and slammed furiously. Letty felt that this +was the work of some supernatural agency, and, fully expecting that +the noise had awakened the cook, who was a light sleeper (or pretended +she was), listened in a fever of excitement to hear her get out of bed +and call out. The slightest noise and the spell that held her prisoner +would, Letty felt sure, be broken. But the same unbroken silence +prevailed. A sudden rustling made Letty glance fearfully at the bed; +and she perceived, to her terror, the valance swaying violently, to +and fro. Sick with fear, she was now constrained to stare in abject +helplessness. Presently there was a slight, very slight movement on +the mattress, the white dust cover rose, and, under it, Letty saw the +outlines of what she took to be a human figure, gradually take shape. +Hoping, praying, that she was mistaken, and that what appeared to be +on the bed was but a trick of her imagination, she continued staring +in an agony of anticipation. But the figure remained--extended at full +length like a corpse. The minutes slowly passed, a church clock boomed +two, and the body moved. Letty's jaw fell, her eyes almost bulged from +her head, whilst her fingers closed convulsively on the folds of her +night-dress. The unmistakable sound of breathing now issued from the +region of the bed, and the dust-cover commenced slowly to slip aside. +Inch by inch it moved, until first of all Letty saw a few wisps of +dark hair, then a few more, then a thick cluster; then something white +and shining--a protruding forehead; then dark, very dark brows; then +two eyelids, yellow, swollen, and fortunately tightly closed; then--a +purple conglomeration of Letty knew not what--of anything but what +was human. The sight was so monstrous it appalled her; and she was +overcome with a species of awe and repulsion, for which the language +of mortality has no sufficiently energetic expression. She momentarily +forgot that what she looked on was merely superphysical, but regarded +it as something alive, something that ought to have been a child, +comely and healthy as herself--and she hated it. It was an outrage on +maternity, a blot on nature, a filthy discredit to the house, a +blight, a sore, a gangrene. It turned over in its sleep, the cover was +hurled aside, and a grotesque object, round, pulpy, webbed, and of +leprous whiteness--an object which Letty could hardly associate with a +hand--came grovelling out. Letty's stomach heaved; the thing was +beastly, indecent, vile, it ought not to live! And the idea of killing +flashed through her mind. Boiling over with indignation and absurdly +forgetful of her surroundings, she turned round and groped for a stone +to smash it. The moonlight on her naked toes brought her to her +senses--the thing in the bed was a devil! Though brought up a member +of the Free Church, with an abhorrence of anything that could in any +way be contorted into Papist practices, Letty crossed herself. As she +did so, a noise in the passage outside augmented her terror. She +strained her ears painfully, and the sound developed into a footstep, +soft, light, and surreptitious. It came gently towards the door; it +paused outside, and Letty intuitively felt that it was listening. Her +suspense was now so intolerable, that it was almost with a feeling of +relief that she beheld the door slowly--very slowly--begin to open. A +little wider--a little wider--and yet a little wider; but still +nothing came. Ah! Letty's heart turned to ice. Another inch, and a +shadowy something slipped through and began to wriggle itself +stealthily over the floor. Letty tried to divert her gaze, but could +not--an irresistible, magnetic attraction kept her eyes glued to the +gradually approaching horror. When within a few feet of her it halted; +and again Letty felt it was listening--listening to the breathing on +the bed, which was heavy and bestial. Then it twisted round, and Letty +watched it crawl into the wardrobe. After this there was a long and +anxious wait. Then Letty saw the wardrobe door slyly open, and the +eyes of the cellar--inexpressibly baleful, and glittering like +burnished steel in the strong phosphorescent glow of the moon, peep +out,--not at her but _through_ her,--at the object lying on the bed. +There were not only eyes, this time, but a form,--vague, misty, and +irregular, but still with sufficient shape to enable Letty to identify +it as that of a woman, tall and thin, and with a total absence of +hair, which was emphasised in the most lurid and ghastly fashion. With +a snakelike movement, the evil thing slithered out of the wardrobe, +and, gliding past Letty, approached the bed. Letty was obliged to +follow every proceeding. She saw the thing deftly snatch the bolster +from under the sleeping head; noted the gleam of hellish satisfaction +in its eyes as it pressed the bolster down; and watched the murdered +creature's contortions grow fainter, and fainter, until they finally +ceased. The eyes then left the room; and from afar off, away below, in +the abysmal cellars of the house, came the sound of digging--faint, +very faint, but unquestionably digging. This terminated the grim, +phantasmal drama for that night at least, and Letty, chilled to the +bone, but thoroughly alert, escaped to her room. She spent her few +remaining hours of rest wide-awake, determining never to go to bed +again without fastening one of her arms to the iron staples. + +With regard the history of the house, Letty never learned anything +more remarkable than that, long ago, an idiot child was supposed to +have been murdered in the haunted attic--by whom, tradition did not +say. The Admiral and his family left Pringle's Mansion the year Letty +became Miss South's nurse, and as no one would stay in the house, +presumably on account of the hauntings, it was pulled down, and an +inexcusably inartistic edifice was erected in its place. + + + + + CASE III + + THE BOUNDING FIGURE OF "---- HOUSE," NEAR + BUCKINGHAM TERRACE, EDINBURGH + + +No one is more interested in Psychical Investigation Work than Miss +Torfrida Vincent, one of the three beautiful daughters of Mrs. H. de +B. Vincent, who is, herself, still in the heyday of life, and one of +the loveliest of the society women I have met. Though I have known her +sisters several years, I only met Torfrida for the first time a few +months ago, when she was superintending the nursing of her mother, who +had just undergone an operation for appendicitis. One day, when I was +visiting my convalescent friend, Torfrida informed me that she knew of +a haunted house in Edinburgh, a case which she felt sure would arouse +my interest and enthusiasm. "It is unfortunate," she added somewhat +regretfully, "that I cannot tell you the number of the house, but as +I have given my word of honour to disclose it to no one, I feel sure +you will excuse me. Indeed, my friends the Gordons, who extracted the +promise from me, have got into sad trouble with their landlord for +leaving the house under the pretext that it was haunted, and he has +threatened to prosecute them for slander of title." + +The house in question has no claim to antiquity. It may be eighty years +old--perhaps a little older--and was, at the time of which I speak, let +out in flats. The Gordons occupied the second storey; the one above +them was untenanted, and used as a storage place for furniture; the +first floor and ground floor were divided into chambers and offices. +They had not been in their new quarters more than a week, when Mrs. +Gordon asked the night porter who it was that made such a noise, racing +up their stairs between two and three in the morning. It had awakened +her every night, she told him, and she would be glad if the disturbance +were discontinued. "I am sorry, Madam, but I cannot imagine who it can +be," the man replied. "Of course, it may be some one next door, sounds +are so often deceptive; no one inhabits the rooms above you." But Mrs. +Gordon was not at all convinced, and made up her mind to complain to +the landlord should it occur again. That night nothing happened, but +the night after she was roused from her sleep at two o'clock, by a +feeling that something dreadful, some dire catastrophe, was about to +take place. The house was very still, and beyond the far-away echoes of +a policeman's patrol on the hard pavement outside, nothing, absolutely +nothing, broke the universal, and as it seemed to her, unnatural +silence. Generally at night-time there are sounds one likes to assure +oneself are too trivial to be heard during the day--the creaking of +boards, stairs (nearly always stairs), and the tapping of some leaf (of +course some leaf) at the windows. Who has not heard such sounds, and +who in his heart of hearts has not been only too well aware that they +are nocturnal, exclusively nocturnal. The shadows of evening bring with +them visitors; prying, curious visitors; grim and ghastly visitors; +grey, esoteric visitors; visitors from a world seemingly inconsequent, +wholly incomprehensible. Mrs. Gordon did not believe in ghosts. She +scoffed at the idea of ghosts, and, like so many would-be wits, +unreasonably brave by day, and the reverse by night, had hitherto +attributed banshees and the like to cats and other animals. But +now,--now when all was dark,--pitch dark and hushed, and she, for aught +she knew to the contrary, the only one, in that great rambling +building, awake, she reviewed again and again, in her mind, that +rushing up the stairs. The wind! It could not have been the wind. The +wind shuts doors, and rattles windows, and moans, and sighs, and howls +and screeches, but it does not walk the house in boots. Neither do +rats! And if she had imagined the noises, why did she not imagine other +things; why, for example, did she not see tables dance, and tea-urns +walk? All that would be fancy, unblushing, genuine fancy, and if she +conjured up one absurdity, why not another! That was a conundrum for +any sceptic. Thus did she argue, naturally and logically, in the quite +sensible fashion of a lawyer, or a scientist; yet, all the while, her +senses told her that the atmosphere of the house had undergone some +profoundly subtle and unaccountable change,--a change that brought with +it a presence, at once sinister and hostile. She longed to strike a +light and awake one of her daughters--Diana, by preference; since Diana +was the least likely to mind being disturbed, and had the strongest +nerves. She made a start, and, loosening the bedclothes that she always +liked tightly tucked round her, thrust out a quivering toe. The next +instant she drew it back with a tiny gasp of terror. The cold darkness +without had suggested to her mind a great, horny hand, mal-shaped and +murderous, that was lying in wait to seize her. A deadly sickness +overcame her, and she lay back on the pillow, her heart beating with +outrageous irregularity and loudness. Very slowly she recovered, and, +holding her breath, sidled to the far edge of the bed, and with a +dexterous movement, engendered by the desperation of fear, made a +lightning-like dab in the direction of the electric bell. Her soft, +pink finger missed the mark, and coming in violent contact with the +wall, bent the carefully polished nail. She bit her lips to stop a cry +of pain, and shrinking back within the folds of her dainty lace +embroidered nightdress, abandoned herself to despair. Her consciousness +of the Unknown Presence increased, and she instinctively felt the thing +pass through the closed door, down on to the landing outside, when it +dashed upstairs with a loud clatter, and, entering the lumber-room +immediately overhead, began bounding as if its feet were tied together, +backwards and forwards across the floor. After continuing for fully +half an hour, the noises abruptly ceased and the house resumed its +accustomed quiet. At breakfast, Mrs. Gordon asked her daughters if they +had heard anything in the night, and they laughingly said "No, not even +a mouse!" + +There was now an intermission of the disturbances, and no further +demonstration occurred for about a month. Diana was then sleeping in +her mother's room, Mrs. Gordon being away on a visit to Lady Voss, who +was entertaining a party of friends at her shooting-box in Argyle. One +evening, as Diana was going into her bedroom to prepare for dinner, +she saw the door suddenly swing open, and something, she could not +tell what--it was so blurred and indistinct--come out with a bound. +Tearing past her on to the landing, it rushed up the stairs with so +much clatter that Diana imagined, though she could see nothing, that +it must have on its feet, heavy lumbering boots. Filled with an +irresistible curiosity, in spite of her alarm, Diana ran after it, +and, on reaching the upper storey, heard it making a terrific racket +in the room above the one in which she now slept. Nothing daunted, +however, she boldly approached, and, flinging open the door, perceived +its filmy outline standing before a shadowy and very antique eight-day +clock, which apparently it was in the habit of winding. A great fear +now fell on Diana. What was the thing? And supposing it should turn +round and face her, what should she see? She was entirely isolated +from her sisters, and the servants--alone--the light fading--in a big, +gloomy room full of strange old furniture which suggested +hiding-places for all sorts of grim possibilities. She was assured now +that the thing she had followed was nothing human, neither was it a +delusion, for when she shut her eyes and opened them, it was still +there--and, oddly enough, it was now more distinct than it was when +she had seen it downstairs. A curious feeling of helplessness stole +over Diana; the power of speech forsook her; and her limbs grew rigid. +She was so fearful, too, of attracting the notice of the mysterious +thing that she hardly dare breathe, and each pulsation of her heart +sent cold chills of apprehension down her spine. Once she endured +agonies through a mad desire to sneeze, and once her lips opened to +scream as something suspiciously like the antennæ of a huge beetle, +and which she subsequently discovered was a "devil's coach-horse," +tickled the calf of her leg. She fancied, too, that all sorts of queer +shapes lurked in the passage behind her, and that innumerable unseen +eyes were malignantly rejoicing in her terror. At last, the climax to +her suspense seemed at hand. The unknown thing, until now too busy +with the clock to take heed of her, paused for a moment or so, as if +undecided what to do next, and then slowly began to veer round. But +the faint echo of a voice below, calling her by name, broke the +hypnotic spell that bound Diana to the floor, and with a frantic +spring she cleared the threshold of the room. She then tore madly +downstairs, never halting till she reached the dining-room, where she +sank on a sofa, and, more dead than alive, panted out to her amazed +sisters a full account of all that had transpired. + +That night she shared her sister's bedroom, but neither she nor her +sister slept. + +From this time till the return of Mrs. Gordon, nothing happened. It +was one evening after she came back, when she was preparing to get +into bed, that the door of her own room unexpectedly opened, and she +saw standing, on the threshold, the unmistakable figure of a man, +short and broad, with a great width of shoulders, and very long arms. +He was clad in a peajacket, blue serge trousers, and jack-boots. He +had a big, round, brutal head, covered with a tangled mass of yellow +hair, but where his face ought to have been there was only a blotch, +underlying which Mrs. Gordon detected the semblance to something +fiendishly vindictive and immeasurably nasty. But, in spite of the +horror his appearance produced, her curiosity was aroused with regard +to the two objects he carried in his hands, one of which looked like +a very bizarre bundle of red and white rags, and the other a small +bladder of lard. Whilst she was staring at them in dumb awe, he swung +round, and, hitching them savagely under his armpits, rushed across +the landing, and, with a series of apish bounds, sprang up the +staircase and disappeared in the gloom. + +This was the climax; Mrs. Gordon felt another such encounter would +kill her. So, in spite of the fact that she had taken the flat for a +year, and had only just commenced her tenancy, she packed up her goods +and left the very next day. The report that the building was haunted +spread rapidly, and Mrs. Gordon had many indignant letters from the +landlord. She naturally made inquiries as to the early history of the +house, but of the many tales she listened to, only one, the +authenticity of which she could not guarantee, seemed to suggest any +clue to the haunting. + +It was said that a retired Captain in the Merchant Service, many years +previously, had rented the rooms she had occupied. + +He was an extraordinary individual, and, despite the fact that he had +lived so far inland, would never wear any but nautical clothes--blue +jersey and trousers, reefer coat and jack-boots. But this was not his +only peculiarity. His love of grog eventually brought on delirium +tremens, and his excessive irritability in the interval between each +attack was a source of anxiety to all who came in contact with him. At +that time there happened to be a baby in the rooms overhead, whose +crying so annoyed the Captain that he savagely informed its mother +that if she did not keep it quiet, he would not be answerable for the +consequences. His warnings having no effect, he flew upstairs one day, +when she was temporarily absent, and, snatching up the bread knife +from the table, decapitated the infant. He then stuffed both its head +and body into a grandfather's clock which stood in one corner of the +room, and, retiring to his own quarters, drank till he was insensible. + +He was, of course, arrested on a charge of murder, but being found +"insane" he was committed during His Majesty's pleasure to a lunatic +asylum. + +He eventually committed suicide by opening an artery in his leg with +one of his finger-nails. + +As the details of this tragedy filled in so well with the phenomena +they had witnessed, the Gordons could not help regarding the story as +a very probable explanation of the hauntings. But, remember, its +authenticity is dubious. + + + + + CASE IV + + JANE OF GEORGE STREET, EDINBURGH + + +"The news that, for several years at any rate, George Street, +Edinburgh, was haunted," wrote a correspondent of mine some short time +ago, "might cause no little surprise to many of its inhabitants." And +my friend proceeded to relate his experience of the haunting, which I +will reproduce as nearly as possible in his own words. I quote from +memory, having foolishly destroyed the letter. + + * * * * * + +I was walking in a leisurely way along George Street the other day, +towards Strunalls, where I get my cigars, and had arrived opposite No. +--, when I suddenly noticed, just ahead of me, a tall lady of +remarkably graceful figure, clad in a costume which, even to an +ignoramus in fashions like myself, seemed extraordinarily out of date. +In my untechnical language it consisted of a dark blue coat and +skirt, trimmed with black braid. The coat had a very high collar, +turned over to show a facing of blue velvet, its sleeves were very +full at the shoulders, and a band of blue velvet drew it tightly in at +the waist. Moreover, unlike every other lady I saw, she wore a small +hat, which I subsequently learned was a toque, with one white and one +blue plume placed moderately high at the side. The only other +conspicuous items of her dress, the effect of which was, on the whole, +quiet, were white glacé gloves,--over which dangled gold curb +bracelets with innumerable pendants,--shoes, which were of patent +leather with silver buckles and rather high Louis heels, and fine, +blue silk openwork stockings. So much for her dress. Now for her +herself. She was a strikingly fair woman with very pale yellow hair +and a startlingly white complexion; and this latter peculiarity so +impressed me that I hastened my steps, determining to get a full view +of her. Passing her with rapid strides, I looked back, and as I did so +a cold chill ran through me,--what I looked at was--the face of the +dead. I slowed down and allowed her to take the lead. + +I now observed that, startling as she was, no one else seemed to +notice her. One or two people obviously, though probably +unconsciously, possessing the germs of psychism, shivered when they +passed her, but as they neither slackened their pace nor turned to +steal a second look, I concluded they had not seen her. Without +glancing either to the right or left, she moved steadily on, past +Molton's the confectioner's, past Perrin's the hatter's. Once, I +thought she was coming to a halt, and that she intended crossing the +road, but no--on, on, on, till we came to D---- Street. There we were +preparing to cross over, when an elderly gentleman walked deliberately +into her. I half expected to hear him apologise, but naturally nothing +of the sort happened; she was only too obviously a phantom, and, in +accordance with the nature of a phantom, she passed right through him. +A few yards farther on, she came to an abrupt pause, and then, with a +slight inclination of her head as if meaning me to follow, she glided +into a chemist's shop. She was certainly not more than six feet ahead +of me when she passed through the door, and I was even nearer than +that to her when she suddenly disappeared as she stood before the +counter. I asked the chemist if he could tell me anything about the +lady who had just entered his shop, but he merely turned away and +laughed. + +"Lady!" he said; "what are you talking about? You're a bit out of your +reckoning. This isn't the first of April. Come, what do you want?" + +I bought a bottle of formamints, and reluctantly and regretfully +turned away. That night I dreamed I again saw the ghost. I followed +her up George Street just as I had done in reality; but when she came +to the chemist's shop, she turned swiftly round. "I'm Jane!" she said +in a hollow voice. "Jane! Only Jane!" and with that name ringing in my +ears I awoke. + +Some days elapsed before I was in George Street again. The weather had +in the meanwhile undergone one of those sudden and violent changes, so +characteristic of the Scottish climate. The lock-gates of heaven had +been opened and the rain was descending in cataracts. The few +pedestrians I encountered were enveloped in mackintoshes, and carried +huge umbrellas, through which the rain was soaking, and pouring off +from every point. Everything was wet--everywhere was mud. The water, +splashing upwards, saturated the tops of my boots and converted my +trousers into sodden sacks. Some weather isn't fit for dogs, but this +weather wasn't good enough for tadpoles--even fish would have kicked +at it and kept in their holes. Imagine, then, the anomaly! Amidst all +this aqueous inferno, this slippery-sloppery, filth-bespattering +inferno, a spotlessly clean apparition in blue without either +waterproof or umbrella. I refer to Jane. She suddenly appeared, as I +was passing The Ladies' Tea Association Rooms, walking in front of me. +She looked just the same as when I last saw her--spick and span, +and--dry. I repeat the word--dry--for that is what attracted my +attention most. Despite the deluge, not a single raindrop touched +her--the plumes on her toque were splendidly erect and curly, her +shoe-buckles sparkled, her patent leathers were spotless, whilst the +cloth of her coat and skirt looked as sheeny as if they had but just +come from Keeley's. + +Anxious to get another look at her face, I quickened my pace, and, +darting past her, gazed straight into her countenance. The result was +a severe shock. The terror of what I saw--the ghastly horror of her +dead white face--sent me reeling across the pavement. I let her pass +me, and, impelled by a sickly fascination, followed in her wake. + +Outside a jeweller's stood a hansom--quite a curiosity in these days +of motors--and, as Jane glided past, the horse shied. I have never +seen an animal so terrified. We went on, and at the next crossing +halted. A policeman had his hand up checking the traffic. His glance +fell on Jane--the effect was electrical. His eyes bulged, his cheeks +whitened, his chest heaved, his hand dropped, and he would undoubtedly +have fallen had not a good Samaritan, in the guise of a non-psychical +public-house loafer, held him up. Jane was now close to the chemist's, +and it was with a sigh of relief that I saw her glide in and +disappear. + +Had there been any doubt at all, after my first encounter with Jane, +as to her being superphysical, there was certainly none now. The +policeman's paroxysm of fear and the horse's fit of shying were facts. +What had produced them? I alone knew--and I knew for certain--it was +Jane. Both man and animal saw what I saw. Hence the phantom was not +subjective; it was not illusionary; it was a _bona fide_ spirit +manifestation--a visitant from the other world--the world of +earthbound souls. Jane fascinated me. I made endless researches in +connection with her, and, in answer to one of my inquiries, I was +informed that eighteen years ago--that is to say, about the time +Jane's dress was in fashion--the chemist's shop had been occupied by a +dressmaker of the name of Bosworth. I hunted up Miss Bosworth's +address and called on her. She had retired from business and was +living in St. Michael's Road, Bournemouth. I came to the point +straight. + +"Can you give me any information," I asked, "about a lady whose +Christian name was Jane?" + +"That sounds vague!" Miss Bosworth said. "I've met a good many Janes +in my time." + +"But not Janes with pale yellow hair, and white eyebrows and +eyelashes!" And I described her in detail. + +"How do you come to know about her?" Miss Bosworth said, after a long +pause. + +"Because," I replied with a certain slowness and deliberation +characteristic of me, "because I've seen her ghost!" + +Of course I knew Miss Bosworth was no sceptic--the moment my eyes +rested on her I saw she was psychic, and that the superphysical was +often at her elbow. Accordingly, I was not in the least surprised at +her look of horror. + +"What!" she exclaimed, "is she still there? I thought she would surely +be at rest now!" + +"Who was she?" I inquired. "Come--you need not be afraid of me. I have +come here solely because the occult has always interested me. Who was +Jane, and why should her ghost haunt George Street?" + +"It happened a good many years ago," Miss Bosworth replied, "in 1892. +In answer to an advertisement I saw in one of the daily papers, I +called on a Miss Jane Vernelt--Mademoiselle Vernelt she called +herself--who ran a costumier's business in George Street, in the very +building, in fact now occupied by the chemist you have mentioned. The +business was for sale, and Miss Vernelt wanted a big sum for it. +However, as her books showed a very satisfactory annual increase in +receipts and her clientele included a duchess and other society +leaders, I considered the bargain a tolerably safe one, and we came to +terms. Within a week I was running the business, and, exactly a month +after I had taken it over, I was greatly astonished to receive a visit +from Miss Vernelt. She came into the shop quite beside herself with +agitation. 'It's all a mistake!' she screamed. 'I didn't want to sell +it. I can't do anything with my capital. Let me buy it back.' I +listened to her politely, and then informed her that as I had gone to +all the trouble of taking over the business and had already succeeded +in extending it, I most certainly had no intention of selling it--at +least not for some time. Well, she behaved like a lunatic, and in the +end created such a disturbance that I had to summon my assistants and +actually turn her out. After that I had no peace for six weeks. She +came every day, at any and all times, and I was at last obliged to +take legal proceedings. I then discovered that her mind was really +unhinged, and that she had been suffering from softening of the brain +for many months. Her medical advisers had, it appeared, warned her to +give up business and place herself in the hands of trustworthy friends +or relations, who would see that her money was properly invested, but +she had delayed doing so; and when, at last, she did make up her mind +to retire, the excitement, resulting from so great a change in her +mode of living, accelerated the disease, and, exactly three weeks +after the sale of her business, she became a victim to the delusion +that she was ruined. This delusion grew more and more pronounced as +her malady increased, and amidst her wildest ravings she clamoured to +be taken back to George Street. The hauntings, indeed, began before +she died; and I frequently saw her--when I knew her material body to +be under restraint--just as you describe, gliding in and out the +show-rooms. + +"For several weeks after her death, the manifestations continued--they +then ceased, and I have never heard of her again until now." + +If I remember rightly the account of the George Street ghost here +terminated; but my friend referred to it again at the close of his +letter. + +"Since my return to Scotland," he wrote, "I have frequently visited +George Street, almost daily, but I have not seen 'Jane.' I only hope +that her poor distracted spirit has at last found rest." And with this +kindly sentiment my correspondent concluded. + + + + + CASE V + + THE SALLOW-FACED WOMAN OF NO. -- FORREST + ROAD, EDINBURGH + + +The Public unfortunately includes a certain set of people, of the +middle class very "middlish," who are ever on the look-out for some +opportunity, however slight and seemingly remote, of bettering +themselves socially; and, learning that those in a higher strata of +society are interested in the supernatural, they think that they may +possibly get in touch with them by working up a little local +reputation for psychical research. I have often had letters from this +type of "pusher" (letters from genuine believers in the Occult I +always welcome) stating that they have been greatly interested in my +books--would I be so very kind as to grant them a brief interview, or +permit them to accompany me to a haunted house, or give them certain +information with regard to Lady So-and-so, whom they have long wanted +to know? Occasionally, I have been so taken in as to give permission +to the writer to call on me, and almost always I have bitterly +repented. The wily one--no matter how wily--cannot conceal the cloven +hoof for long, and he has either tried to thrust himself into the +bosom of my family, or has written to my neighbours declaring himself +to be my dearest friend; and when, in desperation, I have shown him +the cold shoulder, he has attacked me virulently in some "rag" of a +local paper, the proprietor, editor, or office-boy of which happens to +be one of his own clique. I have even known an instance where this +type of person has, through trickery, actually gained access to some +notoriously haunted house, and from its owners--the family he has long +had his eyes on, from a motive anything but psychic--has ferreted out +the secret and private history of the haunting. Then, when he has been +"found out" and forced to see that his friendship is not wanted, he +has, in revenge for the slight, unblushingly revealed the facts that +were only entrusted to him in the strictest confidence; and, through +influence with the lower stratum of the Press, caused a most glaring +and sensational account of the ghost to be published. + +With such a case in view, I cannot be surprised that possessors of +family ghosts and haunted houses should show the greatest reluctance +to be approached on the subject, save by those they feel assured will +treat it with the utmost delicacy. + +But I have quoted the above breach of confidence merely to give +another reason for my constant use of fictitious names with regard to +people and places, and having done so (I hope to some purpose), I will +proceed with the following story:-- + +Miss Dulcie Vincent, some of whose reminiscences appeared in my book +of _Ghostly Phenomena_ last year, is nearly connected with Lady Adela +Minkon, who owns a considerable amount of house property, including +No. -- Forrest Road, in Edinburgh, and whose yacht at Cowes is the +envy of all who have cruised in her. Three years ago, Lady Adela +stayed at No. -- Forrest Road. She had heard that the house was +haunted, and was anxious to put it to the test. Lady Adela was +perfectly open-minded. She had never experienced any occult phenomena +herself, but, very rationally, she did not consider that her +non-acquaintance with the superphysical in any way negatived the +evidence of those who declare that they have witnessed manifestations; +their statements, she reasoned, were just as worthy of credence as +hers. She thus commenced her occupation of the house with a perfectly +unbiased mind, resolved to stay there for at least a year, so as to +give it a fair trial. The hauntings, she was told, were at their +height in the late summer and early autumn. It is, I think, +unnecessary to enter into any detailed description of her house. In +appearance, it differed very little, if at all, from those adjoining +it; in construction, it was if anything a trifle larger. The basement, +which included the usual kitchen offices and cellars, was very dark, +and the atmosphere--after sunset on Fridays, only on Fridays--was +tainted with a smell of damp earth, shockingly damp earth, and of a +sweet and nauseating something that greatly puzzled Lady Adela. All +the rooms in the house were of fair dimensions, and cheerful, +excepting on this particular evening of the week; a distinct gloom +settled on them then, and the strangest of shadows were seen playing +about the passages and on the landings. + +"It may be fancy," Lady Adela said to herself, "merely fancy! And, +after all, if I encounter nothing worse than a weekly menu of aromatic +smells and easily digested shadows, I shall not suffer any harm"; but +it was early summer then--the psychic season had yet to come. As the +weeks went by, the shadows and the smell grew more and more +pronounced, and by the arrival of August had become so emphatic that +Lady Adela could not help thinking that they were both hostile and +aggressive. + +About eight o'clock on the evening of the second Friday in the month, +Lady Adela was purposely alone in the basement of the house. The +servants especially irritated her; like the majority of present-day +domestics, products of the County Council schools, they were so +intensely supercilious and silly, and Lady Adela felt that their +presence in the house minimised her chances of seeing the ghost. No +apparition with the smallest amount of self-respect could risk coming +in contact with such inane creatures, so she sent them all out for a +motor drive, and, for once, rejoiced in the house to herself. A +curious proceeding for a lady! True! but then, Lady Adela was a lady, +and, being a lady, was not afraid of being thought anything else; and +so acted just as unconventionally as she chose. But stay a moment; she +was not alone in the house, for she had three of her dogs with +her--three beautiful boarhounds, trophies of her last trip to the +Baltic. With such colossal and perfectly trained companions Lady Adela +felt absolutely safe, and ready--as she acknowledged afterwards--to +face a whole army of spooks. She did not even shiver when the front +door of the basement closed, and she heard the sonorous birring of the +motor, drowning the giddy voices of the servants, grow fainter and +fainter until it finally ceased altogether. + +When the last echoes of the vehicle had died away in the distance, +Lady Adela made a tour of the premises. The housekeeper's room pleased +her immensely--at least she persuaded herself it did. "Why, it is +quite as nice as any of the rooms upstairs," she said aloud, as she +stood with her face to the failing sunbeams and rested her strong +white hand on the edge of the table. "Quite as nice. Karl and Max, +come here!" + +But the boarhounds for once in their lives did not obey her with a +good grace. There was something in the room they did not like, and +they showed how strong was their resentment by slinking unwillingly +through the doorway. + +"I wonder why that is?" Lady Adela mused; "I have never known them do +it before." Then her eyes wandered round the walls, and struggled in +vain to reach the remoter angles of the room, which had suddenly grown +dark. She tried to assure herself that this was but the natural effect +of the departing daylight, and that, had she watched in other houses +at this particular time, she would have noticed the same thing. To +show how little she minded the gloom, she went up to the darkest +corner and prodded the walls with her riding-whip. She laughed--there +was nothing there, nothing whatsoever to be afraid of, only shadows. +With a careless shrug of her shoulders, she strutted into the +passage, and, whistling to Karl and Max who, contrary to their custom, +would not keep to heel, made another inspection of the kitchens. At +the top of the cellar steps she halted. The darkness had now set in +everywhere, and she argued that it would be foolish to venture into +such dungeon-like places without a light. She soon found one, and, +armed with candle and matches, began her descent. There were several +cellars, and they presented such a dismal, dark appearance, that she +instinctively drew her skirts tightly round her, and exchanged the +slender riding-whip for a poker. She whistled again to her dogs. They +did not answer, so she called them both by name angrily. But for some +reason (some quite unaccountable reason, she told herself) they would +not come. + +She ransacked her mind to recall some popular operatic air, and +although she knew scores she could not remember one. Indeed, the only +air that filtered back to her was one she detested--a Vaudeville tune +she had heard three nights in succession, when she was staying with a +student friend in the Latin Quarter in Paris. She hummed it loudly, +however, and, holding the lighted candle high above her head, walked +down the steps. At the bottom she stood still and listened. From high +above her came noises which sounded like the rumbling of distant +thunder, but which, on analysis, proved to be the rattling of +window-frames. Reassured that she had no cause for alarm, Lady Adela +advanced. Something black scudded across the red-tiled floor, and she +made a dash at it with her poker. The concussion awoke countless +echoes in the cellars, and called into existence legions of other +black things that darted hither and thither in all directions. She +burst out laughing--they were only beetles! Facing her she now +perceived an inner cellar, which was far gloomier than the one in +which she stood. The ceiling was very low, and appeared to be crushed +down beneath the burden of a stupendous weight; and as she advanced +beneath it she half expected that it would "cave in" and bury her. + +A few feet from the centre of this cellar she stopped; and, bending +down, examined the floor carefully. The tiles were unmistakably newer +here than elsewhere, and presented the appearance of having been put +in at no very distant date. The dampness of the atmosphere was +intense; a fact which struck Lady Adela as somewhat odd, since the +floor and walls looked singularly dry. To find out if this were the +case, she ran her fingers over the walls, and, on removing them, found +they showed no signs of moisture. Then she rapped the floor and walls, +and could discover no indications of hollowness. She sniffed the air, +and a great wave of something sweet and sickly half choked her. She +drew out her handkerchief and beat the air vigorously with it; but the +smell remained, and she could not in any way account for it. She +turned to leave the cellar, and the flame of her candle burned blue. +Then for the first time that evening--almost, indeed, for the first +time in her life--she felt afraid, so afraid that she made no attempt +to diagnose her fear; she understood the dogs' feelings now, and +caught herself wondering how much they knew. + +She whistled to them again, not because she thought they would +respond,--she knew only too well they would not,--but because she +wanted company, even the company of her own voice; and she had some +faint hope, too, that whatever might be with her in the cellar, would +not so readily disclose itself if she made a noise. The one cellar was +passed, and she was nearly across the floor of the other when she +heard a crash. The candle dropped from her hand, and all the blood in +her body rushed to her heart. She could never have imagined it was so +terrible to be frightened. She tried to pull herself together and be +calm, but she was no longer mistress of her limbs. Her knees knocked +together and her hands shook. "It was only the dogs," she feebly told +herself, "I will call them"; but when she opened her mouth, she found +her throat was paralysed--not a syllable would come. She knew, too, +that she had lied, and that the hounds could not have been responsible +for the noise. It was like nothing she had ever heard, nothing she +could imagine; and although she struggled hard against the idea, she +could not help associating the sound with the cause of the candle +burning blue, and the sweet, sickly smell. Incapable of moving a +step, she was forced to listen in breathless expectancy for a +recurrence of the crash. Her thoughts become ghastly. The inky sea of +darkness that hemmed her in on every side suggested every sort of +ghoulish possibility, and with each pulsation of her overstrained +heart her flesh crawled. Another sound--this time not a crash, nothing +half so loud or definite--drew her eyes in the direction of the steps. +An object was now standing at the top of them, and something lurid, +like the faint, phosphorescent glow of decay, emanated from all over +it; but _what_ it was, she could not for the life of her tell. It +might have been the figure of a man, or a woman, or a beast, or of +anything that was inexpressibly antagonistic and nasty. She would have +given her soul to have looked elsewhere, but her eyes were fixed--she +could neither turn nor shut them. For some seconds the shape remained +motionless, and then with a sly, subtle motion it lowered its head, +and came stealing stealthily down the stairs towards her. She followed +its approach like one in a hideous dream--her heart ready to burst, +her brain on the verge of madness. Another step, another, yet +another; till there were only three left between her and it; and she +was at length enabled to form some idea of what the thing was like. + +It was short and squat, and appeared to be partly clad in a loose, +flowing garment, that was not long enough to conceal the glistening +extremities of its limbs. From its general contour and the tangled +mass of hair that fell about its neck and shoulders, Lady Adela +concluded it was the phantasm of a woman. Its head being kept bent, +she was unable to see the face in full, but every instant she expected +the revelation would take place, and with each separate movement of +the phantasm her suspense became more and more intolerable. At last it +stood on the floor of the cellar, a broad, ungainly, horribly ungainly +figure, that glided up to and past her into the far cellar. There it +halted, as nearly as she could judge on the new tiles, and remained +standing. As she gazed at it, too fascinated to remove her eyes, there +was a loud, reverberating crash, a hideous sound of wrenching and +tearing, and the whole of the ceiling of the inner chamber came down +with an appalling roar. Lady Adela thinks that she must then have +fainted, for she distinctly remembers falling--falling into what +seemed to her a black, interminable abyss. When she recovered +consciousness, she was lying on the tiles, and all around was still +and normal. She got up, found and lighted her candle, and spent the +rest of the evening, without further adventure, in the drawing-room. + +All the week Lady Adela struggled hard to master a disinclination to +spend another evening alone in the house, and when Friday came she +succumbed to her fears. The servants were poor, foolish things, but it +was nice to feel that there was something in the house besides ghosts. +She sat reading in the drawing-room till late that night, and when she +lolled out of the window to take a farewell look at the sky and stars +before retiring to rest, the sounds of traffic had completely ceased +and the whole city lay bathed in a refreshing silence. It was very +heavenly to stand there and feel the cool, soft air--unaccompanied, +for the first time during the day, by the rattling rumbling sounds of +locomotion and the jarring discordant murmurs of unmusical +voices--fanning her neck and face. + +Lady Adela, used as she was to the privacy of her yacht, and the +freedom of her big country mansion, where all sounds were regulated at +her will, chafed at the near proximity of her present habitation to +the noisy thoroughfare, and vaguely looked forward to the hours when +shops and theatres were closed, and all screeching, harsh-voiced +products of the gutter were in bed. To her the nights in Waterloo +Place were all too short; the days too long, too long for anything. +The heavy, lumbering steps of a policeman at last broke her reverie. +She had no desire to arouse his curiosity; besides, her costume had +become somewhat disordered, and she had the strictest sense of +propriety, at least in the presence of the lower orders. Retiring, +therefore, with a sigh of vexation, she sought her bedroom, and, after +the most scrupulous attention to her toilet, put out the lights and +got into bed. It was just one when she fell asleep, and three when she +awoke with a violent start. Why she started puzzled her. She did not +recollect experiencing any very dreadful dream, in fact no dream at +all, and there seemed nothing in the hush--the apparently unbroken +hush--that could in any way account for her action. Why, then, had she +started? She lay still and wondered. Surely everything was just as it +was when she went to sleep! And yet! When she ventured on a diagnosis, +there was something different, something new; she did not think it was +actually in the atmosphere, nor in the silence; she did not know where +it was until she opened her eyes--and then she _knew_. Bending over +her, within a few inches of her face, was another face, the ghastly +caricature of a human face. It was on a larger scale than that of any +mortal Lady Adela had ever seen; it was long in proportion to its +width--indeed, she could not make out where the cranium terminated at +the back, as the hinder portion of it was lost in a mist. The +forehead, which was very receding, was partly covered with a mass of +lank, black hair, that fell straight down into space; there were no +neck nor shoulders, at least none had materialised; the skin was +leaden-hued, and the emaciation so extreme that the raw cheek-bones +had burst through in places; the size of the eye sockets which +appeared monstrous, was emphasised by the fact that the eyes were +considerably sunken; the lips were curled downwards and tightly shut, +and the whole expression of the withered mouth, as indeed that of the +entire face, was one of bestial, diabolical malignity. Lady Adela's +heart momentarily stopped, her blood ran cold, she was petrified; and +as she stared helplessly at the dark eyes pressed close to hers, she +saw them suddenly suffuse with fiendish glee. The most frightful +change then took place: the upper lip writhed away from a few greenish +yellow stumps; the lower jaw fell with a metallic click, leaving the +mouth widely open, and disclosing to Lady Adela's shocked vision a +black and bloated tongue; the eyeballs rolled up and entirely +disappeared, whilst their places were immediately filled with the +foulest and most loathsome indications of advanced decay. A strong, +vibratory movement suddenly made all the bones in the head rattle and +the tongue wag, whilst from the jaws, as if belched up from some +deep-down well, came a gust of wind, putrescent with the ravages of +the tomb, and yet, at the same time, tainted with the same sweet, +sickly odour with which Lady Adela had latterly become so familiar. +This was the culminating act; the head then receded, and, growing +fainter and fainter, gradually disappeared altogether. Lady Adela was +now more than satisfied,--there was not a house more horribly haunted +in Scotland,--and nothing on earth would induce her to remain in it +another night. + +However, being anxious, naturally, to discover something that might, +in some degree, account for the apparitions, Lady Adela made endless +inquiries concerning the history of former occupants of the house; +but, failing to find out anything remarkable in this direction, she +was eventually obliged to content herself with the following +tradition: It was said that on the site of No. -- Forrest Road there +had once stood a cottage occupied by two sisters (both nurses), and +that one was suspected of poisoning the other; and that the cottage, +moreover, having through their parsimonious habits got into a very bad +state of repair, was blown down during a violent storm, the surviving +sister perishing in the ruins. Granted that this story is correct, it +was in all probability the ghost of this latter sister that appeared +to Lady Adela. Her ladyship is, of course, anxious to let No. +-- Forrest Road, and as only about one in a thousand people seem to +possess the faculty of seeing psychic phenomena, she hopes she may one +day succeed in getting a permanent tenant. In the meanwhile, she is +doing her level best to suppress the rumour that the house is +haunted. + + + + + CASE VI + + THE PHANTOM REGIMENT OF KILLIECRANKIE + + +Many are the stories that have from time to time been circulated with +regard to the haunting of the Pass of Killiecrankie by phantom +soldiers, but I do not think there is any stranger story than that +related to me, some years ago, by a lady who declared she had actually +witnessed the phenomena. Her account of it I shall reproduce as far as +possible in her own words:-- + + * * * * * + +Let me commence by stating that I am not a spiritualist, and that I +have the greatest possible aversion to convoking the earthbound souls +of the dead. Neither do I lay any claim to mediumistic powers (indeed +I have always regarded the term "medium" with the gravest suspicion). +I am, on the contrary, a plain, practical, matter-of-fact woman, and +with the exception of this one occasion, never witnessed any psychic +phenomena. + +The incident I am about to relate took place the autumn before last. I +was on a cycle tour in Scotland, and, making Pitlochry my temporary +headquarters, rode over one evening to view the historic Pass of +Killiecrankie. It was late when I arrived there, and the western sky +was one great splash of crimson and gold--such vivid colouring I had +never seen before and never have seen since. Indeed, I was so +entranced at the sublimity of the spectacle, that I perched myself on +a rock at the foot of one of the great cliffs that form the walls of +the Pass, and, throwing my head back, imagined myself in fairyland. +Lost, thus, in a delicious luxury, I paid no heed to the time, nor did +I think of stirring, until the dark shadows of the night fell across +my face. I then started up in a panic, and was about to pedal off in +hot haste, when a strange notion suddenly seized me: I had a latchkey, +plenty of sandwiches, a warm cape, why should I not camp out there +till early morning--I had long yearned to spend a night in the open, +now was my opportunity. The idea was no sooner conceived than put +into operation. Selecting the most comfortable-looking boulder I could +see, I scrambled on to the top of it, and, with my cloak drawn tightly +over my back and shoulders, commenced my vigil. The cold mountain air, +sweet with the perfume of gorse and heather, intoxicated me, and I +gradually sank into a heavenly torpor, from which I was abruptly +aroused by a dull boom, that I at once associated with distant +musketry. All was then still, still as the grave, and, on glancing at +the watch I wore strapped on my wrist, I saw it was two o'clock. A +species of nervous dread now laid hold of me, and a thousand and one +vague fancies, all the more distressing because of their vagueness, +oppressed and disconcerted me. Moreover, I was impressed for the first +time with the extraordinary solitude--solitude that seemed to belong +to a period far other than the present, and, as I glanced around at +the solitary pines and gleaming boulders, I more than half expected to +see the wild, ferocious face of some robber chief--some fierce yet +fascinating hero of Sir Walter Scott's--peering at me from behind +them. This feeling at length became so acute, that, in a panic of +fear--ridiculous, puerile fear, I forcibly withdrew my gaze and +concentrated it abstractedly on the ground at my feet. I then +listened, and in the rustling of a leaf, the humming of some night +insect, the whizzing of a bat, the whispering of the wind as it moaned +softly past me, I fancied--nay, I felt sure I detected something that +was not ordinary. I blew my nose, and had barely ceased marvelling at +the loudness of its reverberations, before the piercing, ghoulish +shriek of an owl sent the blood in torrents to my heart. I then +laughed, and my blood froze as I heard a chorus, of what I tried to +persuade myself could only be echoes, proceed from every crag and rock +in the valley. For some seconds after this I sat still, hardly daring +to breathe, and pretending to be extremely angry with myself for being +such a fool. With a stupendous effort I turned my attention to the +most material of things. One of the skirt buttons on my hip--they were +much in vogue then--being loose, I endeavoured to occupy myself in +tightening it, and when I could no longer derive any employment from +that, I set to work on my shoes, and tied knots in the laces, merely +to enjoy the task of untying them. But this, too, ceasing at last to +attract me, I was desperately racking my mind for some other device, +when there came again the queer, booming noise I had heard before, but +which I could now no longer doubt was the report of firearms. I looked +in the direction of the sound--and--my heart almost stopped. Racing +towards me--as if not merely for his life, but his soul--came the +figure of a Highlander. The wind rustling through his long dishevelled +hair, blew it completely over his forehead, narrowly missing his eyes, +which were fixed ahead of him in a ghastly, agonised stare. He had not +a vestige of colour, and, in the powerful glow of the moonbeams, his +skin shone livid. He ran with huge bounds, and, what added to my +terror and made me double aware he was nothing mortal, was that each +time his feet struck the hard, smooth road, upon which I could well +see there was no sign of a stone, there came the sound, the +unmistakable sound of the scattering of gravel. On, on he came, with +cyclonic swiftness; his bare sweating elbows pressed into his panting +sides; his great, dirty, coarse, hairy fists screwed up in bony +bunches in front of him; the foam-flakes thick on his clenched, +grinning lips; the blood-drops oozing down his sweating thighs. It was +all real, infernally, hideously real, even to the most minute details: +the flying up and down of his kilt, sporan, and swordless scabbard; +the bursting of the seam of his coat, near the shoulder; and the +absence of one of his clumsy shoe-buckles. I tried hard to shut my +eyes, but was compelled to keep them open, and follow his every +movement as, darting past me, he left the roadway, and, leaping +several of the smaller obstacles that barred his way, finally +disappeared behind some of the bigger boulders. I then heard the loud +rat-tat of drums, accompanied by the shrill voices of fifes and +flutes, and at the farther end of the Pass, their arms glittering +brightly in the silvery moonbeams, appeared a regiment of scarlet-clad +soldiers. At the head rode a mounted officer, after him came the +band, and then, four abreast, a long line of warriors; in their centre +two ensigns, and on their flanks, officers and non-commissioned +officers with swords and pikes; more mounted men bringing up the rear. +On they came, the fifes and flutes ringing out with a weird clearness +in the hushed mountain air. I could hear the ground vibrate, the +gravel crunch and scatter, as they steadily and mechanically +advanced--tall men, enormously tall men, with set, white faces and +livid eyes. Every instant I expected they would see me, and I became +sick with terror at the thought of meeting all those pale, flashing +eyes. But from this I was happily saved; no one appeared to notice me, +and they all passed me by without as much as a twist or turn of the +head, their feet keeping time to one everlasting and monotonous tramp, +tramp, tramp. I got up and watched until the last of them had turned +the bend of the Pass, and the sheen of his weapons and trappings could +no longer be seen; then I remounted my boulder and wondered if +anything further would happen. It was now half-past two, and blended +with the moonbeams was a peculiar whiteness, which rendered the whole +aspect of my surroundings indescribably dreary and ghostly. Feeling +cold and hungry, I set to work on my beef sandwiches, and was +religiously separating the fat from the lean, for I am one of those +foolish people who detest fat, when a loud rustling made me look up. +Confronting me, on the opposite side of the road, was a tree, an ash, +and to my surprise, despite the fact that the breeze had fallen and +there was scarcely a breath of wind, the tree swayed violently to and +fro, whilst there proceeded from it the most dreadful moanings and +groanings. I was so terrified that I caught hold of my bicycle and +tried to mount, but I was obliged to desist as I had not a particle of +strength in my limbs. Then to assure myself the moving of the tree was +not an illusion, I rubbed my eyes, pinched myself, called aloud; but +it made no difference--the rustling, bending, and tossing still +continued. Summing up courage, I stepped into the road to get a closer +view, when to my horror my feet kicked against something, and, on +looking down, I perceived the body of an English soldier, with a +ghastly wound in his chest. I gazed around, and there, on all sides of +me, from one end of the valley to the other, lay dozens of +bodies,--bodies of men and horses,--Highlanders and English, +white-cheeked, lurid eyes, and bloody-browed,--a hotch-potch of livid, +gory awfulness. Here was the writhing, wriggling figure of an officer +with half his face shot away; and there, a horse with no head; and +there--but I cannot dwell on such horrors, the very memory of which +makes me feel sick and faint. The air, that beautiful, fresh mountain +air, resounded with their moanings and groanings, and reeked with the +smell of their blood. As I stood rooted to the ground with horror, not +knowing which way to look or turn, I suddenly saw drop from the ash, +the form of a woman, a Highland girl, with bold, handsome features, +raven black hair, and the whitest of arms and feet. In one hand she +carried a wicker basket, in the other a knife, a broad-bladed, +sharp-edged, horn-handled knife. A gleam of avarice and cruelty came +into her large dark eyes, as, wandering around her, they rested on the +rich facings of the English officers' uniforms. I knew what was in +her mind, and--forgetting she was but a ghost--that they were all +ghosts--I moved heaven and earth to stop her. I could not. Making +straight for a wounded officer that lay moaning piteously on the +ground, some ten feet away from me, she spurned with her slender, +graceful feet, the bodies of the dead and dying English that came in +her way. Then, snatching the officer's sword and pistol from him, she +knelt down, and, with a look of devilish glee in her glorious eyes, +calmly plunged her knife into his heart, working the blade backwards +and forwards to assure herself she had made a thorough job of it. +Anything more hellish I could not have imagined, and yet it fascinated +me--the girl was so fair, so wickedly fair and shapely. Her act of +cruelty over, she spoiled her victim of his rings, epaulets, buttons +and gold lacing, and, having placed them in her basket, proceeded +elsewhere. In some cases, unable to remove the rings easily, she +chopped off the fingers, and popped them, just as they were, into her +basket. Neither was her mode of dispatch always the same, for while +she put some men out of their misery in the manner I have described, +she cut the throats of others with as great a nonchalance as if she +had been killing fowls, whilst others again she settled with the +butt-ends of their guns or pistols. In all she murdered a full +half-score, and was decamping with her booty when her gloating eyes +suddenly encountered mine, and with a shrill scream of rage she rushed +towards me. I was an easy victim, for strain and pray how I would, I +could not move an inch. Raising her flashing blade high over her head, +an expression of fiendish glee in her staring eyes, she made ready to +strike me. This was the climax, my overstrained nerves could stand no +more, and ere the blow had time to descend, I pitched heavily forward +and fell at her feet. When I recovered, every phantom had vanished, +and the Pass glowed with all the cheerful freshness of the early +morning sun. Not a whit the worse for my venture, I cycled swiftly +home, and ate as only one can eat who has spent the night amid the +banks and braes of bonnie Scotland. + + + + + CASE VII + + "PEARLIN' JEAN" OF ALLANBANK + + +Few ghosts have obtained more notoriety than "Pearlin' Jean," the +phantasm which for many years haunted Allanbank, a seat of the +Stuarts. + +The popular theory as to the identity of the apparition is as +follows:-- + +Mr. Stuart, afterwards created first baronet of Allanbank, when on a +tour in France, met a young and beautiful French Sister of Charity of +the name of Jean, whom he induced to leave her convent. Tiring of her +at length, Mr. Stuart brutally left her, and, returning abruptly to +Scotland, became engaged to be married to a lady of his own +nationality and position in life. But Jean was determined he should +not escape her so easily. For him she had sacrificed everything: her +old vocation in life was gone, she had no home, no honour,--nothing, +so she resolved to leave no stone unturned to discover his +whereabouts. At last her perseverance was rewarded, and, Fortune +favouring her, she arrived without mishap at Allanbank. + +The truth was then revealed to her: her cruel and faithless lover was +about to be wedded to another. But despair gave her energy, and, +burning with indignation, she hastened to his house to upbraid him. +She reached the spot just as he was driving out with his fiancée. With +a cry of anguish, Jean rushed forward and, swinging herself nimbly on +to the fore-wheel of the coach, turned her white and passionate face +towards its occupants. For a moment, Mr. Stuart was too dumbfounded to +do anything; he could scarcely believe his senses. Who on earth was +this frantic female? Good Heavens! Jean! Impossible! How on earth had +she got there? And the tumultuous beating of his guilty heart turned +him sick and faint. + +Then he glanced fearfully and covertly at his fiancée. _She_ must not +know the truth at any cost. Possibly he lost his head! At all events, +that is the kindest construction to put on his subsequent action, +for, dastardly as his behaviour had been to Jean in the past, one can +hardly imagine him capable of deliberately murdering her, and in so +horrible a fashion. There was not a second to lose; an instant more, +and the secret, that he had so assiduously hidden from the lady beside +him, would be revealed. Jean's mouth was already open to speak. He +waved her aside. She adhered to her post. He shouted to the postilion, +and the huge, lumbering vehicle was set in motion. At the first turn +of the wheels, Jean slipped from her perch, her dress caught in the +spokes, and she was crushed to death. + +Her fate does not appear to have made any deep impression either on +Mr. Stuart or his lady-love, for they continued their drive. + +The hauntings began that autumn. Mr. Stuart, as was only fit and +proper, being the first to witness the phenomenon. Returning home from +a drive one evening, he perceived to his surprise the dark outlines of +a human figure perched on the arched gateway of his house, exactly +opposite the spot where Jean had perished. Wondering who it could be, +he leaned forward to inspect it closer. The figure moved, an icy +current of air ran through him, and he saw to his horror the livid +countenance of the dead Jean. There she was, staring down at him with +lurid, glassy eyes; her cheeks startlingly white, her hair fluttering +in the wind, her neck and forehead bathed in blood. + +Paralysed with terror, Mr. Stuart could not remove his gaze, and it +was not until one of the menials opened the carriage door to assist +him down, that the spell was broken and he was able to speak and move. +He then flew into the house, and spent the rest of the night in the +most abject fear. + +After this he had no peace--Allanbank was constantly haunted. The +great oak doors opened and shut of their own accord at night with loud +clanging and bangs, and the rustling of silks and pattering of +high-heeled shoes were heard in the oak-panelled bedrooms and along +the many dark and winding passages. + +From her attire, which was a piece of lace made of thread, the +apparition became known as "Pearlin' Jean," and a portrait of her was +actually painted. It is recorded that when this picture was hung +between one of Mr. Stuart and his lady-love, the hauntings ceased, but +that as soon as it was removed they were renewed. Presumably, it was +not allowed to remain in the aforesaid position long, for the +manifestations appear to have gone on for many years without +intermission. + +Most phantasms of the dead inspire those who see them with +horror,--and that is my own experience,--but "Pearlin' Jean" seems to +have been an exception to this rule. A housekeeper called Betty +Norrie, who lived for many years at Allanbank, declared that other +people besides herself had so frequently seen Jean that they had grown +quite accustomed to her, and were, consequently, no more alarmed at +her appearance than they were by her noises. + +Another servant at the house, of the name of Jenny Blackadder, used +constantly to hear Jean, but could never see her--though her husband +did. + +The latter, when courting Jenny, received a rare scare, which suggests +to me that Jean, in spite of her tragic ending, may not have been +without a spice of humour. Thomas, for that was the swain's name, +made an assignation one night to meet Jenny in the orchard at +Allanbank. + +It was early when he arrived at the trysting-place--for Thomas, like +all true lovers, was ever rather more than punctual--and he fully +contemplated a long wait. Judge, then, of his astonishment, when he +perceived in the moonlight what he took to be the well-known and +adored figure of his lady-love. With a cry of delight, Thomas rushed +forward, and, swinging his arms widely open to embrace her, beheld her +vanish, and found himself hugging space! An icy current of air +thrilled through him, and the whole place--trees, nooks, moonbeams, +and shadows, underwent a hideous metamorphosis. The very air bristled +with unknown horrors till flesh and blood could stand no more, and, +even at the risk of displeasing his beloved Jenny, Thomas fled! Some +few minutes later, at the appointed hour, Jenny arrived on the scene, +and no one was there. She dallied for some time, wondering whatever +could have happened to Thomas, and then returned, full of grave +apprehensions, to the house. + +It was not until the next morning that the truth leaked out, and +Jenny, after indulging in a hearty laugh at her lover, who felt very +shamefaced now that it was daylight, sensibly forgave him, and raised +no obstacle when asked to fix a day for their marriage. + +In after years, Jenny used to retail the story with many harrowing +allusions to "Pearlin' Jean," whom she somewhat foolishly made use of +as a bogey to frighten children into being good. A Mr. Sharpe, who +when he was a little boy was once placed in her charge, confesses that +he was dreadfully scared at her stories, and that he never ventured +down a passage in those days without thinking "Pearlin' Jean," with +her ghostly, blood-stained face, clawlike hands, and rustling lace +dress, was after him. + +Nurse Jenny used to tell him that the Stuarts tried in vain to lay +Jean's spirit, actually going to the length of calling in seven +ministers to exorcise it. But all to no purpose; it still continued +its nocturnal peregrinations. + +In the year 1790 the Stuarts let the house to strangers, who, when +they took it, had not the least idea that it was haunted. However, +they did not long remain in ignorance, for two ladies, who occupied +the same bedroom, were awakened in the night by hearing some one +walking across the floor. The "presence" did not suggest burglars, for +the intruder behaved in the most noisy manner, pacing restlessly and +apparently aimlessly backwards and forwards across the room, swishing +the floor (with what sounded like a long lace train) and breathing +heavily. They were both terrified, and so cold that they could hear +one another's teeth chatter. They were too frightened to call for +help; they could only lie still, hoping and praying it would not come +nearer to them. The sufferings of these two ladies were indescribable, +for the ghost remained in their room all night, moving restlessly +about until daybreak. It was not until some days later, when other +people in the house had experienced the phenomenon, that they were +told the story of the notorious "Pearlin' Jean." + +But was the so-called "Pearlin' Jean" really the apparition of the +murdered French woman? To my mind, her identity with that of the +beautiful Sister of Charity has not been satisfactorily established, +and I think there are reasons to doubt it. + +If, for instance, the apparition were that of a Sister of Charity, why +should it appear incongruously attired in a long trailing gown of +lace? And if it were that of a woman of the presumably staid habits of +a Sister of Charity, why should it delight in mischief and play the +pranks of a _poltergeist_? And yet if it wasn't the ghost of Jean, +whose ghost was it? + + + + + CASE VIII + + THE DRUMMER OF CORTACHY + + +What ancient Scottish or Irish family has not its Family Ghost? A +banshee--the heritage of Niall of the Nine Hostages--is still the +unenviable possession of his descendants, the O'Donnells, and I, who +am a member of the clan, have both seen and heard it several times. As +it appears to me, it resembles the decapitated head of a prehistoric +woman, and I shall never forget my feelings one night, when, aroused +from slumber by its ghastly wailing, I stumbled frantically out of +bed, and, groping my way upstairs in the dark, without venturing to +look to the left or right lest I should see something horrible, found +every inmate of the house huddled together on the landing, paralysed +with fear. I did not see it on that occasion, but on the following +morning, as I had anticipated, I received the news that a near and +dear relative had died. + +Possessing such an heirloom myself, I can therefore readily sympathise +with those who own a similar treasure--such, for example, as the +famous, or rather infamous, Drummer of Cortachy Castle, who is +invariably heard beating a tattoo before the death of a member of the +clan of Ogilvie. + +Mrs. Crowe, in her _Night Side of Nature_, referring to the haunting, +says:-- + +"Miss D., a relative of the present Lady C., who had been staying some +time with the Earl and Countess at their seat, near Dundee, was +invited to spend a few days at Cortachy Castle, with the Earl and +Countess of Airlie. She went, and whilst she was dressing for dinner +the first evening of her arrival, she heard a strain of music under +her window, which finally resolved itself into a well-defined sound of +a drum. When her maid came upstairs, she made some inquiries about the +drummer that was playing near the house; but the maid knew nothing on +the subject. For the moment the circumstance passed from Miss D.'s +mind, but, recurring to her again during the dinner, she said, +addressing Lord Airlie, 'My lord, who is your drummer?' Upon which his +lordship turned pale, Lady Airlie looked distressed, and several of +the company, who all heard the question, embarrassed; whilst the lady, +perceiving that she had made some unpleasant allusion, although she +knew not to what their feelings referred, forebore further inquiry +till she reached the drawing-room; when, having mentioned the +circumstance again to a member of the family, she was answered, 'What, +have you never heard of the drummer boy?' 'No,' replied Miss D.; 'who +in the world is he?' 'Why,' replied the other, 'he is a person who +goes about the house playing his drum, whenever there is a death +impending in the family. The last time he was heard was shortly before +the death of the last Countess (the Earl's former wife); and that is +why Lord Airlie became so pale when you mentioned it. The drummer boy +is a very unpleasant subject in this family, I assure you.' + +"Miss D. was naturally much concerned, and indeed not a little +frightened at this explanation, and her alarm being augmented by +hearing the sounds on the following day, she took her departure from +Cortachy Castle, and returned to Lord C.'s, where she related this +strange circumstance to the family, through whom the information +reached me. + +"This affair was very generally known in the north, and we awaited the +event with interest. The melancholy death of the Countess about five +or six months afterwards, at Brighton, sadly verified the +prognostications. I have heard that a paper was found in her desk +after her death, declaring her conviction that the drum was for her." + +Mrs. Crowe goes on to explain the origin of the phenomenon. According +to legend, she says, there was once at Cortachy a drummer, who, +incurring the jealousy of the then Lord Airlie, was thrust into his +own drum and flung from a window of the tower (in which, by the way, +Miss D. slept). Before being put to death thus, the drummer is stated +to have said he would for ever after haunt the Airlie family--a threat +he has obviously been permitted to fulfil. + +During one of my visits to Scotland, I stayed some days in Forfarshire +not far from Cortachy. Among the visitors at my hotel was a very old +gentleman of the name of Porter, who informed me that, when a boy, he +used to visit some relatives who, at that time, lived within easy +walking distance of Cortachy. One of these relatives was a lad of +about fourteen, named Alec, with whom he had always been the closest +of friends. The recollection of their many adventures evidently +afforded Mr. Porter infinite amusement, and one of these adventures, +in particular, he told me, was as fresh in his mind as if it had +happened yesterday. + +"Looking back upon it now," he said, with a far-away look in his eyes, +"it certainly was a strange coincidence, and if you are interested in +the hauntings of Cortachy, Mr. O'Donnell, you may, perhaps, like to +hear the account of my ghostly experiences in that neighbourhood." + +Of course I replied that nothing would give me greater pleasure, and +Mr. Porter forthwith began his story. + +"One misty night in October, my friend Alec and I, both being keen on +rabbiting, determined to visit a spinney adjoining the Cortachy +estate, in pursuit of our quarry. Alec had chosen this particular +night, thinking, under cover of the mist, to escape the vigilance of +the keepers, who had more than once threatened to take him before the +laird for trespassing. + +"To gain access to the spinney we had to climb a granite wall and drop +on the other side--the drop, in addition to being steep, being +rendered all the more precarious by reason of the man-traps the +keepers were in the habit of setting. When I got astride the wall and +peered into the well-like darkness at our feet, and heard the grim +rustling of the wind through the giant pines ahead of me, I would have +given all I possessed to have found myself snug and warm in bed; but +Alec was of a different 'kidney'--he had come prepared for excitement, +and he meant to have it. For some seconds, we both waited on the wall +in breathless silence, and then Alec, with a reckless disregard of +what might be in store for him, gently let himself drop, and I, +fearing more, if anything, than the present danger, to be for ever +after branded as a coward if I held back, timidly followed suit. By a +great stroke of luck we alighted in safety on a soft carpeting of +moss. Not a word was spoken, but, falling on hands and knees, and +guiding ourselves by means of a dark lantern Alec had bought +second-hand from the village blacksmith, we crept on all-fours along a +tiny bramble-covered path, that after innumerable windings eventually +brought us into a broad glade shut in on all sides by lofty trees. +Alec prospected the spot first of all to see no keepers were about, +and we then crawled into it, and, approaching the nearest burrows, set +to work at once with our ferrets. Three rabbits were captured in this +fashion, and we were eagerly anticipating the taking of more, when a +sensation of icy coldness suddenly stole over us, and, on looking +round, we perceived, to our utmost consternation, a very tall keeper +standing only a few yards away from us. For once in a way, Alec was +nonplussed, and a deathly silence ensued. It was too dark for us to +see the figure of the keeper very distinctly, and we could only +distinguish a gleaming white face set on a very slight and +perpendicular frame, and a round, glittering something that puzzled us +both exceedingly. Then, a feeling that, perhaps, it was not a keeper +gradually stole over me, and in a paroxysm of ungovernable terror I +caught hold of Alec, who was trembling from head to foot as if he had +the ague. The figure remained absolutely still for about a minute, +during which time neither Alec nor I could move a muscle, and then, +turning round with an abrupt movement, came towards us. + +"Half-dead with fright, but only too thankful to find that we had now +regained the use of our limbs, we left our spoil and ran for our lives +in the direction of the wall. + +"We dared not look back, but we knew the figure followed us, for we +heard its footsteps close at our heels; and never to my dying day +shall I forget the sound--rat-tat, tat, rat-tat, tat--for all the +world like the beat of a muffled drum. + +"How we ever managed to reach the wall I could never tell, but as we +scrambled over it, regardless of man-traps and bruises, and plunged +into the heather on the other side, we heard the weird footsteps +receding in the direction of the castle, and, ere we had reached home, +the rat-tat, tat, rat-tat, tat, had completely died away. + +"We told no one a word of what had happened, and a few days after, +simultaneously with the death of one of the Airlies, we learned, for +the first time, the story of the Phantom Drummer. + +"I have little doubt," Mr. Porter added, in conclusion, "that the +figure we took to be a keeper was the prophetic Drummer, for I can +assure you there was no possibility of hoaxers, especially in such +ill-omened guise, anywhere near the Cortachy estate." + +Poor old Mr. Porter! He did not long survive our _rencontre_. When I +next visited the hotel, some months later, I was genuinely grieved to +hear of his decease. His story had greatly fascinated me, for I love +the solitude of the pines, and have myself from time to time witnessed +many remarkable occult phenomena under the shadow of their lofty +summits. One night, during this second visit of mine to the hotel, the +mood to ramble came upon me, and, unable to resist the seductive +thought of a midnight stroll across the bracken-covered hills, I +borrowed a latchkey, and, armed with a flask of whisky and a thick +stick, plunged into the moonlit night. The keen, heather-scented air +acted like a tonic--I felt younger and stronger than I had felt for +years, and I congratulated myself that my friends would hardly know me +if they saw me now, as I swung along with the resuscitated stride of +twenty years ago. The landscape for miles around stood out with +startling clearness in the moonshine, and I stopped every now and then +to drink in the beauties of the glittering mountain-ranges and silent, +glimmering tarns. Not a soul was about, and I found myself, as I loved +to be, the only human element in the midst of nature. Every now and +then a dark patch fluttered across the shining road, and with a weird +and plaintive cry, a night bird dashed abruptly from hedge to hedge, +and seemingly melted into nothingness. I quitted the main road on the +brow of a low hill, and embarked upon a wild expanse of moor, lavishly +covered with bracken and white heather, intermingled with which were +the silvery surfaces of many a pool of water. For some seconds I stood +still, lost in contemplating the scenery,--its utter abandonment and +grand sense of isolation; and inhaling at the same time long and deep +draughts of the delicious moorland air, unmistakably impregnated now +with breaths of ozone. My eyes wandering to the horizon, I detected, +on the very margin of the moorland, a dense clump of trees, which I +instantly associated with the spinney in my old friend Mr. Porter's +story, and, determining that the renowned spinney should be my goal, I +at once aimed for it, vigorously striking out along the path which I +thought would be most likely to lead to it. Half an hour's brisk +walking brought me to my destination, and I found myself standing +opposite a granite wall which my imagination had no difficulty in +identifying with the wall so well described by Mr. Porter. Removing +the briars and gorse prickles which left little of my stockings whole, +I went up to the wall, and, measuring it with my body, found it was a +good foot taller than I. This would mean rather more climbing than I +had bargained for. But the pines--the grim silence of their slender +frames and gently swaying summits--fascinated me. They spoke of +possibilities few could see or appreciate as I could; possibilities of +a sylvan phantasmagoria enhanced by the soft and mystic radiance of +the moon. An owl hooted, and the rustling of brushwood told me of the +near proximity of some fur-coated burrower in the ground. High above +this animal life, remoter even than the tops of my beloved trees or +the mountain-ranges, etched on the dark firmament, shone multitudinous +stars, even the rings round Saturn being plainly discernible. From the +Milky Way my eyes at length wandered to the pines, and a puff of air +laden with the odour of their resin and decaying brushwood decided me. +I took a few preliminary sips of whisky, stretched my rusty limbs, +and, placing one foot in a jagged crevice of the wall, swarmed +painfully up. How slow and how hazardous was the process! I scratched +my fingers, inured to the pen but a stranger to any rougher substance; +I ruined my box-calf boots, I split my trousers at the knees, and I +felt that my hat had parted with its shape for ever; and yet I +continued the ascent. The end came all too suddenly. When within an +ace of victory, I yielded to impulse, and with an energy the desperate +condition of my skin and clothes alone could account for, I swung up, +and--the outer edge of the wall melted beneath me, my hands +frantically clutched at nothingness, a hideous sensation of falling +surged through my brain, my ears and eyes filled to bursting, and with +a terrific crash that seemed to drive my head and spine right through +my stomach, I met the black, uprising earth, and lost consciousness. + +Providentially for me, I had pitched head first into a furze bush +which broke the fall, otherwise I must have met with serious injury. +As it was, when I recovered my momentary loss of consciousness, I +found that I had sustained no worse harm than a severe shaking, +scratches galore, and the utter demolition of my clothes! I picked +myself up with difficulty, and spent some time searching for my hat +and stick--which I at length discovered, lodged, of course, where one +would least have thought of looking for them. I then took close stock +of my surroundings, and found them even grimmer than I had +anticipated. Though the trees were packed closely together, and there +was much undergrowth, the moonbeams were so powerful and so fully +concentrated on the spinney, that I could see no inconsiderable +distance ahead of me. Over everything hung a solemn and preternatural +hush. I saw shadows everywhere--shadows that defied analysis and had +no material counterparts. A sudden crashing of brushwood brought me to +a standstill, and sent the blood in columns to my heart. Then I +laughed loudly--it was only a hare, the prettiest and pertest thing +imaginable. I went on. Something whizzed past my face. I drew back in +horror--it was a bat, merely a bat. My nerves were out of order, the +fall had unsteadied them; I must pull myself together. I did so, and +continued to advance. A shadow, long, narrow, and grotesque, fell +across my path, and sent a thousand and one icy shivers down my back. +In an agony of terror I shut my eyes and plunged madly on. Something +struck me in the face and hurled me back. My eyes opened +involuntarily, and I saw a tree that, either out of pique or sheer +obstinacy, had planted itself half-way across the path. I examined its +branches to make sure they _were_ branches, and continued my march. A +score more paces, a sudden bend, and I was in an open space, +brilliantly illuminated by moonbeams and peopled with countless, +moving shadows. One would have to go far to find a wilder, weirder, +and more grimly suggestive spot. As I stood gazing at the scene in +awestruck wonder, a slight breeze rocked the tops of the pine trees, +and moaning through their long and gloomy aisles reverberated like +thunder. The sounds, suggesting slightly, ever so slightly, a tattoo, +brought with them vivid pictures of the Drummer, too vivid just then +to be pleasant, and I turned to go. To my unmitigated horror, a white +and lurid object barred my way. My heart ceased to beat, my blood +turned to ice; I was sick, absolutely sick, with terror. Besides this, +the figure held me spellbound--I could neither move nor utter a sound. +It had a white, absolutely white face, a tall, thin, perpendicular +frame, and a small, glittering, rotund head. For some seconds it +remained stationary, and then, with a gliding motion, left the path +and vanished in the shadows. + +Again a breeze rustled through the tops of the pine trees, moaned +through their long and gloomy aisles, and reverberated like thunder; +rat-tat, tat, rat-tat, tat--and with this sound beating in my ears, +reaction set in, and I never ceased running till I had reached my +hotel. + + + + + CASE IX + + THE ROOM BEYOND. AN ACCOUNT OF THE HAUNTINGS + AT HENNERSLEY, NEAR AYR + + +To me Hennersley is what the Transformation Scene at a Pantomime was +to the imaginative child--the dreamy child of long ago--a floral +paradise full of the most delightful surprises. Here, at Hennersley, +from out the quite recently ice-bound earth, softened and moistened +now by spring rain, there rises up row upon row of snowdrops, +hyacinths and lilies, of such surpassing sweetness and beauty that I +hold my breath in astonishment, and ecstatically chant a Te Deum to +the fairies for sending such white-clad loveliness. + +And then--then, ere my wonder has had time to fade, it is summer. The +ground opens, and there springs up, on all sides, a veritable sea of +vivid, variegated colour,--scarlet, pink, and white geraniums; red, +white and yellow roses; golden honeysuckle; bright-hued marigolds; +purple pansies; pale forget-me-nots; wallflowers; sweet peas; +many-tinted azaleas; showy hydrangeas; giant rhododendrons; foxgloves, +buttercups, daisies, hollyhocks, and heliotropes; a floral host too +varied to enumerate. + +Overcome with admiration, bewildered with happiness, I kneel on the +soft carpet of grass, and, burying my face extravagantly, in alternate +laps of luxurious, downy, scent-laden petals, fill my lungs with +soul-inspiring nectar. + +My intoxication has barely worn off before my eyes are dimly conscious +that the soil all around me is generously besprinkled with the remains +of my floral friends. I spring hurriedly to my feet, and, gazing +anxiously about me, suddenly perceive the gaily nodding heads of new +arrivals--dahlias, sunflowers, anemones, chrysanthemums. As I continue +gazing, the aromatic odour of mellow apples from the Hennersley +orchards reaches my nostrils; I turn round, and there, there in front +of me, I see row upon row of richly-laden fruit trees, their leaves a +brilliant copper in the scintillating rays of the ruddy autumn sun. I +gasp for breath--the beauty of tint and tone surpasses all that I have +hitherto seen--it is sublime, the grand climax of transformation. As +the curtain falls with the approach of winter, I hurry to my Edinburgh +home and pray for the prompt return of early spring. + +For many years my aged relatives, the Misses Amelia and Deborah +Harbordeens, lived at Hennersley. Rarest and kindest of old ladies, +they were the human prototypes of the flowers both they and I loved. +Miss Amelia, with her beautiful complexion, rounded form and regal +mien, suggested to my childish mind more, much more, than the mere +semblance of a rose, whilst Miss Deborah, with her sprightly grace and +golden hair, was only masquerading as a woman--she was in reality a +daffodil. + +Unlike so many of the fair sex who go in for gardening, my aunts were +essentially dainty. Their figures were shapely and elegant, their +hands slim and soft. I never saw them working without gloves, and I +have good reason to believe they anointed their fingers every night +with a special preparation to keep them smooth and white. They were +not--decidedly not--"brainy," neither were they accomplished, never +having made any special study of the higher arts; but they evinced +nevertheless the keenest appreciation of painting, music, and +literature. Their library--a large one--boasted a delightful +harbourage of such writers as Jane Austen, Miss Mitford, and Maria +Edgeworth. And in their drawing-room, on the walls of which art was +represented by the old as well as modern masters, might be seen and +sometimes heard--for the Misses Harbordeens often entertained--a +well-tuned Broadwood, and a Bucksen harpsichord. I will describe this +old-world abode, not as I first saw it, for when I first visited my +aunts Amelia and Deborah, I was only one year old, but as I first +remember it--a house with the glamour of a many-gabled roof and +diamond window-panes. + +The house stood by the side of the turnpike road--that broad, white, +interminable road, originating from goodness knows where in the north, +and passing through Ayr--the nearest town of any importance--to +goodness knows where in the south. A shady avenue, entered by a wooden +swing gate bearing the superscription "Hennersley" in neat, white +letters, led by a circuitous route to it, and not a vestige of it +could be seen from the road. In front of it stretched a spacious lawn, +flanked on either side and at the farthest extremity by a thick growth +of chestnuts, beeches, poplars, and evergreens. + +The house itself was curiously built. It consisted of two storeys, and +formed a main building and one wing, which gave it a peculiarly +lop-sided appearance that reminded me somewhat ludicrously of +Chanticleer, with a solitary, scant, and clipped appendage. + +It was often on the tip of my tongue to ask my relatives the reason of +this singular disparity; whether it was the result of a mere whim on +the part of the architect, or whether it had been caused by some +catastrophe; but my curiosity was always held in check by a strange +feeling that my relatives would not like to be approached on the +subject. My aunts Amelia and Deborah belonged to that class of +people, unhappily rare, who possess a power of generating in others an +instinctive knowledge of "dangerous ground"--a power which enabled +them to avert, both from themselves and the might-be offender, many a +painful situation. To proceed--the nakedness of the walls of +Hennersley was veiled--who shall say it was not designedly veiled--by +a thick covering of clematis and ivy, and in the latter innumerable +specimens of the feathered tribe found a sure and safe retreat. + +On entering the house, one stepped at once into a large hall. A +gallery ran round it, and from the centre rose a broad oak staircase. +The rooms, with one or two exceptions, opened into one another, and +were large, and low and long in shape; the walls and floors were of +oak and the ceilings were crossed by ponderous oak beams. + +The fireplaces, too, were of the oldest fashion; and in their +comfortable ingle-nook my aunts--in the winter--loved to read or knit. + +When the warm weather came, they made similar use of the deep-set +window-sills, over which they indulgently permitted me to scramble on +to the lawn. + +The sunlight was a special feature of Hennersley. Forcing its way +through the trellised panes, it illuminated the house with a radiancy, +a soft golden radiancy I have never seen elsewhere. + +My relatives seemed to possess some phenomenal attraction for the +sunlight, for, no matter where they sat, a beam brighter than the rest +always shone on them; and, when they got up, I noticed that it always +followed them, accompanying them from room to room and along the +corridors. + +But this was only one of the many pleasant mysteries that added to the +joy of my visits to Hennersley. I felt sure that the house was +enchanted--that it was under the control of some benevolent being who +took a kindly interest in the welfare of my relatives. + +I remember once, on the occasion of my customary good-morning to Miss +Amelia, who invariably breakfasted in bed, I inhaled the most +delicious odour of heliotrope. It was wafted towards me, in a cool +current of air, as I approached her bed, and seemed, to my childish +fancy, to be the friendly greeting of a sparkling sunbeam that rested +on Miss Amelia's pillow. + +I was so charmed with the scent, that, alas! forgetful of my manners, +I gave a loud sniff, and with a rapturous smile ejaculated, "Oh! +Auntie! Cherry pie!" + +Miss Amelia started. "Dear me, child!" she exclaimed, "how quietly you +entered. I had no idea you were in the room. Heliotrope is the name of +the scent, my dear, but please do not allude to it again. Your Aunt +Deborah and I are very fond of it"--here she sighed--"but for certain +reasons--reasons you would not understand--we do not like to hear the +word heliotrope mentioned. Kiss me, dear, and run away to your +breakfast." + +For the first time in my life, perhaps, I was greatly puzzled. I could +not see why I should be forbidden to refer to such a pleasant and +harmless subject--a subject that, looked at from no matter what point +of view, did not appear to me to be in the slightest degree +indelicate. The more I thought over it, the more convinced I became +that there was some association between the scent and the sunbeam, +and in that association I felt sure much of the mystery lay. + +The house was haunted--agreeably, delightfully haunted by a golden +light, a perfumed radiant light that could only have in my mind one +origin, one creator--Titania--Titania, queen of the fairies, the +guardian angel of my aged, my extremely aged relatives. + +"Aunt Deborah," I said one morning, as I found her seated in the +embrasure of the breakfast room window crocheting, "Aunt Deborah! You +love the sunlight, do you not?" + +She turned on me a startled face. "What makes you ask such strange +questions, child?" she said. "Of course I like the--sun. Most people +do. It is no uncommon thing, especially at my age." + +"But the sunbeams do not follow every one, auntie, do they?" I +persisted. + +Miss Deborah's crochet fell into her lap. + +"How queerly you talk," she said, with a curious trembling of her +lips. "How can the sunbeams follow one?" + +"But they do, auntie, they do indeed!" I cried. "I have often watched +a bright beam of golden light follow Aunt Amelia and you, in +different parts of the room. And it has settled on your lace collar +now." + +Miss Deborah looked at me very seriously; but the moistening of her +eyes I attributed to the strong light. "Esther," she said, laying one +of her soft hands on my forehead, "there are things God does not want +little girls to understand--question me no more." + +I obeyed, but henceforth I felt more than ever assured that my aunts, +consciously or unconsciously, shared their charming abode with some +capricious genii, of whose presence in their midst I had become +accidentally aware; and to find out the enchanted neighbourhood of its +mysterious retreat was to me now a matter of all-absorbing importance. +I spent hour after hour roaming through the corridors, the copses, and +my beloved flower gardens, in eager search of some spot I could +unhesitatingly affirm was the home of the genii. Most ardently I then +hoped that the sunbeams would follow me, and that the breeze charged +with cool heliotrope would greet me as it did Aunt Deborah. + +In the daytime, all Hennersley was sunshine and flowers, and, stray +where I would, I never felt lonely or afraid; but as the light waned I +saw and felt a subtle change creep over everything. The long aisles of +trees that in the morning only struck me as enchantingly peaceful and +shady, gradually filled with strangely terrifying shadows; the hue of +the broad swards deepened into a darkness I did not dare interpret, +whilst in the house, in its every passage, nook, and corner, a gloom +arose that, seeming to come from the very bowels of the earth, brought +with it every possible suggestion of bogey. + +I never spoke of these things to my relatives, partly because I was +ashamed of my cowardice, and partly because I dreaded a fresh rebuke. +How I suffered! and how I ridiculed my sufferings in the mornings, +when every trace of darkness was obliterated, and amid the radiant +bloom of the trees I thought only of heliotrope and sunbeams. + +One afternoon my search for the abode of the genii led me to the +wingless side of the house, a side I rarely visited. At the foot of +the ivy-covered walls and straight in their centre was laid a wide +bed of flowers, every one of which was white. But why white? Again +and again I asked myself this question, but I dared not broach it to +my relatives. A garden all white was assuredly an enigma--and to every +enigma there is undoubtedly a key. Was this garden, which was all +white, in any way connected with the sunbeams and heliotrope? Was it +another of the mysteries God concealed from little girls? Could this +be the home of the genii? This latter idea had no sooner entered my +head than it became a conviction. Of course! There was no doubt +whatever--it was the home of the genii. + +The white petals were now a source of peculiar interest to me. I was +fascinated: the minutes sped by and still I was there. It was not +until the sun had disappeared in the far-distant horizon, and the grim +shadows of twilight were creeping out upon me from the neighbouring +trees and bushes, that I awoke from my reverie--and fled! + +That night--unable to sleep through the excitement caused by my +discovery of the home of the genii--I lay awake, my whole thoughts +concentrated in one soul-absorbing desire, the passionate desire to +see the fairy of Hennersley--I had never heard of ghosts--and hear its +story. My bedroom was half-way down the corridor leading from the head +of the main staircase to the extremity of the wing. + +After I said good-night I did not see my aunts again till the +morning--they never by any chance visited me after I was in bed. Hence +I knew, when I had retired for the night, I should not see a human +face nor hear a human voice for nearly twelve hours. This--when I +thought of the genii with its golden beams of light and scent of +heliotrope--did not trouble me; it was only when my thoughts would not +run in this channel that I felt any fear, and that fear was not of the +darkness itself, but of what the darkness suggested. + +On this particular night, for the first few hours, I was sublimely +happy, and then a strange restlessness seized me. I was obsessed with +a wish to see the flower-garden. For some minutes, stimulated by a +dread of what my aunts would think of such a violation of +conventionality on the part of a child, I combated furiously with the +desire; but at length the longing was so great, so utterly and wholly +irresistible, that I succumbed, and, getting quietly out of bed, made +my way noiselessly into the corridor. + +All was dark and still--stiller than I had ever known it before. +Without any hesitation I plunged forward, in the direction of the +wingless side of the house, where there was a long, narrow, stained +window that commanded an immediate prospect of the white garden. + +I had seldom looked out of it, as up to the present this side of the +house had little attraction for me; but all was changed now; and, as I +felt my way cautiously along the corridor, a thousand and one fanciful +notions of what I might see surged through my brain. + +I came to the end of the corridor, I descended half a dozen stairs, I +got to the middle of the gallery overlooking the large entrance +hall--below me, above me, on all sides of me, was Stygian darkness. I +stopped, and there suddenly rang out, apparently from close at hand, a +loud, clear, most appallingly clear, blood-curdling cry, which, +beginning in a low key, ended in a shriek so horrid, harsh, and +piercing, that I felt my heart shrivel up within me, and in sheer +desperation I buried my fingers in my ears to deaden the sound. + +I was now too frightened to move one way or the other. All the +strength departed from my limbs, and when I endeavoured to move my +feet, I could not--they appeared to be fastened to the ground with +lead weights. + +I felt, I intuitively felt that the author of the disturbance was +regarding my terror with grim satisfaction, and that it was merely +postponing further action in order to enjoy my suspense. To block out +the sight of this dreadful creature, I clenched my eyelids tightly +together, at the same time earnestly imploring God to help me. + +Suddenly I heard the low wail begin again, and then the echo of a +far-off silvery voice came softly to me through the gloom: "It's an +owl--only an owl!" + +With lightning-like rapidity the truth then dawned on me, and as I +withdrew my clammy finger-tips from my ears, the faint fluttering of +wings reached me, through an open skylight. Once again I moved on; +the gallery was left behind, and I was well on my way down the +tortuous passage leading to my goal, when a luminous object, of vast +height and cylindrical shape, suddenly barred my progress. + +Overcome by a deadly sickness, I sank on the floor, and, burying my +face in my hands, quite made up my mind that my last moments had come. + +How long I remained in this position I cannot say, to me it seemed +eternity. I was eventually freed from it by the echo of a gentle +laugh, so kind, and gay, and girlish, that my terror at once departed, +and, on raising my head, I perceived that the cause of my panic was +nothing more than a broad beam of moonlight on a particularly +prominent angle of the wall. + +Heartily ashamed at my cowardice, I got up, and, stepping briskly +forward, soon reached the stained-glass window. + +Pressing my face against the pane, I peered through it, and there +immediately beneath me lay the flowers, glorified into dazzling gold +by the yellow colour of the glass. The sight thrilled me with joy--it +was sublime. My instinct had not deceived me, this was indeed the +long-looked-for home of the genii. + +The temperature, which had been high, abnormally so for June, now +underwent an abrupt change, and a chill current of air, sweeping down +on me from the rear, made my teeth chatter. I involuntarily shrank +back from the window, and, as I did so, to my utter astonishment it +disappeared, and I saw, in its place, a room. + +It was a long, low room, and opposite to me, at the farthest +extremity, was a large bay window, through which I could see the +nodding tops of the trees. The furniture was all green and of a +lighter, daintier make than any I had hitherto seen. The walls were +covered with pictures, the mantelshelf with flowers. Whilst I was +busily employed noting all these details, the door of the room opened, +and the threshold was gorgeously illuminated by a brilliant sunbeam, +from which suddenly evolved the figure of a young and lovely girl. + +I can see her now as I saw her then--tall, and slender, with masses +of golden hair, waved artistically aside from a low forehead of +snowy white; finely-pencilled brows, and long eyes of the most +lustrous violet; a straight, delicately-moulded nose, a firm, +beautifully-proportioned chin, and a bewitching mouth. At her bosom +was a bunch of heliotrope, which, deftly undoing, she raised to her +nose and then laughingly held out to me. I was charmed; I took a step +forward towards her. The instant I did so, a wild look of terror +distorted her face, she waved me back, something jarred against my +knee, and, in the place of the room, I saw only the blurred outline +of trees through the yellow window-panes. + +Bitterly disappointed, but absolutely sure that what I had seen was +objective, I retraced my steps to my bedroom and passed the remainder +of the night in sound sleep. + +After breakfast, however, unable to restrain my curiosity longer, I +sought Miss Amelia, who was easier to approach than her sister, and, +managing after several efforts to screw up courage, blurted out the +story of my nocturnal escapade. + +My aunt listened in silence. She was always gentle, but on this +occasion she surpassed herself. + +"I am not going to scold you, Esther," she said, smoothing out my +curls. "After what you have seen it is useless to conceal the truth +from you. God perhaps intends you to know all. Years ago, Esther, this +house was not as you see it now. It had two wings, and, in the one +that no longer exists was the bedroom you saw in your vision. We +called it the Green Room because everything in it was green, your Aunt +Alicia--an aunt you have never heard of--who slept there, having a +peculiar fancy for that colour. + +"Alicia was our youngest sister, and we all loved her dearly. She was +just as you describe her--beautiful as a fairy, with golden hair, and +violet eyes, and she always wore a bunch of heliotrope in her dress. + +"One night, Esther, one lovely, calm, midsummer night, forty years +ago, this house was broken into by burglars. They got in through the +Green Room window, which was always left open during the warm +weather. We--my mother, your Aunt Deborah, and I--were awakened by a +loud shriek for help. Recognising Alicia's voice, we instantly flew +out of bed, and, summoning the servants, tore to the Green Room as +fast as we could. + +"To our horror, Esther, the door was locked, and before we could break +the lock the ruffians had murdered her! They escaped through the +window and were never caught. My mother, your great-grandmother, had +that part of the house pulled down, and on the site of it she planted +the white garden. + +"Though Alicia's earthly body died, and was taken from us, her +beautiful spirit remains with us here. It follows us about in the +daytime in the form of a sunbeam, whilst occasionally, at night, it +assumes her earthly shape. The house is what is generally termed +haunted, and, no doubt, some people would be afraid to live in it. But +that, Esther, is because they do not understand spirits--your Aunt +Deborah and I do." + +"Do you think, auntie," I asked with a thrill of joy, "do you think it +at all likely that I shall see Aunt Alicia again to-night?" + +Aunt Amelia shook her head gently. "No, my dear," she said slowly, "I +think it will be impossible, because you are going home this +afternoon." + + + + + CASE X + + "---- HOUSE," NEAR BLYTHSWOOD SQUARE, GLASGOW. + THE HAUNTED BATH + + +When Captain W. de S. Smythe went to look over "---- House," in the +neighbourhood of Blythswood Square, Glasgow, the only thing about the +house he did not like was the bathroom--it struck him as excessively +grim. The secret of the grimness did not lie, he thought, in any one +particular feature--in the tall, gaunt geyser, for example (though +there was always something in the look of a geyser when it was old and +dilapidated, as was the case with this one, that repelled him), or in +the dark drying-cupboard, or in the narrow, slit-like window; but in +the room as a whole, in its atmosphere and general appearance. He +could not diagnose it; he could not associate it with anything else he +had ever experienced; it was a grimness that he could only specify as +grim--grim with a grimness that made him feel he should not like to +be alone there in the dead of night. It was a nuisance, because the +rest of the house pleased him; moreover, the locality was convenient, +and the rent moderate, very moderate for such a neighbourhood. He +thought the matter well over as he leaned in the doorway of the +bathroom. He could, of course, have the room completely renovated--new +paper, new paint, and a fresh bath. Hot-water pipes! The geyser should +be done away with. Geysers were hideous, dangerous, and--pshaw, what +nonsense!--Ghostly! Ghostly! What absurd rot! How his wife would +laugh! That decided the question. His wife! She had expressed a very +ardent wish that he should take a house in or near Blythswood Square, +if he could get one on anything like reasonable terms, and here was +his chance. He would accompany the agent of the property to the +latter's office, and the preliminaries should be forthwith settled. + +Six weeks later, he and his family were installed in the house, which +still reeked with the smell of fresh paint and paper. The first thing +the Captain did when he got there was to steal away slyly to the +bathroom, and as soon as he opened the door his heart sank. Despite +the many alterations the room had undergone, the grimness was still +there--there, everywhere. In the fine new six-foot bath, with its +glistening, gleaming, wooden framework; in the newly papered, newly +painted cupboard; in the walls, with their bright, fresh paper; in +the snowy surface of the whitewashed ceiling; in the air,--the very +air itself was full of it. The Captain was, as a rule, very fond of +his bath, but in his new quarters he firmly resolved that some one +else should use the bath before he made the experiment. In a very few +days the family had all settled down, and every one, with the +exception of the Captain, had had a bath, but no matter how many and +how bitter were his wife's complaints, try how he would, he could +not, he positively _could_ not, bring himself to wash in the +bathroom--_alone_. It was all right so long as the door was open, but +his wife resolutely refused to allow him to keep it open, and the +moment it was shut his abject terror returned--a terror produced by +nothing that he could in any way analyse or define. At last, ashamed +of his cowardice, he screwed up courage, and, with a look of +determined desperation in his eyes and mouth--an expression which +sent his wife into fits of laughter--set out one night from his +bedroom, candle in hand, and entered the bathroom. Shutting and +locking the door, he lighted another candle, and, after placing them +both on the mantelshelf, turned on the bath water, and began to +undress. + +"I may as well have a peep in the cupboard," he said, "just to satisfy +myself no one is hiding there--for every one in the house knows how I +hate this beastly bathroom--with the intention of playing me a +practical joke. Supposing one of the maids--Polly, for example, I'm +sure she'd be quite capable--took it into her pretty head to"--but +here the Captain was obliged to stop; he really was not equal to +facing, even in his mind's eye, the situation such a supposition +involved, and at the bare idea of such a thing his countenance assumed +a deeper hue, and--I am loth to admit--an amused grin. The grin, +however, died out as he cautiously opened the door and peered +furtively in; no one--nothing was there! With a breath of relief he +closed the door again, placed a chair against it, and, sitting down, +proceeded to pull off his clothes. Coat, vest, under-garments, he +placed them all tenderly in an untidy heap on the floor, and then, +with a last lingering, affectionate look at them, walked sedately +towards the bath. But this sedateness was only momentary. The first +few steps he walked, but, a noise in the grate startling him, he +suddenly assumed an air of the greatest gaiety, and, bowing with mock +gallantry to his trousers, he now waltzed coquettishly to the bath. It +was grim, horribly grim, and horribly hot too, for, when he felt the +temperature with one of his squat, podgy toes, it made him swear quite +involuntarily. Turning on the cold water, and slapping his thighs +playfully, he felt again. Too hot yet, far too hot even for him! He +loved heat. More cold! and he was hoisting one chubby leg to feel +again, when, a repetition of the noise in the grate making him swing +round, he lost his balance, and descended on the floor with a hard, a +very hard, bump. For some seconds he lay still, too sulky and +aggrieved even to get up, but, the draught from under the ill-fitting +door tickling his bare flesh in the most immodest fashion, he roused +himself from this lethargy, and was about to raise himself from the +floor, when the lights went out--went out without a moment's warning, +and he found himself engulfed in the most funereal darkness. To say he +was startled is to put it very mildly--he was absolutely +terror-stricken--far too terror-stricken to think of moving now, and +least of all of getting up and groping for the matches. Indeed, when +he came to think of it, he had not seen any matches in the room, and +he had not brought any with him, his wife had flurried him so much. +The moment the candles were extinguished the grimness sensibly +increased, and he could feel all around him, thickly amalgamated with +the ether, a superphysical presence, at once hostile and horrible. +Then, to bring his terror to a climax, there issued from the bath a +loud rubbing and splashing, as if some one, some very heavy person, +was vigorously washing. The water rose and fell, squished and bubbled +as it does when one is lying at full length in it, raising and +lowering oneself, kicking and plunging first on one side and then on +the other. Whilst, to add to the realism, Captain Smythe distinctly +heard gasping and puffing; and the soft, greasy sound of a well-soaped +flannel. He could indeed follow every movement of the occupant of the +bath as graphically as if he had seen him--from the brisk scrubbing of +body and legs to the finicky process of cleaning the ears and toes. + +It was whilst the bather was occupied thus that the cupboard door +began to open very quietly and stealthily, and Captain de Smythe heard +the chair he had so carefully placed against it being gradually +propelled across the floor. + +Then something, he would have given anything to tell what, came out +and began to steal towards him. He tried to crawl out of its way, but +could not; his limbs no longer acted conjointly with his brain, and +when he opened his mouth to shout at it, his voice withered away in +his throat. It came up to him, and directly it touched his naked skin +he knew it was a woman--a woman with a much-beflounced silk skirt and +silk petticoats--a woman whose person was perfumed with violets (a +scent for which the Captain had a particular weakness), and without +doubt, loaded with jewellery. Her behaviour did not betray any +symptoms of embarrassment when she encountered the Captain lying on +the floor, but, planting one icy-cold high-heeled shoe on his chest +and the other on his cheek, she stepped on him as if he had been an +orthodox cushion or footstool, purposely placed there for her +convenience. A hollow exclamation, which died away in a gasp, issued +from the bath, as the woman, with a swift movement of her arms, threw +something over it. What followed, the Captain could only surmise, but +from the muttered imprecations and splashes in the water, it seemed to +him that nothing short of murder was taking place. After a while the +noises in the bath grew feebler and feebler, and when they finally +ceased, the woman, with a sigh of relief, shook the water from her +arms, and, stepping off the Captain, moved towards the fireplace. The +spell which had, up to the present, enthralled the unfortunate +Captain, was now broken, and, thinking that his ghostly visitor had +betaken herself right away, he sat up. He had hardly done so before +the darkness was rudely dissipated, and, to his horror, he saw +looking at him, from a distance of only a few feet, a white, luminous +face, presumably that of a woman. But what a woman! What a +devil!--what a match for the most lurid of any of Satan's male +retainers. Yet she was not without beauty--beauty of the richest +sensual order; beauty that, had it been flesh and blood, would have +sent men mad. Her hair, jet black, wavy, and parted in the centre, was +looped over her shell-like ears, which were set unusually low and far +back on her head; her nose was of that rare and matchless shape termed +Grecian; and her mouth--in form, a triumph of all things heavenly, in +expression, a triumph of all things hellish. The magnificent turn of +its short upper lip, and the soft voluptuous line of its under lip; +its sportive dimples and ripe red colour; its even rows of dazzling, +pearly teeth were adorable; but they appealed to the senses, and in no +sense or shape to the soul. Her brows, slightly irregular in outline, +met over the nose; her eyelashes were of great length, and her +eyes--slightly, ever so slightly, obliquely set, and larger than those +of living human beings--were black, black as her hair; and the pupils +sparkled and shone with the most damnable expression of satanical +hatred and glee. The whole thing, the face and the light that emanated +from it, was so entirely awful and devilish, that Captain Smythe sat +like one turned to stone, and it was not until long after it had +vanished that he groped his way to the door, and in Adam's costume, +for he dared not stay to put on his clothes, fled down the passage to +his bedroom. + +From his wife he got little sympathy; her sarcasm was too deep for +words, and she merely ordered her husband on no account to breathe a +word of his "silliness" before either the children or the servants. +The injunction, however, which was naturally carried out to the +letter, was futile as a precaution, for, on running into the bathroom +one morning when every one else was downstairs, the eldest boy, +Ronald, saw, floating in the bath, the body of a hoary-headed old man. +It was bloated and purplish blue, and had big, glassy eyes that stared +at him in such a hideous, meaningless manner that he uttered a scream +of terror and fled. Alarmed at the noise, most of the household ran to +see what had happened. Only the Captain remained behind. He knew only +too well, and he hid, letting his wife and the servants go upstairs +alone. They entered the bathroom--there was nothing in the bath, not +even water, but, as they were leaving, they ran into a dark, handsome, +evil-eyed woman, clad in the most costly of dresses, and sparkling +with jewellery. She glided past them with sly, silent footsteps, and +vanished by the cupboard. Cured of scepticism, and throwing dignity to +the wind, the Captain's wife raced downstairs, and, bursting into the +drawing-room, flung herself on the sofa in hysterics. + +Within a week the house was once again empty, and the rumour getting +about that it was haunted, the landlord threatened the Smythes with an +action for slander of title. But I do not think the case was taken to +court, the Smythes agreeing to contradict the report they had +originated. Astute inquiries, however, eventually led them to discover +that a lady, answering to the description of the ghost they had seen, +had once lived at ---- House. Of Spanish descent, she was young, +beautiful, and gay; and was married to a man, an extremely wealthy man +(people remembered how rich he was after he died), old enough to be +her grandfather. They had nothing in common, the husband only wanting +to be quiet, the wife to flirt and be admired. Their neighbours often +heard them quarrel, and it was declared that the wife possessed the +temper of a fiend. The man was eventually found dead in his bath, and +there being no indications of violence, it was generally supposed that +he had fainted, (his wife having been previously heard to declare that +he often had fainting fits), and had thus been accidentally drowned. +The beautiful young widow, who inherited all his money, left the house +immediately and went abroad, and the neighbours, when questioned by +the Smythes as to whether anything had been seen of her since, shook +their heads dubiously, but refused to commit themselves. + + + + + CASE XI + + THE CHOKING GHOST OF "---- HOUSE," NEAR + SANDYFORD PLACE, GLASGOW + + +The last time I was passing through Glasgow, I put up for the night at +an hotel near Sandyford Place, and met there an old theatrical +acquaintance named Browne, Hely Browne. Not having seen him since I +gave up acting, which is now, alas! a good many years, we had much to +discuss--touring days, lodgings, managers, crowds, and a dozen other +subjects, all included in the vulgar term "shop." We spent the whole +of one evening debating thus, in the smoke-room; whilst the following +night we went to an entertainment given by that charming reciter and +raconteur, Miss Lilian North, who, apart from her talent, which, in my +opinion, places her in the first rank of her profession, is the +possessor of extraordinary personal attractions, not the least +remarkable of which are her hands. Indeed, it was through my attention +being called to the latter, that I am indirectly indebted for this +story. Miss North has typically psychic hands--exquisitely white and +narrow, and her long, tapering fingers and filbert nails (which, by +the way, are always trimly manicured) are the most perfect I have ever +seen. I was alluding to them, on our way back to the hotel after her +performance, when Hely Browne interrupted me. + +"Talking about psychic things, O'Donnell," he said, "do you know there +is a haunted house near where we are staying? You don't? Very well, +then, if I tell you what I know and you write about it, will you +promise not to allude to the house by its right number? If you do, +there will be the dickens to pay--simply call it '---- House,' near +Sandyford Place. You promise? Good! Let us take a little stroll before +we turn in--I feel I want a breath of fresh air--and I will tell you +the experience I once had there. It is exactly two years ago, and I +was on tour here in _The Green Bushes_. All the usual theatrical +'diggings' had been snapped up long before I arrived, and, not +knowing where else to go, I went to No.--Sandyford Place, which I saw +advertised in one of the local papers as a first-class private hotel +with very moderate charges. A wild bit of extravagance, eh? But then +one does do foolish things sometimes, and, to tell the truth, I wanted +a change badly. I had 'digged' for a long time with a fellow called +Charlie Grosvenor. Not at all a bad chap, but rather apt to get on +one's nerves after a while--and he had got on mine--horribly. +Consequently, I was not at all sorry for an excuse to get away from +him for a bit, even though I had to pay dearly for it. A private hotel +in a neighbourhood like that of Sandyford Place is a big order for an +ordinary comedian. I forget exactly what the terms were, but I know I +pulled rather a long face when I was told. Still, being, as I say, +tired of the usual 'digs,' I determined to try it, and accordingly +found myself landed in a nice-sized bedroom on the second floor. The +first three nights passed, and nothing happened, saving that I had the +most diabolical nightmares--a very unusual thing for me. 'It was the +cheese,' I said to myself, when I got out of bed the first morning; 'I +will take very good care I don't touch cheese to-night.' I kept this +resolution, but I had the nightmare again, and even, if anything, +worse than before. Then I fancied it must be cocoa--I was at that time +a teetotaller--so I took hot milk instead; but I had nightmare all the +same, and my dreams terrified me to such an extent that I did not dare +get out of bed in the morning (it was then winter) till it was broad +daylight. It was now becoming a serious matter with me. As you know, +an actor more than most people needs sleep, and it soon became as much +as I could do to maintain my usual standard of acting. On the fourth +night, determining to get rest at all costs, I took a stiff glass of +hot brandy just before getting into bed. I slept,--I could scarcely +help sleeping,--but not for long, for I was rudely awakened from my +slumbers by a loud crash. I sat up in bed, thinking the whole house +was falling about my ears. The sound was not repeated, and all was +profoundly silent. Wondering what on earth the noise could have been, +and feeling very thirsty, I got out of bed to get a drink of +lime-juice. To my annoyance, however, though I groped about +everywhere, knocking an ash tray off the mantelpiece and smashing the +lid of the soap-dish, I could find neither the lime-juice nor matches. +At length, giving it up as a bad job, I decided to get into bed again. +With that end in view, I groped my way through the darkness, steering +myself by the furniture, the position of which was, of course, quite +familiar to me--at least I imagined it was. Judge, then, of my +astonishment when I could not find the bed! At first I regarded it as +a huge joke, and laughed--how rich! Ha! ha! ha! Fancy not being able +to find one's way back to bed in a room of this dimension! Good enough +for _Punch_! Too good, perhaps, now. Ha! ha! ha! But it soon grew past +a joke. I had been round the room, completely round the room, twice, +and still no bed! I became seriously alarmed! Could I be ill? Was I +going mad? But no, my forehead was cool, my pulse normal. For some +seconds I stood still, not knowing what else to do; then, to make one +more desperate attempt, I stuck straight in front of me--and--ran +into something--something that recoiled and hit me. Thrilled with +amazement, I put up my hand to feel what it was, and touched a noose." + +"A noose!" I ejaculated, interrupting Hely Browne for the first time +since he began. + +"Yes, a noose!" he repeated, "suspended in mid-air. As you can +imagine, I was greatly astonished, for I knew there had been nothing +that I could be now mistaking for a noose in the room overnight. I +stretched out my arms to feel to what it was fastened, but, to add to +my surprise, the cord terminated in thin air. Then I grew frightened, +and, dropping my arms, tried to move away from the spot; I could +not--my feet were glued to the floor. With a gentle, purring sound +the noose commenced fawning--I use that word because the action was +so intensely bestial, so like that of a cat or snake--round my neck +and face. It then rose above me, and, after circling furiously round +and round and creating a miniature maelstrom in the air, descended +gradually over my head. Lower and lower it stole, like some sleek, +caressing slug. Now past the tips of my ears, now my nose, now my +chin, until with a tiny thud it landed on my shoulders, when, with a +fierce snap, it suddenly tightened. I endeavoured to tear it off, but +every time I raised my hands, a strong, magnetic force drew them to +my side again; I opened my mouth to shriek for help, and an icy +current of air froze the breath in my lungs. I was helpless, +O'Donnell, utterly, wholly helpless. Cold, clammy hands tore my feet +from the floor; I was hoisted bodily up, and then let drop. A +frightful pain shot through me. A hundred wires cut into my throat at +once. I gasped, choked, suffocated, and in my mad efforts to find a +foothold kicked out frantically in all directions. But this only +resulted in an increase of my torments, since with every plunge the +noose grew tauter. My agony at last grew unbearable; I could feel the +sides of my raw and palpitating thorax driven into one another, while +every attempt to heave up breath from my bursting lungs was rewarded +with the most excruciating paroxysms of pain--pain more acute than I +thought it possible for any human being to endure. My head became +ten times its natural size; blood--foaming, boiling blood--poured +into it from God knows where, and under its pressure my eyes bulged +in their sockets, and the veins in my nose cracked. Terrific +thunderings echoed and re-echoed in my ears; my tongue, huge as a +mountain, shot against my teeth; a sea of fire raged through my +brain, and then--blackness--blackness inconceivable. When I recovered +consciousness, O'Donnell, I found myself standing, cold and +shivering, but otherwise sound and whole, on the chilly oilcloth. I +had, now, no difficulty in finding my way back to bed, and in about +an hour's time succeeded in falling asleep. I slept till late, and, +on getting up, tried to persuade myself that my horrible experience +was but the result of another nightmare. + +"As you may guess, after all this, I did not look forward to bedtime, +and counted the minutes as they flew by with the utmost regret. Never +had I been so sorry when my performance at the theatre was over, and +the lights of my hotel once again hove in sight. I entered my bedroom +in fear and trembling, and was so apprehensive lest I should be again +compelled to undergo the sensations of hanging, that I decided to keep +a light burning all night, and, for that reason, had bought half a +pound of wax candles. At last I grew so sleepy that I could keep awake +no longer, and, placing the candlestick on a chair by the bed, I +scrambled in between the sheets. Without as much as a sip of spirits, +I slept like a top. When I awoke the room was in pitch darkness. A +curious smell at once attracted my notice. I thought, at first, it +might be but the passing illusion of a dream. But no--I sniffed +again--it was there--there, close to me--under my very nose--the +strong, pungent odour of drugs; but not being a professor of smells, +nor even a humble student of physics, I was consequently unable to +diagnose it, and could only arrive at the general conclusion that it +was a smell that brought with it very vivid recollections of a +chemist's shop and of my old school laboratory. Wondering whence it +originated, I thrust my face forward with the intention of trying to +locate it, when, to my horror, my lips touched against something cold +and flabby. In an agony of fear I reeled away from it, and, the bed +being narrow, I slipped over the edge and bumped on to the floor. + +"Now I think it is quite possible that up to this point you may have +attributed my unhappy experience to nothing more nor less than a bad +dream, but your dream theory can no longer hold good, for, on coming +in such sudden contact with the floor, I gave my funny-bone a knock, +which, I can assure you, made me thoroughly awake, and the first thing +I noticed on recovering my scattered senses--was the smell. I sat up, +and saw to my terror my bed was occupied, but occupied in the most +alarming manner. On the middle of the pillow was a face, the face +of--I looked closer; I would have given every penny I possessed not to +have done so, but I could not help myself--I looked closer, and it +was--the face of my brother; my brother Ralph--you may recollect my +mentioning him to you, for he was the only one of us who was at that +time making money--whom I believed to be in New York. He had always +been rather sallow, but apart from the fact that he now looked very +yellow, his appearance was quite natural. Indeed, as I gazed at him, I +grew so convinced it was he that I cried out, 'Ralph!' The moment I +did so, there was a ghastly change: his eyelids opened, and his +eyes--eyes I recognised at once--protruded to such a degree that they +almost rolled out; his mouth flew open, his tongue swelled, his whole +countenance became convulsed with the most unparalleled, and for that +reason indescribable, expression of agony, whilst the yellowness of +his complexion deepened to a livid, lurid black, that was so +inconceivably repellent and hellish that I sprang away from the +bed--appalled. There was then a gasping, rasping noise, and a voice +that, despite its unnatural hollowness, I identified as that of Ralph, +broke forth: 'I have been wanting to speak to you for ages, but +_something_, I cannot explain, has always prevented me. I have been +dead a month; not cancer, but Dolly. Poison. Good-bye, Hely. I shall +rest in peace now.' The voice stopped; there was a rush of cold air, +laden with the scent of the drug, and tainted, faintly tainted, with +the nauseating smell of the grave, and--the face on the pillow +vanished. How I got through the remainder of the night I cannot say--I +dare not think. I dare only remember that I did not sleep. I was +devoted to Ralph, and the thought that he had perished in the +miserable manner suggested by the apparition, completely prostrated +me. In the morning I received a black-edged letter from my mother, +stating that she had just heard from Dolly, my brother's wife, saying +Ralph had died from cancer in the throat. Dolly added in a postscript +that her dearly beloved Ralph had been very good to her, and left her +well provided for. Of course, we might have had the body exhumed, but +we were poor, and Ralph's widow was rich; and in America, you know, +everything goes in favour of the dollars. Hence we were obliged to let +the matter drop, sincerely trusting Dolly would never take it into her +head to visit us. She never did. My mother died last year--I felt her +death terribly, O'Donnell; and as I no longer have any fixed abode, +but am always touring the British provinces, there is not much fear +of Ralph's murderess and I meeting. It is rather odd, however, that +after my own experience at the hotel, I heard that it had borne the +reputation for being haunted for many years, and that a good many +visitors who had passed the night in one of the rooms (presumably +mine) had complained of hearing strange noises and having dreadful +dreams. How can one explain it all?" + +"One can't," I responded, as we turned in for the night. + + + + + CASE XII + + THE GREY PIPER AND THE HEAVY COACH OF + DONALDGOWERIE HOUSE, PERTH + + +Donaldgowerie House, until comparatively recent times, stood on the +outskirts of Perth. It was a long, low, rambling old place, dating +back to the beginning of the seventeenth century. At the time of the +narrative it was in the possession of a Mr. William Whittingen, who +bought it at a very low price from some people named Tyler. It is true +that it would cost a small fortune to repair, but, notwithstanding +this disadvantage, Mr. Whittingen considered his purchase a bargain, +and was more than satisfied with it. Indeed, he knew of no other house +of a similar size, of such an imposing appearance, and so pleasantly +situated, that he could have bought for less than twice the amount he +had paid for this; and he was really very sorry for the Tylers, who +explained to him, in confidence, that had they not been in such +urgent need of money, they would never have sold Donaldgowerie House +at such a ridiculously low figure. However, with them it was a +question of cash--cash down, and Mr. Whittingen had only to write out +a cheque for the modest sum they asked, and the house was his. It was +June when Mr. Whittingen took possession of the house--June, when the +summer sun was brightest and the gardens looked their best. The +Whittingen family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Whittingen, two sons, +Ernest and Harvey, and three daughters, Ruth, Martha, and Mary, were, +as one might gather from their names alone, plain, practical, genteel, +and in fact very superior people, who were by no means lacking in that +exceedingly useful quality of canniness, so characteristic of the +Lowland Scot to which race they belonged. Mr. Whittingen had, for +years, conducted a grocery business in Jedburgh, twice filling the +honoured and coveted post of mayor, and when he at length retired into +private life, his friends (and it was astonishing how many friends he +had) shrewdly suspected that his pockets were not only well lined but +full to bursting. Acting on the advice of his wife and daughters, who +were keen on social distinction, he sent Ernest to Oxford, +conditionally that he should take Holy Orders in the Church of +England, whilst Harvey, who, when scarcely out of the petticoat stage, +displayed the regular Whittingen talent for business by covertly +helping himself to the sugar in his father's shop, and disposing of it +at strictly sale price to his sisters' cronies in the nursery, was +sent to one of those half preparatory and half finishing schools (of +course, for the sons of gentlemen only) at Edinburgh, where he was +kept till he was old enough to be articled to a prosperous, +exceedingly prosperous, firm of solicitors. + +The girls, Ruth, Martha, and Mary, had likewise been highly educated, +that is to say, they had remained so many years at an English seminary +for young ladies, and had been given a final twelve months in France +and Germany to enable them to obtain "the correct accent." + +At the time of the story they were as yet unmarried, and were awaiting +with the most laudable patience the advent of men of title. They were +delighted with their new home (which Ruth had persuaded her father to +christen "Donaldgowerie," after the house in a romantic novel she had +just been reading), and proud of their gilded premises and magnificent +tennis lawns; they had placed a gigantic and costly tray in the hall, +in confident assurance that it would speedily groan beneath the weight +of cards from all the gentry in Perthshire. + +But please be it understood, that my one and only object in alluding +to these trifling details is to point out that the Whittingens, being +entirely engrossed in matters mundane, were the very last people in +the world to be termed superstitious, and although imaginative where +future husbands' calls and cards were concerned, prior to the events +about to be narrated had not an ounce of superstition in their +natures. Indeed, until then they had always smiled in a very +supercilious manner at even the smallest mention of a ghost. + +September came, their first September in Donaldgowerie, and the family +welcomed with joy Ernest and his youthful bride. + +The latter was not, as they had fondly hoped (and roundly announced in +Perth), the daughter of a Peer, but of a wealthy Bristol draper, the +owner of a house near the Downs, whose son had been one of Ernest's +many friends at Oxford. The coming of the newly-married pair to +Donaldgowerie brought with it a burst of bird-like gaiety. All sorts +of entertainments--musical "at homes," dinners, dances, tennis and +garden parties, in fact, every variety that accorded with the family's +idea of good taste--were given; and with praiseworthy "push," for +which the Whittingens had fast become noted, all the County was +invited. This splendid display of wealth and hospitality was not +disinterested; I fear, it might be not only accounted a "send off" for +the immaculately-clad curate and his wife, but also a determined +effort on the part of Mr. and Mrs. Whittingen to attract the right +sort of lover for their girls. It was during the progress of one of +their alfresco entertainments that the scepticism of certain of the +Whittingens with regard to the supernatural received a rude blow. +Martha, Mary, and two eligible young men, friends of Harvey's, having +finished a somewhat spirited game of croquet, were refreshing +themselves with lemonade, whilst they continued their flirtation. +Presently Mary, whose partner declared how much he should like to see +some photographs she had recently had taken of herself, with a +well-affected giggle of embarrassment set off to the house to fetch +her album. The minutes passed, and, as she did not return, Martha went +in search of her. The album, she knew, was in their boudoir, which was +situated at the end of the long and rather gloomy corridor of the +upper storey. Highly incensed at her sister's slowness, she was +hastening along the corridor, when, to her supreme astonishment, she +suddenly saw the figure of a man in kilts, with a bagpipe under his +arm, emerge through the half-open door of the boudoir, and with a +peculiar gliding motion advance towards her. A curious feeling, with +which she was totally unfamiliar, compelled her to remain mute and +motionless; and in this condition she awaited the approach of the +stranger. Who was he? she asked herself, and how on earth had he got +there, and what was he doing? As he drew nearer, she perceived that +his face was all one hue,--a ghastly, livid grey,--and that his eyes, +which were all the time fixed on hers, were lurid and menacing,--so +terrible, in fact, that she turned cold with fear, and felt the very +hair on her head beginning to rise on end. She opened her mouth to +shriek, but found she could not ejaculate a syllable; neither could +she, even with the most desperate efforts, tear her feet from the +floor. On came the figure, and, without swerving either to the right +or left, it glided right up to and through her; and, as she +involuntarily turned round, she saw it disappear through a half-open +staircase window, at least twenty feet above the ground outside. +Shaking all over with terror, and not understanding in the slightest +what to make of it, Martha ran to the boudoir, where her heart almost +sprang out of her body at the spectacle of her sister Mary stretched +at full length on the floor, her cheeks ashy pale, her lips blue. +Martha at once made a frantic rush to the bell, and, in a few minutes, +half the establishment, headed by Mr. Whittingen, poured into the +room. With the aid of a little cold water, Mary speedily recovered, +and, in reply to the anxious inquiries of her sympathetic rescuers as +to what had happened, indignantly demanded why such a horrible +looking creature as "that" piper had been allowed not merely to enter +the house but to come up to her room, and half frighten her to death. +"I had just got my album," she added, "when, feeling some one was in +the room, I turned round--and there (she indicated a spot on the +carpet) was the piper, not ten paces away from me, regarding me with +the most awful look imaginable. I was too taken aback with surprise to +say anything, nor--for some unaccountable reason--could I escape, +before he touched me on the shoulder with one of his icy cold hands, +and then commenced playing. Up and down the floor he paced, backwards +and forwards, never taking his hateful glance off my face and ever +piping the same dismal dirge. At last, unable to stand the strain of +it any longer, and convinced he was a madman, bent on murdering +me--for who but a lunatic would behave in such a way?--I gave way to a +violent fit of hysterics, and fainted. Now tell me who he was, and why +he was permitted to frighten me in this manner?" And Mary stamped her +feet and grew vicious, as only her class will when they are at all +vexed. Her speech was followed by a silence that exasperated her. She +repeated her inquiries with crimson cheeks, and then, as again no one +responded, she signalled out the head footman and raved at him. Up to +this point Mr. Whittingen had been dumb with amazement. The idea of a +strange piper having the twofold effrontery to enter his house and +proceed to the private and chaste sanctuary of his highly respectable +daughters, almost deprived him of breath. He could scarcely believe +his ears. "What--what in the name of--what does it all mean?" he at +length stammered, addressing the unfortunate footman. "A piper! and +without any invitation from me, how dare you let him in?" + +"I did not, sir," the luckless footman replied; "no such person came +to the door when I was in the hall." + +"No more he did when I was there," chimed in the second footman, and +all the other servants vociferated in a body, "We never saw any piper, +sir, nor heard one either," and they looked at Mary reproachfully. + +At this Mr. Whittingen looked exceedingly embarrassed. In the face of +such a unanimous denial what could he say? He knew if he suggested +the servants were untruthful they would all give notice to leave on +the spot, and knowing good servants are scarce in Perth as elsewhere, +he felt rather in a fix. At length, turning to Mary, he asked if she +was sure it was a piper. "Sure!" Mary screamed, "why, of course I am, +did I not tell you he marched up and down here playing on his +disgusting bagpipes, which nearly broke the drum of my ear." + +"And I saw him too, pa," Martha put in. "I met him in the corridor, he +had his pipes under his arm, and the most dreadful expression in his +face. I don't wonder Mary was frightened." + +"But where did he go?" Mr. Whittingen cried. + +"You would not believe me if I told you," Martha said, her cheeks +flushing. "He seemed to pass right through me, and then to vanish +through the staircase window. I have never been so terribly upset in +my life," and, sinking on to the sofa, she began to laugh +hysterically. + +"Dear me! dear me! it is very odd!" Mr. Whittingen exclaimed, as Mary +handed her sister a wineglass of sal-volatile. "They can't both have +been dreaming; it must--but there, what a nonsensical notion, there +are no such things as ghosts! Only children and nursemaids believe in +them nowadays. As soon as you have quite recovered, my dears, we will +return to the garden, and I think that under the circumstances, the +rather peculiar circumstances, ahem! it will be better to say nothing +to your mother. Do you understand?" Mr. Whittingen went on, eyeing the +servants, "Nothing to your mistress." + +The affair thus terminated, and for some days nothing further happened +to disturb the peace of the family. At the end of a week, however, +exactly a week after the appearance of the piper, Mary met with a +serious accident. She was running across the croquet lawn to speak to +her sister-in-law, when she tripped over a hoop that had been +accidentally left there, and, in falling, ran a hatpin into her head. +Blood poisoning ensued, and within a fortnight she was dead. Martha +was the only one in the house, however, who associated Mary's accident +and death with the piper; to her that sinister expression in the +mysterious Highlander's eyes portended mischief, and she could not +but suspect that, in some way or another, he had brought about the +catastrophe. The autumn waned, and Christmas was well within sight, +when another mysterious occurrence took place. It was early one Sunday +evening, tea was just over, and the Whittingen family were sitting +round the fire engaged in a somewhat melancholy conversation, for the +loss of Mary had affected them all very deeply, when they heard the +far-away rumble of a heavy coach on the high-road. Nearer and nearer +it came, till it seemed to be about on a level with the front lodge +gate; then to their surprise there was a loud crunching of gravel, and +they heard it careering at a breakneck speed up the carriage-drive. +They looked at one another in the utmost consternation. + +"A coach, and driven in this mad fashion! Whose was it? What did it +mean? Not visitors, surely!" + +It pulled up at the front door, and the champing and stamping of the +horses vibrated loudly through the still night air. Sounds as of one +or more people descending were next heard, and then there came a +series of the most terrific knockings at the door. The Whittingen +family stared at one another aghast; there was something in those +knockings--something they could not explain--that struck terror in +their souls and made their blood run cold. They waited in breathless +anxiety for the door to be opened; but no servant went to open it. The +knocks were repeated, if anything louder than before, the door swung +back on its hinges, and the tread of heavy footsteps were heard slowly +approaching the drawing-room. Mrs. Whittingen gave a low gasp of +horror, Ruth screamed, Harvey buried his face in his hands, Mr. +Whittingen rose to his feet, and made desperate efforts to get to the +bell, but could not stir, whilst Martha rushed to the drawing-room +door and locked it. They then with one accord began to pray. The steps +halted outside the room, the door slowly opened, and the blurred +outlines of a group of ghastly-looking figures, supporting a +grotesquely shaped object in their midst, appeared on the threshold. +For some seconds there was a grim silence. It was abruptly broken by a +thud--Ruth had slipped from her chair to the floor in a dead faint; +whereupon the shadowy forms solemnly veered round and made their way +back again to the front door. The latter swung violently open, there +was a rush of icy wind which swept like a hurricane across the hall +and into the drawing-room, the front door then slammed to with a +crash, and the coach drove away. + +Every one's attention was now directed to Ruth. At first sal-volatile +and cold water produced no effect, but after a time she slowly, very +slowly regained consciousness. As soon as she had recovered +sufficiently to speak, she expressed an earnest desire that no +reference should ever be made in her presence to what had just +happened. "It was for me!" she said in such an emphatic tone as filled +her audience with the direst forebodings. "I know it was for me; they +all looked in my direction. God help me! I shall die like Mary." + +Though greatly perplexed as to what she meant, for no one excepting +herself had been able to make out the phenomena with any degree of +distinctness, they yielded to her entreaties, and asked her no +questions. The servants had neither heard nor seen anything. A +fortnight later, Ruth was taken ill with appendicitis; peritonitis +speedily set in, and she died under the operation. The Whittingens now +began to wish they had never come to Donaldgowerie; but, with the +astuteness that had been characteristic of the family through +countless generations of fair days and foul, they took the greatest +precautions never to drop even as much as a hint to the servants or to +any one in the town that the house was haunted. + +A year passed without any further catastrophe, and they were beginning +to hope their ghastly visitors had left them, when something else +occurred. It was Easter-time, and Ernest, his wife, and baby were +staying with them. The baby, a boy, was fat and bonny, the very +picture of health and happiness. + +Mrs. Whittingen and Martha vied with one another in their devotion to +him; and either one or other of them was always dancing attendance on +him. It so happened that one afternoon, whilst the servants were +having their tea, Martha found herself alone in the upper part of the +house with her precious nephew. Mr. Whittingen had gone to Edinburgh +to consult his lawyer (the head of the firm with whom Harvey was +articled) on business, whilst Mrs. Whittingen had taken her son and +daughter-in-law for a drive. The weather was glorious, and Martha, +though as little appreciative of the beauties of nature as most +commercial-minded young women, could not but admire the colouring of +the sky as she looked out of the nursery window. The sun had +disappeared, but the effect of its rays was still apparent on the +western horizon, where the heavens were washed with alternate streaks +of gold and red and pink--the colour of each streak excessively +brilliant in the centre, but paling towards the edges. Here and there +were golden, pink-tipped clouds and crimson islets surrounded with +seas of softest blue. And outside the limits of this sun-kissed pale, +the blue of the sky gradually grew darker and darker, until its line +was altogether lost in the black shadows of night that, creeping over +the lone mountain-tops in the far east, slowly swept forward. Wafted +by the gentle breeze came the dull moaning and whispering of the pine +trees, the humming of the wind through the telephone wires, and the +discordant cawing of the crows. And it seemed to Martha, as she sat +there and peered out into the garden, that over the whole atmosphere +of the place had come a subtle and hostile change--a change in the +noises of the trees, the birds, the wind; a change in the +flower-scented ether; a change, a most marked and emphatic change, in +the shadows. What was it? What was this change? Whence did it +originate? What did it portend? A slight noise, a most trivial noise, +attracted Martha's attention to the room; she looked round and was +quite startled to see how dark it had grown. In the old days, when she +had scoffed at ghosts, she would as soon have been in the dark as in +the light, the night had no terrors for her; but now--now since those +awful occurrences last year, all was different, and as she peered +apprehensively about her, her flesh crawled. What was there in that +corner opposite, that corner hemmed in on the one side by the +cupboard--how she hated cupboards, particularly when they had shiny +surfaces on which were reflected all sorts of curious things--and the +chest of drawers on the other. It was a shadow, only a shadow, but of +what? She searched the room everywhere to find its material +counterpart, and at last discovered it in the nurse's shawl which hung +over the back of a chair. Then she laughed, and would have gone on +laughing, for she tried to persuade herself that laughter banished +ghosts, when suddenly something else caught her eyes. What was it? An +object that glittered evilly like two eyes. She got up in a state of +the most hideous fascination and walked towards it. Then she laughed +again--it was a pair of scissors. The nurse's scissors--clean, bright, +and sharp. Why did she pick them up and feel the blades so caressingly +with her thumb? Why did she glance from them to the baby? Why? In the +name of God, why? Frightful ideas laid hold of her mind. She tried to +chase them away but they quickly returned. The scissors, why were they +in her fingers? Why could not she put them down? For what were they +intended? Cutting! cutting thread, and tape,--and throats! Throats! +And she giggled hysterically at the bare notion. But what was this +round her waist--this shadowy arm-like object! She looked fearfully +round, and her soul died within her as she encountered the +malevolent, gleeful eyes of the sinister piper, pressed closely +against her face. Was it she he wanted this time--she, or--or whom--in +the name of all that was pitiable? + +Desperately, as if all the lives in the universe and the future of her +soul were at stake, did she struggle to free herself from his +grasp--but in vain; every fibre, every muscle of her body was +completely at his will. On and on he pushed her, until foot by foot, +inch by inch, she approached the cradle, and all the while his hellish +voice was breathing the vilest of inspirations into her brain. At last +she stood by the side of the baby, and bent over it. What a darling! +What a dear! What a duck! A sweet, pretty, innocent, prattling duck! +How like her mother--how like her handsome brother--how like +herself--very, very like herself! How every one loved it--how every +one worshipped it--how (and here the grey face beside her chuckled) +every one would miss it! How pink its toes--how fat its calves--how +chubby its little palms--how bonny its cheeks--and how white, how +gloriously, heavenly, snowy white--its throat! And she stretched +forth one of her stubby, inartistic fingers and played with its flesh. +Then she glanced furtively at the scissors, and smiled. + +It was soon done, soon over, and she and the grey-faced piper danced a +minuet in the moonbeams; afterwards he piped a farewell dirge,--a +wild, weird, funereal dirge, and, marching slowly backwards, his dark, +gleaming eyes fixed gloatingly on hers, disappeared through the +window. Then the reaction set in, and Martha raved and shrieked till +every one in the house flew to the rescue. + +Of course, no one--saving her father and mother--believed her. Ernest, +his wife, and the servants attributed her bloody act to jealousy; the +law--to madness; and she subsequently journeyed from Donaldgowerie to +a criminal lunatic asylum, where the recollection of all she had done +soon killed her. This was the climax. Mr. Whittingen sold +Donaldgowerie, and a new house was shortly afterwards erected in its +stead. + + + + + CASE XIII + + THE FLOATING HEAD OF THE BENRACHETT INN, + NEAR THE PERTH ROAD, DUNDEE + + +Some years ago, when I was engaged in collecting cases for a book I +contemplated publishing, on _Haunted Houses in England and Wales_, I +was introduced to an Irish clergyman, whose name I have forgotten, and +whom I have never met since. Had the incident he related taken place +in England or Wales, I should have noted it down carefully, but as it +occurred in Scotland (and I had no intention then of bringing out a +volume on Scottish phantasms), I did not do so. + +My memory, however, I can assure my readers, in spite of the many +ghost tales committed to it,--for scarcely a day passes that I do not +hear one,--seldom fails, and the Irish clergyman's story, which I am +about to relate, comes back to me now with startling vividness. + +One summer evening, early in the eighties, Mr. Murphy--the name by +which I will designate the originator of this story--and his wife +arrived in Dundee. The town was utterly unknown to them, and they were +touring Scotland for the first time. Not knowing where to put up for +the night, and knowing no one to whom they could apply for +information, they consulted a local paper, and from the long list of +hotels and boarding-houses advertised therein selected the Benrachett +Inn, near the Perth Road, as being the one most likely to meet their +modest requirements. They were certainly not disappointed with the +exterior of the hotel they had chosen, for as soon as they saw it they +exclaimed simultaneously, "What a delightful old place!" And old it +certainly was, for the many-gabled, oaken structure and projecting +windows unquestionably indicated the sixteenth century, whilst, to +enhance the effect and give it a true touch in detail of "ye ancient +times," a huge antique lantern was hung over the entrance. Nor did the +interior impress them less favourably. The rooms were large, and low, +the ceilings, walls, floors, and staircase all of oak. The +diamond-lattice windows, and narrow, tortuous passages, and +innumerable nooks and crannies and cupboards, created an atmosphere of +combined quaintness and comfort that irresistibly appealed to the +Murphys. Viewed under the searching rays of the sun, and cheered by +the voices of the visitors, the interior of the house, for artistic +taste and cheerfulness, would indeed be hard to beat; but, as Mrs. +Murphy's eyes wandered up the stairs and down the corridors, she was +filled with misgivings as to how the place would strike her at night. + +Though not nervous naturally, and by no means superstitious, at night, +when the house was dark and silent, and the moon called forth the +shadows, she was not without that feeling of uneasiness which most +people--even avowed sceptics, experience when passing the night in +strange and novel quarters. + +The room they engaged--I cannot say selected, as, the hotel being +full, they had "Hobson's choice"--was at the end of a very long +passage, at the back of the house, and overlooking the yard. It was a +large apartment, and in one of its several recesses stood the bed, a +gigantic, ebony four-poster, with spotlessly clean valance, and, what +was of even greater importance, well-aired sheets. The other furniture +in the room, being of the same sort as that in the majority of +old-fashioned hostels, needs no description; but a fixture in the +shape of a cupboard, a deep, dark cupboard, let into the wall facing +the bed, instantly attracted Mrs. Murphy's attention. There is always +something interesting in cupboards, particularly old and roomy +cupboards, when it is night-time and one is about to get into bed. It +is then that they suggest all manner of fascinating possibilities. + +It was to this cupboard, then, that Mrs. Murphy paid the greatest +attention, before commencing to undress prior to getting into bed. She +poked about in it for some moments, and then, apparently satisfied +that no one was hidden there, continued her investigation of the room. +Mr. Murphy did not assist--he pleaded fatigue, and sat on the corner +of the bed munching a gingerbread and reading the _Dundee Advertiser_ +till the operation was over. He then helped Mrs. Murphy unpack their +portmanteau, and, during the process, whiled away so much time in +conversation, that they were both startled when a clock from some +adjacent church solemnly boomed twelve. They were then seized with +something approaching a panic, and hastened to disrobe. + +"I wish we had a night-light, John," Mrs. Murphy said, as she got up +from her prayers. "I suppose it wouldn't do to keep one of the candles +burning. I am not exactly afraid, only I don't fancy being left in the +dark. I had a curious sensation when I was in the cupboard just now--I +can't exactly explain it--but I feel now that I would like the light +left burning." + +"It certainly is rather a gloomy room," Mr. Murphy remarked, raising +his eyes to the black oak ceiling, and then allowing them to dwell in +turn on each of the angles and recesses. "And I agree with you it +would be nice if we had a night-light, or, better still, gas. But as +we haven't, my dear, and we shall be on our feet a good deal +to-morrow, I think we ought to try and get to sleep as soon as +possible." + +He blew out the candle as he spoke, and quickly scrambled into bed. A +long hush followed, broken only by the sound of breathing, and an +occasional ticking as of some long-legged creature on the wall and +window-blind. Mrs. Murphy could never remember if she actually went to +sleep, but she is sure her husband did, as she distinctly heard him +snore--and the sound, so detestable to her as a rule, was so welcome +to her then. She was lying listening to it, and wishing with all her +soul she could get to sleep, when she suddenly became aware of a +smell--a most offensive, pungent odour, that blew across the room and +crept up her nostrils. The cold perspiration of fear at once broke out +on her forehead. Nasty as the smell was, it suggested something more +horrible, something she dared not attempt to analyse. She thought +several times of rousing her husband, but, remembering how tired he +had been, she desisted, and, with all her faculties abnormally on the +alert, she lay awake and listened. A deathlike hush hung over the +house, interrupted at intervals by the surreptitious noises peculiar +to the night--enigmatical creaks and footsteps, rustlings as of +drapery, sighs and whisperings--all very faint, all very subtle, and +all possibly, just possibly, attributable to natural causes. Mrs. +Murphy caught herself--why, she could not say--waiting for some +definite auditory manifestation of what she instinctively felt was +near at hand. At present, however, she could not locate it, she could +only speculate on its whereabouts--it was somewhere in the direction +of the cupboard. And each time the stench came to her, the conviction +that its origin was in the cupboard grew. At last, unable to sustain +the suspense any longer, and urged on by an irresistible fascination, +she got softly out of bed, and, creeping stealthily forward, found her +way with surprisingly little difficulty (considering it was pitch dark +and the room was unfamiliar to her) to the cupboard. + +With every step she took the stink increased, and by the time she had +reached the cupboard she was almost suffocated. For some seconds she +toyed irresolutely with the door handle, longing to be back again in +bed, but unable to tear herself away from the cupboard. At last, +yielding to the demands of some pitilessly exacting unknown influence, +she held her breath and swung open the door. The moment she did so the +room filled with the faint, phosphorescent glow of decay, and she +saw, exactly opposite her, a head--a human head--floating in mid-air. +Petrified with terror, she lost every atom of strength, and, entirely +bereft of the power to move or articulate a sound, she stood +stock-still staring at it. That it was the head of a man, she could +only guess from the matted crop of short red hair that fell in a +disordered entanglement over the upper part of the forehead and ears. +All else was lost in a loathsome, disgusting mass of detestable +decomposition, too utterly vile and foul to describe. On the abnormal +thing beginning to move forward, the spell that bound Mrs. Murphy to +the floor was broken, and, with a cry of horror, she fled to the bed +and awoke her husband. + +The head was by this time close to them, and had not Mrs. Murphy +dragged her husband forcibly out of its way, it would have touched +him. + +His terror was even greater than hers; but for the moment neither +could speak. They stood clutching one another in an awful silence. +Mrs. Murphy at length gasped out, "Pray, John, pray! Command the thing +in the name of God to depart." Mr. Murphy made a desperate effort to +do so, but not a syllable would come. The head now veered round and +was moving swiftly towards them, its awful stench causing them both to +retch and vomit. Mr. Murphy, seizing his stick, lashed at it with all +his might. The result was one they might well have expected. The stick +met with no resistance, and the head continued to advance. Both Mr. +and Mrs. Murphy then made a frantic attempt to find the door, the head +still pursuing them, and, tripping over something in their wild haste, +fell together on the floor. There was now no hope, the head had caught +them up; it hovered immediately above them, and, descending lower, +lower, and lower, finally passed right through them, through the +floor, and out of sight. It was long ere either of them could +sufficiently recover to stir from the floor, and when they did move, +it was only to totter to their bed, and to lie with the bedclothes +well over their heads, quivering and quaking till the morning. + +The hot morning sun dissipating their fears, they got up, and, +hurrying downstairs, demanded an interview with their landlord. It was +in vain the latter argued it was all a nightmare they showed the +absurdity of such a theory by vehemently attesting they had both +simultaneously experienced the phenomena. They were about to take +their departure, when the landlord, retracting all he had said, +offered them another room and any terms they liked, "if only they +would stay and hold their tongues." + +"I know every word of what you say is true," he said, in such +submissive tones that the tender hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Murphy +instantly relented, and they promised to remain. "But what am I to do? +I cannot shut up a house which I have taken on a twenty years' lease, +because one room in it is haunted--and, after all, there is only one +visitor in twenty who is disturbed by the apparition. What is the +history of the head? Why, it is said to be that of a pedlar who was +murdered here over a hundred years ago. The body was hidden behind the +wainscoting, and his head under the cupboard floor. The miscreants +were never caught; they are supposed to have gone down in a ship that +sailed from this port just about that time and was never heard of +again." + +This is the gist of the story the clergyman told me, and, believing +it as I undoubtedly do to be true, there is every reason to suppose +that the inn, to which I have, of course, given a fictitious name, if +still in existence, is still haunted. + + + + + CASE XIV + + THE HAUNTINGS OF "---- HOUSE," IN THE + NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE GREAT WESTERN ROAD, + ABERDEEN + + +The following experience of a haunting is that of Mr. Scarfe, who told +it me some few summers ago, expressing at the same time great +eagerness to accompany me on some of my investigations. + +I append it as nearly as possible in his own words:-- + +I was spending Easter, he began, with some friends of mine in +Aberdeen, and, learning from them that there was a haunted house in +the immediate vicinity of the Great Western Road, I begged them to try +and get me permission to spend a night in it. As good luck would have +it, the landlord happened to be a connection of theirs, and although +at first rather reluctant to give me leave, lest by doing so he +should create a precedent, and, consequently, be pestered to death by +people whom he knew to be as anxious as I was to see the ghost, he +eventually yielded; and, the following evening at 8 p.m., accompanied +only by my dog, Scott, I entered the premises. + +I cannot say I felt very comfortable when the door slammed behind me, +and I found myself standing alone in a cold, dark passage out of which +rose a gloomy staircase, suggestive of all sorts of uncanny +possibilities. However, overcoming these nervous apprehensions as best +I could, I began a thorough search of the premises, to make sure that +no one was hiding there. + +Descending first of all into the basement, I explored the kitchen, +scullery, larder, and other domestic offices. The place fairly reeked +with damp, but this was not to be wondered at, taking in consideration +the fact, that the soil was clay, the floor of the very poorest +quality of cement, cracked and broken in a dozen and one places, and +that there had been no fires in any of the rooms for many months. Here +and there in the darkest corners were clusters of ugly cockroaches, +whilst more than one monstrous rat scampered away on my approach. My +dog, or rather the dog that was lent me, and which went by the name of +Scott, kept close at my heel, showing no very great enthusiasm in his +mission, and giving even the rodents as wide a berth as possible. + +I invariably trust to my psychic faculty (as you know, Mr. O'Donnell, +some people are born with the faculty) to enable me to detect the +presence of the superphysical. I generally feel the latter +incorporated in some inexplicable manner in the ether, or see it +inextricably interwoven with the shadows. + +Here in the basement it was everywhere--the air was simply saturated +with it, and, as the fading sunlight called shadow after shadow into +existence, it confronted me enigmatically whichever way I turned. + +I went upstairs, and the presence followed me. In one or two of the +top bedrooms--more particularly in a tiny garret overlooking the +back-yard--the Presence seemed inclined to hover. For some seconds I +waited there, in order to see if there would be any further +development; there being none--I obeyed the mandates of a sudden +impulse and made my way once more to the basement. On arriving at the +top of the kitchen stairs, Scott showed a decided disinclination to +descend farther. Crouching down, he whined piteously, and when I +attempted to grasp him by the collar, snarled in a most savage manner. +Consequently, thinking it better to have no companion at all than one +so unwilling, I descended without him. + +The stairs terminated in a very dark and narrow passage, into which +the doors of the kitchen, larder, store room, etc., opened +respectively, and at the farther extremity of which was a doorway +leading to the back-yard. The superphysical Presence seeming to be +more pronounced in this passage than anywhere else, I decided to spend +the night in it, and, selecting a spot opposite the entrance to the +scullery, I constructed a seat out of two of the drawers of the +kitchen dresser, by placing them, one on the other, bottom uppermost +on the floor. + +It was now half-past nine; the traffic in the street overhead was +beginning to diminish--the rumbling of drays or heavy four-wheelers +had almost ceased, whilst the jingling of hansoms and even the +piercing hoot-hoot and loud birr-birr of motors was fast becoming less +and less frequent. I put out my candle and waited; and, as I waited, +the hush and gloom of the house deepened and intensified, until, by +midnight, all round me was black and silent--black with a blackness +that defies penetration, and silent with a silence that challenges +only the rivalry of the grave. Occasionally I heard sounds--such, for +example, as the creaking of a board, the flopping of a cockroach, and +the growling of Scott--sounds which in the daytime would have been too +trivial to attract attention, but which now assumed the most startling +and exaggerated proportions. From time to time I felt my pulse and +took my temperature to make sure that I was perfectly normal, whilst +at one o'clock, the hour when human vitality begins to be on the wane, +I ate some chicken and ham sandwiches, which I helped down with a +single glass of oatmeal stout. So far, beyond my feeling that there +was a superphysical something in the house, nothing had occurred. +There had not been the slightest attempt at manifestation, and, as the +minutes sped swiftly by I began to fear that, perhaps, after all the +hauntings were only of a negative nature. As the clock struck two, +however, Scott gave an extra savage snarl, and the next moment came +racing downstairs. Darting along the passage and tearing towards me, +he scrambled up the overturned drawers, and, burying his face in my +lap, set up the most piteous whinings. A sensation of icy coldness, +such as could not have been due to any physical cause, now surged +through me; and, as I got out my pocket flashlight ready for +emergencies, I heard an unmistakable rustling in the cellar opposite. +At once my whole attention became riveted in the direction of this +sound, and, as I sat gazing fixedly in front of me, the darkness was +suddenly dissipated and the whole passage, from one end to the other, +was illuminated by a phosphorescent glow; which glow I can best +describe as bearing a close resemblance, in kind though not in degree, +to the glow of a glow-worm. I then saw the scullery door slowly begin +to open. A hideous fear seized me. What--what in the name of Heaven +should I see? Transfixed with terror, unable to move or utter a +sound, I crouched against the wall paralysed, helpless; whilst the +door opened wider and wider. + +At last, at last after an interval which to me was eternity, +Something, an as yet indefinite shadowy Something, loomed in the +background of the enlargening space. My suspense was now sublime, and +I felt that another second or so of such tension would assuredly see +me swoon. + +The shadowy Something, however, quickly developed, and, in less time +than it takes to write, it assumed the form of a woman--a middle-aged +woman with a startlingly white face, straight nose, and curiously +lined mouth, the two front upper teeth of which projected considerably +and were very long. Her hair was black, her hands coarse, and red, and +she was clad in the orthodox shabby print of a general servant in some +middle-class family. The expression in her wide-open, glassy blue eyes +as they glared into mine was one of such intense mental and physical +agony that I felt every atom of blood in my veins congeal. Creeping +stealthily forward, her gaze still on me, she emerged from the +doorway, and motioning to me to follow, glided up the staircase. Up, +up, we went, the cold, grey dawn greeting us on our way. Entering the +garret to which I have already alluded, the phantasm noiselessly +approached the hearth, and, pointing downward with a violent motion of +the index finger of its right hand, suddenly vanished. A great feeling +of relief now came over me, and, yielding to a reaction which was the +inevitable consequence of such a severe nervous strain, I reeled +against the window-sill and shook with laughter. + +Equanimity at length reasserting itself, I carefully marked the spot +on the floor, indicated by the apparition, and descending into the +basement to fetch Scott, made hurried tracks to my friends' house, +where I was allowed to sleep on till late in the day. I then returned +to the haunted house with the landlord, and my friend, and, on raising +the boarding in the garret, we discovered a stamped and addressed +envelope. + +As the result of our combined inquiries, we learned that a few years +previously the house had been occupied by some tradespeople of the +name of Piblington, who, some six or seven months before they left +the house, had had in their employment a servant named Anna Webb. +This servant, the description of whose person corresponded in every +way with the ghost I had seen, had been suspected of stealing a letter +containing money, and had hanged herself in the cellar. + +The letter, I gathered, with several others, had been given to Anna to +post by Mrs. Piblington, and as no reply to the one containing money +was received, Anna was closely questioned. Naturally nervous and +highly strung, the inquisition confused her terribly, and her +embarrassment being construed into guilt, she was threatened with +prosecution. "As a proof of my innocence," she scribbled on a piece of +paper, which was produced at the subsequent inquest, "I am going to +hang myself. I never stole your letter, and can only suppose it was +lost in the post." + +The mere fact of the accused committing suicide would, in many +people's opinion, point to guilt; and as the postal order was never +traced, it was generally concluded that Anna had secreted it, and had +been only waiting till inquiries ceased, and the affair was forgotten, +to cash it. Of course, the letter I found was the missing one, and +although apparently hidden with intent, the fact of its never having +been opened seemed to suggest that Anna was innocent, and that the +envelope had, by some extraordinary accident, fallen unnoticed by Anna +through the crack between the boards. Anyhow, its discovery put an end +to the disturbances and the apparition of the unfortunate +suicide--whether guilty or innocent, and the Judgment Day can alone +determine that--has never been seen since. + + + + + CASE XV + + THE WHITE LADY OF ROWNAM AVENUE, NEAR + STIRLING + + +Like most European countries, Scotland claims its share of phantasms +in the form of "White Ladies." According to Mr. Ingram, in his +_Haunted Houses and Family Legends_, the ruins of the mansion of +Woodhouselee are haunted by a woman in white, presumably (though, +personally, I think otherwise) the ghost of Lady Hamilton of +Bothwellhaugh. This unfortunate lady, together with her baby, +was--during the temporary absence of her husband--stripped naked and +turned out of doors on a bitterly cold night, by a favourite of the +Regent Murray. As a result of this inhuman conduct the child died, and +its mother, with the corpse in her arms, was discovered in the morning +raving mad. Another instance of this particular form of apparition is +to be found in Sir Walter Scott's "White Lady of Avenel," and there +are endless others, both in reality and fiction. + +Some years ago, when I was putting up at a friend's house in +Edinburgh, I was introduced to a man who had had several experiences +with ghosts, and had, therefore, been especially asked to meet me. +After we had talked together for some time, he related the following +adventure which had befallen him, in his childhood, in Rownam avenue +(the seat of Sir E.C.), near Stirling:-- + +I was always a lover of nature, he began, and my earliest +reminiscences are associated with solitary rambles through the fields, +dells, and copses surrounding my home. I lived within a stone's-throw +of the property of old Sir E.C., who has long gone to rest--God bless +his soul! And I think it needs blessing, for if there was any truth in +local gossip (and it is said, I think truly, that "There is never any +smoke without fire") he had lived a very queer life. Indeed, he was +held in such universal awe and abhorrence that we used to fly at his +approach, and never spoke of him amongst ourselves saving in such +terms as "Auld dour crab," or "The laird deil." + +Rownam Manor House, where he lived, was a fine specimen of +sixteenth-century architecture, and had it been called a castle would +have merited the appellation far more than many of the buildings in +Scotland that bear that name. It was approached by a long avenue of +trees--gigantic elms, oaks, and beeches, that, uniting their branches +overhead in summertime, formed an effectual barrier to the sun's rays. +This avenue had an irresistible attraction for me. It literally +swarmed with rabbits and squirrels, and many are the times I have +trespassed there to watch them. I had a very secure hiding-place in +the hollow of an old oak, where I have often been secreted while Sir +E.C. and his keepers, without casting a glance in my direction, passed +unsuspectingly by, vowing all sorts of vengeance against trespassers. + +Of course, I had to be very careful how I got there, for the grounds +were well patrolled, and Sir E.C. had sworn to prosecute anyone he +caught walking in them without his permission. Had Sir E.C. caught me, +I should, doubtless, have been treated with the utmost severity, since +he and my father were the most bitter opponents politically, and for +that reason, unreasonable though it be, never lost an opportunity of +insulting one another. My father, a strong Radical, was opposed to all +big landed proprietors, and consequently winked his eye at my +trespassings; but I think nothing would really have pleased him better +than to have seen me brought to book by Sir E.C., since in my defence +he would have had an opportunity of appealing to the passions of the +local people, who were all Radicals, and of incensing them still +further against the principles of feudalism. + +But to continue. I had often heard it rumoured in the village that +Rownam avenue was haunted, and that the apparition was a lady in +white, and no other than Sir E.C.'s wife, whose death at a very early +age had been hastened, if not entirely accounted for, by her husband's +harsh treatment. Whether Sir E.C. was really as black as he was +painted I have never been able to ascertain; the intense animosity +with which we all regarded him, made us believe anything ill of him, +and we were quite ready to attribute all the alleged hauntings in the +neighbourhood to his past misdeeds. I believe my family, with scarcely +an exception, believed in ghosts; anyhow, the subject of ghosts was +so often discussed in my hearing that I became possessed of an +ungovernable curiosity to see one. If only "The White Lady" would +appear in the daytime, I thought, I should have no difficulty in +satisfying this curiosity, but unfortunately she did not appear till +night--in fact, not until long after boys of my age had been +ruthlessly ordered off to bed. I did not quite like the idea of +stealing out of the house at dead of night and going alone to see the +ghost, so I suggested to my schoolfellow that he should also break +loose one night and accompany me to Rownam to see "The White Lady." It +was, however, of no use. Much as he would have liked to have seen a +ghost in broad daylight, it was quite another matter at night, to say +nothing of running the risk of being caught trespassing by that +inveterate enemy, Sir E.C. At length, finding that neither persuasion, +bribery, nor taunts of cowardice had any effect on my schoolfellow, +who could not decide which appearance would be the more appalling, +for,--he assured me I should be certain to encounter either one or the +other--the White Lady, or the Laird Deil,--I gave up all further +effort to induce him to accompany me, and made up my mind to go to +Rownam avenue alone. + +Biding my opportunity, and waiting till my father was safely out of +the way,--on a visit to Greenock, where some business transaction +would oblige him to remain for some days,--I climbed out of my bedroom +window, when I deemed the rest of the household to be sound asleep, +scudded swiftly across the fields, and, making short work of the lofty +wall that formed the southernmost boundary of the Rownam estates, +quickly made my way to the avenue. It was an ideal Sunday night in +August, and it seemed as if all nature participated in the Sabbath +abstraction from noise and work. Hardly a sound broke the exquisite +silence of the woods. At times, overcome with the delightful sensation +of freedom, I paused, and, raising my eyes to the starry heavens, +drank in huge draughts of the pure country air, tainted only with the +sweet smell of newly mown hay, and the scent of summer flowers. I +became intoxicated, delirious, and in transports of joy threw myself +on the soft mossy ground, and, baring my throat and chest, bathed +myself in the moonbeams' kisses. Then, picking myself slowly up, I +performed the maddest capers, and, finally sobering down, continued my +course. Every now and again fancying I detected the stealthy footsteps +of a keeper, I hid behind a tree, where I remained till I was quite +assured I had been mistaken, and that no one was about. How long I +dallied I do not know, but it must have been fully one o'clock before +I arrived at the outskirts of the avenue, and, advancing eagerly, +ensconced myself in my favourite sanctuary, the hollow oak. All was +hushed and motionless, and, as I gazed into the gloom, I became +conscious, for the first time in my life, of a sensation of eeriness. +The arched canopy of foliage overhead was strongly suggestive of a +funeral pall; not a glimmer of moonlight penetrated through it; and +all beneath seemed to me to be buried in the silence and blackness of +the grave. + +The loneliness got on my nerves; at first I grew afraid, only afraid, +and then my fears turned into a panic, a wild, mad panic, consisting +in the one desire to get where there were human beings--creatures I +knew and understood. With this end in view I emerged from my retreat, +and was preparing to fly through the wood, when, from afar off, there +suddenly came the sound of a voice, the harsh, grating voice of a man. +Convinced this time that I had been discovered by a keeper, I jumped +back into the tree, and, swarming up the inside of the trunk, peeped +cautiously out. What I saw nearly made me jump out of my skin. +Advancing along the avenue was the thing I had always longed to see, +and for which I had risked so much: the mysterious, far-famed "Lady in +White,"--a ghost, an actual, _bona fide_ ghost! How every nerve in my +body thrilled with excitement, and my heart thumped--till it seemed on +the verge of bursting through my ribs! "The Lady in White!" Why, it +would be the talk of the whole countryside! Some one had _really_--no +hearsay evidence--seen the notorious apparition at last. How all my +schoolfellows would envy me, and how bitterly they would chide +themselves for being too cowardly to accompany me! I looked at her +closely, and noticed that she was entirely luminous, emitting a strong +phosphorescent glow like the glow of a glow-worm, saving that it was +in a perpetual state of motion. She wore a quantity of white drapery +swathed round her in a manner that perplexed me sorely, until I +suddenly realised with a creeping of my flesh that it must be a +winding-sheet, that burial accessary so often minutely described to me +by the son of the village undertaker. Though interesting, I did not +think it at all becoming, and would have preferred to see any other +style of garment. Streaming over her neck and shoulders were thick +masses of long, wavy, golden hair, which was ruffled, but only +slightly ruffled, by the gentle summer breeze. Her face, though +terrifying by reason of its unearthly pallor, was so beautiful, that, +had not some restraining influence compelled me to remain in hiding, I +would have descended from my perch to obtain a nearer view of it. +Indeed, I only once caught a glimpse of her full face, for, with a +persistence that was most annoying, she kept it turned from me; but in +that brief second the lustre of her long, blue eyes won my very soul, +and boy as I was I felt, like the hero in song, that I would, for my +bonnie ghost, in very deed, "lay me doon and dee." + +Her eyes are still firmly impressed on my memory; I shall never +forget them, any more than I shall forget the dainty curves of her +full red lips and the snowy whiteness of her perfect teeth. Nothing, I +thought, either on earth or in heaven could have been half so lovely, +and I was so enraptured that it was not until she was directly beneath +me that I perceived she was not alone, that walking by her side, with +one arm round her waist, his face and figure illuminated with the +light from her body, was Sir E.C. But how changed! Gone were the deep +black scowl, the savage tightening of the jaws, and the intensely +disagreeable expression that had earned for him the nickname of "The +laird deil," and in their stead I saw _love_--nothing but blind, +infatuated, soul-devouring _love_--love for which no words can find an +adequate description. + +Throwing discretion to the wind--for my excitement and curiosity had +risen to the highest pitch--I now thrust more than half my body out of +the hole in the trunk. The next instant, with a cry of dismay, I +pitched head first on to the ground. + +It would seem that boys, like cats, cannot in ordinary circumstances +be killed, and, instead of breaking my neck, I merely suffered that +most immaterial injury--immaterial, at least, in my case--a temporary +disendowment of the senses. On regaining the few wits I could lay +claim to, I fully expected to find myself in the hands of the irate +laird, who would seize me by the scruff of the neck and belabour me to +pieces. Consequently, too frightened to move, I lay absolutely still +with my eyes shut. But as the minutes glided by and nothing happened, +I picked myself up. All was quiet and pitch dark--not a vestige of the +"Lady in White"--not a vestige of Sir E.C. + +It did not take me very long to get out of the wood and home. I ran +all the way, and as it was still early--far too early for any of the +household to be astir, I crept up to my bedroom unobserved. But not to +sleep, oh dear me, no! not to sleep, for the moment I blew the candle +out and got into bed, reaction set in, and I suffered agonies of fear! + +When I went to school in the morning, my equilibrium restored, and, +bubbling over with excitement to tell the boys what had happened, I +received another shock--before I could ejaculate a word of my +experiences, I was told--told with a roar and shout that almost broke +the drum of my ears, that "the auld laird deil" was dead! His body had +been found stretched on the ground, a few feet from the hollow oak, in +the avenue shortly after sunrise. He had died from syncope, so the +doctor said, that had probably been caused by a shock--some severe +mental shock. + +I did not tell my companions of my night's adventure after all. My +eagerness to do so had departed when I heard of "the auld laird's" +death. + + + + + CASE XVI + + THE GHOST OF THE HINDOO CHILD, OR THE + HAUNTINGS OF THE WHITE DOVE HOTEL, NEAR + ST. SWITHIN'S STREET, ABERDEEN + + +In the course of many years' investigation of haunted houses, I have +naturally come in contact with numerous people who have had first-hand +experiences with the Occult. Nurse Mackenzie is one of these people. I +met her for the first time last year at the house of my old friend, +Colonel Malcolmson, whose wife she was nursing. + +For some days I was hardly aware she was in the house, the illness of +her patient keeping her in constant seclusion, but when Mrs. +Malcolmson grew better, I not infrequently saw her, taking a morning +"constitutional" in the beautiful castle grounds. It was on one of +these occasions that she favoured me with an account of her psychical +adventure. + +It happened, she began, shortly after I had finished my term as +probationer at St. K.'s Hospital, Edinburgh. A letter was received at +the hospital one morning with the urgent request that two nurses +should be sent to a serious case near St. Swithin's Street. As the +letter was signed by a well-known physician in the town, it received +immediate attention, and Nurse Emmett and I were dispatched, as day +and night nurses respectively, to the scene of action. My hours on +duty were from 9 p.m. till 9 a.m. The house in which the patient was +located was the White Dove Hotel, a thoroughly respectable and +well-managed establishment. The proprietor knew nothing about the +invalid, except that her name was Vining, and that she had, at one +period of her career, been an actress. He had noticed that she had +looked ill on her arrival the previous week. Two days after her +arrival, she had complained of feeling very ill, and the doctor, who +had been summoned to attend her, said that she was suffering from a +very loathsome Oriental disease, which, fortunately is, in this +country, rare. The hotel, though newly decorated and equipped +throughout with every up-to-date convenience, was in reality very +old. It was one of those delightfully roomy erections that seem built +for eternity rather than time, and for comfort rather than economy of +space. The interior, with its oak-panelled walls, polished oak floors, +and low ceilings, traversed with ponderous oaken beams, also impressed +me pleasantly, whilst a flight of broad, oak stairs, fenced with +balustrades a foot thick, brought me to a seemingly interminable +corridor, into which the door of Miss Vining's room opened. It was a +low, wainscoted apartment, and its deep-set window, revealing the +thickness of the wall, looked out upon a dismal yard littered with +brooms and buckets. Opposite the foot of the bed--a modern French +bedstead, by the bye, whose brass fittings and somewhat flimsy +hangings were strangely incongruous with their venerable +surroundings--was an ingle, containing the smouldering relics of what +had doubtless been intended for a fire, but which needed considerable +coaxing before it could be converted from a pretence to a reality. +There was no exit save by the doorway I had entered, and no furniture +save a couple of rush-bottomed chairs and a table strewn with an +untidy medley of writing materials and medicine bottles. + +A feeling of depression, contrasting strangely with the effect +produced on me by the cheerfulness of the hotel in general, seized me +directly I entered the room. Despite the brilliancy of the electric +light and the new and gaudy bed-hangings, the air was full of gloom--a +gloom which, for the very reason that it was unaccountable, was the +more alarming. I felt it hanging around me like the undeveloped shadow +of something singularly hideous and repulsive, and, on my approaching +the sick woman, it seemed to thrust itself in my way and force me +back. + +Miss Vining was decidedly good-looking; she had the typically +theatrical features--neatly moulded nose and chin, curly yellow hair, +and big, dreamy blue eyes that especially appeal to a certain class of +men; like most women, however, I prefer something more solid, both +physically and intellectually--I cannot stand "the pretty, pretty." +She was, of course, far too ill to converse, and, beyond a few +desultory and spasmodic ejaculations, maintained a rigid silence. As +there was no occasion for me to sit close beside her, I drew up a +chair before the fire, placing myself in such a position as to command +a full view of the bed. My first night passed undisturbed by any +incident, and in the morning the condition of my patient showed a +slight improvement. It was eight o'clock in the evening when I came on +duty again, and, the weather having changed during the day, the whole +room echoed and re-echoed with the howling of the wind, which was +raging round the house with demoniacal fury. + +I had been at my post for a little over two hours--and had just +registered my patient's temperature, when, happening to look up from +the book I was reading, I saw to my surprise that the chair beside the +head of the bed was occupied by a child--a tiny girl. How she had come +into the room without attracting my attention was certainly +extraordinary, and I could only suppose that the shrieking of the wind +down the wide chimney had deadened the sound of the door and her +footsteps. + +I was naturally, of course, very indignant that she had dared to come +in without rapping, and, getting up from my seat I was preparing to +address her and bid her go, when she lifted a wee white hand and +motioned me back. I obeyed because I could not help myself--her +action was accompanied by a peculiar,--an unpleasantly peculiar, +expression that held me spellbound; and without exactly knowing why, +I stood staring at her, tongue-tied and trembling. As her face was +turned towards the patient, and she wore, moreover, a very +wide-brimmed hat, I could see nothing of her features; but from her +graceful little figure and dainty limbs, I gathered that she was +probably both beautiful and aristocratic. Her dress, though not +perhaps of the richest quality, was certainly far from shoddy, and +there was something in its style and make that suggested foreign +nationality,--Italy--or Spain--or South America--or even the Orient, +the probability of the latter being strengthened by her pose, which +was full of the serpent-like ease which is characteristic of the +East. I was so taken up with watching her that I forgot all about my +patient, until a prolonged sigh from the bed reminded me of her +existence. With an effort I then advanced, and was about to approach +the bed, when the child, without moving her head, motioned me back, +and--again I was helpless. The vision I had obtained of the sick +woman, brief though it was, filled me with alarm. She was tossing to +and fro on the blankets, and breathing in the most agonised manner as +if in delirium, or enthralled by some particularly dreadful +nightmare. Her condition so frightened me, that I made the most +frantic efforts to overcome my inertia. I did not succeed, however, +and at last, utterly overcome by my exertion, I closed my eyes. When +I opened them again, the chair by the bed was vacant--the child had +gone. A tremendous feeling of relief surged through me, and, jumping +out of my seat, I hastened to the bedside--my patient was worse, the +fever had increased, and she was delirious. I took her temperature. +It was 104. I now sat close beside her, and my presence apparently +had a soothing effect. She speedily grew calmer, and after taking her +medicine gradually sank into a gentle sleep which lasted until late +in the morning. When I left her she had altogether recovered from the +relapse. I, of course, told the doctor of the child's visit, and he +was very angry. + +"Whatever happens, Nurse," he said, "take care that no one enters the +room to-night; the patient's condition is far too critical for her to +see any one, even her own daughter. You must keep the door locked." + +Armed with this mandate, I went on duty the following night with a +somewhat lighter heart, and, after locking the door, once again sat by +the fire. During the day there had been a heavy fall of snow; the wind +had abated, and the streets were now as silent as the grave. + +Ten, eleven, and twelve o'clock struck, and my patient slept +tranquilly. At a quarter to one, however, I was abruptly roused from a +reverie by a sob, a sob of fear and agony that proceeded from the bed. +I looked, and there--there, seated in the same posture as on the +previous evening, was the child. I sprang to my feet with an +exclamation of amazement. She raised her hand, and, as before, I +collapsed--spellbound--paralysed. No words of mine can convey all the +sensations I experienced as I sat there, forced to listen to the +moaning and groaning of the woman whose fate had been entrusted to my +keeping. Every second she grew worse, and each sound rang in my ears +like the hammering of nails in her coffin. How long I endured such +torment I cannot say, I dare not think, for, though the clock was +within a few feet of me, I never once thought of looking at it. At +last the child rose, and, moving slowly from the bed, advanced with +bowed head towards the window. The spell was broken. With a cry of +indignation I literally bounded over the carpet and faced the +intruder. + +"Who are you?" I hissed. "Tell me your name instantly! How dare you +enter this room without my permission?" + +As I spoke she slowly raised her head. I snatched at her hat. It +melted away in my hands, and, to my unspeakable terror, my undying +terror, I looked into the face of a corpse!--the corpse of a Hindoo +child, with a big, gaping cut in its throat. In its lifetime the child +had, without doubt, been lovely; it was now horrible--horrible with +all the ghastly disfigurements, the repellent disfigurements, of a +long consignment to the grave. I fainted, and, on recovering, found my +ghostly visitor had vanished, and that my patient was dead. One of +her hands was thrown across her eyes, as if to shut out some object on +which she feared to look, whilst the other grasped the counterpane +convulsively. + +It fell to my duty to help pack up her belongings, and among her +letters was a large envelope bearing the postmark "Quetta." As we were +on the look-out for some clue as to the address of her relatives, I +opened it. It was merely the cabinet-size photograph of a Hindoo +child, but I recognised the dress immediately--it was that of my +ghostly visitor. On the back of it were these words: "Natalie. May God +forgive us both." + +Though we made careful inquiries for any information as to Natalie and +Miss Vining in Quetta, and advertised freely in the leading London +papers, we learned nothing, and in time we were forced to let the +matter drop. As far as I know, the ghost of the Hindoo child has never +been seen again, but I have heard that the hotel is still +haunted--haunted by a woman. + + + + + CASE XVII + + GLAMIS CASTLE + + +Of all the hauntings in Scotland, none has gained such widespread +notoriety as the hauntings of Glamis Castle, the seat of the Earl of +Strathmore and Kinghorne in Forfarshire. + +Part of the castle--that part which is the more frequently haunted--is +of ancient though uncertain date, and if there is any truth in the +tradition that Duncan was murdered there by Macbeth, must, at any +rate, have been in existence at the commencement of the eleventh +century. Of course, extra buildings have, from time to time, been +added, and renovations made; but the original structure remains pretty +nearly the same as it always has been, and is included in a square +tower that occupies a central position, and commands a complete view +of the entire castle. + +Within this tower--the walls of which are fifteen feet thick--there +is a room, hidden in some unsuspected quarter, that contains a secret +(the keynote to one, at least, of the hauntings) which is known only +to the Earl, his heir (on the attainment of his twenty-first +birthday), and the factor of the estate. + +In all probability, the mystery attached to this room would challenge +but little attention, were it not for the fact that unearthly noises, +which at the time were supposed to proceed from this chamber, have +been heard by various visitors sleeping in the Square Tower. + +The following experience is said to have happened to a lady named +Bond. I append it more or less in her own words. + + * * * * * + +It is a good many years since I stayed at Glamis. I was, in fact, but +little more than a child, and had only just gone through my first +season in town. But though young, I was neither nervous nor +imaginative; I was inclined to be what is termed stolid, that is to +say, extremely matter-of-fact and practical. Indeed, when my friends +exclaimed, "You don't mean to say you are going to stay at Glamis! +Don't you know it's haunted?" I burst out laughing. + +"Haunted!" I said, "how ridiculous! There are no such things as +ghosts. One might as well believe in fairies." + +Of course I did not go to Glamis alone--my mother and sister were with +me; but whereas they slept in the more modern part of the castle, I +was, at my own request, apportioned a room in the Square Tower. + +I cannot say that my choice had anything to do with the secret +chamber. That, and the alleged mystery, had been dinned into my ears +so often that I had grown thoroughly sick of the whole thing. No, I +wanted to sleep in the Square Tower for quite a different reason, a +reason of my own. I kept an aviary; the tower was old; and I naturally +hoped its walls would be covered with ivy and teeming with birds' +nests, some of which I might be able to reach--and, I am ashamed to +say, plunder--from my window. + +Alas, for my expectations! Although the Square Tower was so ancient +that in some places it was actually crumbling away--not the sign of a +leaf, not the vestige of a bird's nest could I see anywhere; the +walls were abominably, brutally bare. However, it was not long before +my disappointment gave way to delight; for the air that blew in +through the open window was so sweet, so richly scented with heather +and honeysuckle, and the view of the broad, sweeping, thickly wooded +grounds so indescribably charming, that, despite my inartistic and +unpoetical nature, I was entranced--entranced as I had never been +before, and never have been since. "Ghosts!" I said to myself, +"ghosts! how absurd! how preposterously absurd! such an adorable spot +as this can only harbour sunshine and flowers." + +I well remember, too--for, as I have already said, I was not +poetical--how much I enjoyed my first dinner at Glamis. The long +journey and keen mountain air had made me hungry, and I thought I had +never tasted such delicious food--such ideal salmon (from the Esk) and +such heavenly fruit. But I must tell you that, although I ate +heartily, as a healthy girl should, by the time I went to bed I had +thoroughly digested my meal, and was, in fact, quite ready to partake +of a few oatmeal biscuits I found in my dressing-case, and remembered +having bought at Perth. It was about eleven o'clock when my maid left +me, and I sat for some minutes wrapped in my dressing gown, before the +open window. The night was very still, and save for an occasional +rustle of the wind in the distant tree-tops, the hooting of an owl, +the melancholy cry of a peewit and the hoarse barking of a dog, the +silence was undisturbed. + +The interior of my room was, in nearly every particular, modern. +The furniture was not old; there were no grim carvings; no +grotesquely-fashioned tapestries on the walls; no dark cupboards; no +gloomy corners;--all was cosy and cheerful, and when I got into bed no +thought of bogle or mystery entered my mind. + +In a few minutes I was asleep, and for some time there was nothing but +a blank--a blank in which all identity was annihilated. Then suddenly +I found myself in an oddly-shaped room with a lofty ceiling, and a +window situated at so great a distance from the black oaken floor as +to be altogether inaccessible from within. Feeble gleams of +phosphorescent light made their way through the narrow panes, and +served to render distinct the more prominent objects around; but my +eyes struggled in vain to reach the remoter angles of the wall, one of +which inspired me with terror such as I had never felt before. The +walls were covered with heavy draperies that were sufficient in +themselves to preclude the possibility of any save the loudest of +sounds penetrating without. + +The furniture, if such one could call it, puzzled me. It seemed more +fitted for the cell of a prison or lunatic asylum, or even for a +kennel, than for an ordinary dwelling-room. I could see no chair, only +a coarse deal table, a straw mattress, and a kind of trough. An air of +irredeemable gloom and horror hung over and pervaded everything. As I +stood there, I felt I was waiting for something--something that was +concealed in the corner of the room I dreaded. I tried to reason with +myself, to assure myself that there was nothing there that could hurt +me, nothing that could even terrify me, but my efforts were in +vain--my fears grew. Had I had some definite knowledge as to the cause +of my alarm I should not have suffered so much, but it was my +ignorance of what was there, of what I feared, that made my terror so +poignant. Each second saw the agony of my suspense increase. I dared +not move. I hardly dare breathe, and I dreaded lest the violent +pulsation of my heart should attract the attention of the Unknown +Presence and precipitate its coming out. Yet despite the perturbation +of my mind, I caught myself analysing my feelings. It was not danger I +abhorred so much, as its absolute effect--fright. I shuddered at the +bare thought of what result the most trivial incident--the creaking of +a board, ticking of a beetle, or hooting of an owl--might have on the +intolerable agitation of my soul. + +In this unnerved and pitiable condition I felt that the period was +bound to come, sooner or later, when I should have to abandon life and +reason together in the most desperate of struggles with--fear. + +At length, something moved. An icy chill ran through my frame, and the +horror of my anticipations immediately reached its culminating point. +The Presence was about to reveal itself. + +The gentle rubbing of a soft body on the floor, the crack of a bony +joint, breathing, another crack, and then--was it my own excited +imagination--or the disturbing influence of the atmosphere--or the +uncertain twilight of the chamber that produced before me, in the +stygian darkness of the recess, the vacillating and indistinct outline +of something luminous, and horrid? I would gladly have risked futurity +to have looked elsewhere--I could not. My eyes were fixed--I was +compelled to gaze steadily in front of me. + +Slowly, very slowly, the thing, whatever it was, took shape. +Legs--crooked, misshapen, human legs. A body--tawny and hunched. +Arms--long and spidery, with crooked, knotted fingers. A head--large +and bestial, and covered with a tangled mass of grey hair that hung +around its protruding forehead and pointed ears in ghastly mockery of +curls. A face--and herein was the realisation of all my direst +expectations--a face--white and staring, piglike in formation, +malevolent in expression; a hellish combination of all things foul and +animal, and yet withal not without a touch of pathos. + +As I stared at it aghast, it reared itself on its haunches after the +manner of an ape, and leered piteously at me. Then, shuffling forward, +it rolled over, and lay sprawled out like some ungainly turtle--and +wallowed, as for warmth, in the cold grey beams of early dawn. + +At this juncture the handle of the chamber door turned, some one +entered, there was a loud cry--and I awoke--awoke to find the whole +tower, walls and rafters, ringing with the most appalling screams I +have ever heard,--screams of some thing or of some one--for there was +in them a strong element of what was human as well as animal--in the +greatest distress. + +Wondering what it meant, and more than ever terrified, I sat up in bed +and listened,--listened whilst a conviction--the result of intuition, +suggestion, or what you will, but a conviction all the same--forced me +to associate the sounds with the thing in my dream. And I associate +them still. + + * * * * * + +It was, I think, in the same year--in the year that the foregoing +account was narrated to me--that I heard another story of the +hauntings at Glamis, a story in connection with a lady whom I will +call Miss Macginney. I append her experience as nearly as possible as +she is stated to have told it. + + * * * * * + +I seldom talk about my adventure, Miss Maginney announced, because so +many people ridicule the superphysical, and laugh at the mere mention +of ghosts. I own I did the same myself till I stayed at Glamis; but a +week there quite cured me of scepticism, and I came away a confirmed +believer. + +The incident occurred nearly twenty years ago--shortly after my return +from India, where my father was then stationed. + +It was years since I had been to Scotland, indeed I had only once +crossed the border and that when I was a babe; consequently I was +delighted to receive an invitation to spend a few weeks in the land of +my birth. I went to Edinburgh first--I was born in Drumsheugh +Gardens--and thence to Glamis. + +It was late in the autumn, the weather was intensely cold, and I +arrived at the castle in a blizzard. Indeed, I do not recollect ever +having been out in such a frightful storm. It was as much as the +horses could do to make headway, and when we reached the castle we +found a crowd of anxious faces eagerly awaiting us in the hall. + +Chilled! I was chilled to the bone, and thought I never should thaw. +But the huge fires and bright and cosy atmosphere of the rooms--for +the interior of Glamis was modernised throughout--soon set me right, +and by tea time I felt nicely warm and comfortable. + +My bedroom was in the oldest part of the castle--the Square Tower--but +although I had been warned by some of the guests that it might be +haunted, I can assure you that when I went to bed no subject was +farther from my thoughts than the subject of ghosts. I returned to my +room at about half-past eleven. The storm was then at its height--all +was babel and confusion--impenetrable darkness mingled with the +wildest roaring and shrieking; and when I peeped through my casement +window I could see nothing--the panes were shrouded in snow--snow +which was incessantly dashed against them with cyclonic fury. I fixed +a comb in the window-frame so as not to be kept awake by the constant +jarring; and with the caution characteristic of my sex looked into +the wardrobe and under the bed for burglars--though Heaven knows what +I should have done had I found one there--placed a candlestick and +matchbox on the table by my bedside, lest the roof or window should be +blown in during the night or any other catastrophe happen, and after +all these preparations got into bed. At this period of my life I was a +sound sleeper, and, being somewhat unusually tired after my journey, I +was soon in a dreamless slumber. What awoke me I cannot say, but I +came to myself with a violent start, such as might have been +occasioned by a loud noise. Indeed, that was, at first, my impression, +and I strained my ears to try and ascertain the cause of it. All was, +however, silent. The storm had abated, and the castle and grounds were +wrapped in an almost preternatural hush. The sky had cleared, and the +room was partially illuminated by a broad stream of silvery light that +filtered softly in through the white and tightly drawn blinds. A +feeling that there was something unnatural in the air, that the +stillness was but the prelude to some strange and startling event, +gradually came over me. I strove to reason with myself, to argue that +the feeling was wholly due to the novelty of my surroundings, but my +efforts were fruitless. And soon there stole upon me a sensation to +which I had been hitherto an utter stranger--I became afraid. An +irrepressible tremor pervaded my frame, my teeth chattered, my blood +froze. Obeying an impulse--an impulse I could not resist, I lifted +myself up from the pillows, and, peering fearfully into the shadowy +glow that lay directly in front of me--listened. Why I listened I do +not know, saving that an instinctive spirit prompted me. At first I +could hear nothing, and then, from a direction I could not define, +there came a noise, low, distinct, uninterpretative. It was repeated +in rapid succession, and speedily construed itself into the sound of +mailed footsteps racing up the long flight of stairs at the end of the +corridor leading to my room. Dreading to think what it might be, and +seized with a wild sentiment of self-preservation, I made frantic +endeavours to get out of bed and barricade my door. My limbs, however, +refused to move. I was paralysed. Nearer and nearer drew the sounds; +and I could at length distinguish, with a clearness that petrified my +very soul, the banging and clanging of sword scabbards, and the +panting and gasping of men, sore pressed in a wild and desperate race. +And then the meaning of it all came to me with hideous abruptness--it +was a case of pursued and pursuing--the race was for--LIFE. Outside my +door the fugitive halted, and from the noise he made in trying to draw +his breath, I knew he was dead beat. His antagonist, however, gave him +but scant time for recovery. Bounding at him with prodigious leaps, he +struck him a blow that sent him reeling with such tremendous force +against the door, that the panels, although composed of the stoutest +oak, quivered and strained like flimsy matchboard. + +The blow was repeated; the cry that rose in the victim's throat was +converted into an abortive gurgling groan; and I heard the ponderous +battle-axe carve its way through helmet, bone, and brain. A moment +later came the sound of slithering armour; and the corpse, slipping +sideways, toppled to the ground with a sonorous clang. + +A silence too awful for words now ensued. Having finished his hideous +handiwork, the murderer was quietly deliberating what to do next; +whilst my dread of attracting his attention was so great that I +scarcely dare breathe. This intolerable state of things had already +lasted for what seemed to me a lifetime, when, glancing involuntarily +at the floor, I saw a stream of dark-looking fluid lazily lapping its +way to me from the direction of the door. Another moment and it would +reach my shoes. In my dismay I shrieked aloud. There was a sudden stir +without, a significant clatter of steel, and the next moment--despite +the fact that it was locked--the door slowly opened. The limits of my +endurance had now happily been reached, the over-taxed valves of my +heart could stand no more--I fainted. On my awakening to consciousness +it was morning, and the welcome sun rays revealed no evidences of the +distressing drama. I own I had a hard tussle before I could make up my +mind to spend another night in that room; and my feelings as I shut +the door on my retreating maid, and prepared to get into bed, were not +the most enviable. But nothing happened, nor did I again experience +anything of the sort till the evening before I left. I had lain down +all the afternoon--for I was tired after a long morning's tramp on the +moors, a thing I dearly love--and I was thinking it was about time to +get up, when a dark shadow suddenly fell across my face. + +I looked up hastily, and there, standing by my bedside and bending +over me, was a gigantic figure in bright armour. + +Its visor was up, and what I saw within the casque is stamped for ever +on my memory. It was the face of the dead--the long since dead--with +the expression--the subtly hellish expression--of the living. As I +gazed helplessly at it, it bent lower. I threw up my hands to ward it +off. There was a loud rap at the door. And as my maid softly entered +to tell me tea was ready--it vanished. + + * * * * * + +The third account of the Glamis hauntings was told me as long ago as +the summer of 1893. I was travelling by rail from Perth to Glasgow, +and the only other occupant of my compartment was an elderly +gentleman, who, from his general air and appearance, might have been +a dominie, or member of some other learned profession. I can see him +in my mind's eye now--a tall, thin man with a premature stoop. He had +white hair, which was brushed forward on either side of his head in +such a manner as suggested a wig; bushy eyebrows; dark, piercing eyes; +and a stern, though somewhat sad, mouth. His features were fine and +scholarly; he was clean-shaven. There was something about +him--something that marked him from the general horde--something that +attracted me, and I began chatting with him soon after we left Perth. + +In the course of a conversation, that was at all events interesting to +me, I adroitly managed to introduce the subject of ghosts--then, as +ever, uppermost in my thoughts. + + * * * * * + +Well, he said, I can tell you of something rather extraordinary that +my mother used to say happened to a friend of hers at Glamis. I have +no doubt you are well acquainted with the hackneyed stories in +connection with the hauntings at the castle; for example, Earl Beardie +playing cards with the Devil, and The Weeping Woman without Hands or +Tongue. You can read about them in scores of books and magazines. But +what befel my mother's friend, whom I will call Mrs. Gibbons--for I +have forgotten her proper name--was apparently of a novel nature. The +affair happened shortly before Mrs. Gibbons died, and I always thought +that what took place might have been, in some way, connected with her +death. + +She had driven over to the castle one day--during the absence of the +owner--to see her cousin, who was in the employ of the Earl and +Countess. Never having been at Glamis before, but having heard so much +about it, Mrs. Gibbons was not a little curious to see that part of +the building, called the Square Tower, that bore the reputation of +being haunted. + +Tactfully biding an opportunity, she sounded her relative on the +subject, and was laughingly informed that she might go anywhere about +the place she pleased, saving to one spot, namely, "Bluebeard's +Chamber"; and there she could certainly never succeed in poking her +nose, as its locality was known only to three people, all of whom were +pledged never to reveal it. At the commencement of her tour of +inspection, Mrs. Gibbons was disappointed--she was disappointed in the +Tower. She had expected to see a gaunt, grim place, crumbling to +pieces with age, full of blood-curdling, spiral staircases, and deep, +dark dungeons; whereas everything was the reverse. The walls were in +an excellent state of preservation--absolutely intact; the rooms +bright and cheerful and equipped in the most modern style; there were +no dungeons, at least none on view, and the passages and staircases +were suggestive of nothing more alarming than--bats! She was +accompanied for some time by her relative, but, on the latter being +called away, Mrs. Gibbons continued her rambles alone. She had +explored the lower premises, and was leisurely examining a handsomely +furnished apartment on the top floor, when, in crossing from one side +of the room to the other, she ran into something. She looked +down--nothing was to be seen. Amazed beyond description, she thrust +out her hands, and they alighted on an object, which she had little +difficulty in identifying. It was an enormous cask or barrel lying in +a horizontal position. + +She bent down close to where she felt it, but she could see +nothing--nothing but the well-polished boards of the floor. To make +sure again that the barrel was there, she gave a little kick--and drew +back her foot with a cry of pain. She was not afraid--the sunshine in +the room forbade fear--only exasperated. She was certain a barrel was +there--that it was objective--and she was angry with herself for not +seeing it. She wondered if she were going blind; but the fact that +other objects in the room were plainly visible to her, discountenanced +such an idea. For some minutes she poked and jabbed at the Thing, and +then, seized with a sudden and uncontrollable panic, she turned round +and fled. And as she tore out of the room, along the passage and down +the seemingly interminable flight of stairs, she heard the barrel +behind her in close pursuit-bump--bump--bump! + +At the foot of the staircase Mrs. Gibbons met her cousin, and, as she +clutched the latter for support, the barrel shot past her, still +continuing its descent--bump--bump--bump! (though the steps as far as +she could see had ended)--till the sounds gradually dwindled away in +the far distance. + +Whilst the manifestations lasted, neither Mrs. Gibbons nor her cousin +spoke; but the latter, as soon as the sounds had ceased, dragged Mrs. +Gibbons away, and, in a voice shaking with terror, cried: "Quick, +quick--don't, for Heaven's sake, look round--worse has yet to come." +And, pulling Mrs. Gibbons along in breathless haste, she +unceremoniously hustled her out of the Tower. + +"That was no barrel!" Mrs. Gibbons's cousin subsequently remarked by +way of explanation. "I saw it--I have seen it before. Don't ask me to +describe it. I dare not--I dare not even think of it. Whenever it +appears, a certain thing happens shortly afterwards. Don't, don't on +any account say a word about it to any one here." And Mrs. Gibbons, my +mother told me, came away from Glamis a thousand times more curious +than she was when she went. + + * * * * * + +The last story I have to relate is one I heard many years ago, when I +was staying near Balmoral. A gentleman named Vance, with strong +antiquarian tastes, was staying at an inn near the Strathmore estate, +and, roaming abroad one afternoon, in a fit of absent-mindedness +entered the castle grounds. It so happened--fortunately for him--that +the family were away, and he encountered no one more formidable than a +man he took to be a gardener, an uncouth-looking fellow, with a huge +head covered with a mass of red hair, hawk-like features, and high +cheek-bones, high even for a Scot. Struck with the appearance of the +individual, Mr. Vance spoke, and, finding him wonderfully civil, asked +whether, by any chance, he ever came across any fossils, when digging +in the gardens. + +"I dinna ken the meaning of fossils," the man replied. "What are +they?" + +Mr. Vance explained, and a look of cunning gradually pervaded the +fellow's features. "No!" he said, "I've never found any of those +things, but if you'll give me your word to say nothing about it, I'll +show you something I once dug up over yonder by the Square Tower." + +"Do you mean the Haunted Tower?--the Tower that is supposed to contain +the secret room?" Mr. Vance exclaimed. + +An extraordinary expression--an expression such as Mr. Vance found it +impossible to analyse--came into the man's eyes. "Yes! that's it!" he +nodded. "What people call--and rightly call--the Haunted Tower. I got +it from there. But don't you say naught about it!" + +Mr. Vance, whose curiosity was roused, promised, and the man, politely +requesting him to follow, led the way to a cottage that stood near by, +in the heart of a gloomy wood. To Mr. Vance's astonishment the +treasure proved to be the skeleton of a hand--a hand with abnormally +large knuckles, and the first joint--of both fingers and thumb--much +shorter than the others. It was the most extraordinarily shaped hand +Mr. Vance had ever seen, and he did not know in the least how to +classify it. It repelled, yet interested him, and he eventually +offered the man a good sum to allow him to keep it. To his +astonishment the money was refused. "You may have the thing, and +welcome," the fellow said. "Only, I advise you not to look at it late +at night; or just before getting into bed. If you do, you may have bad +dreams." + +"I will take my chance of that!" Mr. Vance laughed. "You see, being a +hard-headed cockney, I am not superstitious. It is only you +Highlanders, and your first cousins the Irish, who believe nowadays in +bogles, omens, and such-like"; and, packing the hand carefully in his +knapsack, Mr. Vance bid the strange-looking creature good morning, and +went on his way. + +For the rest of the day the hand was uppermost in his +thoughts--nothing had ever fascinated him so much. He sat pondering +over it the whole evening, and bedtime found him still examining +it--examining it upstairs in his room by candlelight. He had a hazy +recollection that some clock had struck twelve, and he was beginning +to feel that it was about time to retire, when, in the mirror opposite +him, he caught sight of the door--it was open. + +"By Jove! that's odd!" he said to himself. "I could have sworn I shut +and bolted it." To make sure, he turned round--the door was closed. +"An optical delusion," he murmured; "I will try again." + +He looked into the mirror--the door reflected in it was--open. Utterly +at a loss to know how to explain the phenomenon, he leaned forward in +his seat to examine the glass more carefully, and as he did so he +gave a start. On the threshold of the doorway was a shadow--black and +bulbous. A cold shiver ran down Mr. Vance's spine, and just for a +moment he felt afraid, terribly afraid; but he quickly composed +himself--it was nothing but an illusion--there was no shadow there in +reality--he had only to turn round, and the thing would be gone. It +was amusing--entertaining. He would wait and see what happened. + +The shadow moved. It moved slowly through the air like some huge +spider, or odd-shaped bird. He would not acknowledge that there was +anything sinister about it--only something droll--excruciatingly droll. +Yet it did not make him laugh. When it had drawn a little nearer, he +tried to diagnose it, to discover its material counterpart in one of +the objects around him; but he was obliged to acknowledge his attempts +were failures--there was nothing in the room in the least degree like +it. A vague feeling of uneasiness gradually crept over him--was the +thing the shadow of something with which he was familiar, but could not +just then recall to mind--something he feared--something that was +sinister? He struggled against the idea, he dismissed it as absurd; but +it returned--returned, and took deeper root as the shadow drew nearer. +He wished the house was not quite so silent--that he could hear some +indication of life--anything--anything for companionship, and to rid +him of the oppressive, the very oppressive, sense of loneliness and +isolation. + +Again a thrill of terror ran through him. + +"Look here!" he exclaimed aloud, glad to hear the sound of his own +voice. "Look here! if this goes on much longer I shall begin to think +I'm going mad. I have had enough, and more than enough, of magic +mirrors for one night--it's high time I got into bed." He strove to +rise from his chair--to move; he was unable to do either; some +strange, tyrannical force held him a prisoner. + +A change now took place in the shadow; the blurr dissipated, and the +clearly defined outlines of an object--an object that made Mr. Vance +perfectly sick with apprehension--slowly disclosed themselves. His +suspicions were verified--it was the HAND!--the hand--no longer +skeleton, but covered with green, mouldering flesh--feeling its way +slyly and stealthily towards him--towards the back of his chair! He +noted the murderous twitching of its short, flat finger-tips, the +monstrous muscles of its hideous thumb, and the great, clumsy hollows +of its clammy palm. It closed in upon him; its cold, slimy, detestable +skin touched his coat--his shoulder--his neck--his head! It pressed +him down, squashed, suffocated him! He saw it all in the glass--and +then an extraordinary thing happened. Mr. Vance suddenly became +animated. He got up and peeped furtively round. Chairs, bed, wardrobe, +had all disappeared--so had the bedroom--and he found himself in a +small, bare, comfortless, queerly constructed apartment without a +door, and with only a narrow slit of a window somewhere near the +ceiling. + +He had in one of his hands a knife with a long, keen blade, and his +whole mind was bent on murder. Creeping stealthily forward, he +approached a corner of the room, where he now saw, for the first +time--a mattress--a mattress on which lay a huddled-up form. What the +Thing was--whether human or animal--Mr. Vance did not know--did not +care--all he felt was that it was there for him to kill--that he +loathed and hated it--hated it with a hatred such as nothing else +could have produced. Tiptoeing gently up to it, he bent down, and, +lifting his knife high above his head, plunged it into the Thing's +body with all the force he could command. + + * * * * * + +He recrossed the room, and found himself once more in his apartment at +the inn. He looked for the skeleton hand--it was not where he had left +it--it had vanished. Then he glanced at the mirror, and on its +brilliantly polished surface saw--not his own face--but the face of +the gardener, the man who had given him the hand! Features, colour, +hair--all--all were identical--wonderfully, hideously identical--and +as the eyes met his, they smiled--devilishly. + + * * * * * + +Early the next day, Mr. Vance set out for the spinney and cottage; +they were not to be found--nobody had ever heard of them. He continued +his travels, and some months later, at a loan collection of pictures +in a gallery in Edinburgh, he came to an abrupt--a very abrupt--halt, +before the portrait of a gentleman in ancient costume. The face +seemed strangely familiar--the huge head with thick, red hair--the +hawk-like features--the thin and tightly compressed lips. Then, in a +trice, it all came back to him: the face he looked at was that of the +uncouth gardener--the man who had given him the hand. And to clinch +the matter, the eyes--leered. + + + + + _Printed by_ + MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED + _Edinburgh_ + + + * * * * * + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Typographical errors corrected in text: | + | | + | Page 79: 'made a dash as it' at replaced with | + | 'made a dash at it' | + | Page 93: spritualist replaced with spiritualist | + | Page 232: degreee replaced with degree | + | Page 258: accompained replaced with accompanied | + | | + | Further Notes: | + | | + | For those who may wonder about the word 'lolled' on page | + | 84, it really is a word! It means: 1. To move, stand, or | + | recline in an indolent or relaxed manner. 2. To hang | + | or droop laxly. | + | | + | In the original book, each chapter header is on a | + | separate page, followed by a blank page and then the | + | chapter header again, and then the chapter text. The | + | duplicate header has been removed in this document. | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + + * * * * * + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Scottish Ghost Stories, by Elliott O'Donnell + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCOTTISH GHOST STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 20034-8.txt or 20034-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/0/3/20034/ + +Produced by Jeannie Howse and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Scottish Ghost Stories + +Author: Elliott O'Donnell + +Release Date: December 7, 2006 [EBook #20034] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCOTTISH GHOST STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Jeannie Howse and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen" style="font-weight: bold;">Transcriber's Note:</p> +<br /> +<p class="noin">Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document has been preserved.</p> +<p class="noin">Obvious typographical errors have been corrected in this text.<br /> +For a complete list, please see the <a href="#TN">end of this document</a>.</p> +</div> + +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + + +<h1>SCOTTISH<br /> +GHOST STORIES</h1> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h2>ELLIOTT O'DONNELL</h2> + +<h6>AUTHOR OF<br /> +"SOME HAUNTED HOUSES OF ENGLAND AND WALES"<br /> +"HAUNTED HOUSES OF LONDON" "GHOSTLY PHENOMENA"<br /> +"TRUE GHOST STORIES" "DREAMS AND THEIR MEANINGS"<br /> +ETC. ETC.</h6> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>LONDON:<br /> +KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNER & CO. LTD.<br /> +1911</h4> + +<br /> +<a name="toc" id="toc"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> +<br /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="70%" summary="Table of Contents"> + <tr> + <td width="10%" class="tdr"><span style="font-size: 80%;">CASE</span></td> + <td width="70%" class="tdl"> </td> + <td width="20%" class="tdr"><span style="font-size: 80%;">PAGE</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">I.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_I">THE DEATH BOGLE OF THE CROSS ROADS, AND THE + INEXTINGUISHABLE CANDLE OF THE OLD WHITE HOUSE, PITLOCHRY</a></td> + <td class="tdr">1</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">II.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_II">THE TOP ATTIC IN PRINGLE'S MANSION, EDINBURGH</a></td> + <td class="tdr">25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">III.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_III">THE BOUNDING FIGURE OF "—— HOUSE," NEAR BUCKINGHAM + TERRACE, EDINBURGH</a></td> + <td class="tdr">41</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">IV.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_IV">JANE OF GEORGE STREET, EDINBURGH</a></td> + <td class="tdr">55</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">V.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_V">THE SALLOW-FACED WOMAN OF NO. — FORREST ROAD, + EDINBURGH</a></td> + <td class="tdr">69</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">VI.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_VI">THE PHANTOM REGIMENT OF KILLIECRANKIE</a></td> + <td class="tdr">91</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">VII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_VII">"PEARLIN' JEAN" OF ALLANBANK</a></td> + <td class="tdr">105</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">VIII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_VIII">THE DRUMMER OF CORTACHY</a></td> + <td class="tdr">117</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">IX.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_IX">THE ROOM BEYOND. AN ACCOUNT OF THE HAUNTINGS OF + HENNERSLEY, NEAR AYR</a></td> + <td class="tdr">135</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">X.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_X">"—— HOUSE," NEAR BLYTHSWOOD SQUARE, GLASGOW. THE + HAUNTED BATH</a></td> + <td class="tdr">159</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XI.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_XI">THE CHOKING GHOST OF "—— HOUSE," NEAR SANDYFORD + PLACE, GLASGOW</a></td> + <td class="tdr">173</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_XII">THE GREY PIPER AND THE HEAVY COACH OF DONALDGOWERIE + HOUSE, PERTH</a></td> + <td class="tdr">189</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XIII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_XIII">THE FLOATING HEAD OF THE BENRACHETT INN, NEAR THE + PERTH ROAD, DUNDEE</a></td> + <td class="tdr">211</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XIV.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_XIV">THE HAUNTINGS OF "—— HOUSE," IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD + OF THE GREAT WESTERN ROAD, ABERDEEN</a></td> + <td class="tdr">225<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XV.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_XV">THE WHITE LADY OF ROWNAM AVENUE, NEAR STIRLING</a></td> + <td class="tdr">237</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XVI.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_XVI">THE GHOST OF THE HINDOO CHILD, OR THE HAUNTINGS OF + THE WHITE DOVE HOTEL, NEAR ST. SWITHIN'S STREET, ABERDEEN</a></td> + <td class="tdr">251</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdrp">XVII.</td> + <td class="tdl"><a href="#CASE_XVII">GLAMIS CASTLE</a></td> + <td class="tdr">263</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CASE_I" id="CASE_I"></a><hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE I</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE DEATH BOGLE OF THE CROSS ROADS, AND THE +INEXTINGUISHABLE CANDLE OF THE OLD WHITE +HOUSE, PITLOCHRY</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE I</h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE DEATH BOGLE OF THE CROSS ROADS, AND THE +INEXTINGUISHABLE CANDLE OF THE OLD WHITE +HOUSE, PITLOCHRY<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>Several years ago, bent on revisiting Perthshire, a locality which had +great attractions for me as a boy, I answered an advertisement in a +popular ladies' weekly. As far as I can recollect, it was somewhat to +this effect: "Comfortable home offered to a gentleman (a bachelor) at +moderate terms in an elderly Highland lady's house at Pitlochry. Must +be a strict teetotaller and non-smoker. F.M., Box so-and-so."</p> + +<p>The naïveté and originality of the advertisement pleased me. The idea +of obtaining as a boarder a young man combining such virtues as +abstinence from alcohol and tobacco amused me vastly. And then a +bachelor, too! Did she mean to make love to him herself? The sly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>old +thing! She took care to insert the epithet "elderly," in order to +avoid suspicion; and there was no doubt about it—she thirsted for +matrimony. Being "tabooed" by all the men who had even as much as +caught a passing glimpse of her, this was her last resource—she would +entrap some unwary stranger, a man with money of course, and inveigle +him into marrying her. And there rose up before me visions of a tall, +angular, forty-year-old Scottish spinster, with high cheek-bones, +virulent, sandy hair, and brawny arms—the sort of woman that ought +not to have been a woman at all—the sort that sets all my teeth on +edge. Yet it was Pitlochry, heavenly Pitlochry, and there was no one +else advertising in that town. That I should suit her in every respect +but the matrimonial, I did not doubt. I can pass muster in any company +as a teetotaller; I abominate tobacco (leastways it abominates me, +which amounts to much about the same thing), and I am, or rather I can +be, tolerably amenable, if my surroundings are not positively +infernal, and there are no County Council children within shooting +distance.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>But for once my instincts were all wrong. The advertiser—a Miss Flora +Macdonald of "Donald Murray House"—did <i>not</i> resemble my +preconception of her in any respect. She was of medium height, and +dainty build—a fairy-like creature clad in rustling silks, with wavy, +white hair, bright, blue eyes, straight, delicate features, and hands, +the shape and slenderness of which at once pronounced her a psychic. +She greeted me with all the stately courtesy of the Old School; my +portmanteau was taken upstairs by a solemn-eyed lad in the Macdonald +tartan; and the tea bell rang me down to a most appetising repast of +strawberries and cream, scones, and delicious buttered toast. I fell +in love with my hostess—it would be sheer sacrilege to designate such +a divine creature by the vulgar term of "landlady"—at once. When +one's impressions of a place are at first exalted, they are often, +later on, apt to become equally abased. In this case, however, it was +otherwise. My appreciation both of Miss Flora Macdonald and of her +house daily increased. The food was all that could be desired, and my +bedroom, sweet with the perfume of jasmine <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>and roses, presented such +a picture of dainty cleanliness, as awakened in me feelings of shame, +that it should be defiled by all my dusty, travel-worn accoutrements. +I flatter myself that Miss Macdonald liked me also. That she did not +regard me altogether as one of the common herd was doubtless, in some +degree, due to the fact that she was a Jacobite; and in a discussion +on the associations of her romantic namesake, "Flora Macdonald," with +Perthshire, it leaked out that our respective ancestors had commanded +battalions in Louis <span class="sc">XIV.</span>'s far-famed Scottish and Irish +Brigades. That discovery bridged gulfs. We were no longer payer and +paid—we were friends—friends for life.</p> + +<p>A lump comes into my throat as I pen these words, for it is only a +short time since I heard of her death.</p> + +<p>A week or so after I had settled in her home, I took, at her +suggestion, a rest (and, I quite agree with her, it was a very +necessary rest) from my writing, and spent the day on Loch Tay, +leaving again for "Donald Murray House" at seven o'clock in the +evening. It was a brilliant, moonlight night. Not a cloud <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>in the sky, +and the landscape stood out almost as clearly as in the daytime. I +cycled, and after a hard but thoroughly enjoyable spell of pedalling, +eventually came to a standstill on the high road, a mile or two from +the first lights of Pitlochry. I halted, not through fatigue, for I +was almost as fresh as when I started, but because I was entranced +with the delightful atmosphere, and wanted to draw in a few really +deep draughts of it before turning into bed. My halting-place was on a +triangular plot of grass at the junction of four roads. I propped my +machine against a hedge, and stood with my back leaning against a +sign-post, and my face in the direction whence I had come. I remained +in this attitude for some minutes, probably ten, and was about to +remount my bicycle, when I suddenly became icy cold, and a frightful, +hideous terror seized and gripped me so hard, that the machine, +slipping from my palsied hands, fell to the ground with a crash. The +next instant something—for the life of me I knew not what, its +outline was so blurred and indefinite—alighted on the open space in +front of me <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>with a soft thud, and remained standing as bolt upright +as a cylindrical pillar. From afar off, there then came the low rumble +of wheels, which momentarily grew in intensity, until there thundered +into view a waggon, weighed down beneath a monstrous stack of hay, on +the top of which sat a man in a wide-brimmed straw hat, engaged in a +deep confabulation with a boy in corduroys who sprawled beside him. +The horse, catching sight of the motionless "thing" opposite me, at +once stood still and snorted violently. The man cried out, "Hey! hey! +What's the matter with ye, beast?" And then in an hysterical kind of +screech, "Great God! What's yon figure that I see? What's yon figure, +Tammas?"</p> + +<p>The boy immediately raised himself into a kneeling position, and, +clutching hold of the man's arm, screamed, "I dinna ken, I dinna ken, +Matthew; but take heed, mon, it does na touch me. It's me it's come +after, na ye."</p> + +<p>The moonlight was so strong that the faces of the speakers were +revealed to me with extraordinary vividness, and their horrified +expressions were even more <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>startling than was the silent, ghastly +figure of the Unknown. The scene comes back to me, here, in my little +room in Norwood, with its every detail as clearly marked as on the +night it was first enacted. The long range of cone-shaped mountains, +darkly silhouetted against the silvery sky, and seemingly hushed in +gaping expectancy; the shining, scaly surface of some far-off tarn or +river, perceptible only at intervals, owing to the thick clusters of +gently nodding pines; the white-washed walls of cottages, glistening +amid the dark green denseness of the thickly leaved box trees, and the +light, feathery foliage of the golden laburnum; the undulating +meadows, besprinkled with gorse and grotesquely moulded crags of +granite; the white, the dazzling white roads, saturated with +moonbeams; all—all were overwhelmed with stillness—the stillness +that belongs, and belongs only, to the mountains, and trees, and +plains—the stillness of shadowland. I even counted the buttons, the +horn buttons, on the rustics' coats—one was missing from the man's, +two from the boy's; and I even noted the sweat-stains under the +armpits of Matthew's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>shirt, and the dents and tears in Tammas's soft +wideawake. I observed all these trivialities and more besides. I saw +the abrupt rising and falling of the man's chest as his breath came in +sharp jerks; the stream of dirty saliva that oozed from between his +blackberry-stained lips and dribbled down his chin; I saw their +hands—the man's, square-fingered, black-nailed, big-veined, shining +with perspiration and clutching grimly at the reins; the boy's, +smaller, and if anything rather more grimy—the one pressed flat down +on the hay, the other extended in front of him, the palm stretched +outwards and all the fingers widely apart.</p> + +<p>And while these minute particulars were being driven into my soul, the +cause of it all—the indefinable, esoteric column—stood silent and +motionless over-against the hedge, a baleful glow emanating from it.</p> + +<p>The horse suddenly broke the spell. Dashing its head forward, it broke +off at a gallop, and, tearing frantically past the phantasm, went +helter-skelter down the road to my left. I then saw Tammas turning a +somersault, miraculously saved from falling head first on to the +road, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>by rebounding from the pitchfork which had been wedged upright +in the hay, whilst the figure, which followed in their wake with +prodigious bounds, was apparently trying to get at him with its +spidery arms. But whether it succeeded or not I cannot say, for I was +so uncontrollably fearful lest it should return to me, that I mounted +my bicycle and rode as I had never ridden before and have never ridden +since.</p> + +<p>I described the incident to Miss Macdonald on my return. She looked +very serious.</p> + +<p>"It was stupid of me not to have warned you," she said. "That that +particular spot in the road has always—at least ever since I can +remember—borne the reputation of being haunted. None of the peasants +round here will venture within a mile of it after twilight, so the +carters you saw must have been strangers. No one has ever seen the +ghost except in the misty form in which it appeared to you. It does +not frequent the place every night; it only appears periodically; and +its method never varies. It leaps over a wall or hedge, remains +stationary till some one approaches, and then pursues them with +monstrous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>springs. The person it touches invariably dies within a +year. I well recollect when I was in my teens, on just such a night as +this, driving home with my father from Lady Colin Ferner's croquet +party at Blair Atholl. When we got to the spot you name, the horse +shied, and before I could realise what had happened, we were racing +home at a terrific pace. My father and I sat in front, and the groom, +a Highland boy from the valley of Ben-y-gloe, behind. Never having +seen my father frightened, his agitation now alarmed me horribly, and +the more so as my instinct told me it was caused by something other +than the mere bolting of the horse. I was soon enlightened. A gigantic +figure, with leaps and bounds, suddenly overtook us, and, thrusting +out its long, thin arms, touched my father lightly on the hand, and +then with a harsh cry, more like that of some strange animal than that +of a human being, disappeared. Neither of us spoke till we reached +home,—I did not live here then, but in a house on the other side of +Pitlochry,—when my father, who was still as white as a sheet, took me +aside and whispered, 'Whatever <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>you do, Flora, don't breathe a word of +what has happened to your mother, and never let her go along that road +at night. It was the death bogle. I shall die within twelve months.' +And he did."</p> + +<p>Miss Macdonald paused. A brief silence ensued, and she then went on +with all her customary briskness: "I cannot describe the thing any +more than you can, except that it gave me the impression it had no +eyes. But what it was, whether the ghost of a man, woman, or some +peculiar beast, I could not, for the life of me, tell. Now, Mr. +O'Donnell, have you had enough horrors for one evening, or would you +like to hear just one more?"</p> + +<p>Knowing that sleep was utterly out of the question, and that one or +two more thrills would make very little difference to my already +shattered nerves, I replied that I would listen eagerly to anything +she could tell me, however horrible. My permission thus gained—and +gained so readily—Miss Macdonald, not without, I noticed, one or two +apprehensive glances at the slightly rustling curtains, began her +narrative, which ran, as nearly as I can remember, as follows:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>"After my father's death, I told my mother about our adventure the +night we drove home from Lady Colin Ferner's party, and asked her if +she remembered ever having heard anything that could possibly account +for the phenomenon. After a few moments' reflection, this is the story +she told me:—</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>THE INEXTINGUISHABLE CANDLE OF THE OLD WHITE HOUSE</h4> + +<p>There was once a house, known as "The Old White House," that used to +stand by the side of the road, close to where you say the horse first +took fright. Some people of the name of Holkitt, relations of dear old +Sir Arthur Holkitt, and great friends of ours, used to live there. The +house, it was popularly believed, had been built on the site of an +ancient burial-ground. Every one used to say it was haunted, and the +Holkitts had great trouble in getting servants. The appearance of the +haunted house did not belie its reputation, for its grey walls, sombre +garden, gloomy hall, dark passages and staircase, and sinister-looking +attics could not have been more thoroughly suggestive <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>of all kinds of +ghostly phenomena. Moreover, the whole atmosphere of the place, no +matter how hot and bright the sun, was cold and dreary, and it was a +constant source of wonder to every one how Lady Holkitt could live +there. She was, however, always cheerful, and used to tell me that +nothing would induce her to leave a spot dear to so many generations +of her family, and associated with the happiest recollections in her +life. She was very fond of company, and there was scarcely a week in +the year in which she had not some one staying with her. I can only +remember her as widow, her husband, a major in the Gordon Highlanders, +having died in India before I was born. She had two daughters, +Margaret and Alice, both considered very handsome, but some years +older than I. This difference in age, however, did not prevent our +being on very friendly terms, and I was constantly invited to their +house—in the summer to croquet and archery, in the winter to balls. +Like most elderly ladies of that period, Lady Holkitt was very fond of +cards, and she and my mother used frequently to play bezique and +cribbage, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>whilst the girls and I indulged in something rather more +frivolous. On those occasions the carriage always came for us at ten, +since my mother, for some reason or other—I had a shrewd suspicion it +was on account of the alleged haunting—would never return home after +that time. When she accepted an invitation to a ball, it was always +conditionally that Lady Holkitt would put us both up for the night, +and the carriage used, then, to come for us the following day, after +one o'clock luncheon. I shall never forget the last time I went to a +dance at "The Old White House," though it is now rather more than +fifty years ago. My mother had not been very well for some weeks, +having, so she thought, taken cold internally. She had not had a +doctor, partly because she did not feel ill enough, and partly because +the only medical man near us was an apothecary, of whose skill she had +a very poor opinion. My mother had quite made up her mind to accompany +me to the ball, but at the last moment, the weather being appalling, +she yielded to advice, and my aunt Norah, who happened to be staying +with us at <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>the time, chaperoned me instead. It was snowing when we +set out, and as it snowed all through the night and most of the next +day, the roads were completely blocked, and we had to remain at "The +Old White House" from Monday evening till the following Thursday. Aunt +Norah and I occupied separate bedrooms, and mine was at the end of a +long passage away from everybody else's. Prior to this my mother and I +had always shared a room—the only really pleasant one, so I thought, +in the house—overlooking the front lawn. But on this occasion there +being a number of visitors, belated like ourselves, we had to squeeze +in wherever we could; and as my aunt and I were to have separate rooms +(my aunt liking a room to herself), it was natural that she should be +allotted the largest and most comfortable. Consequently, she was +domiciled in the wing where all the other visitors slept, whilst I was +forced to retreat to a passage on the other side of the house, where, +with the exception of my apartment, there were none other but +lumber-rooms. All went smoothly and happily, and nothing interrupted +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>harmony of our visit, till the night before we returned home. We +had had supper—our meals were differently arranged in those days—and +Margaret and I were ascending the staircase on our way to bed, when +Alice, who had run upstairs ahead of us, met us with a scared face.</p> + +<p>"Oh, do come to my room!" she cried. "Something has happened to Mary." +(Mary was one of the housemaids.)</p> + +<p>We both accompanied her, and, on entering her room, found Mary seated +on a chair, sobbing hysterically. One only had to glance at the girl +to see that she was suffering from some very severe shock. Though +normally red-cheeked and placid, in short, a very healthy, stolid +creature, and the last person to be easily perturbed, she was now +without a vestige of colour, whilst the pupils of her eyes were +dilated with terror, and her entire body, from the crown of her head +to the soles of her feet, shook as if with ague. I was immeasurably +shocked to see her.</p> + +<p>"Why, Mary," Margaret exclaimed, "whatever is the matter? What has +happened?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>"It's the candle, miss," the girl gasped, "the candle in Miss Trevor's +room. I can't put it out."</p> + +<p>"You can't put it out, why, what nonsense!" Margaret said. "Are you +mad?"</p> + +<p>"It is as true as I sit here, miss," Mary panted. "I put the candle on +the mantelpiece while I set the room to rights, and when I had +finished and came to blow it out, I couldn't. I blew, and blew, and +blew, but it hadn't any effect, and then I grew afraid, miss, horribly +afraid," and here she buried her face in her hands, and shuddered. +"I've never been frightened like this before, miss," she returned +slowly, "and I've come away and left the candle burning."</p> + +<p>"How absurd of you," Margaret scolded. "We must go and put it out at +once. I have a good mind to make you come with us, Mary—but there! +Stay where you are, and for goodness' sake stop crying, or every one +in the house will hear you."</p> + +<p>So saying, Margaret hurried off,—Alice and I accompanying her,—and +on arriving outside my room, the door of which was wide open, we +perceived the lighted candle standing in the position Mary had +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>described. I looked at the girls, and perceived, in spite of my +endeavours not to perceive it, the unmistakable signs of a great +fear—fear of something they suspected but dared not name—lurking in +the corners of their eyes.</p> + +<p>"Who will go first?" Margaret demanded. No one spoke.</p> + +<p>"Well then," she continued, "I will," and, suiting the action to the +word, she stepped over the threshold. The moment she did so, the door +began to close. "This is curious!" she cried. "Push!"</p> + +<p>We did; we all three pushed; but, despite our efforts, the door came +resolutely to, and we were shut out. Then before we had time to +recover from our astonishment, it flew open; but before we could cross +the threshold, it came violently to in the same manner as before. Some +unseen force held it against us.</p> + +<p>"Let us make one more effort," Margaret said, "and if we don't +succeed, we will call for help."</p> + +<p>Obeying her instructions, we once again pushed. I was nearest the +handle, and in some manner,—how, none of us could ever explain,—just +as the door opened of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>its own accord, I slipped and fell inside. The +door then closed immediately with a bang, and, to my unmitigated +horror, I found myself alone in the room. For some seconds I was +spellbound, and could not even collect my thoughts sufficiently to +frame a reply to the piteous entreaties of the Holkitts, who kept +banging on the door, and imploring me to tell them what was happening. +Never in the hideous excitement of nightmare had I experienced such a +terror as the terror that room conveyed to my mind. Though nothing was +to be seen, nothing but the candle, the light of which was peculiarly +white and vibrating, I felt the presence of something inexpressibly +menacing and horrible. It was in the light, the atmosphere, the +furniture, everywhere. On all sides it surrounded me, on all sides I +was threatened—threatened in a manner that was strange and deadly. +Something suggesting to me that the source of evil originated in the +candle, and that if I could succeed in extinguishing the light I +should free myself from the ghostly presence, I advanced towards the +mantelpiece, and, drawing in a deep breath, blew—blew <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>with the +energy born of desperation. It had no effect. I repeated my efforts; I +blew frantically, madly, but all to no purpose; the candle still +burned—burned softly and mockingly. Then a fearful terror seized me, +and, flying to the opposite side of the room, I buried my face against +the wall, and waited for what the sickly beatings of my heart warned +me was coming. Constrained to look, I slightly, only very, very +slightly, moved round, and there, there, floating stealthily towards +me through the air, came the candle, the vibrating, glowing, baleful +candle. I hid my face again, and prayed God to let me faint. Nearer +and nearer drew the light; wilder and wilder the wrenches at the door. +Closer and closer I pressed myself to the wall. And then, then when +the final throes of agony were more than human heart and brain could +stand, there came the suspicion, the suggestion of a touch—of a touch +so horrid that my prayers were at last answered, and I fainted. When I +recovered, I was in Margaret's room, and half a dozen well-known forms +were gathered round me. It appears that with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>collapse of my body +on the floor, the door, that had so effectually resisted every effort +to turn the handle, immediately flew open, and I was discovered lying +on the ground with the candle—still alight—on the ground beside me. +My aunt experienced no difficulty in blowing out the refractory +candle, and I was carried with the greatest tenderness into the other +wing of the house, where I slept that night. Little was said about the +incident next day, but all who knew of it expressed in their faces the +utmost anxiety—an anxiety which, now that I had recovered, greatly +puzzled me. On our return home, another shock awaited me; we found to +our dismay that my mother was seriously ill, and that the doctor, who +had been sent for from Perth the previous evening, just about the time +of my adventure with the candle, had stated that she might not survive +the day. His warning was fulfilled—she died at sunset. Her death, of +course, may have had nothing at all to do with the candle episode, yet +it struck me then as an odd coincidence, and seems all the more +strange to me after hearing your account of the bogle <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>that touched +your dear father in the road, so near the spot where the Holkitts' +house once stood. I could never discover whether Lady Holkitt or her +daughters ever saw anything of a superphysical nature in their house; +after my experience they were always very reticent on that subject, +and naturally I did not like to press it. On Lady Holkitt's death, +Margaret and Alice sold the house, which was eventually pulled down, +as no one would live in it, and I believe the ground on which it stood +is now a turnip field. That, my dear, is all I can tell you.</p> + +<hr style="width: 5%;" /> + +<p>"Now, Mr. O'Donnell," Miss Macdonald added, "having heard our +experiences, my mother's and mine, what is your opinion? Do you think +the phenomenon of the candle was in any way connected with the bogle +both you and I have seen, or are the hauntings of 'The Old White +House' entirely separate from those of the road?"</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CASE_II" id="CASE_II"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + + +<h1>CASE II</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE TOP ATTIC IN PRINGLE'S MANSION, EDINBURGH</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE II</h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE TOP ATTIC IN PRINGLE'S MANSION, EDINBURGH<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>A charming lady, Miss South, informs me that no house interested her +more, as a child, than Pringle's Mansion, Edinburgh. Pringle's +Mansion, by the bye, is not the real name of the house, nor is the +original building still standing—the fact is, my friend has been +obliged to disguise the locality for fear of an action for slander of +title, such as happened in the Egham Case of 1904-7.</p> + +<p>Miss South never saw—save in a picture—the house that so fascinated +her; but through repeatedly hearing about it from her old nurse, she +felt that she knew it by heart, and used to amuse herself hour after +hour in the nursery, drawing diagrams of the rooms and passages, +which, to make quite realistic, she named and numbered.</p> + +<p>There was the Admiral's room, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>Madame's room, Miss Ophelia's room, +Master Gregory's room, Letty's (the nurse's) room, the cook's room, +the butler's room, the housemaid's room—and—the Haunted Room.</p> + +<p>The house was very old—probably the sixteenth century—and was +concealed from the thoroughfare by a high wall that enclosed it on all +sides. It had no garden, only a large yard, covered with faded yellow +paving-stones, and containing a well with an old-fashioned roller and +bucket.</p> + +<p>When the well was cleaned out, an event which took place periodically +on a certain date, every utensil in the house was called into +requisition for ladling out the water, and the Admiral, himself +supervising, made every servant in the establishment take an active +part in the proceedings. On one of these occasions, the Admiral +announced his intention of going down the well in the bucket. That was +a rare moment in Letty's life, for when the Admiral had been let down +in the bucket, the rope broke!</p> + +<p>Indeed, the thought of what the Laird would say when he came up, +almost resulted in his not coming up at all. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>However, some one, +rather bolder than the rest, retained sufficient presence of mind to +effect a rescue, and the timid ones, thankful enough to survive the +explosion, had to be content on "half-rations till further orders."</p> + +<p>But in spite of its association with such a martinet, and in spite of +her ghostly experiences in it, Letty loved the house, and was never +tired of singing its praises.</p> + +<p>It was a two-storeyed mansion, with roomy cellars but no basement. +There were four reception-rooms—all oak-panelled—on the ground +floor; numerous kitchen offices, including a cosy housekeeper's room; +and a capacious entrance hall, in the centre of which stood a broad +oak staircase. The cellars, three in number, and chiefly used as +lumber-rooms, were deep down and dank and horrid.</p> + +<p>On the first floor eight bedrooms opened on to a gallery overlooking +the hall, and the top storey, where the servants slept, consisted +solely of attics connected with one another by dark, narrow passages. +It was one of these attics that was haunted, although, as a matter of +fact, the ghost had been seen in all parts of the house.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>When Letty entered the Admiral's service she was but a bairn, and had +never even heard of ghosts; nor did the other servants apprise her of +the hauntings, having received strict injunctions not to do so from +the Laird.</p> + +<p>But Letty's home, humble though it was, had been very bright and +cheerful, and the dark precincts of the mansion filled her with +dismay. Without exactly knowing why she was afraid, she shrank in +terror from descending into the cellars, and felt anything but pleased +at the prospect of sleeping alone in an attic. Still nothing occurred +to really alarm her till about a month after her arrival. It was early +in the evening, soon after twilight, and she had gone down into one of +the cellars to look for a boot-jack, which the Admiral swore by all +that was holy must be found before supper. Placing the light she had +brought with her on a packing-case, she was groping about among the +boxes, when she perceived, to her astonishment, that the flame of the +candle had suddenly turned blue. She then felt icy cold, and was much +startled on hearing a loud clatter as of some metal instrument on the +stone <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>floor in the far-off corner of the cellar. Glancing in the +direction of the noise, she saw, looking at her, two eyes—two +obliquely set, lurid, light eyes, full of the utmost devilry. Sick +with terror and utterly unable to account for what she beheld, she +stood stock-still, her limbs refusing to move, her throat parched, her +tongue tied. The clanging was repeated, and a shadowy form began +slowly to crawl towards her. She dared not afterwards surmise what +would have happened to her, had not the Laird himself come down at +this moment. At the sound of his stentorian voice the phantasm +vanished. But the shock had been too much for Letty; she fainted, and +the Admiral, carrying her upstairs as carefully as if she had been his +own daughter, gave peremptory orders that she should never again be +allowed to go into the cellar alone.</p> + +<p>But now that Letty herself had witnessed a manifestation, the other +servants no longer felt bound to secrecy, and soon poured into her +ears endless accounts of the hauntings.</p> + +<p>Every one, they informed her, except Master Gregory and Perkins (the +butler) <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>had seen one or other of the ghosts, and the cellar +apparition was quite familiar to them all. They also declared that +there were other parts of the house quite as badly haunted as the +cellar, and it might have been partly owing to these gruesome stories +that poor Letty always felt scared, when crossing the passages leading +to the attics. As she was hastening down one of them, early one +morning, she heard some one running after her. Thinking it was one of +the other servants, she turned round, pleased to think that some one +else was up early too, and saw to her horror a dreadful-looking +object, that seemed to be partly human and partly animal. The body was +quite small, and its face bloated, and covered with yellow spots. It +had an enormous animal mouth, the lips of which, moving furiously +without emitting any sound, showed that the creature was endeavouring +to speak but could not. The moment Letty screamed for help the +phantasm vanished.</p> + +<p>But her worst experience was yet to come. The spare attic which she +was told was so badly haunted that no one would sleep in it, was the +room next to hers. It was a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>room Letty could well believe was +haunted, for she had never seen another equally gloomy. The ceiling +was low and sloping, the window tiny, and the walls exhibited all +sorts of odd nooks and crannies. A bed, antique and worm-eaten, stood +in one recess, a black oak chest in another, and at right angles with +the door, in another recess, stood a wardrobe that used to creak and +groan alarmingly every time Letty walked a long the passage. Once she +heard a chuckle, a low, diabolical chuckle, which she fancied came +from the chest; and once, when the door of the room was open, she +caught the glitter of a pair of eyes—the same pale, malevolent eyes +that had so frightened her in the cellar. From her earliest childhood +Letty had been periodically given to somnambulism, and one night, just +about a year after she went into service, she got out of bed, and +walked, in her sleep, into the Haunted Room. She awoke to find herself +standing, cold and shivering, in the middle of the floor, and it was +some seconds before she realised where she was. Her horror, when she +did discover where she was, is not easily described. The room was +bathed in moonlight, and the beams, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>falling with noticeable +brilliancy on each piece of furniture the room contained, at once +riveted Letty's attention, and so fascinated her that she found +herself utterly unable to move. A terrible and most unusual silence +predominated everywhere, and although Letty's senses were wonderfully +and painfully on the alert, she could not catch the slightest sound +from any of the rooms on the landing.</p> + +<p>The night was absolutely still, no breath of wind, no rustle of +leaves, no flapping of ivy against the window; yet the door suddenly +swung back on its hinges and slammed furiously. Letty felt that this +was the work of some supernatural agency, and, fully expecting that +the noise had awakened the cook, who was a light sleeper (or pretended +she was), listened in a fever of excitement to hear her get out of bed +and call out. The slightest noise and the spell that held her prisoner +would, Letty felt sure, be broken. But the same unbroken silence +prevailed. A sudden rustling made Letty glance fearfully at the bed; +and she perceived, to her terror, the valance swaying violently, to +and fro. Sick with fear, she was now constrained <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>to stare in abject +helplessness. Presently there was a slight, very slight movement on +the mattress, the white dust cover rose, and, under it, Letty saw the +outlines of what she took to be a human figure, gradually take shape. +Hoping, praying, that she was mistaken, and that what appeared to be +on the bed was but a trick of her imagination, she continued staring +in an agony of anticipation. But the figure remained—extended at full +length like a corpse. The minutes slowly passed, a church clock boomed +two, and the body moved. Letty's jaw fell, her eyes almost bulged from +her head, whilst her fingers closed convulsively on the folds of her +night-dress. The unmistakable sound of breathing now issued from the +region of the bed, and the dust-cover commenced slowly to slip aside. +Inch by inch it moved, until first of all Letty saw a few wisps of +dark hair, then a few more, then a thick cluster; then something white +and shining—a protruding forehead; then dark, very dark brows; then +two eyelids, yellow, swollen, and fortunately tightly closed; then—a +purple conglomeration of Letty knew not what—of anything but what +was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>human. The sight was so monstrous it appalled her; and she was +overcome with a species of awe and repulsion, for which the language +of mortality has no sufficiently energetic expression. She momentarily +forgot that what she looked on was merely superphysical, but regarded +it as something alive, something that ought to have been a child, +comely and healthy as herself—and she hated it. It was an outrage on +maternity, a blot on nature, a filthy discredit to the house, a +blight, a sore, a gangrene. It turned over in its sleep, the cover was +hurled aside, and a grotesque object, round, pulpy, webbed, and of +leprous whiteness—an object which Letty could hardly associate with a +hand—came grovelling out. Letty's stomach heaved; the thing was +beastly, indecent, vile, it ought not to live! And the idea of killing +flashed through her mind. Boiling over with indignation and absurdly +forgetful of her surroundings, she turned round and groped for a stone +to smash it. The moonlight on her naked toes brought her to her +senses—the thing in the bed was a devil! Though brought up a member +of the Free Church, with an abhorrence of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>anything that could in any +way be contorted into Papist practices, Letty crossed herself. As she +did so, a noise in the passage outside augmented her terror. She +strained her ears painfully, and the sound developed into a footstep, +soft, light, and surreptitious. It came gently towards the door; it +paused outside, and Letty intuitively felt that it was listening. Her +suspense was now so intolerable, that it was almost with a feeling of +relief that she beheld the door slowly—very slowly—begin to open. A +little wider—a little wider—and yet a little wider; but still +nothing came. Ah! Letty's heart turned to ice. Another inch, and a +shadowy something slipped through and began to wriggle itself +stealthily over the floor. Letty tried to divert her gaze, but could +not—an irresistible, magnetic attraction kept her eyes glued to the +gradually approaching horror. When within a few feet of her it halted; +and again Letty felt it was listening—listening to the breathing on +the bed, which was heavy and bestial. Then it twisted round, and Letty +watched it crawl into the wardrobe. After this there was a long and +anxious wait. Then Letty saw the wardrobe <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>door slyly open, and the +eyes of the cellar—inexpressibly baleful, and glittering like +burnished steel in the strong phosphorescent glow of the moon, peep +out,—not at her but <i>through</i> her,—at the object lying on the bed. +There were not only eyes, this time, but a form,—vague, misty, and +irregular, but still with sufficient shape to enable Letty to identify +it as that of a woman, tall and thin, and with a total absence of +hair, which was emphasised in the most lurid and ghastly fashion. With +a snakelike movement, the evil thing slithered out of the wardrobe, +and, gliding past Letty, approached the bed. Letty was obliged to +follow every proceeding. She saw the thing deftly snatch the bolster +from under the sleeping head; noted the gleam of hellish satisfaction +in its eyes as it pressed the bolster down; and watched the murdered +creature's contortions grow fainter, and fainter, until they finally +ceased. The eyes then left the room; and from afar off, away below, in +the abysmal cellars of the house, came the sound of digging—faint, +very faint, but unquestionably digging. This terminated the grim, +phantasmal drama for that night at least, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>and Letty, chilled to the +bone, but thoroughly alert, escaped to her room. She spent her few +remaining hours of rest wide-awake, determining never to go to bed +again without fastening one of her arms to the iron staples.</p> + +<p>With regard the history of the house, Letty never learned anything +more remarkable than that, long ago, an idiot child was supposed to +have been murdered in the haunted attic—by whom, tradition did not +say. The Admiral and his family left Pringle's Mansion the year Letty +became Miss South's nurse, and as no one would stay in the house, +presumably on account of the hauntings, it was pulled down, and an +inexcusably inartistic edifice was erected in its place.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span><br /> +<a name="CASE_III" id="CASE_III"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE III</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE BOUNDING FIGURE OF "—— HOUSE," NEAR +BUCKINGHAM TERRACE, EDINBURGH</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE III</h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE BOUNDING FIGURE OF "—— HOUSE," NEAR +BUCKINGHAM TERRACE, EDINBURGH<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> +</div> +<br /> + +<p>No one is more interested in Psychical Investigation Work than Miss +Torfrida Vincent, one of the three beautiful daughters of Mrs. H. de +B. Vincent, who is, herself, still in the heyday of life, and one of +the loveliest of the society women I have met. Though I have known her +sisters several years, I only met Torfrida for the first time a few +months ago, when she was superintending the nursing of her mother, who +had just undergone an operation for appendicitis. One day, when I was +visiting my convalescent friend, Torfrida informed me that she knew of +a haunted house in Edinburgh, a case which she felt sure would arouse +my interest and enthusiasm. "It is unfortunate," she added somewhat +regretfully, "that I cannot tell you the number of the house, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>but as +I have given my word of honour to disclose it to no one, I feel sure +you will excuse me. Indeed, my friends the Gordons, who extracted the +promise from me, have got into sad trouble with their landlord for +leaving the house under the pretext that it was haunted, and he has +threatened to prosecute them for slander of title."</p> + +<p>The house in question has no claim to antiquity. It may be eighty years +old—perhaps a little older—and was, at the time of which I speak, let +out in flats. The Gordons occupied the second storey; the one above +them was untenanted, and used as a storage place for furniture; the +first floor and ground floor were divided into chambers and offices. +They had not been in their new quarters more than a week, when Mrs. +Gordon asked the night porter who it was that made such a noise, racing +up their stairs between two and three in the morning. It had awakened +her every night, she told him, and she would be glad if the disturbance +were discontinued. "I am sorry, Madam, but I cannot imagine who it can +be," the man replied. "Of course, it may be some one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>next door, sounds +are so often deceptive; no one inhabits the rooms above you." But Mrs. +Gordon was not at all convinced, and made up her mind to complain to +the landlord should it occur again. That night nothing happened, but +the night after she was roused from her sleep at two o'clock, by a +feeling that something dreadful, some dire catastrophe, was about to +take place. The house was very still, and beyond the far-away echoes of +a policeman's patrol on the hard pavement outside, nothing, absolutely +nothing, broke the universal, and as it seemed to her, unnatural +silence. Generally at night-time there are sounds one likes to assure +oneself are too trivial to be heard during the day—the creaking of +boards, stairs (nearly always stairs), and the tapping of some leaf (of +course some leaf) at the windows. Who has not heard such sounds, and +who in his heart of hearts has not been only too well aware that they +are nocturnal, exclusively nocturnal. The shadows of evening bring with +them visitors; prying, curious visitors; grim and ghastly visitors; +grey, esoteric visitors; visitors from a world seemingly inconsequent, +wholly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>incomprehensible. Mrs. Gordon did not believe in ghosts. She +scoffed at the idea of ghosts, and, like so many would-be wits, +unreasonably brave by day, and the reverse by night, had hitherto +attributed banshees and the like to cats and other animals. But +now,—now when all was dark,—pitch dark and hushed, and she, for aught +she knew to the contrary, the only one, in that great rambling +building, awake, she reviewed again and again, in her mind, that +rushing up the stairs. The wind! It could not have been the wind. The +wind shuts doors, and rattles windows, and moans, and sighs, and howls +and screeches, but it does not walk the house in boots. Neither do +rats! And if she had imagined the noises, why did she not imagine other +things; why, for example, did she not see tables dance, and tea-urns +walk? All that would be fancy, unblushing, genuine fancy, and if she +conjured up one absurdity, why not another! That was a conundrum for +any sceptic. Thus did she argue, naturally and logically, in the quite +sensible fashion of a lawyer, or a scientist; yet, all the while, her +senses told her that the atmosphere of the house had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>undergone some +profoundly subtle and unaccountable change,—a change that brought with +it a presence, at once sinister and hostile. She longed to strike a +light and awake one of her daughters—Diana, by preference; since Diana +was the least likely to mind being disturbed, and had the strongest +nerves. She made a start, and, loosening the bedclothes that she always +liked tightly tucked round her, thrust out a quivering toe. The next +instant she drew it back with a tiny gasp of terror. The cold darkness +without had suggested to her mind a great, horny hand, mal-shaped and +murderous, that was lying in wait to seize her. A deadly sickness +overcame her, and she lay back on the pillow, her heart beating with +outrageous irregularity and loudness. Very slowly she recovered, and, +holding her breath, sidled to the far edge of the bed, and with a +dexterous movement, engendered by the desperation of fear, made a +lightning-like dab in the direction of the electric bell. Her soft, +pink finger missed the mark, and coming in violent contact with the +wall, bent the carefully polished nail. She bit her lips to stop a cry +of pain, and shrinking back <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span>within the folds of her dainty lace +embroidered nightdress, abandoned herself to despair. Her consciousness +of the Unknown Presence increased, and she instinctively felt the thing +pass through the closed door, down on to the landing outside, when it +dashed upstairs with a loud clatter, and, entering the lumber-room +immediately overhead, began bounding as if its feet were tied together, +backwards and forwards across the floor. After continuing for fully +half an hour, the noises abruptly ceased and the house resumed its +accustomed quiet. At breakfast, Mrs. Gordon asked her daughters if they +had heard anything in the night, and they laughingly said "No, not even +a mouse!"</p> + +<p>There was now an intermission of the disturbances, and no further +demonstration occurred for about a month. Diana was then sleeping in +her mother's room, Mrs. Gordon being away on a visit to Lady Voss, who +was entertaining a party of friends at her shooting-box in Argyle. One +evening, as Diana was going into her bedroom to prepare for dinner, +she saw the door suddenly swing open, and something, she could not +tell what—it was so blurred and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>indistinct—come out with a bound. +Tearing past her on to the landing, it rushed up the stairs with so +much clatter that Diana imagined, though she could see nothing, that +it must have on its feet, heavy lumbering boots. Filled with an +irresistible curiosity, in spite of her alarm, Diana ran after it, +and, on reaching the upper storey, heard it making a terrific racket +in the room above the one in which she now slept. Nothing daunted, +however, she boldly approached, and, flinging open the door, perceived +its filmy outline standing before a shadowy and very antique eight-day +clock, which apparently it was in the habit of winding. A great fear +now fell on Diana. What was the thing? And supposing it should turn +round and face her, what should she see? She was entirely isolated +from her sisters, and the servants—alone—the light fading—in a big, +gloomy room full of strange old furniture which suggested +hiding-places for all sorts of grim possibilities. She was assured now +that the thing she had followed was nothing human, neither was it a +delusion, for when she shut her eyes and opened them, it was still +there—and, oddly enough, it was now <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>more distinct than it was when +she had seen it downstairs. A curious feeling of helplessness stole +over Diana; the power of speech forsook her; and her limbs grew rigid. +She was so fearful, too, of attracting the notice of the mysterious +thing that she hardly dare breathe, and each pulsation of her heart +sent cold chills of apprehension down her spine. Once she endured +agonies through a mad desire to sneeze, and once her lips opened to +scream as something suspiciously like the antennæ of a huge beetle, +and which she subsequently discovered was a "devil's coach-horse," +tickled the calf of her leg. She fancied, too, that all sorts of queer +shapes lurked in the passage behind her, and that innumerable unseen +eyes were malignantly rejoicing in her terror. At last, the climax to +her suspense seemed at hand. The unknown thing, until now too busy +with the clock to take heed of her, paused for a moment or so, as if +undecided what to do next, and then slowly began to veer round. But +the faint echo of a voice below, calling her by name, broke the +hypnotic spell that bound Diana to the floor, and with a frantic +spring she cleared the threshold <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>of the room. She then tore madly +downstairs, never halting till she reached the dining-room, where she +sank on a sofa, and, more dead than alive, panted out to her amazed +sisters a full account of all that had transpired.</p> + +<p>That night she shared her sister's bedroom, but neither she nor her +sister slept.</p> + +<p>From this time till the return of Mrs. Gordon, nothing happened. It +was one evening after she came back, when she was preparing to get +into bed, that the door of her own room unexpectedly opened, and she +saw standing, on the threshold, the unmistakable figure of a man, +short and broad, with a great width of shoulders, and very long arms. +He was clad in a peajacket, blue serge trousers, and jack-boots. He +had a big, round, brutal head, covered with a tangled mass of yellow +hair, but where his face ought to have been there was only a blotch, +underlying which Mrs. Gordon detected the semblance to something +fiendishly vindictive and immeasurably nasty. But, in spite of the +horror his appearance produced, her curiosity was aroused with regard +to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>two objects he carried in his hands, one of which looked like +a very bizarre bundle of red and white rags, and the other a small +bladder of lard. Whilst she was staring at them in dumb awe, he swung +round, and, hitching them savagely under his armpits, rushed across +the landing, and, with a series of apish bounds, sprang up the +staircase and disappeared in the gloom.</p> + +<p>This was the climax; Mrs. Gordon felt another such encounter would +kill her. So, in spite of the fact that she had taken the flat for a +year, and had only just commenced her tenancy, she packed up her goods +and left the very next day. The report that the building was haunted +spread rapidly, and Mrs. Gordon had many indignant letters from the +landlord. She naturally made inquiries as to the early history of the +house, but of the many tales she listened to, only one, the +authenticity of which she could not guarantee, seemed to suggest any +clue to the haunting.</p> + +<p>It was said that a retired Captain in the Merchant Service, many years +previously, had rented the rooms she had occupied.</p> + +<p>He was an extraordinary individual, and, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>despite the fact that he had +lived so far inland, would never wear any but nautical clothes—blue +jersey and trousers, reefer coat and jack-boots. But this was not his +only peculiarity. His love of grog eventually brought on delirium +tremens, and his excessive irritability in the interval between each +attack was a source of anxiety to all who came in contact with him. At +that time there happened to be a baby in the rooms overhead, whose +crying so annoyed the Captain that he savagely informed its mother +that if she did not keep it quiet, he would not be answerable for the +consequences. His warnings having no effect, he flew upstairs one day, +when she was temporarily absent, and, snatching up the bread knife +from the table, decapitated the infant. He then stuffed both its head +and body into a grandfather's clock which stood in one corner of the +room, and, retiring to his own quarters, drank till he was insensible.</p> + +<p>He was, of course, arrested on a charge of murder, but being found +"insane" he was committed during His Majesty's pleasure to a lunatic +asylum.</p> + +<p>He eventually committed suicide by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>opening an artery in his leg with +one of his finger-nails.</p> + +<p>As the details of this tragedy filled in so well with the phenomena +they had witnessed, the Gordons could not help regarding the story as +a very probable explanation of the hauntings. But, remember, its +authenticity is dubious.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CASE_IV" id="CASE_IV"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE IV</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>JANE OF GEORGE STREET, EDINBURGH</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE IV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>JANE OF GEORGE STREET, EDINBURGH</h3> +</div> +<br /> + +<p>"The news that, for several years at any rate, George Street, +Edinburgh, was haunted," wrote a correspondent of mine some short time +ago, "might cause no little surprise to many of its inhabitants." And +my friend proceeded to relate his experience of the haunting, which I +will reproduce as nearly as possible in his own words. I quote from +memory, having foolishly destroyed the letter.</p> + +<hr style='width: 5%;' /> + +<p>I was walking in a leisurely way along George Street the other day, +towards Strunalls, where I get my cigars, and had arrived opposite No. +—, when I suddenly noticed, just ahead of me, a tall lady of +remarkably graceful figure, clad in a costume which, even to an +ignoramus in fashions like myself, seemed extraordinarily out of date. +In my untechnical <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>language it consisted of a dark blue coat and +skirt, trimmed with black braid. The coat had a very high collar, +turned over to show a facing of blue velvet, its sleeves were very +full at the shoulders, and a band of blue velvet drew it tightly in at +the waist. Moreover, unlike every other lady I saw, she wore a small +hat, which I subsequently learned was a toque, with one white and one +blue plume placed moderately high at the side. The only other +conspicuous items of her dress, the effect of which was, on the whole, +quiet, were white glacé gloves,—over which dangled gold curb +bracelets with innumerable pendants,—shoes, which were of patent +leather with silver buckles and rather high Louis heels, and fine, +blue silk openwork stockings. So much for her dress. Now for her +herself. She was a strikingly fair woman with very pale yellow hair +and a startlingly white complexion; and this latter peculiarity so +impressed me that I hastened my steps, determining to get a full view +of her. Passing her with rapid strides, I looked back, and as I did so +a cold chill ran through me,—what I looked at was—the face of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>dead. I slowed down and allowed her to take the lead.</p> + +<p>I now observed that, startling as she was, no one else seemed to +notice her. One or two people obviously, though probably +unconsciously, possessing the germs of psychism, shivered when they +passed her, but as they neither slackened their pace nor turned to +steal a second look, I concluded they had not seen her. Without +glancing either to the right or left, she moved steadily on, past +Molton's the confectioner's, past Perrin's the hatter's. Once, I +thought she was coming to a halt, and that she intended crossing the +road, but no—on, on, on, till we came to D—— Street. There we were +preparing to cross over, when an elderly gentleman walked deliberately +into her. I half expected to hear him apologise, but naturally nothing +of the sort happened; she was only too obviously a phantom, and, in +accordance with the nature of a phantom, she passed right through him. +A few yards farther on, she came to an abrupt pause, and then, with a +slight inclination of her head as if meaning me to follow, she glided +into a chemist's shop. She <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>was certainly not more than six feet ahead +of me when she passed through the door, and I was even nearer than +that to her when she suddenly disappeared as she stood before the +counter. I asked the chemist if he could tell me anything about the +lady who had just entered his shop, but he merely turned away and +laughed.</p> + +<p>"Lady!" he said; "what are you talking about? You're a bit out of your +reckoning. This isn't the first of April. Come, what do you want?"</p> + +<p>I bought a bottle of formamints, and reluctantly and regretfully +turned away. That night I dreamed I again saw the ghost. I followed +her up George Street just as I had done in reality; but when she came +to the chemist's shop, she turned swiftly round. "I'm Jane!" she said +in a hollow voice. "Jane! Only Jane!" and with that name ringing in my +ears I awoke.</p> + +<p>Some days elapsed before I was in George Street again. The weather had +in the meanwhile undergone one of those sudden and violent changes, so +characteristic of the Scottish climate. The lock-gates of heaven had +been opened and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>the rain was descending in cataracts. The few +pedestrians I encountered were enveloped in mackintoshes, and carried +huge umbrellas, through which the rain was soaking, and pouring off +from every point. Everything was wet—everywhere was mud. The water, +splashing upwards, saturated the tops of my boots and converted my +trousers into sodden sacks. Some weather isn't fit for dogs, but this +weather wasn't good enough for tadpoles—even fish would have kicked +at it and kept in their holes. Imagine, then, the anomaly! Amidst all +this aqueous inferno, this slippery-sloppery, filth-bespattering +inferno, a spotlessly clean apparition in blue without either +waterproof or umbrella. I refer to Jane. She suddenly appeared, as I +was passing The Ladies' Tea Association Rooms, walking in front of me. +She looked just the same as when I last saw her—spick and span, +and—dry. I repeat the word—dry—for that is what attracted my +attention most. Despite the deluge, not a single raindrop touched +her—the plumes on her toque were splendidly erect and curly, her +shoe-buckles sparkled, her patent leathers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>were spotless, whilst the +cloth of her coat and skirt looked as sheeny as if they had but just +come from Keeley's.</p> + +<p>Anxious to get another look at her face, I quickened my pace, and, +darting past her, gazed straight into her countenance. The result was +a severe shock. The terror of what I saw—the ghastly horror of her +dead white face—sent me reeling across the pavement. I let her pass +me, and, impelled by a sickly fascination, followed in her wake.</p> + +<p>Outside a jeweller's stood a hansom—quite a curiosity in these days +of motors—and, as Jane glided past, the horse shied. I have never +seen an animal so terrified. We went on, and at the next crossing +halted. A policeman had his hand up checking the traffic. His glance +fell on Jane—the effect was electrical. His eyes bulged, his cheeks +whitened, his chest heaved, his hand dropped, and he would undoubtedly +have fallen had not a good Samaritan, in the guise of a non-psychical +public-house loafer, held him up. Jane was now close to the chemist's, +and it was with a sigh of relief that I saw her glide in and +disappear.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>Had there been any doubt at all, after my first encounter with Jane, +as to her being superphysical, there was certainly none now. The +policeman's paroxysm of fear and the horse's fit of shying were facts. +What had produced them? I alone knew—and I knew for certain—it was +Jane. Both man and animal saw what I saw. Hence the phantom was not +subjective; it was not illusionary; it was a <i>bona fide</i> spirit +manifestation—a visitant from the other world—the world of +earthbound souls. Jane fascinated me. I made endless researches in +connection with her, and, in answer to one of my inquiries, I was +informed that eighteen years ago—that is to say, about the time +Jane's dress was in fashion—the chemist's shop had been occupied by a +dressmaker of the name of Bosworth. I hunted up Miss Bosworth's +address and called on her. She had retired from business and was +living in St. Michael's Road, Bournemouth. I came to the point +straight.</p> + +<p>"Can you give me any information," I asked, "about a lady whose +Christian name was Jane?"</p> + +<p>"That sounds vague!" Miss Bosworth <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>said. "I've met a good many Janes +in my time."</p> + +<p>"But not Janes with pale yellow hair, and white eyebrows and +eyelashes!" And I described her in detail.</p> + +<p>"How do you come to know about her?" Miss Bosworth said, after a long +pause.</p> + +<p>"Because," I replied with a certain slowness and deliberation +characteristic of me, "because I've seen her ghost!"</p> + +<p>Of course I knew Miss Bosworth was no sceptic—the moment my eyes +rested on her I saw she was psychic, and that the superphysical was +often at her elbow. Accordingly, I was not in the least surprised at +her look of horror.</p> + +<p>"What!" she exclaimed, "is she still there? I thought she would surely +be at rest now!"</p> + +<p>"Who was she?" I inquired. "Come—you need not be afraid of me. I have +come here solely because the occult has always interested me. Who was +Jane, and why should her ghost haunt George Street?"</p> + +<p>"It happened a good many years ago," Miss Bosworth replied, "in 1892. +In <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>answer to an advertisement I saw in one of the daily papers, I +called on a Miss Jane Vernelt—Mademoiselle Vernelt she called +herself—who ran a costumier's business in George Street, in the very +building, in fact now occupied by the chemist you have mentioned. The +business was for sale, and Miss Vernelt wanted a big sum for it. +However, as her books showed a very satisfactory annual increase in +receipts and her clientele included a duchess and other society +leaders, I considered the bargain a tolerably safe one, and we came to +terms. Within a week I was running the business, and, exactly a month +after I had taken it over, I was greatly astonished to receive a visit +from Miss Vernelt. She came into the shop quite beside herself with +agitation. 'It's all a mistake!' she screamed. 'I didn't want to sell +it. I can't do anything with my capital. Let me buy it back.' I +listened to her politely, and then informed her that as I had gone to +all the trouble of taking over the business and had already succeeded +in extending it, I most certainly had no intention of selling it—at +least not for some time. Well, she behaved like a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>lunatic, and in the +end created such a disturbance that I had to summon my assistants and +actually turn her out. After that I had no peace for six weeks. She +came every day, at any and all times, and I was at last obliged to +take legal proceedings. I then discovered that her mind was really +unhinged, and that she had been suffering from softening of the brain +for many months. Her medical advisers had, it appeared, warned her to +give up business and place herself in the hands of trustworthy friends +or relations, who would see that her money was properly invested, but +she had delayed doing so; and when, at last, she did make up her mind +to retire, the excitement, resulting from so great a change in her +mode of living, accelerated the disease, and, exactly three weeks +after the sale of her business, she became a victim to the delusion +that she was ruined. This delusion grew more and more pronounced as +her malady increased, and amidst her wildest ravings she clamoured to +be taken back to George Street. The hauntings, indeed, began before +she died; and I frequently saw her—when I knew her material body to +be under <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>restraint—just as you describe, gliding in and out the +show-rooms.</p> + +<p>"For several weeks after her death, the manifestations continued—they +then ceased, and I have never heard of her again until now."</p> + +<p>If I remember rightly the account of the George Street ghost here +terminated; but my friend referred to it again at the close of his +letter.</p> + +<p>"Since my return to Scotland," he wrote, "I have frequently visited +George Street, almost daily, but I have not seen 'Jane.' I only hope +that her poor distracted spirit has at last found rest." And with this +kindly sentiment my correspondent concluded.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span><br /> +<a name="CASE_V" id="CASE_V"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE V</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE SALLOW-FACED WOMAN OF NO. — FORREST +ROAD, EDINBURGH</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE V<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE SALLOW-FACED WOMAN OF NO. — FORREST +ROAD, EDINBURGH</h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>The Public unfortunately includes a certain set of people, of the +middle class very "middlish," who are ever on the look-out for some +opportunity, however slight and seemingly remote, of bettering +themselves socially; and, learning that those in a higher strata of +society are interested in the supernatural, they think that they may +possibly get in touch with them by working up a little local +reputation for psychical research. I have often had letters from this +type of "pusher" (letters from genuine believers in the Occult I +always welcome) stating that they have been greatly interested in my +books—would I be so very kind as to grant them a brief interview, or +permit them to accompany me to a haunted house, or give them certain +information with regard to Lady <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>So-and-so, whom they have long wanted +to know? Occasionally, I have been so taken in as to give permission +to the writer to call on me, and almost always I have bitterly +repented. The wily one—no matter how wily—cannot conceal the cloven +hoof for long, and he has either tried to thrust himself into the +bosom of my family, or has written to my neighbours declaring himself +to be my dearest friend; and when, in desperation, I have shown him +the cold shoulder, he has attacked me virulently in some "rag" of a +local paper, the proprietor, editor, or office-boy of which happens to +be one of his own clique. I have even known an instance where this +type of person has, through trickery, actually gained access to some +notoriously haunted house, and from its owners—the family he has long +had his eyes on, from a motive anything but psychic—has ferreted out +the secret and private history of the haunting. Then, when he has been +"found out" and forced to see that his friendship is not wanted, he +has, in revenge for the slight, unblushingly revealed the facts that +were only entrusted to him in the strictest confidence; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>and, through +influence with the lower stratum of the Press, caused a most glaring +and sensational account of the ghost to be published.</p> + +<p>With such a case in view, I cannot be surprised that possessors of +family ghosts and haunted houses should show the greatest reluctance +to be approached on the subject, save by those they feel assured will +treat it with the utmost delicacy.</p> + +<p>But I have quoted the above breach of confidence merely to give +another reason for my constant use of fictitious names with regard to +people and places, and having done so (I hope to some purpose), I will +proceed with the following story:—</p> + +<p>Miss Dulcie Vincent, some of whose reminiscences appeared in my book +of <i>Ghostly Phenomena</i> last year, is nearly connected with Lady Adela +Minkon, who owns a considerable amount of house property, including +No. — Forrest Road, in Edinburgh, and whose yacht at Cowes is the +envy of all who have cruised in her. Three years ago, Lady Adela +stayed at No. — Forrest Road. She had heard that the house was +haunted, and was anxious to put it to the test. Lady Adela was +perfectly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>open-minded. She had never experienced any occult phenomena +herself, but, very rationally, she did not consider that her +non-acquaintance with the superphysical in any way negatived the +evidence of those who declare that they have witnessed manifestations; +their statements, she reasoned, were just as worthy of credence as +hers. She thus commenced her occupation of the house with a perfectly +unbiased mind, resolved to stay there for at least a year, so as to +give it a fair trial. The hauntings, she was told, were at their +height in the late summer and early autumn. It is, I think, +unnecessary to enter into any detailed description of her house. In +appearance, it differed very little, if at all, from those adjoining +it; in construction, it was if anything a trifle larger. The basement, +which included the usual kitchen offices and cellars, was very dark, +and the atmosphere—after sunset on Fridays, only on Fridays—was +tainted with a smell of damp earth, shockingly damp earth, and of a +sweet and nauseating something that greatly puzzled Lady Adela. All +the rooms in the house were of fair dimensions, and cheerful, +excepting <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>on this particular evening of the week; a distinct gloom +settled on them then, and the strangest of shadows were seen playing +about the passages and on the landings.</p> + +<p>"It may be fancy," Lady Adela said to herself, "merely fancy! And, +after all, if I encounter nothing worse than a weekly menu of aromatic +smells and easily digested shadows, I shall not suffer any harm"; but +it was early summer then—the psychic season had yet to come. As the +weeks went by, the shadows and the smell grew more and more +pronounced, and by the arrival of August had become so emphatic that +Lady Adela could not help thinking that they were both hostile and +aggressive.</p> + +<p>About eight o'clock on the evening of the second Friday in the month, +Lady Adela was purposely alone in the basement of the house. The +servants especially irritated her; like the majority of present-day +domestics, products of the County Council schools, they were so +intensely supercilious and silly, and Lady Adela felt that their +presence in the house minimised her chances of seeing the ghost. No +apparition with the smallest amount <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>of self-respect could risk coming +in contact with such inane creatures, so she sent them all out for a +motor drive, and, for once, rejoiced in the house to herself. A +curious proceeding for a lady! True! but then, Lady Adela was a lady, +and, being a lady, was not afraid of being thought anything else; and +so acted just as unconventionally as she chose. But stay a moment; she +was not alone in the house, for she had three of her dogs with +her—three beautiful boarhounds, trophies of her last trip to the +Baltic. With such colossal and perfectly trained companions Lady Adela +felt absolutely safe, and ready—as she acknowledged afterwards—to +face a whole army of spooks. She did not even shiver when the front +door of the basement closed, and she heard the sonorous birring of the +motor, drowning the giddy voices of the servants, grow fainter and +fainter until it finally ceased altogether.</p> + +<p>When the last echoes of the vehicle had died away in the distance, +Lady Adela made a tour of the premises. The housekeeper's room pleased +her immensely—at least she persuaded herself it did. "Why, it is +quite as nice as any of the rooms <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>upstairs," she said aloud, as she +stood with her face to the failing sunbeams and rested her strong +white hand on the edge of the table. "Quite as nice. Karl and Max, +come here!"</p> + +<p>But the boarhounds for once in their lives did not obey her with a +good grace. There was something in the room they did not like, and +they showed how strong was their resentment by slinking unwillingly +through the doorway.</p> + +<p>"I wonder why that is?" Lady Adela mused; "I have never known them do +it before." Then her eyes wandered round the walls, and struggled in +vain to reach the remoter angles of the room, which had suddenly grown +dark. She tried to assure herself that this was but the natural effect +of the departing daylight, and that, had she watched in other houses +at this particular time, she would have noticed the same thing. To +show how little she minded the gloom, she went up to the darkest +corner and prodded the walls with her riding-whip. She laughed—there +was nothing there, nothing whatsoever to be afraid of, only shadows. +With a careless shrug of her shoulders, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>she strutted into the +passage, and, whistling to Karl and Max who, contrary to their custom, +would not keep to heel, made another inspection of the kitchens. At +the top of the cellar steps she halted. The darkness had now set in +everywhere, and she argued that it would be foolish to venture into +such dungeon-like places without a light. She soon found one, and, +armed with candle and matches, began her descent. There were several +cellars, and they presented such a dismal, dark appearance, that she +instinctively drew her skirts tightly round her, and exchanged the +slender riding-whip for a poker. She whistled again to her dogs. They +did not answer, so she called them both by name angrily. But for some +reason (some quite unaccountable reason, she told herself) they would +not come.</p> + +<p>She ransacked her mind to recall some popular operatic air, and +although she knew scores she could not remember one. Indeed, the only +air that filtered back to her was one she detested—a Vaudeville tune +she had heard three nights in succession, when she was staying with a +student friend in the Latin Quarter in Paris. She <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>hummed it loudly, +however, and, holding the lighted candle high above her head, walked +down the steps. At the bottom she stood still and listened. From high +above her came noises which sounded like the rumbling of distant +thunder, but which, on analysis, proved to be the rattling of +window-frames. Reassured that she had no cause for alarm, Lady Adela +advanced. Something black scudded across the red-tiled floor, and she +made a dash at it with her poker. The concussion awoke countless +echoes in the cellars, and called into existence legions of other +black things that darted hither and thither in all directions. She +burst out laughing—they were only beetles! Facing her she now +perceived an inner cellar, which was far gloomier than the one in +which she stood. The ceiling was very low, and appeared to be crushed +down beneath the burden of a stupendous weight; and as she advanced +beneath it she half expected that it would "cave in" and bury her.</p> + +<p>A few feet from the centre of this cellar she stopped; and, bending +down, examined the floor carefully. The tiles were unmistakably newer +here than elsewhere, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>and presented the appearance of having been put +in at no very distant date. The dampness of the atmosphere was +intense; a fact which struck Lady Adela as somewhat odd, since the +floor and walls looked singularly dry. To find out if this were the +case, she ran her fingers over the walls, and, on removing them, found +they showed no signs of moisture. Then she rapped the floor and walls, +and could discover no indications of hollowness. She sniffed the air, +and a great wave of something sweet and sickly half choked her. She +drew out her handkerchief and beat the air vigorously with it; but the +smell remained, and she could not in any way account for it. She +turned to leave the cellar, and the flame of her candle burned blue. +Then for the first time that evening—almost, indeed, for the first +time in her life—she felt afraid, so afraid that she made no attempt +to diagnose her fear; she understood the dogs' feelings now, and +caught herself wondering how much they knew.</p> + +<p>She whistled to them again, not because she thought they would +respond,—she knew only too well they would not,—but because <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>she +wanted company, even the company of her own voice; and she had some +faint hope, too, that whatever might be with her in the cellar, would +not so readily disclose itself if she made a noise. The one cellar was +passed, and she was nearly across the floor of the other when she +heard a crash. The candle dropped from her hand, and all the blood in +her body rushed to her heart. She could never have imagined it was so +terrible to be frightened. She tried to pull herself together and be +calm, but she was no longer mistress of her limbs. Her knees knocked +together and her hands shook. "It was only the dogs," she feebly told +herself, "I will call them"; but when she opened her mouth, she found +her throat was paralysed—not a syllable would come. She knew, too, +that she had lied, and that the hounds could not have been responsible +for the noise. It was like nothing she had ever heard, nothing she +could imagine; and although she struggled hard against the idea, she +could not help associating the sound with the cause of the candle +burning blue, and the sweet, sickly smell. Incapable of moving a +step, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>she was forced to listen in breathless expectancy for a +recurrence of the crash. Her thoughts become ghastly. The inky sea of +darkness that hemmed her in on every side suggested every sort of +ghoulish possibility, and with each pulsation of her overstrained +heart her flesh crawled. Another sound—this time not a crash, nothing +half so loud or definite—drew her eyes in the direction of the steps. +An object was now standing at the top of them, and something lurid, +like the faint, phosphorescent glow of decay, emanated from all over +it; but <i>what</i> it was, she could not for the life of her tell. It +might have been the figure of a man, or a woman, or a beast, or of +anything that was inexpressibly antagonistic and nasty. She would have +given her soul to have looked elsewhere, but her eyes were fixed—she +could neither turn nor shut them. For some seconds the shape remained +motionless, and then with a sly, subtle motion it lowered its head, +and came stealing stealthily down the stairs towards her. She followed +its approach like one in a hideous dream—her heart ready to burst, +her brain on the verge of madness. Another step, another, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>yet +another; till there were only three left between her and it; and she +was at length enabled to form some idea of what the thing was like.</p> + +<p>It was short and squat, and appeared to be partly clad in a loose, +flowing garment, that was not long enough to conceal the glistening +extremities of its limbs. From its general contour and the tangled +mass of hair that fell about its neck and shoulders, Lady Adela +concluded it was the phantasm of a woman. Its head being kept bent, +she was unable to see the face in full, but every instant she expected +the revelation would take place, and with each separate movement of +the phantasm her suspense became more and more intolerable. At last it +stood on the floor of the cellar, a broad, ungainly, horribly ungainly +figure, that glided up to and past her into the far cellar. There it +halted, as nearly as she could judge on the new tiles, and remained +standing. As she gazed at it, too fascinated to remove her eyes, there +was a loud, reverberating crash, a hideous sound of wrenching and +tearing, and the whole of the ceiling of the inner chamber came down +with an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>appalling roar. Lady Adela thinks that she must then have +fainted, for she distinctly remembers falling—falling into what +seemed to her a black, interminable abyss. When she recovered +consciousness, she was lying on the tiles, and all around was still +and normal. She got up, found and lighted her candle, and spent the +rest of the evening, without further adventure, in the drawing-room.</p> + +<p>All the week Lady Adela struggled hard to master a disinclination to +spend another evening alone in the house, and when Friday came she +succumbed to her fears. The servants were poor, foolish things, but it +was nice to feel that there was something in the house besides ghosts. +She sat reading in the drawing-room till late that night, and when she +lolled out of the window to take a farewell look at the sky and stars +before retiring to rest, the sounds of traffic had completely ceased +and the whole city lay bathed in a refreshing silence. It was very +heavenly to stand there and feel the cool, soft air—unaccompanied, +for the first time during the day, by the rattling rumbling sounds of +locomotion and the jarring discordant <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>murmurs of unmusical +voices—fanning her neck and face.</p> + +<p>Lady Adela, used as she was to the privacy of her yacht, and the +freedom of her big country mansion, where all sounds were regulated at +her will, chafed at the near proximity of her present habitation to +the noisy thoroughfare, and vaguely looked forward to the hours when +shops and theatres were closed, and all screeching, harsh-voiced +products of the gutter were in bed. To her the nights in Waterloo +Place were all too short; the days too long, too long for anything. +The heavy, lumbering steps of a policeman at last broke her reverie. +She had no desire to arouse his curiosity; besides, her costume had +become somewhat disordered, and she had the strictest sense of +propriety, at least in the presence of the lower orders. Retiring, +therefore, with a sigh of vexation, she sought her bedroom, and, after +the most scrupulous attention to her toilet, put out the lights and +got into bed. It was just one when she fell asleep, and three when she +awoke with a violent start. Why she started puzzled her. She did not +recollect experiencing any very dreadful dream, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>in fact no dream at +all, and there seemed nothing in the hush—the apparently unbroken +hush—that could in any way account for her action. Why, then, had she +started? She lay still and wondered. Surely everything was just as it +was when she went to sleep! And yet! When she ventured on a diagnosis, +there was something different, something new; she did not think it was +actually in the atmosphere, nor in the silence; she did not know where +it was until she opened her eyes—and then she <i>knew</i>. Bending over +her, within a few inches of her face, was another face, the ghastly +caricature of a human face. It was on a larger scale than that of any +mortal Lady Adela had ever seen; it was long in proportion to its +width—indeed, she could not make out where the cranium terminated at +the back, as the hinder portion of it was lost in a mist. The +forehead, which was very receding, was partly covered with a mass of +lank, black hair, that fell straight down into space; there were no +neck nor shoulders, at least none had materialised; the skin was +leaden-hued, and the emaciation so extreme that the raw cheek-bones +had burst through <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>in places; the size of the eye sockets which +appeared monstrous, was emphasised by the fact that the eyes were +considerably sunken; the lips were curled downwards and tightly shut, +and the whole expression of the withered mouth, as indeed that of the +entire face, was one of bestial, diabolical malignity. Lady Adela's +heart momentarily stopped, her blood ran cold, she was petrified; and +as she stared helplessly at the dark eyes pressed close to hers, she +saw them suddenly suffuse with fiendish glee. The most frightful +change then took place: the upper lip writhed away from a few greenish +yellow stumps; the lower jaw fell with a metallic click, leaving the +mouth widely open, and disclosing to Lady Adela's shocked vision a +black and bloated tongue; the eyeballs rolled up and entirely +disappeared, whilst their places were immediately filled with the +foulest and most loathsome indications of advanced decay. A strong, +vibratory movement suddenly made all the bones in the head rattle and +the tongue wag, whilst from the jaws, as if belched up from some +deep-down well, came a gust of wind, putrescent with the ravages of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>the tomb, and yet, at the same time, tainted with the same sweet, +sickly odour with which Lady Adela had latterly become so familiar. +This was the culminating act; the head then receded, and, growing +fainter and fainter, gradually disappeared altogether. Lady Adela was +now more than satisfied,—there was not a house more horribly haunted +in Scotland,—and nothing on earth would induce her to remain in it +another night.</p> + +<p>However, being anxious, naturally, to discover something that might, +in some degree, account for the apparitions, Lady Adela made endless +inquiries concerning the history of former occupants of the house; +but, failing to find out anything remarkable in this direction, she +was eventually obliged to content herself with the following +tradition: It was said that on the site of No. — Forrest Road there +had once stood a cottage occupied by two sisters (both nurses), and +that one was suspected of poisoning the other; and that the cottage, +moreover, having through their parsimonious habits got into a very bad +state of repair, was blown down during a violent storm, the surviving +sister <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>perishing in the ruins. Granted that this story is correct, it +was in all probability the ghost of this latter sister that appeared +to Lady Adela. Her ladyship is, of course, anxious to let No. — +Forrest Road, and as only about one in a thousand people seem to +possess the faculty of seeing psychic phenomena, she hopes she may one +day succeed in getting a permanent tenant. In the meanwhile, she is +doing her level best to suppress the rumour that the house is +haunted.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span><br /> +<a name="CASE_VI" id="CASE_VI"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE VI</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE PHANTOM REGIMENT OF KILLIECRANKIE</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE VI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE PHANTOM REGIMENT OF KILLIECRANKIE</h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>Many are the stories that have from time to time been circulated with +regard to the haunting of the Pass of Killiecrankie by phantom +soldiers, but I do not think there is any stranger story than that +related to me, some years ago, by a lady who declared she had actually +witnessed the phenomena. Her account of it I shall reproduce as far as +possible in her own words:—</p> + +<hr style='width: 5%;' /> + +<p>Let me commence by stating that I am not a spiritualist, and that I +have the greatest possible aversion to convoking the earthbound souls +of the dead. Neither do I lay any claim to mediumistic powers (indeed +I have always regarded the term "medium" with the gravest suspicion). +I am, on the contrary, a plain, practical, matter-of-fact woman, and +with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>the exception of this one occasion, never witnessed any psychic +phenomena.</p> + +<p>The incident I am about to relate took place the autumn before last. I +was on a cycle tour in Scotland, and, making Pitlochry my temporary +headquarters, rode over one evening to view the historic Pass of +Killiecrankie. It was late when I arrived there, and the western sky +was one great splash of crimson and gold—such vivid colouring I had +never seen before and never have seen since. Indeed, I was so +entranced at the sublimity of the spectacle, that I perched myself on +a rock at the foot of one of the great cliffs that form the walls of +the Pass, and, throwing my head back, imagined myself in fairyland. +Lost, thus, in a delicious luxury, I paid no heed to the time, nor did +I think of stirring, until the dark shadows of the night fell across +my face. I then started up in a panic, and was about to pedal off in +hot haste, when a strange notion suddenly seized me: I had a latchkey, +plenty of sandwiches, a warm cape, why should I not camp out there +till early morning—I had long yearned to spend a night in the open, +now was my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>opportunity. The idea was no sooner conceived than put +into operation. Selecting the most comfortable-looking boulder I could +see, I scrambled on to the top of it, and, with my cloak drawn tightly +over my back and shoulders, commenced my vigil. The cold mountain air, +sweet with the perfume of gorse and heather, intoxicated me, and I +gradually sank into a heavenly torpor, from which I was abruptly +aroused by a dull boom, that I at once associated with distant +musketry. All was then still, still as the grave, and, on glancing at +the watch I wore strapped on my wrist, I saw it was two o'clock. A +species of nervous dread now laid hold of me, and a thousand and one +vague fancies, all the more distressing because of their vagueness, +oppressed and disconcerted me. Moreover, I was impressed for the first +time with the extraordinary solitude—solitude that seemed to belong +to a period far other than the present, and, as I glanced around at +the solitary pines and gleaming boulders, I more than half expected to +see the wild, ferocious face of some robber chief—some fierce yet +fascinating hero of Sir Walter <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>Scott's—peering at me from behind +them. This feeling at length became so acute, that, in a panic of +fear—ridiculous, puerile fear, I forcibly withdrew my gaze and +concentrated it abstractedly on the ground at my feet. I then +listened, and in the rustling of a leaf, the humming of some night +insect, the whizzing of a bat, the whispering of the wind as it moaned +softly past me, I fancied—nay, I felt sure I detected something that +was not ordinary. I blew my nose, and had barely ceased marvelling at +the loudness of its reverberations, before the piercing, ghoulish +shriek of an owl sent the blood in torrents to my heart. I then +laughed, and my blood froze as I heard a chorus, of what I tried to +persuade myself could only be echoes, proceed from every crag and rock +in the valley. For some seconds after this I sat still, hardly daring +to breathe, and pretending to be extremely angry with myself for being +such a fool. With a stupendous effort I turned my attention to the +most material of things. One of the skirt buttons on my hip—they were +much in vogue then—being loose, I endeavoured to occupy myself in +tightening <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>it, and when I could no longer derive any employment from +that, I set to work on my shoes, and tied knots in the laces, merely +to enjoy the task of untying them. But this, too, ceasing at last to +attract me, I was desperately racking my mind for some other device, +when there came again the queer, booming noise I had heard before, but +which I could now no longer doubt was the report of firearms. I looked +in the direction of the sound—and—my heart almost stopped. Racing +towards me—as if not merely for his life, but his soul—came the +figure of a Highlander. The wind rustling through his long dishevelled +hair, blew it completely over his forehead, narrowly missing his eyes, +which were fixed ahead of him in a ghastly, agonised stare. He had not +a vestige of colour, and, in the powerful glow of the moonbeams, his +skin shone livid. He ran with huge bounds, and, what added to my +terror and made me double aware he was nothing mortal, was that each +time his feet struck the hard, smooth road, upon which I could well +see there was no sign of a stone, there came the sound, the +unmistakable <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>sound of the scattering of gravel. On, on he came, with +cyclonic swiftness; his bare sweating elbows pressed into his panting +sides; his great, dirty, coarse, hairy fists screwed up in bony +bunches in front of him; the foam-flakes thick on his clenched, +grinning lips; the blood-drops oozing down his sweating thighs. It was +all real, infernally, hideously real, even to the most minute details: +the flying up and down of his kilt, sporan, and swordless scabbard; +the bursting of the seam of his coat, near the shoulder; and the +absence of one of his clumsy shoe-buckles. I tried hard to shut my +eyes, but was compelled to keep them open, and follow his every +movement as, darting past me, he left the roadway, and, leaping +several of the smaller obstacles that barred his way, finally +disappeared behind some of the bigger boulders. I then heard the loud +rat-tat of drums, accompanied by the shrill voices of fifes and +flutes, and at the farther end of the Pass, their arms glittering +brightly in the silvery moonbeams, appeared a regiment of scarlet-clad +soldiers. At the head rode a mounted officer, after him came <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>the +band, and then, four abreast, a long line of warriors; in their centre +two ensigns, and on their flanks, officers and non-commissioned +officers with swords and pikes; more mounted men bringing up the rear. +On they came, the fifes and flutes ringing out with a weird clearness +in the hushed mountain air. I could hear the ground vibrate, the +gravel crunch and scatter, as they steadily and mechanically +advanced—tall men, enormously tall men, with set, white faces and +livid eyes. Every instant I expected they would see me, and I became +sick with terror at the thought of meeting all those pale, flashing +eyes. But from this I was happily saved; no one appeared to notice me, +and they all passed me by without as much as a twist or turn of the +head, their feet keeping time to one everlasting and monotonous tramp, +tramp, tramp. I got up and watched until the last of them had turned +the bend of the Pass, and the sheen of his weapons and trappings could +no longer be seen; then I remounted my boulder and wondered if +anything further would happen. It was now half-past two, and blended +with the moonbeams was a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>peculiar whiteness, which rendered the whole +aspect of my surroundings indescribably dreary and ghostly. Feeling +cold and hungry, I set to work on my beef sandwiches, and was +religiously separating the fat from the lean, for I am one of those +foolish people who detest fat, when a loud rustling made me look up. +Confronting me, on the opposite side of the road, was a tree, an ash, +and to my surprise, despite the fact that the breeze had fallen and +there was scarcely a breath of wind, the tree swayed violently to and +fro, whilst there proceeded from it the most dreadful moanings and +groanings. I was so terrified that I caught hold of my bicycle and +tried to mount, but I was obliged to desist as I had not a particle of +strength in my limbs. Then to assure myself the moving of the tree was +not an illusion, I rubbed my eyes, pinched myself, called aloud; but +it made no difference—the rustling, bending, and tossing still +continued. Summing up courage, I stepped into the road to get a closer +view, when to my horror my feet kicked against something, and, on +looking down, I perceived the body of an English soldier, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>with a +ghastly wound in his chest. I gazed around, and there, on all sides of +me, from one end of the valley to the other, lay dozens of +bodies,—bodies of men and horses,—Highlanders and English, +white-cheeked, lurid eyes, and bloody-browed,—a hotch-potch of livid, +gory awfulness. Here was the writhing, wriggling figure of an officer +with half his face shot away; and there, a horse with no head; and +there—but I cannot dwell on such horrors, the very memory of which +makes me feel sick and faint. The air, that beautiful, fresh mountain +air, resounded with their moanings and groanings, and reeked with the +smell of their blood. As I stood rooted to the ground with horror, not +knowing which way to look or turn, I suddenly saw drop from the ash, +the form of a woman, a Highland girl, with bold, handsome features, +raven black hair, and the whitest of arms and feet. In one hand she +carried a wicker basket, in the other a knife, a broad-bladed, +sharp-edged, horn-handled knife. A gleam of avarice and cruelty came +into her large dark eyes, as, wandering around her, they rested on the +rich facings of the English <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>officers' uniforms. I knew what was in +her mind, and—forgetting she was but a ghost—that they were all +ghosts—I moved heaven and earth to stop her. I could not. Making +straight for a wounded officer that lay moaning piteously on the +ground, some ten feet away from me, she spurned with her slender, +graceful feet, the bodies of the dead and dying English that came in +her way. Then, snatching the officer's sword and pistol from him, she +knelt down, and, with a look of devilish glee in her glorious eyes, +calmly plunged her knife into his heart, working the blade backwards +and forwards to assure herself she had made a thorough job of it. +Anything more hellish I could not have imagined, and yet it fascinated +me—the girl was so fair, so wickedly fair and shapely. Her act of +cruelty over, she spoiled her victim of his rings, epaulets, buttons +and gold lacing, and, having placed them in her basket, proceeded +elsewhere. In some cases, unable to remove the rings easily, she +chopped off the fingers, and popped them, just as they were, into her +basket. Neither was her mode of dispatch always the same, for while +she put some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>men out of their misery in the manner I have described, +she cut the throats of others with as great a nonchalance as if she +had been killing fowls, whilst others again she settled with the +butt-ends of their guns or pistols. In all she murdered a full +half-score, and was decamping with her booty when her gloating eyes +suddenly encountered mine, and with a shrill scream of rage she rushed +towards me. I was an easy victim, for strain and pray how I would, I +could not move an inch. Raising her flashing blade high over her head, +an expression of fiendish glee in her staring eyes, she made ready to +strike me. This was the climax, my overstrained nerves could stand no +more, and ere the blow had time to descend, I pitched heavily forward +and fell at her feet. When I recovered, every phantom had vanished, +and the Pass glowed with all the cheerful freshness of the early +morning sun. Not a whit the worse for my venture, I cycled swiftly +home, and ate as only one can eat who has spent the night amid the +banks and braes of bonnie Scotland.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span><br /> +<a name="CASE_VII" id="CASE_VII"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE VII</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>"PEARLIN' JEAN" OF ALLANBANK</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE VII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>"PEARLIN' JEAN" OF ALLANBANK</h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>Few ghosts have obtained more notoriety than "Pearlin' Jean," the +phantasm which for many years haunted Allanbank, a seat of the +Stuarts.</p> + +<p>The popular theory as to the identity of the apparition is as +follows:—</p> + +<p>Mr. Stuart, afterwards created first baronet of Allanbank, when on a +tour in France, met a young and beautiful French Sister of Charity of +the name of Jean, whom he induced to leave her convent. Tiring of her +at length, Mr. Stuart brutally left her, and, returning abruptly to +Scotland, became engaged to be married to a lady of his own +nationality and position in life. But Jean was determined he should +not escape her so easily. For him she had sacrificed everything: her +old vocation in life was gone, she had no home, no honour,—nothing, +so she resolved <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>to leave no stone unturned to discover his +whereabouts. At last her perseverance was rewarded, and, Fortune +favouring her, she arrived without mishap at Allanbank.</p> + +<p>The truth was then revealed to her: her cruel and faithless lover was +about to be wedded to another. But despair gave her energy, and, +burning with indignation, she hastened to his house to upbraid him. +She reached the spot just as he was driving out with his fiancée. With +a cry of anguish, Jean rushed forward and, swinging herself nimbly on +to the fore-wheel of the coach, turned her white and passionate face +towards its occupants. For a moment, Mr. Stuart was too dumbfounded to +do anything; he could scarcely believe his senses. Who on earth was +this frantic female? Good Heavens! Jean! Impossible! How on earth had +she got there? And the tumultuous beating of his guilty heart turned +him sick and faint.</p> + +<p>Then he glanced fearfully and covertly at his fiancée. <i>She</i> must not +know the truth at any cost. Possibly he lost his head! At all events, +that is the kindest construction to put on his subsequent <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>action, +for, dastardly as his behaviour had been to Jean in the past, one can +hardly imagine him capable of deliberately murdering her, and in so +horrible a fashion. There was not a second to lose; an instant more, +and the secret, that he had so assiduously hidden from the lady beside +him, would be revealed. Jean's mouth was already open to speak. He +waved her aside. She adhered to her post. He shouted to the postilion, +and the huge, lumbering vehicle was set in motion. At the first turn +of the wheels, Jean slipped from her perch, her dress caught in the +spokes, and she was crushed to death.</p> + +<p>Her fate does not appear to have made any deep impression either on +Mr. Stuart or his lady-love, for they continued their drive.</p> + +<p>The hauntings began that autumn. Mr. Stuart, as was only fit and +proper, being the first to witness the phenomenon. Returning home from +a drive one evening, he perceived to his surprise the dark outlines of +a human figure perched on the arched gateway of his house, exactly +opposite the spot where Jean had perished. Wondering who it could be, +he leaned <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>forward to inspect it closer. The figure moved, an icy +current of air ran through him, and he saw to his horror the livid +countenance of the dead Jean. There she was, staring down at him with +lurid, glassy eyes; her cheeks startlingly white, her hair fluttering +in the wind, her neck and forehead bathed in blood.</p> + +<p>Paralysed with terror, Mr. Stuart could not remove his gaze, and it +was not until one of the menials opened the carriage door to assist +him down, that the spell was broken and he was able to speak and move. +He then flew into the house, and spent the rest of the night in the +most abject fear.</p> + +<p>After this he had no peace—Allanbank was constantly haunted. The +great oak doors opened and shut of their own accord at night with loud +clanging and bangs, and the rustling of silks and pattering of +high-heeled shoes were heard in the oak-panelled bedrooms and along +the many dark and winding passages.</p> + +<p>From her attire, which was a piece of lace made of thread, the +apparition became known as "Pearlin' Jean," and a portrait of her was +actually painted. It is recorded <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>that when this picture was hung +between one of Mr. Stuart and his lady-love, the hauntings ceased, but +that as soon as it was removed they were renewed. Presumably, it was +not allowed to remain in the aforesaid position long, for the +manifestations appear to have gone on for many years without +intermission.</p> + +<p>Most phantasms of the dead inspire those who see them with +horror,—and that is my own experience,—but "Pearlin' Jean" seems to +have been an exception to this rule. A housekeeper called Betty +Norrie, who lived for many years at Allanbank, declared that other +people besides herself had so frequently seen Jean that they had grown +quite accustomed to her, and were, consequently, no more alarmed at +her appearance than they were by her noises.</p> + +<p>Another servant at the house, of the name of Jenny Blackadder, used +constantly to hear Jean, but could never see her—though her husband +did.</p> + +<p>The latter, when courting Jenny, received a rare scare, which suggests +to me that Jean, in spite of her tragic ending, may not have been +without a spice of humour. Thomas, for that was the swain's name, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>made an assignation one night to meet Jenny in the orchard at +Allanbank.</p> + +<p>It was early when he arrived at the trysting-place—for Thomas, like +all true lovers, was ever rather more than punctual—and he fully +contemplated a long wait. Judge, then, of his astonishment, when he +perceived in the moonlight what he took to be the well-known and +adored figure of his lady-love. With a cry of delight, Thomas rushed +forward, and, swinging his arms widely open to embrace her, beheld her +vanish, and found himself hugging space! An icy current of air +thrilled through him, and the whole place—trees, nooks, moonbeams, +and shadows, underwent a hideous metamorphosis. The very air bristled +with unknown horrors till flesh and blood could stand no more, and, +even at the risk of displeasing his beloved Jenny, Thomas fled! Some +few minutes later, at the appointed hour, Jenny arrived on the scene, +and no one was there. She dallied for some time, wondering whatever +could have happened to Thomas, and then returned, full of grave +apprehensions, to the house.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>It was not until the next morning that the truth leaked out, and +Jenny, after indulging in a hearty laugh at her lover, who felt very +shamefaced now that it was daylight, sensibly forgave him, and raised +no obstacle when asked to fix a day for their marriage.</p> + +<p>In after years, Jenny used to retail the story with many harrowing +allusions to "Pearlin' Jean," whom she somewhat foolishly made use of +as a bogey to frighten children into being good. A Mr. Sharpe, who +when he was a little boy was once placed in her charge, confesses that +he was dreadfully scared at her stories, and that he never ventured +down a passage in those days without thinking "Pearlin' Jean," with +her ghostly, blood-stained face, clawlike hands, and rustling lace +dress, was after him.</p> + +<p>Nurse Jenny used to tell him that the Stuarts tried in vain to lay +Jean's spirit, actually going to the length of calling in seven +ministers to exorcise it. But all to no purpose; it still continued +its nocturnal peregrinations.</p> + +<p>In the year 1790 the Stuarts let the house to strangers, who, when +they took it, had not the least idea that it was haunted. However, +they did not long remain in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>ignorance, for two ladies, who occupied +the same bedroom, were awakened in the night by hearing some one +walking across the floor. The "presence" did not suggest burglars, for +the intruder behaved in the most noisy manner, pacing restlessly and +apparently aimlessly backwards and forwards across the room, swishing +the floor (with what sounded like a long lace train) and breathing +heavily. They were both terrified, and so cold that they could hear +one another's teeth chatter. They were too frightened to call for +help; they could only lie still, hoping and praying it would not come +nearer to them. The sufferings of these two ladies were indescribable, +for the ghost remained in their room all night, moving restlessly +about until daybreak. It was not until some days later, when other +people in the house had experienced the phenomenon, that they were +told the story of the notorious "Pearlin' Jean."</p> + +<p>But was the so-called "Pearlin' Jean" really the apparition of the +murdered French woman? To my mind, her identity with that of the +beautiful Sister of Charity has not been satisfactorily established, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>and I think there are reasons to doubt it.</p> + +<p>If, for instance, the apparition were that of a Sister of Charity, why +should it appear incongruously attired in a long trailing gown of +lace? And if it were that of a woman of the presumably staid habits of +a Sister of Charity, why should it delight in mischief and play the +pranks of a <i>poltergeist</i>? And yet if it wasn't the ghost of Jean, +whose ghost was it?</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span><br /> +<a name="CASE_VIII" id="CASE_VIII"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE VIII</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE DRUMMER OF CORTACHY</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE VIII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE DRUMMER OF CORTACHY</h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>What ancient Scottish or Irish family has not its Family Ghost? A +banshee—the heritage of Niall of the Nine Hostages—is still the +unenviable possession of his descendants, the O'Donnells, and I, who +am a member of the clan, have both seen and heard it several times. As +it appears to me, it resembles the decapitated head of a prehistoric +woman, and I shall never forget my feelings one night, when, aroused +from slumber by its ghastly wailing, I stumbled frantically out of +bed, and, groping my way upstairs in the dark, without venturing to +look to the left or right lest I should see something horrible, found +every inmate of the house huddled together on the landing, paralysed +with fear. I did not see it on that occasion, but on the following +morning, as I had anticipated, I received the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>news that a near and +dear relative had died.</p> + +<p>Possessing such an heirloom myself, I can therefore readily sympathise +with those who own a similar treasure—such, for example, as the +famous, or rather infamous, Drummer of Cortachy Castle, who is +invariably heard beating a tattoo before the death of a member of the +clan of Ogilvie.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Crowe, in her <i>Night Side of Nature</i>, referring to the haunting, +says:—</p> + +<p>"Miss D., a relative of the present Lady C., who had been staying some +time with the Earl and Countess at their seat, near Dundee, was +invited to spend a few days at Cortachy Castle, with the Earl and +Countess of Airlie. She went, and whilst she was dressing for dinner +the first evening of her arrival, she heard a strain of music under +her window, which finally resolved itself into a well-defined sound of +a drum. When her maid came upstairs, she made some inquiries about the +drummer that was playing near the house; but the maid knew nothing on +the subject. For the moment the circumstance passed from Miss D.'s +mind, but, recurring to her again during the dinner, she said, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>addressing Lord Airlie, 'My lord, who is your drummer?' Upon which his +lordship turned pale, Lady Airlie looked distressed, and several of +the company, who all heard the question, embarrassed; whilst the lady, +perceiving that she had made some unpleasant allusion, although she +knew not to what their feelings referred, forebore further inquiry +till she reached the drawing-room; when, having mentioned the +circumstance again to a member of the family, she was answered, 'What, +have you never heard of the drummer boy?' 'No,' replied Miss D.; 'who +in the world is he?' 'Why,' replied the other, 'he is a person who +goes about the house playing his drum, whenever there is a death +impending in the family. The last time he was heard was shortly before +the death of the last Countess (the Earl's former wife); and that is +why Lord Airlie became so pale when you mentioned it. The drummer boy +is a very unpleasant subject in this family, I assure you.'</p> + +<p>"Miss D. was naturally much concerned, and indeed not a little +frightened at this explanation, and her alarm being augmented by +hearing the sounds on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>following day, she took her departure from +Cortachy Castle, and returned to Lord C.'s, where she related this +strange circumstance to the family, through whom the information +reached me.</p> + +<p>"This affair was very generally known in the north, and we awaited the +event with interest. The melancholy death of the Countess about five +or six months afterwards, at Brighton, sadly verified the +prognostications. I have heard that a paper was found in her desk +after her death, declaring her conviction that the drum was for her."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Crowe goes on to explain the origin of the phenomenon. According +to legend, she says, there was once at Cortachy a drummer, who, +incurring the jealousy of the then Lord Airlie, was thrust into his +own drum and flung from a window of the tower (in which, by the way, +Miss D. slept). Before being put to death thus, the drummer is stated +to have said he would for ever after haunt the Airlie family—a threat +he has obviously been permitted to fulfil.</p> + +<p>During one of my visits to Scotland, I stayed some days in Forfarshire +not far from Cortachy. Among the visitors at my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>hotel was a very old +gentleman of the name of Porter, who informed me that, when a boy, he +used to visit some relatives who, at that time, lived within easy +walking distance of Cortachy. One of these relatives was a lad of +about fourteen, named Alec, with whom he had always been the closest +of friends. The recollection of their many adventures evidently +afforded Mr. Porter infinite amusement, and one of these adventures, +in particular, he told me, was as fresh in his mind as if it had +happened yesterday.</p> + +<p>"Looking back upon it now," he said, with a far-away look in his eyes, +"it certainly was a strange coincidence, and if you are interested in +the hauntings of Cortachy, Mr. O'Donnell, you may, perhaps, like to +hear the account of my ghostly experiences in that neighbourhood."</p> + +<p>Of course I replied that nothing would give me greater pleasure, and +Mr. Porter forthwith began his story.</p> + +<p>"One misty night in October, my friend Alec and I, both being keen on +rabbiting, determined to visit a spinney adjoining the Cortachy +estate, in pursuit of our quarry. Alec had chosen this particular +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>night, thinking, under cover of the mist, to escape the vigilance of +the keepers, who had more than once threatened to take him before the +laird for trespassing.</p> + +<p>"To gain access to the spinney we had to climb a granite wall and drop +on the other side—the drop, in addition to being steep, being +rendered all the more precarious by reason of the man-traps the +keepers were in the habit of setting. When I got astride the wall and +peered into the well-like darkness at our feet, and heard the grim +rustling of the wind through the giant pines ahead of me, I would have +given all I possessed to have found myself snug and warm in bed; but +Alec was of a different 'kidney'—he had come prepared for excitement, +and he meant to have it. For some seconds, we both waited on the wall +in breathless silence, and then Alec, with a reckless disregard of +what might be in store for him, gently let himself drop, and I, +fearing more, if anything, than the present danger, to be for ever +after branded as a coward if I held back, timidly followed suit. By a +great stroke of luck we alighted in safety on a soft carpeting of +moss. Not a word was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>spoken, but, falling on hands and knees, and +guiding ourselves by means of a dark lantern Alec had bought +second-hand from the village blacksmith, we crept on all-fours along a +tiny bramble-covered path, that after innumerable windings eventually +brought us into a broad glade shut in on all sides by lofty trees. +Alec prospected the spot first of all to see no keepers were about, +and we then crawled into it, and, approaching the nearest burrows, set +to work at once with our ferrets. Three rabbits were captured in this +fashion, and we were eagerly anticipating the taking of more, when a +sensation of icy coldness suddenly stole over us, and, on looking +round, we perceived, to our utmost consternation, a very tall keeper +standing only a few yards away from us. For once in a way, Alec was +nonplussed, and a deathly silence ensued. It was too dark for us to +see the figure of the keeper very distinctly, and we could only +distinguish a gleaming white face set on a very slight and +perpendicular frame, and a round, glittering something that puzzled us +both exceedingly. Then, a feeling that, perhaps, it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>was not a keeper +gradually stole over me, and in a paroxysm of ungovernable terror I +caught hold of Alec, who was trembling from head to foot as if he had +the ague. The figure remained absolutely still for about a minute, +during which time neither Alec nor I could move a muscle, and then, +turning round with an abrupt movement, came towards us.</p> + +<p>"Half-dead with fright, but only too thankful to find that we had now +regained the use of our limbs, we left our spoil and ran for our lives +in the direction of the wall.</p> + +<p>"We dared not look back, but we knew the figure followed us, for we +heard its footsteps close at our heels; and never to my dying day +shall I forget the sound—rat-tat, tat, rat-tat, tat—for all the +world like the beat of a muffled drum.</p> + +<p>"How we ever managed to reach the wall I could never tell, but as we +scrambled over it, regardless of man-traps and bruises, and plunged +into the heather on the other side, we heard the weird footsteps +receding in the direction of the castle, and, ere we had reached home, +the rat-tat, tat, rat-tat, tat, had completely died away.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>"We told no one a word of what had happened, and a few days after, +simultaneously with the death of one of the Airlies, we learned, for +the first time, the story of the Phantom Drummer.</p> + +<p>"I have little doubt," Mr. Porter added, in conclusion, "that the +figure we took to be a keeper was the prophetic Drummer, for I can +assure you there was no possibility of hoaxers, especially in such +ill-omened guise, anywhere near the Cortachy estate."</p> + +<p>Poor old Mr. Porter! He did not long survive our <i>rencontre</i>. When I +next visited the hotel, some months later, I was genuinely grieved to +hear of his decease. His story had greatly fascinated me, for I love +the solitude of the pines, and have myself from time to time witnessed +many remarkable occult phenomena under the shadow of their lofty +summits. One night, during this second visit of mine to the hotel, the +mood to ramble came upon me, and, unable to resist the seductive +thought of a midnight stroll across the bracken-covered hills, I +borrowed a latchkey, and, armed with a flask of whisky and a thick +stick, plunged into the moonlit night. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>The keen, heather-scented air +acted like a tonic—I felt younger and stronger than I had felt for +years, and I congratulated myself that my friends would hardly know me +if they saw me now, as I swung along with the resuscitated stride of +twenty years ago. The landscape for miles around stood out with +startling clearness in the moonshine, and I stopped every now and then +to drink in the beauties of the glittering mountain-ranges and silent, +glimmering tarns. Not a soul was about, and I found myself, as I loved +to be, the only human element in the midst of nature. Every now and +then a dark patch fluttered across the shining road, and with a weird +and plaintive cry, a night bird dashed abruptly from hedge to hedge, +and seemingly melted into nothingness. I quitted the main road on the +brow of a low hill, and embarked upon a wild expanse of moor, lavishly +covered with bracken and white heather, intermingled with which were +the silvery surfaces of many a pool of water. For some seconds I stood +still, lost in contemplating the scenery,—its utter abandonment and +grand sense of isolation; and inhaling at the same time <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>long and deep +draughts of the delicious moorland air, unmistakably impregnated now +with breaths of ozone. My eyes wandering to the horizon, I detected, +on the very margin of the moorland, a dense clump of trees, which I +instantly associated with the spinney in my old friend Mr. Porter's +story, and, determining that the renowned spinney should be my goal, I +at once aimed for it, vigorously striking out along the path which I +thought would be most likely to lead to it. Half an hour's brisk +walking brought me to my destination, and I found myself standing +opposite a granite wall which my imagination had no difficulty in +identifying with the wall so well described by Mr. Porter. Removing +the briars and gorse prickles which left little of my stockings whole, +I went up to the wall, and, measuring it with my body, found it was a +good foot taller than I. This would mean rather more climbing than I +had bargained for. But the pines—the grim silence of their slender +frames and gently swaying summits—fascinated me. They spoke of +possibilities few could see or appreciate as I could; possibilities of +a sylvan phantasmagoria enhanced by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>the soft and mystic radiance of +the moon. An owl hooted, and the rustling of brushwood told me of the +near proximity of some fur-coated burrower in the ground. High above +this animal life, remoter even than the tops of my beloved trees or +the mountain-ranges, etched on the dark firmament, shone multitudinous +stars, even the rings round Saturn being plainly discernible. From the +Milky Way my eyes at length wandered to the pines, and a puff of air +laden with the odour of their resin and decaying brushwood decided me. +I took a few preliminary sips of whisky, stretched my rusty limbs, +and, placing one foot in a jagged crevice of the wall, swarmed +painfully up. How slow and how hazardous was the process! I scratched +my fingers, inured to the pen but a stranger to any rougher substance; +I ruined my box-calf boots, I split my trousers at the knees, and I +felt that my hat had parted with its shape for ever; and yet I +continued the ascent. The end came all too suddenly. When within an +ace of victory, I yielded to impulse, and with an energy the desperate +condition of my skin and clothes alone could account for, I swung up, +and—the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>outer edge of the wall melted beneath me, my hands +frantically clutched at nothingness, a hideous sensation of falling +surged through my brain, my ears and eyes filled to bursting, and with +a terrific crash that seemed to drive my head and spine right through +my stomach, I met the black, uprising earth, and lost consciousness.</p> + +<p>Providentially for me, I had pitched head first into a furze bush +which broke the fall, otherwise I must have met with serious injury. +As it was, when I recovered my momentary loss of consciousness, I +found that I had sustained no worse harm than a severe shaking, +scratches galore, and the utter demolition of my clothes! I picked +myself up with difficulty, and spent some time searching for my hat +and stick—which I at length discovered, lodged, of course, where one +would least have thought of looking for them. I then took close stock +of my surroundings, and found them even grimmer than I had +anticipated. Though the trees were packed closely together, and there +was much undergrowth, the moonbeams were so powerful and so fully +concentrated <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>on the spinney, that I could see no inconsiderable +distance ahead of me. Over everything hung a solemn and preternatural +hush. I saw shadows everywhere—shadows that defied analysis and had +no material counterparts. A sudden crashing of brushwood brought me to +a standstill, and sent the blood in columns to my heart. Then I +laughed loudly—it was only a hare, the prettiest and pertest thing +imaginable. I went on. Something whizzed past my face. I drew back in +horror—it was a bat, merely a bat. My nerves were out of order, the +fall had unsteadied them; I must pull myself together. I did so, and +continued to advance. A shadow, long, narrow, and grotesque, fell +across my path, and sent a thousand and one icy shivers down my back. +In an agony of terror I shut my eyes and plunged madly on. Something +struck me in the face and hurled me back. My eyes opened +involuntarily, and I saw a tree that, either out of pique or sheer +obstinacy, had planted itself half-way across the path. I examined its +branches to make sure they <i>were</i> branches, and continued my march. A +score more paces, a sudden <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>bend, and I was in an open space, +brilliantly illuminated by moonbeams and peopled with countless, +moving shadows. One would have to go far to find a wilder, weirder, +and more grimly suggestive spot. As I stood gazing at the scene in +awestruck wonder, a slight breeze rocked the tops of the pine trees, +and moaning through their long and gloomy aisles reverberated like +thunder. The sounds, suggesting slightly, ever so slightly, a tattoo, +brought with them vivid pictures of the Drummer, too vivid just then +to be pleasant, and I turned to go. To my unmitigated horror, a white +and lurid object barred my way. My heart ceased to beat, my blood +turned to ice; I was sick, absolutely sick, with terror. Besides this, +the figure held me spellbound—I could neither move nor utter a sound. +It had a white, absolutely white face, a tall, thin, perpendicular +frame, and a small, glittering, rotund head. For some seconds it +remained stationary, and then, with a gliding motion, left the path +and vanished in the shadows.</p> + +<p>Again a breeze rustled through the tops of the pine trees, moaned +through their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>long and gloomy aisles, and reverberated like thunder; +rat-tat, tat, rat-tat, tat—and with this sound beating in my ears, +reaction set in, and I never ceased running till I had reached my +hotel.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CASE_IX" id="CASE_IX"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE IX</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE ROOM BEYOND. AN ACCOUNT OF THE HAUNTINGS +AT HENNERSLEY, NEAR AYR</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE IX<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE ROOM BEYOND. AN ACCOUNT OF THE HAUNTINGS +AT HENNERSLEY, NEAR AYR</h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>To me Hennersley is what the Transformation Scene at a Pantomime was +to the imaginative child—the dreamy child of long ago—a floral +paradise full of the most delightful surprises. Here, at Hennersley, +from out the quite recently ice-bound earth, softened and moistened +now by spring rain, there rises up row upon row of snowdrops, +hyacinths and lilies, of such surpassing sweetness and beauty that I +hold my breath in astonishment, and ecstatically chant a Te Deum to +the fairies for sending such white-clad loveliness.</p> + +<p>And then—then, ere my wonder has had time to fade, it is summer. The +ground opens, and there springs up, on all sides, a veritable sea of +vivid, variegated colour,—scarlet, pink, and white geraniums; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>red, +white and yellow roses; golden honeysuckle; bright-hued marigolds; +purple pansies; pale forget-me-nots; wallflowers; sweet peas; +many-tinted azaleas; showy hydrangeas; giant rhododendrons; foxgloves, +buttercups, daisies, hollyhocks, and heliotropes; a floral host too +varied to enumerate.</p> + +<p>Overcome with admiration, bewildered with happiness, I kneel on the +soft carpet of grass, and, burying my face extravagantly, in alternate +laps of luxurious, downy, scent-laden petals, fill my lungs with +soul-inspiring nectar.</p> + +<p>My intoxication has barely worn off before my eyes are dimly conscious +that the soil all around me is generously besprinkled with the remains +of my floral friends. I spring hurriedly to my feet, and, gazing +anxiously about me, suddenly perceive the gaily nodding heads of new +arrivals—dahlias, sunflowers, anemones, chrysanthemums. As I continue +gazing, the aromatic odour of mellow apples from the Hennersley +orchards reaches my nostrils; I turn round, and there, there in front +of me, I see row upon row of richly-laden fruit trees, their leaves a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>brilliant copper in the scintillating rays of the ruddy autumn sun. I +gasp for breath—the beauty of tint and tone surpasses all that I have +hitherto seen—it is sublime, the grand climax of transformation. As +the curtain falls with the approach of winter, I hurry to my Edinburgh +home and pray for the prompt return of early spring.</p> + +<p>For many years my aged relatives, the Misses Amelia and Deborah +Harbordeens, lived at Hennersley. Rarest and kindest of old ladies, +they were the human prototypes of the flowers both they and I loved. +Miss Amelia, with her beautiful complexion, rounded form and regal +mien, suggested to my childish mind more, much more, than the mere +semblance of a rose, whilst Miss Deborah, with her sprightly grace and +golden hair, was only masquerading as a woman—she was in reality a +daffodil.</p> + +<p>Unlike so many of the fair sex who go in for gardening, my aunts were +essentially dainty. Their figures were shapely and elegant, their +hands slim and soft. I never saw them working without gloves, and I +have good reason to believe they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>anointed their fingers every night +with a special preparation to keep them smooth and white. They were +not—decidedly not—"brainy," neither were they accomplished, never +having made any special study of the higher arts; but they evinced +nevertheless the keenest appreciation of painting, music, and +literature. Their library—a large one—boasted a delightful +harbourage of such writers as Jane Austen, Miss Mitford, and Maria +Edgeworth. And in their drawing-room, on the walls of which art was +represented by the old as well as modern masters, might be seen and +sometimes heard—for the Misses Harbordeens often entertained—a +well-tuned Broadwood, and a Bucksen harpsichord. I will describe this +old-world abode, not as I first saw it, for when I first visited my +aunts Amelia and Deborah, I was only one year old, but as I first +remember it—a house with the glamour of a many-gabled roof and +diamond window-panes.</p> + +<p>The house stood by the side of the turnpike road—that broad, white, +interminable road, originating from goodness knows where in the north, +and passing through Ayr—the nearest town of any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>importance—to +goodness knows where in the south. A shady avenue, entered by a wooden +swing gate bearing the superscription "Hennersley" in neat, white +letters, led by a circuitous route to it, and not a vestige of it +could be seen from the road. In front of it stretched a spacious lawn, +flanked on either side and at the farthest extremity by a thick growth +of chestnuts, beeches, poplars, and evergreens.</p> + +<p>The house itself was curiously built. It consisted of two storeys, and +formed a main building and one wing, which gave it a peculiarly +lop-sided appearance that reminded me somewhat ludicrously of +Chanticleer, with a solitary, scant, and clipped appendage.</p> + +<p>It was often on the tip of my tongue to ask my relatives the reason of +this singular disparity; whether it was the result of a mere whim on +the part of the architect, or whether it had been caused by some +catastrophe; but my curiosity was always held in check by a strange +feeling that my relatives would not like to be approached on the +subject. My aunts Amelia and Deborah belonged to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>that class of +people, unhappily rare, who possess a power of generating in others an +instinctive knowledge of "dangerous ground"—a power which enabled +them to avert, both from themselves and the might-be offender, many a +painful situation. To proceed—the nakedness of the walls of +Hennersley was veiled—who shall say it was not designedly veiled—by +a thick covering of clematis and ivy, and in the latter innumerable +specimens of the feathered tribe found a sure and safe retreat.</p> + +<p>On entering the house, one stepped at once into a large hall. A +gallery ran round it, and from the centre rose a broad oak staircase. +The rooms, with one or two exceptions, opened into one another, and +were large, and low and long in shape; the walls and floors were of +oak and the ceilings were crossed by ponderous oak beams.</p> + +<p>The fireplaces, too, were of the oldest fashion; and in their +comfortable ingle-nook my aunts—in the winter—loved to read or knit.</p> + +<p>When the warm weather came, they made similar use of the deep-set +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>window-sills, over which they indulgently permitted me to scramble on +to the lawn.</p> + +<p>The sunlight was a special feature of Hennersley. Forcing its way +through the trellised panes, it illuminated the house with a radiancy, +a soft golden radiancy I have never seen elsewhere.</p> + +<p>My relatives seemed to possess some phenomenal attraction for the +sunlight, for, no matter where they sat, a beam brighter than the rest +always shone on them; and, when they got up, I noticed that it always +followed them, accompanying them from room to room and along the +corridors.</p> + +<p>But this was only one of the many pleasant mysteries that added to the +joy of my visits to Hennersley. I felt sure that the house was +enchanted—that it was under the control of some benevolent being who +took a kindly interest in the welfare of my relatives.</p> + +<p>I remember once, on the occasion of my customary good-morning to Miss +Amelia, who invariably breakfasted in bed, I inhaled the most +delicious odour of heliotrope. It was wafted towards me, in a cool +current of air, as I approached her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>bed, and seemed, to my childish +fancy, to be the friendly greeting of a sparkling sunbeam that rested +on Miss Amelia's pillow.</p> + +<p>I was so charmed with the scent, that, alas! forgetful of my manners, +I gave a loud sniff, and with a rapturous smile ejaculated, "Oh! +Auntie! Cherry pie!"</p> + +<p>Miss Amelia started. "Dear me, child!" she exclaimed, "how quietly you +entered. I had no idea you were in the room. Heliotrope is the name of +the scent, my dear, but please do not allude to it again. Your Aunt +Deborah and I are very fond of it"—here she sighed—"but for certain +reasons—reasons you would not understand—we do not like to hear the +word heliotrope mentioned. Kiss me, dear, and run away to your +breakfast."</p> + +<p>For the first time in my life, perhaps, I was greatly puzzled. I could +not see why I should be forbidden to refer to such a pleasant and +harmless subject—a subject that, looked at from no matter what point +of view, did not appear to me to be in the slightest degree +indelicate. The more I thought over it, the more convinced I became +that there was some association between the scent and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>sunbeam, +and in that association I felt sure much of the mystery lay.</p> + +<p>The house was haunted—agreeably, delightfully haunted by a golden +light, a perfumed radiant light that could only have in my mind one +origin, one creator—Titania—Titania, queen of the fairies, the +guardian angel of my aged, my extremely aged relatives.</p> + +<p>"Aunt Deborah," I said one morning, as I found her seated in the +embrasure of the breakfast room window crocheting, "Aunt Deborah! You +love the sunlight, do you not?"</p> + +<p>She turned on me a startled face. "What makes you ask such strange +questions, child?" she said. "Of course I like the—sun. Most people +do. It is no uncommon thing, especially at my age."</p> + +<p>"But the sunbeams do not follow every one, auntie, do they?" I +persisted.</p> + +<p>Miss Deborah's crochet fell into her lap.</p> + +<p>"How queerly you talk," she said, with a curious trembling of her +lips. "How can the sunbeams follow one?"</p> + +<p>"But they do, auntie, they do indeed!" I cried. "I have often watched +a bright beam of golden light follow Aunt Amelia <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>and you, in +different parts of the room. And it has settled on your lace collar +now."</p> + +<p>Miss Deborah looked at me very seriously; but the moistening of her +eyes I attributed to the strong light. "Esther," she said, laying one +of her soft hands on my forehead, "there are things God does not want +little girls to understand—question me no more."</p> + +<p>I obeyed, but henceforth I felt more than ever assured that my aunts, +consciously or unconsciously, shared their charming abode with some +capricious genii, of whose presence in their midst I had become +accidentally aware; and to find out the enchanted neighbourhood of its +mysterious retreat was to me now a matter of all-absorbing importance. +I spent hour after hour roaming through the corridors, the copses, and +my beloved flower gardens, in eager search of some spot I could +unhesitatingly affirm was the home of the genii. Most ardently I then +hoped that the sunbeams would follow me, and that the breeze charged +with cool heliotrope would greet me as it did Aunt Deborah.</p> + +<p>In the daytime, all Hennersley was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span>sunshine and flowers, and, stray +where I would, I never felt lonely or afraid; but as the light waned I +saw and felt a subtle change creep over everything. The long aisles of +trees that in the morning only struck me as enchantingly peaceful and +shady, gradually filled with strangely terrifying shadows; the hue of +the broad swards deepened into a darkness I did not dare interpret, +whilst in the house, in its every passage, nook, and corner, a gloom +arose that, seeming to come from the very bowels of the earth, brought +with it every possible suggestion of bogey.</p> + +<p>I never spoke of these things to my relatives, partly because I was +ashamed of my cowardice, and partly because I dreaded a fresh rebuke. +How I suffered! and how I ridiculed my sufferings in the mornings, +when every trace of darkness was obliterated, and amid the radiant +bloom of the trees I thought only of heliotrope and sunbeams.</p> + +<p>One afternoon my search for the abode of the genii led me to the +wingless side of the house, a side I rarely visited. At the foot of +the ivy-covered walls and straight in their centre was laid a wide +bed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>of flowers, every one of which was white. But why white? Again +and again I asked myself this question, but I dared not broach it to +my relatives. A garden all white was assuredly an enigma—and to every +enigma there is undoubtedly a key. Was this garden, which was all +white, in any way connected with the sunbeams and heliotrope? Was it +another of the mysteries God concealed from little girls? Could this +be the home of the genii? This latter idea had no sooner entered my +head than it became a conviction. Of course! There was no doubt +whatever—it was the home of the genii.</p> + +<p>The white petals were now a source of peculiar interest to me. I was +fascinated: the minutes sped by and still I was there. It was not +until the sun had disappeared in the far-distant horizon, and the grim +shadows of twilight were creeping out upon me from the neighbouring +trees and bushes, that I awoke from my reverie—and fled!</p> + +<p>That night—unable to sleep through the excitement caused by my +discovery of the home of the genii—I lay awake, my whole thoughts +concentrated in one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>soul-absorbing desire, the passionate desire to +see the fairy of Hennersley—I had never heard of ghosts—and hear its +story. My bedroom was half-way down the corridor leading from the head +of the main staircase to the extremity of the wing.</p> + +<p>After I said good-night I did not see my aunts again till the +morning—they never by any chance visited me after I was in bed. Hence +I knew, when I had retired for the night, I should not see a human +face nor hear a human voice for nearly twelve hours. This—when I +thought of the genii with its golden beams of light and scent of +heliotrope—did not trouble me; it was only when my thoughts would not +run in this channel that I felt any fear, and that fear was not of the +darkness itself, but of what the darkness suggested.</p> + +<p>On this particular night, for the first few hours, I was sublimely +happy, and then a strange restlessness seized me. I was obsessed with +a wish to see the flower-garden. For some minutes, stimulated by a +dread of what my aunts would think of such a violation of +conventionality on the part of a child, I combated furiously with the +desire; but at length the longing was so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>great, so utterly and wholly +irresistible, that I succumbed, and, getting quietly out of bed, made +my way noiselessly into the corridor.</p> + +<p>All was dark and still—stiller than I had ever known it before. +Without any hesitation I plunged forward, in the direction of the +wingless side of the house, where there was a long, narrow, stained +window that commanded an immediate prospect of the white garden.</p> + +<p>I had seldom looked out of it, as up to the present this side of the +house had little attraction for me; but all was changed now; and, as I +felt my way cautiously along the corridor, a thousand and one fanciful +notions of what I might see surged through my brain.</p> + +<p>I came to the end of the corridor, I descended half a dozen stairs, I +got to the middle of the gallery overlooking the large entrance +hall—below me, above me, on all sides of me, was Stygian darkness. I +stopped, and there suddenly rang out, apparently from close at hand, a +loud, clear, most appallingly clear, blood-curdling cry, which, +beginning in a low key, ended in a shriek so horrid, harsh, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>piercing, that I felt my heart shrivel up within me, and in sheer +desperation I buried my fingers in my ears to deaden the sound.</p> + +<p>I was now too frightened to move one way or the other. All the +strength departed from my limbs, and when I endeavoured to move my +feet, I could not—they appeared to be fastened to the ground with +lead weights.</p> + +<p>I felt, I intuitively felt that the author of the disturbance was +regarding my terror with grim satisfaction, and that it was merely +postponing further action in order to enjoy my suspense. To block out +the sight of this dreadful creature, I clenched my eyelids tightly +together, at the same time earnestly imploring God to help me.</p> + +<p>Suddenly I heard the low wail begin again, and then the echo of a +far-off silvery voice came softly to me through the gloom: "It's an +owl—only an owl!"</p> + +<p>With lightning-like rapidity the truth then dawned on me, and as I +withdrew my clammy finger-tips from my ears, the faint fluttering of +wings reached me, through an open skylight. Once again <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>I moved on; +the gallery was left behind, and I was well on my way down the +tortuous passage leading to my goal, when a luminous object, of vast +height and cylindrical shape, suddenly barred my progress.</p> + +<p>Overcome by a deadly sickness, I sank on the floor, and, burying my +face in my hands, quite made up my mind that my last moments had come.</p> + +<p>How long I remained in this position I cannot say, to me it seemed +eternity. I was eventually freed from it by the echo of a gentle +laugh, so kind, and gay, and girlish, that my terror at once departed, +and, on raising my head, I perceived that the cause of my panic was +nothing more than a broad beam of moonlight on a particularly +prominent angle of the wall.</p> + +<p>Heartily ashamed at my cowardice, I got up, and, stepping briskly +forward, soon reached the stained-glass window.</p> + +<p>Pressing my face against the pane, I peered through it, and there +immediately beneath me lay the flowers, glorified into dazzling gold +by the yellow colour of the glass. The sight thrilled me with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>joy—it +was sublime. My instinct had not deceived me, this was indeed the +long-looked-for home of the genii.</p> + +<p>The temperature, which had been high, abnormally so for June, now +underwent an abrupt change, and a chill current of air, sweeping down +on me from the rear, made my teeth chatter. I involuntarily shrank +back from the window, and, as I did so, to my utter astonishment it +disappeared, and I saw, in its place, a room.</p> + +<p>It was a long, low room, and opposite to me, at the farthest +extremity, was a large bay window, through which I could see the +nodding tops of the trees. The furniture was all green and of a +lighter, daintier make than any I had hitherto seen. The walls were +covered with pictures, the mantelshelf with flowers. Whilst I was +busily employed noting all these details, the door of the room opened, +and the threshold was gorgeously illuminated by a brilliant sunbeam, +from which suddenly evolved the figure of a young and lovely girl.</p> + +<p>I can see her now as I saw her then—tall, and slender, with masses +of golden <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>hair, waved artistically aside from a low forehead of +snowy white; finely-pencilled brows, and long eyes of the most +lustrous violet; a straight, delicately-moulded nose, a firm, +beautifully-proportioned chin, and a bewitching mouth. At her bosom +was a bunch of heliotrope, which, deftly undoing, she raised to her +nose and then laughingly held out to me. I was charmed; I took a step +forward towards her. The instant I did so, a wild look of terror +distorted her face, she waved me back, something jarred against my +knee, and, in the place of the room, I saw only the blurred outline +of trees through the yellow window-panes.</p> + +<p>Bitterly disappointed, but absolutely sure that what I had seen was +objective, I retraced my steps to my bedroom and passed the remainder +of the night in sound sleep.</p> + +<p>After breakfast, however, unable to restrain my curiosity longer, I +sought Miss Amelia, who was easier to approach than her sister, and, +managing after several efforts to screw up courage, blurted out the +story of my nocturnal escapade.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>My aunt listened in silence. She was always gentle, but on this +occasion she surpassed herself.</p> + +<p>"I am not going to scold you, Esther," she said, smoothing out my +curls. "After what you have seen it is useless to conceal the truth +from you. God perhaps intends you to know all. Years ago, Esther, this +house was not as you see it now. It had two wings, and, in the one +that no longer exists was the bedroom you saw in your vision. We +called it the Green Room because everything in it was green, your Aunt +Alicia—an aunt you have never heard of—who slept there, having a +peculiar fancy for that colour.</p> + +<p>"Alicia was our youngest sister, and we all loved her dearly. She was +just as you describe her—beautiful as a fairy, with golden hair, and +violet eyes, and she always wore a bunch of heliotrope in her dress.</p> + +<p>"One night, Esther, one lovely, calm, midsummer night, forty years +ago, this house was broken into by burglars. They got in through the +Green Room window, which was always left open during the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>warm +weather. We—my mother, your Aunt Deborah, and I—were awakened by a +loud shriek for help. Recognising Alicia's voice, we instantly flew +out of bed, and, summoning the servants, tore to the Green Room as +fast as we could.</p> + +<p>"To our horror, Esther, the door was locked, and before we could break +the lock the ruffians had murdered her! They escaped through the +window and were never caught. My mother, your great-grandmother, had +that part of the house pulled down, and on the site of it she planted +the white garden.</p> + +<p>"Though Alicia's earthly body died, and was taken from us, her +beautiful spirit remains with us here. It follows us about in the +daytime in the form of a sunbeam, whilst occasionally, at night, it +assumes her earthly shape. The house is what is generally termed +haunted, and, no doubt, some people would be afraid to live in it. But +that, Esther, is because they do not understand spirits—your Aunt +Deborah and I do."</p> + +<p>"Do you think, auntie," I asked with a thrill of joy, "do you think it +at all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>likely that I shall see Aunt Alicia again to-night?"</p> + +<p>Aunt Amelia shook her head gently. "No, my dear," she said slowly, "I +think it will be impossible, because you are going home this +afternoon."</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span><br /> +<a name="CASE_X" id="CASE_X"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE X</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>"—— HOUSE," NEAR BLYTHSWOOD SQUARE, GLASGOW. +THE HAUNTED BATH</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE X<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>"—— HOUSE," NEAR BLYTHSWOOD SQUARE, GLASGOW. +THE HAUNTED BATH</h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>When Captain W. de S. Smythe went to look over "—— House," in the +neighbourhood of Blythswood Square, Glasgow, the only thing about the +house he did not like was the bathroom—it struck him as excessively +grim. The secret of the grimness did not lie, he thought, in any one +particular feature—in the tall, gaunt geyser, for example (though +there was always something in the look of a geyser when it was old and +dilapidated, as was the case with this one, that repelled him), or in +the dark drying-cupboard, or in the narrow, slit-like window; but in +the room as a whole, in its atmosphere and general appearance. He +could not diagnose it; he could not associate it with anything else he +had ever experienced; it was a grimness that he could only specify as +grim—grim with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>a grimness that made him feel he should not like to +be alone there in the dead of night. It was a nuisance, because the +rest of the house pleased him; moreover, the locality was convenient, +and the rent moderate, very moderate for such a neighbourhood. He +thought the matter well over as he leaned in the doorway of the +bathroom. He could, of course, have the room completely renovated—new +paper, new paint, and a fresh bath. Hot-water pipes! The geyser should +be done away with. Geysers were hideous, dangerous, and—pshaw, what +nonsense!—Ghostly! Ghostly! What absurd rot! How his wife would +laugh! That decided the question. His wife! She had expressed a very +ardent wish that he should take a house in or near Blythswood Square, +if he could get one on anything like reasonable terms, and here was +his chance. He would accompany the agent of the property to the +latter's office, and the preliminaries should be forthwith settled.</p> + +<p>Six weeks later, he and his family were installed in the house, which +still reeked with the smell of fresh paint and paper. The first thing +the Captain did when he got <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>there was to steal away slyly to the +bathroom, and as soon as he opened the door his heart sank. Despite the +many alterations the room had undergone, the grimness was still +there—there, everywhere. In the fine new six-foot bath, with its +glistening, gleaming, wooden framework; in the newly papered, newly +painted cupboard; in the walls, with their bright, fresh paper; in the +snowy surface of the whitewashed ceiling; in the air,—the very air +itself was full of it. The Captain was, as a rule, very fond of his +bath, but in his new quarters he firmly resolved that some one else +should use the bath before he made the experiment. In a very few days +the family had all settled down, and every one, with the exception of +the Captain, had had a bath, but no matter how many and how bitter were +his wife's complaints, try how he would, he could not, he positively +<i>could</i> not, bring himself to wash in the bathroom—<i>alone</i>. It was all +right so long as the door was open, but his wife resolutely refused to +allow him to keep it open, and the moment it was shut his abject terror +returned—a terror produced by nothing that he could in any way analyse +or define. At last, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>ashamed of his cowardice, he screwed up courage, +and, with a look of determined desperation in his eyes and mouth—an +expression which sent his wife into fits of laughter—set out one night +from his bedroom, candle in hand, and entered the bathroom. Shutting +and locking the door, he lighted another candle, and, after placing +them both on the mantelshelf, turned on the bath water, and began to +undress.</p> + +<p>"I may as well have a peep in the cupboard," he said, "just to satisfy +myself no one is hiding there—for every one in the house knows how I +hate this beastly bathroom—with the intention of playing me a +practical joke. Supposing one of the maids—Polly, for example, I'm +sure she'd be quite capable—took it into her pretty head to"—but +here the Captain was obliged to stop; he really was not equal to +facing, even in his mind's eye, the situation such a supposition +involved, and at the bare idea of such a thing his countenance assumed +a deeper hue, and—I am loth to admit—an amused grin. The grin, +however, died out as he cautiously opened the door and peered +furtively in; no one—nothing was there! With a breath of relief he +closed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span>the door again, placed a chair against it, and, sitting down, +proceeded to pull off his clothes. Coat, vest, under-garments, he +placed them all tenderly in an untidy heap on the floor, and then, +with a last lingering, affectionate look at them, walked sedately +towards the bath. But this sedateness was only momentary. The first +few steps he walked, but, a noise in the grate startling him, he +suddenly assumed an air of the greatest gaiety, and, bowing with mock +gallantry to his trousers, he now waltzed coquettishly to the bath. It +was grim, horribly grim, and horribly hot too, for, when he felt the +temperature with one of his squat, podgy toes, it made him swear quite +involuntarily. Turning on the cold water, and slapping his thighs +playfully, he felt again. Too hot yet, far too hot even for him! He +loved heat. More cold! and he was hoisting one chubby leg to feel +again, when, a repetition of the noise in the grate making him swing +round, he lost his balance, and descended on the floor with a hard, a +very hard, bump. For some seconds he lay still, too sulky and +aggrieved even to get up, but, the draught from under the ill-fitting +door <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>tickling his bare flesh in the most immodest fashion, he roused +himself from this lethargy, and was about to raise himself from the +floor, when the lights went out—went out without a moment's warning, +and he found himself engulfed in the most funereal darkness. To say he +was startled is to put it very mildly—he was absolutely +terror-stricken—far too terror-stricken to think of moving now, and +least of all of getting up and groping for the matches. Indeed, when +he came to think of it, he had not seen any matches in the room, and +he had not brought any with him, his wife had flurried him so much. +The moment the candles were extinguished the grimness sensibly +increased, and he could feel all around him, thickly amalgamated with +the ether, a superphysical presence, at once hostile and horrible. +Then, to bring his terror to a climax, there issued from the bath a +loud rubbing and splashing, as if some one, some very heavy person, +was vigorously washing. The water rose and fell, squished and bubbled +as it does when one is lying at full length in it, raising and +lowering oneself, kicking and plunging first on one side and then <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>on +the other. Whilst, to add to the realism, Captain Smythe distinctly +heard gasping and puffing; and the soft, greasy sound of a well-soaped +flannel. He could indeed follow every movement of the occupant of the +bath as graphically as if he had seen him—from the brisk scrubbing of +body and legs to the finicky process of cleaning the ears and toes.</p> + +<p>It was whilst the bather was occupied thus that the cupboard door +began to open very quietly and stealthily, and Captain de Smythe heard +the chair he had so carefully placed against it being gradually +propelled across the floor.</p> + +<p>Then something, he would have given anything to tell what, came out +and began to steal towards him. He tried to crawl out of its way, but +could not; his limbs no longer acted conjointly with his brain, and +when he opened his mouth to shout at it, his voice withered away in +his throat. It came up to him, and directly it touched his naked skin +he knew it was a woman—a woman with a much-beflounced silk skirt and +silk petticoats—a woman whose person was perfumed with violets (a +scent for which the Captain had a particular weakness), and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>without +doubt, loaded with jewellery. Her behaviour did not betray any +symptoms of embarrassment when she encountered the Captain lying on +the floor, but, planting one icy-cold high-heeled shoe on his chest +and the other on his cheek, she stepped on him as if he had been an +orthodox cushion or footstool, purposely placed there for her +convenience. A hollow exclamation, which died away in a gasp, issued +from the bath, as the woman, with a swift movement of her arms, threw +something over it. What followed, the Captain could only surmise, but +from the muttered imprecations and splashes in the water, it seemed to +him that nothing short of murder was taking place. After a while the +noises in the bath grew feebler and feebler, and when they finally +ceased, the woman, with a sigh of relief, shook the water from her +arms, and, stepping off the Captain, moved towards the fireplace. The +spell which had, up to the present, enthralled the unfortunate +Captain, was now broken, and, thinking that his ghostly visitor had +betaken herself right away, he sat up. He had hardly done so before +the darkness was rudely dissipated, and, to his horror, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span>he saw +looking at him, from a distance of only a few feet, a white, luminous +face, presumably that of a woman. But what a woman! What a +devil!—what a match for the most lurid of any of Satan's male +retainers. Yet she was not without beauty—beauty of the richest +sensual order; beauty that, had it been flesh and blood, would have +sent men mad. Her hair, jet black, wavy, and parted in the centre, was +looped over her shell-like ears, which were set unusually low and far +back on her head; her nose was of that rare and matchless shape termed +Grecian; and her mouth—in form, a triumph of all things heavenly, in +expression, a triumph of all things hellish. The magnificent turn of +its short upper lip, and the soft voluptuous line of its under lip; +its sportive dimples and ripe red colour; its even rows of dazzling, +pearly teeth were adorable; but they appealed to the senses, and in no +sense or shape to the soul. Her brows, slightly irregular in outline, +met over the nose; her eyelashes were of great length, and her +eyes—slightly, ever so slightly, obliquely set, and larger than those +of living human beings—were black, black as her hair; and the pupils +sparkled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>and shone with the most damnable expression of satanical +hatred and glee. The whole thing, the face and the light that emanated +from it, was so entirely awful and devilish, that Captain Smythe sat +like one turned to stone, and it was not until long after it had +vanished that he groped his way to the door, and in Adam's costume, +for he dared not stay to put on his clothes, fled down the passage to +his bedroom.</p> + +<p>From his wife he got little sympathy; her sarcasm was too deep for +words, and she merely ordered her husband on no account to breathe a +word of his "silliness" before either the children or the servants. +The injunction, however, which was naturally carried out to the +letter, was futile as a precaution, for, on running into the bathroom +one morning when every one else was downstairs, the eldest boy, +Ronald, saw, floating in the bath, the body of a hoary-headed old man. +It was bloated and purplish blue, and had big, glassy eyes that stared +at him in such a hideous, meaningless manner that he uttered a scream +of terror and fled. Alarmed at the noise, most of the household ran to +see what had happened. Only the Captain remained <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>behind. He knew only +too well, and he hid, letting his wife and the servants go upstairs +alone. They entered the bathroom—there was nothing in the bath, not +even water, but, as they were leaving, they ran into a dark, handsome, +evil-eyed woman, clad in the most costly of dresses, and sparkling +with jewellery. She glided past them with sly, silent footsteps, and +vanished by the cupboard. Cured of scepticism, and throwing dignity to +the wind, the Captain's wife raced downstairs, and, bursting into the +drawing-room, flung herself on the sofa in hysterics.</p> + +<p>Within a week the house was once again empty, and the rumour getting +about that it was haunted, the landlord threatened the Smythes with an +action for slander of title. But I do not think the case was taken to +court, the Smythes agreeing to contradict the report they had +originated. Astute inquiries, however, eventually led them to discover +that a lady, answering to the description of the ghost they had seen, +had once lived at —— House. Of Spanish descent, she was young, +beautiful, and gay; and was married to a man, an extremely wealthy man +(people remembered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>how rich he was after he died), old enough to be +her grandfather. They had nothing in common, the husband only wanting +to be quiet, the wife to flirt and be admired. Their neighbours often +heard them quarrel, and it was declared that the wife possessed the +temper of a fiend. The man was eventually found dead in his bath, and +there being no indications of violence, it was generally supposed that +he had fainted, (his wife having been previously heard to declare that +he often had fainting fits), and had thus been accidentally drowned. +The beautiful young widow, who inherited all his money, left the house +immediately and went abroad, and the neighbours, when questioned by +the Smythes as to whether anything had been seen of her since, shook +their heads dubiously, but refused to commit themselves.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CASE_XI" id="CASE_XI"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE XI</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE CHOKING GHOST OF "—— HOUSE," NEAR +SANDYFORD PLACE, GLASGOW</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE XI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE CHOKING GHOST OF "—— HOUSE," NEAR +SANDYFORD PLACE, GLASGOW</h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>The last time I was passing through Glasgow, I put up for the night at +an hotel near Sandyford Place, and met there an old theatrical +acquaintance named Browne, Hely Browne. Not having seen him since I +gave up acting, which is now, alas! a good many years, we had much to +discuss—touring days, lodgings, managers, crowds, and a dozen other +subjects, all included in the vulgar term "shop." We spent the whole +of one evening debating thus, in the smoke-room; whilst the following +night we went to an entertainment given by that charming reciter and +raconteur, Miss Lilian North, who, apart from her talent, which, in my +opinion, places her in the first rank of her profession, is the +possessor of extraordinary personal attractions, not the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>least +remarkable of which are her hands. Indeed, it was through my attention +being called to the latter, that I am indirectly indebted for this +story. Miss North has typically psychic hands—exquisitely white and +narrow, and her long, tapering fingers and filbert nails (which, by +the way, are always trimly manicured) are the most perfect I have ever +seen. I was alluding to them, on our way back to the hotel after her +performance, when Hely Browne interrupted me.</p> + +<p>"Talking about psychic things, O'Donnell," he said, "do you know there +is a haunted house near where we are staying? You don't? Very well, +then, if I tell you what I know and you write about it, will you +promise not to allude to the house by its right number? If you do, +there will be the dickens to pay—simply call it '—— House,' near +Sandyford Place. You promise? Good! Let us take a little stroll before +we turn in—I feel I want a breath of fresh air—and I will tell you +the experience I once had there. It is exactly two years ago, and I +was on tour here in <i>The Green Bushes</i>. All the usual theatrical +'diggings' had been snapped up <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>long before I arrived, and, not +knowing where else to go, I went to No.—Sandyford Place, which I saw +advertised in one of the local papers as a first-class private hotel +with very moderate charges. A wild bit of extravagance, eh? But then +one does do foolish things sometimes, and, to tell the truth, I wanted +a change badly. I had 'digged' for a long time with a fellow called +Charlie Grosvenor. Not at all a bad chap, but rather apt to get on +one's nerves after a while—and he had got on mine—horribly. +Consequently, I was not at all sorry for an excuse to get away from +him for a bit, even though I had to pay dearly for it. A private hotel +in a neighbourhood like that of Sandyford Place is a big order for an +ordinary comedian. I forget exactly what the terms were, but I know I +pulled rather a long face when I was told. Still, being, as I say, +tired of the usual 'digs,' I determined to try it, and accordingly +found myself landed in a nice-sized bedroom on the second floor. The +first three nights passed, and nothing happened, saving that I had the +most diabolical nightmares—a very unusual thing for me. 'It <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>was the +cheese,' I said to myself, when I got out of bed the first morning; 'I +will take very good care I don't touch cheese to-night.' I kept this +resolution, but I had the nightmare again, and even, if anything, +worse than before. Then I fancied it must be cocoa—I was at that time +a teetotaller—so I took hot milk instead; but I had nightmare all the +same, and my dreams terrified me to such an extent that I did not dare +get out of bed in the morning (it was then winter) till it was broad +daylight. It was now becoming a serious matter with me. As you know, +an actor more than most people needs sleep, and it soon became as much +as I could do to maintain my usual standard of acting. On the fourth +night, determining to get rest at all costs, I took a stiff glass of +hot brandy just before getting into bed. I slept,—I could scarcely +help sleeping,—but not for long, for I was rudely awakened from my +slumbers by a loud crash. I sat up in bed, thinking the whole house +was falling about my ears. The sound was not repeated, and all was +profoundly silent. Wondering what on earth the noise could have been, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>and feeling very thirsty, I got out of bed to get a drink of +lime-juice. To my annoyance, however, though I groped about +everywhere, knocking an ash tray off the mantelpiece and smashing the +lid of the soap-dish, I could find neither the lime-juice nor matches. +At length, giving it up as a bad job, I decided to get into bed again. +With that end in view, I groped my way through the darkness, steering +myself by the furniture, the position of which was, of course, quite +familiar to me—at least I imagined it was. Judge, then, of my +astonishment when I could not find the bed! At first I regarded it as +a huge joke, and laughed—how rich! Ha! ha! ha! Fancy not being able +to find one's way back to bed in a room of this dimension! Good enough +for <i>Punch</i>! Too good, perhaps, now. Ha! ha! ha! But it soon grew past +a joke. I had been round the room, completely round the room, twice, +and still no bed! I became seriously alarmed! Could I be ill? Was I +going mad? But no, my forehead was cool, my pulse normal. For some +seconds I stood still, not knowing what else to do; then, to make one +more desperate attempt, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>I stuck straight in front of me—and—ran +into something—something that recoiled and hit me. Thrilled with +amazement, I put up my hand to feel what it was, and touched a noose."</p> + +<p>"A noose!" I ejaculated, interrupting Hely Browne for the first time +since he began.</p> + +<p>"Yes, a noose!" he repeated, "suspended in mid-air. As you can imagine, +I was greatly astonished, for I knew there had been nothing that I +could be now mistaking for a noose in the room overnight. I stretched +out my arms to feel to what it was fastened, but, to add to my +surprise, the cord terminated in thin air. Then I grew frightened, and, +dropping my arms, tried to move away from the spot; I could not—my +feet were glued to the floor. With a gentle, purring sound the noose +commenced fawning—I use that word because the action was so intensely +bestial, so like that of a cat or snake—round my neck and face. It +then rose above me, and, after circling furiously round and round and +creating a miniature maelstrom in the air, descended gradually over my +head. Lower and lower it stole, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>like some sleek, caressing slug. Now +past the tips of my ears, now my nose, now my chin, until with a tiny +thud it landed on my shoulders, when, with a fierce snap, it suddenly +tightened. I endeavoured to tear it off, but every time I raised my +hands, a strong, magnetic force drew them to my side again; I opened my +mouth to shriek for help, and an icy current of air froze the breath in +my lungs. I was helpless, O'Donnell, utterly, wholly helpless. Cold, +clammy hands tore my feet from the floor; I was hoisted bodily up, and +then let drop. A frightful pain shot through me. A hundred wires cut +into my throat at once. I gasped, choked, suffocated, and in my mad +efforts to find a foothold kicked out frantically in all directions. +But this only resulted in an increase of my torments, since with every +plunge the noose grew tauter. My agony at last grew unbearable; I could +feel the sides of my raw and palpitating thorax driven into one +another, while every attempt to heave up breath from my bursting lungs +was rewarded with the most excruciating paroxysms of pain—pain more +acute than I thought it possible <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>for any human being to endure. My +head became ten times its natural size; blood—foaming, boiling +blood—poured into it from God knows where, and under its pressure my +eyes bulged in their sockets, and the veins in my nose cracked. +Terrific thunderings echoed and re-echoed in my ears; my tongue, huge +as a mountain, shot against my teeth; a sea of fire raged through my +brain, and then—blackness—blackness inconceivable. When I recovered +consciousness, O'Donnell, I found myself standing, cold and shivering, +but otherwise sound and whole, on the chilly oilcloth. I had, now, no +difficulty in finding my way back to bed, and in about an hour's time +succeeded in falling asleep. I slept till late, and, on getting up, +tried to persuade myself that my horrible experience was but the result +of another nightmare.</p> + +<p>"As you may guess, after all this, I did not look forward to bedtime, +and counted the minutes as they flew by with the utmost regret. Never +had I been so sorry when my performance at the theatre was over, and +the lights of my hotel once again hove in sight. I entered my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>bedroom +in fear and trembling, and was so apprehensive lest I should be again +compelled to undergo the sensations of hanging, that I decided to keep +a light burning all night, and, for that reason, had bought half a +pound of wax candles. At last I grew so sleepy that I could keep awake +no longer, and, placing the candlestick on a chair by the bed, I +scrambled in between the sheets. Without as much as a sip of spirits, +I slept like a top. When I awoke the room was in pitch darkness. A +curious smell at once attracted my notice. I thought, at first, it +might be but the passing illusion of a dream. But no—I sniffed +again—it was there—there, close to me—under my very nose—the +strong, pungent odour of drugs; but not being a professor of smells, +nor even a humble student of physics, I was consequently unable to +diagnose it, and could only arrive at the general conclusion that it +was a smell that brought with it very vivid recollections of a +chemist's shop and of my old school laboratory. Wondering whence it +originated, I thrust my face forward with the intention of trying to +locate it, when, to my horror, my lips <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>touched against something cold +and flabby. In an agony of fear I reeled away from it, and, the bed +being narrow, I slipped over the edge and bumped on to the floor.</p> + +<p>"Now I think it is quite possible that up to this point you may have +attributed my unhappy experience to nothing more nor less than a bad +dream, but your dream theory can no longer hold good, for, on coming +in such sudden contact with the floor, I gave my funny-bone a knock, +which, I can assure you, made me thoroughly awake, and the first thing +I noticed on recovering my scattered senses—was the smell. I sat up, +and saw to my terror my bed was occupied, but occupied in the most +alarming manner. On the middle of the pillow was a face, the face +of—I looked closer; I would have given every penny I possessed not to +have done so, but I could not help myself—I looked closer, and it +was—the face of my brother; my brother Ralph—you may recollect my +mentioning him to you, for he was the only one of us who was at that +time making money—whom I believed to be in New York. He had always +been rather sallow, but apart <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>from the fact that he now looked very +yellow, his appearance was quite natural. Indeed, as I gazed at him, I +grew so convinced it was he that I cried out, 'Ralph!' The moment I +did so, there was a ghastly change: his eyelids opened, and his +eyes—eyes I recognised at once—protruded to such a degree that they +almost rolled out; his mouth flew open, his tongue swelled, his whole +countenance became convulsed with the most unparalleled, and for that +reason indescribable, expression of agony, whilst the yellowness of +his complexion deepened to a livid, lurid black, that was so +inconceivably repellent and hellish that I sprang away from the +bed—appalled. There was then a gasping, rasping noise, and a voice +that, despite its unnatural hollowness, I identified as that of Ralph, +broke forth: 'I have been wanting to speak to you for ages, but +<i>something</i>, I cannot explain, has always prevented me. I have been +dead a month; not cancer, but Dolly. Poison. Good-bye, Hely. I shall +rest in peace now.' The voice stopped; there was a rush of cold air, +laden with the scent of the drug, and tainted, faintly tainted, with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>the nauseating smell of the grave, and—the face on the pillow +vanished. How I got through the remainder of the night I cannot say—I +dare not think. I dare only remember that I did not sleep. I was +devoted to Ralph, and the thought that he had perished in the +miserable manner suggested by the apparition, completely prostrated +me. In the morning I received a black-edged letter from my mother, +stating that she had just heard from Dolly, my brother's wife, saying +Ralph had died from cancer in the throat. Dolly added in a postscript +that her dearly beloved Ralph had been very good to her, and left her +well provided for. Of course, we might have had the body exhumed, but +we were poor, and Ralph's widow was rich; and in America, you know, +everything goes in favour of the dollars. Hence we were obliged to let +the matter drop, sincerely trusting Dolly would never take it into her +head to visit us. She never did. My mother died last year—I felt her +death terribly, O'Donnell; and as I no longer have any fixed abode, +but am always touring the British provinces, there is not much fear +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>of Ralph's murderess and I meeting. It is rather odd, however, that +after my own experience at the hotel, I heard that it had borne the +reputation for being haunted for many years, and that a good many +visitors who had passed the night in one of the rooms (presumably +mine) had complained of hearing strange noises and having dreadful +dreams. How can one explain it all?"</p> + +<p>"One can't," I responded, as we turned in for the night.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span><br /> +<a name="CASE_XII" id="CASE_XII"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE XII</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE GREY PIPER AND THE HEAVY COACH OF +DONALDGOWERIE HOUSE, PERTH</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE XII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE GREY PIPER AND THE HEAVY COACH OF +DONALDGOWERIE HOUSE, PERTH</h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>Donaldgowerie House, until comparatively recent times, stood on the +outskirts of Perth. It was a long, low, rambling old place, dating +back to the beginning of the seventeenth century. At the time of the +narrative it was in the possession of a Mr. William Whittingen, who +bought it at a very low price from some people named Tyler. It is true +that it would cost a small fortune to repair, but, notwithstanding +this disadvantage, Mr. Whittingen considered his purchase a bargain, +and was more than satisfied with it. Indeed, he knew of no other house +of a similar size, of such an imposing appearance, and so pleasantly +situated, that he could have bought for less than twice the amount he +had paid for this; and he was really very sorry for the Tylers, who +explained to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>him, in confidence, that had they not been in such +urgent need of money, they would never have sold Donaldgowerie House +at such a ridiculously low figure. However, with them it was a +question of cash—cash down, and Mr. Whittingen had only to write out +a cheque for the modest sum they asked, and the house was his. It was +June when Mr. Whittingen took possession of the house—June, when the +summer sun was brightest and the gardens looked their best. The +Whittingen family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Whittingen, two sons, +Ernest and Harvey, and three daughters, Ruth, Martha, and Mary, were, +as one might gather from their names alone, plain, practical, genteel, +and in fact very superior people, who were by no means lacking in that +exceedingly useful quality of canniness, so characteristic of the +Lowland Scot to which race they belonged. Mr. Whittingen had, for +years, conducted a grocery business in Jedburgh, twice filling the +honoured and coveted post of mayor, and when he at length retired into +private life, his friends (and it was astonishing how many friends he +had) shrewdly suspected that his pockets <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>were not only well lined but +full to bursting. Acting on the advice of his wife and daughters, who +were keen on social distinction, he sent Ernest to Oxford, +conditionally that he should take Holy Orders in the Church of +England, whilst Harvey, who, when scarcely out of the petticoat stage, +displayed the regular Whittingen talent for business by covertly +helping himself to the sugar in his father's shop, and disposing of it +at strictly sale price to his sisters' cronies in the nursery, was +sent to one of those half preparatory and half finishing schools (of +course, for the sons of gentlemen only) at Edinburgh, where he was +kept till he was old enough to be articled to a prosperous, +exceedingly prosperous, firm of solicitors.</p> + +<p>The girls, Ruth, Martha, and Mary, had likewise been highly educated, +that is to say, they had remained so many years at an English seminary +for young ladies, and had been given a final twelve months in France +and Germany to enable them to obtain "the correct accent."</p> + +<p>At the time of the story they were as yet unmarried, and were awaiting +with the most laudable patience the advent of men <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span>of title. They were +delighted with their new home (which Ruth had persuaded her father to +christen "Donaldgowerie," after the house in a romantic novel she had +just been reading), and proud of their gilded premises and magnificent +tennis lawns; they had placed a gigantic and costly tray in the hall, +in confident assurance that it would speedily groan beneath the weight +of cards from all the gentry in Perthshire.</p> + +<p>But please be it understood, that my one and only object in alluding +to these trifling details is to point out that the Whittingens, being +entirely engrossed in matters mundane, were the very last people in +the world to be termed superstitious, and although imaginative where +future husbands' calls and cards were concerned, prior to the events +about to be narrated had not an ounce of superstition in their +natures. Indeed, until then they had always smiled in a very +supercilious manner at even the smallest mention of a ghost.</p> + +<p>September came, their first September in Donaldgowerie, and the family +welcomed with joy Ernest and his youthful bride.</p> + +<p>The latter was not, as they had fondly hoped (and roundly announced in +Perth), <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>the daughter of a Peer, but of a wealthy Bristol draper, the +owner of a house near the Downs, whose son had been one of Ernest's +many friends at Oxford. The coming of the newly-married pair to +Donaldgowerie brought with it a burst of bird-like gaiety. All sorts +of entertainments—musical "at homes," dinners, dances, tennis and +garden parties, in fact, every variety that accorded with the family's +idea of good taste—were given; and with praiseworthy "push," for +which the Whittingens had fast become noted, all the County was +invited. This splendid display of wealth and hospitality was not +disinterested; I fear, it might be not only accounted a "send off" for +the immaculately-clad curate and his wife, but also a determined +effort on the part of Mr. and Mrs. Whittingen to attract the right +sort of lover for their girls. It was during the progress of one of +their alfresco entertainments that the scepticism of certain of the +Whittingens with regard to the supernatural received a rude blow. +Martha, Mary, and two eligible young men, friends of Harvey's, having +finished a somewhat spirited game of croquet, were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>refreshing +themselves with lemonade, whilst they continued their flirtation. +Presently Mary, whose partner declared how much he should like to see +some photographs she had recently had taken of herself, with a +well-affected giggle of embarrassment set off to the house to fetch +her album. The minutes passed, and, as she did not return, Martha went +in search of her. The album, she knew, was in their boudoir, which was +situated at the end of the long and rather gloomy corridor of the +upper storey. Highly incensed at her sister's slowness, she was +hastening along the corridor, when, to her supreme astonishment, she +suddenly saw the figure of a man in kilts, with a bagpipe under his +arm, emerge through the half-open door of the boudoir, and with a +peculiar gliding motion advance towards her. A curious feeling, with +which she was totally unfamiliar, compelled her to remain mute and +motionless; and in this condition she awaited the approach of the +stranger. Who was he? she asked herself, and how on earth had he got +there, and what was he doing? As he drew nearer, she perceived that +his face was all one hue,—a ghastly, livid grey,—and that his eyes, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>which were all the time fixed on hers, were lurid and menacing,—so +terrible, in fact, that she turned cold with fear, and felt the very +hair on her head beginning to rise on end. She opened her mouth to +shriek, but found she could not ejaculate a syllable; neither could +she, even with the most desperate efforts, tear her feet from the +floor. On came the figure, and, without swerving either to the right +or left, it glided right up to and through her; and, as she +involuntarily turned round, she saw it disappear through a half-open +staircase window, at least twenty feet above the ground outside. +Shaking all over with terror, and not understanding in the slightest +what to make of it, Martha ran to the boudoir, where her heart almost +sprang out of her body at the spectacle of her sister Mary stretched +at full length on the floor, her cheeks ashy pale, her lips blue. +Martha at once made a frantic rush to the bell, and, in a few minutes, +half the establishment, headed by Mr. Whittingen, poured into the +room. With the aid of a little cold water, Mary speedily recovered, +and, in reply to the anxious inquiries of her sympathetic rescuers as +to what had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>happened, indignantly demanded why such a horrible +looking creature as "that" piper had been allowed not merely to enter +the house but to come up to her room, and half frighten her to death. +"I had just got my album," she added, "when, feeling some one was in +the room, I turned round—and there (she indicated a spot on the +carpet) was the piper, not ten paces away from me, regarding me with +the most awful look imaginable. I was too taken aback with surprise to +say anything, nor—for some unaccountable reason—could I escape, +before he touched me on the shoulder with one of his icy cold hands, +and then commenced playing. Up and down the floor he paced, backwards +and forwards, never taking his hateful glance off my face and ever +piping the same dismal dirge. At last, unable to stand the strain of +it any longer, and convinced he was a madman, bent on murdering +me—for who but a lunatic would behave in such a way?—I gave way to a +violent fit of hysterics, and fainted. Now tell me who he was, and why +he was permitted to frighten me in this manner?" And Mary stamped her +feet and grew vicious, as only her class will when they are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>at all +vexed. Her speech was followed by a silence that exasperated her. She +repeated her inquiries with crimson cheeks, and then, as again no one +responded, she signalled out the head footman and raved at him. Up to +this point Mr. Whittingen had been dumb with amazement. The idea of a +strange piper having the twofold effrontery to enter his house and +proceed to the private and chaste sanctuary of his highly respectable +daughters, almost deprived him of breath. He could scarcely believe +his ears. "What—what in the name of—what does it all mean?" he at +length stammered, addressing the unfortunate footman. "A piper! and +without any invitation from me, how dare you let him in?"</p> + +<p>"I did not, sir," the luckless footman replied; "no such person came +to the door when I was in the hall."</p> + +<p>"No more he did when I was there," chimed in the second footman, and +all the other servants vociferated in a body, "We never saw any piper, +sir, nor heard one either," and they looked at Mary reproachfully.</p> + +<p>At this Mr. Whittingen looked exceedingly embarrassed. In the face of +such a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>unanimous denial what could he say? He knew if he suggested +the servants were untruthful they would all give notice to leave on +the spot, and knowing good servants are scarce in Perth as elsewhere, +he felt rather in a fix. At length, turning to Mary, he asked if she +was sure it was a piper. "Sure!" Mary screamed, "why, of course I am, +did I not tell you he marched up and down here playing on his +disgusting bagpipes, which nearly broke the drum of my ear."</p> + +<p>"And I saw him too, pa," Martha put in. "I met him in the corridor, he +had his pipes under his arm, and the most dreadful expression in his +face. I don't wonder Mary was frightened."</p> + +<p>"But where did he go?" Mr. Whittingen cried.</p> + +<p>"You would not believe me if I told you," Martha said, her cheeks +flushing. "He seemed to pass right through me, and then to vanish +through the staircase window. I have never been so terribly upset in +my life," and, sinking on to the sofa, she began to laugh +hysterically.</p> + +<p>"Dear me! dear me! it is very odd!" Mr. Whittingen exclaimed, as Mary +handed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>her sister a wineglass of sal-volatile. "They can't both have +been dreaming; it must—but there, what a nonsensical notion, there +are no such things as ghosts! Only children and nursemaids believe in +them nowadays. As soon as you have quite recovered, my dears, we will +return to the garden, and I think that under the circumstances, the +rather peculiar circumstances, ahem! it will be better to say nothing +to your mother. Do you understand?" Mr. Whittingen went on, eyeing the +servants, "Nothing to your mistress."</p> + +<p>The affair thus terminated, and for some days nothing further happened +to disturb the peace of the family. At the end of a week, however, +exactly a week after the appearance of the piper, Mary met with a +serious accident. She was running across the croquet lawn to speak to +her sister-in-law, when she tripped over a hoop that had been +accidentally left there, and, in falling, ran a hatpin into her head. +Blood poisoning ensued, and within a fortnight she was dead. Martha +was the only one in the house, however, who associated Mary's accident +and death with the piper; to her that sinister expression in the +mysterious Highlander's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>eyes portended mischief, and she could not +but suspect that, in some way or another, he had brought about the +catastrophe. The autumn waned, and Christmas was well within sight, +when another mysterious occurrence took place. It was early one Sunday +evening, tea was just over, and the Whittingen family were sitting +round the fire engaged in a somewhat melancholy conversation, for the +loss of Mary had affected them all very deeply, when they heard the +far-away rumble of a heavy coach on the high-road. Nearer and nearer +it came, till it seemed to be about on a level with the front lodge +gate; then to their surprise there was a loud crunching of gravel, and +they heard it careering at a breakneck speed up the carriage-drive. +They looked at one another in the utmost consternation.</p> + +<p>"A coach, and driven in this mad fashion! Whose was it? What did it +mean? Not visitors, surely!"</p> + +<p>It pulled up at the front door, and the champing and stamping of the +horses vibrated loudly through the still night air. Sounds as of one +or more people descending were next heard, and then there came a +series of the most terrific knockings at the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span>door. The Whittingen +family stared at one another aghast; there was something in those +knockings—something they could not explain—that struck terror in +their souls and made their blood run cold. They waited in breathless +anxiety for the door to be opened; but no servant went to open it. The +knocks were repeated, if anything louder than before, the door swung +back on its hinges, and the tread of heavy footsteps were heard slowly +approaching the drawing-room. Mrs. Whittingen gave a low gasp of +horror, Ruth screamed, Harvey buried his face in his hands, Mr. +Whittingen rose to his feet, and made desperate efforts to get to the +bell, but could not stir, whilst Martha rushed to the drawing-room +door and locked it. They then with one accord began to pray. The steps +halted outside the room, the door slowly opened, and the blurred +outlines of a group of ghastly-looking figures, supporting a +grotesquely shaped object in their midst, appeared on the threshold. +For some seconds there was a grim silence. It was abruptly broken by a +thud—Ruth had slipped from her chair to the floor in a dead faint; +whereupon the shadowy forms solemnly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>veered round and made their way +back again to the front door. The latter swung violently open, there +was a rush of icy wind which swept like a hurricane across the hall +and into the drawing-room, the front door then slammed to with a +crash, and the coach drove away.</p> + +<p>Every one's attention was now directed to Ruth. At first sal-volatile +and cold water produced no effect, but after a time she slowly, very +slowly regained consciousness. As soon as she had recovered +sufficiently to speak, she expressed an earnest desire that no +reference should ever be made in her presence to what had just +happened. "It was for me!" she said in such an emphatic tone as filled +her audience with the direst forebodings. "I know it was for me; they +all looked in my direction. God help me! I shall die like Mary."</p> + +<p>Though greatly perplexed as to what she meant, for no one excepting +herself had been able to make out the phenomena with any degree of +distinctness, they yielded to her entreaties, and asked her no +questions. The servants had neither heard nor seen anything. A +fortnight later, Ruth was taken ill with appendicitis; peritonitis +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>speedily set in, and she died under the operation. The Whittingens now +began to wish they had never come to Donaldgowerie; but, with the +astuteness that had been characteristic of the family through +countless generations of fair days and foul, they took the greatest +precautions never to drop even as much as a hint to the servants or to +any one in the town that the house was haunted.</p> + +<p>A year passed without any further catastrophe, and they were beginning +to hope their ghastly visitors had left them, when something else +occurred. It was Easter-time, and Ernest, his wife, and baby were +staying with them. The baby, a boy, was fat and bonny, the very +picture of health and happiness.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Whittingen and Martha vied with one another in their devotion to +him; and either one or other of them was always dancing attendance on +him. It so happened that one afternoon, whilst the servants were +having their tea, Martha found herself alone in the upper part of the +house with her precious nephew. Mr. Whittingen had gone to Edinburgh +to consult his lawyer (the head of the firm with whom Harvey <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>was +articled) on business, whilst Mrs. Whittingen had taken her son and +daughter-in-law for a drive. The weather was glorious, and Martha, +though as little appreciative of the beauties of nature as most +commercial-minded young women, could not but admire the colouring of +the sky as she looked out of the nursery window. The sun had +disappeared, but the effect of its rays was still apparent on the +western horizon, where the heavens were washed with alternate streaks +of gold and red and pink—the colour of each streak excessively +brilliant in the centre, but paling towards the edges. Here and there +were golden, pink-tipped clouds and crimson islets surrounded with +seas of softest blue. And outside the limits of this sun-kissed pale, +the blue of the sky gradually grew darker and darker, until its line +was altogether lost in the black shadows of night that, creeping over +the lone mountain-tops in the far east, slowly swept forward. Wafted +by the gentle breeze came the dull moaning and whispering of the pine +trees, the humming of the wind through the telephone wires, and the +discordant cawing of the crows. And it seemed to Martha, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>as she sat +there and peered out into the garden, that over the whole atmosphere +of the place had come a subtle and hostile change—a change in the +noises of the trees, the birds, the wind; a change in the +flower-scented ether; a change, a most marked and emphatic change, in +the shadows. What was it? What was this change? Whence did it +originate? What did it portend? A slight noise, a most trivial noise, +attracted Martha's attention to the room; she looked round and was +quite startled to see how dark it had grown. In the old days, when she +had scoffed at ghosts, she would as soon have been in the dark as in +the light, the night had no terrors for her; but now—now since those +awful occurrences last year, all was different, and as she peered +apprehensively about her, her flesh crawled. What was there in that +corner opposite, that corner hemmed in on the one side by the +cupboard—how she hated cupboards, particularly when they had shiny +surfaces on which were reflected all sorts of curious things—and the +chest of drawers on the other. It was a shadow, only a shadow, but of +what? She searched the room <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>everywhere to find its material +counterpart, and at last discovered it in the nurse's shawl which hung +over the back of a chair. Then she laughed, and would have gone on +laughing, for she tried to persuade herself that laughter banished +ghosts, when suddenly something else caught her eyes. What was it? An +object that glittered evilly like two eyes. She got up in a state of +the most hideous fascination and walked towards it. Then she laughed +again—it was a pair of scissors. The nurse's scissors—clean, bright, +and sharp. Why did she pick them up and feel the blades so caressingly +with her thumb? Why did she glance from them to the baby? Why? In the +name of God, why? Frightful ideas laid hold of her mind. She tried to +chase them away but they quickly returned. The scissors, why were they +in her fingers? Why could not she put them down? For what were they +intended? Cutting! cutting thread, and tape,—and throats! Throats! +And she giggled hysterically at the bare notion. But what was this +round her waist—this shadowy arm-like object! She looked fearfully +round, and her soul died within her as she encountered the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>malevolent, gleeful eyes of the sinister piper, pressed closely +against her face. Was it she he wanted this time—she, or—or whom—in +the name of all that was pitiable?</p> + +<p>Desperately, as if all the lives in the universe and the future of her +soul were at stake, did she struggle to free herself from his +grasp—but in vain; every fibre, every muscle of her body was +completely at his will. On and on he pushed her, until foot by foot, +inch by inch, she approached the cradle, and all the while his hellish +voice was breathing the vilest of inspirations into her brain. At last +she stood by the side of the baby, and bent over it. What a darling! +What a dear! What a duck! A sweet, pretty, innocent, prattling duck! +How like her mother—how like her handsome brother—how like +herself—very, very like herself! How every one loved it—how every +one worshipped it—how (and here the grey face beside her chuckled) +every one would miss it! How pink its toes—how fat its calves—how +chubby its little palms—how bonny its cheeks—and how white, how +gloriously, heavenly, snowy white—its throat! And <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>she stretched +forth one of her stubby, inartistic fingers and played with its flesh. +Then she glanced furtively at the scissors, and smiled.</p> + +<p>It was soon done, soon over, and she and the grey-faced piper danced a +minuet in the moonbeams; afterwards he piped a farewell dirge,—a +wild, weird, funereal dirge, and, marching slowly backwards, his dark, +gleaming eyes fixed gloatingly on hers, disappeared through the +window. Then the reaction set in, and Martha raved and shrieked till +every one in the house flew to the rescue.</p> + +<p>Of course, no one—saving her father and mother—believed her. Ernest, +his wife, and the servants attributed her bloody act to jealousy; the +law—to madness; and she subsequently journeyed from Donaldgowerie to +a criminal lunatic asylum, where the recollection of all she had done +soon killed her. This was the climax. Mr. Whittingen sold +Donaldgowerie, and a new house was shortly afterwards erected in its +stead.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CASE_XIII" id="CASE_XIII"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE XIII</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE FLOATING HEAD OF THE BENRACHETT INN, +NEAR THE PERTH ROAD, DUNDEE</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE XIII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE FLOATING HEAD OF THE BENRACHETT INN, +NEAR THE PERTH ROAD, DUNDEE</h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>Some years ago, when I was engaged in collecting cases for a book I +contemplated publishing, on <i>Haunted Houses in England and Wales</i>, I +was introduced to an Irish clergyman, whose name I have forgotten, and +whom I have never met since. Had the incident he related taken place +in England or Wales, I should have noted it down carefully, but as it +occurred in Scotland (and I had no intention then of bringing out a +volume on Scottish phantasms), I did not do so.</p> + +<p>My memory, however, I can assure my readers, in spite of the many +ghost tales committed to it,—for scarcely a day passes that I do not +hear one,—seldom fails, and the Irish clergyman's story, which I am +about to relate, comes back to me now with startling vividness.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>One summer evening, early in the eighties, Mr. Murphy—the name by +which I will designate the originator of this story—and his wife +arrived in Dundee. The town was utterly unknown to them, and they were +touring Scotland for the first time. Not knowing where to put up for +the night, and knowing no one to whom they could apply for +information, they consulted a local paper, and from the long list of +hotels and boarding-houses advertised therein selected the Benrachett +Inn, near the Perth Road, as being the one most likely to meet their +modest requirements. They were certainly not disappointed with the +exterior of the hotel they had chosen, for as soon as they saw it they +exclaimed simultaneously, "What a delightful old place!" And old it +certainly was, for the many-gabled, oaken structure and projecting +windows unquestionably indicated the sixteenth century, whilst, to +enhance the effect and give it a true touch in detail of "ye ancient +times," a huge antique lantern was hung over the entrance. Nor did the +interior impress them less favourably. The rooms were large, and low, +the ceilings, walls, floors, and staircase all of oak. The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>diamond-lattice windows, and narrow, tortuous passages, and +innumerable nooks and crannies and cupboards, created an atmosphere of +combined quaintness and comfort that irresistibly appealed to the +Murphys. Viewed under the searching rays of the sun, and cheered by +the voices of the visitors, the interior of the house, for artistic +taste and cheerfulness, would indeed be hard to beat; but, as Mrs. +Murphy's eyes wandered up the stairs and down the corridors, she was +filled with misgivings as to how the place would strike her at night.</p> + +<p>Though not nervous naturally, and by no means superstitious, at night, +when the house was dark and silent, and the moon called forth the +shadows, she was not without that feeling of uneasiness which most +people—even avowed sceptics, experience when passing the night in +strange and novel quarters.</p> + +<p>The room they engaged—I cannot say selected, as, the hotel being +full, they had "Hobson's choice"—was at the end of a very long +passage, at the back of the house, and overlooking the yard. It was a +large apartment, and in one of its several recesses stood the bed, a +gigantic, ebony four-poster, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>with spotlessly clean valance, and, what +was of even greater importance, well-aired sheets. The other furniture +in the room, being of the same sort as that in the majority of +old-fashioned hostels, needs no description; but a fixture in the +shape of a cupboard, a deep, dark cupboard, let into the wall facing +the bed, instantly attracted Mrs. Murphy's attention. There is always +something interesting in cupboards, particularly old and roomy +cupboards, when it is night-time and one is about to get into bed. It +is then that they suggest all manner of fascinating possibilities.</p> + +<p>It was to this cupboard, then, that Mrs. Murphy paid the greatest +attention, before commencing to undress prior to getting into bed. She +poked about in it for some moments, and then, apparently satisfied +that no one was hidden there, continued her investigation of the room. +Mr. Murphy did not assist—he pleaded fatigue, and sat on the corner +of the bed munching a gingerbread and reading the <i>Dundee Advertiser</i> +till the operation was over. He then helped Mrs. Murphy unpack their +portmanteau, and, during the process, whiled away so much time in +conversation, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span>that they were both startled when a clock from some +adjacent church solemnly boomed twelve. They were then seized with +something approaching a panic, and hastened to disrobe.</p> + +<p>"I wish we had a night-light, John," Mrs. Murphy said, as she got up +from her prayers. "I suppose it wouldn't do to keep one of the candles +burning. I am not exactly afraid, only I don't fancy being left in the +dark. I had a curious sensation when I was in the cupboard just now—I +can't exactly explain it—but I feel now that I would like the light +left burning."</p> + +<p>"It certainly is rather a gloomy room," Mr. Murphy remarked, raising +his eyes to the black oak ceiling, and then allowing them to dwell in +turn on each of the angles and recesses. "And I agree with you it +would be nice if we had a night-light, or, better still, gas. But as +we haven't, my dear, and we shall be on our feet a good deal +to-morrow, I think we ought to try and get to sleep as soon as +possible."</p> + +<p>He blew out the candle as he spoke, and quickly scrambled into bed. A +long hush followed, broken only by the sound of breathing, and an +occasional ticking as of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>some long-legged creature on the wall and +window-blind. Mrs. Murphy could never remember if she actually went to +sleep, but she is sure her husband did, as she distinctly heard him +snore—and the sound, so detestable to her as a rule, was so welcome +to her then. She was lying listening to it, and wishing with all her +soul she could get to sleep, when she suddenly became aware of a +smell—a most offensive, pungent odour, that blew across the room and +crept up her nostrils. The cold perspiration of fear at once broke out +on her forehead. Nasty as the smell was, it suggested something more +horrible, something she dared not attempt to analyse. She thought +several times of rousing her husband, but, remembering how tired he +had been, she desisted, and, with all her faculties abnormally on the +alert, she lay awake and listened. A deathlike hush hung over the +house, interrupted at intervals by the surreptitious noises peculiar +to the night—enigmatical creaks and footsteps, rustlings as of +drapery, sighs and whisperings—all very faint, all very subtle, and +all possibly, just possibly, attributable to natural causes. Mrs. +Murphy caught herself—why, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>she could not say—waiting for some +definite auditory manifestation of what she instinctively felt was +near at hand. At present, however, she could not locate it, she could +only speculate on its whereabouts—it was somewhere in the direction +of the cupboard. And each time the stench came to her, the conviction +that its origin was in the cupboard grew. At last, unable to sustain +the suspense any longer, and urged on by an irresistible fascination, +she got softly out of bed, and, creeping stealthily forward, found her +way with surprisingly little difficulty (considering it was pitch dark +and the room was unfamiliar to her) to the cupboard.</p> + +<p>With every step she took the stink increased, and by the time she had +reached the cupboard she was almost suffocated. For some seconds she +toyed irresolutely with the door handle, longing to be back again in +bed, but unable to tear herself away from the cupboard. At last, +yielding to the demands of some pitilessly exacting unknown influence, +she held her breath and swung open the door. The moment she did so the +room filled with the faint, phosphorescent glow of decay, and she +saw, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>exactly opposite her, a head—a human head—floating in mid-air. +Petrified with terror, she lost every atom of strength, and, entirely +bereft of the power to move or articulate a sound, she stood +stock-still staring at it. That it was the head of a man, she could +only guess from the matted crop of short red hair that fell in a +disordered entanglement over the upper part of the forehead and ears. +All else was lost in a loathsome, disgusting mass of detestable +decomposition, too utterly vile and foul to describe. On the abnormal +thing beginning to move forward, the spell that bound Mrs. Murphy to +the floor was broken, and, with a cry of horror, she fled to the bed +and awoke her husband.</p> + +<p>The head was by this time close to them, and had not Mrs. Murphy +dragged her husband forcibly out of its way, it would have touched +him.</p> + +<p>His terror was even greater than hers; but for the moment neither +could speak. They stood clutching one another in an awful silence. +Mrs. Murphy at length gasped out, "Pray, John, pray! Command the thing +in the name of God to depart." Mr. Murphy made a desperate effort to +do so, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>but not a syllable would come. The head now veered round and +was moving swiftly towards them, its awful stench causing them both to +retch and vomit. Mr. Murphy, seizing his stick, lashed at it with all +his might. The result was one they might well have expected. The stick +met with no resistance, and the head continued to advance. Both Mr. +and Mrs. Murphy then made a frantic attempt to find the door, the head +still pursuing them, and, tripping over something in their wild haste, +fell together on the floor. There was now no hope, the head had caught +them up; it hovered immediately above them, and, descending lower, +lower, and lower, finally passed right through them, through the +floor, and out of sight. It was long ere either of them could +sufficiently recover to stir from the floor, and when they did move, +it was only to totter to their bed, and to lie with the bedclothes +well over their heads, quivering and quaking till the morning.</p> + +<p>The hot morning sun dissipating their fears, they got up, and, +hurrying downstairs, demanded an interview with their landlord. It was +in vain the latter argued it was all a nightmare they showed the +absurdity of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>such a theory by vehemently attesting they had both +simultaneously experienced the phenomena. They were about to take +their departure, when the landlord, retracting all he had said, +offered them another room and any terms they liked, "if only they +would stay and hold their tongues."</p> + +<p>"I know every word of what you say is true," he said, in such +submissive tones that the tender hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Murphy +instantly relented, and they promised to remain. "But what am I to do? +I cannot shut up a house which I have taken on a twenty years' lease, +because one room in it is haunted—and, after all, there is only one +visitor in twenty who is disturbed by the apparition. What is the +history of the head? Why, it is said to be that of a pedlar who was +murdered here over a hundred years ago. The body was hidden behind the +wainscoting, and his head under the cupboard floor. The miscreants +were never caught; they are supposed to have gone down in a ship that +sailed from this port just about that time and was never heard of +again."</p> + +<p>This is the gist of the story the clergyman <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span>told me, and, believing +it as I undoubtedly do to be true, there is every reason to suppose +that the inn, to which I have, of course, given a fictitious name, if +still in existence, is still haunted.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span><br /> +<a name="CASE_XIV" id="CASE_XIV"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE XIV</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE HAUNTINGS OF "—— HOUSE," IN THE +NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE GREAT WESTERN ROAD, +ABERDEEN</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE XIV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE HAUNTINGS OF "—— HOUSE," IN THE +NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE GREAT WESTERN ROAD, +ABERDEEN</h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>The following experience of a haunting is that of Mr. Scarfe, who told +it me some few summers ago, expressing at the same time great +eagerness to accompany me on some of my investigations.</p> + +<p>I append it as nearly as possible in his own words:—</p> + +<p>I was spending Easter, he began, with some friends of mine in +Aberdeen, and, learning from them that there was a haunted house in +the immediate vicinity of the Great Western Road, I begged them to try +and get me permission to spend a night in it. As good luck would have +it, the landlord happened to be a connection of theirs, and although +at first rather reluctant to give me leave, lest by doing so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>he +should create a precedent, and, consequently, be pestered to death by +people whom he knew to be as anxious as I was to see the ghost, he +eventually yielded; and, the following evening at 8 p.m., accompanied +only by my dog, Scott, I entered the premises.</p> + +<p>I cannot say I felt very comfortable when the door slammed behind me, +and I found myself standing alone in a cold, dark passage out of which +rose a gloomy staircase, suggestive of all sorts of uncanny +possibilities. However, overcoming these nervous apprehensions as best +I could, I began a thorough search of the premises, to make sure that +no one was hiding there.</p> + +<p>Descending first of all into the basement, I explored the kitchen, +scullery, larder, and other domestic offices. The place fairly reeked +with damp, but this was not to be wondered at, taking in consideration +the fact, that the soil was clay, the floor of the very poorest +quality of cement, cracked and broken in a dozen and one places, and +that there had been no fires in any of the rooms for many months. Here +and there in the darkest corners were clusters of ugly cockroaches, +whilst more <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>than one monstrous rat scampered away on my approach. My +dog, or rather the dog that was lent me, and which went by the name of +Scott, kept close at my heel, showing no very great enthusiasm in his +mission, and giving even the rodents as wide a berth as possible.</p> + +<p>I invariably trust to my psychic faculty (as you know, Mr. O'Donnell, +some people are born with the faculty) to enable me to detect the +presence of the superphysical. I generally feel the latter +incorporated in some inexplicable manner in the ether, or see it +inextricably interwoven with the shadows.</p> + +<p>Here in the basement it was everywhere—the air was simply saturated +with it, and, as the fading sunlight called shadow after shadow into +existence, it confronted me enigmatically whichever way I turned.</p> + +<p>I went upstairs, and the presence followed me. In one or two of the +top bedrooms—more particularly in a tiny garret overlooking the +back-yard—the Presence seemed inclined to hover. For some seconds I +waited there, in order to see if there would be any further +development; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span>there being none—I obeyed the mandates of a sudden +impulse and made my way once more to the basement. On arriving at the +top of the kitchen stairs, Scott showed a decided disinclination to +descend farther. Crouching down, he whined piteously, and when I +attempted to grasp him by the collar, snarled in a most savage manner. +Consequently, thinking it better to have no companion at all than one +so unwilling, I descended without him.</p> + +<p>The stairs terminated in a very dark and narrow passage, into which +the doors of the kitchen, larder, store room, etc., opened +respectively, and at the farther extremity of which was a doorway +leading to the back-yard. The superphysical Presence seeming to be +more pronounced in this passage than anywhere else, I decided to spend +the night in it, and, selecting a spot opposite the entrance to the +scullery, I constructed a seat out of two of the drawers of the +kitchen dresser, by placing them, one on the other, bottom uppermost +on the floor.</p> + +<p>It was now half-past nine; the traffic in the street overhead was +beginning to diminish—the rumbling of drays or heavy four-wheelers +had almost ceased, whilst the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>jingling of hansoms and even the +piercing hoot-hoot and loud birr-birr of motors was fast becoming less +and less frequent. I put out my candle and waited; and, as I waited, +the hush and gloom of the house deepened and intensified, until, by +midnight, all round me was black and silent—black with a blackness +that defies penetration, and silent with a silence that challenges +only the rivalry of the grave. Occasionally I heard sounds—such, for +example, as the creaking of a board, the flopping of a cockroach, and +the growling of Scott—sounds which in the daytime would have been too +trivial to attract attention, but which now assumed the most startling +and exaggerated proportions. From time to time I felt my pulse and +took my temperature to make sure that I was perfectly normal, whilst +at one o'clock, the hour when human vitality begins to be on the wane, +I ate some chicken and ham sandwiches, which I helped down with a +single glass of oatmeal stout. So far, beyond my feeling that there +was a superphysical something in the house, nothing had occurred. +There had not been the slightest attempt at manifestation, and, as the +minutes sped <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>swiftly by I began to fear that, perhaps, after all the +hauntings were only of a negative nature. As the clock struck two, +however, Scott gave an extra savage snarl, and the next moment came +racing downstairs. Darting along the passage and tearing towards me, +he scrambled up the overturned drawers, and, burying his face in my +lap, set up the most piteous whinings. A sensation of icy coldness, +such as could not have been due to any physical cause, now surged +through me; and, as I got out my pocket flashlight ready for +emergencies, I heard an unmistakable rustling in the cellar opposite. +At once my whole attention became riveted in the direction of this +sound, and, as I sat gazing fixedly in front of me, the darkness was +suddenly dissipated and the whole passage, from one end to the other, +was illuminated by a phosphorescent glow; which glow I can best +describe as bearing a close resemblance, in kind though not in degree, +to the glow of a glow-worm. I then saw the scullery door slowly begin +to open. A hideous fear seized me. What—what in the name of Heaven +should I see? Transfixed with terror, unable to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>move or utter a +sound, I crouched against the wall paralysed, helpless; whilst the +door opened wider and wider.</p> + +<p>At last, at last after an interval which to me was eternity, +Something, an as yet indefinite shadowy Something, loomed in the +background of the enlargening space. My suspense was now sublime, and +I felt that another second or so of such tension would assuredly see +me swoon.</p> + +<p>The shadowy Something, however, quickly developed, and, in less time +than it takes to write, it assumed the form of a woman—a middle-aged +woman with a startlingly white face, straight nose, and curiously +lined mouth, the two front upper teeth of which projected considerably +and were very long. Her hair was black, her hands coarse, and red, and +she was clad in the orthodox shabby print of a general servant in some +middle-class family. The expression in her wide-open, glassy blue eyes +as they glared into mine was one of such intense mental and physical +agony that I felt every atom of blood in my veins congeal. Creeping +stealthily forward, her gaze still on me, she emerged from the +doorway, and motioning to me to follow, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>glided up the staircase. Up, +up, we went, the cold, grey dawn greeting us on our way. Entering the +garret to which I have already alluded, the phantasm noiselessly +approached the hearth, and, pointing downward with a violent motion of +the index finger of its right hand, suddenly vanished. A great feeling +of relief now came over me, and, yielding to a reaction which was the +inevitable consequence of such a severe nervous strain, I reeled +against the window-sill and shook with laughter.</p> + +<p>Equanimity at length reasserting itself, I carefully marked the spot +on the floor, indicated by the apparition, and descending into the +basement to fetch Scott, made hurried tracks to my friends' house, +where I was allowed to sleep on till late in the day. I then returned +to the haunted house with the landlord, and my friend, and, on raising +the boarding in the garret, we discovered a stamped and addressed +envelope.</p> + +<p>As the result of our combined inquiries, we learned that a few years +previously the house had been occupied by some tradespeople of the +name of Piblington, who, some six or seven months before they left +the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>house, had had in their employment a servant named Anna Webb. +This servant, the description of whose person corresponded in every +way with the ghost I had seen, had been suspected of stealing a letter +containing money, and had hanged herself in the cellar.</p> + +<p>The letter, I gathered, with several others, had been given to Anna to +post by Mrs. Piblington, and as no reply to the one containing money +was received, Anna was closely questioned. Naturally nervous and +highly strung, the inquisition confused her terribly, and her +embarrassment being construed into guilt, she was threatened with +prosecution. "As a proof of my innocence," she scribbled on a piece of +paper, which was produced at the subsequent inquest, "I am going to +hang myself. I never stole your letter, and can only suppose it was +lost in the post."</p> + +<p>The mere fact of the accused committing suicide would, in many +people's opinion, point to guilt; and as the postal order was never +traced, it was generally concluded that Anna had secreted it, and had +been only waiting till inquiries ceased, and the affair was forgotten, +to cash it. Of course, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>the letter I found was the missing one, and +although apparently hidden with intent, the fact of its never having +been opened seemed to suggest that Anna was innocent, and that the +envelope had, by some extraordinary accident, fallen unnoticed by Anna +through the crack between the boards. Anyhow, its discovery put an end +to the disturbances and the apparition of the unfortunate +suicide—whether guilty or innocent, and the Judgment Day can alone +determine that—has never been seen since.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CASE_XV" id="CASE_XV"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE XV</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE WHITE LADY OF ROWNAM AVENUE, NEAR +STIRLING</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE XV<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE WHITE LADY OF ROWNAM AVENUE, NEAR +STIRLING</h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>Like most European countries, Scotland claims its share of phantasms +in the form of "White Ladies." According to Mr. Ingram, in his +<i>Haunted Houses and Family Legends</i>, the ruins of the mansion of +Woodhouselee are haunted by a woman in white, presumably (though, +personally, I think otherwise) the ghost of Lady Hamilton of +Bothwellhaugh. This unfortunate lady, together with her baby, +was—during the temporary absence of her husband—stripped naked and +turned out of doors on a bitterly cold night, by a favourite of the +Regent Murray. As a result of this inhuman conduct the child died, and +its mother, with the corpse in her arms, was discovered in the morning +raving mad. Another instance of this particular form of apparition is +to be found in Sir Walter Scott's "White Lady of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span>Avenel," and there +are endless others, both in reality and fiction.</p> + +<p>Some years ago, when I was putting up at a friend's house in +Edinburgh, I was introduced to a man who had had several experiences +with ghosts, and had, therefore, been especially asked to meet me. +After we had talked together for some time, he related the following +adventure which had befallen him, in his childhood, in Rownam avenue +(the seat of Sir E.C.), near Stirling:—</p> + +<p>I was always a lover of nature, he began, and my earliest +reminiscences are associated with solitary rambles through the fields, +dells, and copses surrounding my home. I lived within a stone's-throw +of the property of old Sir E.C., who has long gone to rest—God bless +his soul! And I think it needs blessing, for if there was any truth in +local gossip (and it is said, I think truly, that "There is never any +smoke without fire") he had lived a very queer life. Indeed, he was +held in such universal awe and abhorrence that we used to fly at his +approach, and never spoke of him amongst ourselves saving in such +terms as "Auld dour crab," or "The laird deil."</p> + +<p>Rownam Manor House, where he lived, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span>was a fine specimen of +sixteenth-century architecture, and had it been called a castle would +have merited the appellation far more than many of the buildings in +Scotland that bear that name. It was approached by a long avenue of +trees—gigantic elms, oaks, and beeches, that, uniting their branches +overhead in summertime, formed an effectual barrier to the sun's rays. +This avenue had an irresistible attraction for me. It literally +swarmed with rabbits and squirrels, and many are the times I have +trespassed there to watch them. I had a very secure hiding-place in +the hollow of an old oak, where I have often been secreted while Sir +E.C. and his keepers, without casting a glance in my direction, passed +unsuspectingly by, vowing all sorts of vengeance against trespassers.</p> + +<p>Of course, I had to be very careful how I got there, for the grounds +were well patrolled, and Sir E.C. had sworn to prosecute anyone he +caught walking in them without his permission. Had Sir E.C. caught me, +I should, doubtless, have been treated with the utmost severity, since +he and my father were the most bitter opponents politically, and for +that reason, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>unreasonable though it be, never lost an opportunity of +insulting one another. My father, a strong Radical, was opposed to all +big landed proprietors, and consequently winked his eye at my +trespassings; but I think nothing would really have pleased him better +than to have seen me brought to book by Sir E.C., since in my defence +he would have had an opportunity of appealing to the passions of the +local people, who were all Radicals, and of incensing them still +further against the principles of feudalism.</p> + +<p>But to continue. I had often heard it rumoured in the village that +Rownam avenue was haunted, and that the apparition was a lady in +white, and no other than Sir E.C.'s wife, whose death at a very early +age had been hastened, if not entirely accounted for, by her husband's +harsh treatment. Whether Sir E.C. was really as black as he was +painted I have never been able to ascertain; the intense animosity +with which we all regarded him, made us believe anything ill of him, +and we were quite ready to attribute all the alleged hauntings in the +neighbourhood to his past misdeeds. I believe my family, with scarcely +an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>exception, believed in ghosts; anyhow, the subject of ghosts was +so often discussed in my hearing that I became possessed of an +ungovernable curiosity to see one. If only "The White Lady" would +appear in the daytime, I thought, I should have no difficulty in +satisfying this curiosity, but unfortunately she did not appear till +night—in fact, not until long after boys of my age had been +ruthlessly ordered off to bed. I did not quite like the idea of +stealing out of the house at dead of night and going alone to see the +ghost, so I suggested to my schoolfellow that he should also break +loose one night and accompany me to Rownam to see "The White Lady." It +was, however, of no use. Much as he would have liked to have seen a +ghost in broad daylight, it was quite another matter at night, to say +nothing of running the risk of being caught trespassing by that +inveterate enemy, Sir E.C. At length, finding that neither persuasion, +bribery, nor taunts of cowardice had any effect on my schoolfellow, +who could not decide which appearance would be the more appalling, +for,—he assured me I should be certain to encounter either one or the +other—the White Lady, or the Laird Deil,—I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>gave up all further +effort to induce him to accompany me, and made up my mind to go to +Rownam avenue alone.</p> + +<p>Biding my opportunity, and waiting till my father was safely out of +the way,—on a visit to Greenock, where some business transaction +would oblige him to remain for some days,—I climbed out of my bedroom +window, when I deemed the rest of the household to be sound asleep, +scudded swiftly across the fields, and, making short work of the lofty +wall that formed the southernmost boundary of the Rownam estates, +quickly made my way to the avenue. It was an ideal Sunday night in +August, and it seemed as if all nature participated in the Sabbath +abstraction from noise and work. Hardly a sound broke the exquisite +silence of the woods. At times, overcome with the delightful sensation +of freedom, I paused, and, raising my eyes to the starry heavens, +drank in huge draughts of the pure country air, tainted only with the +sweet smell of newly mown hay, and the scent of summer flowers. I +became intoxicated, delirious, and in transports of joy threw myself +on the soft mossy ground, and, baring my throat and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>chest, bathed +myself in the moonbeams' kisses. Then, picking myself slowly up, I +performed the maddest capers, and, finally sobering down, continued my +course. Every now and again fancying I detected the stealthy footsteps +of a keeper, I hid behind a tree, where I remained till I was quite +assured I had been mistaken, and that no one was about. How long I +dallied I do not know, but it must have been fully one o'clock before +I arrived at the outskirts of the avenue, and, advancing eagerly, +ensconced myself in my favourite sanctuary, the hollow oak. All was +hushed and motionless, and, as I gazed into the gloom, I became +conscious, for the first time in my life, of a sensation of eeriness. +The arched canopy of foliage overhead was strongly suggestive of a +funeral pall; not a glimmer of moonlight penetrated through it; and +all beneath seemed to me to be buried in the silence and blackness of +the grave.</p> + +<p>The loneliness got on my nerves; at first I grew afraid, only afraid, +and then my fears turned into a panic, a wild, mad panic, consisting +in the one desire to get where there were human beings—creatures I +knew and understood. With this end <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>in view I emerged from my retreat, +and was preparing to fly through the wood, when, from afar off, there +suddenly came the sound of a voice, the harsh, grating voice of a man. +Convinced this time that I had been discovered by a keeper, I jumped +back into the tree, and, swarming up the inside of the trunk, peeped +cautiously out. What I saw nearly made me jump out of my skin. +Advancing along the avenue was the thing I had always longed to see, +and for which I had risked so much: the mysterious, far-famed "Lady in +White,"—a ghost, an actual, <i>bona fide</i> ghost! How every nerve in my +body thrilled with excitement, and my heart thumped—till it seemed on +the verge of bursting through my ribs! "The Lady in White!" Why, it +would be the talk of the whole countryside! Some one had <i>really</i>—no +hearsay evidence—seen the notorious apparition at last. How all my +schoolfellows would envy me, and how bitterly they would chide +themselves for being too cowardly to accompany me! I looked at her +closely, and noticed that she was entirely luminous, emitting a strong +phosphorescent glow like the glow of a glow-worm, saving that it was +in a perpetual <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>state of motion. She wore a quantity of white drapery +swathed round her in a manner that perplexed me sorely, until I +suddenly realised with a creeping of my flesh that it must be a +winding-sheet, that burial accessary so often minutely described to me +by the son of the village undertaker. Though interesting, I did not +think it at all becoming, and would have preferred to see any other +style of garment. Streaming over her neck and shoulders were thick +masses of long, wavy, golden hair, which was ruffled, but only +slightly ruffled, by the gentle summer breeze. Her face, though +terrifying by reason of its unearthly pallor, was so beautiful, that, +had not some restraining influence compelled me to remain in hiding, I +would have descended from my perch to obtain a nearer view of it. +Indeed, I only once caught a glimpse of her full face, for, with a +persistence that was most annoying, she kept it turned from me; but in +that brief second the lustre of her long, blue eyes won my very soul, +and boy as I was I felt, like the hero in song, that I would, for my +bonnie ghost, in very deed, "lay me doon and dee."</p> + +<p>Her eyes are still firmly impressed on my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>memory; I shall never +forget them, any more than I shall forget the dainty curves of her +full red lips and the snowy whiteness of her perfect teeth. Nothing, I +thought, either on earth or in heaven could have been half so lovely, +and I was so enraptured that it was not until she was directly beneath +me that I perceived she was not alone, that walking by her side, with +one arm round her waist, his face and figure illuminated with the +light from her body, was Sir E.C. But how changed! Gone were the deep +black scowl, the savage tightening of the jaws, and the intensely +disagreeable expression that had earned for him the nickname of "The +laird deil," and in their stead I saw <i>love</i>—nothing but blind, +infatuated, soul-devouring <i>love</i>—love for which no words can find an +adequate description.</p> + +<p>Throwing discretion to the wind—for my excitement and curiosity had +risen to the highest pitch—I now thrust more than half my body out of +the hole in the trunk. The next instant, with a cry of dismay, I +pitched head first on to the ground.</p> + +<p>It would seem that boys, like cats, cannot in ordinary circumstances +be killed, and, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>instead of breaking my neck, I merely suffered that +most immaterial injury—immaterial, at least, in my case—a temporary +disendowment of the senses. On regaining the few wits I could lay +claim to, I fully expected to find myself in the hands of the irate +laird, who would seize me by the scruff of the neck and belabour me to +pieces. Consequently, too frightened to move, I lay absolutely still +with my eyes shut. But as the minutes glided by and nothing happened, +I picked myself up. All was quiet and pitch dark—not a vestige of the +"Lady in White"—not a vestige of Sir E.C.</p> + +<p>It did not take me very long to get out of the wood and home. I ran +all the way, and as it was still early—far too early for any of the +household to be astir, I crept up to my bedroom unobserved. But not to +sleep, oh dear me, no! not to sleep, for the moment I blew the candle +out and got into bed, reaction set in, and I suffered agonies of fear!</p> + +<p>When I went to school in the morning, my equilibrium restored, and, +bubbling over with excitement to tell the boys what had happened, I +received another shock—before I could ejaculate a word of my +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>experiences, I was told—told with a roar and shout that almost broke +the drum of my ears, that "the auld laird deil" was dead! His body had +been found stretched on the ground, a few feet from the hollow oak, in +the avenue shortly after sunrise. He had died from syncope, so the +doctor said, that had probably been caused by a shock—some severe +mental shock.</p> + +<p>I did not tell my companions of my night's adventure after all. My +eagerness to do so had departed when I heard of "the auld laird's" +death.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CASE_XVI" id="CASE_XVI"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE XVI</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE GHOST OF THE HINDOO CHILD, OR THE +HAUNTINGS OF THE WHITE DOVE HOTEL, NEAR +ST. SWITHIN'S STREET, ABERDEEN</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE XVI<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>THE GHOST OF THE HINDOO CHILD, OR THE +HAUNTINGS OF THE WHITE DOVE HOTEL, NEAR +ST. SWITHIN'S STREET, ABERDEEN</h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>In the course of many years' investigation of haunted houses, I have +naturally come in contact with numerous people who have had first-hand +experiences with the Occult. Nurse Mackenzie is one of these people. I +met her for the first time last year at the house of my old friend, +Colonel Malcolmson, whose wife she was nursing.</p> + +<p>For some days I was hardly aware she was in the house, the illness of +her patient keeping her in constant seclusion, but when Mrs. +Malcolmson grew better, I not infrequently saw her, taking a morning +"constitutional" in the beautiful castle grounds. It was on one of +these occasions that she favoured me with an account of her psychical +adventure.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>It happened, she began, shortly after I had finished my term as +probationer at St. K.'s Hospital, Edinburgh. A letter was received at +the hospital one morning with the urgent request that two nurses +should be sent to a serious case near St. Swithin's Street. As the +letter was signed by a well-known physician in the town, it received +immediate attention, and Nurse Emmett and I were dispatched, as day +and night nurses respectively, to the scene of action. My hours on +duty were from 9 p.m. till 9 a.m. The house in which the patient was +located was the White Dove Hotel, a thoroughly respectable and +well-managed establishment. The proprietor knew nothing about the +invalid, except that her name was Vining, and that she had, at one +period of her career, been an actress. He had noticed that she had +looked ill on her arrival the previous week. Two days after her +arrival, she had complained of feeling very ill, and the doctor, who +had been summoned to attend her, said that she was suffering from a +very loathsome Oriental disease, which, fortunately is, in this +country, rare. The hotel, though newly decorated and equipped +throughout with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>every up-to-date convenience, was in reality very +old. It was one of those delightfully roomy erections that seem built +for eternity rather than time, and for comfort rather than economy of +space. The interior, with its oak-panelled walls, polished oak floors, +and low ceilings, traversed with ponderous oaken beams, also impressed +me pleasantly, whilst a flight of broad, oak stairs, fenced with +balustrades a foot thick, brought me to a seemingly interminable +corridor, into which the door of Miss Vining's room opened. It was a +low, wainscoted apartment, and its deep-set window, revealing the +thickness of the wall, looked out upon a dismal yard littered with +brooms and buckets. Opposite the foot of the bed—a modern French +bedstead, by the bye, whose brass fittings and somewhat flimsy +hangings were strangely incongruous with their venerable +surroundings—was an ingle, containing the smouldering relics of what +had doubtless been intended for a fire, but which needed considerable +coaxing before it could be converted from a pretence to a reality. +There was no exit save by the doorway I had entered, and no furniture +save a couple of rush-bottomed chairs and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>a table strewn with an +untidy medley of writing materials and medicine bottles.</p> + +<p>A feeling of depression, contrasting strangely with the effect +produced on me by the cheerfulness of the hotel in general, seized me +directly I entered the room. Despite the brilliancy of the electric +light and the new and gaudy bed-hangings, the air was full of gloom—a +gloom which, for the very reason that it was unaccountable, was the +more alarming. I felt it hanging around me like the undeveloped shadow +of something singularly hideous and repulsive, and, on my approaching +the sick woman, it seemed to thrust itself in my way and force me +back.</p> + +<p>Miss Vining was decidedly good-looking; she had the typically +theatrical features—neatly moulded nose and chin, curly yellow hair, +and big, dreamy blue eyes that especially appeal to a certain class of +men; like most women, however, I prefer something more solid, both +physically and intellectually—I cannot stand "the pretty, pretty." +She was, of course, far too ill to converse, and, beyond a few +desultory and spasmodic ejaculations, maintained a rigid silence. As +there was no occasion <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>for me to sit close beside her, I drew up a +chair before the fire, placing myself in such a position as to command +a full view of the bed. My first night passed undisturbed by any +incident, and in the morning the condition of my patient showed a +slight improvement. It was eight o'clock in the evening when I came on +duty again, and, the weather having changed during the day, the whole +room echoed and re-echoed with the howling of the wind, which was +raging round the house with demoniacal fury.</p> + +<p>I had been at my post for a little over two hours—and had just +registered my patient's temperature, when, happening to look up from +the book I was reading, I saw to my surprise that the chair beside the +head of the bed was occupied by a child—a tiny girl. How she had come +into the room without attracting my attention was certainly +extraordinary, and I could only suppose that the shrieking of the wind +down the wide chimney had deadened the sound of the door and her +footsteps.</p> + +<p>I was naturally, of course, very indignant that she had dared to come +in without rapping, and, getting up from my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>seat I was preparing to +address her and bid her go, when she lifted a wee white hand and +motioned me back. I obeyed because I could not help myself—her action +was accompanied by a peculiar,—an unpleasantly peculiar, expression +that held me spellbound; and without exactly knowing why, I stood +staring at her, tongue-tied and trembling. As her face was turned +towards the patient, and she wore, moreover, a very wide-brimmed hat, I +could see nothing of her features; but from her graceful little figure +and dainty limbs, I gathered that she was probably both beautiful and +aristocratic. Her dress, though not perhaps of the richest quality, was +certainly far from shoddy, and there was something in its style and +make that suggested foreign nationality,—Italy—or Spain—or South +America—or even the Orient, the probability of the latter being +strengthened by her pose, which was full of the serpent-like ease which +is characteristic of the East. I was so taken up with watching her that +I forgot all about my patient, until a prolonged sigh from the bed +reminded me of her existence. With an effort I then advanced, and was +about to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>approach the bed, when the child, without moving her head, +motioned me back, and—again I was helpless. The vision I had obtained +of the sick woman, brief though it was, filled me with alarm. She was +tossing to and fro on the blankets, and breathing in the most agonised +manner as if in delirium, or enthralled by some particularly dreadful +nightmare. Her condition so frightened me, that I made the most frantic +efforts to overcome my inertia. I did not succeed, however, and at +last, utterly overcome by my exertion, I closed my eyes. When I opened +them again, the chair by the bed was vacant—the child had gone. A +tremendous feeling of relief surged through me, and, jumping out of my +seat, I hastened to the bedside—my patient was worse, the fever had +increased, and she was delirious. I took her temperature. It was 104. I +now sat close beside her, and my presence apparently had a soothing +effect. She speedily grew calmer, and after taking her medicine +gradually sank into a gentle sleep which lasted until late in the +morning. When I left her she had altogether recovered from the relapse. +I, of course, told the doctor <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>of the child's visit, and he was very +angry.</p> + +<p>"Whatever happens, Nurse," he said, "take care that no one enters the +room to-night; the patient's condition is far too critical for her to +see any one, even her own daughter. You must keep the door locked."</p> + +<p>Armed with this mandate, I went on duty the following night with a +somewhat lighter heart, and, after locking the door, once again sat by +the fire. During the day there had been a heavy fall of snow; the wind +had abated, and the streets were now as silent as the grave.</p> + +<p>Ten, eleven, and twelve o'clock struck, and my patient slept +tranquilly. At a quarter to one, however, I was abruptly roused from a +reverie by a sob, a sob of fear and agony that proceeded from the bed. +I looked, and there—there, seated in the same posture as on the +previous evening, was the child. I sprang to my feet with an +exclamation of amazement. She raised her hand, and, as before, I +collapsed—spellbound—paralysed. No words of mine can convey all the +sensations I experienced as I sat there, forced to listen to the +moaning and groaning of the woman whose fate <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span>had been entrusted to my +keeping. Every second she grew worse, and each sound rang in my ears +like the hammering of nails in her coffin. How long I endured such +torment I cannot say, I dare not think, for, though the clock was +within a few feet of me, I never once thought of looking at it. At +last the child rose, and, moving slowly from the bed, advanced with +bowed head towards the window. The spell was broken. With a cry of +indignation I literally bounded over the carpet and faced the +intruder.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" I hissed. "Tell me your name instantly! How dare you +enter this room without my permission?"</p> + +<p>As I spoke she slowly raised her head. I snatched at her hat. It +melted away in my hands, and, to my unspeakable terror, my undying +terror, I looked into the face of a corpse!—the corpse of a Hindoo +child, with a big, gaping cut in its throat. In its lifetime the child +had, without doubt, been lovely; it was now horrible—horrible with +all the ghastly disfigurements, the repellent disfigurements, of a +long consignment to the grave. I fainted, and, on recovering, found my +ghostly visitor had vanished, and that my patient was dead. One of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>her hands was thrown across her eyes, as if to shut out some object on +which she feared to look, whilst the other grasped the counterpane +convulsively.</p> + +<p>It fell to my duty to help pack up her belongings, and among her +letters was a large envelope bearing the postmark "Quetta." As we were +on the look-out for some clue as to the address of her relatives, I +opened it. It was merely the cabinet-size photograph of a Hindoo +child, but I recognised the dress immediately—it was that of my +ghostly visitor. On the back of it were these words: "Natalie. May God +forgive us both."</p> + +<p>Though we made careful inquiries for any information as to Natalie and +Miss Vining in Quetta, and advertised freely in the leading London +papers, we learned nothing, and in time we were forced to let the +matter drop. As far as I know, the ghost of the Hindoo child has never +been seen again, but I have heard that the hotel is still +haunted—haunted by a woman.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<a name="CASE_XVII" id="CASE_XVII"></a><hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>CASE XVII</h1> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>GLAMIS CASTLE</h3> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span><br /> +<hr /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span><br /> + +<h3>CASE XVII<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">ToC</a></span></h3> + +<div class="block2"> +<h3>GLAMIS CASTLE</h3> +</div> + +<br /> + +<p>Of all the hauntings in Scotland, none has gained such widespread +notoriety as the hauntings of Glamis Castle, the seat of the Earl of +Strathmore and Kinghorne in Forfarshire.</p> + +<p>Part of the castle—that part which is the more frequently haunted—is +of ancient though uncertain date, and if there is any truth in the +tradition that Duncan was murdered there by Macbeth, must, at any +rate, have been in existence at the commencement of the eleventh +century. Of course, extra buildings have, from time to time, been +added, and renovations made; but the original structure remains pretty +nearly the same as it always has been, and is included in a square +tower that occupies a central position, and commands a complete view +of the entire castle.</p> + +<p>Within this tower—the walls of which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>are fifteen feet thick—there +is a room, hidden in some unsuspected quarter, that contains a secret +(the keynote to one, at least, of the hauntings) which is known only +to the Earl, his heir (on the attainment of his twenty-first +birthday), and the factor of the estate.</p> + +<p>In all probability, the mystery attached to this room would challenge +but little attention, were it not for the fact that unearthly noises, +which at the time were supposed to proceed from this chamber, have +been heard by various visitors sleeping in the Square Tower.</p> + +<p>The following experience is said to have happened to a lady named +Bond. I append it more or less in her own words.</p> + +<hr style='width: 5%;' /> + +<p>It is a good many years since I stayed at Glamis. I was, in fact, but +little more than a child, and had only just gone through my first +season in town. But though young, I was neither nervous nor +imaginative; I was inclined to be what is termed stolid, that is to +say, extremely matter-of-fact and practical. Indeed, when my friends +exclaimed, "You don't mean to say you are going to stay at Glamis! +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>Don't you know it's haunted?" I burst out laughing.</p> + +<p>"Haunted!" I said, "how ridiculous! There are no such things as +ghosts. One might as well believe in fairies."</p> + +<p>Of course I did not go to Glamis alone—my mother and sister were with +me; but whereas they slept in the more modern part of the castle, I +was, at my own request, apportioned a room in the Square Tower.</p> + +<p>I cannot say that my choice had anything to do with the secret +chamber. That, and the alleged mystery, had been dinned into my ears +so often that I had grown thoroughly sick of the whole thing. No, I +wanted to sleep in the Square Tower for quite a different reason, a +reason of my own. I kept an aviary; the tower was old; and I naturally +hoped its walls would be covered with ivy and teeming with birds' +nests, some of which I might be able to reach—and, I am ashamed to +say, plunder—from my window.</p> + +<p>Alas, for my expectations! Although the Square Tower was so ancient +that in some places it was actually crumbling away—not the sign of a +leaf, not the vestige <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>of a bird's nest could I see anywhere; the +walls were abominably, brutally bare. However, it was not long before +my disappointment gave way to delight; for the air that blew in +through the open window was so sweet, so richly scented with heather +and honeysuckle, and the view of the broad, sweeping, thickly wooded +grounds so indescribably charming, that, despite my inartistic and +unpoetical nature, I was entranced—entranced as I had never been +before, and never have been since. "Ghosts!" I said to myself, +"ghosts! how absurd! how preposterously absurd! such an adorable spot +as this can only harbour sunshine and flowers."</p> + +<p>I well remember, too—for, as I have already said, I was not +poetical—how much I enjoyed my first dinner at Glamis. The long +journey and keen mountain air had made me hungry, and I thought I had +never tasted such delicious food—such ideal salmon (from the Esk) and +such heavenly fruit. But I must tell you that, although I ate +heartily, as a healthy girl should, by the time I went to bed I had +thoroughly digested my meal, and was, in fact, quite ready to partake +of a few <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span>oatmeal biscuits I found in my dressing-case, and remembered +having bought at Perth. It was about eleven o'clock when my maid left +me, and I sat for some minutes wrapped in my dressing gown, before the +open window. The night was very still, and save for an occasional +rustle of the wind in the distant tree-tops, the hooting of an owl, +the melancholy cry of a peewit and the hoarse barking of a dog, the +silence was undisturbed.</p> + +<p>The interior of my room was, in nearly every particular, modern. The +furniture was not old; there were no grim carvings; no +grotesquely-fashioned tapestries on the walls; no dark cupboards; no +gloomy corners;—all was cosy and cheerful, and when I got into bed +no thought of bogle or mystery entered my mind.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes I was asleep, and for some time there was nothing but +a blank—a blank in which all identity was annihilated. Then suddenly +I found myself in an oddly-shaped room with a lofty ceiling, and a +window situated at so great a distance from the black oaken floor as +to be altogether inaccessible from within. Feeble gleams of +phosphorescent light made <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>their way through the narrow panes, and +served to render distinct the more prominent objects around; but my +eyes struggled in vain to reach the remoter angles of the wall, one of +which inspired me with terror such as I had never felt before. The +walls were covered with heavy draperies that were sufficient in +themselves to preclude the possibility of any save the loudest of +sounds penetrating without.</p> + +<p>The furniture, if such one could call it, puzzled me. It seemed more +fitted for the cell of a prison or lunatic asylum, or even for a +kennel, than for an ordinary dwelling-room. I could see no chair, only +a coarse deal table, a straw mattress, and a kind of trough. An air of +irredeemable gloom and horror hung over and pervaded everything. As I +stood there, I felt I was waiting for something—something that was +concealed in the corner of the room I dreaded. I tried to reason with +myself, to assure myself that there was nothing there that could hurt +me, nothing that could even terrify me, but my efforts were in +vain—my fears grew. Had I had some definite knowledge as to the cause +of my alarm I should not have suffered so much, but it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>was my +ignorance of what was there, of what I feared, that made my terror so +poignant. Each second saw the agony of my suspense increase. I dared +not move. I hardly dare breathe, and I dreaded lest the violent +pulsation of my heart should attract the attention of the Unknown +Presence and precipitate its coming out. Yet despite the perturbation +of my mind, I caught myself analysing my feelings. It was not danger I +abhorred so much, as its absolute effect—fright. I shuddered at the +bare thought of what result the most trivial incident—the creaking of +a board, ticking of a beetle, or hooting of an owl—might have on the +intolerable agitation of my soul.</p> + +<p>In this unnerved and pitiable condition I felt that the period was +bound to come, sooner or later, when I should have to abandon life and +reason together in the most desperate of struggles with—fear.</p> + +<p>At length, something moved. An icy chill ran through my frame, and the +horror of my anticipations immediately reached its culminating point. +The Presence was about to reveal itself.</p> + +<p>The gentle rubbing of a soft body on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>floor, the crack of a bony +joint, breathing, another crack, and then—was it my own excited +imagination—or the disturbing influence of the atmosphere—or the +uncertain twilight of the chamber that produced before me, in the +stygian darkness of the recess, the vacillating and indistinct outline +of something luminous, and horrid? I would gladly have risked futurity +to have looked elsewhere—I could not. My eyes were fixed—I was +compelled to gaze steadily in front of me.</p> + +<p>Slowly, very slowly, the thing, whatever it was, took shape. +Legs—crooked, misshapen, human legs. A body—tawny and hunched. +Arms—long and spidery, with crooked, knotted fingers. A head—large +and bestial, and covered with a tangled mass of grey hair that hung +around its protruding forehead and pointed ears in ghastly mockery of +curls. A face—and herein was the realisation of all my direst +expectations—a face—white and staring, piglike in formation, +malevolent in expression; a hellish combination of all things foul and +animal, and yet withal not without a touch of pathos.</p> + +<p>As I stared at it aghast, it reared itself <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>on its haunches after the +manner of an ape, and leered piteously at me. Then, shuffling forward, +it rolled over, and lay sprawled out like some ungainly turtle—and +wallowed, as for warmth, in the cold grey beams of early dawn.</p> + +<p>At this juncture the handle of the chamber door turned, some one +entered, there was a loud cry—and I awoke—awoke to find the whole +tower, walls and rafters, ringing with the most appalling screams I +have ever heard,—screams of some thing or of some one—for there was +in them a strong element of what was human as well as animal—in the +greatest distress.</p> + +<p>Wondering what it meant, and more than ever terrified, I sat up in bed +and listened,—listened whilst a conviction—the result of intuition, +suggestion, or what you will, but a conviction all the same—forced me +to associate the sounds with the thing in my dream. And I associate +them still.</p> + +<hr style='width: 5%;' /> + +<p>It was, I think, in the same year—in the year that the foregoing +account was narrated to me—that I heard another story of the +hauntings at Glamis, a story in connection with a lady whom I will +call <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>Miss Macginney. I append her experience as nearly as possible as +she is stated to have told it.</p> + +<hr style='width: 5%;' /> + +<p>I seldom talk about my adventure, Miss Maginney announced, because so +many people ridicule the superphysical, and laugh at the mere mention +of ghosts. I own I did the same myself till I stayed at Glamis; but a +week there quite cured me of scepticism, and I came away a confirmed +believer.</p> + +<p>The incident occurred nearly twenty years ago—shortly after my return +from India, where my father was then stationed.</p> + +<p>It was years since I had been to Scotland, indeed I had only once +crossed the border and that when I was a babe; consequently I was +delighted to receive an invitation to spend a few weeks in the land of +my birth. I went to Edinburgh first—I was born in Drumsheugh +Gardens—and thence to Glamis.</p> + +<p>It was late in the autumn, the weather was intensely cold, and I +arrived at the castle in a blizzard. Indeed, I do not recollect ever +having been out in such a frightful storm. It was as much as the +horses could do to make headway, and when we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>reached the castle we +found a crowd of anxious faces eagerly awaiting us in the hall.</p> + +<p>Chilled! I was chilled to the bone, and thought I never should thaw. +But the huge fires and bright and cosy atmosphere of the rooms—for +the interior of Glamis was modernised throughout—soon set me right, +and by tea time I felt nicely warm and comfortable.</p> + +<p>My bedroom was in the oldest part of the castle—the Square Tower—but +although I had been warned by some of the guests that it might be +haunted, I can assure you that when I went to bed no subject was +farther from my thoughts than the subject of ghosts. I returned to my +room at about half-past eleven. The storm was then at its height—all +was babel and confusion—impenetrable darkness mingled with the +wildest roaring and shrieking; and when I peeped through my casement +window I could see nothing—the panes were shrouded in snow—snow +which was incessantly dashed against them with cyclonic fury. I fixed +a comb in the window-frame so as not to be kept awake by the constant +jarring; and with the caution characteristic of my sex looked <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span>into +the wardrobe and under the bed for burglars—though Heaven knows what +I should have done had I found one there—placed a candlestick and +matchbox on the table by my bedside, lest the roof or window should be +blown in during the night or any other catastrophe happen, and after +all these preparations got into bed. At this period of my life I was a +sound sleeper, and, being somewhat unusually tired after my journey, I +was soon in a dreamless slumber. What awoke me I cannot say, but I +came to myself with a violent start, such as might have been +occasioned by a loud noise. Indeed, that was, at first, my impression, +and I strained my ears to try and ascertain the cause of it. All was, +however, silent. The storm had abated, and the castle and grounds were +wrapped in an almost preternatural hush. The sky had cleared, and the +room was partially illuminated by a broad stream of silvery light that +filtered softly in through the white and tightly drawn blinds. A +feeling that there was something unnatural in the air, that the +stillness was but the prelude to some strange and startling event, +gradually came over <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>me. I strove to reason with myself, to argue that +the feeling was wholly due to the novelty of my surroundings, but my +efforts were fruitless. And soon there stole upon me a sensation to +which I had been hitherto an utter stranger—I became afraid. An +irrepressible tremor pervaded my frame, my teeth chattered, my blood +froze. Obeying an impulse—an impulse I could not resist, I lifted +myself up from the pillows, and, peering fearfully into the shadowy +glow that lay directly in front of me—listened. Why I listened I do +not know, saving that an instinctive spirit prompted me. At first I +could hear nothing, and then, from a direction I could not define, +there came a noise, low, distinct, uninterpretative. It was repeated +in rapid succession, and speedily construed itself into the sound of +mailed footsteps racing up the long flight of stairs at the end of the +corridor leading to my room. Dreading to think what it might be, and +seized with a wild sentiment of self-preservation, I made frantic +endeavours to get out of bed and barricade my door. My limbs, however, +refused to move. I was paralysed. Nearer and nearer drew the sounds; +and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>I could at length distinguish, with a clearness that petrified my +very soul, the banging and clanging of sword scabbards, and the +panting and gasping of men, sore pressed in a wild and desperate race. +And then the meaning of it all came to me with hideous abruptness—it +was a case of pursued and pursuing—the race was for—<span class="sc">life</span>. +Outside my door the fugitive halted, and from the noise he made in +trying to draw his breath, I knew he was dead beat. His antagonist, +however, gave him but scant time for recovery. Bounding at him with +prodigious leaps, he struck him a blow that sent him reeling with such +tremendous force against the door, that the panels, although composed +of the stoutest oak, quivered and strained like flimsy matchboard.</p> + +<p>The blow was repeated; the cry that rose in the victim's throat was +converted into an abortive gurgling groan; and I heard the ponderous +battle-axe carve its way through helmet, bone, and brain. A moment +later came the sound of slithering armour; and the corpse, slipping +sideways, toppled to the ground with a sonorous clang.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>A silence too awful for words now ensued. Having finished his hideous +handiwork, the murderer was quietly deliberating what to do next; +whilst my dread of attracting his attention was so great that I +scarcely dare breathe. This intolerable state of things had already +lasted for what seemed to me a lifetime, when, glancing involuntarily +at the floor, I saw a stream of dark-looking fluid lazily lapping its +way to me from the direction of the door. Another moment and it would +reach my shoes. In my dismay I shrieked aloud. There was a sudden stir +without, a significant clatter of steel, and the next moment—despite +the fact that it was locked—the door slowly opened. The limits of my +endurance had now happily been reached, the over-taxed valves of my +heart could stand no more—I fainted. On my awakening to consciousness +it was morning, and the welcome sun rays revealed no evidences of the +distressing drama. I own I had a hard tussle before I could make up my +mind to spend another night in that room; and my feelings as I shut +the door on my retreating maid, and prepared to get into bed, were not +the most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span>enviable. But nothing happened, nor did I again experience +anything of the sort till the evening before I left. I had lain down +all the afternoon—for I was tired after a long morning's tramp on the +moors, a thing I dearly love—and I was thinking it was about time to +get up, when a dark shadow suddenly fell across my face.</p> + +<p>I looked up hastily, and there, standing by my bedside and bending +over me, was a gigantic figure in bright armour.</p> + +<p>Its visor was up, and what I saw within the casque is stamped for ever +on my memory. It was the face of the dead—the long since dead—with +the expression—the subtly hellish expression—of the living. As I +gazed helplessly at it, it bent lower. I threw up my hands to ward it +off. There was a loud rap at the door. And as my maid softly entered +to tell me tea was ready—it vanished.</p> + +<hr style='width: 5%;' /> + +<p>The third account of the Glamis hauntings was told me as long ago as +the summer of 1893. I was travelling by rail from Perth to Glasgow, +and the only other occupant of my compartment was an elderly +gentleman, who, from his general <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>air and appearance, might have been +a dominie, or member of some other learned profession. I can see him +in my mind's eye now—a tall, thin man with a premature stoop. He had +white hair, which was brushed forward on either side of his head in +such a manner as suggested a wig; bushy eyebrows; dark, piercing eyes; +and a stern, though somewhat sad, mouth. His features were fine and +scholarly; he was clean-shaven. There was something about +him—something that marked him from the general horde—something that +attracted me, and I began chatting with him soon after we left Perth.</p> + +<p>In the course of a conversation, that was at all events interesting to +me, I adroitly managed to introduce the subject of ghosts—then, as +ever, uppermost in my thoughts.</p> + +<hr style='width: 5%;' /> + +<p>Well, he said, I can tell you of something rather extraordinary that +my mother used to say happened to a friend of hers at Glamis. I have +no doubt you are well acquainted with the hackneyed stories in +connection with the hauntings at the castle; for example, Earl Beardie +playing cards with the Devil, and The Weeping <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>Woman without Hands or +Tongue. You can read about them in scores of books and magazines. But +what befel my mother's friend, whom I will call Mrs. Gibbons—for I +have forgotten her proper name—was apparently of a novel nature. The +affair happened shortly before Mrs. Gibbons died, and I always thought +that what took place might have been, in some way, connected with her +death.</p> + +<p>She had driven over to the castle one day—during the absence of the +owner—to see her cousin, who was in the employ of the Earl and +Countess. Never having been at Glamis before, but having heard so much +about it, Mrs. Gibbons was not a little curious to see that part of +the building, called the Square Tower, that bore the reputation of +being haunted.</p> + +<p>Tactfully biding an opportunity, she sounded her relative on the +subject, and was laughingly informed that she might go anywhere about +the place she pleased, saving to one spot, namely, "Bluebeard's +Chamber"; and there she could certainly never succeed in poking her +nose, as its locality was known only to three people, all of whom were +pledged never to reveal it. At <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>the commencement of her tour of +inspection, Mrs. Gibbons was disappointed—she was disappointed in the +Tower. She had expected to see a gaunt, grim place, crumbling to +pieces with age, full of blood-curdling, spiral staircases, and deep, +dark dungeons; whereas everything was the reverse. The walls were in +an excellent state of preservation—absolutely intact; the rooms +bright and cheerful and equipped in the most modern style; there were +no dungeons, at least none on view, and the passages and staircases +were suggestive of nothing more alarming than—bats! She was +accompanied for some time by her relative, but, on the latter being +called away, Mrs. Gibbons continued her rambles alone. She had +explored the lower premises, and was leisurely examining a handsomely +furnished apartment on the top floor, when, in crossing from one side +of the room to the other, she ran into something. She looked +down—nothing was to be seen. Amazed beyond description, she thrust +out her hands, and they alighted on an object, which she had little +difficulty in identifying. It was an enormous cask or barrel lying in +a horizontal position.</p> + +<p>She bent down close to where she felt <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>it, but she could see +nothing—nothing but the well-polished boards of the floor. To make +sure again that the barrel was there, she gave a little kick—and drew +back her foot with a cry of pain. She was not afraid—the sunshine in +the room forbade fear—only exasperated. She was certain a barrel was +there—that it was objective—and she was angry with herself for not +seeing it. She wondered if she were going blind; but the fact that +other objects in the room were plainly visible to her, discountenanced +such an idea. For some minutes she poked and jabbed at the Thing, and +then, seized with a sudden and uncontrollable panic, she turned round +and fled. And as she tore out of the room, along the passage and down +the seemingly interminable flight of stairs, she heard the barrel +behind her in close pursuit-bump—bump—bump!</p> + +<p>At the foot of the staircase Mrs. Gibbons met her cousin, and, as she +clutched the latter for support, the barrel shot past her, still +continuing its descent—bump—bump—bump! (though the steps as far as +she could see had ended)—till the sounds gradually dwindled away in +the far distance.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>Whilst the manifestations lasted, neither Mrs. Gibbons nor her cousin +spoke; but the latter, as soon as the sounds had ceased, dragged Mrs. +Gibbons away, and, in a voice shaking with terror, cried: "Quick, +quick—don't, for Heaven's sake, look round—worse has yet to come." +And, pulling Mrs. Gibbons along in breathless haste, she +unceremoniously hustled her out of the Tower.</p> + +<p>"That was no barrel!" Mrs. Gibbons's cousin subsequently remarked by +way of explanation. "I saw it—I have seen it before. Don't ask me to +describe it. I dare not—I dare not even think of it. Whenever it +appears, a certain thing happens shortly afterwards. Don't, don't on +any account say a word about it to any one here." And Mrs. Gibbons, my +mother told me, came away from Glamis a thousand times more curious +than she was when she went.</p> + +<hr style='width: 5%;' /> + +<p>The last story I have to relate is one I heard many years ago, when I +was staying near Balmoral. A gentleman named Vance, with strong +antiquarian tastes, was staying at an inn near the Strathmore estate, +and, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span>roaming abroad one afternoon, in a fit of absent-mindedness +entered the castle grounds. It so happened—fortunately for him—that +the family were away, and he encountered no one more formidable than a +man he took to be a gardener, an uncouth-looking fellow, with a huge +head covered with a mass of red hair, hawk-like features, and high +cheek-bones, high even for a Scot. Struck with the appearance of the +individual, Mr. Vance spoke, and, finding him wonderfully civil, asked +whether, by any chance, he ever came across any fossils, when digging +in the gardens.</p> + +<p>"I dinna ken the meaning of fossils," the man replied. "What are +they?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Vance explained, and a look of cunning gradually pervaded the +fellow's features. "No!" he said, "I've never found any of those +things, but if you'll give me your word to say nothing about it, I'll +show you something I once dug up over yonder by the Square Tower."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean the Haunted Tower?—the Tower that is supposed to contain +the secret room?" Mr. Vance exclaimed.</p> + +<p>An extraordinary expression—an expression such as Mr. Vance found it +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>impossible to analyse—came into the man's eyes. "Yes! that's it!" he +nodded. "What people call—and rightly call—the Haunted Tower. I got +it from there. But don't you say naught about it!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Vance, whose curiosity was roused, promised, and the man, politely +requesting him to follow, led the way to a cottage that stood near by, +in the heart of a gloomy wood. To Mr. Vance's astonishment the +treasure proved to be the skeleton of a hand—a hand with abnormally +large knuckles, and the first joint—of both fingers and thumb—much +shorter than the others. It was the most extraordinarily shaped hand +Mr. Vance had ever seen, and he did not know in the least how to +classify it. It repelled, yet interested him, and he eventually +offered the man a good sum to allow him to keep it. To his +astonishment the money was refused. "You may have the thing, and +welcome," the fellow said. "Only, I advise you not to look at it late +at night; or just before getting into bed. If you do, you may have bad +dreams."</p> + +<p>"I will take my chance of that!" Mr. Vance laughed. "You see, being a +hard-headed cockney, I am not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>superstitious. It is only you +Highlanders, and your first cousins the Irish, who believe nowadays in +bogles, omens, and such-like"; and, packing the hand carefully in his +knapsack, Mr. Vance bid the strange-looking creature good morning, and +went on his way.</p> + +<p>For the rest of the day the hand was uppermost in his +thoughts—nothing had ever fascinated him so much. He sat pondering +over it the whole evening, and bedtime found him still examining +it—examining it upstairs in his room by candlelight. He had a hazy +recollection that some clock had struck twelve, and he was beginning +to feel that it was about time to retire, when, in the mirror opposite +him, he caught sight of the door—it was open.</p> + +<p>"By Jove! that's odd!" he said to himself. "I could have sworn I shut +and bolted it." To make sure, he turned round—the door was closed. +"An optical delusion," he murmured; "I will try again."</p> + +<p>He looked into the mirror—the door reflected in it was—open. Utterly +at a loss to know how to explain the phenomenon, he leaned forward in +his seat to examine <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span>the glass more carefully, and as he did so he +gave a start. On the threshold of the doorway was a shadow—black and +bulbous. A cold shiver ran down Mr. Vance's spine, and just for a +moment he felt afraid, terribly afraid; but he quickly composed +himself—it was nothing but an illusion—there was no shadow there in +reality—he had only to turn round, and the thing would be gone. It +was amusing—entertaining. He would wait and see what happened.</p> + +<p>The shadow moved. It moved slowly through the air like some huge +spider, or odd-shaped bird. He would not acknowledge that there was +anything sinister about it—only something droll—excruciatingly droll. +Yet it did not make him laugh. When it had drawn a little nearer, he +tried to diagnose it, to discover its material counterpart in one of +the objects around him; but he was obliged to acknowledge his attempts +were failures—there was nothing in the room in the least degree like +it. A vague feeling of uneasiness gradually crept over him—was the +thing the shadow of something with which he was familiar, but could not +just then <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span>recall to mind—something he feared—something that was +sinister? He struggled against the idea, he dismissed it as absurd; but +it returned—returned, and took deeper root as the shadow drew nearer. +He wished the house was not quite so silent—that he could hear some +indication of life—anything—anything for companionship, and to rid +him of the oppressive, the very oppressive, sense of loneliness and +isolation.</p> + +<p>Again a thrill of terror ran through him.</p> + +<p>"Look here!" he exclaimed aloud, glad to hear the sound of his own +voice. "Look here! if this goes on much longer I shall begin to think +I'm going mad. I have had enough, and more than enough, of magic +mirrors for one night—it's high time I got into bed." He strove to +rise from his chair—to move; he was unable to do either; some +strange, tyrannical force held him a prisoner.</p> + +<p>A change now took place in the shadow; the blurr dissipated, and the +clearly defined outlines of an object—an object that made Mr. Vance +perfectly sick with apprehension—slowly disclosed themselves. His +suspicions were verified—it was the <span class="sc">Hand</span>!—the hand—no +longer skeleton, but covered <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>with green, mouldering flesh—feeling +its way slyly and stealthily towards him—towards the back of his +chair! He noted the murderous twitching of its short, flat +finger-tips, the monstrous muscles of its hideous thumb, and the +great, clumsy hollows of its clammy palm. It closed in upon him; its +cold, slimy, detestable skin touched his coat—his shoulder—his +neck—his head! It pressed him down, squashed, suffocated him! He saw +it all in the glass—and then an extraordinary thing happened. Mr. +Vance suddenly became animated. He got up and peeped furtively round. +Chairs, bed, wardrobe, had all disappeared—so had the bedroom—and he +found himself in a small, bare, comfortless, queerly constructed +apartment without a door, and with only a narrow slit of a window +somewhere near the ceiling.</p> + +<p>He had in one of his hands a knife with a long, keen blade, and his +whole mind was bent on murder. Creeping stealthily forward, he +approached a corner of the room, where he now saw, for the first +time—a mattress—a mattress on which lay a huddled-up form. What the +Thing was—whether human or animal—Mr. Vance <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>did not know—did not +care—all he felt was that it was there for him to kill—that he +loathed and hated it—hated it with a hatred such as nothing else +could have produced. Tiptoeing gently up to it, he bent down, and, +lifting his knife high above his head, plunged it into the Thing's +body with all the force he could command.</p> + +<hr style='width: 5%;' /> + +<p>He recrossed the room, and found himself once more in his apartment at +the inn. He looked for the skeleton hand—it was not where he had left +it—it had vanished. Then he glanced at the mirror, and on its +brilliantly polished surface saw—not his own face—but the face of +the gardener, the man who had given him the hand! Features, colour, +hair—all—all were identical—wonderfully, hideously identical—and +as the eyes met his, they smiled—devilishly.</p> + +<hr style='width: 5%;' /> + +<p>Early the next day, Mr. Vance set out for the spinney and cottage; +they were not to be found—nobody had ever heard of them. He continued +his travels, and some months later, at a loan collection of pictures +in a gallery in Edinburgh, he came to an abrupt—a very abrupt—halt, +before the portrait of a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>gentleman in ancient costume. The face +seemed strangely familiar—the huge head with thick, red hair—the +hawk-like features—the thin and tightly compressed lips. Then, in a +trice, it all came back to him: the face he looked at was that of the +uncouth gardener—the man who had given him the hand. And to clinch +the matter, the eyes—leered.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + + + +<h5><i>Printed by</i><br /> +<span class="sc">Morrison & Gibb Limited</span><br /> +<i>Edinburgh</i></h5> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Typographical errors corrected in text:</p> +<br /> +Page 79: 'made a dash as it' at replaced with 'made a dash at it'<br /> +Page 93: spritualist replaced with spiritualist<br /> +Page 232: degreee replaced with degree<br /> +Page 258: accompained replaced with accompanied<br /> +<br /> + +<p class="cen">Further Notes:</p> +<br /> +<p>For those who may wonder about the word 'lolled' on page 84, +it really is a word! It means: 1. To move, stand, or +recline in an indolent or relaxed manner. 2. To hang +or droop laxly.</p> +<p>In the original book, each chapter header is on a +separate page, followed by a blank page and then the +chapter header again, and then the chapter text. These +have been kept in the html version to align the page numbers.</p> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<hr /> +<br /> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Scottish Ghost Stories, by Elliott O'Donnell + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCOTTISH GHOST STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 20034-h.htm or 20034-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/0/3/20034/ + +Produced by Jeannie Howse and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Scottish Ghost Stories + +Author: Elliott O'Donnell + +Release Date: December 7, 2006 [EBook #20034] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCOTTISH GHOST STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Jeannie Howse and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + * * * * * + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original | + | document has been preserved. | + | | + | Obvious typographical errors have been corrected in this | + | text. For a complete list, please see the end of this | + | document. | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + * * * * * + + + + SCOTTISH + GHOST STORIES + + BY + + ELLIOTT O'DONNELL + + AUTHOR OF + "SOME HAUNTED HOUSES OF ENGLAND AND WALES" + "HAUNTED HOUSES OF LONDON" "GHOSTLY PHENOMENA" + "TRUE GHOST STORIES" "DREAMS AND THEIR MEANINGS" + ETC. ETC. + + + + LONDON: + KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUeBNER & CO. LTD. + 1911 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CASE PAGE + I. THE DEATH BOGLE OF THE CROSS ROADS, AND THE + INEXTINGUISHABLE CANDLE OF THE OLD WHITE HOUSE, + PITLOCHRY 1 + + II. THE TOP ATTIC IN PRINGLE'S MANSION, EDINBURGH 25 + + III. THE BOUNDING FIGURE OF "---- HOUSE," NEAR BUCKINGHAM + TERRACE, EDINBURGH 41 + + IV. JANE OF GEORGE STREET, EDINBURGH 55 + + V. THE SALLOW-FACED WOMAN OF NO. -- FORREST ROAD, + EDINBURGH 69 + + VI. THE PHANTOM REGIMENT OF KILLIECRANKIE 91 + + VII. "PEARLIN' JEAN" OF ALLANBANK 105 + +VIII. THE DRUMMER OF CORTACHY 117 + + IX. THE ROOM BEYOND. AN ACCOUNT OF THE HAUNTINGS OF + HENNERSLEY, NEAR AYR 135 + + X. "---- HOUSE," NEAR BLYTHSWOOD SQUARE, GLASGOW. THE + HAUNTED BATH 159 + + XI. THE CHOKING GHOST OF "---- HOUSE," NEAR SANDYFORD + PLACE, GLASGOW 173 + + XII. THE GREY PIPER AND THE HEAVY COACH OF DONALDGOWERIE + HOUSE, PERTH 189 + +XIII. THE FLOATING HEAD OF THE BENRACHETT INN, NEAR THE + PERTH ROAD, DUNDEE 211 + + XIV. THE HAUNTINGS OF "---- HOUSE," IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD + OF THE GREAT WESTERN ROAD, ABERDEEN 225 + + XV. THE WHITE LADY OF ROWNAM AVENUE, NEAR STIRLING 237 + + XVI. THE GHOST OF THE HINDOO CHILD, OR THE HAUNTINGS OF + THE WHITE DOVE HOTEL, NEAR ST. SWITHIN'S STREET, + ABERDEEN 251 + +XVII. GLAMIS CASTLE 263 + + + + + CASE I + + THE DEATH BOGLE OF THE CROSS ROADS, AND THE + INEXTINGUISHABLE CANDLE OF THE OLD WHITE + HOUSE, PITLOCHRY + + +Several years ago, bent on revisiting Perthshire, a locality which had +great attractions for me as a boy, I answered an advertisement in a +popular ladies' weekly. As far as I can recollect, it was somewhat to +this effect: "Comfortable home offered to a gentleman (a bachelor) at +moderate terms in an elderly Highland lady's house at Pitlochry. Must +be a strict teetotaller and non-smoker. F.M., Box so-and-so." + +The naivete and originality of the advertisement pleased me. The idea +of obtaining as a boarder a young man combining such virtues as +abstinence from alcohol and tobacco amused me vastly. And then a +bachelor, too! Did she mean to make love to him herself? The sly old +thing! She took care to insert the epithet "elderly," in order to +avoid suspicion; and there was no doubt about it--she thirsted for +matrimony. Being "tabooed" by all the men who had even as much as +caught a passing glimpse of her, this was her last resource--she would +entrap some unwary stranger, a man with money of course, and inveigle +him into marrying her. And there rose up before me visions of a tall, +angular, forty-year-old Scottish spinster, with high cheek-bones, +virulent, sandy hair, and brawny arms--the sort of woman that ought +not to have been a woman at all--the sort that sets all my teeth on +edge. Yet it was Pitlochry, heavenly Pitlochry, and there was no one +else advertising in that town. That I should suit her in every respect +but the matrimonial, I did not doubt. I can pass muster in any company +as a teetotaller; I abominate tobacco (leastways it abominates me, +which amounts to much about the same thing), and I am, or rather I can +be, tolerably amenable, if my surroundings are not positively +infernal, and there are no County Council children within shooting +distance. + +But for once my instincts were all wrong. The advertiser--a Miss Flora +Macdonald of "Donald Murray House"--did _not_ resemble my +preconception of her in any respect. She was of medium height, and +dainty build--a fairy-like creature clad in rustling silks, with wavy, +white hair, bright, blue eyes, straight, delicate features, and hands, +the shape and slenderness of which at once pronounced her a psychic. +She greeted me with all the stately courtesy of the Old School; my +portmanteau was taken upstairs by a solemn-eyed lad in the Macdonald +tartan; and the tea bell rang me down to a most appetising repast of +strawberries and cream, scones, and delicious buttered toast. I fell +in love with my hostess--it would be sheer sacrilege to designate such +a divine creature by the vulgar term of "landlady"--at once. When +one's impressions of a place are at first exalted, they are often, +later on, apt to become equally abased. In this case, however, it was +otherwise. My appreciation both of Miss Flora Macdonald and of her +house daily increased. The food was all that could be desired, and my +bedroom, sweet with the perfume of jasmine and roses, presented such +a picture of dainty cleanliness, as awakened in me feelings of shame, +that it should be defiled by all my dusty, travel-worn accoutrements. +I flatter myself that Miss Macdonald liked me also. That she did not +regard me altogether as one of the common herd was doubtless, in some +degree, due to the fact that she was a Jacobite; and in a discussion +on the associations of her romantic namesake, "Flora Macdonald," with +Perthshire, it leaked out that our respective ancestors had commanded +battalions in Louis XIV.'s far-famed Scottish and Irish Brigades. That +discovery bridged gulfs. We were no longer payer and paid--we were +friends--friends for life. + +A lump comes into my throat as I pen these words, for it is only a +short time since I heard of her death. + +A week or so after I had settled in her home, I took, at her +suggestion, a rest (and, I quite agree with her, it was a very +necessary rest) from my writing, and spent the day on Loch Tay, +leaving again for "Donald Murray House" at seven o'clock in the +evening. It was a brilliant, moonlight night. Not a cloud in the sky, +and the landscape stood out almost as clearly as in the daytime. I +cycled, and after a hard but thoroughly enjoyable spell of pedalling, +eventually came to a standstill on the high road, a mile or two from +the first lights of Pitlochry. I halted, not through fatigue, for I +was almost as fresh as when I started, but because I was entranced +with the delightful atmosphere, and wanted to draw in a few really +deep draughts of it before turning into bed. My halting-place was on a +triangular plot of grass at the junction of four roads. I propped my +machine against a hedge, and stood with my back leaning against a +sign-post, and my face in the direction whence I had come. I remained +in this attitude for some minutes, probably ten, and was about to +remount my bicycle, when I suddenly became icy cold, and a frightful, +hideous terror seized and gripped me so hard, that the machine, +slipping from my palsied hands, fell to the ground with a crash. The +next instant something--for the life of me I knew not what, its +outline was so blurred and indefinite--alighted on the open space in +front of me with a soft thud, and remained standing as bolt upright +as a cylindrical pillar. From afar off, there then came the low rumble +of wheels, which momentarily grew in intensity, until there thundered +into view a waggon, weighed down beneath a monstrous stack of hay, on +the top of which sat a man in a wide-brimmed straw hat, engaged in a +deep confabulation with a boy in corduroys who sprawled beside him. +The horse, catching sight of the motionless "thing" opposite me, at +once stood still and snorted violently. The man cried out, "Hey! hey! +What's the matter with ye, beast?" And then in an hysterical kind of +screech, "Great God! What's yon figure that I see? What's yon figure, +Tammas?" + +The boy immediately raised himself into a kneeling position, and, +clutching hold of the man's arm, screamed, "I dinna ken, I dinna ken, +Matthew; but take heed, mon, it does na touch me. It's me it's come +after, na ye." + +The moonlight was so strong that the faces of the speakers were +revealed to me with extraordinary vividness, and their horrified +expressions were even more startling than was the silent, ghastly +figure of the Unknown. The scene comes back to me, here, in my little +room in Norwood, with its every detail as clearly marked as on the +night it was first enacted. The long range of cone-shaped mountains, +darkly silhouetted against the silvery sky, and seemingly hushed in +gaping expectancy; the shining, scaly surface of some far-off tarn or +river, perceptible only at intervals, owing to the thick clusters of +gently nodding pines; the white-washed walls of cottages, glistening +amid the dark green denseness of the thickly leaved box trees, and the +light, feathery foliage of the golden laburnum; the undulating +meadows, besprinkled with gorse and grotesquely moulded crags of +granite; the white, the dazzling white roads, saturated with +moonbeams; all--all were overwhelmed with stillness--the stillness +that belongs, and belongs only, to the mountains, and trees, and +plains--the stillness of shadowland. I even counted the buttons, the +horn buttons, on the rustics' coats--one was missing from the man's, +two from the boy's; and I even noted the sweat-stains under the +armpits of Matthew's shirt, and the dents and tears in Tammas's soft +wideawake. I observed all these trivialities and more besides. I saw +the abrupt rising and falling of the man's chest as his breath came in +sharp jerks; the stream of dirty saliva that oozed from between his +blackberry-stained lips and dribbled down his chin; I saw their +hands--the man's, square-fingered, black-nailed, big-veined, shining +with perspiration and clutching grimly at the reins; the boy's, +smaller, and if anything rather more grimy--the one pressed flat down +on the hay, the other extended in front of him, the palm stretched +outwards and all the fingers widely apart. + +And while these minute particulars were being driven into my soul, the +cause of it all--the indefinable, esoteric column--stood silent and +motionless over-against the hedge, a baleful glow emanating from it. + +The horse suddenly broke the spell. Dashing its head forward, it broke +off at a gallop, and, tearing frantically past the phantasm, went +helter-skelter down the road to my left. I then saw Tammas turning a +somersault, miraculously saved from falling head first on to the +road, by rebounding from the pitchfork which had been wedged upright +in the hay, whilst the figure, which followed in their wake with +prodigious bounds, was apparently trying to get at him with its +spidery arms. But whether it succeeded or not I cannot say, for I was +so uncontrollably fearful lest it should return to me, that I mounted +my bicycle and rode as I had never ridden before and have never ridden +since. + +I described the incident to Miss Macdonald on my return. She looked +very serious. + +"It was stupid of me not to have warned you," she said. "That that +particular spot in the road has always--at least ever since I can +remember--borne the reputation of being haunted. None of the peasants +round here will venture within a mile of it after twilight, so the +carters you saw must have been strangers. No one has ever seen the +ghost except in the misty form in which it appeared to you. It does +not frequent the place every night; it only appears periodically; and +its method never varies. It leaps over a wall or hedge, remains +stationary till some one approaches, and then pursues them with +monstrous springs. The person it touches invariably dies within a +year. I well recollect when I was in my teens, on just such a night as +this, driving home with my father from Lady Colin Ferner's croquet +party at Blair Atholl. When we got to the spot you name, the horse +shied, and before I could realise what had happened, we were racing +home at a terrific pace. My father and I sat in front, and the groom, +a Highland boy from the valley of Ben-y-gloe, behind. Never having +seen my father frightened, his agitation now alarmed me horribly, and +the more so as my instinct told me it was caused by something other +than the mere bolting of the horse. I was soon enlightened. A gigantic +figure, with leaps and bounds, suddenly overtook us, and, thrusting +out its long, thin arms, touched my father lightly on the hand, and +then with a harsh cry, more like that of some strange animal than that +of a human being, disappeared. Neither of us spoke till we reached +home,--I did not live here then, but in a house on the other side of +Pitlochry,--when my father, who was still as white as a sheet, took me +aside and whispered, 'Whatever you do, Flora, don't breathe a word of +what has happened to your mother, and never let her go along that road +at night. It was the death bogle. I shall die within twelve months.' +And he did." + +Miss Macdonald paused. A brief silence ensued, and she then went on +with all her customary briskness: "I cannot describe the thing any +more than you can, except that it gave me the impression it had no +eyes. But what it was, whether the ghost of a man, woman, or some +peculiar beast, I could not, for the life of me, tell. Now, Mr. +O'Donnell, have you had enough horrors for one evening, or would you +like to hear just one more?" + +Knowing that sleep was utterly out of the question, and that one or +two more thrills would make very little difference to my already +shattered nerves, I replied that I would listen eagerly to anything +she could tell me, however horrible. My permission thus gained--and +gained so readily--Miss Macdonald, not without, I noticed, one or two +apprehensive glances at the slightly rustling curtains, began her +narrative, which ran, as nearly as I can remember, as follows:-- + +"After my father's death, I told my mother about our adventure the +night we drove home from Lady Colin Ferner's party, and asked her if +she remembered ever having heard anything that could possibly account +for the phenomenon. After a few moments' reflection, this is the story +she told me:-- + + +THE INEXTINGUISHABLE CANDLE OF THE OLD WHITE HOUSE + +There was once a house, known as "The Old White House," that used to +stand by the side of the road, close to where you say the horse first +took fright. Some people of the name of Holkitt, relations of dear old +Sir Arthur Holkitt, and great friends of ours, used to live there. The +house, it was popularly believed, had been built on the site of an +ancient burial-ground. Every one used to say it was haunted, and the +Holkitts had great trouble in getting servants. The appearance of the +haunted house did not belie its reputation, for its grey walls, sombre +garden, gloomy hall, dark passages and staircase, and sinister-looking +attics could not have been more thoroughly suggestive of all kinds of +ghostly phenomena. Moreover, the whole atmosphere of the place, no +matter how hot and bright the sun, was cold and dreary, and it was a +constant source of wonder to every one how Lady Holkitt could live +there. She was, however, always cheerful, and used to tell me that +nothing would induce her to leave a spot dear to so many generations +of her family, and associated with the happiest recollections in her +life. She was very fond of company, and there was scarcely a week in +the year in which she had not some one staying with her. I can only +remember her as widow, her husband, a major in the Gordon Highlanders, +having died in India before I was born. She had two daughters, +Margaret and Alice, both considered very handsome, but some years +older than I. This difference in age, however, did not prevent our +being on very friendly terms, and I was constantly invited to their +house--in the summer to croquet and archery, in the winter to balls. +Like most elderly ladies of that period, Lady Holkitt was very fond of +cards, and she and my mother used frequently to play bezique and +cribbage, whilst the girls and I indulged in something rather more +frivolous. On those occasions the carriage always came for us at ten, +since my mother, for some reason or other--I had a shrewd suspicion it +was on account of the alleged haunting--would never return home after +that time. When she accepted an invitation to a ball, it was always +conditionally that Lady Holkitt would put us both up for the night, +and the carriage used, then, to come for us the following day, after +one o'clock luncheon. I shall never forget the last time I went to a +dance at "The Old White House," though it is now rather more than +fifty years ago. My mother had not been very well for some weeks, +having, so she thought, taken cold internally. She had not had a +doctor, partly because she did not feel ill enough, and partly because +the only medical man near us was an apothecary, of whose skill she had +a very poor opinion. My mother had quite made up her mind to accompany +me to the ball, but at the last moment, the weather being appalling, +she yielded to advice, and my aunt Norah, who happened to be staying +with us at the time, chaperoned me instead. It was snowing when we +set out, and as it snowed all through the night and most of the next +day, the roads were completely blocked, and we had to remain at "The +Old White House" from Monday evening till the following Thursday. Aunt +Norah and I occupied separate bedrooms, and mine was at the end of a +long passage away from everybody else's. Prior to this my mother and I +had always shared a room--the only really pleasant one, so I thought, +in the house--overlooking the front lawn. But on this occasion there +being a number of visitors, belated like ourselves, we had to squeeze +in wherever we could; and as my aunt and I were to have separate rooms +(my aunt liking a room to herself), it was natural that she should be +allotted the largest and most comfortable. Consequently, she was +domiciled in the wing where all the other visitors slept, whilst I was +forced to retreat to a passage on the other side of the house, where, +with the exception of my apartment, there were none other but +lumber-rooms. All went smoothly and happily, and nothing interrupted +the harmony of our visit, till the night before we returned home. We +had had supper--our meals were differently arranged in those days--and +Margaret and I were ascending the staircase on our way to bed, when +Alice, who had run upstairs ahead of us, met us with a scared face. + +"Oh, do come to my room!" she cried. "Something has happened to Mary." +(Mary was one of the housemaids.) + +We both accompanied her, and, on entering her room, found Mary seated +on a chair, sobbing hysterically. One only had to glance at the girl +to see that she was suffering from some very severe shock. Though +normally red-cheeked and placid, in short, a very healthy, stolid +creature, and the last person to be easily perturbed, she was now +without a vestige of colour, whilst the pupils of her eyes were +dilated with terror, and her entire body, from the crown of her head +to the soles of her feet, shook as if with ague. I was immeasurably +shocked to see her. + +"Why, Mary," Margaret exclaimed, "whatever is the matter? What has +happened?" + +"It's the candle, miss," the girl gasped, "the candle in Miss Trevor's +room. I can't put it out." + +"You can't put it out, why, what nonsense!" Margaret said. "Are you +mad?" + +"It is as true as I sit here, miss," Mary panted. "I put the candle on +the mantelpiece while I set the room to rights, and when I had +finished and came to blow it out, I couldn't. I blew, and blew, and +blew, but it hadn't any effect, and then I grew afraid, miss, horribly +afraid," and here she buried her face in her hands, and shuddered. +"I've never been frightened like this before, miss," she returned +slowly, "and I've come away and left the candle burning." + +"How absurd of you," Margaret scolded. "We must go and put it out at +once. I have a good mind to make you come with us, Mary--but there! +Stay where you are, and for goodness' sake stop crying, or every one +in the house will hear you." + +So saying, Margaret hurried off,--Alice and I accompanying her,--and +on arriving outside my room, the door of which was wide open, we +perceived the lighted candle standing in the position Mary had +described. I looked at the girls, and perceived, in spite of my +endeavours not to perceive it, the unmistakable signs of a great +fear--fear of something they suspected but dared not name--lurking in +the corners of their eyes. + +"Who will go first?" Margaret demanded. No one spoke. + +"Well then," she continued, "I will," and, suiting the action to the +word, she stepped over the threshold. The moment she did so, the door +began to close. "This is curious!" she cried. "Push!" + +We did; we all three pushed; but, despite our efforts, the door came +resolutely to, and we were shut out. Then before we had time to +recover from our astonishment, it flew open; but before we could cross +the threshold, it came violently to in the same manner as before. Some +unseen force held it against us. + +"Let us make one more effort," Margaret said, "and if we don't +succeed, we will call for help." + +Obeying her instructions, we once again pushed. I was nearest the +handle, and in some manner,--how, none of us could ever explain,--just +as the door opened of its own accord, I slipped and fell inside. The +door then closed immediately with a bang, and, to my unmitigated +horror, I found myself alone in the room. For some seconds I was +spellbound, and could not even collect my thoughts sufficiently to +frame a reply to the piteous entreaties of the Holkitts, who kept +banging on the door, and imploring me to tell them what was happening. +Never in the hideous excitement of nightmare had I experienced such a +terror as the terror that room conveyed to my mind. Though nothing was +to be seen, nothing but the candle, the light of which was peculiarly +white and vibrating, I felt the presence of something inexpressibly +menacing and horrible. It was in the light, the atmosphere, the +furniture, everywhere. On all sides it surrounded me, on all sides I +was threatened--threatened in a manner that was strange and deadly. +Something suggesting to me that the source of evil originated in the +candle, and that if I could succeed in extinguishing the light I +should free myself from the ghostly presence, I advanced towards the +mantelpiece, and, drawing in a deep breath, blew--blew with the +energy born of desperation. It had no effect. I repeated my efforts; I +blew frantically, madly, but all to no purpose; the candle still +burned--burned softly and mockingly. Then a fearful terror seized me, +and, flying to the opposite side of the room, I buried my face against +the wall, and waited for what the sickly beatings of my heart warned +me was coming. Constrained to look, I slightly, only very, very +slightly, moved round, and there, there, floating stealthily towards +me through the air, came the candle, the vibrating, glowing, baleful +candle. I hid my face again, and prayed God to let me faint. Nearer +and nearer drew the light; wilder and wilder the wrenches at the door. +Closer and closer I pressed myself to the wall. And then, then when +the final throes of agony were more than human heart and brain could +stand, there came the suspicion, the suggestion of a touch--of a touch +so horrid that my prayers were at last answered, and I fainted. When I +recovered, I was in Margaret's room, and half a dozen well-known forms +were gathered round me. It appears that with the collapse of my body +on the floor, the door, that had so effectually resisted every effort +to turn the handle, immediately flew open, and I was discovered lying +on the ground with the candle--still alight--on the ground beside me. +My aunt experienced no difficulty in blowing out the refractory +candle, and I was carried with the greatest tenderness into the other +wing of the house, where I slept that night. Little was said about the +incident next day, but all who knew of it expressed in their faces the +utmost anxiety--an anxiety which, now that I had recovered, greatly +puzzled me. On our return home, another shock awaited me; we found to +our dismay that my mother was seriously ill, and that the doctor, who +had been sent for from Perth the previous evening, just about the time +of my adventure with the candle, had stated that she might not survive +the day. His warning was fulfilled--she died at sunset. Her death, of +course, may have had nothing at all to do with the candle episode, yet +it struck me then as an odd coincidence, and seems all the more +strange to me after hearing your account of the bogle that touched +your dear father in the road, so near the spot where the Holkitts' +house once stood. I could never discover whether Lady Holkitt or her +daughters ever saw anything of a superphysical nature in their house; +after my experience they were always very reticent on that subject, +and naturally I did not like to press it. On Lady Holkitt's death, +Margaret and Alice sold the house, which was eventually pulled down, +as no one would live in it, and I believe the ground on which it stood +is now a turnip field. That, my dear, is all I can tell you. + + * * * * * + +"Now, Mr. O'Donnell," Miss Macdonald added, "having heard our +experiences, my mother's and mine, what is your opinion? Do you think +the phenomenon of the candle was in any way connected with the bogle +both you and I have seen, or are the hauntings of 'The Old White +House' entirely separate from those of the road?" + + + + + CASE II + + THE TOP ATTIC IN PRINGLE'S MANSION, EDINBURGH + + +A charming lady, Miss South, informs me that no house interested her +more, as a child, than Pringle's Mansion, Edinburgh. Pringle's +Mansion, by the bye, is not the real name of the house, nor is the +original building still standing--the fact is, my friend has been +obliged to disguise the locality for fear of an action for slander of +title, such as happened in the Egham Case of 1904-7. + +Miss South never saw--save in a picture--the house that so fascinated +her; but through repeatedly hearing about it from her old nurse, she +felt that she knew it by heart, and used to amuse herself hour after +hour in the nursery, drawing diagrams of the rooms and passages, +which, to make quite realistic, she named and numbered. + +There was the Admiral's room, Madame's room, Miss Ophelia's room, +Master Gregory's room, Letty's (the nurse's) room, the cook's room, +the butler's room, the housemaid's room--and--the Haunted Room. + +The house was very old--probably the sixteenth century--and was +concealed from the thoroughfare by a high wall that enclosed it on all +sides. It had no garden, only a large yard, covered with faded yellow +paving-stones, and containing a well with an old-fashioned roller and +bucket. + +When the well was cleaned out, an event which took place periodically +on a certain date, every utensil in the house was called into +requisition for ladling out the water, and the Admiral, himself +supervising, made every servant in the establishment take an active +part in the proceedings. On one of these occasions, the Admiral +announced his intention of going down the well in the bucket. That was +a rare moment in Letty's life, for when the Admiral had been let down +in the bucket, the rope broke! + +Indeed, the thought of what the Laird would say when he came up, +almost resulted in his not coming up at all. However, some one, +rather bolder than the rest, retained sufficient presence of mind to +effect a rescue, and the timid ones, thankful enough to survive the +explosion, had to be content on "half-rations till further orders." + +But in spite of its association with such a martinet, and in spite of +her ghostly experiences in it, Letty loved the house, and was never +tired of singing its praises. + +It was a two-storeyed mansion, with roomy cellars but no basement. +There were four reception-rooms--all oak-panelled--on the ground +floor; numerous kitchen offices, including a cosy housekeeper's room; +and a capacious entrance hall, in the centre of which stood a broad +oak staircase. The cellars, three in number, and chiefly used as +lumber-rooms, were deep down and dank and horrid. + +On the first floor eight bedrooms opened on to a gallery overlooking +the hall, and the top storey, where the servants slept, consisted +solely of attics connected with one another by dark, narrow passages. +It was one of these attics that was haunted, although, as a matter of +fact, the ghost had been seen in all parts of the house. + +When Letty entered the Admiral's service she was but a bairn, and had +never even heard of ghosts; nor did the other servants apprise her of +the hauntings, having received strict injunctions not to do so from +the Laird. + +But Letty's home, humble though it was, had been very bright and +cheerful, and the dark precincts of the mansion filled her with +dismay. Without exactly knowing why she was afraid, she shrank in +terror from descending into the cellars, and felt anything but pleased +at the prospect of sleeping alone in an attic. Still nothing occurred +to really alarm her till about a month after her arrival. It was early +in the evening, soon after twilight, and she had gone down into one of +the cellars to look for a boot-jack, which the Admiral swore by all +that was holy must be found before supper. Placing the light she had +brought with her on a packing-case, she was groping about among the +boxes, when she perceived, to her astonishment, that the flame of the +candle had suddenly turned blue. She then felt icy cold, and was much +startled on hearing a loud clatter as of some metal instrument on the +stone floor in the far-off corner of the cellar. Glancing in the +direction of the noise, she saw, looking at her, two eyes--two +obliquely set, lurid, light eyes, full of the utmost devilry. Sick +with terror and utterly unable to account for what she beheld, she +stood stock-still, her limbs refusing to move, her throat parched, her +tongue tied. The clanging was repeated, and a shadowy form began +slowly to crawl towards her. She dared not afterwards surmise what +would have happened to her, had not the Laird himself come down at +this moment. At the sound of his stentorian voice the phantasm +vanished. But the shock had been too much for Letty; she fainted, and +the Admiral, carrying her upstairs as carefully as if she had been his +own daughter, gave peremptory orders that she should never again be +allowed to go into the cellar alone. + +But now that Letty herself had witnessed a manifestation, the other +servants no longer felt bound to secrecy, and soon poured into her +ears endless accounts of the hauntings. + +Every one, they informed her, except Master Gregory and Perkins (the +butler) had seen one or other of the ghosts, and the cellar +apparition was quite familiar to them all. They also declared that +there were other parts of the house quite as badly haunted as the +cellar, and it might have been partly owing to these gruesome stories +that poor Letty always felt scared, when crossing the passages leading +to the attics. As she was hastening down one of them, early one +morning, she heard some one running after her. Thinking it was one of +the other servants, she turned round, pleased to think that some one +else was up early too, and saw to her horror a dreadful-looking +object, that seemed to be partly human and partly animal. The body was +quite small, and its face bloated, and covered with yellow spots. It +had an enormous animal mouth, the lips of which, moving furiously +without emitting any sound, showed that the creature was endeavouring +to speak but could not. The moment Letty screamed for help the +phantasm vanished. + +But her worst experience was yet to come. The spare attic which she +was told was so badly haunted that no one would sleep in it, was the +room next to hers. It was a room Letty could well believe was +haunted, for she had never seen another equally gloomy. The ceiling +was low and sloping, the window tiny, and the walls exhibited all +sorts of odd nooks and crannies. A bed, antique and worm-eaten, stood +in one recess, a black oak chest in another, and at right angles with +the door, in another recess, stood a wardrobe that used to creak and +groan alarmingly every time Letty walked a long the passage. Once she +heard a chuckle, a low, diabolical chuckle, which she fancied came +from the chest; and once, when the door of the room was open, she +caught the glitter of a pair of eyes--the same pale, malevolent eyes +that had so frightened her in the cellar. From her earliest childhood +Letty had been periodically given to somnambulism, and one night, just +about a year after she went into service, she got out of bed, and +walked, in her sleep, into the Haunted Room. She awoke to find herself +standing, cold and shivering, in the middle of the floor, and it was +some seconds before she realised where she was. Her horror, when she +did discover where she was, is not easily described. The room was +bathed in moonlight, and the beams, falling with noticeable +brilliancy on each piece of furniture the room contained, at once +riveted Letty's attention, and so fascinated her that she found +herself utterly unable to move. A terrible and most unusual silence +predominated everywhere, and although Letty's senses were wonderfully +and painfully on the alert, she could not catch the slightest sound +from any of the rooms on the landing. + +The night was absolutely still, no breath of wind, no rustle of +leaves, no flapping of ivy against the window; yet the door suddenly +swung back on its hinges and slammed furiously. Letty felt that this +was the work of some supernatural agency, and, fully expecting that +the noise had awakened the cook, who was a light sleeper (or pretended +she was), listened in a fever of excitement to hear her get out of bed +and call out. The slightest noise and the spell that held her prisoner +would, Letty felt sure, be broken. But the same unbroken silence +prevailed. A sudden rustling made Letty glance fearfully at the bed; +and she perceived, to her terror, the valance swaying violently, to +and fro. Sick with fear, she was now constrained to stare in abject +helplessness. Presently there was a slight, very slight movement on +the mattress, the white dust cover rose, and, under it, Letty saw the +outlines of what she took to be a human figure, gradually take shape. +Hoping, praying, that she was mistaken, and that what appeared to be +on the bed was but a trick of her imagination, she continued staring +in an agony of anticipation. But the figure remained--extended at full +length like a corpse. The minutes slowly passed, a church clock boomed +two, and the body moved. Letty's jaw fell, her eyes almost bulged from +her head, whilst her fingers closed convulsively on the folds of her +night-dress. The unmistakable sound of breathing now issued from the +region of the bed, and the dust-cover commenced slowly to slip aside. +Inch by inch it moved, until first of all Letty saw a few wisps of +dark hair, then a few more, then a thick cluster; then something white +and shining--a protruding forehead; then dark, very dark brows; then +two eyelids, yellow, swollen, and fortunately tightly closed; then--a +purple conglomeration of Letty knew not what--of anything but what +was human. The sight was so monstrous it appalled her; and she was +overcome with a species of awe and repulsion, for which the language +of mortality has no sufficiently energetic expression. She momentarily +forgot that what she looked on was merely superphysical, but regarded +it as something alive, something that ought to have been a child, +comely and healthy as herself--and she hated it. It was an outrage on +maternity, a blot on nature, a filthy discredit to the house, a +blight, a sore, a gangrene. It turned over in its sleep, the cover was +hurled aside, and a grotesque object, round, pulpy, webbed, and of +leprous whiteness--an object which Letty could hardly associate with a +hand--came grovelling out. Letty's stomach heaved; the thing was +beastly, indecent, vile, it ought not to live! And the idea of killing +flashed through her mind. Boiling over with indignation and absurdly +forgetful of her surroundings, she turned round and groped for a stone +to smash it. The moonlight on her naked toes brought her to her +senses--the thing in the bed was a devil! Though brought up a member +of the Free Church, with an abhorrence of anything that could in any +way be contorted into Papist practices, Letty crossed herself. As she +did so, a noise in the passage outside augmented her terror. She +strained her ears painfully, and the sound developed into a footstep, +soft, light, and surreptitious. It came gently towards the door; it +paused outside, and Letty intuitively felt that it was listening. Her +suspense was now so intolerable, that it was almost with a feeling of +relief that she beheld the door slowly--very slowly--begin to open. A +little wider--a little wider--and yet a little wider; but still +nothing came. Ah! Letty's heart turned to ice. Another inch, and a +shadowy something slipped through and began to wriggle itself +stealthily over the floor. Letty tried to divert her gaze, but could +not--an irresistible, magnetic attraction kept her eyes glued to the +gradually approaching horror. When within a few feet of her it halted; +and again Letty felt it was listening--listening to the breathing on +the bed, which was heavy and bestial. Then it twisted round, and Letty +watched it crawl into the wardrobe. After this there was a long and +anxious wait. Then Letty saw the wardrobe door slyly open, and the +eyes of the cellar--inexpressibly baleful, and glittering like +burnished steel in the strong phosphorescent glow of the moon, peep +out,--not at her but _through_ her,--at the object lying on the bed. +There were not only eyes, this time, but a form,--vague, misty, and +irregular, but still with sufficient shape to enable Letty to identify +it as that of a woman, tall and thin, and with a total absence of +hair, which was emphasised in the most lurid and ghastly fashion. With +a snakelike movement, the evil thing slithered out of the wardrobe, +and, gliding past Letty, approached the bed. Letty was obliged to +follow every proceeding. She saw the thing deftly snatch the bolster +from under the sleeping head; noted the gleam of hellish satisfaction +in its eyes as it pressed the bolster down; and watched the murdered +creature's contortions grow fainter, and fainter, until they finally +ceased. The eyes then left the room; and from afar off, away below, in +the abysmal cellars of the house, came the sound of digging--faint, +very faint, but unquestionably digging. This terminated the grim, +phantasmal drama for that night at least, and Letty, chilled to the +bone, but thoroughly alert, escaped to her room. She spent her few +remaining hours of rest wide-awake, determining never to go to bed +again without fastening one of her arms to the iron staples. + +With regard the history of the house, Letty never learned anything +more remarkable than that, long ago, an idiot child was supposed to +have been murdered in the haunted attic--by whom, tradition did not +say. The Admiral and his family left Pringle's Mansion the year Letty +became Miss South's nurse, and as no one would stay in the house, +presumably on account of the hauntings, it was pulled down, and an +inexcusably inartistic edifice was erected in its place. + + + + + CASE III + + THE BOUNDING FIGURE OF "---- HOUSE," NEAR + BUCKINGHAM TERRACE, EDINBURGH + + +No one is more interested in Psychical Investigation Work than Miss +Torfrida Vincent, one of the three beautiful daughters of Mrs. H. de +B. Vincent, who is, herself, still in the heyday of life, and one of +the loveliest of the society women I have met. Though I have known her +sisters several years, I only met Torfrida for the first time a few +months ago, when she was superintending the nursing of her mother, who +had just undergone an operation for appendicitis. One day, when I was +visiting my convalescent friend, Torfrida informed me that she knew of +a haunted house in Edinburgh, a case which she felt sure would arouse +my interest and enthusiasm. "It is unfortunate," she added somewhat +regretfully, "that I cannot tell you the number of the house, but as +I have given my word of honour to disclose it to no one, I feel sure +you will excuse me. Indeed, my friends the Gordons, who extracted the +promise from me, have got into sad trouble with their landlord for +leaving the house under the pretext that it was haunted, and he has +threatened to prosecute them for slander of title." + +The house in question has no claim to antiquity. It may be eighty years +old--perhaps a little older--and was, at the time of which I speak, let +out in flats. The Gordons occupied the second storey; the one above +them was untenanted, and used as a storage place for furniture; the +first floor and ground floor were divided into chambers and offices. +They had not been in their new quarters more than a week, when Mrs. +Gordon asked the night porter who it was that made such a noise, racing +up their stairs between two and three in the morning. It had awakened +her every night, she told him, and she would be glad if the disturbance +were discontinued. "I am sorry, Madam, but I cannot imagine who it can +be," the man replied. "Of course, it may be some one next door, sounds +are so often deceptive; no one inhabits the rooms above you." But Mrs. +Gordon was not at all convinced, and made up her mind to complain to +the landlord should it occur again. That night nothing happened, but +the night after she was roused from her sleep at two o'clock, by a +feeling that something dreadful, some dire catastrophe, was about to +take place. The house was very still, and beyond the far-away echoes of +a policeman's patrol on the hard pavement outside, nothing, absolutely +nothing, broke the universal, and as it seemed to her, unnatural +silence. Generally at night-time there are sounds one likes to assure +oneself are too trivial to be heard during the day--the creaking of +boards, stairs (nearly always stairs), and the tapping of some leaf (of +course some leaf) at the windows. Who has not heard such sounds, and +who in his heart of hearts has not been only too well aware that they +are nocturnal, exclusively nocturnal. The shadows of evening bring with +them visitors; prying, curious visitors; grim and ghastly visitors; +grey, esoteric visitors; visitors from a world seemingly inconsequent, +wholly incomprehensible. Mrs. Gordon did not believe in ghosts. She +scoffed at the idea of ghosts, and, like so many would-be wits, +unreasonably brave by day, and the reverse by night, had hitherto +attributed banshees and the like to cats and other animals. But +now,--now when all was dark,--pitch dark and hushed, and she, for aught +she knew to the contrary, the only one, in that great rambling +building, awake, she reviewed again and again, in her mind, that +rushing up the stairs. The wind! It could not have been the wind. The +wind shuts doors, and rattles windows, and moans, and sighs, and howls +and screeches, but it does not walk the house in boots. Neither do +rats! And if she had imagined the noises, why did she not imagine other +things; why, for example, did she not see tables dance, and tea-urns +walk? All that would be fancy, unblushing, genuine fancy, and if she +conjured up one absurdity, why not another! That was a conundrum for +any sceptic. Thus did she argue, naturally and logically, in the quite +sensible fashion of a lawyer, or a scientist; yet, all the while, her +senses told her that the atmosphere of the house had undergone some +profoundly subtle and unaccountable change,--a change that brought with +it a presence, at once sinister and hostile. She longed to strike a +light and awake one of her daughters--Diana, by preference; since Diana +was the least likely to mind being disturbed, and had the strongest +nerves. She made a start, and, loosening the bedclothes that she always +liked tightly tucked round her, thrust out a quivering toe. The next +instant she drew it back with a tiny gasp of terror. The cold darkness +without had suggested to her mind a great, horny hand, mal-shaped and +murderous, that was lying in wait to seize her. A deadly sickness +overcame her, and she lay back on the pillow, her heart beating with +outrageous irregularity and loudness. Very slowly she recovered, and, +holding her breath, sidled to the far edge of the bed, and with a +dexterous movement, engendered by the desperation of fear, made a +lightning-like dab in the direction of the electric bell. Her soft, +pink finger missed the mark, and coming in violent contact with the +wall, bent the carefully polished nail. She bit her lips to stop a cry +of pain, and shrinking back within the folds of her dainty lace +embroidered nightdress, abandoned herself to despair. Her consciousness +of the Unknown Presence increased, and she instinctively felt the thing +pass through the closed door, down on to the landing outside, when it +dashed upstairs with a loud clatter, and, entering the lumber-room +immediately overhead, began bounding as if its feet were tied together, +backwards and forwards across the floor. After continuing for fully +half an hour, the noises abruptly ceased and the house resumed its +accustomed quiet. At breakfast, Mrs. Gordon asked her daughters if they +had heard anything in the night, and they laughingly said "No, not even +a mouse!" + +There was now an intermission of the disturbances, and no further +demonstration occurred for about a month. Diana was then sleeping in +her mother's room, Mrs. Gordon being away on a visit to Lady Voss, who +was entertaining a party of friends at her shooting-box in Argyle. One +evening, as Diana was going into her bedroom to prepare for dinner, +she saw the door suddenly swing open, and something, she could not +tell what--it was so blurred and indistinct--come out with a bound. +Tearing past her on to the landing, it rushed up the stairs with so +much clatter that Diana imagined, though she could see nothing, that +it must have on its feet, heavy lumbering boots. Filled with an +irresistible curiosity, in spite of her alarm, Diana ran after it, +and, on reaching the upper storey, heard it making a terrific racket +in the room above the one in which she now slept. Nothing daunted, +however, she boldly approached, and, flinging open the door, perceived +its filmy outline standing before a shadowy and very antique eight-day +clock, which apparently it was in the habit of winding. A great fear +now fell on Diana. What was the thing? And supposing it should turn +round and face her, what should she see? She was entirely isolated +from her sisters, and the servants--alone--the light fading--in a big, +gloomy room full of strange old furniture which suggested +hiding-places for all sorts of grim possibilities. She was assured now +that the thing she had followed was nothing human, neither was it a +delusion, for when she shut her eyes and opened them, it was still +there--and, oddly enough, it was now more distinct than it was when +she had seen it downstairs. A curious feeling of helplessness stole +over Diana; the power of speech forsook her; and her limbs grew rigid. +She was so fearful, too, of attracting the notice of the mysterious +thing that she hardly dare breathe, and each pulsation of her heart +sent cold chills of apprehension down her spine. Once she endured +agonies through a mad desire to sneeze, and once her lips opened to +scream as something suspiciously like the antennae of a huge beetle, +and which she subsequently discovered was a "devil's coach-horse," +tickled the calf of her leg. She fancied, too, that all sorts of queer +shapes lurked in the passage behind her, and that innumerable unseen +eyes were malignantly rejoicing in her terror. At last, the climax to +her suspense seemed at hand. The unknown thing, until now too busy +with the clock to take heed of her, paused for a moment or so, as if +undecided what to do next, and then slowly began to veer round. But +the faint echo of a voice below, calling her by name, broke the +hypnotic spell that bound Diana to the floor, and with a frantic +spring she cleared the threshold of the room. She then tore madly +downstairs, never halting till she reached the dining-room, where she +sank on a sofa, and, more dead than alive, panted out to her amazed +sisters a full account of all that had transpired. + +That night she shared her sister's bedroom, but neither she nor her +sister slept. + +From this time till the return of Mrs. Gordon, nothing happened. It +was one evening after she came back, when she was preparing to get +into bed, that the door of her own room unexpectedly opened, and she +saw standing, on the threshold, the unmistakable figure of a man, +short and broad, with a great width of shoulders, and very long arms. +He was clad in a peajacket, blue serge trousers, and jack-boots. He +had a big, round, brutal head, covered with a tangled mass of yellow +hair, but where his face ought to have been there was only a blotch, +underlying which Mrs. Gordon detected the semblance to something +fiendishly vindictive and immeasurably nasty. But, in spite of the +horror his appearance produced, her curiosity was aroused with regard +to the two objects he carried in his hands, one of which looked like +a very bizarre bundle of red and white rags, and the other a small +bladder of lard. Whilst she was staring at them in dumb awe, he swung +round, and, hitching them savagely under his armpits, rushed across +the landing, and, with a series of apish bounds, sprang up the +staircase and disappeared in the gloom. + +This was the climax; Mrs. Gordon felt another such encounter would +kill her. So, in spite of the fact that she had taken the flat for a +year, and had only just commenced her tenancy, she packed up her goods +and left the very next day. The report that the building was haunted +spread rapidly, and Mrs. Gordon had many indignant letters from the +landlord. She naturally made inquiries as to the early history of the +house, but of the many tales she listened to, only one, the +authenticity of which she could not guarantee, seemed to suggest any +clue to the haunting. + +It was said that a retired Captain in the Merchant Service, many years +previously, had rented the rooms she had occupied. + +He was an extraordinary individual, and, despite the fact that he had +lived so far inland, would never wear any but nautical clothes--blue +jersey and trousers, reefer coat and jack-boots. But this was not his +only peculiarity. His love of grog eventually brought on delirium +tremens, and his excessive irritability in the interval between each +attack was a source of anxiety to all who came in contact with him. At +that time there happened to be a baby in the rooms overhead, whose +crying so annoyed the Captain that he savagely informed its mother +that if she did not keep it quiet, he would not be answerable for the +consequences. His warnings having no effect, he flew upstairs one day, +when she was temporarily absent, and, snatching up the bread knife +from the table, decapitated the infant. He then stuffed both its head +and body into a grandfather's clock which stood in one corner of the +room, and, retiring to his own quarters, drank till he was insensible. + +He was, of course, arrested on a charge of murder, but being found +"insane" he was committed during His Majesty's pleasure to a lunatic +asylum. + +He eventually committed suicide by opening an artery in his leg with +one of his finger-nails. + +As the details of this tragedy filled in so well with the phenomena +they had witnessed, the Gordons could not help regarding the story as +a very probable explanation of the hauntings. But, remember, its +authenticity is dubious. + + + + + CASE IV + + JANE OF GEORGE STREET, EDINBURGH + + +"The news that, for several years at any rate, George Street, +Edinburgh, was haunted," wrote a correspondent of mine some short time +ago, "might cause no little surprise to many of its inhabitants." And +my friend proceeded to relate his experience of the haunting, which I +will reproduce as nearly as possible in his own words. I quote from +memory, having foolishly destroyed the letter. + + * * * * * + +I was walking in a leisurely way along George Street the other day, +towards Strunalls, where I get my cigars, and had arrived opposite No. +--, when I suddenly noticed, just ahead of me, a tall lady of +remarkably graceful figure, clad in a costume which, even to an +ignoramus in fashions like myself, seemed extraordinarily out of date. +In my untechnical language it consisted of a dark blue coat and +skirt, trimmed with black braid. The coat had a very high collar, +turned over to show a facing of blue velvet, its sleeves were very +full at the shoulders, and a band of blue velvet drew it tightly in at +the waist. Moreover, unlike every other lady I saw, she wore a small +hat, which I subsequently learned was a toque, with one white and one +blue plume placed moderately high at the side. The only other +conspicuous items of her dress, the effect of which was, on the whole, +quiet, were white glace gloves,--over which dangled gold curb +bracelets with innumerable pendants,--shoes, which were of patent +leather with silver buckles and rather high Louis heels, and fine, +blue silk openwork stockings. So much for her dress. Now for her +herself. She was a strikingly fair woman with very pale yellow hair +and a startlingly white complexion; and this latter peculiarity so +impressed me that I hastened my steps, determining to get a full view +of her. Passing her with rapid strides, I looked back, and as I did so +a cold chill ran through me,--what I looked at was--the face of the +dead. I slowed down and allowed her to take the lead. + +I now observed that, startling as she was, no one else seemed to +notice her. One or two people obviously, though probably +unconsciously, possessing the germs of psychism, shivered when they +passed her, but as they neither slackened their pace nor turned to +steal a second look, I concluded they had not seen her. Without +glancing either to the right or left, she moved steadily on, past +Molton's the confectioner's, past Perrin's the hatter's. Once, I +thought she was coming to a halt, and that she intended crossing the +road, but no--on, on, on, till we came to D---- Street. There we were +preparing to cross over, when an elderly gentleman walked deliberately +into her. I half expected to hear him apologise, but naturally nothing +of the sort happened; she was only too obviously a phantom, and, in +accordance with the nature of a phantom, she passed right through him. +A few yards farther on, she came to an abrupt pause, and then, with a +slight inclination of her head as if meaning me to follow, she glided +into a chemist's shop. She was certainly not more than six feet ahead +of me when she passed through the door, and I was even nearer than +that to her when she suddenly disappeared as she stood before the +counter. I asked the chemist if he could tell me anything about the +lady who had just entered his shop, but he merely turned away and +laughed. + +"Lady!" he said; "what are you talking about? You're a bit out of your +reckoning. This isn't the first of April. Come, what do you want?" + +I bought a bottle of formamints, and reluctantly and regretfully +turned away. That night I dreamed I again saw the ghost. I followed +her up George Street just as I had done in reality; but when she came +to the chemist's shop, she turned swiftly round. "I'm Jane!" she said +in a hollow voice. "Jane! Only Jane!" and with that name ringing in my +ears I awoke. + +Some days elapsed before I was in George Street again. The weather had +in the meanwhile undergone one of those sudden and violent changes, so +characteristic of the Scottish climate. The lock-gates of heaven had +been opened and the rain was descending in cataracts. The few +pedestrians I encountered were enveloped in mackintoshes, and carried +huge umbrellas, through which the rain was soaking, and pouring off +from every point. Everything was wet--everywhere was mud. The water, +splashing upwards, saturated the tops of my boots and converted my +trousers into sodden sacks. Some weather isn't fit for dogs, but this +weather wasn't good enough for tadpoles--even fish would have kicked +at it and kept in their holes. Imagine, then, the anomaly! Amidst all +this aqueous inferno, this slippery-sloppery, filth-bespattering +inferno, a spotlessly clean apparition in blue without either +waterproof or umbrella. I refer to Jane. She suddenly appeared, as I +was passing The Ladies' Tea Association Rooms, walking in front of me. +She looked just the same as when I last saw her--spick and span, +and--dry. I repeat the word--dry--for that is what attracted my +attention most. Despite the deluge, not a single raindrop touched +her--the plumes on her toque were splendidly erect and curly, her +shoe-buckles sparkled, her patent leathers were spotless, whilst the +cloth of her coat and skirt looked as sheeny as if they had but just +come from Keeley's. + +Anxious to get another look at her face, I quickened my pace, and, +darting past her, gazed straight into her countenance. The result was +a severe shock. The terror of what I saw--the ghastly horror of her +dead white face--sent me reeling across the pavement. I let her pass +me, and, impelled by a sickly fascination, followed in her wake. + +Outside a jeweller's stood a hansom--quite a curiosity in these days +of motors--and, as Jane glided past, the horse shied. I have never +seen an animal so terrified. We went on, and at the next crossing +halted. A policeman had his hand up checking the traffic. His glance +fell on Jane--the effect was electrical. His eyes bulged, his cheeks +whitened, his chest heaved, his hand dropped, and he would undoubtedly +have fallen had not a good Samaritan, in the guise of a non-psychical +public-house loafer, held him up. Jane was now close to the chemist's, +and it was with a sigh of relief that I saw her glide in and +disappear. + +Had there been any doubt at all, after my first encounter with Jane, +as to her being superphysical, there was certainly none now. The +policeman's paroxysm of fear and the horse's fit of shying were facts. +What had produced them? I alone knew--and I knew for certain--it was +Jane. Both man and animal saw what I saw. Hence the phantom was not +subjective; it was not illusionary; it was a _bona fide_ spirit +manifestation--a visitant from the other world--the world of +earthbound souls. Jane fascinated me. I made endless researches in +connection with her, and, in answer to one of my inquiries, I was +informed that eighteen years ago--that is to say, about the time +Jane's dress was in fashion--the chemist's shop had been occupied by a +dressmaker of the name of Bosworth. I hunted up Miss Bosworth's +address and called on her. She had retired from business and was +living in St. Michael's Road, Bournemouth. I came to the point +straight. + +"Can you give me any information," I asked, "about a lady whose +Christian name was Jane?" + +"That sounds vague!" Miss Bosworth said. "I've met a good many Janes +in my time." + +"But not Janes with pale yellow hair, and white eyebrows and +eyelashes!" And I described her in detail. + +"How do you come to know about her?" Miss Bosworth said, after a long +pause. + +"Because," I replied with a certain slowness and deliberation +characteristic of me, "because I've seen her ghost!" + +Of course I knew Miss Bosworth was no sceptic--the moment my eyes +rested on her I saw she was psychic, and that the superphysical was +often at her elbow. Accordingly, I was not in the least surprised at +her look of horror. + +"What!" she exclaimed, "is she still there? I thought she would surely +be at rest now!" + +"Who was she?" I inquired. "Come--you need not be afraid of me. I have +come here solely because the occult has always interested me. Who was +Jane, and why should her ghost haunt George Street?" + +"It happened a good many years ago," Miss Bosworth replied, "in 1892. +In answer to an advertisement I saw in one of the daily papers, I +called on a Miss Jane Vernelt--Mademoiselle Vernelt she called +herself--who ran a costumier's business in George Street, in the very +building, in fact now occupied by the chemist you have mentioned. The +business was for sale, and Miss Vernelt wanted a big sum for it. +However, as her books showed a very satisfactory annual increase in +receipts and her clientele included a duchess and other society +leaders, I considered the bargain a tolerably safe one, and we came to +terms. Within a week I was running the business, and, exactly a month +after I had taken it over, I was greatly astonished to receive a visit +from Miss Vernelt. She came into the shop quite beside herself with +agitation. 'It's all a mistake!' she screamed. 'I didn't want to sell +it. I can't do anything with my capital. Let me buy it back.' I +listened to her politely, and then informed her that as I had gone to +all the trouble of taking over the business and had already succeeded +in extending it, I most certainly had no intention of selling it--at +least not for some time. Well, she behaved like a lunatic, and in the +end created such a disturbance that I had to summon my assistants and +actually turn her out. After that I had no peace for six weeks. She +came every day, at any and all times, and I was at last obliged to +take legal proceedings. I then discovered that her mind was really +unhinged, and that she had been suffering from softening of the brain +for many months. Her medical advisers had, it appeared, warned her to +give up business and place herself in the hands of trustworthy friends +or relations, who would see that her money was properly invested, but +she had delayed doing so; and when, at last, she did make up her mind +to retire, the excitement, resulting from so great a change in her +mode of living, accelerated the disease, and, exactly three weeks +after the sale of her business, she became a victim to the delusion +that she was ruined. This delusion grew more and more pronounced as +her malady increased, and amidst her wildest ravings she clamoured to +be taken back to George Street. The hauntings, indeed, began before +she died; and I frequently saw her--when I knew her material body to +be under restraint--just as you describe, gliding in and out the +show-rooms. + +"For several weeks after her death, the manifestations continued--they +then ceased, and I have never heard of her again until now." + +If I remember rightly the account of the George Street ghost here +terminated; but my friend referred to it again at the close of his +letter. + +"Since my return to Scotland," he wrote, "I have frequently visited +George Street, almost daily, but I have not seen 'Jane.' I only hope +that her poor distracted spirit has at last found rest." And with this +kindly sentiment my correspondent concluded. + + + + + CASE V + + THE SALLOW-FACED WOMAN OF NO. -- FORREST + ROAD, EDINBURGH + + +The Public unfortunately includes a certain set of people, of the +middle class very "middlish," who are ever on the look-out for some +opportunity, however slight and seemingly remote, of bettering +themselves socially; and, learning that those in a higher strata of +society are interested in the supernatural, they think that they may +possibly get in touch with them by working up a little local +reputation for psychical research. I have often had letters from this +type of "pusher" (letters from genuine believers in the Occult I +always welcome) stating that they have been greatly interested in my +books--would I be so very kind as to grant them a brief interview, or +permit them to accompany me to a haunted house, or give them certain +information with regard to Lady So-and-so, whom they have long wanted +to know? Occasionally, I have been so taken in as to give permission +to the writer to call on me, and almost always I have bitterly +repented. The wily one--no matter how wily--cannot conceal the cloven +hoof for long, and he has either tried to thrust himself into the +bosom of my family, or has written to my neighbours declaring himself +to be my dearest friend; and when, in desperation, I have shown him +the cold shoulder, he has attacked me virulently in some "rag" of a +local paper, the proprietor, editor, or office-boy of which happens to +be one of his own clique. I have even known an instance where this +type of person has, through trickery, actually gained access to some +notoriously haunted house, and from its owners--the family he has long +had his eyes on, from a motive anything but psychic--has ferreted out +the secret and private history of the haunting. Then, when he has been +"found out" and forced to see that his friendship is not wanted, he +has, in revenge for the slight, unblushingly revealed the facts that +were only entrusted to him in the strictest confidence; and, through +influence with the lower stratum of the Press, caused a most glaring +and sensational account of the ghost to be published. + +With such a case in view, I cannot be surprised that possessors of +family ghosts and haunted houses should show the greatest reluctance +to be approached on the subject, save by those they feel assured will +treat it with the utmost delicacy. + +But I have quoted the above breach of confidence merely to give +another reason for my constant use of fictitious names with regard to +people and places, and having done so (I hope to some purpose), I will +proceed with the following story:-- + +Miss Dulcie Vincent, some of whose reminiscences appeared in my book +of _Ghostly Phenomena_ last year, is nearly connected with Lady Adela +Minkon, who owns a considerable amount of house property, including +No. -- Forrest Road, in Edinburgh, and whose yacht at Cowes is the +envy of all who have cruised in her. Three years ago, Lady Adela +stayed at No. -- Forrest Road. She had heard that the house was +haunted, and was anxious to put it to the test. Lady Adela was +perfectly open-minded. She had never experienced any occult phenomena +herself, but, very rationally, she did not consider that her +non-acquaintance with the superphysical in any way negatived the +evidence of those who declare that they have witnessed manifestations; +their statements, she reasoned, were just as worthy of credence as +hers. She thus commenced her occupation of the house with a perfectly +unbiased mind, resolved to stay there for at least a year, so as to +give it a fair trial. The hauntings, she was told, were at their +height in the late summer and early autumn. It is, I think, +unnecessary to enter into any detailed description of her house. In +appearance, it differed very little, if at all, from those adjoining +it; in construction, it was if anything a trifle larger. The basement, +which included the usual kitchen offices and cellars, was very dark, +and the atmosphere--after sunset on Fridays, only on Fridays--was +tainted with a smell of damp earth, shockingly damp earth, and of a +sweet and nauseating something that greatly puzzled Lady Adela. All +the rooms in the house were of fair dimensions, and cheerful, +excepting on this particular evening of the week; a distinct gloom +settled on them then, and the strangest of shadows were seen playing +about the passages and on the landings. + +"It may be fancy," Lady Adela said to herself, "merely fancy! And, +after all, if I encounter nothing worse than a weekly menu of aromatic +smells and easily digested shadows, I shall not suffer any harm"; but +it was early summer then--the psychic season had yet to come. As the +weeks went by, the shadows and the smell grew more and more +pronounced, and by the arrival of August had become so emphatic that +Lady Adela could not help thinking that they were both hostile and +aggressive. + +About eight o'clock on the evening of the second Friday in the month, +Lady Adela was purposely alone in the basement of the house. The +servants especially irritated her; like the majority of present-day +domestics, products of the County Council schools, they were so +intensely supercilious and silly, and Lady Adela felt that their +presence in the house minimised her chances of seeing the ghost. No +apparition with the smallest amount of self-respect could risk coming +in contact with such inane creatures, so she sent them all out for a +motor drive, and, for once, rejoiced in the house to herself. A +curious proceeding for a lady! True! but then, Lady Adela was a lady, +and, being a lady, was not afraid of being thought anything else; and +so acted just as unconventionally as she chose. But stay a moment; she +was not alone in the house, for she had three of her dogs with +her--three beautiful boarhounds, trophies of her last trip to the +Baltic. With such colossal and perfectly trained companions Lady Adela +felt absolutely safe, and ready--as she acknowledged afterwards--to +face a whole army of spooks. She did not even shiver when the front +door of the basement closed, and she heard the sonorous birring of the +motor, drowning the giddy voices of the servants, grow fainter and +fainter until it finally ceased altogether. + +When the last echoes of the vehicle had died away in the distance, +Lady Adela made a tour of the premises. The housekeeper's room pleased +her immensely--at least she persuaded herself it did. "Why, it is +quite as nice as any of the rooms upstairs," she said aloud, as she +stood with her face to the failing sunbeams and rested her strong +white hand on the edge of the table. "Quite as nice. Karl and Max, +come here!" + +But the boarhounds for once in their lives did not obey her with a +good grace. There was something in the room they did not like, and +they showed how strong was their resentment by slinking unwillingly +through the doorway. + +"I wonder why that is?" Lady Adela mused; "I have never known them do +it before." Then her eyes wandered round the walls, and struggled in +vain to reach the remoter angles of the room, which had suddenly grown +dark. She tried to assure herself that this was but the natural effect +of the departing daylight, and that, had she watched in other houses +at this particular time, she would have noticed the same thing. To +show how little she minded the gloom, she went up to the darkest +corner and prodded the walls with her riding-whip. She laughed--there +was nothing there, nothing whatsoever to be afraid of, only shadows. +With a careless shrug of her shoulders, she strutted into the +passage, and, whistling to Karl and Max who, contrary to their custom, +would not keep to heel, made another inspection of the kitchens. At +the top of the cellar steps she halted. The darkness had now set in +everywhere, and she argued that it would be foolish to venture into +such dungeon-like places without a light. She soon found one, and, +armed with candle and matches, began her descent. There were several +cellars, and they presented such a dismal, dark appearance, that she +instinctively drew her skirts tightly round her, and exchanged the +slender riding-whip for a poker. She whistled again to her dogs. They +did not answer, so she called them both by name angrily. But for some +reason (some quite unaccountable reason, she told herself) they would +not come. + +She ransacked her mind to recall some popular operatic air, and +although she knew scores she could not remember one. Indeed, the only +air that filtered back to her was one she detested--a Vaudeville tune +she had heard three nights in succession, when she was staying with a +student friend in the Latin Quarter in Paris. She hummed it loudly, +however, and, holding the lighted candle high above her head, walked +down the steps. At the bottom she stood still and listened. From high +above her came noises which sounded like the rumbling of distant +thunder, but which, on analysis, proved to be the rattling of +window-frames. Reassured that she had no cause for alarm, Lady Adela +advanced. Something black scudded across the red-tiled floor, and she +made a dash at it with her poker. The concussion awoke countless +echoes in the cellars, and called into existence legions of other +black things that darted hither and thither in all directions. She +burst out laughing--they were only beetles! Facing her she now +perceived an inner cellar, which was far gloomier than the one in +which she stood. The ceiling was very low, and appeared to be crushed +down beneath the burden of a stupendous weight; and as she advanced +beneath it she half expected that it would "cave in" and bury her. + +A few feet from the centre of this cellar she stopped; and, bending +down, examined the floor carefully. The tiles were unmistakably newer +here than elsewhere, and presented the appearance of having been put +in at no very distant date. The dampness of the atmosphere was +intense; a fact which struck Lady Adela as somewhat odd, since the +floor and walls looked singularly dry. To find out if this were the +case, she ran her fingers over the walls, and, on removing them, found +they showed no signs of moisture. Then she rapped the floor and walls, +and could discover no indications of hollowness. She sniffed the air, +and a great wave of something sweet and sickly half choked her. She +drew out her handkerchief and beat the air vigorously with it; but the +smell remained, and she could not in any way account for it. She +turned to leave the cellar, and the flame of her candle burned blue. +Then for the first time that evening--almost, indeed, for the first +time in her life--she felt afraid, so afraid that she made no attempt +to diagnose her fear; she understood the dogs' feelings now, and +caught herself wondering how much they knew. + +She whistled to them again, not because she thought they would +respond,--she knew only too well they would not,--but because she +wanted company, even the company of her own voice; and she had some +faint hope, too, that whatever might be with her in the cellar, would +not so readily disclose itself if she made a noise. The one cellar was +passed, and she was nearly across the floor of the other when she +heard a crash. The candle dropped from her hand, and all the blood in +her body rushed to her heart. She could never have imagined it was so +terrible to be frightened. She tried to pull herself together and be +calm, but she was no longer mistress of her limbs. Her knees knocked +together and her hands shook. "It was only the dogs," she feebly told +herself, "I will call them"; but when she opened her mouth, she found +her throat was paralysed--not a syllable would come. She knew, too, +that she had lied, and that the hounds could not have been responsible +for the noise. It was like nothing she had ever heard, nothing she +could imagine; and although she struggled hard against the idea, she +could not help associating the sound with the cause of the candle +burning blue, and the sweet, sickly smell. Incapable of moving a +step, she was forced to listen in breathless expectancy for a +recurrence of the crash. Her thoughts become ghastly. The inky sea of +darkness that hemmed her in on every side suggested every sort of +ghoulish possibility, and with each pulsation of her overstrained +heart her flesh crawled. Another sound--this time not a crash, nothing +half so loud or definite--drew her eyes in the direction of the steps. +An object was now standing at the top of them, and something lurid, +like the faint, phosphorescent glow of decay, emanated from all over +it; but _what_ it was, she could not for the life of her tell. It +might have been the figure of a man, or a woman, or a beast, or of +anything that was inexpressibly antagonistic and nasty. She would have +given her soul to have looked elsewhere, but her eyes were fixed--she +could neither turn nor shut them. For some seconds the shape remained +motionless, and then with a sly, subtle motion it lowered its head, +and came stealing stealthily down the stairs towards her. She followed +its approach like one in a hideous dream--her heart ready to burst, +her brain on the verge of madness. Another step, another, yet +another; till there were only three left between her and it; and she +was at length enabled to form some idea of what the thing was like. + +It was short and squat, and appeared to be partly clad in a loose, +flowing garment, that was not long enough to conceal the glistening +extremities of its limbs. From its general contour and the tangled +mass of hair that fell about its neck and shoulders, Lady Adela +concluded it was the phantasm of a woman. Its head being kept bent, +she was unable to see the face in full, but every instant she expected +the revelation would take place, and with each separate movement of +the phantasm her suspense became more and more intolerable. At last it +stood on the floor of the cellar, a broad, ungainly, horribly ungainly +figure, that glided up to and past her into the far cellar. There it +halted, as nearly as she could judge on the new tiles, and remained +standing. As she gazed at it, too fascinated to remove her eyes, there +was a loud, reverberating crash, a hideous sound of wrenching and +tearing, and the whole of the ceiling of the inner chamber came down +with an appalling roar. Lady Adela thinks that she must then have +fainted, for she distinctly remembers falling--falling into what +seemed to her a black, interminable abyss. When she recovered +consciousness, she was lying on the tiles, and all around was still +and normal. She got up, found and lighted her candle, and spent the +rest of the evening, without further adventure, in the drawing-room. + +All the week Lady Adela struggled hard to master a disinclination to +spend another evening alone in the house, and when Friday came she +succumbed to her fears. The servants were poor, foolish things, but it +was nice to feel that there was something in the house besides ghosts. +She sat reading in the drawing-room till late that night, and when she +lolled out of the window to take a farewell look at the sky and stars +before retiring to rest, the sounds of traffic had completely ceased +and the whole city lay bathed in a refreshing silence. It was very +heavenly to stand there and feel the cool, soft air--unaccompanied, +for the first time during the day, by the rattling rumbling sounds of +locomotion and the jarring discordant murmurs of unmusical +voices--fanning her neck and face. + +Lady Adela, used as she was to the privacy of her yacht, and the +freedom of her big country mansion, where all sounds were regulated at +her will, chafed at the near proximity of her present habitation to +the noisy thoroughfare, and vaguely looked forward to the hours when +shops and theatres were closed, and all screeching, harsh-voiced +products of the gutter were in bed. To her the nights in Waterloo +Place were all too short; the days too long, too long for anything. +The heavy, lumbering steps of a policeman at last broke her reverie. +She had no desire to arouse his curiosity; besides, her costume had +become somewhat disordered, and she had the strictest sense of +propriety, at least in the presence of the lower orders. Retiring, +therefore, with a sigh of vexation, she sought her bedroom, and, after +the most scrupulous attention to her toilet, put out the lights and +got into bed. It was just one when she fell asleep, and three when she +awoke with a violent start. Why she started puzzled her. She did not +recollect experiencing any very dreadful dream, in fact no dream at +all, and there seemed nothing in the hush--the apparently unbroken +hush--that could in any way account for her action. Why, then, had she +started? She lay still and wondered. Surely everything was just as it +was when she went to sleep! And yet! When she ventured on a diagnosis, +there was something different, something new; she did not think it was +actually in the atmosphere, nor in the silence; she did not know where +it was until she opened her eyes--and then she _knew_. Bending over +her, within a few inches of her face, was another face, the ghastly +caricature of a human face. It was on a larger scale than that of any +mortal Lady Adela had ever seen; it was long in proportion to its +width--indeed, she could not make out where the cranium terminated at +the back, as the hinder portion of it was lost in a mist. The +forehead, which was very receding, was partly covered with a mass of +lank, black hair, that fell straight down into space; there were no +neck nor shoulders, at least none had materialised; the skin was +leaden-hued, and the emaciation so extreme that the raw cheek-bones +had burst through in places; the size of the eye sockets which +appeared monstrous, was emphasised by the fact that the eyes were +considerably sunken; the lips were curled downwards and tightly shut, +and the whole expression of the withered mouth, as indeed that of the +entire face, was one of bestial, diabolical malignity. Lady Adela's +heart momentarily stopped, her blood ran cold, she was petrified; and +as she stared helplessly at the dark eyes pressed close to hers, she +saw them suddenly suffuse with fiendish glee. The most frightful +change then took place: the upper lip writhed away from a few greenish +yellow stumps; the lower jaw fell with a metallic click, leaving the +mouth widely open, and disclosing to Lady Adela's shocked vision a +black and bloated tongue; the eyeballs rolled up and entirely +disappeared, whilst their places were immediately filled with the +foulest and most loathsome indications of advanced decay. A strong, +vibratory movement suddenly made all the bones in the head rattle and +the tongue wag, whilst from the jaws, as if belched up from some +deep-down well, came a gust of wind, putrescent with the ravages of +the tomb, and yet, at the same time, tainted with the same sweet, +sickly odour with which Lady Adela had latterly become so familiar. +This was the culminating act; the head then receded, and, growing +fainter and fainter, gradually disappeared altogether. Lady Adela was +now more than satisfied,--there was not a house more horribly haunted +in Scotland,--and nothing on earth would induce her to remain in it +another night. + +However, being anxious, naturally, to discover something that might, +in some degree, account for the apparitions, Lady Adela made endless +inquiries concerning the history of former occupants of the house; +but, failing to find out anything remarkable in this direction, she +was eventually obliged to content herself with the following +tradition: It was said that on the site of No. -- Forrest Road there +had once stood a cottage occupied by two sisters (both nurses), and +that one was suspected of poisoning the other; and that the cottage, +moreover, having through their parsimonious habits got into a very bad +state of repair, was blown down during a violent storm, the surviving +sister perishing in the ruins. Granted that this story is correct, it +was in all probability the ghost of this latter sister that appeared +to Lady Adela. Her ladyship is, of course, anxious to let No. +-- Forrest Road, and as only about one in a thousand people seem to +possess the faculty of seeing psychic phenomena, she hopes she may one +day succeed in getting a permanent tenant. In the meanwhile, she is +doing her level best to suppress the rumour that the house is +haunted. + + + + + CASE VI + + THE PHANTOM REGIMENT OF KILLIECRANKIE + + +Many are the stories that have from time to time been circulated with +regard to the haunting of the Pass of Killiecrankie by phantom +soldiers, but I do not think there is any stranger story than that +related to me, some years ago, by a lady who declared she had actually +witnessed the phenomena. Her account of it I shall reproduce as far as +possible in her own words:-- + + * * * * * + +Let me commence by stating that I am not a spiritualist, and that I +have the greatest possible aversion to convoking the earthbound souls +of the dead. Neither do I lay any claim to mediumistic powers (indeed +I have always regarded the term "medium" with the gravest suspicion). +I am, on the contrary, a plain, practical, matter-of-fact woman, and +with the exception of this one occasion, never witnessed any psychic +phenomena. + +The incident I am about to relate took place the autumn before last. I +was on a cycle tour in Scotland, and, making Pitlochry my temporary +headquarters, rode over one evening to view the historic Pass of +Killiecrankie. It was late when I arrived there, and the western sky +was one great splash of crimson and gold--such vivid colouring I had +never seen before and never have seen since. Indeed, I was so +entranced at the sublimity of the spectacle, that I perched myself on +a rock at the foot of one of the great cliffs that form the walls of +the Pass, and, throwing my head back, imagined myself in fairyland. +Lost, thus, in a delicious luxury, I paid no heed to the time, nor did +I think of stirring, until the dark shadows of the night fell across +my face. I then started up in a panic, and was about to pedal off in +hot haste, when a strange notion suddenly seized me: I had a latchkey, +plenty of sandwiches, a warm cape, why should I not camp out there +till early morning--I had long yearned to spend a night in the open, +now was my opportunity. The idea was no sooner conceived than put +into operation. Selecting the most comfortable-looking boulder I could +see, I scrambled on to the top of it, and, with my cloak drawn tightly +over my back and shoulders, commenced my vigil. The cold mountain air, +sweet with the perfume of gorse and heather, intoxicated me, and I +gradually sank into a heavenly torpor, from which I was abruptly +aroused by a dull boom, that I at once associated with distant +musketry. All was then still, still as the grave, and, on glancing at +the watch I wore strapped on my wrist, I saw it was two o'clock. A +species of nervous dread now laid hold of me, and a thousand and one +vague fancies, all the more distressing because of their vagueness, +oppressed and disconcerted me. Moreover, I was impressed for the first +time with the extraordinary solitude--solitude that seemed to belong +to a period far other than the present, and, as I glanced around at +the solitary pines and gleaming boulders, I more than half expected to +see the wild, ferocious face of some robber chief--some fierce yet +fascinating hero of Sir Walter Scott's--peering at me from behind +them. This feeling at length became so acute, that, in a panic of +fear--ridiculous, puerile fear, I forcibly withdrew my gaze and +concentrated it abstractedly on the ground at my feet. I then +listened, and in the rustling of a leaf, the humming of some night +insect, the whizzing of a bat, the whispering of the wind as it moaned +softly past me, I fancied--nay, I felt sure I detected something that +was not ordinary. I blew my nose, and had barely ceased marvelling at +the loudness of its reverberations, before the piercing, ghoulish +shriek of an owl sent the blood in torrents to my heart. I then +laughed, and my blood froze as I heard a chorus, of what I tried to +persuade myself could only be echoes, proceed from every crag and rock +in the valley. For some seconds after this I sat still, hardly daring +to breathe, and pretending to be extremely angry with myself for being +such a fool. With a stupendous effort I turned my attention to the +most material of things. One of the skirt buttons on my hip--they were +much in vogue then--being loose, I endeavoured to occupy myself in +tightening it, and when I could no longer derive any employment from +that, I set to work on my shoes, and tied knots in the laces, merely +to enjoy the task of untying them. But this, too, ceasing at last to +attract me, I was desperately racking my mind for some other device, +when there came again the queer, booming noise I had heard before, but +which I could now no longer doubt was the report of firearms. I looked +in the direction of the sound--and--my heart almost stopped. Racing +towards me--as if not merely for his life, but his soul--came the +figure of a Highlander. The wind rustling through his long dishevelled +hair, blew it completely over his forehead, narrowly missing his eyes, +which were fixed ahead of him in a ghastly, agonised stare. He had not +a vestige of colour, and, in the powerful glow of the moonbeams, his +skin shone livid. He ran with huge bounds, and, what added to my +terror and made me double aware he was nothing mortal, was that each +time his feet struck the hard, smooth road, upon which I could well +see there was no sign of a stone, there came the sound, the +unmistakable sound of the scattering of gravel. On, on he came, with +cyclonic swiftness; his bare sweating elbows pressed into his panting +sides; his great, dirty, coarse, hairy fists screwed up in bony +bunches in front of him; the foam-flakes thick on his clenched, +grinning lips; the blood-drops oozing down his sweating thighs. It was +all real, infernally, hideously real, even to the most minute details: +the flying up and down of his kilt, sporan, and swordless scabbard; +the bursting of the seam of his coat, near the shoulder; and the +absence of one of his clumsy shoe-buckles. I tried hard to shut my +eyes, but was compelled to keep them open, and follow his every +movement as, darting past me, he left the roadway, and, leaping +several of the smaller obstacles that barred his way, finally +disappeared behind some of the bigger boulders. I then heard the loud +rat-tat of drums, accompanied by the shrill voices of fifes and +flutes, and at the farther end of the Pass, their arms glittering +brightly in the silvery moonbeams, appeared a regiment of scarlet-clad +soldiers. At the head rode a mounted officer, after him came the +band, and then, four abreast, a long line of warriors; in their centre +two ensigns, and on their flanks, officers and non-commissioned +officers with swords and pikes; more mounted men bringing up the rear. +On they came, the fifes and flutes ringing out with a weird clearness +in the hushed mountain air. I could hear the ground vibrate, the +gravel crunch and scatter, as they steadily and mechanically +advanced--tall men, enormously tall men, with set, white faces and +livid eyes. Every instant I expected they would see me, and I became +sick with terror at the thought of meeting all those pale, flashing +eyes. But from this I was happily saved; no one appeared to notice me, +and they all passed me by without as much as a twist or turn of the +head, their feet keeping time to one everlasting and monotonous tramp, +tramp, tramp. I got up and watched until the last of them had turned +the bend of the Pass, and the sheen of his weapons and trappings could +no longer be seen; then I remounted my boulder and wondered if +anything further would happen. It was now half-past two, and blended +with the moonbeams was a peculiar whiteness, which rendered the whole +aspect of my surroundings indescribably dreary and ghostly. Feeling +cold and hungry, I set to work on my beef sandwiches, and was +religiously separating the fat from the lean, for I am one of those +foolish people who detest fat, when a loud rustling made me look up. +Confronting me, on the opposite side of the road, was a tree, an ash, +and to my surprise, despite the fact that the breeze had fallen and +there was scarcely a breath of wind, the tree swayed violently to and +fro, whilst there proceeded from it the most dreadful moanings and +groanings. I was so terrified that I caught hold of my bicycle and +tried to mount, but I was obliged to desist as I had not a particle of +strength in my limbs. Then to assure myself the moving of the tree was +not an illusion, I rubbed my eyes, pinched myself, called aloud; but +it made no difference--the rustling, bending, and tossing still +continued. Summing up courage, I stepped into the road to get a closer +view, when to my horror my feet kicked against something, and, on +looking down, I perceived the body of an English soldier, with a +ghastly wound in his chest. I gazed around, and there, on all sides of +me, from one end of the valley to the other, lay dozens of +bodies,--bodies of men and horses,--Highlanders and English, +white-cheeked, lurid eyes, and bloody-browed,--a hotch-potch of livid, +gory awfulness. Here was the writhing, wriggling figure of an officer +with half his face shot away; and there, a horse with no head; and +there--but I cannot dwell on such horrors, the very memory of which +makes me feel sick and faint. The air, that beautiful, fresh mountain +air, resounded with their moanings and groanings, and reeked with the +smell of their blood. As I stood rooted to the ground with horror, not +knowing which way to look or turn, I suddenly saw drop from the ash, +the form of a woman, a Highland girl, with bold, handsome features, +raven black hair, and the whitest of arms and feet. In one hand she +carried a wicker basket, in the other a knife, a broad-bladed, +sharp-edged, horn-handled knife. A gleam of avarice and cruelty came +into her large dark eyes, as, wandering around her, they rested on the +rich facings of the English officers' uniforms. I knew what was in +her mind, and--forgetting she was but a ghost--that they were all +ghosts--I moved heaven and earth to stop her. I could not. Making +straight for a wounded officer that lay moaning piteously on the +ground, some ten feet away from me, she spurned with her slender, +graceful feet, the bodies of the dead and dying English that came in +her way. Then, snatching the officer's sword and pistol from him, she +knelt down, and, with a look of devilish glee in her glorious eyes, +calmly plunged her knife into his heart, working the blade backwards +and forwards to assure herself she had made a thorough job of it. +Anything more hellish I could not have imagined, and yet it fascinated +me--the girl was so fair, so wickedly fair and shapely. Her act of +cruelty over, she spoiled her victim of his rings, epaulets, buttons +and gold lacing, and, having placed them in her basket, proceeded +elsewhere. In some cases, unable to remove the rings easily, she +chopped off the fingers, and popped them, just as they were, into her +basket. Neither was her mode of dispatch always the same, for while +she put some men out of their misery in the manner I have described, +she cut the throats of others with as great a nonchalance as if she +had been killing fowls, whilst others again she settled with the +butt-ends of their guns or pistols. In all she murdered a full +half-score, and was decamping with her booty when her gloating eyes +suddenly encountered mine, and with a shrill scream of rage she rushed +towards me. I was an easy victim, for strain and pray how I would, I +could not move an inch. Raising her flashing blade high over her head, +an expression of fiendish glee in her staring eyes, she made ready to +strike me. This was the climax, my overstrained nerves could stand no +more, and ere the blow had time to descend, I pitched heavily forward +and fell at her feet. When I recovered, every phantom had vanished, +and the Pass glowed with all the cheerful freshness of the early +morning sun. Not a whit the worse for my venture, I cycled swiftly +home, and ate as only one can eat who has spent the night amid the +banks and braes of bonnie Scotland. + + + + + CASE VII + + "PEARLIN' JEAN" OF ALLANBANK + + +Few ghosts have obtained more notoriety than "Pearlin' Jean," the +phantasm which for many years haunted Allanbank, a seat of the +Stuarts. + +The popular theory as to the identity of the apparition is as +follows:-- + +Mr. Stuart, afterwards created first baronet of Allanbank, when on a +tour in France, met a young and beautiful French Sister of Charity of +the name of Jean, whom he induced to leave her convent. Tiring of her +at length, Mr. Stuart brutally left her, and, returning abruptly to +Scotland, became engaged to be married to a lady of his own +nationality and position in life. But Jean was determined he should +not escape her so easily. For him she had sacrificed everything: her +old vocation in life was gone, she had no home, no honour,--nothing, +so she resolved to leave no stone unturned to discover his +whereabouts. At last her perseverance was rewarded, and, Fortune +favouring her, she arrived without mishap at Allanbank. + +The truth was then revealed to her: her cruel and faithless lover was +about to be wedded to another. But despair gave her energy, and, +burning with indignation, she hastened to his house to upbraid him. +She reached the spot just as he was driving out with his fiancee. With +a cry of anguish, Jean rushed forward and, swinging herself nimbly on +to the fore-wheel of the coach, turned her white and passionate face +towards its occupants. For a moment, Mr. Stuart was too dumbfounded to +do anything; he could scarcely believe his senses. Who on earth was +this frantic female? Good Heavens! Jean! Impossible! How on earth had +she got there? And the tumultuous beating of his guilty heart turned +him sick and faint. + +Then he glanced fearfully and covertly at his fiancee. _She_ must not +know the truth at any cost. Possibly he lost his head! At all events, +that is the kindest construction to put on his subsequent action, +for, dastardly as his behaviour had been to Jean in the past, one can +hardly imagine him capable of deliberately murdering her, and in so +horrible a fashion. There was not a second to lose; an instant more, +and the secret, that he had so assiduously hidden from the lady beside +him, would be revealed. Jean's mouth was already open to speak. He +waved her aside. She adhered to her post. He shouted to the postilion, +and the huge, lumbering vehicle was set in motion. At the first turn +of the wheels, Jean slipped from her perch, her dress caught in the +spokes, and she was crushed to death. + +Her fate does not appear to have made any deep impression either on +Mr. Stuart or his lady-love, for they continued their drive. + +The hauntings began that autumn. Mr. Stuart, as was only fit and +proper, being the first to witness the phenomenon. Returning home from +a drive one evening, he perceived to his surprise the dark outlines of +a human figure perched on the arched gateway of his house, exactly +opposite the spot where Jean had perished. Wondering who it could be, +he leaned forward to inspect it closer. The figure moved, an icy +current of air ran through him, and he saw to his horror the livid +countenance of the dead Jean. There she was, staring down at him with +lurid, glassy eyes; her cheeks startlingly white, her hair fluttering +in the wind, her neck and forehead bathed in blood. + +Paralysed with terror, Mr. Stuart could not remove his gaze, and it +was not until one of the menials opened the carriage door to assist +him down, that the spell was broken and he was able to speak and move. +He then flew into the house, and spent the rest of the night in the +most abject fear. + +After this he had no peace--Allanbank was constantly haunted. The +great oak doors opened and shut of their own accord at night with loud +clanging and bangs, and the rustling of silks and pattering of +high-heeled shoes were heard in the oak-panelled bedrooms and along +the many dark and winding passages. + +From her attire, which was a piece of lace made of thread, the +apparition became known as "Pearlin' Jean," and a portrait of her was +actually painted. It is recorded that when this picture was hung +between one of Mr. Stuart and his lady-love, the hauntings ceased, but +that as soon as it was removed they were renewed. Presumably, it was +not allowed to remain in the aforesaid position long, for the +manifestations appear to have gone on for many years without +intermission. + +Most phantasms of the dead inspire those who see them with +horror,--and that is my own experience,--but "Pearlin' Jean" seems to +have been an exception to this rule. A housekeeper called Betty +Norrie, who lived for many years at Allanbank, declared that other +people besides herself had so frequently seen Jean that they had grown +quite accustomed to her, and were, consequently, no more alarmed at +her appearance than they were by her noises. + +Another servant at the house, of the name of Jenny Blackadder, used +constantly to hear Jean, but could never see her--though her husband +did. + +The latter, when courting Jenny, received a rare scare, which suggests +to me that Jean, in spite of her tragic ending, may not have been +without a spice of humour. Thomas, for that was the swain's name, +made an assignation one night to meet Jenny in the orchard at +Allanbank. + +It was early when he arrived at the trysting-place--for Thomas, like +all true lovers, was ever rather more than punctual--and he fully +contemplated a long wait. Judge, then, of his astonishment, when he +perceived in the moonlight what he took to be the well-known and +adored figure of his lady-love. With a cry of delight, Thomas rushed +forward, and, swinging his arms widely open to embrace her, beheld her +vanish, and found himself hugging space! An icy current of air +thrilled through him, and the whole place--trees, nooks, moonbeams, +and shadows, underwent a hideous metamorphosis. The very air bristled +with unknown horrors till flesh and blood could stand no more, and, +even at the risk of displeasing his beloved Jenny, Thomas fled! Some +few minutes later, at the appointed hour, Jenny arrived on the scene, +and no one was there. She dallied for some time, wondering whatever +could have happened to Thomas, and then returned, full of grave +apprehensions, to the house. + +It was not until the next morning that the truth leaked out, and +Jenny, after indulging in a hearty laugh at her lover, who felt very +shamefaced now that it was daylight, sensibly forgave him, and raised +no obstacle when asked to fix a day for their marriage. + +In after years, Jenny used to retail the story with many harrowing +allusions to "Pearlin' Jean," whom she somewhat foolishly made use of +as a bogey to frighten children into being good. A Mr. Sharpe, who +when he was a little boy was once placed in her charge, confesses that +he was dreadfully scared at her stories, and that he never ventured +down a passage in those days without thinking "Pearlin' Jean," with +her ghostly, blood-stained face, clawlike hands, and rustling lace +dress, was after him. + +Nurse Jenny used to tell him that the Stuarts tried in vain to lay +Jean's spirit, actually going to the length of calling in seven +ministers to exorcise it. But all to no purpose; it still continued +its nocturnal peregrinations. + +In the year 1790 the Stuarts let the house to strangers, who, when +they took it, had not the least idea that it was haunted. However, +they did not long remain in ignorance, for two ladies, who occupied +the same bedroom, were awakened in the night by hearing some one +walking across the floor. The "presence" did not suggest burglars, for +the intruder behaved in the most noisy manner, pacing restlessly and +apparently aimlessly backwards and forwards across the room, swishing +the floor (with what sounded like a long lace train) and breathing +heavily. They were both terrified, and so cold that they could hear +one another's teeth chatter. They were too frightened to call for +help; they could only lie still, hoping and praying it would not come +nearer to them. The sufferings of these two ladies were indescribable, +for the ghost remained in their room all night, moving restlessly +about until daybreak. It was not until some days later, when other +people in the house had experienced the phenomenon, that they were +told the story of the notorious "Pearlin' Jean." + +But was the so-called "Pearlin' Jean" really the apparition of the +murdered French woman? To my mind, her identity with that of the +beautiful Sister of Charity has not been satisfactorily established, +and I think there are reasons to doubt it. + +If, for instance, the apparition were that of a Sister of Charity, why +should it appear incongruously attired in a long trailing gown of +lace? And if it were that of a woman of the presumably staid habits of +a Sister of Charity, why should it delight in mischief and play the +pranks of a _poltergeist_? And yet if it wasn't the ghost of Jean, +whose ghost was it? + + + + + CASE VIII + + THE DRUMMER OF CORTACHY + + +What ancient Scottish or Irish family has not its Family Ghost? A +banshee--the heritage of Niall of the Nine Hostages--is still the +unenviable possession of his descendants, the O'Donnells, and I, who +am a member of the clan, have both seen and heard it several times. As +it appears to me, it resembles the decapitated head of a prehistoric +woman, and I shall never forget my feelings one night, when, aroused +from slumber by its ghastly wailing, I stumbled frantically out of +bed, and, groping my way upstairs in the dark, without venturing to +look to the left or right lest I should see something horrible, found +every inmate of the house huddled together on the landing, paralysed +with fear. I did not see it on that occasion, but on the following +morning, as I had anticipated, I received the news that a near and +dear relative had died. + +Possessing such an heirloom myself, I can therefore readily sympathise +with those who own a similar treasure--such, for example, as the +famous, or rather infamous, Drummer of Cortachy Castle, who is +invariably heard beating a tattoo before the death of a member of the +clan of Ogilvie. + +Mrs. Crowe, in her _Night Side of Nature_, referring to the haunting, +says:-- + +"Miss D., a relative of the present Lady C., who had been staying some +time with the Earl and Countess at their seat, near Dundee, was +invited to spend a few days at Cortachy Castle, with the Earl and +Countess of Airlie. She went, and whilst she was dressing for dinner +the first evening of her arrival, she heard a strain of music under +her window, which finally resolved itself into a well-defined sound of +a drum. When her maid came upstairs, she made some inquiries about the +drummer that was playing near the house; but the maid knew nothing on +the subject. For the moment the circumstance passed from Miss D.'s +mind, but, recurring to her again during the dinner, she said, +addressing Lord Airlie, 'My lord, who is your drummer?' Upon which his +lordship turned pale, Lady Airlie looked distressed, and several of +the company, who all heard the question, embarrassed; whilst the lady, +perceiving that she had made some unpleasant allusion, although she +knew not to what their feelings referred, forebore further inquiry +till she reached the drawing-room; when, having mentioned the +circumstance again to a member of the family, she was answered, 'What, +have you never heard of the drummer boy?' 'No,' replied Miss D.; 'who +in the world is he?' 'Why,' replied the other, 'he is a person who +goes about the house playing his drum, whenever there is a death +impending in the family. The last time he was heard was shortly before +the death of the last Countess (the Earl's former wife); and that is +why Lord Airlie became so pale when you mentioned it. The drummer boy +is a very unpleasant subject in this family, I assure you.' + +"Miss D. was naturally much concerned, and indeed not a little +frightened at this explanation, and her alarm being augmented by +hearing the sounds on the following day, she took her departure from +Cortachy Castle, and returned to Lord C.'s, where she related this +strange circumstance to the family, through whom the information +reached me. + +"This affair was very generally known in the north, and we awaited the +event with interest. The melancholy death of the Countess about five +or six months afterwards, at Brighton, sadly verified the +prognostications. I have heard that a paper was found in her desk +after her death, declaring her conviction that the drum was for her." + +Mrs. Crowe goes on to explain the origin of the phenomenon. According +to legend, she says, there was once at Cortachy a drummer, who, +incurring the jealousy of the then Lord Airlie, was thrust into his +own drum and flung from a window of the tower (in which, by the way, +Miss D. slept). Before being put to death thus, the drummer is stated +to have said he would for ever after haunt the Airlie family--a threat +he has obviously been permitted to fulfil. + +During one of my visits to Scotland, I stayed some days in Forfarshire +not far from Cortachy. Among the visitors at my hotel was a very old +gentleman of the name of Porter, who informed me that, when a boy, he +used to visit some relatives who, at that time, lived within easy +walking distance of Cortachy. One of these relatives was a lad of +about fourteen, named Alec, with whom he had always been the closest +of friends. The recollection of their many adventures evidently +afforded Mr. Porter infinite amusement, and one of these adventures, +in particular, he told me, was as fresh in his mind as if it had +happened yesterday. + +"Looking back upon it now," he said, with a far-away look in his eyes, +"it certainly was a strange coincidence, and if you are interested in +the hauntings of Cortachy, Mr. O'Donnell, you may, perhaps, like to +hear the account of my ghostly experiences in that neighbourhood." + +Of course I replied that nothing would give me greater pleasure, and +Mr. Porter forthwith began his story. + +"One misty night in October, my friend Alec and I, both being keen on +rabbiting, determined to visit a spinney adjoining the Cortachy +estate, in pursuit of our quarry. Alec had chosen this particular +night, thinking, under cover of the mist, to escape the vigilance of +the keepers, who had more than once threatened to take him before the +laird for trespassing. + +"To gain access to the spinney we had to climb a granite wall and drop +on the other side--the drop, in addition to being steep, being +rendered all the more precarious by reason of the man-traps the +keepers were in the habit of setting. When I got astride the wall and +peered into the well-like darkness at our feet, and heard the grim +rustling of the wind through the giant pines ahead of me, I would have +given all I possessed to have found myself snug and warm in bed; but +Alec was of a different 'kidney'--he had come prepared for excitement, +and he meant to have it. For some seconds, we both waited on the wall +in breathless silence, and then Alec, with a reckless disregard of +what might be in store for him, gently let himself drop, and I, +fearing more, if anything, than the present danger, to be for ever +after branded as a coward if I held back, timidly followed suit. By a +great stroke of luck we alighted in safety on a soft carpeting of +moss. Not a word was spoken, but, falling on hands and knees, and +guiding ourselves by means of a dark lantern Alec had bought +second-hand from the village blacksmith, we crept on all-fours along a +tiny bramble-covered path, that after innumerable windings eventually +brought us into a broad glade shut in on all sides by lofty trees. +Alec prospected the spot first of all to see no keepers were about, +and we then crawled into it, and, approaching the nearest burrows, set +to work at once with our ferrets. Three rabbits were captured in this +fashion, and we were eagerly anticipating the taking of more, when a +sensation of icy coldness suddenly stole over us, and, on looking +round, we perceived, to our utmost consternation, a very tall keeper +standing only a few yards away from us. For once in a way, Alec was +nonplussed, and a deathly silence ensued. It was too dark for us to +see the figure of the keeper very distinctly, and we could only +distinguish a gleaming white face set on a very slight and +perpendicular frame, and a round, glittering something that puzzled us +both exceedingly. Then, a feeling that, perhaps, it was not a keeper +gradually stole over me, and in a paroxysm of ungovernable terror I +caught hold of Alec, who was trembling from head to foot as if he had +the ague. The figure remained absolutely still for about a minute, +during which time neither Alec nor I could move a muscle, and then, +turning round with an abrupt movement, came towards us. + +"Half-dead with fright, but only too thankful to find that we had now +regained the use of our limbs, we left our spoil and ran for our lives +in the direction of the wall. + +"We dared not look back, but we knew the figure followed us, for we +heard its footsteps close at our heels; and never to my dying day +shall I forget the sound--rat-tat, tat, rat-tat, tat--for all the +world like the beat of a muffled drum. + +"How we ever managed to reach the wall I could never tell, but as we +scrambled over it, regardless of man-traps and bruises, and plunged +into the heather on the other side, we heard the weird footsteps +receding in the direction of the castle, and, ere we had reached home, +the rat-tat, tat, rat-tat, tat, had completely died away. + +"We told no one a word of what had happened, and a few days after, +simultaneously with the death of one of the Airlies, we learned, for +the first time, the story of the Phantom Drummer. + +"I have little doubt," Mr. Porter added, in conclusion, "that the +figure we took to be a keeper was the prophetic Drummer, for I can +assure you there was no possibility of hoaxers, especially in such +ill-omened guise, anywhere near the Cortachy estate." + +Poor old Mr. Porter! He did not long survive our _rencontre_. When I +next visited the hotel, some months later, I was genuinely grieved to +hear of his decease. His story had greatly fascinated me, for I love +the solitude of the pines, and have myself from time to time witnessed +many remarkable occult phenomena under the shadow of their lofty +summits. One night, during this second visit of mine to the hotel, the +mood to ramble came upon me, and, unable to resist the seductive +thought of a midnight stroll across the bracken-covered hills, I +borrowed a latchkey, and, armed with a flask of whisky and a thick +stick, plunged into the moonlit night. The keen, heather-scented air +acted like a tonic--I felt younger and stronger than I had felt for +years, and I congratulated myself that my friends would hardly know me +if they saw me now, as I swung along with the resuscitated stride of +twenty years ago. The landscape for miles around stood out with +startling clearness in the moonshine, and I stopped every now and then +to drink in the beauties of the glittering mountain-ranges and silent, +glimmering tarns. Not a soul was about, and I found myself, as I loved +to be, the only human element in the midst of nature. Every now and +then a dark patch fluttered across the shining road, and with a weird +and plaintive cry, a night bird dashed abruptly from hedge to hedge, +and seemingly melted into nothingness. I quitted the main road on the +brow of a low hill, and embarked upon a wild expanse of moor, lavishly +covered with bracken and white heather, intermingled with which were +the silvery surfaces of many a pool of water. For some seconds I stood +still, lost in contemplating the scenery,--its utter abandonment and +grand sense of isolation; and inhaling at the same time long and deep +draughts of the delicious moorland air, unmistakably impregnated now +with breaths of ozone. My eyes wandering to the horizon, I detected, +on the very margin of the moorland, a dense clump of trees, which I +instantly associated with the spinney in my old friend Mr. Porter's +story, and, determining that the renowned spinney should be my goal, I +at once aimed for it, vigorously striking out along the path which I +thought would be most likely to lead to it. Half an hour's brisk +walking brought me to my destination, and I found myself standing +opposite a granite wall which my imagination had no difficulty in +identifying with the wall so well described by Mr. Porter. Removing +the briars and gorse prickles which left little of my stockings whole, +I went up to the wall, and, measuring it with my body, found it was a +good foot taller than I. This would mean rather more climbing than I +had bargained for. But the pines--the grim silence of their slender +frames and gently swaying summits--fascinated me. They spoke of +possibilities few could see or appreciate as I could; possibilities of +a sylvan phantasmagoria enhanced by the soft and mystic radiance of +the moon. An owl hooted, and the rustling of brushwood told me of the +near proximity of some fur-coated burrower in the ground. High above +this animal life, remoter even than the tops of my beloved trees or +the mountain-ranges, etched on the dark firmament, shone multitudinous +stars, even the rings round Saturn being plainly discernible. From the +Milky Way my eyes at length wandered to the pines, and a puff of air +laden with the odour of their resin and decaying brushwood decided me. +I took a few preliminary sips of whisky, stretched my rusty limbs, +and, placing one foot in a jagged crevice of the wall, swarmed +painfully up. How slow and how hazardous was the process! I scratched +my fingers, inured to the pen but a stranger to any rougher substance; +I ruined my box-calf boots, I split my trousers at the knees, and I +felt that my hat had parted with its shape for ever; and yet I +continued the ascent. The end came all too suddenly. When within an +ace of victory, I yielded to impulse, and with an energy the desperate +condition of my skin and clothes alone could account for, I swung up, +and--the outer edge of the wall melted beneath me, my hands +frantically clutched at nothingness, a hideous sensation of falling +surged through my brain, my ears and eyes filled to bursting, and with +a terrific crash that seemed to drive my head and spine right through +my stomach, I met the black, uprising earth, and lost consciousness. + +Providentially for me, I had pitched head first into a furze bush +which broke the fall, otherwise I must have met with serious injury. +As it was, when I recovered my momentary loss of consciousness, I +found that I had sustained no worse harm than a severe shaking, +scratches galore, and the utter demolition of my clothes! I picked +myself up with difficulty, and spent some time searching for my hat +and stick--which I at length discovered, lodged, of course, where one +would least have thought of looking for them. I then took close stock +of my surroundings, and found them even grimmer than I had +anticipated. Though the trees were packed closely together, and there +was much undergrowth, the moonbeams were so powerful and so fully +concentrated on the spinney, that I could see no inconsiderable +distance ahead of me. Over everything hung a solemn and preternatural +hush. I saw shadows everywhere--shadows that defied analysis and had +no material counterparts. A sudden crashing of brushwood brought me to +a standstill, and sent the blood in columns to my heart. Then I +laughed loudly--it was only a hare, the prettiest and pertest thing +imaginable. I went on. Something whizzed past my face. I drew back in +horror--it was a bat, merely a bat. My nerves were out of order, the +fall had unsteadied them; I must pull myself together. I did so, and +continued to advance. A shadow, long, narrow, and grotesque, fell +across my path, and sent a thousand and one icy shivers down my back. +In an agony of terror I shut my eyes and plunged madly on. Something +struck me in the face and hurled me back. My eyes opened +involuntarily, and I saw a tree that, either out of pique or sheer +obstinacy, had planted itself half-way across the path. I examined its +branches to make sure they _were_ branches, and continued my march. A +score more paces, a sudden bend, and I was in an open space, +brilliantly illuminated by moonbeams and peopled with countless, +moving shadows. One would have to go far to find a wilder, weirder, +and more grimly suggestive spot. As I stood gazing at the scene in +awestruck wonder, a slight breeze rocked the tops of the pine trees, +and moaning through their long and gloomy aisles reverberated like +thunder. The sounds, suggesting slightly, ever so slightly, a tattoo, +brought with them vivid pictures of the Drummer, too vivid just then +to be pleasant, and I turned to go. To my unmitigated horror, a white +and lurid object barred my way. My heart ceased to beat, my blood +turned to ice; I was sick, absolutely sick, with terror. Besides this, +the figure held me spellbound--I could neither move nor utter a sound. +It had a white, absolutely white face, a tall, thin, perpendicular +frame, and a small, glittering, rotund head. For some seconds it +remained stationary, and then, with a gliding motion, left the path +and vanished in the shadows. + +Again a breeze rustled through the tops of the pine trees, moaned +through their long and gloomy aisles, and reverberated like thunder; +rat-tat, tat, rat-tat, tat--and with this sound beating in my ears, +reaction set in, and I never ceased running till I had reached my +hotel. + + + + + CASE IX + + THE ROOM BEYOND. AN ACCOUNT OF THE HAUNTINGS + AT HENNERSLEY, NEAR AYR + + +To me Hennersley is what the Transformation Scene at a Pantomime was +to the imaginative child--the dreamy child of long ago--a floral +paradise full of the most delightful surprises. Here, at Hennersley, +from out the quite recently ice-bound earth, softened and moistened +now by spring rain, there rises up row upon row of snowdrops, +hyacinths and lilies, of such surpassing sweetness and beauty that I +hold my breath in astonishment, and ecstatically chant a Te Deum to +the fairies for sending such white-clad loveliness. + +And then--then, ere my wonder has had time to fade, it is summer. The +ground opens, and there springs up, on all sides, a veritable sea of +vivid, variegated colour,--scarlet, pink, and white geraniums; red, +white and yellow roses; golden honeysuckle; bright-hued marigolds; +purple pansies; pale forget-me-nots; wallflowers; sweet peas; +many-tinted azaleas; showy hydrangeas; giant rhododendrons; foxgloves, +buttercups, daisies, hollyhocks, and heliotropes; a floral host too +varied to enumerate. + +Overcome with admiration, bewildered with happiness, I kneel on the +soft carpet of grass, and, burying my face extravagantly, in alternate +laps of luxurious, downy, scent-laden petals, fill my lungs with +soul-inspiring nectar. + +My intoxication has barely worn off before my eyes are dimly conscious +that the soil all around me is generously besprinkled with the remains +of my floral friends. I spring hurriedly to my feet, and, gazing +anxiously about me, suddenly perceive the gaily nodding heads of new +arrivals--dahlias, sunflowers, anemones, chrysanthemums. As I continue +gazing, the aromatic odour of mellow apples from the Hennersley +orchards reaches my nostrils; I turn round, and there, there in front +of me, I see row upon row of richly-laden fruit trees, their leaves a +brilliant copper in the scintillating rays of the ruddy autumn sun. I +gasp for breath--the beauty of tint and tone surpasses all that I have +hitherto seen--it is sublime, the grand climax of transformation. As +the curtain falls with the approach of winter, I hurry to my Edinburgh +home and pray for the prompt return of early spring. + +For many years my aged relatives, the Misses Amelia and Deborah +Harbordeens, lived at Hennersley. Rarest and kindest of old ladies, +they were the human prototypes of the flowers both they and I loved. +Miss Amelia, with her beautiful complexion, rounded form and regal +mien, suggested to my childish mind more, much more, than the mere +semblance of a rose, whilst Miss Deborah, with her sprightly grace and +golden hair, was only masquerading as a woman--she was in reality a +daffodil. + +Unlike so many of the fair sex who go in for gardening, my aunts were +essentially dainty. Their figures were shapely and elegant, their +hands slim and soft. I never saw them working without gloves, and I +have good reason to believe they anointed their fingers every night +with a special preparation to keep them smooth and white. They were +not--decidedly not--"brainy," neither were they accomplished, never +having made any special study of the higher arts; but they evinced +nevertheless the keenest appreciation of painting, music, and +literature. Their library--a large one--boasted a delightful +harbourage of such writers as Jane Austen, Miss Mitford, and Maria +Edgeworth. And in their drawing-room, on the walls of which art was +represented by the old as well as modern masters, might be seen and +sometimes heard--for the Misses Harbordeens often entertained--a +well-tuned Broadwood, and a Bucksen harpsichord. I will describe this +old-world abode, not as I first saw it, for when I first visited my +aunts Amelia and Deborah, I was only one year old, but as I first +remember it--a house with the glamour of a many-gabled roof and +diamond window-panes. + +The house stood by the side of the turnpike road--that broad, white, +interminable road, originating from goodness knows where in the north, +and passing through Ayr--the nearest town of any importance--to +goodness knows where in the south. A shady avenue, entered by a wooden +swing gate bearing the superscription "Hennersley" in neat, white +letters, led by a circuitous route to it, and not a vestige of it +could be seen from the road. In front of it stretched a spacious lawn, +flanked on either side and at the farthest extremity by a thick growth +of chestnuts, beeches, poplars, and evergreens. + +The house itself was curiously built. It consisted of two storeys, and +formed a main building and one wing, which gave it a peculiarly +lop-sided appearance that reminded me somewhat ludicrously of +Chanticleer, with a solitary, scant, and clipped appendage. + +It was often on the tip of my tongue to ask my relatives the reason of +this singular disparity; whether it was the result of a mere whim on +the part of the architect, or whether it had been caused by some +catastrophe; but my curiosity was always held in check by a strange +feeling that my relatives would not like to be approached on the +subject. My aunts Amelia and Deborah belonged to that class of +people, unhappily rare, who possess a power of generating in others an +instinctive knowledge of "dangerous ground"--a power which enabled +them to avert, both from themselves and the might-be offender, many a +painful situation. To proceed--the nakedness of the walls of +Hennersley was veiled--who shall say it was not designedly veiled--by +a thick covering of clematis and ivy, and in the latter innumerable +specimens of the feathered tribe found a sure and safe retreat. + +On entering the house, one stepped at once into a large hall. A +gallery ran round it, and from the centre rose a broad oak staircase. +The rooms, with one or two exceptions, opened into one another, and +were large, and low and long in shape; the walls and floors were of +oak and the ceilings were crossed by ponderous oak beams. + +The fireplaces, too, were of the oldest fashion; and in their +comfortable ingle-nook my aunts--in the winter--loved to read or knit. + +When the warm weather came, they made similar use of the deep-set +window-sills, over which they indulgently permitted me to scramble on +to the lawn. + +The sunlight was a special feature of Hennersley. Forcing its way +through the trellised panes, it illuminated the house with a radiancy, +a soft golden radiancy I have never seen elsewhere. + +My relatives seemed to possess some phenomenal attraction for the +sunlight, for, no matter where they sat, a beam brighter than the rest +always shone on them; and, when they got up, I noticed that it always +followed them, accompanying them from room to room and along the +corridors. + +But this was only one of the many pleasant mysteries that added to the +joy of my visits to Hennersley. I felt sure that the house was +enchanted--that it was under the control of some benevolent being who +took a kindly interest in the welfare of my relatives. + +I remember once, on the occasion of my customary good-morning to Miss +Amelia, who invariably breakfasted in bed, I inhaled the most +delicious odour of heliotrope. It was wafted towards me, in a cool +current of air, as I approached her bed, and seemed, to my childish +fancy, to be the friendly greeting of a sparkling sunbeam that rested +on Miss Amelia's pillow. + +I was so charmed with the scent, that, alas! forgetful of my manners, +I gave a loud sniff, and with a rapturous smile ejaculated, "Oh! +Auntie! Cherry pie!" + +Miss Amelia started. "Dear me, child!" she exclaimed, "how quietly you +entered. I had no idea you were in the room. Heliotrope is the name of +the scent, my dear, but please do not allude to it again. Your Aunt +Deborah and I are very fond of it"--here she sighed--"but for certain +reasons--reasons you would not understand--we do not like to hear the +word heliotrope mentioned. Kiss me, dear, and run away to your +breakfast." + +For the first time in my life, perhaps, I was greatly puzzled. I could +not see why I should be forbidden to refer to such a pleasant and +harmless subject--a subject that, looked at from no matter what point +of view, did not appear to me to be in the slightest degree +indelicate. The more I thought over it, the more convinced I became +that there was some association between the scent and the sunbeam, +and in that association I felt sure much of the mystery lay. + +The house was haunted--agreeably, delightfully haunted by a golden +light, a perfumed radiant light that could only have in my mind one +origin, one creator--Titania--Titania, queen of the fairies, the +guardian angel of my aged, my extremely aged relatives. + +"Aunt Deborah," I said one morning, as I found her seated in the +embrasure of the breakfast room window crocheting, "Aunt Deborah! You +love the sunlight, do you not?" + +She turned on me a startled face. "What makes you ask such strange +questions, child?" she said. "Of course I like the--sun. Most people +do. It is no uncommon thing, especially at my age." + +"But the sunbeams do not follow every one, auntie, do they?" I +persisted. + +Miss Deborah's crochet fell into her lap. + +"How queerly you talk," she said, with a curious trembling of her +lips. "How can the sunbeams follow one?" + +"But they do, auntie, they do indeed!" I cried. "I have often watched +a bright beam of golden light follow Aunt Amelia and you, in +different parts of the room. And it has settled on your lace collar +now." + +Miss Deborah looked at me very seriously; but the moistening of her +eyes I attributed to the strong light. "Esther," she said, laying one +of her soft hands on my forehead, "there are things God does not want +little girls to understand--question me no more." + +I obeyed, but henceforth I felt more than ever assured that my aunts, +consciously or unconsciously, shared their charming abode with some +capricious genii, of whose presence in their midst I had become +accidentally aware; and to find out the enchanted neighbourhood of its +mysterious retreat was to me now a matter of all-absorbing importance. +I spent hour after hour roaming through the corridors, the copses, and +my beloved flower gardens, in eager search of some spot I could +unhesitatingly affirm was the home of the genii. Most ardently I then +hoped that the sunbeams would follow me, and that the breeze charged +with cool heliotrope would greet me as it did Aunt Deborah. + +In the daytime, all Hennersley was sunshine and flowers, and, stray +where I would, I never felt lonely or afraid; but as the light waned I +saw and felt a subtle change creep over everything. The long aisles of +trees that in the morning only struck me as enchantingly peaceful and +shady, gradually filled with strangely terrifying shadows; the hue of +the broad swards deepened into a darkness I did not dare interpret, +whilst in the house, in its every passage, nook, and corner, a gloom +arose that, seeming to come from the very bowels of the earth, brought +with it every possible suggestion of bogey. + +I never spoke of these things to my relatives, partly because I was +ashamed of my cowardice, and partly because I dreaded a fresh rebuke. +How I suffered! and how I ridiculed my sufferings in the mornings, +when every trace of darkness was obliterated, and amid the radiant +bloom of the trees I thought only of heliotrope and sunbeams. + +One afternoon my search for the abode of the genii led me to the +wingless side of the house, a side I rarely visited. At the foot of +the ivy-covered walls and straight in their centre was laid a wide +bed of flowers, every one of which was white. But why white? Again +and again I asked myself this question, but I dared not broach it to +my relatives. A garden all white was assuredly an enigma--and to every +enigma there is undoubtedly a key. Was this garden, which was all +white, in any way connected with the sunbeams and heliotrope? Was it +another of the mysteries God concealed from little girls? Could this +be the home of the genii? This latter idea had no sooner entered my +head than it became a conviction. Of course! There was no doubt +whatever--it was the home of the genii. + +The white petals were now a source of peculiar interest to me. I was +fascinated: the minutes sped by and still I was there. It was not +until the sun had disappeared in the far-distant horizon, and the grim +shadows of twilight were creeping out upon me from the neighbouring +trees and bushes, that I awoke from my reverie--and fled! + +That night--unable to sleep through the excitement caused by my +discovery of the home of the genii--I lay awake, my whole thoughts +concentrated in one soul-absorbing desire, the passionate desire to +see the fairy of Hennersley--I had never heard of ghosts--and hear its +story. My bedroom was half-way down the corridor leading from the head +of the main staircase to the extremity of the wing. + +After I said good-night I did not see my aunts again till the +morning--they never by any chance visited me after I was in bed. Hence +I knew, when I had retired for the night, I should not see a human +face nor hear a human voice for nearly twelve hours. This--when I +thought of the genii with its golden beams of light and scent of +heliotrope--did not trouble me; it was only when my thoughts would not +run in this channel that I felt any fear, and that fear was not of the +darkness itself, but of what the darkness suggested. + +On this particular night, for the first few hours, I was sublimely +happy, and then a strange restlessness seized me. I was obsessed with +a wish to see the flower-garden. For some minutes, stimulated by a +dread of what my aunts would think of such a violation of +conventionality on the part of a child, I combated furiously with the +desire; but at length the longing was so great, so utterly and wholly +irresistible, that I succumbed, and, getting quietly out of bed, made +my way noiselessly into the corridor. + +All was dark and still--stiller than I had ever known it before. +Without any hesitation I plunged forward, in the direction of the +wingless side of the house, where there was a long, narrow, stained +window that commanded an immediate prospect of the white garden. + +I had seldom looked out of it, as up to the present this side of the +house had little attraction for me; but all was changed now; and, as I +felt my way cautiously along the corridor, a thousand and one fanciful +notions of what I might see surged through my brain. + +I came to the end of the corridor, I descended half a dozen stairs, I +got to the middle of the gallery overlooking the large entrance +hall--below me, above me, on all sides of me, was Stygian darkness. I +stopped, and there suddenly rang out, apparently from close at hand, a +loud, clear, most appallingly clear, blood-curdling cry, which, +beginning in a low key, ended in a shriek so horrid, harsh, and +piercing, that I felt my heart shrivel up within me, and in sheer +desperation I buried my fingers in my ears to deaden the sound. + +I was now too frightened to move one way or the other. All the +strength departed from my limbs, and when I endeavoured to move my +feet, I could not--they appeared to be fastened to the ground with +lead weights. + +I felt, I intuitively felt that the author of the disturbance was +regarding my terror with grim satisfaction, and that it was merely +postponing further action in order to enjoy my suspense. To block out +the sight of this dreadful creature, I clenched my eyelids tightly +together, at the same time earnestly imploring God to help me. + +Suddenly I heard the low wail begin again, and then the echo of a +far-off silvery voice came softly to me through the gloom: "It's an +owl--only an owl!" + +With lightning-like rapidity the truth then dawned on me, and as I +withdrew my clammy finger-tips from my ears, the faint fluttering of +wings reached me, through an open skylight. Once again I moved on; +the gallery was left behind, and I was well on my way down the +tortuous passage leading to my goal, when a luminous object, of vast +height and cylindrical shape, suddenly barred my progress. + +Overcome by a deadly sickness, I sank on the floor, and, burying my +face in my hands, quite made up my mind that my last moments had come. + +How long I remained in this position I cannot say, to me it seemed +eternity. I was eventually freed from it by the echo of a gentle +laugh, so kind, and gay, and girlish, that my terror at once departed, +and, on raising my head, I perceived that the cause of my panic was +nothing more than a broad beam of moonlight on a particularly +prominent angle of the wall. + +Heartily ashamed at my cowardice, I got up, and, stepping briskly +forward, soon reached the stained-glass window. + +Pressing my face against the pane, I peered through it, and there +immediately beneath me lay the flowers, glorified into dazzling gold +by the yellow colour of the glass. The sight thrilled me with joy--it +was sublime. My instinct had not deceived me, this was indeed the +long-looked-for home of the genii. + +The temperature, which had been high, abnormally so for June, now +underwent an abrupt change, and a chill current of air, sweeping down +on me from the rear, made my teeth chatter. I involuntarily shrank +back from the window, and, as I did so, to my utter astonishment it +disappeared, and I saw, in its place, a room. + +It was a long, low room, and opposite to me, at the farthest +extremity, was a large bay window, through which I could see the +nodding tops of the trees. The furniture was all green and of a +lighter, daintier make than any I had hitherto seen. The walls were +covered with pictures, the mantelshelf with flowers. Whilst I was +busily employed noting all these details, the door of the room opened, +and the threshold was gorgeously illuminated by a brilliant sunbeam, +from which suddenly evolved the figure of a young and lovely girl. + +I can see her now as I saw her then--tall, and slender, with masses +of golden hair, waved artistically aside from a low forehead of +snowy white; finely-pencilled brows, and long eyes of the most +lustrous violet; a straight, delicately-moulded nose, a firm, +beautifully-proportioned chin, and a bewitching mouth. At her bosom +was a bunch of heliotrope, which, deftly undoing, she raised to her +nose and then laughingly held out to me. I was charmed; I took a step +forward towards her. The instant I did so, a wild look of terror +distorted her face, she waved me back, something jarred against my +knee, and, in the place of the room, I saw only the blurred outline +of trees through the yellow window-panes. + +Bitterly disappointed, but absolutely sure that what I had seen was +objective, I retraced my steps to my bedroom and passed the remainder +of the night in sound sleep. + +After breakfast, however, unable to restrain my curiosity longer, I +sought Miss Amelia, who was easier to approach than her sister, and, +managing after several efforts to screw up courage, blurted out the +story of my nocturnal escapade. + +My aunt listened in silence. She was always gentle, but on this +occasion she surpassed herself. + +"I am not going to scold you, Esther," she said, smoothing out my +curls. "After what you have seen it is useless to conceal the truth +from you. God perhaps intends you to know all. Years ago, Esther, this +house was not as you see it now. It had two wings, and, in the one +that no longer exists was the bedroom you saw in your vision. We +called it the Green Room because everything in it was green, your Aunt +Alicia--an aunt you have never heard of--who slept there, having a +peculiar fancy for that colour. + +"Alicia was our youngest sister, and we all loved her dearly. She was +just as you describe her--beautiful as a fairy, with golden hair, and +violet eyes, and she always wore a bunch of heliotrope in her dress. + +"One night, Esther, one lovely, calm, midsummer night, forty years +ago, this house was broken into by burglars. They got in through the +Green Room window, which was always left open during the warm +weather. We--my mother, your Aunt Deborah, and I--were awakened by a +loud shriek for help. Recognising Alicia's voice, we instantly flew +out of bed, and, summoning the servants, tore to the Green Room as +fast as we could. + +"To our horror, Esther, the door was locked, and before we could break +the lock the ruffians had murdered her! They escaped through the +window and were never caught. My mother, your great-grandmother, had +that part of the house pulled down, and on the site of it she planted +the white garden. + +"Though Alicia's earthly body died, and was taken from us, her +beautiful spirit remains with us here. It follows us about in the +daytime in the form of a sunbeam, whilst occasionally, at night, it +assumes her earthly shape. The house is what is generally termed +haunted, and, no doubt, some people would be afraid to live in it. But +that, Esther, is because they do not understand spirits--your Aunt +Deborah and I do." + +"Do you think, auntie," I asked with a thrill of joy, "do you think it +at all likely that I shall see Aunt Alicia again to-night?" + +Aunt Amelia shook her head gently. "No, my dear," she said slowly, "I +think it will be impossible, because you are going home this +afternoon." + + + + + CASE X + + "---- HOUSE," NEAR BLYTHSWOOD SQUARE, GLASGOW. + THE HAUNTED BATH + + +When Captain W. de S. Smythe went to look over "---- House," in the +neighbourhood of Blythswood Square, Glasgow, the only thing about the +house he did not like was the bathroom--it struck him as excessively +grim. The secret of the grimness did not lie, he thought, in any one +particular feature--in the tall, gaunt geyser, for example (though +there was always something in the look of a geyser when it was old and +dilapidated, as was the case with this one, that repelled him), or in +the dark drying-cupboard, or in the narrow, slit-like window; but in +the room as a whole, in its atmosphere and general appearance. He +could not diagnose it; he could not associate it with anything else he +had ever experienced; it was a grimness that he could only specify as +grim--grim with a grimness that made him feel he should not like to +be alone there in the dead of night. It was a nuisance, because the +rest of the house pleased him; moreover, the locality was convenient, +and the rent moderate, very moderate for such a neighbourhood. He +thought the matter well over as he leaned in the doorway of the +bathroom. He could, of course, have the room completely renovated--new +paper, new paint, and a fresh bath. Hot-water pipes! The geyser should +be done away with. Geysers were hideous, dangerous, and--pshaw, what +nonsense!--Ghostly! Ghostly! What absurd rot! How his wife would +laugh! That decided the question. His wife! She had expressed a very +ardent wish that he should take a house in or near Blythswood Square, +if he could get one on anything like reasonable terms, and here was +his chance. He would accompany the agent of the property to the +latter's office, and the preliminaries should be forthwith settled. + +Six weeks later, he and his family were installed in the house, which +still reeked with the smell of fresh paint and paper. The first thing +the Captain did when he got there was to steal away slyly to the +bathroom, and as soon as he opened the door his heart sank. Despite +the many alterations the room had undergone, the grimness was still +there--there, everywhere. In the fine new six-foot bath, with its +glistening, gleaming, wooden framework; in the newly papered, newly +painted cupboard; in the walls, with their bright, fresh paper; in +the snowy surface of the whitewashed ceiling; in the air,--the very +air itself was full of it. The Captain was, as a rule, very fond of +his bath, but in his new quarters he firmly resolved that some one +else should use the bath before he made the experiment. In a very few +days the family had all settled down, and every one, with the +exception of the Captain, had had a bath, but no matter how many and +how bitter were his wife's complaints, try how he would, he could +not, he positively _could_ not, bring himself to wash in the +bathroom--_alone_. It was all right so long as the door was open, but +his wife resolutely refused to allow him to keep it open, and the +moment it was shut his abject terror returned--a terror produced by +nothing that he could in any way analyse or define. At last, ashamed +of his cowardice, he screwed up courage, and, with a look of +determined desperation in his eyes and mouth--an expression which +sent his wife into fits of laughter--set out one night from his +bedroom, candle in hand, and entered the bathroom. Shutting and +locking the door, he lighted another candle, and, after placing them +both on the mantelshelf, turned on the bath water, and began to +undress. + +"I may as well have a peep in the cupboard," he said, "just to satisfy +myself no one is hiding there--for every one in the house knows how I +hate this beastly bathroom--with the intention of playing me a +practical joke. Supposing one of the maids--Polly, for example, I'm +sure she'd be quite capable--took it into her pretty head to"--but +here the Captain was obliged to stop; he really was not equal to +facing, even in his mind's eye, the situation such a supposition +involved, and at the bare idea of such a thing his countenance assumed +a deeper hue, and--I am loth to admit--an amused grin. The grin, +however, died out as he cautiously opened the door and peered +furtively in; no one--nothing was there! With a breath of relief he +closed the door again, placed a chair against it, and, sitting down, +proceeded to pull off his clothes. Coat, vest, under-garments, he +placed them all tenderly in an untidy heap on the floor, and then, +with a last lingering, affectionate look at them, walked sedately +towards the bath. But this sedateness was only momentary. The first +few steps he walked, but, a noise in the grate startling him, he +suddenly assumed an air of the greatest gaiety, and, bowing with mock +gallantry to his trousers, he now waltzed coquettishly to the bath. It +was grim, horribly grim, and horribly hot too, for, when he felt the +temperature with one of his squat, podgy toes, it made him swear quite +involuntarily. Turning on the cold water, and slapping his thighs +playfully, he felt again. Too hot yet, far too hot even for him! He +loved heat. More cold! and he was hoisting one chubby leg to feel +again, when, a repetition of the noise in the grate making him swing +round, he lost his balance, and descended on the floor with a hard, a +very hard, bump. For some seconds he lay still, too sulky and +aggrieved even to get up, but, the draught from under the ill-fitting +door tickling his bare flesh in the most immodest fashion, he roused +himself from this lethargy, and was about to raise himself from the +floor, when the lights went out--went out without a moment's warning, +and he found himself engulfed in the most funereal darkness. To say he +was startled is to put it very mildly--he was absolutely +terror-stricken--far too terror-stricken to think of moving now, and +least of all of getting up and groping for the matches. Indeed, when +he came to think of it, he had not seen any matches in the room, and +he had not brought any with him, his wife had flurried him so much. +The moment the candles were extinguished the grimness sensibly +increased, and he could feel all around him, thickly amalgamated with +the ether, a superphysical presence, at once hostile and horrible. +Then, to bring his terror to a climax, there issued from the bath a +loud rubbing and splashing, as if some one, some very heavy person, +was vigorously washing. The water rose and fell, squished and bubbled +as it does when one is lying at full length in it, raising and +lowering oneself, kicking and plunging first on one side and then on +the other. Whilst, to add to the realism, Captain Smythe distinctly +heard gasping and puffing; and the soft, greasy sound of a well-soaped +flannel. He could indeed follow every movement of the occupant of the +bath as graphically as if he had seen him--from the brisk scrubbing of +body and legs to the finicky process of cleaning the ears and toes. + +It was whilst the bather was occupied thus that the cupboard door +began to open very quietly and stealthily, and Captain de Smythe heard +the chair he had so carefully placed against it being gradually +propelled across the floor. + +Then something, he would have given anything to tell what, came out +and began to steal towards him. He tried to crawl out of its way, but +could not; his limbs no longer acted conjointly with his brain, and +when he opened his mouth to shout at it, his voice withered away in +his throat. It came up to him, and directly it touched his naked skin +he knew it was a woman--a woman with a much-beflounced silk skirt and +silk petticoats--a woman whose person was perfumed with violets (a +scent for which the Captain had a particular weakness), and without +doubt, loaded with jewellery. Her behaviour did not betray any +symptoms of embarrassment when she encountered the Captain lying on +the floor, but, planting one icy-cold high-heeled shoe on his chest +and the other on his cheek, she stepped on him as if he had been an +orthodox cushion or footstool, purposely placed there for her +convenience. A hollow exclamation, which died away in a gasp, issued +from the bath, as the woman, with a swift movement of her arms, threw +something over it. What followed, the Captain could only surmise, but +from the muttered imprecations and splashes in the water, it seemed to +him that nothing short of murder was taking place. After a while the +noises in the bath grew feebler and feebler, and when they finally +ceased, the woman, with a sigh of relief, shook the water from her +arms, and, stepping off the Captain, moved towards the fireplace. The +spell which had, up to the present, enthralled the unfortunate +Captain, was now broken, and, thinking that his ghostly visitor had +betaken herself right away, he sat up. He had hardly done so before +the darkness was rudely dissipated, and, to his horror, he saw +looking at him, from a distance of only a few feet, a white, luminous +face, presumably that of a woman. But what a woman! What a +devil!--what a match for the most lurid of any of Satan's male +retainers. Yet she was not without beauty--beauty of the richest +sensual order; beauty that, had it been flesh and blood, would have +sent men mad. Her hair, jet black, wavy, and parted in the centre, was +looped over her shell-like ears, which were set unusually low and far +back on her head; her nose was of that rare and matchless shape termed +Grecian; and her mouth--in form, a triumph of all things heavenly, in +expression, a triumph of all things hellish. The magnificent turn of +its short upper lip, and the soft voluptuous line of its under lip; +its sportive dimples and ripe red colour; its even rows of dazzling, +pearly teeth were adorable; but they appealed to the senses, and in no +sense or shape to the soul. Her brows, slightly irregular in outline, +met over the nose; her eyelashes were of great length, and her +eyes--slightly, ever so slightly, obliquely set, and larger than those +of living human beings--were black, black as her hair; and the pupils +sparkled and shone with the most damnable expression of satanical +hatred and glee. The whole thing, the face and the light that emanated +from it, was so entirely awful and devilish, that Captain Smythe sat +like one turned to stone, and it was not until long after it had +vanished that he groped his way to the door, and in Adam's costume, +for he dared not stay to put on his clothes, fled down the passage to +his bedroom. + +From his wife he got little sympathy; her sarcasm was too deep for +words, and she merely ordered her husband on no account to breathe a +word of his "silliness" before either the children or the servants. +The injunction, however, which was naturally carried out to the +letter, was futile as a precaution, for, on running into the bathroom +one morning when every one else was downstairs, the eldest boy, +Ronald, saw, floating in the bath, the body of a hoary-headed old man. +It was bloated and purplish blue, and had big, glassy eyes that stared +at him in such a hideous, meaningless manner that he uttered a scream +of terror and fled. Alarmed at the noise, most of the household ran to +see what had happened. Only the Captain remained behind. He knew only +too well, and he hid, letting his wife and the servants go upstairs +alone. They entered the bathroom--there was nothing in the bath, not +even water, but, as they were leaving, they ran into a dark, handsome, +evil-eyed woman, clad in the most costly of dresses, and sparkling +with jewellery. She glided past them with sly, silent footsteps, and +vanished by the cupboard. Cured of scepticism, and throwing dignity to +the wind, the Captain's wife raced downstairs, and, bursting into the +drawing-room, flung herself on the sofa in hysterics. + +Within a week the house was once again empty, and the rumour getting +about that it was haunted, the landlord threatened the Smythes with an +action for slander of title. But I do not think the case was taken to +court, the Smythes agreeing to contradict the report they had +originated. Astute inquiries, however, eventually led them to discover +that a lady, answering to the description of the ghost they had seen, +had once lived at ---- House. Of Spanish descent, she was young, +beautiful, and gay; and was married to a man, an extremely wealthy man +(people remembered how rich he was after he died), old enough to be +her grandfather. They had nothing in common, the husband only wanting +to be quiet, the wife to flirt and be admired. Their neighbours often +heard them quarrel, and it was declared that the wife possessed the +temper of a fiend. The man was eventually found dead in his bath, and +there being no indications of violence, it was generally supposed that +he had fainted, (his wife having been previously heard to declare that +he often had fainting fits), and had thus been accidentally drowned. +The beautiful young widow, who inherited all his money, left the house +immediately and went abroad, and the neighbours, when questioned by +the Smythes as to whether anything had been seen of her since, shook +their heads dubiously, but refused to commit themselves. + + + + + CASE XI + + THE CHOKING GHOST OF "---- HOUSE," NEAR + SANDYFORD PLACE, GLASGOW + + +The last time I was passing through Glasgow, I put up for the night at +an hotel near Sandyford Place, and met there an old theatrical +acquaintance named Browne, Hely Browne. Not having seen him since I +gave up acting, which is now, alas! a good many years, we had much to +discuss--touring days, lodgings, managers, crowds, and a dozen other +subjects, all included in the vulgar term "shop." We spent the whole +of one evening debating thus, in the smoke-room; whilst the following +night we went to an entertainment given by that charming reciter and +raconteur, Miss Lilian North, who, apart from her talent, which, in my +opinion, places her in the first rank of her profession, is the +possessor of extraordinary personal attractions, not the least +remarkable of which are her hands. Indeed, it was through my attention +being called to the latter, that I am indirectly indebted for this +story. Miss North has typically psychic hands--exquisitely white and +narrow, and her long, tapering fingers and filbert nails (which, by +the way, are always trimly manicured) are the most perfect I have ever +seen. I was alluding to them, on our way back to the hotel after her +performance, when Hely Browne interrupted me. + +"Talking about psychic things, O'Donnell," he said, "do you know there +is a haunted house near where we are staying? You don't? Very well, +then, if I tell you what I know and you write about it, will you +promise not to allude to the house by its right number? If you do, +there will be the dickens to pay--simply call it '---- House,' near +Sandyford Place. You promise? Good! Let us take a little stroll before +we turn in--I feel I want a breath of fresh air--and I will tell you +the experience I once had there. It is exactly two years ago, and I +was on tour here in _The Green Bushes_. All the usual theatrical +'diggings' had been snapped up long before I arrived, and, not +knowing where else to go, I went to No.--Sandyford Place, which I saw +advertised in one of the local papers as a first-class private hotel +with very moderate charges. A wild bit of extravagance, eh? But then +one does do foolish things sometimes, and, to tell the truth, I wanted +a change badly. I had 'digged' for a long time with a fellow called +Charlie Grosvenor. Not at all a bad chap, but rather apt to get on +one's nerves after a while--and he had got on mine--horribly. +Consequently, I was not at all sorry for an excuse to get away from +him for a bit, even though I had to pay dearly for it. A private hotel +in a neighbourhood like that of Sandyford Place is a big order for an +ordinary comedian. I forget exactly what the terms were, but I know I +pulled rather a long face when I was told. Still, being, as I say, +tired of the usual 'digs,' I determined to try it, and accordingly +found myself landed in a nice-sized bedroom on the second floor. The +first three nights passed, and nothing happened, saving that I had the +most diabolical nightmares--a very unusual thing for me. 'It was the +cheese,' I said to myself, when I got out of bed the first morning; 'I +will take very good care I don't touch cheese to-night.' I kept this +resolution, but I had the nightmare again, and even, if anything, +worse than before. Then I fancied it must be cocoa--I was at that time +a teetotaller--so I took hot milk instead; but I had nightmare all the +same, and my dreams terrified me to such an extent that I did not dare +get out of bed in the morning (it was then winter) till it was broad +daylight. It was now becoming a serious matter with me. As you know, +an actor more than most people needs sleep, and it soon became as much +as I could do to maintain my usual standard of acting. On the fourth +night, determining to get rest at all costs, I took a stiff glass of +hot brandy just before getting into bed. I slept,--I could scarcely +help sleeping,--but not for long, for I was rudely awakened from my +slumbers by a loud crash. I sat up in bed, thinking the whole house +was falling about my ears. The sound was not repeated, and all was +profoundly silent. Wondering what on earth the noise could have been, +and feeling very thirsty, I got out of bed to get a drink of +lime-juice. To my annoyance, however, though I groped about +everywhere, knocking an ash tray off the mantelpiece and smashing the +lid of the soap-dish, I could find neither the lime-juice nor matches. +At length, giving it up as a bad job, I decided to get into bed again. +With that end in view, I groped my way through the darkness, steering +myself by the furniture, the position of which was, of course, quite +familiar to me--at least I imagined it was. Judge, then, of my +astonishment when I could not find the bed! At first I regarded it as +a huge joke, and laughed--how rich! Ha! ha! ha! Fancy not being able +to find one's way back to bed in a room of this dimension! Good enough +for _Punch_! Too good, perhaps, now. Ha! ha! ha! But it soon grew past +a joke. I had been round the room, completely round the room, twice, +and still no bed! I became seriously alarmed! Could I be ill? Was I +going mad? But no, my forehead was cool, my pulse normal. For some +seconds I stood still, not knowing what else to do; then, to make one +more desperate attempt, I stuck straight in front of me--and--ran +into something--something that recoiled and hit me. Thrilled with +amazement, I put up my hand to feel what it was, and touched a noose." + +"A noose!" I ejaculated, interrupting Hely Browne for the first time +since he began. + +"Yes, a noose!" he repeated, "suspended in mid-air. As you can +imagine, I was greatly astonished, for I knew there had been nothing +that I could be now mistaking for a noose in the room overnight. I +stretched out my arms to feel to what it was fastened, but, to add to +my surprise, the cord terminated in thin air. Then I grew frightened, +and, dropping my arms, tried to move away from the spot; I could +not--my feet were glued to the floor. With a gentle, purring sound +the noose commenced fawning--I use that word because the action was +so intensely bestial, so like that of a cat or snake--round my neck +and face. It then rose above me, and, after circling furiously round +and round and creating a miniature maelstrom in the air, descended +gradually over my head. Lower and lower it stole, like some sleek, +caressing slug. Now past the tips of my ears, now my nose, now my +chin, until with a tiny thud it landed on my shoulders, when, with a +fierce snap, it suddenly tightened. I endeavoured to tear it off, but +every time I raised my hands, a strong, magnetic force drew them to +my side again; I opened my mouth to shriek for help, and an icy +current of air froze the breath in my lungs. I was helpless, +O'Donnell, utterly, wholly helpless. Cold, clammy hands tore my feet +from the floor; I was hoisted bodily up, and then let drop. A +frightful pain shot through me. A hundred wires cut into my throat at +once. I gasped, choked, suffocated, and in my mad efforts to find a +foothold kicked out frantically in all directions. But this only +resulted in an increase of my torments, since with every plunge the +noose grew tauter. My agony at last grew unbearable; I could feel the +sides of my raw and palpitating thorax driven into one another, while +every attempt to heave up breath from my bursting lungs was rewarded +with the most excruciating paroxysms of pain--pain more acute than I +thought it possible for any human being to endure. My head became +ten times its natural size; blood--foaming, boiling blood--poured +into it from God knows where, and under its pressure my eyes bulged +in their sockets, and the veins in my nose cracked. Terrific +thunderings echoed and re-echoed in my ears; my tongue, huge as a +mountain, shot against my teeth; a sea of fire raged through my +brain, and then--blackness--blackness inconceivable. When I recovered +consciousness, O'Donnell, I found myself standing, cold and +shivering, but otherwise sound and whole, on the chilly oilcloth. I +had, now, no difficulty in finding my way back to bed, and in about +an hour's time succeeded in falling asleep. I slept till late, and, +on getting up, tried to persuade myself that my horrible experience +was but the result of another nightmare. + +"As you may guess, after all this, I did not look forward to bedtime, +and counted the minutes as they flew by with the utmost regret. Never +had I been so sorry when my performance at the theatre was over, and +the lights of my hotel once again hove in sight. I entered my bedroom +in fear and trembling, and was so apprehensive lest I should be again +compelled to undergo the sensations of hanging, that I decided to keep +a light burning all night, and, for that reason, had bought half a +pound of wax candles. At last I grew so sleepy that I could keep awake +no longer, and, placing the candlestick on a chair by the bed, I +scrambled in between the sheets. Without as much as a sip of spirits, +I slept like a top. When I awoke the room was in pitch darkness. A +curious smell at once attracted my notice. I thought, at first, it +might be but the passing illusion of a dream. But no--I sniffed +again--it was there--there, close to me--under my very nose--the +strong, pungent odour of drugs; but not being a professor of smells, +nor even a humble student of physics, I was consequently unable to +diagnose it, and could only arrive at the general conclusion that it +was a smell that brought with it very vivid recollections of a +chemist's shop and of my old school laboratory. Wondering whence it +originated, I thrust my face forward with the intention of trying to +locate it, when, to my horror, my lips touched against something cold +and flabby. In an agony of fear I reeled away from it, and, the bed +being narrow, I slipped over the edge and bumped on to the floor. + +"Now I think it is quite possible that up to this point you may have +attributed my unhappy experience to nothing more nor less than a bad +dream, but your dream theory can no longer hold good, for, on coming +in such sudden contact with the floor, I gave my funny-bone a knock, +which, I can assure you, made me thoroughly awake, and the first thing +I noticed on recovering my scattered senses--was the smell. I sat up, +and saw to my terror my bed was occupied, but occupied in the most +alarming manner. On the middle of the pillow was a face, the face +of--I looked closer; I would have given every penny I possessed not to +have done so, but I could not help myself--I looked closer, and it +was--the face of my brother; my brother Ralph--you may recollect my +mentioning him to you, for he was the only one of us who was at that +time making money--whom I believed to be in New York. He had always +been rather sallow, but apart from the fact that he now looked very +yellow, his appearance was quite natural. Indeed, as I gazed at him, I +grew so convinced it was he that I cried out, 'Ralph!' The moment I +did so, there was a ghastly change: his eyelids opened, and his +eyes--eyes I recognised at once--protruded to such a degree that they +almost rolled out; his mouth flew open, his tongue swelled, his whole +countenance became convulsed with the most unparalleled, and for that +reason indescribable, expression of agony, whilst the yellowness of +his complexion deepened to a livid, lurid black, that was so +inconceivably repellent and hellish that I sprang away from the +bed--appalled. There was then a gasping, rasping noise, and a voice +that, despite its unnatural hollowness, I identified as that of Ralph, +broke forth: 'I have been wanting to speak to you for ages, but +_something_, I cannot explain, has always prevented me. I have been +dead a month; not cancer, but Dolly. Poison. Good-bye, Hely. I shall +rest in peace now.' The voice stopped; there was a rush of cold air, +laden with the scent of the drug, and tainted, faintly tainted, with +the nauseating smell of the grave, and--the face on the pillow +vanished. How I got through the remainder of the night I cannot say--I +dare not think. I dare only remember that I did not sleep. I was +devoted to Ralph, and the thought that he had perished in the +miserable manner suggested by the apparition, completely prostrated +me. In the morning I received a black-edged letter from my mother, +stating that she had just heard from Dolly, my brother's wife, saying +Ralph had died from cancer in the throat. Dolly added in a postscript +that her dearly beloved Ralph had been very good to her, and left her +well provided for. Of course, we might have had the body exhumed, but +we were poor, and Ralph's widow was rich; and in America, you know, +everything goes in favour of the dollars. Hence we were obliged to let +the matter drop, sincerely trusting Dolly would never take it into her +head to visit us. She never did. My mother died last year--I felt her +death terribly, O'Donnell; and as I no longer have any fixed abode, +but am always touring the British provinces, there is not much fear +of Ralph's murderess and I meeting. It is rather odd, however, that +after my own experience at the hotel, I heard that it had borne the +reputation for being haunted for many years, and that a good many +visitors who had passed the night in one of the rooms (presumably +mine) had complained of hearing strange noises and having dreadful +dreams. How can one explain it all?" + +"One can't," I responded, as we turned in for the night. + + + + + CASE XII + + THE GREY PIPER AND THE HEAVY COACH OF + DONALDGOWERIE HOUSE, PERTH + + +Donaldgowerie House, until comparatively recent times, stood on the +outskirts of Perth. It was a long, low, rambling old place, dating +back to the beginning of the seventeenth century. At the time of the +narrative it was in the possession of a Mr. William Whittingen, who +bought it at a very low price from some people named Tyler. It is true +that it would cost a small fortune to repair, but, notwithstanding +this disadvantage, Mr. Whittingen considered his purchase a bargain, +and was more than satisfied with it. Indeed, he knew of no other house +of a similar size, of such an imposing appearance, and so pleasantly +situated, that he could have bought for less than twice the amount he +had paid for this; and he was really very sorry for the Tylers, who +explained to him, in confidence, that had they not been in such +urgent need of money, they would never have sold Donaldgowerie House +at such a ridiculously low figure. However, with them it was a +question of cash--cash down, and Mr. Whittingen had only to write out +a cheque for the modest sum they asked, and the house was his. It was +June when Mr. Whittingen took possession of the house--June, when the +summer sun was brightest and the gardens looked their best. The +Whittingen family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Whittingen, two sons, +Ernest and Harvey, and three daughters, Ruth, Martha, and Mary, were, +as one might gather from their names alone, plain, practical, genteel, +and in fact very superior people, who were by no means lacking in that +exceedingly useful quality of canniness, so characteristic of the +Lowland Scot to which race they belonged. Mr. Whittingen had, for +years, conducted a grocery business in Jedburgh, twice filling the +honoured and coveted post of mayor, and when he at length retired into +private life, his friends (and it was astonishing how many friends he +had) shrewdly suspected that his pockets were not only well lined but +full to bursting. Acting on the advice of his wife and daughters, who +were keen on social distinction, he sent Ernest to Oxford, +conditionally that he should take Holy Orders in the Church of +England, whilst Harvey, who, when scarcely out of the petticoat stage, +displayed the regular Whittingen talent for business by covertly +helping himself to the sugar in his father's shop, and disposing of it +at strictly sale price to his sisters' cronies in the nursery, was +sent to one of those half preparatory and half finishing schools (of +course, for the sons of gentlemen only) at Edinburgh, where he was +kept till he was old enough to be articled to a prosperous, +exceedingly prosperous, firm of solicitors. + +The girls, Ruth, Martha, and Mary, had likewise been highly educated, +that is to say, they had remained so many years at an English seminary +for young ladies, and had been given a final twelve months in France +and Germany to enable them to obtain "the correct accent." + +At the time of the story they were as yet unmarried, and were awaiting +with the most laudable patience the advent of men of title. They were +delighted with their new home (which Ruth had persuaded her father to +christen "Donaldgowerie," after the house in a romantic novel she had +just been reading), and proud of their gilded premises and magnificent +tennis lawns; they had placed a gigantic and costly tray in the hall, +in confident assurance that it would speedily groan beneath the weight +of cards from all the gentry in Perthshire. + +But please be it understood, that my one and only object in alluding +to these trifling details is to point out that the Whittingens, being +entirely engrossed in matters mundane, were the very last people in +the world to be termed superstitious, and although imaginative where +future husbands' calls and cards were concerned, prior to the events +about to be narrated had not an ounce of superstition in their +natures. Indeed, until then they had always smiled in a very +supercilious manner at even the smallest mention of a ghost. + +September came, their first September in Donaldgowerie, and the family +welcomed with joy Ernest and his youthful bride. + +The latter was not, as they had fondly hoped (and roundly announced in +Perth), the daughter of a Peer, but of a wealthy Bristol draper, the +owner of a house near the Downs, whose son had been one of Ernest's +many friends at Oxford. The coming of the newly-married pair to +Donaldgowerie brought with it a burst of bird-like gaiety. All sorts +of entertainments--musical "at homes," dinners, dances, tennis and +garden parties, in fact, every variety that accorded with the family's +idea of good taste--were given; and with praiseworthy "push," for +which the Whittingens had fast become noted, all the County was +invited. This splendid display of wealth and hospitality was not +disinterested; I fear, it might be not only accounted a "send off" for +the immaculately-clad curate and his wife, but also a determined +effort on the part of Mr. and Mrs. Whittingen to attract the right +sort of lover for their girls. It was during the progress of one of +their alfresco entertainments that the scepticism of certain of the +Whittingens with regard to the supernatural received a rude blow. +Martha, Mary, and two eligible young men, friends of Harvey's, having +finished a somewhat spirited game of croquet, were refreshing +themselves with lemonade, whilst they continued their flirtation. +Presently Mary, whose partner declared how much he should like to see +some photographs she had recently had taken of herself, with a +well-affected giggle of embarrassment set off to the house to fetch +her album. The minutes passed, and, as she did not return, Martha went +in search of her. The album, she knew, was in their boudoir, which was +situated at the end of the long and rather gloomy corridor of the +upper storey. Highly incensed at her sister's slowness, she was +hastening along the corridor, when, to her supreme astonishment, she +suddenly saw the figure of a man in kilts, with a bagpipe under his +arm, emerge through the half-open door of the boudoir, and with a +peculiar gliding motion advance towards her. A curious feeling, with +which she was totally unfamiliar, compelled her to remain mute and +motionless; and in this condition she awaited the approach of the +stranger. Who was he? she asked herself, and how on earth had he got +there, and what was he doing? As he drew nearer, she perceived that +his face was all one hue,--a ghastly, livid grey,--and that his eyes, +which were all the time fixed on hers, were lurid and menacing,--so +terrible, in fact, that she turned cold with fear, and felt the very +hair on her head beginning to rise on end. She opened her mouth to +shriek, but found she could not ejaculate a syllable; neither could +she, even with the most desperate efforts, tear her feet from the +floor. On came the figure, and, without swerving either to the right +or left, it glided right up to and through her; and, as she +involuntarily turned round, she saw it disappear through a half-open +staircase window, at least twenty feet above the ground outside. +Shaking all over with terror, and not understanding in the slightest +what to make of it, Martha ran to the boudoir, where her heart almost +sprang out of her body at the spectacle of her sister Mary stretched +at full length on the floor, her cheeks ashy pale, her lips blue. +Martha at once made a frantic rush to the bell, and, in a few minutes, +half the establishment, headed by Mr. Whittingen, poured into the +room. With the aid of a little cold water, Mary speedily recovered, +and, in reply to the anxious inquiries of her sympathetic rescuers as +to what had happened, indignantly demanded why such a horrible +looking creature as "that" piper had been allowed not merely to enter +the house but to come up to her room, and half frighten her to death. +"I had just got my album," she added, "when, feeling some one was in +the room, I turned round--and there (she indicated a spot on the +carpet) was the piper, not ten paces away from me, regarding me with +the most awful look imaginable. I was too taken aback with surprise to +say anything, nor--for some unaccountable reason--could I escape, +before he touched me on the shoulder with one of his icy cold hands, +and then commenced playing. Up and down the floor he paced, backwards +and forwards, never taking his hateful glance off my face and ever +piping the same dismal dirge. At last, unable to stand the strain of +it any longer, and convinced he was a madman, bent on murdering +me--for who but a lunatic would behave in such a way?--I gave way to a +violent fit of hysterics, and fainted. Now tell me who he was, and why +he was permitted to frighten me in this manner?" And Mary stamped her +feet and grew vicious, as only her class will when they are at all +vexed. Her speech was followed by a silence that exasperated her. She +repeated her inquiries with crimson cheeks, and then, as again no one +responded, she signalled out the head footman and raved at him. Up to +this point Mr. Whittingen had been dumb with amazement. The idea of a +strange piper having the twofold effrontery to enter his house and +proceed to the private and chaste sanctuary of his highly respectable +daughters, almost deprived him of breath. He could scarcely believe +his ears. "What--what in the name of--what does it all mean?" he at +length stammered, addressing the unfortunate footman. "A piper! and +without any invitation from me, how dare you let him in?" + +"I did not, sir," the luckless footman replied; "no such person came +to the door when I was in the hall." + +"No more he did when I was there," chimed in the second footman, and +all the other servants vociferated in a body, "We never saw any piper, +sir, nor heard one either," and they looked at Mary reproachfully. + +At this Mr. Whittingen looked exceedingly embarrassed. In the face of +such a unanimous denial what could he say? He knew if he suggested +the servants were untruthful they would all give notice to leave on +the spot, and knowing good servants are scarce in Perth as elsewhere, +he felt rather in a fix. At length, turning to Mary, he asked if she +was sure it was a piper. "Sure!" Mary screamed, "why, of course I am, +did I not tell you he marched up and down here playing on his +disgusting bagpipes, which nearly broke the drum of my ear." + +"And I saw him too, pa," Martha put in. "I met him in the corridor, he +had his pipes under his arm, and the most dreadful expression in his +face. I don't wonder Mary was frightened." + +"But where did he go?" Mr. Whittingen cried. + +"You would not believe me if I told you," Martha said, her cheeks +flushing. "He seemed to pass right through me, and then to vanish +through the staircase window. I have never been so terribly upset in +my life," and, sinking on to the sofa, she began to laugh +hysterically. + +"Dear me! dear me! it is very odd!" Mr. Whittingen exclaimed, as Mary +handed her sister a wineglass of sal-volatile. "They can't both have +been dreaming; it must--but there, what a nonsensical notion, there +are no such things as ghosts! Only children and nursemaids believe in +them nowadays. As soon as you have quite recovered, my dears, we will +return to the garden, and I think that under the circumstances, the +rather peculiar circumstances, ahem! it will be better to say nothing +to your mother. Do you understand?" Mr. Whittingen went on, eyeing the +servants, "Nothing to your mistress." + +The affair thus terminated, and for some days nothing further happened +to disturb the peace of the family. At the end of a week, however, +exactly a week after the appearance of the piper, Mary met with a +serious accident. She was running across the croquet lawn to speak to +her sister-in-law, when she tripped over a hoop that had been +accidentally left there, and, in falling, ran a hatpin into her head. +Blood poisoning ensued, and within a fortnight she was dead. Martha +was the only one in the house, however, who associated Mary's accident +and death with the piper; to her that sinister expression in the +mysterious Highlander's eyes portended mischief, and she could not +but suspect that, in some way or another, he had brought about the +catastrophe. The autumn waned, and Christmas was well within sight, +when another mysterious occurrence took place. It was early one Sunday +evening, tea was just over, and the Whittingen family were sitting +round the fire engaged in a somewhat melancholy conversation, for the +loss of Mary had affected them all very deeply, when they heard the +far-away rumble of a heavy coach on the high-road. Nearer and nearer +it came, till it seemed to be about on a level with the front lodge +gate; then to their surprise there was a loud crunching of gravel, and +they heard it careering at a breakneck speed up the carriage-drive. +They looked at one another in the utmost consternation. + +"A coach, and driven in this mad fashion! Whose was it? What did it +mean? Not visitors, surely!" + +It pulled up at the front door, and the champing and stamping of the +horses vibrated loudly through the still night air. Sounds as of one +or more people descending were next heard, and then there came a +series of the most terrific knockings at the door. The Whittingen +family stared at one another aghast; there was something in those +knockings--something they could not explain--that struck terror in +their souls and made their blood run cold. They waited in breathless +anxiety for the door to be opened; but no servant went to open it. The +knocks were repeated, if anything louder than before, the door swung +back on its hinges, and the tread of heavy footsteps were heard slowly +approaching the drawing-room. Mrs. Whittingen gave a low gasp of +horror, Ruth screamed, Harvey buried his face in his hands, Mr. +Whittingen rose to his feet, and made desperate efforts to get to the +bell, but could not stir, whilst Martha rushed to the drawing-room +door and locked it. They then with one accord began to pray. The steps +halted outside the room, the door slowly opened, and the blurred +outlines of a group of ghastly-looking figures, supporting a +grotesquely shaped object in their midst, appeared on the threshold. +For some seconds there was a grim silence. It was abruptly broken by a +thud--Ruth had slipped from her chair to the floor in a dead faint; +whereupon the shadowy forms solemnly veered round and made their way +back again to the front door. The latter swung violently open, there +was a rush of icy wind which swept like a hurricane across the hall +and into the drawing-room, the front door then slammed to with a +crash, and the coach drove away. + +Every one's attention was now directed to Ruth. At first sal-volatile +and cold water produced no effect, but after a time she slowly, very +slowly regained consciousness. As soon as she had recovered +sufficiently to speak, she expressed an earnest desire that no +reference should ever be made in her presence to what had just +happened. "It was for me!" she said in such an emphatic tone as filled +her audience with the direst forebodings. "I know it was for me; they +all looked in my direction. God help me! I shall die like Mary." + +Though greatly perplexed as to what she meant, for no one excepting +herself had been able to make out the phenomena with any degree of +distinctness, they yielded to her entreaties, and asked her no +questions. The servants had neither heard nor seen anything. A +fortnight later, Ruth was taken ill with appendicitis; peritonitis +speedily set in, and she died under the operation. The Whittingens now +began to wish they had never come to Donaldgowerie; but, with the +astuteness that had been characteristic of the family through +countless generations of fair days and foul, they took the greatest +precautions never to drop even as much as a hint to the servants or to +any one in the town that the house was haunted. + +A year passed without any further catastrophe, and they were beginning +to hope their ghastly visitors had left them, when something else +occurred. It was Easter-time, and Ernest, his wife, and baby were +staying with them. The baby, a boy, was fat and bonny, the very +picture of health and happiness. + +Mrs. Whittingen and Martha vied with one another in their devotion to +him; and either one or other of them was always dancing attendance on +him. It so happened that one afternoon, whilst the servants were +having their tea, Martha found herself alone in the upper part of the +house with her precious nephew. Mr. Whittingen had gone to Edinburgh +to consult his lawyer (the head of the firm with whom Harvey was +articled) on business, whilst Mrs. Whittingen had taken her son and +daughter-in-law for a drive. The weather was glorious, and Martha, +though as little appreciative of the beauties of nature as most +commercial-minded young women, could not but admire the colouring of +the sky as she looked out of the nursery window. The sun had +disappeared, but the effect of its rays was still apparent on the +western horizon, where the heavens were washed with alternate streaks +of gold and red and pink--the colour of each streak excessively +brilliant in the centre, but paling towards the edges. Here and there +were golden, pink-tipped clouds and crimson islets surrounded with +seas of softest blue. And outside the limits of this sun-kissed pale, +the blue of the sky gradually grew darker and darker, until its line +was altogether lost in the black shadows of night that, creeping over +the lone mountain-tops in the far east, slowly swept forward. Wafted +by the gentle breeze came the dull moaning and whispering of the pine +trees, the humming of the wind through the telephone wires, and the +discordant cawing of the crows. And it seemed to Martha, as she sat +there and peered out into the garden, that over the whole atmosphere +of the place had come a subtle and hostile change--a change in the +noises of the trees, the birds, the wind; a change in the +flower-scented ether; a change, a most marked and emphatic change, in +the shadows. What was it? What was this change? Whence did it +originate? What did it portend? A slight noise, a most trivial noise, +attracted Martha's attention to the room; she looked round and was +quite startled to see how dark it had grown. In the old days, when she +had scoffed at ghosts, she would as soon have been in the dark as in +the light, the night had no terrors for her; but now--now since those +awful occurrences last year, all was different, and as she peered +apprehensively about her, her flesh crawled. What was there in that +corner opposite, that corner hemmed in on the one side by the +cupboard--how she hated cupboards, particularly when they had shiny +surfaces on which were reflected all sorts of curious things--and the +chest of drawers on the other. It was a shadow, only a shadow, but of +what? She searched the room everywhere to find its material +counterpart, and at last discovered it in the nurse's shawl which hung +over the back of a chair. Then she laughed, and would have gone on +laughing, for she tried to persuade herself that laughter banished +ghosts, when suddenly something else caught her eyes. What was it? An +object that glittered evilly like two eyes. She got up in a state of +the most hideous fascination and walked towards it. Then she laughed +again--it was a pair of scissors. The nurse's scissors--clean, bright, +and sharp. Why did she pick them up and feel the blades so caressingly +with her thumb? Why did she glance from them to the baby? Why? In the +name of God, why? Frightful ideas laid hold of her mind. She tried to +chase them away but they quickly returned. The scissors, why were they +in her fingers? Why could not she put them down? For what were they +intended? Cutting! cutting thread, and tape,--and throats! Throats! +And she giggled hysterically at the bare notion. But what was this +round her waist--this shadowy arm-like object! She looked fearfully +round, and her soul died within her as she encountered the +malevolent, gleeful eyes of the sinister piper, pressed closely +against her face. Was it she he wanted this time--she, or--or whom--in +the name of all that was pitiable? + +Desperately, as if all the lives in the universe and the future of her +soul were at stake, did she struggle to free herself from his +grasp--but in vain; every fibre, every muscle of her body was +completely at his will. On and on he pushed her, until foot by foot, +inch by inch, she approached the cradle, and all the while his hellish +voice was breathing the vilest of inspirations into her brain. At last +she stood by the side of the baby, and bent over it. What a darling! +What a dear! What a duck! A sweet, pretty, innocent, prattling duck! +How like her mother--how like her handsome brother--how like +herself--very, very like herself! How every one loved it--how every +one worshipped it--how (and here the grey face beside her chuckled) +every one would miss it! How pink its toes--how fat its calves--how +chubby its little palms--how bonny its cheeks--and how white, how +gloriously, heavenly, snowy white--its throat! And she stretched +forth one of her stubby, inartistic fingers and played with its flesh. +Then she glanced furtively at the scissors, and smiled. + +It was soon done, soon over, and she and the grey-faced piper danced a +minuet in the moonbeams; afterwards he piped a farewell dirge,--a +wild, weird, funereal dirge, and, marching slowly backwards, his dark, +gleaming eyes fixed gloatingly on hers, disappeared through the +window. Then the reaction set in, and Martha raved and shrieked till +every one in the house flew to the rescue. + +Of course, no one--saving her father and mother--believed her. Ernest, +his wife, and the servants attributed her bloody act to jealousy; the +law--to madness; and she subsequently journeyed from Donaldgowerie to +a criminal lunatic asylum, where the recollection of all she had done +soon killed her. This was the climax. Mr. Whittingen sold +Donaldgowerie, and a new house was shortly afterwards erected in its +stead. + + + + + CASE XIII + + THE FLOATING HEAD OF THE BENRACHETT INN, + NEAR THE PERTH ROAD, DUNDEE + + +Some years ago, when I was engaged in collecting cases for a book I +contemplated publishing, on _Haunted Houses in England and Wales_, I +was introduced to an Irish clergyman, whose name I have forgotten, and +whom I have never met since. Had the incident he related taken place +in England or Wales, I should have noted it down carefully, but as it +occurred in Scotland (and I had no intention then of bringing out a +volume on Scottish phantasms), I did not do so. + +My memory, however, I can assure my readers, in spite of the many +ghost tales committed to it,--for scarcely a day passes that I do not +hear one,--seldom fails, and the Irish clergyman's story, which I am +about to relate, comes back to me now with startling vividness. + +One summer evening, early in the eighties, Mr. Murphy--the name by +which I will designate the originator of this story--and his wife +arrived in Dundee. The town was utterly unknown to them, and they were +touring Scotland for the first time. Not knowing where to put up for +the night, and knowing no one to whom they could apply for +information, they consulted a local paper, and from the long list of +hotels and boarding-houses advertised therein selected the Benrachett +Inn, near the Perth Road, as being the one most likely to meet their +modest requirements. They were certainly not disappointed with the +exterior of the hotel they had chosen, for as soon as they saw it they +exclaimed simultaneously, "What a delightful old place!" And old it +certainly was, for the many-gabled, oaken structure and projecting +windows unquestionably indicated the sixteenth century, whilst, to +enhance the effect and give it a true touch in detail of "ye ancient +times," a huge antique lantern was hung over the entrance. Nor did the +interior impress them less favourably. The rooms were large, and low, +the ceilings, walls, floors, and staircase all of oak. The +diamond-lattice windows, and narrow, tortuous passages, and +innumerable nooks and crannies and cupboards, created an atmosphere of +combined quaintness and comfort that irresistibly appealed to the +Murphys. Viewed under the searching rays of the sun, and cheered by +the voices of the visitors, the interior of the house, for artistic +taste and cheerfulness, would indeed be hard to beat; but, as Mrs. +Murphy's eyes wandered up the stairs and down the corridors, she was +filled with misgivings as to how the place would strike her at night. + +Though not nervous naturally, and by no means superstitious, at night, +when the house was dark and silent, and the moon called forth the +shadows, she was not without that feeling of uneasiness which most +people--even avowed sceptics, experience when passing the night in +strange and novel quarters. + +The room they engaged--I cannot say selected, as, the hotel being +full, they had "Hobson's choice"--was at the end of a very long +passage, at the back of the house, and overlooking the yard. It was a +large apartment, and in one of its several recesses stood the bed, a +gigantic, ebony four-poster, with spotlessly clean valance, and, what +was of even greater importance, well-aired sheets. The other furniture +in the room, being of the same sort as that in the majority of +old-fashioned hostels, needs no description; but a fixture in the +shape of a cupboard, a deep, dark cupboard, let into the wall facing +the bed, instantly attracted Mrs. Murphy's attention. There is always +something interesting in cupboards, particularly old and roomy +cupboards, when it is night-time and one is about to get into bed. It +is then that they suggest all manner of fascinating possibilities. + +It was to this cupboard, then, that Mrs. Murphy paid the greatest +attention, before commencing to undress prior to getting into bed. She +poked about in it for some moments, and then, apparently satisfied +that no one was hidden there, continued her investigation of the room. +Mr. Murphy did not assist--he pleaded fatigue, and sat on the corner +of the bed munching a gingerbread and reading the _Dundee Advertiser_ +till the operation was over. He then helped Mrs. Murphy unpack their +portmanteau, and, during the process, whiled away so much time in +conversation, that they were both startled when a clock from some +adjacent church solemnly boomed twelve. They were then seized with +something approaching a panic, and hastened to disrobe. + +"I wish we had a night-light, John," Mrs. Murphy said, as she got up +from her prayers. "I suppose it wouldn't do to keep one of the candles +burning. I am not exactly afraid, only I don't fancy being left in the +dark. I had a curious sensation when I was in the cupboard just now--I +can't exactly explain it--but I feel now that I would like the light +left burning." + +"It certainly is rather a gloomy room," Mr. Murphy remarked, raising +his eyes to the black oak ceiling, and then allowing them to dwell in +turn on each of the angles and recesses. "And I agree with you it +would be nice if we had a night-light, or, better still, gas. But as +we haven't, my dear, and we shall be on our feet a good deal +to-morrow, I think we ought to try and get to sleep as soon as +possible." + +He blew out the candle as he spoke, and quickly scrambled into bed. A +long hush followed, broken only by the sound of breathing, and an +occasional ticking as of some long-legged creature on the wall and +window-blind. Mrs. Murphy could never remember if she actually went to +sleep, but she is sure her husband did, as she distinctly heard him +snore--and the sound, so detestable to her as a rule, was so welcome +to her then. She was lying listening to it, and wishing with all her +soul she could get to sleep, when she suddenly became aware of a +smell--a most offensive, pungent odour, that blew across the room and +crept up her nostrils. The cold perspiration of fear at once broke out +on her forehead. Nasty as the smell was, it suggested something more +horrible, something she dared not attempt to analyse. She thought +several times of rousing her husband, but, remembering how tired he +had been, she desisted, and, with all her faculties abnormally on the +alert, she lay awake and listened. A deathlike hush hung over the +house, interrupted at intervals by the surreptitious noises peculiar +to the night--enigmatical creaks and footsteps, rustlings as of +drapery, sighs and whisperings--all very faint, all very subtle, and +all possibly, just possibly, attributable to natural causes. Mrs. +Murphy caught herself--why, she could not say--waiting for some +definite auditory manifestation of what she instinctively felt was +near at hand. At present, however, she could not locate it, she could +only speculate on its whereabouts--it was somewhere in the direction +of the cupboard. And each time the stench came to her, the conviction +that its origin was in the cupboard grew. At last, unable to sustain +the suspense any longer, and urged on by an irresistible fascination, +she got softly out of bed, and, creeping stealthily forward, found her +way with surprisingly little difficulty (considering it was pitch dark +and the room was unfamiliar to her) to the cupboard. + +With every step she took the stink increased, and by the time she had +reached the cupboard she was almost suffocated. For some seconds she +toyed irresolutely with the door handle, longing to be back again in +bed, but unable to tear herself away from the cupboard. At last, +yielding to the demands of some pitilessly exacting unknown influence, +she held her breath and swung open the door. The moment she did so the +room filled with the faint, phosphorescent glow of decay, and she +saw, exactly opposite her, a head--a human head--floating in mid-air. +Petrified with terror, she lost every atom of strength, and, entirely +bereft of the power to move or articulate a sound, she stood +stock-still staring at it. That it was the head of a man, she could +only guess from the matted crop of short red hair that fell in a +disordered entanglement over the upper part of the forehead and ears. +All else was lost in a loathsome, disgusting mass of detestable +decomposition, too utterly vile and foul to describe. On the abnormal +thing beginning to move forward, the spell that bound Mrs. Murphy to +the floor was broken, and, with a cry of horror, she fled to the bed +and awoke her husband. + +The head was by this time close to them, and had not Mrs. Murphy +dragged her husband forcibly out of its way, it would have touched +him. + +His terror was even greater than hers; but for the moment neither +could speak. They stood clutching one another in an awful silence. +Mrs. Murphy at length gasped out, "Pray, John, pray! Command the thing +in the name of God to depart." Mr. Murphy made a desperate effort to +do so, but not a syllable would come. The head now veered round and +was moving swiftly towards them, its awful stench causing them both to +retch and vomit. Mr. Murphy, seizing his stick, lashed at it with all +his might. The result was one they might well have expected. The stick +met with no resistance, and the head continued to advance. Both Mr. +and Mrs. Murphy then made a frantic attempt to find the door, the head +still pursuing them, and, tripping over something in their wild haste, +fell together on the floor. There was now no hope, the head had caught +them up; it hovered immediately above them, and, descending lower, +lower, and lower, finally passed right through them, through the +floor, and out of sight. It was long ere either of them could +sufficiently recover to stir from the floor, and when they did move, +it was only to totter to their bed, and to lie with the bedclothes +well over their heads, quivering and quaking till the morning. + +The hot morning sun dissipating their fears, they got up, and, +hurrying downstairs, demanded an interview with their landlord. It was +in vain the latter argued it was all a nightmare they showed the +absurdity of such a theory by vehemently attesting they had both +simultaneously experienced the phenomena. They were about to take +their departure, when the landlord, retracting all he had said, +offered them another room and any terms they liked, "if only they +would stay and hold their tongues." + +"I know every word of what you say is true," he said, in such +submissive tones that the tender hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Murphy +instantly relented, and they promised to remain. "But what am I to do? +I cannot shut up a house which I have taken on a twenty years' lease, +because one room in it is haunted--and, after all, there is only one +visitor in twenty who is disturbed by the apparition. What is the +history of the head? Why, it is said to be that of a pedlar who was +murdered here over a hundred years ago. The body was hidden behind the +wainscoting, and his head under the cupboard floor. The miscreants +were never caught; they are supposed to have gone down in a ship that +sailed from this port just about that time and was never heard of +again." + +This is the gist of the story the clergyman told me, and, believing +it as I undoubtedly do to be true, there is every reason to suppose +that the inn, to which I have, of course, given a fictitious name, if +still in existence, is still haunted. + + + + + CASE XIV + + THE HAUNTINGS OF "---- HOUSE," IN THE + NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE GREAT WESTERN ROAD, + ABERDEEN + + +The following experience of a haunting is that of Mr. Scarfe, who told +it me some few summers ago, expressing at the same time great +eagerness to accompany me on some of my investigations. + +I append it as nearly as possible in his own words:-- + +I was spending Easter, he began, with some friends of mine in +Aberdeen, and, learning from them that there was a haunted house in +the immediate vicinity of the Great Western Road, I begged them to try +and get me permission to spend a night in it. As good luck would have +it, the landlord happened to be a connection of theirs, and although +at first rather reluctant to give me leave, lest by doing so he +should create a precedent, and, consequently, be pestered to death by +people whom he knew to be as anxious as I was to see the ghost, he +eventually yielded; and, the following evening at 8 p.m., accompanied +only by my dog, Scott, I entered the premises. + +I cannot say I felt very comfortable when the door slammed behind me, +and I found myself standing alone in a cold, dark passage out of which +rose a gloomy staircase, suggestive of all sorts of uncanny +possibilities. However, overcoming these nervous apprehensions as best +I could, I began a thorough search of the premises, to make sure that +no one was hiding there. + +Descending first of all into the basement, I explored the kitchen, +scullery, larder, and other domestic offices. The place fairly reeked +with damp, but this was not to be wondered at, taking in consideration +the fact, that the soil was clay, the floor of the very poorest +quality of cement, cracked and broken in a dozen and one places, and +that there had been no fires in any of the rooms for many months. Here +and there in the darkest corners were clusters of ugly cockroaches, +whilst more than one monstrous rat scampered away on my approach. My +dog, or rather the dog that was lent me, and which went by the name of +Scott, kept close at my heel, showing no very great enthusiasm in his +mission, and giving even the rodents as wide a berth as possible. + +I invariably trust to my psychic faculty (as you know, Mr. O'Donnell, +some people are born with the faculty) to enable me to detect the +presence of the superphysical. I generally feel the latter +incorporated in some inexplicable manner in the ether, or see it +inextricably interwoven with the shadows. + +Here in the basement it was everywhere--the air was simply saturated +with it, and, as the fading sunlight called shadow after shadow into +existence, it confronted me enigmatically whichever way I turned. + +I went upstairs, and the presence followed me. In one or two of the +top bedrooms--more particularly in a tiny garret overlooking the +back-yard--the Presence seemed inclined to hover. For some seconds I +waited there, in order to see if there would be any further +development; there being none--I obeyed the mandates of a sudden +impulse and made my way once more to the basement. On arriving at the +top of the kitchen stairs, Scott showed a decided disinclination to +descend farther. Crouching down, he whined piteously, and when I +attempted to grasp him by the collar, snarled in a most savage manner. +Consequently, thinking it better to have no companion at all than one +so unwilling, I descended without him. + +The stairs terminated in a very dark and narrow passage, into which +the doors of the kitchen, larder, store room, etc., opened +respectively, and at the farther extremity of which was a doorway +leading to the back-yard. The superphysical Presence seeming to be +more pronounced in this passage than anywhere else, I decided to spend +the night in it, and, selecting a spot opposite the entrance to the +scullery, I constructed a seat out of two of the drawers of the +kitchen dresser, by placing them, one on the other, bottom uppermost +on the floor. + +It was now half-past nine; the traffic in the street overhead was +beginning to diminish--the rumbling of drays or heavy four-wheelers +had almost ceased, whilst the jingling of hansoms and even the +piercing hoot-hoot and loud birr-birr of motors was fast becoming less +and less frequent. I put out my candle and waited; and, as I waited, +the hush and gloom of the house deepened and intensified, until, by +midnight, all round me was black and silent--black with a blackness +that defies penetration, and silent with a silence that challenges +only the rivalry of the grave. Occasionally I heard sounds--such, for +example, as the creaking of a board, the flopping of a cockroach, and +the growling of Scott--sounds which in the daytime would have been too +trivial to attract attention, but which now assumed the most startling +and exaggerated proportions. From time to time I felt my pulse and +took my temperature to make sure that I was perfectly normal, whilst +at one o'clock, the hour when human vitality begins to be on the wane, +I ate some chicken and ham sandwiches, which I helped down with a +single glass of oatmeal stout. So far, beyond my feeling that there +was a superphysical something in the house, nothing had occurred. +There had not been the slightest attempt at manifestation, and, as the +minutes sped swiftly by I began to fear that, perhaps, after all the +hauntings were only of a negative nature. As the clock struck two, +however, Scott gave an extra savage snarl, and the next moment came +racing downstairs. Darting along the passage and tearing towards me, +he scrambled up the overturned drawers, and, burying his face in my +lap, set up the most piteous whinings. A sensation of icy coldness, +such as could not have been due to any physical cause, now surged +through me; and, as I got out my pocket flashlight ready for +emergencies, I heard an unmistakable rustling in the cellar opposite. +At once my whole attention became riveted in the direction of this +sound, and, as I sat gazing fixedly in front of me, the darkness was +suddenly dissipated and the whole passage, from one end to the other, +was illuminated by a phosphorescent glow; which glow I can best +describe as bearing a close resemblance, in kind though not in degree, +to the glow of a glow-worm. I then saw the scullery door slowly begin +to open. A hideous fear seized me. What--what in the name of Heaven +should I see? Transfixed with terror, unable to move or utter a +sound, I crouched against the wall paralysed, helpless; whilst the +door opened wider and wider. + +At last, at last after an interval which to me was eternity, +Something, an as yet indefinite shadowy Something, loomed in the +background of the enlargening space. My suspense was now sublime, and +I felt that another second or so of such tension would assuredly see +me swoon. + +The shadowy Something, however, quickly developed, and, in less time +than it takes to write, it assumed the form of a woman--a middle-aged +woman with a startlingly white face, straight nose, and curiously +lined mouth, the two front upper teeth of which projected considerably +and were very long. Her hair was black, her hands coarse, and red, and +she was clad in the orthodox shabby print of a general servant in some +middle-class family. The expression in her wide-open, glassy blue eyes +as they glared into mine was one of such intense mental and physical +agony that I felt every atom of blood in my veins congeal. Creeping +stealthily forward, her gaze still on me, she emerged from the +doorway, and motioning to me to follow, glided up the staircase. Up, +up, we went, the cold, grey dawn greeting us on our way. Entering the +garret to which I have already alluded, the phantasm noiselessly +approached the hearth, and, pointing downward with a violent motion of +the index finger of its right hand, suddenly vanished. A great feeling +of relief now came over me, and, yielding to a reaction which was the +inevitable consequence of such a severe nervous strain, I reeled +against the window-sill and shook with laughter. + +Equanimity at length reasserting itself, I carefully marked the spot +on the floor, indicated by the apparition, and descending into the +basement to fetch Scott, made hurried tracks to my friends' house, +where I was allowed to sleep on till late in the day. I then returned +to the haunted house with the landlord, and my friend, and, on raising +the boarding in the garret, we discovered a stamped and addressed +envelope. + +As the result of our combined inquiries, we learned that a few years +previously the house had been occupied by some tradespeople of the +name of Piblington, who, some six or seven months before they left +the house, had had in their employment a servant named Anna Webb. +This servant, the description of whose person corresponded in every +way with the ghost I had seen, had been suspected of stealing a letter +containing money, and had hanged herself in the cellar. + +The letter, I gathered, with several others, had been given to Anna to +post by Mrs. Piblington, and as no reply to the one containing money +was received, Anna was closely questioned. Naturally nervous and +highly strung, the inquisition confused her terribly, and her +embarrassment being construed into guilt, she was threatened with +prosecution. "As a proof of my innocence," she scribbled on a piece of +paper, which was produced at the subsequent inquest, "I am going to +hang myself. I never stole your letter, and can only suppose it was +lost in the post." + +The mere fact of the accused committing suicide would, in many +people's opinion, point to guilt; and as the postal order was never +traced, it was generally concluded that Anna had secreted it, and had +been only waiting till inquiries ceased, and the affair was forgotten, +to cash it. Of course, the letter I found was the missing one, and +although apparently hidden with intent, the fact of its never having +been opened seemed to suggest that Anna was innocent, and that the +envelope had, by some extraordinary accident, fallen unnoticed by Anna +through the crack between the boards. Anyhow, its discovery put an end +to the disturbances and the apparition of the unfortunate +suicide--whether guilty or innocent, and the Judgment Day can alone +determine that--has never been seen since. + + + + + CASE XV + + THE WHITE LADY OF ROWNAM AVENUE, NEAR + STIRLING + + +Like most European countries, Scotland claims its share of phantasms +in the form of "White Ladies." According to Mr. Ingram, in his +_Haunted Houses and Family Legends_, the ruins of the mansion of +Woodhouselee are haunted by a woman in white, presumably (though, +personally, I think otherwise) the ghost of Lady Hamilton of +Bothwellhaugh. This unfortunate lady, together with her baby, +was--during the temporary absence of her husband--stripped naked and +turned out of doors on a bitterly cold night, by a favourite of the +Regent Murray. As a result of this inhuman conduct the child died, and +its mother, with the corpse in her arms, was discovered in the morning +raving mad. Another instance of this particular form of apparition is +to be found in Sir Walter Scott's "White Lady of Avenel," and there +are endless others, both in reality and fiction. + +Some years ago, when I was putting up at a friend's house in +Edinburgh, I was introduced to a man who had had several experiences +with ghosts, and had, therefore, been especially asked to meet me. +After we had talked together for some time, he related the following +adventure which had befallen him, in his childhood, in Rownam avenue +(the seat of Sir E.C.), near Stirling:-- + +I was always a lover of nature, he began, and my earliest +reminiscences are associated with solitary rambles through the fields, +dells, and copses surrounding my home. I lived within a stone's-throw +of the property of old Sir E.C., who has long gone to rest--God bless +his soul! And I think it needs blessing, for if there was any truth in +local gossip (and it is said, I think truly, that "There is never any +smoke without fire") he had lived a very queer life. Indeed, he was +held in such universal awe and abhorrence that we used to fly at his +approach, and never spoke of him amongst ourselves saving in such +terms as "Auld dour crab," or "The laird deil." + +Rownam Manor House, where he lived, was a fine specimen of +sixteenth-century architecture, and had it been called a castle would +have merited the appellation far more than many of the buildings in +Scotland that bear that name. It was approached by a long avenue of +trees--gigantic elms, oaks, and beeches, that, uniting their branches +overhead in summertime, formed an effectual barrier to the sun's rays. +This avenue had an irresistible attraction for me. It literally +swarmed with rabbits and squirrels, and many are the times I have +trespassed there to watch them. I had a very secure hiding-place in +the hollow of an old oak, where I have often been secreted while Sir +E.C. and his keepers, without casting a glance in my direction, passed +unsuspectingly by, vowing all sorts of vengeance against trespassers. + +Of course, I had to be very careful how I got there, for the grounds +were well patrolled, and Sir E.C. had sworn to prosecute anyone he +caught walking in them without his permission. Had Sir E.C. caught me, +I should, doubtless, have been treated with the utmost severity, since +he and my father were the most bitter opponents politically, and for +that reason, unreasonable though it be, never lost an opportunity of +insulting one another. My father, a strong Radical, was opposed to all +big landed proprietors, and consequently winked his eye at my +trespassings; but I think nothing would really have pleased him better +than to have seen me brought to book by Sir E.C., since in my defence +he would have had an opportunity of appealing to the passions of the +local people, who were all Radicals, and of incensing them still +further against the principles of feudalism. + +But to continue. I had often heard it rumoured in the village that +Rownam avenue was haunted, and that the apparition was a lady in +white, and no other than Sir E.C.'s wife, whose death at a very early +age had been hastened, if not entirely accounted for, by her husband's +harsh treatment. Whether Sir E.C. was really as black as he was +painted I have never been able to ascertain; the intense animosity +with which we all regarded him, made us believe anything ill of him, +and we were quite ready to attribute all the alleged hauntings in the +neighbourhood to his past misdeeds. I believe my family, with scarcely +an exception, believed in ghosts; anyhow, the subject of ghosts was +so often discussed in my hearing that I became possessed of an +ungovernable curiosity to see one. If only "The White Lady" would +appear in the daytime, I thought, I should have no difficulty in +satisfying this curiosity, but unfortunately she did not appear till +night--in fact, not until long after boys of my age had been +ruthlessly ordered off to bed. I did not quite like the idea of +stealing out of the house at dead of night and going alone to see the +ghost, so I suggested to my schoolfellow that he should also break +loose one night and accompany me to Rownam to see "The White Lady." It +was, however, of no use. Much as he would have liked to have seen a +ghost in broad daylight, it was quite another matter at night, to say +nothing of running the risk of being caught trespassing by that +inveterate enemy, Sir E.C. At length, finding that neither persuasion, +bribery, nor taunts of cowardice had any effect on my schoolfellow, +who could not decide which appearance would be the more appalling, +for,--he assured me I should be certain to encounter either one or the +other--the White Lady, or the Laird Deil,--I gave up all further +effort to induce him to accompany me, and made up my mind to go to +Rownam avenue alone. + +Biding my opportunity, and waiting till my father was safely out of +the way,--on a visit to Greenock, where some business transaction +would oblige him to remain for some days,--I climbed out of my bedroom +window, when I deemed the rest of the household to be sound asleep, +scudded swiftly across the fields, and, making short work of the lofty +wall that formed the southernmost boundary of the Rownam estates, +quickly made my way to the avenue. It was an ideal Sunday night in +August, and it seemed as if all nature participated in the Sabbath +abstraction from noise and work. Hardly a sound broke the exquisite +silence of the woods. At times, overcome with the delightful sensation +of freedom, I paused, and, raising my eyes to the starry heavens, +drank in huge draughts of the pure country air, tainted only with the +sweet smell of newly mown hay, and the scent of summer flowers. I +became intoxicated, delirious, and in transports of joy threw myself +on the soft mossy ground, and, baring my throat and chest, bathed +myself in the moonbeams' kisses. Then, picking myself slowly up, I +performed the maddest capers, and, finally sobering down, continued my +course. Every now and again fancying I detected the stealthy footsteps +of a keeper, I hid behind a tree, where I remained till I was quite +assured I had been mistaken, and that no one was about. How long I +dallied I do not know, but it must have been fully one o'clock before +I arrived at the outskirts of the avenue, and, advancing eagerly, +ensconced myself in my favourite sanctuary, the hollow oak. All was +hushed and motionless, and, as I gazed into the gloom, I became +conscious, for the first time in my life, of a sensation of eeriness. +The arched canopy of foliage overhead was strongly suggestive of a +funeral pall; not a glimmer of moonlight penetrated through it; and +all beneath seemed to me to be buried in the silence and blackness of +the grave. + +The loneliness got on my nerves; at first I grew afraid, only afraid, +and then my fears turned into a panic, a wild, mad panic, consisting +in the one desire to get where there were human beings--creatures I +knew and understood. With this end in view I emerged from my retreat, +and was preparing to fly through the wood, when, from afar off, there +suddenly came the sound of a voice, the harsh, grating voice of a man. +Convinced this time that I had been discovered by a keeper, I jumped +back into the tree, and, swarming up the inside of the trunk, peeped +cautiously out. What I saw nearly made me jump out of my skin. +Advancing along the avenue was the thing I had always longed to see, +and for which I had risked so much: the mysterious, far-famed "Lady in +White,"--a ghost, an actual, _bona fide_ ghost! How every nerve in my +body thrilled with excitement, and my heart thumped--till it seemed on +the verge of bursting through my ribs! "The Lady in White!" Why, it +would be the talk of the whole countryside! Some one had _really_--no +hearsay evidence--seen the notorious apparition at last. How all my +schoolfellows would envy me, and how bitterly they would chide +themselves for being too cowardly to accompany me! I looked at her +closely, and noticed that she was entirely luminous, emitting a strong +phosphorescent glow like the glow of a glow-worm, saving that it was +in a perpetual state of motion. She wore a quantity of white drapery +swathed round her in a manner that perplexed me sorely, until I +suddenly realised with a creeping of my flesh that it must be a +winding-sheet, that burial accessary so often minutely described to me +by the son of the village undertaker. Though interesting, I did not +think it at all becoming, and would have preferred to see any other +style of garment. Streaming over her neck and shoulders were thick +masses of long, wavy, golden hair, which was ruffled, but only +slightly ruffled, by the gentle summer breeze. Her face, though +terrifying by reason of its unearthly pallor, was so beautiful, that, +had not some restraining influence compelled me to remain in hiding, I +would have descended from my perch to obtain a nearer view of it. +Indeed, I only once caught a glimpse of her full face, for, with a +persistence that was most annoying, she kept it turned from me; but in +that brief second the lustre of her long, blue eyes won my very soul, +and boy as I was I felt, like the hero in song, that I would, for my +bonnie ghost, in very deed, "lay me doon and dee." + +Her eyes are still firmly impressed on my memory; I shall never +forget them, any more than I shall forget the dainty curves of her +full red lips and the snowy whiteness of her perfect teeth. Nothing, I +thought, either on earth or in heaven could have been half so lovely, +and I was so enraptured that it was not until she was directly beneath +me that I perceived she was not alone, that walking by her side, with +one arm round her waist, his face and figure illuminated with the +light from her body, was Sir E.C. But how changed! Gone were the deep +black scowl, the savage tightening of the jaws, and the intensely +disagreeable expression that had earned for him the nickname of "The +laird deil," and in their stead I saw _love_--nothing but blind, +infatuated, soul-devouring _love_--love for which no words can find an +adequate description. + +Throwing discretion to the wind--for my excitement and curiosity had +risen to the highest pitch--I now thrust more than half my body out of +the hole in the trunk. The next instant, with a cry of dismay, I +pitched head first on to the ground. + +It would seem that boys, like cats, cannot in ordinary circumstances +be killed, and, instead of breaking my neck, I merely suffered that +most immaterial injury--immaterial, at least, in my case--a temporary +disendowment of the senses. On regaining the few wits I could lay +claim to, I fully expected to find myself in the hands of the irate +laird, who would seize me by the scruff of the neck and belabour me to +pieces. Consequently, too frightened to move, I lay absolutely still +with my eyes shut. But as the minutes glided by and nothing happened, +I picked myself up. All was quiet and pitch dark--not a vestige of the +"Lady in White"--not a vestige of Sir E.C. + +It did not take me very long to get out of the wood and home. I ran +all the way, and as it was still early--far too early for any of the +household to be astir, I crept up to my bedroom unobserved. But not to +sleep, oh dear me, no! not to sleep, for the moment I blew the candle +out and got into bed, reaction set in, and I suffered agonies of fear! + +When I went to school in the morning, my equilibrium restored, and, +bubbling over with excitement to tell the boys what had happened, I +received another shock--before I could ejaculate a word of my +experiences, I was told--told with a roar and shout that almost broke +the drum of my ears, that "the auld laird deil" was dead! His body had +been found stretched on the ground, a few feet from the hollow oak, in +the avenue shortly after sunrise. He had died from syncope, so the +doctor said, that had probably been caused by a shock--some severe +mental shock. + +I did not tell my companions of my night's adventure after all. My +eagerness to do so had departed when I heard of "the auld laird's" +death. + + + + + CASE XVI + + THE GHOST OF THE HINDOO CHILD, OR THE + HAUNTINGS OF THE WHITE DOVE HOTEL, NEAR + ST. SWITHIN'S STREET, ABERDEEN + + +In the course of many years' investigation of haunted houses, I have +naturally come in contact with numerous people who have had first-hand +experiences with the Occult. Nurse Mackenzie is one of these people. I +met her for the first time last year at the house of my old friend, +Colonel Malcolmson, whose wife she was nursing. + +For some days I was hardly aware she was in the house, the illness of +her patient keeping her in constant seclusion, but when Mrs. +Malcolmson grew better, I not infrequently saw her, taking a morning +"constitutional" in the beautiful castle grounds. It was on one of +these occasions that she favoured me with an account of her psychical +adventure. + +It happened, she began, shortly after I had finished my term as +probationer at St. K.'s Hospital, Edinburgh. A letter was received at +the hospital one morning with the urgent request that two nurses +should be sent to a serious case near St. Swithin's Street. As the +letter was signed by a well-known physician in the town, it received +immediate attention, and Nurse Emmett and I were dispatched, as day +and night nurses respectively, to the scene of action. My hours on +duty were from 9 p.m. till 9 a.m. The house in which the patient was +located was the White Dove Hotel, a thoroughly respectable and +well-managed establishment. The proprietor knew nothing about the +invalid, except that her name was Vining, and that she had, at one +period of her career, been an actress. He had noticed that she had +looked ill on her arrival the previous week. Two days after her +arrival, she had complained of feeling very ill, and the doctor, who +had been summoned to attend her, said that she was suffering from a +very loathsome Oriental disease, which, fortunately is, in this +country, rare. The hotel, though newly decorated and equipped +throughout with every up-to-date convenience, was in reality very +old. It was one of those delightfully roomy erections that seem built +for eternity rather than time, and for comfort rather than economy of +space. The interior, with its oak-panelled walls, polished oak floors, +and low ceilings, traversed with ponderous oaken beams, also impressed +me pleasantly, whilst a flight of broad, oak stairs, fenced with +balustrades a foot thick, brought me to a seemingly interminable +corridor, into which the door of Miss Vining's room opened. It was a +low, wainscoted apartment, and its deep-set window, revealing the +thickness of the wall, looked out upon a dismal yard littered with +brooms and buckets. Opposite the foot of the bed--a modern French +bedstead, by the bye, whose brass fittings and somewhat flimsy +hangings were strangely incongruous with their venerable +surroundings--was an ingle, containing the smouldering relics of what +had doubtless been intended for a fire, but which needed considerable +coaxing before it could be converted from a pretence to a reality. +There was no exit save by the doorway I had entered, and no furniture +save a couple of rush-bottomed chairs and a table strewn with an +untidy medley of writing materials and medicine bottles. + +A feeling of depression, contrasting strangely with the effect +produced on me by the cheerfulness of the hotel in general, seized me +directly I entered the room. Despite the brilliancy of the electric +light and the new and gaudy bed-hangings, the air was full of gloom--a +gloom which, for the very reason that it was unaccountable, was the +more alarming. I felt it hanging around me like the undeveloped shadow +of something singularly hideous and repulsive, and, on my approaching +the sick woman, it seemed to thrust itself in my way and force me +back. + +Miss Vining was decidedly good-looking; she had the typically +theatrical features--neatly moulded nose and chin, curly yellow hair, +and big, dreamy blue eyes that especially appeal to a certain class of +men; like most women, however, I prefer something more solid, both +physically and intellectually--I cannot stand "the pretty, pretty." +She was, of course, far too ill to converse, and, beyond a few +desultory and spasmodic ejaculations, maintained a rigid silence. As +there was no occasion for me to sit close beside her, I drew up a +chair before the fire, placing myself in such a position as to command +a full view of the bed. My first night passed undisturbed by any +incident, and in the morning the condition of my patient showed a +slight improvement. It was eight o'clock in the evening when I came on +duty again, and, the weather having changed during the day, the whole +room echoed and re-echoed with the howling of the wind, which was +raging round the house with demoniacal fury. + +I had been at my post for a little over two hours--and had just +registered my patient's temperature, when, happening to look up from +the book I was reading, I saw to my surprise that the chair beside the +head of the bed was occupied by a child--a tiny girl. How she had come +into the room without attracting my attention was certainly +extraordinary, and I could only suppose that the shrieking of the wind +down the wide chimney had deadened the sound of the door and her +footsteps. + +I was naturally, of course, very indignant that she had dared to come +in without rapping, and, getting up from my seat I was preparing to +address her and bid her go, when she lifted a wee white hand and +motioned me back. I obeyed because I could not help myself--her +action was accompanied by a peculiar,--an unpleasantly peculiar, +expression that held me spellbound; and without exactly knowing why, +I stood staring at her, tongue-tied and trembling. As her face was +turned towards the patient, and she wore, moreover, a very +wide-brimmed hat, I could see nothing of her features; but from her +graceful little figure and dainty limbs, I gathered that she was +probably both beautiful and aristocratic. Her dress, though not +perhaps of the richest quality, was certainly far from shoddy, and +there was something in its style and make that suggested foreign +nationality,--Italy--or Spain--or South America--or even the Orient, +the probability of the latter being strengthened by her pose, which +was full of the serpent-like ease which is characteristic of the +East. I was so taken up with watching her that I forgot all about my +patient, until a prolonged sigh from the bed reminded me of her +existence. With an effort I then advanced, and was about to approach +the bed, when the child, without moving her head, motioned me back, +and--again I was helpless. The vision I had obtained of the sick +woman, brief though it was, filled me with alarm. She was tossing to +and fro on the blankets, and breathing in the most agonised manner as +if in delirium, or enthralled by some particularly dreadful +nightmare. Her condition so frightened me, that I made the most +frantic efforts to overcome my inertia. I did not succeed, however, +and at last, utterly overcome by my exertion, I closed my eyes. When +I opened them again, the chair by the bed was vacant--the child had +gone. A tremendous feeling of relief surged through me, and, jumping +out of my seat, I hastened to the bedside--my patient was worse, the +fever had increased, and she was delirious. I took her temperature. +It was 104. I now sat close beside her, and my presence apparently +had a soothing effect. She speedily grew calmer, and after taking her +medicine gradually sank into a gentle sleep which lasted until late +in the morning. When I left her she had altogether recovered from the +relapse. I, of course, told the doctor of the child's visit, and he +was very angry. + +"Whatever happens, Nurse," he said, "take care that no one enters the +room to-night; the patient's condition is far too critical for her to +see any one, even her own daughter. You must keep the door locked." + +Armed with this mandate, I went on duty the following night with a +somewhat lighter heart, and, after locking the door, once again sat by +the fire. During the day there had been a heavy fall of snow; the wind +had abated, and the streets were now as silent as the grave. + +Ten, eleven, and twelve o'clock struck, and my patient slept +tranquilly. At a quarter to one, however, I was abruptly roused from a +reverie by a sob, a sob of fear and agony that proceeded from the bed. +I looked, and there--there, seated in the same posture as on the +previous evening, was the child. I sprang to my feet with an +exclamation of amazement. She raised her hand, and, as before, I +collapsed--spellbound--paralysed. No words of mine can convey all the +sensations I experienced as I sat there, forced to listen to the +moaning and groaning of the woman whose fate had been entrusted to my +keeping. Every second she grew worse, and each sound rang in my ears +like the hammering of nails in her coffin. How long I endured such +torment I cannot say, I dare not think, for, though the clock was +within a few feet of me, I never once thought of looking at it. At +last the child rose, and, moving slowly from the bed, advanced with +bowed head towards the window. The spell was broken. With a cry of +indignation I literally bounded over the carpet and faced the +intruder. + +"Who are you?" I hissed. "Tell me your name instantly! How dare you +enter this room without my permission?" + +As I spoke she slowly raised her head. I snatched at her hat. It +melted away in my hands, and, to my unspeakable terror, my undying +terror, I looked into the face of a corpse!--the corpse of a Hindoo +child, with a big, gaping cut in its throat. In its lifetime the child +had, without doubt, been lovely; it was now horrible--horrible with +all the ghastly disfigurements, the repellent disfigurements, of a +long consignment to the grave. I fainted, and, on recovering, found my +ghostly visitor had vanished, and that my patient was dead. One of +her hands was thrown across her eyes, as if to shut out some object on +which she feared to look, whilst the other grasped the counterpane +convulsively. + +It fell to my duty to help pack up her belongings, and among her +letters was a large envelope bearing the postmark "Quetta." As we were +on the look-out for some clue as to the address of her relatives, I +opened it. It was merely the cabinet-size photograph of a Hindoo +child, but I recognised the dress immediately--it was that of my +ghostly visitor. On the back of it were these words: "Natalie. May God +forgive us both." + +Though we made careful inquiries for any information as to Natalie and +Miss Vining in Quetta, and advertised freely in the leading London +papers, we learned nothing, and in time we were forced to let the +matter drop. As far as I know, the ghost of the Hindoo child has never +been seen again, but I have heard that the hotel is still +haunted--haunted by a woman. + + + + + CASE XVII + + GLAMIS CASTLE + + +Of all the hauntings in Scotland, none has gained such widespread +notoriety as the hauntings of Glamis Castle, the seat of the Earl of +Strathmore and Kinghorne in Forfarshire. + +Part of the castle--that part which is the more frequently haunted--is +of ancient though uncertain date, and if there is any truth in the +tradition that Duncan was murdered there by Macbeth, must, at any +rate, have been in existence at the commencement of the eleventh +century. Of course, extra buildings have, from time to time, been +added, and renovations made; but the original structure remains pretty +nearly the same as it always has been, and is included in a square +tower that occupies a central position, and commands a complete view +of the entire castle. + +Within this tower--the walls of which are fifteen feet thick--there +is a room, hidden in some unsuspected quarter, that contains a secret +(the keynote to one, at least, of the hauntings) which is known only +to the Earl, his heir (on the attainment of his twenty-first +birthday), and the factor of the estate. + +In all probability, the mystery attached to this room would challenge +but little attention, were it not for the fact that unearthly noises, +which at the time were supposed to proceed from this chamber, have +been heard by various visitors sleeping in the Square Tower. + +The following experience is said to have happened to a lady named +Bond. I append it more or less in her own words. + + * * * * * + +It is a good many years since I stayed at Glamis. I was, in fact, but +little more than a child, and had only just gone through my first +season in town. But though young, I was neither nervous nor +imaginative; I was inclined to be what is termed stolid, that is to +say, extremely matter-of-fact and practical. Indeed, when my friends +exclaimed, "You don't mean to say you are going to stay at Glamis! +Don't you know it's haunted?" I burst out laughing. + +"Haunted!" I said, "how ridiculous! There are no such things as +ghosts. One might as well believe in fairies." + +Of course I did not go to Glamis alone--my mother and sister were with +me; but whereas they slept in the more modern part of the castle, I +was, at my own request, apportioned a room in the Square Tower. + +I cannot say that my choice had anything to do with the secret +chamber. That, and the alleged mystery, had been dinned into my ears +so often that I had grown thoroughly sick of the whole thing. No, I +wanted to sleep in the Square Tower for quite a different reason, a +reason of my own. I kept an aviary; the tower was old; and I naturally +hoped its walls would be covered with ivy and teeming with birds' +nests, some of which I might be able to reach--and, I am ashamed to +say, plunder--from my window. + +Alas, for my expectations! Although the Square Tower was so ancient +that in some places it was actually crumbling away--not the sign of a +leaf, not the vestige of a bird's nest could I see anywhere; the +walls were abominably, brutally bare. However, it was not long before +my disappointment gave way to delight; for the air that blew in +through the open window was so sweet, so richly scented with heather +and honeysuckle, and the view of the broad, sweeping, thickly wooded +grounds so indescribably charming, that, despite my inartistic and +unpoetical nature, I was entranced--entranced as I had never been +before, and never have been since. "Ghosts!" I said to myself, +"ghosts! how absurd! how preposterously absurd! such an adorable spot +as this can only harbour sunshine and flowers." + +I well remember, too--for, as I have already said, I was not +poetical--how much I enjoyed my first dinner at Glamis. The long +journey and keen mountain air had made me hungry, and I thought I had +never tasted such delicious food--such ideal salmon (from the Esk) and +such heavenly fruit. But I must tell you that, although I ate +heartily, as a healthy girl should, by the time I went to bed I had +thoroughly digested my meal, and was, in fact, quite ready to partake +of a few oatmeal biscuits I found in my dressing-case, and remembered +having bought at Perth. It was about eleven o'clock when my maid left +me, and I sat for some minutes wrapped in my dressing gown, before the +open window. The night was very still, and save for an occasional +rustle of the wind in the distant tree-tops, the hooting of an owl, +the melancholy cry of a peewit and the hoarse barking of a dog, the +silence was undisturbed. + +The interior of my room was, in nearly every particular, modern. +The furniture was not old; there were no grim carvings; no +grotesquely-fashioned tapestries on the walls; no dark cupboards; no +gloomy corners;--all was cosy and cheerful, and when I got into bed no +thought of bogle or mystery entered my mind. + +In a few minutes I was asleep, and for some time there was nothing but +a blank--a blank in which all identity was annihilated. Then suddenly +I found myself in an oddly-shaped room with a lofty ceiling, and a +window situated at so great a distance from the black oaken floor as +to be altogether inaccessible from within. Feeble gleams of +phosphorescent light made their way through the narrow panes, and +served to render distinct the more prominent objects around; but my +eyes struggled in vain to reach the remoter angles of the wall, one of +which inspired me with terror such as I had never felt before. The +walls were covered with heavy draperies that were sufficient in +themselves to preclude the possibility of any save the loudest of +sounds penetrating without. + +The furniture, if such one could call it, puzzled me. It seemed more +fitted for the cell of a prison or lunatic asylum, or even for a +kennel, than for an ordinary dwelling-room. I could see no chair, only +a coarse deal table, a straw mattress, and a kind of trough. An air of +irredeemable gloom and horror hung over and pervaded everything. As I +stood there, I felt I was waiting for something--something that was +concealed in the corner of the room I dreaded. I tried to reason with +myself, to assure myself that there was nothing there that could hurt +me, nothing that could even terrify me, but my efforts were in +vain--my fears grew. Had I had some definite knowledge as to the cause +of my alarm I should not have suffered so much, but it was my +ignorance of what was there, of what I feared, that made my terror so +poignant. Each second saw the agony of my suspense increase. I dared +not move. I hardly dare breathe, and I dreaded lest the violent +pulsation of my heart should attract the attention of the Unknown +Presence and precipitate its coming out. Yet despite the perturbation +of my mind, I caught myself analysing my feelings. It was not danger I +abhorred so much, as its absolute effect--fright. I shuddered at the +bare thought of what result the most trivial incident--the creaking of +a board, ticking of a beetle, or hooting of an owl--might have on the +intolerable agitation of my soul. + +In this unnerved and pitiable condition I felt that the period was +bound to come, sooner or later, when I should have to abandon life and +reason together in the most desperate of struggles with--fear. + +At length, something moved. An icy chill ran through my frame, and the +horror of my anticipations immediately reached its culminating point. +The Presence was about to reveal itself. + +The gentle rubbing of a soft body on the floor, the crack of a bony +joint, breathing, another crack, and then--was it my own excited +imagination--or the disturbing influence of the atmosphere--or the +uncertain twilight of the chamber that produced before me, in the +stygian darkness of the recess, the vacillating and indistinct outline +of something luminous, and horrid? I would gladly have risked futurity +to have looked elsewhere--I could not. My eyes were fixed--I was +compelled to gaze steadily in front of me. + +Slowly, very slowly, the thing, whatever it was, took shape. +Legs--crooked, misshapen, human legs. A body--tawny and hunched. +Arms--long and spidery, with crooked, knotted fingers. A head--large +and bestial, and covered with a tangled mass of grey hair that hung +around its protruding forehead and pointed ears in ghastly mockery of +curls. A face--and herein was the realisation of all my direst +expectations--a face--white and staring, piglike in formation, +malevolent in expression; a hellish combination of all things foul and +animal, and yet withal not without a touch of pathos. + +As I stared at it aghast, it reared itself on its haunches after the +manner of an ape, and leered piteously at me. Then, shuffling forward, +it rolled over, and lay sprawled out like some ungainly turtle--and +wallowed, as for warmth, in the cold grey beams of early dawn. + +At this juncture the handle of the chamber door turned, some one +entered, there was a loud cry--and I awoke--awoke to find the whole +tower, walls and rafters, ringing with the most appalling screams I +have ever heard,--screams of some thing or of some one--for there was +in them a strong element of what was human as well as animal--in the +greatest distress. + +Wondering what it meant, and more than ever terrified, I sat up in bed +and listened,--listened whilst a conviction--the result of intuition, +suggestion, or what you will, but a conviction all the same--forced me +to associate the sounds with the thing in my dream. And I associate +them still. + + * * * * * + +It was, I think, in the same year--in the year that the foregoing +account was narrated to me--that I heard another story of the +hauntings at Glamis, a story in connection with a lady whom I will +call Miss Macginney. I append her experience as nearly as possible as +she is stated to have told it. + + * * * * * + +I seldom talk about my adventure, Miss Maginney announced, because so +many people ridicule the superphysical, and laugh at the mere mention +of ghosts. I own I did the same myself till I stayed at Glamis; but a +week there quite cured me of scepticism, and I came away a confirmed +believer. + +The incident occurred nearly twenty years ago--shortly after my return +from India, where my father was then stationed. + +It was years since I had been to Scotland, indeed I had only once +crossed the border and that when I was a babe; consequently I was +delighted to receive an invitation to spend a few weeks in the land of +my birth. I went to Edinburgh first--I was born in Drumsheugh +Gardens--and thence to Glamis. + +It was late in the autumn, the weather was intensely cold, and I +arrived at the castle in a blizzard. Indeed, I do not recollect ever +having been out in such a frightful storm. It was as much as the +horses could do to make headway, and when we reached the castle we +found a crowd of anxious faces eagerly awaiting us in the hall. + +Chilled! I was chilled to the bone, and thought I never should thaw. +But the huge fires and bright and cosy atmosphere of the rooms--for +the interior of Glamis was modernised throughout--soon set me right, +and by tea time I felt nicely warm and comfortable. + +My bedroom was in the oldest part of the castle--the Square Tower--but +although I had been warned by some of the guests that it might be +haunted, I can assure you that when I went to bed no subject was +farther from my thoughts than the subject of ghosts. I returned to my +room at about half-past eleven. The storm was then at its height--all +was babel and confusion--impenetrable darkness mingled with the +wildest roaring and shrieking; and when I peeped through my casement +window I could see nothing--the panes were shrouded in snow--snow +which was incessantly dashed against them with cyclonic fury. I fixed +a comb in the window-frame so as not to be kept awake by the constant +jarring; and with the caution characteristic of my sex looked into +the wardrobe and under the bed for burglars--though Heaven knows what +I should have done had I found one there--placed a candlestick and +matchbox on the table by my bedside, lest the roof or window should be +blown in during the night or any other catastrophe happen, and after +all these preparations got into bed. At this period of my life I was a +sound sleeper, and, being somewhat unusually tired after my journey, I +was soon in a dreamless slumber. What awoke me I cannot say, but I +came to myself with a violent start, such as might have been +occasioned by a loud noise. Indeed, that was, at first, my impression, +and I strained my ears to try and ascertain the cause of it. All was, +however, silent. The storm had abated, and the castle and grounds were +wrapped in an almost preternatural hush. The sky had cleared, and the +room was partially illuminated by a broad stream of silvery light that +filtered softly in through the white and tightly drawn blinds. A +feeling that there was something unnatural in the air, that the +stillness was but the prelude to some strange and startling event, +gradually came over me. I strove to reason with myself, to argue that +the feeling was wholly due to the novelty of my surroundings, but my +efforts were fruitless. And soon there stole upon me a sensation to +which I had been hitherto an utter stranger--I became afraid. An +irrepressible tremor pervaded my frame, my teeth chattered, my blood +froze. Obeying an impulse--an impulse I could not resist, I lifted +myself up from the pillows, and, peering fearfully into the shadowy +glow that lay directly in front of me--listened. Why I listened I do +not know, saving that an instinctive spirit prompted me. At first I +could hear nothing, and then, from a direction I could not define, +there came a noise, low, distinct, uninterpretative. It was repeated +in rapid succession, and speedily construed itself into the sound of +mailed footsteps racing up the long flight of stairs at the end of the +corridor leading to my room. Dreading to think what it might be, and +seized with a wild sentiment of self-preservation, I made frantic +endeavours to get out of bed and barricade my door. My limbs, however, +refused to move. I was paralysed. Nearer and nearer drew the sounds; +and I could at length distinguish, with a clearness that petrified my +very soul, the banging and clanging of sword scabbards, and the +panting and gasping of men, sore pressed in a wild and desperate race. +And then the meaning of it all came to me with hideous abruptness--it +was a case of pursued and pursuing--the race was for--LIFE. Outside my +door the fugitive halted, and from the noise he made in trying to draw +his breath, I knew he was dead beat. His antagonist, however, gave him +but scant time for recovery. Bounding at him with prodigious leaps, he +struck him a blow that sent him reeling with such tremendous force +against the door, that the panels, although composed of the stoutest +oak, quivered and strained like flimsy matchboard. + +The blow was repeated; the cry that rose in the victim's throat was +converted into an abortive gurgling groan; and I heard the ponderous +battle-axe carve its way through helmet, bone, and brain. A moment +later came the sound of slithering armour; and the corpse, slipping +sideways, toppled to the ground with a sonorous clang. + +A silence too awful for words now ensued. Having finished his hideous +handiwork, the murderer was quietly deliberating what to do next; +whilst my dread of attracting his attention was so great that I +scarcely dare breathe. This intolerable state of things had already +lasted for what seemed to me a lifetime, when, glancing involuntarily +at the floor, I saw a stream of dark-looking fluid lazily lapping its +way to me from the direction of the door. Another moment and it would +reach my shoes. In my dismay I shrieked aloud. There was a sudden stir +without, a significant clatter of steel, and the next moment--despite +the fact that it was locked--the door slowly opened. The limits of my +endurance had now happily been reached, the over-taxed valves of my +heart could stand no more--I fainted. On my awakening to consciousness +it was morning, and the welcome sun rays revealed no evidences of the +distressing drama. I own I had a hard tussle before I could make up my +mind to spend another night in that room; and my feelings as I shut +the door on my retreating maid, and prepared to get into bed, were not +the most enviable. But nothing happened, nor did I again experience +anything of the sort till the evening before I left. I had lain down +all the afternoon--for I was tired after a long morning's tramp on the +moors, a thing I dearly love--and I was thinking it was about time to +get up, when a dark shadow suddenly fell across my face. + +I looked up hastily, and there, standing by my bedside and bending +over me, was a gigantic figure in bright armour. + +Its visor was up, and what I saw within the casque is stamped for ever +on my memory. It was the face of the dead--the long since dead--with +the expression--the subtly hellish expression--of the living. As I +gazed helplessly at it, it bent lower. I threw up my hands to ward it +off. There was a loud rap at the door. And as my maid softly entered +to tell me tea was ready--it vanished. + + * * * * * + +The third account of the Glamis hauntings was told me as long ago as +the summer of 1893. I was travelling by rail from Perth to Glasgow, +and the only other occupant of my compartment was an elderly +gentleman, who, from his general air and appearance, might have been +a dominie, or member of some other learned profession. I can see him +in my mind's eye now--a tall, thin man with a premature stoop. He had +white hair, which was brushed forward on either side of his head in +such a manner as suggested a wig; bushy eyebrows; dark, piercing eyes; +and a stern, though somewhat sad, mouth. His features were fine and +scholarly; he was clean-shaven. There was something about +him--something that marked him from the general horde--something that +attracted me, and I began chatting with him soon after we left Perth. + +In the course of a conversation, that was at all events interesting to +me, I adroitly managed to introduce the subject of ghosts--then, as +ever, uppermost in my thoughts. + + * * * * * + +Well, he said, I can tell you of something rather extraordinary that +my mother used to say happened to a friend of hers at Glamis. I have +no doubt you are well acquainted with the hackneyed stories in +connection with the hauntings at the castle; for example, Earl Beardie +playing cards with the Devil, and The Weeping Woman without Hands or +Tongue. You can read about them in scores of books and magazines. But +what befel my mother's friend, whom I will call Mrs. Gibbons--for I +have forgotten her proper name--was apparently of a novel nature. The +affair happened shortly before Mrs. Gibbons died, and I always thought +that what took place might have been, in some way, connected with her +death. + +She had driven over to the castle one day--during the absence of the +owner--to see her cousin, who was in the employ of the Earl and +Countess. Never having been at Glamis before, but having heard so much +about it, Mrs. Gibbons was not a little curious to see that part of +the building, called the Square Tower, that bore the reputation of +being haunted. + +Tactfully biding an opportunity, she sounded her relative on the +subject, and was laughingly informed that she might go anywhere about +the place she pleased, saving to one spot, namely, "Bluebeard's +Chamber"; and there she could certainly never succeed in poking her +nose, as its locality was known only to three people, all of whom were +pledged never to reveal it. At the commencement of her tour of +inspection, Mrs. Gibbons was disappointed--she was disappointed in the +Tower. She had expected to see a gaunt, grim place, crumbling to +pieces with age, full of blood-curdling, spiral staircases, and deep, +dark dungeons; whereas everything was the reverse. The walls were in +an excellent state of preservation--absolutely intact; the rooms +bright and cheerful and equipped in the most modern style; there were +no dungeons, at least none on view, and the passages and staircases +were suggestive of nothing more alarming than--bats! She was +accompanied for some time by her relative, but, on the latter being +called away, Mrs. Gibbons continued her rambles alone. She had +explored the lower premises, and was leisurely examining a handsomely +furnished apartment on the top floor, when, in crossing from one side +of the room to the other, she ran into something. She looked +down--nothing was to be seen. Amazed beyond description, she thrust +out her hands, and they alighted on an object, which she had little +difficulty in identifying. It was an enormous cask or barrel lying in +a horizontal position. + +She bent down close to where she felt it, but she could see +nothing--nothing but the well-polished boards of the floor. To make +sure again that the barrel was there, she gave a little kick--and drew +back her foot with a cry of pain. She was not afraid--the sunshine in +the room forbade fear--only exasperated. She was certain a barrel was +there--that it was objective--and she was angry with herself for not +seeing it. She wondered if she were going blind; but the fact that +other objects in the room were plainly visible to her, discountenanced +such an idea. For some minutes she poked and jabbed at the Thing, and +then, seized with a sudden and uncontrollable panic, she turned round +and fled. And as she tore out of the room, along the passage and down +the seemingly interminable flight of stairs, she heard the barrel +behind her in close pursuit-bump--bump--bump! + +At the foot of the staircase Mrs. Gibbons met her cousin, and, as she +clutched the latter for support, the barrel shot past her, still +continuing its descent--bump--bump--bump! (though the steps as far as +she could see had ended)--till the sounds gradually dwindled away in +the far distance. + +Whilst the manifestations lasted, neither Mrs. Gibbons nor her cousin +spoke; but the latter, as soon as the sounds had ceased, dragged Mrs. +Gibbons away, and, in a voice shaking with terror, cried: "Quick, +quick--don't, for Heaven's sake, look round--worse has yet to come." +And, pulling Mrs. Gibbons along in breathless haste, she +unceremoniously hustled her out of the Tower. + +"That was no barrel!" Mrs. Gibbons's cousin subsequently remarked by +way of explanation. "I saw it--I have seen it before. Don't ask me to +describe it. I dare not--I dare not even think of it. Whenever it +appears, a certain thing happens shortly afterwards. Don't, don't on +any account say a word about it to any one here." And Mrs. Gibbons, my +mother told me, came away from Glamis a thousand times more curious +than she was when she went. + + * * * * * + +The last story I have to relate is one I heard many years ago, when I +was staying near Balmoral. A gentleman named Vance, with strong +antiquarian tastes, was staying at an inn near the Strathmore estate, +and, roaming abroad one afternoon, in a fit of absent-mindedness +entered the castle grounds. It so happened--fortunately for him--that +the family were away, and he encountered no one more formidable than a +man he took to be a gardener, an uncouth-looking fellow, with a huge +head covered with a mass of red hair, hawk-like features, and high +cheek-bones, high even for a Scot. Struck with the appearance of the +individual, Mr. Vance spoke, and, finding him wonderfully civil, asked +whether, by any chance, he ever came across any fossils, when digging +in the gardens. + +"I dinna ken the meaning of fossils," the man replied. "What are +they?" + +Mr. Vance explained, and a look of cunning gradually pervaded the +fellow's features. "No!" he said, "I've never found any of those +things, but if you'll give me your word to say nothing about it, I'll +show you something I once dug up over yonder by the Square Tower." + +"Do you mean the Haunted Tower?--the Tower that is supposed to contain +the secret room?" Mr. Vance exclaimed. + +An extraordinary expression--an expression such as Mr. Vance found it +impossible to analyse--came into the man's eyes. "Yes! that's it!" he +nodded. "What people call--and rightly call--the Haunted Tower. I got +it from there. But don't you say naught about it!" + +Mr. Vance, whose curiosity was roused, promised, and the man, politely +requesting him to follow, led the way to a cottage that stood near by, +in the heart of a gloomy wood. To Mr. Vance's astonishment the +treasure proved to be the skeleton of a hand--a hand with abnormally +large knuckles, and the first joint--of both fingers and thumb--much +shorter than the others. It was the most extraordinarily shaped hand +Mr. Vance had ever seen, and he did not know in the least how to +classify it. It repelled, yet interested him, and he eventually +offered the man a good sum to allow him to keep it. To his +astonishment the money was refused. "You may have the thing, and +welcome," the fellow said. "Only, I advise you not to look at it late +at night; or just before getting into bed. If you do, you may have bad +dreams." + +"I will take my chance of that!" Mr. Vance laughed. "You see, being a +hard-headed cockney, I am not superstitious. It is only you +Highlanders, and your first cousins the Irish, who believe nowadays in +bogles, omens, and such-like"; and, packing the hand carefully in his +knapsack, Mr. Vance bid the strange-looking creature good morning, and +went on his way. + +For the rest of the day the hand was uppermost in his +thoughts--nothing had ever fascinated him so much. He sat pondering +over it the whole evening, and bedtime found him still examining +it--examining it upstairs in his room by candlelight. He had a hazy +recollection that some clock had struck twelve, and he was beginning +to feel that it was about time to retire, when, in the mirror opposite +him, he caught sight of the door--it was open. + +"By Jove! that's odd!" he said to himself. "I could have sworn I shut +and bolted it." To make sure, he turned round--the door was closed. +"An optical delusion," he murmured; "I will try again." + +He looked into the mirror--the door reflected in it was--open. Utterly +at a loss to know how to explain the phenomenon, he leaned forward in +his seat to examine the glass more carefully, and as he did so he +gave a start. On the threshold of the doorway was a shadow--black and +bulbous. A cold shiver ran down Mr. Vance's spine, and just for a +moment he felt afraid, terribly afraid; but he quickly composed +himself--it was nothing but an illusion--there was no shadow there in +reality--he had only to turn round, and the thing would be gone. It +was amusing--entertaining. He would wait and see what happened. + +The shadow moved. It moved slowly through the air like some huge +spider, or odd-shaped bird. He would not acknowledge that there was +anything sinister about it--only something droll--excruciatingly droll. +Yet it did not make him laugh. When it had drawn a little nearer, he +tried to diagnose it, to discover its material counterpart in one of +the objects around him; but he was obliged to acknowledge his attempts +were failures--there was nothing in the room in the least degree like +it. A vague feeling of uneasiness gradually crept over him--was the +thing the shadow of something with which he was familiar, but could not +just then recall to mind--something he feared--something that was +sinister? He struggled against the idea, he dismissed it as absurd; but +it returned--returned, and took deeper root as the shadow drew nearer. +He wished the house was not quite so silent--that he could hear some +indication of life--anything--anything for companionship, and to rid +him of the oppressive, the very oppressive, sense of loneliness and +isolation. + +Again a thrill of terror ran through him. + +"Look here!" he exclaimed aloud, glad to hear the sound of his own +voice. "Look here! if this goes on much longer I shall begin to think +I'm going mad. I have had enough, and more than enough, of magic +mirrors for one night--it's high time I got into bed." He strove to +rise from his chair--to move; he was unable to do either; some +strange, tyrannical force held him a prisoner. + +A change now took place in the shadow; the blurr dissipated, and the +clearly defined outlines of an object--an object that made Mr. Vance +perfectly sick with apprehension--slowly disclosed themselves. His +suspicions were verified--it was the HAND!--the hand--no longer +skeleton, but covered with green, mouldering flesh--feeling its way +slyly and stealthily towards him--towards the back of his chair! He +noted the murderous twitching of its short, flat finger-tips, the +monstrous muscles of its hideous thumb, and the great, clumsy hollows +of its clammy palm. It closed in upon him; its cold, slimy, detestable +skin touched his coat--his shoulder--his neck--his head! It pressed +him down, squashed, suffocated him! He saw it all in the glass--and +then an extraordinary thing happened. Mr. Vance suddenly became +animated. He got up and peeped furtively round. Chairs, bed, wardrobe, +had all disappeared--so had the bedroom--and he found himself in a +small, bare, comfortless, queerly constructed apartment without a +door, and with only a narrow slit of a window somewhere near the +ceiling. + +He had in one of his hands a knife with a long, keen blade, and his +whole mind was bent on murder. Creeping stealthily forward, he +approached a corner of the room, where he now saw, for the first +time--a mattress--a mattress on which lay a huddled-up form. What the +Thing was--whether human or animal--Mr. Vance did not know--did not +care--all he felt was that it was there for him to kill--that he +loathed and hated it--hated it with a hatred such as nothing else +could have produced. Tiptoeing gently up to it, he bent down, and, +lifting his knife high above his head, plunged it into the Thing's +body with all the force he could command. + + * * * * * + +He recrossed the room, and found himself once more in his apartment at +the inn. He looked for the skeleton hand--it was not where he had left +it--it had vanished. Then he glanced at the mirror, and on its +brilliantly polished surface saw--not his own face--but the face of +the gardener, the man who had given him the hand! Features, colour, +hair--all--all were identical--wonderfully, hideously identical--and +as the eyes met his, they smiled--devilishly. + + * * * * * + +Early the next day, Mr. Vance set out for the spinney and cottage; +they were not to be found--nobody had ever heard of them. He continued +his travels, and some months later, at a loan collection of pictures +in a gallery in Edinburgh, he came to an abrupt--a very abrupt--halt, +before the portrait of a gentleman in ancient costume. The face +seemed strangely familiar--the huge head with thick, red hair--the +hawk-like features--the thin and tightly compressed lips. Then, in a +trice, it all came back to him: the face he looked at was that of the +uncouth gardener--the man who had given him the hand. And to clinch +the matter, the eyes--leered. + + + + + _Printed by_ + MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED + _Edinburgh_ + + + * * * * * + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Typographical errors corrected in text: | + | | + | Page 79: 'made a dash as it' at replaced with | + | 'made a dash at it' | + | Page 93: spritualist replaced with spiritualist | + | Page 232: degreee replaced with degree | + | Page 258: accompained replaced with accompanied | + | | + | Further Notes: | + | | + | For those who may wonder about the word 'lolled' on page | + | 84, it really is a word! It means: 1. To move, stand, or | + | recline in an indolent or relaxed manner. 2. To hang | + | or droop laxly. | + | | + | In the original book, each chapter header is on a | + | separate page, followed by a blank page and then the | + | chapter header again, and then the chapter text. The | + | duplicate header has been removed in this document. | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + + * * * * * + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Scottish Ghost Stories, by Elliott O'Donnell + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCOTTISH GHOST STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 20034.txt or 20034.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/0/3/20034/ + +Produced by Jeannie Howse and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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