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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/9629-8.txt b/9629-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a8e3b80 --- /dev/null +++ b/9629-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4987 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, by Montague Rhodes James + +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: Ghost Stories of an Antiquary + Part 2: More Ghost Stories + +Author: Montague Rhodes James + +Posting Date: November 17, 2011 [EBook #9629] +Release Date: January, 2006 +First Posted: October 11, 2003 +[Last updated: January 18, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Thomas Berger, and PG Distributed +Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + + +PART 2: More Ghost Stories + + +M.R. JAMES + +GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY + + + +_These stories are dedicated to all those who at various times have +listened to them._ + + + +CONTENTS + +PART I: GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY + +Canon Alberic's Scrap-book +Lost Hearts +The Mezzotint +The Ash-tree +Number 13 +Count Magnus +'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad' +The Treasure of Abbot Thomas + +PART 2: MORE GHOST STORIES + +A School Story +The Rose Garden +The Tractate Middoth +Casting the Runes +The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral +Martin's Close +Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance + + * * * * * + +The first six of the seven tales were Christmas productions, the very +first ('A School Story') having been made up for the benefit of King's +College Choir School. 'The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral' was printed in +_Contemporary Review_; 'Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance' was written to +fill up the volume. In 'A School Story' I had Temple Grove, East Sheen in +mind; in 'The Tractate Middoth', Cambridge University Library; in +'Martin's Close', Sampford Courtenay in Devon. The Cathedral of +Barchester is a blend of Canterbury, Salisbury, and Hereford. + +M.R. JAMES + + * * * * * + +A SCHOOL STORY + +Two men in a smoking-room were talking of their private-school days. 'At +_our_ school,' said A., 'we had a ghost's footmark on the staircase. What +was it like? Oh, very unconvincing. Just the shape of a shoe, with a +square toe, if I remember right. The staircase was a stone one. I never +heard any story about the thing. That seems odd, when you come to think +of it. Why didn't somebody invent one, I wonder?' + +'You never can tell with little boys. They have a mythology of their own. +There's a subject for you, by the way--"The Folklore of Private +Schools".' + +'Yes; the crop is rather scanty, though. I imagine, if you were to +investigate the cycle of ghost stories, for instance, which the boys at +private schools tell each other, they would all turn out to be +highly-compressed versions of stories out of books.' + +'Nowadays the _Strand_ and _Pearson's_, and so on, would be extensively +drawn upon.' + +'No doubt: they weren't born or thought of in _my_ time. Let's see. I +wonder if I can remember the staple ones that I was told. First, there +was the house with a room in which a series of people insisted on passing +a night; and each of them in the morning was found kneeling in a corner, +and had just time to say, "I've seen it," and died.' + +'Wasn't that the house in Berkeley Square?' + +'I dare say it was. Then there was the man who heard a noise in the +passage at night, opened his door, and saw someone crawling towards him +on all fours with his eye hanging out on his cheek. There was besides, +let me think--Yes! the room where a man was found dead in bed with a +horseshoe mark on his forehead, and the floor under the bed was covered +with marks of horseshoes also; I don't know why. Also there was the lady +who, on locking her bedroom door in a strange house, heard a thin voice +among the bed-curtains say, "Now we're shut in for the night." None of +those had any explanation or sequel. I wonder if they go on still, those +stories.' + +'Oh, likely enough--with additions from the magazines, as I said. You +never heard, did you, of a real ghost at a private school? I thought not; +nobody has that ever I came across.' + +'From the way in which you said that, I gather that _you_ have.' + +'I really don't know; but this is what was in my mind. It happened at my +private school thirty odd years ago, and I haven't any explanation of it. + +'The school I mean was near London. It was established in a large and +fairly old house--a great white building with very fine grounds about it; +there were large cedars in the garden, as there are in so many of the +older gardens in the Thames valley, and ancient elms in the three or four +fields which we used for our games. I think probably it was quite an +attractive place, but boys seldom allow that their schools possess any +tolerable features. + +'I came to the school in a September, soon after the year 1870; and among +the boys who arrived on the same day was one whom I took to: a Highland +boy, whom I will call McLeod. I needn't spend time in describing him: the +main thing is that I got to know him very well. He was not an exceptional +boy in any way--not particularly good at books or games--but he suited +me. + +'The school was a large one: there must have been from 120 to 130 boys +there as a rule, and so a considerable staff of masters was required, and +there were rather frequent changes among them. + +'One term--perhaps it was my third or fourth--a new master made his +appearance. His name was Sampson. He was a tallish, stoutish, pale, +black-bearded man. I think we liked him: he had travelled a good deal, +and had stories which amused us on our school walks, so that there was +some competition among us to get within earshot of him. I remember +too--dear me, I have hardly thought of it since then!--that he had a +charm on his watch-chain that attracted my attention one day, and he let +me examine it. It was, I now suppose, a gold Byzantine coin; there was an +effigy of some absurd emperor on one side; the other side had been worn +practically smooth, and he had had cut on it--rather barbarously--his own +initials, G.W.S., and a date, 24 July, 1865. Yes, I can see it now: he +told me he had picked it up in Constantinople: it was about the size of a +florin, perhaps rather smaller. + +'Well, the first odd thing that happened was this. Sampson was doing +Latin grammar with us. One of his favourite methods--perhaps it is rather +a good one--was to make us construct sentences out of our own heads to +illustrate the rules he was trying to make us learn. Of course that is a +thing which gives a silly boy a chance of being impertinent: there are +lots of school stories in which that happens--or anyhow there might be. +But Sampson was too good a disciplinarian for us to think of trying that +on with him. Now, on this occasion he was telling us how to express +_remembering_ in Latin: and he ordered us each to make a sentence +bringing in the verb _memini_, "I remember." Well, most of us made up +some ordinary sentence such as "I remember my father," or "He remembers +his book," or something equally uninteresting: and I dare say a good many +put down _memino librum meum_, and so forth: but the boy I +mentioned--McLeod--was evidently thinking of something more elaborate +than that. The rest of us wanted to have our sentences passed, and get on +to something else, so some kicked him under the desk, and I, who was next +to him, poked him and whispered to him to look sharp. But he didn't seem +to attend. I looked at his paper and saw he had put down nothing at all. +So I jogged him again harder than before and upbraided him sharply for +keeping us all waiting. That did have some effect. He started and seemed +to wake up, and then very quickly he scribbled about a couple of lines on +his paper, and showed it up with the rest. As it was the last, or nearly +the last, to come in, and as Sampson had a good deal to say to the boys +who had written _meminiscimus patri meo_ and the rest of it, it turned +out that the clock struck twelve before he had got to McLeod, and McLeod +had to wait afterwards to have his sentence corrected. There was nothing +much going on outside when I got out, so I waited for him to come. He +came very slowly when he did arrive, and I guessed there had been some +sort of trouble. "Well," I said, "what did you get?" "Oh, I don't know," +said McLeod, "nothing much: but I think Sampson's rather sick with me." +"Why, did you show him up some rot?" "No fear," he said. "It was all +right as far as I could see: it was like this: _Memento_--that's right +enough for remember, and it takes a genitive,--_memento putei inter +quatuor taxos_." "What silly rot!" I said. "What made you shove that +down? What does it mean?" "That's the funny part," said McLeod. "I'm not +quite sure what it does mean. All I know is, it just came into my head +and I corked it down. I know what I _think_ it means, because just before +I wrote it down I had a sort of picture of it in my head: I believe it +means 'Remember the well among the four'--what are those dark sort of +trees that have red berries on them?" "Mountain ashes, I s'pose you +mean." "I never heard of them," said McLeod; "no, _I'll_ tell you--yews." +"Well, and what did Sampson say?" "Why, he was jolly odd about it. When +he read it he got up and went to the mantelpiece and stopped quite a long +time without saying anything, with his back to me. And then he said, +without turning round, and rather quiet, 'What do you suppose that +means?' I told him what I thought; only I couldn't remember the name of +the silly tree: and then he wanted to know why I put it down, and I had +to say something or other. And after that he left off talking about it, +and asked me how long I'd been here, and where my people lived, and +things like that: and then I came away: but he wasn't looking a bit +well." + +'I don't remember any more that was said by either of us about this. Next +day McLeod took to his bed with a chill or something of the kind, and it +was a week or more before he was in school again. And as much as a month +went by without anything happening that was noticeable. Whether or not Mr +Sampson was really startled, as McLeod had thought, he didn't show it. I +am pretty sure, of course, now, that there was something very curious in +his past history, but I'm not going to pretend that we boys were sharp +enough to guess any such thing. + +'There was one other incident of the same kind as the last which I told +you. Several times since that day we had had to make up examples in +school to illustrate different rules, but there had never been any row +except when we did them wrong. At last there came a day when we were +going through those dismal things which people call Conditional +Sentences, and we were told to make a conditional sentence, expressing a +future consequence. We did it, right or wrong, and showed up our bits of +paper, and Sampson began looking through them. All at once he got up, +made some odd sort of noise in his throat, and rushed out by a door that +was just by his desk. We sat there for a minute or two, and then--I +suppose it was incorrect--but we went up, I and one or two others, to +look at the papers on his desk. Of course I thought someone must have put +down some nonsense or other, and Sampson had gone off to report him. All +the same, I noticed that he hadn't taken any of the papers with him when +he ran out. Well, the top paper on the desk was written in red ink--which +no one used--and it wasn't in anyone's hand who was in the class. They +all looked at it--McLeod and all--and took their dying oaths that it +wasn't theirs. Then I thought of counting the bits of paper. And of this +I made quite certain: that there were seventeen bits of paper on the +desk, and sixteen boys in the form. Well, I bagged the extra paper, and +kept it, and I believe I have it now. And now you will want to know what +was written on it. It was simple enough, and harmless enough, I should +have said. + +'"_Si tu non veneris ad me, ego veniam ad te_," which means, I suppose, +"If you don't come to me, I'll come to you."' + +'Could you show me the paper?' interrupted the listener. + +'Yes, I could: but there's another odd thing about it. That same +afternoon I took it out of my locker--I know for certain it was the same +bit, for I made a finger-mark on it--and no single trace of writing of +any kind was there on it. I kept it, as I said, and since that time I +have tried various experiments to see whether sympathetic ink had been +used, but absolutely without result. + +'So much for that. After about half an hour Sampson looked in again: said +he had felt very unwell, and told us we might go. He came rather gingerly +to his desk and gave just one look at the uppermost paper: and I suppose +he thought he must have been dreaming: anyhow, he asked no questions. + +'That day was a half-holiday, and next day Sampson was in school again, +much as usual. That night the third and last incident in my story +happened. + +'We--McLeod and I--slept in a dormitory at right angles to the main +building. Sampson slept in the main building on the first floor. There +was a very bright full moon. At an hour which I can't tell exactly, but +some time between one and two, I was woken up by somebody shaking me. It +was McLeod; and a nice state of mind he seemed to be in. "Come," he +said,--"come! there's a burglar getting in through Sampson's window." As +soon as I could speak, I said, "Well, why not call out and wake everybody +up?" "No, no," he said, "I'm not sure who it is: don't make a row: come +and look." Naturally I came and looked, and naturally there was no one +there. I was cross enough, and should have called McLeod plenty of names: +only--I couldn't tell why--it seemed to me that there _was_ something +wrong--something that made me very glad I wasn't alone to face it. We +were still at the window looking out, and as soon as I could, I asked him +what he had heard or seen. "I didn't _hear_ anything at all," he said, +"but about five minutes before I woke you, I found myself looking out of +this window here, and there was a man sitting or kneeling on Sampson's +window-sill, and looking in, and I thought he was beckoning." "What sort +of man?" McLeod wriggled. "I don't know," he said, "but I can tell you +one thing--he was beastly thin: and he looked as if he was wet all over: +and," he said, looking round and whispering as if he hardly liked to hear +himself, "I'm not at all sure that he was alive." + +'We went on talking in whispers some time longer, and eventually crept +back to bed. No one else in the room woke or stirred the whole time. I +believe we did sleep a bit afterwards, but we were very cheap next day. + +'And next day Mr Sampson was gone: not to be found: and I believe no +trace of him has ever come to light since. In thinking it over, one of +the oddest things about it all has seemed to me to be the fact that +neither McLeod nor I ever mentioned what we had seen to any third person +whatever. Of course no questions were asked on the subject, and if they +had been, I am inclined to believe that we could not have made any +answer: we seemed unable to speak about it. + +'That is my story,' said the narrator. 'The only approach to a ghost +story connected with a school that I know, but still, I think, an +approach to such a thing.' + + * * * * * + +The sequel to this may perhaps be reckoned highly conventional; but a +sequel there is, and so it must be produced. There had been more than one +listener to the story, and, in the latter part of that same year, or of +the next, one such listener was staying at a country house in Ireland. + +One evening his host was turning over a drawer full of odds and ends in +the smoking-room. Suddenly he put his hand upon a little box. 'Now,' he +said, 'you know about old things; tell me what that is.' My friend opened +the little box, and found in it a thin gold chain with an object attached +to it. He glanced at the object and then took off his spectacles to +examine it more narrowly. 'What's the history of this?' he asked. 'Odd +enough,' was the answer. 'You know the yew thicket in the shrubbery: +well, a year or two back we were cleaning out the old well that used to +be in the clearing here, and what do you suppose we found?' + +'Is it possible that you found a body?' said the visitor, with an odd +feeling of nervousness. + +'We did that: but what's more, in every sense of the word, we found two.' + +'Good Heavens! Two? Was there anything to show how they got there? Was +this thing found with them?' + +'It was. Amongst the rags of the clothes that were on one of the bodies. +A bad business, whatever the story of it may have been. One body had the +arms tight round the other. They must have been there thirty years or +more--long enough before we came to this place. You may judge we filled +the well up fast enough. Do you make anything of what's cut on that gold +coin you have there?' + +'I think I can,' said my friend, holding it to the light (but he read it +without much difficulty); 'it seems to be G.W.S., 24 July, 1865.' + + + + +THE ROSE GARDEN + +Mr and Mrs Anstruther were at breakfast in the parlour of Westfield Hall, +in the county of Essex. They were arranging plans for the day. + +'George,' said Mrs Anstruther, 'I think you had better take the car to +Maldon and see if you can get any of those knitted things I was speaking +about which would do for my stall at the bazaar.' + +'Oh well, if you wish it, Mary, of course I can do that, but I had half +arranged to play a round with Geoffrey Williamson this morning. The +bazaar isn't till Thursday of next week, is it?' + +'What has that to do with it, George? I should have thought you would +have guessed that if I can't get the things I want in Maldon I shall have +to write to all manner of shops in town: and they are certain to send +something quite unsuitable in price or quality the first time. If you +have actually made an appointment with Mr Williamson, you had better keep +it, but I must say I think you might have let me know.' + +'Oh no, no, it wasn't really an appointment. I quite see what you mean. +I'll go. And what shall you do yourself?' + +'Why, when the work of the house is arranged for, I must see about laying +out my new rose garden. By the way, before you start for Maldon I wish +you would just take Collins to look at the place I fixed upon. You know +it, of course.' + +'Well, I'm not quite sure that I do, Mary. Is it at the upper end, +towards the village?' + +'Good gracious no, my dear George; I thought I had made that quite clear. +No, it's that small clearing just off the shrubbery path that goes +towards the church.' + +'Oh yes, where we were saying there must have been a summer-house once: +the place with the old seat and the posts. But do you think there's +enough sun there?' + +'My dear George, do allow me _some_ common sense, and don't credit me +with all your ideas about summer-houses. Yes, there will be plenty of sun +when we have got rid of some of those box-bushes. I know what you are +going to say, and I have as little wish as you to strip the place bare. +All I want Collins to do is to clear away the old seats and the posts and +things before I come out in an hour's time. And I hope you will manage to +get off fairly soon. After luncheon I think I shall go on with my sketch +of the church; and if you please you can go over to the links, or--' + +'Ah, a good idea--very good! Yes, you finish that sketch, Mary, and I +should be glad of a round.' + +'I was going to say, you might call on the Bishop; but I suppose it is no +use my making _any_ suggestion. And now do be getting ready, or half the +morning will be gone.' + +Mr Anstruther's face, which had shown symptoms of lengthening, shortened +itself again, and he hurried from the room, and was soon heard giving +orders in the passage. Mrs Anstruther, a stately dame of some fifty +summers, proceeded, after a second consideration of the morning's +letters, to her housekeeping. + +Within a few minutes Mr Anstruther had discovered Collins in the +greenhouse, and they were on their way to the site of the projected rose +garden. I do not know much about the conditions most suitable to these +nurseries, but I am inclined to believe that Mrs Anstruther, though in +the habit of describing herself as 'a great gardener', had not been well +advised in the selection of a spot for the purpose. It was a small, dank +clearing, bounded on one side by a path, and on the other by thick +box-bushes, laurels, and other evergreens. The ground was almost bare of +grass and dark of aspect. Remains of rustic seats and an old and +corrugated oak post somewhere near the middle of the clearing had given +rise to Mr Anstruther's conjecture that a summer-house had once stood +there. + +Clearly Collins had not been put in possession of his mistress's +intentions with regard to this plot of ground: and when he learnt them +from Mr Anstruther he displayed no enthusiasm. + +'Of course I could clear them seats away soon enough,' he said. 'They +aren't no ornament to the place, Mr Anstruther, and rotten too. Look +'ere, sir,'--and he broke off a large piece--'rotten right through. Yes, +clear them away, to be sure we can do that.' + +'And the post,' said Mr Anstruther, 'that's got to go too.' + +Collins advanced, and shook the post with both hands: then he rubbed his +chin. + +'That's firm in the ground, that post is,' he said. 'That's been there a +number of years, Mr Anstruther. I doubt I shan't get that up not quite so +soon as what I can do with them seats.' + +'But your mistress specially wishes it to be got out of the way in an +hour's time,' said Mr Anstruther. + +Collins smiled and shook his head slowly. 'You'll excuse me, sir, but you +feel of it for yourself. No, sir, no one can't do what's impossible to +'em, can they, sir? I could git that post up by after tea-time, sir, but +that'll want a lot of digging. What you require, you see, sir, if you'll +excuse me naming of it, you want the soil loosening round this post 'ere, +and me and the boy we shall take a little time doing of that. But now, +these 'ere seats,' said Collins, appearing to appropriate this portion of +the scheme as due to his own resourcefulness, 'why, I can get the barrer +round and 'ave them cleared away in, why less than an hour's time from +now, if you'll permit of it. Only--' + +'Only what, Collins?' + +'Well now, it ain't for me to go against orders no more than what it is for +you yourself--or anyone else' (this was added somewhat hurriedly), 'but +if you'll pardon me, sir, this ain't the place I should have picked out +for no rose garden myself. Why look at them box and laurestinus, 'ow they +reg'lar preclude the light from--' + +'Ah yes, but we've got to get rid of some of them, of course.' + +'Oh, indeed, get rid of them! Yes, to be sure, but--I beg your pardon, Mr +Anstruther--' + +'I'm sorry, Collins, but I must be getting on now. I hear the car at the +door. Your mistress will explain exactly what she wishes. I'll tell her, +then, that you can see your way to clearing away the seats at once, and +the post this afternoon. Good morning.' + +Collins was left rubbing his chin. Mrs Anstruther received the report +with some discontent, but did not insist upon any change of plan. + +By four o'clock that afternoon she had dismissed her husband to his golf, +had dealt faithfully with Collins and with the other duties of the day, +and, having sent a campstool and umbrella to the proper spot, had just +settled down to her sketch of the church as seen from the shrubbery, when +a maid came hurrying down the path to report that Miss Wilkins had +called. + +Miss Wilkins was one of the few remaining members of the family from whom +the Anstruthers had bought the Westfield estate some few years back. She +had been staying in the neighbourhood, and this was probably a farewell +visit. 'Perhaps you could ask Miss Wilkins to join me here,' said Mrs +Anstruther, and soon Miss Wilkins, a person of mature years, approached. + +'Yes, I'm leaving the Ashes to-morrow, and I shall be able to tell my +brother how tremendously you have improved the place. Of course he can't +help regretting the old house just a little--as I do myself--but the +garden is really delightful now.' + +'I am so glad you can say so. But you mustn't think we've finished our +improvements. Let me show you where I mean to put a rose garden. It's +close by here.' + +The details of the project were laid before Miss Wilkins at some length; +but her thoughts were evidently elsewhere. + +'Yes, delightful,' she said at last rather absently. 'But do you know, +Mrs Anstruther, I'm afraid I was thinking of old times. I'm _very_ glad +to have seen just this spot again before you altered it. Frank and I had +quite a romance about this place.' + +'Yes?' said Mrs Anstruther smilingly; 'do tell me what it was. Something +quaint and charming, I'm sure.' + +'Not so very charming, but it has always seemed to me curious. Neither of +us would ever be here alone when we were children, and I'm not sure that +I should care about it now in certain moods. It is one of those things +that can hardly be put into words--by me at least--and that sound rather +foolish if they are not properly expressed. I can tell you after a +fashion what it was that gave us--well, almost a horror of the place when +we were alone. It was towards the evening of one very hot autumn day, +when Frank had disappeared mysteriously about the grounds, and I was +looking for him to fetch him to tea, and going down this path I suddenly +saw him, not hiding in the bushes, as I rather expected, but sitting on +the bench in the old summer-house--there was a wooden summer-house here, +you know--up in the corner, asleep, but with such a dreadful look on his +face that I really thought he must be ill or even dead. I rushed at him +and shook him, and told him to wake up; and wake up he did, with a +scream. I assure you the poor boy seemed almost beside himself with +fright. He hurried me away to the house, and was in a terrible state all +that night, hardly sleeping. Someone had to sit up with him, as far as I +remember. He was better very soon, but for days I couldn't get him to say +why he had been in such a condition. It came out at last that he had +really been asleep and had had a very odd disjointed sort of dream. He +never _saw_ much of what was around him, but he _felt_ the scenes most +vividly. First he made out that he was standing in a large room with a +number of people in it, and that someone was opposite to him who was +"very powerful", and he was being asked questions which he felt to be +very important, and, whenever he answered them, someone--either the +person opposite to him, or someone else in the room--seemed to be, as he +said, making something up against him. All the voices sounded to him very +distant, but he remembered bits of the things that were said: "Where were +you on the 19th of October?" and "Is this your handwriting?" and so on. I +can see now, of course, that he was dreaming of some trial: but we were +never allowed to see the papers, and it was odd that a boy of eight +should have such a vivid idea of what went on in a court. All the time he +felt, he said, the most intense anxiety and oppression and hopelessness +(though I don't suppose he used such words as that to me). Then, after +that, there was an interval in which he remembered being dreadfully +restless and miserable, and then there came another sort of picture, when +he was aware that he had come out of doors on a dark raw morning with a +little snow about. It was in a street, or at any rate among houses, and +he felt that there were numbers and numbers of people there too, and that +he was taken up some creaking wooden steps and stood on a sort of +platform, but the only thing he could actually see was a small fire +burning somewhere near him. Someone who had been holding his arm left +hold of it and went towards this fire, and then he said the fright he was +in was worse than at any other part of his dream, and if I had not +wakened him up he didn't know what would have become of him. A curious +dream for a child to have, wasn't it? Well, so much for that. It must +have been later in the year that Frank and I were here, and I was sitting +in the arbour just about sunset. I noticed the sun was going down, and +told Frank to run in and see if tea was ready while I finished a chapter +in the book I was reading. Frank was away longer than I expected, and the +light was going so fast that I had to bend over my book to make it out. +All at once I became conscious that someone was whispering to me inside +the arbour. The only words I could distinguish, or thought I could, were +something like "Pull, pull. I'll push, you pull." + +'I started up in something of a fright. The voice--it was little more +than a whisper--sounded so hoarse and angry, and yet as if it came from a +long, long way off--just as it had done in Frank's dream. But, though I +was startled, I had enough courage to look round and try to make out +where the sound came from. And--this sounds very foolish, I know, but +still it is the fact--I made sure that it was strongest when I put my ear +to an old post which was part of the end of the seat. I was so certain of +this that I remember making some marks on the post--as deep as I could +with the scissors out of my work-basket. I don't know why. I wonder, by +the way, whether that isn't the very post itself.... Well, yes, it might +be: there _are_ marks and scratches on it--but one can't be sure. Anyhow, +it was just like that post you have there. My father got to know that +both of us had had a fright in the arbour, and he went down there himself +one evening after dinner, and the arbour was pulled down at very short +notice. I recollect hearing my father talking about it to an old man who +used to do odd jobs in the place, and the old man saying, "Don't you fear +for that, sir: he's fast enough in there without no one don't take and +let him out." But when I asked who it was, I could get no satisfactory +answer. Possibly my father or mother might have told me more about it +when I grew up, but, as you know, they both died when we were still quite +children. I must say it has always seemed very odd to me, and I've often +asked the older people in the village whether they knew of anything +strange: but either they knew nothing or they wouldn't tell me. Dear, +dear, how I have been boring you with my childish remembrances! but +indeed that arbour did absorb our thoughts quite remarkably for a time. +You can fancy, can't you, the kind of stories that we made up for +ourselves. Well, dear Mrs Anstruther, I must be leaving you now. We shall +meet in town this winter, I hope, shan't we?' etc., etc. + +The seats and the post were cleared away and uprooted respectively by +that evening. Late summer weather is proverbially treacherous, and during +dinner-time Mrs Collins sent up to ask for a little brandy, because her +husband had took a nasty chill and she was afraid he would not be able to +do much next day. + +Mrs Anstruther's morning reflections were not wholly placid. She was sure +some roughs had got into the plantation during the night. 'And another +thing, George: the moment that Collins is about again, you must tell him +to do something about the owls. I never heard anything like them, and I'm +positive one came and perched somewhere just outside our window. If it +had come in I should have been out of my wits: it must have been a very +large bird, from its voice. Didn't you hear it? No, of course not, you +were sound asleep as usual. Still, I must say, George, you don't look as +if your night had done you much good.' + +'My dear, I feel as if another of the same would turn me silly. You have +no idea of the dreams I had. I couldn't speak of them when I woke up, and +if this room wasn't so bright and sunny I shouldn't care to think of them +even now.' + +'Well, really, George, that isn't very common with you, I must say. You +must have--no, you only had what I had yesterday--unless you had tea at +that wretched club house: did you?' + +'No, no; nothing but a cup of tea and some bread and butter. I should +really like to know how I came to put my dream together--as I suppose one +does put one's dreams together from a lot of little things one has been +seeing or reading. Look here, Mary, it was like this--if I shan't be +boring you--' + +'I _wish_ to hear what it was, George. I will tell you when I have had +enough.' + +'All right. I must tell you that it wasn't like other nightmares in one +way, because I didn't really _see_ anyone who spoke to me or touched me, +and yet I was most fearfully impressed with the reality of it all. First +I was sitting, no, moving about, in an old-fashioned sort of panelled +room. I remember there was a fireplace and a lot of burnt papers in it, +and I was in a great state of anxiety about something. There was someone +else--a servant, I suppose, because I remember saying to him, "Horses, as +quick as you can," and then waiting a bit: and next I heard several +people coming upstairs and a noise like spurs on a boarded floor, and +then the door opened and whatever it was that I was expecting happened.' + +'Yes, but what was that?' + +'You see, I couldn't tell: it was the sort of shock that upsets you in a +dream. You either wake up or else everything goes black. That was what +happened to me. Then I was in a big dark-walled room, panelled, I think, +like the other, and a number of people, and I was evidently--' + +'Standing your trial, I suppose, George.' + +'Goodness! yes, Mary, I was; but did you dream that too? How very odd!' + +'No, no; I didn't get enough sleep for that. Go on, George, and I will +tell you afterwards.' + +'Yes; well, I _was_ being tried, for my life, I've no doubt, from the +state I was in. I had no one speaking for me, and somewhere there was a +most fearful fellow--on the bench; I should have said, only that he seemed +to be pitching into me most unfairly, and twisting everything I said, and +asking most abominable questions.' + +'What about?' + +'Why, dates when I was at particular places, and letters I was supposed +to have written, and why I had destroyed some papers; and I recollect his +laughing at answers I made in a way that quite daunted me. It doesn't +sound much, but I can tell you, Mary, it was really appalling at the +time. I am quite certain there was such a man once, and a most horrible +villain he must have been. The things he said--' + +'Thank you, I have no wish to hear them. I can go to the links any day +myself. How did it end?' + +'Oh, against me; _he_ saw to that. I do wish, Mary, I could give you a +notion of the strain that came after that, and seemed to me to last for +days: waiting and waiting, and sometimes writing things I knew to be +enormously important to me, and waiting for answers and none coming, and +after that I came out--' + +'Ah!' + +'What makes you say that? Do you know what sort of thing I saw?' + +'Was it a dark cold day, and snow in the streets, and a fire burning +somewhere near you?' + +'By George, it was! You _have_ had the same nightmare! Really not? Well, +it is the oddest thing! Yes; I've no doubt it was an execution for high +treason. I know I was laid on straw and jolted along most wretchedly, and +then had to go up some steps, and someone was holding my arm, and I +remember seeing a bit of a ladder and hearing a sound of a lot of people. +I really don't think I could bear now to go into a crowd of people and +hear the noise they make talking. However, mercifully, I didn't get to +the real business. The dream passed off with a sort of thunder inside my +head. But, Mary--' + +'I know what you are going to ask. I suppose this is an instance of a +kind of thought-reading. Miss Wilkins called yesterday and told me of a +dream her brother had as a child when they lived here, and something did +no doubt make me think of that when I was awake last night listening to +those horrible owls and those men talking and laughing in the shrubbery +(by the way, I wish you would see if they have done any damage, and speak +to the police about it); and so, I suppose, from my brain it must have +got into yours while you were asleep. Curious, no doubt, and I am sorry +it gave you such a bad night. You had better be as much in the fresh air +as you can to-day.' + +'Oh, it's all right now; but I think I _will_ go over to the Lodge and +see if I can get a game with any of them. And you?' + +'I have enough to do for this morning; and this afternoon, if I am not +interrupted, there is my drawing.' + +'To be sure--I want to see that finished very much.' + +No damage was discoverable in the shrubbery. Mr Anstruther surveyed with +faint interest the site of the rose garden, where the uprooted post still +lay, and the hole it had occupied remained unfilled. Collins, upon +inquiry made, proved to be better, but quite unable to come to his work. +He expressed, by the mouth of his wife, a hope that he hadn't done +nothing wrong clearing away them things. Mrs Collins added that there was +a lot of talking people in Westfield, and the hold ones was the worst: +seemed to think everything of them having been in the parish longer than +what other people had. But as to what they said no more could then be +ascertained than that it had quite upset Collins, and was a lot of +nonsense. + + * * * * * + +Recruited by lunch and a brief period of slumber, Mrs Anstruther settled +herself comfortably upon her sketching chair in the path leading through +the shrubbery to the side-gate of the churchyard. Trees and buildings +were among her favourite subjects, and here she had good studies of both. +She worked hard, and the drawing was becoming a really pleasant thing to +look upon by the time that the wooded hills to the west had shut off the +sun. Still she would have persevered, but the light changed rapidly, and +it became obvious that the last touches must be added on the morrow. She +rose and turned towards the house, pausing for a time to take delight in +the limpid green western sky. Then she passed on between the dark +box-bushes, and, at a point just before the path debouched on the lawn, +she stopped once again and considered the quiet evening landscape, and +made a mental note that that must be the tower of one of the Roothing +churches that one caught on the sky-line. Then a bird (perhaps) rustled +in the box-bush on her left, and she turned and started at seeing what at +first she took to be a Fifth of November mask peeping out among the +branches. She looked closer. + +It was not a mask. It was a face--large, smooth, and pink. She remembers +the minute drops of perspiration which were starting from its forehead: +she remembers how the jaws were clean-shaven and the eyes shut. She +remembers also, and with an accuracy which makes the thought intolerable +to her, how the mouth was open and a single tooth appeared below the +upper lip. As she looked the face receded into the darkness of the bush. +The shelter of the house was gained and the door shut before she +collapsed. + +Mr and Mrs Anstruther had been for a week or more recruiting at Brighton +before they received a circular from the Essex Archaeological Society, +and a query as to whether they possessed certain historical portraits +which it was desired to include in the forthcoming work on Essex +Portraits, to be published under the Society's auspices. There was an +accompanying letter from the Secretary which contained the following +passage: 'We are specially anxious to know whether you possess the +original of the engraving of which I enclose a photograph. It represents +Sir ---- ----, Lord Chief Justice under Charles II, who, as you doubtless +know, retired after his disgrace to Westfield, and is supposed to have +died there of remorse. It may interest you to hear that a curious entry +has recently been found in the registers, not of Westfield but of Priors +Roothing, to the effect that the parish was so much troubled after his +death that the rector of Westfield summoned the parsons of all the +Roothings to come and lay him; which they did. The entry ends by saying: +"The stake is in a field adjoining to the churchyard of Westfield, on the +west side." Perhaps you can let us know if any tradition to this effect +is current in your parish.' + +The incidents which the 'enclosed photograph' recalled were productive of +a severe shock to Mrs Anstruther. It was decided that she must spend the +winter abroad. + +Mr Anstruther, when he went down to Westfield to make the necessary +arrangements, not unnaturally told this story to the rector (an old +gentleman), who showed little surprise. + +'Really I had managed to piece out for myself very much what must have +happened, partly from old people's talk and partly from what I saw in +your grounds. Of course we have suffered to some extent also. Yes, it was +bad at first: like owls, as you say, and men talking sometimes. One night +it was in this garden, and at other times about several of the cottages. +But lately there has been very little: I think it will die out. There is +nothing in our registers except the entry of the burial, and what I for a +long time took to be the family motto: but last time I looked at it I +noticed that it was added in a later hand and had the initials of one of +our rectors quite late in the seventeenth century, A. C.--Augustine +Crompton. Here it is, you see--_quieta non movere_. I suppose-- Well, it +is rather hard to say exactly what I do suppose.' + + + + +THE TRACTATE MIDDOTH + +Towards the end of an autumn afternoon an elderly man with a thin face +and grey Piccadilly weepers pushed open the swing-door leading into the +vestibule of a certain famous library, and addressing himself to an +attendant, stated that he believed he was entitled to use the library, +and inquired if he might take a book out. Yes, if he were on the list of +those to whom that privilege was given. He produced his card--Mr John +Eldred--and, the register being consulted, a favourable answer was given. +'Now, another point,' said he. 'It is a long time since I was here, and I +do not know my way about your building; besides, it is near closing-time, +and it is bad for me to hurry up and down stairs. I have here the title +of the book I want: is there anyone at liberty who could go and find it +for me?' After a moment's thought the doorkeeper beckoned to a young man +who was passing. 'Mr Garrett,' he said, 'have you a minute to assist this +gentleman?' 'With pleasure,' was Mr Garrett's answer. The slip with the +title was handed to him. 'I think I can put my hand on this; it happens +to be in the class I inspected last quarter, but I'll just look it up in +the catalogue to make sure. I suppose it is that particular edition that +you require, sir?' 'Yes, if you please; that, and no other,' said Mr +Eldred; 'I am exceedingly obliged to you.' 'Don't mention it I beg, sir,' +said Mr Garrett, and hurried off. + +'I thought so,' he said to himself, when his finger, travelling down the +pages of the catalogue, stopped at a particular entry. 'Talmud: Tractate +Middoth, with the commentary of Nachmanides, Amsterdam, 1707. 11.3.34. +Hebrew class, of course. Not a very difficult job this.' + +Mr Eldred, accommodated with a chair in the vestibule, awaited anxiously +the return of his messenger--and his disappointment at seeing an +empty-handed Mr Garrett running down the staircase was very evident. 'I'm +sorry to disappoint you, sir,' said the young man, 'but the book is out.' +'Oh dear!' said Mr Eldred, 'is that so? You are sure there can be no +mistake?' 'I don't think there is much chance of it, sir: but it's +possible, if you like to wait a minute, that you might meet the very +gentleman that's got it. He must be leaving the library soon, and I +_think_ I saw him take that particular book out of the shelf.' 'Indeed! +You didn't recognize him, I suppose? Would it be one of the professors or +one of the students?' 'I don't think so: certainly not a professor. I +should have known him; but the light isn't very good in that part of the +library at this time of day, and I didn't see his face. I should have +said he was a shortish old gentleman, perhaps a clergyman, in a cloak. If +you could wait, I can easily find out whether he wants the book very +particularly.' + +'No, no,' said Mr Eldred, 'I won't--I can't wait now, thank you--no. I +must be off. But I'll call again to-morrow if I may, and perhaps you +could find out who has it.' + +'Certainly, sir, and I'll have the book ready for you if we--' But Mr +Eldred was already off, and hurrying more than one would have thought +wholesome for him. + +Garrett had a few moments to spare; and, thought he, 'I'll go back to +that case and see if I can find the old man. Most likely he could put off +using the book for a few days. I dare say the other one doesn't want to +keep it for long.' So off with him to the Hebrew class. But when he got +there it was unoccupied, and the volume marked 11.3.34 was in its place +on the shelf. It was vexatious to Garrett's self-respect to have +disappointed an inquirer with so little reason: and he would have liked, +had it not been against library rules, to take the book down to the +vestibule then and there, so that it might be ready for Mr Eldred when he +called. However, next morning he would be on the look out for him, and he +begged the doorkeeper to send and let him know when the moment came. As a +matter of fact, he was himself in the vestibule when Mr Eldred arrived, +very soon after the library opened, and when hardly anyone besides the +staff were in the building. + +'I'm very sorry,' he said; 'it's not often that I make such a stupid +mistake, but I did feel sure that the old gentleman I saw took out that +very book and kept it in his hand without opening it, just as people do, +you know, sir, when they mean to take a book out of the library and not +merely refer to it. But, however, I'll run up now at once and get it for +you this time.' + +And here intervened a pause. Mr Eldred paced the entry, read all the +notices, consulted his watch, sat and gazed up the staircase, did all +that a very impatient man could, until some twenty minutes had run out. +At last he addressed himself to the doorkeeper and inquired if it was a +very long way to that part of the library to which Mr Garrett had gone. + +'Well, I was thinking it was funny, sir: he's a quick man as a rule, but +to be sure he might have been sent for by the libarian, but even so I +think he'd have mentioned to him that you was waiting. I'll just speak +him up on the toob and see.' And to the tube he addressed himself. As he +absorbed the reply to his question his face changed, and he made one or +two supplementary inquiries which were shortly answered. Then he came +forward to his counter and spoke in a lower tone. 'I'm sorry to hear, +sir, that something seems to have 'appened a little awkward. Mr Garrett +has been took poorly, it appears, and the libarian sent him 'ome in a +cab the other way. Something of an attack, by what I can hear.' 'What, +really? Do you mean that someone has injured him?' 'No, sir, not violence +'ere, but, as I should judge, attacted with an attack, what you might +term it, of illness. Not a strong constitootion, Mr Garrett. But as to +your book, sir, perhaps you might be able to find it for yourself. It's +too bad you should be disappointed this way twice over--' 'Er--well, but +I'm so sorry that Mr Garrett should have been taken ill in this way while +he was obliging me. I think I must leave the book, and call and inquire +after him. You can give me his address, I suppose.' That was easily done: +Mr Garrett, it appeared, lodged in rooms not far from the station. 'And, +one other question. Did you happen to notice if an old gentleman, perhaps +a clergyman, in a--yes--in a black cloak, left the library after I did +yesterday. I think he may have been a--I think, that is, that he may be +staying--or rather that I may have known him.' + +'Not in a black cloak, sir; no. There were only two gentlemen left later +than what you done, sir, both of them youngish men. There was Mr Carter +took out a music-book and one of the prefessors with a couple o' novels. +That's the lot, sir; and then I went off to me tea, and glad to get it. +Thank you, sir, much obliged.' + + * * * * * + +Mr Eldred, still a prey to anxiety, betook himself in a cab to Mr +Garrett's address, but the young man was not yet in a condition to +receive visitors. He was better, but his landlady considered that he must +have had a severe shock. She thought most likely from what the doctor +said that he would be able to see Mr Eldred to-morrow. Mr Eldred returned +to his hotel at dusk and spent, I fear, but a dull evening. + +On the next day he was able to see Mr Garrett. When in health Mr Garrett +was a cheerful and pleasant-looking young man. Now he was a very white +and shaky being, propped up in an arm-chair by the fire, and inclined to +shiver and keep an eye on the door. If however, there were visitors whom +he was not prepared to welcome, Mr Eldred was not among them. 'It really +is I who owe you an apology, and I was despairing of being able to pay +it, for I didn't know your address. But I am very glad you have called. I +do dislike and regret giving all this trouble, but you know I could not +have foreseen this--this attack which I had.' + +'Of course not; but now, I am something of a doctor. You'll excuse my +asking; you have had, I am sure, good advice. Was it a fall you had?' + +'No. I did fall on the floor--but not from any height. It was, really, a +shock.' + +'You mean something startled you. Was it anything you thought you saw?' + +'Not much _thinking_ in the case, I'm afraid. Yes, it was something I +saw. You remember when you called the first time at the library?' + +'Yes, of course. Well, now, let me beg you not to try to describe it--it +will not be good for you to recall it, I'm sure.' + +'But indeed it would be a relief to me to tell anyone like yourself: you +might be able to explain it away. It was just when I was going into the +class where your book is--' + +'Indeed, Mr Garrett, I insist; besides, my watch tells me I have but very +little time left in which to get my things together and take the train. +No--not another word--it would be more distressing to you than you +imagine, perhaps. Now there is just one thing I want to say. I feel that +I am really indirectly responsible for this illness of yours, and I think +I ought to defray the expense which it has--eh?' + +But this offer was quite distinctly declined. Mr Eldred, not pressing it, +left almost at once: not, however, before Mr Garrett had insisted upon +his taking a note of the class-mark of the Tractate Middoth, which, as he +said, Mr Eldred could at leisure get for himself. But Mr Eldred did not +reappear at the library. + + * * * * * + +William Garrett had another visitor that day in the person of a +contemporary and colleague from the library, one George Earle. Earle had +been one of those who found Garrett lying insensible on the floor just +inside the 'class' or cubicle (opening upon the central alley of a +spacious gallery) in which the Hebrew books were placed, and Earle had +naturally been very anxious about his friend's condition. So as soon as +library hours were over he appeared at the lodgings. 'Well,' he said +(after other conversation), 'I've no notion what it was that put you +wrong, but I've got the idea that there's something wrong in the +atmosphere of the library. I know this, that just before we found you I +was coming along the gallery with Davis, and I said to him, "Did ever you +know such a musty smell anywhere as there is about here? It can't be +wholesome." Well now, if one goes on living a long time with a smell of +that kind (I tell you it was worse than I ever knew it) it must get into +the system and break out some time, don't you think?' + +Garrett shook his head. 'That's all very well about the smell--but it +isn't always there, though I've noticed it the last day or two--a sort of +unnaturally strong smell of dust. But no--that's not what did for me. It +was something I _saw_. And I want to tell you about it. I went into that +Hebrew class to get a book for a man that was inquiring for it down +below. Now that same book I'd made a mistake about the day before. I'd +been for it, for the same man, and made sure that I saw an old parson in +a cloak taking it out. I told my man it was out: off he went, to call +again next day. I went back to see if I could get it out of the parson: +no parson there, and the book on the shelf. Well, yesterday, as I say, I +went again. This time, if you please--ten o'clock in the morning, +remember, and as much light as ever you get in those classes, and there +was my parson again, back to me, looking at the books on the shelf I +wanted. His hat was on the table, and he had a bald head. I waited a +second or two looking at him rather particularly. I tell you, he had a +very nasty bald head. It looked to me dry, and it looked dusty, and the +streaks of hair across it were much less like hair than cobwebs. Well, I +made a bit of a noise on purpose, coughed and moved my feet. He turned +round and let me see his face--which I hadn't seen before. I tell you +again, I'm not mistaken. Though, for one reason or another I didn't take +in the lower part of his face, I did see the upper part; and it was +perfectly dry, and the eyes were very deep-sunk; and over them, from the +eyebrows to the cheek-bone, there were _cobwebs_--thick. Now that closed +me up, as they say, and I can't tell you anything more.' + + * * * * * + +What explanations were furnished by Earle of this phenomenon it does not +very much concern us to inquire; at all events they did not convince +Garrett that he had not seen what he had seen. + + * * * * * + +Before William Garrett returned to work at the library, the librarian +insisted upon his taking a week's rest and change of air. Within a few +days' time, therefore, he was at the station with his bag, looking for a +desirable smoking compartment in which to travel to Burnstow-on-Sea, +which he had not previously visited. One compartment and one only seemed +to be suitable. But, just as he approached it, he saw, standing in front +of the door, a figure so like one bound up with recent unpleasant +associations that, with a sickening qualm, and hardly knowing what he +did, he tore open the door of the next compartment and pulled himself +into it as quickly as if death were at his heels. The train moved off, +and he must have turned quite faint, for he was next conscious of a +smelling-bottle being put to his nose. His physician was a nice-looking +old lady, who, with her daughter, was the only passenger in the carriage. + +But for this incident it is not very likely that he would have made any +overtures to his fellow-travellers. As it was, thanks and inquiries and +general conversation supervened inevitably; and Garrett found himself +provided before the journey's end not only with a physician, but with a +landlady: for Mrs Simpson had apartments to let at Burnstow, which seemed +in all ways suitable. The place was empty at that season, so that Garrett +was thrown a good deal into the society of the mother and daughter. He +found them very acceptable company. On the third evening of his stay he +was on such terms with them as to be asked to spend the evening in their +private sitting-room. + +During their talk it transpired that Garrett's work lay in a library. +'Ah, libraries are fine places,' said Mrs Simpson, putting down her work +with a sigh; 'but for all that, books have played me a sad turn, or +rather _a_ book has.' + +'Well, books give me my living, Mrs Simpson, and I should be sorry to say +a word against them: I don't like to hear that they have been bad for +you.' + +'Perhaps Mr Garrett could help us to solve our puzzle, mother,' said Miss +Simpson. + +'I don't want to set Mr Garrett off on a hunt that might waste a +lifetime, my dear, nor yet to trouble him with our private affairs.' + +'But if you think it in the least likely that I could be of use, I do beg +you to tell me what the puzzle is, Mrs Simpson. If it is finding out +anything about a book, you see, I am in rather a good position to do it.' + +'Yes, I do see that, but the worst of it is that we don't know the name +of the book.' + +'Nor what it is about?' + +'No, nor that either.' + +'Except that we don't think it's in English, mother--and that is not much +of a clue.' + +'Well, Mr Garrett,' said Mrs Simpson, who had not yet resumed her work, +and was looking at the fire thoughtfully, 'I shall tell you the story. +You will please keep it to yourself, if you don't mind? Thank you. Now it +is just this. I had an old uncle, a Dr Rant. Perhaps you may have heard +of him. Not that he was a distinguished man, but from the odd way he +chose to be buried.' + +'I rather think I have seen the name in some guidebook.' + +'That would be it,' said Miss Simpson. 'He left directions--horrid old +man!--that he was to be put, sitting at a table in his ordinary clothes, +in a brick room that he'd had made underground in a field near his house. +Of course the country people say he's been seen about there in his old +black cloak.' + +'Well, dear, I don't know much about such things,' Mrs Simpson went on, +'but anyhow he is dead, these twenty years and more. He was a clergyman, +though I'm sure I can't imagine how he got to be one: but he did no duty +for the last part of his life, which I think was a good thing; and he +lived on his own property: a very nice estate not a great way from here. +He had no wife or family; only one niece, who was myself, and one nephew, +and he had no particular liking for either of us--nor for anyone else, as +far as that goes. If anything, he liked my cousin better than he did +me--for John was much more like him in his temper, and, I'm afraid I must +say, his very mean sharp ways. It might have been different if I had not +married; but I did, and that he very much resented. Very well: here he +was with this estate and a good deal of money, as it turned out, of which +he had the absolute disposal, and it was understood that we--my cousin +and I--would share it equally at his death. In a certain winter, over +twenty years back, as I said, he was taken ill, and I was sent for to +nurse him. My husband was alive then, but the old man would not hear of +_his_ coming. As I drove up to the house I saw my cousin John driving +away from it in an open fly and looking, I noticed, in very good spirits. +I went up and did what I could for my uncle, but I was very soon sure +that this would be his last illness; and he was convinced of it too. +During the day before he died he got me to sit by him all the time, and I +could see there was something, and probably something unpleasant, that he +was saving up to tell me, and putting it off as long as he felt he could +afford the strength--I'm afraid purposely in order to keep me on the +stretch. But, at last, out it came. "Mary," he said,--"Mary, I've made my +will in John's favour: he has everything, Mary." Well, of course that +came as a bitter shock to me, for we--my husband and I--were not rich +people, and if he could have managed to live a little easier than he was +obliged to do, I felt it might be the prolonging of his life. But I said +little or nothing to my uncle, except that he had a right to do what he +pleased: partly because I couldn't think of anything to say, and partly +because I was sure there was more to come: and so there was. "But, Mary," +he said, "I'm not very fond of John, and I've made another will in _your_ +favour. _You_ can have everything. Only you've got to find the will, you +see: and I don't mean to tell you where it is." Then he chuckled to +himself, and I waited, for again I was sure he hadn't finished. "That's a +good girl," he said after a time,--"you wait, and I'll tell you as much +as I told John. But just let me remind you, you can't go into court with +what I'm saying to you, for _you_ won't be able to produce any collateral +evidence beyond your own word, and John's a man that can do a little hard +swearing if necessary. Very well then, that's understood. Now, I had the +fancy that I wouldn't write this will quite in the common way, so I wrote +it in a book, Mary, a printed book. And there's several thousand books in +this house. But there! you needn't trouble yourself with them, for it +isn't one of them. It's in safe keeping elsewhere: in a place where John +can go and find it any day, if he only knew, and you can't. A good will +it is: properly signed and witnessed, but I don't think you'll find the +witnesses in a hurry." + +'Still I said nothing: if I had moved at all I must have taken hold of +the old wretch and shaken him. He lay there laughing to himself, and at +last he said: + +'"Well, well, you've taken it very quietly, and as I want to start you +both on equal terms, and John has a bit of a purchase in being able to go +where the book is, I'll tell you just two other things which I didn't +tell him. The will's in English, but you won't know that if ever you see +it. That's one thing, and another is that when I'm gone you'll find an +envelope in my desk directed to you, and inside it something that would +help you to find it, if only you have the wits to use it." + +'In a few hours from that he was gone, and though I made an appeal to +John Eldred about it--' + +'John Eldred? I beg your pardon, Mrs Simpson--I think I've seen a Mr John +Eldred. What is he like to look at?' + +'It must be ten years since I saw him: he would be a thin elderly man +now, and unless he has shaved them off, he has that sort of whiskers +which people used to call Dundreary or Piccadilly something.' + +'--weepers. Yes, that _is_ the man.' + +'Where did you come across him, Mr Garrett?' + +'I don't know if I could tell you,' said Garrett mendaciously, 'in some +public place. But you hadn't finished.' + +'Really I had nothing much to add, only that John Eldred, of course, paid +no attention whatever to my letters, and has enjoyed the estate ever +since, while my daughter and I have had to take to the lodging-house +business here, which I must say has not turned out by any means so +unpleasant as I feared it might.' + +'But about the envelope.' + +'To be sure! Why, the puzzle turns on that. Give Mr Garrett the paper out +of my desk.' + +It was a small slip, with nothing whatever on it but five numerals, not +divided or punctuated in any way: 11334. + +Mr Garrett pondered, but there was a light in his eye. Suddenly he 'made +a face', and then asked, 'Do you suppose that Mr Eldred can have any more +clue than you have to the title of the book?' + +'I have sometimes thought he must,' said Mrs Simpson, 'and in this way: +that my uncle must have made the will not very long before he died (that, +I think, he said himself), and got rid of the book immediately +afterwards. But all his books were very carefully catalogued: and John +has the catalogue: and John was most particular that no books whatever +should be sold out of the house. And I'm told that he is always +journeying about to booksellers and libraries; so I fancy that he must +have found out just which books are missing from my uncle's library of +those which are entered in the catalogue, and must be hunting for them.' + +'Just so, just so,' said Mr Garrett, and relapsed into thought. + + * * * * * + +No later than next day he received a letter which, as he told Mrs Simpson +with great regret, made it absolutely necessary for him to cut short his +stay at Burnstow. + +Sorry as he was to leave them (and they were at least as sorry to part +with him), he had begun to feel that a crisis, all-important to Mrs (and +shall we add, Miss?) Simpson, was very possibly supervening. + +In the train Garrett was uneasy and excited. He racked his brains to +think whether the press mark of the book which Mr Eldred had been +inquiring after was one in any way corresponding to the numbers on Mrs +Simpson's little bit of paper. But he found to his dismay that the shock +of the previous week had really so upset him that he could neither +remember any vestige of the title or nature of the book, or even of the +locality to which he had gone to seek it. And yet all other parts of +library topography and work were clear as ever in his mind. + +And another thing--he stamped with annoyance as he thought of it--he had +at first hesitated, and then had forgotten, to ask Mrs Simpson for the +name of the place where Eldred lived. That, however, he could write +about. + +At least he had his clue in the figures on the paper. If they referred to +a press mark in his library, they were only susceptible of a limited +number of interpretations. They might be divided into 1.13.34, 11.33.4, +or 11.3.34. He could try all these in the space of a few minutes, and if +any one were missing he had every means of tracing it. He got very +quickly to work, though a few minutes had to be spent in explaining his +early return to his landlady and his colleagues. 1.13.34. was in place +and contained no extraneous writing. As he drew near to Class 11 in the +same gallery, its association struck him like a chill. But he _must_ go +on. After a cursory glance at 11.33.4 (which first confronted him, and +was a perfectly new book) he ran his eye along the line of quartos which +fills 11.3. The gap he feared was there: 34 was out. A moment was spent +in making sure that it had not been misplaced, and then he was off to the +vestibule. + +'Has 11.3.34 gone out? Do you recollect noticing that number?' + +'Notice the number? What do you take me for, Mr Garrett? There, take and +look over the tickets for yourself, if you've got a free day before you.' + +'Well then, has a Mr Eldred called again?--the old gentleman who came the +day I was taken ill. Come! you'd remember him.' + +'What do you suppose? Of course I recollect of him: no, he haven't been +in again, not since you went off for your 'oliday. And yet I seem +to--there now. Roberts'll know. Roberts, do you recollect of the name of +Heldred?' + +'Not arf,' said Roberts. 'You mean the man that sent a bob over the price +for the parcel, and I wish they all did.' + +'Do you mean to say you've been sending books to Mr Eldred? Come, do +speak up! Have you?' + +'Well now, Mr Garrett, if a gentleman sends the ticket all wrote correct +and the secketry says this book may go and the box ready addressed sent +with the note, and a sum of money sufficient to deefray the railway +charges, what would be _your_ action in the matter, Mr Garrett, if I may +take the liberty to ask such a question? Would you or would you not have +taken the trouble to oblige, or would you have chucked the 'ole thing +under the counter and--' + +'You were perfectly right, of course, Hodgson--perfectly right: only, +would you kindly oblige me by showing me the ticket Mr Eldred sent, and +letting me know his address?' + +'To be sure, Mr Garrett; so long as I'm not 'ectored about and informed +that I don't know my duty, I'm willing to oblige in every way feasible to +my power. There is the ticket on the file. J. Eldred, 11.3.34. Title of +work: T-a-l-m--well, there, you can make what you like of it--not a +novel, I should 'azard the guess. And here is Mr Heldred's note applying +for the book in question, which I see he terms it a track.' + +'Thanks, thanks: but the address? There's none on the note.' + +'Ah, indeed; well, now ... stay now, Mr Garrett, I 'ave it. Why, that +note come inside of the parcel, which was directed very thoughtful to +save all trouble, ready to be sent back with the book inside; and if I +_have_ made any mistake in this 'ole transaction, it lays just in the one +point that I neglected to enter the address in my little book here what I +keep. Not but what I dare say there was good reasons for me not entering +of it: but there, I haven't the time, neither have you, I dare say, to go +into 'em just now. And--no, Mr Garrett, I do _not_ carry it in my 'ed, +else what would be the use of me keeping this little book here--just a +ordinary common notebook, you see, which I make a practice of entering +all such names and addresses in it as I see fit to do?' + +'Admirable arrangement, to be sure--but--all right, thank you. When did +the parcel go off?' + +'Half-past ten, this morning.' + +'Oh, good; and it's just one now.' + +Garrett went upstairs in deep thought. How was he to get the address? A +telegram to Mrs Simpson: he might miss a train by waiting for the answer. +Yes, there was one other way. She had said that Eldred lived on his +uncle's estate. If this were so, he might find that place entered in the +donation-book. That he could run through quickly, now that he knew the +title of the book. The register was soon before him, and, knowing that +the old man had died more than twenty years ago, he gave him a good +margin, and turned back to 1870. There was but one entry possible. 1875, +August 14th. _Talmud: Tractatus Middoth cum comm. R. Nachmanidae._ +Amstelod. 1707. Given by J. Rant, D.D., of Bretfield Manor. + +A gazetteer showed Bretfield to be three miles from a small station on +the main line. Now to ask the doorkeeper whether he recollected if the +name on the parcel had been anything like Bretfield. + +'No, nothing like. It was, now you mention it, Mr Garrett, either +Bredfield or Britfield, but nothing like that other name what you +coated.' + +So far well. Next, a time-table. A train could be got in twenty +minutes--taking two hours over the journey. The only chance, but one not +to be missed; and the train was taken. + +If he had been fidgety on the journey up, he was almost distracted on the +journey down. If he found Eldred, what could he say? That it had been +discovered that the book was a rarity and must be recalled? An obvious +untruth. Or that it was believed to contain important manuscript notes? +Eldred would of course show him the book, from which the leaf would +already have been removed. He might, perhaps, find traces of the +removal--a torn edge of a fly-leaf probably--and who could disprove, what +Eldred was certain to say, that he too had noticed and regretted the +mutilation? Altogether the chase seemed very hopeless. The one chance was +this. The book had left the library at 10.30: it might not have been put +into the first possible train, at 11.20. Granted that, then he might be +lucky enough to arrive simultaneously with it and patch up some story +which would induce Eldred to give it up. + +It was drawing towards evening when he got out upon the platform of his +station, and, like most country stations, this one seemed unnaturally +quiet. He waited about till the one or two passengers who got out with +him had drifted off, and then inquired of the station-master whether Mr +Eldred was in the neighbourhood. + +'Yes, and pretty near too, I believe. I fancy he means calling here for a +parcel he expects. Called for it once to-day already, didn't he, Bob?' +(to the porter). + +'Yes, sir, he did; and appeared to think it was all along of me that it +didn't come by the two o'clock. Anyhow, I've got it for him now,' and the +porter flourished a square parcel, which a glance assured Garrett +contained all that was of any importance to him at that particular +moment. + +'Bretfield, sir? Yes--three miles just about. Short cut across these +three fields brings it down by half a mile. There: there's Mr Eldred's +trap.' + +A dog-cart drove up with two men in it, of whom Garrett, gazing back as +he crossed the little station yard, easily recognized one. The fact that +Eldred was driving was slightly in his favour--for most likely he would +not open the parcel in the presence of his servant. On the other hand, he +would get home quickly, and unless Garrett were there within a very few +minutes of his arrival, all would be over. He must hurry; and that he +did. His short cut took him along one side of a triangle, while the cart +had two sides to traverse; and it was delayed a little at the station, so +that Garrett was in the third of the three fields when he heard the +wheels fairly near. He had made the best progress possible, but the pace +at which the cart was coming made him despair. At this rate it _must_ +reach home ten minutes before him, and ten minutes would more than +suffice for the fulfilment of Mr Eldred's project. + +It was just at this time that the luck fairly turned. The evening was +still, and sounds came clearly. Seldom has any sound given greater relief +than that which he now heard: that of the cart pulling up. A few words +were exchanged, and it drove on. Garrett, halting in the utmost anxiety, +was able to see as it drove past the stile (near which he now stood) that +it contained only the servant and not Eldred; further, he made out that +Eldred was following on foot. From behind the tall hedge by the stile +leading into the road he watched the thin wiry figure pass quickly by +with the parcel beneath its arm, and feeling in its pockets. Just as he +passed the stile something fell out of a pocket upon the grass, but with +so little sound that Eldred was not conscious of it. In a moment more it +was safe for Garrett to cross the stile into the road and pick up--a box +of matches. Eldred went on, and, as he went, his arms made hasty +movements, difficult to interpret in the shadow of the trees that +overhung the road. But, as Garrett followed cautiously, he found at +various points the key to them--a piece of string, and then the wrapper +of the parcel--meant to be thrown over the hedge, but sticking in it. + +Now Eldred was walking slower, and it could just be made out that he had +opened the book and was turning over the leaves. He stopped, evidently +troubled by the failing light. Garrett slipped into a gate-opening, but +still watched. Eldred, hastily looking around, sat down on a felled +tree-trunk by the roadside and held the open book up close to his eyes. +Suddenly he laid it, still open, on his knee, and felt in all his +pockets: clearly in vain, and clearly to his annoyance. 'You would be +glad of your matches now,' thought Garrett. Then he took hold of a leaf, +and was carefully tearing it out, when two things happened. First, +something black seemed to drop upon the white leaf and run down it, and +then as Eldred started and was turning to look behind him, a little dark +form appeared to rise out of the shadow behind the tree-trunk and from it +two arms enclosing a mass of blackness came before Eldred's face and +covered his head and neck. His legs and arms were wildly flourished, but +no sound came. Then, there was no more movement. Eldred was alone. He had +fallen back into the grass behind the tree-trunk. The book was cast into +the roadway. Garrett, his anger and suspicion gone for the moment at the +sight of this horrid struggle, rushed up with loud cries of 'Help!' and +so too, to his enormous relief, did a labourer who had just emerged from +a field opposite. Together they bent over and supported Eldred, but to no +purpose. The conclusion that he was dead was inevitable. 'Poor +gentleman!' said Garrett to the labourer, when they had laid him down, +'what happened to him, do you think?' 'I wasn't two hundred yards away,' +said the man, 'when I see Squire Eldred setting reading in his book, and +to my thinking he was took with one of these fits--face seemed to go all +over black.' 'Just so,' said Garrett. 'You didn't see anyone near him? It +couldn't have been an assault?' 'Not possible--no one couldn't have got +away without you or me seeing them.' 'So I thought. Well, we must get +some help, and the doctor and the policeman; and perhaps I had better +give them this book.' + +It was obviously a case for an inquest, and obvious also that Garrett +must stay at Bretfield and give his evidence. The medical inspection +showed that, though some black dust was found on the face and in the +mouth of the deceased, the cause of death was a shock to a weak heart, +and not asphyxiation. The fateful book was produced, a respectable quarto +printed wholly in Hebrew, and not of an aspect likely to excite even the +most sensitive. + +'You say, Mr Garrett, that the deceased gentleman appeared at the moment +before his attack to be tearing a leaf out of this book?' + +'Yes; I think one of the fly-leaves.' + +'There is here a fly-leaf partially torn through. It has Hebrew writing +on it. Will you kindly inspect it?' + +'There are three names in English, sir, also, and a date. But I am sorry +to say I cannot read Hebrew writing.' + +'Thank you. The names have the appearance of being signatures. They are +John Rant, Walter Gibson, and James Frost, and the date is 20 July, 1875. +Does anyone here know any of these names?' + +The Rector, who was present, volunteered a statement that the uncle of +the deceased, from whom he inherited, had been named Rant. + +The book being handed to him, he shook a puzzled head. 'This is not like +any Hebrew I ever learnt.' + +'You are sure that it is Hebrew?' + +'What? Yes--I suppose.... No--my dear sir, you are perfectly right--that +is, your suggestion is exactly to the point. Of course--it is not Hebrew +at all. It is English, and it is a will.' + +It did not take many minutes to show that here was indeed a will of Dr +John Rant, bequeathing the whole of the property lately held by John +Eldred to Mrs Mary Simpson. Clearly the discovery of such a document +would amply justify Mr Eldred's agitation. As to the partial tearing of +the leaf, the coroner pointed out that no useful purpose could be +attained by speculations whose correctness it would never be possible to +establish. + + * * * * * + +The Tractate Middoth was naturally taken in charge by the coroner for +further investigation, and Mr Garrett explained privately to him the +history of it, and the position of events so far as he knew or guessed +them. + +He returned to his work next day, and on his walk to the station passed +the scene of Mr Eldred's catastrophe. He could hardly leave it without +another look, though the recollection of what he had seen there made him +shiver, even on that bright morning. He walked round, with some +misgivings, behind the felled tree. Something dark that still lay there +made him start back for a moment: but it hardly stirred. Looking closer, +he saw that it was a thick black mass of cobwebs; and, as he stirred it +gingerly with his stick, several large spiders ran out of it into the +grass. + + * * * * * + +There is no great difficulty in imagining the steps by which William +Garrett, from being an assistant in a great library, attained to his +present position of prospective owner of Bretfield Manor, now in the +occupation of his mother-in-law, Mrs Mary Simpson. + + + + +CASTING THE RUNES + +_April 15th, 190-_ + +Dear Sir, + +I am requested by the Council of the ---- Association to return to you +the draft of a paper on _The Truth of Alchemy_, which you have been good +enough to offer to read at our forthcoming meeting, and to inform you +that the Council do not see their way to including it in the programme. + +I am, + +Yours faithfully, + +--- _Secretary._ + + * * * * * + +_April 18th_ + +Dear Sir, + +I am sorry to say that my engagements do not permit of my affording you +an interview on the subject of your proposed paper. Nor do our laws allow +of your discussing the matter with a Committee of our Council, as you +suggest. Please allow me to assure you that the fullest consideration was +given to the draft which you submitted, and that it was not declined +without having been referred to the judgement of a most competent +authority. No personal question (it can hardly be necessary for me to +add) can have had the slightest influence on the decision of the Council. + +Believe me (_ut supra_). + + * * * * * + +_April 20th_ + +The Secretary of the ---- Association begs respectfully to inform Mr +Karswell that it is impossible for him to communicate the name of any +person or persons to whom the draft of Mr Karswell's paper may have been +submitted; and further desires to intimate that he cannot undertake to +reply to any further letters on this subject. + + * * * * * + +'And who _is_ Mr Karswell?' inquired the Secretary's wife. She had called +at his office, and (perhaps unwarrantably) had picked up the last of +these three letters, which the typist had just brought in. + +'Why, my dear, just at present Mr Karswell is a very angry man. But I +don't know much about him otherwise, except that he is a person of +wealth, his address is Lufford Abbey, Warwickshire, and he's an +alchemist, apparently, and wants to tell us all about it; and that's +about all--except that I don't want to meet him for the next week or two. +Now, if you're ready to leave this place, I am.' + +'What have you been doing to make him angry?' asked Mrs Secretary. + +'The usual thing, my dear, the usual thing: he sent in a draft of a paper +he wanted to read at the next meeting, and we referred it to Edward +Dunning--almost the only man in England who knows about these things--and +he said it was perfectly hopeless, so we declined it. So Karswell has +been pelting me with letters ever since. The last thing he wanted was the +name of the man we referred his nonsense to; you saw my answer to that. +But don't you say anything about it, for goodness' sake.' + +'I should think not, indeed. Did I ever do such a thing? I do hope, +though, he won't get to know that it was poor Mr Dunning.' + +'Poor Mr Dunning? I don't know why you call him that; he's a very happy +man, is Dunning. Lots of hobbies and a comfortable home, and all his time +to himself.' + +'I only meant I should be sorry for him if this man got hold of his name, +and came and bothered him.' + +'Oh, ah! yes. I dare say he would be poor Mr Dunning then.' + +The Secretary and his wife were lunching out, and the friends to whose +house they were bound were Warwickshire people. So Mrs Secretary had +already settled it in her own mind that she would question them +judiciously about Mr Karswell. But she was saved the trouble of leading +up to the subject, for the hostess said to the host, before many minutes +had passed, 'I saw the Abbot of Lufford this morning.' The host whistled. +'_Did_ you? What in the world brings him up to town?' 'Goodness knows; he +was coming out of the British Museum gate as I drove past.' It was not +unnatural that Mrs Secretary should inquire whether this was a real Abbot +who was being spoken of. 'Oh no, my dear: only a neighbour of ours in the +country who bought Lufford Abbey a few years ago. His real name is +Karswell.' 'Is he a friend of yours?' asked Mr Secretary, with a private +wink to his wife. The question let loose a torrent of declamation. There +was really nothing to be said for Mr Karswell. Nobody knew what he did +with himself: his servants were a horrible set of people; he had invented +a new religion for himself, and practised no one could tell what +appalling rites; he was very easily offended, and never forgave anybody; +he had a dreadful face (so the lady insisted, her husband somewhat +demurring); he never did a kind action, and whatever influence he did +exert was mischievous. 'Do the poor man justice, dear,' the husband +interrupted. 'You forget the treat he gave the school children.' 'Forget +it, indeed! But I'm glad you mentioned it, because it gives an idea of +the man. Now, Florence, listen to this. The first winter he was at +Lufford this delightful neighbour of ours wrote to the clergyman of his +parish (he's not ours, but we know him very well) and offered to show the +school children some magic-lantern slides. He said he had some new kinds, +which he thought would interest them. Well, the clergyman was rather +surprised, because Mr Karswell had shown himself inclined to be +unpleasant to the children--complaining of their trespassing, or +something of the sort; but of course he accepted, and the evening was +fixed, and our friend went himself to see that everything went right. He +said he never had been so thankful for anything as that his own children +were all prevented from being there: they were at a children's party at +our house, as a matter of fact. Because this Mr Karswell had evidently +set out with the intention of frightening these poor village children out +of their wits, and I do believe, if he had been allowed to go on, he +would actually have done so. He began with some comparatively mild +things. Red Riding Hood was one, and even then, Mr Farrer said, the wolf +was so dreadful that several of the smaller children had to be taken out: +and he said Mr Karswell began the story by producing a noise like a wolf +howling in the distance, which was the most gruesome thing he had ever +heard. All the slides he showed, Mr Farrer said, were most clever; they +were absolutely realistic, and where he had got them or how he worked +them he could not imagine. Well, the show went on, and the stories kept +on becoming a little more terrifying each time, and the children were +mesmerized into complete silence. At last he produced a series which +represented a little boy passing through his own park--Lufford, I +mean--in the evening. Every child in the room could recognize the place +from the pictures. And this poor boy was followed, and at last pursued +and overtaken, and either torn in pieces or somehow made away with, by a +horrible hopping creature in white, which you saw first dodging about +among the trees, and gradually it appeared more and more plainly. Mr +Farrer said it gave him one of the worst nightmares he ever remembered, +and what it must have meant to the children doesn't bear thinking of. Of +course this was too much, and he spoke very sharply indeed to Mr +Karswell, and said it couldn't go on. All _he_ said was: "Oh, you think +it's time to bring our little show to an end and send them home to their +beds? _Very_ well!" And then, if you please, he switched on another +slide, which showed a great mass of snakes, centipedes, and disgusting +creatures with wings, and somehow or other he made it seem as if they +were climbing out of the picture and getting in amongst the audience; and +this was accompanied by a sort of dry rustling noise which sent the +children nearly mad, and of course they stampeded. A good many of them +were rather hurt in getting out of the room, and I don't suppose one of +them closed an eye that night. There was the most dreadful trouble in the +village afterwards. Of course the mothers threw a good part of the blame +on poor Mr Farrer, and, if they could have got past the gates, I believe +the fathers would have broken every window in the Abbey. Well, now, +that's Mr Karswell: that's the Abbot of Lufford, my dear, and you can +imagine how we covet _his_ society.' + +'Yes, I think he has all the possibilities of a distinguished criminal, +has Karswell,' said the host. 'I should be sorry for anyone who got into +his bad books.' + +'Is he the man, or am I mixing him up with someone else?' asked the +Secretary (who for some minutes had been wearing the frown of the man who +is trying to recollect something). 'Is he the man who brought out a +_History of Witchcraft_ some time back--ten years or more?' + +'That's the man; do you remember the reviews of it?' + +'Certainly I do; and what's equally to the point, I knew the author of +the most incisive of the lot. So did you: you must remember John +Harrington; he was at John's in our time.' + +'Oh, very well indeed, though I don't think I saw or heard anything of +him between the time I went down and the day I read the account of the +inquest on him.' + +'Inquest?' said one of the ladies. 'What has happened to him?' + +'Why, what happened was that he fell out of a tree and broke his neck. +But the puzzle was, what could have induced him to get up there. It was a +mysterious business, I must say. Here was this man--not an athletic +fellow, was he? and with no eccentric twist about him that was ever +noticed--walking home along a country road late in the evening--no tramps +about--well known and liked in the place--and he suddenly begins to run +like mad, loses his hat and stick, and finally shins up a tree--quite a +difficult tree--growing in the hedgerow: a dead branch gives way, and he +comes down with it and breaks his neck, and there he's found next morning +with the most dreadful face of fear on him that could be imagined. It was +pretty evident, of course, that he had been chased by something, and +people talked of savage dogs, and beasts escaped out of menageries; but +there was nothing to be made of that. That was in '89, and I believe his +brother Henry (whom I remember as well at Cambridge, but _you_ probably +don't) has been trying to get on the track of an explanation ever since. +He, of course, insists there was malice in it, but I don't know. It's +difficult to see how it could have come in.' + +After a time the talk reverted to the _History of Witchcraft_. 'Did you +ever look into it?' asked the host. + +'Yes, I did,' said the Secretary. 'I went so far as to read it.' + +'Was it as bad as it was made out to be?' + +'Oh, in point of style and form, quite hopeless. It deserved all the +pulverizing it got. But, besides that, it was an evil book. The man +believed every word of what he was saying, and I'm very much mistaken if +he hadn't tried the greater part of his receipts.' + +'Well, I only remember Harrington's review of it, and I must say if I'd +been the author it would have quenched my literary ambition for good. I +should never have held up my head again.' + +'It hasn't had that effect in the present case. But come, it's half-past +three; I must be off.' + +On the way home the Secretary's wife said, 'I do hope that horrible man +won't find out that Mr Dunning had anything to do with the rejection of +his paper.' 'I don't think there's much chance of that,' said the +Secretary. 'Dunning won't mention it himself, for these matters are +confidential, and none of us will for the same reason. Karswell won't +know his name, for Dunning hasn't published anything on the same subject +yet. The only danger is that Karswell might find out, if he was to ask +the British Museum people who was in the habit of consulting alchemical +manuscripts: I can't very well tell them not to mention Dunning, can I? +It would set them talking at once. Let's hope it won't occur to him.' + +However, Mr Karswell was an astute man. + + * * * * * + +This much is in the way of prologue. On an evening rather later in the +same week, Mr Edward Dunning was returning from the British Museum, where +he had been engaged in Research, to the comfortable house in a suburb +where he lived alone, tended by two excellent women who had been long +with him. There is nothing to be added by way of description of him to +what we have heard already. Let us follow him as he takes his sober +course homewards. + + * * * * * + +A train took him to within a mile or two of his house, and an electric +tram a stage farther. The line ended at a point some three hundred yards +from his front door. He had had enough of reading when he got into the +car, and indeed the light was not such as to allow him to do more than +study the advertisements on the panes of glass that faced him as he sat. +As was not unnatural, the advertisements in this particular line of cars +were objects of his frequent contemplation, and, with the possible +exception of the brilliant and convincing dialogue between Mr Lamplough +and an eminent K.C. on the subject of Pyretic Saline, none of them +afforded much scope to his imagination. I am wrong: there was one at the +corner of the car farthest from him which did not seem familiar. It was +in blue letters on a yellow ground, and all that he could read of it was +a name--John Harrington--and something like a date. It could be of no +interest to him to know more; but for all that, as the car emptied, he +was just curious enough to move along the seat until he could read it +well. He felt to a slight extent repaid for his trouble; the +advertisement was _not_ of the usual type. It ran thus: 'In memory of +John Harrington, F.S.A., of The Laurels, Ashbrooke. Died Sept. 18th, +1889. Three months were allowed.' + +The car stopped. Mr Dunning, still contemplating the blue letters on the +yellow ground, had to be stimulated to rise by a word from the conductor. +'I beg your pardon,' he said, 'I was looking at that advertisement; it's +a very odd one, isn't it?' The conductor read it slowly. 'Well, my word,' +he said, 'I never see that one before. Well, that is a cure, ain't it? +Someone bin up to their jokes 'ere, I should think.' He got out a duster +and applied it, not without saliva, to the pane and then to the outside. +'No,' he said, returning, 'that ain't no transfer; seems to me as if it +was reg'lar _in_ the glass, what I mean in the substance, as you may say. +Don't you think so, sir?' Mr Dunning examined it and rubbed it with his +glove, and agreed. 'Who looks after these advertisements, and gives leave +for them to be put up? I wish you would inquire. I will just take a note +of the words.' At this moment there came a call from the driver: 'Look +alive, George, time's up.' 'All right, all right; there's somethink else +what's up at this end. You come and look at this 'ere glass.' 'What's +gorn with the glass?' said the driver, approaching. 'Well, and oo's +'Arrington? What's it all about?' 'I was just asking who was responsible +for putting the advertisements up in your cars, and saying it would be as +well to make some inquiry about this one.' 'Well, sir, that's all done at +the Company's orfice, that work is: it's our Mr Timms, I believe, looks +into that. When we put up tonight I'll leave word, and per'aps I'll be +able to tell you tomorrer if you 'appen to be coming this way.' + +This was all that passed that evening. Mr Dunning did just go to the +trouble of looking up Ashbrooke, and found that it was in Warwickshire. + +Next day he went to town again. The car (it was the same car) was too +full in the morning to allow of his getting a word with the conductor: he +could only be sure that the curious advertisement had been made away +with. The close of the day brought a further element of mystery into the +transaction. He had missed the tram, or else preferred walking home, but +at a rather late hour, while he was at work in his study, one of the +maids came to say that two men from the tramways was very anxious to +speak to him. This was a reminder of the advertisement, which he had, he +says, nearly forgotten. He had the men in--they were the conductor and +driver of the car--and when the matter of refreshment had been attended +to, asked what Mr Timms had had to say about the advertisement. 'Well, +sir, that's what we took the liberty to step round about,' said the +conductor. 'Mr Timms 'e give William 'ere the rough side of his tongue +about that: 'cordin' to 'im there warn't no advertisement of that +description sent in, nor ordered, nor paid for, nor put up, nor nothink, +let alone not bein' there, and we was playing the fool takin' up his +time. "Well," I says, "if that's the case, all I ask of you, Mr Timms," I +says, "is to take and look at it for yourself," I says. "Of course if it +ain't there," I says, "you may take and call me what you like." "Right," +he says, "I will": and we went straight off. Now, I leave it to you, sir, +if that ad., as we term 'em, with 'Arrington on it warn't as plain as +ever you see anythink--blue letters on yeller glass, and as I says at the +time, and you borne me out, reg'lar _in_ the glass, because, if you +remember, you recollect of me swabbing it with my duster.' 'To be sure I +do, quite clearly--well?' 'You may say well, I don't think. Mr Timms he +gets in that car with a light--no, he telled William to 'old the light +outside. "Now," he says, "where's your precious ad. what we've 'eard so +much about?" "'Ere it is," I says, "Mr Timms," and I laid my 'and on it.' +The conductor paused. + +'Well,' said Mr Dunning, 'it was gone, I suppose. Broken?' + +'Broke!--not it. There warn't, if you'll believe me, no more trace of +them letters--blue letters they was--on that piece o' glass, than--well, +it's no good _me_ talkin'. _I_ never see such a thing. I leave it to +William here if--but there, as I says, where's the benefit in me going on +about it?' + +'And what did Mr Timms say?' + +'Why 'e did what I give 'im leave to--called us pretty much anythink he +liked, and I don't know as I blame him so much neither. But what we +thought, William and me did, was as we seen you take down a bit of a note +about that--well, that letterin'--' + +'I certainly did that, and I have it now. Did you wish me to speak to Mr +Timms myself, and show it to him? Was that what you came in about?' + +'There, didn't I say as much?' said William. 'Deal with a gent if you can +get on the track of one, that's my word. Now perhaps, George, you'll +allow as I ain't took you very far wrong tonight.' + +'Very well, William, very well; no need for you to go on as if you'd 'ad +to frog's-march me 'ere. I come quiet, didn't I? All the same for that, +we 'adn't ought to take up your time this way, sir; but if it so 'appened +you could find time to step round to the Company's orfice in the morning +and tell Mr Timms what you seen for yourself, we should lay under a very +'igh obligation to you for the trouble. You see it ain't bein' +called--well, one thing and another, as we mind, but if they got it into +their 'ead at the orfice as we seen things as warn't there, why, one +thing leads to another, and where we should be a twelvemunce 'ence--well, +you can understand what I mean.' + +Amid further elucidations of the proposition, George, conducted by +William, left the room. + +The incredulity of Mr Timms (who had a nodding acquaintance with Mr +Dunning) was greatly modified on the following day by what the latter +could tell and show him; and any bad mark that might have been attached +to the names of William and George was not suffered to remain on the +Company's books; but explanation there was none. + +Mr Dunning's interest in the matter was kept alive by an incident of the +following afternoon. He was walking from his club to the train, and he +noticed some way ahead a man with a handful of leaflets such as are +distributed to passers-by by agents of enterprising firms. This agent had +not chosen a very crowded street for his operations: in fact, Mr Dunning +did not see him get rid of a single leaflet before he himself reached the +spot. One was thrust into his hand as he passed: the hand that gave it +touched his, and he experienced a sort of little shock as it did so. It +seemed unnaturally rough and hot. He looked in passing at the giver, but +the impression he got was so unclear that, however much he tried to +reckon it up subsequently, nothing would come. He was walking quickly, +and as he went on glanced at the paper. It was a blue one. The name of +Harrington in large capitals caught his eye. He stopped, startled, and +felt for his glasses. The next instant the leaflet was twitched out of +his hand by a man who hurried past, and was irrecoverably gone. He ran +back a few paces, but where was the passer-by? and where the distributor? + +It was in a somewhat pensive frame of mind that Mr Dunning passed on the +following day into the Select Manuscript Room of the British Museum, and +filled up tickets for Harley 3586, and some other volumes. After a few +minutes they were brought to him, and he was settling the one he wanted +first upon the desk, when he thought he heard his own name whispered +behind him. He turned round hastily, and in doing so, brushed his little +portfolio of loose papers on to the floor. He saw no one he recognized +except one of the staff in charge of the room, who nodded to him, and he +proceeded to pick up his papers. He thought he had them all, and was +turning to begin work, when a stout gentleman at the table behind him, +who was just rising to leave, and had collected his own belongings, +touched him on the shoulder, saying, 'May I give you this? I think it +should be yours,' and handed him a missing quire. 'It is mine, thank +you,' said Mr Dunning. In another moment the man had left the room. Upon +finishing his work for the afternoon, Mr Dunning had some conversation +with the assistant in charge, and took occasion to ask who the stout +gentleman was. 'Oh, he's a man named Karswell,' said the assistant; 'he +was asking me a week ago who were the great authorities on alchemy, and +of course I told him you were the only one in the country. I'll see if I +can't catch him: he'd like to meet you, I'm sure.' + +'For heaven's sake don't dream of it!' said Mr Dunning, 'I'm particularly +anxious to avoid him.' + +'Oh! very well,' said the assistant, 'he doesn't come here often: I dare +say you won't meet him.' + +More than once on the way home that day Mr Dunning confessed to himself +that he did not look forward with his usual cheerfulness to a solitary +evening. It seemed to him that something ill-defined and impalpable had +stepped in between him and his fellow-men--had taken him in charge, as it +were. He wanted to sit close up to his neighbours in the train and in the +tram, but as luck would have it both train and car were markedly empty. +The conductor George was thoughtful, and appeared to be absorbed in +calculations as to the number of passengers. On arriving at his house he +found Dr Watson, his medical man, on his doorstep. 'I've had to upset +your household arrangements, I'm sorry to say, Dunning. Both your +servants _hors de combat_. In fact, I've had to send them to the Nursing +Home.' + +'Good heavens! what's the matter?' + +'It's something like ptomaine poisoning, I should think: you've not +suffered yourself, I can see, or you wouldn't be walking about. I think +they'll pull through all right.' + +'Dear, dear! Have you any idea what brought it on?' + +'Well, they tell me they bought some shell-fish from +a hawker at their dinner-time. It's odd. I've made +inquiries, but I can't find that any hawker has been to other +houses in the street. I couldn't send word to you; they won't be back for +a bit yet. You come and dine with me tonight, anyhow, and we can make +arrangements for going on. Eight o'clock. Don't be too anxious.' + +The solitary evening was thus obviated; at the expense of some distress and +inconvenience, it is true. Mr Dunning spent the time pleasantly enough +with the doctor (a rather recent settler), and returned to his lonely +home at about 11.30. The night he passed is not one on which he looks +back with any satisfaction. He was in bed and the light was out. He was +wondering if the charwoman would come early enough to get him hot water +next morning, when he heard the unmistakable sound of his study door +opening. No step followed it on the passage floor, but the sound must +mean mischief, for he knew that he had shut the door that evening after +putting his papers away in his desk. It was rather shame than courage +that induced him to slip out into the passage and lean over the banister +in his nightgown, listening. No light was visible; no further sound came: +only a gust of warm, or even hot air played for an instant round his +shins. He went back and decided to lock himself into his room. There was +more unpleasantness, however. Either an economical suburban company had +decided that their light would not be required in the small hours, and +had stopped working, or else something was wrong with the meter; the +effect was in any case that the electric light was off. The obvious +course was to find a match, and also to consult his watch: he might as +well know how many hours of discomfort awaited him. So he put his hand +into the well-known nook under the pillow: only, it did not get so far. +What he touched was, according to his account, a mouth, with teeth, and +with hair about it, and, he declares, not the mouth of a human being. I +do not think it is any use to guess what he said or did; but he was in a +spare room with the door locked and his ear to it before he was clearly +conscious again. And there he spent the rest of a most miserable night, +looking every moment for some fumbling at the door: but nothing came. + +The venturing back to his own room in the morning was attended with many +listenings and quiverings. The door stood open, fortunately, and the +blinds were up (the servants had been out of the house before the hour of +drawing them down); there was, to be short, no trace of an inhabitant. +The watch, too, was in its usual place; nothing was disturbed, only the +wardrobe door had swung open, in accordance with its confirmed habit. A +ring at the back door now announced the charwoman, who had been ordered +the night before, and nerved Mr Dunning, after letting her in, to +continue his search in other parts of the house. It was equally +fruitless. + +The day thus begun went on dismally enough. He dared not go to the +Museum: in spite of what the assistant had said, Karswell might turn up +there, and Dunning felt he could not cope with a probably hostile +stranger. His own house was odious; he hated sponging on the doctor. He +spent some little time in a call at the Nursing Home, where he was +slightly cheered by a good report of his housekeeper and maid. Towards +lunch-time he betook himself to his club, again experiencing a gleam of +satisfaction at seeing the Secretary of the Association. At luncheon +Dunning told his friend the more material of his woes, but could not +bring himself to speak of those that weighed most heavily on his spirits. +'My poor dear man,' said the Secretary, 'what an upset! Look here: we're +alone at home, absolutely. You must put up with us. Yes! no excuse: send +your things in this afternoon.' Dunning was unable to stand out: he was, +in truth, becoming acutely anxious, as the hours went on, as to what that +night might have waiting for him. He was almost happy as he hurried home +to pack up. + +His friends, when they had time to take stock of him, were rather shocked +at his lorn appearance, and did their best to keep him up to the mark. +Not altogether without success: but, when the two men were smoking alone +later, Dunning became dull again. Suddenly he said, 'Gayton, I believe +that alchemist man knows it was I who got his paper rejected.' Gayton +whistled. 'What makes you think that?' he said. Dunning told of his +conversation with the Museum assistant, and Gayton could only agree that +the guess seemed likely to be correct. 'Not that I care much,' Dunning +went on, 'only it might be a nuisance if we were to meet. He's a +bad-tempered party, I imagine.' Conversation dropped again; Gayton became +more and more strongly impressed with the desolateness that came over +Dunning's face and bearing, and finally--though with a considerable +effort--he asked him point-blank whether something serious was not +bothering him. Dunning gave an exclamation of relief. 'I was perishing to +get it off my mind,' he said. 'Do you know anything about a man named +John Harrington?' Gayton was thoroughly startled, and at the moment could +only ask why. Then the complete story of Dunning's experiences came +out--what had happened in the tramcar, in his own house, and in the +street, the troubling of spirit that had crept over him, and still held +him; and he ended with the question he had begun with. Gayton was at a +loss how to answer him. To tell the story of Harrington's end would +perhaps be right; only, Dunning was in a nervous state, the story was a +grim one, and he could not help asking himself whether there were not a +connecting link between these two cases, in the person of Karswell. It +was a difficult concession for a scientific man, but it could be eased by +the phrase 'hypnotic suggestion'. In the end he decided that his answer +tonight should be guarded; he would talk the situation over with his +wife. So he said that he had known Harrington at Cambridge, and believed +he had died suddenly in 1889, adding a few details about the man and his +published work. He did talk over the matter with Mrs Gayton, and, as he +had anticipated, she leapt at once to the conclusion which had been +hovering before him. It was she who reminded him of the surviving +brother, Henry Harrington, and she also who suggested that he might be +got hold of by means of their hosts of the day before. 'He might be a +hopeless crank,' objected Gayton. 'That could be ascertained from the +Bennetts, who knew him,' Mrs Gayton retorted; and she undertook to see +the Bennetts the very next day. + + * * * * * + +It is not necessary to tell in further detail the steps by which Henry +Harrington and Dunning were brought together. + + * * * * * + +The next scene that does require to be narrated is a conversation that +took place between the two. Dunning had told Harrington of the strange +ways in which the dead man's name had been brought before him, and had +said something, besides, of his own subsequent experiences. Then he had +asked if Harrington was disposed, in return, to recall any of the +circumstances connected with his brother's death. Harrington's surprise +at what he heard can be imagined: but his reply was readily given. + +'John,' he said, 'was in a very odd state, undeniably, from time to time, +during some weeks before, though not immediately before, the catastrophe. +There were several things; the principal notion he had was that he +thought he was being followed. No doubt he was an impressionable man, but +he never had had such fancies as this before. I cannot get it out of my +mind that there was ill-will at work, and what you tell me about yourself +reminds me very much of my brother. Can you think of any possible +connecting link?' + +'There is just one that has been taking shape vaguely in my mind. I've +been told that your brother reviewed a book very severely not long before +he died, and just lately I have happened to cross the path of the man who +wrote that book in a way he would resent.' + +'Don't tell me the man was called Karswell.' + +'Why not? that is exactly his name.' + +Henry Harrington leant back. 'That is final to my mind. Now I must +explain further. From something he said, I feel sure that my brother John +was beginning to believe--very much against his will--that Karswell was +at the bottom of his trouble. I want to tell you what seems to me to have +a bearing on the situation. My brother was a great musician, and used to +run up to concerts in town. He came back, three months before he died, +from one of these, and gave me his programme to look at--an analytical +programme: he always kept them. "I nearly missed this one," he said. "I +suppose I must have dropped it: anyhow, I was looking for it under my +seat and in my pockets and so on, and my neighbour offered me his; said +'might he give it me, he had no further use for it,' and he went away +just afterwards. I don't know who he was--a stout, clean-shaven man. I +should have been sorry to miss it; of course I could have bought another, +but this cost me nothing." At another time he told me that he had been +very uncomfortable both on the way to his hotel and during the night. I +piece things together now in thinking it over. Then, not very long after, +he was going over these programmes, putting them in order to have them +bound up, and in this particular one (which by the way I had hardly +glanced at), he found quite near the beginning a strip of paper with some +very odd writing on it in red and black--most carefully done--it looked +to me more like Runic letters than anything else. "Why," he said, "this +must belong to my fat neighbour. It looks as if it might be worth +returning to him; it may be a copy of something; evidently someone has +taken trouble over it. How can I find his address?" We talked it over for +a little and agreed that it wasn't worth advertising about, and that my +brother had better look out for the man at the next concert, to which he +was going very soon. The paper was lying on the book and we were both by +the fire; it was a cold, windy summer evening. I suppose the door blew +open, though I didn't notice it: at any rate a gust--a warm gust it +was--came quite suddenly between us, took the paper and blew it straight +into the fire: it was light, thin paper, and flared and went up the +chimney in a single ash. "Well," I said, "you can't give it back now." He +said nothing for a minute: then rather crossly, "No, I can't; but why you +should keep on saying so I don't know." I remarked that I didn't say it +more than once. "Not more than four times, you mean," was all he said. I +remember all that very clearly, without any good reason; and now to come +to the point. I don't know if you looked at that book of Karswell's which +my unfortunate brother reviewed. It's not likely that you should: but I +did, both before his death and after it. The first time we made game of +it together. It was written in no style at all--split infinitives, and +every sort of thing that makes an Oxford gorge rise. Then there was +nothing that the man didn't swallow: mixing up classical myths, and +stories out of the _Golden Legend_ with reports of savage customs of +today--all very proper, no doubt, if you know how to use them, but he +didn't: he seemed to put the _Golden Legend_ and the _Golden Bough_ +exactly on a par, and to believe both: a pitiable exhibition, in short. +Well, after the misfortune, I looked over the book again. It was no +better than before, but the impression which it left this time on my mind +was different. I suspected--as I told you--that Karswell had borne +ill-will to my brother, even that he was in some way responsible for what +had happened; and now his book seemed to me to be a very sinister +performance indeed. One chapter in particular struck me, in which he +spoke of "casting the Runes" on people, either for the purpose of gaining +their affection or of getting them out of the way--perhaps more +especially the latter: he spoke of all this in a way that really seemed +to me to imply actual knowledge. I've not time to go into details, but +the upshot is that I am pretty sure from information received that the +civil man at the concert was Karswell: I suspect--I more than +suspect--that the paper was of importance: and I do believe that if my +brother had been able to give it back, he might have been alive now. +Therefore, it occurs to me to ask you whether you have anything to put +beside what I have told you.' + +By way of answer, Dunning had the episode in the Manuscript Room at the +British Museum to relate. 'Then he did actually hand you some papers; +have you examined them? No? because we must, if you'll allow it, look at +them at once, and very carefully.' + +They went to the still empty house--empty, for the two servants were not +yet able to return to work. Dunning's portfolio of papers was gathering +dust on the writing-table. In it were the quires of small-sized +scribbling paper which he used for his transcripts: and from one of +these, as he took it up, there slipped and fluttered out into the room +with uncanny quickness, a strip of thin light paper. The window was open, +but Harrington slammed it to, just in time to intercept the paper, which +he caught. 'I thought so,' he said; 'it might be the identical thing that +was given to my brother. You'll have to look out, Dunning; this may mean +something quite serious for you.' + +A long consultation took place. The paper was narrowly examined. As +Harrington had said, the characters on it were more like Runes than +anything else, but not decipherable by either man, and both hesitated to +copy them, for fear, as they confessed, of perpetuating whatever evil +purpose they might conceal. So it has remained impossible (if I may +anticipate a little) to ascertain what was conveyed in this curious +message or commission. Both Dunning and Harrington are firmly convinced +that it had the effect of bringing its possessors into very undesirable +company. That it must be returned to the source whence it came they were +agreed, and further, that the only safe and certain way was that of +personal service; and here contrivance would be necessary, for Dunning +was known by sight to Karswell. He must, for one thing, alter his +appearance by shaving his beard. But then might not the blow fall first? +Harrington thought they could time it. He knew the date of the concert at +which the 'black spot' had been put on his brother: it was June 18th. The +death had followed on Sept. 18th. Dunning reminded him that three months +had been mentioned on the inscription on the car-window. 'Perhaps,' he +added, with a cheerless laugh, 'mine may be a bill at three months too. I +believe I can fix it by my diary. Yes, April 23rd was the day at the +Museum; that brings us to July 23rd. Now, you know, it becomes extremely +important to me to know anything you will tell me about the progress of +your brother's trouble, if it is possible for you to speak of it.' 'Of +course. Well, the sense of being watched whenever he was alone was the +most distressing thing to him. After a time I took to sleeping in his +room, and he was the better for that: still, he talked a great deal in +his sleep. What about? Is it wise to dwell on that, at least before +things are straightened out? I think not, but I can tell you this: two +things came for him by post during those weeks, both with a London +postmark, and addressed in a commercial hand. One was a woodcut of +Bewick's, roughly torn out of the page: one which shows a moonlit road +and a man walking along it, followed by an awful demon creature. Under it +were written the lines out of the "Ancient Mariner" (which I suppose the +cut illustrates) about one who, having once looked round-- + + walks on, + And turns no more his head, + Because he knows a frightful fiend + Doth close behind him tread. + +The other was a calendar, such as tradesmen often send. My brother paid +no attention to this, but I looked at it after his death, and found that +everything after Sept. 18 had been torn out. You may be surprised at his +having gone out alone the evening he was killed, but the fact is that +during the last ten days or so of his life he had been quite free from +the sense of being followed or watched.' + +The end of the consultation was this. Harrington, who knew a neighbour of +Karswell's, thought he saw a way of keeping a watch on his movements. It +would be Dunning's part to be in readiness to try to cross Karswell's +path at any moment, to keep the paper safe and in a place of ready +access. + +They parted. The next weeks were no doubt a severe strain upon Dunning's +nerves: the intangible barrier which had seemed to rise about him on the +day when he received the paper, gradually developed into a brooding +blackness that cut him off from the means of escape to which one might +have thought he might resort. No one was at hand who was likely to +suggest them to him, and he seemed robbed of all initiative. He waited +with inexpressible anxiety as May, June, and early July passed on, for a +mandate from Harrington. But all this time Karswell remained immovable at +Lufford. + +At last, in less than a week before the date he had come to look upon as +the end of his earthly activities, came a telegram: 'Leaves Victoria by +boat train Thursday night. Do not miss. I come to you to-night. +Harrington.' + +He arrived accordingly, and they concocted plans. The train left Victoria +at nine and its last stop before Dover was Croydon West. Harrington would +mark down Karswell at Victoria, and look out for Dunning at Croydon, +calling to him if need were by a name agreed upon. Dunning, disguised as +far as might be, was to have no label or initials on any hand luggage, +and must at all costs have the paper with him. + +Dunning's suspense as he waited on the Croydon platform I need not +attempt to describe. His sense of danger during the last days had only +been sharpened by the fact that the cloud about him had perceptibly been +lighter; but relief was an ominous symptom, and, if Karswell eluded him +now, hope was gone: and there were so many chances of that. The rumour of +the journey might be itself a device. The twenty minutes in which he +paced the platform and persecuted every porter with inquiries as to the +boat train were as bitter as any he had spent. Still, the train came, and +Harrington was at the window. It was important, of course, that there +should be no recognition: so Dunning got in at the farther end of the +corridor carriage, and only gradually made his way to the compartment +where Harrington and Karswell were. He was pleased, on the whole, to see +that the train was far from full. + +Karswell was on the alert, but gave no sign of recognition. Dunning took +the seat not immediately facing him, and attempted, vainly at first, +then with increasing command of his faculties, to reckon the +possibilities of making the desired transfer. Opposite to Karswell, and +next to Dunning, was a heap of Karswell's coats on the seat. It would be +of no use to slip the paper into these--he would not be safe, or would +not feel so, unless in some way it could be proffered by him and +accepted by the other. There was a handbag, open, and with papers in it. +Could he manage to conceal this (so that perhaps Karswell might leave +the carriage without it), and then find and give it to him? This was the +plan that suggested itself. If he could only have counselled with +Harrington! but that could not be. The minutes went on. More than once +Karswell rose and went out into the corridor. The second time Dunning +was on the point of attempting to make the bag fall off the seat, but he +caught Harrington's eye, and read in it a warning. Karswell, from the +corridor, was watching: probably to see if the two men recognized each +other. He returned, but was evidently restless: and, when he rose the +third time, hope dawned, for something did slip off his seat and fall +with hardly a sound to the floor. Karswell went out once more, and +passed out of range of the corridor window. Dunning picked up what had +fallen, and saw that the key was in his hands in the form of one of +Cook's ticket-cases, with tickets in it. These cases have a pocket in +the cover, and within very few seconds the paper of which we have heard +was in the pocket of this one. To make the operation more secure, +Harrington stood in the doorway of the compartment and fiddled with the +blind. It was done, and done at the right time, for the train was now +slowing down towards Dover. + +In a moment more Karswell re-entered the compartment. As he did so, +Dunning, managing, he knew not how, to suppress the tremble in his voice, +handed him the ticket-case, saying, 'May I give you this, sir? I believe +it is yours.' After a brief glance at the ticket inside, Karswell uttered +the hoped-for response, 'Yes, it is; much obliged to you, sir,' and he +placed it in his breast pocket. + +Even in the few moments that remained--moments of tense anxiety, for they +knew not to what a premature finding of the paper might lead--both men +noticed that the carriage seemed to darken about them and to grow warmer; +that Karswell was fidgety and oppressed; that he drew the heap of loose +coats near to him and cast it back as if it repelled him; and that he +then sat upright and glanced anxiously at both. They, with sickening +anxiety, busied themselves in collecting their belongings; but they both +thought that Karswell was on the point of speaking when the train stopped +at Dover Town. It was natural that in the short space between town and +pier they should both go into the corridor. + +At the pier they got out, but so empty was the train that they were +forced to linger on the platform until Karswell should have passed ahead +of them with his porter on the way to the boat, and only then was it safe +for them to exchange a pressure of the hand and a word of concentrated +congratulation. The effect upon Dunning was to make him almost faint. +Harrington made him lean up against the wall, while he himself went +forward a few yards within sight of the gangway to the boat, at which +Karswell had now arrived. The man at the head of it examined his ticket, +and, laden with coats, he passed down into the boat. Suddenly the official +called after him, 'You, sir, beg pardon, did the other gentleman show his +ticket?' 'What the devil do you mean by the other gentleman?' Karswell's +snarling voice called back from the deck. The man bent over and looked at +him. 'The devil? Well, I don't know, I'm sure,' Harrington heard him say +to himself, and then aloud, 'My mistake, sir; must have been your rugs! +ask your pardon.' And then, to a subordinate near him, ''Ad he got a dog +with him, or what? Funny thing: I could 'a' swore 'e wasn't alone. Well, +whatever it was, they'll 'ave to see to it aboard. She's off now. Another +week and we shall be gettin' the 'oliday customers.' In five minutes more +there was nothing but the lessening lights of the boat, the long line of +the Dover lamps, the night breeze, and the moon. + +Long and long the two sat in their room at the 'Lord Warden'. In spite of +the removal of their greatest anxiety, they were oppressed with a doubt, +not of the lightest. Had they been justified in sending a man to his +death, as they believed they had? Ought they not to warn him, at least? +'No,' said Harrington; 'if he is the murderer I think him, we have done +no more than is just. Still, if you think it better--but how and where +can you warn him?' 'He was booked to Abbeville only,' said Dunning. 'I +saw that. If I wired to the hotels there in Joanne's Guide, "Examine your +ticket-case, Dunning," I should feel happier. This is the 21st: he will +have a day. But I am afraid he has gone into the dark.' So telegrams were +left at the hotel office. + +It is not clear whether these reached their destination, or whether, if +they did, they were understood. All that is known is that, on the +afternoon of the 23rd, an English traveller, examining the front of St +Wulfram's Church at Abbeville, then under extensive repair, was struck on +the head and instantly killed by a stone falling from the scaffold +erected round the north-western tower, there being, as was clearly +proved, no workman on the scaffold at that moment: and the traveller's +papers identified him as Mr Karswell. + +Only one detail shall be added. At Karswell's sale a set of Bewick, sold +with all faults, was acquired by Harrington. The page with the woodcut of +the traveller and the demon was, as he had expected, mutilated. Also, +after a judicious interval, Harrington repeated to Dunning something of +what he had heard his brother say in his sleep: but it was not long +before Dunning stopped him. + + + + +THE STALLS OF BARCHESTER CATHEDRAL + +This matter began, as far as I am concerned, with the reading of a notice +in the obituary section of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for an early year +in the nineteenth century: + + On February 26th, at his residence in the Cathedral Close of + Barchester, the Venerable John Benwell Haynes, D.D., aged 57, + Archdeacon of Sowerbridge and Rector of Pickhill and Candley. He was + of ---- College, Cambridge, and where, by talent and assiduity, he + commanded the esteem of his seniors; when, at the usual time, he took + his first degree, his name stood high in the list of _wranglers_. + These academical honours procured for him within a short time a + Fellowship of his College. In the year 1783 he received Holy Orders, + and was shortly afterwards presented to the perpetual Curacy of + Ranxton-sub-Ashe by his friend and patron the late truly venerable + Bishop of Lichfield.... His speedy preferments, first to a Prebend, + and subsequently to the dignity of Precentor in the Cathedral of + Barchester, form an eloquent testimony to the respect in which he was + held and to his eminent qualifications. He succeeded to the + Archdeaconry upon the sudden decease of Archdeacon Pulteney in 1810. + His sermons, ever conformable to the principles of the religion and + Church which he adorned, displayed in no ordinary degree, without the + least trace of enthusiasm, the refinement of the scholar united with + the graces of the Christian. Free from sectarian violence, and + informed by the spirit of the truest charity, they will long dwell in + the memories of his hearers. [Here a further omission.] The + productions of his pen include an able defence of Episcopacy, which, + though often perused by the author of this tribute to his memory, + afford but one additional instance of the want of liberality and + enterprise which is a too common characteristic of the publishers of + our generation. His published works are, indeed, confined to a + spirited and elegant version of the _Argonautica_ of Valerius Flaccus, + a volume of _Discourses upon the Several Events in the Life of + Joshua_, delivered in his Cathedral, and a number of the charges + which he pronounced at various visitations to the clergy of his + Archdeaconry. These are distinguished by etc., etc. The urbanity and + hospitality of the subject of these lines will not readily be + forgotten by those who enjoyed his acquaintance. His interest in the + venerable and awful pile under whose hoary vault he was so punctual + an attendant, and particularly in the musical portion of its rites, + might be termed filial, and formed a strong and delightful contrast + to the polite indifference displayed by too many of our Cathedral + dignitaries at the present time. + +The final paragraph, after informing us that Dr Haynes died a bachelor, +says: + + It might have been augured that an existence so placid and benevolent + would have been terminated in a ripe old age by a dissolution equally + gradual and calm. But how unsearchable are the workings of + Providence! The peaceful and retired seclusion amid which the + honoured evening of Dr Haynes' life was mellowing to its close was + destined to be disturbed, nay, shattered, by a tragedy as appalling + as it was unexpected. The morning of the 26th of February-- + +But perhaps I shall do better to keep back the remainder of the narrative +until I have told the circumstances which led up to it. These, as far as +they are now accessible, I have derived from another source. + +I had read the obituary notice which I have been quoting, quite by +chance, along with a great many others of the same period. It had excited +some little speculation in my mind, but, beyond thinking that, if I ever +had an opportunity of examining the local records of the period +indicated, I would try to remember Dr Haynes, I made no effort to pursue +his case. + +Quite lately I was cataloguing the manuscripts in the library of the +college to which he belonged. I had reached the end of the numbered +volumes on the shelves, and I proceeded to ask the librarian whether +there were any more books which he thought I ought to include in my +description. 'I don't think there are,' he said, 'but we had better come +and look at the manuscript class and make sure. Have you time to do that +now?' I had time. We went to the library, checked off the manuscripts, +and, at the end of our survey, arrived at a shelf of which I had seen +nothing. Its contents consisted for the most part of sermons, bundles of +fragmentary papers, college exercises, _Cyrus_, an epic poem in several +cantos, the product of a country clergyman's leisure, mathematical tracts +by a deceased professor, and other similar material of a kind with which +I am only too familiar. I took brief notes of these. Lastly, there was a +tin box, which was pulled out and dusted. Its label, much faded, was thus +inscribed: 'Papers of the Ven. Archdeacon Haynes. Bequeathed in 1834 by +his sister, Miss Letitia Haynes.' + +I knew at once that the name was one which I had somewhere encountered, +and could very soon locate it. 'That must be the Archdeacon Haynes who +came to a very odd end at Barchester. I've read his obituary in the +_Gentleman's Magazine_. May I take the box home? Do you know if there is +anything interesting in it?' + +The librarian was very willing that I should take the box and examine it +at leisure. 'I never looked inside it myself,' he said, 'but I've always +been meaning to. I am pretty sure that is the box which our old Master +once said ought never to have been accepted by the college. He said that +to Martin years ago; and he said also that as long as he had control over +the library it should never be opened. Martin told me about it, and said +that he wanted terribly to know what was in it; but the Master was +librarian, and always kept the box in the lodge, so there was no getting +at it in his time, and when he died it was taken away by mistake by his +heirs, and only returned a few years ago. I can't think why I haven't +opened it; but, as I have to go away from Cambridge this afternoon, you +had better have first go at it. I think I can trust you not to publish +anything undesirable in our catalogue.' + +I took the box home and examined its contents, and thereafter consulted +the librarian as to what should be done about publication, and, since I +have his leave to make a story out of it, provided I disguise the +identity of the people concerned, I will try what can be done. + +The materials are, of course, mainly journals and letters. How much I +shall quote and how much epitomize must be determined by considerations +of space. The proper understanding of the situation has necessitated a +little--not very arduous--research, which has been greatly facilitated by +the excellent illustrations and text of the Barchester volume in Bell's +_Cathedral Series_. + +When you enter the choir of Barchester Cathedral now, you pass through a +screen of metal and coloured marbles, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, and +find yourself in what I must call a very bare and odiously furnished +place. The stalls are modern, without canopies. The places of the +dignitaries and the names of the prebends have fortunately been allowed +to survive, and are inscribed on small brass plates affixed to the +stalls. The organ is in the triforium, and what is seen of the case is +Gothic. The reredos and its surroundings are like every other. + +Careful engravings of a hundred years ago show a very different state of +things. The organ is on a massive classical screen. The stalls are also +classical and very massive. There is a baldacchino of wood over the +altar, with urns upon its corners. Farther east is a solid altar screen, +classical in design, of wood, with a pediment, in which is a triangle +surrounded by rays, enclosing certain Hebrew letters in gold. Cherubs +contemplate these. There is a pulpit with a great sounding-board at the +eastern end of the stalls on the north side, and there is a black and +white marble pavement. Two ladies and a gentleman are admiring the +general effect. From other sources I gather that the archdeacon's stall +then, as now, was next to the bishop's throne at the south-eastern end of +the stalls. His house almost faces the west front of the church, and is a +fine red-brick building of William the Third's time. + +Here Dr Haynes, already a mature man, took up his abode with his sister +in the year 1810. The dignity had long been the object of his wishes, but +his predecessor refused to depart until he had attained the age of +ninety-two. About a week after he had held a modest festival in +celebration of that ninety-second birthday, there came a morning, late in +the year, when Dr Haynes, hurrying cheerfully into his breakfast-room, +rubbing his hands and humming a tune, was greeted, and checked in his +genial flow of spirits, by the sight of his sister, seated, indeed, in +her usual place behind the tea-urn, but bowed forward and sobbing +unrestrainedly into her handkerchief. 'What--what is the matter? What bad +news?' he began. 'Oh, Johnny, you've not heard? The poor dear +archdeacon!' 'The archdeacon, yes? What is it--ill, is he?' 'No, no; they +found him on the staircase this morning; it is so shocking.' 'Is it +possible! Dear, dear, poor Pulteney! Had there been any seizure?' 'They +don't think so, and that is almost the worst thing about it. It seems to +have been all the fault of that stupid maid of theirs, Jane.' Dr Haynes +paused. 'I don't quite understand, Letitia. How was the maid at fault?' +'Why, as far as I can make out, there was a stair-rod missing, and she +never mentioned it, and the poor archdeacon set his foot quite on the +edge of the step--you know how slippery that oak is--and it seems he must +have fallen almost the whole flight and broken his neck. It _is_ so sad +for poor Miss Pulteney. Of course, they will get rid of the girl at once. +I never liked her.' Miss Haynes's grief resumed its sway, but eventually +relaxed so far as to permit of her taking some breakfast. Not so her +brother, who, after standing in silence before the window for some +minutes, left the room, and did not appear again that morning. + +I need only add that the careless maid-servant was dismissed forthwith, +but that the missing stair-rod was very shortly afterwards found _under_ +the stair-carpet--an additional proof, if any were needed, of extreme +stupidity and carelessness on her part. + +For a good many years Dr Haynes had been marked out by his ability, which +seems to have been really considerable, as the likely successor of +Archdeacon Pulteney, and no disappointment was in store for him. He was +duly installed, and entered with zeal upon the discharge of those +functions which are appropriate to one in his position. A considerable +space in his journals is occupied with exclamations upon the confusion in +which Archdeacon Pulteney had left the business of his office and the +documents appertaining to it. Dues upon Wringham and Barnswood have been +uncollected for something like twelve years, and are largely +irrecoverable; no visitation has been held for seven years; four chancels +are almost past mending. The persons deputized by the archdeacon have +been nearly as incapable as himself. It was almost a matter for +thankfulness that this state of things had not been permitted to +continue, and a letter from a friend confirms this view. '[Greek: ho +katechôn],' it says (in rather cruel allusion to the Second Epistle to +the Thessalonians), 'is removed at last. My poor friend! Upon what a +scene of confusion will you be entering! I give you my word that, on the +last occasion of my crossing his threshold, there was no single paper +that he could lay hands upon, no syllable of mine that he could hear, and +no fact in connexion with my business that he could remember. But now, +thanks to a negligent maid and a loose stair-carpet, there is some +prospect that necessary business will be transacted without a complete +loss alike of voice and temper.' This letter was tucked into a pocket in +the cover of one of the diaries. + +There can be no doubt of the new archdeacon's zeal and enthusiasm. 'Give +me but time to reduce to some semblance of order the innumerable errors +and complications with which I am confronted, and I shall gladly and +sincerely join with the aged Israelite in the canticle which too many, I +fear, pronounce but with their lips.' This reflection I find, not in a +diary, but a letter; the doctor's friends seem to have returned his +correspondence to his surviving sister. He does not confine himself, +however, to reflections. His investigation of the rights and duties of +his office are very searching and business-like, and there is a +calculation in one place that a period of three years will just suffice +to set the business of the Archdeaconry upon a proper footing. The +estimate appears to have been an exact one. For just three years he is +occupied in reforms; but I look in vain at the end of that time for the +promised _Nunc dimittis_. He has now found a new sphere of activity. +Hitherto his duties have precluded him from more than an occasional +attendance at the Cathedral services. Now he begins to take an interest +in the fabric and the music. Upon his struggles with the organist, an old +gentleman who had been in office since 1786, I have no time to dwell; +they were not attended with any marked success. More to the purpose is +his sudden growth of enthusiasm for the Cathedral itself and its +furniture. There is a draft of a letter to Sylvanus Urban (which I do not +think was ever sent) describing the stalls in the choir. As I have said, +these were of fairly late date--of about the year 1700, in fact. + +'The archdeacon's stall, situated at the south-east end, west of the +episcopal throne (now so worthily occupied by the truly excellent prelate +who adorns the See of Barchester), is distinguished by some curious +ornamentation. In addition to the arms of Dean West, by whose efforts the +whole of the internal furniture of the choir was completed, the +prayer-desk is terminated at the eastern extremity by three small but +remarkable statuettes in the grotesque manner. One is an exquisitely +modelled figure of a cat, whose crouching posture suggests with admirable +spirit the suppleness, vigilance, and craft of the redoubted adversary of +the genus _Mus_. Opposite to this is a figure seated upon a throne and +invested with the attributes of royalty; but it is no earthly monarch +whom the carver has sought to portray. His feet are studiously concealed +by the long robe in which he is draped: but neither the crown nor the cap +which he wears suffice to hide the prick-ears and curving horns which +betray his Tartarean origin; and the hand which rests upon his knee is +armed with talons of horrifying length and sharpness. Between these two +figures stands a shape muffled in a long mantle. This might at first +sight be mistaken for a monk or "friar of orders gray", for the head is +cowled and a knotted cord depends from somewhere about the waist. A +slight inspection, however, will lead to a very different conclusion. The +knotted cord is quickly seen to be a halter, held by a hand all but +concealed within the draperies; while the sunken features and, horrid to +relate, the rent flesh upon the cheek-bones, proclaim the King of +Terrors. These figures are evidently the production of no unskilled +chisel; and should it chance that any of your correspondents are able to +throw light upon their origin and significance, my obligations to your +valuable miscellany will be largely increased.' + +There is more description in the paper, and, seeing that the woodwork in +question has now disappeared, it has a considerable interest. A paragraph +at the end is worth quoting: + +'Some late researches among the Chapter accounts have shown me that the +carving of the stalls was not, as was very usually reported, the work of +Dutch artists, but was executed by a native of this city or district +named Austin. The timber was procured from an oak copse in the vicinity, +the property of the Dean and Chapter, known as Holywood. Upon a recent +visit to the parish within whose boundaries it is situated, I learned +from the aged and truly respectable incumbent that traditions still +lingered amongst the inhabitants of the great size and age of the oaks +employed to furnish the materials of the stately structure which has +been, however imperfectly, described in the above lines. Of one in +particular, which stood near the centre of the grove, it is remembered +that it was known as the Hanging Oak. The propriety of that title is +confirmed by the fact that a quantity of human bones was found in the +soil about its roots, and that at certain times of the year it was the +custom for those who wished to secure a successful issue to their +affairs, whether of love or the ordinary business of life, to suspend +from its boughs small images or puppets rudely fashioned of straw, twigs, +or the like rustic materials.' + +So much for the archdeacon's archaeological investigations. To return to +his career as it is to be gathered from his diaries. Those of his first +three years of hard and careful work show him throughout in high spirits, +and, doubtless, during this time, that reputation for hospitality and +urbanity which is mentioned in his obituary notice was well deserved. +After that, as time goes on, I see a shadow coming over him--destined to +develop into utter blackness--which I cannot but think must have been +reflected in his outward demeanour. He commits a good deal of his fears +and troubles to his diary; there was no other outlet for them. He was +unmarried and his sister was not always with him. But I am much mistaken +if he has told all that he might have told. A series of extracts shall be +given: + + _Aug. 30th 1816_--The days begin to draw in more perceptibly than + ever. Now that the Archdeaconry papers are reduced to order, I must + find some further employment for the evening hours of autumn and + winter. It is a great blow that Letitia's health will not allow her + to stay through these months. Why not go on with my _Defence of + Episcopacy_? It may be useful. + + _Sept. 15._--Letitia has left me for Brighton. + + _Oct. 11._--Candles lit in the choir for the first time at evening + prayers. It came as a shock: I find that I absolutely shrink from the + dark season. + + _Nov. 17_--Much struck by the character of the carving on my desk: I + do not know that I had ever carefully noticed it before. My attention + was called to it by an accident. During the _Magnificat_ I was, I + regret to say, almost overcome with sleep. My hand was resting on the + back of the carved figure of a cat which is the nearest to me of the + three figures on the end of my stall. I was not aware of this, for I + was not looking in that direction, until I was startled by what + seemed a softness, a feeling as of rather rough and coarse fur, and a + sudden movement, as if the creature were twisting round its head to + bite me. I regained complete consciousness in an instant, and I have + some idea that I must have uttered a suppressed exclamation, for I + noticed that Mr Treasurer turned his head quickly in my direction. + The impression of the unpleasant feeling was so strong that I found + myself rubbing my hand upon my surplice. This accident led me to + examine the figures after prayers more carefully than I had done + before, and I realized for the first time with what skill they are + executed. + + _Dec. 6_--I do indeed miss Letitia's company. The evenings, after I + have worked as long as I can at my _Defence_, are very trying. The + house is too large for a lonely man, and visitors of any kind are too + rare. I get an uncomfortable impression when going to my room that + there _is_ company of some kind. The fact is (I may as well formulate + it to myself) that I hear voices. This, I am well aware, is a common + symptom of incipient decay of the brain--and I believe that I should + be less disquieted than I am if I had any suspicion that this was the + cause. I have none--none whatever, nor is there anything in my family + history to give colour to such an idea. Work, diligent work, and a + punctual attention to the duties which fall to me is my best remedy, + and I have little doubt that it will prove efficacious. + + _Jan. 1_--My trouble is, I must confess it, increasing upon me. Last + night, upon my return after midnight from the Deanery, I lit my + candle to go upstairs. I was nearly at the top when something + whispered to me, 'Let me wish you a happy New Year.' I could not be + mistaken: it spoke distinctly and with a peculiar emphasis. Had I + dropped my candle, as I all but did, I tremble to think what the + consequences must have been. As it was, I managed to get up the last + flight, and was quickly in my room with the door locked, and + experienced no other disturbance. + + _Jan. 15_--I had occasion to come downstairs last night to my + workroom for my watch, which I had inadvertently left on my table + when I went up to bed. I think I was at the top of the last flight + when I had a sudden impression of a sharp whisper in my ear '_Take + care_.' I clutched the balusters and naturally looked round at once. + Of course, there was nothing. After a moment I went on--it was no + good turning back--but I had as nearly as possible fallen: a cat--a + large one by the feel of it--slipped between my feet, but again, of + course, I saw nothing. It _may_ have been the kitchen cat, but I do + not think it was. + + _Feb. 27_--A curious thing last night, which I should like to forget. + Perhaps if I put it down here I may see it in its true proportion. I + worked in the library from about 9 to 10. The hall and staircase + seemed to be unusually full of what I can only call movement without + sound: by this I mean that there seemed to be continuous going and + coming, and that whenever I ceased writing to listen, or looked out + into the hall, the stillness was absolutely unbroken. Nor, in going + to my room at an earlier hour than usual--about half-past ten--was I + conscious of anything that I could call a noise. It so happened that + I had told John to come to my room for the letter to the bishop which + I wished to have delivered early in the morning at the Palace. He was + to sit up, therefore, and come for it when he heard me retire. This I + had for the moment forgotten, though I had remembered to carry the + letter with me to my room. But when, as I was winding up my watch, I + heard a light tap at the door, and a low voice saying, 'May I come + in?' (which I most undoubtedly did hear), I recollected the fact, and + took up the letter from my dressing-table, saying, 'Certainly: come + in.' No one, however, answered my summons, and it was now that, as I + strongly suspect, I committed an error: for I opened the door and + held the letter out. There was certainly no one at that moment in the + passage, but, in the instant of my standing there, the door at the + end opened and John appeared carrying a candle. I asked him whether + he had come to the door earlier; but am satisfied that he had not. I + do not like the situation; but although my senses were very much on + the alert, and though it was some time before I could sleep, I must + allow that I perceived nothing further of an untoward character. + +With the return of spring, when his sister came to live with him for some +months, Dr Haynes's entries become more cheerful, and, indeed, no symptom +of depression is discernible until the early part of September, when he +was again left alone. And now, indeed, there is evidence that he was +incommoded again, and that more pressingly. To this matter I will return +in a moment, but I digress to put in a document which, rightly or +wrongly, I believe to have a bearing on the thread of the story. + +The account-books of Dr Haynes, preserved along with his other papers, +show, from a date but little later than that of his institution as +archdeacon, a quarterly payment of £25 to J. L. Nothing could have been +made of this, had it stood by itself. But I connect with it a very dirty +and ill-written letter, which, like another that I have quoted, was in a +pocket in the cover of a diary. Of date or postmark there is no vestige, +and the decipherment was not easy. It appears to run: + + Dr Sr. + + I have bin expctin to her off you theis last wicks, and not Haveing + done so must supose you have not got mine witch was saying how me and + my man had met in with bad times this season all seems to go cross + with us on the farm and which way to look for the rent we have no + knowledge of it this been the sad case with us if you would have the + great [liberality _probably, but the exact spelling defies + reproduction_] to send fourty pounds otherwise steps will have to be + took which I should not wish. Has you was the Means of me losing my + place with Dr Pulteney I think it is only just what I am asking and + you know best what I could say if I was Put to it but I do not wish + anything of that unpleasant Nature being one that always wish to have + everything Pleasant about me. + + Your obedt Servt, + + Jane Lee. + +About the time at which I suppose this letter to have been written there +is, in fact, a payment of £40 to J.L. + +We return to the diary: + + _Oct. 22_--At evening prayers, during the Psalms, I had that same + experience which I recollect from last year. I was resting my hand on + one of the carved figures, as before (I usually avoid that of the cat + now), and--I was going to have said--a change came over it, but that + seems attributing too much importance to what must, after all, be due + to some physical affection in myself: at any rate, the wood seemed to + become chilly and soft as if made of wet linen. I can assign the + moment at which I became sensible of this. The choir were singing the + words (_Set thou an ungodly man to be ruler over him and let Satan + stand at his right hand_.) + + The whispering in my house was more persistent tonight. I seemed not + to be rid of it in my room. I have not noticed this before. A nervous + man, which I am not, and hope I am not becoming, would have been much + annoyed, if not alarmed, by it. The cat was on the stairs tonight. I + think it sits there always. There _is_ no kitchen cat. + + _Nov. 15_--Here again I must note a matter I do not understand. I am + much troubled in sleep. No definite image presented itself, but I was + pursued by the very vivid impression that wet lips were whispering + into my ear with great rapidity and emphasis for some time together. + After this, I suppose, I fell asleep, but was awakened with a start + by a feeling as if a hand were laid on my shoulder. To my intense + alarm I found myself standing at the top of the lowest flight of the + first staircase. The moon was shining brightly enough through the + large window to let me see that there was a large cat on the second + or third step. I can make no comment. I crept up to bed again, I do + not know how. Yes, mine is a heavy burden. [Then follows a line or + two which has been scratched out. I fancy I read something like + 'acted for the best'.] + +Not long after this it is evident to me that the archdeacon's firmness +began to give way under the pressure of these phenomena. I omit as +unnecessarily painful and distressing the ejaculations and prayers which, +in the months of December and January, appear for the first time and +become increasingly frequent. Throughout this time, however, he is +obstinate in clinging to his post. Why he did not plead ill-health and +take refuge at Bath or Brighton I cannot tell; my impression is that it +would have done him no good; that he was a man who, if he had confessed +himself beaten by the annoyances, would have succumbed at once, and that +he was conscious of this. He did seek to palliate them by inviting +visitors to his house. The result he has noted in this fashion: + + _Jan. 7_--I have prevailed on my cousin Allen to give me a few days, + and he is to occupy the chamber next to mine. + + _Jan. 8_--A still night. Allen slept well, but complained of the + wind. My own experiences were as before: still whispering and + whispering: what is it that he wants to say? + + _Jan. 9_--Allen thinks this a very noisy house. He thinks, too, that + my cat is an unusually large and fine specimen, but very wild. + + _Jan. 10_--Allen and I in the library until 11. He left me twice to + see what the maids were doing in the hall: returning the second time + he told me he had seen one of them passing through the door at the + end of the passage, and said if his wife were here she would soon get + them into better order. I asked him what coloured dress the maid + wore; he said grey or white. I supposed it would be so. + + _Jan. 11_--Allen left me today. I must be firm. + +These words, _I must be firm_, occur again and again on subsequent days; +sometimes they are the only entry. In these cases they are in an +unusually large hand, and dug into the paper in a way which must have +broken the pen that wrote them. + +Apparently the archdeacon's friends did not remark any change in his +behaviour, and this gives me a high idea of his courage and +determination. The diary tells us nothing more than I have indicated of +the last days of his life. The end of it all must be told in the polished +language of the obituary notice: + + The morning of the 26th of February was cold and tempestuous. At an + early hour the servants had occasion to go into the front hall of the + residence occupied by the lamented subject of these lines. What was + their horror upon observing the form of their beloved and respected + master lying upon the landing of the principal staircase in an + attitude which inspired the gravest fears. Assistance was procured, + and an universal consternation was experienced upon the discovery + that he had been the object of a brutal and a murderous attack. The + vertebral column was fractured in more than one place. This might + have been the result of a fall: it appeared that the stair-carpet was + loosened at one point. But, in addition to this, there were injuries + inflicted upon the eyes, nose and mouth, as if by the agency of some + savage animal, which, dreadful to relate, rendered those features + unrecognizable. The vital spark was, it is needless to add, + completely extinct, and had been so, upon the testimony of + respectable medical authorities, for several hours. The author or + authors of this mysterious outrage are alike buried in mystery, and + the most active conjecture has hitherto failed to suggest a solution + of the melancholy problem afforded by this appalling occurrence. + +The writer goes on to reflect upon the probability that the writings of +Mr Shelley, Lord Byron, and M. Voltaire may have been instrumental in +bringing about the disaster, and concludes by hoping, somewhat vaguely, +that this event may 'operate as an example to the rising generation'; but +this portion of his remarks need not be quoted in full. + +I had already formed the conclusion that Dr Haynes was responsible for +the death of Dr Pulteney. But the incident connected with the carved +figure of death upon the archdeacon's stall was a very perplexing +feature. The conjecture that it had been cut out of the wood of the +Hanging Oak was not difficult, but seemed impossible to substantiate. +However, I paid a visit to Barchester, partly with the view of finding +out whether there were any relics of the woodwork to be heard of. I was +introduced by one of the canons to the curator of the local museum, who +was, my friend said, more likely to be able to give me information on the +point than anyone else. I told this gentleman of the description of +certain carved figures and arms formerly on the stalls, and asked whether +any had survived. He was able to show me the arms of Dean West and some +other fragments. These, he said, had been got from an old resident, who +had also once owned a figure--perhaps one of those which I was inquiring +for. There was a very odd thing about that figure, he said. 'The old man +who had it told me that he picked it up in a woodyard, whence he had +obtained the still extant pieces, and had taken it home for his children. +On the way home he was fiddling about with it and it came in two in his +hands, and a bit of paper dropped out. This he picked up and, just +noticing that there was writing on it, put it into his pocket, and +subsequently into a vase on his mantelpiece. I was at his house not very +long ago, and happened to pick up the vase and turn it over to see +whether there were any marks on it, and the paper fell into my hand. The +old man, on my handing it to him, told me the story I have told you, and +said I might keep the paper. It was crumpled and rather torn, so I have +mounted it on a card, which I have here. If you can tell me what it means +I shall be very glad, and also, I may say, a good deal surprised.' + +He gave me the card. The paper was quite legibly inscribed in an old +hand, and this is what was on it: + + When I grew in the Wood + I was water'd w'th Blood + Now in the Church I stand + Who that touches me with his Hand + If a Bloody hand he bear + I councell him to be ware + Lest he be fetcht away + Whether by night or day, + But chiefly when the wind blows high + In a night of February. +This I drempt, 26 Febr. Anno 1699. JOHN AUSTIN. + +'I suppose it is a charm or a spell: wouldn't you call it something of +that kind?' said the curator. + +'Yes,' I said, 'I suppose one might. What became of the figure in which +it was concealed?' + +'Oh, I forgot,' said he. 'The old man told me it was so ugly and +frightened his children so much that he burnt it.' + + + + +MARTIN'S CLOSE + +Some few years back I was staying with the rector of a parish in the +West, where the society to which I belong owns property. I was to go over +some of this land: and, on the first morning of my visit, soon after +breakfast, the estate carpenter and general handyman, John Hill, was +announced as in readiness to accompany us. The rector asked which part of +the parish we were to visit that morning. The estate map was produced, +and when we had showed him our round, he put his finger on a particular +spot. 'Don't forget,' he said, 'to ask John Hill about Martin's Close +when you get there. I should like to hear what he tells you.' 'What ought +he to tell us?' I said. 'I haven't the slightest idea,' said the rector, +'or, if that is not exactly true, it will do till lunch-time.' And here +he was called away. + +We set out; John Hill is not a man to withhold such information as he +possesses on any point, and you may gather from him much that is of +interest about the people of the place and their talk. An unfamiliar +word, or one that he thinks ought to be unfamiliar to you, he will +usually spell--as c-o-b cob, and the like. It is not, however, relevant +to my purpose to record his conversation before the moment when we +reached Martin's Close. The bit of land is noticeable, for it is one of +the smallest enclosures you are likely to see--a very few square yards, +hedged in with quickset on all sides, and without any gate or gap leading +into it. You might take it for a small cottage garden long deserted, but +that it lies away from the village and bears no trace of cultivation. It +is at no great distance from the road, and is part of what is there +called a moor, in other words, a rough upland pasture cut up into largish +fields. + +'Why is this little bit hedged off so?' I asked, and John Hill (whose +answer I cannot represent as perfectly as I should like) was not at +fault. 'That's what we call Martin's Close, sir: 'tes a curious thing +'bout that bit of land, sir: goes by the name of Martin's Close, sir. +M-a-r-t-i-n Martin. Beg pardon, sir, did Rector tell you to make inquiry +of me 'bout that, sir?' 'Yes, he did.' 'Ah, I thought so much, sir. I was +tell'n Rector 'bout that last week, and he was very much interested. It +'pears there's a murderer buried there, sir, by the name of Martin. Old +Samuel Saunders, that formerly lived yurr at what we call South-town, +sir, he had a long tale 'bout that, sir: terrible murder done 'pon a +young woman, sir. Cut her throat and cast her in the water down yurr.' +'Was he hung for it?' 'Yes, sir, he was hung just up yurr on the roadway, +by what I've 'eard, on the Holy Innocents' Day, many 'undred years ago, +by the man that went by the name of the bloody judge: terrible red and +bloody, I've 'eard.' 'Was his name Jeffreys, do you think?' 'Might be +possible 'twas--Jeffreys--J-e-f--Jeffreys. I reckon 'twas, and the tale +I've 'eard many times from Mr Saunders,--how this young man +Martin--George Martin--was troubled before his crule action come to light +by the young woman's sperit.' 'How was that, do you know?' 'No, sir, I +don't exactly know how 'twas with it: but by what I've 'eard he was +fairly tormented; and rightly tu. Old Mr Saunders, he told a history +regarding a cupboard down yurr in the New Inn. According to what he +related, this young woman's sperit come out of this cupboard: but I don't +racollact the matter.' + +This was the sum of John Hill's information. We passed on, and in due +time I reported what I had heard to the Rector. He was able to show me +from the parish account-books that a gibbet had been paid for in 1684, +and a grave dug in the following year, both for the benefit of George +Martin; but he was unable to suggest anyone in the parish, Saunders being +now gone, who was likely to throw any further light on the story. + +Naturally, upon my return to the neighbourhood of libraries, I made +search in the more obvious places. The trial seemed to be nowhere +reported. A newspaper of the time, and one or more news-letters, however, +had some short notices, from which I learnt that, on the ground of local +prejudice against the prisoner (he was described as a young gentleman of +a good estate), the venue had been moved from Exeter to London; that +Jeffreys had been the judge, and death the sentence, and that there had +been some 'singular passages' in the evidence. Nothing further transpired +till September of this year. A friend who knew me to be interested in +Jeffreys then sent me a leaf torn out of a second-hand bookseller's +catalogue with the entry: JEFFREYS, JUDGE: _Interesting old MS. trial for +murder_, and so forth, from which I gathered, to my delight, that I could +become possessed, for a very few shillings, of what seemed to be a +verbatim report, in shorthand, of the Martin trial. I telegraphed for the +manuscript and got it. It was a thin bound volume, provided with a title +written in longhand by someone in the eighteenth century, who had also +added this note: 'My father, who took these notes in court, told me that +the prisoner's friends had made interest with Judge Jeffreys that no +report should be put out: he had intended doing this himself when times +were better, and had shew'd it to the Revd Mr Glanvil, who incourag'd his +design very warmly, but death surpriz'd them both before it could be +brought to an accomplishment.' + +The initials W. G. are appended; I am advised that the original reporter +may have been T. Gurney, who appears in that capacity in more than one +State trial. + +This was all that I could read for myself. After no long delay I heard of +someone who was capable of deciphering the shorthand of the seventeenth +century, and a little time ago the typewritten copy of the whole +manuscript was laid before me. The portions which I shall communicate +here help to fill in the very imperfect outline which subsists in the +memories of John Hill and, I suppose, one or two others who live on the +scene of the events. + +The report begins with a species of preface, the general effect of which +is that the copy is not that actually taken in court, though it is a true +copy in regard to the notes of what was said; but that the writer has +added to it some 'remarkable passages' that took place during the trial, +and has made this present fair copy of the whole, intending at some +favourable time to publish it; but has not put it into longhand, lest it +should fall into the possession of unauthorized persons, and he or his +family be deprived of the profit. + +The report then begins: + +This case came on to be tried on Wednesday, the 19th of November, between +our sovereign lord the King, and George Martin Esquire, of (I take leave +to omit some of the place-names), at a sessions of oyer and terminer and +gaol delivery, at the Old Bailey, and the prisoner, being in Newgate, was +brought to the bar. + +_Clerk of the Crown._ George Martin, hold up thy hand (which he did). + +Then the indictment was read, which set forth that the prisoner, 'not +having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by +the instigation of the devil, upon the 15th day of May, in the 36th year +of our sovereign lord King Charles the Second, with force and arms in the +parish aforesaid, in and upon Ann Clark, spinster, of the same place, in +the peace of God and of our said sovereign lord the King then and there +being, feloniously, wilfully, and of your malice aforethought did make an +assault and with a certain knife value a penny the throat of the said Ann +Clark then and there did cut, of the which wound the said Ann Clark then +and there did die, and the body of the said Ann Clark did cast into a +certain pond of water situate in the same parish (with more that is not +material to our purpose) against the peace of our sovereign lord the +King, his crown and dignity.' + +Then the prisoner prayed a copy of the indictment. + +_L.C.J._ (Sir George Jeffreys). What is this? Sure you know that is never +allowed. Besides, here is a plain indictment as ever I heard; you have +nothing to do but to plead to it. + +_Pris._ My lord, I apprehend there may be matter of law arising out of +the indictment, and I would humbly beg the court to assign me counsel to +consider of it. Besides, my lord, I believe it was done in another case: +copy of the indictment was allowed. + +_L.C.J._ What case was that? + +_Pris._ Truly, my lord, I have been kept close prisoner ever since I came +up from Exeter Castle, and no one allowed to come at me and no one to +advise with. + +_L.C.J._ But I say, what was that case you allege? + +_Pris._ My lord, I cannot tell your lordship precisely the name of the +case, but it is in my mind that there was such an one, and I would humbly +desire-- + +_L.C.J._ All this is nothing. Name your case, and we will tell you +whether there be any matter for you in it. God forbid but you should have +anything that may be allowed you by law: but this is against law, and we +must keep the course of the court. + +_Att.-Gen._ (Sir Robert Sawyer). My lord, we pray for the King that he +may be asked to plead. + +_Cl. of Ct._ Are you guilty of the murder whereof you stand indicted, or +not guilty? + +_Pris._ My lord, I would humbly offer this to the court. If I plead now, +shall I have an opportunity after to except against the indictment? + +_L.C.J._ Yes, yes, that comes after verdict: that will be saved to you, +and counsel assigned if there be matter of law: but that which you have +now to do is to plead. + +Then after some little parleying with the court (which seemed strange +upon such a plain indictment) the prisoner pleaded _Not Guilty_. + +_Cl. of Ct._ Culprit. How wilt thou be tried? + +_Pris._ By God and my country. + +_Cl. of Ct._ God send thee a good deliverance. + +_L.C.J._ Why, how is this? Here has been a great to-do that you should +not be tried at Exeter by your country, but be brought here to London, +and now you ask to be tried by your country. Must we send you to Exeter +again? + +_Pris._ My lord, I understood it was the form. + +_L.C.J._ So it is, man: we spoke only in the way of pleasantness. Well, +go on and swear the jury. + +So they were sworn. I omit the names. There was no challenging on the +prisoner's part, for, as he said, he did not know any of the persons +called. Thereupon the prisoner asked for the use of pen, ink, and paper, +to which the L. C. J. replied: 'Ay, ay, in God's name let him have it.' +Then the usual charge was delivered to the jury, and the case opened by +the junior counsel for the King, Mr Dolben. + +The Attorney-General followed: + +May it please your lordship, and you gentlemen of the jury, I am of +counsel for the King against the prisoner at the bar. You have heard that +he stands indicted for a murder done upon the person of a young girl. +Such crimes as this you may perhaps reckon to be not uncommon, and, +indeed, in these times, I am sorry to say it, there is scarce any fact so +barbarous and unnatural but what we may hear almost daily instances of +it. But I must confess that in this murder that is charged upon the +prisoner there are some particular features that mark it out to be such +as I hope has but seldom if ever been perpetrated upon English ground. +For as we shall make it appear, the person murdered was a poor country +girl (whereas the prisoner is a gentleman of a proper estate) and, +besides that, was one to whom Providence had not given the full use of +her intellects, but was what is termed among us commonly an innocent or +natural: such an one, therefore, as one would have supposed a gentleman +of the prisoner's quality more likely to overlook, or, if he did notice +her, to be moved to compassion for her unhappy condition, than to lift up +his hand against her in the very horrid and barbarous manner which we +shall show you he used. + +Now to begin at the beginning and open the matter to you orderly: About +Christmas of last year, that is the year 1683, this gentleman, Mr Martin, +having newly come back into his own country from the University of +Cambridge, some of his neighbours, to show him what civility they could +(for his family is one that stands in very good repute all over that +country), entertained him here and there at their Christmas merrymakings, +so that he was constantly riding to and fro, from one house to another, +and sometimes, when the place of his destination was distant, or for +other reason, as the unsafeness of the roads, he would be constrained to +lie the night at an inn. In this way it happened that he came, a day or +two after the Christmas, to the place where this young girl lived with +her parents, and put up at the inn there, called the New Inn, which is, +as I am informed, a house of good repute. Here was some dancing going on +among the people of the place, and Ann Clark had been brought in, it +seems, by her elder sister to look on; but being, as I have said, of weak +understanding, and, besides that, very uncomely in her appearance, it was +not likely she should take much part in the merriment; and accordingly +was but standing by in a corner of the room. The prisoner at the bar, +seeing her, one must suppose by way of a jest, asked her would she dance +with him. And in spite of what her sister and others could say to prevent +it and to dissuade her-- + +_L.C.J._ Come, Mr Attorney, we are not set here to listen to tales of +Christmas parties in taverns. I would not interrupt you, but sure you +have more weighty matters than this. You will be telling us next what +tune they danced to. + +_Att._ My lord, I would not take up the time of the court with what is +not material: but we reckon it to be material to show how this unlikely +acquaintance begun: and as for the tune, I believe, indeed, our evidence +will show that even that hath a bearing on the matter in hand. + +_L.C.J._ Go on, go on, in God's name: but give us nothing that is +impertinent. + +_Att._ Indeed, my lord, I will keep to my matter. But, gentlemen, having +now shown you, as I think, enough of this first meeting between the +murdered person and the prisoner, I will shorten my tale so far as to say +that from then on there were frequent meetings of the two: for the young +woman was greatly tickled with having got hold (as she conceived it) of +so likely a sweetheart, and he being once a week at least in the habit of +passing through the street where she lived, she would be always on the +watch for him; and it seems they had a signal arranged: he should whistle +the tune that was played at the tavern: it is a tune, as I am informed, +well known in that country, and has a burden, '_Madam, will you walk, +will you talk with me?_' + +_L.C.J._ Ay, I remember it in my own country, in Shropshire. It runs +somehow thus, doth it not? [Here his lordship whistled a part of a tune, +which was very observable, and seemed below the dignity of the court. And +it appears he felt it so himself, for he said:] But this is by the mark, +and I doubt it is the first time we have had dance-tunes in this court. +The most part of the dancing we give occasion for is done at Tyburn. +[Looking at the prisoner, who appeared very much disordered.] You said +the tune was material to your case, Mr Attorney, and upon my life I think +Mr Martin agrees with you. What ails you, man? staring like a player that +sees a ghost! + +_Pris._ My lord, I was amazed at hearing such trivial, foolish things as +they bring against me. + +_L.C.J._ Well, well, it lies upon Mr Attorney to show whether they be +trivial or not: but I must say, if he has nothing worse than this he has +said, you have no great cause to be in amaze. Doth it not lie something +deeper? But go on, Mr Attorney. + +_Att._ My lord and gentlemen--all that I have said so far you may indeed +very reasonably reckon as having an appearance of triviality. And, to be +sure, had the matter gone no further than the humouring of a poor silly +girl by a young gentleman of quality, it had been very well. But to +proceed. We shall make it appear that after three or four weeks the +prisoner became contracted to a young gentlewoman of that country, one +suitable every way to his own condition, and such an arrangement was on +foot that seemed to promise him a happy and a reputable living. But +within no very long time it seems that this young gentlewoman, hearing of +the jest that was going about that countryside with regard to the +prisoner and Ann Clark, conceived that it was not only an unworthy +carriage on the part of her lover, but a derogation to herself that he +should suffer his name to be sport for tavern company: and so without +more ado she, with the consent of her parents, signified to the prisoner +that the match between them was at an end. We shall show you that upon +the receipt of this intelligence the prisoner was greatly enraged against +Ann Clark as being the cause of his misfortune (though indeed there was +nobody answerable for it but himself), and that he made use of many +outrageous expressions and threatenings against her, and subsequently +upon meeting with her both abused her and struck at her with his whip: +but she, being but a poor innocent, could not be persuaded to desist from +her attachment to him, but would often run after him testifying with +gestures and broken words the affection she had to him: until she was +become, as he said, the very plague of his life. Yet, being that affairs +in which he was now engaged necessarily took him by the house in which +she lived, he could not (as I am willing to believe he would otherwise +have done) avoid meeting with her from time to time. We shall further +show you that this was the posture of things up to the 15th day of May in +this present year. Upon that day the prisoner comes riding through the +village, as of custom, and met with the young woman: but in place of +passing her by, as he had lately done, he stopped, and said some words to +her with which she appeared wonderfully pleased, and so left her; and +after that day she was nowhere to be found, notwithstanding a strict +search was made for her. The next time of the prisoner's passing through +the place, her relations inquired of him whether he should know anything +of her whereabouts; which he totally denied. They expressed to him their +fears lest her weak intellects should have been upset by the attention he +had showed her, and so she might have committed some rash act against her +own life, calling him to witness the same time how often they had +beseeched him to desist from taking notice of her, as fearing trouble +might come of it: but this, too, he easily laughed away. But in spite of +this light behaviour, it was noticeable in him that about this time his +carriage and demeanour changed, and it was said of him that he seemed a +troubled man. And here I come to a passage to which I should not dare to +ask your attention, but that it appears to me to be founded in truth, and +is supported by testimony deserving of credit. And, gentlemen, to my +judgement it doth afford a great instance of God's revenge against +murder, and that He will require the blood of the innocent. + +[Here Mr Attorney made a pause, and shifted with his papers: and it was +thought remarkable by me and others, because he was a man not easily +dashed.] + +_L.C.J._ Well, Mr Attorney, what is your instance? + +_Att._ My lord, it is a strange one, and the truth is that, of all the +cases I have been concerned in, I cannot call to mind the like of it. But +to be short, gentlemen, we shall bring you testimony that Ann Clark was +seen after this 15th of May, and that, at such time as she was so seen, +it was impossible she could have been a living person. + +[Here the people made a hum, and a good deal of laughter, and the Court +called for silence, and when it was made]-- + +_L.C.J._ Why, Mr Attorney, you might save up this tale for a week; it +will be Christmas by that time, and you can frighten your cook-maids with +it [at which the people laughed again, and the prisoner also, as it +seemed]. God, man, what are you prating of--ghosts and Christmas jigs and +tavern company--and here is a man's life at stake! [To the prisoner]: And +you, sir, I would have you know there is not so much occasion for you to +make merry neither. You were not brought here for that, and if I know Mr +Attorney, he has more in his brief than he has shown yet. Go on, Mr +Attorney. I need not, mayhap, have spoken so sharply, but you must +confess your course is something unusual. + +_Att._ Nobody knows it better than I, my lord: but I shall bring it to an +end with a round turn. I shall show you, gentlemen, that Ann Clark's body +was found in the month of June, in a pond of water, with the throat cut: +that a knife belonging to the prisoner was found in the same water: that +he made efforts to recover the said knife from the water: that the +coroner's quest brought in a verdict against the prisoner at the bar, and +that therefore he should by course have been tried at Exeter: but that, +suit being made on his behalf, on account that an impartial jury could +not be found to try him in his own country, he hath had that singular +favour shown him that he should be tried here in London. And so we will +proceed to call our evidence. + +Then the facts of the acquaintance between the prisoner and Ann Clark +were proved, and also the coroner's inquest. I pass over this portion of +the trial, for it offers nothing of special interest. + +Sarah Arscott was next called and sworn. + +_Att._ What is your occupation? + +_S._ I keep the New Inn at--. + +_Att._ Do you know the prisoner at the bar? + +_S._ Yes: he was often at our house since he come first at Christmas of +last year. + +_Att._ Did you know Ann Clark? + +_S._ Yes, very well. + +_Att._ Pray, what manner of person was she in her appearance? + +_S._ She was a very short thick-made woman: I do not know what else you +would have me say. + +_Att._ Was she comely? + +_S._ No, not by no manner of means: she was very uncomely, poor child! +She had a great face and hanging chops and a very bad colour like a +puddock. + +_L.C.J._ What is that, mistress? What say you she was like? + +_S._ My lord, I ask pardon; I heard Esquire Martin say she looked like a +puddock in the face; and so she did. + +_L.C.J._ Did you that? Can you interpret her, Mr Attorney? + +_Att._ My lord, I apprehend it is the country word for a toad. + +_L.C.J._ Oh, a hop-toad! Ay, go on. + +_Att._ Will you give an account to the jury of what passed between you +and the prisoner at the bar in May last? + +_S._ Sir, it was this. It was about nine o'clock the evening after that +Ann did not come home, and I was about my work in the house; there was no +company there only Thomas Snell, and it was foul weather. Esquire Martin +came in and called for some drink, and I, by way of pleasantry, I said to +him, "Squire, have you been looking after your sweetheart?" and he flew +out at me in a passion and desired I would not use such expressions. I +was amazed at that, because we were accustomed to joke with him about +her. + +_L.C.J._ Who, her? + +_S._ Ann Clark, my lord. And we had not heard the news of his being +contracted to a young gentlewoman elsewhere, or I am sure I should have +used better manners. So I said nothing, but being I was a little put out, +I begun singing, to myself as it were, the song they danced to the first +time they met, for I thought it would prick him. It was the same that he +was used to sing when he came down the street; I have heard it very +often: '_Madam, will you walk, will you talk with me?_' And it fell out +that I needed something that was in the kitchen. So I went out to get it, +and all the time I went on singing, something louder and more bold-like. +And as I was there all of a sudden I thought I heard someone answering +outside the house, but I could not be sure because of the wind blowing so +high. So then I stopped singing, and now I heard it plain, saying, '_Yes, +sir, I will walk, I will talk with you_,' and I knew the voice for Ann +Clark's voice. + +_Att._ How did you know it to be her voice? + +_S._ It was impossible I could be mistaken. She had a dreadful voice, a +kind of a squalling voice, in particular if she tried to sing. And there +was nobody in the village that could counterfeit it, for they often +tried. So, hearing that, I was glad, because we were all in an anxiety to +know what was gone with her: for though she was a natural, she had a good +disposition and was very tractable: and says I to myself, 'What, child! +are you returned, then?' and I ran into the front room, and said to +Squire Martin as I passed by, 'Squire, here is your sweetheart back +again: shall I call her in?' and with that I went to open the door; but +Squire Martin he caught hold of me, and it seemed to me he was out of his +wits, or near upon. 'Hold, woman,' says he, 'in God's name!' and I know +not what else: he was all of a shake. Then I was angry, and said I, +'What! are you not glad that poor child is found?' and I called to Thomas +Snell and said, 'If the Squire will not let me, do you open the door and +call her in.' So Thomas Snell went and opened the door, and the wind +setting that way blew in and overset the two candles that was all we had +lighted: and Esquire Martin fell away from holding me; I think he fell +down on the floor, but we were wholly in the dark, and it was a minute or +two before I got a light again: and while I was feeling for the fire-box, +I am not certain but I heard someone step 'cross the floor, and I am sure +I heard the door of the great cupboard that stands in the room open and +shut to. Then, when I had a light again, I see Esquire Martin on the +settle, all white and sweaty as if he had swounded away, and his arms +hanging down; and I was going to help him; but just then it caught my eye +that there was something like a bit of a dress shut into the cupboard +door, and it came to my mind I had heard that door shut. So I thought it +might be some person had run in when the light was quenched, and was +hiding in the cupboard. So I went up closer and looked: and there was a +bit of a black stuff cloak, and just below it an edge of a brown stuff +dress, both sticking out of the shut of the door: and both of them was +low down, as if the person that had them on might be crouched down +inside. + +_Att._ What did you take it to be? + +_S._ I took it to be a woman's dress. + +_Att._ Could you make any guess whom it belonged to? Did you know anyone +who wore such a dress? + +_S._ It was a common stuff, by what I could see. I have seen many women +wearing such a stuff in our parish. + +_Att._ Was it like Ann Clark's dress? + +_S._ She used to wear just such a dress: but I could not say on my oath +it was hers. + +_Att._ Did you observe anything else about it? + +_S_. I did notice that it looked very wet: but it was foul weather +outside. + +_L.C.J._ Did you feel of it, mistress? + +_S._ No, my lord, I did not like to touch it. + +_L.C.J._ Not like? Why that? Are you so nice that you scruple to feel of +a wet dress? + +_S._ Indeed, my lord, I cannot very well tell why: only it had a nasty +ugly look about it. + +_L.C.J._ Well, go on. + +_S_. Then I called again to Thomas Snell, and bid him come to me and +catch anyone that come out when I should open the cupboard door, 'for,' +says I, 'there is someone hiding within, and I would know what she +wants.' And with that Squire Martin gave a sort of a cry or a shout and +ran out of the house into the dark, and I felt the cupboard door pushed +out against me while I held it, and Thomas Snell helped me: but for all +we pressed to keep it shut as hard as we could, it was forced out against +us, and we had to fall back. + +_L.C.J._ And pray what came out--a mouse? + +_S._ No, my lord, it was greater than a mouse, but I could not see what +it was: it fleeted very swift over the floor and out at the door. + +_L.C.J._ But come; what did it look like? Was it a person? + +_S._ My lord, I cannot tell what it was, but it ran very low, and it was +of a dark colour. We were both daunted by it, Thomas Snell and I, but we +made all the haste we could after it to the door that stood open. And we +looked out, but it was dark and we could see nothing. + +_L.C.J._ Was there no tracks of it on the floor? What floor have you +there? + +_S._ It is a flagged floor and sanded, my lord, and there was an +appearance of a wet track on the floor, but we could make nothing of it, +neither Thomas Snell nor me, and besides, as I said, it was a foul night. + +_L.C.J._ Well, for my part, I see not--though to be sure it is an odd +tale she tells--what you would do with this evidence. + +_Att._ My lord, we bring it to show the suspicious carriage of the +prisoner immediately after the disappearance of the murdered person: and +we ask the jury's consideration of that; and also to the matter of the +voice heard without the house. + +Then the prisoner asked some questions not very material, and Thomas +Snell was next called, who gave evidence to the same effect as Mrs +Arscott, and added the following: + +_Att._ Did anything pass between you and the prisoner during the time Mrs +Arscott was out of the room? + +_Th._ I had a piece of twist in my pocket. + +_Att._ Twist of what? + +_Th._ Twist of tobacco, sir, and I felt a disposition to take a pipe of +tobacco. So I found a pipe on the chimney-piece, and being it was twist, +and in regard of me having by an oversight left my knife at my house, and +me not having over many teeth to pluck at it, as your lordship or anyone +else may have a view by their own eyesight-- + +_L.C.J._ What is the man talking about? Come to the matter, fellow! Do +you think we sit here to look at your teeth? + +_Th._ No, my lord, nor I would not you should do, God forbid! I know your +honours have better employment, and better teeth, I would not wonder. + +_L.C.J._ Good God, what a man is this! Yes, I _have_ better teeth, and +that you shall find if you keep not to the purpose. + +_Th._ I humbly ask pardon, my lord, but so it was. And I took upon me, +thinking no harm, to ask Squire Martin to lend me his knife to cut my +tobacco. And he felt first of one pocket and then of another and it was +not there at all. And says I, 'What! have you lost your knife, Squire?' +And up he gets and feels again and he sat down, and such a groan as he +gave. 'Good God!' he says, 'I must have left it there.' 'But,' says I, +'Squire, by all appearance it is _not_ there. Did you set a value on it,' +says I, 'you might have it cried.' But he sat there and put his head +between his hands and seemed to take no notice to what I said. And then +it was Mistress Arscott come tracking back out of the kitchen place. + +Asked if he heard the voice singing outside the house, he said 'No,' but +the door into the kitchen was shut, and there was a high wind: but says +that no one could mistake Ann Clark's voice. + +Then a boy, William Reddaway, about thirteen years of age, was called, +and by the usual questions, put by the Lord Chief Justice, it was +ascertained that he knew the nature of an oath. And so he was sworn. His +evidence referred to a time about a week later. + +_Att._ Now, child, don't be frighted: there is no one here will hurt you +if you speak the truth. + +_L.C.J._ Ay, if he speak the truth. But remember, child, thou art in the +presence of the great God of heaven and earth, that hath the keys of +hell, and of us that are the king's officers, and have the keys of +Newgate; and remember, too, there is a man's life in question; and if +thou tellest a lie, and by that means he comes to an ill end, thou art no +better than his murderer; and so speak the truth. + +_Att._ Tell the jury what you know, and speak out. Where were you on the +evening of the 23rd of May last? + +_L.C.J._ Why, what does such a boy as this know of days. Can you mark the +day, boy? + +_W._ Yes, my lord, it was the day before our feast, and I was to spend +sixpence there, and that falls a month before Midsummer Day. + +_One of the Jury._ My lord, we cannot hear what he says. + +_L.C.J._ He says he remembers the day because it was the day before the +feast they had there, and he had sixpence to lay out. Set him up on the +table there. Well, child, and where wast thou then? + +_W._ Keeping cows on the moor, my lord. + +But, the boy using the country speech, my lord could not well apprehend +him, and so asked if there was anyone that could interpret him, and it +was answered the parson of the parish was there, and he was accordingly +sworn and so the evidence given. The boy said: + +'I was on the moor about six o'clock, and sitting behind a bush of furze +near a pond of water: and the prisoner came very cautiously and looking +about him, having something like a long pole in his hand, and stopped a +good while as if he would be listening, and then began to feel in the +water with the pole: and I being very near the water--not above five +yards--heard as if the pole struck up against something that made a +wallowing sound, and the prisoner dropped the pole and threw himself on +the ground, and rolled himself about very strangely with his hands to his +ears, and so after a while got up and went creeping away.' + +Asked if he had had any communication with the prisoner, 'Yes, a day or +two before, the prisoner, hearing I was used to be on the moor, he asked +me if I had seen a knife laying about, and said he would give sixpence to +find it. And I said I had not seen any such thing, but I would ask about. +Then he said he would give me sixpence to say nothing, and so he did.' + +_L.C.J._ And was that the sixpence you were to lay out at the feast? + +_W._ Yes, if you please, my lord. + +Asked if he had observed anything particular as to the pond of water, he +said, 'No, except that it begun to have a very ill smell and the cows +would not drink of it for some days before.' + +Asked if he had ever seen the prisoner and Ann Clark in company together, +he began to cry very much, and it was a long time before they could get +him to speak intelligibly. At last the parson of the parish, Mr Matthews, +got him to be quiet, and the question being put to him again, he said he +had seen Ann Clark waiting on the moor for the prisoner at some way off, +several times since last Christmas. + +_Att._ Did you see her close, so as to be sure it was she? + +_W._ Yes, quite sure. + +_L.C.J._ How quite sure, child? + +_W._ Because she would stand and jump up and down and clap her arms like +a goose [which he called by some country name: but the parson explained +it to be a goose]. And then she was of such a shape that it could not be +no one else. + +_Att._ What was the last time that you so saw her? + +Then the witness began to cry again and clung very much to Mr Matthews, +who bid him not be frightened. And so at last he told this story: that +on the day before their feast (being the same evening that he had before +spoken of) after the prisoner had gone away, it being then twilight and +he very desirous to get home, but afraid for the present to stir from +where he was lest the prisoner should see him, remained some few minutes +behind the bush, looking on the pond, and saw something dark come up out +of the water at the edge of the pond farthest away from him, and so up +the bank. And when it got to the top where he could see it plain against +the sky, it stood up and flapped the arms up and down, and then run off +very swiftly in the same direction the prisoner had taken: and being +asked very strictly who he took it to be, he said upon his oath that it +could be nobody but Ann Clark. + +Thereafter his master was called, and gave evidence that the boy had +come home very late that evening and been chided for it, and that he +seemed very much amazed, but could give no account of the reason. + +_Att._ My lord, we have done with our evidence for the King. + +Then the Lord Chief Justice called upon the prisoner to make his defence; +which he did, though at no great length, and in a very halting way, +saying that he hoped the jury would not go about to take his life on the +evidence of a parcel of country people and children that would believe +any idle tale; and that he had been very much prejudiced in his trial; at +which the L.C.J. interrupted him, saying that he had had singular favour +shown to him in having his trial removed from Exeter, which the prisoner +acknowledging, said that he meant rather that since he was brought to +London there had not been care taken to keep him secured from +interruption and disturbance. Upon which the L.C.J. ordered the Marshal +to be called, and questioned him about the safe keeping of the prisoner, +but could find nothing: except the Marshal said that he had been informed +by the underkeeper that they had seen a person outside his door or going +up the stairs to it: but there was no possibility the person should have +got in. And it being inquired further what sort of person this might be, +the Marshal could not speak to it save by hearsay, which was not allowed. +And the prisoner, being asked if this was what he meant, said no, he knew +nothing of that, but it was very hard that a man should not be suffered +to be at quiet when his life stood on it. But it was observed he was very +hasty in his denial. And so he said no more, and called no witnesses. +Whereupon the Attorney-General spoke to the jury. [A full report of what +he said is given, and, if time allowed, I would extract that portion in +which he dwells on the alleged appearance of the murdered person: he +quotes some authorities of ancient date, as St Augustine _de cura pro +mortuis gerenda_ (a favourite book of reference with the old writers on +the supernatural) and also cites some cases which may be seen in +Glanvil's, but more conveniently in Mr Lang's books. He does not, +however, tell us more of those cases than is to be found in print.] + +The Lord Chief Justice then summed up the evidence for the jury. His +speech, again, contains nothing that I find worth copying out: but he was +naturally impressed with the singular character of the evidence, saying +that he had never heard such given in his experience; but that there was +nothing in law to set it aside, and that the jury must consider whether +they believed these witnesses or not. + +And the jury after a very short consultation brought the prisoner in +Guilty. + +So he was asked whether he had anything to say in arrest of judgement, +and pleaded that his name was spelt wrong in the indictment, being Martin +with an I, whereas it should be with a Y. But this was overruled as not +material, Mr Attorney saying, moreover, that he could bring evidence to +show that the prisoner by times wrote it as it was laid in the +indictment. And, the prisoner having nothing further to offer, sentence +of death was passed upon him, and that he should be hanged in chains upon +a gibbet near the place where the fact was committed, and that execution +should take place upon the 28th December next ensuing, being Innocents' +Day. + +Thereafter the prisoner being to all appearance in a state of +desperation, made shift to ask the L.C.J. that his relations might be +allowed to come to him during the short time he had to live. + +_L.C.J._ Ay, with all my heart, so it be in the presence of the keeper; +and Ann Clark may come to you as well, for what I care. + +At which the prisoner broke out and cried to his lordship not to use such +words to him, and his lordship very angrily told him he deserved no +tenderness at any man's hands for a cowardly butcherly murderer that had +not the stomach to take the reward of his deeds: 'and I hope to God,' +said he, 'that she _will_ be with you by day and by night till an end is +made of you.' Then the prisoner was removed, and, so far as I saw, he was +in a swound, and the Court broke up. + +I cannot refrain from observing that the prisoner during all the time of +the trial seemed to be more uneasy than is commonly the case even in +capital causes: that, for example, he was looking narrowly among the +people and often turning round very sharply, as if some person might be +at his ear. It was also very noticeable at this trial what a silence the +people kept, and further (though this might not be otherwise than natural +in that season of the year), what a darkness and obscurity there was in +the court room, lights being brought in not long after two o'clock in the +day, and yet no fog in the town. + + * * * * * + +It was not without interest that I heard lately from some young men who +had been giving a concert in the village I speak of, that a very cold +reception was accorded to the song which has been mentioned in this +narrative: '_Madam, will you walk?_' It came out in some talk they had +next morning with some of the local people that that song was regarded +with an invincible repugnance; it was not so, they believed, at North +Tawton, but here it was reckoned to be unlucky. However, why that view +was taken no one had the shadow of an idea. + + + + +MR HUMPHREYS AND HIS INHERITANCE + +About fifteen years ago, on a date late in August or early in September, +a train drew up at Wilsthorpe, a country station in Eastern England. Out +of it stepped (with other passengers) a rather tall and reasonably +good-looking young man, carrying a handbag and some papers tied up in a +packet. He was expecting to be met, one would say, from the way in which +he looked about him: and he was, as obviously, expected. The +stationmaster ran forward a step or two, and then, seeming to recollect +himself, turned and beckoned to a stout and consequential person with a +short round beard who was scanning the train with some appearance of +bewilderment. 'Mr Cooper,' he called out,--'Mr Cooper, I think this is +your gentleman'; and then to the passenger who had just alighted, 'Mr +Humphreys, sir? Glad to bid you welcome to Wilsthorpe. There's a cart +from the Hall for your luggage, and here's Mr Cooper, what I think you +know.' Mr Cooper had hurried up, and now raised his hat and shook hands. +'Very pleased, I'm sure,' he said, 'to give the echo to Mr Palmer's kind +words. I should have been the first to render expression to them but for +the face not being familiar to me, Mr Humphreys. May your residence among +us be marked as a red-letter day, sir.' 'Thank you very much, Mr Cooper,' +said Humphreys, 'for your good wishes, and Mr Palmer also. I do hope very +much that this change of--er--tenancy--which you must all regret, I am +sure--will not be to the detriment of those with whom I shall be brought +in contact.' He stopped, feeling that the words were not fitting +themselves together in the happiest way, and Mr Cooper cut in, 'Oh, you +may rest satisfied of that, Mr Humphreys. I'll take it upon myself to +assure you, sir, that a warm welcome awaits you on all sides. And as to +any change of propriety turning out detrimental to the neighbourhood, +well, your late uncle--' And here Mr Cooper also stopped, possibly in +obedience to an inner monitor, possibly because Mr Palmer, clearing his +throat loudly, asked Humphreys for his ticket. The two men left the +little station, and--at Humphreys' suggestion--decided to walk to Mr +Cooper's house, where luncheon was awaiting them. + +The relation in which these personages stood to each other can be +explained in a very few lines. Humphreys had inherited--quite +unexpectedly--a property from an uncle: neither the property nor the +uncle had he ever seen. He was alone in the world--a man of good ability +and kindly nature, whose employment in a Government office for the last +four or five years had not gone far to fit him for the life of a country +gentleman. He was studious and rather diffident, and had few out-of-door +pursuits except golf and gardening. To-day he had come down for the first +time to visit Wilsthorpe and confer with Mr Cooper, the bailiff, as to +the matters which needed immediate attention. It may be asked how this +came to be his first visit? Ought he not in decency to have attended his +uncle's funeral? The answer is not far to seek: he had been abroad at the +time of the death, and his address had not been at once procurable. So he +had put off coming to Wilsthorpe till he heard that all things were ready +for him. And now we find him arrived at Mr Cooper's comfortable house, +facing the parsonage, and having just shaken hands with the smiling Mrs +and Miss Cooper. + +During the minutes that preceded the announcement of luncheon the party +settled themselves on elaborate chairs in the drawing-room, Humphreys, +for his part, perspiring quietly in the consciousness that stock was +being taken of him. + +'I was just saying to Mr Humphreys, my dear,' said Mr Cooper, 'that I +hope and trust that his residence among us here in Wilsthorpe will be +marked as a red-letter day.' + +'Yes, indeed, I'm sure,' said Mrs Cooper heartily, 'and many, many of +them.' + +Miss Cooper murmured words to the same effect, and Humphreys attempted a +pleasantry about painting the whole calendar red, which, though greeted +with shrill laughter, was evidently not fully understood. At this point +they proceeded to luncheon. + +'Do you know this part of the country at all, Mr Humphreys?' said Mrs +Cooper, after a short interval. This was a better opening. + +'No, I'm sorry to say I do _not_,' said Humphreys. 'It seems very +pleasant, what I could see of it coming down in the train.' + +'Oh, it _is_ a pleasant part. Really, I sometimes say I don't know a +nicer district, for the country; and the people round, too: such a +quantity always going on. But I'm afraid you've come a little late for +some of the better garden parties, Mr Humphreys.' + +'I suppose I have; dear me, what a pity!' said Humphreys, with a gleam of +relief; and then, feeling that something more could be got out of this +topic, 'But after all, you see, Mrs Cooper, even if I could have been +here earlier, I should have been cut off from them, should I not? My poor +uncle's recent death, you know--' + +'Oh dear, Mr Humphreys, to be sure; what a dreadful thing of me to say!' +(And Mr and Miss Cooper seconded the proposition inarticulately.) 'What +must you have thought? I _am_ sorry so: you must really forgive me.' + +'Not at all, Mrs Cooper, I assure you. I can't honestly assert that my +uncle's death was a great grief to me, for I had never seen him. All I +meant was that I supposed I shouldn't be expected to take part for some +little time in festivities of that kind.' + +'Now, really it's very kind of you to take it in that way, Mr Humphreys, +isn't it, George? And you _do_ forgive me? But only fancy! You never saw +poor old Mr Wilson!' + +'Never in my life; nor did I ever have a letter from him. But, by the +way, you have something to forgive _me_ for. I've never thanked you, +except by letter, for all the trouble you've taken to find people to look +after me at the Hall.' + +'Oh, I'm sure that was nothing, Mr Humphreys; but I really do think that +you'll find them give satisfaction. The man and his wife whom we've got +for the butler and housekeeper we've known for a number of years: such a +nice respectable couple, and Mr Cooper, I'm sure, can answer for the men +in the stables and gardens.' + +'Yes, Mr Humphreys, they're a good lot. The head gardener's the only one +who's stopped on from Mr Wilson's time. The major part of the employees, +as you no doubt saw by the will, received legacies from the old gentleman +and retired from their posts, and as the wife says, your housekeeper and +butler are calculated to render you every satisfaction.' + +'So everything, Mr Humphreys, is ready for you to step in this very day, +according to what I understood you to wish,' said Mrs Cooper. +'Everything, that is, except company, and there I'm afraid you'll find +yourself quite at a standstill. Only we did understand it was your +intention to move in at once. If not, I'm sure you know we should have +been only too pleased for you to stay here.' + +'I'm quite sure you would, Mrs Cooper, and I'm very grateful to you. But +I thought I had really better make the plunge at once. I'm accustomed to +living alone, and there will be quite enough to occupy my +evenings--looking over papers and books and so on--for some time to come, +I thought if Mr Cooper could spare the time this afternoon to go over the +house and grounds with me--' + +'Certainly, certainly, Mr Humphreys. My time is your own, up to any hour +you please.' + +'Till dinner-time, father, you mean,' said Miss Cooper. 'Don't forget +we're going over to the Brasnetts'. And have you got all the garden +keys?' + +'Are you a great gardener, Miss Cooper?' said Mr Humphreys. 'I wish you +would tell me what I'm to expect at the Hall.' + +'Oh, I don't know about a _great_ gardener, Mr Humphreys: I'm very fond +of flowers--but the Hall garden might be made quite lovely, I often say. +It's very old-fashioned as it is: and a great deal of shrubbery. There's +an old temple, besides, and a maze.' + +'Really? Have you explored it ever?' + +'No-o,' said Miss Cooper, drawing in her lips and shaking her head. 'I've +often longed to try, but old Mr Wilson always kept it locked. He wouldn't +even let Lady Wardrop into it. (She lives near here, at Bentley, you +know, and she's a _great_ gardener, if you like.) That's why I asked +father if he had all the keys.' + +'I see. Well, I must evidently look into that, and show you over it when +I've learnt the way.' + +'Oh, thank you so much, Mr Humphreys! Now I shall have the laugh of Miss +Foster (that's our rector's daughter, you know; they're away on their +holiday now--such nice people). We always had a joke between us which +should be the first to get into the maze.' + +'I think the garden keys must be up at the house,' said Mr Cooper, who +had been looking over a large bunch. 'There is a number there in the +library. Now, Mr Humphreys, if you're prepared, we might bid goodbye to +these ladies and set forward on our little tour of exploration.' + + * * * * * + +As they came out of Mr Cooper's front gate, Humphreys had to run the +gauntlet--not of an organized demonstration, but of a good deal of +touching of hats and careful contemplation from the men and women who had +gathered in somewhat unusual numbers in the village street. He had, +further, to exchange some remarks with the wife of the lodge-keeper as +they passed the park gates, and with the lodge-keeper himself, who was +attending to the park road. I cannot, however, spare the time to report +the progress fully. As they traversed the half-mile or so between the +lodge and the house, Humphreys took occasion to ask his companion some +question which brought up the topic of his late uncle, and it did not +take long before Mr Cooper was embarked upon a disquisition. + +'It is singular to think, as the wife was saying just now, that you +should never have seen the old gentleman. And yet--you won't +misunderstand me, Mr Humphreys, I feel confident, when I say that in my +opinion there would have been but little congeniality betwixt yourself +and him. Not that I have a word to say in deprecation--not a single word. +I can tell you what he was,' said Mr Cooper, pulling up suddenly and +fixing Humphreys with his eye. 'Can tell you what he was in a nutshell, +as the saying goes. He was a complete, thorough valentudinarian. That +describes him to a T. That's what he was, sir, a complete +valentudinarian. No participation in what went on around him. I did +venture, I think, to send you a few words of cutting from our local +paper, which I took the occasion to contribute on his decease. If I +recollect myself aright, such is very much the gist of them. But don't, +Mr Humphreys,' continued Cooper, tapping him impressively on the +chest,--'don't you run away with the impression that I wish to say aught +but what is most creditable--_most_ creditable--of your respected uncle +and my late employer. Upright, Mr Humphreys--open as the day; liberal to +all in his dealings. He had the heart to feel and the hand to +accommodate. But there it was: there was the stumbling-block--his +unfortunate health--or, as I might more truly phrase it, his _want_ of +health.' + +'Yes, poor man. Did he suffer from any special disorder before his last +illness--which, I take it, was little more than old age?' + +'Just that, Mr Humphreys--just that. The flash flickering slowly away in +the pan,' said Cooper, with what he considered an appropriate +gesture,--'the golden bowl gradually ceasing to vibrate. But as to your +other question I should return a negative answer. General absence of +vitality? yes: special complaint? no, unless you reckon a nasty cough he +had with him. Why, here we are pretty much at the house. A handsome +mansion, Mr Humphreys, don't you consider?' + +It deserved the epithet, on the whole: but it was oddly proportioned--a +very tall red-brick house, with a plain parapet concealing the roof +almost entirely. It gave the impression of a town house set down in the +country; there was a basement, and a rather imposing flight of steps +leading up to the front door. It seemed also, owing to its height, to +desiderate wings, but there were none. The stables and other offices were +concealed by trees. Humphreys guessed its probable date as 1770 or +thereabouts. + +The mature couple who had been engaged to act as butler and +cook-housekeeper were waiting inside the front door, and opened it as +their new master approached. Their name, Humphreys already knew, was +Calton; of their appearance and manner he formed a favourable impression +in the few minutes' talk he had with them. It was agreed that he should +go through the plate and the cellar next day with Mr Calton, and that Mrs +C. should have a talk with him about linen, bedding, and so on--what +there was, and what there ought to be. Then he and Cooper, dismissing the +Caltons for the present, began their view of the house. Its topography is +not of importance to this story. The large rooms on the ground floor were +satisfactory, especially the library, which was as large as the +dining-room, and had three tall windows facing east. The bedroom prepared +for Humphreys was immediately above it. There were many pleasant, and a +few really interesting, old pictures. None of the furniture was new, and +hardly any of the books were later than the seventies. After hearing of +and seeing the few changes his uncle had made in the house, and +contemplating a shiny portrait of him which adorned the drawing-room, +Humphreys was forced to agree with Cooper that in all probability there +would have been little to attract him in his predecessor. It made him +rather sad that he could not be sorry--_dolebat se dolere non posse_--for +the man who, whether with or without some feeling of kindliness towards +his unknown nephew, had contributed so much to his well-being; for he +felt that Wilsthorpe was a place in which he could be happy, and +especially happy, it might be, in its library. + +And now it was time to go over the garden: the empty stables could wait, +and so could the laundry. So to the garden they addressed themselves, and +it was soon evident that Miss Cooper had been right in thinking that +there were possibilities. Also that Mr Cooper had done well in keeping on +the gardener. The deceased Mr Wilson might not have, indeed plainly had +not, been imbued with the latest views on gardening, but whatever had +been done here had been done under the eye of a knowledgeable man, and +the equipment and stock were excellent. Cooper was delighted with the +pleasure Humphreys showed, and with the suggestions he let fall from time +to time. 'I can see,' he said, 'that you've found your meatear here, Mr +Humphreys: you'll make this place a regular signosier before very many +seasons have passed over our heads. I wish Clutterham had been +here--that's the head gardener--and here he would have been of course, +as I told you, but for his son's being horse doover with a fever, poor +fellow! I should like him to have heard how the place strikes you.' + +'Yes, you told me he couldn't be here today, and I was very sorry to hear +the reason, but it will be time enough tomorrow. What is that white +building on the mound at the end of the grass ride? Is it the temple Miss +Cooper mentioned?' + +'That it is, Mr Humphreys--the Temple of Friendship. Constructed of +marble brought out of Italy for the purpose, by your late uncle's +grandfather. Would it interest you perhaps to take a turn there? You get +a very sweet prospect of the park.' + +The general lines of the temple were those of the Sibyl's Temple at +Tivoli, helped out by a dome, only the whole was a good deal smaller. +Some ancient sepulchral reliefs were built into the wall, and about it +all was a pleasant flavour of the grand tour. Cooper produced the key, +and with some difficulty opened the heavy door. Inside there was a +handsome ceiling, but little furniture. Most of the floor was occupied by +a pile of thick circular blocks of stone, each of which had a single +letter deeply cut on its slightly convex upper surface. 'What is the +meaning of these?' Humphreys inquired. + +'Meaning? Well, all things, we're told, have their purpose, Mr Humphreys, +and I suppose these blocks have had theirs as well as another. But what +that purpose is or was [Mr Cooper assumed a didactic attitude here], I, +for one, should be at a loss to point out to you, sir. All I know of +them--and it's summed up in a very few words--is just this: that they're +stated to have been removed by your late uncle, at a period before I +entered on the scene, from the maze. That, Mr Humphreys, is--' + +'Oh, the maze!' exclaimed Humphreys. 'I'd forgotten that: we must have a +look at it. Where is it?' + +Cooper drew him to the door of the temple, and pointed with his stick. +'Guide your eye,' he said (somewhat in the manner of the Second Elder in +Handel's 'Susanna'-- + + Far to the west direct your straining eyes + Where yon tall holm-tree rises to the skies) + +'Guide your eye by my stick here, and follow out the line directly +opposite to the spot where we're standing now, and I'll engage, Mr +Humphreys, that you'll catch the archway over the entrance. You'll see it +just at the end of the walk answering to the one that leads up to this +very building. Did you think of going there at once? because if that be +the case, I must go to the house and procure the key. If you would walk +on there, I'll rejoin you in a few moments' time.' + +Accordingly Humphreys strolled down the ride leading to the temple, past +the garden-front of the house, and up the turfy approach to the archway +which Cooper had pointed out to him. He was surprised to find that the +whole maze was surrounded by a high wall, and that the archway was +provided with a padlocked iron gate; but then he remembered that Miss +Cooper had spoken of his uncle's objection to letting anyone enter this +part of the garden. He was now at the gate, and still Cooper came not. +For a few minutes he occupied himself in reading the motto cut over the +entrance, _Secretum meum mihi et filiis domus meae_, and in trying to +recollect the source of it. Then he became impatient and considered the +possibility of scaling the wall. This was clearly not worth while; it +might have been done if he had been wearing an older suit: or could the +padlock--a very old one--be forced? No, apparently not: and yet, as he +gave a final irritated kick at the gate, something gave way, and the lock +fell at his feet. He pushed the gate open, inconveniencing a number of +nettles as he did so, and stepped into the enclosure. + +It was a yew maze, of circular form, and the hedges, long untrimmed, had +grown out and upwards to a most unorthodox breadth and height. The walks, +too, were next door to impassable. Only by entirely disregarding +scratches, nettle-stings, and wet, could Humphreys force his way along +them; but at any rate this condition of things, he reflected, would make +it easier for him to find his way out again, for he left a very visible +track. So far as he could remember, he had never been in a maze before, +nor did it seem to him now that he had missed much. The dankness and +darkness, and smell of crushed goosegrass and nettles were anything but +cheerful. Still, it did not seem to be a very intricate specimen of its +kind. Here he was (by the way, was that Cooper arrived at last? No!) very +nearly at the heart of it, without having taken much thought as to what +path he was following. Ah! there at last was the centre, easily gained. +And there was something to reward him. His first impression was that the +central ornament was a sundial; but when he had switched away some +portion of the thick growth of brambles and bindweed that had formed over +it, he saw that it was a less ordinary decoration. A stone column about +four feet high, and on the top of it a metal globe--copper, to judge by +the green patina--engraved, and finely engraved too, with figures in +outline, and letters. That was what Humphreys saw, and a brief glance at +the figures convinced him that it was one of those mysterious things +called celestial globes, from which, one would suppose, no one ever yet +derived any information about the heavens. However, it was too dark--at +least in the maze--for him to examine this curiosity at all closely, and +besides, he now heard Cooper's voice, and sounds as of an elephant in the +jungle. Humphreys called to him to follow the track he had beaten out, +and soon Cooper emerged panting into the central circle. He was full of +apologies for his delay; he had not been able, after all, to find the +key. 'But there!' he said, 'you've penetrated into the heart of the +mystery unaided and unannealed, as the saying goes. Well! I suppose it's +a matter of thirty to forty years since any human foot has trod these +precincts. Certain it is that I've never set foot in them before. Well, +well! what's the old proverb about angels fearing to tread? It's proved +true once again in this case.' Humphreys' acquaintance with Cooper, +though it had been short, was sufficient to assure him that there was no +guile in this allusion, and he forbore the obvious remark, merely +suggesting that it was fully time to get back to the house for a late cup +of tea, and to release Cooper for his evening engagement. They left the +maze accordingly, experiencing well-nigh the same ease in retracing their +path as they had in coming in. + +'Have you any idea,' Humphreys asked, as they went towards the house, +'why my uncle kept that place so carefully locked?' + +Cooper pulled up, and Humphreys felt that he must be on the brink of a +revelation. + +'I should merely be deceiving you, Mr Humphreys, and that to no good +purpose, if I laid claim to possess any information whatsoever on that +topic. When I first entered upon my duties here, some eighteen years +back, that maze was word for word in the condition you see it now, and +the one and only occasion on which the question ever arose within my +knowledge was that of which my girl made mention in your hearing. Lady +Wardrop--I've not a word to say against her--wrote applying for admission +to the maze. Your uncle showed me the note--a most civil note--everything +that could be expected from such a quarter. "Cooper," he said, "I wish +you'd reply to that note on my behalf." "Certainly, Mr Wilson," I said, +for I was quite inured to acting as his secretary, "what answer shall I +return to it?" "Well," he said, "give Lady Wardrop my compliments, and +tell her that if ever that portion of the grounds is taken in hand I +shall be happy to give her the first opportunity of viewing it, but that +it has been shut up now for a number of years, and I shall be grateful to +her if she kindly won't press the matter." That, Mr Humphreys, was your +good uncle's last word on the subject, and I don't think I can add +anything to it. Unless,' added Cooper, after a pause, 'it might be just +this: that, so far as I could form a judgement, he had a dislike (as +people often will for one reason or another) to the memory of his +grandfather, who, as I mentioned to you, had that maze laid out. A man of +peculiar teenets, Mr Humphreys, and a great traveller. You'll have the +opportunity, on the coming Sabbath, of seeing the tablet to him in our +little parish church; put up it was some long time after his death.' + +'Oh! I should have expected a man who had such a taste for building to +have designed a mausoleum for himself.' + +'Well, I've never noticed anything of the kind you mention; and, in fact, +come to think of it, I'm not at all sure that his resting-place is within +our boundaries at all: that he lays in the vault I'm pretty confident is +not the case. Curious now that I shouldn't be in a position to inform you +on that heading! Still, after all, we can't say, can we, Mr Humphreys, +that it's a point of crucial importance where the pore mortal coils are +bestowed?' + +At this point they entered the house, and Cooper's speculations were +interrupted. + +Tea was laid in the library, where Mr Cooper fell upon subjects +appropriate to the scene. 'A fine collection of books! One of the finest, +I've understood from connoisseurs, in this part of the country; splendid +plates, too, in some of these works. I recollect your uncle showing me +one with views of foreign towns--most absorbing it was: got up in +first-rate style. And another all done by hand, with the ink as fresh as +if it had been laid on yesterday, and yet, he told me, it was the work of +some old monk hundreds of years back. I've always taken a keen interest +in literature myself. Hardly anything to my mind can compare with a good +hour's reading after a hard day's work; far better than wasting the whole +evening at a friend's house--and that reminds me, to be sure. I shall be +getting into trouble with the wife if I don't make the best of my way +home and get ready to squander away one of these same evenings! I must be +off, Mr Humphreys.' + +'And that reminds _me_,' said Humphreys, 'if I'm to show Miss Cooper the +maze tomorrow we must have it cleared out a bit. Could you say a word +about that to the proper person?' + +'Why, to be sure. A couple of men with scythes could cut out a track +tomorrow morning. I'll leave word as I pass the lodge, and I'll tell +them, what'll save you the trouble, perhaps, Mr Humphreys, of having to +go up and extract them yourself: that they'd better have some sticks or a +tape to mark out their way with as they go on.' + +'A very good idea! Yes, do that; and I'll expect Mrs and Miss Cooper in +the afternoon, and yourself about half-past ten in the morning.' + +'It'll be a pleasure, I'm sure, both to them and to myself, Mr Humphreys. +Good night!' + + * * * * * + +Humphreys dined at eight. But for the fact that it was his first evening, +and that Calton was evidently inclined for occasional conversation, he +would have finished the novel he had bought for his journey. As it was, +he had to listen and reply to some of Calton's impressions of the +neighbourhood and the season: the latter, it appeared, was seasonable, +and the former had changed considerably--and not altogether for the +worse--since Calton's boyhood (which had been spent there). The village +shop in particular had greatly improved since the year 1870. It was now +possible to procure there pretty much anything you liked in reason: which +was a conveniency, because suppose anythink was required of a suddent +(and he had known such things before now), he (Calton) could step down +there (supposing the shop to be still open), and order it in, without he +borrered it of the Rectory, whereas in earlier days it would have been +useless to pursue such a course in respect of anything but candles, or +soap, or treacle, or perhaps a penny child's picture-book, and nine times +out of ten it'd be something more in the nature of a bottle of whisky +_you'd_ be requiring; leastways--On the whole Humphreys thought he would +be prepared with a book in future. + +The library was the obvious place for the after-dinner hours. Candle in +hand and pipe in mouth, he moved round the room for some time, taking +stock of the titles of the books. He had all the predisposition to take +interest in an old library, and there was every opportunity for him here +to make systematic acquaintance with one, for he had learned from Cooper +that there was no catalogue save the very superficial one made for +purposes of probate. The drawing up of a _catalogue raisonné_ would be a +delicious occupation for winter. There were probably treasures to be +found, too: even manuscripts, if Cooper might be trusted. + +As he pursued his round the sense came upon him (as it does upon most of +us in similar places) of the extreme unreadableness of a great portion of +the collection. 'Editions of Classics and Fathers, and Picart's +_Religious Ceremonies_, and the _Harleian Miscellany_, I suppose are all +very well, but who is ever going to read Tostatus Abulensis, or Pineda on +Job, or a book like this?' He picked out a small quarto, loose in the +binding, and from which the lettered label had fallen off; and observing +that coffee was waiting for him, retired to a chair. Eventually he opened +the book. It will be observed that his condemnation of it rested wholly +on external grounds. For all he knew it might have been a collection of +unique plays, but undeniably the outside was blank and forbidding. As a +matter of fact, it was a collection of sermons or meditations, and +mutilated at that, for the first sheet was gone. It seemed to belong to +the latter end of the seventeenth century. He turned over the pages till +his eye was caught by a marginal note: '_A Parable of this Unhappy +Condition_,' and he thought he would see what aptitudes the author might +have for imaginative composition. 'I have heard or read,' so ran the +passage, 'whether in the way of _Parable_ or true _Relation_ I leave my +Reader to judge, of a Man who, like _Theseus_, in the _Attick Tale_, +should adventure himself, into a _Labyrinth_ or _Maze_: and such an one +indeed as was not laid out in the Fashion of our _Topiary_ artists of +this Age, but of a wide compass, in which, moreover, such unknown +Pitfalls and Snares, nay, such ill-omened Inhabitants were commonly +thought to lurk as could only be encountered at the Hazard of one's very +life. Now you may be sure that in such a Case the Disswasions of Friends +were not wanting. "Consider of such-an-one" says a Brother "how he went +the way you wot of, and was never seen more." "Or of such another" says +the Mother "that adventured himself but a little way in, and from that +day forth is so troubled in his Wits that he cannot tell what he saw, nor +hath passed one good Night." "And have you never heard" cries a Neighbour +"of what Faces have been seen to look out over the _Palisadoes_ and +betwixt the Bars of the Gate?" But all would not do: the Man was set upon +his Purpose: for it seems it was the common fireside Talk of that Country +that at the Heart and Centre of this _Labyrinth_ there was a Jewel of +such Price and Rarity that would enrich the Finder thereof for his life: +and this should be his by right that could persever to come at it. What +then? _Quid multa?_ The Adventurer pass'd the Gates, and for a whole +day's space his Friends without had no news of him, except it might be by +some indistinct Cries heard afar off in the Night, such as made them turn +in their restless Beds and sweat for very Fear, not doubting but that +their Son and Brother had put one more to the _Catalogue_ of those +unfortunates that had suffer'd shipwreck on that Voyage. So the next day +they went with weeping Tears to the Clark of the Parish to order the Bell +to be toll'd. And their Way took them hard by the gate of the +_Labyrinth_: which they would have hastened by, from the Horrour they had +of it, but that they caught sight of a sudden of a Man's Body lying in +the Roadway, and going up to it (with what Anticipations may be easily +figured) found it to be him whom they reckoned as lost: and not dead, +though he were in a Swound most like Death. They then, who had gone forth +as Mourners came back rejoycing, and set to by all means to revive their +Prodigal. Who, being come to himself, and hearing of their Anxieties and +their Errand of that Morning, "Ay" says he "you may as well finish what +you were about: for, for all I have brought back the Jewel (which he +shew'd them, and 'twas indeed a rare Piece) I have brought back that with +it that will leave me neither Rest at Night nor Pleasure by Day." +Whereupon they were instant with him to learn his Meaning, and where his +Company should be that went so sore against his Stomach. "O" says he +"'tis here in my Breast: I cannot flee from it, do what I may." So it +needed no Wizard to help them to a guess that it was the Recollection of +what he had seen that troubled him so wonderfully. But they could get no +more of him for a long Time but by Fits and Starts. However at long and +at last they made shift to collect somewhat of this kind: that at first, +while the Sun was bright, he went merrily on, and without any Difficulty +reached the Heart of the _Labyrinth_ and got the Jewel, and so set out on +his way back rejoycing: but as the Night fell, _wherein all the Beasts of +the Forest do move_, he begun to be sensible of some Creature keeping +Pace with him and, as he thought, _peering and looking upon him_ from the +next Alley to that he was in; and that when he should stop, this +Companion should stop also, which put him in some Disorder of his +Spirits. And, indeed, as the Darkness increas'd, it seemed to him that +there was more than one, and, it might be, even a whole Band of such +Followers: at least so he judg'd by the Rustling and Cracking that they +kept among the Thickets; besides that there would be at a Time a Sound of +Whispering, which seem'd to import a Conference among them. But in regard +of who they were or what Form they were of, he would not be persuaded to +say what he thought. Upon his Hearers asking him what the Cries were +which they heard in the Night (as was observ'd above) he gave them this +Account: That about Midnight (so far as he could judge) he heard his Name +call'd from a long way off, and he would have been sworn it was his +Brother that so call'd him. So he stood still and hilloo'd at the Pitch +of his Voice, and he suppos'd that the _Echo_, or the Noyse of his +Shouting, disguis'd for the Moment any lesser sound; because, when there +fell a Stillness again, he distinguish'd a Trampling (not loud) of +running Feet coming very close behind him, wherewith he was so daunted +that himself set off to run, and that he continued till the Dawn broke. +Sometimes when his Breath fail'd him, he would cast himself flat on his +Face, and hope that his Pursuers might over-run him in the Darkness, but +at such a Time they would regularly make a Pause, and he could hear them +pant and snuff as it had been a Hound at Fault: which wrought in him so +extream an Horrour of mind, that he would be forc'd to betake himself +again to turning and doubling, if by any Means he might throw them off +the Scent. And, as if this Exertion was in itself not terrible enough, he +had before him the constant Fear of falling into some Pit or Trap, of +which he had heard, and indeed seen with his own Eyes that there were +several, some at the sides and other in the Midst of the Alleys. So that +in fine (he said) a more dreadful Night was never spent by Mortal +Creature than that he had endur'd in that _Labyrinth_; and not that Jewel +which he had in his Wallet, nor the richest that was ever brought out of +the _Indies_, could be a sufficient Recompence to him for the Pains he +had suffered. + +'I will spare to set down the further Recital of this Man's Troubles, +inasmuch as I am confident my Reader's Intelligence will hit the +_Parallel_ I desire to draw. For is not this Jewel a just Emblem of the +Satisfaction which a Man may bring back with him from a Course of this +World's Pleasures? and will not the _Labyrinth_ serve for an Image of the +World itself wherein such a Treasure (if we may believe the common Voice) +is stored up?' + +At about this point Humphreys thought that a little Patience would be an +agreeable change, and that the writer's 'improvement' of his Parable +might be left to itself. So he put the book back in its former place, +wondering as he did so whether his uncle had ever stumbled across that +passage; and if so, whether it had worked on his fancy so much as to make +him dislike the idea of a maze, and determine to shut up the one in the +garden. Not long afterwards he went to bed. + +The next day brought a morning's hard work with Mr Cooper, who, if +exuberant in language, had the business of the estate at his fingers' +ends. He was very breezy this morning, Mr Cooper was: had not forgotten +the order to clear out the maze--the work was going on at that moment: +his girl was on the tentacles of expectation about it. He also hoped that +Humphreys had slept the sleep of the just, and that we should be favoured +with a continuance of this congenial weather. At luncheon he enlarged on +the pictures in the dining-room, and pointed out the portrait of the +constructor of the temple and the maze. Humphreys examined this with +considerable interest. It was the work of an Italian, and had been +painted when old Mr Wilson was visiting Rome as a young man. (There was, +indeed, a view of the Colosseum in the background.) A pale thin face and +large eyes were the characteristic features. In the hand was a partially +unfolded roll of paper, on which could be distinguished the plan of a +circular building, very probably the temple, and also part of that of a +labyrinth. Humphreys got up on a chair to examine it, but it was not +painted with sufficient clearness to be worth copying. It suggested to +him, however, that he might as well make a plan of his own maze and hang +it in the hall for the use of visitors. + +This determination of his was confirmed that same afternoon; for when Mrs +and Miss Cooper arrived, eager to be inducted into the maze, he found +that he was wholly unable to lead them to the centre. The gardeners had +removed the guide-marks they had been using, and even Clutterham, when +summoned to assist, was as helpless as the rest. 'The point is, you see, +Mr Wilson--I should say 'Umphreys--these mazes is purposely constructed +so much alike, with a view to mislead. Still, if you'll foller me, I +think I can put you right. I'll just put my 'at down 'ere as a +starting-point.' He stumped off, and after five minutes brought the party +safe to the hat again. 'Now that's a very peculiar thing,' he said, with +a sheepish laugh. 'I made sure I'd left that 'at just over against a +bramble-bush, and you can see for yourself there ain't no bramble-bush +not in this walk at all. If you'll allow me, Mr Humphreys--that's the +name, ain't it, sir?--I'll just call one of the men in to mark the place +like.' + +William Crack arrived, in answer to repeated shouts. He had some +difficulty in making his way to the party. First he was seen or heard in +an inside alley, then, almost at the same moment, in an outer one. +However, he joined them at last, and was first consulted without effect +and then stationed by the hat, which Clutterham still considered it +necessary to leave on the ground. In spite of this strategy, they spent +the best part of three-quarters of an hour in quite fruitless wanderings, +and Humphreys was obliged at last, seeing how tired Mrs Cooper was +becoming, to suggest a retreat to tea, with profuse apologies to Miss +Cooper. 'At any rate you've won your bet with Miss Foster,' he said; 'you +have been inside the maze; and I promise you the first thing I do shall +be to make a proper plan of it with the lines marked out for you to go +by.' 'That's what's wanted, sir,' said Clutterham, 'someone to draw out a +plan and keep it by them. It might be very awkward, you see, anyone +getting into that place and a shower of rain come on, and them not able +to find their way out again; it might be hours before they could be got +out, without you'd permit of me makin' a short cut to the middle: what my +meanin' is, takin' down a couple of trees in each 'edge in a straight +line so as you could git a clear view right through. Of course that'd do +away with it as a maze, but I don't know as you'd approve of that.' + +'No, I won't have that done yet: I'll make a plan first, and let you have +a copy. Later on, if we find occasion, I'll think of what you say.' + +Humphreys was vexed and ashamed at the fiasco of the afternoon, and could +not be satisfied without making another effort that evening to reach the +centre of the maze. His irritation was increased by finding it without a +single false step. He had thoughts of beginning his plan at once; but the +light was fading, and he felt that by the time he had got the necessary +materials together, work would be impossible. + +Next morning accordingly, carrying a drawing-board, pencils, compasses, +cartridge paper, and so forth (some of which had been borrowed from the +Coopers and some found in the library cupboards), he went to the middle +of the maze (again without any hesitation), and set out his materials. He +was, however, delayed in making a start. The brambles and weeds that had +obscured the column and globe were now all cleared away, and it was for +the first time possible to see clearly what these were like. The column +was featureless, resembling those on which sundials are usually placed. +Not so the globe. I have said that it was finely engraved with figures +and inscriptions, and that on a first glance Humphreys had taken it for a +celestial globe: but he soon found that it did not answer to his +recollection of such things. One feature seemed familiar; a winged +serpent--_Draco_--encircled it about the place which, on a terrestrial +globe, is occupied by the equator: but on the other hand, a good part of +the upper hemisphere was covered by the outspread wings of a large figure +whose head was concealed by a ring at the pole or summit of the whole. +Around the place of the head the words _princeps tenebrarum_ could be +deciphered. In the lower hemisphere there was a space hatched all over +with cross-lines and marked as _umbra mortis_. Near it was a range of +mountains, and among them a valley with flames rising from it. This was +lettered (will you be surprised to learn it?) _vallis filiorum Hinnom_. +Above and below _Draco_ were outlined various figures not unlike the +pictures of the ordinary constellations, but not the same. Thus, a nude +man with a raised club was described, not as _Hercules_ but as _Cain_. +Another, plunged up to his middle in earth and stretching out despairing +arms, was _Chore_, not _Ophiuchus_, and a third, hung by his hair to a +snaky tree, was _Absolon_. Near the last, a man in long robes and high +cap, standing in a circle and addressing two shaggy demons who hovered +outside, was described as _Hostanes magus_ (a character unfamiliar to +Humphreys). The scheme of the whole, indeed, seemed to be an assemblage +of the patriarchs of evil, perhaps not uninfluenced by a study of Dante. +Humphreys thought it an unusual exhibition of his great-grandfather's +taste, but reflected that he had probably picked it up in Italy and had +never taken the trouble to examine it closely: certainly, had he set much +store by it, he would not have exposed it to wind and weather. He tapped +the metal--it seemed hollow and not very thick--and, turning from it, +addressed himself to his plan. After half an hour's work he found it was +impossible to get on without using a clue: so he procured a roll of twine +from Clutterham, and laid it out along the alleys from the entrance to +the centre, tying the end to the ring at the top of the globe. This +expedient helped him to set out a rough plan before luncheon, and in the +afternoon he was able to draw it in more neatly. Towards tea-time Mr +Cooper joined him, and was much interested in his progress. 'Now this--' +said Mr Cooper, laying his hand on the globe, and then drawing it away +hastily. 'Whew! Holds the heat, doesn't it, to a surprising degree, Mr +Humphreys. I suppose this metal--copper, isn't it?--would be an insulator +or conductor, or whatever they call it.' + +'The sun has been pretty strong this afternoon,' said Humphreys, evading +the scientific point, 'but I didn't notice the globe had got hot. No--it +doesn't seem very hot to me,' he added. + +'Odd!' said Mr Cooper. 'Now I can't hardly bear my hand on it. Something +in the difference of temperament between us, I suppose. I dare say you're +a chilly subject, Mr Humphreys: I'm not: and there's where the +distinction lies. All this summer I've slept, if you'll believe me, +practically _in statu quo_, and had my morning tub as cold as I could get +it. Day out and day in--let me assist you with that string.' + +'It's all right, thanks; but if you'll collect some of these pencils and +things that are lying about I shall be much obliged. Now I think we've +got everything, and we might get back to the house.' + +They left the maze, Humphreys rolling up the clue as they went. + +The night was rainy. + +Most unfortunately it turned out that, whether by Cooper's fault or not, +the plan had been the one thing forgotten the evening before. As was to +be expected, it was ruined by the wet. There was nothing for it but to +begin again (the job would not be a long one this time). The clue +therefore was put in place once more and a fresh start made. But +Humphreys had not done much before an interruption came in the shape of +Calton with a telegram. His late chief in London wanted to consult him. +Only a brief interview was wanted, but the summons was urgent. This was +annoying, yet it was not really upsetting; there was a train available in +half an hour, and, unless things went very cross, he could be back, +possibly by five o'clock, certainly by eight. He gave the plan to Calton +to take to the house, but it was not worth while to remove the clue. + +All went as he had hoped. He spent a rather exciting evening in the +library, for he lighted tonight upon a cupboard where some of the rarer +books were kept. When he went up to bed he was glad to find that the +servant had remembered to leave his curtains undrawn and his windows +open. He put down his light, and went to the window which commanded a +view of the garden and the park. It was a brilliant moonlight night. In a +few weeks' time the sonorous winds of autumn would break up all this +calm. But now the distant woods were in a deep stillness; the slopes of +the lawns were shining with dew; the colours of some of the flowers could +almost be guessed. The light of the moon just caught the cornice of the +temple and the curve of its leaden dome, and Humphreys had to own that, +so seen, these conceits of a past age have a real beauty. In short, the +light, the perfume of the woods, and the absolute quiet called up such +kind old associations in his mind that he went on ruminating them for a +long, long time. As he turned from the window he felt he had never seen +anything more complete of its sort. The one feature that struck him with +a sense of incongruity was a small Irish yew, thin and black, which stood +out like an outpost of the shrubbery, through which the maze was +approached. That, he thought, might as well be away: the wonder was that +anyone should have thought it would look well in that position. + + * * * * * + +However, next morning, in the press of answering letters and going over +books with Mr Cooper, the Irish yew was forgotten. One letter, by the +way, arrived this day which has to be mentioned. It was from that Lady +Wardrop whom Miss Cooper had mentioned, and it renewed the application +which she had addressed to Mr Wilson. She pleaded, in the first place, +that she was about to publish a Book of Mazes, and earnestly desired to +include the plan of the Wilsthorpe Maze, and also that it would be a +great kindness if Mr Humphreys could let her see it (if at all) at an +early date, since she would soon have to go abroad for the winter months. +Her house at Bentley was not far distant, so Humphreys was able to send a +note by hand to her suggesting the very next day or the day after for her +visit; it may be said at once that the messenger brought back a most +grateful answer, to the effect that the morrow would suit her admirably. + +The only other event of the day was that the plan of the maze was +successfully finished. + +This night again was fair and brilliant and calm, and Humphreys lingered +almost as long at his window. The Irish yew came to his mind again as he +was on the point of drawing his curtains: but either he had been misled +by a shadow the night before, or else the shrub was not really so +obtrusive as he had fancied. Anyhow, he saw no reason for interfering +with it. What he _would_ do away with, however, was a clump of dark +growth which had usurped a place against the house wall, and was +threatening to obscure one of the lower range of windows. It did not look +as if it could possibly be worth keeping; he fancied it dank and +unhealthy, little as he could see of it. + +Next day (it was a Friday--he had arrived at Wilsthorpe on a Monday) Lady +Wardrop came over in her car soon after luncheon. She was a stout elderly +person, very full of talk of all sorts and particularly inclined to make +herself agreeable to Humphreys, who had gratified her very much by his +ready granting of her request. They made a thorough exploration of the +place together; and Lady Wardrop's opinion of her host obviously rose +sky-high when she found that he really knew something of gardening. She +entered enthusiastically into all his plans for improvement, but agreed +that it would be a vandalism to interfere with the characteristic +laying-out of the ground near the house. With the temple she was +particularly delighted, and, said she, 'Do you know, Mr Humphreys, I +think your bailiff must be right about those lettered blocks of stone. +One of my mazes--I'm sorry to say the stupid people have destroyed it +now--it was at a place in Hampshire--had the track marked out in that +way. They were tiles there, but lettered just like yours, and the +letters, taken in the right order, formed an inscription--what it was I +forget--something about Theseus and Ariadne. I have a copy of it, as well +as the plan of the maze where it was. How people can do such things! I +shall never forgive you if you injure _your_ maze. Do you know, they're +becoming very uncommon? Almost every year I hear of one being grubbed up. +Now, do let's get straight to it: or, if you're too busy, I know my way +there perfectly, and I'm not afraid of getting lost in it; I know too +much about mazes for that. Though I remember missing my lunch--not so +very long ago either--through getting entangled in the one at Busbury. +Well, of course, if you _can_ manage to come with me, that will be all +the nicer.' + +After this confident prelude justice would seem to require that Lady +Wardrop should have been hopelessly muddled by the Wilsthorpe maze. +Nothing of that kind happened: yet it is to be doubted whether she got +all the enjoyment from her new specimen that she expected. She was +interested--keenly interested--to be sure, and pointed out to Humphreys a +series of little depressions in the ground which, she thought, marked the +places of the lettered blocks. She told him, too, what other mazes +resembled his most closely in arrangement, and explained how it was +usually possible to date a maze to within twenty years by means of its +plan. This one, she already knew, must be about as old as 1780, and its +features were just what might be expected. The globe, furthermore, +completely absorbed her. It was unique in her experience, and she pored +over it for long. 'I should like a rubbing of that,' she said, 'if it +could possibly be made. Yes, I am sure you would be most kind about it, +Mr Humphreys, but I trust you won't attempt it on my account, I do +indeed; I shouldn't like to take any liberties here. I have the feeling +that it might be resented. Now, confess,' she went on, turning and facing +Humphreys, 'don't you feel--haven't you felt ever since you came in +here--that a watch is being kept on us, and that if we overstepped the +mark in any way there would be a--well, a pounce? No? _I_ do; and I don't +care how soon we are outside the gate.' + +'After all,' she said, when they were once more on their way to the +house, 'it may have been only the airlessness and the dull heat of that +place that pressed on my brain. Still, I'll take back one thing I said. +I'm not sure that I shan't forgive you after all, if I find next spring +that that maze has been grubbed up.' + +'Whether or no that's done, you shall have the plan, Lady Wardrop. I have +made one, and no later than tonight I can trace you a copy.' + +'Admirable: a pencil tracing will be all I want, with an indication of +the scale. I can easily have it brought into line with the rest of my +plates. Many, many thanks.' + +'Very well, you shall have that tomorrow. I wish you could help me to a +solution of my block-puzzle.' + +'What, those stones in the summer-house? That _is_ a puzzle; they are in +no sort of order? Of course not. But the men who put them down must have +had some directions--perhaps you'll find a paper about it among your +uncle's things. If not, you'll have to call in somebody who's an expert +in ciphers.' + +'Advise me about something else, please,' said Humphreys. 'That +bush-thing under the library window: you would have that away, wouldn't +you?' + +'Which? That? Oh, I think not,' said Lady Wardrop. 'I can't see it very +well from this distance, but it's not unsightly.' + +'Perhaps you're right; only, looking out of my window, just above it, +last night, I thought it took up too much room. It doesn't seem to, as +one sees it from here, certainly. Very well, I'll leave it alone for a +bit.' + +Tea was the next business, soon after which Lady Wardrop drove off; but, +half-way down the drive, she stopped the car and beckoned to Humphreys, +who was still on the front-door steps. He ran to glean her parting words, +which were: 'It just occurs to me, it might be worth your while to look +at the underside of those stones. They _must_ have been numbered, mustn't +they? _Good_-bye again. Home, please.' + + * * * * * + +The main occupation of this evening at any rate was settled. The tracing +of the plan for Lady Wardrop and the careful collation of it with the +original meant a couple of hours' work at least. Accordingly, soon after +nine Humphreys had his materials put out in the library and began. It was +a still, stuffy evening; windows had to stand open, and he had more than +one grisly encounter with a bat. These unnerving episodes made him keep +the tail of his eye on the window. Once or twice it was a question +whether there was--not a bat, but something more considerable--that had a +mind to join him. How unpleasant it would be if someone had slipped +noiselessly over the sill and was crouching on the floor! + +The tracing of the plan was done: it remained to compare it with the +original, and to see whether any paths had been wrongly closed or left +open. With one finger on each paper, he traced out the course that must +be followed from the entrance. There were one or two slight mistakes, but +here, near the centre, was a bad confusion, probably due to the entry of +the Second or Third Bat. Before correcting the copy he followed out +carefully the last turnings of the path on the original. These, at least, +were right; they led without a hitch to the middle space. Here was a +feature which need not be repeated on the copy--an ugly black spot about +the size of a shilling. Ink? No. It resembled a hole, but how should a +hole be there? He stared at it with tired eyes: the work of tracing had +been very laborious, and he was drowsy and oppressed... But surely this +was a very odd hole. It seemed to go not only through the paper, but +through the table on which it lay. Yes, and through the floor below that, +down, and still down, even into infinite depths. He craned over it, +utterly bewildered. Just as, when you were a child, you may have pored +over a square inch of counterpane until it became a landscape with wooded +hills, and perhaps even churches and houses, and you lost all thought of +the true size of yourself and it, so this hole seemed to Humphreys for +the moment the only thing in the world. For some reason it was hateful to +him from the first, but he had gazed at it for some moments before any +feeling of anxiety came upon him; and then it did come, stronger and +stronger--a horror lest something might emerge from it, and a really +agonizing conviction that a terror was on its way, from the sight of +which he would not be able to escape. Oh yes, far, far down there was a +movement, and the movement was upwards--towards the surface. Nearer and +nearer it came, and it was of a blackish-grey colour with more than one +dark hole. It took shape as a face--a human face--a _burnt_ human face: +and with the odious writhings of a wasp creeping out of a rotten apple +there clambered forth an appearance of a form, waving black arms prepared +to clasp the head that was bending over them. With a convulsion of +despair Humphreys threw himself back, struck his head against a hanging +lamp, and fell. + +There was concussion of the brain, shock to the system, and a long +confinement to bed. The doctor was badly puzzled, not by the symptoms, +but by a request which Humphreys made to him as soon as he was able to +say anything. 'I wish you would open the ball in the maze.' 'Hardly room +enough there, I should have thought,' was the best answer he could summon +up; 'but it's more in your way than mine; my dancing days are over.' At +which Humphreys muttered and turned over to sleep, and the doctor +intimated to the nurses that the patient was not out of the wood yet. +When he was better able to express his views, Humphreys made his meaning +clear, and received a promise that the thing should be done at once. He +was so anxious to learn the result that the doctor, who seemed a little +pensive next morning, saw that more harm than good would be done by +saving up his report. 'Well,' he said, 'I am afraid the ball is done for; +the metal must have worn thin, I suppose. Anyhow, it went all to bits +with the first blow of the chisel.' 'Well? go on, do!' said Humphreys +impatiently. 'Oh! you want to know what we found in it, of course. Well, +it was half full of stuff like ashes.' 'Ashes? What did you make of them?' +'I haven't thoroughly examined them yet; there's hardly been time: but +Cooper's made up his mind--I dare say from something I said--that it's a +case of cremation... Now don't excite yourself, my good sir: yes, I must +allow I think he's probably right.' + +The maze is gone, and Lady Wardrop has forgiven Humphreys; in fact, I +believe he married her niece. She was right, too, in her conjecture that +the stones in the temple were numbered. There had been a numeral painted +on the bottom of each. Some few of these had rubbed off, but enough +remained to enable Humphreys to reconstruct the inscription. It ran thus: + + PENETRANS AD INTERIORA MORTIS + +Grateful as Humphreys was to the memory of his uncle, he could not quite +forgive him for having burnt the journals and letters of the James Wilson +who had gifted Wilsthorpe with the maze and the temple. As to the +circumstances of that ancestor's death and burial no tradition survived; +but his will, which was almost the only record of him accessible, +assigned an unusually generous legacy to a servant who bore an Italian +name. + +Mr Cooper's view is that, humanly speaking, all these many solemn events +have a meaning for us, if our limited intelligence permitted of our +disintegrating it, while Mr Calton has been reminded of an aunt now gone +from us, who, about the year 1866, had been lost for upwards of an hour +and a half in the maze at Covent Gardens, or it might be Hampton Court. + +One of the oddest things in the whole series of transactions is that the +book which contained the Parable has entirely disappeared. Humphreys has +never been able to find it since he copied out the passage to send to +Lady Wardrop. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, by +Montague Rhodes James + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY *** + +***** This file should be named 9629-8.txt or 9629-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/6/2/9629/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Thomas Berger, and PG Distributed +Proofreaders + + +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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Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/9629-8.zip b/9629-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..686c203 --- /dev/null +++ b/9629-8.zip diff --git a/9629.txt b/9629.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..86919cb --- /dev/null +++ b/9629.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4987 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, by Montague Rhodes James + +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: Ghost Stories of an Antiquary + Part 2: More Ghost Stories + +Author: Montague Rhodes James + +Posting Date: November 17, 2011 [EBook #9629] +Release Date: January, 2006 +First Posted: October 11, 2003 +[Last updated: January 18, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Thomas Berger, and PG Distributed +Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + + +PART 2: More Ghost Stories + + +M.R. JAMES + +GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY + + + +_These stories are dedicated to all those who at various times have +listened to them._ + + + +CONTENTS + +PART I: GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY + +Canon Alberic's Scrap-book +Lost Hearts +The Mezzotint +The Ash-tree +Number 13 +Count Magnus +'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad' +The Treasure of Abbot Thomas + +PART 2: MORE GHOST STORIES + +A School Story +The Rose Garden +The Tractate Middoth +Casting the Runes +The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral +Martin's Close +Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance + + * * * * * + +The first six of the seven tales were Christmas productions, the very +first ('A School Story') having been made up for the benefit of King's +College Choir School. 'The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral' was printed in +_Contemporary Review_; 'Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance' was written to +fill up the volume. In 'A School Story' I had Temple Grove, East Sheen in +mind; in 'The Tractate Middoth', Cambridge University Library; in +'Martin's Close', Sampford Courtenay in Devon. The Cathedral of +Barchester is a blend of Canterbury, Salisbury, and Hereford. + +M.R. JAMES + + * * * * * + +A SCHOOL STORY + +Two men in a smoking-room were talking of their private-school days. 'At +_our_ school,' said A., 'we had a ghost's footmark on the staircase. What +was it like? Oh, very unconvincing. Just the shape of a shoe, with a +square toe, if I remember right. The staircase was a stone one. I never +heard any story about the thing. That seems odd, when you come to think +of it. Why didn't somebody invent one, I wonder?' + +'You never can tell with little boys. They have a mythology of their own. +There's a subject for you, by the way--"The Folklore of Private +Schools".' + +'Yes; the crop is rather scanty, though. I imagine, if you were to +investigate the cycle of ghost stories, for instance, which the boys at +private schools tell each other, they would all turn out to be +highly-compressed versions of stories out of books.' + +'Nowadays the _Strand_ and _Pearson's_, and so on, would be extensively +drawn upon.' + +'No doubt: they weren't born or thought of in _my_ time. Let's see. I +wonder if I can remember the staple ones that I was told. First, there +was the house with a room in which a series of people insisted on passing +a night; and each of them in the morning was found kneeling in a corner, +and had just time to say, "I've seen it," and died.' + +'Wasn't that the house in Berkeley Square?' + +'I dare say it was. Then there was the man who heard a noise in the +passage at night, opened his door, and saw someone crawling towards him +on all fours with his eye hanging out on his cheek. There was besides, +let me think--Yes! the room where a man was found dead in bed with a +horseshoe mark on his forehead, and the floor under the bed was covered +with marks of horseshoes also; I don't know why. Also there was the lady +who, on locking her bedroom door in a strange house, heard a thin voice +among the bed-curtains say, "Now we're shut in for the night." None of +those had any explanation or sequel. I wonder if they go on still, those +stories.' + +'Oh, likely enough--with additions from the magazines, as I said. You +never heard, did you, of a real ghost at a private school? I thought not; +nobody has that ever I came across.' + +'From the way in which you said that, I gather that _you_ have.' + +'I really don't know; but this is what was in my mind. It happened at my +private school thirty odd years ago, and I haven't any explanation of it. + +'The school I mean was near London. It was established in a large and +fairly old house--a great white building with very fine grounds about it; +there were large cedars in the garden, as there are in so many of the +older gardens in the Thames valley, and ancient elms in the three or four +fields which we used for our games. I think probably it was quite an +attractive place, but boys seldom allow that their schools possess any +tolerable features. + +'I came to the school in a September, soon after the year 1870; and among +the boys who arrived on the same day was one whom I took to: a Highland +boy, whom I will call McLeod. I needn't spend time in describing him: the +main thing is that I got to know him very well. He was not an exceptional +boy in any way--not particularly good at books or games--but he suited +me. + +'The school was a large one: there must have been from 120 to 130 boys +there as a rule, and so a considerable staff of masters was required, and +there were rather frequent changes among them. + +'One term--perhaps it was my third or fourth--a new master made his +appearance. His name was Sampson. He was a tallish, stoutish, pale, +black-bearded man. I think we liked him: he had travelled a good deal, +and had stories which amused us on our school walks, so that there was +some competition among us to get within earshot of him. I remember +too--dear me, I have hardly thought of it since then!--that he had a +charm on his watch-chain that attracted my attention one day, and he let +me examine it. It was, I now suppose, a gold Byzantine coin; there was an +effigy of some absurd emperor on one side; the other side had been worn +practically smooth, and he had had cut on it--rather barbarously--his own +initials, G.W.S., and a date, 24 July, 1865. Yes, I can see it now: he +told me he had picked it up in Constantinople: it was about the size of a +florin, perhaps rather smaller. + +'Well, the first odd thing that happened was this. Sampson was doing +Latin grammar with us. One of his favourite methods--perhaps it is rather +a good one--was to make us construct sentences out of our own heads to +illustrate the rules he was trying to make us learn. Of course that is a +thing which gives a silly boy a chance of being impertinent: there are +lots of school stories in which that happens--or anyhow there might be. +But Sampson was too good a disciplinarian for us to think of trying that +on with him. Now, on this occasion he was telling us how to express +_remembering_ in Latin: and he ordered us each to make a sentence +bringing in the verb _memini_, "I remember." Well, most of us made up +some ordinary sentence such as "I remember my father," or "He remembers +his book," or something equally uninteresting: and I dare say a good many +put down _memino librum meum_, and so forth: but the boy I +mentioned--McLeod--was evidently thinking of something more elaborate +than that. The rest of us wanted to have our sentences passed, and get on +to something else, so some kicked him under the desk, and I, who was next +to him, poked him and whispered to him to look sharp. But he didn't seem +to attend. I looked at his paper and saw he had put down nothing at all. +So I jogged him again harder than before and upbraided him sharply for +keeping us all waiting. That did have some effect. He started and seemed +to wake up, and then very quickly he scribbled about a couple of lines on +his paper, and showed it up with the rest. As it was the last, or nearly +the last, to come in, and as Sampson had a good deal to say to the boys +who had written _meminiscimus patri meo_ and the rest of it, it turned +out that the clock struck twelve before he had got to McLeod, and McLeod +had to wait afterwards to have his sentence corrected. There was nothing +much going on outside when I got out, so I waited for him to come. He +came very slowly when he did arrive, and I guessed there had been some +sort of trouble. "Well," I said, "what did you get?" "Oh, I don't know," +said McLeod, "nothing much: but I think Sampson's rather sick with me." +"Why, did you show him up some rot?" "No fear," he said. "It was all +right as far as I could see: it was like this: _Memento_--that's right +enough for remember, and it takes a genitive,--_memento putei inter +quatuor taxos_." "What silly rot!" I said. "What made you shove that +down? What does it mean?" "That's the funny part," said McLeod. "I'm not +quite sure what it does mean. All I know is, it just came into my head +and I corked it down. I know what I _think_ it means, because just before +I wrote it down I had a sort of picture of it in my head: I believe it +means 'Remember the well among the four'--what are those dark sort of +trees that have red berries on them?" "Mountain ashes, I s'pose you +mean." "I never heard of them," said McLeod; "no, _I'll_ tell you--yews." +"Well, and what did Sampson say?" "Why, he was jolly odd about it. When +he read it he got up and went to the mantelpiece and stopped quite a long +time without saying anything, with his back to me. And then he said, +without turning round, and rather quiet, 'What do you suppose that +means?' I told him what I thought; only I couldn't remember the name of +the silly tree: and then he wanted to know why I put it down, and I had +to say something or other. And after that he left off talking about it, +and asked me how long I'd been here, and where my people lived, and +things like that: and then I came away: but he wasn't looking a bit +well." + +'I don't remember any more that was said by either of us about this. Next +day McLeod took to his bed with a chill or something of the kind, and it +was a week or more before he was in school again. And as much as a month +went by without anything happening that was noticeable. Whether or not Mr +Sampson was really startled, as McLeod had thought, he didn't show it. I +am pretty sure, of course, now, that there was something very curious in +his past history, but I'm not going to pretend that we boys were sharp +enough to guess any such thing. + +'There was one other incident of the same kind as the last which I told +you. Several times since that day we had had to make up examples in +school to illustrate different rules, but there had never been any row +except when we did them wrong. At last there came a day when we were +going through those dismal things which people call Conditional +Sentences, and we were told to make a conditional sentence, expressing a +future consequence. We did it, right or wrong, and showed up our bits of +paper, and Sampson began looking through them. All at once he got up, +made some odd sort of noise in his throat, and rushed out by a door that +was just by his desk. We sat there for a minute or two, and then--I +suppose it was incorrect--but we went up, I and one or two others, to +look at the papers on his desk. Of course I thought someone must have put +down some nonsense or other, and Sampson had gone off to report him. All +the same, I noticed that he hadn't taken any of the papers with him when +he ran out. Well, the top paper on the desk was written in red ink--which +no one used--and it wasn't in anyone's hand who was in the class. They +all looked at it--McLeod and all--and took their dying oaths that it +wasn't theirs. Then I thought of counting the bits of paper. And of this +I made quite certain: that there were seventeen bits of paper on the +desk, and sixteen boys in the form. Well, I bagged the extra paper, and +kept it, and I believe I have it now. And now you will want to know what +was written on it. It was simple enough, and harmless enough, I should +have said. + +'"_Si tu non veneris ad me, ego veniam ad te_," which means, I suppose, +"If you don't come to me, I'll come to you."' + +'Could you show me the paper?' interrupted the listener. + +'Yes, I could: but there's another odd thing about it. That same +afternoon I took it out of my locker--I know for certain it was the same +bit, for I made a finger-mark on it--and no single trace of writing of +any kind was there on it. I kept it, as I said, and since that time I +have tried various experiments to see whether sympathetic ink had been +used, but absolutely without result. + +'So much for that. After about half an hour Sampson looked in again: said +he had felt very unwell, and told us we might go. He came rather gingerly +to his desk and gave just one look at the uppermost paper: and I suppose +he thought he must have been dreaming: anyhow, he asked no questions. + +'That day was a half-holiday, and next day Sampson was in school again, +much as usual. That night the third and last incident in my story +happened. + +'We--McLeod and I--slept in a dormitory at right angles to the main +building. Sampson slept in the main building on the first floor. There +was a very bright full moon. At an hour which I can't tell exactly, but +some time between one and two, I was woken up by somebody shaking me. It +was McLeod; and a nice state of mind he seemed to be in. "Come," he +said,--"come! there's a burglar getting in through Sampson's window." As +soon as I could speak, I said, "Well, why not call out and wake everybody +up?" "No, no," he said, "I'm not sure who it is: don't make a row: come +and look." Naturally I came and looked, and naturally there was no one +there. I was cross enough, and should have called McLeod plenty of names: +only--I couldn't tell why--it seemed to me that there _was_ something +wrong--something that made me very glad I wasn't alone to face it. We +were still at the window looking out, and as soon as I could, I asked him +what he had heard or seen. "I didn't _hear_ anything at all," he said, +"but about five minutes before I woke you, I found myself looking out of +this window here, and there was a man sitting or kneeling on Sampson's +window-sill, and looking in, and I thought he was beckoning." "What sort +of man?" McLeod wriggled. "I don't know," he said, "but I can tell you +one thing--he was beastly thin: and he looked as if he was wet all over: +and," he said, looking round and whispering as if he hardly liked to hear +himself, "I'm not at all sure that he was alive." + +'We went on talking in whispers some time longer, and eventually crept +back to bed. No one else in the room woke or stirred the whole time. I +believe we did sleep a bit afterwards, but we were very cheap next day. + +'And next day Mr Sampson was gone: not to be found: and I believe no +trace of him has ever come to light since. In thinking it over, one of +the oddest things about it all has seemed to me to be the fact that +neither McLeod nor I ever mentioned what we had seen to any third person +whatever. Of course no questions were asked on the subject, and if they +had been, I am inclined to believe that we could not have made any +answer: we seemed unable to speak about it. + +'That is my story,' said the narrator. 'The only approach to a ghost +story connected with a school that I know, but still, I think, an +approach to such a thing.' + + * * * * * + +The sequel to this may perhaps be reckoned highly conventional; but a +sequel there is, and so it must be produced. There had been more than one +listener to the story, and, in the latter part of that same year, or of +the next, one such listener was staying at a country house in Ireland. + +One evening his host was turning over a drawer full of odds and ends in +the smoking-room. Suddenly he put his hand upon a little box. 'Now,' he +said, 'you know about old things; tell me what that is.' My friend opened +the little box, and found in it a thin gold chain with an object attached +to it. He glanced at the object and then took off his spectacles to +examine it more narrowly. 'What's the history of this?' he asked. 'Odd +enough,' was the answer. 'You know the yew thicket in the shrubbery: +well, a year or two back we were cleaning out the old well that used to +be in the clearing here, and what do you suppose we found?' + +'Is it possible that you found a body?' said the visitor, with an odd +feeling of nervousness. + +'We did that: but what's more, in every sense of the word, we found two.' + +'Good Heavens! Two? Was there anything to show how they got there? Was +this thing found with them?' + +'It was. Amongst the rags of the clothes that were on one of the bodies. +A bad business, whatever the story of it may have been. One body had the +arms tight round the other. They must have been there thirty years or +more--long enough before we came to this place. You may judge we filled +the well up fast enough. Do you make anything of what's cut on that gold +coin you have there?' + +'I think I can,' said my friend, holding it to the light (but he read it +without much difficulty); 'it seems to be G.W.S., 24 July, 1865.' + + + + +THE ROSE GARDEN + +Mr and Mrs Anstruther were at breakfast in the parlour of Westfield Hall, +in the county of Essex. They were arranging plans for the day. + +'George,' said Mrs Anstruther, 'I think you had better take the car to +Maldon and see if you can get any of those knitted things I was speaking +about which would do for my stall at the bazaar.' + +'Oh well, if you wish it, Mary, of course I can do that, but I had half +arranged to play a round with Geoffrey Williamson this morning. The +bazaar isn't till Thursday of next week, is it?' + +'What has that to do with it, George? I should have thought you would +have guessed that if I can't get the things I want in Maldon I shall have +to write to all manner of shops in town: and they are certain to send +something quite unsuitable in price or quality the first time. If you +have actually made an appointment with Mr Williamson, you had better keep +it, but I must say I think you might have let me know.' + +'Oh no, no, it wasn't really an appointment. I quite see what you mean. +I'll go. And what shall you do yourself?' + +'Why, when the work of the house is arranged for, I must see about laying +out my new rose garden. By the way, before you start for Maldon I wish +you would just take Collins to look at the place I fixed upon. You know +it, of course.' + +'Well, I'm not quite sure that I do, Mary. Is it at the upper end, +towards the village?' + +'Good gracious no, my dear George; I thought I had made that quite clear. +No, it's that small clearing just off the shrubbery path that goes +towards the church.' + +'Oh yes, where we were saying there must have been a summer-house once: +the place with the old seat and the posts. But do you think there's +enough sun there?' + +'My dear George, do allow me _some_ common sense, and don't credit me +with all your ideas about summer-houses. Yes, there will be plenty of sun +when we have got rid of some of those box-bushes. I know what you are +going to say, and I have as little wish as you to strip the place bare. +All I want Collins to do is to clear away the old seats and the posts and +things before I come out in an hour's time. And I hope you will manage to +get off fairly soon. After luncheon I think I shall go on with my sketch +of the church; and if you please you can go over to the links, or--' + +'Ah, a good idea--very good! Yes, you finish that sketch, Mary, and I +should be glad of a round.' + +'I was going to say, you might call on the Bishop; but I suppose it is no +use my making _any_ suggestion. And now do be getting ready, or half the +morning will be gone.' + +Mr Anstruther's face, which had shown symptoms of lengthening, shortened +itself again, and he hurried from the room, and was soon heard giving +orders in the passage. Mrs Anstruther, a stately dame of some fifty +summers, proceeded, after a second consideration of the morning's +letters, to her housekeeping. + +Within a few minutes Mr Anstruther had discovered Collins in the +greenhouse, and they were on their way to the site of the projected rose +garden. I do not know much about the conditions most suitable to these +nurseries, but I am inclined to believe that Mrs Anstruther, though in +the habit of describing herself as 'a great gardener', had not been well +advised in the selection of a spot for the purpose. It was a small, dank +clearing, bounded on one side by a path, and on the other by thick +box-bushes, laurels, and other evergreens. The ground was almost bare of +grass and dark of aspect. Remains of rustic seats and an old and +corrugated oak post somewhere near the middle of the clearing had given +rise to Mr Anstruther's conjecture that a summer-house had once stood +there. + +Clearly Collins had not been put in possession of his mistress's +intentions with regard to this plot of ground: and when he learnt them +from Mr Anstruther he displayed no enthusiasm. + +'Of course I could clear them seats away soon enough,' he said. 'They +aren't no ornament to the place, Mr Anstruther, and rotten too. Look +'ere, sir,'--and he broke off a large piece--'rotten right through. Yes, +clear them away, to be sure we can do that.' + +'And the post,' said Mr Anstruther, 'that's got to go too.' + +Collins advanced, and shook the post with both hands: then he rubbed his +chin. + +'That's firm in the ground, that post is,' he said. 'That's been there a +number of years, Mr Anstruther. I doubt I shan't get that up not quite so +soon as what I can do with them seats.' + +'But your mistress specially wishes it to be got out of the way in an +hour's time,' said Mr Anstruther. + +Collins smiled and shook his head slowly. 'You'll excuse me, sir, but you +feel of it for yourself. No, sir, no one can't do what's impossible to +'em, can they, sir? I could git that post up by after tea-time, sir, but +that'll want a lot of digging. What you require, you see, sir, if you'll +excuse me naming of it, you want the soil loosening round this post 'ere, +and me and the boy we shall take a little time doing of that. But now, +these 'ere seats,' said Collins, appearing to appropriate this portion of +the scheme as due to his own resourcefulness, 'why, I can get the barrer +round and 'ave them cleared away in, why less than an hour's time from +now, if you'll permit of it. Only--' + +'Only what, Collins?' + +'Well now, it ain't for me to go against orders no more than what it is for +you yourself--or anyone else' (this was added somewhat hurriedly), 'but +if you'll pardon me, sir, this ain't the place I should have picked out +for no rose garden myself. Why look at them box and laurestinus, 'ow they +reg'lar preclude the light from--' + +'Ah yes, but we've got to get rid of some of them, of course.' + +'Oh, indeed, get rid of them! Yes, to be sure, but--I beg your pardon, Mr +Anstruther--' + +'I'm sorry, Collins, but I must be getting on now. I hear the car at the +door. Your mistress will explain exactly what she wishes. I'll tell her, +then, that you can see your way to clearing away the seats at once, and +the post this afternoon. Good morning.' + +Collins was left rubbing his chin. Mrs Anstruther received the report +with some discontent, but did not insist upon any change of plan. + +By four o'clock that afternoon she had dismissed her husband to his golf, +had dealt faithfully with Collins and with the other duties of the day, +and, having sent a campstool and umbrella to the proper spot, had just +settled down to her sketch of the church as seen from the shrubbery, when +a maid came hurrying down the path to report that Miss Wilkins had +called. + +Miss Wilkins was one of the few remaining members of the family from whom +the Anstruthers had bought the Westfield estate some few years back. She +had been staying in the neighbourhood, and this was probably a farewell +visit. 'Perhaps you could ask Miss Wilkins to join me here,' said Mrs +Anstruther, and soon Miss Wilkins, a person of mature years, approached. + +'Yes, I'm leaving the Ashes to-morrow, and I shall be able to tell my +brother how tremendously you have improved the place. Of course he can't +help regretting the old house just a little--as I do myself--but the +garden is really delightful now.' + +'I am so glad you can say so. But you mustn't think we've finished our +improvements. Let me show you where I mean to put a rose garden. It's +close by here.' + +The details of the project were laid before Miss Wilkins at some length; +but her thoughts were evidently elsewhere. + +'Yes, delightful,' she said at last rather absently. 'But do you know, +Mrs Anstruther, I'm afraid I was thinking of old times. I'm _very_ glad +to have seen just this spot again before you altered it. Frank and I had +quite a romance about this place.' + +'Yes?' said Mrs Anstruther smilingly; 'do tell me what it was. Something +quaint and charming, I'm sure.' + +'Not so very charming, but it has always seemed to me curious. Neither of +us would ever be here alone when we were children, and I'm not sure that +I should care about it now in certain moods. It is one of those things +that can hardly be put into words--by me at least--and that sound rather +foolish if they are not properly expressed. I can tell you after a +fashion what it was that gave us--well, almost a horror of the place when +we were alone. It was towards the evening of one very hot autumn day, +when Frank had disappeared mysteriously about the grounds, and I was +looking for him to fetch him to tea, and going down this path I suddenly +saw him, not hiding in the bushes, as I rather expected, but sitting on +the bench in the old summer-house--there was a wooden summer-house here, +you know--up in the corner, asleep, but with such a dreadful look on his +face that I really thought he must be ill or even dead. I rushed at him +and shook him, and told him to wake up; and wake up he did, with a +scream. I assure you the poor boy seemed almost beside himself with +fright. He hurried me away to the house, and was in a terrible state all +that night, hardly sleeping. Someone had to sit up with him, as far as I +remember. He was better very soon, but for days I couldn't get him to say +why he had been in such a condition. It came out at last that he had +really been asleep and had had a very odd disjointed sort of dream. He +never _saw_ much of what was around him, but he _felt_ the scenes most +vividly. First he made out that he was standing in a large room with a +number of people in it, and that someone was opposite to him who was +"very powerful", and he was being asked questions which he felt to be +very important, and, whenever he answered them, someone--either the +person opposite to him, or someone else in the room--seemed to be, as he +said, making something up against him. All the voices sounded to him very +distant, but he remembered bits of the things that were said: "Where were +you on the 19th of October?" and "Is this your handwriting?" and so on. I +can see now, of course, that he was dreaming of some trial: but we were +never allowed to see the papers, and it was odd that a boy of eight +should have such a vivid idea of what went on in a court. All the time he +felt, he said, the most intense anxiety and oppression and hopelessness +(though I don't suppose he used such words as that to me). Then, after +that, there was an interval in which he remembered being dreadfully +restless and miserable, and then there came another sort of picture, when +he was aware that he had come out of doors on a dark raw morning with a +little snow about. It was in a street, or at any rate among houses, and +he felt that there were numbers and numbers of people there too, and that +he was taken up some creaking wooden steps and stood on a sort of +platform, but the only thing he could actually see was a small fire +burning somewhere near him. Someone who had been holding his arm left +hold of it and went towards this fire, and then he said the fright he was +in was worse than at any other part of his dream, and if I had not +wakened him up he didn't know what would have become of him. A curious +dream for a child to have, wasn't it? Well, so much for that. It must +have been later in the year that Frank and I were here, and I was sitting +in the arbour just about sunset. I noticed the sun was going down, and +told Frank to run in and see if tea was ready while I finished a chapter +in the book I was reading. Frank was away longer than I expected, and the +light was going so fast that I had to bend over my book to make it out. +All at once I became conscious that someone was whispering to me inside +the arbour. The only words I could distinguish, or thought I could, were +something like "Pull, pull. I'll push, you pull." + +'I started up in something of a fright. The voice--it was little more +than a whisper--sounded so hoarse and angry, and yet as if it came from a +long, long way off--just as it had done in Frank's dream. But, though I +was startled, I had enough courage to look round and try to make out +where the sound came from. And--this sounds very foolish, I know, but +still it is the fact--I made sure that it was strongest when I put my ear +to an old post which was part of the end of the seat. I was so certain of +this that I remember making some marks on the post--as deep as I could +with the scissors out of my work-basket. I don't know why. I wonder, by +the way, whether that isn't the very post itself.... Well, yes, it might +be: there _are_ marks and scratches on it--but one can't be sure. Anyhow, +it was just like that post you have there. My father got to know that +both of us had had a fright in the arbour, and he went down there himself +one evening after dinner, and the arbour was pulled down at very short +notice. I recollect hearing my father talking about it to an old man who +used to do odd jobs in the place, and the old man saying, "Don't you fear +for that, sir: he's fast enough in there without no one don't take and +let him out." But when I asked who it was, I could get no satisfactory +answer. Possibly my father or mother might have told me more about it +when I grew up, but, as you know, they both died when we were still quite +children. I must say it has always seemed very odd to me, and I've often +asked the older people in the village whether they knew of anything +strange: but either they knew nothing or they wouldn't tell me. Dear, +dear, how I have been boring you with my childish remembrances! but +indeed that arbour did absorb our thoughts quite remarkably for a time. +You can fancy, can't you, the kind of stories that we made up for +ourselves. Well, dear Mrs Anstruther, I must be leaving you now. We shall +meet in town this winter, I hope, shan't we?' etc., etc. + +The seats and the post were cleared away and uprooted respectively by +that evening. Late summer weather is proverbially treacherous, and during +dinner-time Mrs Collins sent up to ask for a little brandy, because her +husband had took a nasty chill and she was afraid he would not be able to +do much next day. + +Mrs Anstruther's morning reflections were not wholly placid. She was sure +some roughs had got into the plantation during the night. 'And another +thing, George: the moment that Collins is about again, you must tell him +to do something about the owls. I never heard anything like them, and I'm +positive one came and perched somewhere just outside our window. If it +had come in I should have been out of my wits: it must have been a very +large bird, from its voice. Didn't you hear it? No, of course not, you +were sound asleep as usual. Still, I must say, George, you don't look as +if your night had done you much good.' + +'My dear, I feel as if another of the same would turn me silly. You have +no idea of the dreams I had. I couldn't speak of them when I woke up, and +if this room wasn't so bright and sunny I shouldn't care to think of them +even now.' + +'Well, really, George, that isn't very common with you, I must say. You +must have--no, you only had what I had yesterday--unless you had tea at +that wretched club house: did you?' + +'No, no; nothing but a cup of tea and some bread and butter. I should +really like to know how I came to put my dream together--as I suppose one +does put one's dreams together from a lot of little things one has been +seeing or reading. Look here, Mary, it was like this--if I shan't be +boring you--' + +'I _wish_ to hear what it was, George. I will tell you when I have had +enough.' + +'All right. I must tell you that it wasn't like other nightmares in one +way, because I didn't really _see_ anyone who spoke to me or touched me, +and yet I was most fearfully impressed with the reality of it all. First +I was sitting, no, moving about, in an old-fashioned sort of panelled +room. I remember there was a fireplace and a lot of burnt papers in it, +and I was in a great state of anxiety about something. There was someone +else--a servant, I suppose, because I remember saying to him, "Horses, as +quick as you can," and then waiting a bit: and next I heard several +people coming upstairs and a noise like spurs on a boarded floor, and +then the door opened and whatever it was that I was expecting happened.' + +'Yes, but what was that?' + +'You see, I couldn't tell: it was the sort of shock that upsets you in a +dream. You either wake up or else everything goes black. That was what +happened to me. Then I was in a big dark-walled room, panelled, I think, +like the other, and a number of people, and I was evidently--' + +'Standing your trial, I suppose, George.' + +'Goodness! yes, Mary, I was; but did you dream that too? How very odd!' + +'No, no; I didn't get enough sleep for that. Go on, George, and I will +tell you afterwards.' + +'Yes; well, I _was_ being tried, for my life, I've no doubt, from the +state I was in. I had no one speaking for me, and somewhere there was a +most fearful fellow--on the bench; I should have said, only that he seemed +to be pitching into me most unfairly, and twisting everything I said, and +asking most abominable questions.' + +'What about?' + +'Why, dates when I was at particular places, and letters I was supposed +to have written, and why I had destroyed some papers; and I recollect his +laughing at answers I made in a way that quite daunted me. It doesn't +sound much, but I can tell you, Mary, it was really appalling at the +time. I am quite certain there was such a man once, and a most horrible +villain he must have been. The things he said--' + +'Thank you, I have no wish to hear them. I can go to the links any day +myself. How did it end?' + +'Oh, against me; _he_ saw to that. I do wish, Mary, I could give you a +notion of the strain that came after that, and seemed to me to last for +days: waiting and waiting, and sometimes writing things I knew to be +enormously important to me, and waiting for answers and none coming, and +after that I came out--' + +'Ah!' + +'What makes you say that? Do you know what sort of thing I saw?' + +'Was it a dark cold day, and snow in the streets, and a fire burning +somewhere near you?' + +'By George, it was! You _have_ had the same nightmare! Really not? Well, +it is the oddest thing! Yes; I've no doubt it was an execution for high +treason. I know I was laid on straw and jolted along most wretchedly, and +then had to go up some steps, and someone was holding my arm, and I +remember seeing a bit of a ladder and hearing a sound of a lot of people. +I really don't think I could bear now to go into a crowd of people and +hear the noise they make talking. However, mercifully, I didn't get to +the real business. The dream passed off with a sort of thunder inside my +head. But, Mary--' + +'I know what you are going to ask. I suppose this is an instance of a +kind of thought-reading. Miss Wilkins called yesterday and told me of a +dream her brother had as a child when they lived here, and something did +no doubt make me think of that when I was awake last night listening to +those horrible owls and those men talking and laughing in the shrubbery +(by the way, I wish you would see if they have done any damage, and speak +to the police about it); and so, I suppose, from my brain it must have +got into yours while you were asleep. Curious, no doubt, and I am sorry +it gave you such a bad night. You had better be as much in the fresh air +as you can to-day.' + +'Oh, it's all right now; but I think I _will_ go over to the Lodge and +see if I can get a game with any of them. And you?' + +'I have enough to do for this morning; and this afternoon, if I am not +interrupted, there is my drawing.' + +'To be sure--I want to see that finished very much.' + +No damage was discoverable in the shrubbery. Mr Anstruther surveyed with +faint interest the site of the rose garden, where the uprooted post still +lay, and the hole it had occupied remained unfilled. Collins, upon +inquiry made, proved to be better, but quite unable to come to his work. +He expressed, by the mouth of his wife, a hope that he hadn't done +nothing wrong clearing away them things. Mrs Collins added that there was +a lot of talking people in Westfield, and the hold ones was the worst: +seemed to think everything of them having been in the parish longer than +what other people had. But as to what they said no more could then be +ascertained than that it had quite upset Collins, and was a lot of +nonsense. + + * * * * * + +Recruited by lunch and a brief period of slumber, Mrs Anstruther settled +herself comfortably upon her sketching chair in the path leading through +the shrubbery to the side-gate of the churchyard. Trees and buildings +were among her favourite subjects, and here she had good studies of both. +She worked hard, and the drawing was becoming a really pleasant thing to +look upon by the time that the wooded hills to the west had shut off the +sun. Still she would have persevered, but the light changed rapidly, and +it became obvious that the last touches must be added on the morrow. She +rose and turned towards the house, pausing for a time to take delight in +the limpid green western sky. Then she passed on between the dark +box-bushes, and, at a point just before the path debouched on the lawn, +she stopped once again and considered the quiet evening landscape, and +made a mental note that that must be the tower of one of the Roothing +churches that one caught on the sky-line. Then a bird (perhaps) rustled +in the box-bush on her left, and she turned and started at seeing what at +first she took to be a Fifth of November mask peeping out among the +branches. She looked closer. + +It was not a mask. It was a face--large, smooth, and pink. She remembers +the minute drops of perspiration which were starting from its forehead: +she remembers how the jaws were clean-shaven and the eyes shut. She +remembers also, and with an accuracy which makes the thought intolerable +to her, how the mouth was open and a single tooth appeared below the +upper lip. As she looked the face receded into the darkness of the bush. +The shelter of the house was gained and the door shut before she +collapsed. + +Mr and Mrs Anstruther had been for a week or more recruiting at Brighton +before they received a circular from the Essex Archaeological Society, +and a query as to whether they possessed certain historical portraits +which it was desired to include in the forthcoming work on Essex +Portraits, to be published under the Society's auspices. There was an +accompanying letter from the Secretary which contained the following +passage: 'We are specially anxious to know whether you possess the +original of the engraving of which I enclose a photograph. It represents +Sir ---- ----, Lord Chief Justice under Charles II, who, as you doubtless +know, retired after his disgrace to Westfield, and is supposed to have +died there of remorse. It may interest you to hear that a curious entry +has recently been found in the registers, not of Westfield but of Priors +Roothing, to the effect that the parish was so much troubled after his +death that the rector of Westfield summoned the parsons of all the +Roothings to come and lay him; which they did. The entry ends by saying: +"The stake is in a field adjoining to the churchyard of Westfield, on the +west side." Perhaps you can let us know if any tradition to this effect +is current in your parish.' + +The incidents which the 'enclosed photograph' recalled were productive of +a severe shock to Mrs Anstruther. It was decided that she must spend the +winter abroad. + +Mr Anstruther, when he went down to Westfield to make the necessary +arrangements, not unnaturally told this story to the rector (an old +gentleman), who showed little surprise. + +'Really I had managed to piece out for myself very much what must have +happened, partly from old people's talk and partly from what I saw in +your grounds. Of course we have suffered to some extent also. Yes, it was +bad at first: like owls, as you say, and men talking sometimes. One night +it was in this garden, and at other times about several of the cottages. +But lately there has been very little: I think it will die out. There is +nothing in our registers except the entry of the burial, and what I for a +long time took to be the family motto: but last time I looked at it I +noticed that it was added in a later hand and had the initials of one of +our rectors quite late in the seventeenth century, A. C.--Augustine +Crompton. Here it is, you see--_quieta non movere_. I suppose-- Well, it +is rather hard to say exactly what I do suppose.' + + + + +THE TRACTATE MIDDOTH + +Towards the end of an autumn afternoon an elderly man with a thin face +and grey Piccadilly weepers pushed open the swing-door leading into the +vestibule of a certain famous library, and addressing himself to an +attendant, stated that he believed he was entitled to use the library, +and inquired if he might take a book out. Yes, if he were on the list of +those to whom that privilege was given. He produced his card--Mr John +Eldred--and, the register being consulted, a favourable answer was given. +'Now, another point,' said he. 'It is a long time since I was here, and I +do not know my way about your building; besides, it is near closing-time, +and it is bad for me to hurry up and down stairs. I have here the title +of the book I want: is there anyone at liberty who could go and find it +for me?' After a moment's thought the doorkeeper beckoned to a young man +who was passing. 'Mr Garrett,' he said, 'have you a minute to assist this +gentleman?' 'With pleasure,' was Mr Garrett's answer. The slip with the +title was handed to him. 'I think I can put my hand on this; it happens +to be in the class I inspected last quarter, but I'll just look it up in +the catalogue to make sure. I suppose it is that particular edition that +you require, sir?' 'Yes, if you please; that, and no other,' said Mr +Eldred; 'I am exceedingly obliged to you.' 'Don't mention it I beg, sir,' +said Mr Garrett, and hurried off. + +'I thought so,' he said to himself, when his finger, travelling down the +pages of the catalogue, stopped at a particular entry. 'Talmud: Tractate +Middoth, with the commentary of Nachmanides, Amsterdam, 1707. 11.3.34. +Hebrew class, of course. Not a very difficult job this.' + +Mr Eldred, accommodated with a chair in the vestibule, awaited anxiously +the return of his messenger--and his disappointment at seeing an +empty-handed Mr Garrett running down the staircase was very evident. 'I'm +sorry to disappoint you, sir,' said the young man, 'but the book is out.' +'Oh dear!' said Mr Eldred, 'is that so? You are sure there can be no +mistake?' 'I don't think there is much chance of it, sir: but it's +possible, if you like to wait a minute, that you might meet the very +gentleman that's got it. He must be leaving the library soon, and I +_think_ I saw him take that particular book out of the shelf.' 'Indeed! +You didn't recognize him, I suppose? Would it be one of the professors or +one of the students?' 'I don't think so: certainly not a professor. I +should have known him; but the light isn't very good in that part of the +library at this time of day, and I didn't see his face. I should have +said he was a shortish old gentleman, perhaps a clergyman, in a cloak. If +you could wait, I can easily find out whether he wants the book very +particularly.' + +'No, no,' said Mr Eldred, 'I won't--I can't wait now, thank you--no. I +must be off. But I'll call again to-morrow if I may, and perhaps you +could find out who has it.' + +'Certainly, sir, and I'll have the book ready for you if we--' But Mr +Eldred was already off, and hurrying more than one would have thought +wholesome for him. + +Garrett had a few moments to spare; and, thought he, 'I'll go back to +that case and see if I can find the old man. Most likely he could put off +using the book for a few days. I dare say the other one doesn't want to +keep it for long.' So off with him to the Hebrew class. But when he got +there it was unoccupied, and the volume marked 11.3.34 was in its place +on the shelf. It was vexatious to Garrett's self-respect to have +disappointed an inquirer with so little reason: and he would have liked, +had it not been against library rules, to take the book down to the +vestibule then and there, so that it might be ready for Mr Eldred when he +called. However, next morning he would be on the look out for him, and he +begged the doorkeeper to send and let him know when the moment came. As a +matter of fact, he was himself in the vestibule when Mr Eldred arrived, +very soon after the library opened, and when hardly anyone besides the +staff were in the building. + +'I'm very sorry,' he said; 'it's not often that I make such a stupid +mistake, but I did feel sure that the old gentleman I saw took out that +very book and kept it in his hand without opening it, just as people do, +you know, sir, when they mean to take a book out of the library and not +merely refer to it. But, however, I'll run up now at once and get it for +you this time.' + +And here intervened a pause. Mr Eldred paced the entry, read all the +notices, consulted his watch, sat and gazed up the staircase, did all +that a very impatient man could, until some twenty minutes had run out. +At last he addressed himself to the doorkeeper and inquired if it was a +very long way to that part of the library to which Mr Garrett had gone. + +'Well, I was thinking it was funny, sir: he's a quick man as a rule, but +to be sure he might have been sent for by the libarian, but even so I +think he'd have mentioned to him that you was waiting. I'll just speak +him up on the toob and see.' And to the tube he addressed himself. As he +absorbed the reply to his question his face changed, and he made one or +two supplementary inquiries which were shortly answered. Then he came +forward to his counter and spoke in a lower tone. 'I'm sorry to hear, +sir, that something seems to have 'appened a little awkward. Mr Garrett +has been took poorly, it appears, and the libarian sent him 'ome in a +cab the other way. Something of an attack, by what I can hear.' 'What, +really? Do you mean that someone has injured him?' 'No, sir, not violence +'ere, but, as I should judge, attacted with an attack, what you might +term it, of illness. Not a strong constitootion, Mr Garrett. But as to +your book, sir, perhaps you might be able to find it for yourself. It's +too bad you should be disappointed this way twice over--' 'Er--well, but +I'm so sorry that Mr Garrett should have been taken ill in this way while +he was obliging me. I think I must leave the book, and call and inquire +after him. You can give me his address, I suppose.' That was easily done: +Mr Garrett, it appeared, lodged in rooms not far from the station. 'And, +one other question. Did you happen to notice if an old gentleman, perhaps +a clergyman, in a--yes--in a black cloak, left the library after I did +yesterday. I think he may have been a--I think, that is, that he may be +staying--or rather that I may have known him.' + +'Not in a black cloak, sir; no. There were only two gentlemen left later +than what you done, sir, both of them youngish men. There was Mr Carter +took out a music-book and one of the prefessors with a couple o' novels. +That's the lot, sir; and then I went off to me tea, and glad to get it. +Thank you, sir, much obliged.' + + * * * * * + +Mr Eldred, still a prey to anxiety, betook himself in a cab to Mr +Garrett's address, but the young man was not yet in a condition to +receive visitors. He was better, but his landlady considered that he must +have had a severe shock. She thought most likely from what the doctor +said that he would be able to see Mr Eldred to-morrow. Mr Eldred returned +to his hotel at dusk and spent, I fear, but a dull evening. + +On the next day he was able to see Mr Garrett. When in health Mr Garrett +was a cheerful and pleasant-looking young man. Now he was a very white +and shaky being, propped up in an arm-chair by the fire, and inclined to +shiver and keep an eye on the door. If however, there were visitors whom +he was not prepared to welcome, Mr Eldred was not among them. 'It really +is I who owe you an apology, and I was despairing of being able to pay +it, for I didn't know your address. But I am very glad you have called. I +do dislike and regret giving all this trouble, but you know I could not +have foreseen this--this attack which I had.' + +'Of course not; but now, I am something of a doctor. You'll excuse my +asking; you have had, I am sure, good advice. Was it a fall you had?' + +'No. I did fall on the floor--but not from any height. It was, really, a +shock.' + +'You mean something startled you. Was it anything you thought you saw?' + +'Not much _thinking_ in the case, I'm afraid. Yes, it was something I +saw. You remember when you called the first time at the library?' + +'Yes, of course. Well, now, let me beg you not to try to describe it--it +will not be good for you to recall it, I'm sure.' + +'But indeed it would be a relief to me to tell anyone like yourself: you +might be able to explain it away. It was just when I was going into the +class where your book is--' + +'Indeed, Mr Garrett, I insist; besides, my watch tells me I have but very +little time left in which to get my things together and take the train. +No--not another word--it would be more distressing to you than you +imagine, perhaps. Now there is just one thing I want to say. I feel that +I am really indirectly responsible for this illness of yours, and I think +I ought to defray the expense which it has--eh?' + +But this offer was quite distinctly declined. Mr Eldred, not pressing it, +left almost at once: not, however, before Mr Garrett had insisted upon +his taking a note of the class-mark of the Tractate Middoth, which, as he +said, Mr Eldred could at leisure get for himself. But Mr Eldred did not +reappear at the library. + + * * * * * + +William Garrett had another visitor that day in the person of a +contemporary and colleague from the library, one George Earle. Earle had +been one of those who found Garrett lying insensible on the floor just +inside the 'class' or cubicle (opening upon the central alley of a +spacious gallery) in which the Hebrew books were placed, and Earle had +naturally been very anxious about his friend's condition. So as soon as +library hours were over he appeared at the lodgings. 'Well,' he said +(after other conversation), 'I've no notion what it was that put you +wrong, but I've got the idea that there's something wrong in the +atmosphere of the library. I know this, that just before we found you I +was coming along the gallery with Davis, and I said to him, "Did ever you +know such a musty smell anywhere as there is about here? It can't be +wholesome." Well now, if one goes on living a long time with a smell of +that kind (I tell you it was worse than I ever knew it) it must get into +the system and break out some time, don't you think?' + +Garrett shook his head. 'That's all very well about the smell--but it +isn't always there, though I've noticed it the last day or two--a sort of +unnaturally strong smell of dust. But no--that's not what did for me. It +was something I _saw_. And I want to tell you about it. I went into that +Hebrew class to get a book for a man that was inquiring for it down +below. Now that same book I'd made a mistake about the day before. I'd +been for it, for the same man, and made sure that I saw an old parson in +a cloak taking it out. I told my man it was out: off he went, to call +again next day. I went back to see if I could get it out of the parson: +no parson there, and the book on the shelf. Well, yesterday, as I say, I +went again. This time, if you please--ten o'clock in the morning, +remember, and as much light as ever you get in those classes, and there +was my parson again, back to me, looking at the books on the shelf I +wanted. His hat was on the table, and he had a bald head. I waited a +second or two looking at him rather particularly. I tell you, he had a +very nasty bald head. It looked to me dry, and it looked dusty, and the +streaks of hair across it were much less like hair than cobwebs. Well, I +made a bit of a noise on purpose, coughed and moved my feet. He turned +round and let me see his face--which I hadn't seen before. I tell you +again, I'm not mistaken. Though, for one reason or another I didn't take +in the lower part of his face, I did see the upper part; and it was +perfectly dry, and the eyes were very deep-sunk; and over them, from the +eyebrows to the cheek-bone, there were _cobwebs_--thick. Now that closed +me up, as they say, and I can't tell you anything more.' + + * * * * * + +What explanations were furnished by Earle of this phenomenon it does not +very much concern us to inquire; at all events they did not convince +Garrett that he had not seen what he had seen. + + * * * * * + +Before William Garrett returned to work at the library, the librarian +insisted upon his taking a week's rest and change of air. Within a few +days' time, therefore, he was at the station with his bag, looking for a +desirable smoking compartment in which to travel to Burnstow-on-Sea, +which he had not previously visited. One compartment and one only seemed +to be suitable. But, just as he approached it, he saw, standing in front +of the door, a figure so like one bound up with recent unpleasant +associations that, with a sickening qualm, and hardly knowing what he +did, he tore open the door of the next compartment and pulled himself +into it as quickly as if death were at his heels. The train moved off, +and he must have turned quite faint, for he was next conscious of a +smelling-bottle being put to his nose. His physician was a nice-looking +old lady, who, with her daughter, was the only passenger in the carriage. + +But for this incident it is not very likely that he would have made any +overtures to his fellow-travellers. As it was, thanks and inquiries and +general conversation supervened inevitably; and Garrett found himself +provided before the journey's end not only with a physician, but with a +landlady: for Mrs Simpson had apartments to let at Burnstow, which seemed +in all ways suitable. The place was empty at that season, so that Garrett +was thrown a good deal into the society of the mother and daughter. He +found them very acceptable company. On the third evening of his stay he +was on such terms with them as to be asked to spend the evening in their +private sitting-room. + +During their talk it transpired that Garrett's work lay in a library. +'Ah, libraries are fine places,' said Mrs Simpson, putting down her work +with a sigh; 'but for all that, books have played me a sad turn, or +rather _a_ book has.' + +'Well, books give me my living, Mrs Simpson, and I should be sorry to say +a word against them: I don't like to hear that they have been bad for +you.' + +'Perhaps Mr Garrett could help us to solve our puzzle, mother,' said Miss +Simpson. + +'I don't want to set Mr Garrett off on a hunt that might waste a +lifetime, my dear, nor yet to trouble him with our private affairs.' + +'But if you think it in the least likely that I could be of use, I do beg +you to tell me what the puzzle is, Mrs Simpson. If it is finding out +anything about a book, you see, I am in rather a good position to do it.' + +'Yes, I do see that, but the worst of it is that we don't know the name +of the book.' + +'Nor what it is about?' + +'No, nor that either.' + +'Except that we don't think it's in English, mother--and that is not much +of a clue.' + +'Well, Mr Garrett,' said Mrs Simpson, who had not yet resumed her work, +and was looking at the fire thoughtfully, 'I shall tell you the story. +You will please keep it to yourself, if you don't mind? Thank you. Now it +is just this. I had an old uncle, a Dr Rant. Perhaps you may have heard +of him. Not that he was a distinguished man, but from the odd way he +chose to be buried.' + +'I rather think I have seen the name in some guidebook.' + +'That would be it,' said Miss Simpson. 'He left directions--horrid old +man!--that he was to be put, sitting at a table in his ordinary clothes, +in a brick room that he'd had made underground in a field near his house. +Of course the country people say he's been seen about there in his old +black cloak.' + +'Well, dear, I don't know much about such things,' Mrs Simpson went on, +'but anyhow he is dead, these twenty years and more. He was a clergyman, +though I'm sure I can't imagine how he got to be one: but he did no duty +for the last part of his life, which I think was a good thing; and he +lived on his own property: a very nice estate not a great way from here. +He had no wife or family; only one niece, who was myself, and one nephew, +and he had no particular liking for either of us--nor for anyone else, as +far as that goes. If anything, he liked my cousin better than he did +me--for John was much more like him in his temper, and, I'm afraid I must +say, his very mean sharp ways. It might have been different if I had not +married; but I did, and that he very much resented. Very well: here he +was with this estate and a good deal of money, as it turned out, of which +he had the absolute disposal, and it was understood that we--my cousin +and I--would share it equally at his death. In a certain winter, over +twenty years back, as I said, he was taken ill, and I was sent for to +nurse him. My husband was alive then, but the old man would not hear of +_his_ coming. As I drove up to the house I saw my cousin John driving +away from it in an open fly and looking, I noticed, in very good spirits. +I went up and did what I could for my uncle, but I was very soon sure +that this would be his last illness; and he was convinced of it too. +During the day before he died he got me to sit by him all the time, and I +could see there was something, and probably something unpleasant, that he +was saving up to tell me, and putting it off as long as he felt he could +afford the strength--I'm afraid purposely in order to keep me on the +stretch. But, at last, out it came. "Mary," he said,--"Mary, I've made my +will in John's favour: he has everything, Mary." Well, of course that +came as a bitter shock to me, for we--my husband and I--were not rich +people, and if he could have managed to live a little easier than he was +obliged to do, I felt it might be the prolonging of his life. But I said +little or nothing to my uncle, except that he had a right to do what he +pleased: partly because I couldn't think of anything to say, and partly +because I was sure there was more to come: and so there was. "But, Mary," +he said, "I'm not very fond of John, and I've made another will in _your_ +favour. _You_ can have everything. Only you've got to find the will, you +see: and I don't mean to tell you where it is." Then he chuckled to +himself, and I waited, for again I was sure he hadn't finished. "That's a +good girl," he said after a time,--"you wait, and I'll tell you as much +as I told John. But just let me remind you, you can't go into court with +what I'm saying to you, for _you_ won't be able to produce any collateral +evidence beyond your own word, and John's a man that can do a little hard +swearing if necessary. Very well then, that's understood. Now, I had the +fancy that I wouldn't write this will quite in the common way, so I wrote +it in a book, Mary, a printed book. And there's several thousand books in +this house. But there! you needn't trouble yourself with them, for it +isn't one of them. It's in safe keeping elsewhere: in a place where John +can go and find it any day, if he only knew, and you can't. A good will +it is: properly signed and witnessed, but I don't think you'll find the +witnesses in a hurry." + +'Still I said nothing: if I had moved at all I must have taken hold of +the old wretch and shaken him. He lay there laughing to himself, and at +last he said: + +'"Well, well, you've taken it very quietly, and as I want to start you +both on equal terms, and John has a bit of a purchase in being able to go +where the book is, I'll tell you just two other things which I didn't +tell him. The will's in English, but you won't know that if ever you see +it. That's one thing, and another is that when I'm gone you'll find an +envelope in my desk directed to you, and inside it something that would +help you to find it, if only you have the wits to use it." + +'In a few hours from that he was gone, and though I made an appeal to +John Eldred about it--' + +'John Eldred? I beg your pardon, Mrs Simpson--I think I've seen a Mr John +Eldred. What is he like to look at?' + +'It must be ten years since I saw him: he would be a thin elderly man +now, and unless he has shaved them off, he has that sort of whiskers +which people used to call Dundreary or Piccadilly something.' + +'--weepers. Yes, that _is_ the man.' + +'Where did you come across him, Mr Garrett?' + +'I don't know if I could tell you,' said Garrett mendaciously, 'in some +public place. But you hadn't finished.' + +'Really I had nothing much to add, only that John Eldred, of course, paid +no attention whatever to my letters, and has enjoyed the estate ever +since, while my daughter and I have had to take to the lodging-house +business here, which I must say has not turned out by any means so +unpleasant as I feared it might.' + +'But about the envelope.' + +'To be sure! Why, the puzzle turns on that. Give Mr Garrett the paper out +of my desk.' + +It was a small slip, with nothing whatever on it but five numerals, not +divided or punctuated in any way: 11334. + +Mr Garrett pondered, but there was a light in his eye. Suddenly he 'made +a face', and then asked, 'Do you suppose that Mr Eldred can have any more +clue than you have to the title of the book?' + +'I have sometimes thought he must,' said Mrs Simpson, 'and in this way: +that my uncle must have made the will not very long before he died (that, +I think, he said himself), and got rid of the book immediately +afterwards. But all his books were very carefully catalogued: and John +has the catalogue: and John was most particular that no books whatever +should be sold out of the house. And I'm told that he is always +journeying about to booksellers and libraries; so I fancy that he must +have found out just which books are missing from my uncle's library of +those which are entered in the catalogue, and must be hunting for them.' + +'Just so, just so,' said Mr Garrett, and relapsed into thought. + + * * * * * + +No later than next day he received a letter which, as he told Mrs Simpson +with great regret, made it absolutely necessary for him to cut short his +stay at Burnstow. + +Sorry as he was to leave them (and they were at least as sorry to part +with him), he had begun to feel that a crisis, all-important to Mrs (and +shall we add, Miss?) Simpson, was very possibly supervening. + +In the train Garrett was uneasy and excited. He racked his brains to +think whether the press mark of the book which Mr Eldred had been +inquiring after was one in any way corresponding to the numbers on Mrs +Simpson's little bit of paper. But he found to his dismay that the shock +of the previous week had really so upset him that he could neither +remember any vestige of the title or nature of the book, or even of the +locality to which he had gone to seek it. And yet all other parts of +library topography and work were clear as ever in his mind. + +And another thing--he stamped with annoyance as he thought of it--he had +at first hesitated, and then had forgotten, to ask Mrs Simpson for the +name of the place where Eldred lived. That, however, he could write +about. + +At least he had his clue in the figures on the paper. If they referred to +a press mark in his library, they were only susceptible of a limited +number of interpretations. They might be divided into 1.13.34, 11.33.4, +or 11.3.34. He could try all these in the space of a few minutes, and if +any one were missing he had every means of tracing it. He got very +quickly to work, though a few minutes had to be spent in explaining his +early return to his landlady and his colleagues. 1.13.34. was in place +and contained no extraneous writing. As he drew near to Class 11 in the +same gallery, its association struck him like a chill. But he _must_ go +on. After a cursory glance at 11.33.4 (which first confronted him, and +was a perfectly new book) he ran his eye along the line of quartos which +fills 11.3. The gap he feared was there: 34 was out. A moment was spent +in making sure that it had not been misplaced, and then he was off to the +vestibule. + +'Has 11.3.34 gone out? Do you recollect noticing that number?' + +'Notice the number? What do you take me for, Mr Garrett? There, take and +look over the tickets for yourself, if you've got a free day before you.' + +'Well then, has a Mr Eldred called again?--the old gentleman who came the +day I was taken ill. Come! you'd remember him.' + +'What do you suppose? Of course I recollect of him: no, he haven't been +in again, not since you went off for your 'oliday. And yet I seem +to--there now. Roberts'll know. Roberts, do you recollect of the name of +Heldred?' + +'Not arf,' said Roberts. 'You mean the man that sent a bob over the price +for the parcel, and I wish they all did.' + +'Do you mean to say you've been sending books to Mr Eldred? Come, do +speak up! Have you?' + +'Well now, Mr Garrett, if a gentleman sends the ticket all wrote correct +and the secketry says this book may go and the box ready addressed sent +with the note, and a sum of money sufficient to deefray the railway +charges, what would be _your_ action in the matter, Mr Garrett, if I may +take the liberty to ask such a question? Would you or would you not have +taken the trouble to oblige, or would you have chucked the 'ole thing +under the counter and--' + +'You were perfectly right, of course, Hodgson--perfectly right: only, +would you kindly oblige me by showing me the ticket Mr Eldred sent, and +letting me know his address?' + +'To be sure, Mr Garrett; so long as I'm not 'ectored about and informed +that I don't know my duty, I'm willing to oblige in every way feasible to +my power. There is the ticket on the file. J. Eldred, 11.3.34. Title of +work: T-a-l-m--well, there, you can make what you like of it--not a +novel, I should 'azard the guess. And here is Mr Heldred's note applying +for the book in question, which I see he terms it a track.' + +'Thanks, thanks: but the address? There's none on the note.' + +'Ah, indeed; well, now ... stay now, Mr Garrett, I 'ave it. Why, that +note come inside of the parcel, which was directed very thoughtful to +save all trouble, ready to be sent back with the book inside; and if I +_have_ made any mistake in this 'ole transaction, it lays just in the one +point that I neglected to enter the address in my little book here what I +keep. Not but what I dare say there was good reasons for me not entering +of it: but there, I haven't the time, neither have you, I dare say, to go +into 'em just now. And--no, Mr Garrett, I do _not_ carry it in my 'ed, +else what would be the use of me keeping this little book here--just a +ordinary common notebook, you see, which I make a practice of entering +all such names and addresses in it as I see fit to do?' + +'Admirable arrangement, to be sure--but--all right, thank you. When did +the parcel go off?' + +'Half-past ten, this morning.' + +'Oh, good; and it's just one now.' + +Garrett went upstairs in deep thought. How was he to get the address? A +telegram to Mrs Simpson: he might miss a train by waiting for the answer. +Yes, there was one other way. She had said that Eldred lived on his +uncle's estate. If this were so, he might find that place entered in the +donation-book. That he could run through quickly, now that he knew the +title of the book. The register was soon before him, and, knowing that +the old man had died more than twenty years ago, he gave him a good +margin, and turned back to 1870. There was but one entry possible. 1875, +August 14th. _Talmud: Tractatus Middoth cum comm. R. Nachmanidae._ +Amstelod. 1707. Given by J. Rant, D.D., of Bretfield Manor. + +A gazetteer showed Bretfield to be three miles from a small station on +the main line. Now to ask the doorkeeper whether he recollected if the +name on the parcel had been anything like Bretfield. + +'No, nothing like. It was, now you mention it, Mr Garrett, either +Bredfield or Britfield, but nothing like that other name what you +coated.' + +So far well. Next, a time-table. A train could be got in twenty +minutes--taking two hours over the journey. The only chance, but one not +to be missed; and the train was taken. + +If he had been fidgety on the journey up, he was almost distracted on the +journey down. If he found Eldred, what could he say? That it had been +discovered that the book was a rarity and must be recalled? An obvious +untruth. Or that it was believed to contain important manuscript notes? +Eldred would of course show him the book, from which the leaf would +already have been removed. He might, perhaps, find traces of the +removal--a torn edge of a fly-leaf probably--and who could disprove, what +Eldred was certain to say, that he too had noticed and regretted the +mutilation? Altogether the chase seemed very hopeless. The one chance was +this. The book had left the library at 10.30: it might not have been put +into the first possible train, at 11.20. Granted that, then he might be +lucky enough to arrive simultaneously with it and patch up some story +which would induce Eldred to give it up. + +It was drawing towards evening when he got out upon the platform of his +station, and, like most country stations, this one seemed unnaturally +quiet. He waited about till the one or two passengers who got out with +him had drifted off, and then inquired of the station-master whether Mr +Eldred was in the neighbourhood. + +'Yes, and pretty near too, I believe. I fancy he means calling here for a +parcel he expects. Called for it once to-day already, didn't he, Bob?' +(to the porter). + +'Yes, sir, he did; and appeared to think it was all along of me that it +didn't come by the two o'clock. Anyhow, I've got it for him now,' and the +porter flourished a square parcel, which a glance assured Garrett +contained all that was of any importance to him at that particular +moment. + +'Bretfield, sir? Yes--three miles just about. Short cut across these +three fields brings it down by half a mile. There: there's Mr Eldred's +trap.' + +A dog-cart drove up with two men in it, of whom Garrett, gazing back as +he crossed the little station yard, easily recognized one. The fact that +Eldred was driving was slightly in his favour--for most likely he would +not open the parcel in the presence of his servant. On the other hand, he +would get home quickly, and unless Garrett were there within a very few +minutes of his arrival, all would be over. He must hurry; and that he +did. His short cut took him along one side of a triangle, while the cart +had two sides to traverse; and it was delayed a little at the station, so +that Garrett was in the third of the three fields when he heard the +wheels fairly near. He had made the best progress possible, but the pace +at which the cart was coming made him despair. At this rate it _must_ +reach home ten minutes before him, and ten minutes would more than +suffice for the fulfilment of Mr Eldred's project. + +It was just at this time that the luck fairly turned. The evening was +still, and sounds came clearly. Seldom has any sound given greater relief +than that which he now heard: that of the cart pulling up. A few words +were exchanged, and it drove on. Garrett, halting in the utmost anxiety, +was able to see as it drove past the stile (near which he now stood) that +it contained only the servant and not Eldred; further, he made out that +Eldred was following on foot. From behind the tall hedge by the stile +leading into the road he watched the thin wiry figure pass quickly by +with the parcel beneath its arm, and feeling in its pockets. Just as he +passed the stile something fell out of a pocket upon the grass, but with +so little sound that Eldred was not conscious of it. In a moment more it +was safe for Garrett to cross the stile into the road and pick up--a box +of matches. Eldred went on, and, as he went, his arms made hasty +movements, difficult to interpret in the shadow of the trees that +overhung the road. But, as Garrett followed cautiously, he found at +various points the key to them--a piece of string, and then the wrapper +of the parcel--meant to be thrown over the hedge, but sticking in it. + +Now Eldred was walking slower, and it could just be made out that he had +opened the book and was turning over the leaves. He stopped, evidently +troubled by the failing light. Garrett slipped into a gate-opening, but +still watched. Eldred, hastily looking around, sat down on a felled +tree-trunk by the roadside and held the open book up close to his eyes. +Suddenly he laid it, still open, on his knee, and felt in all his +pockets: clearly in vain, and clearly to his annoyance. 'You would be +glad of your matches now,' thought Garrett. Then he took hold of a leaf, +and was carefully tearing it out, when two things happened. First, +something black seemed to drop upon the white leaf and run down it, and +then as Eldred started and was turning to look behind him, a little dark +form appeared to rise out of the shadow behind the tree-trunk and from it +two arms enclosing a mass of blackness came before Eldred's face and +covered his head and neck. His legs and arms were wildly flourished, but +no sound came. Then, there was no more movement. Eldred was alone. He had +fallen back into the grass behind the tree-trunk. The book was cast into +the roadway. Garrett, his anger and suspicion gone for the moment at the +sight of this horrid struggle, rushed up with loud cries of 'Help!' and +so too, to his enormous relief, did a labourer who had just emerged from +a field opposite. Together they bent over and supported Eldred, but to no +purpose. The conclusion that he was dead was inevitable. 'Poor +gentleman!' said Garrett to the labourer, when they had laid him down, +'what happened to him, do you think?' 'I wasn't two hundred yards away,' +said the man, 'when I see Squire Eldred setting reading in his book, and +to my thinking he was took with one of these fits--face seemed to go all +over black.' 'Just so,' said Garrett. 'You didn't see anyone near him? It +couldn't have been an assault?' 'Not possible--no one couldn't have got +away without you or me seeing them.' 'So I thought. Well, we must get +some help, and the doctor and the policeman; and perhaps I had better +give them this book.' + +It was obviously a case for an inquest, and obvious also that Garrett +must stay at Bretfield and give his evidence. The medical inspection +showed that, though some black dust was found on the face and in the +mouth of the deceased, the cause of death was a shock to a weak heart, +and not asphyxiation. The fateful book was produced, a respectable quarto +printed wholly in Hebrew, and not of an aspect likely to excite even the +most sensitive. + +'You say, Mr Garrett, that the deceased gentleman appeared at the moment +before his attack to be tearing a leaf out of this book?' + +'Yes; I think one of the fly-leaves.' + +'There is here a fly-leaf partially torn through. It has Hebrew writing +on it. Will you kindly inspect it?' + +'There are three names in English, sir, also, and a date. But I am sorry +to say I cannot read Hebrew writing.' + +'Thank you. The names have the appearance of being signatures. They are +John Rant, Walter Gibson, and James Frost, and the date is 20 July, 1875. +Does anyone here know any of these names?' + +The Rector, who was present, volunteered a statement that the uncle of +the deceased, from whom he inherited, had been named Rant. + +The book being handed to him, he shook a puzzled head. 'This is not like +any Hebrew I ever learnt.' + +'You are sure that it is Hebrew?' + +'What? Yes--I suppose.... No--my dear sir, you are perfectly right--that +is, your suggestion is exactly to the point. Of course--it is not Hebrew +at all. It is English, and it is a will.' + +It did not take many minutes to show that here was indeed a will of Dr +John Rant, bequeathing the whole of the property lately held by John +Eldred to Mrs Mary Simpson. Clearly the discovery of such a document +would amply justify Mr Eldred's agitation. As to the partial tearing of +the leaf, the coroner pointed out that no useful purpose could be +attained by speculations whose correctness it would never be possible to +establish. + + * * * * * + +The Tractate Middoth was naturally taken in charge by the coroner for +further investigation, and Mr Garrett explained privately to him the +history of it, and the position of events so far as he knew or guessed +them. + +He returned to his work next day, and on his walk to the station passed +the scene of Mr Eldred's catastrophe. He could hardly leave it without +another look, though the recollection of what he had seen there made him +shiver, even on that bright morning. He walked round, with some +misgivings, behind the felled tree. Something dark that still lay there +made him start back for a moment: but it hardly stirred. Looking closer, +he saw that it was a thick black mass of cobwebs; and, as he stirred it +gingerly with his stick, several large spiders ran out of it into the +grass. + + * * * * * + +There is no great difficulty in imagining the steps by which William +Garrett, from being an assistant in a great library, attained to his +present position of prospective owner of Bretfield Manor, now in the +occupation of his mother-in-law, Mrs Mary Simpson. + + + + +CASTING THE RUNES + +_April 15th, 190-_ + +Dear Sir, + +I am requested by the Council of the ---- Association to return to you +the draft of a paper on _The Truth of Alchemy_, which you have been good +enough to offer to read at our forthcoming meeting, and to inform you +that the Council do not see their way to including it in the programme. + +I am, + +Yours faithfully, + +--- _Secretary._ + + * * * * * + +_April 18th_ + +Dear Sir, + +I am sorry to say that my engagements do not permit of my affording you +an interview on the subject of your proposed paper. Nor do our laws allow +of your discussing the matter with a Committee of our Council, as you +suggest. Please allow me to assure you that the fullest consideration was +given to the draft which you submitted, and that it was not declined +without having been referred to the judgement of a most competent +authority. No personal question (it can hardly be necessary for me to +add) can have had the slightest influence on the decision of the Council. + +Believe me (_ut supra_). + + * * * * * + +_April 20th_ + +The Secretary of the ---- Association begs respectfully to inform Mr +Karswell that it is impossible for him to communicate the name of any +person or persons to whom the draft of Mr Karswell's paper may have been +submitted; and further desires to intimate that he cannot undertake to +reply to any further letters on this subject. + + * * * * * + +'And who _is_ Mr Karswell?' inquired the Secretary's wife. She had called +at his office, and (perhaps unwarrantably) had picked up the last of +these three letters, which the typist had just brought in. + +'Why, my dear, just at present Mr Karswell is a very angry man. But I +don't know much about him otherwise, except that he is a person of +wealth, his address is Lufford Abbey, Warwickshire, and he's an +alchemist, apparently, and wants to tell us all about it; and that's +about all--except that I don't want to meet him for the next week or two. +Now, if you're ready to leave this place, I am.' + +'What have you been doing to make him angry?' asked Mrs Secretary. + +'The usual thing, my dear, the usual thing: he sent in a draft of a paper +he wanted to read at the next meeting, and we referred it to Edward +Dunning--almost the only man in England who knows about these things--and +he said it was perfectly hopeless, so we declined it. So Karswell has +been pelting me with letters ever since. The last thing he wanted was the +name of the man we referred his nonsense to; you saw my answer to that. +But don't you say anything about it, for goodness' sake.' + +'I should think not, indeed. Did I ever do such a thing? I do hope, +though, he won't get to know that it was poor Mr Dunning.' + +'Poor Mr Dunning? I don't know why you call him that; he's a very happy +man, is Dunning. Lots of hobbies and a comfortable home, and all his time +to himself.' + +'I only meant I should be sorry for him if this man got hold of his name, +and came and bothered him.' + +'Oh, ah! yes. I dare say he would be poor Mr Dunning then.' + +The Secretary and his wife were lunching out, and the friends to whose +house they were bound were Warwickshire people. So Mrs Secretary had +already settled it in her own mind that she would question them +judiciously about Mr Karswell. But she was saved the trouble of leading +up to the subject, for the hostess said to the host, before many minutes +had passed, 'I saw the Abbot of Lufford this morning.' The host whistled. +'_Did_ you? What in the world brings him up to town?' 'Goodness knows; he +was coming out of the British Museum gate as I drove past.' It was not +unnatural that Mrs Secretary should inquire whether this was a real Abbot +who was being spoken of. 'Oh no, my dear: only a neighbour of ours in the +country who bought Lufford Abbey a few years ago. His real name is +Karswell.' 'Is he a friend of yours?' asked Mr Secretary, with a private +wink to his wife. The question let loose a torrent of declamation. There +was really nothing to be said for Mr Karswell. Nobody knew what he did +with himself: his servants were a horrible set of people; he had invented +a new religion for himself, and practised no one could tell what +appalling rites; he was very easily offended, and never forgave anybody; +he had a dreadful face (so the lady insisted, her husband somewhat +demurring); he never did a kind action, and whatever influence he did +exert was mischievous. 'Do the poor man justice, dear,' the husband +interrupted. 'You forget the treat he gave the school children.' 'Forget +it, indeed! But I'm glad you mentioned it, because it gives an idea of +the man. Now, Florence, listen to this. The first winter he was at +Lufford this delightful neighbour of ours wrote to the clergyman of his +parish (he's not ours, but we know him very well) and offered to show the +school children some magic-lantern slides. He said he had some new kinds, +which he thought would interest them. Well, the clergyman was rather +surprised, because Mr Karswell had shown himself inclined to be +unpleasant to the children--complaining of their trespassing, or +something of the sort; but of course he accepted, and the evening was +fixed, and our friend went himself to see that everything went right. He +said he never had been so thankful for anything as that his own children +were all prevented from being there: they were at a children's party at +our house, as a matter of fact. Because this Mr Karswell had evidently +set out with the intention of frightening these poor village children out +of their wits, and I do believe, if he had been allowed to go on, he +would actually have done so. He began with some comparatively mild +things. Red Riding Hood was one, and even then, Mr Farrer said, the wolf +was so dreadful that several of the smaller children had to be taken out: +and he said Mr Karswell began the story by producing a noise like a wolf +howling in the distance, which was the most gruesome thing he had ever +heard. All the slides he showed, Mr Farrer said, were most clever; they +were absolutely realistic, and where he had got them or how he worked +them he could not imagine. Well, the show went on, and the stories kept +on becoming a little more terrifying each time, and the children were +mesmerized into complete silence. At last he produced a series which +represented a little boy passing through his own park--Lufford, I +mean--in the evening. Every child in the room could recognize the place +from the pictures. And this poor boy was followed, and at last pursued +and overtaken, and either torn in pieces or somehow made away with, by a +horrible hopping creature in white, which you saw first dodging about +among the trees, and gradually it appeared more and more plainly. Mr +Farrer said it gave him one of the worst nightmares he ever remembered, +and what it must have meant to the children doesn't bear thinking of. Of +course this was too much, and he spoke very sharply indeed to Mr +Karswell, and said it couldn't go on. All _he_ said was: "Oh, you think +it's time to bring our little show to an end and send them home to their +beds? _Very_ well!" And then, if you please, he switched on another +slide, which showed a great mass of snakes, centipedes, and disgusting +creatures with wings, and somehow or other he made it seem as if they +were climbing out of the picture and getting in amongst the audience; and +this was accompanied by a sort of dry rustling noise which sent the +children nearly mad, and of course they stampeded. A good many of them +were rather hurt in getting out of the room, and I don't suppose one of +them closed an eye that night. There was the most dreadful trouble in the +village afterwards. Of course the mothers threw a good part of the blame +on poor Mr Farrer, and, if they could have got past the gates, I believe +the fathers would have broken every window in the Abbey. Well, now, +that's Mr Karswell: that's the Abbot of Lufford, my dear, and you can +imagine how we covet _his_ society.' + +'Yes, I think he has all the possibilities of a distinguished criminal, +has Karswell,' said the host. 'I should be sorry for anyone who got into +his bad books.' + +'Is he the man, or am I mixing him up with someone else?' asked the +Secretary (who for some minutes had been wearing the frown of the man who +is trying to recollect something). 'Is he the man who brought out a +_History of Witchcraft_ some time back--ten years or more?' + +'That's the man; do you remember the reviews of it?' + +'Certainly I do; and what's equally to the point, I knew the author of +the most incisive of the lot. So did you: you must remember John +Harrington; he was at John's in our time.' + +'Oh, very well indeed, though I don't think I saw or heard anything of +him between the time I went down and the day I read the account of the +inquest on him.' + +'Inquest?' said one of the ladies. 'What has happened to him?' + +'Why, what happened was that he fell out of a tree and broke his neck. +But the puzzle was, what could have induced him to get up there. It was a +mysterious business, I must say. Here was this man--not an athletic +fellow, was he? and with no eccentric twist about him that was ever +noticed--walking home along a country road late in the evening--no tramps +about--well known and liked in the place--and he suddenly begins to run +like mad, loses his hat and stick, and finally shins up a tree--quite a +difficult tree--growing in the hedgerow: a dead branch gives way, and he +comes down with it and breaks his neck, and there he's found next morning +with the most dreadful face of fear on him that could be imagined. It was +pretty evident, of course, that he had been chased by something, and +people talked of savage dogs, and beasts escaped out of menageries; but +there was nothing to be made of that. That was in '89, and I believe his +brother Henry (whom I remember as well at Cambridge, but _you_ probably +don't) has been trying to get on the track of an explanation ever since. +He, of course, insists there was malice in it, but I don't know. It's +difficult to see how it could have come in.' + +After a time the talk reverted to the _History of Witchcraft_. 'Did you +ever look into it?' asked the host. + +'Yes, I did,' said the Secretary. 'I went so far as to read it.' + +'Was it as bad as it was made out to be?' + +'Oh, in point of style and form, quite hopeless. It deserved all the +pulverizing it got. But, besides that, it was an evil book. The man +believed every word of what he was saying, and I'm very much mistaken if +he hadn't tried the greater part of his receipts.' + +'Well, I only remember Harrington's review of it, and I must say if I'd +been the author it would have quenched my literary ambition for good. I +should never have held up my head again.' + +'It hasn't had that effect in the present case. But come, it's half-past +three; I must be off.' + +On the way home the Secretary's wife said, 'I do hope that horrible man +won't find out that Mr Dunning had anything to do with the rejection of +his paper.' 'I don't think there's much chance of that,' said the +Secretary. 'Dunning won't mention it himself, for these matters are +confidential, and none of us will for the same reason. Karswell won't +know his name, for Dunning hasn't published anything on the same subject +yet. The only danger is that Karswell might find out, if he was to ask +the British Museum people who was in the habit of consulting alchemical +manuscripts: I can't very well tell them not to mention Dunning, can I? +It would set them talking at once. Let's hope it won't occur to him.' + +However, Mr Karswell was an astute man. + + * * * * * + +This much is in the way of prologue. On an evening rather later in the +same week, Mr Edward Dunning was returning from the British Museum, where +he had been engaged in Research, to the comfortable house in a suburb +where he lived alone, tended by two excellent women who had been long +with him. There is nothing to be added by way of description of him to +what we have heard already. Let us follow him as he takes his sober +course homewards. + + * * * * * + +A train took him to within a mile or two of his house, and an electric +tram a stage farther. The line ended at a point some three hundred yards +from his front door. He had had enough of reading when he got into the +car, and indeed the light was not such as to allow him to do more than +study the advertisements on the panes of glass that faced him as he sat. +As was not unnatural, the advertisements in this particular line of cars +were objects of his frequent contemplation, and, with the possible +exception of the brilliant and convincing dialogue between Mr Lamplough +and an eminent K.C. on the subject of Pyretic Saline, none of them +afforded much scope to his imagination. I am wrong: there was one at the +corner of the car farthest from him which did not seem familiar. It was +in blue letters on a yellow ground, and all that he could read of it was +a name--John Harrington--and something like a date. It could be of no +interest to him to know more; but for all that, as the car emptied, he +was just curious enough to move along the seat until he could read it +well. He felt to a slight extent repaid for his trouble; the +advertisement was _not_ of the usual type. It ran thus: 'In memory of +John Harrington, F.S.A., of The Laurels, Ashbrooke. Died Sept. 18th, +1889. Three months were allowed.' + +The car stopped. Mr Dunning, still contemplating the blue letters on the +yellow ground, had to be stimulated to rise by a word from the conductor. +'I beg your pardon,' he said, 'I was looking at that advertisement; it's +a very odd one, isn't it?' The conductor read it slowly. 'Well, my word,' +he said, 'I never see that one before. Well, that is a cure, ain't it? +Someone bin up to their jokes 'ere, I should think.' He got out a duster +and applied it, not without saliva, to the pane and then to the outside. +'No,' he said, returning, 'that ain't no transfer; seems to me as if it +was reg'lar _in_ the glass, what I mean in the substance, as you may say. +Don't you think so, sir?' Mr Dunning examined it and rubbed it with his +glove, and agreed. 'Who looks after these advertisements, and gives leave +for them to be put up? I wish you would inquire. I will just take a note +of the words.' At this moment there came a call from the driver: 'Look +alive, George, time's up.' 'All right, all right; there's somethink else +what's up at this end. You come and look at this 'ere glass.' 'What's +gorn with the glass?' said the driver, approaching. 'Well, and oo's +'Arrington? What's it all about?' 'I was just asking who was responsible +for putting the advertisements up in your cars, and saying it would be as +well to make some inquiry about this one.' 'Well, sir, that's all done at +the Company's orfice, that work is: it's our Mr Timms, I believe, looks +into that. When we put up tonight I'll leave word, and per'aps I'll be +able to tell you tomorrer if you 'appen to be coming this way.' + +This was all that passed that evening. Mr Dunning did just go to the +trouble of looking up Ashbrooke, and found that it was in Warwickshire. + +Next day he went to town again. The car (it was the same car) was too +full in the morning to allow of his getting a word with the conductor: he +could only be sure that the curious advertisement had been made away +with. The close of the day brought a further element of mystery into the +transaction. He had missed the tram, or else preferred walking home, but +at a rather late hour, while he was at work in his study, one of the +maids came to say that two men from the tramways was very anxious to +speak to him. This was a reminder of the advertisement, which he had, he +says, nearly forgotten. He had the men in--they were the conductor and +driver of the car--and when the matter of refreshment had been attended +to, asked what Mr Timms had had to say about the advertisement. 'Well, +sir, that's what we took the liberty to step round about,' said the +conductor. 'Mr Timms 'e give William 'ere the rough side of his tongue +about that: 'cordin' to 'im there warn't no advertisement of that +description sent in, nor ordered, nor paid for, nor put up, nor nothink, +let alone not bein' there, and we was playing the fool takin' up his +time. "Well," I says, "if that's the case, all I ask of you, Mr Timms," I +says, "is to take and look at it for yourself," I says. "Of course if it +ain't there," I says, "you may take and call me what you like." "Right," +he says, "I will": and we went straight off. Now, I leave it to you, sir, +if that ad., as we term 'em, with 'Arrington on it warn't as plain as +ever you see anythink--blue letters on yeller glass, and as I says at the +time, and you borne me out, reg'lar _in_ the glass, because, if you +remember, you recollect of me swabbing it with my duster.' 'To be sure I +do, quite clearly--well?' 'You may say well, I don't think. Mr Timms he +gets in that car with a light--no, he telled William to 'old the light +outside. "Now," he says, "where's your precious ad. what we've 'eard so +much about?" "'Ere it is," I says, "Mr Timms," and I laid my 'and on it.' +The conductor paused. + +'Well,' said Mr Dunning, 'it was gone, I suppose. Broken?' + +'Broke!--not it. There warn't, if you'll believe me, no more trace of +them letters--blue letters they was--on that piece o' glass, than--well, +it's no good _me_ talkin'. _I_ never see such a thing. I leave it to +William here if--but there, as I says, where's the benefit in me going on +about it?' + +'And what did Mr Timms say?' + +'Why 'e did what I give 'im leave to--called us pretty much anythink he +liked, and I don't know as I blame him so much neither. But what we +thought, William and me did, was as we seen you take down a bit of a note +about that--well, that letterin'--' + +'I certainly did that, and I have it now. Did you wish me to speak to Mr +Timms myself, and show it to him? Was that what you came in about?' + +'There, didn't I say as much?' said William. 'Deal with a gent if you can +get on the track of one, that's my word. Now perhaps, George, you'll +allow as I ain't took you very far wrong tonight.' + +'Very well, William, very well; no need for you to go on as if you'd 'ad +to frog's-march me 'ere. I come quiet, didn't I? All the same for that, +we 'adn't ought to take up your time this way, sir; but if it so 'appened +you could find time to step round to the Company's orfice in the morning +and tell Mr Timms what you seen for yourself, we should lay under a very +'igh obligation to you for the trouble. You see it ain't bein' +called--well, one thing and another, as we mind, but if they got it into +their 'ead at the orfice as we seen things as warn't there, why, one +thing leads to another, and where we should be a twelvemunce 'ence--well, +you can understand what I mean.' + +Amid further elucidations of the proposition, George, conducted by +William, left the room. + +The incredulity of Mr Timms (who had a nodding acquaintance with Mr +Dunning) was greatly modified on the following day by what the latter +could tell and show him; and any bad mark that might have been attached +to the names of William and George was not suffered to remain on the +Company's books; but explanation there was none. + +Mr Dunning's interest in the matter was kept alive by an incident of the +following afternoon. He was walking from his club to the train, and he +noticed some way ahead a man with a handful of leaflets such as are +distributed to passers-by by agents of enterprising firms. This agent had +not chosen a very crowded street for his operations: in fact, Mr Dunning +did not see him get rid of a single leaflet before he himself reached the +spot. One was thrust into his hand as he passed: the hand that gave it +touched his, and he experienced a sort of little shock as it did so. It +seemed unnaturally rough and hot. He looked in passing at the giver, but +the impression he got was so unclear that, however much he tried to +reckon it up subsequently, nothing would come. He was walking quickly, +and as he went on glanced at the paper. It was a blue one. The name of +Harrington in large capitals caught his eye. He stopped, startled, and +felt for his glasses. The next instant the leaflet was twitched out of +his hand by a man who hurried past, and was irrecoverably gone. He ran +back a few paces, but where was the passer-by? and where the distributor? + +It was in a somewhat pensive frame of mind that Mr Dunning passed on the +following day into the Select Manuscript Room of the British Museum, and +filled up tickets for Harley 3586, and some other volumes. After a few +minutes they were brought to him, and he was settling the one he wanted +first upon the desk, when he thought he heard his own name whispered +behind him. He turned round hastily, and in doing so, brushed his little +portfolio of loose papers on to the floor. He saw no one he recognized +except one of the staff in charge of the room, who nodded to him, and he +proceeded to pick up his papers. He thought he had them all, and was +turning to begin work, when a stout gentleman at the table behind him, +who was just rising to leave, and had collected his own belongings, +touched him on the shoulder, saying, 'May I give you this? I think it +should be yours,' and handed him a missing quire. 'It is mine, thank +you,' said Mr Dunning. In another moment the man had left the room. Upon +finishing his work for the afternoon, Mr Dunning had some conversation +with the assistant in charge, and took occasion to ask who the stout +gentleman was. 'Oh, he's a man named Karswell,' said the assistant; 'he +was asking me a week ago who were the great authorities on alchemy, and +of course I told him you were the only one in the country. I'll see if I +can't catch him: he'd like to meet you, I'm sure.' + +'For heaven's sake don't dream of it!' said Mr Dunning, 'I'm particularly +anxious to avoid him.' + +'Oh! very well,' said the assistant, 'he doesn't come here often: I dare +say you won't meet him.' + +More than once on the way home that day Mr Dunning confessed to himself +that he did not look forward with his usual cheerfulness to a solitary +evening. It seemed to him that something ill-defined and impalpable had +stepped in between him and his fellow-men--had taken him in charge, as it +were. He wanted to sit close up to his neighbours in the train and in the +tram, but as luck would have it both train and car were markedly empty. +The conductor George was thoughtful, and appeared to be absorbed in +calculations as to the number of passengers. On arriving at his house he +found Dr Watson, his medical man, on his doorstep. 'I've had to upset +your household arrangements, I'm sorry to say, Dunning. Both your +servants _hors de combat_. In fact, I've had to send them to the Nursing +Home.' + +'Good heavens! what's the matter?' + +'It's something like ptomaine poisoning, I should think: you've not +suffered yourself, I can see, or you wouldn't be walking about. I think +they'll pull through all right.' + +'Dear, dear! Have you any idea what brought it on?' + +'Well, they tell me they bought some shell-fish from a hawker +at their dinner-time. It's odd. I've made inquiries, but +I can't find that any hawker has been to other +houses in the street. I couldn't send word to you; they won't be back for +a bit yet. You come and dine with me tonight, anyhow, and we can make +arrangements for going on. Eight o'clock. Don't be too anxious.' + +The solitary evening was thus obviated; at the expense of some distress and +inconvenience, it is true. Mr Dunning spent the time pleasantly enough +with the doctor (a rather recent settler), and returned to his lonely +home at about 11.30. The night he passed is not one on which he looks +back with any satisfaction. He was in bed and the light was out. He was +wondering if the charwoman would come early enough to get him hot water +next morning, when he heard the unmistakable sound of his study door +opening. No step followed it on the passage floor, but the sound must +mean mischief, for he knew that he had shut the door that evening after +putting his papers away in his desk. It was rather shame than courage +that induced him to slip out into the passage and lean over the banister +in his nightgown, listening. No light was visible; no further sound came: +only a gust of warm, or even hot air played for an instant round his +shins. He went back and decided to lock himself into his room. There was +more unpleasantness, however. Either an economical suburban company had +decided that their light would not be required in the small hours, and +had stopped working, or else something was wrong with the meter; the +effect was in any case that the electric light was off. The obvious +course was to find a match, and also to consult his watch: he might as +well know how many hours of discomfort awaited him. So he put his hand +into the well-known nook under the pillow: only, it did not get so far. +What he touched was, according to his account, a mouth, with teeth, and +with hair about it, and, he declares, not the mouth of a human being. I +do not think it is any use to guess what he said or did; but he was in a +spare room with the door locked and his ear to it before he was clearly +conscious again. And there he spent the rest of a most miserable night, +looking every moment for some fumbling at the door: but nothing came. + +The venturing back to his own room in the morning was attended with many +listenings and quiverings. The door stood open, fortunately, and the +blinds were up (the servants had been out of the house before the hour of +drawing them down); there was, to be short, no trace of an inhabitant. +The watch, too, was in its usual place; nothing was disturbed, only the +wardrobe door had swung open, in accordance with its confirmed habit. A +ring at the back door now announced the charwoman, who had been ordered +the night before, and nerved Mr Dunning, after letting her in, to +continue his search in other parts of the house. It was equally +fruitless. + +The day thus begun went on dismally enough. He dared not go to the +Museum: in spite of what the assistant had said, Karswell might turn up +there, and Dunning felt he could not cope with a probably hostile +stranger. His own house was odious; he hated sponging on the doctor. He +spent some little time in a call at the Nursing Home, where he was +slightly cheered by a good report of his housekeeper and maid. Towards +lunch-time he betook himself to his club, again experiencing a gleam of +satisfaction at seeing the Secretary of the Association. At luncheon +Dunning told his friend the more material of his woes, but could not +bring himself to speak of those that weighed most heavily on his spirits. +'My poor dear man,' said the Secretary, 'what an upset! Look here: we're +alone at home, absolutely. You must put up with us. Yes! no excuse: send +your things in this afternoon.' Dunning was unable to stand out: he was, +in truth, becoming acutely anxious, as the hours went on, as to what that +night might have waiting for him. He was almost happy as he hurried home +to pack up. + +His friends, when they had time to take stock of him, were rather shocked +at his lorn appearance, and did their best to keep him up to the mark. +Not altogether without success: but, when the two men were smoking alone +later, Dunning became dull again. Suddenly he said, 'Gayton, I believe +that alchemist man knows it was I who got his paper rejected.' Gayton +whistled. 'What makes you think that?' he said. Dunning told of his +conversation with the Museum assistant, and Gayton could only agree that +the guess seemed likely to be correct. 'Not that I care much,' Dunning +went on, 'only it might be a nuisance if we were to meet. He's a +bad-tempered party, I imagine.' Conversation dropped again; Gayton became +more and more strongly impressed with the desolateness that came over +Dunning's face and bearing, and finally--though with a considerable +effort--he asked him point-blank whether something serious was not +bothering him. Dunning gave an exclamation of relief. 'I was perishing to +get it off my mind,' he said. 'Do you know anything about a man named +John Harrington?' Gayton was thoroughly startled, and at the moment could +only ask why. Then the complete story of Dunning's experiences came +out--what had happened in the tramcar, in his own house, and in the +street, the troubling of spirit that had crept over him, and still held +him; and he ended with the question he had begun with. Gayton was at a +loss how to answer him. To tell the story of Harrington's end would +perhaps be right; only, Dunning was in a nervous state, the story was a +grim one, and he could not help asking himself whether there were not a +connecting link between these two cases, in the person of Karswell. It +was a difficult concession for a scientific man, but it could be eased by +the phrase 'hypnotic suggestion'. In the end he decided that his answer +tonight should be guarded; he would talk the situation over with his +wife. So he said that he had known Harrington at Cambridge, and believed +he had died suddenly in 1889, adding a few details about the man and his +published work. He did talk over the matter with Mrs Gayton, and, as he +had anticipated, she leapt at once to the conclusion which had been +hovering before him. It was she who reminded him of the surviving +brother, Henry Harrington, and she also who suggested that he might be +got hold of by means of their hosts of the day before. 'He might be a +hopeless crank,' objected Gayton. 'That could be ascertained from the +Bennetts, who knew him,' Mrs Gayton retorted; and she undertook to see +the Bennetts the very next day. + + * * * * * + +It is not necessary to tell in further detail the steps by which Henry +Harrington and Dunning were brought together. + + * * * * * + +The next scene that does require to be narrated is a conversation that +took place between the two. Dunning had told Harrington of the strange +ways in which the dead man's name had been brought before him, and had +said something, besides, of his own subsequent experiences. Then he had +asked if Harrington was disposed, in return, to recall any of the +circumstances connected with his brother's death. Harrington's surprise +at what he heard can be imagined: but his reply was readily given. + +'John,' he said, 'was in a very odd state, undeniably, from time to time, +during some weeks before, though not immediately before, the catastrophe. +There were several things; the principal notion he had was that he +thought he was being followed. No doubt he was an impressionable man, but +he never had had such fancies as this before. I cannot get it out of my +mind that there was ill-will at work, and what you tell me about yourself +reminds me very much of my brother. Can you think of any possible +connecting link?' + +'There is just one that has been taking shape vaguely in my mind. I've +been told that your brother reviewed a book very severely not long before +he died, and just lately I have happened to cross the path of the man who +wrote that book in a way he would resent.' + +'Don't tell me the man was called Karswell.' + +'Why not? that is exactly his name.' + +Henry Harrington leant back. 'That is final to my mind. Now I must +explain further. From something he said, I feel sure that my brother John +was beginning to believe--very much against his will--that Karswell was +at the bottom of his trouble. I want to tell you what seems to me to have +a bearing on the situation. My brother was a great musician, and used to +run up to concerts in town. He came back, three months before he died, +from one of these, and gave me his programme to look at--an analytical +programme: he always kept them. "I nearly missed this one," he said. "I +suppose I must have dropped it: anyhow, I was looking for it under my +seat and in my pockets and so on, and my neighbour offered me his; said +'might he give it me, he had no further use for it,' and he went away +just afterwards. I don't know who he was--a stout, clean-shaven man. I +should have been sorry to miss it; of course I could have bought another, +but this cost me nothing." At another time he told me that he had been +very uncomfortable both on the way to his hotel and during the night. I +piece things together now in thinking it over. Then, not very long after, +he was going over these programmes, putting them in order to have them +bound up, and in this particular one (which by the way I had hardly +glanced at), he found quite near the beginning a strip of paper with some +very odd writing on it in red and black--most carefully done--it looked +to me more like Runic letters than anything else. "Why," he said, "this +must belong to my fat neighbour. It looks as if it might be worth +returning to him; it may be a copy of something; evidently someone has +taken trouble over it. How can I find his address?" We talked it over for +a little and agreed that it wasn't worth advertising about, and that my +brother had better look out for the man at the next concert, to which he +was going very soon. The paper was lying on the book and we were both by +the fire; it was a cold, windy summer evening. I suppose the door blew +open, though I didn't notice it: at any rate a gust--a warm gust it +was--came quite suddenly between us, took the paper and blew it straight +into the fire: it was light, thin paper, and flared and went up the +chimney in a single ash. "Well," I said, "you can't give it back now." He +said nothing for a minute: then rather crossly, "No, I can't; but why you +should keep on saying so I don't know." I remarked that I didn't say it +more than once. "Not more than four times, you mean," was all he said. I +remember all that very clearly, without any good reason; and now to come +to the point. I don't know if you looked at that book of Karswell's which +my unfortunate brother reviewed. It's not likely that you should: but I +did, both before his death and after it. The first time we made game of +it together. It was written in no style at all--split infinitives, and +every sort of thing that makes an Oxford gorge rise. Then there was +nothing that the man didn't swallow: mixing up classical myths, and +stories out of the _Golden Legend_ with reports of savage customs of +today--all very proper, no doubt, if you know how to use them, but he +didn't: he seemed to put the _Golden Legend_ and the _Golden Bough_ +exactly on a par, and to believe both: a pitiable exhibition, in short. +Well, after the misfortune, I looked over the book again. It was no +better than before, but the impression which it left this time on my mind +was different. I suspected--as I told you--that Karswell had borne +ill-will to my brother, even that he was in some way responsible for what +had happened; and now his book seemed to me to be a very sinister +performance indeed. One chapter in particular struck me, in which he +spoke of "casting the Runes" on people, either for the purpose of gaining +their affection or of getting them out of the way--perhaps more +especially the latter: he spoke of all this in a way that really seemed +to me to imply actual knowledge. I've not time to go into details, but +the upshot is that I am pretty sure from information received that the +civil man at the concert was Karswell: I suspect--I more than +suspect--that the paper was of importance: and I do believe that if my +brother had been able to give it back, he might have been alive now. +Therefore, it occurs to me to ask you whether you have anything to put +beside what I have told you.' + +By way of answer, Dunning had the episode in the Manuscript Room at the +British Museum to relate. 'Then he did actually hand you some papers; +have you examined them? No? because we must, if you'll allow it, look at +them at once, and very carefully.' + +They went to the still empty house--empty, for the two servants were not +yet able to return to work. Dunning's portfolio of papers was gathering +dust on the writing-table. In it were the quires of small-sized +scribbling paper which he used for his transcripts: and from one of +these, as he took it up, there slipped and fluttered out into the room +with uncanny quickness, a strip of thin light paper. The window was open, +but Harrington slammed it to, just in time to intercept the paper, which +he caught. 'I thought so,' he said; 'it might be the identical thing that +was given to my brother. You'll have to look out, Dunning; this may mean +something quite serious for you.' + +A long consultation took place. The paper was narrowly examined. As +Harrington had said, the characters on it were more like Runes than +anything else, but not decipherable by either man, and both hesitated to +copy them, for fear, as they confessed, of perpetuating whatever evil +purpose they might conceal. So it has remained impossible (if I may +anticipate a little) to ascertain what was conveyed in this curious +message or commission. Both Dunning and Harrington are firmly convinced +that it had the effect of bringing its possessors into very undesirable +company. That it must be returned to the source whence it came they were +agreed, and further, that the only safe and certain way was that of +personal service; and here contrivance would be necessary, for Dunning +was known by sight to Karswell. He must, for one thing, alter his +appearance by shaving his beard. But then might not the blow fall first? +Harrington thought they could time it. He knew the date of the concert at +which the 'black spot' had been put on his brother: it was June 18th. The +death had followed on Sept. 18th. Dunning reminded him that three months +had been mentioned on the inscription on the car-window. 'Perhaps,' he +added, with a cheerless laugh, 'mine may be a bill at three months too. I +believe I can fix it by my diary. Yes, April 23rd was the day at the +Museum; that brings us to July 23rd. Now, you know, it becomes extremely +important to me to know anything you will tell me about the progress of +your brother's trouble, if it is possible for you to speak of it.' 'Of +course. Well, the sense of being watched whenever he was alone was the +most distressing thing to him. After a time I took to sleeping in his +room, and he was the better for that: still, he talked a great deal in +his sleep. What about? Is it wise to dwell on that, at least before +things are straightened out? I think not, but I can tell you this: two +things came for him by post during those weeks, both with a London +postmark, and addressed in a commercial hand. One was a woodcut of +Bewick's, roughly torn out of the page: one which shows a moonlit road +and a man walking along it, followed by an awful demon creature. Under it +were written the lines out of the "Ancient Mariner" (which I suppose the +cut illustrates) about one who, having once looked round-- + + walks on, + And turns no more his head, + Because he knows a frightful fiend + Doth close behind him tread. + +The other was a calendar, such as tradesmen often send. My brother paid +no attention to this, but I looked at it after his death, and found that +everything after Sept. 18 had been torn out. You may be surprised at his +having gone out alone the evening he was killed, but the fact is that +during the last ten days or so of his life he had been quite free from +the sense of being followed or watched.' + +The end of the consultation was this. Harrington, who knew a neighbour of +Karswell's, thought he saw a way of keeping a watch on his movements. It +would be Dunning's part to be in readiness to try to cross Karswell's +path at any moment, to keep the paper safe and in a place of ready +access. + +They parted. The next weeks were no doubt a severe strain upon Dunning's +nerves: the intangible barrier which had seemed to rise about him on the +day when he received the paper, gradually developed into a brooding +blackness that cut him off from the means of escape to which one might +have thought he might resort. No one was at hand who was likely to +suggest them to him, and he seemed robbed of all initiative. He waited +with inexpressible anxiety as May, June, and early July passed on, for a +mandate from Harrington. But all this time Karswell remained immovable at +Lufford. + +At last, in less than a week before the date he had come to look upon as +the end of his earthly activities, came a telegram: 'Leaves Victoria by +boat train Thursday night. Do not miss. I come to you to-night. +Harrington.' + +He arrived accordingly, and they concocted plans. The train left Victoria +at nine and its last stop before Dover was Croydon West. Harrington would +mark down Karswell at Victoria, and look out for Dunning at Croydon, +calling to him if need were by a name agreed upon. Dunning, disguised as +far as might be, was to have no label or initials on any hand luggage, +and must at all costs have the paper with him. + +Dunning's suspense as he waited on the Croydon platform I need not +attempt to describe. His sense of danger during the last days had only +been sharpened by the fact that the cloud about him had perceptibly been +lighter; but relief was an ominous symptom, and, if Karswell eluded him +now, hope was gone: and there were so many chances of that. The rumour of +the journey might be itself a device. The twenty minutes in which he +paced the platform and persecuted every porter with inquiries as to the +boat train were as bitter as any he had spent. Still, the train came, and +Harrington was at the window. It was important, of course, that there +should be no recognition: so Dunning got in at the farther end of the +corridor carriage, and only gradually made his way to the compartment +where Harrington and Karswell were. He was pleased, on the whole, to see +that the train was far from full. + +Karswell was on the alert, but gave no sign of recognition. Dunning took +the seat not immediately facing him, and attempted, vainly at first, +then with increasing command of his faculties, to reckon the +possibilities of making the desired transfer. Opposite to Karswell, and +next to Dunning, was a heap of Karswell's coats on the seat. It would be +of no use to slip the paper into these--he would not be safe, or would +not feel so, unless in some way it could be proffered by him and +accepted by the other. There was a handbag, open, and with papers in it. +Could he manage to conceal this (so that perhaps Karswell might leave +the carriage without it), and then find and give it to him? This was the +plan that suggested itself. If he could only have counselled with +Harrington! but that could not be. The minutes went on. More than once +Karswell rose and went out into the corridor. The second time Dunning +was on the point of attempting to make the bag fall off the seat, but he +caught Harrington's eye, and read in it a warning. Karswell, from the +corridor, was watching: probably to see if the two men recognized each +other. He returned, but was evidently restless: and, when he rose the +third time, hope dawned, for something did slip off his seat and fall +with hardly a sound to the floor. Karswell went out once more, and +passed out of range of the corridor window. Dunning picked up what had +fallen, and saw that the key was in his hands in the form of one of +Cook's ticket-cases, with tickets in it. These cases have a pocket in +the cover, and within very few seconds the paper of which we have heard +was in the pocket of this one. To make the operation more secure, +Harrington stood in the doorway of the compartment and fiddled with the +blind. It was done, and done at the right time, for the train was now +slowing down towards Dover. + +In a moment more Karswell re-entered the compartment. As he did so, +Dunning, managing, he knew not how, to suppress the tremble in his voice, +handed him the ticket-case, saying, 'May I give you this, sir? I believe +it is yours.' After a brief glance at the ticket inside, Karswell uttered +the hoped-for response, 'Yes, it is; much obliged to you, sir,' and he +placed it in his breast pocket. + +Even in the few moments that remained--moments of tense anxiety, for they +knew not to what a premature finding of the paper might lead--both men +noticed that the carriage seemed to darken about them and to grow warmer; +that Karswell was fidgety and oppressed; that he drew the heap of loose +coats near to him and cast it back as if it repelled him; and that he +then sat upright and glanced anxiously at both. They, with sickening +anxiety, busied themselves in collecting their belongings; but they both +thought that Karswell was on the point of speaking when the train stopped +at Dover Town. It was natural that in the short space between town and +pier they should both go into the corridor. + +At the pier they got out, but so empty was the train that they were +forced to linger on the platform until Karswell should have passed ahead +of them with his porter on the way to the boat, and only then was it safe +for them to exchange a pressure of the hand and a word of concentrated +congratulation. The effect upon Dunning was to make him almost faint. +Harrington made him lean up against the wall, while he himself went +forward a few yards within sight of the gangway to the boat, at which +Karswell had now arrived. The man at the head of it examined his ticket, +and, laden with coats, he passed down into the boat. Suddenly the official +called after him, 'You, sir, beg pardon, did the other gentleman show his +ticket?' 'What the devil do you mean by the other gentleman?' Karswell's +snarling voice called back from the deck. The man bent over and looked at +him. 'The devil? Well, I don't know, I'm sure,' Harrington heard him say +to himself, and then aloud, 'My mistake, sir; must have been your rugs! +ask your pardon.' And then, to a subordinate near him, ''Ad he got a dog +with him, or what? Funny thing: I could 'a' swore 'e wasn't alone. Well, +whatever it was, they'll 'ave to see to it aboard. She's off now. Another +week and we shall be gettin' the 'oliday customers.' In five minutes more +there was nothing but the lessening lights of the boat, the long line of +the Dover lamps, the night breeze, and the moon. + +Long and long the two sat in their room at the 'Lord Warden'. In spite of +the removal of their greatest anxiety, they were oppressed with a doubt, +not of the lightest. Had they been justified in sending a man to his +death, as they believed they had? Ought they not to warn him, at least? +'No,' said Harrington; 'if he is the murderer I think him, we have done +no more than is just. Still, if you think it better--but how and where +can you warn him?' 'He was booked to Abbeville only,' said Dunning. 'I +saw that. If I wired to the hotels there in Joanne's Guide, "Examine your +ticket-case, Dunning," I should feel happier. This is the 21st: he will +have a day. But I am afraid he has gone into the dark.' So telegrams were +left at the hotel office. + +It is not clear whether these reached their destination, or whether, if +they did, they were understood. All that is known is that, on the +afternoon of the 23rd, an English traveller, examining the front of St +Wulfram's Church at Abbeville, then under extensive repair, was struck on +the head and instantly killed by a stone falling from the scaffold +erected round the north-western tower, there being, as was clearly +proved, no workman on the scaffold at that moment: and the traveller's +papers identified him as Mr Karswell. + +Only one detail shall be added. At Karswell's sale a set of Bewick, sold +with all faults, was acquired by Harrington. The page with the woodcut of +the traveller and the demon was, as he had expected, mutilated. Also, +after a judicious interval, Harrington repeated to Dunning something of +what he had heard his brother say in his sleep: but it was not long +before Dunning stopped him. + + + + +THE STALLS OF BARCHESTER CATHEDRAL + +This matter began, as far as I am concerned, with the reading of a notice +in the obituary section of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for an early year +in the nineteenth century: + + On February 26th, at his residence in the Cathedral Close of + Barchester, the Venerable John Benwell Haynes, D.D., aged 57, + Archdeacon of Sowerbridge and Rector of Pickhill and Candley. He was + of ---- College, Cambridge, and where, by talent and assiduity, he + commanded the esteem of his seniors; when, at the usual time, he took + his first degree, his name stood high in the list of _wranglers_. + These academical honours procured for him within a short time a + Fellowship of his College. In the year 1783 he received Holy Orders, + and was shortly afterwards presented to the perpetual Curacy of + Ranxton-sub-Ashe by his friend and patron the late truly venerable + Bishop of Lichfield.... His speedy preferments, first to a Prebend, + and subsequently to the dignity of Precentor in the Cathedral of + Barchester, form an eloquent testimony to the respect in which he was + held and to his eminent qualifications. He succeeded to the + Archdeaconry upon the sudden decease of Archdeacon Pulteney in 1810. + His sermons, ever conformable to the principles of the religion and + Church which he adorned, displayed in no ordinary degree, without the + least trace of enthusiasm, the refinement of the scholar united with + the graces of the Christian. Free from sectarian violence, and + informed by the spirit of the truest charity, they will long dwell in + the memories of his hearers. [Here a further omission.] The + productions of his pen include an able defence of Episcopacy, which, + though often perused by the author of this tribute to his memory, + afford but one additional instance of the want of liberality and + enterprise which is a too common characteristic of the publishers of + our generation. His published works are, indeed, confined to a + spirited and elegant version of the _Argonautica_ of Valerius Flaccus, + a volume of _Discourses upon the Several Events in the Life of + Joshua_, delivered in his Cathedral, and a number of the charges + which he pronounced at various visitations to the clergy of his + Archdeaconry. These are distinguished by etc., etc. The urbanity and + hospitality of the subject of these lines will not readily be + forgotten by those who enjoyed his acquaintance. His interest in the + venerable and awful pile under whose hoary vault he was so punctual + an attendant, and particularly in the musical portion of its rites, + might be termed filial, and formed a strong and delightful contrast + to the polite indifference displayed by too many of our Cathedral + dignitaries at the present time. + +The final paragraph, after informing us that Dr Haynes died a bachelor, +says: + + It might have been augured that an existence so placid and benevolent + would have been terminated in a ripe old age by a dissolution equally + gradual and calm. But how unsearchable are the workings of + Providence! The peaceful and retired seclusion amid which the + honoured evening of Dr Haynes' life was mellowing to its close was + destined to be disturbed, nay, shattered, by a tragedy as appalling + as it was unexpected. The morning of the 26th of February-- + +But perhaps I shall do better to keep back the remainder of the narrative +until I have told the circumstances which led up to it. These, as far as +they are now accessible, I have derived from another source. + +I had read the obituary notice which I have been quoting, quite by +chance, along with a great many others of the same period. It had excited +some little speculation in my mind, but, beyond thinking that, if I ever +had an opportunity of examining the local records of the period +indicated, I would try to remember Dr Haynes, I made no effort to pursue +his case. + +Quite lately I was cataloguing the manuscripts in the library of the +college to which he belonged. I had reached the end of the numbered +volumes on the shelves, and I proceeded to ask the librarian whether +there were any more books which he thought I ought to include in my +description. 'I don't think there are,' he said, 'but we had better come +and look at the manuscript class and make sure. Have you time to do that +now?' I had time. We went to the library, checked off the manuscripts, +and, at the end of our survey, arrived at a shelf of which I had seen +nothing. Its contents consisted for the most part of sermons, bundles of +fragmentary papers, college exercises, _Cyrus_, an epic poem in several +cantos, the product of a country clergyman's leisure, mathematical tracts +by a deceased professor, and other similar material of a kind with which +I am only too familiar. I took brief notes of these. Lastly, there was a +tin box, which was pulled out and dusted. Its label, much faded, was thus +inscribed: 'Papers of the Ven. Archdeacon Haynes. Bequeathed in 1834 by +his sister, Miss Letitia Haynes.' + +I knew at once that the name was one which I had somewhere encountered, +and could very soon locate it. 'That must be the Archdeacon Haynes who +came to a very odd end at Barchester. I've read his obituary in the +_Gentleman's Magazine_. May I take the box home? Do you know if there is +anything interesting in it?' + +The librarian was very willing that I should take the box and examine it +at leisure. 'I never looked inside it myself,' he said, 'but I've always +been meaning to. I am pretty sure that is the box which our old Master +once said ought never to have been accepted by the college. He said that +to Martin years ago; and he said also that as long as he had control over +the library it should never be opened. Martin told me about it, and said +that he wanted terribly to know what was in it; but the Master was +librarian, and always kept the box in the lodge, so there was no getting +at it in his time, and when he died it was taken away by mistake by his +heirs, and only returned a few years ago. I can't think why I haven't +opened it; but, as I have to go away from Cambridge this afternoon, you +had better have first go at it. I think I can trust you not to publish +anything undesirable in our catalogue.' + +I took the box home and examined its contents, and thereafter consulted +the librarian as to what should be done about publication, and, since I +have his leave to make a story out of it, provided I disguise the +identity of the people concerned, I will try what can be done. + +The materials are, of course, mainly journals and letters. How much I +shall quote and how much epitomize must be determined by considerations +of space. The proper understanding of the situation has necessitated a +little--not very arduous--research, which has been greatly facilitated by +the excellent illustrations and text of the Barchester volume in Bell's +_Cathedral Series_. + +When you enter the choir of Barchester Cathedral now, you pass through a +screen of metal and coloured marbles, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, and +find yourself in what I must call a very bare and odiously furnished +place. The stalls are modern, without canopies. The places of the +dignitaries and the names of the prebends have fortunately been allowed +to survive, and are inscribed on small brass plates affixed to the +stalls. The organ is in the triforium, and what is seen of the case is +Gothic. The reredos and its surroundings are like every other. + +Careful engravings of a hundred years ago show a very different state of +things. The organ is on a massive classical screen. The stalls are also +classical and very massive. There is a baldacchino of wood over the +altar, with urns upon its corners. Farther east is a solid altar screen, +classical in design, of wood, with a pediment, in which is a triangle +surrounded by rays, enclosing certain Hebrew letters in gold. Cherubs +contemplate these. There is a pulpit with a great sounding-board at the +eastern end of the stalls on the north side, and there is a black and +white marble pavement. Two ladies and a gentleman are admiring the +general effect. From other sources I gather that the archdeacon's stall +then, as now, was next to the bishop's throne at the south-eastern end of +the stalls. His house almost faces the west front of the church, and is a +fine red-brick building of William the Third's time. + +Here Dr Haynes, already a mature man, took up his abode with his sister +in the year 1810. The dignity had long been the object of his wishes, but +his predecessor refused to depart until he had attained the age of +ninety-two. About a week after he had held a modest festival in +celebration of that ninety-second birthday, there came a morning, late in +the year, when Dr Haynes, hurrying cheerfully into his breakfast-room, +rubbing his hands and humming a tune, was greeted, and checked in his +genial flow of spirits, by the sight of his sister, seated, indeed, in +her usual place behind the tea-urn, but bowed forward and sobbing +unrestrainedly into her handkerchief. 'What--what is the matter? What bad +news?' he began. 'Oh, Johnny, you've not heard? The poor dear +archdeacon!' 'The archdeacon, yes? What is it--ill, is he?' 'No, no; they +found him on the staircase this morning; it is so shocking.' 'Is it +possible! Dear, dear, poor Pulteney! Had there been any seizure?' 'They +don't think so, and that is almost the worst thing about it. It seems to +have been all the fault of that stupid maid of theirs, Jane.' Dr Haynes +paused. 'I don't quite understand, Letitia. How was the maid at fault?' +'Why, as far as I can make out, there was a stair-rod missing, and she +never mentioned it, and the poor archdeacon set his foot quite on the +edge of the step--you know how slippery that oak is--and it seems he must +have fallen almost the whole flight and broken his neck. It _is_ so sad +for poor Miss Pulteney. Of course, they will get rid of the girl at once. +I never liked her.' Miss Haynes's grief resumed its sway, but eventually +relaxed so far as to permit of her taking some breakfast. Not so her +brother, who, after standing in silence before the window for some +minutes, left the room, and did not appear again that morning. + +I need only add that the careless maid-servant was dismissed forthwith, +but that the missing stair-rod was very shortly afterwards found _under_ +the stair-carpet--an additional proof, if any were needed, of extreme +stupidity and carelessness on her part. + +For a good many years Dr Haynes had been marked out by his ability, which +seems to have been really considerable, as the likely successor of +Archdeacon Pulteney, and no disappointment was in store for him. He was +duly installed, and entered with zeal upon the discharge of those +functions which are appropriate to one in his position. A considerable +space in his journals is occupied with exclamations upon the confusion in +which Archdeacon Pulteney had left the business of his office and the +documents appertaining to it. Dues upon Wringham and Barnswood have been +uncollected for something like twelve years, and are largely +irrecoverable; no visitation has been held for seven years; four chancels +are almost past mending. The persons deputized by the archdeacon have +been nearly as incapable as himself. It was almost a matter for +thankfulness that this state of things had not been permitted to +continue, and a letter from a friend confirms this view. '[Greek: ho +katechon],' it says (in rather cruel allusion to the Second Epistle to +the Thessalonians), 'is removed at last. My poor friend! Upon what a +scene of confusion will you be entering! I give you my word that, on the +last occasion of my crossing his threshold, there was no single paper +that he could lay hands upon, no syllable of mine that he could hear, and +no fact in connexion with my business that he could remember. But now, +thanks to a negligent maid and a loose stair-carpet, there is some +prospect that necessary business will be transacted without a complete +loss alike of voice and temper.' This letter was tucked into a pocket in +the cover of one of the diaries. + +There can be no doubt of the new archdeacon's zeal and enthusiasm. 'Give +me but time to reduce to some semblance of order the innumerable errors +and complications with which I am confronted, and I shall gladly and +sincerely join with the aged Israelite in the canticle which too many, I +fear, pronounce but with their lips.' This reflection I find, not in a +diary, but a letter; the doctor's friends seem to have returned his +correspondence to his surviving sister. He does not confine himself, +however, to reflections. His investigation of the rights and duties of +his office are very searching and business-like, and there is a +calculation in one place that a period of three years will just suffice +to set the business of the Archdeaconry upon a proper footing. The +estimate appears to have been an exact one. For just three years he is +occupied in reforms; but I look in vain at the end of that time for the +promised _Nunc dimittis_. He has now found a new sphere of activity. +Hitherto his duties have precluded him from more than an occasional +attendance at the Cathedral services. Now he begins to take an interest +in the fabric and the music. Upon his struggles with the organist, an old +gentleman who had been in office since 1786, I have no time to dwell; +they were not attended with any marked success. More to the purpose is +his sudden growth of enthusiasm for the Cathedral itself and its +furniture. There is a draft of a letter to Sylvanus Urban (which I do not +think was ever sent) describing the stalls in the choir. As I have said, +these were of fairly late date--of about the year 1700, in fact. + +'The archdeacon's stall, situated at the south-east end, west of the +episcopal throne (now so worthily occupied by the truly excellent prelate +who adorns the See of Barchester), is distinguished by some curious +ornamentation. In addition to the arms of Dean West, by whose efforts the +whole of the internal furniture of the choir was completed, the +prayer-desk is terminated at the eastern extremity by three small but +remarkable statuettes in the grotesque manner. One is an exquisitely +modelled figure of a cat, whose crouching posture suggests with admirable +spirit the suppleness, vigilance, and craft of the redoubted adversary of +the genus _Mus_. Opposite to this is a figure seated upon a throne and +invested with the attributes of royalty; but it is no earthly monarch +whom the carver has sought to portray. His feet are studiously concealed +by the long robe in which he is draped: but neither the crown nor the cap +which he wears suffice to hide the prick-ears and curving horns which +betray his Tartarean origin; and the hand which rests upon his knee is +armed with talons of horrifying length and sharpness. Between these two +figures stands a shape muffled in a long mantle. This might at first +sight be mistaken for a monk or "friar of orders gray", for the head is +cowled and a knotted cord depends from somewhere about the waist. A +slight inspection, however, will lead to a very different conclusion. The +knotted cord is quickly seen to be a halter, held by a hand all but +concealed within the draperies; while the sunken features and, horrid to +relate, the rent flesh upon the cheek-bones, proclaim the King of +Terrors. These figures are evidently the production of no unskilled +chisel; and should it chance that any of your correspondents are able to +throw light upon their origin and significance, my obligations to your +valuable miscellany will be largely increased.' + +There is more description in the paper, and, seeing that the woodwork in +question has now disappeared, it has a considerable interest. A paragraph +at the end is worth quoting: + +'Some late researches among the Chapter accounts have shown me that the +carving of the stalls was not, as was very usually reported, the work of +Dutch artists, but was executed by a native of this city or district +named Austin. The timber was procured from an oak copse in the vicinity, +the property of the Dean and Chapter, known as Holywood. Upon a recent +visit to the parish within whose boundaries it is situated, I learned +from the aged and truly respectable incumbent that traditions still +lingered amongst the inhabitants of the great size and age of the oaks +employed to furnish the materials of the stately structure which has +been, however imperfectly, described in the above lines. Of one in +particular, which stood near the centre of the grove, it is remembered +that it was known as the Hanging Oak. The propriety of that title is +confirmed by the fact that a quantity of human bones was found in the +soil about its roots, and that at certain times of the year it was the +custom for those who wished to secure a successful issue to their +affairs, whether of love or the ordinary business of life, to suspend +from its boughs small images or puppets rudely fashioned of straw, twigs, +or the like rustic materials.' + +So much for the archdeacon's archaeological investigations. To return to +his career as it is to be gathered from his diaries. Those of his first +three years of hard and careful work show him throughout in high spirits, +and, doubtless, during this time, that reputation for hospitality and +urbanity which is mentioned in his obituary notice was well deserved. +After that, as time goes on, I see a shadow coming over him--destined to +develop into utter blackness--which I cannot but think must have been +reflected in his outward demeanour. He commits a good deal of his fears +and troubles to his diary; there was no other outlet for them. He was +unmarried and his sister was not always with him. But I am much mistaken +if he has told all that he might have told. A series of extracts shall be +given: + + _Aug. 30th 1816_--The days begin to draw in more perceptibly than + ever. Now that the Archdeaconry papers are reduced to order, I must + find some further employment for the evening hours of autumn and + winter. It is a great blow that Letitia's health will not allow her + to stay through these months. Why not go on with my _Defence of + Episcopacy_? It may be useful. + + _Sept. 15._--Letitia has left me for Brighton. + + _Oct. 11._--Candles lit in the choir for the first time at evening + prayers. It came as a shock: I find that I absolutely shrink from the + dark season. + + _Nov. 17_--Much struck by the character of the carving on my desk: I + do not know that I had ever carefully noticed it before. My attention + was called to it by an accident. During the _Magnificat_ I was, I + regret to say, almost overcome with sleep. My hand was resting on the + back of the carved figure of a cat which is the nearest to me of the + three figures on the end of my stall. I was not aware of this, for I + was not looking in that direction, until I was startled by what + seemed a softness, a feeling as of rather rough and coarse fur, and a + sudden movement, as if the creature were twisting round its head to + bite me. I regained complete consciousness in an instant, and I have + some idea that I must have uttered a suppressed exclamation, for I + noticed that Mr Treasurer turned his head quickly in my direction. + The impression of the unpleasant feeling was so strong that I found + myself rubbing my hand upon my surplice. This accident led me to + examine the figures after prayers more carefully than I had done + before, and I realized for the first time with what skill they are + executed. + + _Dec. 6_--I do indeed miss Letitia's company. The evenings, after I + have worked as long as I can at my _Defence_, are very trying. The + house is too large for a lonely man, and visitors of any kind are too + rare. I get an uncomfortable impression when going to my room that + there _is_ company of some kind. The fact is (I may as well formulate + it to myself) that I hear voices. This, I am well aware, is a common + symptom of incipient decay of the brain--and I believe that I should + be less disquieted than I am if I had any suspicion that this was the + cause. I have none--none whatever, nor is there anything in my family + history to give colour to such an idea. Work, diligent work, and a + punctual attention to the duties which fall to me is my best remedy, + and I have little doubt that it will prove efficacious. + + _Jan. 1_--My trouble is, I must confess it, increasing upon me. Last + night, upon my return after midnight from the Deanery, I lit my + candle to go upstairs. I was nearly at the top when something + whispered to me, 'Let me wish you a happy New Year.' I could not be + mistaken: it spoke distinctly and with a peculiar emphasis. Had I + dropped my candle, as I all but did, I tremble to think what the + consequences must have been. As it was, I managed to get up the last + flight, and was quickly in my room with the door locked, and + experienced no other disturbance. + + _Jan. 15_--I had occasion to come downstairs last night to my + workroom for my watch, which I had inadvertently left on my table + when I went up to bed. I think I was at the top of the last flight + when I had a sudden impression of a sharp whisper in my ear '_Take + care_.' I clutched the balusters and naturally looked round at once. + Of course, there was nothing. After a moment I went on--it was no + good turning back--but I had as nearly as possible fallen: a cat--a + large one by the feel of it--slipped between my feet, but again, of + course, I saw nothing. It _may_ have been the kitchen cat, but I do + not think it was. + + _Feb. 27_--A curious thing last night, which I should like to forget. + Perhaps if I put it down here I may see it in its true proportion. I + worked in the library from about 9 to 10. The hall and staircase + seemed to be unusually full of what I can only call movement without + sound: by this I mean that there seemed to be continuous going and + coming, and that whenever I ceased writing to listen, or looked out + into the hall, the stillness was absolutely unbroken. Nor, in going + to my room at an earlier hour than usual--about half-past ten--was I + conscious of anything that I could call a noise. It so happened that + I had told John to come to my room for the letter to the bishop which + I wished to have delivered early in the morning at the Palace. He was + to sit up, therefore, and come for it when he heard me retire. This I + had for the moment forgotten, though I had remembered to carry the + letter with me to my room. But when, as I was winding up my watch, I + heard a light tap at the door, and a low voice saying, 'May I come + in?' (which I most undoubtedly did hear), I recollected the fact, and + took up the letter from my dressing-table, saying, 'Certainly: come + in.' No one, however, answered my summons, and it was now that, as I + strongly suspect, I committed an error: for I opened the door and + held the letter out. There was certainly no one at that moment in the + passage, but, in the instant of my standing there, the door at the + end opened and John appeared carrying a candle. I asked him whether + he had come to the door earlier; but am satisfied that he had not. I + do not like the situation; but although my senses were very much on + the alert, and though it was some time before I could sleep, I must + allow that I perceived nothing further of an untoward character. + +With the return of spring, when his sister came to live with him for some +months, Dr Haynes's entries become more cheerful, and, indeed, no symptom +of depression is discernible until the early part of September, when he +was again left alone. And now, indeed, there is evidence that he was +incommoded again, and that more pressingly. To this matter I will return +in a moment, but I digress to put in a document which, rightly or +wrongly, I believe to have a bearing on the thread of the story. + +The account-books of Dr Haynes, preserved along with his other papers, +show, from a date but little later than that of his institution as +archdeacon, a quarterly payment of L25 to J. L. Nothing could have been +made of this, had it stood by itself. But I connect with it a very dirty +and ill-written letter, which, like another that I have quoted, was in a +pocket in the cover of a diary. Of date or postmark there is no vestige, +and the decipherment was not easy. It appears to run: + + Dr Sr. + + I have bin expctin to her off you theis last wicks, and not Haveing + done so must supose you have not got mine witch was saying how me and + my man had met in with bad times this season all seems to go cross + with us on the farm and which way to look for the rent we have no + knowledge of it this been the sad case with us if you would have the + great [liberality _probably, but the exact spelling defies + reproduction_] to send fourty pounds otherwise steps will have to be + took which I should not wish. Has you was the Means of me losing my + place with Dr Pulteney I think it is only just what I am asking and + you know best what I could say if I was Put to it but I do not wish + anything of that unpleasant Nature being one that always wish to have + everything Pleasant about me. + + Your obedt Servt, + + Jane Lee. + +About the time at which I suppose this letter to have been written there +is, in fact, a payment of L40 to J.L. + +We return to the diary: + + _Oct. 22_--At evening prayers, during the Psalms, I had that same + experience which I recollect from last year. I was resting my hand on + one of the carved figures, as before (I usually avoid that of the cat + now), and--I was going to have said--a change came over it, but that + seems attributing too much importance to what must, after all, be due + to some physical affection in myself: at any rate, the wood seemed to + become chilly and soft as if made of wet linen. I can assign the + moment at which I became sensible of this. The choir were singing the + words (_Set thou an ungodly man to be ruler over him and let Satan + stand at his right hand_.) + + The whispering in my house was more persistent tonight. I seemed not + to be rid of it in my room. I have not noticed this before. A nervous + man, which I am not, and hope I am not becoming, would have been much + annoyed, if not alarmed, by it. The cat was on the stairs tonight. I + think it sits there always. There _is_ no kitchen cat. + + _Nov. 15_--Here again I must note a matter I do not understand. I am + much troubled in sleep. No definite image presented itself, but I was + pursued by the very vivid impression that wet lips were whispering + into my ear with great rapidity and emphasis for some time together. + After this, I suppose, I fell asleep, but was awakened with a start + by a feeling as if a hand were laid on my shoulder. To my intense + alarm I found myself standing at the top of the lowest flight of the + first staircase. The moon was shining brightly enough through the + large window to let me see that there was a large cat on the second + or third step. I can make no comment. I crept up to bed again, I do + not know how. Yes, mine is a heavy burden. [Then follows a line or + two which has been scratched out. I fancy I read something like + 'acted for the best'.] + +Not long after this it is evident to me that the archdeacon's firmness +began to give way under the pressure of these phenomena. I omit as +unnecessarily painful and distressing the ejaculations and prayers which, +in the months of December and January, appear for the first time and +become increasingly frequent. Throughout this time, however, he is +obstinate in clinging to his post. Why he did not plead ill-health and +take refuge at Bath or Brighton I cannot tell; my impression is that it +would have done him no good; that he was a man who, if he had confessed +himself beaten by the annoyances, would have succumbed at once, and that +he was conscious of this. He did seek to palliate them by inviting +visitors to his house. The result he has noted in this fashion: + + _Jan. 7_--I have prevailed on my cousin Allen to give me a few days, + and he is to occupy the chamber next to mine. + + _Jan. 8_--A still night. Allen slept well, but complained of the + wind. My own experiences were as before: still whispering and + whispering: what is it that he wants to say? + + _Jan. 9_--Allen thinks this a very noisy house. He thinks, too, that + my cat is an unusually large and fine specimen, but very wild. + + _Jan. 10_--Allen and I in the library until 11. He left me twice to + see what the maids were doing in the hall: returning the second time + he told me he had seen one of them passing through the door at the + end of the passage, and said if his wife were here she would soon get + them into better order. I asked him what coloured dress the maid + wore; he said grey or white. I supposed it would be so. + + _Jan. 11_--Allen left me today. I must be firm. + +These words, _I must be firm_, occur again and again on subsequent days; +sometimes they are the only entry. In these cases they are in an +unusually large hand, and dug into the paper in a way which must have +broken the pen that wrote them. + +Apparently the archdeacon's friends did not remark any change in his +behaviour, and this gives me a high idea of his courage and +determination. The diary tells us nothing more than I have indicated of +the last days of his life. The end of it all must be told in the polished +language of the obituary notice: + + The morning of the 26th of February was cold and tempestuous. At an + early hour the servants had occasion to go into the front hall of the + residence occupied by the lamented subject of these lines. What was + their horror upon observing the form of their beloved and respected + master lying upon the landing of the principal staircase in an + attitude which inspired the gravest fears. Assistance was procured, + and an universal consternation was experienced upon the discovery + that he had been the object of a brutal and a murderous attack. The + vertebral column was fractured in more than one place. This might + have been the result of a fall: it appeared that the stair-carpet was + loosened at one point. But, in addition to this, there were injuries + inflicted upon the eyes, nose and mouth, as if by the agency of some + savage animal, which, dreadful to relate, rendered those features + unrecognizable. The vital spark was, it is needless to add, + completely extinct, and had been so, upon the testimony of + respectable medical authorities, for several hours. The author or + authors of this mysterious outrage are alike buried in mystery, and + the most active conjecture has hitherto failed to suggest a solution + of the melancholy problem afforded by this appalling occurrence. + +The writer goes on to reflect upon the probability that the writings of +Mr Shelley, Lord Byron, and M. Voltaire may have been instrumental in +bringing about the disaster, and concludes by hoping, somewhat vaguely, +that this event may 'operate as an example to the rising generation'; but +this portion of his remarks need not be quoted in full. + +I had already formed the conclusion that Dr Haynes was responsible for +the death of Dr Pulteney. But the incident connected with the carved +figure of death upon the archdeacon's stall was a very perplexing +feature. The conjecture that it had been cut out of the wood of the +Hanging Oak was not difficult, but seemed impossible to substantiate. +However, I paid a visit to Barchester, partly with the view of finding +out whether there were any relics of the woodwork to be heard of. I was +introduced by one of the canons to the curator of the local museum, who +was, my friend said, more likely to be able to give me information on the +point than anyone else. I told this gentleman of the description of +certain carved figures and arms formerly on the stalls, and asked whether +any had survived. He was able to show me the arms of Dean West and some +other fragments. These, he said, had been got from an old resident, who +had also once owned a figure--perhaps one of those which I was inquiring +for. There was a very odd thing about that figure, he said. 'The old man +who had it told me that he picked it up in a woodyard, whence he had +obtained the still extant pieces, and had taken it home for his children. +On the way home he was fiddling about with it and it came in two in his +hands, and a bit of paper dropped out. This he picked up and, just +noticing that there was writing on it, put it into his pocket, and +subsequently into a vase on his mantelpiece. I was at his house not very +long ago, and happened to pick up the vase and turn it over to see +whether there were any marks on it, and the paper fell into my hand. The +old man, on my handing it to him, told me the story I have told you, and +said I might keep the paper. It was crumpled and rather torn, so I have +mounted it on a card, which I have here. If you can tell me what it means +I shall be very glad, and also, I may say, a good deal surprised.' + +He gave me the card. The paper was quite legibly inscribed in an old +hand, and this is what was on it: + + When I grew in the Wood + I was water'd w'th Blood + Now in the Church I stand + Who that touches me with his Hand + If a Bloody hand he bear + I councell him to be ware + Lest he be fetcht away + Whether by night or day, + But chiefly when the wind blows high + In a night of February. +This I drempt, 26 Febr. Anno 1699. JOHN AUSTIN. + +'I suppose it is a charm or a spell: wouldn't you call it something of +that kind?' said the curator. + +'Yes,' I said, 'I suppose one might. What became of the figure in which +it was concealed?' + +'Oh, I forgot,' said he. 'The old man told me it was so ugly and +frightened his children so much that he burnt it.' + + + + +MARTIN'S CLOSE + +Some few years back I was staying with the rector of a parish in the +West, where the society to which I belong owns property. I was to go over +some of this land: and, on the first morning of my visit, soon after +breakfast, the estate carpenter and general handyman, John Hill, was +announced as in readiness to accompany us. The rector asked which part of +the parish we were to visit that morning. The estate map was produced, +and when we had showed him our round, he put his finger on a particular +spot. 'Don't forget,' he said, 'to ask John Hill about Martin's Close +when you get there. I should like to hear what he tells you.' 'What ought +he to tell us?' I said. 'I haven't the slightest idea,' said the rector, +'or, if that is not exactly true, it will do till lunch-time.' And here +he was called away. + +We set out; John Hill is not a man to withhold such information as he +possesses on any point, and you may gather from him much that is of +interest about the people of the place and their talk. An unfamiliar +word, or one that he thinks ought to be unfamiliar to you, he will +usually spell--as c-o-b cob, and the like. It is not, however, relevant +to my purpose to record his conversation before the moment when we +reached Martin's Close. The bit of land is noticeable, for it is one of +the smallest enclosures you are likely to see--a very few square yards, +hedged in with quickset on all sides, and without any gate or gap leading +into it. You might take it for a small cottage garden long deserted, but +that it lies away from the village and bears no trace of cultivation. It +is at no great distance from the road, and is part of what is there +called a moor, in other words, a rough upland pasture cut up into largish +fields. + +'Why is this little bit hedged off so?' I asked, and John Hill (whose +answer I cannot represent as perfectly as I should like) was not at +fault. 'That's what we call Martin's Close, sir: 'tes a curious thing +'bout that bit of land, sir: goes by the name of Martin's Close, sir. +M-a-r-t-i-n Martin. Beg pardon, sir, did Rector tell you to make inquiry +of me 'bout that, sir?' 'Yes, he did.' 'Ah, I thought so much, sir. I was +tell'n Rector 'bout that last week, and he was very much interested. It +'pears there's a murderer buried there, sir, by the name of Martin. Old +Samuel Saunders, that formerly lived yurr at what we call South-town, +sir, he had a long tale 'bout that, sir: terrible murder done 'pon a +young woman, sir. Cut her throat and cast her in the water down yurr.' +'Was he hung for it?' 'Yes, sir, he was hung just up yurr on the roadway, +by what I've 'eard, on the Holy Innocents' Day, many 'undred years ago, +by the man that went by the name of the bloody judge: terrible red and +bloody, I've 'eard.' 'Was his name Jeffreys, do you think?' 'Might be +possible 'twas--Jeffreys--J-e-f--Jeffreys. I reckon 'twas, and the tale +I've 'eard many times from Mr Saunders,--how this young man +Martin--George Martin--was troubled before his crule action come to light +by the young woman's sperit.' 'How was that, do you know?' 'No, sir, I +don't exactly know how 'twas with it: but by what I've 'eard he was +fairly tormented; and rightly tu. Old Mr Saunders, he told a history +regarding a cupboard down yurr in the New Inn. According to what he +related, this young woman's sperit come out of this cupboard: but I don't +racollact the matter.' + +This was the sum of John Hill's information. We passed on, and in due +time I reported what I had heard to the Rector. He was able to show me +from the parish account-books that a gibbet had been paid for in 1684, +and a grave dug in the following year, both for the benefit of George +Martin; but he was unable to suggest anyone in the parish, Saunders being +now gone, who was likely to throw any further light on the story. + +Naturally, upon my return to the neighbourhood of libraries, I made +search in the more obvious places. The trial seemed to be nowhere +reported. A newspaper of the time, and one or more news-letters, however, +had some short notices, from which I learnt that, on the ground of local +prejudice against the prisoner (he was described as a young gentleman of +a good estate), the venue had been moved from Exeter to London; that +Jeffreys had been the judge, and death the sentence, and that there had +been some 'singular passages' in the evidence. Nothing further transpired +till September of this year. A friend who knew me to be interested in +Jeffreys then sent me a leaf torn out of a second-hand bookseller's +catalogue with the entry: JEFFREYS, JUDGE: _Interesting old MS. trial for +murder_, and so forth, from which I gathered, to my delight, that I could +become possessed, for a very few shillings, of what seemed to be a +verbatim report, in shorthand, of the Martin trial. I telegraphed for the +manuscript and got it. It was a thin bound volume, provided with a title +written in longhand by someone in the eighteenth century, who had also +added this note: 'My father, who took these notes in court, told me that +the prisoner's friends had made interest with Judge Jeffreys that no +report should be put out: he had intended doing this himself when times +were better, and had shew'd it to the Revd Mr Glanvil, who incourag'd his +design very warmly, but death surpriz'd them both before it could be +brought to an accomplishment.' + +The initials W. G. are appended; I am advised that the original reporter +may have been T. Gurney, who appears in that capacity in more than one +State trial. + +This was all that I could read for myself. After no long delay I heard of +someone who was capable of deciphering the shorthand of the seventeenth +century, and a little time ago the typewritten copy of the whole +manuscript was laid before me. The portions which I shall communicate +here help to fill in the very imperfect outline which subsists in the +memories of John Hill and, I suppose, one or two others who live on the +scene of the events. + +The report begins with a species of preface, the general effect of which +is that the copy is not that actually taken in court, though it is a true +copy in regard to the notes of what was said; but that the writer has +added to it some 'remarkable passages' that took place during the trial, +and has made this present fair copy of the whole, intending at some +favourable time to publish it; but has not put it into longhand, lest it +should fall into the possession of unauthorized persons, and he or his +family be deprived of the profit. + +The report then begins: + +This case came on to be tried on Wednesday, the 19th of November, between +our sovereign lord the King, and George Martin Esquire, of (I take leave +to omit some of the place-names), at a sessions of oyer and terminer and +gaol delivery, at the Old Bailey, and the prisoner, being in Newgate, was +brought to the bar. + +_Clerk of the Crown._ George Martin, hold up thy hand (which he did). + +Then the indictment was read, which set forth that the prisoner, 'not +having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by +the instigation of the devil, upon the 15th day of May, in the 36th year +of our sovereign lord King Charles the Second, with force and arms in the +parish aforesaid, in and upon Ann Clark, spinster, of the same place, in +the peace of God and of our said sovereign lord the King then and there +being, feloniously, wilfully, and of your malice aforethought did make an +assault and with a certain knife value a penny the throat of the said Ann +Clark then and there did cut, of the which wound the said Ann Clark then +and there did die, and the body of the said Ann Clark did cast into a +certain pond of water situate in the same parish (with more that is not +material to our purpose) against the peace of our sovereign lord the +King, his crown and dignity.' + +Then the prisoner prayed a copy of the indictment. + +_L.C.J._ (Sir George Jeffreys). What is this? Sure you know that is never +allowed. Besides, here is a plain indictment as ever I heard; you have +nothing to do but to plead to it. + +_Pris._ My lord, I apprehend there may be matter of law arising out of +the indictment, and I would humbly beg the court to assign me counsel to +consider of it. Besides, my lord, I believe it was done in another case: +copy of the indictment was allowed. + +_L.C.J._ What case was that? + +_Pris._ Truly, my lord, I have been kept close prisoner ever since I came +up from Exeter Castle, and no one allowed to come at me and no one to +advise with. + +_L.C.J._ But I say, what was that case you allege? + +_Pris._ My lord, I cannot tell your lordship precisely the name of the +case, but it is in my mind that there was such an one, and I would humbly +desire-- + +_L.C.J._ All this is nothing. Name your case, and we will tell you +whether there be any matter for you in it. God forbid but you should have +anything that may be allowed you by law: but this is against law, and we +must keep the course of the court. + +_Att.-Gen._ (Sir Robert Sawyer). My lord, we pray for the King that he +may be asked to plead. + +_Cl. of Ct._ Are you guilty of the murder whereof you stand indicted, or +not guilty? + +_Pris._ My lord, I would humbly offer this to the court. If I plead now, +shall I have an opportunity after to except against the indictment? + +_L.C.J._ Yes, yes, that comes after verdict: that will be saved to you, +and counsel assigned if there be matter of law: but that which you have +now to do is to plead. + +Then after some little parleying with the court (which seemed strange +upon such a plain indictment) the prisoner pleaded _Not Guilty_. + +_Cl. of Ct._ Culprit. How wilt thou be tried? + +_Pris._ By God and my country. + +_Cl. of Ct._ God send thee a good deliverance. + +_L.C.J._ Why, how is this? Here has been a great to-do that you should +not be tried at Exeter by your country, but be brought here to London, +and now you ask to be tried by your country. Must we send you to Exeter +again? + +_Pris._ My lord, I understood it was the form. + +_L.C.J._ So it is, man: we spoke only in the way of pleasantness. Well, +go on and swear the jury. + +So they were sworn. I omit the names. There was no challenging on the +prisoner's part, for, as he said, he did not know any of the persons +called. Thereupon the prisoner asked for the use of pen, ink, and paper, +to which the L. C. J. replied: 'Ay, ay, in God's name let him have it.' +Then the usual charge was delivered to the jury, and the case opened by +the junior counsel for the King, Mr Dolben. + +The Attorney-General followed: + +May it please your lordship, and you gentlemen of the jury, I am of +counsel for the King against the prisoner at the bar. You have heard that +he stands indicted for a murder done upon the person of a young girl. +Such crimes as this you may perhaps reckon to be not uncommon, and, +indeed, in these times, I am sorry to say it, there is scarce any fact so +barbarous and unnatural but what we may hear almost daily instances of +it. But I must confess that in this murder that is charged upon the +prisoner there are some particular features that mark it out to be such +as I hope has but seldom if ever been perpetrated upon English ground. +For as we shall make it appear, the person murdered was a poor country +girl (whereas the prisoner is a gentleman of a proper estate) and, +besides that, was one to whom Providence had not given the full use of +her intellects, but was what is termed among us commonly an innocent or +natural: such an one, therefore, as one would have supposed a gentleman +of the prisoner's quality more likely to overlook, or, if he did notice +her, to be moved to compassion for her unhappy condition, than to lift up +his hand against her in the very horrid and barbarous manner which we +shall show you he used. + +Now to begin at the beginning and open the matter to you orderly: About +Christmas of last year, that is the year 1683, this gentleman, Mr Martin, +having newly come back into his own country from the University of +Cambridge, some of his neighbours, to show him what civility they could +(for his family is one that stands in very good repute all over that +country), entertained him here and there at their Christmas merrymakings, +so that he was constantly riding to and fro, from one house to another, +and sometimes, when the place of his destination was distant, or for +other reason, as the unsafeness of the roads, he would be constrained to +lie the night at an inn. In this way it happened that he came, a day or +two after the Christmas, to the place where this young girl lived with +her parents, and put up at the inn there, called the New Inn, which is, +as I am informed, a house of good repute. Here was some dancing going on +among the people of the place, and Ann Clark had been brought in, it +seems, by her elder sister to look on; but being, as I have said, of weak +understanding, and, besides that, very uncomely in her appearance, it was +not likely she should take much part in the merriment; and accordingly +was but standing by in a corner of the room. The prisoner at the bar, +seeing her, one must suppose by way of a jest, asked her would she dance +with him. And in spite of what her sister and others could say to prevent +it and to dissuade her-- + +_L.C.J._ Come, Mr Attorney, we are not set here to listen to tales of +Christmas parties in taverns. I would not interrupt you, but sure you +have more weighty matters than this. You will be telling us next what +tune they danced to. + +_Att._ My lord, I would not take up the time of the court with what is +not material: but we reckon it to be material to show how this unlikely +acquaintance begun: and as for the tune, I believe, indeed, our evidence +will show that even that hath a bearing on the matter in hand. + +_L.C.J._ Go on, go on, in God's name: but give us nothing that is +impertinent. + +_Att._ Indeed, my lord, I will keep to my matter. But, gentlemen, having +now shown you, as I think, enough of this first meeting between the +murdered person and the prisoner, I will shorten my tale so far as to say +that from then on there were frequent meetings of the two: for the young +woman was greatly tickled with having got hold (as she conceived it) of +so likely a sweetheart, and he being once a week at least in the habit of +passing through the street where she lived, she would be always on the +watch for him; and it seems they had a signal arranged: he should whistle +the tune that was played at the tavern: it is a tune, as I am informed, +well known in that country, and has a burden, '_Madam, will you walk, +will you talk with me?_' + +_L.C.J._ Ay, I remember it in my own country, in Shropshire. It runs +somehow thus, doth it not? [Here his lordship whistled a part of a tune, +which was very observable, and seemed below the dignity of the court. And +it appears he felt it so himself, for he said:] But this is by the mark, +and I doubt it is the first time we have had dance-tunes in this court. +The most part of the dancing we give occasion for is done at Tyburn. +[Looking at the prisoner, who appeared very much disordered.] You said +the tune was material to your case, Mr Attorney, and upon my life I think +Mr Martin agrees with you. What ails you, man? staring like a player that +sees a ghost! + +_Pris._ My lord, I was amazed at hearing such trivial, foolish things as +they bring against me. + +_L.C.J._ Well, well, it lies upon Mr Attorney to show whether they be +trivial or not: but I must say, if he has nothing worse than this he has +said, you have no great cause to be in amaze. Doth it not lie something +deeper? But go on, Mr Attorney. + +_Att._ My lord and gentlemen--all that I have said so far you may indeed +very reasonably reckon as having an appearance of triviality. And, to be +sure, had the matter gone no further than the humouring of a poor silly +girl by a young gentleman of quality, it had been very well. But to +proceed. We shall make it appear that after three or four weeks the +prisoner became contracted to a young gentlewoman of that country, one +suitable every way to his own condition, and such an arrangement was on +foot that seemed to promise him a happy and a reputable living. But +within no very long time it seems that this young gentlewoman, hearing of +the jest that was going about that countryside with regard to the +prisoner and Ann Clark, conceived that it was not only an unworthy +carriage on the part of her lover, but a derogation to herself that he +should suffer his name to be sport for tavern company: and so without +more ado she, with the consent of her parents, signified to the prisoner +that the match between them was at an end. We shall show you that upon +the receipt of this intelligence the prisoner was greatly enraged against +Ann Clark as being the cause of his misfortune (though indeed there was +nobody answerable for it but himself), and that he made use of many +outrageous expressions and threatenings against her, and subsequently +upon meeting with her both abused her and struck at her with his whip: +but she, being but a poor innocent, could not be persuaded to desist from +her attachment to him, but would often run after him testifying with +gestures and broken words the affection she had to him: until she was +become, as he said, the very plague of his life. Yet, being that affairs +in which he was now engaged necessarily took him by the house in which +she lived, he could not (as I am willing to believe he would otherwise +have done) avoid meeting with her from time to time. We shall further +show you that this was the posture of things up to the 15th day of May in +this present year. Upon that day the prisoner comes riding through the +village, as of custom, and met with the young woman: but in place of +passing her by, as he had lately done, he stopped, and said some words to +her with which she appeared wonderfully pleased, and so left her; and +after that day she was nowhere to be found, notwithstanding a strict +search was made for her. The next time of the prisoner's passing through +the place, her relations inquired of him whether he should know anything +of her whereabouts; which he totally denied. They expressed to him their +fears lest her weak intellects should have been upset by the attention he +had showed her, and so she might have committed some rash act against her +own life, calling him to witness the same time how often they had +beseeched him to desist from taking notice of her, as fearing trouble +might come of it: but this, too, he easily laughed away. But in spite of +this light behaviour, it was noticeable in him that about this time his +carriage and demeanour changed, and it was said of him that he seemed a +troubled man. And here I come to a passage to which I should not dare to +ask your attention, but that it appears to me to be founded in truth, and +is supported by testimony deserving of credit. And, gentlemen, to my +judgement it doth afford a great instance of God's revenge against +murder, and that He will require the blood of the innocent. + +[Here Mr Attorney made a pause, and shifted with his papers: and it was +thought remarkable by me and others, because he was a man not easily +dashed.] + +_L.C.J._ Well, Mr Attorney, what is your instance? + +_Att._ My lord, it is a strange one, and the truth is that, of all the +cases I have been concerned in, I cannot call to mind the like of it. But +to be short, gentlemen, we shall bring you testimony that Ann Clark was +seen after this 15th of May, and that, at such time as she was so seen, +it was impossible she could have been a living person. + +[Here the people made a hum, and a good deal of laughter, and the Court +called for silence, and when it was made]-- + +_L.C.J._ Why, Mr Attorney, you might save up this tale for a week; it +will be Christmas by that time, and you can frighten your cook-maids with +it [at which the people laughed again, and the prisoner also, as it +seemed]. God, man, what are you prating of--ghosts and Christmas jigs and +tavern company--and here is a man's life at stake! [To the prisoner]: And +you, sir, I would have you know there is not so much occasion for you to +make merry neither. You were not brought here for that, and if I know Mr +Attorney, he has more in his brief than he has shown yet. Go on, Mr +Attorney. I need not, mayhap, have spoken so sharply, but you must +confess your course is something unusual. + +_Att._ Nobody knows it better than I, my lord: but I shall bring it to an +end with a round turn. I shall show you, gentlemen, that Ann Clark's body +was found in the month of June, in a pond of water, with the throat cut: +that a knife belonging to the prisoner was found in the same water: that +he made efforts to recover the said knife from the water: that the +coroner's quest brought in a verdict against the prisoner at the bar, and +that therefore he should by course have been tried at Exeter: but that, +suit being made on his behalf, on account that an impartial jury could +not be found to try him in his own country, he hath had that singular +favour shown him that he should be tried here in London. And so we will +proceed to call our evidence. + +Then the facts of the acquaintance between the prisoner and Ann Clark +were proved, and also the coroner's inquest. I pass over this portion of +the trial, for it offers nothing of special interest. + +Sarah Arscott was next called and sworn. + +_Att._ What is your occupation? + +_S._ I keep the New Inn at--. + +_Att._ Do you know the prisoner at the bar? + +_S._ Yes: he was often at our house since he come first at Christmas of +last year. + +_Att._ Did you know Ann Clark? + +_S._ Yes, very well. + +_Att._ Pray, what manner of person was she in her appearance? + +_S._ She was a very short thick-made woman: I do not know what else you +would have me say. + +_Att._ Was she comely? + +_S._ No, not by no manner of means: she was very uncomely, poor child! +She had a great face and hanging chops and a very bad colour like a +puddock. + +_L.C.J._ What is that, mistress? What say you she was like? + +_S._ My lord, I ask pardon; I heard Esquire Martin say she looked like a +puddock in the face; and so she did. + +_L.C.J._ Did you that? Can you interpret her, Mr Attorney? + +_Att._ My lord, I apprehend it is the country word for a toad. + +_L.C.J._ Oh, a hop-toad! Ay, go on. + +_Att._ Will you give an account to the jury of what passed between you +and the prisoner at the bar in May last? + +_S._ Sir, it was this. It was about nine o'clock the evening after that +Ann did not come home, and I was about my work in the house; there was no +company there only Thomas Snell, and it was foul weather. Esquire Martin +came in and called for some drink, and I, by way of pleasantry, I said to +him, "Squire, have you been looking after your sweetheart?" and he flew +out at me in a passion and desired I would not use such expressions. I +was amazed at that, because we were accustomed to joke with him about +her. + +_L.C.J._ Who, her? + +_S._ Ann Clark, my lord. And we had not heard the news of his being +contracted to a young gentlewoman elsewhere, or I am sure I should have +used better manners. So I said nothing, but being I was a little put out, +I begun singing, to myself as it were, the song they danced to the first +time they met, for I thought it would prick him. It was the same that he +was used to sing when he came down the street; I have heard it very +often: '_Madam, will you walk, will you talk with me?_' And it fell out +that I needed something that was in the kitchen. So I went out to get it, +and all the time I went on singing, something louder and more bold-like. +And as I was there all of a sudden I thought I heard someone answering +outside the house, but I could not be sure because of the wind blowing so +high. So then I stopped singing, and now I heard it plain, saying, '_Yes, +sir, I will walk, I will talk with you_,' and I knew the voice for Ann +Clark's voice. + +_Att._ How did you know it to be her voice? + +_S._ It was impossible I could be mistaken. She had a dreadful voice, a +kind of a squalling voice, in particular if she tried to sing. And there +was nobody in the village that could counterfeit it, for they often +tried. So, hearing that, I was glad, because we were all in an anxiety to +know what was gone with her: for though she was a natural, she had a good +disposition and was very tractable: and says I to myself, 'What, child! +are you returned, then?' and I ran into the front room, and said to +Squire Martin as I passed by, 'Squire, here is your sweetheart back +again: shall I call her in?' and with that I went to open the door; but +Squire Martin he caught hold of me, and it seemed to me he was out of his +wits, or near upon. 'Hold, woman,' says he, 'in God's name!' and I know +not what else: he was all of a shake. Then I was angry, and said I, +'What! are you not glad that poor child is found?' and I called to Thomas +Snell and said, 'If the Squire will not let me, do you open the door and +call her in.' So Thomas Snell went and opened the door, and the wind +setting that way blew in and overset the two candles that was all we had +lighted: and Esquire Martin fell away from holding me; I think he fell +down on the floor, but we were wholly in the dark, and it was a minute or +two before I got a light again: and while I was feeling for the fire-box, +I am not certain but I heard someone step 'cross the floor, and I am sure +I heard the door of the great cupboard that stands in the room open and +shut to. Then, when I had a light again, I see Esquire Martin on the +settle, all white and sweaty as if he had swounded away, and his arms +hanging down; and I was going to help him; but just then it caught my eye +that there was something like a bit of a dress shut into the cupboard +door, and it came to my mind I had heard that door shut. So I thought it +might be some person had run in when the light was quenched, and was +hiding in the cupboard. So I went up closer and looked: and there was a +bit of a black stuff cloak, and just below it an edge of a brown stuff +dress, both sticking out of the shut of the door: and both of them was +low down, as if the person that had them on might be crouched down +inside. + +_Att._ What did you take it to be? + +_S._ I took it to be a woman's dress. + +_Att._ Could you make any guess whom it belonged to? Did you know anyone +who wore such a dress? + +_S._ It was a common stuff, by what I could see. I have seen many women +wearing such a stuff in our parish. + +_Att._ Was it like Ann Clark's dress? + +_S._ She used to wear just such a dress: but I could not say on my oath +it was hers. + +_Att._ Did you observe anything else about it? + +_S_. I did notice that it looked very wet: but it was foul weather +outside. + +_L.C.J._ Did you feel of it, mistress? + +_S._ No, my lord, I did not like to touch it. + +_L.C.J._ Not like? Why that? Are you so nice that you scruple to feel of +a wet dress? + +_S._ Indeed, my lord, I cannot very well tell why: only it had a nasty +ugly look about it. + +_L.C.J._ Well, go on. + +_S_. Then I called again to Thomas Snell, and bid him come to me and +catch anyone that come out when I should open the cupboard door, 'for,' +says I, 'there is someone hiding within, and I would know what she +wants.' And with that Squire Martin gave a sort of a cry or a shout and +ran out of the house into the dark, and I felt the cupboard door pushed +out against me while I held it, and Thomas Snell helped me: but for all +we pressed to keep it shut as hard as we could, it was forced out against +us, and we had to fall back. + +_L.C.J._ And pray what came out--a mouse? + +_S._ No, my lord, it was greater than a mouse, but I could not see what +it was: it fleeted very swift over the floor and out at the door. + +_L.C.J._ But come; what did it look like? Was it a person? + +_S._ My lord, I cannot tell what it was, but it ran very low, and it was +of a dark colour. We were both daunted by it, Thomas Snell and I, but we +made all the haste we could after it to the door that stood open. And we +looked out, but it was dark and we could see nothing. + +_L.C.J._ Was there no tracks of it on the floor? What floor have you +there? + +_S._ It is a flagged floor and sanded, my lord, and there was an +appearance of a wet track on the floor, but we could make nothing of it, +neither Thomas Snell nor me, and besides, as I said, it was a foul night. + +_L.C.J._ Well, for my part, I see not--though to be sure it is an odd +tale she tells--what you would do with this evidence. + +_Att._ My lord, we bring it to show the suspicious carriage of the +prisoner immediately after the disappearance of the murdered person: and +we ask the jury's consideration of that; and also to the matter of the +voice heard without the house. + +Then the prisoner asked some questions not very material, and Thomas +Snell was next called, who gave evidence to the same effect as Mrs +Arscott, and added the following: + +_Att._ Did anything pass between you and the prisoner during the time Mrs +Arscott was out of the room? + +_Th._ I had a piece of twist in my pocket. + +_Att._ Twist of what? + +_Th._ Twist of tobacco, sir, and I felt a disposition to take a pipe of +tobacco. So I found a pipe on the chimney-piece, and being it was twist, +and in regard of me having by an oversight left my knife at my house, and +me not having over many teeth to pluck at it, as your lordship or anyone +else may have a view by their own eyesight-- + +_L.C.J._ What is the man talking about? Come to the matter, fellow! Do +you think we sit here to look at your teeth? + +_Th._ No, my lord, nor I would not you should do, God forbid! I know your +honours have better employment, and better teeth, I would not wonder. + +_L.C.J._ Good God, what a man is this! Yes, I _have_ better teeth, and +that you shall find if you keep not to the purpose. + +_Th._ I humbly ask pardon, my lord, but so it was. And I took upon me, +thinking no harm, to ask Squire Martin to lend me his knife to cut my +tobacco. And he felt first of one pocket and then of another and it was +not there at all. And says I, 'What! have you lost your knife, Squire?' +And up he gets and feels again and he sat down, and such a groan as he +gave. 'Good God!' he says, 'I must have left it there.' 'But,' says I, +'Squire, by all appearance it is _not_ there. Did you set a value on it,' +says I, 'you might have it cried.' But he sat there and put his head +between his hands and seemed to take no notice to what I said. And then +it was Mistress Arscott come tracking back out of the kitchen place. + +Asked if he heard the voice singing outside the house, he said 'No,' but +the door into the kitchen was shut, and there was a high wind: but says +that no one could mistake Ann Clark's voice. + +Then a boy, William Reddaway, about thirteen years of age, was called, +and by the usual questions, put by the Lord Chief Justice, it was +ascertained that he knew the nature of an oath. And so he was sworn. His +evidence referred to a time about a week later. + +_Att._ Now, child, don't be frighted: there is no one here will hurt you +if you speak the truth. + +_L.C.J._ Ay, if he speak the truth. But remember, child, thou art in the +presence of the great God of heaven and earth, that hath the keys of +hell, and of us that are the king's officers, and have the keys of +Newgate; and remember, too, there is a man's life in question; and if +thou tellest a lie, and by that means he comes to an ill end, thou art no +better than his murderer; and so speak the truth. + +_Att._ Tell the jury what you know, and speak out. Where were you on the +evening of the 23rd of May last? + +_L.C.J._ Why, what does such a boy as this know of days. Can you mark the +day, boy? + +_W._ Yes, my lord, it was the day before our feast, and I was to spend +sixpence there, and that falls a month before Midsummer Day. + +_One of the Jury._ My lord, we cannot hear what he says. + +_L.C.J._ He says he remembers the day because it was the day before the +feast they had there, and he had sixpence to lay out. Set him up on the +table there. Well, child, and where wast thou then? + +_W._ Keeping cows on the moor, my lord. + +But, the boy using the country speech, my lord could not well apprehend +him, and so asked if there was anyone that could interpret him, and it +was answered the parson of the parish was there, and he was accordingly +sworn and so the evidence given. The boy said: + +'I was on the moor about six o'clock, and sitting behind a bush of furze +near a pond of water: and the prisoner came very cautiously and looking +about him, having something like a long pole in his hand, and stopped a +good while as if he would be listening, and then began to feel in the +water with the pole: and I being very near the water--not above five +yards--heard as if the pole struck up against something that made a +wallowing sound, and the prisoner dropped the pole and threw himself on +the ground, and rolled himself about very strangely with his hands to his +ears, and so after a while got up and went creeping away.' + +Asked if he had had any communication with the prisoner, 'Yes, a day or +two before, the prisoner, hearing I was used to be on the moor, he asked +me if I had seen a knife laying about, and said he would give sixpence to +find it. And I said I had not seen any such thing, but I would ask about. +Then he said he would give me sixpence to say nothing, and so he did.' + +_L.C.J._ And was that the sixpence you were to lay out at the feast? + +_W._ Yes, if you please, my lord. + +Asked if he had observed anything particular as to the pond of water, he +said, 'No, except that it begun to have a very ill smell and the cows +would not drink of it for some days before.' + +Asked if he had ever seen the prisoner and Ann Clark in company together, +he began to cry very much, and it was a long time before they could get +him to speak intelligibly. At last the parson of the parish, Mr Matthews, +got him to be quiet, and the question being put to him again, he said he +had seen Ann Clark waiting on the moor for the prisoner at some way off, +several times since last Christmas. + +_Att._ Did you see her close, so as to be sure it was she? + +_W._ Yes, quite sure. + +_L.C.J._ How quite sure, child? + +_W._ Because she would stand and jump up and down and clap her arms like +a goose [which he called by some country name: but the parson explained +it to be a goose]. And then she was of such a shape that it could not be +no one else. + +_Att._ What was the last time that you so saw her? + +Then the witness began to cry again and clung very much to Mr Matthews, +who bid him not be frightened. +And so at last he told this story: that on the day before their feast +(being the same evening that he had before spoken of) after the prisoner +had gone away, it being then twilight and he very desirous to get home, +but afraid for the present to stir from where he was lest the prisoner +should see him, remained some few minutes behind the bush, looking on the +pond, and saw something dark come up out of the water at the edge of the +pond farthest away from him, and so up the bank. And when it got to the +top where he could see it plain against the sky, it stood up and flapped +the arms up and down, and then run off very swiftly in the same direction +the prisoner had taken: and being asked very strictly who he took it to +be, he said upon his oath that it could be nobody but Ann Clark. + +Thereafter his master was called, and gave evidence that the boy had come +home very late that evening and been chided for it, and that he seemed +very much amazed, but could give no account of the reason. + +_Att._ My lord, we have done with our evidence for the King. + +Then the Lord Chief Justice called upon the prisoner to make his defence; +which he did, though at no great length, and in a very halting way, +saying that he hoped the jury would not go about to take his life on the +evidence of a parcel of country people and children that would believe +any idle tale; and that he had been very much prejudiced in his trial; at +which the L.C.J. interrupted him, saying that he had had singular favour +shown to him in having his trial removed from Exeter, which the prisoner +acknowledging, said that he meant rather that since he was brought to +London there had not been care taken to keep him secured from +interruption and disturbance. Upon which the L.C.J. ordered the Marshal +to be called, and questioned him about the safe keeping of the prisoner, +but could find nothing: except the Marshal said that he had been informed +by the underkeeper that they had seen a person outside his door or going +up the stairs to it: but there was no possibility the person should have +got in. And it being inquired further what sort of person this might be, +the Marshal could not speak to it save by hearsay, which was not allowed. +And the prisoner, being asked if this was what he meant, said no, he knew +nothing of that, but it was very hard that a man should not be suffered +to be at quiet when his life stood on it. But it was observed he was very +hasty in his denial. And so he said no more, and called no witnesses. +Whereupon the Attorney-General spoke to the jury. [A full report of what +he said is given, and, if time allowed, I would extract that portion in +which he dwells on the alleged appearance of the murdered person: he +quotes some authorities of ancient date, as St Augustine _de cura pro +mortuis gerenda_ (a favourite book of reference with the old writers on +the supernatural) and also cites some cases which may be seen in +Glanvil's, but more conveniently in Mr Lang's books. He does not, +however, tell us more of those cases than is to be found in print.] + +The Lord Chief Justice then summed up the evidence for the jury. His +speech, again, contains nothing that I find worth copying out: but he was +naturally impressed with the singular character of the evidence, saying +that he had never heard such given in his experience; but that there was +nothing in law to set it aside, and that the jury must consider whether +they believed these witnesses or not. + +And the jury after a very short consultation brought the prisoner in +Guilty. + +So he was asked whether he had anything to say in arrest of judgement, +and pleaded that his name was spelt wrong in the indictment, being Martin +with an I, whereas it should be with a Y. But this was overruled as not +material, Mr Attorney saying, moreover, that he could bring evidence to +show that the prisoner by times wrote it as it was laid in the +indictment. And, the prisoner having nothing further to offer, sentence +of death was passed upon him, and that he should be hanged in chains upon +a gibbet near the place where the fact was committed, and that execution +should take place upon the 28th December next ensuing, being Innocents' +Day. + +Thereafter the prisoner being to all appearance in a state of +desperation, made shift to ask the L.C.J. that his relations might be +allowed to come to him during the short time he had to live. + +_L.C.J._ Ay, with all my heart, so it be in the presence of the keeper; +and Ann Clark may come to you as well, for what I care. + +At which the prisoner broke out and cried to his lordship not to use such +words to him, and his lordship very angrily told him he deserved no +tenderness at any man's hands for a cowardly butcherly murderer that had +not the stomach to take the reward of his deeds: 'and I hope to God,' +said he, 'that she _will_ be with you by day and by night till an end is +made of you.' Then the prisoner was removed, and, so far as I saw, he was +in a swound, and the Court broke up. + +I cannot refrain from observing that the prisoner during all the time of +the trial seemed to be more uneasy than is commonly the case even in +capital causes: that, for example, he was looking narrowly among the +people and often turning round very sharply, as if some person might be +at his ear. It was also very noticeable at this trial what a silence the +people kept, and further (though this might not be otherwise than natural +in that season of the year), what a darkness and obscurity there was in +the court room, lights being brought in not long after two o'clock in the +day, and yet no fog in the town. + + * * * * * + +It was not without interest that I heard lately from some young men who +had been giving a concert in the village I speak of, that a very cold +reception was accorded to the song which has been mentioned in this +narrative: '_Madam, will you walk?_' It came out in some talk they had +next morning with some of the local people that that song was regarded +with an invincible repugnance; it was not so, they believed, at North +Tawton, but here it was reckoned to be unlucky. However, why that view +was taken no one had the shadow of an idea. + + + + +MR HUMPHREYS AND HIS INHERITANCE + +About fifteen years ago, on a date late in August or early in September, +a train drew up at Wilsthorpe, a country station in Eastern England. Out +of it stepped (with other passengers) a rather tall and reasonably +good-looking young man, carrying a handbag and some papers tied up in a +packet. He was expecting to be met, one would say, from the way in which +he looked about him: and he was, as obviously, expected. The +stationmaster ran forward a step or two, and then, seeming to recollect +himself, turned and beckoned to a stout and consequential person with a +short round beard who was scanning the train with some appearance of +bewilderment. 'Mr Cooper,' he called out,--'Mr Cooper, I think this is +your gentleman'; and then to the passenger who had just alighted, 'Mr +Humphreys, sir? Glad to bid you welcome to Wilsthorpe. There's a cart +from the Hall for your luggage, and here's Mr Cooper, what I think you +know.' Mr Cooper had hurried up, and now raised his hat and shook hands. +'Very pleased, I'm sure,' he said, 'to give the echo to Mr Palmer's kind +words. I should have been the first to render expression to them but for +the face not being familiar to me, Mr Humphreys. May your residence among +us be marked as a red-letter day, sir.' 'Thank you very much, Mr Cooper,' +said Humphreys, 'for your good wishes, and Mr Palmer also. I do hope very +much that this change of--er--tenancy--which you must all regret, I am +sure--will not be to the detriment of those with whom I shall be brought +in contact.' He stopped, feeling that the words were not fitting +themselves together in the happiest way, and Mr Cooper cut in, 'Oh, you +may rest satisfied of that, Mr Humphreys. I'll take it upon myself to +assure you, sir, that a warm welcome awaits you on all sides. And as to +any change of propriety turning out detrimental to the neighbourhood, +well, your late uncle--' And here Mr Cooper also stopped, possibly in +obedience to an inner monitor, possibly because Mr Palmer, clearing his +throat loudly, asked Humphreys for his ticket. The two men left the +little station, and--at Humphreys' suggestion--decided to walk to Mr +Cooper's house, where luncheon was awaiting them. + +The relation in which these personages stood to each other can be +explained in a very few lines. Humphreys had inherited--quite +unexpectedly--a property from an uncle: neither the property nor the +uncle had he ever seen. He was alone in the world--a man of good ability +and kindly nature, whose employment in a Government office for the last +four or five years had not gone far to fit him for the life of a country +gentleman. He was studious and rather diffident, and had few out-of-door +pursuits except golf and gardening. To-day he had come down for the first +time to visit Wilsthorpe and confer with Mr Cooper, the bailiff, as to +the matters which needed immediate attention. It may be asked how this +came to be his first visit? Ought he not in decency to have attended his +uncle's funeral? The answer is not far to seek: he had been abroad at the +time of the death, and his address had not been at once procurable. So he +had put off coming to Wilsthorpe till he heard that all things were ready +for him. And now we find him arrived at Mr Cooper's comfortable house, +facing the parsonage, and having just shaken hands with the smiling Mrs +and Miss Cooper. + +During the minutes that preceded the announcement of luncheon the party +settled themselves on elaborate chairs in the drawing-room, Humphreys, +for his part, perspiring quietly in the consciousness that stock was +being taken of him. + +'I was just saying to Mr Humphreys, my dear,' said Mr Cooper, 'that I +hope and trust that his residence among us here in Wilsthorpe will be +marked as a red-letter day.' + +'Yes, indeed, I'm sure,' said Mrs Cooper heartily, 'and many, many of +them.' + +Miss Cooper murmured words to the same effect, and Humphreys attempted a +pleasantry about painting the whole calendar red, which, though greeted +with shrill laughter, was evidently not fully understood. At this point +they proceeded to luncheon. + +'Do you know this part of the country at all, Mr Humphreys?' said Mrs +Cooper, after a short interval. This was a better opening. + +'No, I'm sorry to say I do _not_,' said Humphreys. 'It seems very +pleasant, what I could see of it coming down in the train.' + +'Oh, it _is_ a pleasant part. Really, I sometimes say I don't know a +nicer district, for the country; and the people round, too: such a +quantity always going on. But I'm afraid you've come a little late for +some of the better garden parties, Mr Humphreys.' + +'I suppose I have; dear me, what a pity!' said Humphreys, with a gleam of +relief; and then, feeling that something more could be got out of this +topic, 'But after all, you see, Mrs Cooper, even if I could have been +here earlier, I should have been cut off from them, should I not? My poor +uncle's recent death, you know--' + +'Oh dear, Mr Humphreys, to be sure; what a dreadful thing of me to say!' +(And Mr and Miss Cooper seconded the proposition inarticulately.) 'What +must you have thought? I _am_ sorry so: you must really forgive me.' + +'Not at all, Mrs Cooper, I assure you. I can't honestly assert that my +uncle's death was a great grief to me, for I had never seen him. All I +meant was that I supposed I shouldn't be expected to take part for some +little time in festivities of that kind.' + +'Now, really it's very kind of you to take it in that way, Mr Humphreys, +isn't it, George? And you _do_ forgive me? But only fancy! You never saw +poor old Mr Wilson!' + +'Never in my life; nor did I ever have a letter from him. But, by the +way, you have something to forgive _me_ for. I've never thanked you, +except by letter, for all the trouble you've taken to find people to look +after me at the Hall.' + +'Oh, I'm sure that was nothing, Mr Humphreys; but I really do think that +you'll find them give satisfaction. The man and his wife whom we've got +for the butler and housekeeper we've known for a number of years: such a +nice respectable couple, and Mr Cooper, I'm sure, can answer for the men +in the stables and gardens.' + +'Yes, Mr Humphreys, they're a good lot. The head gardener's the only one +who's stopped on from Mr Wilson's time. The major part of the employees, +as you no doubt saw by the will, received legacies from the old gentleman +and retired from their posts, and as the wife says, your housekeeper and +butler are calculated to render you every satisfaction.' + +'So everything, Mr Humphreys, is ready for you to step in this very day, +according to what I understood you to wish,' said Mrs Cooper. +'Everything, that is, except company, and there I'm afraid you'll find +yourself quite at a standstill. Only we did understand it was your +intention to move in at once. If not, I'm sure you know we should have +been only too pleased for you to stay here.' + +'I'm quite sure you would, Mrs Cooper, and I'm very grateful to you. But +I thought I had really better make the plunge at once. I'm accustomed to +living alone, and there will be quite enough to occupy my +evenings--looking over papers and books and so on--for some time to come, +I thought if Mr Cooper could spare the time this afternoon to go over the +house and grounds with me--' + +'Certainly, certainly, Mr Humphreys. My time is your own, up to any hour +you please.' + +'Till dinner-time, father, you mean,' said Miss Cooper. 'Don't forget +we're going over to the Brasnetts'. And have you got all the garden +keys?' + +'Are you a great gardener, Miss Cooper?' said Mr Humphreys. 'I wish you +would tell me what I'm to expect at the Hall.' + +'Oh, I don't know about a _great_ gardener, Mr Humphreys: I'm very fond +of flowers--but the Hall garden might be made quite lovely, I often say. +It's very old-fashioned as it is: and a great deal of shrubbery. There's +an old temple, besides, and a maze.' + +'Really? Have you explored it ever?' + +'No-o,' said Miss Cooper, drawing in her lips and shaking her head. 'I've +often longed to try, but old Mr Wilson always kept it locked. He wouldn't +even let Lady Wardrop into it. (She lives near here, at Bentley, you +know, and she's a _great_ gardener, if you like.) That's why I asked +father if he had all the keys.' + +'I see. Well, I must evidently look into that, and show you over it when +I've learnt the way.' + +'Oh, thank you so much, Mr Humphreys! Now I shall have the laugh of Miss +Foster (that's our rector's daughter, you know; they're away on their +holiday now--such nice people). We always had a joke between us which +should be the first to get into the maze.' + +'I think the garden keys must be up at the house,' said Mr Cooper, who +had been looking over a large bunch. 'There is a number there in the +library. Now, Mr Humphreys, if you're prepared, we might bid goodbye to +these ladies and set forward on our little tour of exploration.' + + * * * * * + +As they came out of Mr Cooper's front gate, Humphreys had to run the +gauntlet--not of an organized demonstration, but of a good deal of +touching of hats and careful contemplation from the men and women who had +gathered in somewhat unusual numbers in the village street. He had, +further, to exchange some remarks with the wife of the lodge-keeper as +they passed the park gates, and with the lodge-keeper himself, who was +attending to the park road. I cannot, however, spare the time to report +the progress fully. As they traversed the half-mile or so between the +lodge and the house, Humphreys took occasion to ask his companion some +question which brought up the topic of his late uncle, and it did not +take long before Mr Cooper was embarked upon a disquisition. + +'It is singular to think, as the wife was saying just now, that you +should never have seen the old gentleman. And yet--you won't +misunderstand me, Mr Humphreys, I feel confident, when I say that in my +opinion there would have been but little congeniality betwixt yourself +and him. Not that I have a word to say in deprecation--not a single word. +I can tell you what he was,' said Mr Cooper, pulling up suddenly and +fixing Humphreys with his eye. 'Can tell you what he was in a nutshell, +as the saying goes. He was a complete, thorough valentudinarian. That +describes him to a T. That's what he was, sir, a complete +valentudinarian. No participation in what went on around him. I did +venture, I think, to send you a few words of cutting from our local +paper, which I took the occasion to contribute on his decease. If I +recollect myself aright, such is very much the gist of them. But don't, +Mr Humphreys,' continued Cooper, tapping him impressively on the +chest,--'don't you run away with the impression that I wish to say aught +but what is most creditable--_most_ creditable--of your respected uncle +and my late employer. Upright, Mr Humphreys--open as the day; liberal to +all in his dealings. He had the heart to feel and the hand to +accommodate. But there it was: there was the stumbling-block--his +unfortunate health--or, as I might more truly phrase it, his _want_ of +health.' + +'Yes, poor man. Did he suffer from any special disorder before his last +illness--which, I take it, was little more than old age?' + +'Just that, Mr Humphreys--just that. The flash flickering slowly away in +the pan,' said Cooper, with what he considered an appropriate +gesture,--'the golden bowl gradually ceasing to vibrate. But as to your +other question I should return a negative answer. General absence of +vitality? yes: special complaint? no, unless you reckon a nasty cough he +had with him. Why, here we are pretty much at the house. A handsome +mansion, Mr Humphreys, don't you consider?' + +It deserved the epithet, on the whole: but it was oddly proportioned--a +very tall red-brick house, with a plain parapet concealing the roof +almost entirely. It gave the impression of a town house set down in the +country; there was a basement, and a rather imposing flight of steps +leading up to the front door. It seemed also, owing to its height, to +desiderate wings, but there were none. The stables and other offices were +concealed by trees. Humphreys guessed its probable date as 1770 or +thereabouts. + +The mature couple who had been engaged to act as butler and +cook-housekeeper were waiting inside the front door, and opened it as +their new master approached. Their name, Humphreys already knew, was +Calton; of their appearance and manner he formed a favourable impression +in the few minutes' talk he had with them. It was agreed that he should +go through the plate and the cellar next day with Mr Calton, and that Mrs +C. should have a talk with him about linen, bedding, and so on--what +there was, and what there ought to be. Then he and Cooper, dismissing the +Caltons for the present, began their view of the house. Its topography is +not of importance to this story. The large rooms on the ground floor were +satisfactory, especially the library, which was as large as the +dining-room, and had three tall windows facing east. The bedroom prepared +for Humphreys was immediately above it. There were many pleasant, and a +few really interesting, old pictures. None of the furniture was new, and +hardly any of the books were later than the seventies. After hearing of +and seeing the few changes his uncle had made in the house, and +contemplating a shiny portrait of him which adorned the drawing-room, +Humphreys was forced to agree with Cooper that in all probability there +would have been little to attract him in his predecessor. It made him +rather sad that he could not be sorry--_dolebat se dolere non posse_--for +the man who, whether with or without some feeling of kindliness towards +his unknown nephew, had contributed so much to his well-being; for he +felt that Wilsthorpe was a place in which he could be happy, and +especially happy, it might be, in its library. + +And now it was time to go over the garden: the empty stables could wait, +and so could the laundry. So to the garden they addressed themselves, and +it was soon evident that Miss Cooper had been right in thinking that +there were possibilities. Also that Mr Cooper had done well in keeping on +the gardener. The deceased Mr Wilson might not have, indeed plainly had +not, been imbued with the latest views on gardening, but whatever had +been done here had been done under the eye of a knowledgeable man, and +the equipment and stock were excellent. Cooper was delighted with the +pleasure Humphreys showed, and with the suggestions he let fall from time +to time. 'I can see,' he said, 'that you've found your meatear here, Mr +Humphreys: you'll make this place a regular signosier before very many +seasons have passed over our heads. I wish Clutterham had been +here--that's the head gardener--and here he would have been of course, +as I told you, but for his son's being horse doover with a fever, poor +fellow! I should like him to have heard how the place strikes you.' + +'Yes, you told me he couldn't be here today, and I was very sorry to hear +the reason, but it will be time enough tomorrow. What is that white +building on the mound at the end of the grass ride? Is it the temple Miss +Cooper mentioned?' + +'That it is, Mr Humphreys--the Temple of Friendship. Constructed of +marble brought out of Italy for the purpose, by your late uncle's +grandfather. Would it interest you perhaps to take a turn there? You get +a very sweet prospect of the park.' + +The general lines of the temple were those of the Sibyl's Temple at +Tivoli, helped out by a dome, only the whole was a good deal smaller. +Some ancient sepulchral reliefs were built into the wall, and about it +all was a pleasant flavour of the grand tour. Cooper produced the key, +and with some difficulty opened the heavy door. Inside there was a +handsome ceiling, but little furniture. Most of the floor was occupied by +a pile of thick circular blocks of stone, each of which had a single +letter deeply cut on its slightly convex upper surface. 'What is the +meaning of these?' Humphreys inquired. + +'Meaning? Well, all things, we're told, have their purpose, Mr Humphreys, +and I suppose these blocks have had theirs as well as another. But what +that purpose is or was [Mr Cooper assumed a didactic attitude here], I, +for one, should be at a loss to point out to you, sir. All I know of +them--and it's summed up in a very few words--is just this: that they're +stated to have been removed by your late uncle, at a period before I +entered on the scene, from the maze. That, Mr Humphreys, is--' + +'Oh, the maze!' exclaimed Humphreys. 'I'd forgotten that: we must have a +look at it. Where is it?' + +Cooper drew him to the door of the temple, and pointed with his stick. +'Guide your eye,' he said (somewhat in the manner of the Second Elder in +Handel's 'Susanna'-- + + Far to the west direct your straining eyes + Where yon tall holm-tree rises to the skies) + +'Guide your eye by my stick here, and follow out the line directly +opposite to the spot where we're standing now, and I'll engage, Mr +Humphreys, that you'll catch the archway over the entrance. You'll see it +just at the end of the walk answering to the one that leads up to this +very building. Did you think of going there at once? because if that be +the case, I must go to the house and procure the key. If you would walk +on there, I'll rejoin you in a few moments' time.' + +Accordingly Humphreys strolled down the ride leading to the temple, past +the garden-front of the house, and up the turfy approach to the archway +which Cooper had pointed out to him. He was surprised to find that the +whole maze was surrounded by a high wall, and that the archway was +provided with a padlocked iron gate; but then he remembered that Miss +Cooper had spoken of his uncle's objection to letting anyone enter this +part of the garden. He was now at the gate, and still Cooper came not. +For a few minutes he occupied himself in reading the motto cut over the +entrance, _Secretum meum mihi et filiis domus meae_, and in trying to +recollect the source of it. Then he became impatient and considered the +possibility of scaling the wall. This was clearly not worth while; it +might have been done if he had been wearing an older suit: or could the +padlock--a very old one--be forced? No, apparently not: and yet, as he +gave a final irritated kick at the gate, something gave way, and the lock +fell at his feet. He pushed the gate open, inconveniencing a number of +nettles as he did so, and stepped into the enclosure. + +It was a yew maze, of circular form, and the hedges, long untrimmed, had +grown out and upwards to a most unorthodox breadth and height. The walks, +too, were next door to impassable. Only by entirely disregarding +scratches, nettle-stings, and wet, could Humphreys force his way along +them; but at any rate this condition of things, he reflected, would make +it easier for him to find his way out again, for he left a very visible +track. So far as he could remember, he had never been in a maze before, +nor did it seem to him now that he had missed much. The dankness and +darkness, and smell of crushed goosegrass and nettles were anything but +cheerful. Still, it did not seem to be a very intricate specimen of its +kind. Here he was (by the way, was that Cooper arrived at last? No!) very +nearly at the heart of it, without having taken much thought as to what +path he was following. Ah! there at last was the centre, easily gained. +And there was something to reward him. His first impression was that the +central ornament was a sundial; but when he had switched away some +portion of the thick growth of brambles and bindweed that had formed over +it, he saw that it was a less ordinary decoration. A stone column about +four feet high, and on the top of it a metal globe--copper, to judge by +the green patina--engraved, and finely engraved too, with figures in +outline, and letters. That was what Humphreys saw, and a brief glance at +the figures convinced him that it was one of those mysterious things +called celestial globes, from which, one would suppose, no one ever yet +derived any information about the heavens. However, it was too dark--at +least in the maze--for him to examine this curiosity at all closely, and +besides, he now heard Cooper's voice, and sounds as of an elephant in the +jungle. Humphreys called to him to follow the track he had beaten out, +and soon Cooper emerged panting into the central circle. He was full of +apologies for his delay; he had not been able, after all, to find the +key. 'But there!' he said, 'you've penetrated into the heart of the +mystery unaided and unannealed, as the saying goes. Well! I suppose it's +a matter of thirty to forty years since any human foot has trod these +precincts. Certain it is that I've never set foot in them before. Well, +well! what's the old proverb about angels fearing to tread? It's proved +true once again in this case.' Humphreys' acquaintance with Cooper, +though it had been short, was sufficient to assure him that there was no +guile in this allusion, and he forbore the obvious remark, merely +suggesting that it was fully time to get back to the house for a late cup +of tea, and to release Cooper for his evening engagement. They left the +maze accordingly, experiencing well-nigh the same ease in retracing their +path as they had in coming in. + +'Have you any idea,' Humphreys asked, as they went towards the house, +'why my uncle kept that place so carefully locked?' + +Cooper pulled up, and Humphreys felt that he must be on the brink of a +revelation. + +'I should merely be deceiving you, Mr Humphreys, and that to no good +purpose, if I laid claim to possess any information whatsoever on that +topic. When I first entered upon my duties here, some eighteen years +back, that maze was word for word in the condition you see it now, and +the one and only occasion on which the question ever arose within my +knowledge was that of which my girl made mention in your hearing. Lady +Wardrop--I've not a word to say against her--wrote applying for admission +to the maze. Your uncle showed me the note--a most civil note--everything +that could be expected from such a quarter. "Cooper," he said, "I wish +you'd reply to that note on my behalf." "Certainly, Mr Wilson," I said, +for I was quite inured to acting as his secretary, "what answer shall I +return to it?" "Well," he said, "give Lady Wardrop my compliments, and +tell her that if ever that portion of the grounds is taken in hand I +shall be happy to give her the first opportunity of viewing it, but that +it has been shut up now for a number of years, and I shall be grateful to +her if she kindly won't press the matter." That, Mr Humphreys, was your +good uncle's last word on the subject, and I don't think I can add +anything to it. Unless,' added Cooper, after a pause, 'it might be just +this: that, so far as I could form a judgement, he had a dislike (as +people often will for one reason or another) to the memory of his +grandfather, who, as I mentioned to you, had that maze laid out. A man of +peculiar teenets, Mr Humphreys, and a great traveller. You'll have the +opportunity, on the coming Sabbath, of seeing the tablet to him in our +little parish church; put up it was some long time after his death.' + +'Oh! I should have expected a man who had such a taste for building to +have designed a mausoleum for himself.' + +'Well, I've never noticed anything of the kind you mention; and, in fact, +come to think of it, I'm not at all sure that his resting-place is within +our boundaries at all: that he lays in the vault I'm pretty confident is +not the case. Curious now that I shouldn't be in a position to inform you +on that heading! Still, after all, we can't say, can we, Mr Humphreys, +that it's a point of crucial importance where the pore mortal coils are +bestowed?' + +At this point they entered the house, and Cooper's speculations were +interrupted. + +Tea was laid in the library, where Mr Cooper fell upon subjects +appropriate to the scene. 'A fine collection of books! One of the finest, +I've understood from connoisseurs, in this part of the country; splendid +plates, too, in some of these works. I recollect your uncle showing me +one with views of foreign towns--most absorbing it was: got up in +first-rate style. And another all done by hand, with the ink as fresh as +if it had been laid on yesterday, and yet, he told me, it was the work of +some old monk hundreds of years back. I've always taken a keen interest +in literature myself. Hardly anything to my mind can compare with a good +hour's reading after a hard day's work; far better than wasting the whole +evening at a friend's house--and that reminds me, to be sure. I shall be +getting into trouble with the wife if I don't make the best of my way +home and get ready to squander away one of these same evenings! I must be +off, Mr Humphreys.' + +'And that reminds _me_,' said Humphreys, 'if I'm to show Miss Cooper the +maze tomorrow we must have it cleared out a bit. Could you say a word +about that to the proper person?' + +'Why, to be sure. A couple of men with scythes could cut out a track +tomorrow morning. I'll leave word as I pass the lodge, and I'll tell +them, what'll save you the trouble, perhaps, Mr Humphreys, of having to +go up and extract them yourself: that they'd better have some sticks or a +tape to mark out their way with as they go on.' + +'A very good idea! Yes, do that; and I'll expect Mrs and Miss Cooper in +the afternoon, and yourself about half-past ten in the morning.' + +'It'll be a pleasure, I'm sure, both to them and to myself, Mr Humphreys. +Good night!' + + * * * * * + +Humphreys dined at eight. But for the fact that it was his first evening, +and that Calton was evidently inclined for occasional conversation, he +would have finished the novel he had bought for his journey. As it was, +he had to listen and reply to some of Calton's impressions of the +neighbourhood and the season: the latter, it appeared, was seasonable, +and the former had changed considerably--and not altogether for the +worse--since Calton's boyhood (which had been spent there). The village +shop in particular had greatly improved since the year 1870. It was now +possible to procure there pretty much anything you liked in reason: which +was a conveniency, because suppose anythink was required of a suddent +(and he had known such things before now), he (Calton) could step down +there (supposing the shop to be still open), and order it in, without he +borrered it of the Rectory, whereas in earlier days it would have been +useless to pursue such a course in respect of anything but candles, or +soap, or treacle, or perhaps a penny child's picture-book, and nine times +out of ten it'd be something more in the nature of a bottle of whisky +_you'd_ be requiring; leastways--On the whole Humphreys thought he would +be prepared with a book in future. + +The library was the obvious place for the after-dinner hours. Candle in +hand and pipe in mouth, he moved round the room for some time, taking +stock of the titles of the books. He had all the predisposition to take +interest in an old library, and there was every opportunity for him here +to make systematic acquaintance with one, for he had learned from Cooper +that there was no catalogue save the very superficial one made for +purposes of probate. The drawing up of a _catalogue raisonne_ would be a +delicious occupation for winter. There were probably treasures to be +found, too: even manuscripts, if Cooper might be trusted. + +As he pursued his round the sense came upon him (as it does upon most of +us in similar places) of the extreme unreadableness of a great portion of +the collection. 'Editions of Classics and Fathers, and Picart's +_Religious Ceremonies_, and the _Harleian Miscellany_, I suppose are all +very well, but who is ever going to read Tostatus Abulensis, or Pineda on +Job, or a book like this?' He picked out a small quarto, loose in the +binding, and from which the lettered label had fallen off; and observing +that coffee was waiting for him, retired to a chair. Eventually he opened +the book. It will be observed that his condemnation of it rested wholly +on external grounds. For all he knew it might have been a collection of +unique plays, but undeniably the outside was blank and forbidding. As a +matter of fact, it was a collection of sermons or meditations, and +mutilated at that, for the first sheet was gone. It seemed to belong to +the latter end of the seventeenth century. He turned over the pages till +his eye was caught by a marginal note: '_A Parable of this Unhappy +Condition_,' and he thought he would see what aptitudes the author might +have for imaginative composition. 'I have heard or read,' so ran the +passage, 'whether in the way of _Parable_ or true _Relation_ I leave my +Reader to judge, of a Man who, like _Theseus_, in the _Attick Tale_, +should adventure himself, into a _Labyrinth_ or _Maze_: and such an one +indeed as was not laid out in the Fashion of our _Topiary_ artists of +this Age, but of a wide compass, in which, moreover, such unknown +Pitfalls and Snares, nay, such ill-omened Inhabitants were commonly +thought to lurk as could only be encountered at the Hazard of one's very +life. Now you may be sure that in such a Case the Disswasions of Friends +were not wanting. "Consider of such-an-one" says a Brother "how he went +the way you wot of, and was never seen more." "Or of such another" says +the Mother "that adventured himself but a little way in, and from that +day forth is so troubled in his Wits that he cannot tell what he saw, nor +hath passed one good Night." "And have you never heard" cries a Neighbour +"of what Faces have been seen to look out over the _Palisadoes_ and +betwixt the Bars of the Gate?" But all would not do: the Man was set upon +his Purpose: for it seems it was the common fireside Talk of that Country +that at the Heart and Centre of this _Labyrinth_ there was a Jewel of +such Price and Rarity that would enrich the Finder thereof for his life: +and this should be his by right that could persever to come at it. What +then? _Quid multa?_ The Adventurer pass'd the Gates, and for a whole +day's space his Friends without had no news of him, except it might be by +some indistinct Cries heard afar off in the Night, such as made them turn +in their restless Beds and sweat for very Fear, not doubting but that +their Son and Brother had put one more to the _Catalogue_ of those +unfortunates that had suffer'd shipwreck on that Voyage. So the next day +they went with weeping Tears to the Clark of the Parish to order the Bell +to be toll'd. And their Way took them hard by the gate of the +_Labyrinth_: which they would have hastened by, from the Horrour they had +of it, but that they caught sight of a sudden of a Man's Body lying in +the Roadway, and going up to it (with what Anticipations may be easily +figured) found it to be him whom they reckoned as lost: and not dead, +though he were in a Swound most like Death. They then, who had gone forth +as Mourners came back rejoycing, and set to by all means to revive their +Prodigal. Who, being come to himself, and hearing of their Anxieties and +their Errand of that Morning, "Ay" says he "you may as well finish what +you were about: for, for all I have brought back the Jewel (which he +shew'd them, and 'twas indeed a rare Piece) I have brought back that with +it that will leave me neither Rest at Night nor Pleasure by Day." +Whereupon they were instant with him to learn his Meaning, and where his +Company should be that went so sore against his Stomach. "O" says he +"'tis here in my Breast: I cannot flee from it, do what I may." So it +needed no Wizard to help them to a guess that it was the Recollection of +what he had seen that troubled him so wonderfully. But they could get no +more of him for a long Time but by Fits and Starts. However at long and +at last they made shift to collect somewhat of this kind: that at first, +while the Sun was bright, he went merrily on, and without any Difficulty +reached the Heart of the _Labyrinth_ and got the Jewel, and so set out on +his way back rejoycing: but as the Night fell, _wherein all the Beasts of +the Forest do move_, he begun to be sensible of some Creature keeping +Pace with him and, as he thought, _peering and looking upon him_ from the +next Alley to that he was in; and that when he should stop, this +Companion should stop also, which put him in some Disorder of his +Spirits. And, indeed, as the Darkness increas'd, it seemed to him that +there was more than one, and, it might be, even a whole Band of such +Followers: at least so he judg'd by the Rustling and Cracking that they +kept among the Thickets; besides that there would be at a Time a Sound of +Whispering, which seem'd to import a Conference among them. But in regard +of who they were or what Form they were of, he would not be persuaded to +say what he thought. Upon his Hearers asking him what the Cries were +which they heard in the Night (as was observ'd above) he gave them this +Account: That about Midnight (so far as he could judge) he heard his Name +call'd from a long way off, and he would have been sworn it was his +Brother that so call'd him. So he stood still and hilloo'd at the Pitch +of his Voice, and he suppos'd that the _Echo_, or the Noyse of his +Shouting, disguis'd for the Moment any lesser sound; because, when there +fell a Stillness again, he distinguish'd a Trampling (not loud) of +running Feet coming very close behind him, wherewith he was so daunted +that himself set off to run, and that he continued till the Dawn broke. +Sometimes when his Breath fail'd him, he would cast himself flat on his +Face, and hope that his Pursuers might over-run him in the Darkness, but +at such a Time they would regularly make a Pause, and he could hear them +pant and snuff as it had been a Hound at Fault: which wrought in him so +extream an Horrour of mind, that he would be forc'd to betake himself +again to turning and doubling, if by any Means he might throw them off +the Scent. And, as if this Exertion was in itself not terrible enough, he +had before him the constant Fear of falling into some Pit or Trap, of +which he had heard, and indeed seen with his own Eyes that there were +several, some at the sides and other in the Midst of the Alleys. So that +in fine (he said) a more dreadful Night was never spent by Mortal +Creature than that he had endur'd in that _Labyrinth_; and not that Jewel +which he had in his Wallet, nor the richest that was ever brought out of +the _Indies_, could be a sufficient Recompence to him for the Pains he +had suffered. + +'I will spare to set down the further Recital of this Man's Troubles, +inasmuch as I am confident my Reader's Intelligence will hit the +_Parallel_ I desire to draw. For is not this Jewel a just Emblem of the +Satisfaction which a Man may bring back with him from a Course of this +World's Pleasures? and will not the _Labyrinth_ serve for an Image of the +World itself wherein such a Treasure (if we may believe the common Voice) +is stored up?' + +At about this point Humphreys thought that a little Patience would be an +agreeable change, and that the writer's 'improvement' of his Parable +might be left to itself. So he put the book back in its former place, +wondering as he did so whether his uncle had ever stumbled across that +passage; and if so, whether it had worked on his fancy so much as to make +him dislike the idea of a maze, and determine to shut up the one in the +garden. Not long afterwards he went to bed. + +The next day brought a morning's hard work with Mr Cooper, who, if +exuberant in language, had the business of the estate at his fingers' +ends. He was very breezy this morning, Mr Cooper was: had not forgotten +the order to clear out the maze--the work was going on at that moment: +his girl was on the tentacles of expectation about it. He also hoped that +Humphreys had slept the sleep of the just, and that we should be favoured +with a continuance of this congenial weather. At luncheon he enlarged on +the pictures in the dining-room, and pointed out the portrait of the +constructor of the temple and the maze. Humphreys examined this with +considerable interest. It was the work of an Italian, and had been +painted when old Mr Wilson was visiting Rome as a young man. (There was, +indeed, a view of the Colosseum in the background.) A pale thin face and +large eyes were the characteristic features. In the hand was a partially +unfolded roll of paper, on which could be distinguished the plan of a +circular building, very probably the temple, and also part of that of a +labyrinth. Humphreys got up on a chair to examine it, but it was not +painted with sufficient clearness to be worth copying. It suggested to +him, however, that he might as well make a plan of his own maze and hang +it in the hall for the use of visitors. + +This determination of his was confirmed that same afternoon; for when Mrs +and Miss Cooper arrived, eager to be inducted into the maze, he found +that he was wholly unable to lead them to the centre. The gardeners had +removed the guide-marks they had been using, and even Clutterham, when +summoned to assist, was as helpless as the rest. 'The point is, you see, +Mr Wilson--I should say 'Umphreys--these mazes is purposely constructed +so much alike, with a view to mislead. Still, if you'll foller me, I +think I can put you right. I'll just put my 'at down 'ere as a +starting-point.' He stumped off, and after five minutes brought the party +safe to the hat again. 'Now that's a very peculiar thing,' he said, with +a sheepish laugh. 'I made sure I'd left that 'at just over against a +bramble-bush, and you can see for yourself there ain't no bramble-bush +not in this walk at all. If you'll allow me, Mr Humphreys--that's the +name, ain't it, sir?--I'll just call one of the men in to mark the place +like.' + +William Crack arrived, in answer to repeated shouts. He had some +difficulty in making his way to the party. First he was seen or heard in +an inside alley, then, almost at the same moment, in an outer one. +However, he joined them at last, and was first consulted without effect +and then stationed by the hat, which Clutterham still considered it +necessary to leave on the ground. In spite of this strategy, they spent +the best part of three-quarters of an hour in quite fruitless wanderings, +and Humphreys was obliged at last, seeing how tired Mrs Cooper was +becoming, to suggest a retreat to tea, with profuse apologies to Miss +Cooper. 'At any rate you've won your bet with Miss Foster,' he said; 'you +have been inside the maze; and I promise you the first thing I do shall +be to make a proper plan of it with the lines marked out for you to go +by.' 'That's what's wanted, sir,' said Clutterham, 'someone to draw out a +plan and keep it by them. It might be very awkward, you see, anyone +getting into that place and a shower of rain come on, and them not able +to find their way out again; it might be hours before they could be got +out, without you'd permit of me makin' a short cut to the middle: what my +meanin' is, takin' down a couple of trees in each 'edge in a straight +line so as you could git a clear view right through. Of course that'd do +away with it as a maze, but I don't know as you'd approve of that.' + +'No, I won't have that done yet: I'll make a plan first, and let you have +a copy. Later on, if we find occasion, I'll think of what you say.' + +Humphreys was vexed and ashamed at the fiasco of the afternoon, and could +not be satisfied without making another effort that evening to reach the +centre of the maze. His irritation was increased by finding it without a +single false step. He had thoughts of beginning his plan at once; but the +light was fading, and he felt that by the time he had got the necessary +materials together, work would be impossible. + +Next morning accordingly, carrying a drawing-board, pencils, compasses, +cartridge paper, and so forth (some of which had been borrowed from the +Coopers and some found in the library cupboards), he went to the middle +of the maze (again without any hesitation), and set out his materials. He +was, however, delayed in making a start. The brambles and weeds that had +obscured the column and globe were now all cleared away, and it was for +the first time possible to see clearly what these were like. The column +was featureless, resembling those on which sundials are usually placed. +Not so the globe. I have said that it was finely engraved with figures +and inscriptions, and that on a first glance Humphreys had taken it for a +celestial globe: but he soon found that it did not answer to his +recollection of such things. One feature seemed familiar; a winged +serpent--_Draco_--encircled it about the place which, on a terrestrial +globe, is occupied by the equator: but on the other hand, a good part of +the upper hemisphere was covered by the outspread wings of a large figure +whose head was concealed by a ring at the pole or summit of the whole. +Around the place of the head the words _princeps tenebrarum_ could be +deciphered. In the lower hemisphere there was a space hatched all over +with cross-lines and marked as _umbra mortis_. Near it was a range of +mountains, and among them a valley with flames rising from it. This was +lettered (will you be surprised to learn it?) _vallis filiorum Hinnom_. +Above and below _Draco_ were outlined various figures not unlike the +pictures of the ordinary constellations, but not the same. Thus, a nude +man with a raised club was described, not as _Hercules_ but as _Cain_. +Another, plunged up to his middle in earth and stretching out despairing +arms, was _Chore_, not _Ophiuchus_, and a third, hung by his hair to a +snaky tree, was _Absolon_. Near the last, a man in long robes and high +cap, standing in a circle and addressing two shaggy demons who hovered +outside, was described as _Hostanes magus_ (a character unfamiliar to +Humphreys). The scheme of the whole, indeed, seemed to be an assemblage +of the patriarchs of evil, perhaps not uninfluenced by a study of Dante. +Humphreys thought it an unusual exhibition of his great-grandfather's +taste, but reflected that he had probably picked it up in Italy and had +never taken the trouble to examine it closely: certainly, had he set much +store by it, he would not have exposed it to wind and weather. He tapped +the metal--it seemed hollow and not very thick--and, turning from it, +addressed himself to his plan. After half an hour's work he found it was +impossible to get on without using a clue: so he procured a roll of twine +from Clutterham, and laid it out along the alleys from the entrance to +the centre, tying the end to the ring at the top of the globe. This +expedient helped him to set out a rough plan before luncheon, and in the +afternoon he was able to draw it in more neatly. Towards tea-time Mr +Cooper joined him, and was much interested in his progress. 'Now this--' +said Mr Cooper, laying his hand on the globe, and then drawing it away +hastily. 'Whew! Holds the heat, doesn't it, to a surprising degree, Mr +Humphreys. I suppose this metal--copper, isn't it?--would be an insulator +or conductor, or whatever they call it.' + +'The sun has been pretty strong this afternoon,' said Humphreys, evading +the scientific point, 'but I didn't notice the globe had got hot. No--it +doesn't seem very hot to me,' he added. + +'Odd!' said Mr Cooper. 'Now I can't hardly bear my hand on it. Something +in the difference of temperament between us, I suppose. I dare say you're +a chilly subject, Mr Humphreys: I'm not: and there's where the +distinction lies. All this summer I've slept, if you'll believe me, +practically _in statu quo_, and had my morning tub as cold as I could get +it. Day out and day in--let me assist you with that string.' + +'It's all right, thanks; but if you'll collect some of these pencils and +things that are lying about I shall be much obliged. Now I think we've +got everything, and we might get back to the house.' + +They left the maze, Humphreys rolling up the clue as they went. + +The night was rainy. + +Most unfortunately it turned out that, whether by Cooper's fault or not, +the plan had been the one thing forgotten the evening before. As was to +be expected, it was ruined by the wet. There was nothing for it but to +begin again (the job would not be a long one this time). The clue +therefore was put in place once more and a fresh start made. But +Humphreys had not done much before an interruption came in the shape of +Calton with a telegram. His late chief in London wanted to consult him. +Only a brief interview was wanted, but the summons was urgent. This was +annoying, yet it was not really upsetting; there was a train available in +half an hour, and, unless things went very cross, he could be back, +possibly by five o'clock, certainly by eight. He gave the plan to Calton +to take to the house, but it was not worth while to remove the clue. + +All went as he had hoped. He spent a rather exciting evening in the +library, for he lighted tonight upon a cupboard where some of the rarer +books were kept. When he went up to bed he was glad to find that the +servant had remembered to leave his curtains undrawn and his windows +open. He put down his light, and went to the window which commanded a +view of the garden and the park. It was a brilliant moonlight night. In a +few weeks' time the sonorous winds of autumn would break up all this +calm. But now the distant woods were in a deep stillness; the slopes of +the lawns were shining with dew; the colours of some of the flowers could +almost be guessed. The light of the moon just caught the cornice of the +temple and the curve of its leaden dome, and Humphreys had to own that, +so seen, these conceits of a past age have a real beauty. In short, the +light, the perfume of the woods, and the absolute quiet called up such +kind old associations in his mind that he went on ruminating them for a +long, long time. As he turned from the window he felt he had never seen +anything more complete of its sort. The one feature that struck him with +a sense of incongruity was a small Irish yew, thin and black, which stood +out like an outpost of the shrubbery, through which the maze was +approached. That, he thought, might as well be away: the wonder was that +anyone should have thought it would look well in that position. + + * * * * * + +However, next morning, in the press of answering letters and going over +books with Mr Cooper, the Irish yew was forgotten. One letter, by the +way, arrived this day which has to be mentioned. It was from that Lady +Wardrop whom Miss Cooper had mentioned, and it renewed the application +which she had addressed to Mr Wilson. She pleaded, in the first place, +that she was about to publish a Book of Mazes, and earnestly desired to +include the plan of the Wilsthorpe Maze, and also that it would be a +great kindness if Mr Humphreys could let her see it (if at all) at an +early date, since she would soon have to go abroad for the winter months. +Her house at Bentley was not far distant, so Humphreys was able to send a +note by hand to her suggesting the very next day or the day after for her +visit; it may be said at once that the messenger brought back a most +grateful answer, to the effect that the morrow would suit her admirably. + +The only other event of the day was that the plan of the maze was +successfully finished. + +This night again was fair and brilliant and calm, and Humphreys lingered +almost as long at his window. The Irish yew came to his mind again as he +was on the point of drawing his curtains: but either he had been misled +by a shadow the night before, or else the shrub was not really so +obtrusive as he had fancied. Anyhow, he saw no reason for interfering +with it. What he _would_ do away with, however, was a clump of dark +growth which had usurped a place against the house wall, and was +threatening to obscure one of the lower range of windows. It did not look +as if it could possibly be worth keeping; he fancied it dank and +unhealthy, little as he could see of it. + +Next day (it was a Friday--he had arrived at Wilsthorpe on a Monday) Lady +Wardrop came over in her car soon after luncheon. She was a stout elderly +person, very full of talk of all sorts and particularly inclined to make +herself agreeable to Humphreys, who had gratified her very much by his +ready granting of her request. They made a thorough exploration of the +place together; and Lady Wardrop's opinion of her host obviously rose +sky-high when she found that he really knew something of gardening. She +entered enthusiastically into all his plans for improvement, but agreed +that it would be a vandalism to interfere with the characteristic +laying-out of the ground near the house. With the temple she was +particularly delighted, and, said she, 'Do you know, Mr Humphreys, I +think your bailiff must be right about those lettered blocks of stone. +One of my mazes--I'm sorry to say the stupid people have destroyed it +now--it was at a place in Hampshire--had the track marked out in that +way. They were tiles there, but lettered just like yours, and the +letters, taken in the right order, formed an inscription--what it was I +forget--something about Theseus and Ariadne. I have a copy of it, as well +as the plan of the maze where it was. How people can do such things! I +shall never forgive you if you injure _your_ maze. Do you know, they're +becoming very uncommon? Almost every year I hear of one being grubbed up. +Now, do let's get straight to it: or, if you're too busy, I know my way +there perfectly, and I'm not afraid of getting lost in it; I know too +much about mazes for that. Though I remember missing my lunch--not so +very long ago either--through getting entangled in the one at Busbury. +Well, of course, if you _can_ manage to come with me, that will be all +the nicer.' + +After this confident prelude justice would seem to require that Lady +Wardrop should have been hopelessly muddled by the Wilsthorpe maze. +Nothing of that kind happened: yet it is to be doubted whether she got +all the enjoyment from her new specimen that she expected. She was +interested--keenly interested--to be sure, and pointed out to Humphreys a +series of little depressions in the ground which, she thought, marked the +places of the lettered blocks. She told him, too, what other mazes +resembled his most closely in arrangement, and explained how it was +usually possible to date a maze to within twenty years by means of its +plan. This one, she already knew, must be about as old as 1780, and its +features were just what might be expected. The globe, furthermore, +completely absorbed her. It was unique in her experience, and she pored +over it for long. 'I should like a rubbing of that,' she said, 'if it +could possibly be made. Yes, I am sure you would be most kind about it, +Mr Humphreys, but I trust you won't attempt it on my account, I do +indeed; I shouldn't like to take any liberties here. I have the feeling +that it might be resented. Now, confess,' she went on, turning and facing +Humphreys, 'don't you feel--haven't you felt ever since you came in +here--that a watch is being kept on us, and that if we overstepped the +mark in any way there would be a--well, a pounce? No? _I_ do; and I don't +care how soon we are outside the gate.' + +'After all,' she said, when they were once more on their way to the +house, 'it may have been only the airlessness and the dull heat of that +place that pressed on my brain. Still, I'll take back one thing I said. +I'm not sure that I shan't forgive you after all, if I find next spring +that that maze has been grubbed up.' + +'Whether or no that's done, you shall have the plan, Lady Wardrop. I have +made one, and no later than tonight I can trace you a copy.' + +'Admirable: a pencil tracing will be all I want, with an indication of +the scale. I can easily have it brought into line with the rest of my +plates. Many, many thanks.' + +'Very well, you shall have that tomorrow. I wish you could help me to a +solution of my block-puzzle.' + +'What, those stones in the summer-house? That _is_ a puzzle; they are in +no sort of order? Of course not. But the men who put them down must have +had some directions--perhaps you'll find a paper about it among your +uncle's things. If not, you'll have to call in somebody who's an expert +in ciphers.' + +'Advise me about something else, please,' said Humphreys. 'That +bush-thing under the library window: you would have that away, wouldn't +you?' + +'Which? That? Oh, I think not,' said Lady Wardrop. 'I can't see it very +well from this distance, but it's not unsightly.' + +'Perhaps you're right; only, looking out of my window, just above it, +last night, I thought it took up too much room. It doesn't seem to, as +one sees it from here, certainly. Very well, I'll leave it alone for a +bit.' + +Tea was the next business, soon after which Lady Wardrop drove off; but, +half-way down the drive, she stopped the car and beckoned to Humphreys, +who was still on the front-door steps. He ran to glean her parting words, +which were: 'It just occurs to me, it might be worth your while to look +at the underside of those stones. They _must_ have been numbered, mustn't +they? _Good_-bye again. Home, please.' + + * * * * * + +The main occupation of this evening at any rate was settled. The tracing +of the plan for Lady Wardrop and the careful collation of it with the +original meant a couple of hours' work at least. Accordingly, soon after +nine Humphreys had his materials put out in the library and began. It was +a still, stuffy evening; windows had to stand open, and he had more than +one grisly encounter with a bat. These unnerving episodes made him keep +the tail of his eye on the window. Once or twice it was a question +whether there was--not a bat, but something more considerable--that had a +mind to join him. How unpleasant it would be if someone had slipped +noiselessly over the sill and was crouching on the floor! + +The tracing of the plan was done: it remained to compare it with the +original, and to see whether any paths had been wrongly closed or left +open. With one finger on each paper, he traced out the course that must +be followed from the entrance. There were one or two slight mistakes, but +here, near the centre, was a bad confusion, probably due to the entry of +the Second or Third Bat. Before correcting the copy he followed out +carefully the last turnings of the path on the original. These, at least, +were right; they led without a hitch to the middle space. Here was a +feature which need not be repeated on the copy--an ugly black spot about +the size of a shilling. Ink? No. It resembled a hole, but how should a +hole be there? He stared at it with tired eyes: the work of tracing had +been very laborious, and he was drowsy and oppressed... But surely this +was a very odd hole. It seemed to go not only through the paper, but +through the table on which it lay. Yes, and through the floor below that, +down, and still down, even into infinite depths. He craned over it, +utterly bewildered. Just as, when you were a child, you may have pored +over a square inch of counterpane until it became a landscape with wooded +hills, and perhaps even churches and houses, and you lost all thought of +the true size of yourself and it, so this hole seemed to Humphreys for +the moment the only thing in the world. For some reason it was hateful to +him from the first, but he had gazed at it for some moments before any +feeling of anxiety came upon him; and then it did come, stronger and +stronger--a horror lest something might emerge from it, and a really +agonizing conviction that a terror was on its way, from the sight of +which he would not be able to escape. Oh yes, far, far down there was a +movement, and the movement was upwards--towards the surface. Nearer and +nearer it came, and it was of a blackish-grey colour with more than one +dark hole. It took shape as a face--a human face--a _burnt_ human face: +and with the odious writhings of a wasp creeping out of a rotten apple +there clambered forth an appearance of a form, waving black arms prepared +to clasp the head that was bending over them. With a convulsion of +despair Humphreys threw himself back, struck his head against a hanging +lamp, and fell. + +There was concussion of the brain, shock to the system, and a long +confinement to bed. The doctor was badly puzzled, not by the symptoms, +but by a request which Humphreys made to him as soon as he was able to +say anything. 'I wish you would open the ball in the maze.' 'Hardly room +enough there, I should have thought,' was the best answer he could summon +up; 'but it's more in your way than mine; my dancing days are over.' At +which Humphreys muttered and turned over to sleep, and the doctor +intimated to the nurses that the patient was not out of the wood yet. +When he was better able to express his views, Humphreys made his meaning +clear, and received a promise that the thing should be done at once. He +was so anxious to learn the result that the doctor, who seemed a little +pensive next morning, saw that more harm than good would be done by +saving up his report. 'Well,' he said, 'I am afraid the ball is done for; +the metal must have worn thin, I suppose. Anyhow, it went all to bits +with the first blow of the chisel.' 'Well? go on, do!' said Humphreys +impatiently. 'Oh! you want to know what we found in it, of course. Well, +it was half full of stuff like ashes.' 'Ashes? What did you make of them?' +'I haven't thoroughly examined them yet; there's hardly been time: but +Cooper's made up his mind--I dare say from something I said--that it's a +case of cremation... Now don't excite yourself, my good sir: yes, I must +allow I think he's probably right.' + +The maze is gone, and Lady Wardrop has forgiven Humphreys; in fact, I +believe he married her niece. She was right, too, in her conjecture that +the stones in the temple were numbered. There had been a numeral painted +on the bottom of each. Some few of these had rubbed off, but enough +remained to enable Humphreys to reconstruct the inscription. It ran thus: + + PENETRANS AD INTERIORA MORTIS + +Grateful as Humphreys was to the memory of his uncle, he could not quite +forgive him for having burnt the journals and letters of the James Wilson +who had gifted Wilsthorpe with the maze and the temple. As to the +circumstances of that ancestor's death and burial no tradition survived; +but his will, which was almost the only record of him accessible, +assigned an unusually generous legacy to a servant who bore an Italian +name. + +Mr Cooper's view is that, humanly speaking, all these many solemn events +have a meaning for us, if our limited intelligence permitted of our +disintegrating it, while Mr Calton has been reminded of an aunt now gone +from us, who, about the year 1866, had been lost for upwards of an hour +and a half in the maze at Covent Gardens, or it might be Hampton Court. + +One of the oddest things in the whole series of transactions is that the +book which contained the Parable has entirely disappeared. Humphreys has +never been able to find it since he copied out the passage to send to +Lady Wardrop. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, by +Montague Rhodes James + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY *** + +***** This file should be named 9629.txt or 9629.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/6/2/9629/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Thomas Berger, and PG Distributed +Proofreaders + + +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 can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Ghost Stories of an Antiquary + Part 2: More Ghost Stories + +Author: Montague Rhodes James + +Release Date: January, 2006 [EBook #9629] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 11, 2003] +[Date last updated: January 15, 2005] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Thomas Berger, and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +PART 2: More Ghost Stories + + +M.R. JAMES + +GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY + + + +_These stories are dedicated to all those who at various times have +listened to them._ + + + +CONTENTS + +PART I: GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY + +Canon Alberic's Scrap-book +Lost Hearts +The Mezzotint +The Ash-tree +Number 13 +Count Magnus +'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad' +The Treasure of Abbot Thomas + +PART 2: MORE GHOST STORIES + +A School Story +The Rose Garden +The Tractate Middoth +Casting the Runes +The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral +Martin's Close +Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance + + * * * * * + +The first six of the seven tales were Christmas productions, the very +first ('A School Story') having been made up for the benefit of King's +College Choir School. 'The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral' was printed in +_Contemporary Review_; 'Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance' was written to +fill up the volume. In 'A School Story' I had Temple Grove, East Sheen in +mind; in 'The Tractate Middoth', Cambridge University Library; in +'Martin's Close', Sampford Courtenay in Devon. The Cathedral of +Barchester is a blend of Canterbury, Salisbury, and Hereford. + +M.R. JAMES + + * * * * * + +A SCHOOL STORY + +Two men in a smoking-room were talking of their private-school days. 'At +_our_ school,' said A., 'we had a ghost's footmark on the staircase. What +was it like? Oh, very unconvincing. Just the shape of a shoe, with a +square toe, if I remember right. The staircase was a stone one. I never +heard any story about the thing. That seems odd, when you come to think +of it. Why didn't somebody invent one, I wonder?' + +'You never can tell with little boys. They have a mythology of their own. +There's a subject for you, by the way--"The Folklore of Private +Schools".' + +'Yes; the crop is rather scanty, though. I imagine, if you were to +investigate the cycle of ghost stories, for instance, which the boys at +private schools tell each other, they would all turn out to be +highly-compressed versions of stories out of books.' + +'Nowadays the _Strand_ and _Pearson's_, and so on, would be extensively +drawn upon.' + +'No doubt: they weren't born or thought of in _my_ time. Let's see. I +wonder if I can remember the staple ones that I was told. First, there +was the house with a room in which a series of people insisted on passing +a night; and each of them in the morning was found kneeling in a corner, +and had just time to say, "I've seen it," and died.' + +'Wasn't that the house in Berkeley Square?' + +'I dare say it was. Then there was the man who heard a noise in the +passage at night, opened his door, and saw someone crawling towards him +on all fours with his eye hanging out on his cheek. There was besides, +let me think--Yes! the room where a man was found dead in bed with a +horseshoe mark on his forehead, and the floor under the bed was covered +with marks of horseshoes also; I don't know why. Also there was the lady +who, on locking her bedroom door in a strange house, heard a thin voice +among the bed-curtains say, "Now we're shut in for the night." None of +those had any explanation or sequel. I wonder if they go on still, those +stories.' + +'Oh, likely enough--with additions from the magazines, as I said. You +never heard, did you, of a real ghost at a private school? I thought not; +nobody has that ever I came across.' + +'From the way in which you said that, I gather that _you_ have.' + +'I really don't know; but this is what was in my mind. It happened at my +private school thirty odd years ago, and I haven't any explanation of it. + +'The school I mean was near London. It was established in a large and +fairly old house--a great white building with very fine grounds about it; +there were large cedars in the garden, as there are in so many of the +older gardens in the Thames valley, and ancient elms in the three or four +fields which we used for our games. I think probably it was quite an +attractive place, but boys seldom allow that their schools possess any +tolerable features. + +'I came to the school in a September, soon after the year 1870; and among +the boys who arrived on the same day was one whom I took to: a Highland +boy, whom I will call McLeod. I needn't spend time in describing him: the +main thing is that I got to know him very well. He was not an exceptional +boy in any way--not particularly good at books or games--but he suited +me. + +'The school was a large one: there must have been from 120 to 130 boys +there as a rule, and so a considerable staff of masters was required, and +there were rather frequent changes among them. + +'One term--perhaps it was my third or fourth--a new master made his +appearance. His name was Sampson. He was a tallish, stoutish, pale, +black-bearded man. I think we liked him: he had travelled a good deal, +and had stories which amused us on our school walks, so that there was +some competition among us to get within earshot of him. I remember +too--dear me, I have hardly thought of it since then!--that he had a +charm on his watch-chain that attracted my attention one day, and he let +me examine it. It was, I now suppose, a gold Byzantine coin; there was an +effigy of some absurd emperor on one side; the other side had been worn +practically smooth, and he had had cut on it--rather barbarously--his own +initials, G.W.S., and a date, 24 July, 1865. Yes, I can see it now: he +told me he had picked it up in Constantinople: it was about the size of a +florin, perhaps rather smaller. + +'Well, the first odd thing that happened was this. Sampson was doing +Latin grammar with us. One of his favourite methods--perhaps it is rather +a good one--was to make us construct sentences out of our own heads to +illustrate the rules he was trying to make us learn. Of course that is a +thing which gives a silly boy a chance of being impertinent: there are +lots of school stories in which that happens--or anyhow there might be. +But Sampson was too good a disciplinarian for us to think of trying that +on with him. Now, on this occasion he was telling us how to express +_remembering_ in Latin: and he ordered us each to make a sentence +bringing in the verb _memini_, "I remember." Well, most of us made up +some ordinary sentence such as "I remember my father," or "He remembers +his book," or something equally uninteresting: and I dare say a good many +put down _memino librum meum_, and so forth: but the boy I +mentioned--McLeod--was evidently thinking of something more elaborate +than that. The rest of us wanted to have our sentences passed, and get on +to something else, so some kicked him under the desk, and I, who was next +to him, poked him and whispered to him to look sharp. But he didn't seem +to attend. I looked at his paper and saw he had put down nothing at all. +So I jogged him again harder than before and upbraided him sharply for +keeping us all waiting. That did have some effect. He started and seemed +to wake up, and then very quickly he scribbled about a couple of lines on +his paper, and showed it up with the rest. As it was the last, or nearly +the last, to come in, and as Sampson had a good deal to say to the boys +who had written _meminiscimus patri meo_ and the rest of it, it turned +out that the clock struck twelve before he had got to McLeod, and McLeod +had to wait afterwards to have his sentence corrected. There was nothing +much going on outside when I got out, so I waited for him to come. He +came very slowly when he did arrive, and I guessed there had been some +sort of trouble. "Well," I said, "what did you get?" "Oh, I don't know," +said McLeod, "nothing much: but I think Sampson's rather sick with me." +"Why, did you show him up some rot?" "No fear," he said. "It was all +right as far as I could see: it was like this: _Memento_--that's right +enough for remember, and it takes a genitive,--_memento putei inter +quatuor taxos_." "What silly rot!" I said. "What made you shove that +down? What does it mean?" "That's the funny part," said McLeod. "I'm not +quite sure what it does mean. All I know is, it just came into my head +and I corked it down. I know what I _think_ it means, because just before +I wrote it down I had a sort of picture of it in my head: I believe it +means 'Remember the well among the four'--what are those dark sort of +trees that have red berries on them?" "Mountain ashes, I s'pose you +mean." "I never heard of them," said McLeod; "no, _I'll_ tell you--yews." +"Well, and what did Sampson say?" "Why, he was jolly odd about it. When +he read it he got up and went to the mantelpiece and stopped quite a long +time without saying anything, with his back to me. And then he said, +without turning round, and rather quiet, 'What do you suppose that +means?' I told him what I thought; only I couldn't remember the name of +the silly tree: and then he wanted to know why I put it down, and I had +to say something or other. And after that he left off talking about it, +and asked me how long I'd been here, and where my people lived, and +things like that: and then I came away: but he wasn't looking a bit +well." + +'I don't remember any more that was said by either of us about this. Next +day McLeod took to his bed with a chill or something of the kind, and it +was a week or more before he was in school again. And as much as a month +went by without anything happening that was noticeable. Whether or not Mr +Sampson was really startled, as McLeod had thought, he didn't show it. I +am pretty sure, of course, now, that there was something very curious in +his past history, but I'm not going to pretend that we boys were sharp +enough to guess any such thing. + +'There was one other incident of the same kind as the last which I told +you. Several times since that day we had had to make up examples in +school to illustrate different rules, but there had never been any row +except when we did them wrong. At last there came a day when we were +going through those dismal things which people call Conditional +Sentences, and we were told to make a conditional sentence, expressing a +future consequence. We did it, right or wrong, and showed up our bits of +paper, and Sampson began looking through them. All at once he got up, +made some odd sort of noise in his throat, and rushed out by a door that +was just by his desk. We sat there for a minute or two, and then--I +suppose it was incorrect--but we went up, I and one or two others, to +look at the papers on his desk. Of course I thought someone must have put +down some nonsense or other, and Sampson had gone off to report him. All +the same, I noticed that he hadn't taken any of the papers with him when +he ran out. Well, the top paper on the desk was written in red ink--which +no one used--and it wasn't in anyone's hand who was in the class. They +all looked at it--McLeod and all--and took their dying oaths that it +wasn't theirs. Then I thought of counting the bits of paper. And of this +I made quite certain: that there were seventeen bits of paper on the +desk, and sixteen boys in the form. Well, I bagged the extra paper, and +kept it, and I believe I have it now. And now you will want to know what +was written on it. It was simple enough, and harmless enough, I should +have said. + +'"_Si tu non veneris ad me, ego veniam ad te_," which means, I suppose, +"If you don't come to me, I'll come to you."' + +'Could you show me the paper?' interrupted the listener. + +'Yes, I could: but there's another odd thing about it. That same +afternoon I took it out of my locker--I know for certain it was the same +bit, for I made a finger-mark on it--and no single trace of writing of +any kind was there on it. I kept it, as I said, and since that time I +have tried various experiments to see whether sympathetic ink had been +used, but absolutely without result. + +'So much for that. After about half an hour Sampson looked in again: said +he had felt very unwell, and told us we might go. He came rather gingerly +to his desk and gave just one look at the uppermost paper: and I suppose +he thought he must have been dreaming: anyhow, he asked no questions. + +'That day was a half-holiday, and next day Sampson was in school again, +much as usual. That night the third and last incident in my story +happened. + +'We--McLeod and I--slept in a dormitory at right angles to the main +building. Sampson slept in the main building on the first floor. There +was a very bright full moon. At an hour which I can't tell exactly, but +some time between one and two, I was woken up by somebody shaking me. It +was McLeod; and a nice state of mind he seemed to be in. "Come," he +said,--"come! there's a burglar getting in through Sampson's window." As +soon as I could speak, I said, "Well, why not call out and wake everybody +up?" "No, no," he said, "I'm not sure who it is: don't make a row: come +and look." Naturally I came and looked, and naturally there was no one +there. I was cross enough, and should have called McLeod plenty of names: +only--I couldn't tell why--it seemed to me that there _was_ something +wrong--something that made me very glad I wasn't alone to face it. We +were still at the window looking out, and as soon as I could, I asked him +what he had heard or seen. "I didn't _hear_ anything at all," he said, +"but about five minutes before I woke you, I found myself looking out of +this window here, and there was a man sitting or kneeling on Sampson's +window-sill, and looking in, and I thought he was beckoning." "What sort +of man?" McLeod wriggled. "I don't know," he said, "but I can tell you +one thing--he was beastly thin: and he looked as if he was wet all over: +and," he said, looking round and whispering as if he hardly liked to hear +himself, "I'm not at all sure that he was alive." + +'We went on talking in whispers some time longer, and eventually crept +back to bed. No one else in the room woke or stirred the whole time. I +believe we did sleep a bit afterwards, but we were very cheap next day. + +'And next day Mr Sampson was gone: not to be found: and I believe no +trace of him has ever come to light since. In thinking it over, one of +the oddest things about it all has seemed to me to be the fact that +neither McLeod nor I ever mentioned what we had seen to any third person +whatever. Of course no questions were asked on the subject, and if they +had been, I am inclined to believe that we could not have made any +answer: we seemed unable to speak about it. + +'That is my story,' said the narrator. 'The only approach to a ghost +story connected with a school that I know, but still, I think, an +approach to such a thing.' + + * * * * * + +The sequel to this may perhaps be reckoned highly conventional; but a +sequel there is, and so it must be produced. There had been more than one +listener to the story, and, in the latter part of that same year, or of +the next, one such listener was staying at a country house in Ireland. + +One evening his host was turning over a drawer full of odds and ends in +the smoking-room. Suddenly he put his hand upon a little box. 'Now,' he +said, 'you know about old things; tell me what that is.' My friend opened +the little box, and found in it a thin gold chain with an object attached +to it. He glanced at the object and then took off his spectacles to +examine it more narrowly. 'What's the history of this?' he asked. 'Odd +enough,' was the answer. 'You know the yew thicket in the shrubbery: +well, a year or two back we were cleaning out the old well that used to +be in the clearing here, and what do you suppose we found?' + +'Is it possible that you found a body?' said the visitor, with an odd +feeling of nervousness. + +'We did that: but what's more, in every sense of the word, we found two.' + +'Good Heavens! Two? Was there anything to show how they got there? Was +this thing found with them?' + +'It was. Amongst the rags of the clothes that were on one of the bodies. +A bad business, whatever the story of it may have been. One body had the +arms tight round the other. They must have been there thirty years or +more--long enough before we came to this place. You may judge we filled +the well up fast enough. Do you make anything of what's cut on that gold +coin you have there?' + +'I think I can,' said my friend, holding it to the light (but he read it +without much difficulty); 'it seems to be G.W.S., 24 July, 1865.' + + + + +THE ROSE GARDEN + +Mr and Mrs Anstruther were at breakfast in the parlour of Westfield Hall, +in the county of Essex. They were arranging plans for the day. + +'George,' said Mrs Anstruther, 'I think you had better take the car to +Maldon and see if you can get any of those knitted things I was speaking +about which would do for my stall at the bazaar.' + +'Oh well, if you wish it, Mary, of course I can do that, but I had half +arranged to play a round with Geoffrey Williamson this morning. The +bazaar isn't till Thursday of next week, is it?' + +'What has that to do with it, George? I should have thought you would +have guessed that if I can't get the things I want in Maldon I shall have +to write to all manner of shops in town: and they are certain to send +something quite unsuitable in price or quality the first time. If you +have actually made an appointment with Mr Williamson, you had better keep +it, but I must say I think you might have let me know.' + +'Oh no, no, it wasn't really an appointment. I quite see what you mean. +I'll go. And what shall you do yourself?' + +'Why, when the work of the house is arranged for, I must see about laying +out my new rose garden. By the way, before you start for Maldon I wish +you would just take Collins to look at the place I fixed upon. You know +it, of course.' + +'Well, I'm not quite sure that I do, Mary. Is it at the upper end, +towards the village?' + +'Good gracious no, my dear George; I thought I had made that quite clear. +No, it's that small clearing just off the shrubbery path that goes +towards the church.' + +'Oh yes, where we were saying there must have been a summer-house once: +the place with the old seat and the posts. But do you think there's +enough sun there?' + +'My dear George, do allow me _some_ common sense, and don't credit me +with all your ideas about summer-houses. Yes, there will be plenty of sun +when we have got rid of some of those box-bushes. I know what you are +going to say, and I have as little wish as you to strip the place bare. +All I want Collins to do is to clear away the old seats and the posts and +things before I come out in an hour's time. And I hope you will manage to +get off fairly soon. After luncheon I think I shall go on with my sketch +of the church; and if you please you can go over to the links, or--' + +'Ah, a good idea--very good! Yes, you finish that sketch, Mary, and I +should be glad of a round.' + +'I was going to say, you might call on the Bishop; but I suppose it is no +use my making _any_ suggestion. And now do be getting ready, or half the +morning will be gone.' + +Mr Anstruther's face, which had shown symptoms of lengthening, shortened +itself again, and he hurried from the room, and was soon heard giving +orders in the passage. Mrs Anstruther, a stately dame of some fifty +summers, proceeded, after a second consideration of the morning's +letters, to her housekeeping. + +Within a few minutes Mr Anstruther had discovered Collins in the +greenhouse, and they were on their way to the site of the projected rose +garden. I do not know much about the conditions most suitable to these +nurseries, but I am inclined to believe that Mrs Anstruther, though in +the habit of describing herself as 'a great gardener', had not been well +advised in the selection of a spot for the purpose. It was a small, dank +clearing, bounded on one side by a path, and on the other by thick +box-bushes, laurels, and other evergreens. The ground was almost bare of +grass and dark of aspect. Remains of rustic seats and an old and +corrugated oak post somewhere near the middle of the clearing had given +rise to Mr Anstruther's conjecture that a summer-house had once stood +there. + +Clearly Collins had not been put in possession of his mistress's +intentions with regard to this plot of ground: and when he learnt them +from Mr Anstruther he displayed no enthusiasm. + +'Of course I could clear them seats away soon enough,' he said. 'They +aren't no ornament to the place, Mr Anstruther, and rotten too. Look +'ere, sir,'--and he broke off a large piece--'rotten right through. Yes, +clear them away, to be sure we can do that.' + +'And the post,' said Mr Anstruther, 'that's got to go too.' + +Collins advanced, and shook the post with both hands: then he rubbed his +chin. + +'That's firm in the ground, that post is,' he said. 'That's been there a +number of years, Mr Anstruther. I doubt I shan't get that up not quite so +soon as what I can do with them seats.' + +'But your mistress specially wishes it to be got out of the way in an +hour's time,' said Mr Anstruther. + +Collins smiled and shook his head slowly. 'You'll excuse me, sir, but you +feel of it for yourself. No, sir, no one can't do what's impossible to +'em, can they, sir? I could git that post up by after tea-time, sir, but +that'll want a lot of digging. What you require, you see, sir, if you'll +excuse me naming of it, you want the soil loosening round this post 'ere, +and me and the boy we shall take a little time doing of that. But now, +these 'ere seats,' said Collins, appearing to appropriate this portion of +the scheme as due to his own resourcefulness, 'why, I can get the barrer +round and 'ave them cleared away in, why less than an hour's time from +now, if you'll permit of it. Only--' + +'Only what, Collins?' + +'Well now, ain't for me to go against orders no more than what it is for +you yourself--or anyone else' (this was added somewhat hurriedly), 'but +if you'll pardon me, sir, this ain't the place I should have picked out +for no rose garden myself. Why look at them box and laurestinus, 'ow they +reg'lar preclude the light from--' + +'Ah yes, but we've got to get rid of some of them, of course.' + +'Oh, indeed, get rid of them! Yes, to be sure, but--I beg your pardon, Mr +Anstruther--' + +'I'm sorry, Collins, but I must be getting on now. I hear the car at the +door. Your mistress will explain exactly what she wishes. I'll tell her, +then, that you can see your way to clearing away the seats at once, and +the post this afternoon. Good morning.' + +Collins was left rubbing his chin. Mrs Anstruther received the report +with some discontent, but did not insist upon any change of plan. + +By four o'clock that afternoon she had dismissed her husband to his golf, +had dealt faithfully with Collins and with the other duties of the day, +and, having sent a campstool and umbrella to the proper spot, had just +settled down to her sketch of the church as seen from the shrubbery, when +a maid came hurrying down the path to report that Miss Wilkins had +called. + +Miss Wilkins was one of the few remaining members of the family from whom +the Anstruthers had bought the Westfield estate some few years back. She +had been staying in the neighbourhood, and this was probably a farewell +visit. 'Perhaps you could ask Miss Wilkins to join me here,' said Mrs +Anstruther, and soon Miss Wilkins, a person of mature years, approached. + +'Yes, I'm leaving the Ashes to-morrow, and I shall be able to tell my +brother how tremendously you have improved the place. Of course he can't +help regretting the old house just a little--as I do myself--but the +garden is really delightful now.' + +'I am so glad you can say so. But you mustn't think we've finished our +improvements. Let me show you where I mean to put a rose garden. It's +close by here.' + +The details of the project were laid before Miss Wilkins at some length; +but her thoughts were evidently elsewhere. + +'Yes, delightful,' she said at last rather absently. 'But do you know, +Mrs Anstruther, I'm afraid I was thinking of old times. I'm _very_ glad +to have seen just this spot again before you altered it. Frank and I had +quite a romance about this place.' + +'Yes?' said Mrs Anstruther smilingly; 'do tell me what it was. Something +quaint and charming, I'm sure.' + +'Not so very charming, but it has always seemed to me curious. Neither of +us would ever be here alone when we were children, and I'm not sure that +I should care about it now in certain moods. It is one of those things +that can hardly be put into words--by me at least--and that sound rather +foolish if they are not properly expressed. I can tell you after a +fashion what it was that gave us--well, almost a horror of the place when +we were alone. It was towards the evening of one very hot autumn day, +when Frank had disappeared mysteriously about the grounds, and I was +looking for him to fetch him to tea, and going down this path I suddenly +saw him, not hiding in the bushes, as I rather expected, but sitting on +the bench in the old summer-house--there was a wooden summer-house here, +you know--up in the corner, asleep, but with such a dreadful look on his +face that I really thought he must be ill or even dead. I rushed at him +and shook him, and told him to wake up; and wake up he did, with a +scream. I assure you the poor boy seemed almost beside himself with +fright. He hurried me away to the house, and was in a terrible state all +that night, hardly sleeping. Someone had to sit up with him, as far as I +remember. He was better very soon, but for days I couldn't get him to say +why he had been in such a condition. It came out at last that he had +really been asleep and had had a very odd disjointed sort of dream. He +never _saw_ much of what was around him, but he _felt_ the scenes most +vividly. First he made out that he was standing in a large room with a +number of people in it, and that someone was opposite to him who was +"very powerful", and he was being asked questions which he felt to be +very important, and, whenever he answered them, someone--either the +person opposite to him, or someone else in the room--seemed to be, as he +said, making something up against him. All the voices sounded to him very +distant, but he remembered bits of the things that were said: "Where were +you on the 19th of October?" and "Is this your handwriting?" and so on. I +can see now, of course, that he was dreaming of some trial: but we were +never allowed to see the papers, and it was odd that a boy of eight +should have such a vivid idea of what went on in a court. All the time he +felt, he said, the most intense anxiety and oppression and hopelessness +(though I don't suppose he used such words as that to me). Then, after +that, there was an interval in which he remembered being dreadfully +restless and miserable, and then there came another sort of picture, when +he was aware that he had come out of doors on a dark raw morning with a +little snow about. It was in a street, or at any rate among houses, and +he felt that there were numbers and numbers of people there too, and that +he was taken up some creaking wooden steps and stood on a sort of +platform, but the only thing he could actually see was a small fire +burning somewhere near him. Someone who had been holding his arm left +hold of it and went towards this fire, and then he said the fright he was +in was worse than at any other part of his dream, and if I had not +wakened him up he didn't know what would have become of him. A curious +dream for a child to have, wasn't it? Well, so much for that. It must +have been later in the year that Frank and I were here, and I was sitting +in the arbour just about sunset. I noticed the sun was going down, and +told Frank to run in and see if tea was ready while I finished a chapter +in the book I was reading. Frank was away longer than I expected, and the +light was going so fast that I had to bend over my book to make it out. +All at once I became conscious that someone was whispering to me inside +the arbour. The only words I could distinguish, or thought I could, were +something like "Pull, pull. I'll push, you pull." + +'I started up in something of a fright. The voice--it was little more +than a whisper--sounded so hoarse and angry, and yet as if it came from a +long, long way off--just as it had done in Frank's dream. But, though I +was startled, I had enough courage to look round and try to make out +where the sound came from. And--this sounds very foolish, I know, but +still it is the fact--I made sure that it was strongest when I put my ear +to an old post which was part of the end of the seat. I was so certain of +this that I remember making some marks on the post--as deep as I could +with the scissors out of my work-basket. I don't know why. I wonder, by +the way, whether that isn't the very post itself.... Well, yes, it might +be: there _are_ marks and scratches on it--but one can't be sure. Anyhow, +it was just like that post you have there. My father got to know that +both of us had had a fright in the arbour, and he went down there himself +one evening after dinner, and the arbour was pulled down at very short +notice. I recollect hearing my father talking about it to an old man who +used to do odd jobs in the place, and the old man saying, "Don't you fear +for that, sir: he's fast enough in there without no one don't take and +let him out." But when I asked who it was, I could get no satisfactory +answer. Possibly my father or mother might have told me more about it +when I grew up, but, as you know, they both died when we were still quite +children. I must say it has always seemed very odd to me, and I've often +asked the older people in the village whether they knew of anything +strange: but either they knew nothing or they wouldn't tell me. Dear, +dear, how I have been boring you with my childish remembrances! but +indeed that arbour did absorb our thoughts quite remarkably for a time. +You can fancy, can't you, the kind of stories that we made up for +ourselves. Well, dear Mrs Anstruther, I must be leaving you now. We shall +meet in town this winter, I hope, shan't we?' etc., etc. + +The seats and the post were cleared away and uprooted respectively by +that evening. Late summer weather is proverbially treacherous, and during +dinner-time Mrs Collins sent up to ask for a little brandy, because her +husband had took a nasty chill and she was afraid he would not be able to +do much next day. + +Mrs Anstruther's morning reflections were not wholly placid. She was sure +some roughs had got into the plantation during the night. 'And another +thing, George: the moment that Collins is about again, you must tell him +to do something about the owls. I never heard anything like them, and I'm +positive one came and perched somewhere just outside our window. If it +had come in I should have been out of my wits: it must have been a very +large bird, from its voice. Didn't you hear it? No, of course not, you +were sound asleep as usual. Still, I must say, George, you don't look as +if your night had done you much good.' + +'My dear, I feel as if another of the same would turn me silly. You have +no idea of the dreams I had. I couldn't speak of them when I woke up, and +if this room wasn't so bright and sunny I shouldn't care to think of them +even now.' + +'Well, really, George, that isn't very common with you, I must say. You +must have--no, you only had what I had yesterday--unless you had tea at +that wretched club house: did you?' + +'No, no; nothing but a cup of tea and some bread and butter. I should +really like to know how I came to put my dream together--as I suppose one +does put one's dreams together from a lot of little things one has been +seeing or reading. Look here, Mary, it was like this--if I shan't be +boring you--' + +'I _wish_ to hear what it was, George. I will tell you when I have had +enough.' + +'All right. I must tell you that it wasn't like other nightmares in one +way, because I didn't really _see_ anyone who spoke to me or touched me, +and yet I was most fearfully impressed with the reality of it all. First +I was sitting, no, moving about, in an old-fashioned sort of panelled +room. I remember there was a fireplace and a lot of burnt papers in it, +and I was in a great state of anxiety about something. There was someone +else--a servant, I suppose, because I remember saying to him, "Horses, as +quick as you can," and then waiting a bit: and next I heard several +people coming upstairs and a noise like spurs on a boarded floor, and +then the door opened and whatever it was that I was expecting happened.' + +'Yes, but what was that?' + +'You see, I couldn't tell: it was the sort of shock that upsets you in a +dream. You either wake up or else everything goes black. That was what +happened to me. Then I was in a big dark-walled room, panelled, I think, +like the other, and a number of people, and I was evidently--' + +'Standing your trial, I suppose, George.' + +'Goodness! yes, Mary, I was; but did you dream that too? How very odd!' + +'No, no; I didn't get enough sleep for that. Go on, George, and I will +tell you afterwards.' + +'Yes; well, I _was_ being tried, for my life, I've no doubt, from the +state I was in. I had no one speaking for me, and somewhere there was a +most fearful fellow--on the bench I should have said, only that he seemed +to be pitching into me most unfairly, and twisting everything I said, and +asking most abominable questions.' + +'What about?' + +'Why, dates when I was at particular places, and letters I was supposed +to have written, and why I had destroyed some papers; and I recollect his +laughing at answers I made in a way that quite daunted me. It doesn't +sound much, but I can tell you, Mary, it was really appalling at the +time. I am quite certain there was such a man once, and a most horrible +villain he must have been. The things he said--' + +'Thank you, I have no wish to hear them. I can go to the links any day +myself. How did it end?' + +'Oh, against me; _he_ saw to that. I do wish, Mary, I could give you a +notion of the strain that came after that, and seemed to me to last for +days: waiting and waiting, and sometimes writing things I knew to be +enormously important to me, and waiting for answers and none coming, and +after that I came out--' + +'Ah!' + +'What makes you say that? Do you know what sort of thing I saw?' + +'Was it a dark cold day, and snow in the streets, and a fire burning +somewhere near you?' + +'By George, it was! You _have_ had the same nightmare! Really not? Well, +it is the oddest thing! Yes; I've no doubt it was an execution for high +treason. I know I was laid on straw and jolted along most wretchedly, and +then had to go up some steps, and someone was holding my arm, and I +remember seeing a bit of a ladder and hearing a sound of a lot of people. +I really don't think I could bear now to go into a crowd of people and +hear the noise they make talking. However, mercifully, I didn't get to +the real business. The dream passed off with a sort of thunder inside my +head. But, Mary--' + +'I know what you are going to ask. I suppose this is an instance of a +kind of thought-reading. Miss Wilkins called yesterday and told me of a +dream her brother had as a child when they lived here, and something did +no doubt make me think of that when I was awake last night listening to +those horrible owls and those men talking and laughing in the shrubbery +(by the way, I wish you would see if they have done any damage, and speak +to the police about it); and so, I suppose, from my brain it must have +got into yours while you were asleep. Curious, no doubt, and I am sorry +it gave you such a bad night. You had better be as much in the fresh air +as you can to-day.' + +'Oh, it's all right now; but I think I _will_ go over to the Lodge and +see if I can get a game with any of them. And you?' + +'I have enough to do for this morning; and this afternoon, if I am not +interrupted, there is my drawing.' + +'To be sure--I want to see that finished very much.' + +No damage was discoverable in the shrubbery. Mr Anstruther surveyed with +faint interest the site of the rose garden, where the uprooted post still +lay, and the hole it had occupied remained unfilled. Collins, upon +inquiry made, proved to be better, but quite unable to come to his work. +He expressed, by the mouth of his wife, a hope that he hadn't done +nothing wrong clearing away them things. Mrs Collins added that there was +a lot of talking people in Westfield, and the hold ones was the worst: +seemed to think everything of them having been in the parish longer than +what other people had. But as to what they said no more could then be +ascertained than that it had quite upset Collins, and was a lot of +nonsense. + + * * * * * + +Recruited by lunch and a brief period of slumber, Mrs Anstruther settled +herself comfortably upon her sketching chair in the path leading through +the shrubbery to the side-gate of the churchyard. Trees and buildings +were among her favourite subjects, and here she had good studies of both. +She worked hard, and the drawing was becoming a really pleasant thing to +look upon by the time that the wooded hills to the west had shut off the +sun. Still she would have persevered, but the light changed rapidly, and +it became obvious that the last touches must be added on the morrow. She +rose and turned towards the house, pausing for a time to take delight in +the limpid green western sky. Then she passed on between the dark +box-bushes, and, at a point just before the path debouched on the lawn, +she stopped once again and considered the quiet evening landscape, and +made a mental note that that must be the tower of one of the Roothing +churches that one caught on the sky-line. Then a bird (perhaps) rustled +in the box-bush on her left, and she turned and started at seeing what at +first she took to be a Fifth of November mask peeping out among the +branches. She looked closer. + +It was not a mask. It was a face--large, smooth, and pink. She remembers +the minute drops of perspiration which were starting from its forehead: +she remembers how the jaws were clean-shaven and the eyes shut. She +remembers also, and with an accuracy which makes the thought intolerable +to her, how the mouth was open and a single tooth appeared below the +upper lip. As she looked the face receded into the darkness of the bush. +The shelter of the house was gained and the door shut before she +collapsed. + +Mr and Mrs Anstruther had been for a week or more recruiting at Brighton +before they received a circular from the Essex Archaeological Society, +and a query as to whether they possessed certain historical portraits +which it was desired to include in the forthcoming work on Essex +Portraits, to be published under the Society's auspices. There was an +accompanying letter from the Secretary which contained the following +passage: 'We are specially anxious to know whether you possess the +original of the engraving of which I enclose a photograph. It represents +Sir ---- ----, Lord Chief Justice under Charles II, who, as you doubtless +know, retired after his disgrace to Westfield, and is supposed to have +died there of remorse. It may interest you to hear that a curious entry +has recently been found in the registers, not of Westfield but of Priors +Roothing to the effect that the parish was so much troubled after his +death that the rector of Westfield summoned the parsons of all the +Roothings to come and lay him; which they did. The entry ends by saying: +"The stake is in a field adjoining to the churchyard of Westfield, on the +west side." Perhaps you can let us know if any tradition to this effect +is current in your parish.' + +The incidents which the 'enclosed photograph' recalled were productive of +a severe shock to Mrs Anstruther. It was decided that she must spend the +winter abroad. + +Mr Anstruther, when he went down to Westfield to make the necessary +arrangements, not unnaturally told his story to the rector (an old +gentleman), who showed little surprise. + +'Really I had managed to piece out for myself very much what must have +happened, partly from old people's talk and partly from what I saw in +your grounds. Of course we have suffered to some extent also. Yes, it was +bad at first: like owls, as you say, and men talking sometimes. One night +it was in this garden, and at other times about several of the cottages. +But lately there has been very little: I think it will die out. There is +nothing in our registers except the entry of the burial, and what I for a +long time took to be the family motto: but last time I looked at it I +noticed that it was added in a later hand and had the initials of one of +our rectors quite late in the seventeenth century, A. C.--Augustine +Crompton. Here it is, you see--_quieta non movere_. I suppose-- Well, it +is rather hard to say exactly what I do suppose.' + + + + +THE TRACTATE MIDDOTH + +Towards the end of an autumn afternoon an elderly man with a thin face +and grey Piccadilly weepers pushed open the swing-door leading into the +vestibule of a certain famous library, and addressing himself to an +attendant, stated that he believed he was entitled to use the library, +and inquired if he might take a book out. Yes, if he were on the list of +those to whom that privilege was given. He produced his card--Mr John +Eldred--and, the register being consulted, a favourable answer was given. +'Now, another point,' said he. 'It is a long time since I was here, and I +do not know my way about your building; besides, it is near closing-time, +and it is bad for me to hurry up and down stairs. I have here the title +of the book I want: is there anyone at liberty who could go and find it +for me?' After a moment's thought the doorkeeper beckoned to a young man +who was passing. 'Mr Garrett,' he said, 'have you a minute to assist this +gentleman?' 'With pleasure,' was Mr Garrett's answer. The slip with the +title was handed to him. 'I think I can put my hand on this; it happens +to be in the class I inspected last quarter, but I'll just look it up in +the catalogue to make sure. I suppose it is that particular edition that +you require, sir?' 'Yes, if you please; that, and no other,' said Mr +Eldred; 'I am exceedingly obliged to you.' 'Don't mention it I beg, sir,' +said Mr Garrett, and hurried off. + +'I thought so,' he said to himself, when his finger, travelling down the +pages of the catalogue, stopped at a particular entry. 'Talmud: Tractate +Middoth, with the commentary of Nachmanides, Amsterdam, 1707. 11.3.34. +Hebrew class, of course. Not a very difficult job this.' + +Mr Eldred, accommodated with a chair in the vestibule, awaited anxiously +the return of his messenger--and his disappointment at seeing an +empty-handed Mr Garrett running down the staircase was very evident. 'I'm +sorry to disappoint you, sir,' said the young man, 'but the book is out.' +'Oh dear!' said Mr Eldred, 'is that so? You are sure there can be no +mistake?' 'I don't think there is much chance of it, sir: but it's +possible, if you like to wait a minute, that you might meet the very +gentleman that's got it. He must be leaving the library soon, and I +_think_ I saw him take that particular book out of the shelf.' 'Indeed! +You didn't recognize him, I suppose? Would it be one of the professors or +one of the students?' 'I don't think so: certainly not a professor. I +should have known him; but the light isn't very good in that part of the +library at this time of day, and I didn't see his face. I should have +said he was a shortish old gentleman, perhaps a clergyman, in a cloak. If +you could wait, I can easily find out whether he wants the book very +particularly.' + +'No, no,' said Mr Eldred, 'I won't--I can't wait now, thank you--no. I +must be off. But I'll call again to-morrow if I may, and perhaps you +could find out who has it.' + +'Certainly, sir, and I'll have the book ready for you if we--' But Mr +Eldred was already off, and hurrying more than one would have thought +wholesome for him. + +Garrett had a few moments to spare; and, thought he, 'I'll go back to +that case and see if I can find the old man. Most likely he could put off +using the book for a few days. I dare say the other one doesn't want to +keep it for long.' So off with him to the Hebrew class. But when he got +there it was unoccupied, and the volume marked 11.3.34 was in its place +on the shelf. It was vexatious to Garrett's self-respect to have +disappointed an inquirer with so little reason: and he would have liked, +had it not been against library rules, to take the book down to the +vestibule then and there, so that it might be ready for Mr Eldred when he +called. However, next morning he would be on the look out for him, and he +begged the doorkeeper to send and let him know when the moment came. As a +matter of fact, he was himself in the vestibule when Mr Eldred arrived, +very soon after the library opened and when hardly anyone besides the +staff were in the building. + +'I'm very sorry,' he said; 'it's not often that I make such a stupid +mistake, but I did feel sure that the old gentleman I saw took out that +very book and kept it in his hand without opening it, just as people do, +you know, sir, when they mean to take a book out of the library and not +merely refer to it. But, however, I'll run up now at once and get it for +you this time.' + +And here intervened a pause. Mr Eldred paced the entry, read all the +notices, consulted his watch, sat and gazed up the staircase, did all +that a very impatient man could, until some twenty minutes had run out. +At last he addressed himself to the doorkeeper and inquired if it was a +very long way to that part of the library to which Mr Garrett had gone. + +'Well, I was thinking it was funny, sir: he's a quick man as a rule, but +to be sure he might have been sent for by the librarian, but even so I +think he'd have mentioned to him that you was waiting. I'll just speak +him up on the toob and see.' And to the tube he addressed himself. As he +absorbed the reply to his question his face changed, and he made one or +two supplementary inquiries which were shortly answered. Then he came +forward to his counter and spoke in a lower tone. 'I'm sorry to hear, +sir, that something seems to have 'appened a little awkward. Mr Garrett +has been took poorly, it appears, and the librarian sent him 'ome in a +cab the other way. Something of an attack, by what I can hear.' 'What, +really? Do you mean that someone has injured him?' 'No, sir, not violence +'ere, but, as I should judge, attacked with an attack, what you might +term it, of illness. Not a strong constitootion, Mr Garrett. But as to +your book, sir, perhaps you might be able to find it for yourself. It's +too bad you should be disappointed this way twice over--' 'Er--well, but +I'm so sorry that Mr Garrett should have been taken ill in this way while +he was obliging me. I think I must leave the book, and call and inquire +after him. You can give me his address, I suppose.' That was easily done: +Mr Garrett, it appeared, lodged in rooms not far from the station. 'And +one other question. Did you happen to notice if an old gentleman, perhaps +a clergyman, in a--yes--in a black cloak, left the library after I did +yesterday. I think he may have been a--I think, that is, that he may be +staying--or rather that I may have known him.' + +'Not in a black cloak, sir; no. There were only two gentlemen left later +than what you done, sir, both of them youngish men. There was Mr Carter +took out a music-book and one of the prefessors with a couple o' novels. +That's the lot, sir; and then I went off to me tea, and glad to get it. +Thank you, sir, much obliged.' + + * * * * * + +Mr Eldred, still a prey to anxiety, betook himself in a cab to Mr +Garrett's address, but the young man was not yet in a condition to +receive visitors. He was better, but his landlady considered that he must +have had a severe shock. She thought most likely from what the doctor +said that he would be able to see Mr Eldred to-morrow. Mr Eldred returned +to his hotel at dusk and spent, I fear, but a dull evening. + +On the next day he was able to see Mr Garrett. When in health Mr Garrett +was a cheerful and pleasant-looking young man. Now he was a very white +and shaky being, propped up in an arm-chair by the fire, and inclined to +shiver and keep an eye on the door. If however, there were visitors whom +he was not prepared to welcome, Mr Eldred was not among them. 'It really +is I who owe you an apology, and I was despairing of being able to pay +it, for I didn't know your address. But I am very glad you have called. I +do dislike and regret giving all this trouble, but you know I could not +have foreseen this--this attack which I had.' + +'Of course not; but now, I am something of a doctor. You'll excuse my +asking; you have had, I am sure, good advice. Was it a fall you had?' + +'No. I did fall on the floor--but not from any height. It was, really, a +shock.' + +'You mean something startled you. Was it anything you thought you saw?' + +'Not much _thinking_ in the case, I'm afraid. Yes, it was something I +saw. You remember when you called the first time at the library?' + +'Yes, of course. Well, now, let me beg you not to try to describe it--it +will not be good for you to recall it, I'm sure.' + +'But indeed it would be a relief to me to tell anyone like yourself: you +might be able to explain it away. It was just when I was going into the +class where your book is--' + +'Indeed, Mr Garrett, I insist; besides, my watch tells me I have but very +little time left in which to get my things together and take the train. +No--not another word--it would be more distressing to you than you +imagine, perhaps. Now there is just one thing I want to say. I feel that +I am really indirectly responsible for this illness of yours, and I think +I ought to defray the expense which it has--eh?' + +But this offer was quite distinctly declined. Mr Eldred, not pressing it, +left almost at once: not, however, before Mr Garrett had insisted upon +his taking a note of the class-mark of the Tractate Middoth, which, as he +said, Mr Eldred could at leisure get for himself. But Mr Eldred did not +reappear at the library. + + * * * * * + +William Garrett had another visitor that day in the person of a +contemporary and colleague from the library, one George Earle. Earle had +been one of those who found Garrett lying insensible on the floor just +inside the 'class' or cubicle (opening upon the central alley of a +spacious gallery) in which the Hebrew books were placed, and Earle had +naturally been very anxious about his friend's condition. So as soon as +library hours were over he appeared at the lodgings. 'Well,' he said +(after other conversation), 'I've no notion what it was that put you +wrong, but I've got the idea that there's something wrong in the +atmosphere of the library. I know this, that just before we found you I +was coming along the gallery with Davis, and I said to him, "Did ever you +know such a musty smell anywhere as there is about here? It can't be +wholesome." Well now, if one goes on living a long time with a smell of +that kind (I tell you it was worse than I ever knew it) it must get into +the system and break out some time, don't you think?' + +Garrett shook his head. 'That's all very well about the smell--but it +isn't always there, though I've noticed it the last day or two--a sort of +unnaturally strong smell of dust. But no--that's not what did for me. It +was something I _saw_. And I want to tell you about it. I went into that +Hebrew class to get a book for a man that was inquiring for it down +below. Now that same book I'd made a mistake about the day before. I'd +been for it, for the same man, and made sure that I saw an old parson in +a cloak taking it out. I told my man it was out: off he went, to call +again next day. I went back to see if I could get it out of the parson: +no parson there, and the book on the shelf. Well, yesterday, as I say, I +went again. This time, if you please--ten o'clock in the morning, +remember, and as much light as ever you get in those classes, and there +was my parson again, back to me, looking at the books on the shelf I +wanted. His hat was on the table, and he had a bald head. I waited a +second or two looking at him rather particularly. I tell you, he had a +very nasty bald head. It looked to me dry, and it looked dusty, and the +streaks of hair across it were much less like hair than cobwebs. Well, I +made a bit of a noise on purpose, coughed and moved my feet. He turned +round and let me see his face--which I hadn't seen before. I tell you +again, I'm not mistaken. Though, for one reason or another I didn't take +in the lower part of his face, I did see the upper part; and it was +perfectly dry, and the eyes were very deep-sunk; and over them, from the +eyebrows to the cheek-bone, there were _cobwebs_--thick. Now that closed +me up, as they say, and I can't tell you anything more.' + + * * * * * + +What explanations were furnished by Earle of this phenomenon it does not +very much concern us to inquire; at all events they did not convince +Garrett that he had not seen what he had seen. + + * * * * * + +Before William Garrett returned to work at the library, the librarian +insisted upon his taking a week's rest and change of air. Within a few +days' time, therefore, he was at the station with his bag, looking for a +desirable smoking compartment in which to travel to Burnstow-on-Sea, +which he had not previously visited. One compartment and one only seemed +to be suitable. But, just as he approached it, he saw, standing in front +of the door, a figure so like one bound up with recent unpleasant +associations that, with a sickening qualm, and hardly knowing what he +did, he tore open the door of the next compartment and pulled himself +into it as quickly as if death were at his heels. The train moved off, +and he must have turned quite faint, for he was next conscious of a +smelling-bottle being put to his nose. His physician was a nice-looking +old lady, who, with her daughter, was the only passenger in the carriage. + +But for this incident it is not very likely that he would have made any +overtures to his fellow-travellers. As it was, thanks and inquiries and +general conversation supervened inevitably; and Garrett found himself +provided before the journey's end not only with a physician, but with a +landlady: for Mrs Simpson had apartments to let at Burnstow, which seemed +in all ways suitable. The place was empty at that season, so that Garrett +was thrown a good deal into the society of the mother and daughter. He +found them very acceptable company. On the third evening of his stay he +was on such terms with them as to be asked to spend the evening in their +private sitting-room. + +During their talk it transpired that Garrett's work lay in a library. +'Ah, libraries are fine places,' said Mrs Simpson, putting down her work +with a sigh; 'but for all that, books have played me a sad turn, or +rather _a_ book has.' + +'Well, books give me my living, Mrs Simpson, and I should be sorry to say +a word against them: I don't like to hear that they have been bad for +you.' + +'Perhaps Mr Garrett could help us to solve our puzzle, mother,' said Miss +Simpson. + +'I don't want to set Mr Garrett off on a hunt that might waste a +lifetime, my dear, nor yet to trouble him with our private affairs.' + +'But if you think it in the least likely that I could be of use, I do beg +you to tell me what the puzzle is, Mrs Simpson. If it is finding out +anything about a book, you see, I am in rather a good position to do it.' + +'Yes, I do see that, but the worst of it is that we don't know the name +of the book.' + +'Nor what it is about?' + +'No, nor that either.' + +'Except that we don't think it's in English, mother--and that is not much +of a clue.' + +'Well, Mr Garrett,' said Mrs Simpson, who had not yet resumed her work, +and was looking at the fire thoughtfully, 'I shall tell you the story. +You will please keep it to yourself, if you don't mind? Thank you. Now it +is just this. I had an old uncle, a Dr Rant. Perhaps you may have heard +of him. Not that he was a distinguished man, but from the odd way he +chose to be buried.' + +'I rather think I have seen the name in some guidebook.' + +'That would be it,' said Miss Simpson. 'He left directions--horrid old +man!--that he was to be put, sitting at a table in his ordinary clothes, +in a brick room that he'd had made underground in a field near his house. +Of course the country people say he's been seen about there in his old +black cloak.' + +'Well, dear, I don't know much about such things,' Mrs Simpson went on, +'but anyhow he is dead, these twenty years and more. He was a clergyman, +though I'm sure I can't imagine how he got to be one: but he did no duty +for the last part of his life, which I think was a good thing; and he +lived on his own property: a very nice estate not a great way from here. +He had no wife or family; only one niece, who was myself, and one nephew, +and he had no particular liking for either of us--nor for anyone else, as +far as that goes. If anything, he liked my cousin better than he did +me--for John was much more like him in his temper, and, I'm afraid I must +say, his very mean sharp ways. It might have been different if I had not +married; but I did, and that he very much resented. Very well: here he +was with this estate and a good deal of money, as it turned out, of which +he had the absolute disposal, and it was understood that we--my cousin +and I--would share it equally at his death. In a certain winter, over +twenty years back, as I said, he was taken ill, and I was sent for to +nurse him. My husband was alive then, but the old man would not hear of +_his_ coming. As I drove up to the house I saw my cousin John driving +away from it in an open fly and looking, I noticed, in very good spirits. +I went up and did what I could for my uncle, but I was very soon sure +that this would be his last illness; and he was convinced of it too. +During the day before he died he got me to sit by him all the time, and I +could see there was something, and probably something unpleasant, that he +was saving up to tell me, and putting it off as long as he felt he could +afford the strength--I'm afraid purposely in order to keep me on the +stretch. But, at last, out it came. "Mary," he said,--"Mary, I've made my +will in John's favour: he has everything, Mary." Well, of course that +came as a bitter shock to me, for we--my husband and I--were not rich +people, and if he could have managed to live a little easier than he was +obliged to do, I felt it might be the prolonging of his life. But I said +little or nothing to my uncle, except that he had a right to do what he +pleased: partly because I couldn't think of anything to say, and partly +because I was sure there was more to come: and so there was. "But, Mary," +he said, "I'm not very fond of John, and I've made another will in _your_ +favour. _You_ can have everything. Only you've got to find the will, you +see: and I don't mean to tell you where it is." Then he chuckled to +himself, and I waited, for again I was sure he hadn't finished. "That's a +good girl," he said after a time,--"you wait, and I'll tell you as much +as I told John. But just let me remind you, you can't go into court with +what I'm saying to you, for _you_ won't be able to produce any collateral +evidence beyond your own word, and John's a man that can do a little hard +swearing if necessary. Very well then, that's understood. Now, I had the +fancy that I wouldn't write this will quite in the common way, so I wrote +it in a book, Mary, a printed book. And there's several thousand books in +this house. But there! you needn't trouble yourself with them, for it +isn't one of them. It's in safe keeping elsewhere: in a place where John +can go and find it any day, if he only knew, and you can't. A good will +it is: properly signed and witnessed, but I don't think you'll find the +witnesses in a hurry." + +'Still I said nothing: if I had moved at all I must have taken hold of +the old wretch and shaken him. He lay there laughing to himself, and at +last he said: + +'"Well, well, you've taken it very quietly, and as I want to start you +both on equal terms, and John has a bit of a purchase in being able to go +where the book is, I'll tell you just two other things which I didn't +tell him. The will's in English, but you won't know that if ever you see +it. That's one thing, and another is that when I'm gone you'll find an +envelope in my desk directed to you, and inside it something that would +help you to find it, if only you have the wits to use it." + +'In a few hours from that he was gone, and though I made an appeal to +John Eldred about it--' + +'John Eldred? I beg your pardon, Mrs Simpson--I think I've seen a Mr John +Eldred. What is he like to look at?' + +'It must be ten years since I saw him: he would be a thin elderly man +now, and unless he has shaved them off, he has that sort of whiskers +which people used to call Dundreary or Piccadilly something.' + +'--weepers. Yes, that _is_ the man.' + +'Where did you come across him, Mr Garrett?' + +'I don't know if I could tell you,' said Garrett mendaciously, 'in some +public place. But you hadn't finished.' + +'Really I had nothing much to add, only that John Eldred, of course, paid +no attention whatever to my letters, and has enjoyed the estate ever +since, while my daughter and I have had to take to the lodging-house +business here, which I must say has not turned out by any means so +unpleasant as I feared it might.' + +'But about the envelope.' + +'To be sure! Why, the puzzle turns on that. Give Mr Garrett the paper out +of my desk.' + +It was a small slip, with nothing whatever on it but five numerals, not +divided or punctuated in any way: 11334. + +Mr Garrett pondered, but there was a light in his eye. Suddenly he 'made +a face', and then asked, 'Do you suppose that Mr Eldred can have any more +clue than you have to the title of the book?' + +'I have sometimes thought he must,' said Mrs Simpson, 'and in this way: +that my uncle must have made the will not very long before he died (that, +I think, he said himself), and got rid of the book immediately +afterwards. But all his books were very carefully catalogued: and John +has the catalogue: and John was most particular that no books whatever +should be sold out of the house. And I'm told that he is always +journeying about to booksellers and libraries; so I fancy that he must +have found out just which books are missing from my uncle's library of +those which are entered in the catalogue, and must be hunting for them.' + +'Just so, just so,' said Mr Garrett, and relapsed into thought. + + * * * * * + +No later than next day he received a letter which, as he told Mrs Simpson +with great regret, made it absolutely necessary for him to cut short his +stay at Burnstow. + +Sorry as he was to leave them (and they were at least as sorry to part +with him), he had begun to feel that a crisis, all-important to Mrs (and +shall we add, Miss?) Simpson, was very possibly supervening. + +In the train Garrett was uneasy and excited. He racked his brains to +think whether the press mark of the book which Mr Eldred had been +inquiring after was one in any way corresponding to the numbers on Mrs +Simpson's little bit of paper. But he found to his dismay that the shock +of the previous week had really so upset him that he could neither +remember any vestige of the title or nature of the book, or even of the +locality to which he had gone to seek it. And yet all other parts of +library topography and work were clear as ever in his mind. + +And another thing--he stamped with annoyance as he thought of it--he had +at first hesitated, and then had forgotten, to ask Mrs Simpson for the +name of the place where Eldred lived. That, however, he could write +about. + +At least he had his clue in the figures on the paper. If they referred to +a press mark in his library, they were only susceptible of a limited +number of interpretations. They might be divided into 1.13.34, 11.33.4, +or 11.3.34. He could try all these in the space of a few minutes, and if +any one were missing he had every means of tracing it. He got very +quickly to work, though a few minutes had to be spent in explaining his +early return to his landlady and his colleagues. 1.13.34. was in place +and contained no extraneous writing. As he drew near to Class 11 in the +same gallery, its association struck him like a chill. But he _must_ go +on. After a cursory glance at 11.33.4 (which first confronted him, and +was a perfectly new book) he ran his eye along the line of quartos which +fills 11.3. The gap he feared was there: 34 was out. A moment was spent +in making sure that it had not been misplaced, and then he was off to the +vestibule. + +'Has 11.3.34 gone out? Do you recollect noticing that number?' + +'Notice the number? What do you take me for, Mr Garrett? There, take and +look over the tickets for yourself, if you've got a free day before you.' + +'Well then, has a Mr Eldred called again?--the old gentleman who came the +day I was taken ill. Come! you'd remember him.' + +'What do you suppose? Of course I recollect of him: no, he haven't been +in again, not since you went off for your 'oliday. And yet I seem +to--there now. Roberts'll know. Roberts, do you recollect of the name of +Heldred?' + +'Not arf,' said Roberts. 'You mean the man that sent a bob over the price +for the parcel, and I wish they all did.' + +'Do you mean to say you've been sending books to Mr Eldred? Come, do +speak up! Have you?' + +'Well now, Mr Garrett, if a gentleman sends the ticket all wrote correct +and the secketry says this book may go and the box ready addressed sent +with the note, and a sum of money sufficient to deefray the railway +charges, what would be _your_ action in the matter, Mr Garrett, if I may +take the liberty to ask such a question? Would you or would you not have +taken the trouble to oblige, or would you have chucked the 'ole thing +under the counter and--' + +'You were perfectly right, of course, Hodgson--perfectly right: only, +would you kindly oblige me by showing me the ticket Mr Eldred sent, and +letting me know his address?' + +'To be sure, Mr Garrett; so long as I'm not 'ectored about and informed +that I don't know my duty, I'm willing to oblige in every way feasible to +my power. There is the ticket on the file. J. Eldred, 11.3.34. Title of +work: T-a-l-m--well, there, you can make what you like of it--not a +novel, I should 'azard the guess. And here is Mr Heldred's note applying +for the book in question, which I see he terms it a track.' + +'Thanks, thanks: but the address? There's none on the note.' + +'Ah, indeed; well, now ... stay now, Mr Garrett, I 'ave it. Why, that +note come inside of the parcel, which was directed very thoughtful to +save all trouble, ready to be sent back with the book inside; and if I +_have_ made any mistake in this 'ole transaction, it lays just in the one +point that I neglected to enter the address in my little book here what I +keep. Not but what I dare say there was good reasons for me not entering +of it: but there, I haven't the time, neither have you, I dare say, to go +into 'em just now. And--no, Mr Garrett, I do _not_ carry it in my 'ed, +else what would be the use of me keeping this little book here--just a +ordinary common notebook, you see, which I make a practice of entering +all such names and addresses in it as I see fit to do?' + +'Admirable arrangement, to be sure--but--all right, thank you. When did +the parcel go off?' + +'Half-past ten, this morning.' + +'Oh, good; and it's just one now.' + +Garrett went upstairs in deep thought. How was he to get the address? A +telegram to Mrs Simpson: he might miss a train by waiting for the answer. +Yes, there was one other way. She had said that Eldred lived on his +uncle's estate. If this were so, he might find that place entered in the +donation-book. That he could run through quickly, now that he knew the +title of the book. The register was soon before him, and, knowing that +the old man had died more than twenty years ago, he gave him a good +margin, and turned back to 1870. There was but one entry possible. 1875, +August 14th. _Talmud: Tractatus Middoth cum comm. R. Nachmanidae._ +Amstelod. 1707. Given by J. Rant, D.D., of Bretfield Manor. + +A gazetteer showed Bretfield to be three miles from a small station on +the main line. Now to ask the doorkeeper whether he recollected if the +name on the parcel had been anything like Bretfield. + +'No, nothing like. It was, now you mention it, Mr Garrett, either +Bredfield or Britfield, but nothing like that other name what you +coated.' + +So far well. Next, a time-table. A train could be got in twenty +minutes--taking two hours over the journey. The only chance, but one not +to be missed; and the train was taken. + +If he had been fidgety on the journey up, he was almost distracted on the +journey down. If he found Eldred, what could he say? That it had been +discovered that the book was a rarity and must be recalled? An obvious +untruth. Or that it was believed to contain important manuscript notes? +Eldred would of course show him the book, from which the leaf would +already have been removed. He might, perhaps, find traces of the +removal--a torn edge of a fly-leaf probably--and who could disprove, what +Eldred was certain to say, that he too had noticed and regretted the +mutilation? Altogether the chase seemed very hopeless. The one chance was +this. The book had left the library at 10.30: it might not have been put +into the first possible train, at 11.20. Granted that, then he might be +lucky enough to arrive simultaneously with it and patch up some story +which would induce Eldred to give it up. + +It was drawing towards evening when he got out upon the platform of his +station, and, like most country stations, this one seemed unnaturally +quiet. He waited about till the one or two passengers who got out with +him had drifted off, and then inquired of the station-master whether Mr +Eldred was in the neighbourhood. + +'Yes, and pretty near too, I believe. I fancy he means calling here for a +parcel he expects. Called for it once to-day already, didn't he, Bob?' +(to the porter). + +'Yes, sir, he did; and appeared to think it was all along of me that it +didn't come by the two o'clock. Anyhow, I've got it for him now,' and the +porter flourished a square parcel, which--a glance assured Garrett-- +contained all that was of any importance to him at that particular +moment. + +'Bretfield, sir? Yes--three miles just about. Short cut across these +three fields brings it down by half a mile. There: there's Mr Eldred's +trap.' + +A dog-cart drove up with two men in it, of whom Garrett, gazing back as +he crossed the little station yard, easily recognized one. The fact that +Eldred was driving was slightly in his favour--for most likely he would +not open the parcel in the presence of his servant. On the other hand, he +would get home quickly, and unless Garrett were there within a very few +minutes of his arrival, all would be over. He must hurry; and that he +did. His short cut took him along one side of a triangle, while the cart +had two sides to traverse; and it was delayed a little at the station, so +that Garrett was in the third of the three fields when he heard the +wheels fairly near. He had made the best progress possible, but the pace +at which the cart was coming made him despair. At this rate it _must_ +reach home ten minutes before him, and ten minutes would more than +suffice for the fulfilment of Mr Eldred's project. + +It was just at this time that the luck fairly turned. The evening was +still, and sounds came clearly. Seldom has any sound given greater relief +than that which he now heard: that of the cart pulling up. A few words +were exchanged, and it drove on. Garrett, halting in the utmost anxiety, +was able to see as it drove past the stile (near which he now stood) that +it contained only the servant and not Eldred; further, he made out that +Eldred was following on foot. From behind the tall hedge by the stile +leading into the road he watched the thin wiry figure pass quickly by +with the parcel beneath its arm, and feeling in its pockets. Just as he +passed the stile something fell out of a pocket upon the grass, but with +so little sound that Eldred was not conscious of it. In a moment more it +was safe for Garrett to cross the stile into the road and pick up--a box +of matches. Eldred went on, and, as he went, his arms made hasty +movements, difficult to interpret in the shadow of the trees that +overhung the road. But, as Garrett followed cautiously, he found at +various points the key to them--a piece of string, and then the wrapper +of the parcel--meant to be thrown over the hedge, but sticking in it. + +Now Eldred was walking slower, and it could just be made out that he had +opened the book and was turning over the leaves. He stopped, evidently +troubled by the failing light. Garrett slipped into a gate-opening, but +still watched. Eldred, hastily looking around, sat down on a felled +tree-trunk by the roadside and held the open book up close to his eyes. +Suddenly he laid it, still open, on his knee, and felt in all his +pockets: clearly in vain, and clearly to his annoyance. 'You would be +glad of your matches now,' thought Garrett. Then he took hold of a leaf, +and was carefully tearing it out, when two things happened. First, +something black seemed to drop upon the white leaf and run down it, and +then as Eldred started and was turning to look behind him, a little dark +form appeared to rise out of the shadow behind the tree-trunk and from it +two arms enclosing a mass of blackness came before Eldred's face and +covered his head and neck. His legs and arms were wildly flourished, but +no sound came. Then, there was no more movement. Eldred was alone. He had +fallen back into the grass behind the tree-trunk. The book was cast into +the roadway. Garrett, his anger and suspicion gone for the moment at the +sight of this horrid struggle, rushed up with loud cries of 'Help!' and +so too, to his enormous relief, did a labourer who had just emerged from +a field opposite. Together they bent over and supported Eldred, but to no +purpose. The conclusion that he was dead was inevitable. 'Poor +gentleman!' said Garrett to the labourer, when they had laid him down, +'what happened to him, do you think?' 'I wasn't two hundred yards away,' +said the man, 'when I see Squire Eldred setting reading in his book, and +to my thinking he was took with one of these fits--face seemed to go all +over black.' 'Just so,' said Garrett. 'You didn't see anyone near him? It +couldn't have been an assault?' 'Not possible--no one couldn't have got +away without you or me seeing them.' 'So I thought. Well, we must get +some help, and the doctor and the policeman; and perhaps I had better +give them this book.' + +It was obviously a case for an inquest, and obvious also that Garrett +must stay at Bretfield and give his evidence. The medical inspection +showed that, though some black dust was found on the face and in the +mouth of the deceased, the cause of death was a shock to a weak heart, +and not asphyxiation. The fateful book was produced, a respectable quarto +printed wholly in Hebrew, and not of an aspect likely to excite even the +most sensitive. + +'You say, Mr Garrett, that the deceased gentleman appeared at the moment +before his attack to be tearing a leaf out of this book?' + +'Yes; I think one of the fly-leaves.' + +'There is here a fly-leaf partially torn through. It has Hebrew writing +on it. Will you kindly inspect it?' + +'There are three names in English, sir, also, and a date. But I am sorry +to say I cannot read Hebrew writing.' + +'Thank you. The names have the appearance of being signatures. They are +John Rant, Walter Gibson, and James Frost, and the date is 20 July, 1875. +Does anyone here know any of these names?' + +The Rector, who was present, volunteered a statement that the uncle of +the deceased, from whom he inherited, had been named Rant. + +The book being handed to him, he shook a puzzled head. 'This is not like +any Hebrew I ever learnt.' + +'You are sure that it is Hebrew?' + +'What? Yes--I suppose.... No--my dear sir, you are perfectly right--that +is, your suggestion is exactly to the point. Of course--it is not Hebrew +at all. It is English, and it is a will.' + +It did not take many minutes to show that here was indeed a will of Dr +John Rant, bequeathing the whole of the property lately held by John +Eldred to Mrs Mary Simpson. Clearly the discovery of such a document +would amply justify Mr Eldred's agitation. As to the partial tearing of +the leaf, the coroner pointed out that no useful purpose could be +attained by speculations whose correctness it would never be possible to +establish. + + * * * * * + +The Tractate Middoth was naturally taken in charge by the coroner for +further investigation, and Mr Garrett explained privately to him the +history of it, and the position of events so far as he knew or guessed +them. + +He returned to his work next day, and on his walk to the station passed +the scene of Mr Eldred's catastrophe. He could hardly leave it without +another look, though the recollection of what he had seen there made him +shiver, even on that bright morning. He walked round, with some +misgivings, behind the felled tree. Something dark that still lay there +made him start back for a moment: but it hardly stirred. Looking closer, +he saw that it was a thick black mass of cobwebs; and, as he stirred it +gingerly with his stick, several large spiders ran out of it into the +grass. + + * * * * * + +There is no great difficulty in imagining the steps by which William +Garrett, from being an assistant in a great library, attained to his +present position of prospective owner of Bretfield Manor, now in the +occupation of his mother-in-law, Mrs Mary Simpson. + + + + +CASTING THE RUNES + +_April 15th, 190-_ + +Dear Sir, + +I am requested by the Council of the ---- Association to return to you +the draft of a paper on _The Truth of Alchemy_, which you have been good +enough to offer to read at our forthcoming meeting, and to inform you +that the Council do not see their way to including it in the programme. + +I am, + +Yours faithfully, + +--- _Secretary._ + + * * * * * + +_April 18th_ + +Dear Sir, + +I am sorry to say that my engagements do not permit of my affording you +an interview on the subject of your proposed paper. Nor do our laws allow +of your discussing the matter with a Committee of our Council, as you +suggest. Please allow me to assure you that the fullest consideration was +given to the draft which you submitted, and that it was not declined +without having been referred to the judgement of a most competent +authority. No personal question (it can hardly be necessary for me to +add) can have had the slightest influence on the decision of the Council. + +Believe me (_ut supra_). + + * * * * * + +_April 20th_ + +The Secretary of the ---- Association begs respectfully to inform Mr +Karswell that it is impossible for him to communicate the name of any +person or persons to whom the draft of Mr Karswell's paper may have been +submitted; and further desires to intimate that he cannot undertake to +reply to any further letters on this subject. + + * * * * * + +'And who _is_ Mr Karswell?' inquired the Secretary's wife. She had called +at his office, and (perhaps unwarrantably) had picked up the last of +these three letters, which the typist had just brought in. + +'Why, my dear, just at present Mr Karswell is a very angry man. But I +don't know much about him otherwise, except that he is a person of +wealth, his address is Lufford Abbey, Warwickshire, and he's an +alchemist, apparently, and wants to tell us all about it; and that's +about all--except that I don't want to meet him for the next week or two. +Now, if you're ready to leave this place, I am.' + +'What have you been doing to make him angry?' asked Mrs Secretary. + +'The usual thing, my dear, the usual thing: he sent in a draft of a paper +he wanted to read at the next meeting, and we referred it to Edward +Dunning--almost the only man in England who knows about these things--and +he said it was perfectly hopeless, so we declined it. So Karswell has +been pelting me with letters ever since. The last thing he wanted was the +name of the man we referred his nonsense to; you saw my answer to that. +But don't you say anything about it, for goodness' sake.' + +'I should think not, indeed. Did I ever do such a thing? I do hope, +though, he won't get to know that it was poor Mr Dunning.' + +'Poor Mr Dunning? I don't know why you call him that; he's a very happy +man, is Dunning. Lots of hobbies and a comfortable home, and all his time +to himself.' + +'I only meant I should be sorry for him if this man got hold of his name, +and came and bothered him.' + +'Oh, ah! yes. I dare say he would be poor Mr Dunning then.' + +The Secretary and his wife were lunching out, and the friends to whose +house they were bound were Warwickshire people. So Mrs Secretary had +already settled it in her own mind that she would question them +judiciously about Mr Karswell. But she was saved the trouble of leading +up to the subject, for the hostess said to the host, before many minutes +had passed, 'I saw the Abbot of Lufford this morning.' The host whistled. +'_Did_ you? What in the world brings him up to town?' 'Goodness knows; he +was coming out of the British Museum gate as I drove past.' It was not +unnatural that Mrs Secretary should inquire whether this was a real Abbot +who was being spoken of. 'Oh no, my dear: only a neighbour of ours in the +country who bought Lufford Abbey a few years ago. His real name is +Karswell.' 'Is he a friend of yours?' asked Mr Secretary, with a private +wink to his wife. The question let loose a torrent of declamation. There +was really nothing to be said for Mr Karswell. Nobody knew what he did +with himself: his servants were a horrible set of people; he had invented +a new religion for himself, and practised no one could tell what +appalling rites; he was very easily offended, and never forgave anybody; +he had a dreadful face (so the lady insisted, her husband somewhat +demurring); he never did a kind action, and whatever influence he did +exert was mischievous. 'Do the poor man justice, dear,' the husband +interrupted. 'You forget the treat he gave the school children.' 'Forget +it, indeed! But I'm glad you mentioned it, because it gives an idea of +the man. Now, Florence, listen to this. The first winter he was at +Lufford this delightful neighbour of ours wrote to the clergyman of his +parish (he's not ours, but we know him very well) and offered to show the +school children some magic-lantern slides. He said he had some new kinds, +which he thought would interest them. Well, the clergyman was rather +surprised, because Mr Karswell had shown himself inclined to be +unpleasant to the children--complaining of their trespassing, or +something of the sort; but of course he accepted, and the evening was +fixed, and our friend went himself to see that everything went right. He +said he never had been so thankful for anything as that his own children +were all prevented from being there: they were at a children's party at +our house, as a matter of fact. Because this Mr Karswell had evidently +set out with the intention of frightening these poor village children out +of their wits, and I do believe, if he had been allowed to go on, he +would actually have done so. He began with some comparatively mild +things. Red Riding Hood was one, and even then, Mr Farrer said, the wolf +was so dreadful that several of the smaller children had to be taken out: +and he said Mr Karswell began the story by producing a noise like a wolf +howling in the distance, which was the most gruesome thing he had ever +heard. All the slides he showed, Mr Farrer said, were most clever; they +were absolutely realistic, and where he had got them or how he worked +them he could not imagine. Well, the show went on, and the stories kept +on becoming a little more terrifying each time, and the children were +mesmerized into complete silence. At last he produced a series which +represented a little boy passing through his own park--Lufford, I +mean--in the evening. Every child in the room could recognize the place +from the pictures. And this poor boy was followed, and at last pursued +and overtaken, and either torn to pieces or somehow made away with, by a +horrible hopping creature in white, which you saw first dodging about +among the trees, and gradually it appeared more and more plainly. Mr +Farrer said it gave him one of the worst nightmares he ever remembered, +and what it must have meant to the children doesn't bear thinking of. Of +course this was too much, and he spoke very sharply indeed to Mr +Karswell, and said it couldn't go on. All _he_ said was: "Oh, you think +it's time to bring our little show to an end and send them home to their +beds? _Very_ well!" And then, if you please, he switched on another +slide, which showed a great mass of snakes, centipedes, and disgusting +creatures with wings, and somehow or other he made it seem as if they +were climbing out of the picture and getting in amongst the audience; and +this was accompanied by a sort of dry rustling noise which sent the +children nearly mad, and of course they stampeded. A good many of them +were rather hurt in getting out of the room, and I don't suppose one of +them closed an eye that night. There was the most dreadful trouble in the +village afterwards. Of course the mothers threw a good part of the blame +on poor Mr Farrer, and, if they could have got past the gates, I believe +the fathers would have broken every window in the Abbey. Well, now, +that's Mr Karswell: that's the Abbot of Lufford, my dear, and you can +imagine how we covet _his_ society.' + +'Yes, I think he has all the possibilities of a distinguished criminal, +has Karswell,' said the host. 'I should be sorry for anyone who got into +his bad books.' + +'Is he the man, or am I mixing him up with someone else?' asked the +Secretary (who for some minutes had been wearing the frown of the man who +is trying to recollect something). 'Is he the man who brought out a +_History of Witchcraft_ some time back--ten years or more?' + +'That's the man; do you remember the reviews of it?' + +'Certainly I do; and what's equally to the point, I knew the author of +the most incisive of the lot. So did you: you must remember John +Harrington; he was at John's in our time.' + +'Oh, very well indeed, though I don't think I saw or heard anything of +him between the time I went down and the day I read the account of the +inquest on him.' + +'Inquest?' said one of the ladies. 'What has happened to him?' + +'Why, what happened was that he fell out of a tree and broke his neck. +But the puzzle was, what could have induced him to get up there. It was a +mysterious business, I must say. Here was this man--not an athletic +fellow, was he? and with no eccentric twist about him that was ever +noticed--walking home along a country road late in the evening--no tramps +about--well known and liked in the place--and he suddenly begins to run +like mad, loses his hat and stick, and finally shins up a tree--quite a +difficult tree--growing in the hedgerow: a dead branch gives way, and he +comes down with it and breaks his neck, and there he's found next morning +with the most dreadful face of fear on him that could be imagined. It was +pretty evident, of course, that he had been chased by something, and +people talked of savage dogs, and beasts escaped out of menageries; but +there was nothing to be made of that. That was in '89, and I believe his +brother Henry (whom I remember as well at Cambridge, but _you_ probably +don't) has been trying to get on the track of an explanation ever since. +He, of course, insists there was malice in it, but I don't know. It's +difficult to see how it could have come in.' + +After a time the talk reverted to the _History of Witchcraft_. 'Did you +ever look into it?' asked the host. + +'Yes, I did,' said the Secretary. 'I went so far as to read it.' + +'Was it as bad as it was made out to be?' + +'Oh, in point of style and form, quite hopeless. It deserved all the +pulverizing it got. But, besides that, it was an evil book. The man +believed every word of what he was saying, and I'm very much mistaken if +he hadn't tried the greater part of his receipts.' + +'Well, I only remember Harrington's review of it, and I must say if I'd +been the author it would have quenched my literary ambition for good. I +should never have held up my head again.' + +'It hasn't had that effect in the present case. But come, it's half-past +three; I must be off.' + +On the way home the Secretary's wife said, 'I do hope that horrible man +won't find out that Mr Dunning had anything to do with the rejection of +his paper.' 'I don't think there's much chance of that,' said the +Secretary. 'Dunning won't mention it himself, for these matters are +confidential, and none of us will for the same reason. Karswell won't +know his name, for Dunning hasn't published anything on the same subject +yet. The only danger is that Karswell might find out, if he was to ask +the British Museum people who was in the habit of consulting alchemical +manuscripts: I can't very well tell them not to mention Dunning, can I? +It would set them talking at once. Let's hope it won't occur to him.' + +However, Mr Karswell was an astute man. + + * * * * * + +This much is in the way of prologue. On an evening rather later in the +same week, Mr Edward Dunning was returning from the British Museum, where +he had been engaged in research, to the comfortable house in a suburb +where he lived alone, tended by two excellent women who had been long +with him. There is nothing to be added by way of description of him to +what we have heard already. Let us follow him as he takes his sober +course homewards. + + * * * * * + +A train took him to within a mile or two of his house, and an electric +tram a stage farther. The line ended at a point some three hundred yards +from his front door. He had had enough of reading when he got into the +car, and indeed the light was not such as to allow him to do more than +study the advertisements on the panes of glass that faced him as he sat. +As was not unnatural, the advertisements in this particular line of cars +were objects of his frequent contemplation, and, with the possible +exception of the brilliant and convincing dialogue between Mr Lamplough +and an eminent K.C. on the subject of Pyretic Saline, none of them +afforded much scope to his imagination. I am wrong: there was one at the +corner of the car farthest from him which did not seem familiar. It was +in blue letters on a yellow ground, and all that he could read of it was +a name--John Harrington--and something like a date. It could be of no +interest to him to know more; but for all that, as the car emptied, he +was just curious enough to move along the seat until he could read it +well. He felt to a slight extent repaid for his trouble; the +advertisement was _not_ of the usual type. It ran thus: 'In memory of +John Harrington, F.S.A., of The Laurels, Ashbrooke. Died Sept. 18th, +1889. Three months were allowed.' + +The car stopped. Mr Dunning, still contemplating the blue letters on the +yellow ground, had to be stimulated to rise by a word from the conductor. +'I beg your pardon,' he said, 'I was looking at that advertisement; it's +a very odd one, isn't it?' The conductor read it slowly. 'Well, my word,' +he said, 'I never see that one before. Well, that is a cure, ain't it? +Someone bin up to their jokes 'ere, I should think.' He got out a duster +and applied it, not without saliva, to the pane and then to the outside. +'No,' he said, returning, 'that ain't no transfer; seems to me as if it +was reg'lar _in_ the glass, what I mean in the substance, as you may say. +Don't you think so, sir?' Mr Dunning examined it and rubbed it with his +glove, and agreed. 'Who looks after these advertisements, and gives leave +for them to be put up? I wish you would inquire. I will just take a note +of the words.' At this moment there came a call from the driver: 'Look +alive, George, time's up.' 'All right, all right; there's something else +what's up at this end. You come and look at this 'ere glass.' 'What's +gorn with the glass?' said the driver, approaching. 'Well, and oo's +'Arrington? What's it all about?' 'I was just asking who was responsible +for putting the advertisements up in your cars, and saying it would be as +well to make some inquiry about this one.' 'Well, sir, that's all done at +the Company's office, that work is: it's our Mr Timms, I believe, looks +into that. When we put up tonight I'll leave word, and per'aps I'll be +able to tell you tomorrer if you 'appen to be coming this way.' + +This was all that passed that evening. Mr Dunning did just go to the +trouble of looking up Ashbrooke, and found that it was in Warwickshire. + +Next day he went to town again. The car (it was the same car) was too +full in the morning to allow of his getting a word with the conductor: he +could only be sure that the curious advertisement had been made away +with. The close of the day brought a further element of mystery into the +transaction. He had missed the tram, or else preferred walking home, but +at a rather late hour, while he was at work in his study, one of the +maids came to say that two men from the tramways was very anxious to +speak to him. This was a reminder of the advertisement, which he had, he +says, nearly forgotten. He had the men in--they were the conductor and +driver of the car--and when the matter of refreshment had been attended +to, asked what Mr Timms had had to say about the advertisement. 'Well, +sir, that's what we took the liberty to step round about,' said the +conductor. 'Mr Timms 'e give William 'ere the rough side of his tongue +about that: 'cordin' to 'im there warn't no advertisement of that +description sent in, nor ordered, nor paid for, nor put up, nor nothink, +let alone not bein' there, and we was playing the fool takin' up his +time. "Well," I says, "if that's the case, all I ask of you, Mr Timms," I +says, "is to take and look at it for yourself," I says. "Of course if it +ain't there," I says, "you may take and call me what you like." "Right," +he says, "I will": and we went straight off. Now, I leave it to you, sir, +if that ad., as we term 'em, with 'Arrington on it warn't as plain as +ever you see anythink--blue letters on yeller glass, and as I says at the +time, and you borne me out, reg'lar _in_ the glass, because, if you +remember, you recollect of me swabbing it with my duster.' 'To be sure I +do, quite clearly--well?' 'You may say well, I don't think. Mr Timms he +gets in that car with a light--no, he telled William to 'old the light +outside. "Now," he says, "where's your precious ad. what we've 'eard so +much about?" "'Ere it is," I says, "Mr Timms," and I laid my 'and on it.' +The conductor paused. + +'Well,' said Mr Dunning, 'it was gone, I suppose. Broken?' + +'Broke!--not it. There warn't, if you'll believe me, no more trace of +them letters--blue letters they was--on that piece o' glass, than--well, +it's no good _me_ talkin'. _I_ never see such a thing. I leave it to +William here if--but there, as I says, where's the benefit in me going on +about it?' + +'And what did Mr Timms say?' + +'Why 'e did what I give 'im leave to--called us pretty much anythink he +liked, and I don't know as I blame him so much neither. But what we +thought, William and me did, was as we seen you take down a bit of a note +about that--well, that letterin'--' + +'I certainly did that, and I have it now. Did you wish me to speak to Mr +Timms myself, and show it to him? Was that what you came in about?' + +'There, didn't I say as much?' said William. 'Deal with a gent if you can +get on the track of one, that's my word. Now perhaps, George, you'll +allow as I ain't took you very far wrong tonight.' + +'Very well, William, very well; no need for you to go on as if you'd 'ad +to frog's-march me 'ere. I come quiet, didn't I? All the same for that, +we 'adn't ought to take up your time this way, sir; but if it so 'appened +you could find time to step round to the Company orfice in the morning +and tell Mr Timms what you seen for yourself, we should lay under a very +'igh obligation to you for the trouble. You see it ain't bein' +called--well, one thing and another, as we mind, but if they got it into +their 'ead at the orfice as we seen things as warn't there, why, one +thing leads to another, and where we should be a twelvemunce 'ence--well, +you can understand what I mean.' + +Amid further elucidations of the proposition, George, conducted by +William, left the room. + +The incredulity of Mr Timms (who had a nodding acquaintance with Mr +Dunning) was greatly modified on the following day by what the latter +could tell and show him; and any bad mark that might have been attached +to the names of William and George was not suffered to remain on the +Company's books; but explanation there was none. + +Mr Dunning's interest in the matter was kept alive by an incident of the +following afternoon. He was walking from his club to the train, and he +noticed some way ahead a man with a handful of leaflets such as are +distributed to passers-by by agents of enterprising firms. This agent had +not chosen a very crowded street for his operations: in fact, Mr Dunning +did not see him get rid of a single leaflet before he himself reached the +spot. One was thrust into his hand as he passed: the hand that gave it +touched his, and he experienced a sort of little shock as it did so. It +seemed unnaturally rough and hot. He looked in passing at the giver, but +the impression he got was so unclear that, however much he tried to +reckon it up subsequently, nothing would come. He was walking quickly, +and as he went on glanced at the paper. It was a blue one. The name of +Harrington in large capitals caught his eye. He stopped, startled, and +felt for his glasses. The next instant the leaflet was twitched out of +his hand by a man who hurried past, and was irrecoverably gone. He ran +back a few paces, but where was the passer-by? and where the distributor? + +It was in a somewhat pensive frame of mind that Mr Dunning passed on the +following day into the Select Manuscript Room of the British Museum, and +filled up tickets for Harley 3586, and some other volumes. After a few +minutes they were brought to him, and he was settling the one he wanted +first upon the desk, when he thought he heard his own name whispered +behind him. He turned round hastily, and in doing so, brushed his little +portfolio of loose papers on to the floor. He saw no one he recognized +except one of the staff in charge of the room, who nodded to him, and he +proceeded to pick up his papers. He thought he had them all, and was +turning to begin work, when a stout gentleman at the table behind him, +who was just rising to leave, and had collected his own belongings, +touched him on the shoulder, saying, 'May I give you this? I think it +should be yours,' and handed him a missing quire. 'It is mine, thank +you,' said Mr Dunning. In another moment the man had left the room. Upon +finishing his work for the afternoon, Mr Dunning had some conversation +with the assistant in charge, and took occasion to ask who the stout +gentleman was. 'Oh, he's a man named Karswell,' said the assistant; 'he +was asking me a week ago who were the great authorities on alchemy, and +of course I told him you were the only one in the country. I'll see if I +can catch him: he'd like to meet you, I'm sure.' + +'For heaven's sake don't dream of it!' said Mr Dunning, 'I'm particularly +anxious to avoid him.' + +'Oh! very well,' said the assistant, 'he doesn't come here often: I dare +say you won't meet him.' + +More than once on the way home that day Mr Dunning confessed to himself +that he did not look forward with his usual cheerfulness to a solitary +evening. It seemed to him that something ill-defined and impalpable had +stepped in between him and his fellow-men--had taken him in charge, as it +were. He wanted to sit close up to his neighbours in the train and in the +tram, but as luck would have it both train and car were markedly empty. +The conductor George was thoughtful, and appeared to be absorbed in +calculations as to the number of passengers. On arriving at his house he +found Dr Watson, his medical man, on his doorstep. 'I've had to upset +your household arrangements, I'm sorry to say, Dunning. Both your +servants _hors de combat_. In fact, I've had to send them to the Nursing +Home.' + +'Good heavens! what's the matter?' + +'It's something like ptomaine poisoning, I should think: you've not +suffered yourself, I can see, or you wouldn't be walking about. I think +they'll pull through all right.' + +'Dear, dear! Have you any idea what brought it on?' 'Well, they tell me +they bought some shell-fish from a hawker at their dinner-time. It's odd. +I've made inquiries, but I can't find that any hawker has been to other +houses in the street. I couldn't send word to you; they won't be back for +a bit yet. You come and dine with me tonight, anyhow, and we can make +arrangements for going on. Eight o'clock. Don't be too anxious.' The +solitary evening was thus obviated; at the expense of some distress and +inconvenience, it is true. Mr Dunning spent the time pleasantly enough +with the doctor (a rather recent settler), and returned to his lonely +home at about 11.30. The night he passed is not one on which he looks +back with any satisfaction. He was in bed and the light was out. He was +wondering if the charwoman would come early enough to get him hot water +next morning, when he heard the unmistakable sound of his study door +opening. No step followed it on the passage floor, but the sound must +mean mischief, for he knew that he had shut the door that evening after +putting his papers away in his desk. It was rather shame than courage +that induced him to slip out into the passage and lean over the banister +in his nightgown, listening. No light was visible; no further sound came: +only a gust of warm, or even hot air played for an instant round his +shins. He went back and decided to lock himself into his room. There was +more unpleasantness, however. Either an economical suburban company had +decided that their light would not be required in the small hours, and +had stopped working, or else something was wrong with the meter; the +effect was in any case that the electric light was off. The obvious +course was to find a match, and also to consult his watch: he might as +well know how many hours of discomfort awaited him. So he put his hand +into the well-known nook under the pillow: only, it did not get so far. +What he touched was, according to his account, a mouth, with teeth, and +with hair about it, and, he declares, not the mouth of a human being. I +do not think it is any use to guess what he said or did; but he was in a +spare room with the door locked and his ear to it before he was clearly +conscious again. And there he spent the rest of a most miserable night, +looking every moment for some fumbling at the door: but nothing came. + +The venturing back to his own room in the morning was attended with many +listenings and quiverings. The door stood open, fortunately, and the +blinds were up (the servants had been out of the house before the hour of +drawing them down); there was, to be short, no trace of an inhabitant. +The watch, too, was in its usual place; nothing was disturbed, only the +wardrobe door had swung open, in accordance with its confirmed habit. A +ring at the back door now announced the charwoman, who had been ordered +the night before, and nerved Mr Dunning, after letting her in, to +continue his search in other parts of the house. It was equally +fruitless. + +The day thus begun went on dismally enough. He dared not go to the +Museum: in spite of what the assistant had said, Karswell might turn up +there, and Dunning felt he could not cope with a probably hostile +stranger. His own house was odious; he hated sponging on the doctor. He +spent some little time in a call at the Nursing Home, where he was +slightly cheered by a good report of his housekeeper and maid. Towards +lunch-time he betook himself to his club, again experiencing a gleam of +satisfaction at seeing the Secretary of the Association. At luncheon +Dunning told his friend the more material of his woes, but could not +bring himself to speak of those that weighed most heavily on his spirits. +'My poor dear man,' said the Secretary, 'what an upset! Look here: we're +alone at home, absolutely. You must put up with us. Yes! no excuse: send +your things in this afternoon.' Dunning was unable to stand out: he was, +in truth, becoming acutely anxious, as the hours went on, as to what that +night might have waiting for him. He was almost happy as he hurried home +to pack up. + +His friends, when they had time to take stock of him, were rather shocked +at his lorn appearance, and did their best to keep him up to the mark. +Not altogether without success: but, when the two men were smoking alone +later, Dunning became dull again. Suddenly he said, 'Gayton, I believe +that alchemist man knows it was I who got his paper rejected.' Gayton +whistled. 'What makes you think that?' he said. Dunning told of his +conversation with the Museum assistant, and Gayton could only agree that +the guess seemed likely to be correct. 'Not that I care much,' Dunning +went on, 'only it might be a nuisance if we were to meet. He's a +bad-tempered party, I imagine.' Conversation dropped again; Gayton became +more and more strongly impressed with the desolateness that came over +Dunning's face and bearing, and finally--though with a considerable +effort--he asked him point-blank whether something serious was not +bothering him. Dunning gave an exclamation of relief. 'I was perishing to +get it off my mind,' he said. 'Do you know anything about a man named +John Harrington?' Gayton was thoroughly startled, and at the moment could +only ask why. Then the complete story of Dunning's experiences came +out--what had happened in the tramcar, in his own house, and in the +street, the troubling of spirit that had crept over him, and still held +him; and he ended with the question he had begun with. Gayton was at a +loss how to answer him. To tell the story of Harrington's end would +perhaps be right; only, Dunning was in a nervous state, the story was a +grim one, and he could not help asking himself whether there were not a +connecting link between these two cases, in the person of Karswell. It +was a difficult concession for a scientific man, but it could be eased by +the phrase 'hypnotic suggestion'. In the end he decided that his answer +tonight should be guarded; he would talk the situation over with his +wife. So he said that he had known Harrington at Cambridge, and believed +he had died suddenly in 1889, adding a few details about the man and his +published work. He did talk over the matter with Mrs Gayton, and, as he +had anticipated, she leapt at once to the conclusion which had been +hovering before him. It was she who reminded him of the surviving +brother, Henry Harrington, and she also who suggested that he might be +got hold of by means of their hosts of the day before. 'He might be a +hopeless crank,' objected Gayton. 'That could be ascertained from the +Bennetts, who knew him,' Mrs Gayton retorted; and she undertook to see +the Bennetts the very next day. + + * * * * * + +It is not necessary to tell in further detail the steps by which Henry +Harrington and Dunning were brought together. + + * * * * * + +The next scene that does require to be narrated is a conversation that +took place between the two. Dunning had told Harrington of the strange +ways in which the dead man's name had been brought before him, and had +said something, besides, of his own subsequent experiences. Then he had +asked if Harrington was disposed, in return, to recall any of the +circumstances connected with his brother's death. Harrington's surprise +at what he heard can be imagined: but his reply was readily given. + +'John,' he said, 'was in a very odd state, undeniably, from time to time, +during some weeks before, though not immediately before, the catastrophe. +There were several things; the principal notion he had was that he +thought he was being followed. No doubt he was an impressionable man, but +he never had had such fancies as this before. I cannot get it out of my +mind that there was ill-will at work, and what you tell me about yourself +reminds me very much of my brother. Can you think of any possible +connecting link?' + +'There is just one that has been taking shape vaguely in my mind. I've +been told that your brother reviewed a book very severely not long before +he died, and just lately I have happened to cross the path of the man who +wrote that book in a way he would resent.' + +'Don't tell me the man was called Karswell.' + +'Why not? that is exactly his name.' + +Henry Harrington leant back. 'That is final to my mind. Now I must +explain further. From something he said, I feel sure that my brother John +was beginning to believe--very much against his will--that Karswell was +at the bottom of his trouble. I want to tell you what seems to me to have +a bearing on the situation. My brother was a great musician, and used to +run up to concerts in town. He came back, three months before he died, +from one of these, and gave me his programme to look at--an analytical +programme: he always kept them. "I nearly missed this one," he said. "I +suppose I must have dropped it: anyhow, I was looking for it under my +seat and in my pockets and so on, and my neighbour offered me his, said +'might he give it me, he had no further use for it,' and he went away +just afterwards. I don't know who he was--a stout, clean-shaven man. I +should have been sorry to miss it; of course I could have bought another, +but this cost me nothing." At another time he told me that he had been +very uncomfortable both on the way to his hotel and during the night. I +piece things together now in thinking it over. Then, not very long after, +he was going over these programmes, putting them in order to have them +bound up, and in this particular one (which by the way I had hardly +glanced at), he found quite near the beginning a strip of paper with some +very odd writing on it in red and black--most carefully done--it looked +to me more like Runic letters than anything else. "Why," he said, "this +must belong to my fat neighbour. It looks as if it might be worth +returning to him; it may be a copy of something; evidently someone has +taken trouble over it. How can I find his address?" We talked it over for +a little and agreed that it wasn't worth advertising about, and that my +brother had better look out for the man at the next concert, to which he +was going very soon. The paper was lying on the book and we were both by +the fire; it was a cold, windy summer evening. I suppose the door blew +open, though I didn't notice it: at any rate a gust--a warm gust it +was--came quite suddenly between us, took the paper and blew it straight +into the fire: it was light, thin paper, and flared and went up the +chimney in a single ash. "Well," I said, "you can't give it back now." He +said nothing for a minute: then rather crossly, "No, I can't; but why you +should keep on saying so I don't know." I remarked that I didn't say it +more than once. "Not more than four times, you mean," was all he said. I +remember all that very clearly, without any good reason; and now to come +to the point. I don't know if you looked at that book of Karswell's which +my unfortunate brother reviewed. It's not likely that you should: but I +did, both before his death and after it. The first time we made game of +it together. It was written in no style at all--split infinitives, and +every sort of thing that makes an Oxford gorge rise. Then there was +nothing that the man didn't swallow: mixing up classical myths, and +stories out of the _Golden Legend_ with reports of savage customs of +today--all very proper, no doubt, if you know how to use them, but he +didn't: he seemed to put the _Golden Legend_ and the _Golden Bough_ +exactly on a par, and to believe both: a pitiable exhibition, in short. +Well, after the misfortune, I looked over the book again. It was no +better than before, but the impression which it left this time on my mind +was different. I suspected--as I told you--that Karswell had borne +ill-will to my brother, even that he was in some way responsible for what +had happened; and now his book seemed to me to be a very sinister +performance indeed. One chapter in particular struck me, in which he +spoke of "casting the Runes" on people, either for the purpose of gaining +their affection or of getting them out of the way--perhaps more +especially the latter: he spoke of all this in a way that really seemed +to me to imply actual knowledge. I've not time to go into details, but +the upshot is that I am pretty sure from information received that the +civil man at the concert was Karswell: I suspect--I more than +suspect--that the paper was of importance: and I do believe that if my +brother had been able to give it back, he might have been alive now. +Therefore, it occurs to me to ask you whether you have anything to put +beside what I have told you.' + +By way of answer, Dunning had the episode in the Manuscript Room at the +British Museum to relate. + +'Then he did actually hand you some papers; have you examined them? No? +because we must, if you'll allow it, look at them at once, and very +carefully.' + +They went to the still empty house--empty, for the two servants were not +yet able to return to work. Dunning's portfolio of papers was gathering +dust on the writing-table. In it were the quires of small-sized +scribbling paper which he used for his transcripts: and from one of +these, as he took it up, there slipped and fluttered out into the room +with uncanny quickness, a strip of thin light paper. The window was open, +but Harrington slammed it to, just in time to intercept the paper, which +he caught. 'I thought so,' he said; 'it might be the identical thing that +was given to my brother. You'll have to look out, Dunning; this may mean +something quite serious for you.' + +A long consultation took place. The paper was narrowly examined. As +Harrington had said, the characters on it were more like Runes than +anything else, but not decipherable by either man, and both hesitated to +copy them, for fear, as they confessed, of perpetuating whatever evil +purpose they might conceal. So it has remained impossible (if I may +anticipate a little) to ascertain what was conveyed in this curious +message or commission. Both Dunning and Harrington are firmly convinced +that it had the effect of bringing its possessors into very undesirable +company. That it must be returned to the source whence it came they were +agreed, and further, that the only safe and certain way was that of +personal service; and here contrivance would be necessary, for Dunning +was known by sight to Karswell. He must, for one thing, alter his +appearance by shaving his beard. But then might not the blow fall first? +Harrington thought they could time it. He knew the date of the concert at +which the 'black spot' had been put on his brother: it was June 18th. The +death had followed on Sept. 18th. Dunning reminded him that three months +had been mentioned on the inscription on the car-window. 'Perhaps,' he +added, with a cheerless laugh, 'mine may be a bill at three months too. I +believe I can fix it by my diary. Yes, April 23rd was the day at the +Museum; that brings us to July 23rd. Now, you know, it becomes extremely +important to me to know anything you will tell me about the progress of +your brother's trouble, if it is possible for you to speak of it.' 'Of +course. Well, the sense of being watched whenever he was alone was the +most distressing thing to him. After a time I took to sleeping in his +room, and he was the better for that: still, he talked a great deal in +his sleep. What about? Is it wise to dwell on that, at least before +things are straightened out? I think not, but I can tell you this: two +things came for him by post during those weeks, both with a London +postmark, and addressed in a commercial hand. One was a woodcut of +Bewick's, roughly torn out of the page: one which shows a moonlit road +and a man walking along it, followed by an awful demon creature. Under it +were written the lines out of the "Ancient Mariner" (which I suppose the +cut illustrates) about one who, having once looked round-- + + walks on, + And turns no more his head, + Because he knows a frightful fiend + Doth close behind him tread. + +The other was a calendar, such as tradesmen often send. My brother paid +no attention to this, but I looked at it after his death, and found that +everything after Sept. 18 had been torn out. You may be surprised at his +having gone out alone the evening he was killed, but the fact is that +during the last ten days or so of his life he had been quite free from +the sense of being followed or watched.' + +The end of the consultation was this. Harrington, who knew a neighbour of +Karswell's, thought he saw a way of keeping a watch on his movements. It +would be Dunning's part to be in readiness to try to cross Karswell's +path at any moment, to keep the paper safe and in a place of ready +access. + +They parted. The next weeks were no doubt a severe strain upon Dunning's +nerves: the intangible barrier which had seemed to rise about him on the +day when he received the paper, gradually developed into a brooding +blackness that cut him off from the means of escape to which one might +have thought he might resort. No one was at hand who was likely to +suggest them to him, and he seemed robbed of all initiative. He waited +with inexpressible anxiety as May, June, and early July passed on, for a +mandate from Harrington. But all this time Karswell remained immovable at +Lufford. + +At last, in less than a week before the date he had come to look upon as +the end of his earthly activities, came a telegram: 'Leaves Victoria by +boat train Thursday night. Do not miss. I come to you to-night. +Harrington.' + +He arrived accordingly, and they concocted plans. The train left Victoria +at nine and its last stop before Dover was Croydon West. Harrington would +mark down Karswell at Victoria, and look out for Dunning at Croydon, +calling to him if need were by a name agreed upon. Dunning, disguised as +far as might be, was to have no label or initials on any hand luggage, +and must at all costs have the paper with him. + +Dunning's suspense as he waited on the Croydon platform I need not +attempt to describe. His sense of danger during the last days had only +been sharpened by the fact that the cloud about him had perceptibly been +lighter; but relief was an ominous symptom, and, if Karswell eluded him +now, hope was gone: and there were so many chances of that. The rumour of +the journey might be itself a device. The twenty minutes in which he +paced the platform and persecuted every porter with inquiries as to the +boat train were as bitter as any he had spent. Still, the train came, and +Harrington was at the window. It was important, of course, that there +should be no recognition: so Dunning got in at the farther end of the +corridor carriage, and only gradually made his way to the compartment +where Harrington and Karswell were. He was pleased, on the whole, to see +that the train was far from full. + +Karswell was on the alert, but gave no sign of recognition. Dunning took +the seat not immediately facing him, and attempted, vainly at first, then +with increasing command of his faculties, to reckon the possibilities of +making the desired transfer. Opposite to Karswell, and next to Dunning, +was a heap of Karswell's coats on the seat. It would be of no use to slip +the paper into these--he would not be safe, or would not feel so, unless +in some way it could be proffered by him and accepted by the other. There +was a handbag, open, and with papers in it. Could he manage to conceal +this (so that perhaps Karswell might leave the carriage without it), and +then find and give it to him? This was the plan that suggested itself. If +he could only have counselled with Harrington! but that could not be. The +minutes went on. More than once Karswell rose and went out into the +corridor. The second time Dunning was on the point of attempting to make +the bag fall off the seat, but he caught Harrington's eye, and read in it +a warning. + +Karswell, from the corridor, was watching: probably to see if the two men +recognized each other. He returned, but was evidently restless: and, when +he rose the third time, hope dawned, for something did slip off his seat +and fall with hardly a sound to the floor. Karswell went out once more, +and passed out of range of the corridor window. Dunning picked up what +had fallen, and saw that the key was in his hands in the form of one of +Cook's ticket-cases, with tickets in it. These cases have a pocket in the +cover, and within very few seconds the paper of which we have heard was +in the pocket of this one. To make the operation more secure, Harrington +stood in the doorway of the compartment and fiddled with the blind. It +was done, and done at the right time, for the train was now slowing down +towards Dover. + +In a moment more Karswell re-entered the compartment. As he did so, +Dunning, managing, he knew not how, to suppress the tremble in his voice, +handed him the ticket-case, saying, 'May I give you this, sir? I believe +it is yours.' After a brief glance at the ticket inside, Karswell uttered +the hoped-for response, 'Yes, it is; much obliged to you, sir,' and he +placed it in his breast pocket. + +Even in the few moments that remained--moments of tense anxiety, for they +knew not to what a premature finding of the paper might lead--both men +noticed that the carriage seemed to darken about them and to grow warmer; +that Karswell was fidgety and oppressed; that he drew the heap of loose +coats near to him and cast it back as if it repelled him; and that he +then sat upright and glanced anxiously at both. They, with sickening +anxiety, busied themselves in collecting their belongings; but they both +thought that Karswell was on the point of speaking when the train stopped +at Dover Town. It was natural that in the short space between town and +pier they should both go into the corridor. + +At the pier they got out, but so empty was the train that they were +forced to linger on the platform until Karswell should have passed ahead +of them with his porter on the way to the boat, and only then was it safe +for them to exchange a pressure of the hand and a word of concentrated +congratulation. The effect upon Dunning was to make him almost faint. +Harrington made him lean up against the wall, while he himself went +forward a few yards within sight of the gangway to the boat, at which +Karswell had now arrived. The man at the head of it examined his ticket, +and, laden with coats he passed down into the boat. Suddenly the official +called after him, 'You, sir, beg pardon, did the other gentleman show his +ticket?' 'What the devil do you mean by the other gentleman?' Karswell's +snarling voice called back from the deck. The man bent over and looked at +him. 'The devil? Well, I don't know, I'm sure,' Harrington heard him say +to himself, and then aloud, 'My mistake, sir; must have been your rugs! +ask your pardon.' And then, to a subordinate near him, ''Ad he got a dog +with him, or what? Funny thing: I could 'a' swore 'e wasn't alone. Well, +whatever it was, they'll 'ave to see to it aboard. She's off now. Another +week and we shall be gettin' the 'oliday customers.' In five minutes more +there was nothing but the lessening lights of the boat, the long line of +the Dover lamps, the night breeze, and the moon. + +Long and long the two sat in their room at the 'Lord Warden'. In spite of +the removal of their greatest anxiety, they were oppressed with a doubt, +not of the lightest. Had they been justified in sending a man to his +death, as they believed they had? Ought they not to warn him, at least? +'No,' said Harrington; 'if he is the murderer I think him, we have done +no more than is just. Still, if you think it better--but how and where +can you warn him?' 'He was booked to Abbeville only,' said Dunning. 'I +saw that. If I wired to the hotels there in Joanne's Guide, "Examine your +ticket-case, Dunning," I should feel happier. This is the 21st: he will +have a day. But I am afraid he has gone into the dark.' So telegrams were +left at the hotel office. + +It is not clear whether these reached their destination, or whether, if +they did, they were understood. All that is known is that, on the +afternoon of the 23rd, an English traveller, examining the front of St +Wulfram's Church at Abbeville, then under extensive repair, was struck on +the head and instantly killed by a stone falling from the scaffold +erected round the north-western tower, there being, as was clearly +proved, no workman on the scaffold at that moment: and the traveller's +papers identified him as Mr Karswell. + +Only one detail shall be added. At Karswell's sale a set of Bewick, sold +with all faults, was acquired by Harrington. The page with the woodcut of +the traveller and the demon was, as he had expected, mutilated. Also, +after a judicious interval, Harrington repeated to Dunning something of +what he had heard his brother say in his sleep: but it was not long +before Dunning stopped him. + + + + +THE STALLS OF BARCHESTER CATHEDRAL + +This matter began, as far as I am concerned, with the reading of a notice +in the obituary section of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for an early year +in the nineteenth century: + + On February 26th, at his residence in the Cathedral Close of + Barchester, the Venerable John Benwell Haynes, D.D., aged 57, + Archdeacon of Sowerbridge and Rector of Pickhill and Candley. He was + of ---- College, Cambridge, and where, by talent and assiduity, he + commanded the esteem of his seniors; when, at the usual time, he took + his first degree, his name stood high in the list of _wranglers_. + These academical honours procured for him within a short time a + Fellowship of his College. In the year 1783 he received Holy Orders, + and was shortly afterwards presented to the perpetual Curacy of + Ranxton-sub-Ashe by his friend and patron the late truly venerable + Bishop of Lichfield.... His speedy preferments, first to a Prebend, + and subsequently to the dignity of Precentor in the Cathedral of + Barchester, form an eloquent testimony to the respect in which he was + held and to his eminent qualifications. He succeeded to the + Archdeaconry upon the sudden decease of Archdeacon Pulteney in 1810. + His sermons, ever conformable to the principles of the religion and + Church which he adorned, displayed in no ordinary degree, without the + least trace of enthusiasm, the refinement of the scholar united with + the graces of the Christian. Free from sectarian violence, and + informed by the spirit of the truest charity, they will long dwell in + the memories of his hearers. [Here a further omission.] The + productions of his pen include an able defence of Episcopacy, which, + though often perused by the author of this tribute to his memory, + affords but one additional instance of the want of liberality and + enterprise which is a too common characteristic of the publishers of + our generation. His published works are, indeed, confined to a + spirited and elegant version of the _Argonautica_ of Valerius Flacus, + a volume of _Discourses upon the Several Events in the Life of + Joshua_, delivered in his Cathedral, and a number of the charges + which he pronounced at various visitations to the clergy of his + Archdeaconry. These are distinguished by etc., etc. The urbanity and + hospitality of the subject of these lines will not readily be + forgotten by those who enjoyed his acquaintance. His interest in the + venerable and awful pile under whose hoary vault he was so punctual + an attendant, and particularly in the musical portion of its rites, + might be termed filial, and formed a strong and delightful contrast + to the polite indifference displayed by too many of our Cathedral + dignitaries at the present time. + +The final paragraph, after informing us that Dr Haynes died a bachelor, +says: + + It might have been augured that an existence so placid and benevolent + would have been terminated in a ripe old age by a dissolution equally + gradual and calm. But how unsearchable are the workings of + Providence! The peaceful and retired seclusion amid which the + honoured evening of Dr Haynes' life was mellowing to its close was + destined to be disturbed, nay, shattered, by a tragedy as appalling + as it was unexpected. The morning of the 26th of February-- + +But perhaps I shall do better to keep back the remainder of the narrative +until I have told the circumstances which led up to it. These, as far as +they are now accessible, I have derived from another source. + +I had read the obituary notice which I have been quoting, quite by +chance, along with a great many others of the same period. It had excited +some little speculation in my mind, but, beyond thinking that, if I ever +had an opportunity of examining the local records of the period +indicated, I would try to remember Dr Haynes, I made no effort to pursue +his case. + +Quite lately I was cataloguing the manuscripts in the library of the +college to which he belonged. I had reached the end of the numbered +volumes on the shelves, and I proceeded to ask the librarian whether +there were any more books which he thought I ought to include in my +description. 'I don't think there are,' he said, 'but we had better come +and look at the manuscript class and make sure. Have you time to do that +now?' I had time. We went to the library, checked off the manuscripts, +and, at the end of our survey, arrived at a shelf of which I had seen +nothing. Its contents consisted for the most part of sermons, bundles of +fragmentary papers, college exercises, _Cyrus_, an epic poem in several +cantos, the product of a country clergyman's leisure, mathematical tracts +by a deceased professor, and other similar material of a kind with which +I am only too familiar. I took brief notes of these. Lastly, there was a +tin box, which was pulled out and dusted. Its label, much faded, was thus +inscribed: 'Papers of the Ven. Archdeacon Haynes. Bequeathed in 1834 by +his sister, Miss Letitia Haynes.' + +I knew at once that the name was one which I had somewhere encountered, +and could very soon locate it. 'That must be the Archdeacon Haynes who +came to a very odd end at Barchester. I've read his obituary in the +_Gentleman's Magazine_. May I take the box home? Do you know if there is +anything interesting in it?' + +The librarian was very willing that I should take the box and examine it +at leisure. 'I never looked inside it myself,' he said, 'but I've always +been meaning to. I am pretty sure that is the box which our old Master +once said ought never to have been accepted by the college. He said that +to Martin years ago; and he said also that as long as he had control over +the library it should never be opened. Martin told me about it, and said +that he wanted terribly to know what was in it; but the Master was +librarian, and always kept the box in the lodge, so there was no getting +at it in his time, and when he died it was taken away by mistake by his +heirs, and only returned a few years ago. I can't think why I haven't +opened it; but, as I have to go away from Cambridge this afternoon, you +had better have first go at it. I think I can trust you not to publish +anything undesirable in our catalogue.' + +I took the box home and examined its contents, and thereafter consulted +the librarian as to what should be done about publication, and, since I +have his leave to make a story out of it, provided I disguised the +identity of the people concerned, I will try what can be done. + +The materials are, of course, mainly journals and letters. How much I +shall quote and how much epitomize must be determined by considerations +of space. The proper understanding of the situation has necessitated a +little--not very arduous--research, which has been greatly facilitated by +the excellent illustrations and text of the Barchester volume in Bell's +_Cathedral Series_. + +When you enter the choir of Barchester Cathedral now, you pass through a +screen of metal and coloured marbles, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, and +find yourself in what I must call a very bare and odiously furnished +place. The stalls are modern, without canopies. The places of the +dignitaries and the names of the prebends have fortunately been allowed +to survive, and are inscribed on small brass plates affixed to the +stalls. The organ is in the triforium, and what is seen of the case is +Gothic. The reredos and its surroundings are like every other. + +Careful engravings of a hundred years ago show a very different state of +things. The organ is on a massive classical screen. The stalls are also +classical and very massive. There is a baldacchino of wood over the +altar, with urns upon its corners. Farther east is a solid altar screen, +classical in design, of wood, with a pediment, in which is a triangle +surrounded by rays, enclosing certain Hebrew letters in gold. Cherubs +contemplate these. There is a pulpit with a great sounding-board at the +eastern end of the stalls on the north side, and there is a black and +white marble pavement. Two ladies and a gentleman are admiring the +general effect. From other sources I gather that the archdeacon's stall +then, as now, was next to the bishop's throne at the south-eastern end of +the stalls. His house almost faces the west front of the church, and is a +fine red-brick building of William the Third's time. + +Here Dr Haynes, already a mature man, took up his abode with his sister +in the year 1810. The dignity had long been the object of his wishes, but +his predecessor refused to depart until he had attained the age of +ninety-two. About a week after he had held a modest festival in +celebration of that ninety-second birthday, there came a morning, late in +the year, when Dr Haynes, hurrying cheerfully into his breakfast-room, +rubbing his hands and humming a tune, was greeted, and checked in his +genial flow of spirits, by the sight of his sister, seated, indeed, in +her usual place behind the tea-urn, but bowed forward and sobbing +unrestrainedly into her handkerchief. 'What--what is the matter? What bad +news?' he began. 'Oh, Johnny, you've not heard? The poor dear +archdeacon!' 'The archdeacon, yes? What is it--ill, is he?' 'No, no; they +found him on the staircase this morning; it is so shocking.' 'Is it +possible! Dear, dear, poor Pulteney! Had there been any seizure?' 'They +don't think so, and that is almost the worst thing about it. It seems to +have been all the fault of that stupid maid of theirs, Jane.' Dr Haynes +paused. 'I don't quite understand, Letitia. How was the maid at fault?' +'Why, as far as I can make out, there was a stair-rod missing, and she +never mentioned it, and the poor archdeacon set his foot quite on the +edge of the step--you know how slippery that oak is--and it seems he must +have fallen almost the whole flight and broken his neck. It _is_ so sad +for poor Miss Pulteney. Of course, they will get rid of the girl at once. +I never liked her.' Miss Haynes's grief resumed its sway, but eventually +relaxed so far as to permit of her taking some breakfast. Not so her +brother, who, after standing in silence before the window for some +minutes, left the room, and did not appear again that morning. + +I need only add that the careless maid-servant was dismissed forthwith, +but that the missing stair-rod was very shortly afterwards found _under_ +the stair-carpet--an additional proof, if any were needed, of extreme +stupidity and carelessness on her part. + +For a good many years Dr Haynes had been marked out by his ability, which +seems to have been really considerable, as the likely successor of +Archdeacon Pulteney, and no disappointment was in store for him. He was +duly installed, and entered with zeal upon the discharge of those +functions which are appropriate to one in his position. A considerable +space in his journals is occupied with exclamations upon the confusion in +which Archdeacon Pulteney had left the business of his office and the +documents appertaining to it. Dues upon Wringham and Barnswood have been +uncollected for something like twelve years, and are largely +irrecoverable; no visitation has been held for seven years; four chancels +are almost past mending. The persons deputized by the archdeacon have +been nearly as incapable as himself. It was almost a matter for +thankfulness that this state of things had not been permitted to +continue, and a letter from a friend confirms this view. '[Greek: ho +katechon],' it says (in rather cruel allusion to the Second Epistle to +the Thessalonians), 'is removed at last. My poor friend! Upon what a +scene of confusion will you be entering! I give you my word that, on the +last occasion of my crossing his threshold, there was no single paper +that he could lay hands upon, no syllable of mine that he could hear, and +no fact in connexion with my business that he could remember. But now, +thanks to a negligent maid and a loose stair-carpet, there is some +prospect that necessary business will be transacted without a complete +loss alike of voice and temper.' This letter was tucked into a pocket in +the cover of one of the diaries. + +There can be no doubt of the new archdeacon's zeal and enthusiasm. 'Give +me but time to reduce to some semblance of order the innumerable errors +and complications with which I am confronted, and I shall gladly and +sincerely join with the aged Israelite in the canticle which too many, I +fear, pronounce but with their lips.' This reflection I find, not in a +diary, but a letter; the doctor's friends seem to have returned his +correspondence to his surviving sister. He does not confine himself, +however, to reflections. His investigation of the rights and duties of +his office are very searching and business-like, and there is a +calculation in one place that a period of three years will just suffice +to set the business of the Archdeaconry upon a proper footing. The +estimate appears to have been an exact one. For just three years he is +occupied in reforms; but I look in vain at the end of that time for the +promised _Nunc dimittis_. He has now found a new sphere of activity. +Hitherto his duties have precluded him from more than an occasional +attendance at the Cathedral services. Now he begins to take an interest +in the fabric and the music. Upon his struggles with the organist, an old +gentleman who had been in office since 1786, I have no time to dwell; +they were not attended with any marked success. More to the purpose is +his sudden growth of enthusiasm for the Cathedral itself and its +furniture. There is a draft of a letter to Sylvanus Urban (which I do not +think was ever sent) describing the stalls in the choir. As I have said, +these were of fairly late date--of about the year 1700, in fact. + +'The archdeacon's stall, situated at the south-east end, west of the +episcopal throne (now so worthily occupied by the truly excellent prelate +who adorns the See of Barchester), is distinguished by some curious +ornamentation. In addition to the arms of Dean West, by whose efforts the +whole of the internal furniture of the choir was completed, the +prayer-desk is terminated at the eastern extremity by three small but +remarkable statuettes in the grotesque manner. One is an exquisitely +modelled figure of a cat, whose crouching posture suggests with admirable +spirit the suppleness, vigilance, and craft of the redoubted adversary of +the genus _Mus_. Opposite to this is a figure seated upon a throne and +invested with the attributes of royalty; but it is no earthly monarch +whom the carver has sought to portray. His feet are studiously concealed +by the long robe in which he is draped: but neither the crown nor the cap +which he wears suffice to hide the prick-ears and curving horns which +betray his Tartarean origin; and the hand which rests upon his knee, is +armed with talons of horrifying length and sharpness. Between these two +figures stands a shape muffled in a long mantle. This might at first +sight be mistaken for a monk or "friar of orders gray", for the head is +cowled and a knotted cord depends from somewhere about the waist. A +slight inspection, however, will lead to a very different conclusion. The +knotted cord is quickly seen to be a halter, held by a hand all but +concealed within the draperies; while the sunken features and, horrid to +relate, the rent flesh upon the cheek-bones, proclaim the King of +Terrors. These figures are evidently the production of no unskilled +chisel; and should it chance that any of your correspondents are able to +throw light upon their origin and significance, my obligations to your +valuable miscellany will be largely increased.' + +There is more description in the paper, and, seeing that the woodwork in +question has now disappeared, it has a considerable interest. A paragraph +at the end is worth quoting: + +'Some late researches among the Chapter accounts have shown me that the +carving of the stalls was not as was very usually reported, the work of +Dutch artists, but was executed by a native of this city or district +named Austin. The timber was procured from an oak copse in the vicinity, +the property of the Dean and Chapter, known as Holywood. Upon a recent +visit to the parish within whose boundaries it is situated, I learned +from the aged and truly respectable incumbent that traditions still +lingered amongst the inhabitants of the great size and age of the oaks +employed to furnish the materials of the stately structure which has +been, however imperfectly, described in the above lines. Of one in +particular, which stood near the centre of the grove, it is remembered +that it was known as the Hanging Oak. The propriety of that title is +confirmed by the fact that a quantity of human bones was found in the +soil about its roots, and that at certain times of the year it was the +custom for those who wished to secure a successful issue to their +affairs, whether of love or the ordinary business of life, to suspend +from its boughs small images or puppets rudely fashioned of straw, twigs, +or the like rustic materials.' + +So much for the archdeacon's archaeological investigations. To return to +his career as it is to be gathered from his diaries. Those of his first +three years of hard and careful work show him throughout in high spirits, +and, doubtless, during this time, that reputation for hospitality and +urbanity which is mentioned in his obituary notice was well deserved. +After that, as time goes on, I see a shadow coming over him--destined to +develop into utter blackness--which I cannot but think must have been +reflected in his outward demeanour. He commits a good deal of his fears +and troubles to his diary; there was no other outlet for them. He was +unmarried and his sister was not always with him. But I am much mistaken +if he has told all that he might have told. A series of extracts shall be +given: + + _Aug. 30th 1816_--The days begin to draw in more perceptibly than + ever. Now that the Archdeaconry papers are reduced to order, I must + find some further employment for the evening hours of autumn and + winter. It is a great blow that Letitia's health will not allow her + to stay through these months. Why not go on with my _Defence of + Episcopacy_? It may be useful. + + _Sept. 15._--Letitia has left me for Brighton. + + _Oct. 11._--Candles lit in the choir for the first time at evening + prayers. It came as a shock: I find that I absolutely shrink from the + dark season. + + _Nov. 17_--Much struck by the character of the carving on my desk: I + do not know that I had ever carefully noticed it before. My attention + was called to it by an accident. During the _Magnificat_ I was, I + regret to say, almost overcome with sleep. My hand was resting on the + back of the carved figure of a cat which is the nearest to me of the + three figures on the end of my stall. I was not aware of this, for I + was not looking in that direction, until I was startled by what + seemed a softness, a feeling as of rather rough and coarse fur, and a + sudden movement, as if the creature were twisting round its head to + bite me. I regained complete consciousness in an instant, and I have + some idea that I must have uttered a suppressed exclamation, for I + noticed that Mr Treasurer turned his head quickly in my direction. + The impression of the unpleasant feeling was so strong that I found + myself rubbing my hand upon my surplice. This accident led me to + examine the figures after prayers more carefully than I had done + before, and I realized for the first time with what skill they are + executed. + + _Dec. 6_--I do indeed miss Letitia's company. The evenings, after I + have worked as long as I can at my _Defence_, are very trying. The + house is too large for a lonely man, and visitors of any kind are too + rare. I get an uncomfortable impression when going to my room that + there _is_ company of some kind. The fact is (I may as well formulate + it to myself) that I hear voices. This, I am well aware, is a common + symptom of incipient decay of the brain--and I believe that I should + be less disquieted than I am if I had any suspicion that this was the + cause. I have none--none whatever, nor is there anything in my family + history to give colour to such an idea. Work, diligent work, and a + punctual attention to the duties which fall to me is my best remedy, + and I have little doubt that it will prove efficacious. + + _Jan. 1_--My trouble is, I must confess it, increasing upon me. Last + night, upon my return after midnight from the Deanery, I lit my + candle to go upstairs. I was nearly at the top when something + whispered to me, 'Let me wish you a happy New Year.' I could not be + mistaken: it spoke distinctly and with a peculiar emphasis. Had I + dropped my candle, as I all but did, I tremble to think what the + consequences must have been. As it was, I managed to get up the last + flight, and was quickly in my room with the door locked, and + experienced no other disturbance. + + _Jan. 15_--I had occasion to come downstairs last night to my + workroom for my watch, which I had inadvertently left on my table + when I went up to bed. I think I was at the top of the last flight + when I had a sudden impression of a sharp whisper in my ear '_Take + care_.' I clutched the balusters and naturally looked round at once. + Of course, there was nothing. After a moment I went on--it was no + good turning back--but I had as nearly as possible fallen: a cat--a + large one by the feel of it--slipped between my feet, but again, of + course, I saw nothing. It _may_ have been the kitchen cat, but I do + not think it was. + + _Feb. 27_--A curious thing last night, which I should like to forget. + Perhaps if I put it down here I may see it in its true proportion. I + worked in the library from about 9 to 10. The hall and staircase + seemed to be unusually full of what I can only call movement without + sound: by this I mean that there seemed to be continuous going and + coming, and that whenever I ceased writing to listen, or looked out + into the hall, the stillness was absolutely unbroken. Nor, in going + to my room at an earlier hour than usual--about half-past ten--was I + conscious of anything that I could call a noise. It so happened that + I had told John to come to my room for the letter to the bishop which + I wished to have delivered early in the morning at the Palace. He was + to sit up, therefore, and come for it when he heard me retire. This I + had for the moment forgotten, though I had remembered to carry the + letter with me to my room. But when, as I was winding up my watch, I + heard a light tap at the door, and a low voice saying, 'May I come + in?' (which I most undoubtedly did hear), I recollected the fact, and + took up the letter from my dressing-table, saying 'Certainly: come + in.' No one, however, answered my summons, and it was now that, as I + strongly suspect, I committed an error: for I opened the door and + held the letter out. There was certainly no one at that moment in the + passage, but, in the instant of my standing there, the door at the + end opened and John appeared carrying a candle. I asked him whether + he had come to the door earlier; but am satisfied that he had not. I + do not like the situation; but although my senses were very much on + the alert, and though it was some time before I could sleep, I must + allow that I perceived nothing further of an untoward character. + +With the return of spring, when his sister came to live with him for some +months, Dr Haynes's entries become more cheerful, and, indeed, no symptom +of depression is discernible until the early part of September when he +was again left alone. And now, indeed, there is evidence that he was +incommoded again, and that more pressingly. To this matter I will return +in a moment, but I digress to put in a document which, rightly or +wrongly, I believe to have a bearing on the thread of the story. + +The account-books of Dr Haynes, preserved along with his other papers, +show, from a date but little later than that of his institution as +archdeacon, a quarterly payment of L25 to J. L. Nothing could have been +made of this, had it stood by itself. But I connect with it a very dirty +and ill-written letter, which, like another that I have quoted, was in a +pocket in the cover of a diary. Of date or postmark there is no vestige, +and the decipherment was not easy. It appears to run: + + Dr Sr. + + I have bin expctin to her off you theis last wicks, and not Haveing + done so must supose you have not got mine witch was saying how me and + my man had met in with bad times this season all seems to go cross + with us on the farm and which way to look for the rent we have no + knowledge of it this been the sad case with us if you would have the + great [liberality _probably, but the exact spelling defies + reproduction_] to send fourty pounds otherwise steps will have to be + took which I should not wish. Has you was the Means of me losing my + place with Dr Pulteney I think it is only just what I am asking and + you know best what I could say if I was Put to it but I do not wish + anything of that unpleasant Nature being one that always wish to have + everything Pleasant about me. + + Your obedt Servt, + + Jane Lee. + +About the time at which I suppose this letter to have been written there +is, in fact, a payment of L40 to J.L. + +We return to the diary: + + _Oct. 22_--At evening prayers, during the Psalms, I had that same + experience which I recollect from last year. I was resting my hand on + one of the carved figures, as before (I usually avoid that of the cat + now), and--I was going to have said--a change came over it, but that + seems attributing too much importance to what must, after all, be due + to some physical affection in myself: at any rate, the wood seemed to + become chilly and soft as if made of wet linen. I can assign the + moment at which I became sensible of this. The choir were singing the + words (_Set thou an ungodly man to be ruler over him and let Satan + stand at his right hand_.) + + The whispering in my house was more persistent tonight. I seemed not + to be rid of it in my room. I have not noticed this before. A nervous + man, which I am not, and hope I am not becoming, would have been much + annoyed, if not alarmed, by it. The cat was on the stairs tonight. I + think it sits there always. There _is_ no kitchen cat. + + _Nov. 15_--Here again I must note a matter I do not understand. I am + much troubled in sleep. No definite image presented itself, but I was + pursued by the very vivid impression that wet lips were whispering + into my ear with great rapidity and emphasis for some time together. + After this, I suppose, I fell asleep, but was awakened with a start + by a feeling as if a hand were laid on my shoulder. To my intense + alarm I found myself standing at the top of the lowest flight of the + first staircase. The moon was shining brightly enough through the + large window to let me see that there was a large cat on the second + or third step. I can make no comment. I crept up to bed again, I do + not know how. Yes, mine is a heavy burden. [Then follows a line or + two which has been scratched out. I fancy I read something like + 'acted for the best'.] + +Not long after this it is evident to me that the archdeacon's firmness +began to give way under the pressure of these phenomena. I omit as +unnecessarily painful and distressing the ejaculations and prayers which, +in the months of December and January, appear for the first time and +become increasingly frequent. Throughout this time, however, he is +obstinate in clinging to his post. Why he did not plead ill-health and +take refuge at Bath or Brighton I cannot tell; my impression is that it +would have done him no good; that he was a man who, if he had confessed +himself beaten by the annoyances, would have succumbed at once, and that +he was conscious of this. He did seek to palliate them by inviting +visitors to his house. The result he has noted in this fashion: + + _Jan. 7_--I have prevailed on my cousin Allen to give me a few days, + and he is to occupy the chamber next to mine. + + _Jan. 8_--A still night. Allen slept well, but complained of the + wind. My own experiences were as before: still whispering and + whispering: what is it that he wants to say? + + _Jan. 9_--Allen thinks this a very noisy house. He thinks, too, that + my cat is an unusually large and fine specimen, but very wild. + + _Jan. 10_--Allen and I in the library until 11. He left me twice to + see what the maids were doing in the hall: returning the second time + he told me he had seen one of them passing through the door at the + end of the passage, and said if his wife were here she would soon get + them into better order. I asked him what coloured dress the maid + wore; he said grey or white. I supposed it would be so. + + _Jan. 11_--Allen left me today. I must be firm. + +These words, _I must be firm_, occur again and again on subsequent days; +sometimes they are the only entry. In these cases they are in an +unusually large hand, and dug into the paper in a way which must have +broken the pen that wrote them. + +Apparently the archdeacon's friends did not remark any change in his +behaviour, and this gives me a high idea of his courage and +determination. The diary tells us nothing more than I have indicated of +the last days of his life. The end of it all must be told in the polished +language of the obituary notice: + + The morning of the 26th of February was cold and tempestuous. At an + early hour the servants had occasion to go into the front hall of the + residence occupied by the lamented subject of these lines. What was + their horror upon observing the form of their beloved and respected + master lying upon the landing of the principal staircase in an + attitude which inspired the gravest fears. Assistance was procured, + and an universal consternation was experienced upon the discovery + that he had been the object of a brutal and a murderous attack. The + vertebral column was fractured in more than one place. This might + have been the result of a fall: it appeared that the stair-carpet was + loosened at one point. But, in addition to this, there were injuries + inflicted upon the eyes, nose and mouth, as if by the agency of some + savage animal, which, dreadful to relate, rendered those features + unrecognizable. The vital spark was, it is needless to add, + completely extinct, and had been so, upon the testimony of + respectable medical authorities, for several hours. The author or + authors of this mysterious outrage are alike buried in mystery, and + the most active conjecture has hitherto failed to suggest a solution + of the melancholy problem afforded by this appalling occurrence. + +The writer goes on to reflect upon the probability that the writings of +Mr Shelley, Lord Byron, and M. Voltaire may have been instrumental in +bringing about the disaster, and concludes by hoping, somewhat vaguely, +that this event may 'operate as an example to the rising generation'; but +this portion of his remarks need not be quoted in full. + +I had already formed the conclusion that Dr Haynes was responsible for +the death of Dr Pulteney. But the incident connected with the carved +figure of death upon the archdeacon's stall was a very perplexing +feature. The conjecture that it had been cut out of the wood of the +Hanging Oak was not difficult, but seemed impossible to substantiate. +However, I paid a visit to Barchester, partly with the view of finding +out whether there were any relics of the woodwork to be heard of. I was +introduced by one of the canons to the curator of the local museum, who +was, my friend said, more likely to be able to give me information on the +point than anyone else. I told this gentleman of the description of +certain carved figures and arms formerly on the stalls, and asked whether +any had survived. He was able to show me the arms of Dean West and some +other fragments. These, he said, had been got from an old resident, who +had also once owned a figure--perhaps one of those which I was inquiring +for. There was a very odd thing about that figure, he said. 'The old man +who had it told me that he picked it up in a woodyard, whence he had +obtained the still extant pieces, and had taken it home for his children. +On the way home he was fiddling about with it and it came in two in his +hands, and a bit of paper dropped out. This he picked up and, just +noticing that there was writing on it, put it into his pocket, and +subsequently into a vase on his mantelpiece. I was at his house not very +long ago, and happened to pick up the vase and turn it over to see +whether there were any marks on it, and the paper fell into my hand. The +old man, on my handing it to him, told me the story I have told you, and +said I might keep the paper. It was crumpled and rather torn, so I have +mounted it on a card, which I have here. If you can tell me what it means +I shall be very glad, and also, I may say, a good deal surprised.' + +He gave me the card. The paper was quite legibly inscribed in an old +hand, and this is what was on it: + + When I grew in the Wood + I was water'd w'th Blood + Now in the Church I stand + Who that touches me with his Hand + If a Bloody hand he bear + I councell him to be ware + Lest he be fetcht away + Whether by night or day, + But chiefly when the wind blows high + In a night of February. +This I drempt, 26 Febr. Anno 1699. JOHN AUSTIN. + +'I suppose it is a charm or a spell: wouldn't you call it something of +that kind?' said the curator. + +'Yes,' I said, 'I suppose one might. What became of the figure in which +it was concealed?' + +'Oh, I forgot,' said he. 'The old man told me it was so ugly and +frightened his children so much that he burnt it.' + + + + +MARTIN'S CLOSE + +Some few years back I was staying with the rector of a parish in the +West, where the society to which I belong owns property. I was to go over +some of this land: and, on the first morning of my visit, soon after +breakfast, the estate carpenter and general handyman, John Hill, was +announced as in readiness to accompany us. The rector asked which part of +the parish we were to visit that morning. The estate map was produced, +and when we had showed him our round, he put his finger on a particular +spot. 'Don't forget,' he said, 'to ask John Hill about Martin's Close +when you get there. I should like to hear what he tells you.' 'What ought +he to tell us?' I said. 'I haven't the slightest idea,' said the rector, +'or, if that is not exactly true, it will do till lunch-time.' And here +he was called away. + +We set out; John Hill is not a man to withhold such information as he +possesses on any point, and you may gather from him much that is of +interest about the people of the place and their talk. An unfamiliar +word, or one that he thinks ought to be unfamiliar to you, he will +usually spell--as c-o-b cob, and the like. It is not, however, relevant +to my purpose to record his conversation before the moment when we +reached Martin's Close. The bit of land is noticeable, for it is one of +the smallest enclosures you are likely to see--a very few square yards, +hedged in with quickset on all sides, and without any gate or gap leading +into it. You might take it for a small cottage garden long deserted, but +that it lies away from the village and bears no trace of cultivation. It +is at no great distance from the road, and is part of what is there +called a moor, in other words, a rough upland pasture cut up into largish +fields. + +'Why is this little bit hedged off so?' I asked, and John Hill (whose +answer I cannot represent as perfectly as I should like) was not at +fault. 'That's what we call Martin's Close, sir: 'tes a curious thing +'bout that bit of land, sir: goes by the name of Martin's Close, sir. +M-a-r-t-i-n Martin. Beg pardon, sir, did Rector tell you to make inquiry +of me 'bout that, sir?' 'Yes, he did.' 'Ah, I thought so much, sir. I was +tell'n Rector 'bout that last week, and he was very much interested. It +'pears there's a murderer buried there, sir, by the name of Martin. Old +Samuel Saunders, that formerly lived yurr at what we call South-town, +sir, he had a long tale 'bout that, sir: terrible murder done 'pon a +young woman, sir. Cut her throat and cast her in the water down yurr.' +'Was he hung for it?' 'Yes, sir, he was hung just up yurr on the roadway, +by what I've 'eard, on the Holy Innocents' Day, many 'undred years ago, +by the man that went by the name of the bloody judge: terrible red and +bloody, I've 'eard.' 'Was his name Jeffreys, do you think?' 'Might be +possible 'twas--Jeffreys--J-e-f--Jeffreys. I reckon 'twas, and the tale +I've 'eard many times from Mr Saunders,--how this young man +Martin--George Martin--was troubled before his crule action come to light +by the young woman's sperit.' 'How was that, do you know?' 'No, sir, I +don't exactly know how 'twas with it: but by what I've 'eard he was +fairly tormented; and rightly tu. Old Mr Saunders, he told a history +regarding a cupboard down yurr in the New Inn. According to what he +related, this young woman's sperit come out of this cupboard: but I don't +racollact the matter.' + +This was the sum of John Hill's information. We passed on, and in due +time I reported what I had heard to the Rector. He was able to show me +from the parish account-books that a gibbet had been paid for in 1684, +and a grave dug in the following year, both for the benefit of George +Martin; but he was unable to suggest anyone in the parish, Saunders being +now gone, who was likely to throw any further light on the story. + +Naturally, upon my return to the neighbourhood of libraries, I made +search in the more obvious places. The trial seemed to be nowhere +reported. A newspaper of the time, and one or more news-letters, however, +had some short notices, from which I learnt that, on the ground of local +prejudice against the prisoner (he was described as a young gentleman of +a good estate), the venue had been moved from Exeter to London; that +Jeffreys had been the judge, and death the sentence, and that there had +been some 'singular passages' in the evidence. Nothing further transpired +till September of this year. A friend who knew me to be interested in +Jeffreys then sent me a leaf torn out of a second-hand bookseller's +catalogue with the entry: JEFFREYS, JUDGE: _Interesting old MS. trial for +murder_, and so forth, from which I gathered, to my delight, that I could +become possessed, for a very few shillings, of what seemed to be a +verbatim report, in shorthand, of the Martin trial. I telegraphed for the +manuscript and got it. It was a thin bound volume, provided with a title +written in longhand by someone in the eighteenth century, who had also +added this note: 'My father, who took these notes in court, told me that +the prisoner's friends had made interest with Judge Jeffreys that no +report should be put out: he had intended doing this himself when times +were better, and had shew'd it to the Revd Mr Glanvil, who incourag'd his +design very warmly, but death surpriz'd them both before it could be +brought to an accomplishment.' + +The initials W. G. are appended; I am advised that the original reporter +may have been T. Gurney, who appears in that capacity in more than one +State trial. + +This was all that I could read for myself. After no long delay I heard of +someone who was capable of deciphering the shorthand of the seventeenth +century, and a little time ago the typewritten copy of the whole +manuscript was laid before me. The portions which I shall communicate +here help to fill in the very imperfect outline which subsists in the +memories of John Hill and, I suppose, one or two others who live on the +scene of the events. + +The report begins with a species of preface, the general effect of which +is that the copy is not that actually taken in court, though it is a true +copy in regard to the notes of what was said; but that the writer has +added to it some 'remarkable passages' that took place during the trial, +and has made this present fair copy of the whole, intending at some +favourable time to publish it; but has not put it into longhand, lest it +should fall into the possession of unauthorized persons, and he or his +family be deprived of the profit. + +The report then begins: + +This case came on to be tried on Wednesday, the 19th of November, between +our sovereign lord the King, and George Martin Esquire, of (I take leave +to omit some of the place-names), at a sessions of oyer and terminer and +gaol delivery, at the Old Bailey, and the prisoner, being in Newgate, was +brought to the bar. + +_Clerk of the Crown._ George Martin, hold up thy hand (which he did). + +Then the indictment was read, which set forth that the prisoner, 'not +having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by +the instigation of the devil, upon the 15th day of May, in the 36th year +of our sovereign lord King Charles the Second, with force and arms in the +parish aforesaid, in and upon Ann Clark, spinster, of the same place, in +the peace of God and of our said sovereign lord the King then and there +being, feloniously, wilfully, and of your malice aforethought did make an +assault and with a certain knife value a penny the throat of the said Ann +Clark then and there did cut, of the which wound the said Ann Clark then +and there did die, and the body of the said Ann Clark did cast into a +certain pond of water situate in the same parish (with more that is not +material to our purpose) against the peace of our sovereign lord the +King, his crown and dignity.' + +Then the prisoner prayed a copy of the indictment. + +_L.C.J._ (Sir George Jeffreys). What is this? Sure you know that is never +allowed. Besides, here is as plain indictment as ever I heard; you have +nothing to do but to plead to it. + +_Pris._ My lord, I apprehend there may be matter of law arising out of +the indictment, and I would humbly beg the court to assign me counsel to +consider of it. Besides, my lord, I believe it was done in another case: +copy of the indictment was allowed. + +_L.C.J._ What case was that? + +_Pris._ Truly, my lord, I have been kept close prisoner ever since I came +up from Exeter Castle, and no one allowed to come at me and no one to +advise with. + +_L.C.J._ But I say, what was that case you allege? + +_Pris._ My lord, I cannot tell your lordship precisely the name of the +case, but it is in my mind that there was such an one, and I would humbly +desire-- + +_L.C.J._ All this is nothing. Name your case, and we will tell you +whether there be any matter for you in it. God forbid but you should have +anything that may be allowed you by law: but this is against law, and we +must keep the course of the court. + +_Att.-Gen._ (Sir Robert Sawyer). My lord, we pray for the King that he +may be asked to plead. + +_Cl. of Ct._ Are you guilty of the murder whereof you stand indicted, or +not guilty? + +_Pris._ My lord, I would humbly offer this to the court. If I plead now, +shall I have an opportunity after to except against the indictment? + +_L.C.J._ Yes, yes, that comes after verdict: that will be saved to you, +and counsel assigned if there be matter of law, but that which you have +now to do is to plead. + +Then after some little parleying with the court (which seemed strange +upon such a plain indictment) the prisoner pleaded _Not Guilty_. + +_Cl. of Ct._ Culprit. How wilt thou be tried? + +_Pris._ By God and my country. + +_Cl. of Ct._ God send thee a good deliverance. + +_L.C.J._ Why, how is this? Here has been a great to-do that you should +not be tried at Exeter by your country, but be brought here to London, +and now you ask to be tried by your country. Must we send you to Exeter +again? + +_Pris._ My lord, I understood it was the form. + +_L.C.J._ So it is, man: we spoke only in the way of pleasantness. Well, +go on and swear the jury. + +So they were sworn. I omit the names. There was no challenging on the +prisoner's part, for, as he said, he did not know any of the persons +called. Thereupon the prisoner asked for the use of pen, ink, and paper, +to which the L. C. J. replied: 'Ay, ay, in God's name let him have it.' +Then the usual charge was delivered to the jury, and the case opened by +the junior counsel for the King, Mr Dolben. + +The Attorney-General followed: + +May it please your lordship, and you gentlemen of the jury, I am of +counsel for the King against the prisoner at the bar. You have heard that +he stands indicted for a murder done upon the person of a young girl. +Such crimes as this you may perhaps reckon to be not uncommon, and, +indeed, in these times, I am sorry to say it, there is scarce any fact so +barbarous and unnatural but what we may hear almost daily instances of +it. But I must confess that in this murder that is charged upon the +prisoner there are some particular features that mark it out to be such +as I hope has but seldom if ever been perpetrated upon English ground. +For as we shall make it appear, the person murdered was a poor country +girl (whereas the prisoner is a gentleman of a proper estate) and, +besides that, was one to whom Providence had not given the full use of +her intellects, but was what is termed among us commonly an innocent or +natural: such an one, therefore, as one would have supposed a gentleman +of the prisoner's quality more likely to overlook, or, if he did notice +her, to be moved to compassion for her unhappy condition, than to lift up +his hand against her in the very horrid and barbarous manner which we +shall show you he used. + +Now to begin at the beginning and open the matter to you orderly: About +Christmas of last year, that is the year 1683, this gentleman, Mr Martin, +having newly come back into his own country from the University of +Cambridge, some of his neighbours, to show him what civility they could +(for his family is one that stands in very good repute all over that +country), entertained him here and there at their Christmas merrymakings, +so that he was constantly riding to and fro, from one house to another, +and sometimes, when the place of his destination was distant, or for +other reason, as the unsafeness of the roads, he would be constrained to +lie the night at an inn. In this way it happened that he came, a day or +two after the Christmas, to the place where this young girl lived with +her parents, and put up at the inn there, called the New Inn, which is, +as I am informed, a house of good repute. Here was some dancing going on +among the people of the place, and Ann Clark had been brought in, it +seems, by her elder sister to look on; but being, as I have said, of weak +understanding, and, besides that, very uncomely in her appearance, it was +not likely she should take much part in the merriment; and accordingly +was but standing by in a corner of the room. The prisoner at the bar, +seeing her, one must suppose by way of a jest, asked her would she dance +with him. And in spite of what her sister and others could say to prevent +it and to dissuade her-- + +_L.C.J._ Come, Mr Attorney, we are not set here to listen to tales of +Christmas parties in taverns. I would not interrupt you, but sure you +have more weighty matters than this. You will be telling us next what +tune they danced to. + +_Att._ My lord, I would not take up the time of the court with what is +not material: but we reckon it to be material to show how this unlikely +acquaintance begun: and as for the tune, I believe, indeed, our evidence +will show that even that hath a bearing on the matter in hand. + +_L.C.J._ Go on, go on, in God's name: but give us nothing that is +impertinent. + +_Att._ Indeed, my lord, I will keep to my matter. But, gentlemen, having +now shown you, as I think, enough of this first meeting between the +murdered person and the prisoner, I will shorten my tale so far as to say +that from then on there were frequent meetings of the two: for the young +woman was greatly tickled with having got hold (as she conceived it) of +so likely a sweetheart, and he being once a week at least in the habit of +passing through the street where she lived, she would be always on the +watch for him; and it seems they had a signal arranged: he should whistle +the tune that was played at the tavern: it is a tune, as I am informed, +well known in that country, and has a burden, '_Madam, will you walk, +will you talk with me?_' + +_L.C.J._ Ay, I remember it in my own country, in Shropshire. It runs +somehow thus, doth it not? [Here his lordship whistled a part of a tune, +which was very observable, and seemed below the dignity of the court. And +it appears he felt it so himself, for he said:] But this is by the mark, +and I doubt it is the first time we have had dance-tunes in this court. +The most part of the dancing we give occasion for is done at Tyburn. +[Looking at the prisoner, who appeared very much disordered.] You said +the tune was material to your case, Mr Attorney, and upon my life I think +Mr Martin agrees with you. What ails you, man? staring like a player that +sees a ghost! + +_Pris._ My lord, I was amazed at hearing such trivial, foolish things as +they bring against me. + +_L.C.J._ Well, well, it lies upon Mr Attorney to show whether they be +trivial or not: but I must say, if he has nothing worse than this he has +said, you have no great cause to be in amaze. Doth it not lie something +deeper? But go on, Mr Attorney. + +_Att._ My lord and gentlemen--all that I have said so far you may indeed +very reasonably reckon as having an appearance of triviality. And, to be +sure, had the matter gone no further than the humouring of a poor silly +girl by a young gentleman of quality, it had been very well. But to +proceed. We shall make it appear that after three or four weeks the +prisoner became contracted to a young gentlewoman of that country, one +suitable every way to his own condition, and such an arrangement was on +foot that seemed to promise him a happy and a reputable living. But +within no very long time it seems that this young gentlewoman, hearing of +the jest that was going about that countryside with regard to the +prisoner and Ann Clark, conceived that it was not only an unworthy +carriage on the part of her lover, but a derogation to herself that he +should suffer his name to be sport for tavern company: and so without +more ado she, with the consent of her parents, signified to the prisoner +that the match between them was at an end. We shall show you that upon +the receipt of this intelligence the prisoner was greatly enraged against +Ann Clark as being the cause of his misfortune (though indeed there was +nobody answerable for it but himself), and that he made use of many +outrageous expressions and threatenings against her, and subsequently +upon meeting with her both abused her and struck at her with his whip: +but she, being but a poor innocent, could not be persuaded to desist from +her attachment to him, but would often run after him testifying with +gestures and broken words the affection she had to him: until she was +become, as he said, the very plague of his life. Yet, being that affairs +in which he was now engaged necessarily took him by the house in which +she lived, he could not (as I am willing to believe he would otherwise +have done) avoid meeting with her from time to time. We shall further +show you that this was the posture of things up to the 15th day of May in +this present year. Upon that day the prisoner comes riding through the +village, as of custom, and met with the young woman: but in place of +passing her by, as he had lately done, he stopped, and said some words to +her with which she appeared wonderfully pleased, and so left her; and +after that day she was nowhere to be found, notwithstanding a strict +search was made for her. The next time of the prisoner's passing through +the place, her relations inquired of him whether he should know anything +of her whereabouts; which he totally denied. They expressed to him their +fears lest her weak intellects should have been upset by the attention he +had showed her, and so she might have committed some rash act against her +own life, calling him to witness the same time how often they had +beseeched him to desist from taking notice of her, as fearing trouble +might come of it: but this, too, he easily laughed away. But in spite of +this light behaviour, it was noticeable in him that about this time his +carriage and demeanour changed, and it was said of him that he seemed a +troubled man. And here I come to a passage to which I should not dare to +ask your attention, but that it appears to me to be founded in truth, and +is supported by testimony deserving of credit. And, gentlemen, to my +judgement it doth afford a great instance of God's revenge against +murder, and that He will require the blood of the innocent. + +[Here Mr Attorney made a pause, and shifted with his papers: and it was +thought remarkable by me and others, because he was a man not easily +dashed.] + +_L.C.J._ Well, Mr Attorney, what is your instance? + +_Att._ My lord, it is a strange one, and the truth is that, of all the +cases I have been concerned in, I cannot call to mind the like of it. But +to be short, gentlemen, we shall bring you testimony that Ann Clark was +seen after this 15th of May, and that, at such time as she was so seen, +it was impossible she could have been a living person. + +[Here the people made a hum, and a good deal of laughter, and the Court +called for silence, and when it was made]-- + +_L.C.J._ Why, Mr Attorney, you might save up this tale for a week; it +will be Christmas by that time, and you can frighten your cook-maids with +it [at which the people laughed again, and the prisoner also, as it +seemed]. God, man, what are you prating of--ghosts and Christmas jigs and +tavern company--and here is a man's life at stake! [To the prisoner]: And +you, sir, I would have you know there is not so much occasion for you to +make merry neither. You were not brought here for that, and if I know Mr +Attorney, he has more in his brief than he has shown yet. Go on, Mr +Attorney. I need not, mayhap, have spoken so sharply, but you must +confess your course is something unusual. + +_Att._ Nobody knows it better than I, my lord: but I shall bring it to an +end with a round turn. I shall show you, gentlemen, that Ann Clark's body +was found in the month of June, in a pond of water, with the throat cut: +that a knife belonging to the prisoner was found in the same water: that +he made efforts to recover the said knife from the water: that the +coroner's quest brought in a verdict against the prisoner at the bar, and +that therefore he should by course have been tried at Exeter: but that, +suit being made on his behalf, on account that an impartial jury could +not be found to try him in his own country, he hath had that singular +favour shown him that he should be tried here in London. And so we will +proceed to call our evidence. + +Then the facts of the acquaintance between the prisoner and Ann Clark +were proved, and also the coroner's inquest. I pass over this portion of +the trial, for it offers nothing of special interest. + +Sarah Arscott was next called and sworn. + +_Att._ What is your occupation? + +_S._ I keep the New Inn at--. + +_Att._ Do you know the prisoner at the bar? + +_S._ Yes: he was often at our house since he come first at Christmas of +last year. + +_Att._ Did you know Ann Clark? + +_S._ Yes, very well. + +_Att._ Pray, what manner of person was she in her appearance? + +_S._ She was a very short thick-made woman: I do not know what else you +would have me say. + +_Att._ Was she comely? + +_S._ No, not by no manner of means: she was very uncomely, poor child! +She had a great face and hanging chops and a very bad colour like a +puddock. + +_L.C.J._ What is that, mistress? What say you she was like? + +_S._ My lord, I ask pardon; I heard Esquire Martin say she looked like a +puddock in the face; and so she did. + +_L.C.J._ Did you that? Can you interpret her, Mr Attorney? + +_Att._ My lord, I apprehend it is the country word for a toad. + +_L.C.J._ Oh, a hop-toad! Ay, go on. + +_Att._ Will you give an account to the jury of what passed between you +and the prisoner at the bar in May last? + +_S._ Sir, it was this. It was about nine o'clock the evening after that +Ann did not come home, and I was about my work in the house; there was no +company there only Thomas Snell, and it was foul weather. Esquire Martin +came in and called for some drink, and I, by way of pleasantry, I said to +him, "Squire, have you been looking after your sweetheart?" and he flew +out at me in a passion and desired I would not use such expressions. I +was amazed at that, because we were accustomed to joke with him about +her. + +_L.C.J._ Who, her? + +_S._ Ann Clark, my lord. And we had not heard the news of his being +contracted to a young gentlewoman elsewhere, or I am sure I should have +used better manners. So I said nothing, but being I was a little put out, +I begun singing, to myself as it were, the song they danced to the first +time they met, for I thought it would prick him. It was the same that he +was used to sing when he came down the street; I have heard it very +often: '_Madam, will you walk, will you talk with me?_' And it fell out +that I needed something that was in the kitchen. So I went out to get it, +and all the time I went on singing, something louder and more bold-like. +And as I was there all of a sudden I thought I heard someone answering +outside the house, but I could not be sure because of the wind blowing so +high. So then I stopped singing, and now I heard it plain, saying, '_Yes, +sir, I will walk, I will talk with you_,' and I knew the voice for Ann +Clark's voice. + +_Att._ How did you know it to be her voice? + +_S._ It was impossible I could be mistaken. She had a dreadful voice, a +kind of a squalling voice, in particular if she tried to sing. And there +was nobody in the village that could counterfeit it, for they often +tried. So, hearing that, I was glad, because we were all in an anxiety to +know what was gone with her: for though she was a natural, she had a good +disposition and was very tractable: and says I to myself, 'What, child! +are you returned, then?' and I ran into the front room, and said to +Squire Martin as I passed by, 'Squire, here is your sweetheart back +again: shall I call her in?' and with that I went to open the door; but +Squire Martin he caught hold of me, and it seemed to me he was out of his +wits, or near upon. 'Hold, woman,' says he, 'in God's name!' and I know +not what else: he was all of a shake. Then I was angry, and said I, +'What! are you not glad that poor child is found?' and I called to Thomas +Snell and said, 'If the Squire will not let me, do you open the door and +call her in.' So Thomas Snell went and opened the door, and the wind +setting that way blew in and overset the two candles that was all we had +lighted: and Esquire Martin fell away from holding me; I think he fell +down on the floor, but we were wholly in the dark, and it was a minute or +two before I got a light again: and while I was feeling for the fire-box, +I am not certain but I heard someone step 'cross the floor, and I am sure +I heard the door of the great cupboard that stands in the room open and +shut to. Then, when I had a light again, I see Esquire Martin on the +settle, all white and sweaty as if he had swounded away, and his arms +hanging down; and I was going to help him; but just then it caught my eye +that there was something like a bit of a dress shut into the cupboard +door, and it came to my mind I had heard that door shut. So I thought it +might be some person had run in when the light was quenched, and was +hiding in the cupboard. So I went up closer and looked: and there was a +bit of a black stuff cloak, and just below it an edge of a brown stuff +dress, both sticking out of the shut of the door: and both of them was +low down, as if the person that had them on might be crouched down +inside. + +_Att._ What did you take it to be? + +_S._ I took it to be a woman's dress. + +_Att._ Could you make any guess whom it belonged to? Did you know anyone +who wore such a dress? + +_S._ It was a common stuff, by what I could see. I have seen many women +wearing such a stuff in our parish. + +_Att._ Was it like Ann Clark's dress? + +_S._ She used to wear just such a dress: but I could not say on my oath +it was hers. + +_Att._ Did you observe anything else about it? + +_S_. I did notice that it looked very wet: but it was foul weather +outside. + +_L.C.J._ Did you feel of it, mistress? + +_S._ No, my lord, I did not like to touch it. + +_L.C.J._ Not like? Why that? Are you so nice that you scruple to feel of +a wet dress? + +_S._ Indeed, my lord, I cannot very well tell why: only it had a nasty +ugly look about it. + +_L.C.J._ Well, go on. + +_S_. Then I called again to Thomas Snell, and bid him come to me and +catch anyone that come out when I should open the cupboard door, 'for,' +says I, 'there is someone hiding within, and I would know what she +wants.' And with that Squire Martin gave a sort of a cry or a shout and +ran out of the house into the dark, and I felt the cupboard door pushed +out against me while I held it, and Thomas Snell helped me: but for all +we pressed to keep it shut as hard as we could, it was forced out against +us, and we had to fall back. + +_L.C.J._ And pray what came out--a mouse? + +_S._ No, my lord, it was greater than a mouse, but I could not see what +it was: it fleeted very swift over the floor and out at the door. + +_L.C.J._ But come; what did it look like? Was it a person? + +_S._ My lord, I cannot tell what it was, but it ran very low, and it was +of a dark colour. We were both daunted by it, Thomas Snell and I, but we +made all the haste we could after it to the door that stood open. And we +looked out, but it was dark and we could see nothing. + +_L.C.J._ Was there no tracks of it on the floor? What floor have you +there? + +_S._ It is a flagged floor and sanded, my lord, and there was an +appearance of a wet track on the floor, but we could make nothing of it, +neither Thomas Snell nor me, and besides, as I said, it was a foul night. + +_L.C.J._ Well, for my part, I see not--though to be sure it is an odd +tale she tells--what you would do with this evidence. + +_Att._ My lord, we bring it to show the suspicious carriage of the +prisoner immediately after the disappearance of the murdered person: and +we ask the jury's consideration of that; and also to the matter of the +voice heard without the house. + +Then the prisoner asked some questions not very material, and Thomas +Snell was next called, who gave evidence to the same effect as Mrs +Arscott, and added the following: + +_Att._ Did anything pass between you and the prisoner during the time Mrs +Arscott was out of the room? + +_Th._ I had a piece of twist in my pocket. + +_Att._ Twist of what? + +_Th._ Twist of tobacco, sir, and I felt a disposition to take a pipe of +tobacco. So I found a pipe on the chimney-piece, and being it was twist, +and in regard of me having by an oversight left my knife at my house, and +me not having over many teeth to pluck at it, as your lordship or anyone +else may have a view by their own eyesight-- + +_L.C.J._ What is the man talking about? Come to the matter, fellow! Do +you think we sit here to look at your teeth? + +_Th._ No, my lord, nor I would not you should do, God forbid! I know your +honours have better employment, and better teeth, I would not wonder. + +_L.C.J._ Good God, what a man is this! Yes, I _have_ better teeth, and +that you shall find if you keep not to the purpose. + +_Th._ I humbly ask pardon, my lord, but so it was. And I took upon me, +thinking no harm, to ask Squire Martin to lend me his knife to cut my +tobacco. And he felt first of one pocket and then of another and it was +not there at all. And says I, 'What! have you lost your knife, Squire?' +And up he gets and feels again and he sat down, and such a groan as he +gave. 'Good God!' he says, 'I must have left it there.' 'But,' says I, +'Squire, by all appearance it is _not_ there. Did you set a value on it,' +says I, 'you might have it cried.' But he sat there and put his head +between his hands and seemed to take no notice to what I said. And then +it was Mistress Arscott come tracking back out of the kitchen place. + +Asked if he heard the voice singing outside the house, he said 'No,' but +the door into the kitchen was shut, and there was a high wind: but says +that no one could mistake Ann Clark's voice. + +Then a boy, William Reddaway, about thirteen years of age, was called, +and by the usual questions, put by the Lord Chief Justice, it was +ascertained that he knew the nature of an oath. And so he was sworn. His +evidence referred to a time about a week later. + +_Att._ Now, child, don't be frighted: there is no one here will hurt you +if you speak the truth. + +_L.C.J._ Ay, if he speak the truth. But remember, child, thou art in the +presence of the great God of heaven and earth, that hath the keys of +hell, and of us that are the king's officers, and have the keys of +Newgate; and remember, too, there is a man's life in question; and if +thou tellest a lie, and by that means he comes to an ill end, thou art no +better than his murderer; and so speak the truth. + +_Att._ Tell the jury what you know, and speak out. Where were you on the +evening of the 23rd of May last? + +_L.C.J._ Why, what does such a boy as this know of days. Can you mark the +day, boy? + +_W._ Yes, my lord, it was the day before our feast, and I was to spend +sixpence there, and that falls a month before Midsummer Day. + +_One of the Jury._ My lord, we cannot hear what he says. + +_L.C.J._ He says he remembers the day because it was the day before the +feast they had there, and he had sixpence to lay out. Set him up on the +table there. Well, child, and where wast thou then? + +_W._ Keeping cows on the moor, my lord. + +But, the boy using the country speech, my lord could not well apprehend +him, and so asked if there was anyone that could interpret him, and it +was answered the parson of the parish was there, and he was accordingly +sworn and so the evidence given. The boy said: + +'I was on the moor about six o'clock, and sitting behind a bush of furze +near a pond of water: and the prisoner came very cautiously and looking +about him, having something like a long pole in his hand, and stopped a +good while as if he would be listening, and then began to feel in the +water with the pole: and I being very near the water--not above five +yards--heard as if the pole struck up against something that made a +wallowing sound, and the prisoner dropped the pole and threw himself on +the ground, and rolled himself about very strangely with his hands to his +ears, and so after a while got up and went creeping away.' + +Asked if he had had any communication with the prisoner, 'Yes, a day or +two before, the prisoner, hearing I was used to be on the moor, he asked +me if I had seen a knife laying about, and said he would give sixpence to +find it. And I said I had not seen any such thing, but I would ask about. +Then he said he would give me sixpence to say nothing, and so he did.' + +_L.C.J._ And was that the sixpence you were to lay out at the feast? + +_W._ Yes, if you please, my lord. + +Asked if he had observed anything particular as to the pond of water, he +said, 'No, except that it begun to have a very ill smell and the cows +would not drink of it for some days before.' + +Asked if he had ever seen the prisoner and Ann Clark in company together, +he began to cry very much, and it was a long time before they could get +him to speak intelligibly. At last the parson of the parish, Mr Matthews, +got him to be quiet, and the question being put to him again, he said he +had seen Ann Clark waiting on the moor for the prisoner at some way off, +several times since last Christmas. + +_Att._ Did you see her close, so as to be sure it was she? + +_W._ Yes, quite sure. + +_L.C.J._ How quite sure, child? + +_W._ Because she would stand and jump up and down and clap her arms like +a goose [which he called by some country name: but the parson explained +it to be a goose]. And then she was of such a shape that it could not be +no one else. + +_Att._ What was the last time that you so saw her? + +Then the witness began to cry again and clung very much to Mr Matthews, +who bid him not be frightened. + +And so at last he told his story: that on the day before their feast +(being the same evening that he had before spoken of) after the prisoner +had gone away, it being then twilight and he very desirous to get home, +but afraid for the present to stir from where he was lest the prisoner +should see him, remained some few minutes behind the bush, looking on the +pond, and saw something dark come up out of the water at the edge of the +pond farthest away from him, and so up the bank. And when it got to the +top where he could see it plain against the sky, it stood up and flapped +the arms up and down, and then run off very swiftly in the same direction +the prisoner had taken: and being asked very strictly who he took it to +be, he said upon his oath that it could be nobody but Ann Clark. + +Thereafter his master was called, and gave evidence that the boy had come +home very late that evening and been chided for it, and that he seemed +very much amazed, but could give no account of the reason. + +_Att._ My lord, we have done with our evidence for the King. + +Then the Lord Chief Justice called upon the prisoner to make his defence; +which he did, though at no great length, and in a very halting way, +saying that he hoped the jury would not go about to take his life on the +evidence of a parcel of country people and children that would believe +any idle tale; and that he had been very much prejudiced in his trial; at +which the L.C.J. interrupted him, saying that he had had singular favour +shown to him in having his trial removed from Exeter, which the prisoner +acknowledging, said that he meant rather that since he was brought to +London there had not been care taken to keep him secured from +interruption and disturbance. Upon which the L.C.J. ordered the Marshal +to be called, and questioned him about the safe keeping of the prisoner, +but could find nothing: except the Marshal said that he had been informed +by the underkeeper that they had seen a person outside his door or going +up the stairs to it: but there was no possibility the person should have +got in. And it being inquired further what sort of person this might be, +the Marshal could not speak to it save by hearsay, which was not allowed. +And the prisoner, being asked if this was what he meant, said no, he knew +nothing of that, but it was very hard that a man should not be suffered +to be at quiet when his life stood on it. But it was observed he was very +hasty in his denial. And so he said no more, and called no witnesses. +Whereupon the Attorney-General spoke to the jury. [A full report of what +he said is given, and, if time allowed, I would extract that portion in +which he dwells on the alleged appearance of the murdered person: he +quotes some authorities of ancient date, as St Augustine _de cura pro +mortuis gerenda_ (a favourite book of reference with the old writers on +the supernatural) and also cites some cases which may be seen in +Glanvil's, but more conveniently in Mr Lang's books. He does not, +however, tell us more of those cases than is to be found in print.] + +The Lord Chief Justice then summed up the evidence for the jury. His +speech, again, contains nothing that I find worth copying out: but he was +naturally impressed with the singular character of the evidence, saying +that he had never heard such given in his experience; but that there was +nothing in law to set it aside, and that the jury must consider whether +they believed these witnesses or not. + +And the jury after a very short consultation brought the prisoner in +Guilty. + +So he was asked whether he had anything to say in arrest of judgement, +and pleaded that his name was spelt wrong in the indictment, being Martin +with an I, whereas it should be with a Y. But this was overruled as not +material, Mr Attorney saying, moreover, that he could bring evidence to +show that the prisoner by times wrote it as it was laid in the +indictment. And, the prisoner having nothing further to offer, sentence +of death was passed upon him, and that he should be hanged in chains upon +a gibbet near the place where the fact was committed, and that execution +should take place upon the 28th December next ensuing, being Innocents' +Day. + +Thereafter the prisoner being to all appearance in a state of +desperation, made shift to ask the L.C.J. that his relations might be +allowed to come to him during the short time he had to live. + +_L.C.J._ Ay, with all my heart, so it be in the presence of the keeper; +and Ann Clark may come to you as well, for what I care. + +At which the prisoner broke out and cried to his lordship not to use such +words to him, and his lordship very angrily told him he deserved no +tenderness at any man's hands for a cowardly butcherly murderer that had +not the stomach to take the reward of his deeds: 'and I hope to God,' +said he, 'that she _will_ be with you by day and by night till an end is +made of you.' Then the prisoner was removed, and, so far as I saw, he was +in a swound, and the Court broke up. + +I cannot refrain from observing that the prisoner during all the time of +the trial seemed to be more uneasy than is commonly the case even in +capital causes: that, for example, he was looking narrowly among the +people and often turning round very sharply, as if some person might be +at his ear. It was also very noticeable at this trial what a silence the +people kept, and further (though this might not be otherwise than natural +in that season of the year), what a darkness and obscurity there was in +the court room, lights being brought in not long after two o'clock in the +day, and yet no fog in the town. + + * * * * * + +It was not without interest that I heard lately from some young men who +had been giving a concert in the village I speak of, that a very cold +reception was accorded to the song which has been mentioned in this +narrative: '_Madam, will you walk?_' It came out in some talk they had +next morning with some of the local people that that song was regarded +with an invincible repugnance; it was not so, they believed, at North +Tawton, but here it was reckoned to be unlucky. However, why that view +was taken no one had the shadow of an idea. + + + + +MR HUMPHREYS AND HIS INHERITANCE + +About fifteen years ago, on a date late in August or early in September, +a train drew up at Wilsthorpe, a country station in Eastern England. Out +of it stepped (with other passengers) a rather tall and reasonably +good-looking young man, carrying a handbag and some papers tied up in a +packet. He was expecting to be met, one would say, from the way in which +he looked about him: and he was, as obviously, expected. The +stationmaster ran forward a step or two, and then, seeming to recollect +himself, turned and beckoned to a stout and consequential person with a +short round beard who was scanning the train with some appearance of +bewilderment. 'Mr Cooper,' he called out,--'Mr Cooper, I think this is +your gentleman'; and then to the passenger who had just alighted, 'Mr +Humphreys, sir? Glad to bid you welcome to Wilsthorpe. There's a cart +from the Hall for your luggage, and here's Mr Cooper, what I think you +know.' Mr Cooper had hurried up, and now raised his hat and shook hands. +'Very pleased, I'm sure,' he said, 'to give the echo to Mr Palmer's kind +words. I should have been the first to render expression to them but for +the face not being familiar to me, Mr Humphreys. May your residence among +us be marked as a red-letter day, sir.' 'Thank you very much, Mr Cooper,' +said Humphreys, 'for your good wishes, and Mr Palmer also. I do hope very +much that this change of--er--tenancy--which you must all regret, I am +sure--will not be to the detriment of those with whom I shall be brought +in contact.' He stopped, feeling that the words were not fitting +themselves together in the happiest way, and Mr Cooper cut in, 'Oh, you +may rest satisfied of that, Mr Humphreys. I'll take it upon myself to +assure you, sir, that a warm welcome awaits you on all sides. And as to +any change of propriety turning out detrimental to the neighbourhood, +well, your late uncle--' And here Mr Cooper also stopped, possibly in +obedience to an inner monitor, possibly because Mr Palmer, clearing his +throat loudly, asked Humphreys for his ticket. The two men left the +little station, and--at Humphreys' suggestion--decided to walk to Mr +Cooper's house, where luncheon was awaiting them. + +The relation in which these personages stood to each other can be +explained in a very few lines. Humphreys had inherited--quite +unexpectedly--a property from an uncle: neither the property nor the +uncle had he ever seen. He was alone in the world--a man of good ability +and kindly nature, whose employment in a Government office for the last +four or five years had not gone far to fit him for the life of a country +gentleman. He was studious and rather diffident, and had few out-of-door +pursuits except golf and gardening. To-day he had come down for the first +time to visit Wilsthorpe and confer with Mr Cooper, the bailiff, as to +the matters which needed immediate attention. It may be asked how this +came to be his first visit? Ought he not in decency to have attended his +uncle's funeral? The answer is not far to seek: he had been abroad at the +time of the death, and his address had not been at once procurable. So he +had put off coming to Wilsthorpe till he heard that all things were ready +for him. And now we find him arrived at Mr Cooper's comfortable house, +facing the parsonage, and having just shaken hands with the smiling Mrs +and Miss Cooper. + +During the minutes that preceded the announcement of luncheon the party +settled themselves on elaborate chairs in the drawing-room, Humphreys, +for his part, perspiring quietly in the consciousness that stock was +being taken of him. + +'I was just saying to Mr Humphreys, my dear,' said Mr Cooper, 'that I +hope and trust that his residence among us here in Wilsthorpe will be +marked as a red-letter day.' + +'Yes, indeed, I'm sure,' said Mrs Cooper heartily, 'and many, many of +them.' + +Miss Cooper murmured words to the same effect, and Humphreys attempted a +pleasantry about painting the whole calendar red, which, though greeted +with shrill laughter, was evidently not fully understood. At this point +they proceeded to luncheon. + +'Do you know this part of the country at all, Mr Humphreys?' said Mrs +Cooper, after a short interval. This was a better opening. + +'No, I'm sorry to say I do _not_,' said Humphreys. 'It seems very +pleasant, what I could see of it coming down in the train.' + +'Oh, it _is_ a pleasant part. Really, I sometimes say I don't know a +nicer district, for the country; and the people round, too: such a +quantity always going on. But I'm afraid you've come a little late for +some of the better garden parties, Mr Humphreys.' + +'I suppose I have; dear me, what a pity!' said Humphreys, with a gleam of +relief; and then, feeling that something more could be got out of this +topic, 'But after all, you see, Mrs Cooper, even if I could have been +here earlier, I should have been cut off from them, should I not? My poor +uncle's recent death, you know--' + +'Oh dear, Mr Humphreys, to be sure; what a dreadful thing of me to say!' +(And Mr and Miss Cooper seconded the proposition inarticulately.) 'What +must you have thought? I _am_ sorry: you must really forgive me.' + +'Not at all, Mrs Cooper, I assure you. I can't honestly assert that my +uncle's death was a great grief to me, for I had never seen him. All I +meant was that I supposed I shouldn't be expected to take part for some +little time in festivities of that kind.' + +'Now, really it's very kind of you to take it in that way, Mr Humphreys, +isn't it, George? And you _do_ forgive me? But only fancy! You never saw +poor old Mr Wilson!' + +'Never in my life; nor did I ever have a letter from him. But, by the +way, you have something to forgive _me_ for. I've never thanked you, +except by letter, for all the trouble you've taken to find people to look +after me at the Hall.' + +'Oh, I'm sure that was nothing, Mr Humphreys; but I really do think that +you'll find them give satisfaction. The man and his wife whom we've got +for the butler and housekeeper we've known for a number of years: such a +nice respectable couple, and Mr Cooper, I'm sure, can answer for the men +in the stables and gardens.' + +'Yes, Mr Humphreys, they're a good lot. The head gardener's the only one +who's stopped on from Mr Wilson's time. The major part of the employees, +as you no doubt saw by the will, received legacies from the old gentleman +and retired from their posts, and as the wife says, your housekeeper and +butler are calculated to render you every satisfaction.' + +'So everything, Mr Humphreys, is ready for you to step in this very day, +according to what I understood you to wish,' said Mrs Cooper. +'Everything, that is, except company, and there I'm afraid you'll find +yourself quite at a standstill. Only we did understand it was your +intention to move in at once. If not, I'm sure you know we should have +been only too pleased for you to stay here.' + +'I'm quite sure you would, Mrs Cooper, and I'm very grateful to you. But +I thought I had really better make the plunge at once. I'm accustomed to +living alone, and there will be quite enough to occupy my +evenings--looking over papers and books and so on--for some time to come, +I thought if Mr Cooper could spare the time this afternoon to go over the +house and grounds with me--' + +'Certainly, certainly, Mr Humphreys. My time is your own, up to any hour +you please.' + +'Till dinner-time, father, you mean,' said Miss Cooper. 'Don't forget +we're going over to the Brasnetts'. And have you got all the garden +keys?' + +'Are you a great gardener, Miss Cooper?' said Mr Humphreys. 'I wish you +would tell me what I'm to expect at the Hall.' + +'Oh, I don't know about a _great_ gardener, Mr Humphreys: I'm very fond +of flowers--but the Hall garden might be made quite lovely, I often say. +It's very old-fashioned as it is: and a great deal of shrubbery. There's +an old temple, besides, and a maze.' + +'Really? Have you explored it ever?' + +'No-o,' said Miss Cooper, drawing in her lips and shaking her head. 'I've +often longed to try, but old Mr Wilson always kept it locked. He wouldn't +even let Lady Wardrop into it. (She lives near here, at Bentley, you +know, and she's a _great_ gardener, if you like.) That's why I asked +father if he had all the keys.' + +'I see. Well, I must evidently look into that, and show you over it when +I've learnt the way.' + +'Oh, thank you so much, Mr Humphreys! Now I shall have the laugh of Miss +Foster (that's our rector's daughter, you know; they're away on their +holiday now--such nice people). We always had a joke between us which +should be the first to get into the maze.' + +'I think the garden keys must be up at the house,' said Mr Cooper, who +had been looking over a large bunch. 'There is a number there in the +library. Now, Mr Humphreys, if you're prepared, we might bid goodbye to +these ladies and set forward on our little tour of exploration.' + + * * * * * + +As they came out of Mr Cooper's front gate, Humphreys had to run the +gauntlet--not of an organized demonstration, but of a good deal of +touching of hats and careful contemplation from the men and women who had +gathered in somewhat unusual numbers in the village street. He had, +further, to exchange some remarks with the wife of the lodge-keeper as +they passed the park gates, and with the lodge-keeper himself, who was +attending to the park road. I cannot, however, spare the time to report +the progress fully. As they traversed the half-mile or so between the +lodge and the house, Humphreys took occasion to ask his companion some +question which brought up the topic of his late uncle, and it did not +take long before Mr Cooper was embarked upon a disquisition. + +'It is singular to think, as the wife was saying just now, that you +should never have seen the old gentleman. And yet--you won't +misunderstand me, Mr Humphreys, I feel confident, when I say that in my +opinion there would have been but little congeniality betwixt yourself +and him. Not that I have a word to say in deprecation--not a single word. +I can tell you what he was,' said Mr Cooper, pulling up suddenly and +fixing Humphreys with his eye. 'Can tell you what he was in a nutshell, +as the saying goes. He was a complete, thorough valentudinarian. That +describes him to a T. That's what he was, sir, a complete +valentudinarian. No participation in what went on around him. I did +venture, I think, to send you a few words of cutting from our local +paper, which I took the occasion to contribute on his decease. If I +recollect myself aright, such is very much the gist of them. But don't, +Mr Humphreys,' continued Cooper, tapping him impressively on the +chest,--'don't you run away with the impression that I wish to say aught +but what is most creditable--_most_ creditable--of your respected uncle +and my late employer. Upright, Mr Humphreys--open as the day; liberal to +all in his dealings. He had the heart to feel and the hand to +accommodate. But there it was: there was the stumbling-block--his +unfortunate health--or, as I might more truly phrase it, his _want_ of +health.' + +'Yes, poor man. Did he suffer from any special disorder before his last +illness--which, I take it, was little more than old age?' + +'Just that, Mr Humphreys--just that. The flash flickering slowly away in +the pan,' said Cooper, with what he considered an appropriate +gesture,--'the golden bowl gradually ceasing to vibrate. But as to your +other question I should return a negative answer. General absence of +vitality? yes: special complaint? no, unless you reckon a nasty cough he +had with him. Why, here we are pretty much at the house. A handsome +mansion, Mr Humphreys, don't you consider?' + +It deserved the epithet, on the whole: but it was oddly proportioned--a +very tall red-brick house, with a plain parapet concealing the roof +almost entirely. It gave the impression of a town house set down in the +country; there was a basement, and a rather imposing flight of steps +leading up to the front door. It seemed also, owing to its height, to +desiderate wings, but there were none. The stables and other offices were +concealed by trees. Humphreys guessed its probable date as 1770 or +thereabouts. + +The mature couple who had been engaged to act as butler and +cook-housekeeper were waiting inside the front door, and opened it as +their new master approached. Their name, Humphreys already knew, was +Calton; of their appearance and manner he formed a favourable impression +in the few minutes' talk he had with them. It was agreed that he should +go through the plate and the cellar next day with Mr Calton, and that Mrs +C. should have a talk with him about linen, bedding, and so on--what +there was, and what there ought to be. Then he and Cooper, dismissing the +Caltons for the present, began their view of the house. Its topography is +not of importance to this story. The large rooms on the ground floor were +satisfactory, especially the library, which was as large as the +dining-room, and had three tall windows facing east. The bedroom prepared +for Humphreys was immediately above it. There were many pleasant, and a +few really interesting, old pictures. None of the furniture was new, and +hardly any of the books were later than the seventies. After hearing of +and seeing the few changes his uncle had made in the house, and +contemplating a shiny portrait of him which adorned the drawing-room, +Humphreys was forced to agree with Cooper that in all probability there +would have been little to attract him in his predecessor. It made him +rather sad that he could not be sorry--_dolebat se dolere non posse_--for +the man who, whether with or without some feeling of kindliness towards +his unknown nephew, had contributed so much to his well-being; for he +felt that Wilsthorpe was a place in which he could be happy, and +especially happy, it might be, in its library. + +And now it was time to go over the garden: the empty stables could wait, +and so could the laundry. So to the garden they addressed themselves, and +it was soon evident that Miss Cooper had been right in thinking that +there were possibilities. Also that Mr Cooper had done well in keeping on +the gardener. The deceased Mr Wilson might not have, indeed plainly had +not, been imbued with the latest views on gardening, but whatever had +been done here had been done under the eye of a knowledgeable man, and +the equipment and stock were excellent. Cooper was delighted with the +pleasure Humphreys showed, and with the suggestions he let fall from time +to time. 'I can see,' he said, 'that you've found your meatear here, Mr +Humphreys: you'll make this place a regular signosier before very many +seasons have passed over our heads. I wish Clutterham had been +here--that's the head gardener--and here he would have been of course, +as I told you, but for his son's being horse doover with a fever, poor +fellow! I should like him to have heard how the place strikes you.' + +'Yes, you told me he couldn't be here today, and I was very sorry to hear +the reason, but it will be time enough tomorrow. What is that white +building on the mound at the end of the grass ride? Is it the temple Miss +Cooper mentioned?' + +'That it is, Mr Humphreys--the Temple of Friendship. Constructed of +marble brought out of Italy for the purpose, by your late uncle's +grandfather. Would it interest you perhaps to take a turn there? You get +a very sweet prospect of the park.' + +The general lines of the temple were those of the Sibyl's Temple at +Tivoli, helped out by a dome, only the whole was a good deal smaller. +Some ancient sepulchral reliefs were built into the wall, and about it +all was a pleasant flavour of the grand tour. Cooper produced the key, +and with some difficulty opened the heavy door. Inside there was a +handsome ceiling, but little furniture. Most of the floor was occupied by +a pile of thick circular blocks of stone, each of which had a single +letter deeply cut on its slightly convex upper surface. 'What is the +meaning of these?' Humphreys inquired. + +'Meaning? Well, all things, we're told, have their purpose, Mr Humphreys, +and I suppose these blocks have had theirs as well as another. But what +that purpose is or was [Mr Cooper assumed a didactic attitude here], I, +for one, should be at a loss to point out to you, sir. All I know of +them--and it's summed up in a very few words--is just this: that they're +stated to have been removed by your late uncle, at a period before I +entered on the scene, from the maze. That, Mr Humphreys, is--' + +'Oh, the maze!' exclaimed Humphreys. 'I'd forgotten that: we must have a +look at it. Where is it?' + +Cooper drew him to the door of the temple, and pointed with his stick. +'Guide your eye,' he said (somewhat in the manner of the Second Elder in +Handel's 'Susanna'-- + + Far to the west direct your straining eyes + Where yon tall holm-tree rises to the skies) + +'Guide your eye by my stick here, and follow out the line directly +opposite to the spot where we're standing now, and I'll engage, Mr +Humphreys, that you'll catch the archway over the entrance. You'll see it +just at the end of the walk answering to the one that leads up to this +very building. Did you think of going there at once? because if that be +the case, I must go to the house and procure the key. If you would walk +on there, I'll rejoin you in a few moments' time.' + +Accordingly Humphreys strolled down the ride leading to the temple, past +the garden-front of the house, and up the turfy approach to the archway +which Cooper had pointed out to him. He was surprised to find that the +whole maze was surrounded by a high wall, and that the archway was +provided with a padlocked iron gate; but then he remembered that Miss +Cooper had spoken of his uncle's objection to letting anyone enter this +part of the garden. He was now at the gate, and still Cooper came not. +For a few minutes he occupied himself in reading the motto cut over the +entrance, _Secretum meum mihi et filiis domus meae_, and in trying to +recollect the source of it. Then he became impatient and considered the +possibility of scaling the wall. This was clearly not worth while; it +might have been done if he had been wearing an older suit: or could the +padlock--a very old one--be forced? No, apparently not: and yet, as he +gave a final irritated kick at the gate, something gave way, and the lock +fell at his feet. He pushed the gate open inconveniencing a number of +nettles as he did so, and stepped into the enclosure. + +It was a yew maze, of circular form, and the hedges, long untrimmed, had +grown out and upwards to a most unorthodox breadth and height. The walks, +too, were next door to impassable. Only by entirely disregarding +scratches, nettle-stings, and wet, could Humphreys force his way along +them; but at any rate this condition of things, he reflected, would make +it easier for him to find his way out again, for he left a very visible +track. So far as he could remember, he had never been in a maze before, +nor did it seem to him now that he had missed much. The dankness and +darkness, and smell of crushed goosegrass and nettles were anything but +cheerful. Still, it did not seem to be a very intricate specimen of its +kind. Here he was (by the way, was that Cooper arrived at last? No!) very +nearly at the heart of it, without having taken much thought as to what +path he was following. Ah! there at last was the centre, easily gained. +And there was something to reward him. His first impression was that the +central ornament was a sundial; but when he had switched away some +portion of the thick growth of brambles and bindweed that had formed over +it, he saw that it was a less ordinary decoration. A stone column about +four feet high, and on the top of it a metal globe--copper, to judge by +the green patina--engraved, and finely engraved too, with figures in +outline, and letters. That was what Humphreys saw, and a brief glance at +the figures convinced him that it was one of those mysterious things +called celestial globes, from which, one would suppose, no one ever yet +derived any information about the heavens. However, it was too dark--at +least in the maze--for him to examine this curiosity at all closely, and +besides, he now heard Cooper's voice, and sounds as of an elephant in the +jungle. Humphreys called to him to follow the track he had beaten out, +and soon Cooper emerged panting into the central circle. He was full of +apologies for his delay; he had not been able, after all, to find the +key. 'But there!' he said, 'you've penetrated into the heart of the +mystery unaided and unannealed, as the saying goes. Well! I suppose it's +a matter of thirty to forty years since any human foot has trod these +precincts. Certain it is that I've never set foot in them before. Well, +well! what's the old proverb about angels fearing to tread? It's proved +true once again in this case.' Humphreys' acquaintance with Cooper, +though it had been short, was sufficient to assure him that there was no +guile in this allusion, and he forbore the obvious remark, merely +suggesting that it was fully time to get back to the house for a late cup +of tea, and to release Cooper for his evening engagement. They left the +maze accordingly, experiencing well-nigh the same ease in retracing their +path as they had in coming in. + +'Have you any idea,' Humphreys asked, as they went towards the house, +'why my uncle kept that place so carefully locked?' + +Cooper pulled up, and Humphreys felt that he must be on the brink of a +revelation. + +'I should merely be deceiving you, Mr Humphreys, and that to no good +purpose, if I laid claim to possess any information whatsoever on that +topic. When I first entered upon my duties here, some eighteen years +back, that maze was word for word in the condition you see it now, and +the one and only occasion on which the question ever arose within my +knowledge was that of which my girl made mention in your hearing. Lady +Wardrop--I've not a word to say against her--wrote applying for admission +to the maze. Your uncle showed me the note--a most civil note--everything +that could be expected from such a quarter. "Cooper," he said, "I wish +you'd reply to that note on my behalf." "Certainly Mr Wilson," I said, +for I was quite inured to acting as his secretary, "what answer shall I +return to it?" "Well," he said, "give Lady Wardrop my compliments, and +tell her that if ever that portion of the grounds is taken in hand I +shall be happy to give her the first opportunity of viewing it, but that +it has been shut up now for a number of years, and I shall be grateful to +her if she kindly won't press the matter." That, Mr Humphreys, was your +good uncle's last word on the subject, and I don't think I can add +anything to it. Unless,' added Cooper, after a pause, 'it might be just +this: that, so far as I could form a judgement, he had a dislike (as +people often will for one reason or another) to the memory of his +grandfather, who, as I mentioned to you, had that maze laid out. A man of +peculiar teenets, Mr Humphreys, and a great traveller. You'll have the +opportunity, on the coming Sabbath, of seeing the tablet to him in our +little parish church; put up it was some long time after his death.' + +'Oh! I should have expected a man who had such a taste for building to +have designed a mausoleum for himself.' + +'Well, I've never noticed anything of the kind you mention; and, in fact, +come to think of it, I'm not at all sure that his resting-place is within +our boundaries at all: that he lays in the vault I'm pretty confident is +not the case. Curious now that I shouldn't be in a position to inform you +on that heading! Still, after all, we can't say, can we, Mr Humphreys, +that it's a point of crucial importance where the pore mortal coils are +bestowed?' + +At this point they entered the house, and Cooper's speculations were +interrupted. + +Tea was laid in the library, where Mr Cooper fell upon subjects +appropriate to the scene. 'A fine collection of books! One of the finest, +I've understood from connoisseurs, in this part of the country; splendid +plates, too, in some of these works. I recollect your uncle showing me +one with views of foreign towns--most absorbing it was: got up in +first-rate style. And another all done by hand, with the ink as fresh as +if it had been laid on yesterday, and yet, he told me, it was the work of +some old monk hundreds of years back. I've always taken a keen interest +in literature myself. Hardly anything to my mind can compare with a good +hour's reading after a hard day's work; far better than wasting the whole +evening at a friend's house--and that reminds me, to be sure. I shall be +getting into trouble with the wife if I don't make the best of my way +home and get ready to squander away one of these same evenings! I must be +off, Mr Humphreys.' + +'And that reminds _me_,' said Humphreys, 'if I'm to show Miss Cooper the +maze tomorrow we must have it cleared out a bit. Could you say a word +about that to the proper person?' + +'Why, to be sure. A couple of men with scythes could cut out a track +tomorrow morning. I'll leave word as I pass the lodge, and I'll tell +them, what'll save you the trouble, perhaps, Mr Humphreys, of having to +go up and extract them yourself: that they'd better have some sticks or a +tape to mark out their way with as they go on.' + +'A very good idea! Yes, do that; and I'll expect Mrs and Miss Cooper in +the afternoon, and yourself about half-past ten in the morning.' + +'It'll be a pleasure, I'm sure, both to them and to myself, Mr Humphreys. +Good night!' + + * * * * * + +Humphreys dined at eight. But for the fact that it was his first evening, +and that Calton was evidently inclined for occasional conversation, he +would have finished the novel he had bought for his journey. As it was, +he had to listen and reply to some of Calton's impressions of the +neighbourhood and the season: the latter, it appeared, was seasonable, +and the former had changed considerably--and not altogether for the +worse--since Calton's boyhood (which had been spent there). The village +shop in particular had greatly improved since the year 1870. It was now +possible to procure there pretty much anything you liked in reason: which +was a conveniency, because suppose anythink was required of a suddent +(and he had known such things before now), he (Calton) could step down +there (supposing the shop to be still open), and order it in, without he +borrered it of the Rectory, whereas in earlier days it would have been +useless to pursue such a course in respect of anything but candles, or +soap, or treacle, or perhaps a penny child's picture-book, and nine times +out of ten it'd be something more in the nature of a bottle of whisky +_you'd_ be requiring; leastways--On the whole Humphreys thought he would +be prepared with a book in future. + +The library was the obvious place for the after-dinner hours. Candle in +hand and pipe in mouth, he moved round the room for some time, taking +stock of the titles of the books. He had all the predisposition to take +interest in an old library, and there was every opportunity for him here +to make systematic acquaintance with one, for he had learned from Cooper +that there was no catalogue save the very superficial one made for +purposes of probate. The drawing up of a _catalogue raisonne_ would be a +delicious occupation for winter. There were probably treasures to be +found, too: even manuscripts, if Cooper might be trusted. + +As he pursued his round the sense came upon him (as it does upon most of +us in similar places) of the extreme unreadableness of a great portion of +the collection. 'Editions of Classics and Fathers, and Picart's +_Religious Ceremonies_, and the _Harleian Miscellany_, I suppose are all +very well, but who is ever going to read Tostatus Abulensis, or Pineda on +Job, or a book like this?' He picked out a small quarto, loose in the +binding, and from which the lettered label had fallen off; and observing +that coffee was waiting for him, retired to a chair. Eventually he opened +the book. It will be observed that his condemnation of it rested wholly +on external grounds. For all he knew it might have been a collection of +unique plays, but undeniably the outside was blank and forbidding. As a +matter of fact, it was a collection of sermons or meditations, and +mutilated at that, for the first sheet was gone. It seemed to belong to +the latter end of the seventeenth century. He turned over the pages till +his eye was caught by a marginal note: '_A Parable of this Unhappy +Condition_,' and he thought he would see what aptitudes the author might +have for imaginative composition. 'I have heard or read,' so ran the +passage, 'whether in the way of _Parable_ or true _Relation_ I leave my +Reader to judge, of a Man who, like _Theseus_, in the _Attick Tale_, +should adventure himself, into a _Labyrinth_ or _Maze_: and such an one +indeed as was not laid out in the Fashion of our _Topiary_ artists of +this Age, but of a wide compass, in which, moreover, such unknown +Pitfalls and Snares, nay, such ill-omened Inhabitants were commonly +thought to lurk as could only be encountered at the Hazard of one's very +life. Now you may be sure that in such a Case the Disswasions of Friends +were not wanting. "Consider of such-an-one" says a Brother "how he went +the way you wot of, and was never seen more." "Or of such another" says +the Mother "that adventured himself but a little way in, and from that +day forth is so troubled in his Wits that he cannot tell what he saw, nor +hath passed one good Night." "And have you never heard" cries a Neighbour +"of what Faces have been seen to look out over the _Palisadoes_ and +betwixt the Bars of the Gate?" But all would not do: the Man was set upon +his Purpose: for it seems it was the common fireside Talk of that Country +that at the Heart and Centre of this _Labyrinth_ there was a Jewel of +such Price and Rarity that would enrich the Finder thereof for his life: +and this should be his by right that could persever to come at it. What +then? _Quid multa?_ The Adventurer pass'd the Gates, and for a whole +day's space his Friends without had no news of him, except it might be by +some indistinct Cries heard afar off in the Night, such as made them turn +in their restless Beds and sweat for very Fear, not doubting but that +their Son and Brother had put one more to the _Catalogue_ of those +unfortunates that had suffer'd shipwreck on that Voyage. So the next day +they went with weeping Tears to the Clark of the Parish to order the Bell +to be toll'd. And their Way took them hard by the gate of the +_Labyrinth_: which they would have hastened by, from the Horrour they had +of it, but that they caught sight of a sudden of a Man's Body lying in +the Roadway, and going up to it (with what Anticipations may be easily +figured) found it to be him whom they reckoned as lost: and not dead, +though he were in a Swound most like Death. They then, who had gone forth +as Mourners came back rejoycing, and set to by all means to revive their +Prodigal. Who, being come to himself, and hearing of their Anxieties and +their Errand of that Morning, "Ay" says he "you may as well finish what +you were about: for, for all I have brought back the Jewel (which he +shew'd them, and 'twas indeed a rare Piece) I have brought back that with +it that will leave me neither Rest at Night nor Pleasure by Day." +Whereupon they were instant with him to learn his Meaning, and where his +Company should be that went so sore against his Stomach. "O" says he +"'tis here in my Breast: I cannot flee from it, do what I may." So it +needed no Wizard to help them to a guess that it was the Recollection of +what he had seen that troubled him so wonderfully. But they could get no +more of him for a long Time but by Fits and Starts. However at long and +at last they made shift to collect somewhat of this kind: that at first, +while the Sun was bright, he went merrily on, and without any Difficulty +reached the Heart of the _Labyrinth_ and got the Jewel, and so set out on +his way back rejoycing: but as the Night fell, _wherein all the Beasts of +the Forest do move_, he begun to be sensible of some Creature keeping +Pace with him and, as he thought, _peering and looking upon him_ from the +next Alley to that he was in; and that when he should stop, this +Companion should stop also, which put him in some Disorder of his +Spirits. And, indeed, as the Darkness increas'd, it seemed to him that +there was more than one, and, it might be, even a whole Band of such +Followers: at least so he judg'd by the Rustling and Cracking that they +kept among the Thickets; besides that there would be at a Time a Sound of +Whispering, which seem'd to import a Conference among them. But in regard +of who they were or what Form they were of, he would not be persuaded to +say what he thought. Upon his Hearers asking him what the Cries were +which they heard in the Night (as was observ'd above) he gave them this +Account: That about Midnight (so far as he could judge) he heard his Name +call'd from a long way off, and he would have been sworn it was his +Brother that so call'd him. So he stood still and hilloo'd at the Pitch +of his Voice, and he suppos'd that the _Echo_, or the Noyse of his +Shouting, disguis'd for the Moment any lesser sound; because, when there +fell a Stillness again, he distinguish'd a Trampling (not loud) of +running Feet coming very close behind him, wherewith he was so daunted +that himself set off to run, and that he continued till the Dawn broke. +Sometimes when his Breath fail'd him, he would cast himself flat on his +Face, and hope that his Pursuers might over-run him in the Darkness, but +at such a Time they would regularly make a Pause, and he could hear them +pant and snuff as it had been a Hound at Fault: which wrought in him so +extream an Horrour of mind, that he would be forc'd to betake himself +again to turning and doubling, if by any Means he might throw them off +the Scent. And, as if this Exertion was in itself not terrible enough, he +had before him the constant Fear of falling into some Pit or Trap, of +which he had heard, and indeed seen with his own Eyes that there were +several, some at the sides and other in the Midst of the Alleys. So that +in fine (he said) a more dreadful Night was never spent by Mortal +Creature than that he had endur'd in that _Labyrinth_; and not that Jewel +which he had in his Wallet, nor the richest that was ever brought out of +the _Indies_, could be a sufficient Recompence to him for the Pains he +had suffered. + +'I will spare to set down the further Recital of this Man's Troubles, +inasmuch as I am confident my Reader's Intelligence will hit the +_Parallel_ I desire to draw. For is not this Jewel a just Emblem of the +Satisfaction which a Man may bring back with him from a Course of this +World's Pleasures? and will not the _Labyrinth_ serve for an Image of the +World itself wherein such a Treasure (if we may believe the common Voice) +is stored up?' + +At about this point Humphreys thought that a little Patience would be an +agreeable change, and that the writer's 'improvement' of his Parable +might be left to itself. So he put the book back in its former place, +wondering as he did so whether his uncle had ever stumbled across that +passage; and if so, whether it had worked on his fancy so much as to make +him dislike the idea of a maze, and determine to shut up the one in the +garden. Not long afterwards he went to bed. + +The next day brought a morning's hard work with Mr Cooper, who, if +exuberant in language, had the business of the estate at his fingers' +ends. He was very breezy this morning, Mr Cooper was: had not forgotten +the order to clear out the maze--the work was going on at that moment: +his girl was on the tentacles of expectation about it. He also hoped that +Humphreys had slept the sleep of the just, and that we should be favoured +with a continuance of this congenial weather. At luncheon he enlarged on +the pictures in the dining-room, and pointed out the portrait of the +constructor of the temple and the maze. Humphreys examined this with +considerable interest. It was the work of an Italian, and had been +painted when old Mr Wilson was visiting Rome as a young man. (There was, +indeed, a view of the Colosseum in the background.) A pale thin face and +large eyes were the characteristic features. In the hand was a partially +unfolded roll of paper, on which could be distinguished the plan of a +circular building, very probably the temple, and also part of that of a +labyrinth. Humphreys got up on a chair to examine it, but it was not +painted with sufficient clearness to be worth copying. It suggested to +him, however, that he might as well make a plan of his own maze and hang +it in the hall for the use of visitors. + +This determination of his was confirmed that same afternoon; for when Mrs +and Miss Cooper arrived, eager to be inducted into the maze, he found +that he was wholly unable to lead them to the centre. The gardeners had +removed the guide-marks they had been using, and even Clutterham, when +summoned to assist, was as helpless as the rest. 'The point is, you see, +Mr Wilson--I should say 'Umphreys--these mazes is purposely constructed +so much alike, with a view to mislead. Still, if you'll foller me, I +think I can put you right. I'll just put my 'at down 'ere as a +starting-point.' He stumped off, and after five minutes brought the party +safe to the hat again. 'Now that's a very peculiar thing,' he said, with +a sheepish laugh. 'I made sure I'd left that 'at just over against a +bramble-bush, and you can see for yourself there ain't no bramble-bush +not in this walk at all. If you'll allow me, Mr Humphreys--that's the +name, ain't it, sir?--I'll just call one of the men in to mark the place +like.' + +William Crack arrived, in answer to repeated shouts. He had some +difficulty in making his way to the party. First he was seen or heard in +an inside alley, then, almost at the same moment, in an outer one. +However, he joined them at last, and was first consulted without effect +and then stationed by the hat, which Clutterham still considered it +necessary to leave on the ground. In spite of this strategy, they spent +the best part of three-quarters of an hour in quite fruitless wanderings, +and Humphreys was obliged at last, seeing how tired Mrs Cooper was +becoming, to suggest a retreat to tea, with profuse apologies to Miss +Cooper. 'At any rate you've won your bet with Miss Foster,' he said; 'you +have been inside the maze; and I promise you the first thing I do shall +be to make a proper plan of it with the lines marked out for you to go +by.' 'That's what's wanted, sir,' said Clutterham, 'someone to draw out a +plan and keep it by them. It might be very awkward, you see, anyone +getting into that place and a shower of rain come on, and them not able +to find their way out again; it might be hours before they could be got +out, without you'd permit of me makin' a short cut to the middle: what my +meanin' is, takin' down a couple of trees in each 'edge in a straight +line so as you could git a clear view right through. Of course that'd do +away with it as a maze, but I don't know as you'd approve of that.' + +'No, I won't have that done yet: I'll make a plan first, and let you have +a copy. Later on, if we find occasion, I'll think of what you say.' + +Humphreys was vexed and ashamed at the fiasco of the afternoon, and could +not be satisfied without making another effort that evening to reach the +centre of the maze. His irritation was increased by finding it without a +single false step. He had thoughts of beginning his plan at once; but the +light was fading, and he felt that by the time he had got the necessary +materials together, work would be impossible. + +Next morning accordingly, carrying a drawing-board, pencils, compasses, +cartridge paper, and so forth (some of which had been borrowed from the +Coopers and some found in the library cupboards), he went to the middle +of the maze (again without any hesitation), and set out his materials. He +was, however, delayed in making a start. The brambles and weeds that had +obscured the column and globe were now all cleared away, and it was for +the first time possible to see clearly what these were like. The column +was featureless, resembling those on which sundials are usually placed. +Not so the globe. I have said that it was finely engraved with figures +and inscriptions, and that on a first glance Humphreys had taken it for a +celestial globe: but he soon found that it did not answer to his +recollection of such things. One feature seemed familiar; a winged +serpent--_Draco_--encircled it about the place which, on a terrestrial +globe, is occupied by the equator: but on the other hand, a good part of +the upper hemisphere was covered by the outspread wings of a large figure +whose head was concealed by a ring at the pole or summit of the whole. +Around the place of the head the words _princeps tenebrarum_ could be +deciphered. In the lower hemisphere there was a space hatched all over +with cross-lines and marked as _umbra mortis_. Near it was a range of +mountains, and among them a valley with flames rising from it. This was +lettered (will you be surprised to learn it?) _vallis filiorum Hinnom_. +Above and below _Draco_ were outlined various figures not unlike the +pictures of the ordinary constellations, but not the same. Thus, a nude +man with a raised club was described, not as _Hercules_ but as _Cain_. +Another, plunged up to his middle in earth and stretching out despairing +arms, was _Chore_, not _Ophiuchus_, and a third, hung by his hair to a +snaky tree, was _Absolon_. Near the last, a man in long robes and high +cap, standing in a circle and addressing two shaggy demons who hovered +outside, was described as _Hostanes magus_ (a character unfamiliar to +Humphreys). The scheme of the whole, indeed, seemed to be an assemblage +of the patriarchs of evil, perhaps not uninfluenced by a study of Dante. +Humphreys thought it an unusual exhibition of his great-grandfather's +taste, but reflected that he had probably picked it up in Italy and had +never taken the trouble to examine it closely: certainly, had he set much +store by it, he would not have exposed it to wind and weather. He tapped +the metal--it seemed hollow and not very thick--and, turning from it, +addressed himself to his plan. After half an hour's work he found it was +impossible to get on without using a clue: so he procured a roll of twine +from Clutterham, and laid it out along the alleys from the entrance to +the centre, tying the end to the ring at the top of the globe. This +expedient helped him to set out a rough plan before luncheon, and in the +afternoon he was able to draw it in more neatly. Towards tea-time Mr +Cooper joined him, and was much interested in his progress. 'Now this--' +said Mr Cooper, laying his hand on the globe, and then drawing it away +hastily. 'Whew! Holds the heat, doesn't it, to a surprising degree, Mr +Humphreys. I suppose this metal--copper, isn't it?--would be an insulator +or conductor, or whatever they call it.' + +'The sun has been pretty strong this afternoon,' said Humphreys, evading +the scientific point, 'but I didn't notice the globe had got hot. No--it +doesn't seem very hot to me,' he added. + +'Odd!' said Mr Cooper. 'Now I can't hardly bear my hand on it. Something +in the difference of temperament between us, I suppose. I dare say you're +a chilly subject, Mr Humphreys: I'm not: and there's where the +distinction lies. All this summer I've slept, if you'll believe me, +practically _in statu quo_, and had my morning tub as cold as I could get +it. Day out and day in--let me assist you with that string.' + +'It's all right, thanks; but if you'll collect some of these pencils and +things that are lying about I shall be much obliged. Now I think we've +got everything, and we might get back to the house.' + +They left the maze, Humphreys rolling up the clue as they went. + +The night was rainy. + +Most unfortunately it turned out that, whether by Cooper's fault or not, +the plan had been the one thing forgotten the evening before. As was to +be expected, it was ruined by the wet. There was nothing for it but to +begin again (the job would not be a long one this time). The clue +therefore was put in place once more and a fresh start made. But +Humphreys had not done much before an interruption came in the shape of +Calton with a telegram. His late chief in London wanted to consult him. +Only a brief interview was wanted, but the summons was urgent. This was +annoying, yet it was not really upsetting; there was a train available in +half an hour, and, unless things went very cross, he could be back, +possibly by five o'clock, certainly by eight. He gave the plan to Calton +to take to the house, but it was not worth while to remove the clue. + +All went as he had hoped. He spent a rather exciting evening in the +library, for he lighted tonight upon a cupboard where some of the rarer +books were kept. When he went up to bed he was glad to find that the +servant had remembered to leave his curtains undrawn and his windows +open. He put down his light, and went to the window which commanded a +view of the garden and the park. It was a brilliant moonlight night. In a +few weeks' time the sonorous winds of autumn would break up all this +calm. But now the distant woods were in a deep stillness; the slopes of +the lawns were shining with dew; the colours of some of the flowers could +almost be guessed. The light of the moon just caught the cornice of the +temple and the curve of its leaden dome, and Humphreys had to own that, +so seen, these conceits of a past age have a real beauty. In short, the +light, the perfume of the woods, and the absolute quiet called up such +kind old associations in his mind that he went on ruminating them for a +long, long time. As he turned from the window he felt he had never seen +anything more complete of its sort. The one feature that struck him with +a sense of incongruity was a small Irish yew, thin and black, which stood +out like an outpost of the shrubbery, through which the maze was +approached. That, he thought, might as well be away: the wonder was that +anyone should have thought it would look well in that position. + + * * * * * + +However, next morning, in the press of answering letters and going over +books with Mr Cooper, the Irish yew was forgotten. One letter, by the +way, arrived this day which has to be mentioned. It was from that Lady +Wardrop whom Miss Cooper had mentioned, and it renewed the application +which she had addressed to Mr Wilson. She pleaded, in the first place, +that she was about to publish a Book of Mazes, and earnestly desired to +include the plan of the Wilsthorpe Maze, and also that it would be a +great kindness if Mr Humphreys could let her see it (if at all) at an +early date, since she would soon have to go abroad for the winter months. +Her house at Bentley was not far distant, so Humphreys was able to send a +note by hand to her suggesting the very next day or the day after for her +visit; it may be said at once that the messenger brought back a most +grateful answer, to the effect that the morrow would suit her admirably. + +The only other event of the day was that the plan of the maze was +successfully finished. + +This night again was fair and brilliant and calm, and Humphreys lingered +almost as long at his window. The Irish yew came to his mind again as he +was on the point of drawing his curtains: but either he had been misled +by a shadow the night before, or else the shrub was not really so +obtrusive as he had fancied. Anyhow, he saw no reason for interfering +with it. What he _would_ do away with, however, was a clump of dark +growth which had usurped a place against the house wall, and was +threatening to obscure one of the lower range of windows. It did not look +as if it could possibly be worth keeping; he fancied it dank and +unhealthy, little as he could see of it. + +Next day (it was a Friday--he had arrived at Wilsthorpe on a Monday) Lady +Wardrop came over in her car soon after luncheon. She was a stout elderly +person, very full of talk of all sorts and particularly inclined to make +herself agreeable to Humphreys, who had gratified her very much by his +ready granting of her request. They made a thorough exploration of the +place together; and Lady Wardrop's opinion of her host obviously rose +sky-high when she found that he really knew something of gardening. She +entered enthusiastically into all his plans for improvement, but agreed +that it would be a vandalism to interfere with the characteristic +laying-out of the ground near the house. With the temple she was +particularly delighted, and, said she, 'Do you know, Mr Humphreys, I +think your bailiff must be right about those lettered blocks of stone. +One of my mazes--I'm sorry to say the stupid people have destroyed it +now--it was at a place in Hampshire--had the track marked out in that +way. They were tiles there, but lettered just like yours, and the +letters, taken in the right order, formed an inscription--what it was I +forget--something about Theseus and Ariadne. I have a copy of it, as well +as the plan of the maze where it was. How people can do such things! I +shall never forgive you if you injure _your_ maze. Do you know, they're +becoming very uncommon? Almost every year I hear of one being grubbed up. +Now, do let's get straight to it: or, if you're too busy, I know my way +there perfectly, and I'm not afraid of getting lost in it; I know too +much about mazes for that. Though I remember missing my lunch--not so +very long ago either--through getting entangled in the one at Busbury. +Well, of course, if you _can_ manage to come with me, that will be all +the nicer.' + +After this confident prelude justice would seem to require that Lady +Wardrop should have been hopelessly muddled by the Wilsthorpe maze. +Nothing of that kind happened: yet it is to be doubted whether she got +all the enjoyment from her new specimen that she expected. She was +interested--keenly interested--to be sure, and pointed out to Humphreys a +series of little depressions in the ground which, she thought, marked the +places of the lettered blocks. She told him, too, what other mazes +resembled his most closely in arrangement, and explained how it was +usually possible to date a maze to within twenty years by means of its +plan. This one, she already knew, must be about as old as 1780, and its +features were just what might be expected. The globe, furthermore, +completely absorbed her. It was unique in her experience, and she pored +over it for long. 'I should like a rubbing of that,' she said, 'if it +could possibly be made. Yes, I am sure you would be most kind about it, +Mr Humphreys, but I trust you won't attempt it on my account, I do +indeed; I shouldn't like to take any liberties here. I have the feeling +that it might be resented. Now, confess,' she went on, turning and facing +Humphreys, 'don't you feel--haven't you felt ever since you came in +here--that a watch is being kept on us, and that if we overstepped the +mark in any way there would be a--well, a pounce? No? _I_ do; and I don't +care how soon we are outside the gate.' + +'After all,' she said, when they were once more on their way to the +house, 'it may have been only the airlessness and the dull heat of that +place that pressed on my brain. Still, I'll take back one thing I said. +I'm not sure that I shan't forgive you after all, if I find next spring +that that maze has been grubbed up.' + +'Whether or no that's done, you shall have the plan, Lady Wardrop. I have +made one, and no later than tonight I can trace you a copy.' + +'Admirable: a pencil tracing will be all I want, with an indication of +the scale. I can easily have it brought into line with the rest of my +plates. Many, many thanks.' + +'Very well, you shall have that tomorrow. I wish you could help me to a +solution of my block-puzzle.' + +'What, those stones in the summer-house? That _is_ a puzzle; they are in +no sort of order? Of course not. But the men who put them down must have +had some directions--perhaps you'll find a paper about it among your +uncle's things. If not, you'll have to call in somebody who's an expert +in ciphers.' + +'Advise me about something else, please,' said Humphreys. 'That +bush-thing under the library window: you would have that away, wouldn't +you?' + +'Which? That? Oh, I think not,' said Lady Wardrop. 'I can't see it very +well from this distance, but it's not unsightly.' + +'Perhaps you're right; only, looking out of my window, just above it, +last night, I thought it took up too much room. It doesn't seem to, as +one sees it from here, certainly. Very well, I'll leave it alone for a +bit.' + +Tea was the next business, soon after which Lady Wardrop drove off; but, +half-way down the drive, she stopped the car and beckoned to Humphreys, +who was still on the front-door steps. He ran to glean her parting words, +which were: 'It just occurs to me, it might be worth your while to look +at the underside of those stones. They _must_ have been numbered, mustn't +they? _Good_-bye again. Home, please.' + + * * * * * + +The main occupation of this evening at any rate was settled. The tracing +of the plan for Lady Wardrop and the careful collation of it with the +original meant a couple of hours' work at least. Accordingly, soon after +nine Humphreys had his materials put out in the library and began. It was +a still, stuffy evening; windows had to stand open, and he had more than +one grisly encounter with a bat. These unnerving episodes made him keep +the tail of his eye on the window. Once or twice it was a question +whether there was--not a bat, but something more considerable--that had a +mind to join him. How unpleasant it would be if someone had slipped +noiselessly over the sill and was crouching on the floor! + +The tracing of the plan was done: it remained to compare it with the +original, and to see whether any paths had been wrongly closed or left +open. With one finger on each paper, he traced out the course that must +be followed from the entrance. There were one or two slight mistakes, but +here, near the centre, was a bad confusion, probably due to the entry of +the Second or Third Bat. Before correcting the copy he followed out +carefully the last turnings of the path on the original. These, at least, +were right; they led without a hitch to the middle space. Here was a +feature which need not be repeated on the copy--an ugly black spot about +the size of a shilling. Ink? No. It resembled a hole, but how should a +hole be there? He stared at it with tired eyes: the work of tracing had +been very laborious, and he was drowsy and oppressed... But surely this +was a very odd hole. It seemed to go not only through the paper, but +through the table on which it lay. Yes, and through the floor below that, +down, and still down, even into infinite depths. He craned over it, +utterly bewildered. Just as, when you were a child, you may have pored +over a square inch of counterpane until it became a landscape with wooded +hills, and perhaps even churches and houses, and you lost all thought of +the true size of yourself and it, so this hole seemed to Humphreys for +the moment the only thing in the world. For some reason it was hateful to +him from the first, but he had gazed at it for some moments before any +feeling of anxiety came upon him; and then it did come, stronger and +stronger--a horror lest something might emerge from it, and a really +agonizing conviction that a terror was on its way, from the sight of +which he would not be able to escape. Oh yes, far, far down there was a +movement, and the movement was upwards--towards the surface. Nearer and +nearer it came, and it was of a blackish-grey colour with more than one +dark hole. It took shape as a face--a human face--a _burnt_ human face: +and with the odious writhings of a wasp creeping out of a rotten apple +there clambered forth an appearance of a form, waving black arms prepared +to clasp the head that was bending over them. With a convulsion of +despair Humphreys threw himself back, struck his head against a hanging +lamp, and fell. + +There was concussion of the brain, shock to the system, and a long +confinement to bed. The doctor was badly puzzled, not by the symptoms, +but by a request which Humphreys made to him as soon as he was able to +say anything. 'I wish you would open the ball in the maze.' 'Hardly room +enough there, I should have thought,' was the best answer he could summon +up; 'but it's more in your way than mine; my dancing days are over.' At +which Humphreys muttered and turned over to sleep, and the doctor +intimated to the nurses that the patient was not out of the wood yet. +When he was better able to express his views, Humphreys made his meaning +clear, and received a promise that the thing should be done at once. He +was so anxious to learn the result that the doctor, who seemed a little +pensive next morning, saw that more harm than good would be done by +saving up his report. 'Well,' he said, 'I am afraid the ball is done for; +the metal must have worn thin, I suppose. Anyhow, it went all to bits +with the first blow of the chisel.' 'Well? go on, do!' said Humphreys +impatiently. 'Oh! you want to know what we found in it, of course. Well, +it was half full of stuff like ashes.' 'Ashes? What did you make of them?' +'I haven't thoroughly examined them yet; there's hardly been time: but +Cooper's made up his mind--I dare say from something I said--that it's a +case of cremation... Now don't excite yourself, my good sir: yes, I must +allow I think he's probably right.' + +The maze is gone, and Lady Wardrop has forgiven Humphreys; in fact, I +believe he married her niece. She was right, too, in her conjecture that +the stones in the temple were numbered. There had been a numeral painted +on the bottom of each. Some few of these had rubbed off, but enough +remained to enable Humphreys to reconstruct the inscription. It ran thus: + + PENETRANS AD INTERIORA MORTIS + +Grateful as Humphreys was to the memory of his uncle, he could not quite +forgive him for having burnt the journals and letters of the James Wilson +who had gifted Wilsthorpe with the maze and the temple. As to the +circumstances of that ancestor's death and burial no tradition survived; +but his will, which was almost the only record of him accessible, +assigned an unusually generous legacy to a servant who bore an Italian +name. + +Mr Cooper's view is that, humanly speaking, all these many solemn events +have a meaning for us, if our limited intelligence permitted of our +disintegrating it, while Mr Calton has been reminded of an aunt now gone +from us, who, about the year 1866, had been lost for upwards of an hour +and a half in the maze at Covent Gardens, or it might be Hampton Court. + +One of the oddest things in the whole series of transactions is that the +book which contained the Parable has entirely disappeared. Humphreys has +never been able to find it since he copied out the passage to send to +Lady Wardrop. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Ghost Stories of an Antiquary +by Montague Rhodes James + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY *** + +This file should be named 7jgs210.txt or 7jgs210.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7jgs211.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7jgs210a.txt + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Thomas Berger, and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Ghost Stories of an Antiquary + Part 2: More Ghost Stories + +Author: Montague Rhodes James + +Release Date: January, 2006 [EBook #9629] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 11, 2003] +[Date last updated: January 15, 2005] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Thomas Berger, and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +PART 2: More Ghost Stories + + +M.R. JAMES + +GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY + + + +_These stories are dedicated to all those who at various times have +listened to them._ + + + +CONTENTS + +PART I: GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY + +Canon Alberic's Scrap-book +Lost Hearts +The Mezzotint +The Ash-tree +Number 13 +Count Magnus +'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad' +The Treasure of Abbot Thomas + +PART 2: MORE GHOST STORIES + +A School Story +The Rose Garden +The Tractate Middoth +Casting the Runes +The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral +Martin's Close +Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance + + * * * * * + +The first six of the seven tales were Christmas productions, the very +first ('A School Story') having been made up for the benefit of King's +College Choir School. 'The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral' was printed in +_Contemporary Review_; 'Mr Humphreys and his Inheritance' was written to +fill up the volume. In 'A School Story' I had Temple Grove, East Sheen in +mind; in 'The Tractate Middoth', Cambridge University Library; in +'Martin's Close', Sampford Courtenay in Devon. The Cathedral of +Barchester is a blend of Canterbury, Salisbury, and Hereford. + +M.R. JAMES + + * * * * * + +A SCHOOL STORY + +Two men in a smoking-room were talking of their private-school days. 'At +_our_ school,' said A., 'we had a ghost's footmark on the staircase. What +was it like? Oh, very unconvincing. Just the shape of a shoe, with a +square toe, if I remember right. The staircase was a stone one. I never +heard any story about the thing. That seems odd, when you come to think +of it. Why didn't somebody invent one, I wonder?' + +'You never can tell with little boys. They have a mythology of their own. +There's a subject for you, by the way--"The Folklore of Private +Schools".' + +'Yes; the crop is rather scanty, though. I imagine, if you were to +investigate the cycle of ghost stories, for instance, which the boys at +private schools tell each other, they would all turn out to be +highly-compressed versions of stories out of books.' + +'Nowadays the _Strand_ and _Pearson's_, and so on, would be extensively +drawn upon.' + +'No doubt: they weren't born or thought of in _my_ time. Let's see. I +wonder if I can remember the staple ones that I was told. First, there +was the house with a room in which a series of people insisted on passing +a night; and each of them in the morning was found kneeling in a corner, +and had just time to say, "I've seen it," and died.' + +'Wasn't that the house in Berkeley Square?' + +'I dare say it was. Then there was the man who heard a noise in the +passage at night, opened his door, and saw someone crawling towards him +on all fours with his eye hanging out on his cheek. There was besides, +let me think--Yes! the room where a man was found dead in bed with a +horseshoe mark on his forehead, and the floor under the bed was covered +with marks of horseshoes also; I don't know why. Also there was the lady +who, on locking her bedroom door in a strange house, heard a thin voice +among the bed-curtains say, "Now we're shut in for the night." None of +those had any explanation or sequel. I wonder if they go on still, those +stories.' + +'Oh, likely enough--with additions from the magazines, as I said. You +never heard, did you, of a real ghost at a private school? I thought not; +nobody has that ever I came across.' + +'From the way in which you said that, I gather that _you_ have.' + +'I really don't know; but this is what was in my mind. It happened at my +private school thirty odd years ago, and I haven't any explanation of it. + +'The school I mean was near London. It was established in a large and +fairly old house--a great white building with very fine grounds about it; +there were large cedars in the garden, as there are in so many of the +older gardens in the Thames valley, and ancient elms in the three or four +fields which we used for our games. I think probably it was quite an +attractive place, but boys seldom allow that their schools possess any +tolerable features. + +'I came to the school in a September, soon after the year 1870; and among +the boys who arrived on the same day was one whom I took to: a Highland +boy, whom I will call McLeod. I needn't spend time in describing him: the +main thing is that I got to know him very well. He was not an exceptional +boy in any way--not particularly good at books or games--but he suited +me. + +'The school was a large one: there must have been from 120 to 130 boys +there as a rule, and so a considerable staff of masters was required, and +there were rather frequent changes among them. + +'One term--perhaps it was my third or fourth--a new master made his +appearance. His name was Sampson. He was a tallish, stoutish, pale, +black-bearded man. I think we liked him: he had travelled a good deal, +and had stories which amused us on our school walks, so that there was +some competition among us to get within earshot of him. I remember +too--dear me, I have hardly thought of it since then!--that he had a +charm on his watch-chain that attracted my attention one day, and he let +me examine it. It was, I now suppose, a gold Byzantine coin; there was an +effigy of some absurd emperor on one side; the other side had been worn +practically smooth, and he had had cut on it--rather barbarously--his own +initials, G.W.S., and a date, 24 July, 1865. Yes, I can see it now: he +told me he had picked it up in Constantinople: it was about the size of a +florin, perhaps rather smaller. + +'Well, the first odd thing that happened was this. Sampson was doing +Latin grammar with us. One of his favourite methods--perhaps it is rather +a good one--was to make us construct sentences out of our own heads to +illustrate the rules he was trying to make us learn. Of course that is a +thing which gives a silly boy a chance of being impertinent: there are +lots of school stories in which that happens--or anyhow there might be. +But Sampson was too good a disciplinarian for us to think of trying that +on with him. Now, on this occasion he was telling us how to express +_remembering_ in Latin: and he ordered us each to make a sentence +bringing in the verb _memini_, "I remember." Well, most of us made up +some ordinary sentence such as "I remember my father," or "He remembers +his book," or something equally uninteresting: and I dare say a good many +put down _memino librum meum_, and so forth: but the boy I +mentioned--McLeod--was evidently thinking of something more elaborate +than that. The rest of us wanted to have our sentences passed, and get on +to something else, so some kicked him under the desk, and I, who was next +to him, poked him and whispered to him to look sharp. But he didn't seem +to attend. I looked at his paper and saw he had put down nothing at all. +So I jogged him again harder than before and upbraided him sharply for +keeping us all waiting. That did have some effect. He started and seemed +to wake up, and then very quickly he scribbled about a couple of lines on +his paper, and showed it up with the rest. As it was the last, or nearly +the last, to come in, and as Sampson had a good deal to say to the boys +who had written _meminiscimus patri meo_ and the rest of it, it turned +out that the clock struck twelve before he had got to McLeod, and McLeod +had to wait afterwards to have his sentence corrected. There was nothing +much going on outside when I got out, so I waited for him to come. He +came very slowly when he did arrive, and I guessed there had been some +sort of trouble. "Well," I said, "what did you get?" "Oh, I don't know," +said McLeod, "nothing much: but I think Sampson's rather sick with me." +"Why, did you show him up some rot?" "No fear," he said. "It was all +right as far as I could see: it was like this: _Memento_--that's right +enough for remember, and it takes a genitive,--_memento putei inter +quatuor taxos_." "What silly rot!" I said. "What made you shove that +down? What does it mean?" "That's the funny part," said McLeod. "I'm not +quite sure what it does mean. All I know is, it just came into my head +and I corked it down. I know what I _think_ it means, because just before +I wrote it down I had a sort of picture of it in my head: I believe it +means 'Remember the well among the four'--what are those dark sort of +trees that have red berries on them?" "Mountain ashes, I s'pose you +mean." "I never heard of them," said McLeod; "no, _I'll_ tell you--yews." +"Well, and what did Sampson say?" "Why, he was jolly odd about it. When +he read it he got up and went to the mantelpiece and stopped quite a long +time without saying anything, with his back to me. And then he said, +without turning round, and rather quiet, 'What do you suppose that +means?' I told him what I thought; only I couldn't remember the name of +the silly tree: and then he wanted to know why I put it down, and I had +to say something or other. And after that he left off talking about it, +and asked me how long I'd been here, and where my people lived, and +things like that: and then I came away: but he wasn't looking a bit +well." + +'I don't remember any more that was said by either of us about this. Next +day McLeod took to his bed with a chill or something of the kind, and it +was a week or more before he was in school again. And as much as a month +went by without anything happening that was noticeable. Whether or not Mr +Sampson was really startled, as McLeod had thought, he didn't show it. I +am pretty sure, of course, now, that there was something very curious in +his past history, but I'm not going to pretend that we boys were sharp +enough to guess any such thing. + +'There was one other incident of the same kind as the last which I told +you. Several times since that day we had had to make up examples in +school to illustrate different rules, but there had never been any row +except when we did them wrong. At last there came a day when we were +going through those dismal things which people call Conditional +Sentences, and we were told to make a conditional sentence, expressing a +future consequence. We did it, right or wrong, and showed up our bits of +paper, and Sampson began looking through them. All at once he got up, +made some odd sort of noise in his throat, and rushed out by a door that +was just by his desk. We sat there for a minute or two, and then--I +suppose it was incorrect--but we went up, I and one or two others, to +look at the papers on his desk. Of course I thought someone must have put +down some nonsense or other, and Sampson had gone off to report him. All +the same, I noticed that he hadn't taken any of the papers with him when +he ran out. Well, the top paper on the desk was written in red ink--which +no one used--and it wasn't in anyone's hand who was in the class. They +all looked at it--McLeod and all--and took their dying oaths that it +wasn't theirs. Then I thought of counting the bits of paper. And of this +I made quite certain: that there were seventeen bits of paper on the +desk, and sixteen boys in the form. Well, I bagged the extra paper, and +kept it, and I believe I have it now. And now you will want to know what +was written on it. It was simple enough, and harmless enough, I should +have said. + +'"_Si tu non veneris ad me, ego veniam ad te_," which means, I suppose, +"If you don't come to me, I'll come to you."' + +'Could you show me the paper?' interrupted the listener. + +'Yes, I could: but there's another odd thing about it. That same +afternoon I took it out of my locker--I know for certain it was the same +bit, for I made a finger-mark on it--and no single trace of writing of +any kind was there on it. I kept it, as I said, and since that time I +have tried various experiments to see whether sympathetic ink had been +used, but absolutely without result. + +'So much for that. After about half an hour Sampson looked in again: said +he had felt very unwell, and told us we might go. He came rather gingerly +to his desk and gave just one look at the uppermost paper: and I suppose +he thought he must have been dreaming: anyhow, he asked no questions. + +'That day was a half-holiday, and next day Sampson was in school again, +much as usual. That night the third and last incident in my story +happened. + +'We--McLeod and I--slept in a dormitory at right angles to the main +building. Sampson slept in the main building on the first floor. There +was a very bright full moon. At an hour which I can't tell exactly, but +some time between one and two, I was woken up by somebody shaking me. It +was McLeod; and a nice state of mind he seemed to be in. "Come," he +said,--"come! there's a burglar getting in through Sampson's window." As +soon as I could speak, I said, "Well, why not call out and wake everybody +up?" "No, no," he said, "I'm not sure who it is: don't make a row: come +and look." Naturally I came and looked, and naturally there was no one +there. I was cross enough, and should have called McLeod plenty of names: +only--I couldn't tell why--it seemed to me that there _was_ something +wrong--something that made me very glad I wasn't alone to face it. We +were still at the window looking out, and as soon as I could, I asked him +what he had heard or seen. "I didn't _hear_ anything at all," he said, +"but about five minutes before I woke you, I found myself looking out of +this window here, and there was a man sitting or kneeling on Sampson's +window-sill, and looking in, and I thought he was beckoning." "What sort +of man?" McLeod wriggled. "I don't know," he said, "but I can tell you +one thing--he was beastly thin: and he looked as if he was wet all over: +and," he said, looking round and whispering as if he hardly liked to hear +himself, "I'm not at all sure that he was alive." + +'We went on talking in whispers some time longer, and eventually crept +back to bed. No one else in the room woke or stirred the whole time. I +believe we did sleep a bit afterwards, but we were very cheap next day. + +'And next day Mr Sampson was gone: not to be found: and I believe no +trace of him has ever come to light since. In thinking it over, one of +the oddest things about it all has seemed to me to be the fact that +neither McLeod nor I ever mentioned what we had seen to any third person +whatever. Of course no questions were asked on the subject, and if they +had been, I am inclined to believe that we could not have made any +answer: we seemed unable to speak about it. + +'That is my story,' said the narrator. 'The only approach to a ghost +story connected with a school that I know, but still, I think, an +approach to such a thing.' + + * * * * * + +The sequel to this may perhaps be reckoned highly conventional; but a +sequel there is, and so it must be produced. There had been more than one +listener to the story, and, in the latter part of that same year, or of +the next, one such listener was staying at a country house in Ireland. + +One evening his host was turning over a drawer full of odds and ends in +the smoking-room. Suddenly he put his hand upon a little box. 'Now,' he +said, 'you know about old things; tell me what that is.' My friend opened +the little box, and found in it a thin gold chain with an object attached +to it. He glanced at the object and then took off his spectacles to +examine it more narrowly. 'What's the history of this?' he asked. 'Odd +enough,' was the answer. 'You know the yew thicket in the shrubbery: +well, a year or two back we were cleaning out the old well that used to +be in the clearing here, and what do you suppose we found?' + +'Is it possible that you found a body?' said the visitor, with an odd +feeling of nervousness. + +'We did that: but what's more, in every sense of the word, we found two.' + +'Good Heavens! Two? Was there anything to show how they got there? Was +this thing found with them?' + +'It was. Amongst the rags of the clothes that were on one of the bodies. +A bad business, whatever the story of it may have been. One body had the +arms tight round the other. They must have been there thirty years or +more--long enough before we came to this place. You may judge we filled +the well up fast enough. Do you make anything of what's cut on that gold +coin you have there?' + +'I think I can,' said my friend, holding it to the light (but he read it +without much difficulty); 'it seems to be G.W.S., 24 July, 1865.' + + + + +THE ROSE GARDEN + +Mr and Mrs Anstruther were at breakfast in the parlour of Westfield Hall, +in the county of Essex. They were arranging plans for the day. + +'George,' said Mrs Anstruther, 'I think you had better take the car to +Maldon and see if you can get any of those knitted things I was speaking +about which would do for my stall at the bazaar.' + +'Oh well, if you wish it, Mary, of course I can do that, but I had half +arranged to play a round with Geoffrey Williamson this morning. The +bazaar isn't till Thursday of next week, is it?' + +'What has that to do with it, George? I should have thought you would +have guessed that if I can't get the things I want in Maldon I shall have +to write to all manner of shops in town: and they are certain to send +something quite unsuitable in price or quality the first time. If you +have actually made an appointment with Mr Williamson, you had better keep +it, but I must say I think you might have let me know.' + +'Oh no, no, it wasn't really an appointment. I quite see what you mean. +I'll go. And what shall you do yourself?' + +'Why, when the work of the house is arranged for, I must see about laying +out my new rose garden. By the way, before you start for Maldon I wish +you would just take Collins to look at the place I fixed upon. You know +it, of course.' + +'Well, I'm not quite sure that I do, Mary. Is it at the upper end, +towards the village?' + +'Good gracious no, my dear George; I thought I had made that quite clear. +No, it's that small clearing just off the shrubbery path that goes +towards the church.' + +'Oh yes, where we were saying there must have been a summer-house once: +the place with the old seat and the posts. But do you think there's +enough sun there?' + +'My dear George, do allow me _some_ common sense, and don't credit me +with all your ideas about summer-houses. Yes, there will be plenty of sun +when we have got rid of some of those box-bushes. I know what you are +going to say, and I have as little wish as you to strip the place bare. +All I want Collins to do is to clear away the old seats and the posts and +things before I come out in an hour's time. And I hope you will manage to +get off fairly soon. After luncheon I think I shall go on with my sketch +of the church; and if you please you can go over to the links, or--' + +'Ah, a good idea--very good! Yes, you finish that sketch, Mary, and I +should be glad of a round.' + +'I was going to say, you might call on the Bishop; but I suppose it is no +use my making _any_ suggestion. And now do be getting ready, or half the +morning will be gone.' + +Mr Anstruther's face, which had shown symptoms of lengthening, shortened +itself again, and he hurried from the room, and was soon heard giving +orders in the passage. Mrs Anstruther, a stately dame of some fifty +summers, proceeded, after a second consideration of the morning's +letters, to her housekeeping. + +Within a few minutes Mr Anstruther had discovered Collins in the +greenhouse, and they were on their way to the site of the projected rose +garden. I do not know much about the conditions most suitable to these +nurseries, but I am inclined to believe that Mrs Anstruther, though in +the habit of describing herself as 'a great gardener', had not been well +advised in the selection of a spot for the purpose. It was a small, dank +clearing, bounded on one side by a path, and on the other by thick +box-bushes, laurels, and other evergreens. The ground was almost bare of +grass and dark of aspect. Remains of rustic seats and an old and +corrugated oak post somewhere near the middle of the clearing had given +rise to Mr Anstruther's conjecture that a summer-house had once stood +there. + +Clearly Collins had not been put in possession of his mistress's +intentions with regard to this plot of ground: and when he learnt them +from Mr Anstruther he displayed no enthusiasm. + +'Of course I could clear them seats away soon enough,' he said. 'They +aren't no ornament to the place, Mr Anstruther, and rotten too. Look +'ere, sir,'--and he broke off a large piece--'rotten right through. Yes, +clear them away, to be sure we can do that.' + +'And the post,' said Mr Anstruther, 'that's got to go too.' + +Collins advanced, and shook the post with both hands: then he rubbed his +chin. + +'That's firm in the ground, that post is,' he said. 'That's been there a +number of years, Mr Anstruther. I doubt I shan't get that up not quite so +soon as what I can do with them seats.' + +'But your mistress specially wishes it to be got out of the way in an +hour's time,' said Mr Anstruther. + +Collins smiled and shook his head slowly. 'You'll excuse me, sir, but you +feel of it for yourself. No, sir, no one can't do what's impossible to +'em, can they, sir? I could git that post up by after tea-time, sir, but +that'll want a lot of digging. What you require, you see, sir, if you'll +excuse me naming of it, you want the soil loosening round this post 'ere, +and me and the boy we shall take a little time doing of that. But now, +these 'ere seats,' said Collins, appearing to appropriate this portion of +the scheme as due to his own resourcefulness, 'why, I can get the barrer +round and 'ave them cleared away in, why less than an hour's time from +now, if you'll permit of it. Only--' + +'Only what, Collins?' + +'Well now, ain't for me to go against orders no more than what it is for +you yourself--or anyone else' (this was added somewhat hurriedly), 'but +if you'll pardon me, sir, this ain't the place I should have picked out +for no rose garden myself. Why look at them box and laurestinus, 'ow they +reg'lar preclude the light from--' + +'Ah yes, but we've got to get rid of some of them, of course.' + +'Oh, indeed, get rid of them! Yes, to be sure, but--I beg your pardon, Mr +Anstruther--' + +'I'm sorry, Collins, but I must be getting on now. I hear the car at the +door. Your mistress will explain exactly what she wishes. I'll tell her, +then, that you can see your way to clearing away the seats at once, and +the post this afternoon. Good morning.' + +Collins was left rubbing his chin. Mrs Anstruther received the report +with some discontent, but did not insist upon any change of plan. + +By four o'clock that afternoon she had dismissed her husband to his golf, +had dealt faithfully with Collins and with the other duties of the day, +and, having sent a campstool and umbrella to the proper spot, had just +settled down to her sketch of the church as seen from the shrubbery, when +a maid came hurrying down the path to report that Miss Wilkins had +called. + +Miss Wilkins was one of the few remaining members of the family from whom +the Anstruthers had bought the Westfield estate some few years back. She +had been staying in the neighbourhood, and this was probably a farewell +visit. 'Perhaps you could ask Miss Wilkins to join me here,' said Mrs +Anstruther, and soon Miss Wilkins, a person of mature years, approached. + +'Yes, I'm leaving the Ashes to-morrow, and I shall be able to tell my +brother how tremendously you have improved the place. Of course he can't +help regretting the old house just a little--as I do myself--but the +garden is really delightful now.' + +'I am so glad you can say so. But you mustn't think we've finished our +improvements. Let me show you where I mean to put a rose garden. It's +close by here.' + +The details of the project were laid before Miss Wilkins at some length; +but her thoughts were evidently elsewhere. + +'Yes, delightful,' she said at last rather absently. 'But do you know, +Mrs Anstruther, I'm afraid I was thinking of old times. I'm _very_ glad +to have seen just this spot again before you altered it. Frank and I had +quite a romance about this place.' + +'Yes?' said Mrs Anstruther smilingly; 'do tell me what it was. Something +quaint and charming, I'm sure.' + +'Not so very charming, but it has always seemed to me curious. Neither of +us would ever be here alone when we were children, and I'm not sure that +I should care about it now in certain moods. It is one of those things +that can hardly be put into words--by me at least--and that sound rather +foolish if they are not properly expressed. I can tell you after a +fashion what it was that gave us--well, almost a horror of the place when +we were alone. It was towards the evening of one very hot autumn day, +when Frank had disappeared mysteriously about the grounds, and I was +looking for him to fetch him to tea, and going down this path I suddenly +saw him, not hiding in the bushes, as I rather expected, but sitting on +the bench in the old summer-house--there was a wooden summer-house here, +you know--up in the corner, asleep, but with such a dreadful look on his +face that I really thought he must be ill or even dead. I rushed at him +and shook him, and told him to wake up; and wake up he did, with a +scream. I assure you the poor boy seemed almost beside himself with +fright. He hurried me away to the house, and was in a terrible state all +that night, hardly sleeping. Someone had to sit up with him, as far as I +remember. He was better very soon, but for days I couldn't get him to say +why he had been in such a condition. It came out at last that he had +really been asleep and had had a very odd disjointed sort of dream. He +never _saw_ much of what was around him, but he _felt_ the scenes most +vividly. First he made out that he was standing in a large room with a +number of people in it, and that someone was opposite to him who was +"very powerful", and he was being asked questions which he felt to be +very important, and, whenever he answered them, someone--either the +person opposite to him, or someone else in the room--seemed to be, as he +said, making something up against him. All the voices sounded to him very +distant, but he remembered bits of the things that were said: "Where were +you on the 19th of October?" and "Is this your handwriting?" and so on. I +can see now, of course, that he was dreaming of some trial: but we were +never allowed to see the papers, and it was odd that a boy of eight +should have such a vivid idea of what went on in a court. All the time he +felt, he said, the most intense anxiety and oppression and hopelessness +(though I don't suppose he used such words as that to me). Then, after +that, there was an interval in which he remembered being dreadfully +restless and miserable, and then there came another sort of picture, when +he was aware that he had come out of doors on a dark raw morning with a +little snow about. It was in a street, or at any rate among houses, and +he felt that there were numbers and numbers of people there too, and that +he was taken up some creaking wooden steps and stood on a sort of +platform, but the only thing he could actually see was a small fire +burning somewhere near him. Someone who had been holding his arm left +hold of it and went towards this fire, and then he said the fright he was +in was worse than at any other part of his dream, and if I had not +wakened him up he didn't know what would have become of him. A curious +dream for a child to have, wasn't it? Well, so much for that. It must +have been later in the year that Frank and I were here, and I was sitting +in the arbour just about sunset. I noticed the sun was going down, and +told Frank to run in and see if tea was ready while I finished a chapter +in the book I was reading. Frank was away longer than I expected, and the +light was going so fast that I had to bend over my book to make it out. +All at once I became conscious that someone was whispering to me inside +the arbour. The only words I could distinguish, or thought I could, were +something like "Pull, pull. I'll push, you pull." + +'I started up in something of a fright. The voice--it was little more +than a whisper--sounded so hoarse and angry, and yet as if it came from a +long, long way off--just as it had done in Frank's dream. But, though I +was startled, I had enough courage to look round and try to make out +where the sound came from. And--this sounds very foolish, I know, but +still it is the fact--I made sure that it was strongest when I put my ear +to an old post which was part of the end of the seat. I was so certain of +this that I remember making some marks on the post--as deep as I could +with the scissors out of my work-basket. I don't know why. I wonder, by +the way, whether that isn't the very post itself.... Well, yes, it might +be: there _are_ marks and scratches on it--but one can't be sure. Anyhow, +it was just like that post you have there. My father got to know that +both of us had had a fright in the arbour, and he went down there himself +one evening after dinner, and the arbour was pulled down at very short +notice. I recollect hearing my father talking about it to an old man who +used to do odd jobs in the place, and the old man saying, "Don't you fear +for that, sir: he's fast enough in there without no one don't take and +let him out." But when I asked who it was, I could get no satisfactory +answer. Possibly my father or mother might have told me more about it +when I grew up, but, as you know, they both died when we were still quite +children. I must say it has always seemed very odd to me, and I've often +asked the older people in the village whether they knew of anything +strange: but either they knew nothing or they wouldn't tell me. Dear, +dear, how I have been boring you with my childish remembrances! but +indeed that arbour did absorb our thoughts quite remarkably for a time. +You can fancy, can't you, the kind of stories that we made up for +ourselves. Well, dear Mrs Anstruther, I must be leaving you now. We shall +meet in town this winter, I hope, shan't we?' etc., etc. + +The seats and the post were cleared away and uprooted respectively by +that evening. Late summer weather is proverbially treacherous, and during +dinner-time Mrs Collins sent up to ask for a little brandy, because her +husband had took a nasty chill and she was afraid he would not be able to +do much next day. + +Mrs Anstruther's morning reflections were not wholly placid. She was sure +some roughs had got into the plantation during the night. 'And another +thing, George: the moment that Collins is about again, you must tell him +to do something about the owls. I never heard anything like them, and I'm +positive one came and perched somewhere just outside our window. If it +had come in I should have been out of my wits: it must have been a very +large bird, from its voice. Didn't you hear it? No, of course not, you +were sound asleep as usual. Still, I must say, George, you don't look as +if your night had done you much good.' + +'My dear, I feel as if another of the same would turn me silly. You have +no idea of the dreams I had. I couldn't speak of them when I woke up, and +if this room wasn't so bright and sunny I shouldn't care to think of them +even now.' + +'Well, really, George, that isn't very common with you, I must say. You +must have--no, you only had what I had yesterday--unless you had tea at +that wretched club house: did you?' + +'No, no; nothing but a cup of tea and some bread and butter. I should +really like to know how I came to put my dream together--as I suppose one +does put one's dreams together from a lot of little things one has been +seeing or reading. Look here, Mary, it was like this--if I shan't be +boring you--' + +'I _wish_ to hear what it was, George. I will tell you when I have had +enough.' + +'All right. I must tell you that it wasn't like other nightmares in one +way, because I didn't really _see_ anyone who spoke to me or touched me, +and yet I was most fearfully impressed with the reality of it all. First +I was sitting, no, moving about, in an old-fashioned sort of panelled +room. I remember there was a fireplace and a lot of burnt papers in it, +and I was in a great state of anxiety about something. There was someone +else--a servant, I suppose, because I remember saying to him, "Horses, as +quick as you can," and then waiting a bit: and next I heard several +people coming upstairs and a noise like spurs on a boarded floor, and +then the door opened and whatever it was that I was expecting happened.' + +'Yes, but what was that?' + +'You see, I couldn't tell: it was the sort of shock that upsets you in a +dream. You either wake up or else everything goes black. That was what +happened to me. Then I was in a big dark-walled room, panelled, I think, +like the other, and a number of people, and I was evidently--' + +'Standing your trial, I suppose, George.' + +'Goodness! yes, Mary, I was; but did you dream that too? How very odd!' + +'No, no; I didn't get enough sleep for that. Go on, George, and I will +tell you afterwards.' + +'Yes; well, I _was_ being tried, for my life, I've no doubt, from the +state I was in. I had no one speaking for me, and somewhere there was a +most fearful fellow--on the bench I should have said, only that he seemed +to be pitching into me most unfairly, and twisting everything I said, and +asking most abominable questions.' + +'What about?' + +'Why, dates when I was at particular places, and letters I was supposed +to have written, and why I had destroyed some papers; and I recollect his +laughing at answers I made in a way that quite daunted me. It doesn't +sound much, but I can tell you, Mary, it was really appalling at the +time. I am quite certain there was such a man once, and a most horrible +villain he must have been. The things he said--' + +'Thank you, I have no wish to hear them. I can go to the links any day +myself. How did it end?' + +'Oh, against me; _he_ saw to that. I do wish, Mary, I could give you a +notion of the strain that came after that, and seemed to me to last for +days: waiting and waiting, and sometimes writing things I knew to be +enormously important to me, and waiting for answers and none coming, and +after that I came out--' + +'Ah!' + +'What makes you say that? Do you know what sort of thing I saw?' + +'Was it a dark cold day, and snow in the streets, and a fire burning +somewhere near you?' + +'By George, it was! You _have_ had the same nightmare! Really not? Well, +it is the oddest thing! Yes; I've no doubt it was an execution for high +treason. I know I was laid on straw and jolted along most wretchedly, and +then had to go up some steps, and someone was holding my arm, and I +remember seeing a bit of a ladder and hearing a sound of a lot of people. +I really don't think I could bear now to go into a crowd of people and +hear the noise they make talking. However, mercifully, I didn't get to +the real business. The dream passed off with a sort of thunder inside my +head. But, Mary--' + +'I know what you are going to ask. I suppose this is an instance of a +kind of thought-reading. Miss Wilkins called yesterday and told me of a +dream her brother had as a child when they lived here, and something did +no doubt make me think of that when I was awake last night listening to +those horrible owls and those men talking and laughing in the shrubbery +(by the way, I wish you would see if they have done any damage, and speak +to the police about it); and so, I suppose, from my brain it must have +got into yours while you were asleep. Curious, no doubt, and I am sorry +it gave you such a bad night. You had better be as much in the fresh air +as you can to-day.' + +'Oh, it's all right now; but I think I _will_ go over to the Lodge and +see if I can get a game with any of them. And you?' + +'I have enough to do for this morning; and this afternoon, if I am not +interrupted, there is my drawing.' + +'To be sure--I want to see that finished very much.' + +No damage was discoverable in the shrubbery. Mr Anstruther surveyed with +faint interest the site of the rose garden, where the uprooted post still +lay, and the hole it had occupied remained unfilled. Collins, upon +inquiry made, proved to be better, but quite unable to come to his work. +He expressed, by the mouth of his wife, a hope that he hadn't done +nothing wrong clearing away them things. Mrs Collins added that there was +a lot of talking people in Westfield, and the hold ones was the worst: +seemed to think everything of them having been in the parish longer than +what other people had. But as to what they said no more could then be +ascertained than that it had quite upset Collins, and was a lot of +nonsense. + + * * * * * + +Recruited by lunch and a brief period of slumber, Mrs Anstruther settled +herself comfortably upon her sketching chair in the path leading through +the shrubbery to the side-gate of the churchyard. Trees and buildings +were among her favourite subjects, and here she had good studies of both. +She worked hard, and the drawing was becoming a really pleasant thing to +look upon by the time that the wooded hills to the west had shut off the +sun. Still she would have persevered, but the light changed rapidly, and +it became obvious that the last touches must be added on the morrow. She +rose and turned towards the house, pausing for a time to take delight in +the limpid green western sky. Then she passed on between the dark +box-bushes, and, at a point just before the path debouched on the lawn, +she stopped once again and considered the quiet evening landscape, and +made a mental note that that must be the tower of one of the Roothing +churches that one caught on the sky-line. Then a bird (perhaps) rustled +in the box-bush on her left, and she turned and started at seeing what at +first she took to be a Fifth of November mask peeping out among the +branches. She looked closer. + +It was not a mask. It was a face--large, smooth, and pink. She remembers +the minute drops of perspiration which were starting from its forehead: +she remembers how the jaws were clean-shaven and the eyes shut. She +remembers also, and with an accuracy which makes the thought intolerable +to her, how the mouth was open and a single tooth appeared below the +upper lip. As she looked the face receded into the darkness of the bush. +The shelter of the house was gained and the door shut before she +collapsed. + +Mr and Mrs Anstruther had been for a week or more recruiting at Brighton +before they received a circular from the Essex Archaeological Society, +and a query as to whether they possessed certain historical portraits +which it was desired to include in the forthcoming work on Essex +Portraits, to be published under the Society's auspices. There was an +accompanying letter from the Secretary which contained the following +passage: 'We are specially anxious to know whether you possess the +original of the engraving of which I enclose a photograph. It represents +Sir ---- ----, Lord Chief Justice under Charles II, who, as you doubtless +know, retired after his disgrace to Westfield, and is supposed to have +died there of remorse. It may interest you to hear that a curious entry +has recently been found in the registers, not of Westfield but of Priors +Roothing to the effect that the parish was so much troubled after his +death that the rector of Westfield summoned the parsons of all the +Roothings to come and lay him; which they did. The entry ends by saying: +"The stake is in a field adjoining to the churchyard of Westfield, on the +west side." Perhaps you can let us know if any tradition to this effect +is current in your parish.' + +The incidents which the 'enclosed photograph' recalled were productive of +a severe shock to Mrs Anstruther. It was decided that she must spend the +winter abroad. + +Mr Anstruther, when he went down to Westfield to make the necessary +arrangements, not unnaturally told his story to the rector (an old +gentleman), who showed little surprise. + +'Really I had managed to piece out for myself very much what must have +happened, partly from old people's talk and partly from what I saw in +your grounds. Of course we have suffered to some extent also. Yes, it was +bad at first: like owls, as you say, and men talking sometimes. One night +it was in this garden, and at other times about several of the cottages. +But lately there has been very little: I think it will die out. There is +nothing in our registers except the entry of the burial, and what I for a +long time took to be the family motto: but last time I looked at it I +noticed that it was added in a later hand and had the initials of one of +our rectors quite late in the seventeenth century, A. C.--Augustine +Crompton. Here it is, you see--_quieta non movere_. I suppose-- Well, it +is rather hard to say exactly what I do suppose.' + + + + +THE TRACTATE MIDDOTH + +Towards the end of an autumn afternoon an elderly man with a thin face +and grey Piccadilly weepers pushed open the swing-door leading into the +vestibule of a certain famous library, and addressing himself to an +attendant, stated that he believed he was entitled to use the library, +and inquired if he might take a book out. Yes, if he were on the list of +those to whom that privilege was given. He produced his card--Mr John +Eldred--and, the register being consulted, a favourable answer was given. +'Now, another point,' said he. 'It is a long time since I was here, and I +do not know my way about your building; besides, it is near closing-time, +and it is bad for me to hurry up and down stairs. I have here the title +of the book I want: is there anyone at liberty who could go and find it +for me?' After a moment's thought the doorkeeper beckoned to a young man +who was passing. 'Mr Garrett,' he said, 'have you a minute to assist this +gentleman?' 'With pleasure,' was Mr Garrett's answer. The slip with the +title was handed to him. 'I think I can put my hand on this; it happens +to be in the class I inspected last quarter, but I'll just look it up in +the catalogue to make sure. I suppose it is that particular edition that +you require, sir?' 'Yes, if you please; that, and no other,' said Mr +Eldred; 'I am exceedingly obliged to you.' 'Don't mention it I beg, sir,' +said Mr Garrett, and hurried off. + +'I thought so,' he said to himself, when his finger, travelling down the +pages of the catalogue, stopped at a particular entry. 'Talmud: Tractate +Middoth, with the commentary of Nachmanides, Amsterdam, 1707. 11.3.34. +Hebrew class, of course. Not a very difficult job this.' + +Mr Eldred, accommodated with a chair in the vestibule, awaited anxiously +the return of his messenger--and his disappointment at seeing an +empty-handed Mr Garrett running down the staircase was very evident. 'I'm +sorry to disappoint you, sir,' said the young man, 'but the book is out.' +'Oh dear!' said Mr Eldred, 'is that so? You are sure there can be no +mistake?' 'I don't think there is much chance of it, sir: but it's +possible, if you like to wait a minute, that you might meet the very +gentleman that's got it. He must be leaving the library soon, and I +_think_ I saw him take that particular book out of the shelf.' 'Indeed! +You didn't recognize him, I suppose? Would it be one of the professors or +one of the students?' 'I don't think so: certainly not a professor. I +should have known him; but the light isn't very good in that part of the +library at this time of day, and I didn't see his face. I should have +said he was a shortish old gentleman, perhaps a clergyman, in a cloak. If +you could wait, I can easily find out whether he wants the book very +particularly.' + +'No, no,' said Mr Eldred, 'I won't--I can't wait now, thank you--no. I +must be off. But I'll call again to-morrow if I may, and perhaps you +could find out who has it.' + +'Certainly, sir, and I'll have the book ready for you if we--' But Mr +Eldred was already off, and hurrying more than one would have thought +wholesome for him. + +Garrett had a few moments to spare; and, thought he, 'I'll go back to +that case and see if I can find the old man. Most likely he could put off +using the book for a few days. I dare say the other one doesn't want to +keep it for long.' So off with him to the Hebrew class. But when he got +there it was unoccupied, and the volume marked 11.3.34 was in its place +on the shelf. It was vexatious to Garrett's self-respect to have +disappointed an inquirer with so little reason: and he would have liked, +had it not been against library rules, to take the book down to the +vestibule then and there, so that it might be ready for Mr Eldred when he +called. However, next morning he would be on the look out for him, and he +begged the doorkeeper to send and let him know when the moment came. As a +matter of fact, he was himself in the vestibule when Mr Eldred arrived, +very soon after the library opened and when hardly anyone besides the +staff were in the building. + +'I'm very sorry,' he said; 'it's not often that I make such a stupid +mistake, but I did feel sure that the old gentleman I saw took out that +very book and kept it in his hand without opening it, just as people do, +you know, sir, when they mean to take a book out of the library and not +merely refer to it. But, however, I'll run up now at once and get it for +you this time.' + +And here intervened a pause. Mr Eldred paced the entry, read all the +notices, consulted his watch, sat and gazed up the staircase, did all +that a very impatient man could, until some twenty minutes had run out. +At last he addressed himself to the doorkeeper and inquired if it was a +very long way to that part of the library to which Mr Garrett had gone. + +'Well, I was thinking it was funny, sir: he's a quick man as a rule, but +to be sure he might have been sent for by the librarian, but even so I +think he'd have mentioned to him that you was waiting. I'll just speak +him up on the toob and see.' And to the tube he addressed himself. As he +absorbed the reply to his question his face changed, and he made one or +two supplementary inquiries which were shortly answered. Then he came +forward to his counter and spoke in a lower tone. 'I'm sorry to hear, +sir, that something seems to have 'appened a little awkward. Mr Garrett +has been took poorly, it appears, and the librarian sent him 'ome in a +cab the other way. Something of an attack, by what I can hear.' 'What, +really? Do you mean that someone has injured him?' 'No, sir, not violence +'ere, but, as I should judge, attacked with an attack, what you might +term it, of illness. Not a strong constitootion, Mr Garrett. But as to +your book, sir, perhaps you might be able to find it for yourself. It's +too bad you should be disappointed this way twice over--' 'Er--well, but +I'm so sorry that Mr Garrett should have been taken ill in this way while +he was obliging me. I think I must leave the book, and call and inquire +after him. You can give me his address, I suppose.' That was easily done: +Mr Garrett, it appeared, lodged in rooms not far from the station. 'And +one other question. Did you happen to notice if an old gentleman, perhaps +a clergyman, in a--yes--in a black cloak, left the library after I did +yesterday. I think he may have been a--I think, that is, that he may be +staying--or rather that I may have known him.' + +'Not in a black cloak, sir; no. There were only two gentlemen left later +than what you done, sir, both of them youngish men. There was Mr Carter +took out a music-book and one of the prefessors with a couple o' novels. +That's the lot, sir; and then I went off to me tea, and glad to get it. +Thank you, sir, much obliged.' + + * * * * * + +Mr Eldred, still a prey to anxiety, betook himself in a cab to Mr +Garrett's address, but the young man was not yet in a condition to +receive visitors. He was better, but his landlady considered that he must +have had a severe shock. She thought most likely from what the doctor +said that he would be able to see Mr Eldred to-morrow. Mr Eldred returned +to his hotel at dusk and spent, I fear, but a dull evening. + +On the next day he was able to see Mr Garrett. When in health Mr Garrett +was a cheerful and pleasant-looking young man. Now he was a very white +and shaky being, propped up in an arm-chair by the fire, and inclined to +shiver and keep an eye on the door. If however, there were visitors whom +he was not prepared to welcome, Mr Eldred was not among them. 'It really +is I who owe you an apology, and I was despairing of being able to pay +it, for I didn't know your address. But I am very glad you have called. I +do dislike and regret giving all this trouble, but you know I could not +have foreseen this--this attack which I had.' + +'Of course not; but now, I am something of a doctor. You'll excuse my +asking; you have had, I am sure, good advice. Was it a fall you had?' + +'No. I did fall on the floor--but not from any height. It was, really, a +shock.' + +'You mean something startled you. Was it anything you thought you saw?' + +'Not much _thinking_ in the case, I'm afraid. Yes, it was something I +saw. You remember when you called the first time at the library?' + +'Yes, of course. Well, now, let me beg you not to try to describe it--it +will not be good for you to recall it, I'm sure.' + +'But indeed it would be a relief to me to tell anyone like yourself: you +might be able to explain it away. It was just when I was going into the +class where your book is--' + +'Indeed, Mr Garrett, I insist; besides, my watch tells me I have but very +little time left in which to get my things together and take the train. +No--not another word--it would be more distressing to you than you +imagine, perhaps. Now there is just one thing I want to say. I feel that +I am really indirectly responsible for this illness of yours, and I think +I ought to defray the expense which it has--eh?' + +But this offer was quite distinctly declined. Mr Eldred, not pressing it, +left almost at once: not, however, before Mr Garrett had insisted upon +his taking a note of the class-mark of the Tractate Middoth, which, as he +said, Mr Eldred could at leisure get for himself. But Mr Eldred did not +reappear at the library. + + * * * * * + +William Garrett had another visitor that day in the person of a +contemporary and colleague from the library, one George Earle. Earle had +been one of those who found Garrett lying insensible on the floor just +inside the 'class' or cubicle (opening upon the central alley of a +spacious gallery) in which the Hebrew books were placed, and Earle had +naturally been very anxious about his friend's condition. So as soon as +library hours were over he appeared at the lodgings. 'Well,' he said +(after other conversation), 'I've no notion what it was that put you +wrong, but I've got the idea that there's something wrong in the +atmosphere of the library. I know this, that just before we found you I +was coming along the gallery with Davis, and I said to him, "Did ever you +know such a musty smell anywhere as there is about here? It can't be +wholesome." Well now, if one goes on living a long time with a smell of +that kind (I tell you it was worse than I ever knew it) it must get into +the system and break out some time, don't you think?' + +Garrett shook his head. 'That's all very well about the smell--but it +isn't always there, though I've noticed it the last day or two--a sort of +unnaturally strong smell of dust. But no--that's not what did for me. It +was something I _saw_. And I want to tell you about it. I went into that +Hebrew class to get a book for a man that was inquiring for it down +below. Now that same book I'd made a mistake about the day before. I'd +been for it, for the same man, and made sure that I saw an old parson in +a cloak taking it out. I told my man it was out: off he went, to call +again next day. I went back to see if I could get it out of the parson: +no parson there, and the book on the shelf. Well, yesterday, as I say, I +went again. This time, if you please--ten o'clock in the morning, +remember, and as much light as ever you get in those classes, and there +was my parson again, back to me, looking at the books on the shelf I +wanted. His hat was on the table, and he had a bald head. I waited a +second or two looking at him rather particularly. I tell you, he had a +very nasty bald head. It looked to me dry, and it looked dusty, and the +streaks of hair across it were much less like hair than cobwebs. Well, I +made a bit of a noise on purpose, coughed and moved my feet. He turned +round and let me see his face--which I hadn't seen before. I tell you +again, I'm not mistaken. Though, for one reason or another I didn't take +in the lower part of his face, I did see the upper part; and it was +perfectly dry, and the eyes were very deep-sunk; and over them, from the +eyebrows to the cheek-bone, there were _cobwebs_--thick. Now that closed +me up, as they say, and I can't tell you anything more.' + + * * * * * + +What explanations were furnished by Earle of this phenomenon it does not +very much concern us to inquire; at all events they did not convince +Garrett that he had not seen what he had seen. + + * * * * * + +Before William Garrett returned to work at the library, the librarian +insisted upon his taking a week's rest and change of air. Within a few +days' time, therefore, he was at the station with his bag, looking for a +desirable smoking compartment in which to travel to Burnstow-on-Sea, +which he had not previously visited. One compartment and one only seemed +to be suitable. But, just as he approached it, he saw, standing in front +of the door, a figure so like one bound up with recent unpleasant +associations that, with a sickening qualm, and hardly knowing what he +did, he tore open the door of the next compartment and pulled himself +into it as quickly as if death were at his heels. The train moved off, +and he must have turned quite faint, for he was next conscious of a +smelling-bottle being put to his nose. His physician was a nice-looking +old lady, who, with her daughter, was the only passenger in the carriage. + +But for this incident it is not very likely that he would have made any +overtures to his fellow-travellers. As it was, thanks and inquiries and +general conversation supervened inevitably; and Garrett found himself +provided before the journey's end not only with a physician, but with a +landlady: for Mrs Simpson had apartments to let at Burnstow, which seemed +in all ways suitable. The place was empty at that season, so that Garrett +was thrown a good deal into the society of the mother and daughter. He +found them very acceptable company. On the third evening of his stay he +was on such terms with them as to be asked to spend the evening in their +private sitting-room. + +During their talk it transpired that Garrett's work lay in a library. +'Ah, libraries are fine places,' said Mrs Simpson, putting down her work +with a sigh; 'but for all that, books have played me a sad turn, or +rather _a_ book has.' + +'Well, books give me my living, Mrs Simpson, and I should be sorry to say +a word against them: I don't like to hear that they have been bad for +you.' + +'Perhaps Mr Garrett could help us to solve our puzzle, mother,' said Miss +Simpson. + +'I don't want to set Mr Garrett off on a hunt that might waste a +lifetime, my dear, nor yet to trouble him with our private affairs.' + +'But if you think it in the least likely that I could be of use, I do beg +you to tell me what the puzzle is, Mrs Simpson. If it is finding out +anything about a book, you see, I am in rather a good position to do it.' + +'Yes, I do see that, but the worst of it is that we don't know the name +of the book.' + +'Nor what it is about?' + +'No, nor that either.' + +'Except that we don't think it's in English, mother--and that is not much +of a clue.' + +'Well, Mr Garrett,' said Mrs Simpson, who had not yet resumed her work, +and was looking at the fire thoughtfully, 'I shall tell you the story. +You will please keep it to yourself, if you don't mind? Thank you. Now it +is just this. I had an old uncle, a Dr Rant. Perhaps you may have heard +of him. Not that he was a distinguished man, but from the odd way he +chose to be buried.' + +'I rather think I have seen the name in some guidebook.' + +'That would be it,' said Miss Simpson. 'He left directions--horrid old +man!--that he was to be put, sitting at a table in his ordinary clothes, +in a brick room that he'd had made underground in a field near his house. +Of course the country people say he's been seen about there in his old +black cloak.' + +'Well, dear, I don't know much about such things,' Mrs Simpson went on, +'but anyhow he is dead, these twenty years and more. He was a clergyman, +though I'm sure I can't imagine how he got to be one: but he did no duty +for the last part of his life, which I think was a good thing; and he +lived on his own property: a very nice estate not a great way from here. +He had no wife or family; only one niece, who was myself, and one nephew, +and he had no particular liking for either of us--nor for anyone else, as +far as that goes. If anything, he liked my cousin better than he did +me--for John was much more like him in his temper, and, I'm afraid I must +say, his very mean sharp ways. It might have been different if I had not +married; but I did, and that he very much resented. Very well: here he +was with this estate and a good deal of money, as it turned out, of which +he had the absolute disposal, and it was understood that we--my cousin +and I--would share it equally at his death. In a certain winter, over +twenty years back, as I said, he was taken ill, and I was sent for to +nurse him. My husband was alive then, but the old man would not hear of +_his_ coming. As I drove up to the house I saw my cousin John driving +away from it in an open fly and looking, I noticed, in very good spirits. +I went up and did what I could for my uncle, but I was very soon sure +that this would be his last illness; and he was convinced of it too. +During the day before he died he got me to sit by him all the time, and I +could see there was something, and probably something unpleasant, that he +was saving up to tell me, and putting it off as long as he felt he could +afford the strength--I'm afraid purposely in order to keep me on the +stretch. But, at last, out it came. "Mary," he said,--"Mary, I've made my +will in John's favour: he has everything, Mary." Well, of course that +came as a bitter shock to me, for we--my husband and I--were not rich +people, and if he could have managed to live a little easier than he was +obliged to do, I felt it might be the prolonging of his life. But I said +little or nothing to my uncle, except that he had a right to do what he +pleased: partly because I couldn't think of anything to say, and partly +because I was sure there was more to come: and so there was. "But, Mary," +he said, "I'm not very fond of John, and I've made another will in _your_ +favour. _You_ can have everything. Only you've got to find the will, you +see: and I don't mean to tell you where it is." Then he chuckled to +himself, and I waited, for again I was sure he hadn't finished. "That's a +good girl," he said after a time,--"you wait, and I'll tell you as much +as I told John. But just let me remind you, you can't go into court with +what I'm saying to you, for _you_ won't be able to produce any collateral +evidence beyond your own word, and John's a man that can do a little hard +swearing if necessary. Very well then, that's understood. Now, I had the +fancy that I wouldn't write this will quite in the common way, so I wrote +it in a book, Mary, a printed book. And there's several thousand books in +this house. But there! you needn't trouble yourself with them, for it +isn't one of them. It's in safe keeping elsewhere: in a place where John +can go and find it any day, if he only knew, and you can't. A good will +it is: properly signed and witnessed, but I don't think you'll find the +witnesses in a hurry." + +'Still I said nothing: if I had moved at all I must have taken hold of +the old wretch and shaken him. He lay there laughing to himself, and at +last he said: + +'"Well, well, you've taken it very quietly, and as I want to start you +both on equal terms, and John has a bit of a purchase in being able to go +where the book is, I'll tell you just two other things which I didn't +tell him. The will's in English, but you won't know that if ever you see +it. That's one thing, and another is that when I'm gone you'll find an +envelope in my desk directed to you, and inside it something that would +help you to find it, if only you have the wits to use it." + +'In a few hours from that he was gone, and though I made an appeal to +John Eldred about it--' + +'John Eldred? I beg your pardon, Mrs Simpson--I think I've seen a Mr John +Eldred. What is he like to look at?' + +'It must be ten years since I saw him: he would be a thin elderly man +now, and unless he has shaved them off, he has that sort of whiskers +which people used to call Dundreary or Piccadilly something.' + +'--weepers. Yes, that _is_ the man.' + +'Where did you come across him, Mr Garrett?' + +'I don't know if I could tell you,' said Garrett mendaciously, 'in some +public place. But you hadn't finished.' + +'Really I had nothing much to add, only that John Eldred, of course, paid +no attention whatever to my letters, and has enjoyed the estate ever +since, while my daughter and I have had to take to the lodging-house +business here, which I must say has not turned out by any means so +unpleasant as I feared it might.' + +'But about the envelope.' + +'To be sure! Why, the puzzle turns on that. Give Mr Garrett the paper out +of my desk.' + +It was a small slip, with nothing whatever on it but five numerals, not +divided or punctuated in any way: 11334. + +Mr Garrett pondered, but there was a light in his eye. Suddenly he 'made +a face', and then asked, 'Do you suppose that Mr Eldred can have any more +clue than you have to the title of the book?' + +'I have sometimes thought he must,' said Mrs Simpson, 'and in this way: +that my uncle must have made the will not very long before he died (that, +I think, he said himself), and got rid of the book immediately +afterwards. But all his books were very carefully catalogued: and John +has the catalogue: and John was most particular that no books whatever +should be sold out of the house. And I'm told that he is always +journeying about to booksellers and libraries; so I fancy that he must +have found out just which books are missing from my uncle's library of +those which are entered in the catalogue, and must be hunting for them.' + +'Just so, just so,' said Mr Garrett, and relapsed into thought. + + * * * * * + +No later than next day he received a letter which, as he told Mrs Simpson +with great regret, made it absolutely necessary for him to cut short his +stay at Burnstow. + +Sorry as he was to leave them (and they were at least as sorry to part +with him), he had begun to feel that a crisis, all-important to Mrs (and +shall we add, Miss?) Simpson, was very possibly supervening. + +In the train Garrett was uneasy and excited. He racked his brains to +think whether the press mark of the book which Mr Eldred had been +inquiring after was one in any way corresponding to the numbers on Mrs +Simpson's little bit of paper. But he found to his dismay that the shock +of the previous week had really so upset him that he could neither +remember any vestige of the title or nature of the book, or even of the +locality to which he had gone to seek it. And yet all other parts of +library topography and work were clear as ever in his mind. + +And another thing--he stamped with annoyance as he thought of it--he had +at first hesitated, and then had forgotten, to ask Mrs Simpson for the +name of the place where Eldred lived. That, however, he could write +about. + +At least he had his clue in the figures on the paper. If they referred to +a press mark in his library, they were only susceptible of a limited +number of interpretations. They might be divided into 1.13.34, 11.33.4, +or 11.3.34. He could try all these in the space of a few minutes, and if +any one were missing he had every means of tracing it. He got very +quickly to work, though a few minutes had to be spent in explaining his +early return to his landlady and his colleagues. 1.13.34. was in place +and contained no extraneous writing. As he drew near to Class 11 in the +same gallery, its association struck him like a chill. But he _must_ go +on. After a cursory glance at 11.33.4 (which first confronted him, and +was a perfectly new book) he ran his eye along the line of quartos which +fills 11.3. The gap he feared was there: 34 was out. A moment was spent +in making sure that it had not been misplaced, and then he was off to the +vestibule. + +'Has 11.3.34 gone out? Do you recollect noticing that number?' + +'Notice the number? What do you take me for, Mr Garrett? There, take and +look over the tickets for yourself, if you've got a free day before you.' + +'Well then, has a Mr Eldred called again?--the old gentleman who came the +day I was taken ill. Come! you'd remember him.' + +'What do you suppose? Of course I recollect of him: no, he haven't been +in again, not since you went off for your 'oliday. And yet I seem +to--there now. Roberts'll know. Roberts, do you recollect of the name of +Heldred?' + +'Not arf,' said Roberts. 'You mean the man that sent a bob over the price +for the parcel, and I wish they all did.' + +'Do you mean to say you've been sending books to Mr Eldred? Come, do +speak up! Have you?' + +'Well now, Mr Garrett, if a gentleman sends the ticket all wrote correct +and the secketry says this book may go and the box ready addressed sent +with the note, and a sum of money sufficient to deefray the railway +charges, what would be _your_ action in the matter, Mr Garrett, if I may +take the liberty to ask such a question? Would you or would you not have +taken the trouble to oblige, or would you have chucked the 'ole thing +under the counter and--' + +'You were perfectly right, of course, Hodgson--perfectly right: only, +would you kindly oblige me by showing me the ticket Mr Eldred sent, and +letting me know his address?' + +'To be sure, Mr Garrett; so long as I'm not 'ectored about and informed +that I don't know my duty, I'm willing to oblige in every way feasible to +my power. There is the ticket on the file. J. Eldred, 11.3.34. Title of +work: T-a-l-m--well, there, you can make what you like of it--not a +novel, I should 'azard the guess. And here is Mr Heldred's note applying +for the book in question, which I see he terms it a track.' + +'Thanks, thanks: but the address? There's none on the note.' + +'Ah, indeed; well, now ... stay now, Mr Garrett, I 'ave it. Why, that +note come inside of the parcel, which was directed very thoughtful to +save all trouble, ready to be sent back with the book inside; and if I +_have_ made any mistake in this 'ole transaction, it lays just in the one +point that I neglected to enter the address in my little book here what I +keep. Not but what I dare say there was good reasons for me not entering +of it: but there, I haven't the time, neither have you, I dare say, to go +into 'em just now. And--no, Mr Garrett, I do _not_ carry it in my 'ed, +else what would be the use of me keeping this little book here--just a +ordinary common notebook, you see, which I make a practice of entering +all such names and addresses in it as I see fit to do?' + +'Admirable arrangement, to be sure--but--all right, thank you. When did +the parcel go off?' + +'Half-past ten, this morning.' + +'Oh, good; and it's just one now.' + +Garrett went upstairs in deep thought. How was he to get the address? A +telegram to Mrs Simpson: he might miss a train by waiting for the answer. +Yes, there was one other way. She had said that Eldred lived on his +uncle's estate. If this were so, he might find that place entered in the +donation-book. That he could run through quickly, now that he knew the +title of the book. The register was soon before him, and, knowing that +the old man had died more than twenty years ago, he gave him a good +margin, and turned back to 1870. There was but one entry possible. 1875, +August 14th. _Talmud: Tractatus Middoth cum comm. R. Nachmanidae._ +Amstelod. 1707. Given by J. Rant, D.D., of Bretfield Manor. + +A gazetteer showed Bretfield to be three miles from a small station on +the main line. Now to ask the doorkeeper whether he recollected if the +name on the parcel had been anything like Bretfield. + +'No, nothing like. It was, now you mention it, Mr Garrett, either +Bredfield or Britfield, but nothing like that other name what you +coated.' + +So far well. Next, a time-table. A train could be got in twenty +minutes--taking two hours over the journey. The only chance, but one not +to be missed; and the train was taken. + +If he had been fidgety on the journey up, he was almost distracted on the +journey down. If he found Eldred, what could he say? That it had been +discovered that the book was a rarity and must be recalled? An obvious +untruth. Or that it was believed to contain important manuscript notes? +Eldred would of course show him the book, from which the leaf would +already have been removed. He might, perhaps, find traces of the +removal--a torn edge of a fly-leaf probably--and who could disprove, what +Eldred was certain to say, that he too had noticed and regretted the +mutilation? Altogether the chase seemed very hopeless. The one chance was +this. The book had left the library at 10.30: it might not have been put +into the first possible train, at 11.20. Granted that, then he might be +lucky enough to arrive simultaneously with it and patch up some story +which would induce Eldred to give it up. + +It was drawing towards evening when he got out upon the platform of his +station, and, like most country stations, this one seemed unnaturally +quiet. He waited about till the one or two passengers who got out with +him had drifted off, and then inquired of the station-master whether Mr +Eldred was in the neighbourhood. + +'Yes, and pretty near too, I believe. I fancy he means calling here for a +parcel he expects. Called for it once to-day already, didn't he, Bob?' +(to the porter). + +'Yes, sir, he did; and appeared to think it was all along of me that it +didn't come by the two o'clock. Anyhow, I've got it for him now,' and the +porter flourished a square parcel, which--a glance assured Garrett-- +contained all that was of any importance to him at that particular +moment. + +'Bretfield, sir? Yes--three miles just about. Short cut across these +three fields brings it down by half a mile. There: there's Mr Eldred's +trap.' + +A dog-cart drove up with two men in it, of whom Garrett, gazing back as +he crossed the little station yard, easily recognized one. The fact that +Eldred was driving was slightly in his favour--for most likely he would +not open the parcel in the presence of his servant. On the other hand, he +would get home quickly, and unless Garrett were there within a very few +minutes of his arrival, all would be over. He must hurry; and that he +did. His short cut took him along one side of a triangle, while the cart +had two sides to traverse; and it was delayed a little at the station, so +that Garrett was in the third of the three fields when he heard the +wheels fairly near. He had made the best progress possible, but the pace +at which the cart was coming made him despair. At this rate it _must_ +reach home ten minutes before him, and ten minutes would more than +suffice for the fulfilment of Mr Eldred's project. + +It was just at this time that the luck fairly turned. The evening was +still, and sounds came clearly. Seldom has any sound given greater relief +than that which he now heard: that of the cart pulling up. A few words +were exchanged, and it drove on. Garrett, halting in the utmost anxiety, +was able to see as it drove past the stile (near which he now stood) that +it contained only the servant and not Eldred; further, he made out that +Eldred was following on foot. From behind the tall hedge by the stile +leading into the road he watched the thin wiry figure pass quickly by +with the parcel beneath its arm, and feeling in its pockets. Just as he +passed the stile something fell out of a pocket upon the grass, but with +so little sound that Eldred was not conscious of it. In a moment more it +was safe for Garrett to cross the stile into the road and pick up--a box +of matches. Eldred went on, and, as he went, his arms made hasty +movements, difficult to interpret in the shadow of the trees that +overhung the road. But, as Garrett followed cautiously, he found at +various points the key to them--a piece of string, and then the wrapper +of the parcel--meant to be thrown over the hedge, but sticking in it. + +Now Eldred was walking slower, and it could just be made out that he had +opened the book and was turning over the leaves. He stopped, evidently +troubled by the failing light. Garrett slipped into a gate-opening, but +still watched. Eldred, hastily looking around, sat down on a felled +tree-trunk by the roadside and held the open book up close to his eyes. +Suddenly he laid it, still open, on his knee, and felt in all his +pockets: clearly in vain, and clearly to his annoyance. 'You would be +glad of your matches now,' thought Garrett. Then he took hold of a leaf, +and was carefully tearing it out, when two things happened. First, +something black seemed to drop upon the white leaf and run down it, and +then as Eldred started and was turning to look behind him, a little dark +form appeared to rise out of the shadow behind the tree-trunk and from it +two arms enclosing a mass of blackness came before Eldred's face and +covered his head and neck. His legs and arms were wildly flourished, but +no sound came. Then, there was no more movement. Eldred was alone. He had +fallen back into the grass behind the tree-trunk. The book was cast into +the roadway. Garrett, his anger and suspicion gone for the moment at the +sight of this horrid struggle, rushed up with loud cries of 'Help!' and +so too, to his enormous relief, did a labourer who had just emerged from +a field opposite. Together they bent over and supported Eldred, but to no +purpose. The conclusion that he was dead was inevitable. 'Poor +gentleman!' said Garrett to the labourer, when they had laid him down, +'what happened to him, do you think?' 'I wasn't two hundred yards away,' +said the man, 'when I see Squire Eldred setting reading in his book, and +to my thinking he was took with one of these fits--face seemed to go all +over black.' 'Just so,' said Garrett. 'You didn't see anyone near him? It +couldn't have been an assault?' 'Not possible--no one couldn't have got +away without you or me seeing them.' 'So I thought. Well, we must get +some help, and the doctor and the policeman; and perhaps I had better +give them this book.' + +It was obviously a case for an inquest, and obvious also that Garrett +must stay at Bretfield and give his evidence. The medical inspection +showed that, though some black dust was found on the face and in the +mouth of the deceased, the cause of death was a shock to a weak heart, +and not asphyxiation. The fateful book was produced, a respectable quarto +printed wholly in Hebrew, and not of an aspect likely to excite even the +most sensitive. + +'You say, Mr Garrett, that the deceased gentleman appeared at the moment +before his attack to be tearing a leaf out of this book?' + +'Yes; I think one of the fly-leaves.' + +'There is here a fly-leaf partially torn through. It has Hebrew writing +on it. Will you kindly inspect it?' + +'There are three names in English, sir, also, and a date. But I am sorry +to say I cannot read Hebrew writing.' + +'Thank you. The names have the appearance of being signatures. They are +John Rant, Walter Gibson, and James Frost, and the date is 20 July, 1875. +Does anyone here know any of these names?' + +The Rector, who was present, volunteered a statement that the uncle of +the deceased, from whom he inherited, had been named Rant. + +The book being handed to him, he shook a puzzled head. 'This is not like +any Hebrew I ever learnt.' + +'You are sure that it is Hebrew?' + +'What? Yes--I suppose.... No--my dear sir, you are perfectly right--that +is, your suggestion is exactly to the point. Of course--it is not Hebrew +at all. It is English, and it is a will.' + +It did not take many minutes to show that here was indeed a will of Dr +John Rant, bequeathing the whole of the property lately held by John +Eldred to Mrs Mary Simpson. Clearly the discovery of such a document +would amply justify Mr Eldred's agitation. As to the partial tearing of +the leaf, the coroner pointed out that no useful purpose could be +attained by speculations whose correctness it would never be possible to +establish. + + * * * * * + +The Tractate Middoth was naturally taken in charge by the coroner for +further investigation, and Mr Garrett explained privately to him the +history of it, and the position of events so far as he knew or guessed +them. + +He returned to his work next day, and on his walk to the station passed +the scene of Mr Eldred's catastrophe. He could hardly leave it without +another look, though the recollection of what he had seen there made him +shiver, even on that bright morning. He walked round, with some +misgivings, behind the felled tree. Something dark that still lay there +made him start back for a moment: but it hardly stirred. Looking closer, +he saw that it was a thick black mass of cobwebs; and, as he stirred it +gingerly with his stick, several large spiders ran out of it into the +grass. + + * * * * * + +There is no great difficulty in imagining the steps by which William +Garrett, from being an assistant in a great library, attained to his +present position of prospective owner of Bretfield Manor, now in the +occupation of his mother-in-law, Mrs Mary Simpson. + + + + +CASTING THE RUNES + +_April 15th, 190-_ + +Dear Sir, + +I am requested by the Council of the ---- Association to return to you +the draft of a paper on _The Truth of Alchemy_, which you have been good +enough to offer to read at our forthcoming meeting, and to inform you +that the Council do not see their way to including it in the programme. + +I am, + +Yours faithfully, + +--- _Secretary._ + + * * * * * + +_April 18th_ + +Dear Sir, + +I am sorry to say that my engagements do not permit of my affording you +an interview on the subject of your proposed paper. Nor do our laws allow +of your discussing the matter with a Committee of our Council, as you +suggest. Please allow me to assure you that the fullest consideration was +given to the draft which you submitted, and that it was not declined +without having been referred to the judgement of a most competent +authority. No personal question (it can hardly be necessary for me to +add) can have had the slightest influence on the decision of the Council. + +Believe me (_ut supra_). + + * * * * * + +_April 20th_ + +The Secretary of the ---- Association begs respectfully to inform Mr +Karswell that it is impossible for him to communicate the name of any +person or persons to whom the draft of Mr Karswell's paper may have been +submitted; and further desires to intimate that he cannot undertake to +reply to any further letters on this subject. + + * * * * * + +'And who _is_ Mr Karswell?' inquired the Secretary's wife. She had called +at his office, and (perhaps unwarrantably) had picked up the last of +these three letters, which the typist had just brought in. + +'Why, my dear, just at present Mr Karswell is a very angry man. But I +don't know much about him otherwise, except that he is a person of +wealth, his address is Lufford Abbey, Warwickshire, and he's an +alchemist, apparently, and wants to tell us all about it; and that's +about all--except that I don't want to meet him for the next week or two. +Now, if you're ready to leave this place, I am.' + +'What have you been doing to make him angry?' asked Mrs Secretary. + +'The usual thing, my dear, the usual thing: he sent in a draft of a paper +he wanted to read at the next meeting, and we referred it to Edward +Dunning--almost the only man in England who knows about these things--and +he said it was perfectly hopeless, so we declined it. So Karswell has +been pelting me with letters ever since. The last thing he wanted was the +name of the man we referred his nonsense to; you saw my answer to that. +But don't you say anything about it, for goodness' sake.' + +'I should think not, indeed. Did I ever do such a thing? I do hope, +though, he won't get to know that it was poor Mr Dunning.' + +'Poor Mr Dunning? I don't know why you call him that; he's a very happy +man, is Dunning. Lots of hobbies and a comfortable home, and all his time +to himself.' + +'I only meant I should be sorry for him if this man got hold of his name, +and came and bothered him.' + +'Oh, ah! yes. I dare say he would be poor Mr Dunning then.' + +The Secretary and his wife were lunching out, and the friends to whose +house they were bound were Warwickshire people. So Mrs Secretary had +already settled it in her own mind that she would question them +judiciously about Mr Karswell. But she was saved the trouble of leading +up to the subject, for the hostess said to the host, before many minutes +had passed, 'I saw the Abbot of Lufford this morning.' The host whistled. +'_Did_ you? What in the world brings him up to town?' 'Goodness knows; he +was coming out of the British Museum gate as I drove past.' It was not +unnatural that Mrs Secretary should inquire whether this was a real Abbot +who was being spoken of. 'Oh no, my dear: only a neighbour of ours in the +country who bought Lufford Abbey a few years ago. His real name is +Karswell.' 'Is he a friend of yours?' asked Mr Secretary, with a private +wink to his wife. The question let loose a torrent of declamation. There +was really nothing to be said for Mr Karswell. Nobody knew what he did +with himself: his servants were a horrible set of people; he had invented +a new religion for himself, and practised no one could tell what +appalling rites; he was very easily offended, and never forgave anybody; +he had a dreadful face (so the lady insisted, her husband somewhat +demurring); he never did a kind action, and whatever influence he did +exert was mischievous. 'Do the poor man justice, dear,' the husband +interrupted. 'You forget the treat he gave the school children.' 'Forget +it, indeed! But I'm glad you mentioned it, because it gives an idea of +the man. Now, Florence, listen to this. The first winter he was at +Lufford this delightful neighbour of ours wrote to the clergyman of his +parish (he's not ours, but we know him very well) and offered to show the +school children some magic-lantern slides. He said he had some new kinds, +which he thought would interest them. Well, the clergyman was rather +surprised, because Mr Karswell had shown himself inclined to be +unpleasant to the children--complaining of their trespassing, or +something of the sort; but of course he accepted, and the evening was +fixed, and our friend went himself to see that everything went right. He +said he never had been so thankful for anything as that his own children +were all prevented from being there: they were at a children's party at +our house, as a matter of fact. Because this Mr Karswell had evidently +set out with the intention of frightening these poor village children out +of their wits, and I do believe, if he had been allowed to go on, he +would actually have done so. He began with some comparatively mild +things. Red Riding Hood was one, and even then, Mr Farrer said, the wolf +was so dreadful that several of the smaller children had to be taken out: +and he said Mr Karswell began the story by producing a noise like a wolf +howling in the distance, which was the most gruesome thing he had ever +heard. All the slides he showed, Mr Farrer said, were most clever; they +were absolutely realistic, and where he had got them or how he worked +them he could not imagine. Well, the show went on, and the stories kept +on becoming a little more terrifying each time, and the children were +mesmerized into complete silence. At last he produced a series which +represented a little boy passing through his own park--Lufford, I +mean--in the evening. Every child in the room could recognize the place +from the pictures. And this poor boy was followed, and at last pursued +and overtaken, and either torn to pieces or somehow made away with, by a +horrible hopping creature in white, which you saw first dodging about +among the trees, and gradually it appeared more and more plainly. Mr +Farrer said it gave him one of the worst nightmares he ever remembered, +and what it must have meant to the children doesn't bear thinking of. Of +course this was too much, and he spoke very sharply indeed to Mr +Karswell, and said it couldn't go on. All _he_ said was: "Oh, you think +it's time to bring our little show to an end and send them home to their +beds? _Very_ well!" And then, if you please, he switched on another +slide, which showed a great mass of snakes, centipedes, and disgusting +creatures with wings, and somehow or other he made it seem as if they +were climbing out of the picture and getting in amongst the audience; and +this was accompanied by a sort of dry rustling noise which sent the +children nearly mad, and of course they stampeded. A good many of them +were rather hurt in getting out of the room, and I don't suppose one of +them closed an eye that night. There was the most dreadful trouble in the +village afterwards. Of course the mothers threw a good part of the blame +on poor Mr Farrer, and, if they could have got past the gates, I believe +the fathers would have broken every window in the Abbey. Well, now, +that's Mr Karswell: that's the Abbot of Lufford, my dear, and you can +imagine how we covet _his_ society.' + +'Yes, I think he has all the possibilities of a distinguished criminal, +has Karswell,' said the host. 'I should be sorry for anyone who got into +his bad books.' + +'Is he the man, or am I mixing him up with someone else?' asked the +Secretary (who for some minutes had been wearing the frown of the man who +is trying to recollect something). 'Is he the man who brought out a +_History of Witchcraft_ some time back--ten years or more?' + +'That's the man; do you remember the reviews of it?' + +'Certainly I do; and what's equally to the point, I knew the author of +the most incisive of the lot. So did you: you must remember John +Harrington; he was at John's in our time.' + +'Oh, very well indeed, though I don't think I saw or heard anything of +him between the time I went down and the day I read the account of the +inquest on him.' + +'Inquest?' said one of the ladies. 'What has happened to him?' + +'Why, what happened was that he fell out of a tree and broke his neck. +But the puzzle was, what could have induced him to get up there. It was a +mysterious business, I must say. Here was this man--not an athletic +fellow, was he? and with no eccentric twist about him that was ever +noticed--walking home along a country road late in the evening--no tramps +about--well known and liked in the place--and he suddenly begins to run +like mad, loses his hat and stick, and finally shins up a tree--quite a +difficult tree--growing in the hedgerow: a dead branch gives way, and he +comes down with it and breaks his neck, and there he's found next morning +with the most dreadful face of fear on him that could be imagined. It was +pretty evident, of course, that he had been chased by something, and +people talked of savage dogs, and beasts escaped out of menageries; but +there was nothing to be made of that. That was in '89, and I believe his +brother Henry (whom I remember as well at Cambridge, but _you_ probably +don't) has been trying to get on the track of an explanation ever since. +He, of course, insists there was malice in it, but I don't know. It's +difficult to see how it could have come in.' + +After a time the talk reverted to the _History of Witchcraft_. 'Did you +ever look into it?' asked the host. + +'Yes, I did,' said the Secretary. 'I went so far as to read it.' + +'Was it as bad as it was made out to be?' + +'Oh, in point of style and form, quite hopeless. It deserved all the +pulverizing it got. But, besides that, it was an evil book. The man +believed every word of what he was saying, and I'm very much mistaken if +he hadn't tried the greater part of his receipts.' + +'Well, I only remember Harrington's review of it, and I must say if I'd +been the author it would have quenched my literary ambition for good. I +should never have held up my head again.' + +'It hasn't had that effect in the present case. But come, it's half-past +three; I must be off.' + +On the way home the Secretary's wife said, 'I do hope that horrible man +won't find out that Mr Dunning had anything to do with the rejection of +his paper.' 'I don't think there's much chance of that,' said the +Secretary. 'Dunning won't mention it himself, for these matters are +confidential, and none of us will for the same reason. Karswell won't +know his name, for Dunning hasn't published anything on the same subject +yet. The only danger is that Karswell might find out, if he was to ask +the British Museum people who was in the habit of consulting alchemical +manuscripts: I can't very well tell them not to mention Dunning, can I? +It would set them talking at once. Let's hope it won't occur to him.' + +However, Mr Karswell was an astute man. + + * * * * * + +This much is in the way of prologue. On an evening rather later in the +same week, Mr Edward Dunning was returning from the British Museum, where +he had been engaged in research, to the comfortable house in a suburb +where he lived alone, tended by two excellent women who had been long +with him. There is nothing to be added by way of description of him to +what we have heard already. Let us follow him as he takes his sober +course homewards. + + * * * * * + +A train took him to within a mile or two of his house, and an electric +tram a stage farther. The line ended at a point some three hundred yards +from his front door. He had had enough of reading when he got into the +car, and indeed the light was not such as to allow him to do more than +study the advertisements on the panes of glass that faced him as he sat. +As was not unnatural, the advertisements in this particular line of cars +were objects of his frequent contemplation, and, with the possible +exception of the brilliant and convincing dialogue between Mr Lamplough +and an eminent K.C. on the subject of Pyretic Saline, none of them +afforded much scope to his imagination. I am wrong: there was one at the +corner of the car farthest from him which did not seem familiar. It was +in blue letters on a yellow ground, and all that he could read of it was +a name--John Harrington--and something like a date. It could be of no +interest to him to know more; but for all that, as the car emptied, he +was just curious enough to move along the seat until he could read it +well. He felt to a slight extent repaid for his trouble; the +advertisement was _not_ of the usual type. It ran thus: 'In memory of +John Harrington, F.S.A., of The Laurels, Ashbrooke. Died Sept. 18th, +1889. Three months were allowed.' + +The car stopped. Mr Dunning, still contemplating the blue letters on the +yellow ground, had to be stimulated to rise by a word from the conductor. +'I beg your pardon,' he said, 'I was looking at that advertisement; it's +a very odd one, isn't it?' The conductor read it slowly. 'Well, my word,' +he said, 'I never see that one before. Well, that is a cure, ain't it? +Someone bin up to their jokes 'ere, I should think.' He got out a duster +and applied it, not without saliva, to the pane and then to the outside. +'No,' he said, returning, 'that ain't no transfer; seems to me as if it +was reg'lar _in_ the glass, what I mean in the substance, as you may say. +Don't you think so, sir?' Mr Dunning examined it and rubbed it with his +glove, and agreed. 'Who looks after these advertisements, and gives leave +for them to be put up? I wish you would inquire. I will just take a note +of the words.' At this moment there came a call from the driver: 'Look +alive, George, time's up.' 'All right, all right; there's something else +what's up at this end. You come and look at this 'ere glass.' 'What's +gorn with the glass?' said the driver, approaching. 'Well, and oo's +'Arrington? What's it all about?' 'I was just asking who was responsible +for putting the advertisements up in your cars, and saying it would be as +well to make some inquiry about this one.' 'Well, sir, that's all done at +the Company's office, that work is: it's our Mr Timms, I believe, looks +into that. When we put up tonight I'll leave word, and per'aps I'll be +able to tell you tomorrer if you 'appen to be coming this way.' + +This was all that passed that evening. Mr Dunning did just go to the +trouble of looking up Ashbrooke, and found that it was in Warwickshire. + +Next day he went to town again. The car (it was the same car) was too +full in the morning to allow of his getting a word with the conductor: he +could only be sure that the curious advertisement had been made away +with. The close of the day brought a further element of mystery into the +transaction. He had missed the tram, or else preferred walking home, but +at a rather late hour, while he was at work in his study, one of the +maids came to say that two men from the tramways was very anxious to +speak to him. This was a reminder of the advertisement, which he had, he +says, nearly forgotten. He had the men in--they were the conductor and +driver of the car--and when the matter of refreshment had been attended +to, asked what Mr Timms had had to say about the advertisement. 'Well, +sir, that's what we took the liberty to step round about,' said the +conductor. 'Mr Timms 'e give William 'ere the rough side of his tongue +about that: 'cordin' to 'im there warn't no advertisement of that +description sent in, nor ordered, nor paid for, nor put up, nor nothink, +let alone not bein' there, and we was playing the fool takin' up his +time. "Well," I says, "if that's the case, all I ask of you, Mr Timms," I +says, "is to take and look at it for yourself," I says. "Of course if it +ain't there," I says, "you may take and call me what you like." "Right," +he says, "I will": and we went straight off. Now, I leave it to you, sir, +if that ad., as we term 'em, with 'Arrington on it warn't as plain as +ever you see anythink--blue letters on yeller glass, and as I says at the +time, and you borne me out, reg'lar _in_ the glass, because, if you +remember, you recollect of me swabbing it with my duster.' 'To be sure I +do, quite clearly--well?' 'You may say well, I don't think. Mr Timms he +gets in that car with a light--no, he telled William to 'old the light +outside. "Now," he says, "where's your precious ad. what we've 'eard so +much about?" "'Ere it is," I says, "Mr Timms," and I laid my 'and on it.' +The conductor paused. + +'Well,' said Mr Dunning, 'it was gone, I suppose. Broken?' + +'Broke!--not it. There warn't, if you'll believe me, no more trace of +them letters--blue letters they was--on that piece o' glass, than--well, +it's no good _me_ talkin'. _I_ never see such a thing. I leave it to +William here if--but there, as I says, where's the benefit in me going on +about it?' + +'And what did Mr Timms say?' + +'Why 'e did what I give 'im leave to--called us pretty much anythink he +liked, and I don't know as I blame him so much neither. But what we +thought, William and me did, was as we seen you take down a bit of a note +about that--well, that letterin'--' + +'I certainly did that, and I have it now. Did you wish me to speak to Mr +Timms myself, and show it to him? Was that what you came in about?' + +'There, didn't I say as much?' said William. 'Deal with a gent if you can +get on the track of one, that's my word. Now perhaps, George, you'll +allow as I ain't took you very far wrong tonight.' + +'Very well, William, very well; no need for you to go on as if you'd 'ad +to frog's-march me 'ere. I come quiet, didn't I? All the same for that, +we 'adn't ought to take up your time this way, sir; but if it so 'appened +you could find time to step round to the Company orfice in the morning +and tell Mr Timms what you seen for yourself, we should lay under a very +'igh obligation to you for the trouble. You see it ain't bein' +called--well, one thing and another, as we mind, but if they got it into +their 'ead at the orfice as we seen things as warn't there, why, one +thing leads to another, and where we should be a twelvemunce 'ence--well, +you can understand what I mean.' + +Amid further elucidations of the proposition, George, conducted by +William, left the room. + +The incredulity of Mr Timms (who had a nodding acquaintance with Mr +Dunning) was greatly modified on the following day by what the latter +could tell and show him; and any bad mark that might have been attached +to the names of William and George was not suffered to remain on the +Company's books; but explanation there was none. + +Mr Dunning's interest in the matter was kept alive by an incident of the +following afternoon. He was walking from his club to the train, and he +noticed some way ahead a man with a handful of leaflets such as are +distributed to passers-by by agents of enterprising firms. This agent had +not chosen a very crowded street for his operations: in fact, Mr Dunning +did not see him get rid of a single leaflet before he himself reached the +spot. One was thrust into his hand as he passed: the hand that gave it +touched his, and he experienced a sort of little shock as it did so. It +seemed unnaturally rough and hot. He looked in passing at the giver, but +the impression he got was so unclear that, however much he tried to +reckon it up subsequently, nothing would come. He was walking quickly, +and as he went on glanced at the paper. It was a blue one. The name of +Harrington in large capitals caught his eye. He stopped, startled, and +felt for his glasses. The next instant the leaflet was twitched out of +his hand by a man who hurried past, and was irrecoverably gone. He ran +back a few paces, but where was the passer-by? and where the distributor? + +It was in a somewhat pensive frame of mind that Mr Dunning passed on the +following day into the Select Manuscript Room of the British Museum, and +filled up tickets for Harley 3586, and some other volumes. After a few +minutes they were brought to him, and he was settling the one he wanted +first upon the desk, when he thought he heard his own name whispered +behind him. He turned round hastily, and in doing so, brushed his little +portfolio of loose papers on to the floor. He saw no one he recognized +except one of the staff in charge of the room, who nodded to him, and he +proceeded to pick up his papers. He thought he had them all, and was +turning to begin work, when a stout gentleman at the table behind him, +who was just rising to leave, and had collected his own belongings, +touched him on the shoulder, saying, 'May I give you this? I think it +should be yours,' and handed him a missing quire. 'It is mine, thank +you,' said Mr Dunning. In another moment the man had left the room. Upon +finishing his work for the afternoon, Mr Dunning had some conversation +with the assistant in charge, and took occasion to ask who the stout +gentleman was. 'Oh, he's a man named Karswell,' said the assistant; 'he +was asking me a week ago who were the great authorities on alchemy, and +of course I told him you were the only one in the country. I'll see if I +can catch him: he'd like to meet you, I'm sure.' + +'For heaven's sake don't dream of it!' said Mr Dunning, 'I'm particularly +anxious to avoid him.' + +'Oh! very well,' said the assistant, 'he doesn't come here often: I dare +say you won't meet him.' + +More than once on the way home that day Mr Dunning confessed to himself +that he did not look forward with his usual cheerfulness to a solitary +evening. It seemed to him that something ill-defined and impalpable had +stepped in between him and his fellow-men--had taken him in charge, as it +were. He wanted to sit close up to his neighbours in the train and in the +tram, but as luck would have it both train and car were markedly empty. +The conductor George was thoughtful, and appeared to be absorbed in +calculations as to the number of passengers. On arriving at his house he +found Dr Watson, his medical man, on his doorstep. 'I've had to upset +your household arrangements, I'm sorry to say, Dunning. Both your +servants _hors de combat_. In fact, I've had to send them to the Nursing +Home.' + +'Good heavens! what's the matter?' + +'It's something like ptomaine poisoning, I should think: you've not +suffered yourself, I can see, or you wouldn't be walking about. I think +they'll pull through all right.' + +'Dear, dear! Have you any idea what brought it on?' 'Well, they tell me +they bought some shell-fish from a hawker at their dinner-time. It's odd. +I've made inquiries, but I can't find that any hawker has been to other +houses in the street. I couldn't send word to you; they won't be back for +a bit yet. You come and dine with me tonight, anyhow, and we can make +arrangements for going on. Eight o'clock. Don't be too anxious.' The +solitary evening was thus obviated; at the expense of some distress and +inconvenience, it is true. Mr Dunning spent the time pleasantly enough +with the doctor (a rather recent settler), and returned to his lonely +home at about 11.30. The night he passed is not one on which he looks +back with any satisfaction. He was in bed and the light was out. He was +wondering if the charwoman would come early enough to get him hot water +next morning, when he heard the unmistakable sound of his study door +opening. No step followed it on the passage floor, but the sound must +mean mischief, for he knew that he had shut the door that evening after +putting his papers away in his desk. It was rather shame than courage +that induced him to slip out into the passage and lean over the banister +in his nightgown, listening. No light was visible; no further sound came: +only a gust of warm, or even hot air played for an instant round his +shins. He went back and decided to lock himself into his room. There was +more unpleasantness, however. Either an economical suburban company had +decided that their light would not be required in the small hours, and +had stopped working, or else something was wrong with the meter; the +effect was in any case that the electric light was off. The obvious +course was to find a match, and also to consult his watch: he might as +well know how many hours of discomfort awaited him. So he put his hand +into the well-known nook under the pillow: only, it did not get so far. +What he touched was, according to his account, a mouth, with teeth, and +with hair about it, and, he declares, not the mouth of a human being. I +do not think it is any use to guess what he said or did; but he was in a +spare room with the door locked and his ear to it before he was clearly +conscious again. And there he spent the rest of a most miserable night, +looking every moment for some fumbling at the door: but nothing came. + +The venturing back to his own room in the morning was attended with many +listenings and quiverings. The door stood open, fortunately, and the +blinds were up (the servants had been out of the house before the hour of +drawing them down); there was, to be short, no trace of an inhabitant. +The watch, too, was in its usual place; nothing was disturbed, only the +wardrobe door had swung open, in accordance with its confirmed habit. A +ring at the back door now announced the charwoman, who had been ordered +the night before, and nerved Mr Dunning, after letting her in, to +continue his search in other parts of the house. It was equally +fruitless. + +The day thus begun went on dismally enough. He dared not go to the +Museum: in spite of what the assistant had said, Karswell might turn up +there, and Dunning felt he could not cope with a probably hostile +stranger. His own house was odious; he hated sponging on the doctor. He +spent some little time in a call at the Nursing Home, where he was +slightly cheered by a good report of his housekeeper and maid. Towards +lunch-time he betook himself to his club, again experiencing a gleam of +satisfaction at seeing the Secretary of the Association. At luncheon +Dunning told his friend the more material of his woes, but could not +bring himself to speak of those that weighed most heavily on his spirits. +'My poor dear man,' said the Secretary, 'what an upset! Look here: we're +alone at home, absolutely. You must put up with us. Yes! no excuse: send +your things in this afternoon.' Dunning was unable to stand out: he was, +in truth, becoming acutely anxious, as the hours went on, as to what that +night might have waiting for him. He was almost happy as he hurried home +to pack up. + +His friends, when they had time to take stock of him, were rather shocked +at his lorn appearance, and did their best to keep him up to the mark. +Not altogether without success: but, when the two men were smoking alone +later, Dunning became dull again. Suddenly he said, 'Gayton, I believe +that alchemist man knows it was I who got his paper rejected.' Gayton +whistled. 'What makes you think that?' he said. Dunning told of his +conversation with the Museum assistant, and Gayton could only agree that +the guess seemed likely to be correct. 'Not that I care much,' Dunning +went on, 'only it might be a nuisance if we were to meet. He's a +bad-tempered party, I imagine.' Conversation dropped again; Gayton became +more and more strongly impressed with the desolateness that came over +Dunning's face and bearing, and finally--though with a considerable +effort--he asked him point-blank whether something serious was not +bothering him. Dunning gave an exclamation of relief. 'I was perishing to +get it off my mind,' he said. 'Do you know anything about a man named +John Harrington?' Gayton was thoroughly startled, and at the moment could +only ask why. Then the complete story of Dunning's experiences came +out--what had happened in the tramcar, in his own house, and in the +street, the troubling of spirit that had crept over him, and still held +him; and he ended with the question he had begun with. Gayton was at a +loss how to answer him. To tell the story of Harrington's end would +perhaps be right; only, Dunning was in a nervous state, the story was a +grim one, and he could not help asking himself whether there were not a +connecting link between these two cases, in the person of Karswell. It +was a difficult concession for a scientific man, but it could be eased by +the phrase 'hypnotic suggestion'. In the end he decided that his answer +tonight should be guarded; he would talk the situation over with his +wife. So he said that he had known Harrington at Cambridge, and believed +he had died suddenly in 1889, adding a few details about the man and his +published work. He did talk over the matter with Mrs Gayton, and, as he +had anticipated, she leapt at once to the conclusion which had been +hovering before him. It was she who reminded him of the surviving +brother, Henry Harrington, and she also who suggested that he might be +got hold of by means of their hosts of the day before. 'He might be a +hopeless crank,' objected Gayton. 'That could be ascertained from the +Bennetts, who knew him,' Mrs Gayton retorted; and she undertook to see +the Bennetts the very next day. + + * * * * * + +It is not necessary to tell in further detail the steps by which Henry +Harrington and Dunning were brought together. + + * * * * * + +The next scene that does require to be narrated is a conversation that +took place between the two. Dunning had told Harrington of the strange +ways in which the dead man's name had been brought before him, and had +said something, besides, of his own subsequent experiences. Then he had +asked if Harrington was disposed, in return, to recall any of the +circumstances connected with his brother's death. Harrington's surprise +at what he heard can be imagined: but his reply was readily given. + +'John,' he said, 'was in a very odd state, undeniably, from time to time, +during some weeks before, though not immediately before, the catastrophe. +There were several things; the principal notion he had was that he +thought he was being followed. No doubt he was an impressionable man, but +he never had had such fancies as this before. I cannot get it out of my +mind that there was ill-will at work, and what you tell me about yourself +reminds me very much of my brother. Can you think of any possible +connecting link?' + +'There is just one that has been taking shape vaguely in my mind. I've +been told that your brother reviewed a book very severely not long before +he died, and just lately I have happened to cross the path of the man who +wrote that book in a way he would resent.' + +'Don't tell me the man was called Karswell.' + +'Why not? that is exactly his name.' + +Henry Harrington leant back. 'That is final to my mind. Now I must +explain further. From something he said, I feel sure that my brother John +was beginning to believe--very much against his will--that Karswell was +at the bottom of his trouble. I want to tell you what seems to me to have +a bearing on the situation. My brother was a great musician, and used to +run up to concerts in town. He came back, three months before he died, +from one of these, and gave me his programme to look at--an analytical +programme: he always kept them. "I nearly missed this one," he said. "I +suppose I must have dropped it: anyhow, I was looking for it under my +seat and in my pockets and so on, and my neighbour offered me his, said +'might he give it me, he had no further use for it,' and he went away +just afterwards. I don't know who he was--a stout, clean-shaven man. I +should have been sorry to miss it; of course I could have bought another, +but this cost me nothing." At another time he told me that he had been +very uncomfortable both on the way to his hotel and during the night. I +piece things together now in thinking it over. Then, not very long after, +he was going over these programmes, putting them in order to have them +bound up, and in this particular one (which by the way I had hardly +glanced at), he found quite near the beginning a strip of paper with some +very odd writing on it in red and black--most carefully done--it looked +to me more like Runic letters than anything else. "Why," he said, "this +must belong to my fat neighbour. It looks as if it might be worth +returning to him; it may be a copy of something; evidently someone has +taken trouble over it. How can I find his address?" We talked it over for +a little and agreed that it wasn't worth advertising about, and that my +brother had better look out for the man at the next concert, to which he +was going very soon. The paper was lying on the book and we were both by +the fire; it was a cold, windy summer evening. I suppose the door blew +open, though I didn't notice it: at any rate a gust--a warm gust it +was--came quite suddenly between us, took the paper and blew it straight +into the fire: it was light, thin paper, and flared and went up the +chimney in a single ash. "Well," I said, "you can't give it back now." He +said nothing for a minute: then rather crossly, "No, I can't; but why you +should keep on saying so I don't know." I remarked that I didn't say it +more than once. "Not more than four times, you mean," was all he said. I +remember all that very clearly, without any good reason; and now to come +to the point. I don't know if you looked at that book of Karswell's which +my unfortunate brother reviewed. It's not likely that you should: but I +did, both before his death and after it. The first time we made game of +it together. It was written in no style at all--split infinitives, and +every sort of thing that makes an Oxford gorge rise. Then there was +nothing that the man didn't swallow: mixing up classical myths, and +stories out of the _Golden Legend_ with reports of savage customs of +today--all very proper, no doubt, if you know how to use them, but he +didn't: he seemed to put the _Golden Legend_ and the _Golden Bough_ +exactly on a par, and to believe both: a pitiable exhibition, in short. +Well, after the misfortune, I looked over the book again. It was no +better than before, but the impression which it left this time on my mind +was different. I suspected--as I told you--that Karswell had borne +ill-will to my brother, even that he was in some way responsible for what +had happened; and now his book seemed to me to be a very sinister +performance indeed. One chapter in particular struck me, in which he +spoke of "casting the Runes" on people, either for the purpose of gaining +their affection or of getting them out of the way--perhaps more +especially the latter: he spoke of all this in a way that really seemed +to me to imply actual knowledge. I've not time to go into details, but +the upshot is that I am pretty sure from information received that the +civil man at the concert was Karswell: I suspect--I more than +suspect--that the paper was of importance: and I do believe that if my +brother had been able to give it back, he might have been alive now. +Therefore, it occurs to me to ask you whether you have anything to put +beside what I have told you.' + +By way of answer, Dunning had the episode in the Manuscript Room at the +British Museum to relate. + +'Then he did actually hand you some papers; have you examined them? No? +because we must, if you'll allow it, look at them at once, and very +carefully.' + +They went to the still empty house--empty, for the two servants were not +yet able to return to work. Dunning's portfolio of papers was gathering +dust on the writing-table. In it were the quires of small-sized +scribbling paper which he used for his transcripts: and from one of +these, as he took it up, there slipped and fluttered out into the room +with uncanny quickness, a strip of thin light paper. The window was open, +but Harrington slammed it to, just in time to intercept the paper, which +he caught. 'I thought so,' he said; 'it might be the identical thing that +was given to my brother. You'll have to look out, Dunning; this may mean +something quite serious for you.' + +A long consultation took place. The paper was narrowly examined. As +Harrington had said, the characters on it were more like Runes than +anything else, but not decipherable by either man, and both hesitated to +copy them, for fear, as they confessed, of perpetuating whatever evil +purpose they might conceal. So it has remained impossible (if I may +anticipate a little) to ascertain what was conveyed in this curious +message or commission. Both Dunning and Harrington are firmly convinced +that it had the effect of bringing its possessors into very undesirable +company. That it must be returned to the source whence it came they were +agreed, and further, that the only safe and certain way was that of +personal service; and here contrivance would be necessary, for Dunning +was known by sight to Karswell. He must, for one thing, alter his +appearance by shaving his beard. But then might not the blow fall first? +Harrington thought they could time it. He knew the date of the concert at +which the 'black spot' had been put on his brother: it was June 18th. The +death had followed on Sept. 18th. Dunning reminded him that three months +had been mentioned on the inscription on the car-window. 'Perhaps,' he +added, with a cheerless laugh, 'mine may be a bill at three months too. I +believe I can fix it by my diary. Yes, April 23rd was the day at the +Museum; that brings us to July 23rd. Now, you know, it becomes extremely +important to me to know anything you will tell me about the progress of +your brother's trouble, if it is possible for you to speak of it.' 'Of +course. Well, the sense of being watched whenever he was alone was the +most distressing thing to him. After a time I took to sleeping in his +room, and he was the better for that: still, he talked a great deal in +his sleep. What about? Is it wise to dwell on that, at least before +things are straightened out? I think not, but I can tell you this: two +things came for him by post during those weeks, both with a London +postmark, and addressed in a commercial hand. One was a woodcut of +Bewick's, roughly torn out of the page: one which shows a moonlit road +and a man walking along it, followed by an awful demon creature. Under it +were written the lines out of the "Ancient Mariner" (which I suppose the +cut illustrates) about one who, having once looked round-- + + walks on, + And turns no more his head, + Because he knows a frightful fiend + Doth close behind him tread. + +The other was a calendar, such as tradesmen often send. My brother paid +no attention to this, but I looked at it after his death, and found that +everything after Sept. 18 had been torn out. You may be surprised at his +having gone out alone the evening he was killed, but the fact is that +during the last ten days or so of his life he had been quite free from +the sense of being followed or watched.' + +The end of the consultation was this. Harrington, who knew a neighbour of +Karswell's, thought he saw a way of keeping a watch on his movements. It +would be Dunning's part to be in readiness to try to cross Karswell's +path at any moment, to keep the paper safe and in a place of ready +access. + +They parted. The next weeks were no doubt a severe strain upon Dunning's +nerves: the intangible barrier which had seemed to rise about him on the +day when he received the paper, gradually developed into a brooding +blackness that cut him off from the means of escape to which one might +have thought he might resort. No one was at hand who was likely to +suggest them to him, and he seemed robbed of all initiative. He waited +with inexpressible anxiety as May, June, and early July passed on, for a +mandate from Harrington. But all this time Karswell remained immovable at +Lufford. + +At last, in less than a week before the date he had come to look upon as +the end of his earthly activities, came a telegram: 'Leaves Victoria by +boat train Thursday night. Do not miss. I come to you to-night. +Harrington.' + +He arrived accordingly, and they concocted plans. The train left Victoria +at nine and its last stop before Dover was Croydon West. Harrington would +mark down Karswell at Victoria, and look out for Dunning at Croydon, +calling to him if need were by a name agreed upon. Dunning, disguised as +far as might be, was to have no label or initials on any hand luggage, +and must at all costs have the paper with him. + +Dunning's suspense as he waited on the Croydon platform I need not +attempt to describe. His sense of danger during the last days had only +been sharpened by the fact that the cloud about him had perceptibly been +lighter; but relief was an ominous symptom, and, if Karswell eluded him +now, hope was gone: and there were so many chances of that. The rumour of +the journey might be itself a device. The twenty minutes in which he +paced the platform and persecuted every porter with inquiries as to the +boat train were as bitter as any he had spent. Still, the train came, and +Harrington was at the window. It was important, of course, that there +should be no recognition: so Dunning got in at the farther end of the +corridor carriage, and only gradually made his way to the compartment +where Harrington and Karswell were. He was pleased, on the whole, to see +that the train was far from full. + +Karswell was on the alert, but gave no sign of recognition. Dunning took +the seat not immediately facing him, and attempted, vainly at first, then +with increasing command of his faculties, to reckon the possibilities of +making the desired transfer. Opposite to Karswell, and next to Dunning, +was a heap of Karswell's coats on the seat. It would be of no use to slip +the paper into these--he would not be safe, or would not feel so, unless +in some way it could be proffered by him and accepted by the other. There +was a handbag, open, and with papers in it. Could he manage to conceal +this (so that perhaps Karswell might leave the carriage without it), and +then find and give it to him? This was the plan that suggested itself. If +he could only have counselled with Harrington! but that could not be. The +minutes went on. More than once Karswell rose and went out into the +corridor. The second time Dunning was on the point of attempting to make +the bag fall off the seat, but he caught Harrington's eye, and read in it +a warning. + +Karswell, from the corridor, was watching: probably to see if the two men +recognized each other. He returned, but was evidently restless: and, when +he rose the third time, hope dawned, for something did slip off his seat +and fall with hardly a sound to the floor. Karswell went out once more, +and passed out of range of the corridor window. Dunning picked up what +had fallen, and saw that the key was in his hands in the form of one of +Cook's ticket-cases, with tickets in it. These cases have a pocket in the +cover, and within very few seconds the paper of which we have heard was +in the pocket of this one. To make the operation more secure, Harrington +stood in the doorway of the compartment and fiddled with the blind. It +was done, and done at the right time, for the train was now slowing down +towards Dover. + +In a moment more Karswell re-entered the compartment. As he did so, +Dunning, managing, he knew not how, to suppress the tremble in his voice, +handed him the ticket-case, saying, 'May I give you this, sir? I believe +it is yours.' After a brief glance at the ticket inside, Karswell uttered +the hoped-for response, 'Yes, it is; much obliged to you, sir,' and he +placed it in his breast pocket. + +Even in the few moments that remained--moments of tense anxiety, for they +knew not to what a premature finding of the paper might lead--both men +noticed that the carriage seemed to darken about them and to grow warmer; +that Karswell was fidgety and oppressed; that he drew the heap of loose +coats near to him and cast it back as if it repelled him; and that he +then sat upright and glanced anxiously at both. They, with sickening +anxiety, busied themselves in collecting their belongings; but they both +thought that Karswell was on the point of speaking when the train stopped +at Dover Town. It was natural that in the short space between town and +pier they should both go into the corridor. + +At the pier they got out, but so empty was the train that they were +forced to linger on the platform until Karswell should have passed ahead +of them with his porter on the way to the boat, and only then was it safe +for them to exchange a pressure of the hand and a word of concentrated +congratulation. The effect upon Dunning was to make him almost faint. +Harrington made him lean up against the wall, while he himself went +forward a few yards within sight of the gangway to the boat, at which +Karswell had now arrived. The man at the head of it examined his ticket, +and, laden with coats he passed down into the boat. Suddenly the official +called after him, 'You, sir, beg pardon, did the other gentleman show his +ticket?' 'What the devil do you mean by the other gentleman?' Karswell's +snarling voice called back from the deck. The man bent over and looked at +him. 'The devil? Well, I don't know, I'm sure,' Harrington heard him say +to himself, and then aloud, 'My mistake, sir; must have been your rugs! +ask your pardon.' And then, to a subordinate near him, ''Ad he got a dog +with him, or what? Funny thing: I could 'a' swore 'e wasn't alone. Well, +whatever it was, they'll 'ave to see to it aboard. She's off now. Another +week and we shall be gettin' the 'oliday customers.' In five minutes more +there was nothing but the lessening lights of the boat, the long line of +the Dover lamps, the night breeze, and the moon. + +Long and long the two sat in their room at the 'Lord Warden'. In spite of +the removal of their greatest anxiety, they were oppressed with a doubt, +not of the lightest. Had they been justified in sending a man to his +death, as they believed they had? Ought they not to warn him, at least? +'No,' said Harrington; 'if he is the murderer I think him, we have done +no more than is just. Still, if you think it better--but how and where +can you warn him?' 'He was booked to Abbeville only,' said Dunning. 'I +saw that. If I wired to the hotels there in Joanne's Guide, "Examine your +ticket-case, Dunning," I should feel happier. This is the 21st: he will +have a day. But I am afraid he has gone into the dark.' So telegrams were +left at the hotel office. + +It is not clear whether these reached their destination, or whether, if +they did, they were understood. All that is known is that, on the +afternoon of the 23rd, an English traveller, examining the front of St +Wulfram's Church at Abbeville, then under extensive repair, was struck on +the head and instantly killed by a stone falling from the scaffold +erected round the north-western tower, there being, as was clearly +proved, no workman on the scaffold at that moment: and the traveller's +papers identified him as Mr Karswell. + +Only one detail shall be added. At Karswell's sale a set of Bewick, sold +with all faults, was acquired by Harrington. The page with the woodcut of +the traveller and the demon was, as he had expected, mutilated. Also, +after a judicious interval, Harrington repeated to Dunning something of +what he had heard his brother say in his sleep: but it was not long +before Dunning stopped him. + + + + +THE STALLS OF BARCHESTER CATHEDRAL + +This matter began, as far as I am concerned, with the reading of a notice +in the obituary section of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for an early year +in the nineteenth century: + + On February 26th, at his residence in the Cathedral Close of + Barchester, the Venerable John Benwell Haynes, D.D., aged 57, + Archdeacon of Sowerbridge and Rector of Pickhill and Candley. He was + of ---- College, Cambridge, and where, by talent and assiduity, he + commanded the esteem of his seniors; when, at the usual time, he took + his first degree, his name stood high in the list of _wranglers_. + These academical honours procured for him within a short time a + Fellowship of his College. In the year 1783 he received Holy Orders, + and was shortly afterwards presented to the perpetual Curacy of + Ranxton-sub-Ashe by his friend and patron the late truly venerable + Bishop of Lichfield.... His speedy preferments, first to a Prebend, + and subsequently to the dignity of Precentor in the Cathedral of + Barchester, form an eloquent testimony to the respect in which he was + held and to his eminent qualifications. He succeeded to the + Archdeaconry upon the sudden decease of Archdeacon Pulteney in 1810. + His sermons, ever conformable to the principles of the religion and + Church which he adorned, displayed in no ordinary degree, without the + least trace of enthusiasm, the refinement of the scholar united with + the graces of the Christian. Free from sectarian violence, and + informed by the spirit of the truest charity, they will long dwell in + the memories of his hearers. [Here a further omission.] The + productions of his pen include an able defence of Episcopacy, which, + though often perused by the author of this tribute to his memory, + affords but one additional instance of the want of liberality and + enterprise which is a too common characteristic of the publishers of + our generation. His published works are, indeed, confined to a + spirited and elegant version of the _Argonautica_ of Valerius Flacus, + a volume of _Discourses upon the Several Events in the Life of + Joshua_, delivered in his Cathedral, and a number of the charges + which he pronounced at various visitations to the clergy of his + Archdeaconry. These are distinguished by etc., etc. The urbanity and + hospitality of the subject of these lines will not readily be + forgotten by those who enjoyed his acquaintance. His interest in the + venerable and awful pile under whose hoary vault he was so punctual + an attendant, and particularly in the musical portion of its rites, + might be termed filial, and formed a strong and delightful contrast + to the polite indifference displayed by too many of our Cathedral + dignitaries at the present time. + +The final paragraph, after informing us that Dr Haynes died a bachelor, +says: + + It might have been augured that an existence so placid and benevolent + would have been terminated in a ripe old age by a dissolution equally + gradual and calm. But how unsearchable are the workings of + Providence! The peaceful and retired seclusion amid which the + honoured evening of Dr Haynes' life was mellowing to its close was + destined to be disturbed, nay, shattered, by a tragedy as appalling + as it was unexpected. The morning of the 26th of February-- + +But perhaps I shall do better to keep back the remainder of the narrative +until I have told the circumstances which led up to it. These, as far as +they are now accessible, I have derived from another source. + +I had read the obituary notice which I have been quoting, quite by +chance, along with a great many others of the same period. It had excited +some little speculation in my mind, but, beyond thinking that, if I ever +had an opportunity of examining the local records of the period +indicated, I would try to remember Dr Haynes, I made no effort to pursue +his case. + +Quite lately I was cataloguing the manuscripts in the library of the +college to which he belonged. I had reached the end of the numbered +volumes on the shelves, and I proceeded to ask the librarian whether +there were any more books which he thought I ought to include in my +description. 'I don't think there are,' he said, 'but we had better come +and look at the manuscript class and make sure. Have you time to do that +now?' I had time. We went to the library, checked off the manuscripts, +and, at the end of our survey, arrived at a shelf of which I had seen +nothing. Its contents consisted for the most part of sermons, bundles of +fragmentary papers, college exercises, _Cyrus_, an epic poem in several +cantos, the product of a country clergyman's leisure, mathematical tracts +by a deceased professor, and other similar material of a kind with which +I am only too familiar. I took brief notes of these. Lastly, there was a +tin box, which was pulled out and dusted. Its label, much faded, was thus +inscribed: 'Papers of the Ven. Archdeacon Haynes. Bequeathed in 1834 by +his sister, Miss Letitia Haynes.' + +I knew at once that the name was one which I had somewhere encountered, +and could very soon locate it. 'That must be the Archdeacon Haynes who +came to a very odd end at Barchester. I've read his obituary in the +_Gentleman's Magazine_. May I take the box home? Do you know if there is +anything interesting in it?' + +The librarian was very willing that I should take the box and examine it +at leisure. 'I never looked inside it myself,' he said, 'but I've always +been meaning to. I am pretty sure that is the box which our old Master +once said ought never to have been accepted by the college. He said that +to Martin years ago; and he said also that as long as he had control over +the library it should never be opened. Martin told me about it, and said +that he wanted terribly to know what was in it; but the Master was +librarian, and always kept the box in the lodge, so there was no getting +at it in his time, and when he died it was taken away by mistake by his +heirs, and only returned a few years ago. I can't think why I haven't +opened it; but, as I have to go away from Cambridge this afternoon, you +had better have first go at it. I think I can trust you not to publish +anything undesirable in our catalogue.' + +I took the box home and examined its contents, and thereafter consulted +the librarian as to what should be done about publication, and, since I +have his leave to make a story out of it, provided I disguised the +identity of the people concerned, I will try what can be done. + +The materials are, of course, mainly journals and letters. How much I +shall quote and how much epitomize must be determined by considerations +of space. The proper understanding of the situation has necessitated a +little--not very arduous--research, which has been greatly facilitated by +the excellent illustrations and text of the Barchester volume in Bell's +_Cathedral Series_. + +When you enter the choir of Barchester Cathedral now, you pass through a +screen of metal and coloured marbles, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, and +find yourself in what I must call a very bare and odiously furnished +place. The stalls are modern, without canopies. The places of the +dignitaries and the names of the prebends have fortunately been allowed +to survive, and are inscribed on small brass plates affixed to the +stalls. The organ is in the triforium, and what is seen of the case is +Gothic. The reredos and its surroundings are like every other. + +Careful engravings of a hundred years ago show a very different state of +things. The organ is on a massive classical screen. The stalls are also +classical and very massive. There is a baldacchino of wood over the +altar, with urns upon its corners. Farther east is a solid altar screen, +classical in design, of wood, with a pediment, in which is a triangle +surrounded by rays, enclosing certain Hebrew letters in gold. Cherubs +contemplate these. There is a pulpit with a great sounding-board at the +eastern end of the stalls on the north side, and there is a black and +white marble pavement. Two ladies and a gentleman are admiring the +general effect. From other sources I gather that the archdeacon's stall +then, as now, was next to the bishop's throne at the south-eastern end of +the stalls. His house almost faces the west front of the church, and is a +fine red-brick building of William the Third's time. + +Here Dr Haynes, already a mature man, took up his abode with his sister +in the year 1810. The dignity had long been the object of his wishes, but +his predecessor refused to depart until he had attained the age of +ninety-two. About a week after he had held a modest festival in +celebration of that ninety-second birthday, there came a morning, late in +the year, when Dr Haynes, hurrying cheerfully into his breakfast-room, +rubbing his hands and humming a tune, was greeted, and checked in his +genial flow of spirits, by the sight of his sister, seated, indeed, in +her usual place behind the tea-urn, but bowed forward and sobbing +unrestrainedly into her handkerchief. 'What--what is the matter? What bad +news?' he began. 'Oh, Johnny, you've not heard? The poor dear +archdeacon!' 'The archdeacon, yes? What is it--ill, is he?' 'No, no; they +found him on the staircase this morning; it is so shocking.' 'Is it +possible! Dear, dear, poor Pulteney! Had there been any seizure?' 'They +don't think so, and that is almost the worst thing about it. It seems to +have been all the fault of that stupid maid of theirs, Jane.' Dr Haynes +paused. 'I don't quite understand, Letitia. How was the maid at fault?' +'Why, as far as I can make out, there was a stair-rod missing, and she +never mentioned it, and the poor archdeacon set his foot quite on the +edge of the step--you know how slippery that oak is--and it seems he must +have fallen almost the whole flight and broken his neck. It _is_ so sad +for poor Miss Pulteney. Of course, they will get rid of the girl at once. +I never liked her.' Miss Haynes's grief resumed its sway, but eventually +relaxed so far as to permit of her taking some breakfast. Not so her +brother, who, after standing in silence before the window for some +minutes, left the room, and did not appear again that morning. + +I need only add that the careless maid-servant was dismissed forthwith, +but that the missing stair-rod was very shortly afterwards found _under_ +the stair-carpet--an additional proof, if any were needed, of extreme +stupidity and carelessness on her part. + +For a good many years Dr Haynes had been marked out by his ability, which +seems to have been really considerable, as the likely successor of +Archdeacon Pulteney, and no disappointment was in store for him. He was +duly installed, and entered with zeal upon the discharge of those +functions which are appropriate to one in his position. A considerable +space in his journals is occupied with exclamations upon the confusion in +which Archdeacon Pulteney had left the business of his office and the +documents appertaining to it. Dues upon Wringham and Barnswood have been +uncollected for something like twelve years, and are largely +irrecoverable; no visitation has been held for seven years; four chancels +are almost past mending. The persons deputized by the archdeacon have +been nearly as incapable as himself. It was almost a matter for +thankfulness that this state of things had not been permitted to +continue, and a letter from a friend confirms this view. '[Greek: ho +katechôn],' it says (in rather cruel allusion to the Second Epistle to +the Thessalonians), 'is removed at last. My poor friend! Upon what a +scene of confusion will you be entering! I give you my word that, on the +last occasion of my crossing his threshold, there was no single paper +that he could lay hands upon, no syllable of mine that he could hear, and +no fact in connexion with my business that he could remember. But now, +thanks to a negligent maid and a loose stair-carpet, there is some +prospect that necessary business will be transacted without a complete +loss alike of voice and temper.' This letter was tucked into a pocket in +the cover of one of the diaries. + +There can be no doubt of the new archdeacon's zeal and enthusiasm. 'Give +me but time to reduce to some semblance of order the innumerable errors +and complications with which I am confronted, and I shall gladly and +sincerely join with the aged Israelite in the canticle which too many, I +fear, pronounce but with their lips.' This reflection I find, not in a +diary, but a letter; the doctor's friends seem to have returned his +correspondence to his surviving sister. He does not confine himself, +however, to reflections. His investigation of the rights and duties of +his office are very searching and business-like, and there is a +calculation in one place that a period of three years will just suffice +to set the business of the Archdeaconry upon a proper footing. The +estimate appears to have been an exact one. For just three years he is +occupied in reforms; but I look in vain at the end of that time for the +promised _Nunc dimittis_. He has now found a new sphere of activity. +Hitherto his duties have precluded him from more than an occasional +attendance at the Cathedral services. Now he begins to take an interest +in the fabric and the music. Upon his struggles with the organist, an old +gentleman who had been in office since 1786, I have no time to dwell; +they were not attended with any marked success. More to the purpose is +his sudden growth of enthusiasm for the Cathedral itself and its +furniture. There is a draft of a letter to Sylvanus Urban (which I do not +think was ever sent) describing the stalls in the choir. As I have said, +these were of fairly late date--of about the year 1700, in fact. + +'The archdeacon's stall, situated at the south-east end, west of the +episcopal throne (now so worthily occupied by the truly excellent prelate +who adorns the See of Barchester), is distinguished by some curious +ornamentation. In addition to the arms of Dean West, by whose efforts the +whole of the internal furniture of the choir was completed, the +prayer-desk is terminated at the eastern extremity by three small but +remarkable statuettes in the grotesque manner. One is an exquisitely +modelled figure of a cat, whose crouching posture suggests with admirable +spirit the suppleness, vigilance, and craft of the redoubted adversary of +the genus _Mus_. Opposite to this is a figure seated upon a throne and +invested with the attributes of royalty; but it is no earthly monarch +whom the carver has sought to portray. His feet are studiously concealed +by the long robe in which he is draped: but neither the crown nor the cap +which he wears suffice to hide the prick-ears and curving horns which +betray his Tartarean origin; and the hand which rests upon his knee, is +armed with talons of horrifying length and sharpness. Between these two +figures stands a shape muffled in a long mantle. This might at first +sight be mistaken for a monk or "friar of orders gray", for the head is +cowled and a knotted cord depends from somewhere about the waist. A +slight inspection, however, will lead to a very different conclusion. The +knotted cord is quickly seen to be a halter, held by a hand all but +concealed within the draperies; while the sunken features and, horrid to +relate, the rent flesh upon the cheek-bones, proclaim the King of +Terrors. These figures are evidently the production of no unskilled +chisel; and should it chance that any of your correspondents are able to +throw light upon their origin and significance, my obligations to your +valuable miscellany will be largely increased.' + +There is more description in the paper, and, seeing that the woodwork in +question has now disappeared, it has a considerable interest. A paragraph +at the end is worth quoting: + +'Some late researches among the Chapter accounts have shown me that the +carving of the stalls was not as was very usually reported, the work of +Dutch artists, but was executed by a native of this city or district +named Austin. The timber was procured from an oak copse in the vicinity, +the property of the Dean and Chapter, known as Holywood. Upon a recent +visit to the parish within whose boundaries it is situated, I learned +from the aged and truly respectable incumbent that traditions still +lingered amongst the inhabitants of the great size and age of the oaks +employed to furnish the materials of the stately structure which has +been, however imperfectly, described in the above lines. Of one in +particular, which stood near the centre of the grove, it is remembered +that it was known as the Hanging Oak. The propriety of that title is +confirmed by the fact that a quantity of human bones was found in the +soil about its roots, and that at certain times of the year it was the +custom for those who wished to secure a successful issue to their +affairs, whether of love or the ordinary business of life, to suspend +from its boughs small images or puppets rudely fashioned of straw, twigs, +or the like rustic materials.' + +So much for the archdeacon's archaeological investigations. To return to +his career as it is to be gathered from his diaries. Those of his first +three years of hard and careful work show him throughout in high spirits, +and, doubtless, during this time, that reputation for hospitality and +urbanity which is mentioned in his obituary notice was well deserved. +After that, as time goes on, I see a shadow coming over him--destined to +develop into utter blackness--which I cannot but think must have been +reflected in his outward demeanour. He commits a good deal of his fears +and troubles to his diary; there was no other outlet for them. He was +unmarried and his sister was not always with him. But I am much mistaken +if he has told all that he might have told. A series of extracts shall be +given: + + _Aug. 30th 1816_--The days begin to draw in more perceptibly than + ever. Now that the Archdeaconry papers are reduced to order, I must + find some further employment for the evening hours of autumn and + winter. It is a great blow that Letitia's health will not allow her + to stay through these months. Why not go on with my _Defence of + Episcopacy_? It may be useful. + + _Sept. 15._--Letitia has left me for Brighton. + + _Oct. 11._--Candles lit in the choir for the first time at evening + prayers. It came as a shock: I find that I absolutely shrink from the + dark season. + + _Nov. 17_--Much struck by the character of the carving on my desk: I + do not know that I had ever carefully noticed it before. My attention + was called to it by an accident. During the _Magnificat_ I was, I + regret to say, almost overcome with sleep. My hand was resting on the + back of the carved figure of a cat which is the nearest to me of the + three figures on the end of my stall. I was not aware of this, for I + was not looking in that direction, until I was startled by what + seemed a softness, a feeling as of rather rough and coarse fur, and a + sudden movement, as if the creature were twisting round its head to + bite me. I regained complete consciousness in an instant, and I have + some idea that I must have uttered a suppressed exclamation, for I + noticed that Mr Treasurer turned his head quickly in my direction. + The impression of the unpleasant feeling was so strong that I found + myself rubbing my hand upon my surplice. This accident led me to + examine the figures after prayers more carefully than I had done + before, and I realized for the first time with what skill they are + executed. + + _Dec. 6_--I do indeed miss Letitia's company. The evenings, after I + have worked as long as I can at my _Defence_, are very trying. The + house is too large for a lonely man, and visitors of any kind are too + rare. I get an uncomfortable impression when going to my room that + there _is_ company of some kind. The fact is (I may as well formulate + it to myself) that I hear voices. This, I am well aware, is a common + symptom of incipient decay of the brain--and I believe that I should + be less disquieted than I am if I had any suspicion that this was the + cause. I have none--none whatever, nor is there anything in my family + history to give colour to such an idea. Work, diligent work, and a + punctual attention to the duties which fall to me is my best remedy, + and I have little doubt that it will prove efficacious. + + _Jan. 1_--My trouble is, I must confess it, increasing upon me. Last + night, upon my return after midnight from the Deanery, I lit my + candle to go upstairs. I was nearly at the top when something + whispered to me, 'Let me wish you a happy New Year.' I could not be + mistaken: it spoke distinctly and with a peculiar emphasis. Had I + dropped my candle, as I all but did, I tremble to think what the + consequences must have been. As it was, I managed to get up the last + flight, and was quickly in my room with the door locked, and + experienced no other disturbance. + + _Jan. 15_--I had occasion to come downstairs last night to my + workroom for my watch, which I had inadvertently left on my table + when I went up to bed. I think I was at the top of the last flight + when I had a sudden impression of a sharp whisper in my ear '_Take + care_.' I clutched the balusters and naturally looked round at once. + Of course, there was nothing. After a moment I went on--it was no + good turning back--but I had as nearly as possible fallen: a cat--a + large one by the feel of it--slipped between my feet, but again, of + course, I saw nothing. It _may_ have been the kitchen cat, but I do + not think it was. + + _Feb. 27_--A curious thing last night, which I should like to forget. + Perhaps if I put it down here I may see it in its true proportion. I + worked in the library from about 9 to 10. The hall and staircase + seemed to be unusually full of what I can only call movement without + sound: by this I mean that there seemed to be continuous going and + coming, and that whenever I ceased writing to listen, or looked out + into the hall, the stillness was absolutely unbroken. Nor, in going + to my room at an earlier hour than usual--about half-past ten--was I + conscious of anything that I could call a noise. It so happened that + I had told John to come to my room for the letter to the bishop which + I wished to have delivered early in the morning at the Palace. He was + to sit up, therefore, and come for it when he heard me retire. This I + had for the moment forgotten, though I had remembered to carry the + letter with me to my room. But when, as I was winding up my watch, I + heard a light tap at the door, and a low voice saying, 'May I come + in?' (which I most undoubtedly did hear), I recollected the fact, and + took up the letter from my dressing-table, saying 'Certainly: come + in.' No one, however, answered my summons, and it was now that, as I + strongly suspect, I committed an error: for I opened the door and + held the letter out. There was certainly no one at that moment in the + passage, but, in the instant of my standing there, the door at the + end opened and John appeared carrying a candle. I asked him whether + he had come to the door earlier; but am satisfied that he had not. I + do not like the situation; but although my senses were very much on + the alert, and though it was some time before I could sleep, I must + allow that I perceived nothing further of an untoward character. + +With the return of spring, when his sister came to live with him for some +months, Dr Haynes's entries become more cheerful, and, indeed, no symptom +of depression is discernible until the early part of September when he +was again left alone. And now, indeed, there is evidence that he was +incommoded again, and that more pressingly. To this matter I will return +in a moment, but I digress to put in a document which, rightly or +wrongly, I believe to have a bearing on the thread of the story. + +The account-books of Dr Haynes, preserved along with his other papers, +show, from a date but little later than that of his institution as +archdeacon, a quarterly payment of £25 to J. L. Nothing could have been +made of this, had it stood by itself. But I connect with it a very dirty +and ill-written letter, which, like another that I have quoted, was in a +pocket in the cover of a diary. Of date or postmark there is no vestige, +and the decipherment was not easy. It appears to run: + + Dr Sr. + + I have bin expctin to her off you theis last wicks, and not Haveing + done so must supose you have not got mine witch was saying how me and + my man had met in with bad times this season all seems to go cross + with us on the farm and which way to look for the rent we have no + knowledge of it this been the sad case with us if you would have the + great [liberality _probably, but the exact spelling defies + reproduction_] to send fourty pounds otherwise steps will have to be + took which I should not wish. Has you was the Means of me losing my + place with Dr Pulteney I think it is only just what I am asking and + you know best what I could say if I was Put to it but I do not wish + anything of that unpleasant Nature being one that always wish to have + everything Pleasant about me. + + Your obedt Servt, + + Jane Lee. + +About the time at which I suppose this letter to have been written there +is, in fact, a payment of £40 to J.L. + +We return to the diary: + + _Oct. 22_--At evening prayers, during the Psalms, I had that same + experience which I recollect from last year. I was resting my hand on + one of the carved figures, as before (I usually avoid that of the cat + now), and--I was going to have said--a change came over it, but that + seems attributing too much importance to what must, after all, be due + to some physical affection in myself: at any rate, the wood seemed to + become chilly and soft as if made of wet linen. I can assign the + moment at which I became sensible of this. The choir were singing the + words (_Set thou an ungodly man to be ruler over him and let Satan + stand at his right hand_.) + + The whispering in my house was more persistent tonight. I seemed not + to be rid of it in my room. I have not noticed this before. A nervous + man, which I am not, and hope I am not becoming, would have been much + annoyed, if not alarmed, by it. The cat was on the stairs tonight. I + think it sits there always. There _is_ no kitchen cat. + + _Nov. 15_--Here again I must note a matter I do not understand. I am + much troubled in sleep. No definite image presented itself, but I was + pursued by the very vivid impression that wet lips were whispering + into my ear with great rapidity and emphasis for some time together. + After this, I suppose, I fell asleep, but was awakened with a start + by a feeling as if a hand were laid on my shoulder. To my intense + alarm I found myself standing at the top of the lowest flight of the + first staircase. The moon was shining brightly enough through the + large window to let me see that there was a large cat on the second + or third step. I can make no comment. I crept up to bed again, I do + not know how. Yes, mine is a heavy burden. [Then follows a line or + two which has been scratched out. I fancy I read something like + 'acted for the best'.] + +Not long after this it is evident to me that the archdeacon's firmness +began to give way under the pressure of these phenomena. I omit as +unnecessarily painful and distressing the ejaculations and prayers which, +in the months of December and January, appear for the first time and +become increasingly frequent. Throughout this time, however, he is +obstinate in clinging to his post. Why he did not plead ill-health and +take refuge at Bath or Brighton I cannot tell; my impression is that it +would have done him no good; that he was a man who, if he had confessed +himself beaten by the annoyances, would have succumbed at once, and that +he was conscious of this. He did seek to palliate them by inviting +visitors to his house. The result he has noted in this fashion: + + _Jan. 7_--I have prevailed on my cousin Allen to give me a few days, + and he is to occupy the chamber next to mine. + + _Jan. 8_--A still night. Allen slept well, but complained of the + wind. My own experiences were as before: still whispering and + whispering: what is it that he wants to say? + + _Jan. 9_--Allen thinks this a very noisy house. He thinks, too, that + my cat is an unusually large and fine specimen, but very wild. + + _Jan. 10_--Allen and I in the library until 11. He left me twice to + see what the maids were doing in the hall: returning the second time + he told me he had seen one of them passing through the door at the + end of the passage, and said if his wife were here she would soon get + them into better order. I asked him what coloured dress the maid + wore; he said grey or white. I supposed it would be so. + + _Jan. 11_--Allen left me today. I must be firm. + +These words, _I must be firm_, occur again and again on subsequent days; +sometimes they are the only entry. In these cases they are in an +unusually large hand, and dug into the paper in a way which must have +broken the pen that wrote them. + +Apparently the archdeacon's friends did not remark any change in his +behaviour, and this gives me a high idea of his courage and +determination. The diary tells us nothing more than I have indicated of +the last days of his life. The end of it all must be told in the polished +language of the obituary notice: + + The morning of the 26th of February was cold and tempestuous. At an + early hour the servants had occasion to go into the front hall of the + residence occupied by the lamented subject of these lines. What was + their horror upon observing the form of their beloved and respected + master lying upon the landing of the principal staircase in an + attitude which inspired the gravest fears. Assistance was procured, + and an universal consternation was experienced upon the discovery + that he had been the object of a brutal and a murderous attack. The + vertebral column was fractured in more than one place. This might + have been the result of a fall: it appeared that the stair-carpet was + loosened at one point. But, in addition to this, there were injuries + inflicted upon the eyes, nose and mouth, as if by the agency of some + savage animal, which, dreadful to relate, rendered those features + unrecognizable. The vital spark was, it is needless to add, + completely extinct, and had been so, upon the testimony of + respectable medical authorities, for several hours. The author or + authors of this mysterious outrage are alike buried in mystery, and + the most active conjecture has hitherto failed to suggest a solution + of the melancholy problem afforded by this appalling occurrence. + +The writer goes on to reflect upon the probability that the writings of +Mr Shelley, Lord Byron, and M. Voltaire may have been instrumental in +bringing about the disaster, and concludes by hoping, somewhat vaguely, +that this event may 'operate as an example to the rising generation'; but +this portion of his remarks need not be quoted in full. + +I had already formed the conclusion that Dr Haynes was responsible for +the death of Dr Pulteney. But the incident connected with the carved +figure of death upon the archdeacon's stall was a very perplexing +feature. The conjecture that it had been cut out of the wood of the +Hanging Oak was not difficult, but seemed impossible to substantiate. +However, I paid a visit to Barchester, partly with the view of finding +out whether there were any relics of the woodwork to be heard of. I was +introduced by one of the canons to the curator of the local museum, who +was, my friend said, more likely to be able to give me information on the +point than anyone else. I told this gentleman of the description of +certain carved figures and arms formerly on the stalls, and asked whether +any had survived. He was able to show me the arms of Dean West and some +other fragments. These, he said, had been got from an old resident, who +had also once owned a figure--perhaps one of those which I was inquiring +for. There was a very odd thing about that figure, he said. 'The old man +who had it told me that he picked it up in a woodyard, whence he had +obtained the still extant pieces, and had taken it home for his children. +On the way home he was fiddling about with it and it came in two in his +hands, and a bit of paper dropped out. This he picked up and, just +noticing that there was writing on it, put it into his pocket, and +subsequently into a vase on his mantelpiece. I was at his house not very +long ago, and happened to pick up the vase and turn it over to see +whether there were any marks on it, and the paper fell into my hand. The +old man, on my handing it to him, told me the story I have told you, and +said I might keep the paper. It was crumpled and rather torn, so I have +mounted it on a card, which I have here. If you can tell me what it means +I shall be very glad, and also, I may say, a good deal surprised.' + +He gave me the card. The paper was quite legibly inscribed in an old +hand, and this is what was on it: + + When I grew in the Wood + I was water'd w'th Blood + Now in the Church I stand + Who that touches me with his Hand + If a Bloody hand he bear + I councell him to be ware + Lest he be fetcht away + Whether by night or day, + But chiefly when the wind blows high + In a night of February. +This I drempt, 26 Febr. Anno 1699. JOHN AUSTIN. + +'I suppose it is a charm or a spell: wouldn't you call it something of +that kind?' said the curator. + +'Yes,' I said, 'I suppose one might. What became of the figure in which +it was concealed?' + +'Oh, I forgot,' said he. 'The old man told me it was so ugly and +frightened his children so much that he burnt it.' + + + + +MARTIN'S CLOSE + +Some few years back I was staying with the rector of a parish in the +West, where the society to which I belong owns property. I was to go over +some of this land: and, on the first morning of my visit, soon after +breakfast, the estate carpenter and general handyman, John Hill, was +announced as in readiness to accompany us. The rector asked which part of +the parish we were to visit that morning. The estate map was produced, +and when we had showed him our round, he put his finger on a particular +spot. 'Don't forget,' he said, 'to ask John Hill about Martin's Close +when you get there. I should like to hear what he tells you.' 'What ought +he to tell us?' I said. 'I haven't the slightest idea,' said the rector, +'or, if that is not exactly true, it will do till lunch-time.' And here +he was called away. + +We set out; John Hill is not a man to withhold such information as he +possesses on any point, and you may gather from him much that is of +interest about the people of the place and their talk. An unfamiliar +word, or one that he thinks ought to be unfamiliar to you, he will +usually spell--as c-o-b cob, and the like. It is not, however, relevant +to my purpose to record his conversation before the moment when we +reached Martin's Close. The bit of land is noticeable, for it is one of +the smallest enclosures you are likely to see--a very few square yards, +hedged in with quickset on all sides, and without any gate or gap leading +into it. You might take it for a small cottage garden long deserted, but +that it lies away from the village and bears no trace of cultivation. It +is at no great distance from the road, and is part of what is there +called a moor, in other words, a rough upland pasture cut up into largish +fields. + +'Why is this little bit hedged off so?' I asked, and John Hill (whose +answer I cannot represent as perfectly as I should like) was not at +fault. 'That's what we call Martin's Close, sir: 'tes a curious thing +'bout that bit of land, sir: goes by the name of Martin's Close, sir. +M-a-r-t-i-n Martin. Beg pardon, sir, did Rector tell you to make inquiry +of me 'bout that, sir?' 'Yes, he did.' 'Ah, I thought so much, sir. I was +tell'n Rector 'bout that last week, and he was very much interested. It +'pears there's a murderer buried there, sir, by the name of Martin. Old +Samuel Saunders, that formerly lived yurr at what we call South-town, +sir, he had a long tale 'bout that, sir: terrible murder done 'pon a +young woman, sir. Cut her throat and cast her in the water down yurr.' +'Was he hung for it?' 'Yes, sir, he was hung just up yurr on the roadway, +by what I've 'eard, on the Holy Innocents' Day, many 'undred years ago, +by the man that went by the name of the bloody judge: terrible red and +bloody, I've 'eard.' 'Was his name Jeffreys, do you think?' 'Might be +possible 'twas--Jeffreys--J-e-f--Jeffreys. I reckon 'twas, and the tale +I've 'eard many times from Mr Saunders,--how this young man +Martin--George Martin--was troubled before his crule action come to light +by the young woman's sperit.' 'How was that, do you know?' 'No, sir, I +don't exactly know how 'twas with it: but by what I've 'eard he was +fairly tormented; and rightly tu. Old Mr Saunders, he told a history +regarding a cupboard down yurr in the New Inn. According to what he +related, this young woman's sperit come out of this cupboard: but I don't +racollact the matter.' + +This was the sum of John Hill's information. We passed on, and in due +time I reported what I had heard to the Rector. He was able to show me +from the parish account-books that a gibbet had been paid for in 1684, +and a grave dug in the following year, both for the benefit of George +Martin; but he was unable to suggest anyone in the parish, Saunders being +now gone, who was likely to throw any further light on the story. + +Naturally, upon my return to the neighbourhood of libraries, I made +search in the more obvious places. The trial seemed to be nowhere +reported. A newspaper of the time, and one or more news-letters, however, +had some short notices, from which I learnt that, on the ground of local +prejudice against the prisoner (he was described as a young gentleman of +a good estate), the venue had been moved from Exeter to London; that +Jeffreys had been the judge, and death the sentence, and that there had +been some 'singular passages' in the evidence. Nothing further transpired +till September of this year. A friend who knew me to be interested in +Jeffreys then sent me a leaf torn out of a second-hand bookseller's +catalogue with the entry: JEFFREYS, JUDGE: _Interesting old MS. trial for +murder_, and so forth, from which I gathered, to my delight, that I could +become possessed, for a very few shillings, of what seemed to be a +verbatim report, in shorthand, of the Martin trial. I telegraphed for the +manuscript and got it. It was a thin bound volume, provided with a title +written in longhand by someone in the eighteenth century, who had also +added this note: 'My father, who took these notes in court, told me that +the prisoner's friends had made interest with Judge Jeffreys that no +report should be put out: he had intended doing this himself when times +were better, and had shew'd it to the Revd Mr Glanvil, who incourag'd his +design very warmly, but death surpriz'd them both before it could be +brought to an accomplishment.' + +The initials W. G. are appended; I am advised that the original reporter +may have been T. Gurney, who appears in that capacity in more than one +State trial. + +This was all that I could read for myself. After no long delay I heard of +someone who was capable of deciphering the shorthand of the seventeenth +century, and a little time ago the typewritten copy of the whole +manuscript was laid before me. The portions which I shall communicate +here help to fill in the very imperfect outline which subsists in the +memories of John Hill and, I suppose, one or two others who live on the +scene of the events. + +The report begins with a species of preface, the general effect of which +is that the copy is not that actually taken in court, though it is a true +copy in regard to the notes of what was said; but that the writer has +added to it some 'remarkable passages' that took place during the trial, +and has made this present fair copy of the whole, intending at some +favourable time to publish it; but has not put it into longhand, lest it +should fall into the possession of unauthorized persons, and he or his +family be deprived of the profit. + +The report then begins: + +This case came on to be tried on Wednesday, the 19th of November, between +our sovereign lord the King, and George Martin Esquire, of (I take leave +to omit some of the place-names), at a sessions of oyer and terminer and +gaol delivery, at the Old Bailey, and the prisoner, being in Newgate, was +brought to the bar. + +_Clerk of the Crown._ George Martin, hold up thy hand (which he did). + +Then the indictment was read, which set forth that the prisoner, 'not +having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by +the instigation of the devil, upon the 15th day of May, in the 36th year +of our sovereign lord King Charles the Second, with force and arms in the +parish aforesaid, in and upon Ann Clark, spinster, of the same place, in +the peace of God and of our said sovereign lord the King then and there +being, feloniously, wilfully, and of your malice aforethought did make an +assault and with a certain knife value a penny the throat of the said Ann +Clark then and there did cut, of the which wound the said Ann Clark then +and there did die, and the body of the said Ann Clark did cast into a +certain pond of water situate in the same parish (with more that is not +material to our purpose) against the peace of our sovereign lord the +King, his crown and dignity.' + +Then the prisoner prayed a copy of the indictment. + +_L.C.J._ (Sir George Jeffreys). What is this? Sure you know that is never +allowed. Besides, here is as plain indictment as ever I heard; you have +nothing to do but to plead to it. + +_Pris._ My lord, I apprehend there may be matter of law arising out of +the indictment, and I would humbly beg the court to assign me counsel to +consider of it. Besides, my lord, I believe it was done in another case: +copy of the indictment was allowed. + +_L.C.J._ What case was that? + +_Pris._ Truly, my lord, I have been kept close prisoner ever since I came +up from Exeter Castle, and no one allowed to come at me and no one to +advise with. + +_L.C.J._ But I say, what was that case you allege? + +_Pris._ My lord, I cannot tell your lordship precisely the name of the +case, but it is in my mind that there was such an one, and I would humbly +desire-- + +_L.C.J._ All this is nothing. Name your case, and we will tell you +whether there be any matter for you in it. God forbid but you should have +anything that may be allowed you by law: but this is against law, and we +must keep the course of the court. + +_Att.-Gen._ (Sir Robert Sawyer). My lord, we pray for the King that he +may be asked to plead. + +_Cl. of Ct._ Are you guilty of the murder whereof you stand indicted, or +not guilty? + +_Pris._ My lord, I would humbly offer this to the court. If I plead now, +shall I have an opportunity after to except against the indictment? + +_L.C.J._ Yes, yes, that comes after verdict: that will be saved to you, +and counsel assigned if there be matter of law, but that which you have +now to do is to plead. + +Then after some little parleying with the court (which seemed strange +upon such a plain indictment) the prisoner pleaded _Not Guilty_. + +_Cl. of Ct._ Culprit. How wilt thou be tried? + +_Pris._ By God and my country. + +_Cl. of Ct._ God send thee a good deliverance. + +_L.C.J._ Why, how is this? Here has been a great to-do that you should +not be tried at Exeter by your country, but be brought here to London, +and now you ask to be tried by your country. Must we send you to Exeter +again? + +_Pris._ My lord, I understood it was the form. + +_L.C.J._ So it is, man: we spoke only in the way of pleasantness. Well, +go on and swear the jury. + +So they were sworn. I omit the names. There was no challenging on the +prisoner's part, for, as he said, he did not know any of the persons +called. Thereupon the prisoner asked for the use of pen, ink, and paper, +to which the L. C. J. replied: 'Ay, ay, in God's name let him have it.' +Then the usual charge was delivered to the jury, and the case opened by +the junior counsel for the King, Mr Dolben. + +The Attorney-General followed: + +May it please your lordship, and you gentlemen of the jury, I am of +counsel for the King against the prisoner at the bar. You have heard that +he stands indicted for a murder done upon the person of a young girl. +Such crimes as this you may perhaps reckon to be not uncommon, and, +indeed, in these times, I am sorry to say it, there is scarce any fact so +barbarous and unnatural but what we may hear almost daily instances of +it. But I must confess that in this murder that is charged upon the +prisoner there are some particular features that mark it out to be such +as I hope has but seldom if ever been perpetrated upon English ground. +For as we shall make it appear, the person murdered was a poor country +girl (whereas the prisoner is a gentleman of a proper estate) and, +besides that, was one to whom Providence had not given the full use of +her intellects, but was what is termed among us commonly an innocent or +natural: such an one, therefore, as one would have supposed a gentleman +of the prisoner's quality more likely to overlook, or, if he did notice +her, to be moved to compassion for her unhappy condition, than to lift up +his hand against her in the very horrid and barbarous manner which we +shall show you he used. + +Now to begin at the beginning and open the matter to you orderly: About +Christmas of last year, that is the year 1683, this gentleman, Mr Martin, +having newly come back into his own country from the University of +Cambridge, some of his neighbours, to show him what civility they could +(for his family is one that stands in very good repute all over that +country), entertained him here and there at their Christmas merrymakings, +so that he was constantly riding to and fro, from one house to another, +and sometimes, when the place of his destination was distant, or for +other reason, as the unsafeness of the roads, he would be constrained to +lie the night at an inn. In this way it happened that he came, a day or +two after the Christmas, to the place where this young girl lived with +her parents, and put up at the inn there, called the New Inn, which is, +as I am informed, a house of good repute. Here was some dancing going on +among the people of the place, and Ann Clark had been brought in, it +seems, by her elder sister to look on; but being, as I have said, of weak +understanding, and, besides that, very uncomely in her appearance, it was +not likely she should take much part in the merriment; and accordingly +was but standing by in a corner of the room. The prisoner at the bar, +seeing her, one must suppose by way of a jest, asked her would she dance +with him. And in spite of what her sister and others could say to prevent +it and to dissuade her-- + +_L.C.J._ Come, Mr Attorney, we are not set here to listen to tales of +Christmas parties in taverns. I would not interrupt you, but sure you +have more weighty matters than this. You will be telling us next what +tune they danced to. + +_Att._ My lord, I would not take up the time of the court with what is +not material: but we reckon it to be material to show how this unlikely +acquaintance begun: and as for the tune, I believe, indeed, our evidence +will show that even that hath a bearing on the matter in hand. + +_L.C.J._ Go on, go on, in God's name: but give us nothing that is +impertinent. + +_Att._ Indeed, my lord, I will keep to my matter. But, gentlemen, having +now shown you, as I think, enough of this first meeting between the +murdered person and the prisoner, I will shorten my tale so far as to say +that from then on there were frequent meetings of the two: for the young +woman was greatly tickled with having got hold (as she conceived it) of +so likely a sweetheart, and he being once a week at least in the habit of +passing through the street where she lived, she would be always on the +watch for him; and it seems they had a signal arranged: he should whistle +the tune that was played at the tavern: it is a tune, as I am informed, +well known in that country, and has a burden, '_Madam, will you walk, +will you talk with me?_' + +_L.C.J._ Ay, I remember it in my own country, in Shropshire. It runs +somehow thus, doth it not? [Here his lordship whistled a part of a tune, +which was very observable, and seemed below the dignity of the court. And +it appears he felt it so himself, for he said:] But this is by the mark, +and I doubt it is the first time we have had dance-tunes in this court. +The most part of the dancing we give occasion for is done at Tyburn. +[Looking at the prisoner, who appeared very much disordered.] You said +the tune was material to your case, Mr Attorney, and upon my life I think +Mr Martin agrees with you. What ails you, man? staring like a player that +sees a ghost! + +_Pris._ My lord, I was amazed at hearing such trivial, foolish things as +they bring against me. + +_L.C.J._ Well, well, it lies upon Mr Attorney to show whether they be +trivial or not: but I must say, if he has nothing worse than this he has +said, you have no great cause to be in amaze. Doth it not lie something +deeper? But go on, Mr Attorney. + +_Att._ My lord and gentlemen--all that I have said so far you may indeed +very reasonably reckon as having an appearance of triviality. And, to be +sure, had the matter gone no further than the humouring of a poor silly +girl by a young gentleman of quality, it had been very well. But to +proceed. We shall make it appear that after three or four weeks the +prisoner became contracted to a young gentlewoman of that country, one +suitable every way to his own condition, and such an arrangement was on +foot that seemed to promise him a happy and a reputable living. But +within no very long time it seems that this young gentlewoman, hearing of +the jest that was going about that countryside with regard to the +prisoner and Ann Clark, conceived that it was not only an unworthy +carriage on the part of her lover, but a derogation to herself that he +should suffer his name to be sport for tavern company: and so without +more ado she, with the consent of her parents, signified to the prisoner +that the match between them was at an end. We shall show you that upon +the receipt of this intelligence the prisoner was greatly enraged against +Ann Clark as being the cause of his misfortune (though indeed there was +nobody answerable for it but himself), and that he made use of many +outrageous expressions and threatenings against her, and subsequently +upon meeting with her both abused her and struck at her with his whip: +but she, being but a poor innocent, could not be persuaded to desist from +her attachment to him, but would often run after him testifying with +gestures and broken words the affection she had to him: until she was +become, as he said, the very plague of his life. Yet, being that affairs +in which he was now engaged necessarily took him by the house in which +she lived, he could not (as I am willing to believe he would otherwise +have done) avoid meeting with her from time to time. We shall further +show you that this was the posture of things up to the 15th day of May in +this present year. Upon that day the prisoner comes riding through the +village, as of custom, and met with the young woman: but in place of +passing her by, as he had lately done, he stopped, and said some words to +her with which she appeared wonderfully pleased, and so left her; and +after that day she was nowhere to be found, notwithstanding a strict +search was made for her. The next time of the prisoner's passing through +the place, her relations inquired of him whether he should know anything +of her whereabouts; which he totally denied. They expressed to him their +fears lest her weak intellects should have been upset by the attention he +had showed her, and so she might have committed some rash act against her +own life, calling him to witness the same time how often they had +beseeched him to desist from taking notice of her, as fearing trouble +might come of it: but this, too, he easily laughed away. But in spite of +this light behaviour, it was noticeable in him that about this time his +carriage and demeanour changed, and it was said of him that he seemed a +troubled man. And here I come to a passage to which I should not dare to +ask your attention, but that it appears to me to be founded in truth, and +is supported by testimony deserving of credit. And, gentlemen, to my +judgement it doth afford a great instance of God's revenge against +murder, and that He will require the blood of the innocent. + +[Here Mr Attorney made a pause, and shifted with his papers: and it was +thought remarkable by me and others, because he was a man not easily +dashed.] + +_L.C.J._ Well, Mr Attorney, what is your instance? + +_Att._ My lord, it is a strange one, and the truth is that, of all the +cases I have been concerned in, I cannot call to mind the like of it. But +to be short, gentlemen, we shall bring you testimony that Ann Clark was +seen after this 15th of May, and that, at such time as she was so seen, +it was impossible she could have been a living person. + +[Here the people made a hum, and a good deal of laughter, and the Court +called for silence, and when it was made]-- + +_L.C.J._ Why, Mr Attorney, you might save up this tale for a week; it +will be Christmas by that time, and you can frighten your cook-maids with +it [at which the people laughed again, and the prisoner also, as it +seemed]. God, man, what are you prating of--ghosts and Christmas jigs and +tavern company--and here is a man's life at stake! [To the prisoner]: And +you, sir, I would have you know there is not so much occasion for you to +make merry neither. You were not brought here for that, and if I know Mr +Attorney, he has more in his brief than he has shown yet. Go on, Mr +Attorney. I need not, mayhap, have spoken so sharply, but you must +confess your course is something unusual. + +_Att._ Nobody knows it better than I, my lord: but I shall bring it to an +end with a round turn. I shall show you, gentlemen, that Ann Clark's body +was found in the month of June, in a pond of water, with the throat cut: +that a knife belonging to the prisoner was found in the same water: that +he made efforts to recover the said knife from the water: that the +coroner's quest brought in a verdict against the prisoner at the bar, and +that therefore he should by course have been tried at Exeter: but that, +suit being made on his behalf, on account that an impartial jury could +not be found to try him in his own country, he hath had that singular +favour shown him that he should be tried here in London. And so we will +proceed to call our evidence. + +Then the facts of the acquaintance between the prisoner and Ann Clark +were proved, and also the coroner's inquest. I pass over this portion of +the trial, for it offers nothing of special interest. + +Sarah Arscott was next called and sworn. + +_Att._ What is your occupation? + +_S._ I keep the New Inn at--. + +_Att._ Do you know the prisoner at the bar? + +_S._ Yes: he was often at our house since he come first at Christmas of +last year. + +_Att._ Did you know Ann Clark? + +_S._ Yes, very well. + +_Att._ Pray, what manner of person was she in her appearance? + +_S._ She was a very short thick-made woman: I do not know what else you +would have me say. + +_Att._ Was she comely? + +_S._ No, not by no manner of means: she was very uncomely, poor child! +She had a great face and hanging chops and a very bad colour like a +puddock. + +_L.C.J._ What is that, mistress? What say you she was like? + +_S._ My lord, I ask pardon; I heard Esquire Martin say she looked like a +puddock in the face; and so she did. + +_L.C.J._ Did you that? Can you interpret her, Mr Attorney? + +_Att._ My lord, I apprehend it is the country word for a toad. + +_L.C.J._ Oh, a hop-toad! Ay, go on. + +_Att._ Will you give an account to the jury of what passed between you +and the prisoner at the bar in May last? + +_S._ Sir, it was this. It was about nine o'clock the evening after that +Ann did not come home, and I was about my work in the house; there was no +company there only Thomas Snell, and it was foul weather. Esquire Martin +came in and called for some drink, and I, by way of pleasantry, I said to +him, "Squire, have you been looking after your sweetheart?" and he flew +out at me in a passion and desired I would not use such expressions. I +was amazed at that, because we were accustomed to joke with him about +her. + +_L.C.J._ Who, her? + +_S._ Ann Clark, my lord. And we had not heard the news of his being +contracted to a young gentlewoman elsewhere, or I am sure I should have +used better manners. So I said nothing, but being I was a little put out, +I begun singing, to myself as it were, the song they danced to the first +time they met, for I thought it would prick him. It was the same that he +was used to sing when he came down the street; I have heard it very +often: '_Madam, will you walk, will you talk with me?_' And it fell out +that I needed something that was in the kitchen. So I went out to get it, +and all the time I went on singing, something louder and more bold-like. +And as I was there all of a sudden I thought I heard someone answering +outside the house, but I could not be sure because of the wind blowing so +high. So then I stopped singing, and now I heard it plain, saying, '_Yes, +sir, I will walk, I will talk with you_,' and I knew the voice for Ann +Clark's voice. + +_Att._ How did you know it to be her voice? + +_S._ It was impossible I could be mistaken. She had a dreadful voice, a +kind of a squalling voice, in particular if she tried to sing. And there +was nobody in the village that could counterfeit it, for they often +tried. So, hearing that, I was glad, because we were all in an anxiety to +know what was gone with her: for though she was a natural, she had a good +disposition and was very tractable: and says I to myself, 'What, child! +are you returned, then?' and I ran into the front room, and said to +Squire Martin as I passed by, 'Squire, here is your sweetheart back +again: shall I call her in?' and with that I went to open the door; but +Squire Martin he caught hold of me, and it seemed to me he was out of his +wits, or near upon. 'Hold, woman,' says he, 'in God's name!' and I know +not what else: he was all of a shake. Then I was angry, and said I, +'What! are you not glad that poor child is found?' and I called to Thomas +Snell and said, 'If the Squire will not let me, do you open the door and +call her in.' So Thomas Snell went and opened the door, and the wind +setting that way blew in and overset the two candles that was all we had +lighted: and Esquire Martin fell away from holding me; I think he fell +down on the floor, but we were wholly in the dark, and it was a minute or +two before I got a light again: and while I was feeling for the fire-box, +I am not certain but I heard someone step 'cross the floor, and I am sure +I heard the door of the great cupboard that stands in the room open and +shut to. Then, when I had a light again, I see Esquire Martin on the +settle, all white and sweaty as if he had swounded away, and his arms +hanging down; and I was going to help him; but just then it caught my eye +that there was something like a bit of a dress shut into the cupboard +door, and it came to my mind I had heard that door shut. So I thought it +might be some person had run in when the light was quenched, and was +hiding in the cupboard. So I went up closer and looked: and there was a +bit of a black stuff cloak, and just below it an edge of a brown stuff +dress, both sticking out of the shut of the door: and both of them was +low down, as if the person that had them on might be crouched down +inside. + +_Att._ What did you take it to be? + +_S._ I took it to be a woman's dress. + +_Att._ Could you make any guess whom it belonged to? Did you know anyone +who wore such a dress? + +_S._ It was a common stuff, by what I could see. I have seen many women +wearing such a stuff in our parish. + +_Att._ Was it like Ann Clark's dress? + +_S._ She used to wear just such a dress: but I could not say on my oath +it was hers. + +_Att._ Did you observe anything else about it? + +_S_. I did notice that it looked very wet: but it was foul weather +outside. + +_L.C.J._ Did you feel of it, mistress? + +_S._ No, my lord, I did not like to touch it. + +_L.C.J._ Not like? Why that? Are you so nice that you scruple to feel of +a wet dress? + +_S._ Indeed, my lord, I cannot very well tell why: only it had a nasty +ugly look about it. + +_L.C.J._ Well, go on. + +_S_. Then I called again to Thomas Snell, and bid him come to me and +catch anyone that come out when I should open the cupboard door, 'for,' +says I, 'there is someone hiding within, and I would know what she +wants.' And with that Squire Martin gave a sort of a cry or a shout and +ran out of the house into the dark, and I felt the cupboard door pushed +out against me while I held it, and Thomas Snell helped me: but for all +we pressed to keep it shut as hard as we could, it was forced out against +us, and we had to fall back. + +_L.C.J._ And pray what came out--a mouse? + +_S._ No, my lord, it was greater than a mouse, but I could not see what +it was: it fleeted very swift over the floor and out at the door. + +_L.C.J._ But come; what did it look like? Was it a person? + +_S._ My lord, I cannot tell what it was, but it ran very low, and it was +of a dark colour. We were both daunted by it, Thomas Snell and I, but we +made all the haste we could after it to the door that stood open. And we +looked out, but it was dark and we could see nothing. + +_L.C.J._ Was there no tracks of it on the floor? What floor have you +there? + +_S._ It is a flagged floor and sanded, my lord, and there was an +appearance of a wet track on the floor, but we could make nothing of it, +neither Thomas Snell nor me, and besides, as I said, it was a foul night. + +_L.C.J._ Well, for my part, I see not--though to be sure it is an odd +tale she tells--what you would do with this evidence. + +_Att._ My lord, we bring it to show the suspicious carriage of the +prisoner immediately after the disappearance of the murdered person: and +we ask the jury's consideration of that; and also to the matter of the +voice heard without the house. + +Then the prisoner asked some questions not very material, and Thomas +Snell was next called, who gave evidence to the same effect as Mrs +Arscott, and added the following: + +_Att._ Did anything pass between you and the prisoner during the time Mrs +Arscott was out of the room? + +_Th._ I had a piece of twist in my pocket. + +_Att._ Twist of what? + +_Th._ Twist of tobacco, sir, and I felt a disposition to take a pipe of +tobacco. So I found a pipe on the chimney-piece, and being it was twist, +and in regard of me having by an oversight left my knife at my house, and +me not having over many teeth to pluck at it, as your lordship or anyone +else may have a view by their own eyesight-- + +_L.C.J._ What is the man talking about? Come to the matter, fellow! Do +you think we sit here to look at your teeth? + +_Th._ No, my lord, nor I would not you should do, God forbid! I know your +honours have better employment, and better teeth, I would not wonder. + +_L.C.J._ Good God, what a man is this! Yes, I _have_ better teeth, and +that you shall find if you keep not to the purpose. + +_Th._ I humbly ask pardon, my lord, but so it was. And I took upon me, +thinking no harm, to ask Squire Martin to lend me his knife to cut my +tobacco. And he felt first of one pocket and then of another and it was +not there at all. And says I, 'What! have you lost your knife, Squire?' +And up he gets and feels again and he sat down, and such a groan as he +gave. 'Good God!' he says, 'I must have left it there.' 'But,' says I, +'Squire, by all appearance it is _not_ there. Did you set a value on it,' +says I, 'you might have it cried.' But he sat there and put his head +between his hands and seemed to take no notice to what I said. And then +it was Mistress Arscott come tracking back out of the kitchen place. + +Asked if he heard the voice singing outside the house, he said 'No,' but +the door into the kitchen was shut, and there was a high wind: but says +that no one could mistake Ann Clark's voice. + +Then a boy, William Reddaway, about thirteen years of age, was called, +and by the usual questions, put by the Lord Chief Justice, it was +ascertained that he knew the nature of an oath. And so he was sworn. His +evidence referred to a time about a week later. + +_Att._ Now, child, don't be frighted: there is no one here will hurt you +if you speak the truth. + +_L.C.J._ Ay, if he speak the truth. But remember, child, thou art in the +presence of the great God of heaven and earth, that hath the keys of +hell, and of us that are the king's officers, and have the keys of +Newgate; and remember, too, there is a man's life in question; and if +thou tellest a lie, and by that means he comes to an ill end, thou art no +better than his murderer; and so speak the truth. + +_Att._ Tell the jury what you know, and speak out. Where were you on the +evening of the 23rd of May last? + +_L.C.J._ Why, what does such a boy as this know of days. Can you mark the +day, boy? + +_W._ Yes, my lord, it was the day before our feast, and I was to spend +sixpence there, and that falls a month before Midsummer Day. + +_One of the Jury._ My lord, we cannot hear what he says. + +_L.C.J._ He says he remembers the day because it was the day before the +feast they had there, and he had sixpence to lay out. Set him up on the +table there. Well, child, and where wast thou then? + +_W._ Keeping cows on the moor, my lord. + +But, the boy using the country speech, my lord could not well apprehend +him, and so asked if there was anyone that could interpret him, and it +was answered the parson of the parish was there, and he was accordingly +sworn and so the evidence given. The boy said: + +'I was on the moor about six o'clock, and sitting behind a bush of furze +near a pond of water: and the prisoner came very cautiously and looking +about him, having something like a long pole in his hand, and stopped a +good while as if he would be listening, and then began to feel in the +water with the pole: and I being very near the water--not above five +yards--heard as if the pole struck up against something that made a +wallowing sound, and the prisoner dropped the pole and threw himself on +the ground, and rolled himself about very strangely with his hands to his +ears, and so after a while got up and went creeping away.' + +Asked if he had had any communication with the prisoner, 'Yes, a day or +two before, the prisoner, hearing I was used to be on the moor, he asked +me if I had seen a knife laying about, and said he would give sixpence to +find it. And I said I had not seen any such thing, but I would ask about. +Then he said he would give me sixpence to say nothing, and so he did.' + +_L.C.J._ And was that the sixpence you were to lay out at the feast? + +_W._ Yes, if you please, my lord. + +Asked if he had observed anything particular as to the pond of water, he +said, 'No, except that it begun to have a very ill smell and the cows +would not drink of it for some days before.' + +Asked if he had ever seen the prisoner and Ann Clark in company together, +he began to cry very much, and it was a long time before they could get +him to speak intelligibly. At last the parson of the parish, Mr Matthews, +got him to be quiet, and the question being put to him again, he said he +had seen Ann Clark waiting on the moor for the prisoner at some way off, +several times since last Christmas. + +_Att._ Did you see her close, so as to be sure it was she? + +_W._ Yes, quite sure. + +_L.C.J._ How quite sure, child? + +_W._ Because she would stand and jump up and down and clap her arms like +a goose [which he called by some country name: but the parson explained +it to be a goose]. And then she was of such a shape that it could not be +no one else. + +_Att._ What was the last time that you so saw her? + +Then the witness began to cry again and clung very much to Mr Matthews, +who bid him not be frightened. + +And so at last he told his story: that on the day before their feast +(being the same evening that he had before spoken of) after the prisoner +had gone away, it being then twilight and he very desirous to get home, +but afraid for the present to stir from where he was lest the prisoner +should see him, remained some few minutes behind the bush, looking on the +pond, and saw something dark come up out of the water at the edge of the +pond farthest away from him, and so up the bank. And when it got to the +top where he could see it plain against the sky, it stood up and flapped +the arms up and down, and then run off very swiftly in the same direction +the prisoner had taken: and being asked very strictly who he took it to +be, he said upon his oath that it could be nobody but Ann Clark. + +Thereafter his master was called, and gave evidence that the boy had come +home very late that evening and been chided for it, and that he seemed +very much amazed, but could give no account of the reason. + +_Att._ My lord, we have done with our evidence for the King. + +Then the Lord Chief Justice called upon the prisoner to make his defence; +which he did, though at no great length, and in a very halting way, +saying that he hoped the jury would not go about to take his life on the +evidence of a parcel of country people and children that would believe +any idle tale; and that he had been very much prejudiced in his trial; at +which the L.C.J. interrupted him, saying that he had had singular favour +shown to him in having his trial removed from Exeter, which the prisoner +acknowledging, said that he meant rather that since he was brought to +London there had not been care taken to keep him secured from +interruption and disturbance. Upon which the L.C.J. ordered the Marshal +to be called, and questioned him about the safe keeping of the prisoner, +but could find nothing: except the Marshal said that he had been informed +by the underkeeper that they had seen a person outside his door or going +up the stairs to it: but there was no possibility the person should have +got in. And it being inquired further what sort of person this might be, +the Marshal could not speak to it save by hearsay, which was not allowed. +And the prisoner, being asked if this was what he meant, said no, he knew +nothing of that, but it was very hard that a man should not be suffered +to be at quiet when his life stood on it. But it was observed he was very +hasty in his denial. And so he said no more, and called no witnesses. +Whereupon the Attorney-General spoke to the jury. [A full report of what +he said is given, and, if time allowed, I would extract that portion in +which he dwells on the alleged appearance of the murdered person: he +quotes some authorities of ancient date, as St Augustine _de cura pro +mortuis gerenda_ (a favourite book of reference with the old writers on +the supernatural) and also cites some cases which may be seen in +Glanvil's, but more conveniently in Mr Lang's books. He does not, +however, tell us more of those cases than is to be found in print.] + +The Lord Chief Justice then summed up the evidence for the jury. His +speech, again, contains nothing that I find worth copying out: but he was +naturally impressed with the singular character of the evidence, saying +that he had never heard such given in his experience; but that there was +nothing in law to set it aside, and that the jury must consider whether +they believed these witnesses or not. + +And the jury after a very short consultation brought the prisoner in +Guilty. + +So he was asked whether he had anything to say in arrest of judgement, +and pleaded that his name was spelt wrong in the indictment, being Martin +with an I, whereas it should be with a Y. But this was overruled as not +material, Mr Attorney saying, moreover, that he could bring evidence to +show that the prisoner by times wrote it as it was laid in the +indictment. And, the prisoner having nothing further to offer, sentence +of death was passed upon him, and that he should be hanged in chains upon +a gibbet near the place where the fact was committed, and that execution +should take place upon the 28th December next ensuing, being Innocents' +Day. + +Thereafter the prisoner being to all appearance in a state of +desperation, made shift to ask the L.C.J. that his relations might be +allowed to come to him during the short time he had to live. + +_L.C.J._ Ay, with all my heart, so it be in the presence of the keeper; +and Ann Clark may come to you as well, for what I care. + +At which the prisoner broke out and cried to his lordship not to use such +words to him, and his lordship very angrily told him he deserved no +tenderness at any man's hands for a cowardly butcherly murderer that had +not the stomach to take the reward of his deeds: 'and I hope to God,' +said he, 'that she _will_ be with you by day and by night till an end is +made of you.' Then the prisoner was removed, and, so far as I saw, he was +in a swound, and the Court broke up. + +I cannot refrain from observing that the prisoner during all the time of +the trial seemed to be more uneasy than is commonly the case even in +capital causes: that, for example, he was looking narrowly among the +people and often turning round very sharply, as if some person might be +at his ear. It was also very noticeable at this trial what a silence the +people kept, and further (though this might not be otherwise than natural +in that season of the year), what a darkness and obscurity there was in +the court room, lights being brought in not long after two o'clock in the +day, and yet no fog in the town. + + * * * * * + +It was not without interest that I heard lately from some young men who +had been giving a concert in the village I speak of, that a very cold +reception was accorded to the song which has been mentioned in this +narrative: '_Madam, will you walk?_' It came out in some talk they had +next morning with some of the local people that that song was regarded +with an invincible repugnance; it was not so, they believed, at North +Tawton, but here it was reckoned to be unlucky. However, why that view +was taken no one had the shadow of an idea. + + + + +MR HUMPHREYS AND HIS INHERITANCE + +About fifteen years ago, on a date late in August or early in September, +a train drew up at Wilsthorpe, a country station in Eastern England. Out +of it stepped (with other passengers) a rather tall and reasonably +good-looking young man, carrying a handbag and some papers tied up in a +packet. He was expecting to be met, one would say, from the way in which +he looked about him: and he was, as obviously, expected. The +stationmaster ran forward a step or two, and then, seeming to recollect +himself, turned and beckoned to a stout and consequential person with a +short round beard who was scanning the train with some appearance of +bewilderment. 'Mr Cooper,' he called out,--'Mr Cooper, I think this is +your gentleman'; and then to the passenger who had just alighted, 'Mr +Humphreys, sir? Glad to bid you welcome to Wilsthorpe. There's a cart +from the Hall for your luggage, and here's Mr Cooper, what I think you +know.' Mr Cooper had hurried up, and now raised his hat and shook hands. +'Very pleased, I'm sure,' he said, 'to give the echo to Mr Palmer's kind +words. I should have been the first to render expression to them but for +the face not being familiar to me, Mr Humphreys. May your residence among +us be marked as a red-letter day, sir.' 'Thank you very much, Mr Cooper,' +said Humphreys, 'for your good wishes, and Mr Palmer also. I do hope very +much that this change of--er--tenancy--which you must all regret, I am +sure--will not be to the detriment of those with whom I shall be brought +in contact.' He stopped, feeling that the words were not fitting +themselves together in the happiest way, and Mr Cooper cut in, 'Oh, you +may rest satisfied of that, Mr Humphreys. I'll take it upon myself to +assure you, sir, that a warm welcome awaits you on all sides. And as to +any change of propriety turning out detrimental to the neighbourhood, +well, your late uncle--' And here Mr Cooper also stopped, possibly in +obedience to an inner monitor, possibly because Mr Palmer, clearing his +throat loudly, asked Humphreys for his ticket. The two men left the +little station, and--at Humphreys' suggestion--decided to walk to Mr +Cooper's house, where luncheon was awaiting them. + +The relation in which these personages stood to each other can be +explained in a very few lines. Humphreys had inherited--quite +unexpectedly--a property from an uncle: neither the property nor the +uncle had he ever seen. He was alone in the world--a man of good ability +and kindly nature, whose employment in a Government office for the last +four or five years had not gone far to fit him for the life of a country +gentleman. He was studious and rather diffident, and had few out-of-door +pursuits except golf and gardening. To-day he had come down for the first +time to visit Wilsthorpe and confer with Mr Cooper, the bailiff, as to +the matters which needed immediate attention. It may be asked how this +came to be his first visit? Ought he not in decency to have attended his +uncle's funeral? The answer is not far to seek: he had been abroad at the +time of the death, and his address had not been at once procurable. So he +had put off coming to Wilsthorpe till he heard that all things were ready +for him. And now we find him arrived at Mr Cooper's comfortable house, +facing the parsonage, and having just shaken hands with the smiling Mrs +and Miss Cooper. + +During the minutes that preceded the announcement of luncheon the party +settled themselves on elaborate chairs in the drawing-room, Humphreys, +for his part, perspiring quietly in the consciousness that stock was +being taken of him. + +'I was just saying to Mr Humphreys, my dear,' said Mr Cooper, 'that I +hope and trust that his residence among us here in Wilsthorpe will be +marked as a red-letter day.' + +'Yes, indeed, I'm sure,' said Mrs Cooper heartily, 'and many, many of +them.' + +Miss Cooper murmured words to the same effect, and Humphreys attempted a +pleasantry about painting the whole calendar red, which, though greeted +with shrill laughter, was evidently not fully understood. At this point +they proceeded to luncheon. + +'Do you know this part of the country at all, Mr Humphreys?' said Mrs +Cooper, after a short interval. This was a better opening. + +'No, I'm sorry to say I do _not_,' said Humphreys. 'It seems very +pleasant, what I could see of it coming down in the train.' + +'Oh, it _is_ a pleasant part. Really, I sometimes say I don't know a +nicer district, for the country; and the people round, too: such a +quantity always going on. But I'm afraid you've come a little late for +some of the better garden parties, Mr Humphreys.' + +'I suppose I have; dear me, what a pity!' said Humphreys, with a gleam of +relief; and then, feeling that something more could be got out of this +topic, 'But after all, you see, Mrs Cooper, even if I could have been +here earlier, I should have been cut off from them, should I not? My poor +uncle's recent death, you know--' + +'Oh dear, Mr Humphreys, to be sure; what a dreadful thing of me to say!' +(And Mr and Miss Cooper seconded the proposition inarticulately.) 'What +must you have thought? I _am_ sorry: you must really forgive me.' + +'Not at all, Mrs Cooper, I assure you. I can't honestly assert that my +uncle's death was a great grief to me, for I had never seen him. All I +meant was that I supposed I shouldn't be expected to take part for some +little time in festivities of that kind.' + +'Now, really it's very kind of you to take it in that way, Mr Humphreys, +isn't it, George? And you _do_ forgive me? But only fancy! You never saw +poor old Mr Wilson!' + +'Never in my life; nor did I ever have a letter from him. But, by the +way, you have something to forgive _me_ for. I've never thanked you, +except by letter, for all the trouble you've taken to find people to look +after me at the Hall.' + +'Oh, I'm sure that was nothing, Mr Humphreys; but I really do think that +you'll find them give satisfaction. The man and his wife whom we've got +for the butler and housekeeper we've known for a number of years: such a +nice respectable couple, and Mr Cooper, I'm sure, can answer for the men +in the stables and gardens.' + +'Yes, Mr Humphreys, they're a good lot. The head gardener's the only one +who's stopped on from Mr Wilson's time. The major part of the employees, +as you no doubt saw by the will, received legacies from the old gentleman +and retired from their posts, and as the wife says, your housekeeper and +butler are calculated to render you every satisfaction.' + +'So everything, Mr Humphreys, is ready for you to step in this very day, +according to what I understood you to wish,' said Mrs Cooper. +'Everything, that is, except company, and there I'm afraid you'll find +yourself quite at a standstill. Only we did understand it was your +intention to move in at once. If not, I'm sure you know we should have +been only too pleased for you to stay here.' + +'I'm quite sure you would, Mrs Cooper, and I'm very grateful to you. But +I thought I had really better make the plunge at once. I'm accustomed to +living alone, and there will be quite enough to occupy my +evenings--looking over papers and books and so on--for some time to come, +I thought if Mr Cooper could spare the time this afternoon to go over the +house and grounds with me--' + +'Certainly, certainly, Mr Humphreys. My time is your own, up to any hour +you please.' + +'Till dinner-time, father, you mean,' said Miss Cooper. 'Don't forget +we're going over to the Brasnetts'. And have you got all the garden +keys?' + +'Are you a great gardener, Miss Cooper?' said Mr Humphreys. 'I wish you +would tell me what I'm to expect at the Hall.' + +'Oh, I don't know about a _great_ gardener, Mr Humphreys: I'm very fond +of flowers--but the Hall garden might be made quite lovely, I often say. +It's very old-fashioned as it is: and a great deal of shrubbery. There's +an old temple, besides, and a maze.' + +'Really? Have you explored it ever?' + +'No-o,' said Miss Cooper, drawing in her lips and shaking her head. 'I've +often longed to try, but old Mr Wilson always kept it locked. He wouldn't +even let Lady Wardrop into it. (She lives near here, at Bentley, you +know, and she's a _great_ gardener, if you like.) That's why I asked +father if he had all the keys.' + +'I see. Well, I must evidently look into that, and show you over it when +I've learnt the way.' + +'Oh, thank you so much, Mr Humphreys! Now I shall have the laugh of Miss +Foster (that's our rector's daughter, you know; they're away on their +holiday now--such nice people). We always had a joke between us which +should be the first to get into the maze.' + +'I think the garden keys must be up at the house,' said Mr Cooper, who +had been looking over a large bunch. 'There is a number there in the +library. Now, Mr Humphreys, if you're prepared, we might bid goodbye to +these ladies and set forward on our little tour of exploration.' + + * * * * * + +As they came out of Mr Cooper's front gate, Humphreys had to run the +gauntlet--not of an organized demonstration, but of a good deal of +touching of hats and careful contemplation from the men and women who had +gathered in somewhat unusual numbers in the village street. He had, +further, to exchange some remarks with the wife of the lodge-keeper as +they passed the park gates, and with the lodge-keeper himself, who was +attending to the park road. I cannot, however, spare the time to report +the progress fully. As they traversed the half-mile or so between the +lodge and the house, Humphreys took occasion to ask his companion some +question which brought up the topic of his late uncle, and it did not +take long before Mr Cooper was embarked upon a disquisition. + +'It is singular to think, as the wife was saying just now, that you +should never have seen the old gentleman. And yet--you won't +misunderstand me, Mr Humphreys, I feel confident, when I say that in my +opinion there would have been but little congeniality betwixt yourself +and him. Not that I have a word to say in deprecation--not a single word. +I can tell you what he was,' said Mr Cooper, pulling up suddenly and +fixing Humphreys with his eye. 'Can tell you what he was in a nutshell, +as the saying goes. He was a complete, thorough valentudinarian. That +describes him to a T. That's what he was, sir, a complete +valentudinarian. No participation in what went on around him. I did +venture, I think, to send you a few words of cutting from our local +paper, which I took the occasion to contribute on his decease. If I +recollect myself aright, such is very much the gist of them. But don't, +Mr Humphreys,' continued Cooper, tapping him impressively on the +chest,--'don't you run away with the impression that I wish to say aught +but what is most creditable--_most_ creditable--of your respected uncle +and my late employer. Upright, Mr Humphreys--open as the day; liberal to +all in his dealings. He had the heart to feel and the hand to +accommodate. But there it was: there was the stumbling-block--his +unfortunate health--or, as I might more truly phrase it, his _want_ of +health.' + +'Yes, poor man. Did he suffer from any special disorder before his last +illness--which, I take it, was little more than old age?' + +'Just that, Mr Humphreys--just that. The flash flickering slowly away in +the pan,' said Cooper, with what he considered an appropriate +gesture,--'the golden bowl gradually ceasing to vibrate. But as to your +other question I should return a negative answer. General absence of +vitality? yes: special complaint? no, unless you reckon a nasty cough he +had with him. Why, here we are pretty much at the house. A handsome +mansion, Mr Humphreys, don't you consider?' + +It deserved the epithet, on the whole: but it was oddly proportioned--a +very tall red-brick house, with a plain parapet concealing the roof +almost entirely. It gave the impression of a town house set down in the +country; there was a basement, and a rather imposing flight of steps +leading up to the front door. It seemed also, owing to its height, to +desiderate wings, but there were none. The stables and other offices were +concealed by trees. Humphreys guessed its probable date as 1770 or +thereabouts. + +The mature couple who had been engaged to act as butler and +cook-housekeeper were waiting inside the front door, and opened it as +their new master approached. Their name, Humphreys already knew, was +Calton; of their appearance and manner he formed a favourable impression +in the few minutes' talk he had with them. It was agreed that he should +go through the plate and the cellar next day with Mr Calton, and that Mrs +C. should have a talk with him about linen, bedding, and so on--what +there was, and what there ought to be. Then he and Cooper, dismissing the +Caltons for the present, began their view of the house. Its topography is +not of importance to this story. The large rooms on the ground floor were +satisfactory, especially the library, which was as large as the +dining-room, and had three tall windows facing east. The bedroom prepared +for Humphreys was immediately above it. There were many pleasant, and a +few really interesting, old pictures. None of the furniture was new, and +hardly any of the books were later than the seventies. After hearing of +and seeing the few changes his uncle had made in the house, and +contemplating a shiny portrait of him which adorned the drawing-room, +Humphreys was forced to agree with Cooper that in all probability there +would have been little to attract him in his predecessor. It made him +rather sad that he could not be sorry--_dolebat se dolere non posse_--for +the man who, whether with or without some feeling of kindliness towards +his unknown nephew, had contributed so much to his well-being; for he +felt that Wilsthorpe was a place in which he could be happy, and +especially happy, it might be, in its library. + +And now it was time to go over the garden: the empty stables could wait, +and so could the laundry. So to the garden they addressed themselves, and +it was soon evident that Miss Cooper had been right in thinking that +there were possibilities. Also that Mr Cooper had done well in keeping on +the gardener. The deceased Mr Wilson might not have, indeed plainly had +not, been imbued with the latest views on gardening, but whatever had +been done here had been done under the eye of a knowledgeable man, and +the equipment and stock were excellent. Cooper was delighted with the +pleasure Humphreys showed, and with the suggestions he let fall from time +to time. 'I can see,' he said, 'that you've found your meatear here, Mr +Humphreys: you'll make this place a regular signosier before very many +seasons have passed over our heads. I wish Clutterham had been +here--that's the head gardener--and here he would have been of course, +as I told you, but for his son's being horse doover with a fever, poor +fellow! I should like him to have heard how the place strikes you.' + +'Yes, you told me he couldn't be here today, and I was very sorry to hear +the reason, but it will be time enough tomorrow. What is that white +building on the mound at the end of the grass ride? Is it the temple Miss +Cooper mentioned?' + +'That it is, Mr Humphreys--the Temple of Friendship. Constructed of +marble brought out of Italy for the purpose, by your late uncle's +grandfather. Would it interest you perhaps to take a turn there? You get +a very sweet prospect of the park.' + +The general lines of the temple were those of the Sibyl's Temple at +Tivoli, helped out by a dome, only the whole was a good deal smaller. +Some ancient sepulchral reliefs were built into the wall, and about it +all was a pleasant flavour of the grand tour. Cooper produced the key, +and with some difficulty opened the heavy door. Inside there was a +handsome ceiling, but little furniture. Most of the floor was occupied by +a pile of thick circular blocks of stone, each of which had a single +letter deeply cut on its slightly convex upper surface. 'What is the +meaning of these?' Humphreys inquired. + +'Meaning? Well, all things, we're told, have their purpose, Mr Humphreys, +and I suppose these blocks have had theirs as well as another. But what +that purpose is or was [Mr Cooper assumed a didactic attitude here], I, +for one, should be at a loss to point out to you, sir. All I know of +them--and it's summed up in a very few words--is just this: that they're +stated to have been removed by your late uncle, at a period before I +entered on the scene, from the maze. That, Mr Humphreys, is--' + +'Oh, the maze!' exclaimed Humphreys. 'I'd forgotten that: we must have a +look at it. Where is it?' + +Cooper drew him to the door of the temple, and pointed with his stick. +'Guide your eye,' he said (somewhat in the manner of the Second Elder in +Handel's 'Susanna'-- + + Far to the west direct your straining eyes + Where yon tall holm-tree rises to the skies) + +'Guide your eye by my stick here, and follow out the line directly +opposite to the spot where we're standing now, and I'll engage, Mr +Humphreys, that you'll catch the archway over the entrance. You'll see it +just at the end of the walk answering to the one that leads up to this +very building. Did you think of going there at once? because if that be +the case, I must go to the house and procure the key. If you would walk +on there, I'll rejoin you in a few moments' time.' + +Accordingly Humphreys strolled down the ride leading to the temple, past +the garden-front of the house, and up the turfy approach to the archway +which Cooper had pointed out to him. He was surprised to find that the +whole maze was surrounded by a high wall, and that the archway was +provided with a padlocked iron gate; but then he remembered that Miss +Cooper had spoken of his uncle's objection to letting anyone enter this +part of the garden. He was now at the gate, and still Cooper came not. +For a few minutes he occupied himself in reading the motto cut over the +entrance, _Secretum meum mihi et filiis domus meae_, and in trying to +recollect the source of it. Then he became impatient and considered the +possibility of scaling the wall. This was clearly not worth while; it +might have been done if he had been wearing an older suit: or could the +padlock--a very old one--be forced? No, apparently not: and yet, as he +gave a final irritated kick at the gate, something gave way, and the lock +fell at his feet. He pushed the gate open inconveniencing a number of +nettles as he did so, and stepped into the enclosure. + +It was a yew maze, of circular form, and the hedges, long untrimmed, had +grown out and upwards to a most unorthodox breadth and height. The walks, +too, were next door to impassable. Only by entirely disregarding +scratches, nettle-stings, and wet, could Humphreys force his way along +them; but at any rate this condition of things, he reflected, would make +it easier for him to find his way out again, for he left a very visible +track. So far as he could remember, he had never been in a maze before, +nor did it seem to him now that he had missed much. The dankness and +darkness, and smell of crushed goosegrass and nettles were anything but +cheerful. Still, it did not seem to be a very intricate specimen of its +kind. Here he was (by the way, was that Cooper arrived at last? No!) very +nearly at the heart of it, without having taken much thought as to what +path he was following. Ah! there at last was the centre, easily gained. +And there was something to reward him. His first impression was that the +central ornament was a sundial; but when he had switched away some +portion of the thick growth of brambles and bindweed that had formed over +it, he saw that it was a less ordinary decoration. A stone column about +four feet high, and on the top of it a metal globe--copper, to judge by +the green patina--engraved, and finely engraved too, with figures in +outline, and letters. That was what Humphreys saw, and a brief glance at +the figures convinced him that it was one of those mysterious things +called celestial globes, from which, one would suppose, no one ever yet +derived any information about the heavens. However, it was too dark--at +least in the maze--for him to examine this curiosity at all closely, and +besides, he now heard Cooper's voice, and sounds as of an elephant in the +jungle. Humphreys called to him to follow the track he had beaten out, +and soon Cooper emerged panting into the central circle. He was full of +apologies for his delay; he had not been able, after all, to find the +key. 'But there!' he said, 'you've penetrated into the heart of the +mystery unaided and unannealed, as the saying goes. Well! I suppose it's +a matter of thirty to forty years since any human foot has trod these +precincts. Certain it is that I've never set foot in them before. Well, +well! what's the old proverb about angels fearing to tread? It's proved +true once again in this case.' Humphreys' acquaintance with Cooper, +though it had been short, was sufficient to assure him that there was no +guile in this allusion, and he forbore the obvious remark, merely +suggesting that it was fully time to get back to the house for a late cup +of tea, and to release Cooper for his evening engagement. They left the +maze accordingly, experiencing well-nigh the same ease in retracing their +path as they had in coming in. + +'Have you any idea,' Humphreys asked, as they went towards the house, +'why my uncle kept that place so carefully locked?' + +Cooper pulled up, and Humphreys felt that he must be on the brink of a +revelation. + +'I should merely be deceiving you, Mr Humphreys, and that to no good +purpose, if I laid claim to possess any information whatsoever on that +topic. When I first entered upon my duties here, some eighteen years +back, that maze was word for word in the condition you see it now, and +the one and only occasion on which the question ever arose within my +knowledge was that of which my girl made mention in your hearing. Lady +Wardrop--I've not a word to say against her--wrote applying for admission +to the maze. Your uncle showed me the note--a most civil note--everything +that could be expected from such a quarter. "Cooper," he said, "I wish +you'd reply to that note on my behalf." "Certainly Mr Wilson," I said, +for I was quite inured to acting as his secretary, "what answer shall I +return to it?" "Well," he said, "give Lady Wardrop my compliments, and +tell her that if ever that portion of the grounds is taken in hand I +shall be happy to give her the first opportunity of viewing it, but that +it has been shut up now for a number of years, and I shall be grateful to +her if she kindly won't press the matter." That, Mr Humphreys, was your +good uncle's last word on the subject, and I don't think I can add +anything to it. Unless,' added Cooper, after a pause, 'it might be just +this: that, so far as I could form a judgement, he had a dislike (as +people often will for one reason or another) to the memory of his +grandfather, who, as I mentioned to you, had that maze laid out. A man of +peculiar teenets, Mr Humphreys, and a great traveller. You'll have the +opportunity, on the coming Sabbath, of seeing the tablet to him in our +little parish church; put up it was some long time after his death.' + +'Oh! I should have expected a man who had such a taste for building to +have designed a mausoleum for himself.' + +'Well, I've never noticed anything of the kind you mention; and, in fact, +come to think of it, I'm not at all sure that his resting-place is within +our boundaries at all: that he lays in the vault I'm pretty confident is +not the case. Curious now that I shouldn't be in a position to inform you +on that heading! Still, after all, we can't say, can we, Mr Humphreys, +that it's a point of crucial importance where the pore mortal coils are +bestowed?' + +At this point they entered the house, and Cooper's speculations were +interrupted. + +Tea was laid in the library, where Mr Cooper fell upon subjects +appropriate to the scene. 'A fine collection of books! One of the finest, +I've understood from connoisseurs, in this part of the country; splendid +plates, too, in some of these works. I recollect your uncle showing me +one with views of foreign towns--most absorbing it was: got up in +first-rate style. And another all done by hand, with the ink as fresh as +if it had been laid on yesterday, and yet, he told me, it was the work of +some old monk hundreds of years back. I've always taken a keen interest +in literature myself. Hardly anything to my mind can compare with a good +hour's reading after a hard day's work; far better than wasting the whole +evening at a friend's house--and that reminds me, to be sure. I shall be +getting into trouble with the wife if I don't make the best of my way +home and get ready to squander away one of these same evenings! I must be +off, Mr Humphreys.' + +'And that reminds _me_,' said Humphreys, 'if I'm to show Miss Cooper the +maze tomorrow we must have it cleared out a bit. Could you say a word +about that to the proper person?' + +'Why, to be sure. A couple of men with scythes could cut out a track +tomorrow morning. I'll leave word as I pass the lodge, and I'll tell +them, what'll save you the trouble, perhaps, Mr Humphreys, of having to +go up and extract them yourself: that they'd better have some sticks or a +tape to mark out their way with as they go on.' + +'A very good idea! Yes, do that; and I'll expect Mrs and Miss Cooper in +the afternoon, and yourself about half-past ten in the morning.' + +'It'll be a pleasure, I'm sure, both to them and to myself, Mr Humphreys. +Good night!' + + * * * * * + +Humphreys dined at eight. But for the fact that it was his first evening, +and that Calton was evidently inclined for occasional conversation, he +would have finished the novel he had bought for his journey. As it was, +he had to listen and reply to some of Calton's impressions of the +neighbourhood and the season: the latter, it appeared, was seasonable, +and the former had changed considerably--and not altogether for the +worse--since Calton's boyhood (which had been spent there). The village +shop in particular had greatly improved since the year 1870. It was now +possible to procure there pretty much anything you liked in reason: which +was a conveniency, because suppose anythink was required of a suddent +(and he had known such things before now), he (Calton) could step down +there (supposing the shop to be still open), and order it in, without he +borrered it of the Rectory, whereas in earlier days it would have been +useless to pursue such a course in respect of anything but candles, or +soap, or treacle, or perhaps a penny child's picture-book, and nine times +out of ten it'd be something more in the nature of a bottle of whisky +_you'd_ be requiring; leastways--On the whole Humphreys thought he would +be prepared with a book in future. + +The library was the obvious place for the after-dinner hours. Candle in +hand and pipe in mouth, he moved round the room for some time, taking +stock of the titles of the books. He had all the predisposition to take +interest in an old library, and there was every opportunity for him here +to make systematic acquaintance with one, for he had learned from Cooper +that there was no catalogue save the very superficial one made for +purposes of probate. The drawing up of a _catalogue raisonné_ would be a +delicious occupation for winter. There were probably treasures to be +found, too: even manuscripts, if Cooper might be trusted. + +As he pursued his round the sense came upon him (as it does upon most of +us in similar places) of the extreme unreadableness of a great portion of +the collection. 'Editions of Classics and Fathers, and Picart's +_Religious Ceremonies_, and the _Harleian Miscellany_, I suppose are all +very well, but who is ever going to read Tostatus Abulensis, or Pineda on +Job, or a book like this?' He picked out a small quarto, loose in the +binding, and from which the lettered label had fallen off; and observing +that coffee was waiting for him, retired to a chair. Eventually he opened +the book. It will be observed that his condemnation of it rested wholly +on external grounds. For all he knew it might have been a collection of +unique plays, but undeniably the outside was blank and forbidding. As a +matter of fact, it was a collection of sermons or meditations, and +mutilated at that, for the first sheet was gone. It seemed to belong to +the latter end of the seventeenth century. He turned over the pages till +his eye was caught by a marginal note: '_A Parable of this Unhappy +Condition_,' and he thought he would see what aptitudes the author might +have for imaginative composition. 'I have heard or read,' so ran the +passage, 'whether in the way of _Parable_ or true _Relation_ I leave my +Reader to judge, of a Man who, like _Theseus_, in the _Attick Tale_, +should adventure himself, into a _Labyrinth_ or _Maze_: and such an one +indeed as was not laid out in the Fashion of our _Topiary_ artists of +this Age, but of a wide compass, in which, moreover, such unknown +Pitfalls and Snares, nay, such ill-omened Inhabitants were commonly +thought to lurk as could only be encountered at the Hazard of one's very +life. Now you may be sure that in such a Case the Disswasions of Friends +were not wanting. "Consider of such-an-one" says a Brother "how he went +the way you wot of, and was never seen more." "Or of such another" says +the Mother "that adventured himself but a little way in, and from that +day forth is so troubled in his Wits that he cannot tell what he saw, nor +hath passed one good Night." "And have you never heard" cries a Neighbour +"of what Faces have been seen to look out over the _Palisadoes_ and +betwixt the Bars of the Gate?" But all would not do: the Man was set upon +his Purpose: for it seems it was the common fireside Talk of that Country +that at the Heart and Centre of this _Labyrinth_ there was a Jewel of +such Price and Rarity that would enrich the Finder thereof for his life: +and this should be his by right that could persever to come at it. What +then? _Quid multa?_ The Adventurer pass'd the Gates, and for a whole +day's space his Friends without had no news of him, except it might be by +some indistinct Cries heard afar off in the Night, such as made them turn +in their restless Beds and sweat for very Fear, not doubting but that +their Son and Brother had put one more to the _Catalogue_ of those +unfortunates that had suffer'd shipwreck on that Voyage. So the next day +they went with weeping Tears to the Clark of the Parish to order the Bell +to be toll'd. And their Way took them hard by the gate of the +_Labyrinth_: which they would have hastened by, from the Horrour they had +of it, but that they caught sight of a sudden of a Man's Body lying in +the Roadway, and going up to it (with what Anticipations may be easily +figured) found it to be him whom they reckoned as lost: and not dead, +though he were in a Swound most like Death. They then, who had gone forth +as Mourners came back rejoycing, and set to by all means to revive their +Prodigal. Who, being come to himself, and hearing of their Anxieties and +their Errand of that Morning, "Ay" says he "you may as well finish what +you were about: for, for all I have brought back the Jewel (which he +shew'd them, and 'twas indeed a rare Piece) I have brought back that with +it that will leave me neither Rest at Night nor Pleasure by Day." +Whereupon they were instant with him to learn his Meaning, and where his +Company should be that went so sore against his Stomach. "O" says he +"'tis here in my Breast: I cannot flee from it, do what I may." So it +needed no Wizard to help them to a guess that it was the Recollection of +what he had seen that troubled him so wonderfully. But they could get no +more of him for a long Time but by Fits and Starts. However at long and +at last they made shift to collect somewhat of this kind: that at first, +while the Sun was bright, he went merrily on, and without any Difficulty +reached the Heart of the _Labyrinth_ and got the Jewel, and so set out on +his way back rejoycing: but as the Night fell, _wherein all the Beasts of +the Forest do move_, he begun to be sensible of some Creature keeping +Pace with him and, as he thought, _peering and looking upon him_ from the +next Alley to that he was in; and that when he should stop, this +Companion should stop also, which put him in some Disorder of his +Spirits. And, indeed, as the Darkness increas'd, it seemed to him that +there was more than one, and, it might be, even a whole Band of such +Followers: at least so he judg'd by the Rustling and Cracking that they +kept among the Thickets; besides that there would be at a Time a Sound of +Whispering, which seem'd to import a Conference among them. But in regard +of who they were or what Form they were of, he would not be persuaded to +say what he thought. Upon his Hearers asking him what the Cries were +which they heard in the Night (as was observ'd above) he gave them this +Account: That about Midnight (so far as he could judge) he heard his Name +call'd from a long way off, and he would have been sworn it was his +Brother that so call'd him. So he stood still and hilloo'd at the Pitch +of his Voice, and he suppos'd that the _Echo_, or the Noyse of his +Shouting, disguis'd for the Moment any lesser sound; because, when there +fell a Stillness again, he distinguish'd a Trampling (not loud) of +running Feet coming very close behind him, wherewith he was so daunted +that himself set off to run, and that he continued till the Dawn broke. +Sometimes when his Breath fail'd him, he would cast himself flat on his +Face, and hope that his Pursuers might over-run him in the Darkness, but +at such a Time they would regularly make a Pause, and he could hear them +pant and snuff as it had been a Hound at Fault: which wrought in him so +extream an Horrour of mind, that he would be forc'd to betake himself +again to turning and doubling, if by any Means he might throw them off +the Scent. And, as if this Exertion was in itself not terrible enough, he +had before him the constant Fear of falling into some Pit or Trap, of +which he had heard, and indeed seen with his own Eyes that there were +several, some at the sides and other in the Midst of the Alleys. So that +in fine (he said) a more dreadful Night was never spent by Mortal +Creature than that he had endur'd in that _Labyrinth_; and not that Jewel +which he had in his Wallet, nor the richest that was ever brought out of +the _Indies_, could be a sufficient Recompence to him for the Pains he +had suffered. + +'I will spare to set down the further Recital of this Man's Troubles, +inasmuch as I am confident my Reader's Intelligence will hit the +_Parallel_ I desire to draw. For is not this Jewel a just Emblem of the +Satisfaction which a Man may bring back with him from a Course of this +World's Pleasures? and will not the _Labyrinth_ serve for an Image of the +World itself wherein such a Treasure (if we may believe the common Voice) +is stored up?' + +At about this point Humphreys thought that a little Patience would be an +agreeable change, and that the writer's 'improvement' of his Parable +might be left to itself. So he put the book back in its former place, +wondering as he did so whether his uncle had ever stumbled across that +passage; and if so, whether it had worked on his fancy so much as to make +him dislike the idea of a maze, and determine to shut up the one in the +garden. Not long afterwards he went to bed. + +The next day brought a morning's hard work with Mr Cooper, who, if +exuberant in language, had the business of the estate at his fingers' +ends. He was very breezy this morning, Mr Cooper was: had not forgotten +the order to clear out the maze--the work was going on at that moment: +his girl was on the tentacles of expectation about it. He also hoped that +Humphreys had slept the sleep of the just, and that we should be favoured +with a continuance of this congenial weather. At luncheon he enlarged on +the pictures in the dining-room, and pointed out the portrait of the +constructor of the temple and the maze. Humphreys examined this with +considerable interest. It was the work of an Italian, and had been +painted when old Mr Wilson was visiting Rome as a young man. (There was, +indeed, a view of the Colosseum in the background.) A pale thin face and +large eyes were the characteristic features. In the hand was a partially +unfolded roll of paper, on which could be distinguished the plan of a +circular building, very probably the temple, and also part of that of a +labyrinth. Humphreys got up on a chair to examine it, but it was not +painted with sufficient clearness to be worth copying. It suggested to +him, however, that he might as well make a plan of his own maze and hang +it in the hall for the use of visitors. + +This determination of his was confirmed that same afternoon; for when Mrs +and Miss Cooper arrived, eager to be inducted into the maze, he found +that he was wholly unable to lead them to the centre. The gardeners had +removed the guide-marks they had been using, and even Clutterham, when +summoned to assist, was as helpless as the rest. 'The point is, you see, +Mr Wilson--I should say 'Umphreys--these mazes is purposely constructed +so much alike, with a view to mislead. Still, if you'll foller me, I +think I can put you right. I'll just put my 'at down 'ere as a +starting-point.' He stumped off, and after five minutes brought the party +safe to the hat again. 'Now that's a very peculiar thing,' he said, with +a sheepish laugh. 'I made sure I'd left that 'at just over against a +bramble-bush, and you can see for yourself there ain't no bramble-bush +not in this walk at all. If you'll allow me, Mr Humphreys--that's the +name, ain't it, sir?--I'll just call one of the men in to mark the place +like.' + +William Crack arrived, in answer to repeated shouts. He had some +difficulty in making his way to the party. First he was seen or heard in +an inside alley, then, almost at the same moment, in an outer one. +However, he joined them at last, and was first consulted without effect +and then stationed by the hat, which Clutterham still considered it +necessary to leave on the ground. In spite of this strategy, they spent +the best part of three-quarters of an hour in quite fruitless wanderings, +and Humphreys was obliged at last, seeing how tired Mrs Cooper was +becoming, to suggest a retreat to tea, with profuse apologies to Miss +Cooper. 'At any rate you've won your bet with Miss Foster,' he said; 'you +have been inside the maze; and I promise you the first thing I do shall +be to make a proper plan of it with the lines marked out for you to go +by.' 'That's what's wanted, sir,' said Clutterham, 'someone to draw out a +plan and keep it by them. It might be very awkward, you see, anyone +getting into that place and a shower of rain come on, and them not able +to find their way out again; it might be hours before they could be got +out, without you'd permit of me makin' a short cut to the middle: what my +meanin' is, takin' down a couple of trees in each 'edge in a straight +line so as you could git a clear view right through. Of course that'd do +away with it as a maze, but I don't know as you'd approve of that.' + +'No, I won't have that done yet: I'll make a plan first, and let you have +a copy. Later on, if we find occasion, I'll think of what you say.' + +Humphreys was vexed and ashamed at the fiasco of the afternoon, and could +not be satisfied without making another effort that evening to reach the +centre of the maze. His irritation was increased by finding it without a +single false step. He had thoughts of beginning his plan at once; but the +light was fading, and he felt that by the time he had got the necessary +materials together, work would be impossible. + +Next morning accordingly, carrying a drawing-board, pencils, compasses, +cartridge paper, and so forth (some of which had been borrowed from the +Coopers and some found in the library cupboards), he went to the middle +of the maze (again without any hesitation), and set out his materials. He +was, however, delayed in making a start. The brambles and weeds that had +obscured the column and globe were now all cleared away, and it was for +the first time possible to see clearly what these were like. The column +was featureless, resembling those on which sundials are usually placed. +Not so the globe. I have said that it was finely engraved with figures +and inscriptions, and that on a first glance Humphreys had taken it for a +celestial globe: but he soon found that it did not answer to his +recollection of such things. One feature seemed familiar; a winged +serpent--_Draco_--encircled it about the place which, on a terrestrial +globe, is occupied by the equator: but on the other hand, a good part of +the upper hemisphere was covered by the outspread wings of a large figure +whose head was concealed by a ring at the pole or summit of the whole. +Around the place of the head the words _princeps tenebrarum_ could be +deciphered. In the lower hemisphere there was a space hatched all over +with cross-lines and marked as _umbra mortis_. Near it was a range of +mountains, and among them a valley with flames rising from it. This was +lettered (will you be surprised to learn it?) _vallis filiorum Hinnom_. +Above and below _Draco_ were outlined various figures not unlike the +pictures of the ordinary constellations, but not the same. Thus, a nude +man with a raised club was described, not as _Hercules_ but as _Cain_. +Another, plunged up to his middle in earth and stretching out despairing +arms, was _Chore_, not _Ophiuchus_, and a third, hung by his hair to a +snaky tree, was _Absolon_. Near the last, a man in long robes and high +cap, standing in a circle and addressing two shaggy demons who hovered +outside, was described as _Hostanes magus_ (a character unfamiliar to +Humphreys). The scheme of the whole, indeed, seemed to be an assemblage +of the patriarchs of evil, perhaps not uninfluenced by a study of Dante. +Humphreys thought it an unusual exhibition of his great-grandfather's +taste, but reflected that he had probably picked it up in Italy and had +never taken the trouble to examine it closely: certainly, had he set much +store by it, he would not have exposed it to wind and weather. He tapped +the metal--it seemed hollow and not very thick--and, turning from it, +addressed himself to his plan. After half an hour's work he found it was +impossible to get on without using a clue: so he procured a roll of twine +from Clutterham, and laid it out along the alleys from the entrance to +the centre, tying the end to the ring at the top of the globe. This +expedient helped him to set out a rough plan before luncheon, and in the +afternoon he was able to draw it in more neatly. Towards tea-time Mr +Cooper joined him, and was much interested in his progress. 'Now this--' +said Mr Cooper, laying his hand on the globe, and then drawing it away +hastily. 'Whew! Holds the heat, doesn't it, to a surprising degree, Mr +Humphreys. I suppose this metal--copper, isn't it?--would be an insulator +or conductor, or whatever they call it.' + +'The sun has been pretty strong this afternoon,' said Humphreys, evading +the scientific point, 'but I didn't notice the globe had got hot. No--it +doesn't seem very hot to me,' he added. + +'Odd!' said Mr Cooper. 'Now I can't hardly bear my hand on it. Something +in the difference of temperament between us, I suppose. I dare say you're +a chilly subject, Mr Humphreys: I'm not: and there's where the +distinction lies. All this summer I've slept, if you'll believe me, +practically _in statu quo_, and had my morning tub as cold as I could get +it. Day out and day in--let me assist you with that string.' + +'It's all right, thanks; but if you'll collect some of these pencils and +things that are lying about I shall be much obliged. Now I think we've +got everything, and we might get back to the house.' + +They left the maze, Humphreys rolling up the clue as they went. + +The night was rainy. + +Most unfortunately it turned out that, whether by Cooper's fault or not, +the plan had been the one thing forgotten the evening before. As was to +be expected, it was ruined by the wet. There was nothing for it but to +begin again (the job would not be a long one this time). The clue +therefore was put in place once more and a fresh start made. But +Humphreys had not done much before an interruption came in the shape of +Calton with a telegram. His late chief in London wanted to consult him. +Only a brief interview was wanted, but the summons was urgent. This was +annoying, yet it was not really upsetting; there was a train available in +half an hour, and, unless things went very cross, he could be back, +possibly by five o'clock, certainly by eight. He gave the plan to Calton +to take to the house, but it was not worth while to remove the clue. + +All went as he had hoped. He spent a rather exciting evening in the +library, for he lighted tonight upon a cupboard where some of the rarer +books were kept. When he went up to bed he was glad to find that the +servant had remembered to leave his curtains undrawn and his windows +open. He put down his light, and went to the window which commanded a +view of the garden and the park. It was a brilliant moonlight night. In a +few weeks' time the sonorous winds of autumn would break up all this +calm. But now the distant woods were in a deep stillness; the slopes of +the lawns were shining with dew; the colours of some of the flowers could +almost be guessed. The light of the moon just caught the cornice of the +temple and the curve of its leaden dome, and Humphreys had to own that, +so seen, these conceits of a past age have a real beauty. In short, the +light, the perfume of the woods, and the absolute quiet called up such +kind old associations in his mind that he went on ruminating them for a +long, long time. As he turned from the window he felt he had never seen +anything more complete of its sort. The one feature that struck him with +a sense of incongruity was a small Irish yew, thin and black, which stood +out like an outpost of the shrubbery, through which the maze was +approached. That, he thought, might as well be away: the wonder was that +anyone should have thought it would look well in that position. + + * * * * * + +However, next morning, in the press of answering letters and going over +books with Mr Cooper, the Irish yew was forgotten. One letter, by the +way, arrived this day which has to be mentioned. It was from that Lady +Wardrop whom Miss Cooper had mentioned, and it renewed the application +which she had addressed to Mr Wilson. She pleaded, in the first place, +that she was about to publish a Book of Mazes, and earnestly desired to +include the plan of the Wilsthorpe Maze, and also that it would be a +great kindness if Mr Humphreys could let her see it (if at all) at an +early date, since she would soon have to go abroad for the winter months. +Her house at Bentley was not far distant, so Humphreys was able to send a +note by hand to her suggesting the very next day or the day after for her +visit; it may be said at once that the messenger brought back a most +grateful answer, to the effect that the morrow would suit her admirably. + +The only other event of the day was that the plan of the maze was +successfully finished. + +This night again was fair and brilliant and calm, and Humphreys lingered +almost as long at his window. The Irish yew came to his mind again as he +was on the point of drawing his curtains: but either he had been misled +by a shadow the night before, or else the shrub was not really so +obtrusive as he had fancied. Anyhow, he saw no reason for interfering +with it. What he _would_ do away with, however, was a clump of dark +growth which had usurped a place against the house wall, and was +threatening to obscure one of the lower range of windows. It did not look +as if it could possibly be worth keeping; he fancied it dank and +unhealthy, little as he could see of it. + +Next day (it was a Friday--he had arrived at Wilsthorpe on a Monday) Lady +Wardrop came over in her car soon after luncheon. She was a stout elderly +person, very full of talk of all sorts and particularly inclined to make +herself agreeable to Humphreys, who had gratified her very much by his +ready granting of her request. They made a thorough exploration of the +place together; and Lady Wardrop's opinion of her host obviously rose +sky-high when she found that he really knew something of gardening. She +entered enthusiastically into all his plans for improvement, but agreed +that it would be a vandalism to interfere with the characteristic +laying-out of the ground near the house. With the temple she was +particularly delighted, and, said she, 'Do you know, Mr Humphreys, I +think your bailiff must be right about those lettered blocks of stone. +One of my mazes--I'm sorry to say the stupid people have destroyed it +now--it was at a place in Hampshire--had the track marked out in that +way. They were tiles there, but lettered just like yours, and the +letters, taken in the right order, formed an inscription--what it was I +forget--something about Theseus and Ariadne. I have a copy of it, as well +as the plan of the maze where it was. How people can do such things! I +shall never forgive you if you injure _your_ maze. Do you know, they're +becoming very uncommon? Almost every year I hear of one being grubbed up. +Now, do let's get straight to it: or, if you're too busy, I know my way +there perfectly, and I'm not afraid of getting lost in it; I know too +much about mazes for that. Though I remember missing my lunch--not so +very long ago either--through getting entangled in the one at Busbury. +Well, of course, if you _can_ manage to come with me, that will be all +the nicer.' + +After this confident prelude justice would seem to require that Lady +Wardrop should have been hopelessly muddled by the Wilsthorpe maze. +Nothing of that kind happened: yet it is to be doubted whether she got +all the enjoyment from her new specimen that she expected. She was +interested--keenly interested--to be sure, and pointed out to Humphreys a +series of little depressions in the ground which, she thought, marked the +places of the lettered blocks. She told him, too, what other mazes +resembled his most closely in arrangement, and explained how it was +usually possible to date a maze to within twenty years by means of its +plan. This one, she already knew, must be about as old as 1780, and its +features were just what might be expected. The globe, furthermore, +completely absorbed her. It was unique in her experience, and she pored +over it for long. 'I should like a rubbing of that,' she said, 'if it +could possibly be made. Yes, I am sure you would be most kind about it, +Mr Humphreys, but I trust you won't attempt it on my account, I do +indeed; I shouldn't like to take any liberties here. I have the feeling +that it might be resented. Now, confess,' she went on, turning and facing +Humphreys, 'don't you feel--haven't you felt ever since you came in +here--that a watch is being kept on us, and that if we overstepped the +mark in any way there would be a--well, a pounce? No? _I_ do; and I don't +care how soon we are outside the gate.' + +'After all,' she said, when they were once more on their way to the +house, 'it may have been only the airlessness and the dull heat of that +place that pressed on my brain. Still, I'll take back one thing I said. +I'm not sure that I shan't forgive you after all, if I find next spring +that that maze has been grubbed up.' + +'Whether or no that's done, you shall have the plan, Lady Wardrop. I have +made one, and no later than tonight I can trace you a copy.' + +'Admirable: a pencil tracing will be all I want, with an indication of +the scale. I can easily have it brought into line with the rest of my +plates. Many, many thanks.' + +'Very well, you shall have that tomorrow. I wish you could help me to a +solution of my block-puzzle.' + +'What, those stones in the summer-house? That _is_ a puzzle; they are in +no sort of order? Of course not. But the men who put them down must have +had some directions--perhaps you'll find a paper about it among your +uncle's things. If not, you'll have to call in somebody who's an expert +in ciphers.' + +'Advise me about something else, please,' said Humphreys. 'That +bush-thing under the library window: you would have that away, wouldn't +you?' + +'Which? That? Oh, I think not,' said Lady Wardrop. 'I can't see it very +well from this distance, but it's not unsightly.' + +'Perhaps you're right; only, looking out of my window, just above it, +last night, I thought it took up too much room. It doesn't seem to, as +one sees it from here, certainly. Very well, I'll leave it alone for a +bit.' + +Tea was the next business, soon after which Lady Wardrop drove off; but, +half-way down the drive, she stopped the car and beckoned to Humphreys, +who was still on the front-door steps. He ran to glean her parting words, +which were: 'It just occurs to me, it might be worth your while to look +at the underside of those stones. They _must_ have been numbered, mustn't +they? _Good_-bye again. Home, please.' + + * * * * * + +The main occupation of this evening at any rate was settled. The tracing +of the plan for Lady Wardrop and the careful collation of it with the +original meant a couple of hours' work at least. Accordingly, soon after +nine Humphreys had his materials put out in the library and began. It was +a still, stuffy evening; windows had to stand open, and he had more than +one grisly encounter with a bat. These unnerving episodes made him keep +the tail of his eye on the window. Once or twice it was a question +whether there was--not a bat, but something more considerable--that had a +mind to join him. How unpleasant it would be if someone had slipped +noiselessly over the sill and was crouching on the floor! + +The tracing of the plan was done: it remained to compare it with the +original, and to see whether any paths had been wrongly closed or left +open. With one finger on each paper, he traced out the course that must +be followed from the entrance. There were one or two slight mistakes, but +here, near the centre, was a bad confusion, probably due to the entry of +the Second or Third Bat. Before correcting the copy he followed out +carefully the last turnings of the path on the original. These, at least, +were right; they led without a hitch to the middle space. Here was a +feature which need not be repeated on the copy--an ugly black spot about +the size of a shilling. Ink? No. It resembled a hole, but how should a +hole be there? He stared at it with tired eyes: the work of tracing had +been very laborious, and he was drowsy and oppressed... But surely this +was a very odd hole. It seemed to go not only through the paper, but +through the table on which it lay. Yes, and through the floor below that, +down, and still down, even into infinite depths. He craned over it, +utterly bewildered. Just as, when you were a child, you may have pored +over a square inch of counterpane until it became a landscape with wooded +hills, and perhaps even churches and houses, and you lost all thought of +the true size of yourself and it, so this hole seemed to Humphreys for +the moment the only thing in the world. For some reason it was hateful to +him from the first, but he had gazed at it for some moments before any +feeling of anxiety came upon him; and then it did come, stronger and +stronger--a horror lest something might emerge from it, and a really +agonizing conviction that a terror was on its way, from the sight of +which he would not be able to escape. Oh yes, far, far down there was a +movement, and the movement was upwards--towards the surface. Nearer and +nearer it came, and it was of a blackish-grey colour with more than one +dark hole. It took shape as a face--a human face--a _burnt_ human face: +and with the odious writhings of a wasp creeping out of a rotten apple +there clambered forth an appearance of a form, waving black arms prepared +to clasp the head that was bending over them. With a convulsion of +despair Humphreys threw himself back, struck his head against a hanging +lamp, and fell. + +There was concussion of the brain, shock to the system, and a long +confinement to bed. The doctor was badly puzzled, not by the symptoms, +but by a request which Humphreys made to him as soon as he was able to +say anything. 'I wish you would open the ball in the maze.' 'Hardly room +enough there, I should have thought,' was the best answer he could summon +up; 'but it's more in your way than mine; my dancing days are over.' At +which Humphreys muttered and turned over to sleep, and the doctor +intimated to the nurses that the patient was not out of the wood yet. +When he was better able to express his views, Humphreys made his meaning +clear, and received a promise that the thing should be done at once. He +was so anxious to learn the result that the doctor, who seemed a little +pensive next morning, saw that more harm than good would be done by +saving up his report. 'Well,' he said, 'I am afraid the ball is done for; +the metal must have worn thin, I suppose. Anyhow, it went all to bits +with the first blow of the chisel.' 'Well? go on, do!' said Humphreys +impatiently. 'Oh! you want to know what we found in it, of course. Well, +it was half full of stuff like ashes.' 'Ashes? What did you make of them?' +'I haven't thoroughly examined them yet; there's hardly been time: but +Cooper's made up his mind--I dare say from something I said--that it's a +case of cremation... Now don't excite yourself, my good sir: yes, I must +allow I think he's probably right.' + +The maze is gone, and Lady Wardrop has forgiven Humphreys; in fact, I +believe he married her niece. She was right, too, in her conjecture that +the stones in the temple were numbered. There had been a numeral painted +on the bottom of each. Some few of these had rubbed off, but enough +remained to enable Humphreys to reconstruct the inscription. It ran thus: + + PENETRANS AD INTERIORA MORTIS + +Grateful as Humphreys was to the memory of his uncle, he could not quite +forgive him for having burnt the journals and letters of the James Wilson +who had gifted Wilsthorpe with the maze and the temple. As to the +circumstances of that ancestor's death and burial no tradition survived; +but his will, which was almost the only record of him accessible, +assigned an unusually generous legacy to a servant who bore an Italian +name. + +Mr Cooper's view is that, humanly speaking, all these many solemn events +have a meaning for us, if our limited intelligence permitted of our +disintegrating it, while Mr Calton has been reminded of an aunt now gone +from us, who, about the year 1866, had been lost for upwards of an hour +and a half in the maze at Covent Gardens, or it might be Hampton Court. + +One of the oddest things in the whole series of transactions is that the +book which contained the Parable has entirely disappeared. Humphreys has +never been able to find it since he copied out the passage to send to +Lady Wardrop. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Ghost Stories of an Antiquary +by Montague Rhodes James + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GHOST STORIES OF AN ANTIQUARY *** + +This file should be named 8jgs210.txt or 8jgs210.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8jgs211.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8jgs210a.txt + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Thomas Berger, and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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