The Alleged Haunting of B---- House, - [best historical fiction books of all time TXT] 📗
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"... Miss H——, who slept, I believe, in the room occupied by you when I left, heard sounds of footsteps going round her room, footsteps with the most unmistakable limp in them. Shortly after she heard stories connected with the former owner, who used to go by the name of B——, an aged man [the Major]. She asked if he could be described. 'No,' said her informant; 'the only thing he could remember about him was that he had a most peculiar limp,' and he forthwith gave an exhibition, which tallied exactly with the limp around the bed."
In discussing this, Miss Moore and I agreed that, had Miss H—— slept in No. 8 instead of in No. 1, as Mr. F—— supposed, we should have considered these limping sounds as probably identical with those we ourselves had heard. After I had closed my reply to Mr. F——, Miss Moore discovered Miss "B——'s" plan of the house (in the packet of evidence of the H——s' tenancy, see p. 96), which showed that in fact No. 8 was the room referred to. Hence it appears that the room in which Miss H—— heard the footsteps was the same as that in which we heard them. We had been misled by Mr. F—— speaking of "the room you occupied when I left," a mistake on his part, as, though the change had been spoken of, we had not left No. 1.
This afternoon Miss Langton experimented with Ouija at Mr. "Q.'s" request.
Lord Bute had suggested various test-questions in relation to the phantasm of the nun, to be asked the next time the Ouija board was in operation, and answers to these were attempted at various times, with the usual result of showing the influence, conscious or sub-conscious, of the sitters, almost all statements as to matters not actually known to them being worthless. On this occasion, however, in reply to the question, "How old was Ishbel when she died?" answers were spelt out to the effect that she was still living, and that her age was fifty-nine.
This may perhaps be taken as throwing light upon the intended personality of Ishbel, and supplying a possible clue to the identity of the mind of which she seems to be an imaginary creation.
Fifty-nine was the age of the late Rev. Mother Frances Helen in the year 1873, when Sarah N—— died. They are not people who are at all likely to have met each other upon "the other side" any more than upon this.
It is a generally recognised fact that the conditions which we call "time and space" exist on in the world beyond in a form so very different from those in which they are conceived of by us, that from our point of view they can hardly be said to exist at all. It is natural, therefore, to seek the utterer of this remarkable statement in some person connected with B—— who did not know the late Mother Frances Helen (supposing her to be the person for whom Ishbel was intended), but had heard of her.
February 22nd, Monday.—Mr. "Z——" came.
The whole matter of the inquiry had been made known to Mr. "Z——," the proprietor of a prominent Scottish newspaper, of course in the strictest confidence, which was carefully made a condition of the admission of any one to the house, a confidence which he most honourably observed. It was arranged that if anything occurred within the observation of himself or his son, the scientific value of which rendered it, in their judgment, desirable to publish a notice of it in The ——, the notice should be published under avowedly false names and geographical indications. Mr. "Z——" was unable to come himself, but his son arrived this day.
Mr. "Endell" (a Member of the S.P.R.) arrived while we were out, and made a tour of inspection alone of the outside of the house and the ground-floor rooms. He intuitively fixed on the window of No. 3 as that of a "haunted" room, and has since, equally by intuition, diagnosed the drawing-room and library as "creepy," and the dining-room as definitely cheerful. (This coincides with our experience.)
My own experiences to-day were confined to ejection from a high waggonette, while waiting at the station for Mr. "Z——," the horse having bolted at the appearance of the train.
No phenomena. We are putting Mr. "Z——", at his own request, in No. 3, the "ghost-room."
February 23rd, Tuesday.—Pouring wet. No phenomena. Visit to glen impossible.
Mr. and Mrs. R—— (local residents) came to lunch. Though in great pain I was able to see them for a few minutes, and both inquired whether we had had any experience of the reported hauntings, of which, however, they could give us no details.
February 24th, Wednesday.—Mr. "Z——" left early. (N.B.—No phenomena reported by any one during his visit; he himself slept soundly in the "haunted" room, but does it the justice to acknowledge that he "could sleep through an earthquake.")
Miss "N." (the daughter of a landowner of the district) arrived.
Mr. Garford (an old friend and excellent observer) came from London. We sleep to-night as follows:—
In the wing, in the two rooms alleged by guests of the H——s to be haunted, the Colonel and Mr. "Endell."
February 25th, Thursday.—Mr. "Endell" reported this morning having heard a sound he could in no way account for, which seems to us to correspond with the "clanging" noise. We asked how he would imitate it as to volume and quality, and he said that a large iron kettle, about the size of the dinner-table (we are dining eight), boiling violently, so that the lid was constantly "wobbling," might produce it.
(N.B.—Mr. "Endell's" opinion later is that a pavior's crowbar heavily dropped, so as to produce a prolonged reverberation, is a better illustration.)
Mr. Garford, who was not told that any sounds might be expected in No. 1, says he was awakened by a violent banging at the door of communication between Nos. 1 and 2 (No. 2 is empty). Mr. "Endell," Mr. "Q.," and Miss Moore went up later in the day to experiment on the door, and found that it would open with the slightest push. Mr. Garford had closed it on going to bed, and found it closed in the morning. He had not been alarmed, and had almost called out to his supposed visitors, before he remembered supernormal possibilities. He described the sound as a muffled bang, and in order to reproduce it to his satisfaction one of the party held a thick rug on the inner side while another hammered on the panels without.
Mr. "Q.'s" experiences in No. 3 will be reported by himself. The groans which he heard coming from No. 2 some of our party suggested might have been made in sleep by the occupant of No. 1, but on trying experiments it was found that no sounds of the kind which he could make in his room were audible in No. 3.
Mr. "Q." left.
Miss Langton went up the glen with Mr. Garford, and was perplexed by seeing the grey figure when looking for the nun; she saw it but dimly, but later in the evening recovered it in the crystal, more clearly and in greater detail.
The following is Mr. "Q.'s" account of his experience, written on February 24th and March 4th, in private letters to Lord Bute, but, in order to avoid the possibility of suggestion to others, not contributed at the time to this journal. The Editors have been permitted also to read another account written by Mr. "Q." of this and of his subsequent experience, written immediately after the occasion, which agrees with his letters to Lord Bute in every particular.
"February 24th, 1897.—I slept in room No. 3. I knew it had a 'bad' reputation, also I had heard through Ouija of probable appearances and noises at 3 a.m. and 4.30 a.m. I noted the time of retiring in passing the clock on the staircase, i.e. 12.10.
"Before going to bed I sat in a chair with my back to a small mahogany cupboard, placed against the wall of the dressing-room, into which my room (No. 3) opens. About 1 a.m. I was much startled at hearing behind me very distinctly a loud groan, coming, apparently, from the dressing-room, in the direction of the mahogany cupboard. The sound was very distinct, and but for the fact of there being no one visible, I should have estimated its origin as in the room, its distinctness being such that, coming from the next room, with the door closed, it would have sounded slightly muffled. So distinct was it that I heard what I can only describe as the throat vibration in the tone.
"I tried to ascribe it to the bubbling of the hot-water pipe of a washing basin fixed in the dressing-room, as I supposed, against the wall of the bedroom, but saw next day that the basin in question was fixed against the opposite wall of the dressing-room.
A, Cupboard. B, Chair. C, Washing-stand (fixed).
"The sound was a greatly magnified and humanised edition of what I have several times heard in the drawing-room below the dressing-room, and which has been heard by several of the party together."
And in a letter dated March 4.—"I went upstairs at 12.10. On shutting the door of my room I experienced a curiously cold sensation. I stood by the fire, which was burning brightly, and shivered to an extent that was quite phenomenal; the fire did not in the least remove the cold shudderings which ran from head to feet.
"I threw the feeling off as best I could, but not entirely. I read a little and then prayed. I read the office of compline and my private prayers, and praying according to my custom for all faithful departed, and especially for those who had previously lived in the house or been connected with it. After this I looked at my watch; it was just upon one o'clock, and I sat for a few minutes in the chair by the fire, when I heard the noise described, behind me.
"I changed my position and placed the chair with its back to a table and facing the door, the candle on the table, and took a book and read; my shuddering sensations had been worse than ever. Suddenly I looked up, and above the bed, apparently on the wall, I got just a glimpse (like a flash) of a brown wood crucifix: the wall was quite bare, not a picture, nothing to make it explainable by imperfect light or reflection. From that time the sensation of cold and shuddering went away: I don't say immediately, but I was quite conscious of being reassured.
"About half-an-hour afterwards all feeling of distress of any sort had gone. I went to bed and to sleep. My own idea now is, that the sound I heard was an inarticulate cry for help, probably by means of prayer. The influence I feel was bad, but something overcame it."
It is desirable to add, as a question of evidence, for comparison of the dates of this and Miss Freer's subsequent account of the same phenomenon, that a letter from Mr. "Q." in Lord Bute's possession, dated March 16th, begins, "I have no objection to Miss Freer seeing my letter on the subject of the crucifix...."
Mr. "Q." also states that his delay in writing to Lord Bute about the crucifix was, that he thought
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