The Alleged Haunting of B---- House, - [best historical fiction books of all time TXT] 📗

their beds: and I think that if 'A Correspondent' had stayed as long in B—— as I did, and had had some of my experiences, he would have a very different tale to tell, although up to my going to B—— I would laugh at any one who told me there were such things as ghosts; and even now I am not quite convinced; but of one thing I am certain—that is, that there is something supernatural in the noises and things that I heard and experienced at B——. Thanking you, dear sir, in anticipation of your inserting this letter, I remain your obedient servant,

"Harold Sanders.

"Chidcock, near Bridport, Dorset."

The passage in The Times article is as follows:—

"An intelligent gardener whom I questioned told me that he had kept watch in the house on two separate occasions, abstaining from sleep until daylight appeared at seven o'clock, but without hearing a sound. A caretaker, who had spent months in the house, and who had to keep a stove alight all night, never heard a sound, probably because there was no one to make any."

The gardener's evidence on this point will be found on p. 218.

Without admitting, for one moment, the theory that a servant's evidence may not be of equal value with that of the so-called educated classes, it was thought desirable, before admitting that of Sanders, to make some inquiries as to his character, intelligence, and capacity for observation. His employer spoke well of him, and Colonel Taylor had the advantage of a personal interview with him, which he thus describes:—

"July 18th, 1897.—I went to Coventry yesterday, and saw Sanders the butler. He is a slight, dark young man, and, as far as I could judge, quite honest and serious over the B—— affair. He assured me that he had written the letter to The Times without any advice or assistance, and that all he wrote was absolutely true. I gathered from him, indirectly, that before his B—— experience he knew nothing of ghosts, spiritualism, or any occult matter, and does not now. He was much astonished when I told him that the feeling which he describes as like walking into an ice-house was a common one under the circumstances. He said he omitted in his letter many small personal matters, such as the following:— During the manifestation in his room, when his bed was shifted, and when he felt as if some one was making 'passes' over him, and breathing in his face, he made the sign of the Cross, on which the 'influence' receded from him, but approached again almost at once. After repeating this a few times with the same result, he crossed his arms over his chest, and holding the bedclothes close up to his chin, went to sleep. He was at no time afraid. He said things were more active during the stay of Father 'I.' than at any other time, and that one of the young H——s had seen a veiled lady pass through his room."

The following paragraph in the letter of The Times correspondent called forth the subjoined letter from Mr. H—— himself, the tenant of B——:—

"The only mystery in the matter seems to be the mode in which a prosaic and ordinary dwelling was endowed with so evil a reputation. I was assured in London that it had had this reputation for twenty or thirty years. The family lawyer in P—— asserted most positively that there had never been a whisper of such a thing until the house was let for last year's shooting season to a family, whom I may call the H——s. I was told the same thing in equally positive terms by the minister of the parish, a level-headed man from B——shire, who has lived in the place for twenty years. He told me that some of the younger members of the H—— family had indulged in practical jokes, and boasted of them. One of their pranks was to drop or throw a weight upon the floor, and to draw it back by means of a string. Another seems to have been to thump on bedroom doors with a boot-heel, the unmistakable marks of which remain to this day, and were pointed out to me by our hostess. If there are really any noises not referable to ordinary domestic causes, it is not improbable that these practical jokers made a confidant of some one about the estate, who amuses himself by occasionally—it is only occasionally that the more remarkable noises are said to be heard—repeating their tricks. The steward or factor on the estate concurs with the lawyer and the minister in denying that the house had any reputation for being haunted before the advent of the H—— family. Yet he is a Highlander, and not without superstition; for he gave it as his opinion that if there was anything in these noises, they must be due to Black Art. Asked what Black Art might be, he said he could not tell, but he had often heard about it, and had been told that when once set going it would go on without the assistance of its authors. He was quite clear, however that if there is Black Art, it came in with the H—— family."

Mr. H——'s rejoinder, which appeared in The Times, was dated June 10th:—

To the Editor of "The Times"

"Sir,—I must ask you to be good enough to publish, on behalf of the tenant of B——, a few remarks on the article that appeared in your paper of the 8th inst. with the heading 'On the Trail of a Ghost.' The writer of that article finds a very easy solution to the mystery by attacking a private family who happened to be tenants of B—— for a short time, and making them a 'scapegoat' for his argument. I do not quite understand if your correspondent pretends to assert that the place had not the reputation of being haunted previous to my tenancy for three months last year; probably he does not charge me with originating such reports, as he mentions a story of the visit of a Catholic Archbishop to the house to exorcise the ghost. This must have happened some time ago, and proves that the house was then supposed to be haunted. What your correspondent does state as a fact is, that the younger members of my family played practical jokes, which have given rise to Lord Bute's investigations. My object in writing to you is to deny most emphatically this statement. The principal proof that is brought forward to corroborate this slander is, that the doors are marked by the blows struck to produce the noises heard. Surely no one could be frightened after the cause and reason of the noises were once ascertained by the boot-marks! But there were no such marks on the doors when we left B——. Some of our guests were with us until very shortly before my family left, and can testify to this, for the good reason that in the endeavour to localise the extraordinary noises, all doors and other parts of the house were constantly examined up to the very last. When I went to B—— at the beginning of August, my family had already been there a few days, and at once they told me they had found out the house was supposed to be haunted, and that they had heard most unaccountable noises. I had the greatest difficulty to persuade all my people to stay in the place, and after all, we left Scotland about the end of September, two months earlier than usual. I personally did not give any importance to the rumours that B—— House is haunted, and attributed the very remarkable noises heard to the hot-water pipes and the peculiar way in which the house is built. In fact, I have to confess I cannot believe in ghosts, and, consequently, I did my best to persuade everybody that B—— was not haunted, but I am afraid I was not always successful. I hope you will forgive me for taking up so much valuable space in your paper, but I had to do so in self-defence against a false accusation.—Yours faithfully, H——."

It is believed that, in consequence of this letter, Mr. H—— was threatened with legal proceedings, which, however, have not yet been initiated.

The following is the account given of the same period by Miss "B.," a lady of some position in the literary world:—

"... We arrived there on Wednesday the 25th August, the house being then tenanted by Mr. J.R. H—— of K—— Court, C——, G——shire. The household consisted of Mr. and Mrs. H——, three sons, Miss H——, my sister and I, and two other guests, Colonel A—— and Major B——.

"We had rooms in the wing on the ground floor of the house, opening off the main hall, divided from the rest of the house by a long passage, and shut off by a swing-door. Our rooms opened off each other, and the inner room opened off a little sitting-room, which had a door with glass panels leading into the passage. The only other person who slept in that wing of the house was Mr. Willie H——, whose room was exactly opposite the door of our room.

"We heard a great deal of discussion about the 'ghost' when we arrived, and so that night my sister made me sleep in the inner room with her. We heard nothing that night. The next night I slept in the outer room, and neither of us heard anything. The third night, my sister being still a little nervous, I slept in the inner room with her. The door of the outer room was locked, the door between the rooms was locked, and there was a wardrobe placed against the door leading into the sitting-room. We both, having taken these precautions, fell sound asleep.

"I wakened suddenly in the middle of the night, and noticed how quiet the house was. Then I heard the clock strike two, and a few minutes later there came a crashing, vibrating batter against the door of the outer room. My sister was sleeping very soundly, but she started up in a moment at the noise, wide awake.

"'Some one must have done that,' she said; 'such a noise could never have been made by a ghost!'

"But neither of us had the courage to go out into the passage! The noise lasted, I should say, for only two or three seconds, and ceased as suddenly as it had begun. We lay awake till the light came in, but the house was quite quiet. I may mention, as against the 'supernatural' origin of the sound, that it came against the outer door, did not pass in to the inner one, and avoided the glass-panelled door of the sitting-room, which would certainly have been shivered by the application of force sufficient to produce such noise. Another very curious thing was, that on the nights when it came to our door (we only heard it once, but other visitors heard it often) Willie H—— heard nothing; whereas on the nights when he was disturbed, we heard nothing, yet the rooms were close together.

"The following night my sister and Miss H—— and two of her brothers sat up all night in the morning-room, which opened off the main hall. We sat with the door open and in the dark, but neither heard or saw anything; the house was absolutely still.

"The next night my sister and I stayed in Miss H——'s room, watching with her. It was on the third storey of the house, and on a line with the specially haunted room, then occupied by Colonel