appears to have been writing it when he was surprised by the assassins;
for the last words were--'I think I've baulked them, and nobody will
understand the--' then comes a large blot and a mark, as if the pen had
fallen out of his hand. It seems wonderful that this man, so suspicious
and secretive, should thus have entrusted to paper what it was needful
he should conceal; but the case is not singular; it has been remarked in
similar instances, when some dark mystery is pressing on a human soul,
that there exists an irresistible desire to communicate it,
notwithstanding the peril of betrayal; and when no other confident can
be found, the miserable wretch has often had recourse to paper.
"The family of Arthur Allen being now extinct, a cousin of Jacopo's,
who was a penniless soldier, succeeded to the title and estate, and the
memoir, with a full account of what had happened, being forwarded to
Italy, enquiries were made about the missing two thousand pounds; but it
was not forthcoming; and it was at first supposed that the ladies had
had some accomplice who had carried it off. Subsequently, however, one
of the two men who had borne the money chest into the house, at the
period of the old man's arrival, was detected in endeavouring to dispose
of some Italian gold coin and a diamond ring, which Jacopo was in the
habit of wearing. This led to investigation, and he ultimately confessed
to the murder committed by himself and his companion, thus exonerating
the unfortunate woman. He nevertheless declared that they had not rifled
the strong box, as they could not open it, and were disturbed by the
barking of a dog before they could search for the keys. The box itself
they were afraid to carry away, it being a remarkable one and liable to
attract notice; and that therefore their only booty was some loose coin
and some jewels that were found on the old man's person. But this was
not believed, especially as his accomplice was not to be found, and
appeared, on enquiry, to have left that part of the country immediately
after the catastrophe.
"There the matter rested for nearly two centuries and a half. Nobody
sorrowed for Jacopo Ferraldi, and the fate of the Allens was a matter of
indifference to the public, who was glad to see the estate fall into the
hands of his successor, who appears to have made a much better use of
his riches. The family in the long period that elapsed, had many
vicissitudes; but at the period of my birth my father inhabited the same
old palace, and we were in tolerably affluent circumstances. I was born
there, and I remember as a child the curiosity I used to feel about the
room with the secret receptacle under the floor where Jacopo had buried
the body of his guest. It had been found there and received Christian
burial; but the receptacle still remained, and the room was shut up
being said to be haunted. I never _saw_ anything extraordinary, but I
can bear witness to the frightful groans and moans that issued from it
sometimes at night, when, if I could persuade anybody to accompany me, I
used to stand in the gallery and listen with wonder and awe. But I
never passed the door alone, nor would any of the servants do so after
dark. There had been an attempt made to exclude the sounds by walling up
the door; but so far from this succeeding they became twenty times
worse, and as the wall was a disfigurement as well as a failure, the
unquiet spirit was placated by taking it down again.
"The old man's memoir is always preserved amongst the family papers, and
his picture still hangs in the gallery. Many strangers who have heard
something of this extraordinary story, have asked to see it. The palace
is now inhabited by an Austrian nobleman,--whether the ghost continues
to annoy the inmates by his lamentations I do not know.
"'I now,' said Count Francesco, 'come to my personal history. Political
reasons a few years since obliged me to quit Italy with my family. I had
no resources except a little ready money that I had brought with me, and
I had resolved to utilise some musical talent which I had cultivated for
my amusement. I had not voice enough to sing in public, but I was
capable of giving lessons and was considered, when in Italy, a
successful amateur. I will not weary you with the sad details of my
early residence in England; you can imagine the difficulties that an
unfortunate foreigner must encounter before he can establish a
connexion. Suffice it to say that my small means were wholly exhausted,
and that very often I, and what was worse, my wife and child were in
want of bread, and indebted to one of my more prosperous countrymen for
the very necessaries of life. I was almost in despair, and I do not know
what rash thing I might have done if I had been a single man; but I had
my family depending on me, and it was my duty not to sink under my
difficulties however great they were.
"One night I had been singing at the house of a nobleman, in St. James's
Square, and had received some flattering compliments from a young man
who appeared to be very fond of Italian music, and to understand it. My
getting to this party was a stroke of good luck in the first instance,
for I was quite unknown to the host, but Signor A. an acquaintance of
mine, who had been engaged for the occasion, was taken ill at the last
moment, and had sent me with a note of introduction to supply his
place.
"I knew, of course, that I should be well paid for my services, but I
would have gladly accepted half the sum I expected if I could have had
it that night, for our little treasury was wholly exhausted, and we had
not sixpence to purchase a breakfast for the following day. When the
great hall door shut upon me, and I found myself upon the pavement, with
all that luxury and splendour on one side, and I and my desolation on
the other, the contrast struck me cruelly, for I too had been rich, and
dwelt in illuminated palaces, and had a train of liveried servants at my
command, and sweet music had echoed through my halls. I felt desperate,
and drawing my hat over my eyes I began pacing the square, forming wild
plans for the relief or escape from my misery. No doubt I looked
frantic; for you know we Italians have such a habit of gesticulating,
that I believe my thoughts were accompanied by movements that must have
excited notice; but I was too much absorbed to observe anything, till I
was roused by a voice saying, 'Signor Ferraldi, still here this damp
chilly night! Are you not afraid for your voice--it is worth taking care
of.'
"'To what purpose,' I said savagely, 'It will not give me bread!'
"If the interruption had not been so sudden, I should not have made such
an answer, but I was surprised into it before I knew who had addressed
me. When I looked up I saw it was the young man I had met at Lord L.'s,
who had complimented me on my singing. I took off my hat and begged his
pardon, and was about to move away, when he took my arm.
"'Excuse me,' he said, 'let us walk together,' and then after a little
pause, he added, with an apology, 'I think you are an exile.'
"'I am,' I said.
"'And I think,' he continued, 'I have surprised you out of a secret that
you would not voluntarily have told me. I know well the hardships that
beset many of your countrymen--as good gentlemen as we are
ourselves--when you are obliged to leave your country; and I beg
therefore you will not think me impertinent or intrusive, if I beg you
to be frank with me and tell me how you are situated!'
"This offer of sympathy was evidently so sincere, and it was so welcome,
at such a moment, that I did not hesitate to comply with my new friend's
request--I told him everything--adding that in time I hoped to get
known, and that then I did not fear being able to make my way; but that
meanwhile we were in danger of starving.
"During this conversation we were walking round and round the square,
where in fact he lived. Before we parted at his own door, he had
persuaded me to accept of a gift, I call it, for he had then no reason
to suppose I should ever be able to repay him, but he called it an
advance of ten guineas upon some lessons I was to give him; the first
instalment of which was to be paid the following day.
"I went home with a comparitively light heart, and the next morning
waited on my friendly pupil, whom I found, as I expected, a very
promising scholar. He told me with a charming frankness, that he had not
much influence in fashionable society, for his family, though rich, was
_parvenue_, but he said he had two sisters, as fond of music as himself,
who would be shortly in London, and would be delighted to take lessons,
as I had just the voice they liked to sing with them.
"This was the first auspicious incident that had occurred to me, nor did
the omen fail in its fulfilment. I received great kindness from the
family when they came to London. I gave them lessons, sung at their
parties, and they took every opportunity of recommending me to their
friends.
"When the end of the season approached, however, I felt somewhat anxious
about the future--there would be no parties to sing at, and my pupils
would all be leaving town; but my new friends, whose name, by the way,
was Greathead, had a plan for me in their heads, which they strongly
recommended me to follow. They said they had a house in the country with
a large neighbourhood--in fact, near a large watering-place; and that if
I went there during the summer months, they did not doubt my getting
plenty of teaching; adding, 'We are much greater people there than we
are here, you see; and our recommendation will go a great way.'
"I followed my friend's advice, and soon after they left London, I
joined them at Salton, which was the name of their place. As I had left
my wife and children in town, with very little money, I was anxious that
they should join me as soon as possible; and therefore the morning after
my arrival, I proceeded to look for a lodging at S., and to take
measures to make my object known to the residents and visitors there.
My business done, I sent my family directions for their journey, and
then returned to Salton to spend a few days, as I had promised my kind
patrons.
"The house was modern, in fact it had been built by Mr. Greathead's
grandfather, who was the architect of their fortunes; the grounds were
extensive, and the windows looked on a fine lawn, a picturesque ruin, a
sparkling rivulet, and a charming flower-garden; there could not be a
prettier view than that we enjoyed while sitting at breakfast. It was my
first experience of the lovely and graceful English homes, and it fully
realised all my expectations, both within doors and without. After
breakfast Mr. Greathead and his son asked me to accompany them round the
grounds, as they were contemplating some alterations.
"'Among other things,' said Mr. G., 'we want to turn this rivulet; but
my wife has a particular fancy for that old hedge, which is exactly in
the way, and she won't let me root it up.'
"The hedge alluded to enclosed two sides of the flower-garden, but
seemed rather out of place, I thought.
"'Why?' said I. 'What is Mrs. Greathead's attachment to the hedge?'
"'Why? it's very old; it formerly bordered the churchyard, for that old
ruin you see there, is all that remains of the parish church; and this
flower-garden, I fancy, is all the more brilliant for the rich soil of
the burial-ground. But what is remarkable is, that the hedge and that
side of the garden are full of Italian flowers, and always have been so
as long as anybody can remember. Nobody knows how it happens, but they
must spring up from some old seeds that have been long in the ground.
Look at this cyclamen growing wild in the hedge.'
"The subject of the alterations was renewed at dinner, and Mrs.
Greathead, still objecting to the removal of the hedge, her younger son,
whose name was Harry, said, 'It is very well for mamma to pretend it is
for the sake of the flowers, but I am quite sure that the real reason is
that she is afraid of offending the ghost.'
"'What nonsence, Harry,' she said. 'You must not believe him, Mr.
Ferraldi.'
"'Well mamma,' said the boy, 'you know you will never be convinced that
that was not a ghost you saw.'
"'Never mind what it was,' she said; 'I won't have the hedge removed.
Presently,' she added, 'I suppose you would laugh at the idea of anybody
believing in a ghost, Mr. Ferraldi.'
"'Quite the contrary,' I answered; 'I believe in them myself, and upon
very good grounds, for we have a celebrated ghost in our family.'
"'Well,' she said, 'Mr. Greathead and the boys laugh at me; but when I
came to live here, upon the death of Mr. Greathead's grandfather,--for
his father never inhabited the place, having died by an accident before
the old gentleman,--I had never heard a word of the place being haunted;
and, perhaps, I should not have believed it if I had. But, one evening,
when the younger children were gone to bed, and Mr. Greathead and George
were sitting with some friends in the dining-room, I, and my sister, who
was staying with me, strolled into the garden. It was in the month of
August, and a bright starlight night. We were talking on a very
interesting matter, for my sister had that day, received an offer from
the gentleman she afterwards married. I mention that, to show you that
we were not thinking of anything supernatural, but, on the contrary,
that our minds were quite absorbed with the subject we were discussing.
I was looking on the ground, as one often does, when listening intently
to what another person is saying; my sister was speaking, when she
suddenly stopped, and laid her hand on my arm, saying, 'Who's that?'
"'I raised my eyes and saw, not many yards from us, an old man, withered
and thin, dressed in a curious antique fashion, with a high peaked hat
on his head. I could not conceive who he could be, or what he could be
doing there, for it was close to the flower-garden; so we stood still to
observe him. I don't know whether you saw the remains of an old
tombstone in a corner of the garden? It is said to be that of a former
rector of the parish; the date, 1550, is still legible upon it. The old
man walked from one side of the hedge to that stone, and seemed to be
counting his steps. He walked like a person pacing the ground, to
measure it; then he stopped, and appeared to be noting the result of
his measurement with a pencil and paper he held in his hand; then he did
the same thing, the other side of the hedge, pacing up to the tombstone
and back.
"'There was a talk, at that time, of removing the hedge, and digging up
the old tombstone; and it occurred to me, that my husband might have
been speaking to somebody about it, and that this man might be concerned
in the business, though, still, his dress and appearance puzzled me. It
seemed odd, too, that he took no notice of us; and I might have
remarked, that we heard no footsteps, though we were quite close enough
to do so; but these circumstances did not strike me then. However, I was
just going to advance, and ask him what he was doing? when I felt my
sister's hand relax the hold she had of my arm, and she sank to the
ground; at the same instant I lost sight of the mysterious old man, who
suddenly disappeared.
"'My sister had not fainted; but she said her knees had bent under her,
and she had slipt down, collapsed by terror. I did not feel very
comfortable myself, I assure you; but I lifted her up, and we hastened
back to the house and told what we had seen. The gentlemen went out,
and, of course, saw nothing, and laughed at us; but shortly afterwards,
when Harry was born, I had a nurse from the village, and she asked me
one day, if I had ever happened to see "the old gentleman that walks!" I
had ceased to think of the circumstance, and inquired what old gentleman
she meant? and then she told me that, long ago, a foreign gentleman had
been murdered here; that is, in the old house that Mr. Greathead's
grandfather pulled down when he built this; and that, ever since, the
place has been haunted, and that nobody will pass by the hedge, and the
old tombstone after dark; for that is the spot to which the ghost
confines himself.'
"'But I should think,' said I, 'that so far from desiring to preserve
these objects, you would rather wish them removed, since the ghost
would, probably, cease to visit the spot at all.'
"'Quite the contrary,' answered Mrs. G. 'The people of the neighbourhood
say, that the former possessor of the place entertained the same idea,
and had resolved to remove them; but that then, the old man became very
troublesome, and was even seen in the house; the nurse positively
assured me, that her mother had told her, old Mr. Greathead had also
intended to remove them; but that he quite suddenly counter-ordered the
directions he had given, and, though he did not confess to anything of
the sort, the people all believed that he had seen the ghost. Certain,
it is, that this hedge has always been maintained by the proprietors of
the place.'
"The young men laughed and quizzed their mother for indulging in such
superstitions; but the lady was quite firm in her opposition, alledging,
that independently of all considerations connected with the ghost, she
liked the hedge on account of the wild Italian flowers; and she liked
the old tombstone on account of its antiquity.
"Consequently, some other plan was devised for Mr. Greathead's
alterations, which led the course of the rivulet quite clear of the
hedge and the tombstone.
"In a few days, my family arrived, and I established myself at S., for
the summer. The speculation answered very well, and through the
recommendations of Mr. and Mrs. Greathead, and their personal kindness
to myself and my wife, we passed the time very pleasantly. When the
period for our returning to London approached, they invited us to spend
a fortnight with them before our departure, and, accordingly, the day we
gave up our lodgings, we removed to Salton.
"Preparations for turning the rivulet had then commenced; and soon after
my arrival, I walked out with Mr. Greathead to see the works. There was
a boy, about fourteen, amongst the labourers; and while we were standing
close to him, he picked up something, and handed it to Mr. G., saying,
'Is this yours, sir?' which, on examination, proved to be a gold coin of
the sixteenth century,--the date on it was 1545. Presently, the boy who
was digging, picked up another, and then several more.
"'This becomes interesting,' said Mr. Greathead, 'I think we are coming
upon some buried treasure;' and he whispered to me, that he had better
not leave the spot.
"Accordingly, he did stay, till it was time to dress for dinner; and,
feeling interested, I remained also. In the interval, many more coins
were found; and when he went in, he dismissed the workmen, and sent a
servant to watch the place,--for he saw by their faces, that if he had
not happened to be present he would, probably, never have heard of the
circumstance. A few more turned up the following day, and then the store
seemed exhausted. When the villagers heard of this money being
discovered, they all looked upon it as the explanation of the old
gentleman haunting that particular spot. No doubt he had buried the
money, and it remained to be seen, whether now, that it was found, his
spirit would be at rest.
"My two children were with me at Salton on this occasion. They slept in
a room on the third floor, and one morning, my wife having told me that
the younger of the two seemed unwell, I went up stairs to look at her.
It was a cheerful room, with two little white beds in it, and several
old prints and samplers, and bits of work such as you see in nurseries,
framed and hung against the wall. After I had spoken to the child, and
while my wife was talking to the maid, I stood with my hands in my
pockets, idly looking at these things. Amongst them was one that
arrested my attention, because at first I could not understand it, nor
see why this discoloured parchment, with a few lines and dots on it,
should have been framed and glazed. There were some words here and there
which I could not decipher; so I lifted the frame off the nail and
carried it to the window. Then I saw that the words were Italian,
written in a crabbed, old-fashioned hand, and the whole seemed to be a
plan, or sketch, rudely drawn, of what I at first thought was a
camp--but, on closer examination, I saw was part of a churchyard, with
tomb stones, from one of which lines were drawn to various dots, and
along these lines were numbers, and here and there a word as _right_,
_left_, &c. There were also two lines forming a right angle, which
intersected the whole, and after contemplating the thing for some time,
it struck me that it was a rude sort of map of the old churchyard and
the hedge, which had formed the subject of conversation some days
before.
"At breakfast, I mentioned what I had observed to Mr. and Mrs.
Greathead, and they said they believed it was; it had been found when
the old house was pulled down, and was kept on account of its
antiquity.
"'Of what period is it,' I asked, 'and how happens it to have been made
by an Italian?'
"'The last question I can't answer,' said Mr. Greathead; 'but the date
is on it, I believe.'
"'No,' said I, 'I examined it particularly--there is no date.'
"'Oh, there is a date and name, I think--but I never examined it
myself;' and to settle the question he desired his son Harry to run up
and fetch it, adding, 'you know Italian architects and designers of
various kinds, were not rare in this country a few centuries ago.'
"Harry brought the frame, and we were confirmed in our conjectures of
what it represented, but we could find no date or name.
"'And yet I think I've heard there was one,' said Mr. Greathead. 'Let us
take it out of the frame?'
"This was easily done, and we found the date and the name; the count
paused, and then added, 'I dare say you can guess it?'
"'Jacopo Ferraldi?' I said.
"'It was,' he answered; and it immediately occurred to me that he had
buried the money supposed to have been stolen on the night he was
murdered, and that this was a plan to guide him in finding it again. So
I told Mr. Greathead the story I have now told you, and mentioned my
reasons for supposing that if I was correct in my surmise, more gold
would be found.
"With the old man's map as our guide, we immediately set to work--the
whole family vigorously joining in the search; and, as I expected, we
found that the tombstone in the garden was the point from which all the
lines were drawn, and that the dots indicated where the money lay. It
was in different heaps, and appeared to have been enclosed in bags,
which had rotted away with time. We found the whole sum mentioned in the
memoir, and Mr. Greathead being lord of the manor, was generous enough
to make it all over to me, as being the lawful heir, which, however, I
certainly was not, for it was the spoil of a murderer and a thief, and
it properly belonged to the Allens. But that family had become extinct;
at least, so we believed, when the two unfortunate ladies were executed,
and I accepted the gift with much gratitude and a quiet conscience. It
relieved us from our pressing difficulties, and enabled me to wait for
better times.
"'And,' said I, 'how of the ghost? was he pleased or otherwise, by the
_denouement_?'
"'I cannot say,' replied the count; 'I have not heard of his being seen
since; I understand, however, that the villagers, who understand these
things better than we do, say, that they should not be surprised if he
allowed the hedge and tombstone to be removed now without opposition;
but Mr. Greathead, on the contrary, wished to retain them as mementoes
of these curious circumstances.'"
THE DUTCH OFFICER'S STORY.
"Well, I think nothing can be so cowardly as to be afraid to own the
truth?" said the pretty Madame de B., an Englishwoman, who had married a
Dutch officer of distinction.
"Are you really venturing to accuse the General of cowardice?" said
Madame L.
"Yes," said Madame de B., "I want him to tell Mrs. Crowe a ghost
story--a thing that he saw himself--and he pooh, poohs it, though he
owned it to me before we were married, and since too, saying that he
never could have believed such a thing if he had not seen it himself."
While the wife was making this little _tirade_, the husband looked as if
she was accusing him of picking somebody's pocket--_il perdait
contenance_ quite. "Now, look at him," she said, "don't you see guilt in
his face, Mrs. Crowe?"