library, and a few evenings after this occurrence, one of the girls
being in the store-room, heard sounds of distress proceeding thence; and
on opening the kitchen-door, to inquire what was the matter, she saw
Jemima, the English girl, in hysterics, and the other two standing over
her, sprinkling her face with water. They said that she had left the
kitchen to fetch some worsted to mend her master's stockings, but that
before she could have got up stairs, she had rushed back again, thrown
herself into a chair, and '_gone off_' as they expressed it. On hearing
the noise, Mr. and Mrs. Colman joined them, but, for a long time, they
could extract nothing from her--but that she had seen _something_. My
grandfather asked if it was a rat, or a robber! but she only shook her
head; and it was not till they had all left the kitchen and sent her a
glass of wine, that she was sufficiently collected to tell them that, as
she got to the foot of the stairs, she saw an officer in uniform, going
up before her. He had his cap in his hand, and his sword at his side;
and supposing he was some friend of her master's, she was going to
follow him up; but when he reached the landing, to her surprise and
horror, he disappeared through the wall.
"When the family heard this, combining it with what had happened to
Mary--though the circumstance had never been mentioned in the hearing of
the servants; nor, indeed, even alluded to a second time--they began to
ask themselves whether it was possible any such person could get into
the house? and they examined every part of it with care, but found
nothing that threw a light on the mystery. After this, Jemima was afraid
to go up stairs alone at night, and Gretchen shared her fears; but the
Frenchwoman laughed at them both, and said she should like to see a
ghost that would frighten her. One night, however, about nine o'clock,
when the family were in the library, they suddenly heard a great noise
upon the stairs, as if something had fallen from the top to the bottom,
and when they all rushed out to see what was the matter, they found the
cook lying across the lower step in a state of insensibility, and the
coalscuttle upset beside her, with its contents scattered around. They
carried her into the library, and when she revived, she insisted on
immediately leaving the house; she would not sleep in it another night
on any account whatever, and away she went. Gretchen and Jemima said,
they were sure she had seen the ghost, but was too proud to own it,
after turning their fears into ridicule; and the family began to be very
much perplexed.
"My grandfather had a truly philosophical mind, and did not think it a
proof of wisdom to hold decided opinions on subjects that he had not
investigated. He had never believed in spiritual appearances, but he had
never thought seriously on the subject at all, and did not feel himself
qualified to assert that such things were impossible. Certainly, it was
a singular coincidence, that Jemima's description of the apparition
exactly coincided with what my mother had seen; and though the
Frenchwoman had confessed to nothing, yet it was at the same hour and
the same place that she had taken fright. He tried, whether--by placing
the cloaks and the lamp in certain relative positions--he could produce
any reflection that might deceive the eye; but there was not the most
remote approximation to such a thing; in short, he perceived that that
explanation of the appearance was altogether inadmissible.
"'Well,' he said, 'if anybody sees this figure again, I beg they will
call me!'
"They were not a nervous family, I suppose; my mother was quite the
reverse, I know. I never saw anybody with more courage; at all events,
they do not seem to have been alarmed, though both the boys afterwards
saw the same figure on the same spot, and ran to call their father; but
when Mr. Colman came it was gone. However, they declared they had seen
it cross the landing; and that it had seemed to them, to walk through
the wall, just as Jemima had described.
"Some weeks after this, towards the same hour, as Mr. Colman was about
to commence reading aloud, he discovered that he had left his
spectacles in the pocket of his coat, when he dressed for dinner; and my
mother, who was always alert and active, left the room to fetch them.
Presently, she re-entered the room,--pale, and somewhat agitated, but
perfectly collected; and said, that when she had ascended the stairs
about half-way, she heard a slight rustle above, which caused her to
raise her eyes; when she saw, distinctly, the same figure she had seen
before. 'I was not frightened!' she said, 'and I stopt with one foot on
the next stair, and looked at it steadily, that I might be sure I was
not under a delusion. The face was pale, and it looked at me with such a
sad expression, that I thought if it was really a ghost, it might wish
to say something; so I asked it.'
"'Asked it!' they all exclaimed. 'What did you say?'
"'I said, if you have anything to communicate, I conjure you--speak!'
"'And did it.'
"'No,' answered Mary, 'but it made a sign--'
"'Good Heavens!' said Mrs. Colman, 'do you know what you're saying?'
"'Perfectly,' said Mary, calmly. 'With one hand it pointed to the
wall--just where Jemima and the boys saw it go in--and with the other it
made a movement, as if it was going to strike the wall with something
heavy.'
"'Perhaps there's some money buried there,' said one of the boys.
"Mr. Colman, who had hitherto been a silent but amazed listener to his
daughter's narration, asked her what the gesture appeared to signify.
"'It was as if it wanted the wall to be pulled down--at least, I thought
so. I wish I had asked if that was what it wished, but I had not
presence of mind; if I see it again, I will.'
"'But we could not pull down the wall, you know, my dear,' said Mrs.
Colman.
"'I suppose we might, if we engaged to build it up again,' suggested one
of the party.
"'But if we told anybody, we should not get the money,' said the boys.
"'Hush!' said Mary, 'Don't speak in that way; think what a solemn thing
it is. I shall never forget his face--never, to the day of my death; and
it looked at me so gratefully when I spoke to it, and then it
disappeared into the wall.'
"Of course this extraordinary occurrence formed the subject of
conversation for the rest of the evening, and Mr. Colman narrowly
questioned his daughter with regard to the particulars; but her story
was always consistent, and as he had a very high opinion of Mary's
courage and sense, the circumstance made so much impression on him, that
he set about making enquiries as to the owner and antecedents of the
house. It was difficult to obtain much information--for saying a house
is haunted, is an injury to the landlord, and sometimes brings people
into trouble--but he ascertained that it had had several tenants, that
nobody had staid in it long, and that one of the persons who had
inhabited it for a short time, was Mr. Bautte himself, whereupon he
resolved to pay him a visit.
"Mr. Bautte, as I have mentioned, was a watchmaker; and though very rich,
still attended to his trade, so that it was easy to obtain an interview
with him. Mr. Colman called at his place of business, which was not a
shop, but a room on the first floor of a private house. He asked about
the engraving of a seal that he had to his watch-chain; and then, having
ascertained which was Mr. B., he told him he was his tenant. Mr. B.
bowed and said, 'I hope you like the house, sir.'
"My grandfather said that, perhaps, he might not have observed it but
for what had happened, but that he fancied this was said with a sort of
misgiving, as if he was conscious that there was something objectionable
about the house.
"'Why,' said my grandfather, drawing him rather aside, 'I like the house
very much; but there's one great inconvenience about it--we can't get
any servants to stay with us. One has left us already, and the others
have given us warning, and nobody seems willing to come in their places.
I understand you lived in the house yourself a short time; may I ask if
you found any similar difficulty?'
"'Well, sir,' said Mr. Bautte, trying to look unconcerned, 'you are
aware how ignorant and foolish such people are--I fancy from the
construction of the house that the sounds from the next door penetrate
the walls.'
"'We hear no sounds,' said Mr. Colman. 'I have heard no complaints of
any. Did any of your family ever say they saw anything extraordinary
there?'
"'Well, sir, since you put the question so directly, I can't deny that
the female part of my family did assert something of the sort; but women
have generally a tendency to superstition, and are easily terrified.'
"'Very true,' said Mr. Colman, 'but I should take it as a great favour
if you would tell me what they said they saw--I have no idea of leaving
the house; you need not be afraid of that; and of course I shall not
mention this conversation to any one--what did they say they saw?'
"Mr. Bautte thus exhorted, confessed that his family, and everybody who
had lived in the house, asserted that they had seen the apparition of a
young man in uniform, who always appeared on the stairs or the landing;
adding, that he himself had never seen it, although he had put himself
in the way of it repeatedly, and he firmly believed it was some
extraordinary delusion or optical deception, though it was impossible to
account for its affecting so many persons in the same way.
"My grandfather then told him what had occurred in his family;
especially to his eldest daughter, in whose testimony, he assured Mr.
Bautte, he placed the greatest reliance; and he ventured to propose an
examination of the spot, where the figure was said invariably to
disappear. At first, Mr. Bautte laughed at the idea; for--besides his
scepticism, which made him unwilling to take any proceeding that
countenanced what he considered an absurd superstition--he urged, that
the staircase and landing in question, were of very recent erection,
being one of Mr. Zwengler's improvements when he repaired the house.
However, after a short argument, wherein my grandfather represented that
nobody but the parties concerned need know the real reason for what they
did, that the expense would be small, and the possible result beneficial
to the property, Mr. Bautte consented, provided Mr. Geierstecke made no
objection; he being still the owner of the house.
"Mr. G., who, you know, was my husband's father, was aware that the
Hotel du Pont had frequently changed its tenants, but was quite ignorant
of the cause. He had no immediate interest in the matter, as Mr. Bautte
held a thirty-years lease, and he naturally assumed that these frequent
changes were purely accidental. Everybody, who became acquainted with
the house, had a strong motive for keeping the secret; for--besides the
ridicule and penalty they might have incurred--they all wanted to get it
off their hands. It's true, that amongst the servants and common people
of the neighbourhood, there were strange whispers going about; the
source of which it would not have been easy to trace. A glazier said he
knew a man, who had heard another declare, that he was acquainted with a
bricklayer, who had helped to build the staircase; who used to say, he
did not wonder that nobody could live in the Hotel du Pont; and that it
was his opinion that nobody ever would be able to live in it; and a
woman who kept a shop opposite, had been heard to say, that she saw
somebody go into that house that never came out again; but whenever she
alluded to this subject, her husband always reproved her, and told her
she did not know what she was talking about.
"This gossip had, however, never reached Mr. Geierstecks, and he was
exceedingly surprised when Mr. Bautte communicated Mr. Colman's
proposal, and the reason of it. He immediately called upon my
grandfather, who recited the circumstances to him, and introduced my
mother; from whose lips he wished to hear the account of her two
rencontres with the ghost; and also, a particular description of its
appearance. At the commencement of his visit, he was inclined to be
jocular on the subject; but after he had seen my mother, and heard her
describe the dress of the apparition, which was that of an officer in
the Republican army of France, he seemed a good deal struck, and became
serious. He said, he did not believe in ghosts; though he had heard
people affirm, that they had seen such things; he always supposed them
to be under a delusion; but that my mother's testimony was so clear, and
from the account of her family she was so unlikely a person to be
deceived, that he felt bound to give his assent to the proposed
investigation; only stipulating for entire secrecy, and that he might
fix the day for it himself. 'I'll speak to a builder,' said he; 'Mr.
Bautte, of course, will wish to be present; and, perhaps, I may bring a
friend with me.'
"As I mentioned before, he had been early acquainted with the
Zwengler's; and betwixt him and Alfred the intimacy still continued,
although the latter was by no means the pleasant companion he had been
formerly. Mr. Geierstecke concluding that his uncle's will, and the
sudden vicissitudes of fortune he had experienced, had affected his
spirits, pitied him; and had often endeavoured to argue him out of his
depression, but with little effect.
"I have heard him say, that after he left my grandfather's house on that
day, he went to Mr. Zwengler's with the intention of telling him the
circumstances I have related, and also of giving him notice of the
impending investigation; but when he had got to the door, and his hand
was upon the bell, he shrunk from the interview. 'Not,' he said, 'that
he admitted a suspicion; on the contrary, he repelled it; but he could
not overcome an uneasy feeling at the striking resemblance between Louis
Zwengler and the ghost (if ghost there was), as described by my mother.
He feared that, if his words did not betray this feeling, his
countenance would, and he could not face Alfred in this state of mind;
so he turned from the door and went home. Still he felt he could not
allow this thing to be done without warning his friend of their
intention, and he sat down to write him a letter; but it was a difficult
thing to communicate,--at least, he somehow found it so. He could have
mentioned it jocularly; but that, under all the circumstances, he could
not do so; and he had torn up two or three unsuccessful efforts, when
the door opened, and the servant announced Mr. Zwengler himself.
"My father-in-law told me that he felt his knees tremble, and his cheek
turn pale, when he rose to receive his visitor, who seemingly rather
more cheerful than usual, said he had called to ask him why he did not
come in to-day, when he was at his door. 'I was at the window,' said he,
'and was quite disappointed to see you turn away.'
"This was too good an opportunity to be lost, and Mr. Geierstecke
answered, that it was quite true, and that he had actually had his hand
upon the bell, when he thought it was useless troubling him with such
nonsense.
"'What nonsense?' asked Zwengler.
"'It's about that house I bought of you,' said Mr. Geierstecke. 'People
say they can't live in it;' adding, while he affected to laugh; 'They
say there's a ghost in it, and they want to pull down the staircase to
look for him.'
"'How absurd,' said Mr. Zwengler; 'and are you going to do it?' but the
voice sounded as if there was something in his throat.
"'We are,' replied Mr. G. 'Mr. Bautte has never been able to keep a
tenant, and I can't refuse, for it appears they all assert the same
thing. Even Mr. Bautte's family would not live in it--they say they
see----'
"'Ha! ha!' laughed Zwengler, rising suddenly, and pushing back his chair
in a hurried manner, 'but I must leave you--I've an appointment; I
merely called as I passed the door, to ask why you'd not come in. Bless
me! I'm late,' he added, as he looked at his watch; and he hurried out
of the room, crying 'Good night,' as he disappeared.
"Mr. Geierstecke used to say that he believed that he (Mr. G. himself)
continued standing on the same spot, like a statue, for nearly half an
hour after the door closed on his visitor.
"'I had scarcely had time to rise from my chair,' he said, 'before he
was gone, and I felt paralysed. I did not know what to do. I wished I
had never bought the house, and I lay awake all night, thinking of
horrors, and then trying to persuade myself that perhaps there was no
cause for my apprehensions after all.'
"'I saw nothing more of Zwengler, though I frequently passed his house
purposely; and, at length, the day arrived which I had--not without
design--fixed at the interval of a week from my first visit to Mr.
Colman. We all assembled at the appointed time, with a respectable
workman whom I was in the habit of employing, to whom we accounted for
our proceeding, by alleging that there was a bad smell sometimes, which
we thought might proceed from a dead rat.
"'I never felt more nervous and agitated in my life, than while the man
was demolishing the wall, and we were waiting the denouement; while
Mary, the heroine, stood pale and earnest, with her eyes eagerly fixed
on the spot.'
"'We had better have a light, sir,' said the mason presently, 'There is
something here----'
"One of the boys went for a light, while silent and breathless they
waited its arrival.
"When it came it disclosed a fearful sight. There lay, huddled up, as if
thrust in in haste, the bones of a perfect skeleton, and what appeared
to be burnt remnants of clothes. Before they touched anything, Mr.
Bautte sent for the police, and these sad relics were removed by their
officers. There was no means of discovering how life had been taken, but
the medical men said that some strong chemical preparation had been used
to consume the flesh and clothes, and prevent any bad odour.
"Everybody knew the Zwenglers and their history; and on this discovery,
the prefet sent for my mother, and took her deposition as to the
appearance of the figure she had seen. He also examined Jemima and the
Frenchwoman who had left our service; and the testimony of all parties
coinciding, he issued an order to arrest Alfred. But when they went to
his house he was not there. The servants said he had been absent nearly
a week; that he left, saying he was going on business to Dole, and his
stay was uncertain. He had taken no baggage with him but a carpet bag. A
messenger was despatched to Dole, but nothing was known of him there;
and the enquiries that were instituted at the Messageries and
Voituriers threw no light on his mode of conveyance, if, indeed, he had
left Geneva.
"Various people, who had lived in the house, now confessed to have been
troubled with the same apparition; and several amongst the neighbours of
the lower ranks avowed that they had strong suspicions that Alfred
Zwengler did not come fairly by his fortune, alleging different reasons
for their opinion; one of which was singular--it was, that a little deaf
and dumb girl, who lived near him, described to her mother, that when he
passed their door, she always saw him as enveloped in a black cloud.
"Howbeit, Alfred Zwengler never appeared more; and it was generally
thought that terrified by the impending disclosure he had thrown himself
either into the lake or the river, to escape it. He left no will, and
the fortune went to his sisters. But this strange circumstance resulted
in my mother's marriage to Monsieur de Beaugarde the Prefect, who was so
captivated by her courage, that he made her an offer immediately; and
the acquaintance with Mr. Geierstecke, thus commenced, led to my
marriage with his son."
In answer to my enquiry, of how it was supposed the murder was
committed, Madame de G. said, the conjecture was, that Louis had made
his escape from the Chouans, and returned unexpectedly--a neighbour even
testified to having seen him enter the house one night at the time it
was under repair--and that his brother by a sudden and dreadful impulse,
had struck him down unawares. One of the masons who had been employed in
building the staircase, but who was killed by a fall shortly before the
discovery, had been heard to hint that before he died he must unburden
his mind of a secret that weighed heavily on his conscience. "Not that
the guilt lies on my soul, he used to say, but perhaps it's a sin to
hold my tongue."
However, he had no time to speak; but one came from the grave to tell
the tale and bear awful witness against the unhappy Alfred Zwengler.
THE SHEEP-FARMER'S STORY.
The following singular story was related to me in a dialect which,
though I understood, from having lived much in the country where it was
spoken, I cannot attempt to imitate, not being "to the manner born;"
neither, if I could, would it be agreeable, or very comprehensible, to
my readers in general. I shall, therefore, tell it in plain English; and
hope it will interest others as much as it did me.
Sandy Shiels, the narrator, was a sheep-farmer in the Lammermuirs. He
lived in a lone house, in a wild and desolate country, with his wife and
children, his farm-servants, and his dogs, and seldom saw a stranger
enter his door, from week's end to week's end; but on certain occasions,
more or less frequent, Sandy attended the fairs and markets about the
country; and at the cattle shows, sometimes, appeared in Edinburgh
itself. He was a shrewd and a simple man--for the two characteristics
are by no means incompatible--hardhanded and hardfeatured, but not
unkindly; a serious churchman, a great reader of his Bible, and a keen
observer of Nature and Nature's language, as men who are born and bred
amongst mountains generally are.
His wife was a plain, hardworking woman, by whom he had two children,
yet young; but he had an elder son by a former marriage, called Ihan
Dhu; a Highland appellation not common in the Lammermuirs; but his
mother was a Highland woman, and had given it to him. Ihan Dhu means
Black John; and it suited him well; for, instead of the brawny figure
and sandy hue which so generally prevails in the south, he had inherited
the slight figure, the dark complexion, and black hair and eyes of his
mother, who was a specimen of the genuine Highland type; which, contrary
to the belief commonly entertained in England, is (Lord Jeffrey informed
me), _a little dark man_.
The two farm-servants were called Donald and Rob. The former a heavy,
stolid lout, who had just intellect enough to do what he was told; the
latter, a smart, lively, goodnatured lad, who was fond of reading, when
he could get a book; and wide awake about everything that his very
limited sphere brought him in contact with. The only other member of the
family was a girl, called Annie Goil, an orphan niece of Mrs. Shiel's;
who, in conjunction with her aunt, did all the work of the house and
dairy. The whole household lived and ate, and sat together, and with
them the two sheep dogs, Coully and Jock. In the summer, it was pleasant
enough; but in the winter, when the snow fell and the sheep were on the
hills, they had often a hard time of it.
Annie Goil was a pretty lass; and, naturally enough, there being no
other at hand, the three young men, Ihan, Donald, and Rob, were all
candidates for her favour. Nevertheless, they lived tolerably well
together; the rivalry, apparently, not running very high. Ihan was, of
course, much the best match; and he might, perhaps, feel pretty
confident that whenever he chose seriously to put in his claim, it could
not be resisted. Rob, possibly, comforted and consoled himself with the
sundry little marks of preference she bestowed on him, which might be
genuine, or might be designed to _agacer_ Ihan. As for Donald, he was of
so slow and undemonstrative a nature, that though she and the other two
often jeered him, and pretended to think he was the one destined to
carry off the prize, he exhibited neither anger nor jealousy; if he felt
either, he kept them to himself.
Nevertheless, a sharp word, or sour look, would occasionally pass
between them; that is, between Ihan and Rob; for any dissatisfaction on
the part of Donald was only expressed by increased stolidity and
silence; and so persuaded was the old man that their feelings towards
each other were not very genial; to say the least, that he had been
heard to say to his wife, that Annie Goil was a good girl; but, perhaps,
it would have been better, if she had never come amongst them.
Still they rubbed on "middling well," as Sandy said, and certainly far
better than might have been expected under such circumstances.