"This is a curious yarn that I am going to tell you," said Carnacki, as
after a quiet little dinner we made ourselves comfortable in his cozy
dining room.
"I have just got back from the West of Ireland," he continued.
"Wentworth, a friend of mine, has lately had rather an unexpected legacy,
in the shape of a large estate and manor, about a mile and a half outside
of the village of Korunton. This place is named Gannington Manor, and has
been empty a great number of years; as you will find is almost always the
case with Houses reputed to be haunted, as it is usually termed.
"It seems that when Wentworth went over to take possession, he found the
place in very poor repair, and the estate totally uncared for, and, as I
know, looking very desolate and lonesome generally. He went through the
big house by himself, and he admitted to me that it had an uncomfortable
feeling about it; but, of course, that might be nothing more than the
natural dismalness of a big, empty house, which has been long
uninhabited, and through which you are wandering alone.
"When he had finished his look 'round, he went down to the village,
meaning to see the one-time Agent of the Estate, and arrange for someone
to go in as caretaker. The Agent, who proved by the way to be a
Scotchman, was very willing to take up the management of the Estate once
more; but he assured Wentworth that they would get no one to go in as
caretaker; and that his--the Agent's--advice was to have the house pulled
down, and a new one built.
"This, naturally, astonished my friend, and, as they went down to the
village, he managed to get a sort of explanation from the man. It seems
that there had been always curious stories told about the place, which in
the early days was called Landru Castle, and that within the last seven
years there had been two extraordinary deaths there. In each case they
had been tramps, who were ignorant of the reputation of the house, and
had probably thought the big empty place suitable for a night's free
lodging. There had been absolutely no signs of violence to indicate the
method by which death was caused, and on each occasion the body had been
found in the great entrance hall.
"By this time they had reached the inn where Wentworth had put up, and he
told the Agent that he would prove that it was all rubbish about the
haunting, by staying a night or two in the Manor himself. The death of
the tramps was certainly curious; but did not prove that any supernatural
agency had been at work. They were but isolated accidents, spread over a
large number of years by the memory of the villagers, which was natural
enough in a little place like Korunton. Tramps had to die some time, and
in some place, and it proved nothing that two, out of possibly hundreds
who had slept in the empty house, had happened to take the opportunity
to die under shelter.
"But the Agent took his remark very seriously, and both he and Dennis the
landlord of the inn, tried their best to persuade him not to go. For his
'sowl's sake,' Irish Dennis begged him to do no such thing; and because
of his 'life's sake,' the Scotchman was equally in earnest.
"It was late afternoon at the time, and as Wentworth told me, it was warm
and bright, and it seemed such utter rot to hear those two talking
seriously about the impossible. He felt full of pluck, and he made up his
mind he would smash the story of the haunting, at once by staying that
very night, in the Manor. He made this quite clear to them, and told them
that it would be more to the point and to their credit, if they offered
to come up along with him, and keep him company. But poor old Dennis was
quite shocked, I believe, at the suggestion; and though Tabbit, the
Agent, took it more quietly, he was very solemn about it.
"It seems that Wentworth did go; and though, as he said to me, when
the evening began to come on, it seemed a very different sort of thing
to tackle.
"A whole crowd of the villagers assembled to see him off; for by this
time they all knew of his intention. Wentworth had his gun with him, and
a big packet of candles; and he made it clear to them all that it would
not be wise for anyone to play any tricks; as he intended to shoot 'at
sight.' And then, you know, he got a hint of how serious they considered
the whole thing; for one of them came up to him, leading a great
bullmastiff, and offered it to him, to take to keep him company.
Wentworth patted his gun; but the old man who owned the dog shook his
head and explained that the brute might warn him in sufficient time for
him to get away from the castle. For it was obvious that he did not
consider the gun would prove of any use.
"Wentworth took the dog, and thanked the man. He told me that, already,
he was beginning to wish that he had not said definitely that he would
go; but, as it was, he was simply forced to. He went through the crowd of
men, and found suddenly that they had all turned in a body and were
keeping him company. They stayed with him all the way to the Manor, and
then went right over the whole place with him.
"It was still daylight when this was finished; though turning to dusk;
and, for a while, the men stood about, hesitating, as if they felt
ashamed to go away and leave Wentworth there all alone. He told me that,
by this time, he would gladly have given fifty pounds to be going back
with them. And then, abruptly, an idea came to him. He suggested that
they should stay with him, and keep him company through the night. For a
time they refused, and tried to persuade him to go back with them; but
finally he made a proposition that got home to them all. He planned that
they should all go back to the inn, and there get a couple of dozen
bottles of whisky, a donkey-load of turf and wood, and some more candles.
Then they would come back, and make a great fire in the big fire-place,
light all the candles, and put them 'round the place, open the whisky and
make a night of it. And, by Jove! he got them to agree.
"They set off back, and were soon at the inn, and here, whilst the donkey
was being loaded, and the candles and whisky distributed, Dennis was
doing his best to keep Wentworth from going back; but he was a sensible
man in his way, for when he found that it was no use, he stopped. You
see, he did not want to frighten the others from accompanying Wentworth.
"'I tell ye, sorr,' he told him, ''tis of no use at all, thryin' ter
reclaim ther castle. 'Tis curst with innocent blood, an' ye'll be betther
pullin' it down, an' buildin' a fine new wan. But if ye be intendin' to
shtay this night, kape the big dhoor open whide, an' watch for the
bhlood-dhrip. If so much as a single dhrip falls, don't shtay though all
the gold in the worrld was offered ye.'
"Wentworth asked him what he meant by the blood-drip.
"'Shure,' he said, ''tis the bhlood av thim as ould Black Mick 'way back
in the ould days kilt in their shlape. 'Twas a feud as he pretendid to
patch up, an' he invited thim--the O'Haras they was--siventy av thim. An'
he fed thim, an' shpoke soft to thim, an' thim thrustin' him, sthayed to
shlape with him. Thin, he an' thim with him, stharted in an' mhurdered
thim wan an' all as they slep'. 'Tis from me father's grandfather ye have
the sthory. An' sence thin 'tis death to any, so they say, to pass the
night in the castle whin the bhlood-dhrip comes. 'Twill put out candle
an' fire, an' thin in the darkness the Virgin Herself would be powerless
to protect ye.'
"Wentworth told me he laughed at this; chiefly because, as he put
it:--'One always must laugh at that sort of yarn, however it makes you
feel inside.' He asked old Dennis whether he expected him to believe it.
"'Yes, sorr,' said Dennis, 'I do mane ye to b'lieve it; an' please God,
if ye'll b'lieve, ye may be back safe befor' mornin'.' The man's serious
simplicity took hold of Wentworth, and he held out his hand. But, for all
that, he went; and I must admire his pluck.
"There were now about forty men, and when they got back to the Manor--or
castle as the villagers always call it--they were not long in getting a
big fire going, and lighted candles all 'round the great hall. They had
all brought sticks; so that they would have been a pretty formidable lot
to tackle by anything simply physical; and, of course, Wentworth had his
gun. He kept the whisky in his own charge; for he intended to keep them
sober; but he gave them a good strong tot all 'round first, so as to
make things seem cheerful; and to get them yearning. If you once let a
crowd of men like that grow silent, they begin to think, and then to
fancy things.
"The big entrance door had been left wide open, by his orders; which
shows that he had taken some notice of Dennis. It was a quiet night, so
this did not matter, for the lights kept steady, and all went on in a
jolly sort of fashion for about three hours. He had opened a second lot
of bottles, and everyone was feeling cheerful; so much so that one of the
men called out aloud to the ghosts to come out and show themselves. And
then, you know a very extraordinary thing happened; for the ponderous
main door swung quietly and steadily to, as though pushed by an invisible
hand, and shut with a sharp click.
"Wentworth stared, feeling suddenly rather chilly. Then he remembered the
men, and looked 'round at them. Several had ceased their talk, and were
staring in a frightened way at the big door; but the great number had
never noticed, and were talking and yarning. He reached for his gun, and
the following instant the great bullmastiff set up a tremendous barking,
which drew the attention of the whole company.
"The hall I should tell you is oblong. The south wall is all windows; but
the north and east have rows of doors, leading into the house, whilst the
west wall is occupied by the great entrance. The rows of doors leading
into the house were all closed, and it was toward one of these in the
north wall that the big dog ran; yet he would not go very close; and
suddenly the door began to move slowly open, until the blackness of the
passage beyond was shown. The dog came back among the men, whimpering,
and for a minute there was an absolute silence.
"Then Wentworth went out from the men a little, and aimed his gun at
the doorway.
"'Whoever is there, come out, or I shall fire,' he shouted; but nothing
came, and he blazed forth both barrels into the dark. As though the
report had been a signal, all the doors along the north and east walls
moved slowly open, and Wentworth and his men were staring, frightened
into the black shapes of the empty doorways.
"Wentworth loaded his gun quickly, and called to the dog; but the brute
was burrowing away in among the men; and this fear on the dog's part
frightened Wentworth more, he told me, than anything. Then something else
happened. Three of the candles over in the corner of the hall went out;
and immediately about half a dozen in different parts of the place. More
candles were put out, and the hall had become quite dark in the corners.
"The men were all standing now, holding their clubs, and crowded
together. And no one said a word. Wentworth told me he felt positively
ill with fright. I know the feeling. Then, suddenly, something splashed
on to the back of his left hand. He lifted it, and looked. It was covered
with a great splash of red that dripped from his fingers. An old Irishman
near to him, saw it, and croaked out in a quavering voice:--'The
bhlood-dhrip!' When the old man called out, they all looked, and in the
same instant others felt it upon them. There were frightened cries
of:--'The bhlood-dhrip! The bhlood-dhrip!' And then, about a dozen
candles went out simultaneously, and the hall was suddenly dark. The dog
let out a great, mournful howl, and there was a horrible little silence,
with everyone standing rigid. Then the tension broke, and there was a mad
rush for the main door. They wrenched it open, and tumbled out into the
dark; but something slammed it with a crash after them, and shut the dog
in; for Wentworth heard it howling as they raced down the drive. Yet no
one had the pluck to go back to let it out, which does not surprise me.
"Wentworth sent for me the following day. He had heard of me in
connection with that Steeple Monster Case. I arrived by the night mail,
and put up with Wentworth at the inn. The next day we went up to the old
Manor, which certainly lies in rather a wilderness; though what struck
me most was the extraordinary number of laurel bushes about the house.
The place was smothered with them; so that the house seemed to be
growing up out of a sea of green laurel. These, and the grim, ancient
look of the old building, made the place look a bit dank and ghostly,
even by daylight.
"The hall was a big place, and well lit by daylight; for which I was not
sorry. You see, I had been rather wound-up by Wentworth's yarn. We found
one rather funny thing, and that was the great bullmastiff, lying stiff
with its neck broken. This made me feel very serious; for it showed that
whether the cause was supernatural or not, there was present in the house
some force exceedingly dangerous to life.
"Later, whilst Wentworth stood guard with his shotgun, I made an
examination of the hall. The bottles and mugs from which the men had
drunk their whisky were scattered about; and all over the place were the
candles, stuck upright in their own grease. But in the somewhat brief and
general search, I found nothing; and decided to begin my usual exact
examination of every square foot of the place--not only of the hall, in
this case, but of the whole interior of the castle.
"I spent three uncomfortable weeks, searching; but without result of any
kind. And, you know, the care I take at this period is extreme; for I
have solved hundreds of cases of so-called 'hauntings' at this early
stage, simply by the most minute investigation, and the keeping of a
perfectly open mind. But, as I have said, I found nothing. During the
whole of the examination, I got Wentworth to stand guard with his loaded
shotgun; and I was very particular that we were never caught there
after dusk.
"I decided now to make the experiment of staying a night in the great
hall, of course 'protected.' I spoke about it to Wentworth; but his own
attempt had made him so nervous that he begged me to do no such thing.
However, I thought it well worth the risk, and I managed in the end to
persuade him to be present.
"With this in view, I went to the neighboring town of Gaunt, and by an
arrangement with the Chief Constable I obtained the services of six
policemen with their rifles. The arrangement was unofficial, of course,
and the men were allowed to volunteer, with a promise of payment.
"When the constables arrived early that evening at the inn, I gave them a
good feed; and after that we all set out for the Manor. We had four
donkeys with us, loaded with fuel and other matters; also two great
boarhounds, which one of the police led. When we reached the house, I set
the men to unload the donkeys; whilst Wentworth and I set-to and sealed
all the doors, except the main entrance, with tape and wax; for if the
doors were really opened, I was going to be sure of the fact. I was going
to run no risk of being deceived by ghostly hallucination, or mesmeric
influence.
"By the time that this was done, the policemen had unloaded the donkeys,
and were waiting, looking about them, curiously. I set two of them to
lay a fire in the big grate, and the others I used as I required them. I
took one of the boarhounds to the end of the hall furthest from the
entrance, and there I drove a staple into the floor, to which I tied the
dog with a short tether. Then, 'round him, I drew upon the floor the
figure of a Pentacle, in chalk. Outside of the Pentacle, I made a circle
with garlic. I did exactly the same thing with the other hound; but over
more in the northeast corner of the big hall, where the two rows of
doors make the angle.
"When this was done, I cleared the whole center of the hall, and put one
of the policemen to sweep it; after which I had all my apparatus carried
into the cleared space. Then I went over to the main door and hooked it
open, so that the hook would have to be lifted out of the hasp, before
the door could be closed. After that, I placed lighted candles before
each of the sealed doors, and one in each corner of the big room; and
then I lit the fire. When I saw that it was properly alight, I got all
the men together, by the pile of things in the center of the room, and
took their pipes from them; for, as the Sigsand MS. has it:--'Theyre must
noe lyght come from wythin the barryier.' And I was going to make sure.
"I got my tape measure then, and measured out a circle thirty-three feet
in diameter, and immediately chalked it out. The police and Wentworth
were tremendously interested, and I took the opportunity to warn them
that this was no piece of silly mumming on my part; but done with a
definite intention of erecting a barrier between us and any ab-human
thing that the night might show to us. I warned them that, as they
valued their lives, and more than their lives it might be, no one must
on any account whatsoever pass beyond the limits of the barrier that I
was making.
"After I had drawn the circle, I took a bunch of the garlic, and smudged
it right 'round the chalk circle, a little outside of it. When this was
complete, I called for candles from my stock of material. I set the
police to lighting them, and as they were lit, I took them, and sealed
them down on the floor, just within the chalk circle, five inches apart.
As each candle measured approximately one inch in diameter, it took
sixty-six candles to complete the circle; and I need hardly say that
every number and measurement has a significance.
"Then, from candle to candle I took a 'gayrd' of human hair, entwining it
alternately to the left and to the right, until the circle was
completed, and the ends of the hair shod with silver, and pressed into
the wax of the sixty-sixth candle.
"It had now been dark some time, and I made haste to get the 'Defense'
complete. To this end, I got the men well together, and began to fit the
Electric Pentacle right around us, so that the five points of the
Defensive Star came just within the Hair Circle. This did not take me
long, and a minute later I had connected up the batteries, and the weak
blue glare of the intertwining vacuum tubes shone all around us. I felt
happier then; for this Pentacle is, as you all know, a wonderful
'Defense.' I have told you before, how the idea came to me, after reading
Professor Garder's 'Experiments with a Medium.' He found that a current,
of a certain number of vibrations, _in vacuo,_ 'insulated' the medium. It
is difficult to suggest an explanation non-technically, and if you are
really interested you should read Carder's lecture on 'Astral Vibrations
Compared with Matero-involuted Vibrations below the Six-Billion Limit.'
"As I stood up from my work, I could hear outside in the night a constant
drip from the laurels, which as I have said, come right up around the
house, very thick. By the sound, I knew that a 'soft' rain had set in;
and there was absolutely no wind, as I could tell by the steady flames of
the candles.
"I stood a moment or two, listening, and then one of the men touched my
arm, and asked me in a low voice, what they should do. By his tone, I
could tell that he was feeling something of the strangeness of it all;
and the other men, including Wentworth, were so quiet that I was afraid
they were beginning to get shaky.
"I set-to, then, and arranged them with their backs to one common center;
so that they were sitting flat upon the floor, with their feet radiating
outward. Then, by compass, I laid their legs to the eight chief points,
and afterward I drew a circle with chalk around them; and opposite to
their feet, I made the Eight Signs of the Saaamaaa Ritual. The eighth
place was, of course, empty; but ready for me to occupy at any moment;
for I had omitted to make the Sealing Sign to that point, until I had
finished all my preparations, and could enter the Inner Star.
"I took a last look 'round the great hall, and saw that the two big
hounds were lying quietly, with their noses between their paws. The fire
was big and cheerful, and the candles before the two rows of doors, burnt
steadily, as well as the solitary ones in the corners. Then I went 'round
the little star of men, and warned them not to be frightened whatever
happened; but to trust to the 'Defense'; and to let nothing tempt or
drive them to cross the Barriers. Also, I told them to watch their
movements, and to keep their feet strictly to their places. For the rest,
there was to be no shooting, unless I gave the word.
"And now at last, I went to my place, and, sitting down, made the Eighth
sign just beyond my feet. Then I arranged my camera and flashlight handy,
and examined my revolver.
"Wentworth sat behind the First Sign, and as the numbering went 'round
reversed, that put him next to me on my left. I asked him, in a low
voice, how he felt; and he told me, rather nervous; but that he felt
confidence in my knowledge and was resolved to go through with the
matter, whatever happened.
"We settled down to wait. There was no talking, except that, once or
twice, the police bent toward one another, and whispered odd remarks
concerning the hall, that appeared queerly audible in the intense
silence. But in a while there was not even a whisper from anyone, and
only the monotonous drip, drip of the quiet rain without the great
entrance, and the low, dull sound of the fire in the big fireplace.
"It was a queer group that we made sitting there, back to back, with our
legs starred outward; and all around us the strange blue glow of the
Pentacle, and beyond that the brilliant shining of the great ring of
lighted candles. Outside of the glare of the candles, the large empty
hall looked a little gloomy, by contrast, except where the lights shone
before the sealed doors, and the blaze of the big fire made a good honest
mass of flame. And the feeling of mystery! Can you picture it all?
"It might have been an hour later that it came to me suddenly that I was
aware of an extraordinary sense of dreeness, as it were, come into the
air of the place. Not the nervous feeling of mystery that had been with
us all the time; but a new feeling, as if there were something going to
happen any moment.
"Abruptly, there came a slight noise from the east end of the hall, and I
felt the star of men move suddenly. 'Steady! Keep steady!' I shouted, and
they quietened. I looked up the hall, and saw that the dogs were upon
their feet, and staring in an extraordinary fashion toward the great
entrance. I turned and stared, also, and felt the men move as they craned
their heads to look. Suddenly, the dogs set up a tremendous barking, and
I glanced across to them, and found they were still 'pointing' for the
big doorway. They ceased their noise just as quickly, and seemed to be
listening. In the same instant, I heard a faint chink of metal to my
left, that set me staring at the hook which held the great door wide. It
moved, even as I looked. Some invisible thing was meddling with it. A
queer, sickening thrill went through me, and I felt all the men about me,
stiffen and go rigid with intensity. I had a certainty of something
impending: as it might be the impression of an invisible, but
overwhelming, Presence. The hall was full of a queer silence, and not a
sound came from the dogs. _Then I saw the hook slowly raised from out of
its hasp, without any visible thing touching it._ Then a sudden power of
movement came to me. I raised my camera, with the flashlight fixed, and
snapped it at the door. There came the great blare of the flashlight, and
a simultaneous roar of barking from the two dogs.
"The intensity of the flash made all the place seem dark for some
moments, and in that time of darkness, I heard a jingle in the direction
of the door, and strained to look. The effect of the bright light passed,
and I could see clearly again. The great entrance door was being slowly
closed. It shut with a sharp snick, and there followed a long silence,
broken only by the whimpering of the dogs.
"I turned suddenly, and looked at Wentworth. He was looking at me.
"'Just as it did before,' he whispered.
"'Most extraordinary,' I said, and he nodded and looked 'round,
nervously.
"The policemen were pretty quiet, and I judged that they were feeling
rather worse than Wentworth; though, for that matter, you must not think
that I was altogether natural; yet I have seen so much that is
extraordinary, that I daresay I can keep my nerves steady longer than
most people.
"I looked over my shoulder at the men, and cautioned them, in a low
voice, not to move outside of the Barriers, _whatever happened_; not even
though the house should seem to be rocking and about to tumble on to
them; for well I knew what some of the great Forces are capable of doing.
Yet, unless it should prove to be one of the cases of the more terrible
Saiitii Manifestation, we were almost certain of safety, so long as we
kept to our order within the Pentacle.
"Perhaps an hour and a half passed, quietly, except when, once in a way,
the dogs would whine distressfully. Presently, however, they ceased even
from this, and I could see them lying on the floor with their paws over
their noses, in a most peculiar fashion, and shivering visibly. The
sight made me feel more serious, as you can understand.
"Suddenly, the candle in the corner furthest from the main door, went
out. An instant later, Wentworth jerked my arm, and I saw that the candle
before one of the sealed doors had been put out. I held my camera ready.
Then, one after another, every candle about the hall was put out, and
with such speed and irregularity, that I could never catch one in the
actual act of being extinguished. Yet, for all that, I took a flashlight
of the hall in general.
"There was a time in which I sat half-blinded by the great glare of the
flash, and I blamed myself for not having remembered to bring a pair of
smoked goggles, which I have sometimes used at these times. I had felt
the men jump, at the sudden light, and I called out loud to them to sit
quiet, and to keep their feet exactly to their proper places. My voice,
as you can imagine, sounded rather horrid and frightening in the great
room, and altogether it was a beastly moment.
"Then, I was able to see again, and I stared here and there about the
hall; but there was nothing showing unusual; only, of course, it was dark
now over in the corners.
"Suddenly, I saw that the great fire was blackening. It was going out
visibly, as I looked. If I said that some monstrous, invisible,
impossible creature sucked the life from it, I could best explain the
way the light and flame went out of it. It was most extraordinary to
watch. In the time that I watched it, every vestige of fire was gone
from it, and there was no light outside of the ring of candles around
the Pentacle.
"The deliberateness of the thing troubled me more than I can make clear
to you. It conveyed to me such a sense of a calm Deliberate Force present
in the hall: The steadfast intention to 'make a darkness' was horrible.
The _extent_ of the Power to affect the Material was horrible. The
extent of the Power to affect the Material was now the one constant,
anxious questioning in my brain. You can understand?
"Behind me, I heard the policemen moving again, and I knew that they were
getting thoroughly frightened. I turned half 'round, and told them,
quietly but plainly, that they were safe only so long as they stayed
within the Pentacle, in the position in which I had put them. If they
once broke, and went outside of the Barrier, no knowledge of mine could
state the full extent of the dreadfulness of the danger.
"I steadied them up, by this quiet, straight reminder; but if they had
known, as I knew, that there is no certainty in any 'Protection,' they
would have suffered a great deal more, and probably have broken the
'Defense,' and made a mad, foolish run for an impossible safety.
"Another hour passed, after this, in an absolute quietness. I had a sense
of awful strain and oppression, as though I were a little spirit in the
company of some invisible, brooding monster of the unseen world, who, as
yet, was scarcely conscious of us. I leant across to Wentworth, and asked
him in a whisper whether he had a feeling as if something were in the
room. He looked very pale, and his eyes kept always on the move. He
glanced just once at me, and nodded; then stared away 'round the hall
again. And when I came to think, I was doing the same thing.
"Abruptly, as though a hundred unseen hands had snuffed them, every
candle in the Barrier went dead out, and we were left in a darkness that
seemed, for a little, absolute; for the light from the Pentacle was too
weak and pale to penetrate far across the great hall.
"I tell you, for a moment, I just sat there as though I had been frozen
solid. I felt the 'creep' go all over me, and seem to stop in my brain. I
felt all at once to be given a power of hearing that was far beyond the
normal. I could hear my own heart thudding most extraordinarily loud. I
began, however, to feel better, after a while; but I simply had not the
pluck to move. You can understand?
"Presently, I began to get my courage back. I gripped at my camera and
flashlight, and waited. My hands were simply soaked with sweat. I glanced
once at Wentworth. I could see him only dimly. His shoulders were hunched
a little, his head forward; but though it was motionless, I knew that his
eyes were not. It is queer how one knows that sort of thing at times. The
police were just as silent. And thus a while passed.
"A sudden sound broke across the silence. From two sides of the room
there came faint noises. I recognized them at once, as the breaking of
the sealing-wax. _The sealed doors were opening._ I raised the camera and
flashlight, and it was a peculiar mixture of fear and courage that helped
me to press the button. As the great flare of light lit up the hall I
felt the men all about me jump. The darkness fell like a clap of thunder,
if you can understand, and seemed tenfold. Yet, in the moment of
brightness, I had seen that all the sealed doors were wide open.
"Suddenly, all around us, there sounded a drip, drip, drip, upon the
floor of the great hall. I thrilled with a queer, realizing emotion, and
a sense of a very real and present danger--_imminent._ The 'blood-drip'
had commenced. And the grim question was now whether the Barriers could
save us from whatever had come into the huge room.
"Through some awful minutes the 'blood-drip' continued to fall in an
increasing rain; and presently some began to fall within the Barriers. I
saw several great drops splash and star upon the pale glowing
intertwining tubes of the Electric Pentacle; but, strangely enough, I
could not trace that any fell among us. Beyond the strange horrible noise
of the 'drip,' there was no other sound. And then, abruptly, from the
boarhound over in the far corner, there came a terrible yelling howl of
agony, followed instantly by a sickening, breaking noise, and an
immediate silence. If you have ever, when out shooting, broken a rabbit's
neck, you will know the sound--in miniature! Like lightning, the thought
sprang into my brain:--_IT has crossed the Pentacle._ For you will
remember that I had made one about each of the dogs. I thought instantly,
with a sick apprehension, of our own Barriers. There was something in the
hall with us that had passed the Barrier of the Pentacle about one of the
dogs. In the awful succeeding silence, I positively quivered. And
suddenly, one of the men behind me, gave out a scream, like any woman,
and bolted for the door. He fumbled, and had it open in a moment. I
yelled to the others not to move; but they followed like sheep, and I
heard them kick the candles flying, in their panic. One of them stepped
on the Electric Pentacle, and smashed it, and there was an utter
darkness. In an instant, I realized that I was defenseless against the
powers of the Unknown World, and with one savage leap I was out of the
useless Barriers, and instantly through the great doorway, and into the
night. I believe I yelled with sheer funk.
"The men were a little ahead of me, and I never ceased running, and
neither did they. Sometimes, I glanced back over my shoulder; and I kept
glancing into the laurels which grew all along the drive. The beastly
things kept rustling, rustling in a hollow sort of way, as though
something were keeping parallel with me, among them. The rain had
stopped, and a dismal little wind kept moaning through the grounds. It
was disgusting.
"I caught Wentworth and the police at the lodge gate. We got outside, and
ran all the way to the village. We found old Dennis up, waiting for us,
and half the villagers to keep him company. He told us that he had known
in his 'sowl' that we should come back, that is, if we came back at all;
which is not a bad rendering of his remark.
"Fortunately, I had brought my camera away from the house--possibly
because the strap had happened to be over my head. Yet, I did not go
straight away to develop; but sat with the rest of the bar, where we
talked for some hours, trying to be coherent about the whole
horrible business.
"Later, however, I went up to my room, and proceeded with my photography.
I was steadier now, and it was just possible, so I hoped, that the
negatives might show something.
"On two of the plates, I found nothing unusual: but on the third, which
was the first one that I snapped, I saw something that made me quite
excited. I examined it very carefully with a magnifying glass; then I put
it to wash, and slipped a pair of rubber overshoes over my boots.
"The negative had showed me something very extraordinary, and I had made
up my mind to test the truth of what it seemed to indicate, without
losing another moment. It was no use telling anything to Wentworth and
the police, until I was certain; and, also, I believed that I stood a
greater chance to succeed by myself; though, for that matter, I do not
suppose anything would have taken them up to the Manor again that night.
"I took my revolver, and went quietly downstairs, and into the dark. The
rain had commenced again; but that did not bother me. I walked hard. When
I came to the lodge gates, a sudden, queer instinct stopped me from going
through, and I climbed the wall into the park. I kept away from the
drive, and approached the building through the dismal, dripping laurels.
You can imagine how beastly it was. Every time a leaf rustled, I jumped.
"I made my way 'round to the back of the big house, and got in through a
little window which I had taken note of during my search; for, of course,
I knew the whole place from roof to cellars. I went silently up the
kitchen stairs, fairly quivering with funk; and at the top, I went to the
left, and then into a long corridor that opened, through one of the
doorways we had sealed, into the big hall. I looked up it, and saw a
faint flicker of light away at the end; and I tiptoed silently toward it,
holding my revolver ready. As I came near to the open door, I heard men's
voices, and then a burst of laughing. I went on, until I could see into
the hall. There were several men there, all in a group. They were well
dressed, and one, at least, I saw was armed. They were examining my
'Barriers' against the Supernatural, with a good deal of unkind laughter.
I never felt such a fool in my life.
"It was plain to me that they were a gang of men who had made use of the
empty Manor, perhaps for years, for some purpose of their own; and now
that Wentworth was attempting to take possession, they were acting up the
traditions of the place, with the view of driving him away, and keeping
so useful a place still at their disposal. But what they were, I mean
whether coiners, thieves, inventors, or what, I could not imagine.
"Presently, they left the Pentacle, and gathered 'round the living
boarhound, which seemed curiously quiet, as though it were half-drugged.
There was some talk as to whether to let the poor brute live, or not; but
finally they decided it would be good policy to kill it. I saw two of
them force a twisted loop of rope into its mouth, and the two bights of
the loop were brought together at the back of the hound's neck. Then a
third man thrust a thick walking-stick through the two loops. The two men
with the rope, stooped to hold the dog, so that I could not see what was
done; but the poor beast gave a sudden awful howl, and immediately there
was a repetition of the uncomfortable breaking sound, I had heard earlier
in the night, as you will remember.
"The men stood up, and left the dog lying there, quiet enough now, as you
may suppose. For my part, I fully appreciated the calculated
remorselessness which had decided upon the animal's death, and the cold
determination with which it had been afterward executed so neatly. I
guessed that a man who might get into the 'light' of those particular
men, would be likely to come to quite as uncomfortable an ending.
"A minute later, one of the men called out to the rest that they should
'shift the wires.' One of the men came toward the doorway of the corridor
in which I stood, and I ran quickly back into the darkness of the upper
end. I saw the man reach up, and take something from the top of the door,
and I heard the slight, ringing jangle of steel wire.
"When he had gone, I ran back again, and saw the men passing, one after
another, through an opening in the stairs, formed by one of the marble
steps being raised. When the last man had vanished, the slab that made
the step was shut down, and there was not a sign of the secret door. It
was the seventh step from the bottom, as I took care to count: and a
splendid idea; for it was so solid that it did not ring hollow, even to a
fairly heavy hammer, as I found later.
"There is little more to tell. I got out of the house as quickly and
quietly as possible, and back to the inn. The police came without any
coaxing, when they knew the 'ghosts' were normal flesh and blood. We
entered the park and the Manor in the same way that I had done. Yet, when
we tried to open the step, we failed, and had finally to smash it. This
must have warned the haunters; for when we descended to a secret room
which we found at the end of a long and narrow passage in the thickness
of the walls, we found no one.
"The police were horribly disgusted, as you can imagine; but for my
part, I did not care either way. I had 'laid the ghost,' as you might
say, and that was what I set out to do. I was not particularly afraid of
being laughed at by the others; for they had all been thoroughly 'taken
in'; and in the end, I had scored, without their help.
"We searched right through the secret ways, and found that there was an
exit, at the end of a long tunnel, which opened in the side of a well,
out in the grounds. The ceiling of the hall was hollow, and reached by a
little secret stairway inside of the big staircase. The 'blood-drip' was
merely colored water, dropped through the minute crevices of the
ornamented ceiling. How the candles and the fire were put out, I do not
know; for the haunters certainly did not act quite up to tradition, which
held that the lights were put out by the 'blood-drip.' Perhaps it was too
difficult to direct the fluid, without positively squirting it, which
might have given the whole thing away. The candles and the fire may
possibly have been extinguished by the agency of carbonic acid gas; but
how suspended, I have no idea.
"The secret hiding paces were, of course, ancient. There was also, did I
tell you? a bell which they had rigged up to ring, when anyone entered
the gates at the end of the drive. If I had not climbed the wall, I
should have found nothing for my pains; for the bell would have warned
them had I gone in through the gateway."
"What was on the negative?" I asked, with much curiosity.
"A picture of the fine wire with which they were grappling for the hook
that held the entrance door open. They were doing it from one of the
crevices in the ceiling. They had evidently made no preparations for
lifting the hook. I suppose they never thought that anyone would make
use of it, and so they had to improvise a grapple. The wire was too fine
to be seen by the amount of light we had in the hall; but the flashlight
'picked it out.' Do you see?
"The opening of the inner doors was managed by wires, as you will have
guessed, which they unshipped after use, or else I should soon have found
them, when I made my search.
"I think I have now explained everything. The hound was killed, of
course, by the men direct. You see, they made the place as dark as
possible, first. Of course, if I had managed to take a flashlight just at
that instant, the whole secret of the haunting would have been exposed.
But Fate just ordered it the other way."
"And the tramps?" I asked.
"Oh, you mean the two tramps who were found dead in the Manor," said
Carnacki. "Well, of course it is impossible to be sure, one way or the
other. Perhaps they happened to find out something, and were given a
hypodermic. Or it is just as probable that they had come to the time of
their dying, and just died naturally. It is conceivable that a great many
tramps had slept in the old house, at one time or another."
Carnacki stood up, and knocked out his pipe. We rose also, and went for
our coats and hats.
"Out you go!" said Carnacki, genially, using the recognized formula. And
we went out on to the Embankment, and presently through the darkness to
our various homes.