SOME three or four years ago I was present at a Christmas party, when
the talk turned on ghosts. A gentleman present remarked that ghost
stories were almost always second-hand. He had never, he declared,
met anyone who could say that he or she had actually seen a ghost.
A lady—a great friend of my own—at once replied, and, as nearly as I
can remember it, I will give the story in her own words:—
“Well, then,” she said, “you have now met one who has really seen a
ghost. My husband here, and others, are well acquainted with the
story. I was, at the time, staying with my aunt in an old house,
three flats up, in ——— Edinburgh. The beautifully carved mantelpiece,
and peculiar markings on the walls, supposed to have been caused by
cannon ball, showed that the house had once been occupied by some of
the old Scottish nobility.
“It was in the gathering dusk of a summer evening that I tripped
merrily down the stairs to meet George. We were not married then, but
courting. Near the foot of the first stair I was surprised to see a
girlish figure, clad in white, come gliding up the stairs. Her face
was in shadow, but her dark hair floated over her shoulders. As she
came nearer, something impelled me to lay my hand on the railing and
go backwards step by step. She came on slowly, and, retreating so, I
had time to see her figure quite distinctly though her face and feet
remained in shadow. Her white dress was filled with tiny frills right
up to the waist. She wore a girdle of narrow black velvet that fell
in loops on the left side. There was black velvet at her wrists, and,
I think, at her throat. Also I distinctly saw red strands of hair
amongst the brown.
“I felt no sensation of fear—only a sort of fascination—till I reached
the top of the stair. I turned my head to see if my aunt's door was
open, and found it was. Then, somehow, such terror seized me I could
not look round again, but, screaming loudly, I ran inside and shut
the door.
“My aunt, who had been chatting to a neighbour, came rushing in, and
she and others were enraged to think that someone had so frightened
me. The stairs, back court, and everywhere about was searched, but I
knew they might have saved their pains. The girl I saw was no
ordinary being of flesh and blood. Nothing happened afterwards; no
warning had been conveyed, nor could anyone identify my girlish ghost
with any known celebrity who had lived there. I do not know why she
came, nor why she appeared to me, but she was there and, for the
moment, was as real as myself.”
This lady knows nothing about clairvoyance, had never attended a
Spiritualists’ meeting in her life, and her simple narrative impressed
all present as an absolutely true statement. She died last summer, but
her husband could, I am sure, testify to the truth of what is here
related.
“The Old Master”
IN the eventide of a busy life I find a pleasant relaxation from my
little daily duties in reading different items in the Daily News, and
have been especially interested in those letters on “Visitants.” These
have brought to my mind incidents which have taken place during my
lifetime.
In my young days ghosts were much believed in, and some were seen
which afterwards were proved to be the work of foolish young fellows.
But a short distance from my father’s house was a nice old farm where
a well-known family had lived for several generations. The
grandfather of the then resident family had been quite a unique
character in the district, and had been known as “the old master.” A
grandson, who had been abroad for a considerable time, returned to
the old home, bringing a manservant with him. A spare room not being
available for the man, a comfortable bed was made for him in the big
farm-kitchen.
The house had for some time had the reputation of being haunted, but
of this the man knew nothing. However, in the early morning he
suddenly woke up to see a stout old gentleman walking down a long
passage which was opposite the bed. He came noiselessly into the
kitchen, and the old sheep dog that lay on the mat by the fireplace
at once jumped up, wagging its tail, and ran to him, when he vanished
from sight.
In the morning the man related his experience to the family, and, on
being questioned, gave an exact description of “the old master.”