I can vouch (writes a clergyman from Yorkshire) for the truth of the
following story:—
A clergyman of the Church of England was asked to preach at some
special services in the Midlands. He spent the weekend with the local
squire, and when he came to take his departure he said to his host,
“Would you mind letting one of your servants take me round the
house?” “Certainly, I'll show you round myself.” The clergyman was
shown all over the mansion, but was still unsatisfied. “There's still
a room in the house that I have not seen, and I want to see it.” The
squire protested that he had been all over the house, but the
clergyman was obdurate. At length the squire remembered an old disused
attic. “But,” said he, “no one has been there for years.” “I want to
see that attic.” Accordingly the door of this attic was forced open,
and the party made their way in. “Ah, this is the room,” said the
vicar, “and somewhere in this room there is a cupboard—there it is. I
want it opened.”
The cupboard was forced open and a bundle of papers fell at the feet
of the vicar, who picked them up and handed them to the squire. The
squire opened them and uttered a gasp of astonishment. “Why, these
are the deeds of my estate. I have been searching for them for
months. Had I not found them very soon the chances are that I should
have been involved in serious financial loss. But how did you know
they were here?”
“I didn’t know they were here,” said the vicar slowly, “but last
night I was conscious of the presence of someone in my room, and I
became aware that somewhere in this house was a room I wanted to see,
in which was a cupboard I wanted to open.”