WE were living, in 1912, in a quiet Midland town, and the household
comprised my husband, small son, maid and myself. The son was
recovering from an attack of croup, and my husband and I took it in
turns to sleep with him in the large bedroom. As the doctor gave a
good report of the invalid, I was looking forward to a good night's
rest in the smaller room. When bedtime came, I opened the window and
door, and, after a short time, was fast asleep. I do not know how
long it was before I became wide awake, feeling that something evil
was hovering around me. There was nothing to be seen, but a bad
influence or presence made itself felt, and I was simply terrified. I
was in a cold sweat of fear, afraid to move lest something should
happen to me. What that something was, I did not know then, neither
do I know now.
My husband slept in the room on the next night, and he said he was
troubled by bad nightmare dreams—but would say nothing more.
When the doctor called, he advised that our son should go into the
smaller room in the daytime for a change, so we soon had him
comfortably settled there in bed. But he wanted amusement, like most
boys do when they are well enough, so we fetched the kitten upstairs
and placed it on the bed, for they were very fond of each other.
Alas! before we could ask ourselves what was the matter, the kitten
seemed to turn pale, and, tucking his tail between his legs, he
absolutely bolted off the bed and rushed headlong downstairs. Of
course, we joked about it to our son, and called to the maid to carry
the kitten and a saucer of milk upstairs again. Again we tried to
tempt the kitten to remain on the bed, but it was impossible. Again
it rushed downstairs as if terrified.
What was to be done? I determined to sleep there at night, as we
arranged and, again, I was awakened by the knowledge that some evil
was present in the room around me. I was still terrified and unable
to move, but was able to pray to God to save me, body, soul and
spirit, and, after about ten minutes’ silent prayer, the influence
or presence, or whatever it was, went, and the air in the room became
light and fresh and buoyant as it used to be. The next day the kitten
remained upstairs and was a joy to the invalid.
Can these experiences be accounted for? I wonder! I was afterwards
told that a crime of continual cruelty had occurred in that room a
few years before. If so, why did the evil influence revisit the room,
and not the perpetrators of the cruelty?
This is a true account of what actually happened in a pretty little
house near ———, in Warwickshire.