Ghosts and Family Legends: A Volume for ChristmasCrowe, Catherine
General
Ghosts and Family Legends: A Volume for Christmas
Crowe, Catherine
Folklore -- Great Britain; Ghosts -- Great Britain; Legends -- Great Britain
"'It was,' he answered; and it immediately occurred to me that he had
buried the money supposed to have been stolen on the night he was
murdered, and that this was a plan to guide him in finding it again. So
I told Mr. Greathead the story I have now told you, and mentioned my
reasons for supposing that if I was correct in my surmise, more gold
would be found.
"With the old man's map as our guide, we immediately set to work--the
whole family vigorously joining in the search; and, as I expected, we
found that the tombstone in the garden was the point from which all the
lines were drawn, and that the dots indicated where the money lay. It
was in different heaps, and appeared to have been enclosed in bags,
which had rotted away with time. We found the whole sum mentioned in the
memoir, and Mr. Greathead being lord of the manor, was generous enough
to make it all over to me, as being the lawful heir, which, however, I
certainly was not, for it was the spoil of a murderer and a thief, and
it properly belonged to the Allens. But that family had become extinct;
at least, so we believed, when the two unfortunate ladies were executed,
and I accepted the gift with much gratitude and a quiet conscience. It
relieved us from our pressing difficulties, and enabled me to wait for
better times.
"'And,' said I, 'how of the ghost? was he pleased or otherwise, by the
_denouement_?'
"'I cannot say,' replied the count; 'I have not heard of his being seen
since; I understand, however, that the villagers, who understand these
things better than we do, say, that they should not be surprised if he
allowed the hedge and tombstone to be removed now without opposition;
but Mr. Greathead, on the contrary, wished to retain them as mementoes
of these curious circumstances.'"
THE DUTCH OFFICER'S STORY.
"Well, I think nothing can be so cowardly as to be afraid to own the
truth?" said the pretty Madame de B., an Englishwoman, who had married a
Dutch officer of distinction.
"Are you really venturing to accuse the General of cowardice?" said
Madame L.
"Yes," said Madame de B., "I want him to tell Mrs. Crowe a ghost
story--a thing that he saw himself--and he pooh, poohs it, though he
owned it to me before we were married, and since too, saying that he
never could have believed such a thing if he had not seen it himself."
While the wife was making this little _tirade_, the husband looked as if
she was accusing him of picking somebody's pocket--_il perdait
contenance_ quite. "Now, look at him," she said, "don't you see guilt in
his face, Mrs. Crowe?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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