it began to move, and glided away slowly over the surface of the snow.
They followed it fearfully. At length it stopped on a small mound in
another field of their own farm. They walked round and round it, but it
moved no more. The husband entreated his wife to remain, while he sought
a stick to mark the place. When she was alone, the shadow spread out its
arms as in the act of benediction, and vanished. The husband found her
extended on the snow; he raised her in his arms; she recovered, and
they walked home. He returned in the morning with a pickaxe and spade,
cleared away the snow, broke into the ground, and found a pot of gold,
which was unquestionably their own. And then, with the usual end of a
nurse's tale, 'they lived happily all the rest of their lives.'
_Miss Ilex._ Your story, though differing in all other respects, reminds
me of a ballad in which there is a shadow on the snow,
Around it, and round, he had ventured to go,
But no form that had life threw that stamp on the snow.{1}
_Mr. Gryll._ In these instances the shadow has an outline, without a
visible form to throw it. I remember a striking instance of shadows
without distinguishable forms. A young chevalier was riding through a
forest of pines, in which he had before met with fearful adventures,
when a strange voice called on him to stop. He did not stop, and the
stranger jumped up behind him. He tried to look back, but could not
turn his head. They emerged into a glade, where he hoped to see in the
moonlight the outline of the unwelcome form. But 'unaccountable shadows
fell around, unstamped with delineations of themselves.'{2}
1 Miss Bannerman's _Tales of Superstition and Chivalry_.
2 _The Three Brothers_, vol. iv. p. 193.
_Miss Gryll._ Well, Mr. MacBorrowdale, have you no ghost story for us?
_Mr. MacBorrowdale._ In faith, Miss Gryll, ghosts are not much in my
line: the main business of my life has been among the driest matters of
fact; but I will tell you a tale of a bogle, which I remember from my
boyish days.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account