The Night-Side of Nature; Or, Ghosts and Ghost-SeersCrowe, Catherine
Religion
The Night-Side of Nature; Or, Ghosts and Ghost-Seers
Crowe, Catherine
Ghosts; Parapsychology
One night Mrs. L—— heard a voice, like nothing human, close to her,
cry, “Weep! weep! weep!” Then there was a sound like some one struggling
for breath, and again “Weep! weep! weep!” Then the gasping, and a third
time, “Weep! weep! weep!” She stood still, and looked steadfastly on the
spot whence the voice proceeded, but could see nothing; and her little
boy, who held her hand, kept saying, “What is that, mamma? What is
that?” She describes the sound as most frightful. All the noises seemed
to suggest the idea of childhood, and of a woman in trouble. One night,
when it was crying round her bed, Mrs. L—— took courage and adjured
it; upon which the noise ceased, for that time, but there was no answer.
Mr. L—— was at sea when she took the house, and when he came home he
laughed at the story at first, but soon became so convinced the account
she gave was correct, that he wanted to have the boards taken up,
because, from the noises seeming to hover much about one spot, he
thought perhaps some explanation of the mystery might be found. But Mrs.
L—— objected that if anything of a painful nature were discovered she
should not be able to continue in the house, and as she must pay the
year’s rent, she wished, if possible, to make out the time.
She never saw anything but twice; once, the appearance of a child seemed
to fall from the ceiling, close to her, and then disappear; and another
time she saw a child run into a closet in a room at the top of the
house; and it was most remarkable that a small door in that room, which
was used for going out on to the roof, always stood open. However often
they shut it, it was opened again immediately by an unseen hand, even
before they got out of the room; and this continued the whole time they
were in the house; while, night and day, some one in creaking shoes was
heard pacing backward and forward in the room over Mr. and Mrs. L——’s
heads.
At length the year expired; and to their great relief they quitted the
house; but five or six years afterward, a person who had bought it
having taken up the floor of that upper room to repair it, there was
found, close to the small door above alluded to, the skeleton of a
child. It was then remembered that some years before a gentleman of
somewhat dissolute habits had resided there, and that he was supposed to
have been on very intimate terms with a young woman-servant who lived
with him, but there had been no suspicion of anything more criminal.
About six years ago, Mr. C——, a gentleman engaged in business in
London, heard of a good country-house in the neighborhood of the
metropolis, which was to be had at a low rent. It was rather an
old-fashioned place, and was surrounded by a garden and pleasure-ground;
and having taken a lease of it for seven years, furnished as it was, his
family removed thither, and he joined them once or twice a week, as his
business permitted.
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