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
They had been some considerable time in the house without the occurrence
of anything remarkable, when one evening, toward dusk, Mrs. C——, on
going into what was called the oak bed-room, saw a female figure near
one of the windows. It was apparently a young woman with dark hair
hanging over her shoulders, a silk petticoat, and a short, white robe,
and she appeared to be looking eagerly through the window, as if
expecting somebody. Mrs. C—— clapped her hand upon her eyes, “as
thinking she had seen something she ought not to have seen,” and when
she looked again the figure had disappeared.
Shortly after this, a young girl who filled the situation of under
nursery-maid, came to her in great agitation, saying that she had had a
terrible fright, from seeing a very ugly old woman looking in upon her
as she passed the window in the lobby. The girl was trembling violently,
and almost crying, so that Mrs. C—— entertained no doubts of the
reality of her alarm. She, however, thought it advisable to laugh her
out of her fear, and went with her to the window, which looked into a
closed court, but there was no one there, neither had any of the other
servants seen such a person. Soon after this, the family began to find
themselves disturbed with strange, and frequently very loud, noises
during the night. Among the rest, there was something like the beating
of a crow-bar upon the pump in the abovementioned court; but, search as
they would, they could discover no cause for the sound. One day, when
Mr. C—— had brought a friend from London to stay the night with him,
Mrs. C—— thought proper to go up to the oak bed-room, where the
stranger was to sleep, for the purpose of inspecting the arrangements
for his comfort, when, to her great surprise, some one seemed to follow
her up to the fireplace, though, on turning round, there was nobody to
be seen. She said nothing about it, however, and returned below, where
her husband and the stranger were sitting. Presently, one of the
servants (not the one mentioned above) tapped at the door and requested
to speak with her, and Mrs. C—— going out, she told her, in great
agitation, that in going up stairs to the visiter’s room, a footstep had
followed her all the way to the fireplace, although she could see
nobody. Mrs. C—— said something soothing, and that matter passed, she,
herself, being a good deal puzzled, but still unwilling to admit the
idea that there was anything extra-natural in these occurrences.
Repeatedly, after this, these footsteps were heard in different parts of
the house, when nobody was to be seen; and often, while she was lying in
bed, she heard them distinctly approach her door, when, being a very
courageous woman, she would start out with a loaded pistol in her hand,
but there was never any one to be seen. At length it was impossible to
conceal from herself and her servants that these occurrences were of an
extraordinary nature, and the latter, as may be supposed, felt very
uncomfortable.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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