The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1867-01-01 00:00:00

BOURNEMOUTH.

SITDDrIg DIATZ. MA* Gonne Alessodar
Skinner and his wife have for souse mouths resided at 1,
Avenue Villas. The major suffered from heart disease,
and we, attended by Mr. W. A. Smith, surgeon. On
Wednesday *treeing while antelope be was fatally seised
and was shortly after found lifeless near the wooden
bridge across the stream. An inquest waa held on
Friday, and • verdict of death from natural names
retained.

THE GHOST AT HEECHOVSE HALL
(From Oars a Watt.)
" I have no hesitation, Captain Arden, In amerting
that you are an infidel and a heretic."
Mist Dampier preferred this charge against me solely
because I had expreseed an utter disbelief in spiritual
masifestatioas.
This attack wee made at the doily drawing•room a
Bermhover Hall, where a large party were gathered
round the old-fsahioned fireplace; and newer did the
'jolly dogs" which supported the biasing wood, grin
upon • plaseanter circle—at least, I thought so ; but
perhaps my opinion may not be considered unbiassed,
when I say that I should have found the society in an
Irish cabin or an Faquimaux hut Jost as sgreeable, so
long as the &slight was Iterated in Ethel D•ropier's
eyes.
My brother °Mau, Jack Beredeed, sad spiel( IMF,
I believe, the only members of the party who could not
claim ties of kindred with either Sir Harry as Lady
Dampier; and both of Ur were earnestly desirous of
eorolliog our names amongst their coonectioos, f9r Jack
we. as much in love with Laura as I wos with Ethel

Dampier.
hbrute of lamehter of counts halted Miss Dam.pier's
&that& upon my ineredulity.
"Did you ever see a ghost, Miss Dampier?" I re-
torted.
" lam threat to rag," she answered, "that I can
believe without seeing; but as yoe are not gifted with
the same amoant of Mb, I only hope you may be con.
mind by ocular dentoostration."
"There is nothing I should like better," I replied.
"Let us advertise for a ghost; but perhaps, Miss Dam-
pier, you have one on the premises, whisk will save us
the trouble."
"Of enures we ham"
" Pray tell us all about your (both"
"DO tell us, Ethel," echoed a chomp' pretty cousins.
After a little more pressing Miss Dampier complied
with our request, and told her tale so well, that I should
only spoil it by attempting to repeat its words. It was
the stereotyped ghost story. There were rustling silks
beard in the corridors; the wearer was deadly pale, and
was dread in a Coert instants (why is it that ghosts
are always drawl for Court?) The poly thing which
gave this ghost say individuality was, thee though her
silks were often heard, she was only seen on Christmas•
eve, and that on those oseesions she carried • baby in
her arms to the centre window in the picture-gallery,
and, after • theosesion of sties train the infant, returned
without it. This evidently hinted at a murder, and
caused peat excitement among the audl..nes, which
became Intense when alma one remarked that the fol-
lowing night was that of the anneal infanticide.
Miss Dampier's tale was only the first of • series.
Soule of those related that night were very thrilling,
and seemed well aatheatioated; but as they have utilities
to do with our story, they are not repeated here.
" Will you meet me in half an hour in the picture-
r said Miss Dampier, after breakfast next
morning. "I have something very particular to talk
to you about. I will bring the battledores and shuttle-
cocks as an excuse for a teas-a.tete.
I need 004 thy bow gladly I promised to meet Wise
Dampier at the appointed boar and place. To be taken
Into ha' confidence upon a matter however slight wee a
step in the right dimities there was no knowing what
might eon* of a private interview; • word might fall
et • gthoos be given width might serve so • aim to the
feelings of err Islet

"I know I ant We, Mph& Arden," said Mks
Dampier,ltransiogl op to my noluttPlarto with the
hattladores in bee band, "bat you most elicits' me, as
I could/ not Wad my wimp, before from the drawing.
room. I have got a capital idea in my head, and I
grant your help to cony it oat. Von remember,
perhaps, that this lithe ghost'. night? I mom
to play the ghost Won't it be fun to frighten them
all out of their seines? I only IrMli I did not require
y, or protection, for I üboold have enjoyed seeing yogi
shaking with terror; but I trolly am afield to onme
into the ollery by mysilf, acid this night above all
. . .

nighti in they".'."
I looked my thank., bet before I had time to express
them in words, she continued—
" I know I could have ardteri one of the girls to
accompany rue, but If there was 110 V 0•060 for ilium,
she would be sure to faint or run away. Now I think,
Captain Arden. you would stay and proles* me,
woultEnt your
" Protect you, Eth—Mies Dampier, I mean I I would
protect you with sty life, spinet all comers, ghosts
Included I"
"Don't be rash I but listen to nit plena Cp-stairs
there is en old werdrobe filled with costumes worn by
our greet grandmothers. I have taken the key off the
honeekeepeee bunch, and intend this afternoon to
abstract • dews of the atiffeet elk I can find ; one that
will rustle well. I think I remember a bine silk that
trill suit exactly, I shall powder my fses and look very
ghastly, and when all have retired for the night I will
join you here. Ii it not a glorious ides? Every one
will he on the qui wire to•night, and the first rustle of
my silk wtll be sure to be heard."
I agreed that the idea was (write], and laughed with
her at the thought of the terror which her ghostlike
spreranoe would inspire, my conutenoe all the while '
telling rue that I was wrong to practice • preetieej joke.
which might be followed by ho! .ffects. Hut bow weld
/dye up the meet pleasure of pleuing Ethel, and al
sharing • secret with her?
" Rut yogi have forgotten the baby." I tirguted.
" No, indeed, I have not," she replied. "There is •
young pup., in the stables, which! shall dewy temp
room ; an old doll's draw .nd COQ will convert it into •
• first-rate Infant ; and • judicious pinch, administered
at the right moment. null rrrrr ct •Of nut unlike •
baby's. Everyone will be too frightened to be critieaL"
" Redness concluded, we commenced our game. Yew
showing off • woman's grsoefulnees there is nothing like
battledore and shuttlecock. I had never known half
Ether. beauty till I saw her, with arm extended end
cheek gushed, springing now here now there, in the
exeitement of the game, every WWV6 seeming doubly
geseeful, every moment amusing doubly faminatiog.
Fatigued at last, after keeping up the shuttlecock
some inaredibls number of Pap LAN sunk upon a neigh•
boaring sofa, puling and out al breath. The enemy is
exhanated, thought I; now lithe time to go in end win.
And, taking a seat by her side, I ventured • preliminary
remark of 'rather a romantic character; but before I
had time to make any further advances, Ethel had tau
fright, and was on her feet again.
We did not meet again aloe., the subject of or
mornines ooeveriation was not therefore renewed, but
though there was no verbal oornmuniestion, our eyes
kept telegraphing. There was • secret between na. and
I wonder thet no one discovered the fut. The mow
was telling fast and kept us all prisoners to the houe,
but for once in my life I did not abuse the weather.
By half•past twelve the house was ,till, and at •
quarter to one, baying put on • pair of noiseless slipper',
I made my way to the picture•gallery. There was 06
need of • candle to And the way, for the moon was
shining brightly ; in the gallery it was almost as light
im day. There were no curtains to the windows, and
the moonlight, rendered more powerful by the reflection
from the snow, photographed every line upon the
polished floor, even reproducing in colours the armorial
bearings on the gloss.
It was the beau-ideal of a scene in which • ghost might
Play • pert; the very smell of the room had someihing
supernatural about it, and to an imaginative mind many
of the pit:tares on the wall might have appeared pow
seised with life, as the branches of ivy which dangled
over the windows oast moving shadows among their
fuss.
The clock struck one, and Ethel bad not arrived. I
began to think she had taken fright at meeting the Lady
in Blue. I mated myself in the window Where I had
promised to wait her arriyal,and whiled away the minutes
in looking at the wintry landscape. Beneath me lay a
bowl terrace, divided by stone balustrade. from the
garden, which Ives on a lower level. At intervals on
the coping of the balustrades were urns wreathed about
with creepers, whose branches, shorn of leave., might
well have been taken for a tangle of snakes. On eith-t
side the bread steps into, the garden strange animal.
stood pit their hind hp and held up shield. bearing the
Dampier arm.; and in the garden below, yew trees elite
to resemble fanciful monsters wided to the weirdneic of
the scene. I was beginning to feel drowsy with the
cold, and in • half sleepy state was peopling the gardm
and the gallery with the old Dsropier+ whose acquaint.
aims I had made in the morning, when Ethel's voice
clone to my ear startled me from my reverie.
"Asleep, and on duty, Captain Arden? I most re-
Port you to your colonel; but I 'appose It is my fault
for keeping you waiting in the sold. Am not I a first.
rate ghost? I was quite terrified at looking at myself
in the glees. I rosily believe I should frighten the
ghost herself."
There WU a tumor in her yoke which betrayed eggs-
Mon. I saw that she shivered slightly as she seetod
herself in the bay window. all the animation which he'
&Anted In her eves in the morning at the prospect of
her midnight walk had vanished, and the smile with
which she asked what I thought of her "get up" Ives
tenly • counterfeit. Bbe was not a girl to give up u
enterprise oboe entered upon, but it was evident that
wa• frightened at what she had undertaken. I knew
her too well to think of recommending her to abandon
her project, 00 I did my beet to remove her 001.000/0014
by ignoring it, and by talking in • cheerful strain.
The cesterne was of scums perfect, not beteg an
imitation but • re-. 1 antique. It doubted of a robe of
blue silk brocaded with bouquets of dowers in their
wand colours, the skirt we. opened in the front to
,itiplity a petticoat of yellow satin stiff with gold em-
broidery, end round the neck and sleeves lung a pro-
fusion of old point Isar. It could hardly have been
possible to make • 0100 OT copy of the draw in the
portrait.
We talked In whispers for • few minutes, for Ethel
isemed te wish to have an excuse for not starting on her
'llllAiditkre immediately. I bad no desire to hurry her,
Sat could have sat there all night joyfully, forgettieg
altogether the object of our meeting, in the happiness
Of gaging into her eyes, and feeling her breath upon my
cheek. At hut, however, she declared it wet too cold
for sitting, and proposed startler on her walk. Taking
the puppy in her ann., with a laugh she stepped into
'eh@ gallery, and left me with • caution not to looe sight
lof her. ghe walked slowly up the room, and slowly
down again; but although her silks rustled loudly, no
doors were opened, no noise was heard. She returned
to her own seat in the bay, to arrange, she said, her
baby, before making it cry on her next turn; bet really
to regain her breath which bad been lost through
fright. I tried to cheer her twain in whispers, but with
no result; her spirite were quite gooe--gone ped recall.
I stood leaning against the wall, with my face to the
window, my back to the room, my eyes wandering now
over the moonlit landscape, now over Ethel's form. A
sadden impulse creased me to lean hack and look down
the gallery —why, I cannot tell, unlees some sound
almost idaudible may have reached my ear. To my
runneumet I thought I new a dio/0 at the farthest end
of the room—whether man or WOlOll3l I maid not tell—
I only new that something moved. It approached very
slowly, 'Ltd at Us/ COMO full into the moonlight— it was
• woman I though • long way off, I ould see that she
was dressed like Ethel, in an ancient costume, and I
could as, that she carried something in her arms—some-
thing white. It was the real ghost and her latent.
There could be no doubt of it. I could see her now
more distinctly, for she bad advanced as far is the
second window. This wee • Roland for an Oliver with
a vengeance ! I did not feel nervous, but awe-struck.
I believed at once in spiritual manifestations, On It
came, gliding 'lowly with an almost imperceptible
motiin, pawing constantly and looking beak; it had
reached the fifth window, the rustling of the silk was
growing quite audible. I wondered that Ethel did not
catch the sound ; what wu Itodo ? Was Ito tell her ?
she most bear the sound before long. My brain warn in
a whirl. I had beard of the effects of sudden frighto
of people turning gray in • single night; nay, even of
becoming raving mad. God knows I would have died
to secs my darting from such a fate; I was helpless,
powerless; I felt like one in a nightmare—the danger
was approaching. but I was spell-bound; like the poor
rabbit, I was funneled, though the serpeet's fangs
were clogs Ilpoo me, Time &met was now at the seventh
window it stood still for • second, and then die-
appeared in the hey. Thank heaven! now I might be
abt7J-persuade Ethel to leave the gallery; but how to
do it was the question. I was just going to take her on
in my arms and rash with her from the gallery, when
the ghost emerged again and stood full in the mou-
thing. Too leis I Too DUI She had now reached the
eighth window • she stopped aide and dismounted in
the mem. ?biles are Snow windows, thought I. them
the sight mast be the centre • we shall bear the baby's
cry in minute ; Ethel sins hear WA I was distracted
—in despiir. The ghost WO/ again in the moonlight,
she had put off the murder for • time; the rustling
become more distinct. I was in agony, half maddened;
my facie most have betrayed my euiotion, for Ethel
jumped from her seat.
"What is the matter, Harry r the cried, "are yea
ill? your face is so strange."
It was too lah—l meld not sem her I She pushed
past me, and stood feu to fees with the ghwt, who WWI
now only fuse windows distant. Uttering a piercing
shriek, she cried—
" Harry I —door Harry, lave me !" and fell (slating
Into my arms.
" Kelp I help!" I 'ailed ; bat before the words were
pant my lips, another cry rung through the gallery.
iVes it the robe? No I it was rnadifihreatkeyto
Ethers. I looked up and new the ghost epos the door
fainting, too I In • second more Jsek'a strong arms
were ..etuoltlng the inanimate form. He, like myself,
had b.en ccneeshad in one of the bay windows.
My eyes were opened: my disbelief logbooks returned
stronger than ever. The ghost was not a ghost after
all, but flesh and blood. The ghost was Laura Dampier !
sad now the rival ghosts were fainting suit with
terror at tba other—sub fully believing that the other
was the Lady in Blue, who bunted the picture gallery.
The two suesesive shrieks had more effect than the
melding of the rival silks. Bolts begun to unbolt, look,
I to vela*, and doors to open, displeyieg startled Dees.
Eyes scarcely open from their first sleep peered into the
millay, and drowsy velem naked what we. the scatter?
Women's cried mulled by the bedclothes, sounded from
seeenkees • " The ghost l—the ghost!" echoed
wedlr from ethics.
" Water I" I cried.
"Salts r caw leek.
' Sir Wary seemed the only usetkel man in the home,
ler in • wooed be wee with ne holdn4 a water jog in his
band, which I wised and sprinkled Ethel's taco with its
sentents; and then passed it on to my friend, who per•
formed the game operation upon her sister.
" What Isthe meaning of all thia F mked her father.
"I insist on an eiplanation, Captain Beresford—Captaia
*Wee I Answer me at once: who are these mu-
' qmereders?
d...bigra, sir. They have both fainted I
Igelp as to bring than round, and all shall be explained
to year eatialaction.*
We were now the moire of a crowd, carrying bed-
slam studies, who bad plonked up amino to leave Muir
MUM WM and ml.volatile punted in on all sides.
cwere plenty of veinatears to nib the young
b.. 44 end plenty mom to suggest impesetimb