Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1875-11-25
MRS. HARDIHcE's SHADOW.
One OF the Very Strangest of
Strange Stories.
tFrom the Bannerof Light.

tlOu, anu I6IeIIeU 10 numerous inter
views which he purported to have hat
with her. 80 full of detail were thes,
statements that Mrs. Hardinge at frs
believed that some designing woman
must have assumed her name, while th,
letters had, by mistake, been forwarded
to herself. But illusions to her pic
lures, dresses, and even scenes of private
life known only to her immediate home
circle, at length connected these mvste
rious documents exclusively with her.
self Greatly perplexed, Mrs. Hardinge
began to scrutlnize the communications
more closely, and soon found, to heI
amazement that they betrayed an init
mate knowledge of her very thoughts,
no less than incidents and words of the
most private nature.
These letters not only followed her
from place to place in her itinerant ca
reer but seemed to come from one as well
! acquainted with her movements as her
self. The darkest part of the mystery
was that though the language of these
| epistles was refined, and occasionally ell
oquent, the constant illusions to inter
| views and conversations which were as
sumed TO have transpired on terms of
the most endearing intimacy, suggested
the horrible suspicion that the whole
was a plot concocted by unprincipled
| enemies TO destroy the character of q
| young girl whose reputation and useful
mes would alike have been blighted, were
these letters to reach any other hands
than her own
In the deepest distress of mind, occa-
stoned by this inscrutable mystery, Mrs.
IL. consulted several of her friends,
among them the late venerable and re-
spected magistrate, Mr.. Fletcher of De-
lance, N j., who, though unable to as.
sisr her in his judicial capacity, advised
her to collect and keep the letters as
she received them, promising her, when
ever an opportunity occurred, to render
her all the legal assistance in his power
to discover and punish her prosecutor.
The same answer and advice were also
rendered by Mr. Newall 4. Foster, late
Mayor of Portland, in whose house as a
guest, Mrs Hardipge was residing when
she received several OF these offensive
missives.
Besides consulting vita these and sew
eFal other friends ia this manner, Mrs.
Hardinge pursued a course of observe
ton on her own part which led tn very
extraordinary conclusions uabituailg
accustomed to Esee and converse with
spirits, Mrs. II. did not regard their Wis
itatiOns with either surprise or fear.
One exception 10 this conplaCent feel
ing, however, occurred in the approach
of q dark, underlined shape, who began
freQuentld to manifest his presence of
8 night, and always inspire the most IN
mitigated feeling Of loathiDg and terror.
Neither the form nor features OF this
mysterious Yisitant could be distinctly
observed in fact the whole manifesto
ton appeared rather TO perception than
sight and was press2scs rather than an
appaTitiOn. Who or what it might be
was profound mystery. Mrs. Har-
dinge earnestly questioned her spirit
friends and guides on the nature or TINS
dreadful haunting, but could obtain
from them no other explanation than
shat it was an "egil or undeyelpped spirg
ii !" over whom they had no power.
At, larslstlS sAa.t toprora. acnnnap2ETfu.-
this .0bsessi6n became insUpportaeIe ans
injurious alike to the health and mental
balance. Their unfortunate subject
could always recognise the approaeh OF
the phantom, from. her intense feeling
OF horror and the cold shtverings which
pervatied her whole frame. Sometimes
a sensation of faintnGss accompanied
this presence, which nothing bat the in
supp0fta6!e dread of becoming uncOn=
sciUGs could overcome.
At last another feature of this mystery
doomed up amid the darkness. The mid
night visitations were the unmistakable
precursors of the not less abhorred let
ters above alluded to- They came so
closely and invariably in succession, and
the feelings experienced in the presence
of the one and the receipt Of the other
were so exactly similar, that Mrs. II.
began at last TO realize that they we're
as intimately connected As the shadow
and substance of one dire system OF per-
secution. Whether impelled by desper-
alton or inspired by her watchtul spirit
guardians, the affrighted medium could
not determine, but this is the method
which she took TO solve at least one pOr-
ton of the mystery, namely, the con-
nection of the phantom and her hated
correspondent.
One night after returning from a lee
ture, when Mrs. Hardinge felt the near
approach of the invisible tormentOr, and
Notwithstanding the fact that her terror
almost deprived her of the power of mo-
lion, she hastily suatched up the blue
silk dress which she had just taken off,
arranging the skirt around her head in
the manner of veil Mrs. Harding at
that time was lecturing in Cincinnati,
Ohio.
Three days later she received one OF /
usu ! odious missives dated from Boston /
and containing these remarkable words
Chow beautiful my angel looked, ar
rayed in that blue veil, which she so |
kindly threw ever her head last Friday |
night, as if in token of welcome when l |
entered her chamber
Still another experiment was attempt |
ed, urged by new horror at the shock
Tag possibilities disclosed in this SEN
tence.
Mrs. Hardinge was returning from a
lecture at a distance from town, and |
was travelling in large covered carriage |
with three friends, late at night, when |
the party halted at a lonely inn by the |
wayside to water and refresh the horses. |
Being exceedingly fatigued, Mrs. Har-
dinge sat still in the carriage while the
rest of the party alighted. Suddenly |
she became aware that a man was seat
ed at her side, and actually in contact
with her. She was on the back seat,
and commanded full view of all that
was going on in front. She was conf
dent that no one had entered the car
rage, nor would it have been possible
for any one to have done so without OBJ
3ervation. Yet in an instant she knew
hat some one was there, and the con-
of this mysterious compan-
on's proximity was so startling and
alarming that Mrs. Fl. was on the point
If shrieking aloud, when the deathly
,hilliness which accompanied rphan-
ON tormentor informed her of his pres
ence.
Almost paralyzed as she was, she re-
rendered enough of her desperate res
ution to avail herself of another oppor-
unity for experiment, and snatching
ne hood from her head she tore a flow
r from bouquet she held in her hand,
md tossed it hastily into her hair. The
lower was cape Jasmine, and was
eized as the first one that presented il
elf. Before she could recover her scat
cred senses the figure was gone and her
riends resumed their places in the We
Iicle.
g. Al L., 4 Al