Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-01-31
An ANTIoUARY's GHOST STORY.
Hondon Atheneum.l

| London AtheneumJ
Little more than twol months have passed
| since my own personal experience of mental
| phenomena was striktngly enlarged by the &C.
eurrenee with which the following narrative
deals. Yet already find that round the origi-
nal story there has gathered a surprising ac-
| emulation of the my thical element, and that
myself am In danger of becoming hero of ro-
nance in more senses than one. AS / object
! TO be looked upon as kind of medium to
whom supernatural vfsitations are vouchsafed,
and, on the other hand, do not wish to be set
| down as crazy dreamer whose diS0rganiZed
| nervous system renders him abnormally liable
| to fantastic decisions, l have Welded to the
earnest request of some who have begged me
| to make public the following paper. am told
| that there are those who busy themselves in
collecting similar stories, and IL it be SO, 1t is
better they should hear the facts from me than
| after they have passed through other chan
| nels. The narrative was written, at the re-
| quest of friend, not many days after the
event. when all the circumstances We're fresh
| in my recollection.
On the 10th OF october, 1879, I drove over
| from Norwich to Warrington Hail to spend the
plight d, at Lord 3rGrS S Though wa was in per
| that, for some weeks previously. had had q
| 81 eat deal to think about, some little anxiety,
and some considerable mental strain of one
| kind or another. Twas not, however conscious
OF anything approaching WEAKNESS, irritabillty,
or flag" arrived at y. M, and was engaged
In pleasant and animated conversation till it
| was time to dress for dinner. We dined at
| seven; our party numbered six persons. OF
these four at least had been great travellers.
myself was rather listener; the talk was
| general and diScursive, and amused and inter-
eSted me greatly. Not for a single moment
| did 1t turn upon the supernatural; it was
| chiefly concerned with questions of art and the
| experiences ofmen who had seen great de NJ
| OF the world, and could describe fntelligently
| what they had seen and comment upon 1t sug-
| geStively. have very rarely been at a more
| pleasant party. After dinner we played rub
| Der. We ''left of as We began" and as two OF
the guests had some distance to drive we broke
| up at half-past ten.
| ssThe main object OF my going over to Mar
| nington was to examine and take notes upon
| some very rare books in Lords Orford's library,
| which had been anXiously wishing to get
| sight of for some years, but had never been for
| tunate enough to meet with up to this time, /
| asked leave to sit up for some hours and make
transcripts. His lordship at first wished me to
| let his valet remain in attendance to see all
| lights put out. but as this would have embar-
| raised me and compelled me to go to bed earlier
than wished, and as 1t seemed likely that l
morning, it was agreed that should be LETT to
| my own devices and the servants should be al
| lowed to retire. By eleven O'Clock was the
! only person downstairs and l was very soon
| buSily at work and absorbed in my occupation.
| The room in which was writing is a large
| one with huge fireplace land a grand Old
| chimney; and 1t Is needless to say that 1t is
| furnished with every comfort and luxury. The
| library opens into this room, and had to pass
out from where was sitting into this library
| and get upon a chair to reach the volumes 1
| wanted to examine. There were six small
| volumes in all. l took them down and placed
them at my right hand in little pile, and set
to workIsomet1mes reading sometimes writ
| front of me. There were four silver candle
| sticks upon the table, the candles all burning,
and, as l am chilly person, | sat myself at
| one corner of the table with the fire at my
left, and at intervals, as had finished with
| book, l rose, knocked the fire together, and
stood UP to warm my feet. continued In this
way at my task till nearly one O'Clock. l had
| got on better than i expected, and had only
| one more book to occupy me. / rose, wound
up my watch, and opened bottle Of settler
that / should get to bed by two after all. l set
to work at the last little book I had been en-
| gagged upon 1t about half an hour, and was
| just beginning to think that my work was
| ,rTiting, l saw a large white hand within
| loot OF my elbow. Turning my head, there sat
back to the fire, bending slightly over the
| table, and apparently examining the pile Of
| books that / had been at work upon. The
mans face was turned away from me, but saw
his closely cut reddiSh-brown hair, his ear and
| shaved cheek, the eyebrow the corner of the
| right eye, the side of the forehead, and the
large high cheek-bone. He was dressed in
| what can only describe as kind of ecclesias-
| teal habit of thick corded silk or some such
| material, close up to the throat, and narrow
rim or edging, of about an inch broad, of satin
| or velvet serving as stand-up collar, and fit
| ting close to the chin. The right hand, which
had first attracted my attention, was clasping,
without any great pressure, the left hand both
hands were In perfect repose, and the large
| blue veins OF the right hand were conspicuous.
remember thinking that the hand was like
| the hand of Felasquez's magnificent dead
| Knight" in the National Gallery. / looked at
my visitor for some seconds and was perfectly
sure that he was not a reality. thousand
thoughts came crowding upon me, but not the
| least feeling of alarm, or even uneasneSs; Gu
| riosity and strong interest were uppermost.
| For an instant felt eager to make sketch OF
my friend and looked at a tray on my right
| q 70 T-r,-f a{r
| sketch book-shall fetch it," There he sat-
and | was fascinated: afraid, not of his staying,
PIT tess he Should 60. Stopping in my writing,
lifted my left hand from the paper, stretched
| 1t out to the pile OF books. and moved the top
one. | cannot explain why did this-my arm
passed In 'front.' OF the figure and it vanished.
| was simply disappointed and nothing more.
| went on with my writing as If nothing had
happened, perhaps for another five minutes,
and had actually got to the last few words of
| what had determined to extract when the
| figure appeared again, exactly In the same
| place and attitude as before. | saw the hands
close to my own; turned my head again, to
| examine him more closely, and was framing
| sentence TO address to him when discovered
| that did not dare to speak. ,rds dri'dtd of
| ne sauna Qr1ny olrn uotce. There he sat, and
| there sat l. l turned my head again to my
| work, and finished writing the two or three
| words still had to write The paper and my
| notes. are at this moment before me, and ex-
| h1bit not the slightest tremOr or nervousness.
| could point out the words was writing when
! the phantom came and when he disappeared
| Having finished my task, shut the book and
! threw 1t on the table, it madea slight noise a
| it fell-the figure vanished.
| Throwing myself back in my chair 1 sat for
| some seconds looking at the fire with curious
| mixture OF feeling, and remember wondering
| whether my friend would come again, and II
| he did whether he would hide the fire from me-
| Then first there stole upon me dread and
| suspicion that l was beginning to lose my
nerve. remember yawning; then rose, lit
| my bedroom candle took my books into the
| inner library, mounted the chair as before, and
| replaced five of the volumes; the sixth |
| had been writing when the phantom did me
| the honour to appear to me. By this time l
| had lost all sense of uneasiness. / blew out
| the four candles and marched off to bed, where
l slept the sleep of the just or the guilty.
| know not which-but slept very soundly.
! This Is a simple and unvarnished narrative
OF facts. Explanation, theory, or inference