The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1915-06-26
al which could just perceive shining

of some reddish kind of wood. 1t was
fastened with bright headed rivets
and was shod at either end with sub
stance which looked like gold, but was
brighter. The handle Of the sword look
ed like ivory, but was rather duller in
hue than ivory should be. Otherwise he
was unarmed. In fact, altogether he
presented the appearance Of warrior
Of ancient times. His right arm always
hung down by his side. The left hand
was passed under the mantle and lay on
his breast, having hold upon something
there, l fancy upon the strap of his
sword-what antiquarians, think, call
baldrick. His head was bent little
forward, and his shoulders were slightly
rounded. At all events his gait was
not quite erect. His attitude was that
of a man bordering profoundly upon
some intricate problem and pacing to
and fro quite immersed in calculations
and nominations concerning its solution.
Though watched him pass and repass
at least a hundred times, his carriage and
mode OF holding his hands never varied
in the least from what have described.
His bearing. I say, was that of man
deeply rejecting, but then there was no
sign or token of reflection whatsoever
in his face. There was truly no spec
hlation in those eyes. Otherwise his
face suggested life rather than death,
for it was Of a good color, somewhat
rudy in the cheeks and we'll bronzed
otherwise. The eyes alone, so wide open,
staring and lusterless, suggested death.
As to his age, he seemed to be about 40.
l may add, at the risk of being too mi
mute, that on his brooch were FIVE good
sized eyes Of glass or some substance
dnller than glass, and that on his left
temple there was scar running from
the roots of his hair to the outer ex-
tremity of the corresponding eyebrow.
I had plenty Of time and opportunity to
make these observations. for after his
second appearance the ghost continued
to walk every night exactly at 10 o'clock
and ceased to walk at half past .. In
variably also his walking terminated in
the interior portion of the cave and in
that gallery at the end Of which was
thestrange tomb which I have described.
Although the reader will of course
attribute this apparition wholly to the
diseased state Of my nerves and imagi-
nation, and although such is my own
belief. too, in sense, yet it is singular
that the apparition, supposing such to
belts origin, should have assumed exact.
ly this form and garb. never saw a
man dressed in that style. ! had never
even seen picture Of man SO dressed,
for although the flowing mantle, long
hair, straight hanging sword and kilt
form the usual get up of antique war
riors on the stage or in pictures, the big
brooch was quite strange and novel even
to my imagination. Such antique war
riors. too, in pictures or on the stage,
appear gartered to the knee and always
carry shield on their arms or strap
ped to their backs. This figure had no
shield, apparently no stockings and GER
tainly no garters. Consequently, if the
apparition sprang from my Imagination,
and from the imagination projected
itself into 'visuality in this remarkable
manner, my imagination was able to
produce something that my eyes had
never seen either in the world of reality
or in the world of art and something
that the imagination had never at any
time consciously conceived at all. An
other singular circumstance is this:
knew that this cave was the cave Of
Curry. the smuggler. had already as
ISOLATED the idea of the tomb which
had discovered with him. Now, my
notion Of smuggler was that which is
commonly entertained by all boys and
young men-viz. q stout, strong, burly
man Of a seafaring type, wearing top
boots and pistols stuck in his belt. Hav-
ing had plenty of time for reflection, the
thought of Curry, the smuggler, in this
highly conventional form-that is, the
melodramatic smuggler-had been fire.
quent in my mind, and since discov-
cred the tomb the notion that Curry s
ghost might haunt the cavern had very
frequently arisen in my numerous brood
ings and cogitations. did not indeed
seriously entertain the thought of Cur
rvs ghost inhabiting the cave, but the
fancy or idea, as ideas will, had often
times passed idly through my mind.
Yet the apparition, when it did come,
was as unlike smuggler as it was I'M
like a nineteenth century man of fash
ion. !, too, am now convinced-indeed
I did not leave that cave without the
conviction-that this specter was the
creature Of my imagination, wrought
up by low diet and solitude to prefer
natural degree of potency and activity.
But of this, too, am convinced-that
the Imagination in some persons and
under abnormal circumstances has a
power which few people suspect, and
unconsciously to ourselves is fed and
sustained by kind of knowledge and
by forms of experience which never came
within the range of the imagining per-
son. Before concluding this tale I
shall relate something which seems to
provide some faint clew to my very re-
markable preternatural experiences in
Curry's cave.
After the specter's second appearance
he continued to walk for five nights,
beginning and ending his mysterious
beat or promenade at exactly the same
time each night, and taking exactly the
same course on each occasion. By de-
grees I began to be so accustomed to his
presence that l sometimes even broiled
and ate my fish while the ghost went to