Evening star., 1922-01-15
TheHaunting gofLow Pennel

drugged, and during the drugged
state perceived certain visions. The
classical analogy, of course, is that
of the Sibyls, who delivered the orac-
ular responses from the tripod under
the affiatus of vapor said to arise
from the sacred subterranean stream
called Kassotis. The theory is, there
fore, by no means new one"
Maj. Dale made no attempt to in
terrupt me.
There are probably many spots in
England alone" I continued, thus
affected; but. fortunately, few of them
have been chosen as building sites.
Barrows and tumuli of the stone and
bronze age, and also Roman shrines,
seem frequently to be productive of
such emanations. The barrow beside
Low Fennel (and now under the new
wing) is a case in point. Sudden at
mospheric changes seem to be favor
able to the formation of the vapor.
The barrow in Peel Castle. Isle of
Man. is peculiarly susceptible to
thunderstorms, for instance, while
that of Low Fennel emits a vapor
only after spell of intense heat, and
at the exact moment when the tenn
perature begins to fall again. In the
case of a sustained heat wave, this
would take place at some time dur
ing each night.
X *
&" ND now for the particular in
which the vapor at Low Fennel
differs from other similar emana-
tons. 1t is not productive of delu-
sinns of sight; it induces a definite
and unvarying form of transient in
sanity
Maj. Dale still did not speak.
Dame Pryce was the first re-
corded victim of the vapor She was
accused of witchcraft by neighbor,
! who testified to having seen her
transform herself into a hideous and
unrecognizable hag, whereas in her
proper person she seems to have been
a comely old lady. Lack of evidence
compels us TO dismiss the case of
Seager, but consider that of the Ords.
The man Ord. on his own confession.
had fallen asleep outside the house.
He became victim of the vapor-
and his own wife failed to recognize
him.
ITO what extent the mania so pro
duced is homicidai remains to he
proved My own theory is that the
, subject remains harmless, provided
he does not encounter any person dis
tasteful to him. Seager may have
met his death at the hands of some
tramp who had been turned away
from the house.
LAS to the symptoms, they seem to
be quite unvarying. The subject
strips. comforts his face out of all
semblance to humanity and crawls,
liZard-like, upon the ground, with the
head held low. in an attitude OF lis
tening. That it is possible so to con-
tort the face as to render it unrecog-
nizable is seen in some cases of an
gina pectoris, of course.
'The subject apparently returns to
the spot from whence he started and
sinks into profound sleep, as is seen
in some cases of somnambulism; and,
like the somnambulist again. he ac-
quires incredible agility. How you
yourself came twice under the infiu.
ence Of the vapor is easily explained.
The first time, when the housekeepef
saw you, you had actually been in
bed, and the second time, as you have
told me, you had gone upstairs, un-
dressed. and then slipped on youf
dressing gown in order to complete
some work in the study. Instead Of
completing the work, you dozed In
your chair, and We know what fol.
lowed! In the case of-Mrs. Dale
God. Addison" said the major
huskily, clutching the chair arms.
Addison, you are trying to tell me
that-what I saw was-Marjorie"
I nodded gravely.
II learned that on that last night at
Low Fennel. feeling lonely and
frightened, she determined to run
along to the new wing and to wait
in your room until you came up. She
fell asleep, and"
"Addison-can a mere 'vapor' pro.
duce SUCH
"You mean, is the vapor directed or
animated by some discarnate evil in
telligence? My dear major. you are
taking US back to the theory Of ele-
mental spirits. and blankly refuse
to follow your
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