Year: 1879

Chambers Journal.


A few years ago | moved into q
new and larger house with young
family. Some nights after my re-
movaI WAS awakened in the middle
of the night by distinct knocking
twice or thrice repeated at my bed
room door. called out: - Who's
! there?" There was no reply; but
after an interval of few minutes the
knocking was repeated as distinctly


5 before. Again the same question,
who's there?" and again no reply :;
but again came the knocking, if pos
sibie more distinct and louder than
ever, and just as if person outside
in the lobby had struck sharply and
repeatedly with his knuckles on the
door.


/ sprang rapidly from bed on its
being repeated, and rushed to the
bedroom door and opened it, deter
mined to catch the knocker. But
there was no one inside; and no one
could have escaped down the STAR
case, which was Wat is called a well
staircase, brilliantly lighted with a
Hood of moonlight, which streamed
through the skylight window.


| am not, and never was spirit
stricken or superstitious. But l will
confess my sensations now become
trying; my heart began to throb, and
| returned TO bed with ears painfully
,.an,o thnt
clear and distinct, and methodicai as
before. Although feeling very un-
easy | crept siIently oat of bed and
stretched myself on the floor with my
head on the boards and few feet
from the bedroom door t., find out t
possible from what part of the door
the Knocking proceeded.


Again it came as before, and |
could distinctly refer it to the lowest
part or panel OF the door. l sudden
ly opened the door; but with the
same result as before; and again l
lay in my former position. Again
came the knocking, three or four dis
tinct taps; and row fixing my eyes
steadily on the spot from whence the
tapping proceeded, l saw the knuckle
bone of leg of lamb, about the size
of a small walnut, jerking repeatedly
against the skirting that lay along
side the door. The skirting was thin
ner thsn the sounding board of a
piano; and it was the sudden tapping
of the little bone against the sound
ing board that produced the repeat
ed knocking


But how was the tapping produced? !?
BY anou that had found its way
along the hollow space behind the
wainscot. 1t had bored hole in the
very lowest part of the wainscot,
very nearly on lev Il with the floor,
had founds its little bone left after
the children's dinner, and had drag
ged it to the entrance of his hole,
bat could not get it through. 1t had
dragged through the tough bit of
sinew which is attached to the end of
the bone-probably known as the
gentleman bone"-and was tryi g
by jerking 1t backward to bring the
bone itself through; and each jerk
gave blow against the thin sound
ing board, and each blow gave out
the sound of mysterious knock. Had
l not discovered this, no reasoning
could have convinced me that had
not heard knocks at my be broom
door; and | should in all probability
have attributed them TO what is term
ed supernatui al agency.


My CeXt experience was, if possi-


BILE, more puzzling. In the neigh


borhood of Dublin, on the rocky


sea coast of Dalkey, there are sever


al castles supposed to have been


erected by the Danes for the protec-


ton Of their traders. They are still


in fair preservation, and have dwell


ing houses of modern construction


built against them. One of these old


castles stand on the very verge of the
sea, over what was once q rocky in
let, but is now u harbor called Bull


lock harbor, along the opposite side
of which is row oil fisherman's cot
tages, principally occupied by men


who earn their lievlihood as pilots.


The dwelling house attached to this
old castle, l with my family occupied
in the summer, for health's sake, and
to enjoy boating, of which was
fond | observed sometime after
!. taking up my residence in its that ny
, mattar at what t,ssse retire 90 oeo


--aAsl generally sat up one to two