Chapter IV: Part 4

This is the first mention of the fact that nuns had ever lived at B----. Miss Freer had not been aware that the object of the Rev. P. H----'s visit in 1892 had been to give what is called a Spiritual Retreat to those who had been occupying the cottage. It is only fair to suggest that the phantasmal nun, to whom the name Ishbel had been given, may really have been the phantasm of one of these visitors, and that the dress of at least some of them was identical with or closely resembled hers, while it was totally unlike that worn by the community to which the late Mother Frances Helen belonged. At the same time, Ishbel's dress was of a kind so very common among nuns, that it would have been that with which she would, most naturally, have been clothed by the imagination of any one unacquainted with the very rare Order to which Mother Frances Helen belonged. To make further investigation into the history of all the Sisters who ever stayed at B---- through the kindness of the late Mr. S---- would have been a task impossible for its vastness, and almost certainly futile through the natural reticence of their communities with regard to any matters likely to occasion haunting.

_March 1st (continued), Monday._--I went up the burn for the
first time since my accident on Saturday, February 20th. We had
had a promise from Ouija on Sunday that if Mr. "Endell" were to
visit the copse with me after 6.30 he would be touched on the
left shoulder. He was told to go to the farther side of the
burn, and to stand under the sapling, which is at some little
distance from the spot where the phantasm usually appears. This
we accordingly did. I was barely able in the dusk to distinguish
the figure from my post on the west bank, but the phantasm
appeared very near him, as I could distinguish the white
pocket-handkerchief in his breast pocket. I saw her hand
approach this, but could not positively say that it touched him.
Mr. "Endell" saw nothing, and could not positively say that he
felt a touch, though conscious of a sense of sudden chill, and
agreed with me that had he certainly felt one, he would probably
have considered it the effect of expectation. We stood there for
perhaps ten minutes, and he was for a short time conscious of
the subjective sensations which he commonly feels in the
presence of phenomena. We returned simultaneously to the avenue,
where we discussed the occurrence and the possibilities of
making it evidential. The only thing we could think of was to
send for Miss Langton, and without telling her anything of what
we had seen or expected, ascertain whether she saw the phantasm
in its usual position (high up on the bank), or a good deal
farther to the left, and nearer the burn, as I had done. By the
time she arrived it was much darker, but she saw the figure
under the tree by the brook, and described it as "kneeling." She
has better sight than I, and believed it to be behind Mr.
"Endell." I should have judged her to be crouching or stooping
in front of him, but judging from comparison of our normal
sight, she is much more likely to be accurate than I.

Mr. "Endell's" separately recorded account, dated March 5, exactly agrees with this, but adds some additional touches to the latter part.

"At Miss Freer's suggestion, I fetched Miss Langton, telling her nothing of what had occurred, but merely that we were trying an experiment, and she was to report what she saw.

"I stood again under the sapling. This time I began to shudder almost immediately. It was so dark they told me that they could only see my collar though I was only ten yards from them.

"Miss Langton said that thirty seconds after I had taken up my position, the figure appeared behind me a little to my left, and seemed to raise its arm. Miss Freer said it was waiting for me, and touched me as before.

"I felt no touch throughout, only shiverings that seemed to coincide with appearances."

To-night Miss "N." wishes to sleep in No. 3, and Miss Langton
will remain in No. 2; the door of communication can be opened
between them.

_March 2nd, Tuesday._--This morning I was reading in bed by
candlelight from 5.30 to 6 o'clock, and again heard the
pattering sound which has become familiar to us in No. 8. Miss
Moore was asleep, but happened to awake while the sound was
specially distinct, and without speaking signified that she was
giving it her attention. Shortly after six we heard the sound of
a violent fall about the middle of the west wall, between the
fireplace and window. Our first thought was that one of the
maids upstairs must have fallen, till we remembered that there
was no room above us. We have since inquired, and find that none
of them moved till nearly seven o'clock, nor was anything heard
either by them or by Mr. Garford, whose room (No. 1) joins our
west wall.[D]

Miss "N." passed a very disturbed night. She went to bed about
twelve o'clock; she is habitually an exceptionally good sleeper,
and, moreover, has slept in many rooms alleged to be haunted
without the slightest inconvenience, and has never had an
"experience" of any sort. She lay awake in discomfort till 3
A.M., and then sought refuge with Miss Langton.

Miss "N." left. The following is the record of her
impressions:--

"_March 4th._--You ask me to write exactly what I felt in No. 3
when I slept there on March 1st. Well, it is rather difficult to
describe! I never felt frightened out of my wits at nothing
before, if it _was_ nothing. I certainly saw no shadows or
figures, and the only noise I heard was the thud twice, which
sounded as if it came from the storey below. If I shut my eyes
for a minute I felt as if I was struggling with something
invisible (not indigestion, as I never have it!). I was so
paralysed that I _dare_ not call out to Miss Langton, and lay
awake from twelve to three without moving! In the morning, of
course, I felt I had been a fool to be so silly, and I would go
and sleep there again to-night if I had the chance."

Mrs. B. C---- came. She is an Associate S.P.R., is a Highlander,
has been all her life interested in psychical matters, but has
had no "experience."

Mr. "Endell," Miss Moore, and I sat up in No. 3 till about 2.30
in the dark, except for the firelight, and in silence, except
when any one wished to draw the attention of the rest to sounds
or sensations. There were no sounds for which, on reflection, we
found it impossible to account. Mr. "Endell" suffered, as on
previous occasions, from the sensation known as "cold-air," and
very visibly shivered, though clearly not in the least nervous.
He is keenly interested in psychical inquiry, but has never had
any "experience" other than subjective sympathy with the psychic
impressions of others, or a consciousness, such as he described
on his arrival here, of an atmosphere other than normal. (This
last has been of frequent occurrence, and seems to have been
always veridical.)

The sole experience of any kind on this occasion was my own. Mr.
"Endell," by way of reproducing the conditions of former
occupants of the room, threw himself on the bed about twenty
minutes to 2 A.M. Soon after he was seized by audible and
visible shivers. We did not speak till he uttered some forcible
ejaculation of complaint, when, looking towards him, I saw a
hand holding a brown (probably wooden) crucifix, as by a person
standing at the foot of the bed. He immediately said, "Now I'm
better," or words to that effect.

We persisted in silence till perhaps 2.30, when we agreed to
separate, and while we were having some refreshment over the
fire, I told Miss Moore and Mr. "Endell" what I had seen. (_Cf._
under date February 25, p. 132.)

_March 3rd, Wednesday._--Mrs. W---- left.

This afternoon we had a call from Mrs. S---- and her daughter.
The Colonel, Miss Moore, and I were in the room.

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_March 4th, Thursday._--Mr. "Endell" left.

Heavy snowstorm.

_March 5th, Friday._--Last night I was in bed and asleep before
Miss Moore came in from her dressing-room. She did not light the
candle for fear of waking me, but, while sitting by the fire
reading, she heard the pattering noise just behind her, in the
same place where we have heard it and the fall before, though
never till then at night. It only lasted a few minutes, but
there was apparently nothing to account for it, though of course
she took every possible means to discover its cause.

Mrs. B. C---- left to-day. Miss Moore happened to mention at
breakfast that the upper housemaid had told her that the maids
had twice again on the last two nights heard the sound of
monotonous reading, once as late as 2 A.M.

The theoretical hour for Mattins is midnight, which, however, is only observed in practice in certain very rigid monasteries; in others it begins at two. But it is easily conceivable that a priest, if wakeful at that time, would select it in preference to another.

Mrs. B. C---- at once said that she also had heard precisely
that sound each night, and had spoken of it to her maid, and,
like the servants, had concluded that Miss Moore was reading to
me, although it was as late as twelve o'clock. She had also
heard a bang on a door close to her own, but had supposed it was
a late comer, possibly one of the gentlemen from the
smoking-room, and had not been disturbed. She had been sleeping
in No. 1, her maid in No. 2, and none of the gentlemen are on
the same floor. Mr. Garford, who is now in the wing, remarked
that he too had heard voices as of speaking or reading several
times when sleeping in No. 1, but had assumed that they were
normal. As a matter of fact, Miss Moore goes straight to her
dressing-room on going upstairs, and I am always too tired to
read or speak. No two persons sleep in any other room.

We tested this by getting Colonel Taylor to shut himself into
No. 1 while I, in No. 8, read aloud at the top of my voice, Miss
Langton remaining in the room with me. The Colonel could hear no
sound less than direct banging on the wall with a poker.

The cook has been talking to-day of the various noises heard at
night; she is not nervous, nor are the maids, but all speak of
voices and bangs for which they cannot account; except the
butler, who has heard nothing, but is obviously impressed with
his wife's experience last night. Her story is that, not feeling
well, she went up to bed early, before the servants' supper, the
rest of the household being as usual in the drawing-room. While
in bed, before ten o'clock, she distinctly heard the sound of
voices talking, apparently below, but not far distant (her room
is over No. 7, at present empty). She "wondered if it could be
the servants in the servants' hall at supper"--an obvious
impossibility, as their room is _not_ underneath, is two storeys
away, and has no connection with the upper part of the house.
She also heard bangs on the wall, behind her bed and to the
side; there was no furniture there to crack, and it was mostly
on the _outside_ wall, so she finally became uncomfortable, and
buried her head in the clothes to deaden the sound. She "doesn't
believe in ghosts," but thinks the house "very queer," and says
that far and wide in the country round it is spoken of as
"haunted," though no one seems to know of any story, as to the
cause, except that, very improbable, about the murder of a
priest by the wife of a former proprietor. It appears that a
maid engaged in the village refused to sleep in the house,
because when in service here once before she had been frightened
by bangs at the door of her bedroom (in a room over No. 1); she
had also heard the sounds of a rustling silk dress on the
back-stairs, and had seen the bedroom door pushed open and a
lady come in.... A maid, who came after this one had left, told
the cook that she believed there was a story of a "priest
murdered somewhere at the Reformation"; she had once been told
it by Mrs. S---- in explanation of the noises, but had not heard
whether the said murder was in the house or the grounds, and
thought Mrs. S---- particularly did not wish the spot known.
This maid has only been an occasional help in the house, but has
lived for years in the district, and knows the place well by
reputation.

To-day as we passed through the churchyard, [a resident in the
neighbourhood] pointed out the desolate grave of the Major, with
the remark that one could hardly be surprised at a man being
said to "walk" who was expected to rest in such a place as that.
He said that there had been a great deal of talk all over the
neighbourhood as to the excitement during the H----s' stay at
B----, and seemed to believe that practical joking might account
in part for what had occurred. He did not, however, deny that
stories had been told long before their coming to the place.

This resident is the one as to whom the _Times_ correspondent dogmatically stated, that having lived in the place for twenty years he asserted that there had never been a whisper of the haunting of B---- until the tenancy of the H----s.

_March 6th, Saturday_.--Mr. Garford left.

The Colonel is to sleep to-night in No. 3, which has not been
occupied since Miss "N." left.

Mr. C---- arrived. He sleeps, by his own choice, in No. 2. He
has had a conversation with the butler, whom he had been
instrumental in engaging for us, which began by his asking how
he liked his situation? He expressed himself satisfied with
everything, but added, "But there's something very queer about
the house," and then proceeded to tell his wife's experience.

_March 7th, Sunday_.--Mr. C---- has written an account of his
experiences last night.

Robinson has this morning told him of his first experience! He
was awakened by the noise of a heavy body falling in the middle
of the room; he awoke his wife, struck a match, and looked at
his watch--it was 3.30; no one else had been disturbed. Mr.
C----'s account follows:--

"_March 7th, 1897._--It was arranged that Colonel Taylor should
occupy No. 3, and that I should sleep in No. 2. I went to bed
about twelve, but did not go to sleep at once.

"I awoke suddenly with the distinct impression that there was
some one in the room. I lay still, and tried to realise what was
in the room, but could not do so. There was no idea of movement
in my mind, but still I felt convinced that some one was there.
The impression seemed gradually to fade out of my mind after
about seven or ten minutes, and then I got up and looked at my
watch--the time was 4.40 A.M.

"I then went back to bed, but did not go to sleep. I heard the
clock in the hall strike five.

"Shortly after I thought I heard some one moving about in No. 1,
which I knew to be unoccupied. I listened, and it seemed to me
that some one was moving round three sides of the room and then
coming back. The movement went on for about three or four
minutes and then stopped, but after a pause of some minutes it
began again. I tried to make out footsteps, but could not do so.
The movement was that of a heavy body going round the room, and
the floor seemed to shake slightly, after the way of old
flooring when a heavy man moves about. After going on for some
time the movement stopped, and again, after a pause, began
again. The movement, whatever it was, occurred four times, with
three pauses in between. The durations of the movement and
pauses were irregular. After the noise ceased I got up and lit
the candle. The time was 5.25, and I read for twenty-five
minutes, when I felt sleepy and blew out the candle. I did not,
however, go to sleep, and I heard six strike. The day was
dawning. The rooks I first heard about 5.35, when I was reading.

"About ten minutes after the clock struck six I heard a noise
like a light-footed person running downstairs, which seemed to
adjoin No. 3, where the Colonel was sleeping, and almost
immediately after I heard a loud rapping at the door of No. 1.
After a short pause this occurred again, and I jumped out of
bed. As I opened the door of my room leading into the passage
the rapping sounds occurred again, but less loudly. There was
no one in the passage, and I went back to bed, not having quite
shut my door. No sooner had I done so than there was a knock at
my door, which I thought must be the Colonel coming to speak to
me about the rapping at No. 1. I called out 'Come in,' but there
was no answer, and I accordingly again went to the door, only to
find no one.

"I heard the servants begin to move about at 6.30 above me, and
as seven struck I heard them going through the house.

"The Colonel did not hear anything.

"There are no stairs coming down to the bedroom storey where I
thought I heard footsteps.

"The rapping was not in any way an alarming noise.

"On Saturday night 'Ouija' had said that I was not to be
disturbed that night, so I was 'not expecting.' It also stated
that Nos. 3 and 8 were the rooms that 'the Major' occupied."

* * * * *

_March 8th, Monday._--Mr. C---- left early. He has promised to
write of any experience last night, as he was gone before we
were up. Colonel Taylor is still in No. 3; he has heard nothing,
but this is perhaps the less evidential, that, although a
frequent visitor to haunted houses, he has never had any
experience.

We are still in No. 8, in which we have had a sufficient number
of experiences to make us anxious to distribute responsibility
by handing it over to another sensitive at the earliest
possibility. Miss Langton has hitherto slept in No. 4, in which
she was put on her first arrival, except for the three nights
she was in No. 2, with companionship in the adjacent rooms.
There seems to be no object in the Colonel remaining in No. 3,
as he is unlikely to see or hear anything, and as soon as that
side of the house is quite emptied she proposes to go into No.
1, as we are anxious to discover whether her experience will
corroborate that of Miss Moore, myself, Mrs. B. C----, Mr.
Garford, and the maids, as to the sound of voices.

_March 9th, Tuesday._--Mr. C---- writes this morning in regard
to Sunday night: "_March 8th._--... Last night I was not so much
disturbed, but I awoke at 3.10, and did not sleep after that. I
had exactly the same sensation as on the previous night, that
whenever I was going to sleep something woke me. At 5.20 I heard
three noises very close together, but they were very distant,
and sounded from the direction of your room" (No. 8).

_March 10th, Wednesday._--I awoke about 5.30, and lay awake
reading. I had drawn the blinds up, but kept the candle in as
long as it was required. At intervals between twenty minutes to
six o'clock and ten minutes past I heard the sounds
characteristic of No. 8., viz., footsteps of a man, and
pattering of a dog. Miss Moore awoke, and heard the later
sounds. About 6.10 we both heard the thud, which seems to occur
generally beyond the wardrobe nearer the door.

In the afternoon Miss Moore and I called on Mrs. S----.

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_March 11th, Thursday._--Very wet day, no phenomena.

_March 12th, Friday._--Another wet day. I had had a headache all
day, and was unable to join the others in a walk when the rain
cleared off, but I went out, alone, about 6.30 to the copse.
Standing in my usual place, I saw the nun coming over the hill
towards the burn; she stood nearly opposite to me, looking down
to the water for a few minutes, and then moved away towards the
avenue. I followed as quickly as possible, but when I got to the
drive she was still a few yards ahead of me, and I failed to
catch her up, though I pursued her down to the lodge, about two
hundred yards; she then, passing through the gates, turned to
the left, and I lost her in the obscurity of the road, which is
there darkened by heavy trees. When I returned to the house I
was still in so much pain that I took a sedative draught and
went to bed, and to sleep at once.

With regard to the above it may be remarked that the way she came led from B---- Cottage, where by the kindness of Mr. S---- some nuns had formerly spent their annual holiday, and the road on which she disappeared was a way which would have led back to it.

_March 13th, Saturday._--At ten o'clock last night Miss Moore
woke me to take some food. I was still under the influence of
the opiate, and did not really rouse, even when she came to bed
half-an-hour later. We did not speak till I was aroused by a
loud banging noise, when, in answer to my startled exclamation,
Miss Moore suggested that it was probably the servants shutting
up downstairs, as we were early, and they had very likely not
yet gone to bed. I was much annoyed, as I knew they had been
cautioned to keep quiet, and even the maid had not been allowed
to enter my room. This morning, when Miss Moore went to see the
housekeeper, the butler came in and asked if we had heard any
noises last night, about a quarter to eleven o'clock, he
thought, after every one had gone up to bed; adding, "It was two
bangs like a fist on a door, and I said, 'If that isn't Miss
Moore or Miss Langton, I'll believe in the noises they all talk
about,'--it's just like what the gentlemen told me."

His wife had also heard the bangs, but had waited for him to
speak to her of them, and the maids on the other side of the
house had been roused to come to their door and listen.

The footman, who sleeps in the basement, and the Colonel, who
was in the smoking-room in the wing till 11.30, heard nothing;
but Miss Langton, in No. 4, to whom Miss Moore mentioned the
servants' story, had heard noises "between 10.30 and 10.45," but
had not been disturbed, thinking, as we had done, that they were
probably made by the servants.

On inquiry we found that the cook had gone to bed directly after
the servants' supper, the two under maids were up by ten o'clock
(Miss Moore heard their voices when she came to my room at ten
o'clock), and the upper housemaid had gone up a few minutes
after the hall clock struck, following Miss Moore up the stairs.
The butler had come up directly after, only waiting to put out
the hall lamp, and all were in bed before 10.30. We ourselves
noticed the striking of the hall clock _after_ we heard the
noise--it had gone wrong, and only struck nine instead of eleven
o'clock--so there seems little doubt that we all heard the same
sound, and all describe it as coming from below.

In discussing the occurrence with the butler and his wife, Miss
Moore learned that they had lately heard a story [from a local
resident] which was new to us. A maid of Mrs. S----, who, though
married to the butler, still lived in the house, and performed
her duties as usual, was one night coming up the back-stairs
with a tray for Mrs. S----, when, on reaching the top, by the
door of No. 3, she met the figure of a nun, which so frightened
her that she dropped the tray and broke all the plates on it.
Mrs. S---- explained it away by saying it was "only ----" (they
could not remember her name) "come to pray with her." It was
Sunday night, but they knew there was no one there who could in
the least account for the appearance. The only explanation
offered by the narrator of the story was that "there had been a
Miss S----, a nun, who had died."

_March 14th, Sunday._--I called on Mrs. S----, and had a long
talk with her.

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_March 15th, Monday._--Miss Moore and I, both awake at the time,
heard a loud, vibrating noise about a quarter to six. Miss
Langton in No. 4 heard it also. The Colonel, who sleeps
downstairs, heard it as from the hall, and said he also felt the
vibration. Except for about three nights he has always slept in
the wing, where, during our tenancy, there have been no
phenomena.

_March 16th, Tuesday._--Miss Moore, Miss Langton, the Colonel,
and I, left B----. Miss Moore, Miss Langton, and I returning on
March 20th.

After leaving B---- Colonel Taylor wrote as follows to Lord
Bute:--

_March 19th, 1897._--"I arrived in London yesterday, after
having spent five weeks at B---- very pleasantly. I feel sure
that there _is_ a ghostly influence pervading the house, but I
am a little disappointed at the way in which it manifests
itself, for, up to the time I left, the nature of the
manifestations was such that, though it is satisfactory to me,
it would not be so, I think, to those who do not look at such
things from so favourable a position as I do.

"I hope a change may yet come, and things take place which one
might think would justify people in evacuating and forfeiting
their money as the H----s did; certainly nothing of this sort
happened while I was there.

"It is very interesting to note Miss Freer's experiences, but in
regard to those of others who have something to relate, it is
perhaps difficult to determine how much these statements should
be discounted for error of observation and self-suggestion. I
heard many noises in the night during my stay at B----, but they
were of much the same sort I have been accustomed to hear at a
similar time in other houses. I think that some of our witnesses
may have given them undue prominence, under the influence of
their own expectancy. The clairvoyant visions of 'Ishbel' in the
grounds are not of great evidential value for the scientific
world in general, and I think that any amount of 'voices' could
be read into the noises of the running stream, near where she is
seen, by those who 'wished to hear.' Still, there are some
objective noises which cannot be easily accounted for in an
ordinary way, and the three almost independent visions of the
brown cross are important.

"I hope things will improve; in any case, you will have added
considerably to psychical research when all has been
recorded...."

It is difficult perhaps to see why Colonel Taylor should regard the independent visions of the crucifix as of more value than the equally independent and far more numerous hallucinations, audible and visual, of "Ishbel." We have the statements of the failure of several persons who "wished to hear" voices in the sounds of the burn, which was, moreover, frozen and silent when the voices were heard by the first two non-expectant and quite independent witnesses.

_March 19th._--A passage in Miss Langton's private journal under
this date is as follows:--

"_St. Andrews, March 19th._--I looked into a water-bottle
to-night to see if I could see anything of what was happening at
B----. I distinctly saw room No. 3, and gradually a figure came
into view between the two doors (_i.e._ near the foot of the
bed), the figure of a tall woman, dressed in a long clinging
robe of grey, and who seemed to be holding something in her
hand, against the wall at the foot of the bed. This became more
distinct, and I saw that it was a cross of dark brown wood, some
12 inches long (I should say). The figure did not appear to
move. I seemed to be standing at the door of No. 3, which opens
on to the landing" (_cf._ pp. 17, 132, 142).

For the information of those not accustomed to the phenomena of crystal-gazing, it may be as well to remark that it is quite possible that the image had been subconsciously seen by Miss Langton when sleeping in No. 3, as deferred impressions are often externalised for the first time in the crystal. She may equally have received the impression by thought-transference from others. Certainly she had not been informed of earlier experiences.

_March 20th, Saturday._--Miss Langton, Miss Moore, and I
returned to B---- house. Four guests arrived in time for dinner.

Rooms for to-night:--

1. Miss Moore and I.
2. Miss Langton.
3. Miss "Duff," a lady whose name is familiar to readers of
recent records of crystal-gazing and other students of
the literature of the Psychical Research Society.
4. Mr. MacP----.
5. Mr. W----.
8. Colonel C----.

_March 21st, Sunday._--Last night, about 11.15, after Miss Moore
and I were in bed in No. 1, we heard a loud sound from the
left-hand side of the fireplace (south-west corner). It might be
imitated by the "giving" of a large tin box (_cf._ pp. 173,
179). There was nothing but a footstool and a draped
dressing-table there. We called out to Miss Langton, whom we
could hear still moving about. She said she had heard the noise,
but had made none herself.

Her account is as follows:--

"Last night (Sunday, March 21st) we retired to bed early, as
Miss Moore was leaving by an early train next morning, and I was
going to get up in order to see her off. It was certainly not
later than 10.45, when I went to my room, having gone to No. 1
to say good-night to Miss Freer and Miss Moore, who were
sleeping that night in that room. Miss 'Duff' was in No. 3, and
I was occupying No. 2. I am not at all nervous, and certainly I
was not expecting to see anything, as No. 2 is always supposed
to be a 'quiet' room. I was some time getting to bed, but I put
out my candle at twelve o'clock, and, after noticing that the
moon was shining brightly, I got into bed. Contrary to my usual
custom I did not fall asleep for some time, and I felt that the
room was, in some inexplicable way, not as usual. At last I fell
asleep, but not comfortably. I kept waking, and for some time
after each awakening I could not get to sleep again. I put this
down, however, to the fact that I wanted to waken early the next
morning, and was restless in consequence. At last I really fell
asleep, but at 4.30 I suddenly awakened with the feeling that I
was not alone in the room. I looked round; the room was quite
dark; the moon was not shining, but between the bed and the
wardrobe there was a figure standing. At first it was very
indistinct and misty, but gradually it formed itself into the
figure of a woman--a slight, tall woman, with a pale face. She
was dressed in long robes, but the upper part was the only part
I could see clearly. Round her face and head was a white band,
like that worn by a nun, and over her head was what might have
been a black hood or small shawl, but in the darkness it was
very difficult to distinguish. I could not see what her features
were like, but she looked as if she were in trouble, and
entreating some one to help her. She stood for some few moments
at the foot of my bed looking towards me, and then she made a
movement towards the door, but before she reached it she had
vanished. I was not at all frightened, as there was nothing at
all alarming in her appearance. I cannot write a better
description of her, as the vision was so short. The figure was
the same as that I had seen at the burn, only very much
clearer."

Miss "Duff" writes under this date March 21st:--"On my arrival
yesterday I was shown to my room (No. 3), which I had selected,
with Miss Freer's permission, as one said to have an evil
reputation. Perhaps it was natural that a feeling 'as if I were
not alone' should come over me, and needless to say there was no
_apparent_ cause for this!

"As a rule I am a very sound sleeper, nothing ever disturbs me;
but last night I was suddenly wide awake, as if roused by
something unusual. I sat up quickly in bed, but suddenly
remembering where I was, I waited expectantly. Nothing occurred,
although I did not get to sleep again for about two hours."

_March 22nd, Monday._--Mr. MacP---- was awakened between four
and five by heavy footsteps overhead. We made many experiments
to account for it, and of course made inquiries among the
servants, but could find no cause. We are the more interested
that hitherto nothing has been heard by our party in his room,
No. 4, though there is a tradition of earlier disturbances
there.

Mr. MacP---- has furnished the following account of his experience:--

"As usual I went to bed about 12 P.M. I had no desire to be disturbed, and so my room was still No. 4, which I had originally selected as being reputed innocuous, and which, save in one slight instance, I had hitherto found to deserve its reputation. My repeated visits had eliminated any expectancy which may at first have, perhaps, existed.

"My bed was alongside the south wall of my room, and parallel to the corridor or passage, my head towards No. 5, and my feet towards No. 3.

"As often happened at B----, I awoke from a sound slumber, not by degrees, but in a moment. There was no transition--no half-awakening, but full and complete consciousness all at once. I struck a light, looked at my watch, found it was 4.30, and went to sleep again immediately. I then wakened slowly and gradually, hearing more and more clearly a noise which appeared to me to be the cause of my awakening. The noise was the kind of sound which is produced by a person walking rapidly with one foot longer than the other--_i.e._, it was a succession of beats in rapid sequence, each alternate beat being louder than the one immediately before it.

"It appeared to me (1) to be produced outside my room; (2) to be on a higher level; and (3) to be moving in the direction of my bed--_i.e._, going as from No. 5 past No. 4, in which I was, towards No. 3. I at once jumped out of bed, opened my door and looked out. I saw nothing, and the noise stopped. I then struck a light, and found that it was only 4.45. I lay awake till I heard the servants obviously moving about, and then went to sleep again. At breakfast I asked, 'Has anybody ever heard this kind of noise?' reproducing it as well as I could by a series of thumps on the table. 'Oh yes,' was the answer, 'that is what we call the 'limping' or 'scuttering' noise. Of course I had heard the phrases used, but thought they referred to two separate noises. I had also formed quite distinct ideas as to the kind of noises these epithets were intended to describe--both entirely different from the kind of noise I had heard--and I showed what I meant. 'Oh no,' said Miss Freer, 'what you heard is what we have been calling indiscriminately the _limping_ or _scuttering_ noise, and we have not heard the kinds of noise these words suggested to you.' I emphasise this as showing clearly that I cannot have been expecting to hear the particular noise in question.

"The next thing was to account for the noise, if possible, and we spent some time experimenting. First of all the servants were interrogated as to whether any of them had been moving about at 4.45. Answer, 'No.' Next we asked who got up first. This was a maid who slept in X, and went into Y to call the kitchenmaid, who slept there. To do so she had, of course, to go through the narrow room which was over part of my bedroom.

"This, she said, was a good bit later than 4.45. But we thought it well to make her go from X to Y while I lay down on my bed and listened. We made her walk backwards and forwards, both with her slippers on and also in her stocking soles. I and some of the others who came into my room heard her quite distinctly. But (1) the noise of her steps was in a different place--near my window, and exactly in the line of her progress; (2) it was an entirely different kind of noise. She walked now fast, and now slowly, but both footsteps seemed always of the same weight; and (3), and this, to my mind, was most important, we heard her quite distinctly going from X to Y, and back again from Y to X and could tell in which direction she was moving. Now, the noise which I had heard only went in the one direction, _i.e._, parallel to the maid's outward progress. I did not hear anything going in the other direction. I was entirely wakened by the noise which I had heard, and, as I have said, I continued to listen intently for some considerable time, and yet I heard nothing.

"In short, alike from its apparent _locus_, from its quality, and from the direction of its movements, I am convinced that the noise which I heard was not caused by any of the servants moving about upstairs.

"Anybody who knows the house will understand that where the noise seemed to me to be was in the neighbourhood of the dome. For all I know, the dome, as somebody suggested, may be a regular sounding-board; but even so, that does not help much towards an explanation. Wherever the noise may have been produced, the question still remains, 'What produced it?' and that we have entirely failed to answer."

* * * * *

The gist of this account was communicated by Mr. MacP---- to the Hon. E---- F----, who replied as follows on April 19, 1897: "Do you appreciate the fact that your ghost, with the footsteps of alternate lowness and softness, is absolutely correct, and corresponds with Miss H----'s ghost, as I heard it from Mrs. G---- lately in town. Miss H---- slept, I _think_, in No. 4 [this is wrong; _cf._ p. 124], and was wakened by the sound of walking round her bed with a peculiar limp. Much alarmed, she went and called her brother, who came and slept on the sofa (is there a sofa in No. 4?), and shortly afterwards they both heard the same noise again."

Mr. MacP----, as already mentioned, did not know that this noise had been heard by any one.

Miss "Duff" thus describes her next night: "Having heard nothing
unusual all day, I went to bed quite disappointed. However, I
was to be again awakened, and this time by a loud _crash_ at my
door, which resounded for some time. I lit a candle, but nothing
had fallen in my room to account for the sound.

"I began to think I might be mistaken as to the direction of the
noise, and that it might have been caused by a large piece of
coal falling in the fender. I went to look, but there was no
coal at all, only the dying embers in the fire. I soon fell
asleep again, only to be again awakened by a similar crash
(although not so loud), and this time between the washstand and
the window. I kept awake till morning, and heard nothing more."
[We had carefully concealed from Miss "Duff" the nature of the
usual phenomena of this room.]

_March 23rd, Tuesday._--Mr. L---- and his friend Captain B----
arrived.

The proof of this portion of the Journal was submitted to Mr. L----, who returned it with, _inter alia_, the following note:--

"I do not wish to suppress the fact of my visit to B----, but object to the publication of any details about me or any of my writings." In deference to Mr. L----'s wish, therefore, his contributions to the Journal have been withdrawn, and all further references to him deleted.

Captain B---- had no experiences, and by his desire some interesting suggestions made by him as to possible normal causes have been omitted.

We are now sleeping as follows:--

1. Captain B----.
2. Miss Langton.
3. Miss "Duff."
4. Mr. MacP----.
5. Myself.
6. Mr. L----.
7. Colonel C----.

Miss "Duff" writes under this date:--

"Last night I sat late by my fire _expecting_, but as nothing
seemed to be going to happen I went to bed, and soon to sleep.
However, I was to have my most startling experience! I was
awakened as if by some one violently shaking my bed (I must
mention there was a great wind blowing outside), and at the same
time I felt something press heavily upon me. _I struck out!_
rather frightened, but remembering again where I was, refrained
from striking a light, in order to see the next development of
this weird experience. To my disappointment nothing happened,
although sleep was successfully banished till daylight."

* * * * *

[On March 28th Miss "Duff" wrote to me: "Mr. ---- suggested that
I should describe to you more accurately the shaking of my bed,
as it was not at all such a vibration as might be caused by a
high wind or any ordinary movement occurring in other parts of
the House.

"The bed seemed to heave in the centre, as if there were some
force under it, which raised it in the centre and rocked it
violently for a moment and then let it sink again. I should also
have added, that on other nights quite as windy this phenomenon
did not occur; in fact, no movement I have ever felt has given
me quite the same sensation. The highest point on the
'Switchback' is the nearest to it in my experience. I was wide
awake at the time, so it was no nightmare."]

* * * * *

Miss "Duff" thus continues her account of Tuesday, March 23rd:--

"This morning, as I sat in the drawing-room, I heard the low,
monotonous voice of some one reading aloud. Knowing that Miss
Freer and Miss Langton were writing in the next room, I
concluded that Miss Freer must be dictating while Miss Langton
wrote for her, although I must say I did not recognise Miss
Freer's voice. This went on for about an hour. Soon after Miss
Langton came into the drawing-room, and I said, 'Well, you
_have_ been busy; I suppose Miss Freer has been dictating to
you?' She looked surprised and said, 'No, indeed she hasn't; we
have both been writing, and if Miss Freer spoke at all, it was
only a few words now and again.'" This low monotonous sound of a
human voice I afterwards heard once or twice in Room 3.

_March 24th, Wednesday._--Last night I heard a crash as of
something falling from the dome into the hall, about twenty
minutes to twelve.

At breakfast Colonel C---- said he had heard a loud thump on his
door at an early hour--before six, when wide awake.

Mr. W---- also had had an experience. He heard sounds outside
his room, and went to investigate. On returning he found the
kitten in his room, but, sceptic as he is, he acknowledged
freely that the kitten, a wee thing, could not have produced the
sounds he heard.

_Copy of letter from_ Mr. W---- _to_ Mr. MacP----.

"_March 24th, 1897._-- ... In case it may interest Miss Freer to
know what I thought of the noises I heard in No. 1 prior to the
kitten incident, the following states my recollections shortly:
The first noise was about half-past four, and resembled two
small explosions, such as a fire sometimes makes. They followed
one another closely, and came from the direction of the
fireplace or the south-west corner of the room. I got up and
looked at the fire, and it was all but out; but I would not like
to swear that the noises did not come from it.

"As to the other noise, it occurred about a quarter to six, and
was quite loud. It sounded as if one of the large, deer heads on
the staircase wall had fallen down and rolled a step or two. I
cannot understand how some of the others did not hear the noise,
but I heard and saw nothing when I went out of my room to see
what it was.

"I should add, that in this case, as well as in the former one,
I was awake when the noise occurred. If I had heard these noises
in any other house I would not have thought of noticing them,
but it might be curious to see if they are the same that have
been heard in that room already."

After breakfast I heard of a great excitement among the
servants, and taking Miss Langton with me, to serve as witness
and to take notes, I interviewed separately the three concerned,
as well as the cook, to whom they had told the story also. It is
worth while to mention that I have several times heard the
kitchenmaid complained of as lacking in respect for her
betters--in scoffing at their reports of phenomena. Only
yesterday Mrs. Robinson told me she had not mentioned several
things (bell-ringing, a knock at her door, &c.) because it upset
her authority in the kitchen to exhibit interest in such things.

All the stories were consistent, and no cross-questioning upset
the evidence. They were distinctly in earnest.

The three maids and a temporary servant, M----, belonging to the
district, went up to their rooms about 10.30. The two housemaids
sleep together [in Z], Lizzie, the kitchenmaid, separately, in a
room adjoining [in Y]. Directly after getting into bed all heard
knockings, and they called out between the rooms to each other.
Lizzie stayed awake, and looking up towards the ceiling had what
sounds like a hypna-gogic hallucination, of a cloud which
changed rapidly in colour, shape, and size, and alarmed her
greatly. Then she felt her clothes pulled off, but thought this
might be accidental, and tucked them in. Then she was sure they
were pulled off again, and screamed to the other maids. Neither
dared go to her, her screams were so terrifying; but they
finally opened the door of communication between the rooms, and
Carter went to fetch the temporary assistant from the other end
of the corridor, "because she was such a good-living girl"
(particular about fasting in Lent, I gather). The three then
returned for the kitchenmaid, and all spent the night in the
housemaid's room.

The upper housemaid went to Miss Langton's room this morning, I
hear, much upset and crying, and there can be no doubt of the
conviction of all the maids.

For the future they wish to occupy one room.

The cook, sleeping on the ground floor below No. 3, heard
footsteps and knockings, and awoke her husband, but he heard
nothing. She diagnosed it as being "about the door of Miss
'Duff's' room (No. 3 above). She thought it was outside of her
door, but was not sure. It was just after midnight.

Miss "Duff" writes on the same day:--

"Last night I had just got into bed, when I heard footsteps, so,
always on the alert for phenomena, I listened and was relieved
(? disappointed would be better!) to hear Mr. ---- cough, so I
settled down to sleep. A quarter of an hour or twenty minutes
later (about twelve o'clock) I again heard steps, but this time
they came from the back-stair and shuffled past my room, and
then I heard a loud fall against what seemed to me the door of
room No. 1, which is practically next door to mine.[E]

"I went to listen, but not a sound was to be heard, and I saw no
one. It could not have been the gentleman who was occupying that
room [Mr. W----], as I heard him (with others) come up a quarter
of an hour later and go into his room. Although the fall seemed
_against_ the door of No. 1, I must add that the depth and
quality of the noise was as if a large body had fallen far away,
of which we only, as it were, heard the echo, but that _quite
distinctly on_ the door of No. 1."

[Miss Langton testifies to being disturbed by the same sounds in
No. 2, the dressing-room between Miss "Duff's" room and Mr.
W----'s.]

Miss "Duff" continues:--

"_March 25th._--Last night I felt my bed shake, as if some one
had taken it in both hands, but as there was a high wind, I did
not take much notice of this. I have had my bed shaken
violently in that room once before, however, when there was no
wind at all."

Mr. MacP---- and Captain B---- left. The only phenomenon to be
noted under this date is the following record by Miss Langton:--

"I heard a loud thump at the door of communication between Nos.
1 and 2 when dressing for dinner, but on going into No. 1 found
it quite empty. A curious point about these noises is that the
knocks on the door between Nos. 1 and 2 have been audible in
this room, No. 2 (in my experience) only when No. 1 is empty,
and in No. 1 only when No. 2 is empty."

_March 26th, Friday._

. . . . . . . .

Miss "Duff" writes on the same day:--

"As I was talking to Miss Langton at the door of her room (No.
2) on my way to dress for dinner, a double bang on the door came
from the inside of room No. 1, which was the one Captain B----
had occupied, and where he had heard nothing. At the same moment
Miss Langton called out that there had been a bang on the door
between her room and No. 1. For a moment I hesitated to go in,
but a housemaid came down the corridor at that moment to see
what the noise was she had heard, and we investigated together,
but to no purpose."

Miss Langton writes further under this date:--

"I heard three distinct bangs at the lower part of the door of
my room leading into the corridor. I described it to myself as a
person coming along the corridor towards No. 2, walking in an
unsteady way, and as if he could not see where he was going, and
then walking straight against the door of my room and banging
his foot against it. Miss 'Duff' this morning acted at our
request as I have just described, and the noise she made was an
exact reproduction of what I heard last night. The bang occurred
at three intervals--at 11.35, 11.45, and 11.50."

_March 27th, Saturday._--Mr. ---- and Miss "Duff" left. Miss
Langton and I are now alone.

Miss "Duff" was undisturbed last night.

. . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . .