Flynn’s Weekly Detective Fiction. Vol. 27, No. 1, September 17, 1927
- Автор: Valentine, Corley H. W.
- Год: 1927
- Язык: английский
- Год: The Red Star News Company
- Жанр: Другие детективы
Электронная книга - «Flynn’s Weekly Detective Fiction. Vol. 27, No. 1, September 17, 1927». Краткое содержание книги:
“There were fears of calamity overtaking him or his family when it was announced that he had leased the old building. Gossip, superstitious and tragic, was heard among all who knew the history of the place. Had it been a haunted house, had ghosts been seen there in convention, there could not have been more talk.
A Plan of the Dwelling
“Some folks there were, though, who believed that the luck of Blaine would offset everything, but finally when the family of the Secretary of State gave a reception to their hosts of friends, and the rooms were filled with a gay, fortune-favored throng, the protestants against superstition declared that the spell, if ever there was any, was broken.
“Yet, within a week the eldest son of the secretary, Walker Blaine, fell sick and died. That made talk about the house, and people said it was an unlucky spot. Now Mrs. Coppinger, Blaine’s daughter, is dead, and once more the story of calamity is told.
“There may be something, there may be nothing in the tale of a curse, but certain it is that if the house were in the real estate market to-day, it would be long before it got a taker.
“To those who go there now, the decorations seem like those of a tomb, and men want to know what will be next in the series of misfortunes that appear to come to those who inhabit this historic home.”
The writer has not had the opportunity to trace the history of this house beyond the date given above, and consequently is not able to say whether or not the “curse” or spirit hovering over the place continued to exert its malignant influence.
The following case comes from Mr. Wilfred Ward and Lord Tennyson — for whom it was first written. The account was sent to the English Society of Psychical Research by Mrs. Pennee of St. Anne de Beaupre, Quebec, daughter of the late William Ward — a Conservative M. P. — and a sister of the late Rev. A. B. Ward of Cambridge.
At the time she wrote it out for Lord Tennyson, in 1884, Mrs. Pennee was living at Weston Manor, Freshwater, Isle of Wight. But the occurrences which she relates took place in Canada.
“It was in the year 1856,” she wrote, “that my husband took me to live at a house called Binstead, about five miles from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. It was a good-sized house, and at the back had been considerably extended to allow for extra offices, since there were about two hundred acres of farm land around it, necessitating several resident farming men.
“Although forming part of the house, these premises could only be entered through the inner kitchen, as no wall had ever been broken down to form a door or passage from upstairs. Thus the farming men’s sleeping rooms were adjacent to those occupied by the family and visitors, although there was no communication through the upstairs corridor.
The Woman and the Ashes
“About ten days after we had established ourselves at Binstead we commenced hearing strange noises. For many weeks they were of a very frequent occurrence, and were heard simultaneously in every part of the house, always appearing to be in close proximity to each person.
“The noise was more like a rumbling, which made the house vibrate, like that produced by dragging a heavy body which one so often hears in ghost stories.
“As spring came on we began to hear shrieks. They would grow fainter or louder as if some one was being chased around the house. But always they would culminate in a volley of shrieks, sobs, moans, and half uttered words, proceeding from beneath a tree that stood a little distance from the dining room window.
“The branches of this tree nearly touched the window of one of the spare bedrooms upstairs, immediately adjacent to the men’s sleeping quarters. It was in February — I think — 1857, that the first apparition came under my notice. Two ladies were sleeping in this spare bedroom.
“Of course for that season of the year a fire had been lighted in the grate, and the fireplace really contained a grate, and not an American substitute for one.
“About two o’clock Mrs. M. was awakened by a bright light which pervaded the room. She saw a woman standing by the fireplace. On her left arm was a young baby, and with her right hand she was stirring the ashes, over which she was slightly stooping.
Previous Visits
“Mrs. M. pushed Miss C. to awaken her, and just then the figure turned her face toward them, disclosing the features of quite a young woman with a singularly anxious, pleading look upon her face. They took notice of a little check shawl which was crossed over her bosom.
“Miss C. had previously heard some tales about the house being haunted — which neither Mrs. M. nor I had ever heard — so, jumping to the conclusion that she beheld a ghost, she screamed and pulled the bedclothes tightly over the heads of herself and her companion.
“The following spring I went home to England. But just before starting I had my own experience of seeing the ghost. I had temporarily established myself in the same room.
“One evening, finding my little daughter — now Mrs. Amyot — far from well, I had her bed wheeled in beside mine, that I might attend to her. About twelve o’clock I got up to give her some medicine, and was feeling for some matches when she called my attention to a light shining under the door.
“I exclaimed that it was her papa, and threw open the door to admit him. I found myself face to face with a woman.
“She had a baby on her left arm, a check shawl crossed over her bosom, and all around her shone a bright pleasant light, whence emanating I could not say. Her look at me was one of entreaty, almost agonizing entreaty.
“She did not enter the room, but moved across the staircase, vanishing into the opposite wall exactly where the inner manservant’s room was situated. Neither my daughter nor myself felt the slightest alarm; at the moment it appeared to be a matter of common occurrence.
“When Mr. Pennee came upstairs and I told him what we had seen, he examined the wall, the staircase, the passage, but found no trace of anything extraordinary. Nor did my dogs bark.
“On my return from England in 1858 I was informed that ‘the creature had been carrying on,’ but it was the screams that had been the worst. It was always in or near the sleeping apartment adjacent to the men’s that the apparition was seen, and as that was one of our spare bedrooms, it may frequently have been unperceived.
“Harry, one of the farm servants, had several visits from it, but would tell no particulars. I never could get Harry to tell me much. He acknowledged that the woman had several times stood at the foot of his bed, but he would not tell me more.
More About Binstead
“One night Harry had certainly been much disturbed in mind, and the other man heard voices and sobs. Nothing would ever induce Harry to let any one share his room, and he was most careful to fasten his door.
“At the time I attached no importance to ‘his ways,’ as we called them.
“In the autumn of the following year, 1859, my connection with Binstead ceased, for we gave up the house and returned to Charlottetown. I left Prince Edward Island in 1861 and went to Quebec.
“In 1877 I happened to return to the island and spent several months there. One day I was at the bishop’s residence when the parish priest came in with a letter in his hand.
“He asked me about my residence at Binstead, and whether I could throw any light on the contents of his letter.
“It was from the wife of the then owner of Binstead, asking him to come out and try to deliver them from the ghost of a young woman with a baby in her arms, who had appeared several times.