The Haunted and the Haunters; Or, The House and the Brain Read online

superstitious prejudice as any one I could think of.

  "F----," said I, "you remember in Germany how disappointed we were atnot finding a ghost in that old castle, which was said to be hauntedby a headless apparition? Well, I have heard of a house in Londonwhich, I have reason to hope, is decidedly haunted. I mean to sleepthere to-night. From what I hear, there is no doubt that somethingwill allow itself to be seen or to be heard,--something, perhaps,excessively horrible. Do you think if I take you with me, I may relyon your presence of mind, whatever may happen?"

  "Oh, sir, pray trust me," answered F----, grinning with delight.

  "Very well; then here are the keys of the house,--this is the address.Go now,--select for me any bedroom you please; and since the house hasnot been inhabited for weeks, make up a good fire, air the bedwell,--see, of course, that there are candles as well as fuel. Takewith you my revolver and my dagger,--so much for my weapons; armyourself equally well; and if we are not a match for a dozen ghosts,we shall be but a sorry couple of Englishmen."

  I was engaged for the rest of the day on business so urgent that I hadnot leisure to think much on the nocturnal adventure to which I hadplighted my honor. I dined alone, and very late, and while dining,read, as is my habit. I selected one of the volumes of Macaulay'sEssays. I thought to myself that I would take the book with me; therewas so much of healthfulness in the style, and practical life in thesubjects, that it would serve as an antidote against the influences ofsuperstitious fancy.

  Accordingly, about half-past nine, I put the book into my pocket, andstrolled leisurely towards the haunted house. I took with me afavorite dog: an exceedingly sharp, bold, and vigilantbull-terrier,--a dog fond of prowling about strange, ghostly cornersand passages at night in search of rats; a dog of dogs for a ghost.

  It was a summer night but chilly, the sky somewhat gloomy andovercast. Still there was a moon, faint and sickly but still a moon,and if the clouds permitted, after midnight it would be brighter.

  I reached the house, knocked, and my servant opened with a cheerfulsmile.

  "All right, sir, and very comfortable."

  "Oh!" said I, rather disappointed; "have you not seen nor heardanything remarkable?"

  "Well, sir, I must own I have heard something queer."

  "What?--what?"

  "The sound of feet pattering behind me; and once or twice small noiseslike whispers close at my ear,--nothing more."

  "You are not at all frightened?"

  "I! not a bit of it, sir;" and the man's bold look reassured me on onepoint,--namely, that happen what might, he would not desert me.

  We were in the hall, the street-door closed, and my attention was nowdrawn to my dog. He had at first run in eagerly enough, but hadsneaked back to the door, and was scratching and whining to get out.After patting him on the head, and encouraging him gently, the dogseemed to reconcile himself to the situation, and followed me andF---- through the house, but keeping close at my heels instead ofhurrying inquisitively in advance, which was his usual and normalhabit in all strange places. We first visited the subterraneanapartments,--the kitchen and other offices, and especially thecellars, in which last there were two or three bottles of wine stillleft in a bin, covered with cobwebs, and evidently, by theirappearance, undisturbed for many years. It was clear that the ghostswere not winebibbers. For the rest we discovered nothing of interest.There was a gloomy little backyard, with very high walls. The stonesof this yard were very damp; and what with the damp, and what with thedust and smoke-grime on the pavement, our feet left a slightimpression where we passed. And now appeared the first strangephenomenon witnessed by myself in this strange abode. I saw, justbefore me, the print of a foot suddenly form itself, as it were. Istopped, caught hold of my servant, and pointed to it. In advance ofthat footprint as suddenly dropped another. We both saw it. I advancedquickly to the place; the footprint kept advancing before me, a smallfootprint,--the foot of a child: the impression was too faintthoroughly to distinguish the shape, but it seemed to us both that itwas the print of a naked foot. This phenomenon ceased when we arrivedat the opposite wall, nor did it repeat itself on returning. Weremounted the stairs, and entered the rooms on the ground-floor, adining parlor, a small back-parlor, and a still smaller third roomthat had been probably appropriated to a footman,--all still as death.We then visited the drawing-rooms, which seemed fresh and new. In thefront room I seated myself in an arm-chair. F---- placed on the tablethe candlestick with which he had lighted us. I told him to shut thedoor. As he turned to do so a chair opposite to me moved from the wallquickly and noiselessly, and dropped itself about a yard from my ownchair, immediately fronting it.

  "Why, this is better than the turning-tables," said I, with ahalf-laugh; and as I laughed, my dog put back his head and howled.

  F---, coming back, had not observed the movement of the chair. Heemployed himself now in stilling the dog. I continued to gaze on thechair, and fancied I saw on it a pale, blue, misty outline of a humanfigure, but an outline so indistinct that I could only distrust my ownvision. The dog now was quiet.

  "Put back that chair opposite to me," said I to F---; "put it back tothe wall."

  F---- obeyed. "Was that you, sir?" said he, turning abruptly.

  "I!--what?"

  "Why, something struck me. I felt it sharply on the shoulder,--justhere."

  "No," said I. "But we have jugglers present, and though we may notdiscover their tricks, we shall catch _them_ before they frighten_us_."

  We did not stay long in the drawing-rooms,--in fact, they felt so dampand so chilly that I was glad to get to the fire upstairs. We lockedthe doors of the drawing-rooms,--a precaution which, I should observe,we had taken with all the rooms we had searched below. The bedroom myservant had selected for me was the best on the floor,--a large one,with two windows fronting the street. The four-posted bed, which tookup no inconsiderable space, was opposite to the fire, which burnedclear and bright; a door in the wall to the left, between the bed andthe window, communicated with the room which my servant appropriatedto himself. This last was a small room with a sofa-bed, and had nocommunication with the landing-place,--no other door but that whichconducted to the bedroom I was to occupy. On either side of myfireplace was a cupboard without locks, flush with the wall, andcovered with the same dull-brown paper. We examined thesecupboards,--only hooks to suspend female dresses, nothing else; wesounded the walls,--evidently solid, the outer walls of the building.Having finished the survey of these apartments, warmed myself a fewmoments, and lighted my cigar, I then, still accompanied by F----,went forth to complete my reconnoitre. In the landing-place there wasanother door; it was closed firmly. "Sir," said my servant, insurprise, "I unlocked this door with all the others when I first came;it cannot have got locked from the inside, for--"

  Before he had finished his sentence, the door, which neither of usthen was touching, opened quietly of itself. We looked at each other asingle instant. The same thought seized both,--some human agency mightbe detected here. I rushed in first, my servant followed. A small,blank, dreary room without furniture; a few empty boxes and hampers ina corner; a small window; the shutters closed; not even a fireplace;no other door but that by which we had entered; no carpet on thefloor, and the floor seemed very old, uneven, worm-eaten, mended hereand there, as was shown by the whiter patches on the wood; but noliving being, and no visible place in which a living being could havehidden. As we stood gazing round, the door by which we had enteredclosed as quietly as it had before opened; we were imprisoned.

  For the first time I felt a creep of undefinable horror. Not so myservant. "Why, they don't think to trap us, sir; I could break thattrumpery door with a kick of my foot."

  "Try first if it will open to your hand," said I, shaking off thevague apprehension that had seized me, "while I unclosed the shuttersand see what is without."

  I unbarred the shutters,--the window looked on the little backyard Ihave before described; there was no ledge without,--nothing to breakthe sheer descent of the wall
. No man getting out of that window wouldhave found any footing till he had fallen on the stones below.

  F----, meanwhile, was vainly attempting to open the door. He nowturned round to me and asked my permission to use force. And I shouldhere state, in justice to the servant, that, far from evincing anysuperstitious terrors, his nerve, composure, and even gayety amidstcircumstances so extraordinary, compelled my admiration, and made mecongratulate myself on having secured a companion in every way fittedto the occasion. I willingly gave him the permission he required. Butthough he was a remarkably strong man, his force was as idle as hismilder efforts; the door did not even shake to his stoutest kick.Breathless and panting, he desisted. I then tried the door myself,equally in vain. As I ceased from the effort, again that creep ofhorror came over me; but this time it was