Part 3

"The only mystery in the matter seems to be the mode in which a prosaic and ordinary dwelling was endowed with so evil a reputation. I was assured in London that it had had this reputation for twenty or thirty years. The family lawyer in P---- asserted most positively that there had never been a whisper of such a thing until the house was let for last year's shooting season to a family, whom I may call the H----s. I was told the same thing in equally positive terms by the minister of the parish, a level-headed man from B----shire, who has lived in the place for twenty years. He told me that some of the younger members of the H---- family had indulged in practical jokes, and boasted of them. One of their pranks was to drop or throw a weight upon the floor, and to draw it back by means of a string. Another seems to have been to thump on bedroom doors with a boot-heel, the unmistakable marks of which remain to this day, and were pointed out to me by our hostess. If there are really any noises not referable to ordinary domestic causes, it is not improbable that these practical jokers made a confidant of some one about the estate, who amuses himself by occasionally--it is only occasionally that the more remarkable noises are said to be heard--repeating their tricks. The steward or factor on the estate concurs with the lawyer and the minister in denying that the house had any reputation for being haunted before the advent of the H---- family. Yet he is a Highlander, and not without superstition; for he gave it as his opinion that _if_ there was anything in these noises, they must be due to Black Art. Asked what Black Art might be, he said he could not tell, but he had often heard about it, and had been told that when once set going it would go on without the assistance of its authors. He was quite clear, however that if there is Black Art, it came in with the H---- family."

Mr. H----'s rejoinder, which appeared in _The Times_, was dated June 10th:--

_To the Editor of "The Times"_

"SIR,--I must ask you to be good enough to publish, on behalf of the tenant of B----, a few remarks on the article that appeared in your paper of the 8th inst. with the heading 'On the Trail of a Ghost.' The writer of that article finds a very easy solution to the mystery by attacking a private family who happened to be tenants of B---- for a short time, and making them a 'scapegoat' for his argument. I do not quite understand if your correspondent pretends to assert that the place had not the reputation of being haunted previous to my tenancy for three months last year; probably he does not charge me with originating such reports, as he mentions a story of the visit of a Catholic Archbishop to the house to exorcise the ghost. This must have happened some time ago, and proves that the house was then supposed to be haunted. What your correspondent does state as a fact is, that the younger members of my family played practical jokes, which have given rise to Lord Bute's investigations. My object in writing to you is to deny most emphatically this statement. The principal proof that is brought forward to corroborate this slander is, that the doors are marked by the blows struck to produce the noises heard. Surely no one could be frightened after the cause and reason of the noises were once ascertained by the boot-marks! But there were no such marks on the doors when we left B----. Some of our guests were with us until very shortly before my family left, and can testify to this, for the good reason that in the endeavour to localise the extraordinary noises, all doors and other parts of the house were constantly examined up to the very last. When I went to B---- at the beginning of August, my family had already been there a few days, and at once they told me they had found out the house was supposed to be haunted, and that they had heard most unaccountable noises. I had the greatest difficulty to persuade all my people to stay in the place, and after all, we left Scotland about the end of September, two months earlier than usual. I personally did not give any importance to the rumours that B---- House is haunted, and attributed the very remarkable noises heard to the hot-water pipes and the peculiar way in which the house is built. In fact, I have to confess I cannot believe in ghosts, and, consequently, I did my best to persuade everybody that B---- was not haunted, but I am afraid I was not always successful. I hope you will forgive me for taking up so much valuable space in your paper, but I had to do so in self-defence against a false accusation.--Yours faithfully, H----."

It is believed that, in consequence of this letter, Mr. H---- was threatened with legal proceedings, which, however, have not yet been initiated.

The following is the account given of the same period by Miss "B.," a lady of some position in the literary world:--

"... We arrived there on Wednesday the 25th August, the house being then tenanted by Mr. J.R. H---- of K---- Court, C----, G----shire. The household consisted of Mr. and Mrs. H----, three sons, Miss H----, my sister and I, and two other guests, Colonel A---- and Major B----.

"We had rooms in the wing on the ground floor of the house, opening off the main hall, divided from the rest of the house by a long passage, and shut off by a swing-door. Our rooms opened off each other, and the inner room opened off a little sitting-room, which had a door with glass panels leading into the passage. The only other person who slept in that wing of the house was Mr. Willie H----, whose room was exactly opposite the door of our room.

"We heard a great deal of discussion about the 'ghost' when we arrived, and so that night my sister made me sleep in the inner room with her. We heard nothing that night. The next night I slept in the outer room, and neither of us heard anything. The third night, my sister being still a little nervous, I slept in the inner room with her. The door of the outer room was locked, the door between the rooms was locked, and there was a wardrobe placed against the door leading into the sitting-room. We both, having taken these precautions, fell sound asleep.

"I wakened suddenly in the middle of the night, and noticed how quiet the house was. Then I heard the clock strike two, and a few minutes later there came a crashing, _vibrating_ batter against the door of the outer room. My sister was sleeping very soundly, but she started up in a moment at the noise, wide awake.

"'Some one must have done that,' she said; 'such a noise could never have been made by a ghost!'

"But neither of us had the courage to go out into the passage! The noise lasted, I should say, for only two or three _seconds_, and ceased as suddenly as it had begun. We lay awake till the light came in, but the house was quite quiet. I may mention, as against the 'supernatural' origin of the sound, that it came against the outer door, did not pass in to the inner one, and avoided the glass-panelled door of the sitting-room, which would certainly have been shivered by the application of force sufficient to produce such noise. Another very curious thing was, that on the nights when it came to our door (_we_ only heard it once, but other visitors heard it often) Willie H---- heard nothing; whereas on the nights when he was disturbed, we heard nothing, yet the rooms were close together.

"The following night my sister and Miss H---- and two of her brothers sat up all night in the morning-room, which opened off the main hall. We sat with the door open and in the dark, but neither heard or saw anything; the house was absolutely still.

"The next night my sister and I stayed in Miss H----'s room, watching with her. It was on the third storey of the house, and on a line with the specially haunted room, then occupied by Colonel A----. Two of the men sat up downstairs.

"After 2.30 Mr. Eustace H---- came and told his sister we need not sit up later, as everything was so quiet, and the noises seldom came after that hour. He went to his room then, but his door was scarcely closed when we all heard a loud knocking at Colonel A----'s door. We ran out, without waiting a moment, into the passage, where the lamps were still burning brightly, but it was absolutely empty and quiet. We heard it several times that night in distant parts of the house, and once we heard a scream, which seemed to come from overhead. We stayed six days in the house after this, but heard nothing more ourselves, though every one else in the house was disturbed nightly."

The Major B---- mentioned in the above statement has been good enough to furnish the following note as to his personal impressions:--

"On 22nd August 1896 I arrived at B----, and remained there until the 2nd September. During this period I slept in the room on the first floor, which is at the end of a short corridor running from the top of the back stairs to my room [No. 1].

"Colonel A---- occupied the room next to me [No. 3]. It was a double room, connected by a door, and was situated just at the top of the back stair.

"August 24th, about 3.30 A.M., I heard very loud knocking, apparently on Colonel A----'s door, about nine raps in all--three raps quickly, one after the other, then three more the same, and three more the same. It was as if some one was hitting the door with his fist as hard as he could hit. I left my room at once, but could find nothing to account for the noise. It was broad daylight at the time. I heard the same noises on the 28th and 30th August at about the same hour, viz. between 3 and 4 A.M."

The following, which adds somewhat to the above, was contained in a private letter written in January 1897 from Major B---- to the Hon. E---- F----:--

"Between two and four in the morning there used to be noises on the door (of Colonel A----'s room), as if a very strong man were hitting the panels as hard as ever he could hit, three times in quick succession--a pause, and then three times again in quick succession, and perhaps another go. It was so loud that I thought it was on the door of his dressing-room, but he said he thought it was on his bedroom door. One theory is, that it was the hot water in the pipes getting cold, which, I am told, would make a loud throbbing noise. I tripped out pretty quick the first time I heard it, but could see nothing. Of course it is broad daylight in Scotland then.

"The same banging was, I believe, heard on one of the bedroom doors down the passage, in the wing on the ground floor, and on investigation I found there were hot-water pipes just outside that door as well. There were yarns innumerable while I was there about shrieks and footsteps heard, and bedclothes torn off. But I did not experience these.... I don't think the noises were done by a practical joker, as there were too many people on the alert...."

The Hon. E---- F---- wrote to Miss Freer on March 4th:--

"... [Major] B---- is now in London, and I have seen him twice. He says (1) the hot-water pipe theory is not his own, but was suggested by an engineer friend. He should not himself have thought that hot-water pipes could make so big a noise. Besides, Colonel A---- described the noise as a banging either against the door itself, or against the door of the wardrobe inside the room.... (2) He, B----, heard the noise himself several times and bolted out into the passage at once, but saw nothing. The noise sounded like a very loud banging at A----'s door.... (3) He confirms the story about A---- being unable to sleep, and says he used to go to sleep on the moor in consequence."

During Colonel Taylor's tenancy similar noises were heard, both when the water was totally cut off and when, from some defect in the apparatus, it never reached a high temperature.

The Colonel A---- referred to, corroborates this account, as follows, in a letter to Major B----:

"MY DEAR B----, You write asking me about B---- House and its spook. Well, I never _saw_ anything, and what I heard was what you heard, a terrific banging at one's bedroom door, generally about from 2 to 3 A.M., about two nights out of three. Of course there were other yarns of things heard, &c., but I personally never heard or experienced anything else than this banging at the door, which I never could account for...."

Before passing from the subject of Colonel A----, it is as well to mention that after leaving B---- he went to stay at another country house, and the butler there spoke to him of the haunting of B----, where he himself was a servant some years before. This butler was asked for further information, but sent only the following reply:--

"Your note to hand regarding B----. I am afraid what I saw or heard would be of little value to your book, therefore I would rather say nothing."

It will be observed that, so far from denying the facts, he admits that he saw and heard certain things, which he refuses to describe; but as this evidence is circumstantial rather than direct, it is inserted here rather than in the place to which, chronologically, it would, if fuller, properly have belonged.

Mr. and Mrs. "G." were also guests at B---- during the occupation of the H----s. Mrs. "G." published an account of her experiences in a magazine article, of course with fictitious names; but she affirms that she has in no sense "written up" the story, which, indeed, is entirely corroborated by other evidence:--

"_October 9th, 1896._--Some friends of mine took the place this year for the shooting, and, relying on the glowing description they had received, took it on trust, and in July last took possession of it without having previously seen it. For a few days all went well; the family established themselves in the old part of the house, leaving a new wing for their guests. The haunted room (for so I may justly call it) was inhabited by two or three persons in succession, who were so alarmed and disturbed by the violent knockings, shrieks, and groans which they heard every night, and which were also heard by many others along the same corridor, that they refused to sleep there after the first few nights. Those who serve under her Majesty's colours are proverbially brave; they will gladly die for their country, with sword in hand and face to the foe. For this reason a distinguished officer [Colonel A----, above quoted] was the next occupant of the haunted chamber, and was told nothing of its antecedents. The morning after his arrival he came down refreshed, and keen for the day's sport. I may here mention, no one is ever disturbed the first night of their stay. During the succeeding nights, however, he was continually roused from his slumbers by the most terrific noises, and want of sleep would cause him to become drowsy when out shooting on the moor, and would tempt him to make a bed of the purple heather and fragrant myrtle.

"A friend of mine, a man of great nerve and courage, next inhabited the room, and went through the same experiences. He took every possible means to discover the cause of the sounds, and failed in accounting for them in any way. He said the blows on the door were so violent he often looked, expecting to see it shattered to atoms. Since he left no one has been put into this room, but the noises continue, and are heard throughout the house. Even the dogs cannot be coaxed into this room, and if forced into it, they crouch with marked signs of fear.

"The disturbances take place between 12 and 4.30, and never at any other time. A young lady, of by no means timid disposition, and possessed of great presence of mind, has often heard the swing-door pushed open and footsteps coming along the corridor, pausing at the door. She has frequently looked out and seen nothing. The footsteps she has also heard in her room, and going round her bed. Many persons have had the same experiences, and many have heard the wild unearthly shriek which has rung through the house in the stillness of the night.

"I will now give my own experience. I arrived with my husband and daughter on September 17, having been duly warned by my friends of the nocturnal disturbances. We were put in rooms adjoining, at the end of the new wing. I kept a light in my room, but the first night all was still. Next night, about 2 A.M., a succession of thundering knocks came from the end of our passage, re-echoing through the house, where it was heard by many others. About half-an-hour afterwards my husband heard a piercing shriek; then all was still, save for the hooting of the owls in the neighbouring trees. When the grey dawn stole in it was welcome; so was the cheery sound of the bagpipes, as the kilted piper took his daily round in the early morning. The next night and succeeding ones we heard loud single knocks at different doors along our passage. The last night but one before we left I was roused from sleep by hearing the clock strike one, and immediately it had ceased six violent blows shook our own door on its hinges, and came with frightful rapidity, followed by deep groans. After this sleep was impossible. The next night, our last in Scotland, my husband and others watched in our passage all night, and though the sounds were again heard in different directions, nothing was to be seen. As I write, at the commencement of October, the house on the lonely hillside is deserted; the tenants have gone southwards; an old caretaker (too deaf to hear the weird sounds which nightly awaken the echoes) is the sole occupant. Even she closes up all before dusk, and retires into her quarters below; though she hears not, her sight is unimpaired, and she perhaps dreads to meet the hunchback figure which is said to glide up the stairs, or the shadowy form of a grey lady who paces with noiseless footfall the lonely corridor, and has been seen to pass through the door of one of the rooms. Within the last two months a man with bronzed complexion and bent figure has been seen by two gentlemen, friends of mine. They both describe him as having come through the door and passed through the room in which they were about three in the morning. I have tried to give a faithful and accurate account of these strange events. I leave it to each and all to form their own opinion on the matter."

Some passages in private letters to Miss Freer and Lord Bute written by Mrs. "G.," should be quoted as bearing upon some points in the above:--

"_February 9th._--I am going to ask you if you do go there [B---- House] if you would let me know if you see or hear anything. I am immensely interested in it, as we stayed there in the autumn with some friends who took it, and anything more horribly haunted could not be. I never should have believed it if I had not been there."

After the appearance of _The Times_ correspondent's accusation against the H---- family, Mrs. "G." wrote as follows to Lord Bute:--

"_June 10th._--If the noises complained of by nearly all who have stayed at B---- were the result of practical jokes perpetrated by the H----s, how is it that not only were they heard by guests who stayed there years ago, but are admitted by members of the S---- family to have been heard by themselves? Miss Freer also has told me, that the same noises were heard at all hours day and night by herself and her guests for months after the H---- family and their servants had left Scotland. This so completely exonerates them from the absurd charge, that I should hardly have mentioned it, had not Miss Freer seemed quite under the impression that practical jokes had been played during the tenancy of the H----s; and as a proof of this, she told me that the doors, especially of two of the rooms, were marked with nailed boots, and the panels even split through, and this damage was attributed by her to the younger members of the H---- family. I am happy to say I was able to disabuse her mind of this idea, as we were staying at B---- within a few days of their leaving Scotland, and I had most carefully examined the doors especially of the two rooms specified, one of which was our own room. There was not a scratch, nor the smallest mark or indentation; others can also vouch for this fact. The H----s had all left B---- for good at that time, except the eldest son, and Miss Freer agreed with me that whatever damage was done to the doors, must therefore have been done after the H----s left, and before her party came in.... The hot-water pipe theory revived by the writer of the article in _The Times_ is disproved by Miss Freer, who told me that the hot-water apparatus was not used for some time, and that the disturbances continued just the same.... The stories told in connection with B---- were not circulated or started by the H---- family. They were told _to_ them by persons living around B----."

In a letter to Miss Freer, dated June 12th, Mrs. "G." writes, in reference to the charge of practical joking:--

"They are the most unlikely family to do such a thing; and besides, if further proof were wanted, the young men of the family were away from B---- when we stayed there ten days, and there was only one night when we did not hear the noises."

Miss Freer of course entirely accepts Mrs. "G.'s" statement, and that of Mr. H---- as published in _The Times_. She had been led to her earlier conclusions as to the marks of a boot-heel on the upper panels of the doors by the statements of interested persons.

A suggestive point in this connection is the fact, to which Miss "G." has herself testified, that while Mr. and Mrs. "G." were disturbed to the utmost degree, their daughter, who slept in a room communicating with that of her mother, heard nothing whatever; from which it would appear that the noises heard by them were subjective, and that the alleged evidence of the boot-heel, even were it credible, would be, in fact, irrelevant.

The mention of the hallucinatory nature of such phenomena suggests attention to the intellectual acumen displayed by _The Times_ correspondent in saying that "Lord Bute ought to have employed a couple of intelligent detectives" for the purpose of catching subjective hallucinations. On the same principle, he ought to offer to his learned friend, Sir James Crichton-Browne, well known as an alienist, some advice as to the best mode of securing morbid hallucinations in strait-waistcoats. Is he prepared to propose to take photographs of a dream, to put thoughts under lock and key, or to advocate the supply of hot and cold water on every floor of a castle in the air?

One of the guests at B---- during Colonel Taylor's tenancy wrote after his return to London to Miss Freer as follows:--