Part 9

"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.

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

There was very little wind last night, as I happen to know in the following connection. Carter twice over, about 11.30 and again after midnight, heard the sounds of reading, which she imitated to me this morning--like the monotoning of a psalm. She called out to two other maids to listen, and all three heard it. She felt sure it was not the wind or the pipes. Both the gardener and the gamekeeper say it was a very quiet night.

_March 28th, Sunday._--As it had been suggested that practical joking or malicious mischief were in question, we were a good deal on the _qui vive_ to-night, being alone. I watched from behind the curtain at an open window from 10.30 P.M. till after midnight, and again from 4.30 A.M. to 6 A.M. The night was windy and there was a good deal of noise, but very different in kind from any of our usual phenomena. We found that there were people moving about till after midnight, but we did not attach much importance to this, as the gardeners may have been to the stoves (the night was frosty), and there is a right-of-way through the grounds.

No phenomena.

The servants, we find, are alive to the fact that some one prowls about at night. The footman, who sleeps downstairs, says they have tried to frighten him, and things have been thrown at the kitchen windows. I found it out by the fact that I was seized by the butler and footman when I went out "prowling" on Sunday night, fancying I had heard footsteps. They were on the same errand, and caught me in the dark!

_March 29th, Monday._--To-day Miss Langton and I have been very busy writing in the library, both silent and occupied. Again and again have we heard footsteps overhead in No. 8, at intervals between ten A.M. and one, and again in the evening between six and seven. No rooms are in use on that side of the house--6, 7, and 8 are all empty. The rooms below are locked up and shuttered. At 11.30 we both heard some one moving about outside on the gravel, but it was too dark a night to see any one.

[_Friday, April 2nd_--An unpleasant light has (possibly) been thrown on these movements. We find to-day that some one has killed a sheep in the garden, in a retired spot, taking away the skin and the meat.]

_March 30th, Tuesday._--No phenomena, except the sound of steps overhead above the library. For this reason, Miss Langton is going to sleep in No. 8, where the steps occur.

Mr. and Mrs. M---- came.

[We were particularly glad to welcome Mrs. M---- for other reasons than the pleasure of her society. She is of Spanish origin, and a Roman Catholic, and according to previous evidence, so were other persons upon whom specially interesting phenomena had been bestowed.]

Mr. B. S---- and Miss V. S----, brother and sister of the owner, dined with us.

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

_March 31st, Wednesday._--Mr. and Mrs M---- were put into No. 1. Both complain of a very sleepless night.

Miss Langton in No. 8 heard sounds after daylight--footsteps shuffling round the bed, and a knock near the wardrobe. No one is overhead nor in No. 7, the next room.

Mrs. M---- spent two hours alone in the drawing-room. She asked me just before lunch what guns those were she had heard. I suggested "The keeper?" and she said, "No, it is like the gun you hear at Edinburgh at one o'clock _a long way off_," which is a good description of the familiar detonating sound (_cf._ under date, February 8).

Her own account of the day is as follows:--

"B---- HOUSE.

"I arrived here last evening, Tuesday, 30th of March, about six o'clock. It was a nice bright evening, but cold. I was received by Miss Freer, who gave me some tea, and then I was taken to my bedroom by Miss Langton, of whom I asked if my room was haunted. She said it had 'a reputation', but somehow or another it did not seem to impress me much. That night Miss S---- and her brother dined here; they were very pleasant, and talked away hard, and we played card games, such as 'Old Maid' and 'Muggins.' We went to bed feeling quite happy, saying we had never been in such an unghostly house before. The bed was quite comfortable, and we lay talking quite happily, but could not sleep, and were not in the least bit restless. About two o'clock we dozed off, and a few minutes to four A.M. we were both suddenly awoke by a terrific noise, which sounded to me like the lid of the coal-scuttle having caught in a woman's gown. We then lay awake until about 6.30, and in that interval we heard a few noises, what I cannot exactly describe, as they were very ordinary sounds one might hear in any not very solidly built house. We came down to breakfast feeling we had passed a sleepless night, but otherwise quite happy. After breakfast I went into the smoking-room in the new wing, where my husband was writing letters. I sat there a good time, and he was in and out of the room. All the time I heard tramping up above as if the housemaid was doing the room. Not knowing the geography of the house I took it for No. 8. and thought what very noisy servants these were. I then went into the drawing-room to write my own letters, and Miss Freer came and spoke to me there. While she was with me there, I heard a distant cannon, exactly like the one o'clock gun in Edinburgh, and the whole morning a ceaseless chatter, which I put down to Miss Freer and Miss Langton in the room next door (_cf._ under date, March 23rd).

_April 1st, Thursday._--This is Mrs. M----'s account of last night. "Last evening we were late for dinner, as Mr. M---- and I had been out to see the nun by the burn, but had seen nothing. The whole evening I had a sort of half consciously disagreeable feeling, and when I went to my room it was some time before I could make up my mind to get into bed. The servants very much annoyed me; they were making such a needless amount of noise in running about the room overhead. [The room overhead was empty. Since their adventure of March 23rd, the servants had slept on the other side of the house.] At last I got into bed, and I may say I hardly slept a wink the whole night. I simply lay in terror, of what I cannot say, but I had the feeling of some very disagreeable sensation in the air, but we did not hear a sound all night from the time we got into bed until we got up next morning at 8.30.

"I spent the whole of the morning in the drawing-room writing letters and reading, and from time to time I went up to No. 1 to get books and different things, and each time was a little surprised to find the room empty, as there had been a ceaseless noise of housemaids, and very noisy ones too. I also heard what I had described before as the cannon. After luncheon Miss Freer and Miss Langton and I went out walking, and just as we were coming in to tea we all three heard the cannon, and then I said that is the noise I heard every morning, and sometimes in the evening, in the drawing-room."

This afternoon we were having tea in the drawing-room at 4.30, Mrs. M----, Miss Langton, and myself. We heard some one walking overhead in No. 1, a sound we have heard often before, when we knew the room to be empty above. Mrs. M---- remarked that it was just the sound she had heard, again and again, when sitting alone in the drawing-room.

It was so exactly the heavy, heelless steps we had heard before, that Miss L---- ran upstairs softly to see if any one was there, but found no one about. Next we heard a loud bang--not of a door--in the hall, and she went out again to ascertain the cause, and met the butler on the same errand. We could find nothing to account for it. It was like the noise before described, of something dropped heavily into the hall from the gallery above.

There had been so much trouble of ascertaining whether the noises were caused by doors banging, that since the warmer weather set in, ever since our return on March 20th, in fact, we have had every passage-door opening into the hall and into the gallery upstairs fixed open with wedges.

We had scarcely settled to our tea again before we again heard the footsteps overhead, and again Miss Langton went up and found the room empty. She walked across the room, and we heard her do so, but the sound was quite different. She did it noisily on purpose, but though she is very big and tall, she didn't sound heavy enough.

Mrs. M---- remarks, on hearing this read over, that the sound was different in character as well as in volume--that the footsteps she (and we) heard were "between a run and a walk." My phrase was, and has always been, "as of the quick, heavy steps of a person whose foot-gear didn't match." We called it, when we first heard it in No. 8, a "shuffling step."

After she came down the servants' tea-bell rang, and we at once said, "Now we shall know where they all are." The hall is under the wing, at the other end of the house, and we knew that the room underneath us was empty, and the shutters up, and that all who were in the house were either in the drawing-room or the servants' hall.

In a few minutes we again heard the pacing footsteps, up and down, up and down; we heard them at intervals during half-an-hour. We also heard voices as of a man and woman talking. I went to the foot of the stairs, just below the door of No. 1, and heard them plain. Mrs. M---- is not quick of hearing, but she heard them distinctly several times. At 5.20 we heard the maids go up the stone staircase, coming away from their tea, and though we listened till after six, the other sounds did not occur again.

_April 2nd, Friday._

[Mr. M---- left early, Mrs. M---- remaining till a later train.]