Three Ghost Stories by Charles Dickens

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Three Ghost StoriesBy

Charles Dickens

Contents:

The Signal-ManThe Haunted-HouseThe Trial For Murder

THE SIGNAL-MAN

Halloa! Below there!"

When he heard a voice thus calling to him, he wastanding at theoor of his box, with a flag in his hand, furled round



hortole. One would have thought, considering the natf the ground,hat he could not have doubted from what quarter toice came; but

nstead of looking up to where I stood on the top ofteeputting nearly over his head, he turned himself abound lookedown the Line. There was something remarkable in

manner of

oing so, though I could not have said for my life wBut I knowt was remarkable enough to attract my notice, evehough hisgure was foreshortened and shadowed, down in theep trench, and

mine was high above him, so steeped in the glow ofngry sunset,hat I had shaded my eyes with my hand before I sim at all.

Halloa! Below!"

rom looking down the Line, he turned himself abougain, and,aising his eyes, saw my figure high above him.

Is there any path by which I can come down and s



o you?"

He looked up at me without replying, and I looked dt him

without pressing him too soon with a repetition of m

dle question.ust then there came a vague vibration in the earthir, quicklyhanging into a violent pulsation, and an oncoming hat caused

me to start back, as though it had force to draw me

own. When suchapour as rose to my height from this rapid train haassed me, and

was skimming away over the landscape, I looked dogain, and sawim refurling the flag he had shown while the train y.

repeated my inquiry. After a pause, during which eemed toegard me with fixed attention, he motioned with hiolled-up flagowards a point on my level, some two or three hun

ardsistant. I called down to him, "All right!" and madehatoint. There, by dint of looking closely about me, Iound a rough



igzag descending path notched out, which I followe

The cutting was extremely deep, and unusuallyrecipitate. It was

made through a clammy stone, that became oozier

wetter as I wentown. For these reasons, I found the way long enoo give meme to recall a singular air of reluctance or compuls

with whiche had pointed out the path.

When I came down low enough upon the zigzag deso see himgain, I saw that he was standing between the railshe way by

which the train had lately passed, in an attitude as werewaiting for me to appear. He had his left hand at hhin, andhat left elbow rested on his right hand, crossed overeast.

His attitude was one of such expectation andwatchfulness that I

topped a moment, wondering at it.

resumed my downward way, and stepping out upohe level of theailroad, and drawing nearer to him, saw that he wa



ark sallowman, with a dark beard and rather heavy eyebrowsost was ins solitary and dismal a place as ever I saw. On eitide, a

ripping-wet wall of jagged stone, excluding all view strip of ky; the perspective one way only a crookedrolongation of thisreat dungeon; the shorter perspective in the otherirection

erminating in a gloomy red light, and the gloomierntrance to alack tunnel, in whose massive architecture there warbarous,epressing, and forbidding air. So little sunlight eveound its

way to this spot, that it had an earthy, deadly smelnd so muchold wind rushed through it, that it struck chill to mf I hadeft the natural world.

Before he stirred, I was near enough to him to have

ouched him.Not even then removing his eyes from mine, he steack one step,nd lifted his hand.



This was a lonesome post to occupy (I said), and it iveted myttention when I looked down from up yonder. A v

was aarity, I should suppose; not an unwelcome rarity, I

oped? In me,e merely saw a man who had been shut up withinarrow limits allis life, and who, being at last set free, had a newlywakenednterest in these great works. To such purpose I sp

o him; butam far from sure of the terms I used; for, besidesam notappy in opening any conversation, there wasomething in the manhat daunted me.

He directed a most curious look towards the red lighear theunnel's mouth, and looked all about it, as if someth

weremissing from it, and then looked it me.

That light was part of his charge? Was it not?

He answered in a low voice,--"Don't you know it is?

The monstrous thought came into my mind, as I



erused the fixed eyesnd the saturnine face, that this was a spirit, not a

man. I havepeculated since, whether there may have beennfection in his mind.

n my turn, I stepped back. But in making the actioetected inis eyes some latent fear of me. This put the

monstrous thought toight.

You look at me," I said, forcing a smile, "as if you dread of

me."

I was doubtful," he returned, "whether I had seen efore."

Where?"

He pointed to the red light he had looked at.

There?" I said.

ntently watchful of me, he replied (but without souYes."

My good fellow, what should I do there? However,



hat as itmay, I never was there, you may swear."

I think I may," he rejoined. "Yes; I am sure I may

His manner cleared, like my own. He replied to myemarks witheadiness, and in well-chosen words. Had he mucho there? Yes;hat was to say, he had enough responsibility to beaut exactness

nd watchfulness were what was required of him, actual work--manual labour--he had next to none. To change thignal, to trimhose lights, and to turn this iron handle now and th

was all head to do under that head. Regarding those many nd lonelyours of which I seemed to make so much, he couldnly say that theoutine of his life had shaped itself into that form, ae hadrown used to it. He had taught himself a language

own here,--if nly to know it by sight, and to have formed his owrude ideas of ts pronunciation, could be called learning it. He halso worked



t fractions and decimals, and tried a little algebra; e was,nd had been as a boy, a poor hand at figures. Waecessary forim when on duty always to remain in that channel

amp air, andould he never rise into the sunshine from betweenhose high stone

walls? Why, that depended upon times andircumstances. Under someonditions there would be less upon the Line than u

thers, andhe same held good as to certain hours of the day aight. Inright weather, he did choose occasions for getting ttle abovehese lower shadows; but, being at all times liable talled byis electric bell, and at such times listening for it wiedoublednxiety, the relief was less than I would suppose.

He took me into his box, where there was a fire, a dor an

fficial book in which he had to make certain entrieselegraphicnstrument with its dial, face, and needles, and the ell of

which he had spoken. On my trusting that he woul



xcuse the remarkhat he had been well educated, and (I hoped I migay withoutffence) perhaps educated above that station, hebserved that

nstances of slight incongruity in such wise would rae foundwanting among large bodies of men; that he had het was so inworkhouses, in the police force, even in that lastesperate

esource, the army; and that he knew it was so, mor less, in anyreat railway staff. He had been, when young (if Iould believet, sitting in that hut,--he scarcely could), a studentaturalhilosophy, and had attended lectures; but he had

wild, misusedis opportunities, gone down, and never risen again

He had noomplaint to offer about that. He had made his bednd he lay upont. It was far too late to make another.

All that I have here condensed he said in a quietmanner, with hisrave dark regards divided between me and the fire

He threw in the



word, "Sir," from time to time, and especially wheneferred tois youth,--as though to request me to understand e claimed toe nothing but what I found him. He was several ti

nterruptedy the little bell, and had to read off messages, andend replies.

Once he had to stand without the door, and display ag as a trainassed, and make some verbal communication to th

river. In theischarge of his duties, I observed him to be remarxact andigilant, breaking off his discourse at a syllable, andemainingilent until what he had to do was done.

n a word, I should have set this man down as one he safest of

men to be employed in that capacity, but for theircumstance that

while he was speaking to me he twice broke off withallen colour,

urned his face towards the little bell when it did NOing, openedhe door of the hut (which was kept shut to excludenhealthyamp), and looked out towards the red light near th



mouth of theunnel. On both of those occasions, he came back the fire withhe inexplicable air upon him which I had remarked

without being

ble to define, when we were so far asunder.

Said I, when I rose to leave him, "You almost makehink that Iave met with a contented man."

I am afraid I must acknowledge that I said it to leaim on.)

I believe I used to be so," he rejoined, in the low vn whiche had first spoken; "but I am troubled, sir, I amroubled."

He would have recalled the words if he could. He haid them,owever, and I took them up quickly.

With what? What is your trouble?"

It is very difficult to impart, sir. It is very, very difopeak of. If ever you make me another visit, I will o tell



ou."

But I expressly intend to make you another visit. when shallt be?"

I go off early in the morning, and I shall be on agaen to-

morrow night, sir."

I will come at eleven."

He thanked me, and went out at the door with me. how my

white light, sir," he said, in his peculiar low voice, "touave found the way up. When you have found it, dall out! And

when you are at the top, don't call out!"

His manner seemed to make the place strike colderme, but I saido more than, "Very well."

And when you come down to-morrow night, don't cut! Let me askou a parting question. What made you cry, 'Halloa

Below there!'o-night?"



Heaven knows," said I. "I cried something to thatffect--"

Not to that effect, sir. Those were the very words.

now themwell."

Admit those were the very words. I said them, nooubt, because Iaw you below."

For no other reason?"

What other reason could I possibly have?"

You had no feeling that they were conveyed to younyupernatural way?"

No."

He wished me good-night, and held up his light. Iwalked by the

ide of the down Line of rails (with a very disagreeaensationf a train coming behind me) until I found the path

was easiero mount than to descend, and I got back to my inn



No. That some one else."

Who is it?"

I don't know."

Like me?"

I don't know. I never saw the face. The left arm icross the

ace, and the right arm is waved,--violently waved. way."

followed his action with my eyes, and it was the af an armesticulating, with the utmost passion and vehemenFor God'sake, clear the way!"

One moonlight night," said the man, "I was sittingere, when Ieard a voice cry, 'Halloa! Below there!' I started

ooked

rom that door, and saw this Some one else standinhe red lightear the tunnel, waving as I just now showed you. oice seemedoarse with shouting, and it cried, 'Look out! Look



ut!' And thenttain, 'Halloa! Below there! Look out!' I caught uamp,urned it on red, and ran towards the figure, callingWhat's

wrong? What has happened? Where?' It stood jusutside thelackness of the tunnel. I advanced so close upon hat I

wondered at its keeping the sleeve across its eyes. an right up

t it, and had my hand stretched out to pull the sleeway, whent was gone."

Into the tunnel?" said I.

No. I ran on into the tunnel, five hundred yards. topped, andeld my lamp above my head, and saw the figures he measuredistance, and saw the wet stains stealing down the ndrickling through the arch. I ran out again faster th

ad runn (for I had a mortal abhorrence of the place upon nd Iooked all round the red light with my own red lightwent up



he iron ladder to the gallery atop of it, and I cameown again,nd ran back here. I telegraphed both ways, 'An alas beeniven. Is anything wrong?' The answer came back

oth ways, 'Allwell.'"

Resisting the slow touch of a frozen finger tracing omy spine, Ihowed him how that this figure must be a deceptio

is sense of ight; and how that figures, originating in disease oelicateerves that minister to the functions of the eye, wenown to haveften troubled patients, some of whom had becomeonscious of theature of their affliction, and had even proved it byxperimentspon themselves. "As to an imaginary cry," said I, ut listenor a moment to the wind in this unnatural valley w

we speak so

ow, and to the wild harp it makes of the telegraphwires."

That was all very well, he returned, after we had sastening for



while, and he ought to know something of the winnd the wires,--e who so often passed long winter nights there, alnd watching.

But he would beg to remark that he had not finished

asked his pardon, and he slowly added these wordouching myrm, -

Within six hours after the Appearance, the memora

ccident onhis Line happened, and within ten hours the dead awounded wererought along through the tunnel over the spot whehe figure hadtood."

A disagreeable shudder crept over me, but I did myest against it.t was not to be denied, I rejoined, that this was aemarkableoincidence, calculated deeply to impress his mind. t was

nquestionable that remarkable coincidences didontinually occur,nd they must be taken into account in dealing withuch a subject.

Though to be sure I must admit, I added (for I thou



saw that hewas going to bring the objection to bear upon me), f commonense did not allow much for coincidences in makingrdinary

alculations of life.

He again begged to remark that he had not finished

again begged his pardon for being betrayed intonterruptions.

This," he said, again laying his hand upon my arm,lancingver his shoulder with hollow eyes, "was just a yeargo. Six oreven months passed, and I had recovered from theurprise andhock, when one morning, as the day was breakingtanding at theoor, looked towards the red light, and saw the spegain." Hetopped, with a fixed look at me.

Did it cry out?"

No. It was silent."

Did it wave its arm?"



No. It leaned against the shaft of the light, with boandsefore the face. Like this."

Once more I followed his action with my eyes. It wn action of mourning. I have seen such an attitude in stone fign tombs.

Did you go up to it?"

I came in and sat down, partly to collect my thougartlyecause it had turned me faint. When I went to theoor again,aylight was above me, and the ghost was gone."

But nothing followed? Nothing came of this?"

He touched me on the arm with his forefinger twicehrice giving ghastly nod each time:-

That very day, as a train came out of the tunnel, Ioticed, at aarriage window on my side, what looked like aonfusion of handsnd heads, and something waved. I saw it just in t



o signal theriver, Stop! He shut off, and put his brake on, butrainrifted past here a hundred and fifty yards or morean after

t, and, as I went along, heard terrible screams andries. Aeautiful young lady had died instantaneously in onheompartments, and was brought in here, and laid dn this floor

etween us."

nvoluntarily I pushed my chair back, as I looked frhe boards at

which he pointed to himself.

True, sir. True. Precisely as it happened, so I tell ou."

could think of nothing to say, to any purpose, andmouth wasery dry. The wind and the wires took up the story long

amenting wail.

He resumed. "Now, sir, mark this, and judge how mmind isroubled. The spectre came back a week ago. Ever



ince, it haseen there, now and again, by fits and starts."

At the light?"

At the Danger-light."

What does it seem to do?"

He repeated, if possible with increased passion andehemence, that

ormer gesticulation of, "For God's sake, clear the w

Then he went on. "I have no peace or rest for it. Ialls to me,or many minutes together, in an agonised manner,Below there!ook out! Look out!' It stands waving to me. It rin

my littleell--"

caught at that. "Did it ring your bell yesterdayvening when I

was here, and you went to the door?"

Twice."

Why, see," said I, "how your imagination misleadsou. My eyes



were on the bell, and my ears were open to the belnd if I am aving man, it did NOT ring at those times. No, nor ny otherme, except when it was rung in the natural course

hysicalhings by the station communicating with you."

He shook his head. "I have never made a mistake ahat yet, sir.have never confused the spectre's ring with the

man's. Thehost's ring is a strange vibration in the bell that iterives fromothing else, and I have not asserted that the bell so theye. I don't wonder that you failed to hear it. But eard it."

And did the spectre seem to be there, when you lout?"

It WAS there."'

Both times?"

He repeated firmly: "Both times."

Will you come to the door with me, and look for it



ow?"

He bit his under lip as though he were somewhatnwilling, butrose. I opened the door, and stood on the step, w

e stood inhe doorway. There was the Danger-light. There whe dismal

mouth of the tunnel. There were the high, wet stonwalls of theutting. There were the stars above them.

Do you see it?" I asked him, taking particular noteis face.

His eyes were prominent and strained, but not verymuch more so,erhaps, than my own had been when I had directehem earnestlyowards the same spot.

No," he answered. "It is not there."

Agreed," said I.

We went in again, shut the door, and resumed oureats. I washinking how best to improve this advantage, if it me calledne, when he took up the conversation in such a m



f-courseway, so assuming that there could be no seriousuestion of factetween us, that I felt myself placed in the weakestositions.

By this time you will fully understand, sir," he saidthat whatroubles me so dreadfully is the question, What doepectre

mean?"

was not sure, I told him, that I did fully understan

What is its warning against?" he said, ruminating, is eyes onhe fire, and only by times turning them on me. "Ws theanger? Where is the danger? There is dangerverhanging somewheren the Line. Some dreadful calamity will happen. Iot to beoubted this third time, after what has gone before

But surely

his is a cruel haunting of me. What can I do?"

He pulled out his handkerchief, and wiped the dropsrom his heatedorehead.



If I telegraph Danger, on either side of me, or on bcan giveo reason for it," he went on, wiping the palms of hands. "I

hould get into trouble, and do no good. They wouhink I wasmad. This is the way it would work,--Message:Danger! Takeare!' Answer: 'What Danger? Where?' Message:Don't know.

But, for God's sake, take care!' They would displacme. What elseould they do?"

His pain of mind was most pitiable to see. It was thmentalorture of a conscientious man, oppressed beyondndurance by annintelligible responsibility involving life.

When it first stood under the Danger-light," he wenn, puttingis dark hair back from his head, and drawing his h

utwardcross and across his temples in an extremity of everish distress,why not tell me where that accident was to happent must



appen? Why not tell me how it could be averted,-ould haveeen averted? When on its second coming it hid itsace, why notell me, instead, 'She is going to die. Let them kee

t home'?f it came, on those two occasions, only to show mehat its

warnings were true, and so to prepare me for the thwhy not warnme plainly now? And I, Lord help me! A mere poor

ignal-man onhis solitary station! Why not go to somebody withredit to beelieved, and power to act?"

When I saw him in this state, I saw that for the pooman's sake, aswell as for the public safety, what I had to do for thme was toompose his mind. Therefore, setting aside all quesf realityr unreality between us, I represented to him that

whoever

horoughly discharged his duty must do well, and tht least it

was his comfort that he understood his duty, thougid notnderstand these confounding Appearances. In this



ffort Iucceeded far better than in the attempt to reason ut of hisonviction. He became calm; the occupations incideo his post

s the night advanced began to make larger demann his attention:nd I left him at two in the morning. I had offered tay throughhe night, but he would not hear of it.

That I more than once looked back at the red light ascended theathway, that I did not like the red light, and that Ihould havelept but poorly if my bed had been under it, I see neason toonceal. Nor did I like the two sequences of theccident and theead girl. I see no reason to conceal that either.

But what ran most in my thoughts was theonsideration how ought Io act, having become the recipient of this disclosur

adroved the man to be intelligent, vigilant, painstakind exact;ut how long might he remain so, in his state of mi

Though in a



ubordinate position, still he held a most importantrust, and

would I (for instance) like to stake my own life on thances of is continuing to execute it with precision?

Unable to overcome a feeling that there would beomethingreacherous in my communicating what he had toldo his superiorsn the Company, without first being plain with himse

nd proposing middle course to him, I ultimately resolved to offeccompanyim (otherwise keeping his secret for the present) the wisest

medical practitioner we could hear of in those partso takeis opinion. A change in his time of duty would comound nextight, he had apprised me, and he would be off an r two afterunrise, and on again soon after sunset. I hadppointed to return

ccordingly.

Next evening was a lovely evening, and I walked ouarly to enjoyt. The sun was not yet quite down when I traverse



he field-pathear the top of the deep cutting. I would extend m

walk for anour, I said to myself, half an hour on and half an hack, and

t would then be time to go to my signal-man's box

Before pursuing my stroll, I stepped to the brink, anmechanicallyooked down, from the point from which I had first sim. I

annot describe the thrill that seized upon me, whelose at themouth of the tunnel, I saw the appearance of a manwith his leftleeve across his eyes, passionately waving his righrm.

The nameless horror that oppressed me passed in amoment, for in amoment I saw that this appearance of a man was andeed, andhat there was a little group of other men, standinghort

istance, to whom he seemed to be rehearsing theesture he made.

The Danger-light was not yet lighted. Against its sh littleow hut, entirely new to me, had been made of som



wooden supportsnd tarpaulin. It looked no bigger than a bed.

With an irresistible sense that something was wrongwith a

ashing self-reproachful fear that fatal mischief hadome of myeaving the man there, and causing no one to be severlook ororrect what he did,--I descended the notched pathll the

peed I could make.

What is the matter?" I asked the men.

Signal-man killed this morning, sir."

Not the man belonging to that box?"

Yes, sir."

Not the man I know?"

You will recognise him, sir, if you knew him," said t

man whopoke for the others, solemnly uncovering his ownead, and raisingn end of the tarpaulin, "for his face is quite compo



O, how did this happen, how did this happen?" I asurning fromne to another as the hut closed in again.

He was cut down by an engine, sir. No man in Eng

new his worketter. But somehow he was not clear of the outer t wasust at broad day. He had struck the light, and hadamp in hisand. As the engine came out of the tunnel, his ba

was towardser, and she cut him down. That man drove her, awas showing howt happened. Show the gentleman, Tom."

The man, who wore a rough dark dress, stepped bais formerlace at the mouth of the tunnel.

Coming round the curve in the tunnel, sir," he saidaw him athe end, like as if I saw him down a perspective-gla

There was

o time to check speed, and I knew him to be veryareful. As heidn't seem to take heed of the whistle, I shut it off

when we wereunning down upon him, and called to him as loud a



mitated.

THE HAUNTED HOUSE

CHAPTER I--THE MORTALS IN THE HOUSE

Under none of the accredited ghostly circumstancesnd environed byone of the conventional ghostly surroundings, did rst makecquaintance with the house which is the subject of

Christmasiece. I saw it in the daylight, with the sun upon it

There waso wind, no rain, no lightning, no thunder, no awfulnwonted

ircumstance, of any kind, to heighten its effect. Mhan that:had come to it direct from a railway station: it waot morehan a mile distant from the railway station; and, as



toodutside the house, looking back upon the way I hadome, I could seehe goods train running smoothly along thembankment in the valley.

will not say that everything was utterly commonplecause Ioubt if anything can be that, except to utterlyommonplace people-and there my vanity steps in; but, I will take it on

myself to say

hat anybody might see the house as I saw it, any futumnmorning.

The manner of my lighting on it was this.

was travelling towards London out of the North,ntending to stopy the way, to look at the house. My health requireemporaryesidence in the country; and a friend of mine who hat, and

who had happened to drive past the house, had wri

o me touggest it as a likely place. I had got into the train

midnight,nd had fallen asleep, and had woke up and had saooking out of



B, sir?" said I, growing warm.

I have nothing to do with you, sir," returned theentleman; "prayet me listen--O."

He enunciated this vowel after a pause, and noted iown.

At first I was alarmed, for an Express lunatic and noommunication

with the guard, is a serious position. The thought co myelief that the gentleman might be what is popularlyalled a

Rapper: one of a sect for (some of) whom I have tighestespect, but whom I don't believe in. I was going tim theuestion, when he took the bread out of my mouth

You will excuse me," said the gentlemanontemptuously, "if I amoo much in advance of common humanity to troub

myself at allbout it. I have passed the night--as indeed I pass

whole of myme now--in spiritual intercourse."



O!" said I, somewhat snappishly.

The conferences of the night began," continued theentleman,urning several leaves of his note-book, "with this

message: 'Evilommunications corrupt good manners.'"

Sound," said I; "but, absolutely new?"

New from spirits," returned the gentleman.

could only repeat my rather snappish "O!" and askmight beavoured with the last communication.

'A bird in the hand,'" said the gentleman, reading hast entrywith great solemnity, "'is worth two in the Bosh.'"

Truly I am of the same opinion," said I; "but shoult beBush?"

It came to me, Bosh," returned the gentleman.

The gentleman then informed me that the spirit of Socrates hadelivered this special revelation in the course of the



ight. "Myriend, I hope you are pretty well. There are two inailwayarriage. How do you do? There are seventeenhousand four hundred

nd seventy-nine spirits here, but you cannot seehem. Pythagorass here. He is not at liberty to mention it, but hopeskeravelling." Galileo likewise had dropped in, with thcientific

ntelligence. "I am glad to see you, AMICO. COMESTA? Water willreeze when it is cold enough. ADDIO!" In the couf the night,lso, the following phenomena had occurred. Bisho

Butler hadnsisted on spelling his name, "Bubler," for whichffence againstrthography and good manners he had been dismiss out of temper.ohn Milton (suspected of wilful mystification) hadepudiated theuthorship of Paradise Lost, and had introduced, as

uthors of hat poem, two Unknown gentlemen, respectivelyamed Grungers and

Scadgingtone. And Prince Arthur, nephew of King Jf England,



ad described himself as tolerably comfortable in theventhircle, where he was learning to paint on velvet, unheirection of Mrs. Trimmer and Mary Queen of Scots.

f this should meet the eye of the gentleman whoavoured me withhese disclosures, I trust he will excuse my confesshat theight of the rising sun, and the contemplation of the

magnificentOrder of the vast Universe, made me impatient of hem. In a word, I

was so impatient of them, that I was mightily glad tet out at theext station, and to exchange these clouds and vapor the freeir of Heaven.

By that time it was a beautiful morning. As I walkeway amonguch leaves as had already fallen from the golden,rown, and russet

rees; and as I looked around me on the wonders oCreation, andhought of the steady, unchanging, and harmoniousaws by which theyre sustained; the gentleman's spiritual intercourse



eemed to me asoor a piece of journey-work as ever this world saw

whicheathen state of mind, I came within view of the hond stopped

o examine it attentively.

t was a solitary house, standing in a sadly neglectearden: aretty even square of some two acres. It was a houf about the

me of George the Second; as stiff, as cold, as formnd in asad taste, as could possibly be desired by the mostoyal admirer of he whole quartet of Georges. It was uninhabited, ad, within aear or two, been cheaply repaired to render itabitable; I sayheaply, because the work had been done in a surfa

manner, and waslready decaying as to the paint and plaster, thougholours

were fresh. A lop-sided board drooped over the ga

wall,nnouncing that it was "to let on very reasonable te

wellurnished." It was much too closely and heavilyhadowed by trees,



nd, in particular, there were six tall poplars beforeront

windows, which were excessively melancholy, and tite of whichad been extremely ill chosen.

t was easy to see that it was an avoided house--aouse that washunned by the village, to which my eye was guided church spireome half a mile off--a house that nobody would ta

And theatural inference was, that it had the reputation of eing a hauntedouse.

No period within the four-and-twenty hours of day aight is soolemn to me, as the early morning. In the summeme, I oftenise very early, and repair to my room to do a day's

work beforereakfast, and I am always on those occasions deepmpressed by

he stillness and solitude around me. Besides that tsomething awful in the being surrounded by familiaaces asleep--inhe knowledge that those who are dearest to us and



whom we areearest, are profoundly unconscious of us, in anmpassive state,nticipative of that mysterious condition to which wll

ending--the stopped life, the broken threads of esterday, theeserted seat, the closed book, the unfinished butbandonedccupation, all are images of Death. The tranquillithe hour

s the tranquillity of Death. The colour and the chillave theame association. Even a certain air that familiarouseholdbjects take upon them when they first emerge fromhe shadows of he night into the morning, of being newer, and as tsed to be

ong ago, has its counterpart in the subsidence of thworn face of maturity or age, in death, into the old youthful lookMoreover, Ince saw the apparition of my father, at this hour.

was alivend well, and nothing ever came of it, but I saw himheaylight, sitting with his back towards me, on a seahat stood



eside my bed. His head was resting on his hand, awhether he waslumbering or grieving, I could not discern. Amazeee himhere, I sat up, moved my position, leaned out of be

nd watchedim. As he did not move, I spoke to him more thannce. As he didot move then, I became alarmed and laid my handpon his shoulder,s I thought--and there was no such thing.

or all these reasons, and for others less easily andrieflytatable, I find the early morning to be my most ghme. Anyouse would be more or less haunted, to me, in thearly morning;nd a haunted house could scarcely address me toreater advantagehan then.

walked on into the village, with the desertion of thouse upon

my mind, and I found the landlord of the little inn,anding hisoor-step. I bespoke breakfast, and broached theubject of theouse.



Is it haunted?" I asked.

The landlord looked at me, shook his head, andnswered, "I say

othing."

Then it IS haunted?"

Well!" cried the landlord, in an outburst of franknehat had the

ppearance of desperation--"I wouldn't sleep in it."

Why not?"

If I wanted to have all the bells in a house ring, wiobody toing 'em; and all the doors in a house bang, withobody to bang

em; and all sorts of feet treading about, with no feehere; why,hen," said the landlord, "I'd sleep in that house."

Is anything seen there?"

The landlord looked at me again, and then, with hisormerppearance of desperation, called down his stable-yor "Ikey!"



The call produced a high-shouldered young fellow, w round redace, a short crop of sandy hair, a very broad humo

mouth, a

urned-up nose, and a great sleeved waistcoat of puars, withmother-of-pearl buttons, that seemed to be growingpon him, and toe in a fair way--if it were not pruned--of covering ead and

verunning his boots.

This gentleman wants to know," said the landlord, nything'seen at the Poplars."

'Ooded woman with a howl," said Ikey, in a state oreatreshness.

Do you mean a cry?"

I mean a bird, sir."

A hooded woman with an owl. Dear me! Did you ee her?"

I seen the howl."



Never the woman?"

Not so plain as the howl, but they always keepsogether."

Has anybody ever seen the woman as plainly as thwl?"

Lord bless you, sir! Lots."

Who?"

Lord bless you, sir! Lots."

The general-dealer opposite, for instance, who ispening hishop?"

Perkins? Bless you, Perkins wouldn't go a-nigh thelace. No!"bserved the young man, with considerable feeling;n'tverwise, an't Perkins, but he an't such a fool as TH

Here, the landlord murmured his confidence inerkins's knowingetter.)



Who is--or who was--the hooded woman with the oDo you know?"

Well!" said Ikey, holding up his cap with one handwhile he

cratched his head with the other, "they say, in genhat shewas murdered, and the howl he 'ooted the while."

This very concise summary of the facts was all I couearn, except

hat a young man, as hearty and likely a young maver I see,ad been took with fits and held down in 'em, aftereeing theooded woman. Also, that a personage, dimlyescribed as "a holdhap, a sort of one-eyed tramp, answering to the nf Joby,nless you challenged him as Greenwood, and thenaid, 'Why not?nd even if so, mind your own business,'" hadncountered the hooded

woman, a matter of five or six times. But, I was no

materiallyssisted by these witnesses: inasmuch as the first nCalifornia, and the last was, as Ikey said (and he wonfirmed by



he landlord), Anywheres.

Now, although I regard with a hushed and solemn fhe mysteries,etween which and this state of existence is interpo

he barrierf the great trial and change that fall on all the thinhat live;nd although I have not the audacity to pretend thanow anythingf them; I can no more reconcile the mere banging

oors, ringingf bells, creaking of boards, and such-likensignificances, withhe majestic beauty and pervading analogy of all th

Divine ruleshat I am permitted to understand, than I had beenble, a little

while before, to yoke the spiritual intercourse of myellow-raveller to the chariot of the rising sun. Moreover,ad lived

n two haunted houses--both abroad. In one of then old Italian

alace, which bore the reputation of being very badaunted

ndeed, and which had recently been twice abandonn that account,lived eight months, most tranquilly and pleasantly



otwithstanding that the house had a score of mysterious bedrooms,which were never used, and possessed, in one largeoom in which Iat reading, times out of number at all hours, and n

o which Ilept, a haunted chamber of the first pretensions. Iently hintedhese considerations to the landlord. And as to thisarticularouse having a bad name, I reasoned with him, Wh

ow many thingsad bad names undeservedly, and how easy it was ive bad names,nd did he not think that if he and I were persistent

whispern the village that any weird-looking old drunken tinf theeighbourhood had sold himself to the Devil, he woome in timeo be suspected of that commercial venture! All thi

wise talk waserfectly ineffective with the landlord, I am bound tonfess, and

was as dead a failure as ever I made in my life.

To cut this part of the story short, I was piqued abohe hauntedouse, and was already half resolved to take it. So



fterreakfast, I got the keys from Perkins's brother-in-la whip andarness maker, who keeps the Post Office, and is uubmission to

most rigorous wife of the Doubly Seceding Littlemmanuelersuasion), and went up to the house, attended byandlord andy Ikey.

Within, I found it, as I had expected, transcendentlyismal. Thelowly changing shadows waved on it from the heavrees, wereoleful in the last degree; the house was ill-placed, uilt,l-planned, and ill-fitted. It was damp, it was not frrom dryot, there was a flavour of rats in it, and it was theloomy victimf that indescribable decay which settles on all the wf man'sands whenever it's not turned to man's account. T

itchens andffices were too large, and too remote from each ot

Abovetairs and below, waste tracts of passage interveneetween patches



f fertility represented by rooms; and there was amouldy old wellwith a green growth upon it, hiding like a murderourap, near theottom of the back-stairs, under the double row of

ells. One of hese bells was labelled, on a black ground in fadedwhite letters,MASTER B. This, they told me, was the bell that rahe most.

Who was Master B.?" I asked. "Is it known what hwhile thewl hooted?"

Rang the bell," said Ikey.

was rather struck by the prompt dexterity with whhis young

man pitched his fur cap at the bell, and rang it himst was aoud, unpleasant bell, and made a very disagreeableound. Thether bells were inscribed according to the names o

ooms towhich their wires were conducted: as "Picture RoomDouble Room,"Clock Room," and the like. Following Master B.'s bo its



ource I found that young gentleman to have had bndifferenthird-class accommodation in a triangular cabin undhe cock-loft,

with a corner fireplace which Master B. must have b

xceedinglymall if he were ever able to warm himself at, and aorner chimney-iece like a pyramidal staircase to the ceiling for To

Thumb. Theapering of one side of the room had dropped down

odily, withragments of plaster adhering to it, and almost blocp the door.t appeared that Master B., in his spiritual conditionlways made point of pulling the paper down. Neither the landor Ikeyould suggest why he made such a fool of himself.

xcept that the house had an immensely large ramboft at top, Imade no other discoveries. It was moderately wellurnished, but

parely. Some of the furniture--say, a third--was as theouse; the rest was of various periods within the laalf-century.was referred to a corn-chandler in the market-plac



he countyown to treat for the house. I went that day, and I t for sixmonths.

t was just the middle of October when I moved in wmy maidenister (I venture to call her eight-and-thirty, she is eryandsome, sensible, and engaging). We took with eaf stable-

man, my bloodhound Turk, two women servants, anoung personalled an Odd Girl. I have reason to record of thettendant lastnumerated, who was one of the Saint Lawrence's

Union FemaleOrphans, that she was a fatal mistake and a disastrngagement.

The year was dying early, the leaves were falling fawas a rawold day when we took possession, and the gloom oouse was

most depressing. The cook (an amiable woman, bu weak turn of ntellect) burst into tears on beholding the kitchen, equestedhat her silver watch might be delivered over to her



ister (2Tuppintock's Gardens, Liggs's Walk, Clapham Rise),he event of nything happening to her from the damp. Streakehe housemaid,

eigned cheerfulness, but was the greater martyr. TOdd Girl, whoad never been in the country, alone was pleased, a

maderrangements for sowing an acorn in the garden ouhe scullery

window, and rearing an oak.

We went, before dark, through all the natural--aspposed toupernatural--miseries incidental to our state.

Dispiriting reportsscended (like the smoke) from the basement inolumes, andescended from the upper rooms. There was no roin, there waso salamander (which failed to surprise me, for I donow what its), there was nothing in the house, what there was

was broken, theast people must have lived like pigs, what could themeaning of theandlord be? Through these distresses, the Odd Girwas cheerful



nd exemplary. But within four hours after dark weot into aupernatural groove, and the Odd Girl had seen "Eynd was inysterics.

My sister and I had agreed to keep the haunting strourselves, and my impression was, and still is, that ad not leftkey, when he helped to unload the cart, alone with

women, orny one of them, for one minute. Nevertheless, as ay, the Odd

Girl had "seen Eyes" (no other explanation could eve drawn fromer), before nine, and by ten o'clock had had as muinegarpplied to her as would pickle a handsome salmon.

leave a discerning public to judge of my feelings,when, underhese untoward circumstances, at about half-past te'clock Master

B.'s bell began to ring in a most infuriated manner, Turk howledntil the house resounded with his lamentations!

hope I may never again be in a state of mind so



nchristian as themental frame in which I lived for some weeks,especting the memoryf Master B. Whether his bell was rung by rats, or

mice, or bats,

r wind, or what other accidental vibration, orometimes by oneause, sometimes another, and sometimes by colludon't know;ut, certain it is, that it did ring two nights out of thntil

conceived the happy idea of twisting Master B.'s nn otherwords, breaking his bell short off--and silencing thaoungentleman, as to my experience and belief, for ever

But, by that time, the Odd Girl had developed suchmproving powersf catalepsy, that she had become a shining examphat verynconvenient disorder. She would stiffen, like a Guyawkes endowed

with unreason, on the most irrelevant occasions. I

would addresshe servants in a lucid manner, pointing out to themhat I hadainted Master B.'s room and balked the paper, andaken Master B.'s



ell away and balked the ringing, and if they coulduppose thathat confounded boy had lived and died, to clotheimself with noetter behaviour than would most unquestionably h

rought him andhe sharpest particles of a birch-broom into closecquaintance inhe present imperfect state of existence, could theyuppose a

mere poor human being, such as I was, capable by

hose contemptiblemeans of counteracting and limiting the powers of tisembodiedpirits of the dead, or of any spirits?--I say I wouldecomemphatic and cogent, not to say rather complacent,uch anddress, when it would all go for nothing by reason he Odd

Girl's suddenly stiffening from the toes upward, andlaring amongs like a parochial petrifaction.

Streaker, the housemaid, too, had an attribute of amostiscomfiting nature. I am unable to say whether sh

was of ansually lymphatic temperament, or what else was th



matter with her,ut this young woman became a mere Distillery for roduction of he largest and most transparent tears I ever met w

Combined

with these characteristics, was a peculiar tenacity oold in thosepecimens, so that they didn't fall, but hung upon hace andose. In this condition, and mildly and deplorablyhaking her

ead, her silence would throw me more heavily thaAdmirableCrichton could have done in a verbal disputation forurse of

money. Cook, likewise, always covered me withonfusion as with aarment, by neatly winding up the session with therotest that the

Ouse was wearing her out, and by meekly repeatingast wishesegarding her silver watch.

As to our nightly life, the contagion of suspicion and

wasmong us, and there is no such contagion under theky. Hooded

woman? According to the accounts, we were in aerfect Convent of



ooded women. Noises? With that contagionownstairs, I myself ave sat in the dismal parlour, listening, until I haveard so

many and such strange noises, that they would hav

hilled my bloodf I had not warmed it by dashing out to makeiscoveries. Try thisn bed, in the dead of the night: try this at your owomfortablere-side, in the life of the night. You can fill any ho

withoises, if you will, until you have a noise for every nn yourervous system.

repeat; the contagion of suspicion and fear was ams, andhere is no such contagion under the sky. The womtheir noses in chronic state of excoriation from smelling-salts) wlwaysrimed and loaded for a swoon, and ready to go offair-

riggers. The two elder detached the Odd Girl on alxpeditionshat were considered doubly hazardous, and she alwstablishedhe reputation of such adventures by coming back



ataleptic. If Cook or Streaker went overhead after dark, we knehouldresently hear a bump on the ceiling; and this tooklace so

onstantly, that it was as if a fighting man werengaged to gobout the house, administering a touch of his art wbelieve isalled The Auctioneer, to every domestic he met wit

t was in vain to do anything. It was in vain to berightened, forhe moment in one's own person, by a real owl, andhen to show thewl. It was in vain to discover, by striking an accidiscordn the piano, that Turk always howled at particularotes andombinations. It was in vain to be a Rhadamanthus

with the bells,nd if an unfortunate bell rang without leave, to havownnexorably and silence it. It was in vain to fire up

himneys, letorches down the well, charge furiously into suspectooms andecesses. We changed servants, and it was no bett

The new set



an away, and a third set came, and it was no betteAt last, ouromfortable housekeeping got to be so disorganised

wretched,hat I one night dejectedly said to my sister: "Patty

egin toespair of our getting people to go on with us here,think we

must give this up."

My sister, who is a woman of immense spirit, replie

No, John,on't give it up. Don't be beaten, John. There isnother way."

And what is that?" said I.

John," returned my sister, "if we are not to be drivut of thisouse, and that for no reason whatever, that ispparent to you or

me, we must help ourselves and take the house whnd solely intour own hands."

But, the servants," said I.

Have no servants," said my sister, boldly.



ike most people in my grade of life, I had neverhought of theossibility of going on without those faithfulbstructions. Theotion was so new to me when suggested, that I loo

ery doubtful.We know they come here to be frightened and infene another, and

we know they are frightened and do infect onenother," said myister.

With the exception of Bottles," I observed, in ameditative tone.

The deaf stable-man. I kept him in my service, antill keep him,s a phenomenon of moroseness not to be matchedngland.)

To be sure, John," assented my sister; "exceptBottles. And whatoes that go to prove? Bottles talks to nobody, andears nobody

nless he is absolutely roared at, and what alarm hBottles everiven, or taken! None."

This was perfectly true; the individual in question



aving retired,very night at ten o'clock, to his bed over the coachouse, with nother company than a pitchfork and a pail of water.

That the pail

f water would have been over me, and the pitchforhrough me, if Iad put myself without announcement in Bottles's wfter that

minute, I had deposited in my own mind as a fact wemembering.

Neither had Bottles ever taken the least notice of anur manyproars. An imperturbable and speechless man, heat at hisupper, with Streaker present in a swoon, and the O

Girl marble,nd had only put another potato in his cheek, orrofited by theeneral misery to help himself to beefsteak pie.

And so," continued my sister, "I exempt Bottles. Aonsidering,ohn, that the house is too large, and perhaps too

onely, to beept well in hand by Bottles, you, and me, I proposhat we castbout among our friends for a certain selected numf the most



eliable and willing--form a Society here for threemonths--waitpon ourselves and one another--live cheerfully andocially--andee what happens."

was so charmed with my sister, that I embraced hn the spot,nd went into her plan with the greatest ardour.

We were then in the third week of November; but, w

ook ourmeasures so vigorously, and were so well secondedhe friends in

whom we confided, that there was still a week of thmonthnexpired, when our party all came down together

merrily, andmustered in the haunted house.

will mention, in this place, two small changes thatmade whilemy sister and I were yet alone. It occurring to me ot

mprobable that Turk howled in the house at night,artly because he

wanted to get out of it, I stationed him in his kenneutside, butnchained; and I seriously warned the village that a



man who camen his way must not expect to leave him without a ris ownhroat. I then casually asked Ikey if he were a judg gun? On

is saying, "Yes, sir, I knows a good gun when I seeer," I beggedhe favour of his stepping up to the house and lookit mine.

SHE'S a true one, sir," said Ikey, after inspecting a

ouble-arrelled rifle that I bought in New York a few yearsgo. "No

mistake about HER, sir."

Ikey," said I, "don't mention it; I have seen sometn thisouse."

No, sir?" he whispered, greedily opening his eyes.'Ooded lady,ir?"

Don't be frightened," said I. "It was a figure ratheou."

Lord, sir?"



Ikey!" said I, shaking hands with him warmly: I mayffectionately; "if there is any truth in these ghost-tories, thereatest service I can do you, is, to fire at that figur

And Iromise you, by Heaven and earth, I will do it with un if Iee it again!"

The young man thanked me, and took his leave wit

ome littlerecipitation, after declining a glass of liquor. Imparted myecret to him, because I had never quite forgotten hhrowing hisap at the bell; because I had, on another occasionoticedomething very like a fur cap, lying not far from theell, oneight when it had burst out ringing; and because I hemarked that

we were at our ghostliest whenever he came up in tvening to

omfort the servants. Let me do Ikey no injustice. was afraidf the house, and believed in its being haunted; ande wouldlay false on the haunting side, so surely as he got



pportunity.The Odd Girl's case was exactly similar. She wentbout the housen a state of real terror, and yet lied monstrously anwilfully,

nd invented many of the alarms she spread, and mmany of theounds we heard. I had had my eye on the two, annow it. It isot necessary for me, here, to account for thisreposterous state

f mind; I content myself with remarking that it isamiliarly knowno every intelligent man who has had fair medical, lr other

watchful experience; that it is as well established anommon atate of mind as any with which observers arecquainted; and thatt is one of the first elements, above all others,ationally to beuspected in, and strictly looked for, and separatedrom, anyuestion of this kind.

To return to our party. The first thing we did when were allssembled, was, to draw lots for bedrooms. That dnd every



edroom, and, indeed, the whole house, having beeminutely examinedy the whole body, we allotted the various househouties, as if

we had been on a gipsy party, or a yachting party,

untingarty, or were shipwrecked. I then recounted theoating rumoursoncerning the hooded lady, the owl, and Master B.

with others,till more filmy, which had floated about during our

ccupation,elative to some ridiculous old ghost of the femaleender who wentp and down, carrying the ghost of a round table; also to anmpalpable Jackass, whom nobody was ever able toatch. Some of hese ideas I really believe our people below hadommunicated tone another in some diseased way, without conveyihem in words.

We then gravely called one another to witness, thatwere not

here to be deceived, or to deceive--which weonsidered pretty muchhe same thing--and that, with a serious sense of esponsibility, we

would be strictly true to one another, and would str



ollow outhe truth. The understanding was established, thatne whoeard unusual noises in the night, and who wished race them,

hould knock at my door; lastly, that on Twelfth Nighe lastight of holy Christmas, all our individual experiencince thathen present hour of our coming together in theaunted house,

hould be brought to light for the good of all; and thwe wouldold our peace on the subject till then, unless on soemarkablerovocation to break silence.

We were, in number and in character, as follows:

irst--to get my sister and myself out of the way--twere wewo. In the drawing of lots, my sister drew her ownoom, and Irew Master B.'s. Next, there was our first cousin J

Herschel,o called after the great astronomer: than whom Iuppose a better

man at a telescope does not breathe. With him, wawife: a



harming creature to whom he had been married inreviouspring. I thought it (under the circumstances) rathmprudent toring her, because there is no knowing what even a

alse alarm mayo at such a time; but I suppose he knew his ownusiness best, andmust say that if she had been MY wife, I never couave left herndearing and bright face behind. They drew the C

Room. AlfredStarling, an uncommonly agreeable young fellow ofight-and-twentyor whom I have the greatest liking, was in the Dou

Room; mine,sually, and designated by that name from having aressing-room

within it, with two large and cumbersome windows,which no wedges Iwas ever able to make, would keep from shaking, inweather, windr no wind. Alfred is a young fellow who pretends tfast"

another word for loose, as I understand the term),who is muchoo good and sensible for that nonsense, and who waveistinguished himself before now, if his father had n



nfortunately left him a small independence of twoundred a year,n the strength of which his only occupation in life heen topend six. I am in hopes, however, that his Banker

may break, orhat he may enter into some speculation guaranteeay twenty perent.; for, I am convinced that if he could only beuined, hisortune is made. Belinda Bates, bosom friend of my

ister, and amost intellectual, amiable, and delightful girl, got thicture

Room. She has a fine genius for poetry, combined eal businessarnestness, and "goes in"--to use an expression of

Alfred's--forWoman's mission, Woman's rights, Woman's wrongnd everything thats woman's with a capital W, or is not and ought to r is andught not to be. "Most praiseworthy, my dear, and

Heaven prosper

ou!" I whispered to her on the first night of my takeave of er at the Picture-Room door, "but don't overdo it.

n respectf the great necessity there is, my darling, for more



mploymentseing within the reach of Woman than our civilisatioas as yetssigned to her, don't fly at the unfortunate men, ehose men

who are at first sight in your way, as if they were thaturalppressors of your sex; for, trust me, Belinda, theyometimespend their wages among wives and daughters, sist

mothers,

unts, and grandmothers; and the play is, really, noALL Wolf andRed Riding-Hood, but has other parts in it." Howevigress.

Belinda, as I have mentioned, occupied the PictureRoom. We had buthree other chambers: the Corner Room, the Cupb

Room, and theGarden Room. My old friend, Jack Governor, "slungammock," ase called it, in the Corner Room. I have alwaysegarded Jack as

he finest-looking sailor that ever sailed. He is grayow, but asandsome as he was a quarter of a century ago--naandsomer. Aortly, cheery, well-built figure of a broad-shouldere



man, with arank smile, a brilliant dark eye, and a rich darkyebrow. Iemember those under darker hair, and they look aetter for

heir silver setting. He has been wherever his Unioamesakeies, has Jack, and I have met old shipmates of hisway in the

Mediterranean and on the other side of the Atlantic,ave beamed

nd brightened at the casual mention of his name, aave cried,You know Jack Governor? Then you know a prince

men!" That hes! And so unmistakably a naval officer, that if you o meetim coming out of an Esquimaux snow-hut in seal'skin, you would beaguely persuaded he was in full naval uniform.

ack once had that bright clear eye of his on my sisut, itell out that he married another lady and took her t

South America,where she died. This was a dozen years ago or moHe broughtown with him to our haunted house a little cask ofeef; for,



e is always convinced that all salt beef not of his oickling,s mere carrion, and invariably, when he goes toondon, packs aiece in his portmanteau. He had also volunteered

ring with himne "Nat Beaver," an old comrade of his, captain ofmerchantman.Mr. Beaver, with a thick-set wooden face and figurend apparentlys hard as a block all over, proved to be an intellige

man, with aworld of watery experiences in him, and great practnowledge.

At times, there was a curious nervousness about hipparently thengering result of some old illness; but, it seldom la

manyminutes. He got the Cupboard Room, and lay thereext to Mr.

Undery, my friend and solicitor: who came down, imateurapacity, "to go through with it," as he said, and whlays whist

etter than the whole Law List, from the red cover ahe beginningo the red cover at the end.

never was happier in my life, and I believe it was



ttention to its making a sound like a cry of despairnd saidomebody would be "hailing a ghost" presently, if it

wasn't done.So, up to the top of the house, where I could hardly

tand for thewind, we went, accompanied by Mr. Beaver; and thack, lanternnd all, with Mr. Beaver after him, swarmed up to top of aupola, some two dozen feet above the chimneys, a

tood uponothing particular, coolly knocking the weathercockntil theyoth got into such good spirits with the wind and theight, that Ihought they would never come down. Another nighey turned outgain, and had a chimney-cowl off. Another night, ut aobbing and gulping water-pipe away. Another nighhey found outomething else. On several occasions, they both, inoolest

manner, simultaneously dropped out of their respecedroom

windows, hand over hand by their counterpanes, tooverhaul"omething mysterious in the garden.



The engagement among us was faithfully kept, andobody revealednything. All we knew was, if any one's room wereaunted, no one

ooked the worse for it.

CHAPTER II--THE GHOST IN MASTER B.'S ROOM

When I established myself in the triangular garret wad gainedo distinguished a reputation, my thoughts naturallyurned to

Master B. My speculations about him were uneasy manifold.Whether his Christian name was Benjamin, Bissextifrom his havingeen born in Leap Year), Bartholomew, or Bill. Whehe initialetter belonged to his family name, and that was Ba

Black,Brown, Barker, Buggins, Baker, or Bird. Whether hwas a foundling,nd had been baptized B. Whether he was a lion-earted boy, and B.



was short for Briton, or for Bull. Whether he couldossibly haveeen kith and kin to an illustrious lady who brighten

my ownhildhood, and had come of the blood of the brillian

Mother Bunch?

With these profitless meditations I tormented mysemuch. I alsoarried the mysterious letter into the appearance anursuits of

he deceased; wondering whether he dressed in Bluwore Boots (heouldn't have been Bald), was a boy of Brains, liked

Books, was goodt Bowling, had any skill as a Boxer, even in his

Buoyant BoyhoodBathed from a Bathing-machine at Bognor, Bangor,Bournemouth,Brighton, or Broadstairs, like a Bounding Billiard Ba

So, from the first, I was haunted by the letter B.

t was not long before I remarked that I never by a

azard had aream of Master B., or of anything belonging to him

But, thenstant I awoke from sleep, at whatever hour of theight, my



houghts took him up, and roamed away, trying tottach his initialetter to something that would fit it and keep it quie

or six nights, I had been worried this in Master B.'s

oom, when Iegan to perceive that things were going wrong.

The first appearance that presented itself was earlyhe morning

when it was but just daylight and no more. I was

tanding shavingt my glass, when I suddenly discovered, to myonsternation andmazement, that I was shaving--not myself--I am fut a boy.

Apparently Master B.!

trembled and looked over my shoulder; nothinghere. I lookedgain in the glass, and distinctly saw the features axpressionf a boy, who was shaving, not to get rid of a beardo get

ne. Extremely troubled in my mind, I took a few tn the room,nd went back to the looking-glass, resolved to stea

my hand andomplete the operation in which I had been disturbe



Opening myyes, which I had shut while recovering my firmnesow met inhe glass, looking straight at me, the eyes of a youn

man of four

r five and twenty. Terrified by this new ghost, I clmy eyes,nd made a strong effort to recover myself. Openinhem again, Iaw, shaving his cheek in the glass, my father, whoong been

ead. Nay, I even saw my grandfather too, whom ever did see inmy life.

Although naturally much affected by these remarkaisitations, Ietermined to keep my secret, until the time agreedpon for theresent general disclosure. Agitated by a multitudeurioushoughts, I retired to my room, that night, preparedncounterome new experience of a spectral character. Nor w

my preparationeedless, for, waking from an uneasy sleep at exactwo o'clock inhe morning, what were my feelings to find that I wharing my bed



with the skeleton of Master B.!

sprang up, and the skeleton sprang up also. I theeard alaintive voice saying, "Where am I? What is becom

me?" and,ooking hard in that direction, perceived the ghost oMaster B.

The young spectre was dressed in an obsolete fashir rather,

was not so much dressed as put into a case of inferepper-and-alt cloth, made horrible by means of shining buttonbservedhat these buttons went, in a double row, over eachhoulder of theoung ghost, and appeared to descend his back. H

wore a frillound his neck. His right hand (which I distinctlyoticed to be

nky) was laid upon his stomach; connecting this acwith someeeble pimples on his countenance, and his general

f nausea, Ioncluded this ghost to be the ghost of a boy who habituallyaken a great deal too much medicine.



Where am I?" said the little spectre, in a patheticoice. "And

why was I born in the Calomel days, and why did I ll that

Calomel given me?"

replied, with sincere earnestness, that upon my soouldn'tell him.

Where is my little sister," said the ghost, "and whe

my angelicttle wife, and where is the boy I went to school wit

entreated the phantom to be comforted, and abovhings toake heart respecting the loss of the boy he went tochool with. Iepresented to him that probably that boy never did

within humanxperience, come out well, when discovered. I urgehat I myself ad, in later life, turned up several boys whom I wechool

with, and none of them had at all answered. Ixpressed my humbleelief that that boy never did answer. I representehat he was a

mythic character, a delusion, and a snare. I recoun



ow, theast time I found him, I found him at a dinner partyehind a wallf white cravat, with an inconclusive opinion on eveossible

ubject, and a power of silent boredom absolutelyTitanic. Ielated how, on the strength of our having beenogether at "Old

Doylance's," he had asked himself to breakfast witha social

ffence of the largest magnitude); how, fanning myweak embers of elief in Doylance's boys, I had let him in; and howad provedo be a fearful wanderer about the earth, pursuing tace of Adam

with inexplicable notions concerning the currency, awith aroposition that the Bank of England should, on paieingbolished, instantly strike off and circulate, God knoow manyhousand millions of ten-and-sixpenny notes.

The ghost heard me in silence, and with a fixed starBarber!" itpostrophised me when I had finished.



Barber?" I repeated--for I am not of that professio

Condemned," said the ghost, "to shave a constanthange of ustomers--now, me--now, a young man--now, thy

s thou art--now,hy father--now, thy grandfather; condemned, too, e down with akeleton every night, and to rise with it every morn

I shuddered on hearing this dismal announcement

Barber! Pursue me!"

had felt, even before the words were uttered, thatwas under apell to pursue the phantom. I immediately did so,

was inMaster B.'s room no longer.

Most people know what long and fatiguing nightourneys had beenorced upon the witches who used to confess, and w

o doubt, toldhe exact truth--particularly as they were alwaysssisted witheading questions, and the Torture was always readsseverate



hat, during my occupation of Master B.'s room, I waken by thehost that haunted it, on expeditions fully as long a

wild as anyf those. Assuredly, I was presented to no shabby

man with aoat's horns and tail (something between Pan and ald clothesman),olding conventional receptions, as stupid as those eal life andess decent; but, I came upon other things which

ppeared to me toave more meaning.

Confident that I speak the truth and shall be believeeclare

without hesitation that I followed the ghost, in the fnstancen a broom-stick, and afterwards on a rocking-hors

The very smellf the animal's paint--especially when I brought it oy makingim warm--I am ready to swear to. I followed thehost, afterwards,

n a hackney coach; an institution with the peculiarmell of which,he present generation is unacquainted, but to whicm againeady to swear as a combination of stable, dog with



mange, andery old bellows. (In this, I appeal to previousenerations toonfirm or refute me.) I pursued the phantom, on eadless donkey:

t least, upon a donkey who was so interested in thtate of histomach that his head was always down there,nvestigating it; ononies, expressly born to kick up behind; onoundabouts and swings,

rom fairs; in the first cab--another forgotten instituwherehe fare regularly got into bed, and was tucked up whe driver.

Not to trouble you with a detailed account of all myravels inursuit of the ghost of Master B., which were longer

morewonderful than those of Sinbad the Sailor, I will conmyself tone experience from which you may judge of many

was marvellously changed. I was myself, yet notmyself. I wasonscious of something within me, which has been tame allhrough my life, and which I have always recognise



nder all itshases and varieties as never altering, and yet I waot the I whoad gone to bed in Master B.'s room. I had themoothest of faces

nd the shortest of legs, and I had taken anotherreature likemyself, also with the smoothest of faces and thehortest of legs,ehind a door, and was confiding to him a propositihe most

stounding nature.

This proposition was, that we should have a Seragli

The other creature assented warmly. He had no nof espectability, neither had I. It was the custom of tast, it

was the way of the good Caliph Haroun Alraschid (leme have theorrupted name again for once, it is so scented withweet

memories!), the usage was highly laudable, and mo

worthy of mitation. "O, yes! Let us," said the other creature jump,have a Seraglio."



t was not because we entertained the faintest doubhe

meritorious character of the Oriental establishment roposed tomport, that we perceived it must be kept a secret f

MissGriffin. It was because we knew Miss Griffin to beereft of humanympathies, and incapable of appreciating the greatf the great

Haroun. Mystery impenetrably shrouded from Miss

Griffin then, lets entrust it to Miss Bule.

We were ten in Miss Griffin's establishment byHampstead Ponds;ight ladies and two gentlemen. Miss Bule, whom Iudge to havettained the ripe age of eight or nine, took the lead ociety. Ipened the subject to her in the course of the day, roposedhat she should become the Favourite.

Miss Bule, after struggling with the diffidence so nato, andharming in, her adorable sex, expressed herself asattered by the

dea, but wished to know how it was proposed to



rovide for Missipson? Miss Bule--who was understood to have voowards thatoung lady, a friendship, halves, and no secrets, uneath, on

he Church Service and Lessons complete in twoolumes with case andock--Miss Bule said she could not, as the friend of ipson,isguise from herself, or me, that Pipson was not onhe common.

Now, Miss Pipson, having curly hair and blue eyeswhich was my ideaf anything mortal and feminine that was called Fairomptlyeplied that I regarded Miss Pipson in the light of a

Circassian.

And what then?" Miss Bule pensively asked.

replied that she must be inveigled by a Merchant,rought to meeiled, and purchased as a slave.

The other creature had already fallen into the secomale place inhe State, and was set apart for Grand Vizier. Hefterwards



esisted this disposal of events, but had his hair pulntil heielded.]

Shall I not be jealous?" Miss Bule inquired, casting

own her eyes.

Zobeide, no," I replied; "you will ever be the favouSultana;he first place in my heart, and on my throne, will bver yours."

Miss Bule, upon that assurance, consented to propohe idea toer seven beautiful companions. It occurring to mehe coursef the same day, that we knew we could trust a grinnd good-atured soul called Tabby, who was the serving druf the house,nd had no more figure than one of the beds, and u

whose facehere was always more or less black-lead, I slipped

Miss Bule's

and after supper, a little note to that effect; dwellin thelack-lead as being in a manner deposited by the fif rovidence, pointing Tabby out for Mesrour, the



elebrated chief of he Blacks of the Hareem.

There were difficulties in the formation of the desirenstitution,

s there are in all combinations. The other creaturehowed himself f a low character, and, when defeated in aspiring the throne,retended to have conscientious scruples aboutrostrating himself

efore the Caliph; wouldn't call him Commander of aithful;poke of him slightingly and inconsistently as a merchap;" saide, the other creature, "wouldn't play"--Play!--and therwiseoarse and offensive. This meanness of disposition owever,ut down by the general indignation of an united

Seraglio, and Iecame blessed in the smiles of eight of the fairest heaughters of men.

The smiles could only be bestowed when Miss Griffiwas lookingnother way, and only then in a very wary manner,here was a



egend among the followers of the Prophet that shewith a littleound ornament in the middle of the pattern on theack of herhawl. But every day after dinner, for an hour, we

llogether, and then the Favourite and the rest of theRoyal Hareemompeted who should most beguile the leisure of th

Serene Harouneposing from the cares of State--which were gener

s in mostffairs of State, of an arithmetical character, theCommander of theaithful being a fearful boggler at a sum.

On these occasions, the devoted Mesrour, chief of tBlacks of theHareem, was always in attendance (Miss Griffin usuinging forhat officer, at the same time, with great vehemencut nevercquitted himself in a manner worthy of his historiceputation.

n the first place, his bringing a broom into the Divahe

Caliph, even when Haroun wore on his shoulders thobe of angerMiss Pipson's pelisse), though it might be got over



he moment,was never to be quite satisfactorily accounted for. he secondlace, his breaking out into grinning exclamations oLork you

retties!" was neither Eastern nor respectful. In thehird place,when specially instructed to say "Bismillah!" he alwaidHallelujah!" This officer, unlike his class, was too gumoured

ltogether, kept his mouth open far too wide, exprepprobationo an incongruous extent, and even once--it was onccasion of he purchase of the Fair Circassian for five hundredhousand pursesf gold, and cheap, too--embraced the Slave, theavourite, and the

Caliph, all round. (Parenthetically let me say God bMesrour,nd may there have been sons and daughters on thender bosom,oftening many a hard day since!)

Miss Griffin was a model of propriety, and I am at ao imagine

what the feelings of the virtuous woman would haveeen, if she had



nown, when she paraded us down the HampsteadRoad two and two, thathe was walking with a stately step at the head of olygamy and

Mahomedanism. I believe that a mysterious and

errible joy withwhich the contemplation of Miss Griffin, in thisnconscious state,

nspired us, and a grim sense prevalent among us there was areadful power in our knowledge of what Miss Griffi

who knew allhings that could be learnt out of book) didn't knowwere the main-pring of the preservation of our secret. It was

wonderfully kept,ut was once upon the verge of self-betrayal. Theanger and escapeccurred upon a Sunday. We were all ten ranged inonspicuousart of the gallery at church, with Miss Griffin at ouead--as we

were every Sunday--advertising the establishment nsecular

ort of way--when the description of Solomon in hisomestic gloryappened to be read. The moment that monarch whus referred to,onscience whispered me, "Thou, too, Haroun!" Th



fficiatingminister had a cast in his eye, and it assisted conscy givingim the appearance of reading personally at me. Arimson blush,

ttended by a fearful perspiration, suffused myeatures. The GrandVizier became more dead than alive, and the wholeSeraglio reddeneds if the sunset of Bagdad shone direct upon their loaces. At

his portentous time the awful Griffin rose, and baleurveyedhe children of Islam. My own impression was, that

Church and Statead entered into a conspiracy with Miss Griffin toxpose us, andhat we should all be put into white sheets, andxhibited in theentre aisle. But, so Westerly--if I may be allowed xpressions opposite to Eastern associations--was Miss Griffinense of ectitude, that she merely suspected Apples, and we

were saved.

have called the Seraglio, united. Upon the questioolely,

whether the Commander of the Faithful durst exerc



ight of issing in that sanctuary of the palace, were its peenmatesivided. Zobeide asserted a counter-right in theavourite to

cratch, and the fair Circassian put her face, for refnto areen baize bag, originally designed for books. On ther hand, young antelope of transcendent beauty from theruitful plains of

Camden Town (whence she had been brought, byraders, in the half-early caravan that crossed the intermediate desertfter theolidays), held more liberal opinions, but stipulatedmitinghe benefit of them to that dog, and son of a dog, t

Grand Vizier-who had no rights, and was not in question. At lenheifficulty was compromised by the installation of a vouthfullave as Deputy. She, raised upon a stool, officially

eceived uponer cheeks the salutes intended by the gracious Haor other

Sultanas, and was privately rewarded from the coffef the Ladies



f the Hareem.

And now it was, at the full height of enjoyment of mliss, that Iecame heavily troubled. I began to think of my

mother, and whathe would say to my taking home at Midsummer eigf the mosteautiful of the daughters of men, but all unexpectehought of he number of beds we made up at our house, of m

ather's income,nd of the baker, and my despondency redoubled. Seraglio andmalicious Vizier, divining the cause of their Lord'snhappiness,id their utmost to augment it. They professednbounded fidelity,nd declared that they would live and die with him.

Reduced to thetmost wretchedness by these protestations of ttachment, I laywake, for hours at a time, ruminating on my frightot. In my

espair, I think I might have taken an early opportuf fallingn my knees before Miss Griffin, avowing myesemblance to Solomon,nd praying to be dealt with according to the outrag



aws of myountry, if an unthought-of means of escape had nopened before

me.

One day, we were out walking, two and two--on whccasion theVizier had his usual instructions to take note of the t theurn-pike, and if he profanely gazed (which he alwaid) at the

eauties of the Hareem, to have him bowstrung in tourse of theight--and it happened that our hearts were veiled loom. Annaccountable action on the part of the antelope halunged the

State into disgrace. That charmer, on theepresentation that therevious day was her birthday, and that vast treasuad been sent

n a hamper for its celebration (both baselessssertions), hadecretly but most pressingly invited thirty-five

eighbouringrinces and princesses to a ball and supper: with apecialtipulation that they were "not to be fetched tillwelve." This



wandering of the antelope's fancy, led to the surprisrrival at

Miss Griffin's door, in divers equipages and underarious escorts,f a great company in full dress, who were deposite

he top stepn a flush of high expectancy, and who were dismissn tears. Athe beginning of the double knocks attendant on theeremonies,he antelope had retired to a back attic, and bolted

erself in; andt every new arrival, Miss Griffin had gone so muchmore and moreistracted, that at last she had been seen to tear heront.

Ultimate capitulation on the part of the offender, haeen followedy solitude in the linen-closet, bread and water andecture toll, of vindictive length, in which Miss Griffin had usxpressions: Firstly, "I believe you all of you knew t;"Secondly, "Every one of you is as wicked as anothe

Thirdly, "Aack of little wretches."

Under these circumstances, we were walking drearilong; and I



specially, with my. Moosulmaun responsibilities hen me, wasn a very low state of mind; when a strange manccosted Miss

Griffin, and, after walking on at her side for a little w

ndalking with her, looked at me. Supposing him to bminion of theaw, and that my hour was come, I instantly ran awwith theeneral purpose of making for Egypt.

The whole Seraglio cried out, when they saw me maff as fast as

my legs would carry me (I had an impression that trst turningn the left, and round by the public-house, would bhortest

way to the Pyramids), Miss Griffin screamed after mhe faithless

Vizier ran after me, and the boy at the turnpike dodme into aorner, like a sheep, and cut me off. Nobody scolde

me when I was

aken and brought back; Miss Griffin only said, withtunningentleness, This was very curious! Why had I run a

when theentleman looked at me?



f I had had any breath to answer with, I dare say Ihould have

made no answer; having no breath, I certainly madone. Miss

Griffin and the strange man took me between themwalked me backo the palace in a sort of state; but not at all (as Iouldn't helpeeling, with astonishment) in culprit state.

When we got there, we went into a room by ourselvnd MissGriffin called in to her assistance, Mesrour, chief of uskyuards of the Hareem. Mesrour, on being whispereegan to shedears. "Bless you, my precious!" said that officer,urning to me;your Pa's took bitter bad!"

asked, with a fluttered heart, "Is he very ill?"

Lord temper the wind to you, my lamb!" said the g

Mesrour,neeling down, that I might have a comforting shouor my heado rest on, "your Pa's dead!"



Haroun Alraschid took to flight at the words; theSeraglio vanished;rom that moment, I never again saw one of the eigf the fairestf the daughters of men.

was taken home, and there was Debt at home as s Death, and

we had a sale there. My own little bed was souperciliously lookedpon by a Power unknown to me, hazily called "The

Trade," that arass coal-scuttle, a roasting-jack, and a birdcage, bliged toe put into it to make a Lot of it, and then it went foong. Soheard mentioned, and I wondered what song, and

hought what aismal song it must have been to sing!

Then, I was sent to a great, cold, bare, school of bigoys; whereverything to eat and wear was thick and clumpy,

without being

nough; where everybody, largo and small, was cruwhere the boysnew all about the sale, before I got there, and ask

me what I hadetched, and who had bought me, and hooted at me



Going, going,one!" I never whispered in that wretched place thad been

Haroun, or had had a Seraglio: for, I knew that if Imentioned my

everses, I should be so worried, that I should haverown myself n the muddy pond near the playground, which lookke the beer.

Ah me, ah me! No other ghost has haunted the boy

oom, myriends, since I have occupied it, than the ghost of mwnhildhood, the ghost of my own innocence, the ghos

my own airyelief. Many a time have I pursued the phantom:ever with this

man's stride of mine to come up with it, never withhese man'sands of mine to touch it, never more to this man'seart of mine toold it in its purity. And here you see me working os

heerfully and thankfully as I may, my doom of shan the glass constant change of customers, and of lying down ising up withhe skeleton allotted to me for my mortal companio



THE TRIAL FOR MURDER.

have always noticed a prevalent want of courage, mong

ersons of superior intelligence and culture, as tomparting theirwn psychological experiences when those have be strangeort. Almost all men are afraid that what they couldelate in such

wise would find no parallel or response in a listenernternalfe, and might be suspected or laughed at. A truthraveller,

who should have seen some extraordinary creature he likeness of sea-serpent, would have no fear of mentioning it;

he sameraveller, having had some singular presentiment,mpulse, vagary of hought, vision (so-called), dream, or other remark

mental



mpression, would hesitate considerably before he wwn to it.

To this reticence I attribute much of the obscurity inwhich suchubjects are involved. We do not habitually

ommunicate ourxperiences of these subjective things as we do ourxperiences of bjective creation. The consequence is, that theeneral stock of xperience in this regard appears exceptional, and

eally is so, inespect of being miserably imperfect.

n what I am going to relate, I have no intention of etting up,pposing, or supporting, any theory whatever. I knhe history of he Bookseller of Berlin, I have studied the case of t

wife of aate Astronomer Royal as related by Sir David Brewnd I haveollowed the minutest details of a much moreemarkable case of

Spectral Illusion occurring within my private circle oriends. It

may be necessary to state as to this last, that theufferer (aady) was in no degree, however distant, related to



A mistakenssumption on that head might suggest an explanaf a part of mywn case,--but only a part,--which would be wholly

without

oundation. It cannot be referred to my inheritancenyeveloped peculiarity, nor had I ever before any at imilarxperience, nor have I ever had any at all similarxperience since.

t does not signify how many years ago, or how fewertain murder

was committed in England, which attracted greatttention. We hear

more than enough of murderers as they rise inuccession to theirtrocious eminence, and I would bury the memory ohis particularrute, if I could, as his body was buried, in Newgateail. Iurposely abstain from giving any direct clue to theriminal's

ndividuality.

When the murder was first discovered, no suspicionr I oughtather to say, for I cannot be too precise in my fact



wasowhere publicly hinted that any suspicion fell--on t

man who wasfterwards brought to trial. As no reference was at me made

o him in the newspapers, it is obviously impossiblenyescription of him can at that time have been givenheewspapers. It is essential that this fact beemembered.

Unfolding at breakfast my morning paper, containinhe account of hat first discovery, I found it to be deeply interestinnd Iead it with close attention. I read it twice, if not thmes.

The discovery had been made in a bedroom, and, wlaid down theaper, I was aware of a flash--rush--flow--I do notnow what toall it,--no word I can find is satisfactorily descriptivn

which I seemed to see that bedroom passing througmy room, like aicture impossibly painted on a running river. Thoulmostnstantaneous in its passing, it was perfectly clear;



lear thatdistinctly, and with a sense of relief, observed thebsence of he dead body from the bed.

t was in no romantic place that I had this curiousensation, butn chambers in Piccadilly, very near to the corner ofames's

Street. It was entirely new to me. I was in my eashair at the

moment, and the sensation was accompanied with eculiar shiverwhich started the chair from its position. (But it is totedhat the chair ran easily on castors.) I went to one he windowsthere are two in the room, and the room is on theecond floor) toefresh my eyes with the moving objects down iniccadilly. It was bright autumn morning, and the street was sparknd cheerful.

The wind was high. As I looked out, it brought dow

rom the Park auantity of fallen leaves, which a gust took, and whnto apiral pillar. As the pillar fell and the leaves dispersaw



wo men on the opposite side of the way, going fromWest to East.They were one behind the other. The foremost manften looked backver his shoulder. The second man followed him, a

istance of ome thirty paces, with his right hand menacinglyaised. First,he singularity and steadiness of this threateningesture in soublic a thoroughfare attracted my attention; and n

he moreemarkable circumstance that nobody heeded it. Bmen threadedheir way among the other passengers with amoothness hardlyonsistent even with the action of walking on aavement; and noingle creature, that I could see, gave them place,ouched them, orooked after them. In passing before my windows, oth staredp at me. I saw their two faces very distinctly, andnew that I

ould recognise them anywhere. Not that I hadonsciously noticednything very remarkable in either face, except tha

man whowent first had an unusually lowering appearance, an



hat the facef the man who followed him was of the colour of mpure wax.

am a bachelor, and my valet and his wife constitu

my wholestablishment. My occupation is in a certain BranchBank, and Iwish that my duties as head of a Department were ght as theyre popularly supposed to be. They kept me in tow

hat autumn,when I stood in need of change. I was not ill, but Iot well.

My reader is to make the most that can be reasonamade of myeeling jaded, having a depressing sense upon me o

monotonousfe, and being "slightly dyspeptic." I am assured byenownedoctor that my real state of health at that time justotronger description, and I quote his own from his

written answer to

my request for it.

As the circumstances of the murder, graduallynravelling, tooktronger and stronger possession of the public mind



ept themway from mine by knowing as little about them as ossible inhe midst of the universal excitement. But I knew t verdict of

Wilful Murder had been found against the suspectedmurderer, andhat he had been committed to Newgate for trial. Inew thatis trial had been postponed over one Sessions of t

Central

Criminal Court, on the ground of general prejudice awant of timeor the preparation of the defence. I may further hanown, but Ielieve I did not, when, or about when, the Session

which hisrial stood postponed would come on.

My sitting-room, bedroom, and dressing-room, are n one floor.

With the last there is no communication but throughedroom.

True, there is a door in it, once communicating with

taircase;ut a part of the fitting of my bath has been--and hhen been forome years--fixed across it. At the same period, an part of



he same arrangement,--the door had been nailed und canvasedver.

was standing in my bedroom late one night, giving

ome directionso my servant before he went to bed. My face wasowards the onlyvailable door of communication with the dressing-oom, and it waslosed. My servant's back was towards that door.

While I waspeaking to him, I saw it open, and a man look in, weryarnestly and mysteriously beckoned to me. That m

was the man whoad gone second of the two along Piccadilly, and whace was of he colour of impure wax.

The figure, having beckoned, drew back, and closedoor. Witho longer pause than was made by my crossing theedroom, I opened

he dressing-room door, and looked in. I had a lighandlelready in my hand. I felt no inward expectation ofeeing thegure in the dressing-room, and I did not see it the



Conscious that my servant stood amazed, I turnedound to him, andaid: "Derrick, could you believe that in my cool sefancied

saw a--" As I there laid my hand upon his breast, suddentart he trembled violently, and said, "O Lord, yes,

A deadman beckoning!"

Now I do not believe that this John Derrick, my trusnd attachedervant for more than twenty years, had any impre

whatever of aving seen any such figure, until I touched him. Thange in him

was so startling, when I touched him, that I fully beeerived his impression in some occult manner from t thatnstant.

bade John Derrick bring some brandy, and I gave

dram, andwas glad to take one myself. Of what had precededhat night'shenomenon, I told him not a single word. Reflectin it, I was



bsolutely certain that I had never seen that faceefore, except onhe one occasion in Piccadilly. Comparing its expres

wheneckoning at the door with its expression when it ha

tared up atme as I stood at my window, I came to the conclushat on therst occasion it had sought to fasten itself upon my

memory, andhat on the second occasion it had made sure of be

mmediatelyemembered.

was not very comfortable that night, though I felt ertainty,ifficult to explain, that the figure would not return.aylightfell into a heavy sleep, from which I was awakeneohn

Derrick's coming to my bedside with a paper in hisand.

This paper, it appeared, had been the subject of an

ltercation athe door between its bearer and my servant. It waummons to meo serve upon a Jury at the forthcoming Sessions of

Central



Criminal Court at the Old Bailey. I had never beforeeen summonedn such a Jury, as John Derrick well knew. He belieam notertain at this hour whether with reason or otherwis

hat thatlass of Jurors were customarily chosen on a lowerualificationhan mine, and he had at first refused to accept theummons. The

man who served it had taken the matter very coolly

He had saidhat my attendance or non-attendance was nothingim; there theummons was; and I should deal with it at my owneril, and not atis.

or a day or two I was undecided whether to responhis call, orake no notice of it. I was not conscious of the sligh

mysterious bias, influence, or attraction, one way other. Of hat I am as strictly sure as of every other statemen

hat I makeere. Ultimately I decided, as a break in the monotf my life,hat I would go.



The appointed morning was a raw morning in the mf November.

There was a dense brown fog in Piccadilly, and itecame positivelylack and in the last degree oppressive East of Tem

Bar. I foundhe passages and staircases of the Court-House flarghted

with gas, and the Court itself similarly illuminated. THINK that,ntil I was conducted by officers into the Old Court

aw itsrowded state, I did not know that the Murderer wae tried thatay. I THINK that, until I was so helped into the Ol

Court withonsiderable difficulty, I did not know into which of wo Courtsitting my summons would take me. But this must e received as positive assertion, for I am not completely satisfie

my mindn either point.

took my seat in the place appropriated to Jurors inwaiting, and Iooked about the Court as well as I could through thloud of fognd breath that was heavy in it. I noticed the black



apour hangingke a murky curtain outside the great windows, andoticed thetifled sound of wheels on the straw or tan that wasttered in the

treet; also, the hum of the people gathered there,which a shrillwhistle, or a louder song or hail than the rest,ccasionallyierced. Soon afterwards the Judges, two in numbentered, and

ook their seats. The buzz in the Court was awfullyushed. Theirection was given to put the Murderer to the bar. ppearedhere. And in that same instant I recognised in himrst of he two men who had gone down Piccadilly.

f my name had been called then, I doubt if I couldave answered to

t audibly. But it was called about sixth or eighth inanel,nd I was by that time able to say, "Here!" Now,

bserve. As Itepped into the box, the prisoner, who had beenooking onttentively, but with no sign of concern, becameiolently agitated,



nd beckoned to his attorney. The prisoner's wish thallenge me

was so manifest, that it occasioned a pause, duringwhich thettorney, with his hand upon the dock, whispered w

is client,nd shook his head. I afterwards had it from thatentleman, thathe prisoner's first affrighted words to him were, "A

ALL HAZARDS,CHALLENGE THAT MAN!" But that, as he would giv

eason for it,nd admitted that he had not even known my namentil he heard italled and I appeared, it was not done.

Both on the ground already explained, that I wish tovoid revivinghe unwholesome memory of that Murderer, and alsecause a detailedccount of his long trial is by no means indispensab

myarrative, I shall confine myself closely to such incid

n the

en days and nights during which we, the Jury, wereept together,s directly bear on my own curious personalxperience. It is inhat, and not in the Murderer, that I seek to interes



eader.t is to that, and not to a page of the Newgate Calehat I begttention.

was chosen Foreman of the Jury. On the secondmorning of therial, after evidence had been taken for two hours (eard thehurch clocks strike), happening to cast my eyes ov

my brother

urymen, I found an inexplicable difficulty in countinhem. Iounted them several times, yet always with the saifficulty. Inhort, I made them one too many.

touched the brother jurymen whose place was nexme, and Iwhispered to him, "Oblige me by counting us." Heooked surprisedy the request, but turned his head and counted.Why," says he,uddenly, "we are Thirt-; but no, it's not possible.

We arewelve."

According to my counting that day, we were alwaysight in detail,



ut in the gross we were always one too many. Thewas noppearance--no figure--to account for it; but I had n inwardoreshadowing of the figure that was surely coming

The Jury were housed at the London Tavern. We allept in onearge room on separate tables, and we were constan the chargend under the eye of the officer sworn to hold us in

eeping.see no reason for suppressing the real name of thfficer. He

was intelligent, highly polite, and obliging, and (I wlad toear) much respected in the City. He had an agreeresence,ood eyes, enviable black whiskers, and a fine sonooice. Hisame was Mr. Harker.

When we turned into our twelve beds at night, Mr.Harker's bed was

rawn across the door. On the night of the second ot beingisposed to lie down, and seeing Mr. Harker sitting is bed, I

went and sat beside him, and offered him a pinch o



nuff. As Mr.Harker's hand touched mine in taking it from my boeculiarhiver crossed him, and he said, "Who is this?"

ollowing Mr. Harker's eyes, and looking along theoom, I saw againhe figure I expected,--the second of the two men wad gone downiccadilly. I rose, and advanced a few steps; thentopped, and

ooked round at Mr. Harker. He was quite unconceraughed, andaid in a pleasant way, "I thought for a moment we thirteenthuryman, without a bed. But I see it is the moonlig

Making no revelation to Mr. Harker, but inviting himake a walk

with me to the end of the room, I watched what thegure did. Ittood for a few moments by the bedside of each of leven brotherurymen, close to the pillow. It always went to the

and sidef the bed, and always passed out crossing the foothe next bed.t seemed, from the action of the head, merely to loown



ensively at each recumbent figure. It took no notime, or of my bed, which was that nearest to Mr. Harker's. Iteemed to go out

where the moonlight came in, through a high windo

s by an aerialight of stairs.

Next morning at breakfast, it appeared that everyboresent hadreamed of the murdered man last night, except m

nd Mr.Harker.

now felt as convinced that the second man who haone downiccadilly was the murdered man (so to speak), as iad beenorne into my comprehension by his immediateestimony. But evenhis took place, and in a manner for which I was nollrepared.

On the fifth day of the trial, when the case for therosecution wasrawing to a close, a miniature of the murdered ma

missing fromis bedroom upon the discovery of the deed, and



fterwards found in hiding-place where the Murderer had been seenigging, was put invidence. Having been identified by the witness unxamination,

t was handed up to the Bench, and thence handedown to benspected by the Jury. As an officer in a black gownwas making hisway with it across to me, the figure of the second mwho had gone

own Piccadilly impetuously started from the crowdaught theminiature from the officer, and gave it to me with hwn hands, athe same time saying, in a low and hollow tone,--besaw the

miniature, which was in a locket,--"I WAS YOUNGERTHEN, AND MY FACEWAS NOT THEN DRAINED OF BLOOD." It also cameetween me and therother juryman to whom I would have given the

miniature, andetween him and the brother juryman to whom he

would have given it,nd so passed it on through the whole of our numbend back into

my possession. Not one of them, however, detectehis.



At table, and generally when we were shut up togetn Mr.Harker's custody, we had from the first naturallyiscussed the

ay's proceedings a good deal. On that fifth day, thase for therosecution being closed, and we having that side ouestion in completed shape before us, our discussion was mnimated and

erious. Among our number was a vestryman,--theensest idiot Iave ever seen at large,--who met the plainest evid

with themost preposterous objections, and who was sided wy two flabbyarochial parasites; all the three impanelled from aistrict soelivered over to Fever that they ought to have beepon their ownrial for five hundred Murders. When these mischielockheads

were at their loudest, which was towards midnight,

while some of uswere already preparing for bed, I again saw themurdered man. Hetood grimly behind them, beckoning to me. On myoing towards



hem, and striking into the conversation, hemmediately retired.This was the beginning of a separate series of ppearances, confinedo that long room in which we were confined. When

knot of myrother jurymen laid their heads together, I saw theead of the

murdered man among theirs. Whenever theiromparison of notes wasoing against him, he would solemnly and irresistib

eckon to me.

t will be borne in mind that down to the productionhe

miniature, on the fifth day of the trial, I had never she

Appearance in Court. Three changes occurred now we entered onhe case for the defence. Two of them I will mentioogether,rst. The figure was now in Court continually, and ever thereddressed itself to me, but always to the person wh

was speaking athe time. For instance: the throat of the murdered

man had beenut straight across. In the opening speech for theefence, it was



uggested that the deceased might have cut his owhroat. At thatery moment, the figure, with its throat in the dreaonditioneferred to (this it had concealed before), stood at t

peaker'slbow, motioning across and across its windpipe, nowith the rightand, now with the left, vigorously suggesting to thpeakerimself the impossibility of such a wound having be

elf-inflictedy either hand. For another instance: a witness toharacter, a

woman, deposed to the prisoner's being the mostmiable of mankind.

The figure at that instant stood on the floor before hookinger full in the face, and pointing out the prisoner's eountenance with an extended arm and an outstretcnger.

The third change now to be added impressed metrongly as the most

marked and striking of all. I do not theorise upon itccuratelytate it, and there leave it. Although the Appearanc

was nottself perceived by those whom it addressed, its com



lose touch persons was invariably attended by somerepidation oristurbance on their part. It seemed to me as if it wrevented,

y laws to which I was not amenable, from fullyevealing itself tothers, and yet as if it could invisibly, dumbly, andarklyvershadow their minds. When the leading counselhe defence

uggested that hypothesis of suicide, and the figuretood at theearned gentleman's elbow, frightfully sawing at itsevered throat,t is undeniable that the counsel faltered in his speeost for aew seconds the thread of his ingenious discourse,

wiped hisorehead with his handkerchief, and turned extremeale. When the

witness to character was confronted by the Appearaer eyes mostertainly did follow the direction of its pointed finge

nd restn great hesitation and trouble upon the prisoner's fTwodditional illustrations will suffice. On the eighth dahe



rial, after the pause which was every day made eahefternoon for a few minutes' rest and refreshment, ame back into

Court with the rest of the Jury some little time befo

he returnf the Judges. Standing up in the box and lookingbout me, Ihought the figure was not there, until, chancing toaise my eyeso the gallery, I saw it bending forward, and leaning

ver a veryecent woman, as if to assure itself whether the Judad resumedheir seats or not. Immediately afterwards that wocreamed,ainted, and was carried out. So with the venerableagacious, andatient Judge who conducted the trial. When the ca

was over, ande settled himself and his papers to sum up, the

murdered man,ntering by the Judges' door, advanced to his Lordsesk, and

ooked eagerly over his shoulder at the pages of hisotes which he

was turning. A change came over his Lordship's facis handtopped; the peculiar shiver, that I knew so well,



assed over him;e faltered, "Excuse me, gentlemen, for a few

moments. I amomewhat oppressed by the vitiated air;" and did necover until

e had drunk a glass of water.

Through all the monotony of six of those interminaben days,--theame Judges and others on the bench, the same

Murderer in the dock,

he same lawyers at the table, the same tones of uestion and answerising to the roof of the court, the same scratching ohe Judge'sen, the same ushers going in and out, the same ligindled athe same hour when there had been any natural ligay, the sameoggy curtain outside the great windows when it waoggy, the sameain pattering and dripping when it was rainy, the sootmarks of urnkeys and prisoner day after day on the same

awdust, the sameeys locking and unlocking the same heavy doors,-hrough all the

wearisome monotony which made me feel as if I haeen Foreman of



he Jury for a vast cried of time, and Piccadilly hadourishedoevally with Babylon, the murdered man never losrace of hisistinctness in my eyes, nor was he at any moment

istinct thannybody else. I must not omit, as a matter of fact,nevernce saw the Appearance which I call by the name he murdered manook at the Murderer. Again and again I wondered,

Why does heot?" But he never did.

Nor did he look at me, after the production of theminiature, untilhe last closing minutes of the trial arrived. We retoonsider, at seven minutes before ten at night. Thedioticestryman and his two parochial parasites gave us

much troublehat we twice returned into Court to beg to have cextracts

rom the Judge's notes re-read. Nine of us had not mallestoubt about those passages, neither, I believe, hadne in the

Court; the dunder-headed triumvirate, having no id



utbstruction, disputed them for that very reason. Atength werevailed, and finally the Jury returned into Court a

minutes

ast twelve.

The murdered man at that time stood directly oppohe Jury-box,n the other side of the Court. As I took my place, yes rested

n me with great attention; he seemed satisfied, anlowly shook areat gray veil, which he carried on his arm for the me,ver his head and whole form. As I gave in our verGuilty,"he veil collapsed, all was gone, and his place wasmpty.

The Murderer, being asked by the Judge, according sage, whethere had anything to say before sentence of Death she passed

pon him, indistinctly muttered something which waescribed in theeading newspapers of the following day as "a fewambling,ncoherent, and half-audible words, in which he was



nderstood toomplain that he had not had a fair trial, because thoreman of he Jury was prepossessed against him." Theemarkable declaration

hat he really made was this: "MY LORD, I KNEW I A DOOMED MAN,WHEN THE FOREMAN OF MY JURY CAME INTO THEBOX. MY LORD, I KNEW HEWOULD NEVER LET ME OFF, BECAUSE, BEFORE I WTAKEN, HE SOMEHOW GOT

TO MY BEDSIDE IN THE NIGHT, WOKE ME, AND PUROPE ROUND MY NECK."

Three Ghost Stories by Charles Dickens

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