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English Pages 316 [334] Year 1916
THE EMPTY HOUSE
THE EMPTY HOUSE AND OTHER GHOST STORIES
BY
ALGERNON BLACKWOOD AUTHOR OF "JOHN SILENCE" "THE LOST VALLEY"
ETC.
LONDON EVELEIGH NASH COMPANY LIMITED 1916
First Printed
.
.
.
IQ06
Uniform Edition
.
.
igr§
Reprinted
....
igi6
CONTENTS
..... ....
The Empty House
A A
Haunted Island
....
Case of Eavesdropping
Keeping his Promise
With Intent
to Steal
A
:
An
32 63 91
161
.... ....
Episode in a Lodging-House
Suspicious Gift
1
119
The Wood of the Dead Smith
PACE
186
218
The Strange Adventures of a Private Secretary 239 in New York Skeleton Lake
:
An
Episode in Camp
'
301
THE EMPTY HOUSE manage
Certain
houses,
somehow
to proclaim at once their character
evil.
In
like
the case of
certain
the
persons,
for
latter,
no
particular
they
may
boast an
feature need betray them;
open countenance and an ingenuous smile; and yet a
of their
little
company
conviction that there
with their being
:
is
leaves the unalterable
something radically amiss
that they are
Willy
evil.
nilly,
they seem to communicate an atmosphere of secret
and wicked thoughts which makes those
in their
immediate neighbourhood shrink from them as
from a thing diseased. And, perhaps, with houses the same principle is
operative,
and
it
is
the aroma of evil deeds
committed under a particular actual
roof,
long after the
doers have passed away, that
gooseflesh
come and the hair
rise.
makes the
Something of
the original passion of the evil-doer, and of the
horror felt
by
his
victim,
enters
the
heart of
the innocent watcher, and he becomes suddenly
The Empty House
2
conscious of tingling nerves, creeping skin, and a chilling of the blood.
He
is
terror-stricken without
apparent cause.
There was manifestly nothing in the external appearance of this particular house to bear out the tales of the horror that was said to reign within. stood,
It
was neither lonely nor unkempt.
It
crowded into a corner of the square, and
looked exactly like the houses on either side of it.
It
had the same number
neighbours;
the
of
windows
as
its
same balcony overlooking the
gardens; the same white steps leading up to the
heavy black front door
was the same narrow
;
and, in the
strip of
rear, there
green, with neat
box borders, running up to the wall that divided it
from
the
backs
of
the
adjoining
houses.
Apparently, too, the number of chimney pots on the roof was the same
the eaves
;
;
the breadth and angle of
and even the height of the dirty area
railings.
And
yet this house in the square, that seemed
precisely similar to its fifty ugly neighbours,
was
—horribly
as a matter of fact entirely different different.
Wherein lay is
this
impossible to say.
marked, invisible difference It
cannot be ascribed wholly
The Empty House to the imagination, because persons
3
who had
some time in the house, knowing nothing
spent of the
had declared positively that certain rooms
facts,
were so disagreeable they would rather die than
them
enter
and that the atmosphere of
again,
the whole house produced in
a genuine terror; tenants
who had decamp
forced to
was indeed
them symptoms
of
while the series of innocent tried
to
live
in
it
and been
at the shortest possible notice, less
little
than
a
scandal
in
the
town.
When visit
Shorthouse arrived to pay a
to his
Aunt
Julia in her
"
little
week-end
"
house on
the sea-front at the other end of the town, he
found her charged to the brim with mystery and excitement.
He had
only received her telegram
that morning, and he had come anticipating bore-
dom; but the moment he touched her hand and kissed her apple-skin wrinkled cheek, he caught
the
first
wave
of
her electrical condition.
impression
deepened
there were
to
had
when
he
learned
The that
be no other visitors, and that he
been telegraphed
for
with a very special
object.
Something was
in the
would doubtless bear
w ind, and the " something " T
fruit
;
for this elderly spinster
The Empty House
4
mania for psychical
aunt, with a
research,
by hook
as well as will power, and
had brains
by crook
or
she usually managed to accomplish her ends.
was made soon
revelation sidled close
up
to
him
after
The
when
tea,
she
as they paced slowly along
the sea-front in the dusk. "I've got the keys," she lighted, yet half
Monday "
awesome
announced
in
a de-
"Got them
voice.
till
!
The keys
"
of the bathing-machine, or
?
he asked innocently, looking from the sea to the town.
Nothing brought her so quickly to the
point as feigning stupidity.
"Neither," she whispered.
haunted house
of the
in
"I've got the keys
the
—and
square
I'm
the
slightest
going there to-night."
was
Shorthouse
possible tremor
conscious
down
of
He dropped
his back.
his
teasing tone.
Something in her voice and manner
thrilled him.
She was
"
But you
"That's
can't
why
I
in earnest.
go alone
"
he began.
wired for you," she said with
decision.
He
turned to look at her.
The
ugly, lined,
enigmatical face was alive with excitement.
was the glow
of
There
genuine enthusiasm round
it
The Empty House The eyes
like a halo.
wave
of her excitement,
marked than the "
first,
He
shone.
5
caught another
and a second tremor, more
accompanied
it.
Thanks, Aunt Julia," he said politely
;
"
thanks
awfully." "
should not dare to go quite alone," she went
I
on, raising her voice it
;
"
but with you I should enjoy
immensely.
You're afraid of nothing, I know."
"Thanks
much," he said
so
anything likely to happen
"A "
"Er
again.
it's
whispered,
been most cleverly hushed up.
come
tenants have
and gone
months, and the house
is
?
great deal has happened," she
though
—
said
is
Three
few
in
the
to
be empty for
last
good now." In spite of himself Shorthouse became interested.
His aunt was so very much in earnest.
"The house "
is
and the story
way
back.
It
very old indeed," she went on,
— an
unpleasant one
— dates
a long
has to do with a murder committed
by a jealous stableman who had some a servant in the house.
affair
with
One night he managed
to secrete himself in the cellar,
and when every-
one was asleep, he crept upstairs to the servants' quarters, chased the girl
and
before anyone
down
could
to the next landing,
come
to
the
rescue
The Empty House
6 threw
her
bodily over the
into the
banisters
hall below."
And " Was
"
but
the stableman
?
caught, I believe, and hanged for murder
it all
happened a century ago, and
I've not
been able to get more details of the story."
now
Shorthouse aroused;
but,
felt
interest
his
though he was
not
nervous for himself, he hesitated a
thoroughly particularly little
on his
aunt's account. "
On
"
Nothing
firmly " if
one condition," he said at length.
;
"
but I
my
prevent
will
may
as well hear
she
going,"
said
your condition."
That you guarantee your power
of self-control
anything really horrible happens.
I
mean
that you are sure you won't get too frightened." "
Jim," she said scornfully, " I'm not young, I
know, nor are
my
nerves
;
but with you I should
be afraid of nothing in the world This, of course, settled
it,
!
for Shorthouse
had no
pretensions to being other than a very ordinary
young man, and an appeal irresistible.
He
Instinctively,
to
his
vanity was
agreed to go.
by a
paration, he kept
sort
of sub-conscious pre-
himself and his forces well in
hand the whole evening, compelling an accumula-
The Empty House
by that nameless inward
control
tive reserve of
7
process of gradually putting all the emotions
and
turning
difficult to
the
key upon them
—a
away
process
describe, but wonderfully effective, as
men who have lived through severe trials of the inner man well understand. Later, it stood him
all
in
good
But
stead.
it
was not
half-past ten,
until
when they
stood in the hall, well in the glare of friendly
lamps and
still
surrounded by comforting
influences, that he this
store
of
had
to
make
the
strength.
collected
human
first call
upon
For, once the
door was closed, and he saw the deserted silent stretching
street
before them,
it
test that night
instead of one.
away white
came
to
would be
him
in
clearly that the real
in dealing with two fears
He would have
fear as well as his own.
to carry his aunt's
And, as he glanced down
at her sphinx-like countenance
and
might assume no pleasant aspect terror,
he
felt satisfied
whole adventure
own
—that
the moonlight
realised that
it
in a rush of real
with only one thing in the he had confidence in his
and power to stand against any shock
will
that might come.
Slowly they walked along the empty streets of the town
;
a bright autumn
moon
silvered the roofs,
The Empty House
8
casting deep shadows;
wind
;
watched them
To
made no
silently as
his aunt's occasional
with mental
was simply buffers
ordinary things to prevent herself extra-ordinary
Few
sur-
— saying
thinking of
windows
showed
and from scarcely a single chimney came
smoke or notice
to
things.
they passed
remarks Shorthouse
reply, realising that she
rounding herself
lights,
of
and the trees in the formal gardens by the
sea-front along.
was no breath
there
Shorthouse had already begun
sparks.
everything, even
the smallest details.
Presently they stopped at the street corner and
name on
looked up at the full in ^the
the side of the house
moonlight, and with one accord, but
without remark, turned into the square and crossed over to the side of "
The number
it
that lay in shadow.
of the house
a voice at his side
;
is
thirteen," whispered
and neither
of
them made the
obvious reference, but passed across the broad sheet of
moonlight and began to march up the pavement
in silence. It
was
Shorthouse
about half-way up the felt
ficantly into his
square
an arm slipped quietly but
was
signi-
own, and knew then that their
adventure had begun in earnest, and
companion
that
already
yielding
that
his
imperceptibly
The Empty House the
to
against
influences
them.
9
She needed
support.
A
few minutes
later they stopped before
a
tall,
narrow house that rose before them into the night, ugly in shape and painted a dingy white. less
Shutter-
windows, without blinds, stared down upon
them, shining here and there in the moonlight.
There were weather streaks in the wall and cracks
and the balcony bulged out from the
in the paint, first floor
a
little
unnaturally.
But, beyond this
generally forlorn appearance of an unoccupied house, there
was nothing
at first sight to single out this
particular mansion for the evil character
it
had
most certainly acquired.
Taking a look over their shoulders to make sure they had not been followed, they went boldly up the steps and stood against the huge black door that fronted
wave
of
them forbiddingly.
nervousness was
But the
first
now upon them, and
Shorthouse fumbled a long time with the key before he could
moment,
if
fit
it
into the lock at
all.
For a
truth were told, they both hoped
would not open,
for they
it
were a prey to various
unpleasant emotions as they stood there on the threshold of their ghostly adventure. shuffling
with
the
key and
Shorthouse,
hampered by the
The Empty House
io
weight
steady
on
his
arm,
solemnity of the moment.
world
— for
was
It
as
the whole
if
in
his
own
consciousness
— were A stray
listening to the grating noise of that key.
puff of
wind wandering down the empty
woke a momentary them, but
the
felt
experience seemed at that instant
all
concentrated
certainly
street
rustling in the trees behind
otherwise
rattling
this
was the only sound audible
;
the
of
and
at
key
last
it
turned in the lock and the heavy door swung
open and revealed a yawning gulf of darkness beyond.
With a
moonlit square, they
last glance at the
passed quickly
in,
and the door slammed behind
them with a roar that echoed prodigiously through
empty
halls
and passages.
the echoes, another sound
Aunt
But, instantly, with
made
itself heard,
Julia leaned suddenly so heavily
and
upon him
that he had to take a step backwards to save
himself from falling.
A man that
it
had coughed
close beside
them
— so close
seemed they must have been actually by
his side in the darkness.
With the
possibility of practical jokes
in his
mind, Shorthouse at once swung his heavy stick in the direction of the sound
;
but
it
met nothing
The Empty House more
solid
He
air.
heard his aunt give a
gasp beside him.
little
"
than
1
There's someone here," she whispered
" I
;
heard
him." "
Be quiet
!
"
he said sternly.
" It
was nothing
but the noise of the front door." "
Oh
get a light
!
— quick
" !
she added, as her
nephew, fumbling with a box of matches, opened it
upside
down and
on to the stone
them
let
all fall
with a
rattle
floor.
The sound, however, was not repeated and there ;
was no evidence
of retreating footsteps.
In another
minute they had a candle burning, using an empty
end of a cigar case as a holder
;
and when the
first
flare
had died down he held the impromptu lamp
aloft
and surveyed the
enough
And
scene.
it
was dreary
in all conscience, for there is nothing
desolate in all the abodes of
nished house dimly
lit,
men than an
silent,
more
unfur-
and forsaken, and
yet tenanted by rumour with the memories of evil
and violent
histories.
They were standing left
in a
was the open door
and long,
wide
hall- way
;
on their
of a spacious dining-room,
in front the hall ran, ever narrowing, into a
dark passage that led apparently to the top of
the kitchen
stairs.
The broad uncarpeted
staircase
The Empty House
12
sweep before them, everywhere draped
rose in a
in
shadows, except for a single spot about half-way up
where the moonlight came in through the window and
fell
on a bright patch on the boards.
This
shaft of light shed a faint radiance above and below it,
lending to the objects within
was
outline that
infinitely
reach a misty
its
more suggestive and
ghostly than complete darkness.
Filtered
moon-
light always seems to paint faces on the surrounding
gloom, and as Shorthouse peered up into the well of
darkness and thought of the countless empty rooms
and passages
in the
upper part of the old house, he
caught himself longing again for the safety of the moonlit square, or the cosy, bright drawing-room
they had
left
Then
an hour before.
realising that
these thoughts were dangerous, he thrust
away again and summoned
his
all
them
energy for
concentration on the present. "
Aunt
Julia,"
he said aloud, severely,
now go through the house from make a thorough search." The echoes
of
his
voice
"
we must
top to bottom and
died
away slowly
all
over the building, and in the intense silence that followed he turned to look at her. light he
pale
;
saw that her
face
In the candle-
was already ghastly
but she dropped his arm for a moment and
The Empty House in
said
stepping
a whisper,
close
13 front of
in
him
We must be
" I agree.
That's the
sure there's no one hiding.
thing."
first
j
She spoke with evident
effort,
and he looked at
her with admiration.
You
"
feel quite sure of yourself
It's
?
not too
"
late
"I think
she whispered, her eyes shifting
so,"
nervously toward the shadows behind. sure,
Quite
"
only one thing "
"
What's that
"
You must never
"
As long
as
"
?
leave
me
alone for an instant."
you understand that any sound or
appearance must be investigated at once, for to
"
means
to
admit
Agreed," she
said,
hesitate
moment's
Arm
hesitation.
in
fear.
a
" I'll
That
is fatal."
shakily,
little
try
after
a
"
arm, Shorthouse holding the dripping
candle and the stick, while his
aunt carried the
cloak over her shoulders, figures of utter
comedy
to
but themselves, they began a systematic search.
all
Stealthily,
candle lest
it
walking on tip-toe and shading the should betray their presence through
the shutterless windows, they went dining-room.
first
into the big
There was not a stick of furniture to
The Empty House
14
Bare walls, ugly mantel-pieces and empty
be seen. grates
stared
them.
at
they
Everything,
resented their intrusion, watching them, as
with veiled eyes flitted
;
whispers followed them
noiselessly
and
right
to
;
it
felt,
were,
shadows
something
left;
seemed ever at their back, watching, waiting an opportunity to do them injury. inevitable sense
when
that operations which went on
the room was empty had been temporarily
suspended
till
they were well out of the
The whole dark to
There was the
interior of the old building
become a malignant
warning business
;
way
them
to
every
moment
again.
seemed
Presence that rose up,
and mind
desist
their
own
the strain on the nerves
increased.
Out
the gloomy dining-room they passed
of
through large folding doors into a sort of library or smoking-room, wrapt equally in
and dust
;
and from
they regained the hall
this
near the top of the back
silence, darkness,
stairs.
Here a pitch black tunnel opened before them into the lower regions,
they hesitated.
and
But only
worst of the night
still
turn from nothing.
—
it
must be confessed
With the
for a minute.
to
come
Aunt
top step of the dark descent,
it
was
essential to
Julia stumbled at the ill lit
by the
flickering
The Empty House candle,
and even Shorthouse
1
felt at least half
the
decision go out of his legs. "
Come on
!
"
he said peremptorily, and his voice
ran on and lost
itself in
the dark, empty spaces
below. "
I'm coming," she faltered, catching his arm with
unnecessary violence.
They went a
unsteadily
little
damp
steps,
a cold,
elose
and mal-odorous.
air
down
meeting them in the
The
kitchen,
it
face,
which
into
the stairs led along a narrow passage,
with a lofty
the stone
was
large,
Several doors opened out of
ceiling.
—some into cupboards with empty jars
still
stand-
ing on the shelves, and others into horrible
ghostly back
than the
offices,
last.
each colder and
little
less inviting
Black beetles scurried over the
floor,
and once, when they knocked against a deal table standing in a corner, something about the size of a cat
jumped down with a rush and
fled,
scampering
across the stone floor into the darkness.
Every-
where there was a sense of recent occupation, an impression of sadness and gloom.
Leaving the
main kitchen, they
next went
towards the scullery.
The door was standing
and as they pushed
open to
it
Julia uttered a piercing scream,
its full
extent
ajar,
Aunt
which she instantly
The Empty House
1
by placing her hand over her mouth.
tried to stifle
For a second Shorthouse stood
He
his breath.
stock-still,
felt as if his spine
become hollow and someone had
catching
had suddenly filled
with
it
particles of ice.
Facing them, directly in their doorposts, stood the figure of a
dishevelled hair and face
was
terrified
w ildly r
was gone
woman.
the
She had
staring eyes, and her
and white as death. for the space of
She stood there motionless
Then the candle
single second.
way between
—gone
utterly
—and
a
and she
flickered
the door framed
nothing but empty darkness.
"Only the
beastly
jumping candle-light," he
said quickly, in a voice that sounded like else's
and was only half under
aunt.
There's nothing there."
control.
"
someone
Come
on,
He dragged her forward. With a clattering of feet and a great appearance of boldness they went over his body the skin moved as
covered
it,
if
on,
but
crawling ants
and he knew by the weight on
his
arm
that he was supplying the force of locomotion for two.
The
scullery
was cold, bare, and empty
like a large prison cell
went round
it,
than anything
else.
more
;
They
tried the door into the yard,
the windows, but found them
all
and
fastened securely.
The Empty House
17
His aunt moved beside him like a person in a
Her eyes were
dream.
tightly
shut,
and
she
seemed merely to follow the pressure of his arm.
Her courage
filled
him with amazement.
At the
same time he noticed that a certain odd change had come over her
face,
a change which somehow
evaded his power of analysis. "There's
nothing " Let's
aloud quickly. of the house.
up
here,
Then
aunty,"
he
go upstairs and see the rest
we'll choose a
room
side,
close to his
and they locked the kitchen door behind them.
was a
more a
to wait
in."
She followed him obediently, keeping
It
repeated
relief to get
up again. In the
light than before, for the
little
down
further
hall there
moon had
the stairs.
was
travelled
Cautiously they
began to go up into the dark vault of the upper house, the boards creaking under their weight.
On
the
first floor
they found the large double
drawing-rooms, a search of which revealed nothing.
Here
also
occupancy; shadows.
was
no sign of furniture or recent
nothing but dust
and
They opened the big
neglect
folding
and doors
between front and back drawing-rooms and then
came out again
to the landing
and went on
upstairs.
They had not gone up more than a dozen
steps
The Empty House
1
when they both simultaneously stopped
new apprehen-
looking into each other's eyes with a
From
sion across the nickering candle flame.
room they had
left
to listen,
the
hardly ten seconds before came
the sound of doors quietly closing.
It
was beyond
question; they heard the booming noise that
all
accompanies the shutting of heavy doors, followed
by the sharp catching 11
We
of the latch.
must go back and
briefly, in
Shorthouse
see," said
a low tone, and turning to go downstairs
again.
Somehow
she managed to drag after him, her
feet catching in her dress, her face livid.
When
they entered the front drawing-room
was plain that the folding doors had been
He
house opened them.
darkness
and
through
both
They
cold
air
set
the candle
back room
met
finding
way
of themselves, but there to
almost expected to see
in the
rooms,
tried in every
to
utterly empty,
;
but only
They went
him.
nothing
make
unusual.
the doors close
was not wind enough even
flame flickering.
would not move without strong silent as the grave.
closed
Without hesitation Short-
half a minute before.
someone facing him
it
The doors
pressure.
All
was
Undeniably the rooms were
and the house utterly
still.
The Empty House " It's
19
beginning," whispered a voice at his elbow
which he hardly recognised as his
He nodded
acquiescence, taking out his watch
to note the time.
midnight
;
aunt's.
It
was
minutes before
fifteen
he made the entry of exactly what had
occurred in his notebook, setting the candle in case
upon the
moment
floor in order to
two
or
do
took a
It
so.
its
to balance it safely against the
wall.
Aunt
moment
Julia always declared that at this
she was not actually watching him, but had turned
her head towards the inner room, where she fancied she heard something
feet,
both
—and
of
the next
had come more than
this,
and he has always thanked
that
it
to
rate,
was out
to Shorthouse himself
came
any
came a sound
heavy and very swift
instant the candle
But
but, at
;
agreed that there
positively
rushing
moving
his fortunate stars
him alone and not
to his aunt too.
For, as he rose from the stooping position of balanc-
ing the candle, and before
it
was actually
extin-
guished, a face thrust itself forward so close to his
own lips.
that he could almost have touched It
was a
face, dark,
eyes.
It
face
with his
it
working with passion
;
a man's
with thick features, and angry, savage
beolnged to a
common man, and
it
was
evil
The Empty House
20
in its ordinary
he saw it
it,
normal expression, no doubt, but as
alive
with intense, aggressive emotion,
was a malignant and
human
terrible
counten-
ance.
There was no movement of the the sound of rushing feet
air
;
nothing but
—stockinged
feet; the apparition of the face;
or muffled
and the almost
simultaneous extinguishing of the candle.
In spite of himself, Shorthouse uttered a cry, nearly losing his balance as his
him with her whole weight
in one
little
aunt clung to
moment
of real,
She made no sound, but
uncontrollable terror.
simply seized him bodily.
Fortunately, however,
she had seen nothing, but had only heard the rushing feet, for
her control returned almost at once, and
he was able to disentangle himself and strike a match.
The shadows ran away on glare,
and
his
all sides
before the
aunt stooped down and groped for
Then
the cigar case with the precious candle.
they discovered that
blown out at
was
wick
was
all
;
it
pressed
flattened as
if
the
candle had not been
had been crushed
down
into the
out.
The
wax, which
by some smooth, heavy
instru-
ment.
How
his
companion so quickly overcame her
The Empty House Shorthouse
terror,
never
properly
21
understood
but his admiration for her self-control increased tenfold,
and at the same time served to feed his
own dying
flame
—for
which he was undeniably
Equally inexplicable to him was the
grateful.
evidence of physical force they had just witnessed.
He
at once suppressed the
had heard
of
"
for if these
were
true,
and either
aunt or himself was unwittingly a physical
his
medium, to
;
of stories he
mediums " and their danger-
physical
ous phenomena
memory
it
meant that they were simply aiding
focus the forces of
charged to the brim. protected lamps
It
a haunted house already
was
like
walking with un-
among uncovered
stores of gun-
powder. So, with as little reflection as possible, he simply relit
the candle and went up to the next
The arm tread
in his trembled,
it is true,
and
his
floor.
own
was often uncertain, but they went on with
thoroughness, and after a search revealing nothing
they climbed the of
last flight of stairs to the top floor
all.
Here they found a perfect nest
of small servants'
rooms, with broken pieces of furniture, dirty cane-
bottomed
chairs, chests of drawers, cracked mirrors,
and decrepit bedsteads.
The rooms had low sloping
The Empty House
22
ceilings already
small windows,
hung here and there with cobwebs, and badly plastered
walls
—a
depressing and dismal region which they were glad to leave behind.
was on the stroke
It
of
midnight when they
entered a small room on the third
floor, close to
top of the stairs, and arranged to
make themselves
the
comfortable for the remainder of their adventure. It
was absolutely
room
—then
bare,
used as a clothes closet
the infuriated
groom had chased
caught her.
finally
and was said to be the
—into
which
his victim
and
Outside, across
the narrow
up
to the floor
landing, began the stairs leading
above, and the servants' quarters where they had just searched.
In spite of the chilliness of the night there was
something in the air of this room that cried for an
open window.
But there was more than
Shorthouse could only describe he
felt
less
it
this.
by saying that
master of himself here than in any
other part of the house.
There was something
that acted directly on the nerves, tiring the resolution, enfeebling the will.
result before he
and
it
was
had been
He was in the
conscious of this
room
five minutes,
in the short time they stayed there that
he suffered {he wholesale depletion of his
vital
The Empty House forces,
which was,
23
for himself, the chief horror of
the whole experience.
They put the candle on the
floor of the
cupboard,
leaving the door a few inches ajar, so that there
was no glare to confuse the to shift about
eyes,
on walls and
and no shadow
Then they
ceiling.
down
spread the cloak on the floor and sat
to wait,
with their backs against the wall. Shorthouse was within two feet of the door on
commanded
to the landing; his position
a good
view of the main staircase leading down into the darkness, and also of the beginning of the servants' stairs
beside
going to the floor above
him within easy
the heavy stick lay
;
reach.
The moon was now high above the Through the open window
house.
they could see the
comforting stars like friendly eyes watching in the
One by one the
sky.
midnight, and silence of
thing.
when
clocks of the
the sounds died
a windless night
Only the boom
fell
away
of the sea, far
house the
silence
awful, he thought, because any
might be broken by
The
the deep
again over every-
lugubrious, filled the air with hollow
Inside the
town struck
away and
murmurs
became
awful
minute now
it
sounds portending terror.
strain of waiting told
more and more severely
The Empty House
24
on the nerves they talked at
all,
due to the night cold.
The
air,
A
chilliness,
not altogether
invaded the room, and made
influences against them, whatever
these might be, were slowly robbing confidence, forces
began
and the power
them
of self-
of decisive action
were on the wane, and the on a new and
fear took
sounded
for their voices aloud
queer and unnatural.
them
whispers when
they talked in
;
possibility of real
terrible
to tremble for the elderly
their
;
He
meaning.
woman by
his side,
whose pluck could hardly save her beyond a certain extent.
He
heard the blood singing in his veins.
sometimes seemed so loud that he fancied
it
It
pre-
vented his hearing properly certain other sounds that were beginning very faintly to
make them-
selves audible in the depths of the house.
Every
time he fastened his attention on these sounds,
they instantly ceased. nearer.
that
They
Yet he could not
movement was going on somewhere
He
;
in the
The drawing-room
where the doors had been so strangely
seemed too near that.
came no
rid himself of the idea
lower regions of the house. floor,
certainly
closed,
the sounds were further off than
thought of the great kitchen, with the
scurrying black-beetles, and of the dismal
little
The Empty House scullery to
;
but,
somehow
come from there
25
or other, they did not seem
Surely they were not
either.
outside the house
Then, suddenly, the truth flashed into his mind,
and for the space of a minute he
felt as if his
blood had stopped flowing and turned to
The sounds were not downstairs were upstairs horrid gloomy
— upstairs, little
windows
at all
;
they
somewhere among those
servants'
of broken furniture,
ice.
low
rooms with their
ceilings,
bits
and cramped
—upstairs where the victim had
been
first
disturbed and stalked to her death.
And
the
moment he discovered where them more
were, he began to hear
the sounds It
clearly.
was
the sound of feet, moving stealthily along the
passage overhead, in and out
among the
rooms, and
past the furniture.
He turned quickly to
steal a glance at the
less figure seated beside
had shared
motion-
him, to note whether she
his discovery.
The
faint candle-light
coming through the crack in the cupboard door, threw her strongly-marked face into vivid against the white of the wall.
thing else that stare
again.
But
made him catch
An
extraordinary
his
it
relief
was somebreath and
something had
come into her face and seemed to spread over her
The Empty House
26
features like a
mask
smoothed out the deep
it
;
and drew the skin everywhere a
lines
so that the wrinkles disappeared
the face
—with the
;
tighter
little
brought into
it
sole exception of the old eyes
an appearance of youth and almost of childhood.
He
stared in speechless
—amazement
amazement
was dangerously near
that
face indeed, but
aunt's
it
to horror.
was her
his
face of forty
years ago, the vacant innocent face of a
had heard
was
It
girl.
He
stories of that strange effect of terror
which could wipe a human countenance clean of other emotions, obliterating sions
all
previous expres-
but he had never realised that
;
literally true, or could
mean anything
what he now saw.
horrible as
it
could be
so simply
For the dreadful
signature of overmastering fear was written plainly in that utter vacancy of the girlish
him
;
and when, feeling
face
beside
his intense gaze, she turned
him, he instinctively closed his eyes
to look at
tightly to shut out the sight.
Yet,
when he turned a minute
well in hand, he
expression face
;
saw
his aunt
later, his feelings
to his intense relief another
was
smiling,
and though the
was deathly white, the awful
veil
had
lifted
and the normal look was returning. "
Anything wrong ?
"
was
all
he could think of
The Empty House to say
answer was
the
coming from such a woman.
eloquent,
"I
And
the moment.
at
27
cold
feel
—and
a
frightened,"
little
she
whispered.
He
window, but she seized
offered to close the
hold of him and begged him not to leave her side
even for an instant. " It's upstairs, I
odd half laugh
But
;
"
know," she whispered, with an
but I can't possibly go up."
thought
Shorthouse
otherwise,
knowing
that in action lay their best hope of self-control. I
He
took the brandy flask and poured out a glass
enough
of neat spirit, stiff
She swallowed
anything.
His only idea
now was
to help it
anybody over
with a
to get
little shiver.
out of the house
before her collapse became inevitable
could not safely be done
running from the enemy. possible
;
by turning
from
it
;
and
less
master
Moreover, the
must be taken towards the enemy, not away ;
the climax,
would have
now
tail
and desperate, aggressive measures were
imperative without further delay. action
but this
Inaction was no longer
every minute he was growing
of himself,
;
to be
if
necessary and unavoidable,
faced boldly.
He
could do
it
but in ten minutes he might not have the
force left to act for himself,
much
less for
both
The Empty House
28
Upstairs, the sounds were meanwhile becoming
louder
and
creaking of stealthily
accompanied
closer,
the about,
Someone was moving
boards.
now
stumbling
awkwardly against the
by occasional
and
then
furniture.
Waiting a few moments to allow the tremendous dose of spirits to produce this
would
its effect,
and knowing
but a short time under the circum-
last
stances, Shorthouse then quietly got
on his
feet,
saying in a determined voice "
Now, Aunt
what It's
all this
what we
He
Julia, we'll
noise
is
go upstairs and find out
You must come
about.
too.
agreed."
picked up his stick and went to the cupboard
A limp form rose
for the candle.
shakily beside him
breathing hard, and he heard a voice say very faintly something about being " ready to come."
woman's courage amazed him than his own
;
;
it
The
was so much greater
and, as they advanced, holding aloft
the dripping candle, some subtle force exhaled from this trembling, white-faced old
woman
at his side
that was the true source of his inspiration.
It held
something really great that shamed him and gave
him the support without which he would have proved far
They
less
equal to the occasion.
crossed
the dark landing, avoiding with
The Empty House
29
their eyes the deep black space over the banisters.
Then they began
mount the narrow
to
staircase to
meet the sounds which, minute by minute, grew
About half-way up the
louder and nearer.
Aunt
there
and Shorthouse turned to
Julia stumbled
catch her
by the arm, and
came a
overhead.
It
stairs
just at that
moment
crash in the servants' corridor
terrific
was instantly followed by a
shrill,
agonised scream that was a cry of terror and a cry for help melted into one.
Before they could step,
move
aside, or
go down a single
someone came rushing along the
passage
overhead, blundering horribly, racing madly, at full speed, three steps at a time,
case
where they
uncertain;
stood.
The
down
the very stair-
steps were light
but close behind them sounded
and the
heavier tread of another person, and the staircase
seemed
to shake.
Shorthouse and his companion just had time to flatten
themselves
against
the wall
when
the
jumble of flying steps was upon them, and two persons, with the slightest possible interval
them, dashed past at
full speed.
It
between
was a perfect
whirlwind of sound breaking in upon the midnight silence of the
empty
building.
The two runners, pursuer and pursued, had
The Empty House
30
passed clean through them where they stood, and already with a thud the boards below had received first
then the
one,
absolutely nothing
other.
Yet
they had
—not a hand, or
seen
arm, or face, or
even a shred of flying clothing.
Then the
There came a second's pause.
first
one, the lighter of the two, obviously the pursued one, ran with uncertain footsteps into the little
room which' Shorthouse and
The heavier one
left.
sound
of
screaming the step
A
scuffling,
his
aunt had just
followed.
There was a
and
gasping,
smothered
and then out on to the landing came
;
— of a single person treading weightily.
dead silence followed for the space of half a
minute, and then was heard
through the
air.
It
rushing
a
was followed by a
sound
dull, crash-
ing thud in the depths of the house below
— on the
stone floor of the hall.
Utter silence reigned
The flame
of the candle
Nothing moved.
after.
was steady,
steady the whole time, and
the
had been
It
air
had been
undisturbed by any movement whatsoever.
with
terror,
Aunt
Julia,
Palsied
without waiting for her
companion, began fumbling her
way
she was crying gently to herself, and
downstairs;
when
Short-
house put his arm round her and half carried her
The Empty House he
felt
that she
went into the from the
was trembling
little
floor,
3
like a leaf.
1
He
room and picked up the cloak
and,
arm
in arm,
walking very
slowly, without speaking a
word or looking once
behind them, they marched
down
the three flights
into the hall.
In the hall they saw nothing, but the whole
down
way
the stairs they were conscious that someone
followed them;
step
by
step;
when they went
behind, and
when they went
more slowly IT caught them up.
But never once
faster
IT was
left
did they look behind to see
;
and at each turning
of the staircase they lowered their eyes for fear of
the following horror they might see
upon the
stairs above.
With trembling hands Shorthouse opened the front door, and they walked out into the moonlight
and drew a deep breath of the cool night in
from the
sea.
air
blowing
A HAUNTED ISLAND The
following events occurred on a small island
of isolated position in a large Canadian lake, to
whose
waters the inhabitants of Montreal
cool
/
and Toronto
for
flee
hot months.
It
is
rest
and recreation
only to
in the
be regretted
that
events of such peculiar interest to the genuine
student of the psychical should be entirely uncorroborated.
Such unfortunately, however,
is
the
case.
Our own party to
of nearly
twenty had returned
Montreal that very day, and I was
solitary possession for a
week or two
order to accomplish some for the
law which
I
left
in
longer, in
important ''reading"
had foolishly neglected during
the summer. It
was
September, and the big trout and
late in
maskinonge were of the lake,
stirring themselves in the depths
and beginning slowly
to
move up
to
the surface waters as the north winds and early frosts
lowered
their
temperature. 32
Already the
A were
maples
Haunted
Island
and
crimson
33
and the wild
gold,
laughter of the loons echoed in sheltered bays that
never
knew
their strange cry in the
With a whole
island to
farmers weekly
with eggs and bread, to
visit
disturb one, the opportunities
The
a two-storey
oneself,
and only the chipmunks, and the
cottage, a canoe,
might be very
summer.
great.
It all
rest of the party
hard reading
for
depends
had gone
!
many
with
off
warnings to beware of Indians, and not to stay late
enough to be the victim of a
frost tha,t thinks
nothing of forty below zero.
After they had gone,
the loneliness of the situation
made
antly
itself
unpleas-
There were no other islands within
felt.
six or seven miles,
and though the mainland
forests
lay a couple of miles behind me, they stretched for a very great distance of
human
But, though the island was
habitation.
completely deserted and that had echoed
unbroken by any sigus
human
silent,
the rocks and trees
laughter and voices almost
every hour of the day for two months could not fail to
retain
some memories
of
it
all
;
and
I
was
not surprised to fancy I heard a shout or a cry as I passed
from rock to rock, and more than once to
imagine that
I
heard
my own name
called aloud.
In the cottage there were six tiny 3
little
bed-
A
34
Haunted Island
rooms divided from one another by plain unvarnished
partitions
a mattress,
and a
A
pine.
of
wooden bedstead, but I
chair, stood in each room,
only found two mirrors, and one of these was broken.
The boards creaked a good deal
as
I
moved
about, and the signs of occupation were so recent
that I could hardly believe I was alone.
I half
expected to find someone
trying
to
crowd into a box more than
The door a
left behind, still
of one
moment
room was
open,
to
and
stiff,
would
it
and refused
required very
it
hold. for
little
persuasion to imagine someone was holding the
handle on the inside, and that when should meet a pair of
human
it
opened
I
eyes.
A thorough search of the floor led me to select as my own sleeping quarters a little room with a diminutive balcony over the verandah roof.
The
room was very
and
small, but the
had the best mattress
of
them
directly over the sitting-room
and do
my
" reading,"
all.
It
where
large,
was situated I should live
and the miniature window
looked out to the rising sun. of a
bed was
With the exception
narrow path which led from the front door
and verandah through landing,
the
island
was
the
trees
densely
to
the boat-
covered
with
A
Haunted
Island
maples, hemlocks, and cedars. in
The
35
trees gathered
round the cottage so closely that the slightest
wind made the branches scrape the roof and tap
A
the wooden walls.
few moments after sunset
the darkness became impenetrable, and ten yards
beyond the glare
of the
windows
the sitting-room
four
lamps that shone through
—you could not see
—
of
which there were
an inch before your nose,
nor move a step without running up against a tree.
The
rest of that
ings from
my
day
tent
I spent
to
moving
my
belong-
the sitting-room, taking
stock of the contents of the larder, and chopping
enough wood for the stove
to last
me
for a week.
After that, just before sunset, I went round the island a couple of times in
my
canoe for precau-
had never dreamed of doing
tion's sake.
I
before, but
when
a
man is
this
alone he does things that
never occur to him when he
is
one of a large
party.
How again
!
lonely the island seemed
I landed
The sun was down, and twilight is unknown
in these northern regions. at once.
when
The canoe
The darkness comes up
safely pulled
over on her face, I groped
up and turned
my way
narrow pathway to the verandah.
up the
The
six
little
lamps
A
36
Haunted
Island
were soon burning merrily in the front room in the kitchen,
where
shadows were
I " dined," the
and the lamplight was
so gloomy,
but
;
so inadequate,
that the stars could be seen peeping through the
cracks between the rafters. I
Though
turned in early that night.
was
it
my
calm and there was no wind, the creaking of
bedstead and the musical gurgle of the water over the rocks below were not the only sounds that
reached
my
emptiness of corridors
rooms
vacant footsteps,
upon
me.
The
seemed
to
echo
grew
shufflings,
the
rustle
noises,
whispering.
of
however, passed gently to mingle with
my
week passed
favourably.
On
dreams. by,
and the
night's
sleep
my
for
The more
of this dislike, the
I
reading
"
progressed
my
awoke
myself
to find
marked repugnance to stifle me.
"
the tenth day of
strange thing happened.
solitude,
with
possessed
room.
The
air
it
a
seemed
I tried to define the cause
more unreasonable
Absurd as
a
after a good
it
appeared.
There was something about the room that made afraid.
of
sleep at length overtook me, the breathings
the voices of
A
awake, the appalling
and a constant undertone
skirts,
and
I lay
house
the
and
innumerable
When
As
ears.
me
seems, this feeling clung to
A me I
Haunted Island
obstinately while dressing, and
37
more than once
caught myself shivering, and conscious of an the room as quickly as
inclination to get out of
The more
possible.
more
real
dressed, stairs
it
I tried to
became
;
laugh
it
and when at
away, the
last
I
was
and went out into the passage, and down-
into
the kitchen,
it
was with
feelings of
relief,
such as I might imagine would accompany
one's
escape from the presence of a
dangerous
contagious disease.
While cooking
my
breakfast, I carefully recalled
every night spent in the room, in the hope that I
might in some way connect the
dislike I
now
felt
with some disagreeable incident that had occurred in
it.
But the only thing
I could recall
was one
stormy night when I suddenly awoke and heard the boards creaking so loudly in the corridor that I
was convinced there were people
So certain was stairs,
gun
in
I of this, that I
in the house.
had descended the
hand, only to find the doors and
windows securely fastened, and the mice and blackbeetles in sole possession of the floor.
This was
certainly not sufficient to account for the strength of
my
feelings.
The morning hours and when
I
broke
I spent in steady reading;
off in the
middle of the day for
A
38 a if
Haunted Island
swim and luncheon, not a
little
the room had, upstairs
was very much
I
alarmed, to find that if
to get
marked aversion
my
surprised, dislike for
anything, grown stronger.
a book,
experienced the most
I
and while
to entering the room,
within I was conscious
Going
all
the time of an un-
comfortable feeling that was half uneasiness and half apprehension.
The
of
result
was
it
that,
instead of reading, I spent the afternoon on the
water paddling and
fishing,
and when
about sundown, brought with
me
I got
home
half
a dozen
delicious black bass for the supper-table
and the
larder.
As
sleep
was an important matter
to
me
at this
my aversion to the room was so strongly marked on my return as it had been before, I would move my bed down into the
time, I
had decided that
sitting-room,
if
and sleep there.
This was, I argued, in
no sense a concession to an absurd and fanciful
fear,
but simply a precaution to ensure a good night's sleep.
day's
A
bad night involved the
reading,
—a
loss
I
loss of the
next
was not prepared
to
incur. I accordingly
moved
my
bed downstairs into a
corner of the sitting-room facing the door, and was
moreover uncommonly glad when the operation
A
Haunted Island
was completed, and the door
of the
upon the shadows, the
finally
39
bedroom closed and the
silence,
strange fear that shared the room with them.
The croaking stroke
of the kitchen clock sounded
my
the hour of eight as I finished washing up
few
and closing the kitchen door behind
dishes,
me, passed into the front room.
were
lit,
and their
reflectors,
which
up during the day, threw a blaze
the lamps
All I
had polished
of light into the
room.
Outside the night was
still
breath of air was stirring
;
and warm.
the waves were silent,
the trees motionless, and heavy clouds
an
oppressive
curtain
Not a
over
hung
the heavens.
like
The
darkness seemed to have rolled up with unusual swiftness,
and not the faintest glow of colour
remained to show where the sun had
was present
in the atmosphere that
overwhelming
silence
set.
There
ominous and
which so often precedes the
most violent storms. I sat clear,
down to my books with my brain unusually
and in
my
knowing that ice-house,
heart the pleasant satisfaction of
five black
bass were lying in the
and that to-morrow morning the old
farmer would arrive with fresh bread and eggs.
was soon absorbed
in
my
books.
I
A
40
Haunted
Island
As the night wore on the Even the chipmunks were
still
silence
;
and the boards
of
I read
on
the floors and walls ceased creaking. steadily
kitchen,
like
from the gloomy shadows of
till,
came the hoarse sound
How
nine.
deepened.
of the clock striking
loud the strokes sounded
blows of a big hammer.
and opened
another,
warming up
to
my
the
They were
S
I closed
one book
that
was just
feeling
I
work. not last long.
This, however, did
presently
I
found that I was reading the same paragraphs over twice, simple paragraphs that did not require such effort.
Then
wander
to other things,
I noticed
became
thoughts
Concentration
that
my
and the
mind began
effort to recall
harder with
each
to
my
digression.
was growing momentarily
more
Presently I discovered that I had turned
difficult.
over two pages instead of one, and had not noticed
my
mistake until I was well
was becoming influence
?
It could
the contrary, in a
a
serious.
my
down
What was
mind was unusually
more receptive condition than
new and determined
my
subject.
the disturbing
But
On
not be physical fatigue.
effort
short time succeeded in giving to
This
the page.
in a very
to
my
alert,
usual.
read,
I
and
made
and for a
whole attention
few moments again
A I
Haunted Island my
found myself leaning back in
41
chair, staring
vacantly into space.
my
Something was evidently at work in consciousness.
There
windows were not
was
fastened.
all
right
I
I accordingly
and found that they were
needed attention. it
something
had
Perhaps the kitchen door and
neglected to do.
to see,
was
sub-
I
went
!
The fire perhaps and found that
in to see,
I looked at the
!
bedroom
upstairs into every
in turn,
lamps,
;
ice-house.
everything was in
Yet something was wrong
!
went
and then went
round the house, and even into the
Nothing was wrong
went
its place.
The conviction grew
stronger and stronger within me.
When
I
at length settled
down
to
my
books
again and tried to read, I became aware, for the first
room seemed growing
time, that the
cold.
Yet the day had been oppressively warm, and evening had brought no
The
relief.
moreover, gave out heat enough to pleasantly.
But a
up from the
lake,
caused
me
to get
chilliness,
made up
six big lamps,
warm
the room
that perhaps crept
itself felt in
the room, and
to close the glass door opening
on to the verandah.
For a brief moment shaft of light that
fell
I stood
looking out at the
from the windows and shone
A
42 some
Haunted
distance
little
down
Island
the pathway, and out for
a few feet into the lake.
As
I looked, I
saw a canoe
and immediately crossing
of light,
sight again into the
pathway
glide into the
darkness.
pass out of
it,
was perhaps
It
a hundred feet from the shore, and
moved
it
swiftly. I
was surprised that a canoe should pass the
island at that time of night, for all the
from the other
visitors
home weeks
before,
had gone
side of the lake
and the island was a long way
out of any line of water
My
summer
traffic.
reading from this
moment
did not
make
very good progress, for somehow the picture of that canoe, gliding so dimly and swiftly across the
narrow
track
of
light
on
silhouetted itself against the
mind with singular between I
It
my
it
my
kept coming
The more
the more surprised I became.
any
I
had seen during
summer months, and was more
old Indian
like the
war canoes with the high curving bows
and stern and wide beam. read, the
less
finally
closed
I
It
vividness.
of larger build than
the past
waters,
background of
eyes and the printed page.
thought about
was
black
the
success
my
The more
attended
my
I tried to
efforts;
and
books and went out on the
A
Haunted
Island
verandah to walk up and down a the chilliness out of
my
and shake
bit,
bones.
The night was perfectly imaginable.
43
and as dark as
still,
stumbled down the path to the
I
made the very
landing wharf, where the water
The sound
under the timbers.
faintest of gurgling
little
a big tree falling in the mainland forest, far
of
across the lake, stirred echoes in the
the
first
I stood
stillness that reigned
upon the wharf
other
supreme.
in the broad splash
me from
of light that followed
air, like
No
guns of a distant night attack.
sound disturbed the
As
heavy
the sitting-room
windows, I saw another canoe cross the pathway of uncertain light at
upon the water, and disappear
once into the impenetrable
This time I saw more distinctly than
beyond. before.
It
was
like the former canoe, a big birch-
bark, with high-crested
beam.
gloom that lay
It
bows and
stern
was paddled by two Indians,
and broad of
the one in the stern
—the steerer— appeared
a very large man.
I could see this
whom to be
very plainly
and though the second canoe was much nearer the island than the
on their
first,
way home
I
judged that they were both
to the
which was situated some the mainland.
Government Reservation, fifteen miles
away upon
A
44 I
Haunted Island
was wondering
bring any Indians
my mind what
in
down
could possibly
to this part of the lake at
such an hour of the night, when a third canoe, of precisely similar build,
and
by two
also occupied
Indians, passed silently round the end of the wharf.
This time the canoe was very
and
it
suddenly flashed into
much
nearer shore,
my mind
that the
three canoes were in reality one and the same, and
that only one canoe
was
circling the island
This was by no means a pleasant reflection, because,
if
it
were the correct solution of the
unusual appearance of the three canoes in this lonely part of the lake at so late an hour, the
men
purpose of the two considered myself.
I
to
some way connected with
be in
had
could only reasonably be
known
never
of
the
Indians
attempting any violence upon the settlers
who
shared the wild, inhospitable country with them at the
same time,
it
possibility to suppose
was not beyond the region .
.
.
But then
even to think of such hideous
of other solutions
came readily enough succeed reason.
in
relief in all
to the problem, to
my
recommending
of
I did not care
possibilities,
imagination immediately sought
;
and
my
manner
which indeed
mind, but did not themselves
to
my
A
Haunted
Meanwhile, by a sort
Island
of
instinct,
back out of the bright light
45 stepped
I
which
in
had
I
hitherto been standing, and waited in the deep
shadow
a rock
of
make
again
see
to
if
Here
appearance.
its
the canoe would I
could see,
without being seen, and the precaution seemed a wise one.
After
less
anticipated, it
than
made
minutes the canoe, as
five its
fourth appearance.
two men steerer
meant
as those
was
to land.
who had
certainly an
had
This time
was not twenty yards from the wharf, and
that the Indians
I
I
saw
I recognised the
passed before, and the
immense
unquestionably the same canoe.
fellow.
It
was
There could be no
longer any doubt that for some purpose of their
own
the
men had been going round and round
island for land.
the
some time, waiting for an opportunity
I strained
my
eyes to follow
them
to
in the
darkness, but the night had completely swallowed
them
up,
and not even the faintest swish
paddles reached
my
of the
ears as the Indians plied their
long and powerful strokes.
The canoe would be
round again in a few moments, and this time
was
possible that the
well to be prepared. intentions,
men might land. I knew nothing
It
it
was
of their
and two to one (when the two are big
A
46
Haunted Island on a lonely island was not
late at night
Indians
!)
exactly
my
idea of pleasant intercourse.
up
the sitting-room, leaning
In a corner of
my
against the back wall, stood
Marlin
ten cartridges in the magazine and
snugly in the greased breech.
with
rifle,
one
lying
There was just
time to get up to the house and take up a position of defence in that corner.
instant's
to
the verandah, carefully
my way among
the trees, so as to avoid
hesitation
picking
up
Without an
I
ran
being seen in the
Entering the room, I shut
light.
the door leading to the verandah, and as quickly as possible turned out every one of the six lamps.
To be
in a
room
so brilliantly lighted,
where
my
every movement could be observed from outside, while I could see nothing but impenetrable darkness at every window,
was by
all
laws of warfare
And
this
far too wily
and
an unnecessary concession to the enemy. enemy,
if
enemy
it
was
to be,
was
dangerous to be granted any such advantages. I stood in the corner of the
against the wall, and barrel.
The
table,
my
room with
my
hand on the cold
covered with
my
back rifle-
books, lay
between me and the door, but for the
first
few
minutes after the lights were out the darkness
was
so intense
that nothing could be discerned
A at
Haunted
Island
47
Then, very gradually, the outline of the
all.
room became
visible,
windows began
and the framework
to shape itself
of
the
dimly before
my
eyes.
After a few minutes the door of
and
glass),
out upon the distinct if
and
;
the
(its
two windows
upper half looked
that
front verandah, became specially
was glad that
I
this
was
so,
because
the Indians came up to the house I should be
and gather something
able to see their approach, of their
Nor was
plans.
my
presently came to
sound of
mistaken, for there
I
ears the
a canoe landing and
dragged up over the rocks. tinctly heard
peculiar
hollow
being carefully
The paddles
I dis-
being placed underneath, and the
silence that ensued thereupon I rightly interpreted
to
mean
that the Indians were stealthily approach-
ing the house.
While
it
not alarmed
.
.
.
would be absurd
to claim that I
—even
—at
the situation and
frightened
its
ingly afraid for myself.
I
I
was not overwhelm-
w as T
conscious that even
the night I was passing into a
psychical condition in which
no longer normal.
the gravity of
possible outcome, I speak the
whole truth when I say that
at this stage of
was
my
sensations seemed
Physical fear at no time entered
A
48 into the
my
kept
Haunted my upon my
Island
nature of
feelings;
hand
rifle
the night, I
was
all
and though
1
the greater part of
the time conscious that
its
assistance could be of little avail against the terrors
More than once
that I had to face. feel
most curiously that
was
I
seemed to
I
in no real sense a
part of the proceedings, nor actually involved in
them, but that I was playing the part of a spectator
—a
spectator, moreover,
on a psychic rather
Many
than on a material plane.
of
my
sensations
that night were too vague for definite description
and
analysis, but the
with
me
of it
to the end of
all,
strain
my mind
Meanwhile patiently for as
still
my
feeling that will stay
days
is
the awful horror
and the miserable sensation that
had lasted a
the case
main
little
if
the
longer than was actually
must inevitably have given way.
I stood still in
what was
my
corner,
to come.
and waited
The house was
as the grave, but the inarticulate voices of
the night sang in
the blood running
my ears, and I seemed to hear in my veins and dancing in my
pulses.
If the Indians
came
to the
back of the house,
they would find the kitchen door and window securely fastened.
They could not get
in there
without making considerable noise, which I was
A bound
Haunted Island The only mode
to hear.
by means
49
of getting in
and
of the door that faced me,
I
kept
was
my
eyes glued on that door without taking them off for the smallest fraction of a second.
My
sight adapted itself every minute better to
the darkness.
I
saw the
table that nearly filled
the room, and left only a narrow passage on each side.
make out
I could also
the straight backs of
the wooden chairs pressed up against
even distinguish
my
and could
papers and inkstand lying on
the white oilcloth covering. faces that
it,
I
thought of the gay
had gathered round that table during
the summer, and I longed for the sunlight as I had
never longed for
it
before.
my
Less than three feet to led to the kitchen,
and the
left the
passage-way
leading to the
stairs
bedrooms above commenced in this passage-way, but almost in the sitting-room the windows
I
outlines of the
could trees
:
see
itself.
Through
dim motionless
the
not a leaf
stirred,
not a
branch moved.
A I
few moments of
was aware
of
this
awful
and then
a soft tread on the boards of
the verandah, so stealthy that pression directly on
my
the nerves of hearing. 4
silence,
it
seemed an im-
brain rather than upon
Immediately afterwards a
A
5