0:20

An account of some strange disturbances

0:23

in Anger Street by J.

0:25

Sheridan Lefano. It's

0:28

not worth telling, this story of mine,

0:31

at least not worth writing. Told,

0:33

indeed, as I have sometimes been called

0:35

upon to tell it, to a circle of intelligent

0:38

and eager faces, lighted up by

0:40

a good after-dinner fire on a winter's

0:42

evening, with a cold wind rising

0:44

and wailing outside, and all snug

0:46

and cosy within, it has gone off,

0:49

though I say it who should not, in

0:51

different well.

0:53

But it is a venture to do, as you would

0:55

have me. Pen, ink and paper

0:57

are cold vehicles for the marvellous,

1:00

and a reader decidedly a more

1:02

critical animal than a listener.

1:04

If, however, you can induce your

1:06

friends to read it after nightfall,

1:09

and when the fireside talk has run for

1:11

a while on thrilling tales of shapeless

1:13

terror, in short, if you

1:15

will secure me the Mollia Tempora

1:18

Fandi, I will go to my work,

1:20

and, same I say, with

1:23

better heart. Well, then,

1:25

these conditions presupposed, I

1:27

shall waste no more words but tell you simply

1:30

how it all happened.

1:32

My cousin, Tom Ludlow, and I

1:34

studied medicine together. I think

1:37

he would have succeeded had he stuck to

1:39

the profession,

1:40

but he preferred the church, poor fellow, and

1:42

died early, a sacrifice to contagion,

1:45

contracted in the noble discharge

1:47

of his duties. For

1:49

my present purpose I say enough of

1:51

his character when I mention that he was

1:53

of a sedated but frank and cheerful

1:55

nature, very exact in his

1:57

observance of truth,

1:59

and not by

1:59

any means like myself, of

2:02

an excitable or nervous temperament.

2:04

My uncle Ludlow, Tom's

2:06

father, while we were attending lectures,

2:09

purchased three or four old houses

2:11

on Angel Street, one of which was unoccupied.

2:14

He resided in the country, and Tom

2:16

proposed that we should take up our abode

2:19

in the untenanted house, so

2:21

long as it should continue and let.

2:23

A move which would accomplish the double end

2:25

of settling us nearer alike to our lecture

2:27

rooms and to our amusements,

2:30

and of relieving us from the weekly charge of

2:32

rent for our lodgings. Our

2:34

furniture was very scant,

2:36

our whole equipage remarkably modest

2:39

and primitive,

2:40

and in short our arrangements pretty

2:42

nearly as simple as those of a bivouac.

2:45

Our new plan was

2:47

therefore executed almost

2:49

as soon as conceived.

2:51

The front drawing room was our sitting-room.

2:54

I had the bedroom over it and Tom the back

2:56

bedroom on the same floor, which nothing

2:59

could have induced me to occupy. The

3:01

house, to begin with, was a very old one.

3:04

It had been, I believe, newly fronted

3:07

about fifty years before.

3:09

But with this exception,

3:11

it had nothing modern about it.

3:13

The agent who bought it and looked into the

3:15

titles for my uncle told me

3:17

that it was sold along with much other

3:20

forfeited property at Chichester House,

3:22

I think, in 1702, and

3:25

had belonged to Sir Thomas Hackett,

3:28

who was Lord Mayor of Dublin in James II's

3:30

time. How old it was then,

3:32

I can't say, but at all

3:34

events it had seen years and changes

3:37

enough to have contracted all

3:39

that mysterious and saddened air,

3:42

at once exciting and depressing,

3:45

which belongs to most old mansions.

3:48

There had been very little done in the way of modernising

3:51

details, and perhaps it was better

3:53

so, for there was something queer

3:55

and bygone in the very walls and

3:57

ceilings,

3:58

in the shape of doors

3:59

windows

4:01

in the odd diagonal sight of

4:03

the chimney-pieces, in the beams

4:05

and ponderous cornices,

4:07

not to mention the singular solidity

4:09

of all the woodwork from the banisters

4:11

to the window frames, which

4:13

hopelessly defied the skies, and

4:15

would have emphatically proclaimed their antiquity

4:18

through any conceivable amount of modern

4:21

finery and varnish.

4:23

An effort had indeed been made,

4:25

to the extent of papering the drawing-rooms,

4:28

but somehow the paper looked

4:30

raw and out of keeping, and

4:32

the old woman, who kept a little dirt

4:34

pie of a shop in the lane, and whose daughter,

4:37

a girl of two and fifty, was

4:39

our solitary handmaid, coming

4:41

in at sunrise, and chastely receding

4:43

again as soon as she had made all ready for tea

4:45

in our State Department, this woman,

4:47

I say, remembered it when old Judge

4:50

Horrocks,

4:51

who, having earned the reputation of a particularly

4:54

hanging Judge,

4:55

ended by hanging himself as the coroner's

4:57

jury found, under an impulse

5:00

of temporary insanity,

5:02

but the child's skipping-rope,

5:04

over the massive old banisters,

5:06

resided there, entertaining good company

5:08

with fine venison and rare old

5:11

port.

5:12

In those halcyon days the drawing-rooms

5:14

were hung with gilded leather,

5:16

and I dare say cut a good figure, for

5:18

they were really spacious rooms.

5:21

The bedrooms were wainscoted, but the

5:23

front one was not gloomy, and in

5:26

it the coziness of antiquity quite

5:28

overcame its sombre associations.

5:31

But the back bedroom,

5:33

with its two queerly placed melancholy

5:35

windows, staring vacantly at

5:37

the foot of the bed, and with the shadowy

5:40

recess to be found in most old houses

5:42

in Dublin, like a large ghostly

5:44

closet, which from congeniality

5:47

of temperament had amalgamated with

5:49

the bed-chamber and dissolved a partition.

5:52

At night-time this alcove, as

5:54

our maid was wont to call it, had in

5:56

my eyes especially sinister

5:59

and suggestive

5:59

character.

6:01

Tom's distant and solitary candle

6:03

glimmered vainly into its darkness.

6:06

There it was always overlooking

6:08

him,

6:09

always itself impenetrable,

6:12

but this was only part of the effect.

6:14

The whole room was, I can't tell

6:16

how, repulsive to me. There

6:19

was, I suppose, in its proportions and

6:21

features a latent discord, a

6:24

certain mysterious and indescribable

6:26

relation which jarred indistinctly

6:29

upon some secret sense of the fitting

6:31

and the safe,

6:32

and raised indefinable suspicions

6:35

and apprehensions of the imagination.

6:37

On the whole, as I

6:39

began by saying, nothing

6:41

could have induced me to pass a night alone

6:43

in it.

6:45

I had never pretended to conceal from poor

6:47

Tom my superstitious weakness, and

6:49

he, on the other hand, most unaffectedly

6:52

ridiculed my tremors.

6:54

The sceptic was, however, destined

6:56

to receive a lesson,

6:57

as you shall hear.

7:00

We had not been very long in occupation

7:03

of our respective dormitories when I

7:05

began to complain of uneasy nights and

7:07

disturbed sleep.

7:08

I was, I suppose, the more impatient

7:11

under this annoyance as I was usually a sound

7:13

sleeper and by no means prone to

7:15

nightmares. It was now,

7:17

however, my destiny, instead

7:19

of enjoying my customary repose, every

7:22

night a sup full of horrors.

7:25

After a preliminary course of disagreeable

7:28

and frightful dreams, my troubles

7:30

took a definite form,

7:32

and the same vision, without an appreciable

7:34

variation in a single detail, visited

7:37

me, at least, on an average,

7:39

the most abominable

7:42

distinctness, although at the

7:44

time in profound darkness, every article

7:51

of

7:59

furniture

7:59

and accidental arrangement

8:02

of the chamber in which I lay. This,

8:04

as you know, is incidental to

8:06

ordinary nightmare.

8:08

Well, while in this clairvoyant

8:10

condition, which seemed but the lighting up

8:12

of the theatre in which was to be exhibited

8:15

the monotonous tableau of horror,

8:18

which

8:18

made my nights insupportable, my

8:20

attention invariably became, I

8:22

know not why, fixed

8:25

upon the windows,

8:26

opposite the foot of my bed,

8:28

and, uniformly with the same effect,

8:31

a sense of dreadful anticipation

8:34

always took slow

8:35

but sure possession of me. I

8:38

became somehow conscious of a sort of horrid

8:41

but undefined preparation, going

8:44

forward in some unknown quarter

8:47

and by some unknown agency for

8:49

my torment, and after

8:51

an interval which always seemed

8:53

to me of the same length,

8:55

a picture suddenly flew up to the window,

8:58

where it remained fixed as if

9:00

by an electrical attraction,

9:02

and my discipline of horror then commenced

9:04

to last perhaps for hours.

9:07

The picture thus mysteriously glued

9:09

to the window-panes

9:11

was the portrait of an old man

9:13

in a crimson-flowered silk dressing-gown,

9:16

the folds of which I could now describe

9:18

with a countenance embodying a strange

9:20

mixture of intellect, sensuality,

9:22

and power,

9:23

but with all sinister

9:25

and full of malignant omen.

9:28

His nose was hooked like the beak

9:30

of a vulture,

9:31

his eyes large, grey, and prominent,

9:34

and lighted up with more than mortal cruelty

9:36

and coldness. These features

9:39

were surmounted by a crimson velvet cap,

9:41

the hair that peeped from under which was white

9:43

with age,

9:45

while the eyebrows retained their original

9:47

blackness.

9:48

Well, I remember every line,

9:50

hue, and shadow of that stony countenance,

9:53

and well I may.

9:56

The gaze of this hellish visage was

9:58

fixed upon me.

10:00

and mine returned it with the inexplicable

10:02

fascination of nightmare,

10:04

for what appeared to me to be hours of agony.

10:08

At last, the cock he grew,

10:11

away he flew. The fiend

10:13

who had enslaved me through the awful watches

10:16

of the night and harassed and nervous,

10:19

I rose to the duties of the day.

10:21

I

10:22

had, I can't say exactly

10:24

why, but it may have been from the

10:27

exquisite anguish and profound impressions

10:29

of an earthly horror with which this

10:31

strange phantasmagoria was

10:34

associated,

10:35

an insurmountable antipathy

10:37

to describing the exact nature

10:40

of my nightly troubles to my friend and

10:42

comrade.

10:43

Generally, however, I told him that

10:46

I was haunted by abominable dreams,

10:49

and true to the imputed materialism

10:51

of medicine, we put our heads together

10:53

to dispel my horrors, not by exorcism,

10:57

but

10:57

by a tonic.

10:58

I will do this tonic justice and frankly

11:01

admit that the accursed portrait

11:03

began to intermit its visits under

11:06

its influence.

11:07

What of that? Was this

11:09

singular apparition

11:11

as full of character as of terror, therefore

11:14

the creature of my fancy, or

11:16

the invention of my poor stomach?

11:19

Was it in short subjective, to

11:21

borrow the technical slang of the day, and

11:24

not the palpable aggression and intrusion

11:26

of an external agent?

11:29

That, good friend, as

11:31

we will both admit,

11:33

by no means follows.

11:35

The evil spirit who enthralled my senses

11:38

in the shape of that portrait may

11:40

have been just as near me, just

11:42

as energetic, just as malignant,

11:45

though I saw him not.

11:48

What means the whole moral code of revealed

11:50

religion regarding the due keeping of our

11:52

own bodies, soberness, temperance,

11:54

etc. Here is an obvious

11:56

connection between the material and the invisible.

11:59

The hell is wrong with

11:59

that. healthy tone of the system and its

12:02

unimpaired energy may, for aught

12:04

we can tell, guard us against influences

12:07

which would otherwise render life itself

12:09

terrific. The mesmerist

12:12

and the electrobiologist will fail

12:14

upon an average with nine patients out of

12:17

ten.

12:17

So may the evil spirit.

12:20

Special conditions of the corporeal system

12:23

are indispensable to the production

12:25

of certain spiritual phenomena.

12:27

Does the operation succeed sometimes?

12:30

Sometimes fails.

12:32

That is all.

12:34

I found afterwards that my would-be sceptical

12:36

companion had his troubles too. But

12:39

of these I knew nothing yet.

12:42

One night, for a wonder, I was sleeping soundly,

12:45

when I was roused by a step on the

12:47

lobby outside my room, followed

12:49

by the loud clang of what turned out

12:51

to be a large brass candlestick, wrung

12:54

with all his force by poor Tom

12:56

Ludlow over the banisters

12:58

and rattling with a rebound down the second

13:00

flight of stairs. And almost concurrently

13:03

with this, Tom burst open my door

13:06

and bounced into my room backwards in

13:08

a state of extraordinary agitation.

13:11

I had jumped out of bed and clutched him by the

13:14

arm before I had any distinct idea

13:16

of my own whereabouts.

13:18

There we were, in our shirts, standing

13:20

before the open door,

13:22

staring through the great old banister

13:24

opposite at the lobby window through

13:27

which the sickly light of a clouded

13:29

moon was gleaming.

13:31

What's the matter, Tom? What's

13:33

the matter with you? What the devil's

13:36

the matter with you, Tom? I demanded,

13:38

shaking him with nervous impatience. He

13:41

took a long breath before he answered me, and

13:43

then it was not very coherently. It's

13:46

nothing. It's all. Did I speak?

13:49

What did I say? Where's the candle, Richard? It's

13:51

dark. I had a candle.

13:54

Yes, dark enough, I said. But what's the

13:56

matter? What is it?

13:58

Why don't you speak, Tom? Have you lost your words? wits?

14:00

What is the matter?" "'The matter?

14:03

Oh, it's all over. It

14:05

must have been a dream. Nothing at all but a dream.

14:08

Don't you think so? It couldn't be

14:11

anything more than a dream.'" "'Of

14:12

course,' said I, feeling uncommonly

14:15

nervous.

14:16

It was a dream. I thought,"

14:18

he said. "'There was a man in my room,

14:21

and I jumped out of bed, and—'Where's

14:23

the candle?' "'And

14:25

your room most likely,' I said. Shall I go

14:27

and bring it?'

14:28

"'No. Stay here. Don't

14:30

go.' "'It's no matter.' "'Don't,'

14:33

I tell you. It was all a dream.

14:35

But—the door, Dick.

14:37

I'll stay here with you. I

14:39

feel nervous. So, Dick,

14:42

like a good fellow, like your candle and open the window,

14:45

I'm in a shocking state."

14:47

I did as he asked me, and, roving

14:49

himself like Gronwell in one of my

14:51

blankets, he seated himself close beside

14:54

my bed.

14:55

Everybody knows how contagious his

14:57

fear of all sorts,

14:59

but more especially that particular

15:01

kind of fear under which poor

15:03

Tom was at that moment laboring.

15:06

I would not have heard, nor, I believe,

15:08

would he have recapitulated just

15:10

at that moment for half the world the

15:13

details of the hideous vision which

15:15

had so unmanned him.

15:17

"'Don't mind telling me anything about your nonsensical

15:20

dream,' said I, affecting contempt

15:22

really in a panic. Let's talk

15:24

about something else.

15:25

But it's quite plain that this dirty old

15:27

house disagrees with us both,

15:29

and hang me if I stay here any longer

15:31

to be pestered with indigestion and

15:34

bad nights. So, we

15:36

may as well look out for lodgings. Don't you

15:38

think so?' At once."

15:41

Tom agreed, and after

15:43

an interval said,

15:44

"'I've been thinking, Richard, that it's a long

15:47

time since I saw my father, and

15:49

I have made up my mind to go down tomorrow and

15:51

return in a day or two, and you can

15:53

take rooms for us in the meantime.'

15:56

I fancied that this resolution obviously

15:59

the result

15:59

the vision which had so profoundly

16:02

scared him, would probably vanish

16:04

next morning with the damps and shadows of night.

16:07

But I was mistaken. Off went

16:09

Tom at peep of day to the country, having

16:12

agreed that so soon as I had secured

16:14

suitable lodgings I was to recall

16:16

him by letter from his visit to

16:18

my uncle Ludlow.

16:20

Now, anxious as I was to

16:22

change my quarters, it so happened,

16:24

owing to a series of petty procrastinations

16:27

and accidents,

16:28

that nearly a week elapsed before my

16:30

bargain was made and my letter of recall

16:32

on the wing to Tom,

16:34

and in the meantime a trifling

16:36

adventure or two had occurred to your humble

16:38

servant, which absurd as

16:40

they now appear, diminished by distance,

16:43

did certainly at the time serve to whet my

16:45

appetite for change considerably. A

16:49

night or two after the departure

16:51

of my comrade

16:52

I was sitting by my bedroom fire, the

16:54

door locked and the ingredients of a tumble

16:56

of hot whisky punch upon

16:58

the crazed spider-table, for,

17:01

as the best mode of keeping the black spirits

17:03

and white, blue spirits and grey,

17:06

with which I was environed at bay,

17:09

I had adopted the practice recommended

17:11

by the wisdom of my ancestors and

17:13

kept my spirits up by pouring

17:16

spirits down.

17:17

I had thrown aside my volume of anatomy

17:20

and was treating myself by way of a tonic

17:23

preparatory to my pungent bed to

17:25

half a dozen pages of the spectator

17:27

when

17:27

I heard a step on the flight of stairs

17:29

descending from the attics.

17:32

It was two o'clock

17:34

and the streets were as silent as a churchyard.

17:38

The sounds were, therefore, perfectly

17:41

distinct.

17:44

There was a slow, heavy tread,

17:47

characterized by the emphasis and deliberation

17:49

of age, descending by

17:52

the narrow staircase from above,

17:54

and what made the sound more singular?

17:57

It was plain that

17:59

the defeat was over. produced it were perfectly

18:01

bare,

18:02

measuring the descent with something between a

18:05

pound and a flop.

18:07

Very ugly to hear. I

18:09

knew quite well that my attendant had gone away

18:11

many hours before,

18:13

and that nobody but myself had any

18:15

business in the house. It

18:17

was quite plain also that the person who

18:19

was coming downstairs had no

18:22

intention whatever of concealing

18:24

his contents,

18:26

but on the contrary,

18:28

appeared disposed to make even more noise,

18:31

and proceed more deliberately than

18:33

was at all necessary.

18:35

When the step reached the foot of the stairs outside

18:38

my room,

18:40

it seemed to stop,

18:42

and I expected every moment to see my

18:44

door open spontaneously and

18:46

give admission to the original of my detested

18:49

portrait.

18:51

I was, however, relieved in a few seconds by

18:53

hearing the descent renewed, just in

18:55

the same manner upon the staircase leading

18:57

down to the drawing-rooms,

18:59

and thence after another pause, down

19:02

the next flight, and so on to

19:04

the hall.

19:05

Whence I heard no more.

19:08

Now, by the time the sound had

19:10

ceased, I was wound up, as

19:13

they say, to a very unpleasant pitch

19:15

of excitement.

19:16

I listened, but there was not a stir. I

19:18

screwed up my courage to a decisive experiment,

19:21

opened my door, and in a stentorian

19:24

voice bawled over the banisters, Who's

19:26

there?

19:28

There was no answer but the ringing of my

19:30

own voice through the empty old

19:32

house.

19:34

No renewal of the movement.

19:36

Nothing, in short,

19:37

to give my unpleasant sensations a definite

19:40

direction.

19:41

There is, I think, something most disagreeably

19:44

disenchanting in the sound of one's own

19:46

voice under such circumstances, exerted

19:49

in solitude and in vain.

19:52

It redoubled my sense of isolation, and

19:55

my misgivings increased on perceiving that

19:57

the door, which I certainly thought I

19:59

had left open, was not open. was closed behind me.

20:02

In a vague alarm, lest my retreat should

20:04

be cut off, I got again into my room

20:06

as quickly as I could, where I remained

20:08

in the state of imaginary blockade and

20:11

very uncomfortable indeed,

20:13

till morning.

20:14

Next night brought no return of my barefooted

20:17

fellow-linger.

20:18

But the night following, of being in my bed

20:21

and in the dark, somewhere, I suppose

20:23

about the same hour as before, I

20:25

distinctly heard the old fellow again

20:27

descending from the garrets.

20:29

This time I had had my punch, and

20:32

the morale of the garrison was consequently excellent.

20:34

I jumped out of bed, clutched the poker

20:37

as I passed the expiring fire, and

20:39

in a moment was upon the lobby.

20:42

The sound had ceased by this time.

20:44

The dark and chill were discouraging,

20:46

and guess my horror when I

20:49

saw or thought I saw

20:51

a black monster.

20:54

Whether in the shape of a man or a bear,

20:57

I could not say, standing

20:59

with its back to the wall,

21:01

on the lobby,

21:03

facing me,

21:05

with a pair of great greenish

21:07

eyes shining dimly out.

21:10

Now I must be frank

21:12

and confess

21:13

that the cupboard which displayed our plates

21:16

and cups stood just there, though

21:18

at the moment I did not recollect

21:20

it.

21:21

At the same time, I

21:23

must honestly say that making

21:25

every allowance for an excited imagination,

21:27

I

21:28

never could satisfy myself

21:30

that I was made the dupe of my own fancy

21:32

in this matter.

21:34

For this apparition,

21:35

after one or two shiftings of shape

21:38

as if in the act of incipient transformation,

21:41

began, as it seemed on second thoughts,

21:44

to advance upon me in its original form.

21:47

From an instinct of terror rather than courage,

21:50

I hurled the poker with all my force

21:53

at its head, and

21:54

to the music of a horrid crash, made

21:56

my way into my room and double-locked

21:59

the door. Then,

22:01

in a minute more,

22:04

I heard the horrid bare feet walk

22:06

down the stairs

22:08

till the sound ceased in the hall,

22:10

as on the former occasion.

22:13

If the apparition of the night before was

22:15

an ocular delusion of my fancy sporting

22:17

with the dark outlines of our cupboard, and

22:20

if its horrid eyes were

22:22

nothing but a pair of inverted teacups

22:25

I had at all events the satisfaction

22:27

of having launched the poker with admirable effect

22:30

and, in true fancy phrase, knocked

22:33

its two daylights into one

22:35

as the commingled fragments of my tea-service

22:38

testified.

22:40

I did my best to gather comfort and courage

22:42

from these evidences,

22:43

but it would not do. And

22:46

then what could I say of those

22:48

horrid bare feet

22:50

and the regular tramp, tramp,

22:53

tramp, which measured the distance

22:55

of the entire staircase through the

22:57

solitude of my haunted dwelling

23:00

and at an hour when no

23:02

good influence was stirring?

23:05

Confounded the whole affair was abominable,

23:08

I was out of spirits

23:09

and dreaded the approach of night.

23:12

It came,

23:14

ushered ominously in with a thunderstorm

23:16

and dull torrents of depressing rain.

23:19

Earlier than usual the streets grew silent,

23:22

and by twelve o'clock

23:23

nothing but the comfortless pattering of the

23:25

rain was to be heard.

23:27

I made myself as snug as I could.

23:30

I lighted two candles instead of one.

23:32

I foreswore bed, and being myself

23:35

in readiness for a sally, candle in hand

23:37

for koot-ky-koot, I was resolved

23:39

to see the being,

23:41

if visible at all,

23:43

who troubled the nightly stillness of my mansion.

23:46

I was fidgety and nervous and tried

23:48

in vain to interest myself with my books.

23:51

I walked up and down my room, whistling

23:53

in turn a martial and hilarious music,

23:56

and listening ever and unknown

23:58

for the dreadful noise.

24:01

I sat down and stared at the square

24:03

label on the solemn and reserved-looking black

24:05

bottle until Flanagan

24:07

and Co.'s best old malt whisky

24:10

grew into a sort of subdued accompaniment

24:12

to all the fantastic and horrible speculations

24:15

which chased one another through my brain.

24:18

Silence, meanwhile,

24:21

drew more silent,

24:22

and darkness darker.

24:25

I listened in vain for the rumble of a vehicle,

24:28

or the dull clamour of a distant row.

24:30

There

24:31

was nothing but the sound of a rising

24:33

wind which had succeeded the thunderstorm

24:35

that had travelled over the Dublin Mountains quite

24:38

out of hearing.

24:39

In the middle of this great city

24:42

I began to feel myself alone with

24:44

nature,

24:45

and ever knows what beside.

24:48

My courage was ebbing. Punch, however,

24:50

which makes beasts of so many, made

24:52

a man of me again.

24:54

Just in time to hear with tolerable reserve

24:57

and firmness the lumpy, flabby,

24:59

naked feet deliberately descending

25:01

the stairs again. I

25:03

took a candle, not without a tremor.

25:07

As I crossed the floor I tried to extemporise

25:09

a prayer, but stopped short to listen and

25:12

never finished it. The steps

25:14

continued.

25:15

I confess I hesitated for some

25:18

seconds at the door before I took heart

25:20

of grace and opened it.

25:22

When I peeped out the lobby

25:24

was perfectly empty.

25:26

There was no monster standing on the staircase,

25:28

and as the detested sound ceased

25:31

I was reassured enough to venture forward

25:33

nearly to the banisters. Horror

25:37

of horrors.

25:39

Within a stair or two beneath the spot where

25:41

I stood

25:42

the unearthly tread smoked the floor.

25:45

My eye caught something in motion. It

25:47

was about the size of Goliath's foot. It

25:50

was heavy, grey, and flapped with a

25:52

dead weight from one step to another.

25:54

As I am alive

25:56

it was the most monstrous grey rat

25:59

I ever

25:59

beheld or imagined.

26:02

Shakespeare says, Some men there

26:04

are cannot abide a gaping pig,

26:07

And some that are mad if they behold a cat.

26:10

I went well nigh out of my wits

26:12

when I beheld this rat.

26:14

For laugh at me as you may.

26:16

It fixed upon me, I thought, a

26:19

perfectly human expression of malice.

26:21

And as it shuffled about

26:24

and looked up into my face, almost

26:26

from between my feet, I saw,

26:28

I could swear it, I felt it

26:31

then, and know it now, the

26:33

infernal gaze and the accursed

26:36

countenance of my old friend

26:38

in the portrait transfused

26:41

into the visage of the bloated vermin

26:43

before me.

26:45

I bounced into my room again, with

26:47

a feeling of loathing and horror I cannot describe,

26:50

and locked and bolted the door as

26:53

if a lion had been on the other side.

26:56

Damn him or it

26:57

cursed the portrait and its original.

27:00

I felt in my soul that the rat, yes,

27:02

the rat, the rat

27:05

I had just seen, was that evil

27:07

being in masquerade, and

27:09

rambling through the house upon some infernal

27:13

nightlark.

27:15

Next morning I was early trudging through

27:17

the miry streets,

27:18

and among other transactions posted a pre-emptory

27:21

note recalling Tom.

27:23

On my return, however, I found a

27:25

note from my absent chum

27:27

announcing his intended return next day.

27:29

I

27:30

doubly rejoiced at this, because

27:32

I had succeeded in getting rooms and because

27:35

the change of scene and return of my comrade were

27:37

rendered specially pleasant by the last

27:39

night's half-ridiculous, half-horrible

27:42

adventure.

27:43

I slept extemporaneously

27:45

in my new quarters in Dig Street that night. The

27:47

next morning returned for breakfast

27:50

at the haunted mansion where I was certain

27:52

Tom would call immediately on his arrival.

27:55

I was quite right.

27:56

He came in, and almost his first

27:58

question referred to the Prime Minister.

27:59

memory object of our change of residence.

28:02

Thank God, he said, with genuine fervour

28:05

on hearing that all was arranged, on

28:07

your account I am delighted,

28:09

as to myself I assure you

28:11

that no earthly consideration could

28:14

have induced me ever again to pass a

28:16

night in this disastrous old house.

28:19

Confound the house I ejaculated with a genuine

28:21

mixture of fear and detestation, we have

28:24

not had a pleasant hour since we came to live

28:26

here.

28:27

And so I went on, and related

28:29

incidentally my adventure with the plethoraic

28:31

old rat. Well, if that were all,

28:34

said my cousin, affecting to make light of the matter,

28:36

I don't think I should have minded it very much.

28:39

Ah, but it's I. It's

28:41

countenance, my dear Tom, urged I. If

28:43

you had seen that, you would have felt

28:46

it might be anything

28:48

but what it seemed.

28:50

I inclined to think the best conjure

28:52

in such a case would be an able-bodied cat,

28:55

he said, with a provoking chuckle.

28:57

But let us hear your own adventure, I

29:00

said, tartly.

29:01

In this challenge he looked uneasily around him.

29:04

I had poked up a very unpleasant recollection.

29:07

You shall hear it, Dick. I'll tell it to you,

29:09

he said. But, Gad, sir, I should

29:11

feel quite queer though telling it here,

29:14

though we are too strong a body for ghosts

29:16

to meddle with, just now.

29:18

Though he spoke this like a joke, I

29:20

think it was a serious calculation.

29:23

Our heebie was in the corner of the room

29:25

packing our cracked Delft tea and dinner services

29:28

into a basket.

29:29

She soon suspended operations and with

29:31

mouth and eyes wide open became

29:33

an absorbed listener.

29:36

Tom's experiences were told nearly

29:38

in these words.

29:40

I saw it three times, Dick.

29:42

Three distinct times.

29:44

And I'm perfectly certain it meant me some

29:46

infernal harm.

29:47

I was, I say, in danger, in extreme

29:50

danger. For, if nothing else had

29:52

happened, my reason

29:54

would most certainly have failed me unless

29:57

I had escaped so soon.

29:58

Thank God I did escape.

30:01

The first night of this hateful disturbance I

30:03

was lying in the attitude of sleep in

30:05

that lumbering old bed. I

30:07

hate to think of it.

30:09

I was really wide awake though I had put out

30:11

my candle and was lying as quietly

30:13

as if I had been asleep.

30:15

And although accidentally restless my thoughts

30:17

were running in a cheerful and agreeable channel.

30:21

I think it must have been two o'clock at least

30:23

when I thought I heard a sound in that

30:26

odious dark recess at the far

30:28

end of the bedroom.

30:30

It was as if someone was drawing

30:32

a piece of cord slowly

30:34

along the floor,

30:36

lifting it up

30:37

and dropping it softly down again in coils.

30:41

I sat up once or twice in my bed but

30:43

could see nothing, so I concluded it

30:45

must be mice in the wainscot.

30:47

I felt no emotion graver than curiosity

30:50

and after a few minutes ceased

30:52

to observe it.

30:54

Why lying in this state, strange

30:57

to say, without at first a suspicion

30:59

of anything supernatural?

31:02

On a sudden I saw an old

31:04

man,

31:05

rather stout and square, in a sort of

31:07

roan-red dressing-gown

31:09

with a black cap on his head, moving stiffly

31:11

and slowly in a diagonal direction

31:14

from the recess

31:15

across the floor of the bedroom,

31:17

passing my bed at the foot and entering

31:19

the lumber closet at the left.

31:22

He had something under his arm,

31:24

his head hung a little at one side,

31:26

and merciful God!

31:28

When I saw his face,

31:31

Tom stopped for a while and then said, That

31:33

awful countenance,

31:35

which

31:35

living or dying I can never forget,

31:38

disclosed what he was.

31:41

Without turning to the right or left he passed

31:43

beside me and entered the closet by the

31:45

bed's head. While this

31:48

fearful and indescribable type

31:50

of death and guilt was passing, I felt

31:52

that I had no more power to speak or stir

31:55

than if I had been myself a corpse.

31:58

For hours after it had disappeared,

31:59

appeared, I was too terrified and weak

32:02

to move.

32:03

As soon as daylight came, I took courage and

32:05

examined the room, and especially the course

32:08

which the frightful intruder had seemed to take.

32:10

But

32:10

there was not a vestige to indicate

32:13

anybody's having passed there.

32:15

No sign of any disturbing agency

32:17

visible among the lumber that strewed the floor

32:20

of the closet. I

32:21

now began to recover a little. I was fagged

32:24

and exhausted, and at last overpowered

32:26

by a feverish sleep.

32:28

I came down late, and finding you out of spirits

32:30

on account of your dreams about the portrait whose original

32:33

I am now certain disclosed himself to me, I

32:35

did not care to talk about the infernal vision.

32:38

In fact, I was trying to persuade myself

32:40

that the whole thing was an illusion, and I

32:42

didn't like to revive in their intensity the hated

32:45

impressions of the past night, or to

32:47

risk the constancy of my scepticism

32:49

by recounting the tale of my sufferings.

32:52

It required some nerve, I can tell you, to go

32:55

to my haunted chamber next night,

32:56

and lie down quietly in the same bed, continued

32:59

Tom.

33:00

I did so with a degree of trepidation

33:02

which I am not ashamed to say, a very

33:05

little matter would have sufficed to stimulate a

33:07

downright panic. This night,

33:09

however, passed off quietly enough,

33:11

and also the next, and so too

33:13

did two or three more. I

33:15

grew more confident, and began to fancy

33:17

that I believed in the theories of spectral illusions

33:20

with which I had at first vainly tried to

33:22

impose upon my convictions.

33:25

The apparition had been, indeed, altogether

33:27

anomalous.

33:28

It had crossed the room without any recognition

33:30

of my presence.

33:32

I had not disturbed it, and it

33:34

had no mission to me.

33:36

What then was the imaginable use of

33:38

its crossing the room in a visible shape at all?

33:41

Of course, it might have been in the closet

33:43

instead of going there as easily as

33:45

it introduced itself into the recess without

33:48

entering the chamber in a shape discernible

33:50

by the senses.

33:51

Besides, how deduce had I

33:54

seen it? It was a dark

33:56

night. I had no candle, there was no

33:58

fire, and yet— I

34:00

saw it as distinctly in colouring

34:03

and outline as ever I beheld

34:05

human form.

34:07

A cataleptic dream would explain it all,

34:09

and I was determined that a dream it should

34:12

be.

34:14

One of the most remarkable phenomena connected

34:16

with the practice of mendacity is the

34:18

vast number of deliberate lies we tell ourselves,

34:21

whom of all persons we can

34:23

least expect to deceive.

34:25

In all this I need hardly tell you, Dick, I

34:28

was simply lying to myself, and

34:30

did not believe one word of the wretched humbug.

34:33

Yet I went on, as men will do,

34:35

like persevering charlatans and

34:38

impostors, who tire people into

34:40

credulity by the mere force of reiteration.

34:43

So I hoped to win myself over at last

34:46

to a comfortable scepticism about

34:48

the ghost.

34:49

He had not appeared a second time, that

34:52

certainly was a comfort, and what after

34:54

all did I care for him and his queer

34:56

old toggery and strange looks?

34:59

Not a fig.

35:00

I was nothing the worse for having seen him, and

35:03

a good story the better. So I tumbled

35:05

into bed, put out my candle, and cheered

35:07

by a loud drunken quarrel in the back lane,

35:10

went fast asleep.

35:12

From this deep slumber I awoke

35:15

with a start.

35:17

I knew I had had a horrible dream, but

35:19

what it was I couldn't remember.

35:21

My heart was thumping furiously.

35:23

I felt bewildered and feverish.

35:26

I sat up in the bed and looked about the

35:28

room.

35:29

A broad flood of moonlight came in

35:31

through the curtainless window. Everything

35:33

was as I had last seen it,

35:35

and though the domestic squabble in the back lane

35:38

was unhappily for me allayed,

35:40

I yet could hear a pleasant fellow singing on

35:42

his way home, the then popular comic

35:45

ditty called Murphy Delaney.

35:48

Taking advantage of this diversion I lay down

35:50

again with my face towards the fireplace,

35:52

and closing my eyes did my best to

35:54

think of nothing else but the song which

35:57

was at every moment growing fainter

35:59

in the distance. It

36:00

was Murphy Delaney so funny and

36:02

frisky, Stepped into a chabin

36:04

shop to get his skin full, He reeled

36:07

out again pretty well lined with his whiskey, As

36:09

fresh as a shamrock, as blind as a bull.

36:14

The singer, whose condition I dare say resembled

36:16

that of his hero, Was soon too far

36:18

off to regain my ears any more,

36:20

And as his music died away, I myself

36:23

sank into a doze,

36:24

Neither sound nor refreshing.

36:27

How the song had got into my head, And

36:29

I went meandering on to the adventures Of

36:31

my respectable fellow countryman, Who,

36:34

on emerging from the chabin shop,

36:36

Fell into a river from which he was fished

36:38

up To be sat upon by a coroner's

36:41

jury, Who, having learned from a horse-doctor

36:44

That he was dead as a doornail, So

36:46

there was an end,

36:47

Returned their verdict accordingly, Just

36:50

as he returned to his senses, When an angry

36:52

altercation at the pitched battle Between the body

36:54

and the coroner, Wines up the lay, With dew spirit

36:57

and pleasantry.

36:59

Through this ballad, I continued with a weary

37:01

monotony To plod, down to the very

37:03

last line, And then da capo, And

37:06

so on, in my uncomfortable half-sleep,

37:08

For how long I can't conjecture.

37:11

I found myself at last, however, muttering,

37:13

Dead as a doornail, So there was

37:16

an end, And something like another

37:18

voice within me, Seem to say, very faintly

37:20

but sharply, Dead, dead,

37:22

dead,

37:24

And may the Lord have mercy on your soul.

37:27

And instantly I was wide awake and staring right

37:29

before me from the pillow.

37:31

Now,

37:32

will you believe it, Dick?

37:33

I saw the same accursed figure standing full

37:35

front And gazing at me with its stony

37:37

and fiendish countenance, Not two yards

37:40

from the bedside.

37:42

Tom stopped here and wiped the perspiration

37:44

from his face.

37:45

I felt very queer. The

37:48

girl was as pale as Tom, And

37:50

assembled as we were in the very scene

37:52

Of these adventures we were all, I dare say,

37:55

Equally grateful for the clear daylight And

37:57

the resuming bustle out of doors.

38:00

For about three seconds only I saw it plainly,

38:03

then it grew indistinct, but for

38:05

a long time

38:06

there was something like a column of dark vapour

38:09

where it had been standing between me and the

38:11

wall,

38:12

and I felt sure that

38:14

he was still there.

38:17

After a good while this appearance went too.

38:20

I took my clothes downstairs to the hall

38:22

and dressed there with the door half open, then

38:24

went out into the street and walked about

38:26

the town till morning when I came back in

38:28

a miserable state of nervousness and exhaustion.

38:32

I was such a fool, Dick, as to be ashamed

38:34

to tell you how I came to be so upset.

38:37

I thought you would laugh at me, especially as

38:39

I had always taught philosophy and treated

38:41

your ghosts with contempt.

38:43

I concluded you would give me no quarter and

38:45

so kept my tale of horror

38:48

to myself. Now Dick,

38:50

you will hardly believe me when I assure you that

38:52

for many nights after this last experience

38:55

I did not go to my room at all.

38:58

I used to sit up for a while in the drawing-room

39:00

after you had gone up to your bed and then

39:02

steeled down softly to the hall door,

39:05

let myself out and sit in the Robin

39:07

Hood tavern until the last guest went off,

39:09

and then I got through the night like a sentry

39:12

pacing the streets until morning.

39:15

For more than a week I never slept in bed. I

39:17

sometimes had a snooze on a form in the Robin

39:20

Hood and sometimes a nap in a chair during

39:22

the day, but regular sleep I

39:25

had absolutely none.

39:27

I was quite resolved that we should get into another

39:29

house, but I couldn't bring myself to tell you the reason

39:32

and somehow put it off from day to day, although

39:34

my life was, during every hour of this procrastination,

39:37

rendered as miserable as that of a felon

39:39

with the constables on his track.

39:42

I was growing absolutely ill

39:44

from this wretched mode of life.

39:47

One afternoon I determined to enjoy an hour's sleep

39:49

upon your bed.

39:50

I hated mine, so that I

39:52

had never accepted a stealthy

39:54

visit every day to unmake it lest Martha

39:57

should discover the secret of my nightly absence

39:59

in

39:59

painted, the ill-omened chamber.

40:03

As in luck would have it, you had locked your

40:05

bedroom and taken away the key.

40:08

I went into my own to unsettle the bedclothes

40:10

as usual and give the bed the appearance

40:12

of having been slept in.

40:14

Now a variety of circumstances

40:16

concurred to bring about the dreadful scene

40:19

through which I was that night to pass.

40:21

In the first place, I

40:23

was literally overpowered with

40:25

fatigue and longing for sleep. In

40:28

the next place, the effect of this extreme

40:30

exhaustion upon my nerves resembled out

40:32

of a narcotic and rendered me less

40:34

susceptible than perhaps I should in any

40:37

other condition have been of the exciting

40:39

fears which had become habitual to

40:41

me.

40:42

Then again a little bit of the window was

40:45

open.

40:45

A pleasant freshness pervaded the room and

40:48

to crown all the cheerful sun of day

40:50

was making the room quite pleasant.

40:53

What was to prevent my enjoying an hour's

40:55

nap here?

40:57

The whole air was resonant with the cheerful

40:59

hum of life and the broad matter-of-fact

41:01

light of day filled every corner

41:03

of the room.

41:05

I yielded,

41:06

stifling my qualms, to the

41:08

almost overpowering temptation,

41:11

and merely throwing off my coat and loosening

41:14

my cravat, I lay down, limiting

41:17

myself to half an hour's doze

41:19

in the unwonted enjoyment of a feather bed,

41:22

a coverlet and a bolster.

41:24

It was horribly insidious,

41:27

and the demon no doubt marked my

41:29

infatuated preparations.

41:31

Dote that I was, I

41:33

fancied with mind and body worn

41:36

out for want of sleep and in the rear

41:38

of a full week's rest to my credit that

41:40

such measures as half an hour's sleep

41:43

in such a situation was possible.

41:46

My sleep was death-like, long

41:49

and dreamless.

41:51

Not a start or fearful sensation of any

41:54

kind, I waked gently but

41:56

completely.

41:58

It was as you have good reason to remember.

41:59

remember, long past midnight, I

42:02

believe about two o'clock, when sleep

42:04

has been deep and long enough to satisfy

42:07

nature thoroughly, one often wakens

42:09

in this way, suddenly, tranquilly,

42:12

and completely. There

42:15

was a figure

42:16

seated

42:18

in that lumbering old sofa-chair near

42:20

the fireplace.

42:22

Its back was rather towards me, but

42:24

I couldn't be mistaken.

42:26

It turned slowly round

42:30

and the merciful heavens, there

42:32

was the stony face with its

42:34

infernal liniments and malignity

42:37

and despair gloating on me.

42:39

There was now no doubt as to its

42:41

consciousness of my presence,

42:43

and a hellish malice with which it was animated,

42:47

for it arose

42:48

and drew close to the bedside.

42:51

There was a rope about its neck,

42:53

and the other end coiled up, it held

42:55

stiffly in its hand.

42:58

My good angel nerved me for this horrible

43:00

crisis. I remained for some seconds

43:02

transfixed by the gaze of this tremendous

43:04

phantom. He came close to the

43:07

bed and appeared on the point of mounting

43:09

upon it. The next instant I was

43:11

upon the floor at the far side, and in a moment

43:13

more was—I don't know how—upon

43:16

the lobby.

43:18

But the spell was not yet broken.

43:21

The valley of the shadow of death was not

43:23

yet traversed. The abhorred phantom

43:26

was before me there. It was

43:28

standing near the banisters, stooping

43:30

a little, and with one end of the

43:32

rope around its own neck was poising

43:35

a noose at the other as if to throw over

43:37

mine. And while engaged in

43:39

this baleful pantomime, it wore a

43:41

smile so sensual,

43:44

so unspeakably dreadful,

43:47

that my senses were nearly overpowered.

43:50

I saw and remember nothing more,

43:52

until I found myself in your room.

43:54

I had a wonderful escape, Dick. There's no

43:56

disputing that—an escape for

43:59

which, while I live— I shall bless the mercy

44:01

of heaven.

44:02

No one can conceive or imagine

44:04

what it is for flesh and blood to stand

44:06

in the presence of such a thing,

44:08

but one who has had the terrific

44:10

experience. Dick, Dick, a

44:13

shadow has passed over me.

44:15

A chill

44:16

has crossed my blood and marrow, and

44:18

I will never be the same again. Never,

44:20

Dick, never." Our

44:24

handmaid, a mature girl of two and fifty,

44:26

as I have said, stayed her hand, as

44:28

Tom's story proceeded, and by

44:30

little and little drew near to us with

44:33

open mouth, and her brows contracted

44:35

over her little beady black eyes, till

44:38

stealing a glance over her shoulder now

44:40

and then, she established herself close

44:42

behind us. During the relation

44:45

she had made various earnest comments

44:47

in an undertone, but these and her

44:49

ejaculations for the sake of brevity and

44:51

simplicity I have omitted in my narration.

44:55

It's often I her tell of it, she now said,

44:57

but I never believed it rightly till now, though

44:59

indeed why should not I? Does

45:02

not my mother, down there in the lane,

45:04

know queer stories? God bless

45:06

us beyond telling about it.

45:08

But you ought not have slept in the back bedroom.

45:11

She was loath to let me be going in

45:13

and out of that room, even in the daytime, let

45:16

alone for any Christian to spend a night

45:18

in it. For sure, she says,

45:20

it

45:21

was his own bedroom.

45:22

Whose own bedroom? we asked in her breath.

45:25

Why, here's the old Judge's,

45:27

Judge Horrocks, to be sure. God rest

45:29

his soul, and she looked fearfully around. Amen,

45:32

I muttered. But did he die here?

45:34

Die there? No, not quite there,

45:37

she said. Sure, was it not over the

45:39

banisters? He hung himself, the old sinner.

45:42

God be merciful to us all.

45:45

And was it not in the alcove they found the handles

45:47

of the skipping rope cut off,

45:49

and the knife where he was settling the cord?

45:52

God bless us to hang himself with.

45:54

It was his housekeeper's daughter

45:56

owned the rope my mother often told me, and the

45:58

child never thought of it. drove after,

46:01

and used to be starting up out of her sleep

46:03

and screeching in the night-time with

46:05

dreams and fright that had come on her.

46:08

And they said how it was the spirit of the old judge

46:10

that was tormenting her.

46:12

And she used to be roaring and yelling out

46:14

to hold back the big old fellow with the crooked

46:16

neck, and then she'd screech, oh the master,

46:19

the master, he's stamping at me and beckoning

46:21

to me, mother darling, don't let

46:23

me go. And

46:24

so the poor creature died

46:27

at last,

46:28

and the doctor said there was water on

46:30

the brain, but

46:31

it was all they could say.

46:34

How long ago was this, I asked? Oh,

46:36

then how would I know? she answered. But

46:38

it must be a wonderful long time ago for the housekeeper

46:40

was an old woman with a pipe in her mouth and not

46:43

a tooth left, and better not eighty

46:45

years old when my mother was first married.

46:47

And they said she was a real buxom

46:50

fine-dressed woman when the old judge came

46:52

to his end, and indeed, my

46:54

mother's not far from eighty years old herself this

46:57

day.

46:58

And what made it worse for the unnatural old

47:00

villain, God rest his soul, to frighten

47:02

the little girl out of the world the way he did,

47:05

was what was mostly thought and believed

47:07

by everyone.

47:08

My mother says how the poor little

47:10

creature

47:12

was his own child,

47:13

for he was by all accounts an old villain

47:15

every way,

47:17

and the hanginess judge

47:18

that ever was known in Ireland's ground.

47:22

From what you say about the danger of sleeping

47:24

in that bedroom, said I suppose there were stories

47:27

about the ghost having appeared there to others.

47:29

Well, there was things

47:31

said,

47:32

queer things surely, she answered, as

47:35

it seemed with some reluctance.

47:37

And why would not there?

47:39

Sure it was not up in that same room

47:42

he slept for more than twenty years?

47:44

And was it not in the alcove

47:46

he got the rope ready that done his own business

47:48

at last, the way he done

47:50

many a better man's in his lifetime?

47:53

And was not the body lying in the same bed after

47:55

death, and put in the coffin there too, and

47:58

carried out to his grave from it?

47:59

in Peter's chir-chad after the

48:02

coroner was gone.

48:04

But there was queer stories.

48:06

My mother has them all—about

48:08

how one Nicholas Spate

48:10

got into trouble on the head of it.

48:12

And what did they say of this Nicholas

48:14

Spate, I asked?

48:15

Oh, for that matter, it soon told, she

48:18

answered.

48:19

And she certainly did relate a very strange

48:21

story which so piqued my curiosity

48:23

that I took occasion to visit the ancient

48:25

lady, her mother, from whom I learned

48:28

many very curious particulars.

48:31

Indeed, I am tempted to tell

48:33

the tale, but my fingers are weary and I

48:35

must defer it. But if

48:37

you wish to hear it another time, I shall

48:39

do my best. When

48:42

we had heard the strange tale I have not

48:44

told you, we put one or two further

48:46

questions to her about the alleged spectral

48:48

visitations to which the house had, ever

48:51

since the death of the wicked old judge being

48:53

subjected.

48:55

No one ever had luck in it, she told

48:57

us. There was always cross-accidents,

48:59

sudden deaths and short times in it.

49:02

The first that took—it

49:04

was a family, I forget the name—but at any

49:06

rate there was two young ladies in

49:08

the papa. There

49:09

was about sixty, and a stout healthy

49:12

gentleman as you'd wish to see at that age.

49:14

Well,

49:16

he slept in that unlucky back bedroom

49:18

and guard between us and harm.

49:21

Sure enough, he was found dead

49:23

one morning, half out of the bed, with

49:25

his head as black as a slow

49:28

and swelled like a pudding hanging

49:30

down near the floor. It was a fit,

49:32

they said, it was as dead as a

49:35

mackerel.

49:36

And so he could not say what it

49:38

was but the old people.

49:40

It was all sure that it was

49:42

nothing at all but the old judge, God

49:44

bless us,

49:45

that frightened him out of his senses and

49:48

his life together.

49:50

to

50:00

their work found her sitting on

50:02

the passage stairs shivering and

50:04

talking to herself, quite mad.

50:06

And never a word more could any of them or

50:09

her friends get from her ever afterwards,

50:11

but don't ask me to go for a promise

50:13

to wait for him.

50:15

They never made out from her who it was she

50:17

meant by him, but of course

50:20

those that knew all about the old house

50:22

were at no loss for the meaning of all that happened

50:25

to her.

50:26

Then afterwards, when the house was let out

50:28

in lodgings, there was Mickey Byrne that

50:30

took the same room with his wife and three little

50:33

children, and sure I heard Mrs.

50:35

Byrne myself telling how the children

50:37

used to be lifted up in the bed at night,

50:39

she couldn't see by what means,

50:42

and how they were started and screeching every

50:44

hour, just all as one

50:46

as the housekeeper's little girl that died.

50:50

Till at last one night poor Mickey had a drop

50:52

in him the way he used to now and again.

50:55

And what do you think?

50:56

In the middle of the night he thought he heard a

50:58

noise on the stairs and being in liquor

51:01

nothing less he'd do him, but out he

51:03

must go himself to see what was wrong.

51:05

Well after that

51:07

all she ever heard of him was himself

51:09

saying,

51:10

oh God,

51:11

and a tumble that shook the very house and there

51:14

sure enough

51:15

he was lying on the lower stairs under the lobby

51:18

with his neck smashed double under

51:20

him

51:21

where it was flung over the banisters.

51:23

Then the handmaiden added,

51:26

I'll go down to the lane and send up Joe Gavey

51:28

to pack up the rest of the things and bring

51:31

all the things that cross to your new lodgings.

51:34

And so we all sallied out together,

51:36

each of us breathing more freely, I have no

51:39

doubt, as we crossed that ill-oamined

51:41

threshold for the last time. Now

51:44

I may add thus much in compliance

51:46

with the immemorial usage of the realm

51:48

of fiction which sees the hero

51:51

not only through his adventures but

51:53

fairly out of the world.

51:55

You must have perceived that what the flesh,

51:57

blood and bone here of romance proper

51:59

is is to the regular compounder of fiction

52:02

this old house of

52:04

brick, wood and mortar

52:07

is to the humble recorder of this true

52:09

tale.

52:10

I therefore relate as in duty

52:13

bound

52:14

the catastrophe which ultimately

52:16

befell it,

52:17

which was simply this, that

52:19

about two years subsequently

52:21

to my story it was taken by a quack

52:23

doctor who called himself Baron

52:26

Duseltorf and filled the parlour

52:28

windows with bottles of indescribable

52:31

horrors preserved in brandy

52:33

and the newspapers with the usual grandiloquent

52:36

and mendacious advertisements.

52:38

This gentleman,

52:40

among his virtues, did not reckon sobriety

52:43

and one night, being overcome

52:45

with much wine, he set fire

52:47

to his bed curtains, partially burned himself

52:49

and totally consumed the house.

52:52

It was afterwards rebuilt and for

52:54

a time an undertaker

52:56

established himself in the premises.

52:59

I have now told you my own and Tom's

53:02

adventures together with some valuable

53:05

collateral particulars and

53:07

having acquitted myself of my engagement,

53:10

I wish you a very good night

53:12

and pleasant dreams.

53:34

So that was an account of some strange disturbances

53:37

in Angel Street, which is a street in

53:39

Dublin, it was, if you probably

53:41

realise that by now, it's a real street.

53:44

First published in the Dublin University magazine

53:46

January 1851, republished

53:49

in a slightly different form as Mr Justice

53:51

Harbottle, included in the 1872 collection

53:55

In A Glass Darkly. This

53:57

original version was included in the posthumous

53:59

nineteen 1923 collection, Madame

54:02

Kral's Ghosts and Other Tales of Mystery,

54:04

edited by M.R. James,

54:06

who rated Lofano. And

54:08

I think probably of his generation, so he is

54:11

of the generation that comes before Bram Stoker,

54:13

mid

54:14

19th century,

54:17

died aged only 58,

54:19

very good storyteller, probably

54:21

the best ghost storyteller of his generation,

54:24

I think. Of course, we've done quite a bunch of

54:26

Lofano stories because I like him. We've done, oh yeah,

54:28

we haven't done Shalk and the Painter, but that will come.

54:31

We've done Carmilla and various

54:34

others, not that long

54:36

ago either, but I like him. And it had been suggested

54:39

in the M.R. James Appreciation Group

54:42

on Facebook.

54:44

Anya Maroney brought

54:47

to my attention that they'd said some

54:49

nice things about me. And so I went and looked.

54:51

I'm a member, but I don't

54:52

go on Facebook tons. And

54:55

they'd said, the guy there said, oh, I wish I

54:57

could persuade him, that is me, to do

55:00

an account of some strange disturbances in

55:02

Angel St. I had to look up how to pronounce that first

55:04

because it's written,

55:06

Angier, A-U-N-G-E-R,

55:09

St. Yeah, but Angel St.

55:11

rhymes with danger, apparently. You've got to get it right. The

55:13

other thing just to say is that preliminary is of course, I

55:15

absolutely adore the Dublin accent, but

55:18

I can't do it. I tried to do

55:20

it a little bit in that song, but then when we came to

55:22

the handmade towards the end, I thought, I just can't carry

55:24

this off, as particularly as

55:26

she is a great comic character in

55:29

the Shakespearean tradition. So you know how Shakespeare

55:31

will have a tragedy and

55:34

in the tragedy, there are comic figures

55:36

just for the laughs or for the crack, as

55:39

they might say. And so she is

55:41

that and she's great.

55:43

One wonders whether this, it has the

55:45

feel of a collection of true stories.

55:48

It is exactly the same. I don't

55:50

know if you listen to Danny Robinson's stuff,

55:53

Uncanny and the Witch House

55:55

and the Battersea Poltergeist. Danny

55:58

is really very talented presenter.

55:59

very infectious with his enthusiasm. And

56:02

it sounds like, you know, he had

56:05

a case, a number of cases, they

56:07

all sound like this, and he gets them. There was this bivvy,

56:10

bivvy boffy up in Scotland, right

56:13

in Venice, I think. And then there was another one

56:16

in Belfast, a student accommodation.

56:19

And the witch house itself in South Wales

56:22

in Breckenshire. And these

56:25

accounts of individuals who sit

56:27

and say, well, you know, this happened to me, and then somebody

56:29

comes, well, this happens to me. It felt like

56:31

that. And so it felt very much like

56:35

a real ghost story, because,

56:37

except what I would say is

56:39

that it has very often with

56:41

these real ghost stories, we have to kind of untangle

56:44

what's going on. And Danny,

56:47

not that I'm a fanboy, although I am,

56:49

he manages to kind of get

56:52

some kind of thread of story through some thread of narrative.

56:55

Because of course, in fictional ghost stories, there's

56:57

a point to it and usually to moral point.

57:00

And

57:01

even even a very basic one, they

57:03

try and tell us how we should behave.

57:05

And real ghost stories very often, I

57:07

used to do ghost tours, you know,

57:09

they're pointless, you're like, well, what does that mean? Whereas

57:12

this clearly is this is an evil

57:14

man, who

57:15

was a judge who

57:17

hanged people are hanging judge. And he wasn't thought

57:19

of as being a savior of the people and putting

57:22

down the

57:23

ungodly as as he

57:25

may be portrayed, because in some societies,

57:28

the

57:29

people who execute

57:31

criminals are considered agents

57:33

of good. But in this case, clearly, and

57:35

perhaps because of an Irish context,

57:37

under the time, at the time when the British

57:39

were in charge, and he

57:41

would represent the British establishment,

57:43

he was considered a rogue and a villain.

57:46

And of course, he then, ironically

57:48

and poetically ended his life

57:52

by hanging himself in his own house. So

57:54

that is the moral field to this that's

57:56

the moral shape to it. Anyway,

57:58

let's get back and say something about

58:01

Sheridan, Joseph Sheridan.

58:04

You know, I've repeated myself, but

58:06

for those who haven't listened to the other ones, I'll just briefly

58:08

go through his biography. So Joseph Thomas

58:11

Sheridan Lefano, known as J Sheridan

58:13

Lefano, was an Irish writer born on August

58:15

28th, 1814 in Dublin,

58:17

Ireland. He's considered one of the leading

58:20

writers of Gothic fiction in the 18th century.

58:22

The founder came from a literary family

58:24

with his father being a playwright and his great uncle

58:27

Richard Brinsley Sheridan being a renowned

58:29

playwright and politician. He studied law

58:31

at Trinity College Dublin, but his true passion

58:34

was writing.

58:35

Lefano's early works were mostly non-fiction

58:37

and journalism, but he later turned to fiction,

58:40

particularly Gothic tales and supernatural stories.

58:43

His writing style often involved creating

58:45

an atmosphere of mystery and suspense, exploring

58:47

themes of the supernatural, the occult and the psychological.

58:50

Some of Lefano's most notable

58:52

works include Carmilla, The Vampire Novella,

58:55

The Predeats Bram Stoker's Dracula, of course Bram

58:57

Stoker, as I say every time he used to work

58:59

for Lefano at one point,

59:01

and Uncle Silas, a novel that combines elements

59:04

of Gothic horror and psychological suspense. He

59:06

also wrote numerous short stories, many of which

59:09

were published in various magazines and collections.

59:11

The Fanner's writing had a significant influence on

59:14

later authors, particularly in the horror and supernatural

59:16

genres.

59:17

His works were praised for their atmospheric descriptions,

59:19

intricate plots and complex characters, including

59:22

by M.R. James,

59:23

the master of the generation after him.

59:27

Unfortunately, Lefano's career was cut short when

59:29

he passed away on February 7th, 1873

59:32

in Dublin at the age of only 58.

59:34

Despite his relatively short life, his contributions

59:36

to Gothic literature continued to be celebrated

59:39

and his works remain influential to this day. This

59:41

is true if you think about the TV series

59:44

for Teen Girls, Carmilla

59:47

and the remakes and stuff like that, particularly

59:49

Carmilla, I think, but his other stuff.

59:52

He is probably the best of his generation.

59:55

We've done Green Tea, we've done Madame Kral's

59:57

Ghost, we've done a bunch of Lefano.

59:59

I should do that.

59:59

a compilation

1:00:01

story, you know I do those compilation

1:00:03

videos sometimes. True

1:00:05

meandering fashion,

1:00:07

I'm going to jump back

1:00:09

to the Dublin dialect. Now there's

1:00:11

a guy who sometimes contacts me, Turluk

1:00:14

Conmey, and he's got a WordPress

1:00:16

blog and he's got a YouTube

1:00:18

channel

1:00:19

whereby he does stories in

1:00:22

the Dublin dialect.

1:00:24

He recently sent me a story to look at which

1:00:26

I haven't had time to get through, which has a bit of Irish

1:00:28

in it as well, you know Irish-Irish, not

1:00:31

English-Irish. So I can't

1:00:33

even begin to do his

1:00:36

accent, but if you want

1:00:38

the proper Dublin stuff, I

1:00:40

should have invited him to do that woman,

1:00:43

because it would have been

1:00:45

honey

1:00:47

to your ears, I

1:00:49

would say.

1:00:50

Another thing jumping back about the story

1:00:52

is that if you remember

1:00:55

that in many cases

1:00:57

traditionally, ghosts want

1:00:59

to right wrongs. Think of Hamlet's father,

1:01:02

I mean he's the most famous example, but this is a common

1:01:04

thing that if they've been killed

1:01:07

violently or suddenly or unjustly,

1:01:09

they want things put right and they contact

1:01:11

the living to do that. But in this case,

1:01:14

this judge's malevolence

1:01:17

is nothing other, he's malevolent after death

1:01:19

as well. He was before and he is after,

1:01:21

and he has no other purpose to

1:01:24

torture and drive people crazy and

1:01:27

kill them if he can. So in

1:01:29

that sense, he's horror

1:01:31

and he's kind of prefigures horror

1:01:33

writers like, I mean Lovecraft,

1:01:36

HP Lovecraft, whose supernatural creatures

1:01:38

are never

1:01:39

benign, they never work with human purposes

1:01:42

to right wrong, they're always purely wicked.

1:01:45

I'll put a link to Turlugh's

1:01:48

YouTube channel so you can take a listen to that lovely

1:01:51

Dublin accent.

1:01:52

And also, I

1:01:55

have been busy, I published a new

1:01:57

novella called The Poisoned Rose set in Yorkshire.

1:02:00

So I'm going to do

1:02:02

a plug here. It is now available

1:02:04

as a paperback, but only on Amazon. If

1:02:06

you can get your bookseller to source

1:02:08

it

1:02:09

from somewhere else, you're doing better than me. But

1:02:11

I'm not saying it's impossible if you really don't

1:02:13

like Amazon, but for those who aren't

1:02:16

so ill-disposed to Amazon,

1:02:18

you can get it from them,

1:02:20

wherever you are in the world.

1:02:21

And they do pay me, you know, so that's good. So

1:02:24

that's that. And what else have I done? I've been

1:02:26

doing loads and loads of things, too many things probably.

1:02:31

I'm redoing my science fiction novel. I'm working

1:02:34

through that. That's taking a lot of time. I'm

1:02:37

running three YouTube channels, this one,

1:02:40

two of which are also podcasts, this one,

1:02:43

Classic Ghost Stories Podcast. And I'm doing deliberate

1:02:45

practice for writers when I look at writing, and

1:02:48

particularly at the moment, looking at the use of AI in writing.

1:02:51

That doesn't mean I think it's the most wonderful

1:02:53

thing, but I think it's really interesting. I'm

1:02:55

not saying, you know, yeah, I'll

1:02:57

just be taken over by computers. That's probably exactly

1:03:00

what I'm not saying, to be honest, but I'm not frightened

1:03:02

of them either. And then the

1:03:04

other one is Late Night Sleep Radio.

1:03:06

It was called Late Night Talk Radio. And then I thought

1:03:09

that title might be a little bit confusing

1:03:11

because

1:03:12

in it, it's usually an hour plus

1:03:14

and I ramble. It's more rambles. And

1:03:17

the first thing we do is custom of the

1:03:20

day. And we look at folk customs of

1:03:22

that particular day I'm recording. And then we

1:03:24

look at Legend of the Week, which is more random. I

1:03:26

just pick up, I've got loads of books about legends and just

1:03:29

talk about, you know, the hellhounds of

1:03:31

Norfolk or the pixie

1:03:33

led, the pixies of Devon and

1:03:36

things like that. I talked about actually

1:03:40

a story. Oh, right. Yeah. And I do

1:03:42

like, so I do Custom of the

1:03:45

Day, Legend of the Week, and

1:03:47

then I do Bedtime Story. And the Bedtime Story,

1:03:49

these days I'm taking from books of folk tales

1:03:52

and then talking about those. And I

1:03:55

also recently did some

1:03:57

stories from Lafcadio Haynes.

1:03:59

who was an interesting Greek,

1:04:02

Irish,

1:04:03

American, Japanese author.

1:04:06

And he did a story, a Japanese

1:04:08

story, about the daughter of the Dragon King.

1:04:11

And I thought it was very similar to the sort

1:04:13

of an Irish story, O'Shean and Neve. So

1:04:16

I did that. And so, you know, we get

1:04:18

around and we meander. And I was

1:04:20

also saying about my holiday on the Ridgeway,

1:04:23

which I haven't really talked about here, which was very good

1:04:25

two weeks walking

1:04:26

out there.

1:04:27

So today, I'm

1:04:31

hopefully going to finish this off and then

1:04:33

I've got to go. And my daughter's coming around,

1:04:35

Catherine, with her dog, Cosmo,

1:04:37

her little puppy Cosmo, who's just had his second injection.

1:04:40

So he's coming to meet my puppies.

1:04:42

And I'm hoping it goes well

1:04:44

because Cosmo is still quite small. Mine are a bit

1:04:47

bigger.

1:04:48

And of the two of them, I'm not going to introduce

1:04:50

them on anybody's territory. We're going to

1:04:52

go out the back onto the fealty bit.

1:04:55

And they're going to meet each other there

1:04:58

because, you know, Ruby particularly,

1:05:00

it's only little, she's quite territorial.

1:05:03

Her brother Bruno came to visit and she

1:05:05

was running around nipping him, you know, and he had

1:05:07

to come and be protected by

1:05:09

me because she's like, this is my

1:05:11

house.

1:05:12

And certainly with Bruno, they were born

1:05:14

together, lived in the the whelping box

1:05:16

together, the puppy hole, as I called

1:05:19

it. And so, you know, it's not like she doesn't know him,

1:05:21

but she was giving him a hard time.

1:05:23

And he said this before, but he came and in the end, he sat

1:05:25

with his brother, who's over at the dog Jasper and

1:05:28

the two boys were cool about it. But Ruby is like, no,

1:05:30

no, no, no, no.

1:05:32

And in terms of personalities, she is the one

1:05:34

he's

1:05:35

laid back, you know, when she's

1:05:37

she's the funniest, prettiest little

1:05:39

thing, but she's feisty,

1:05:42

you know, and she

1:05:44

she's frightened of weird stuff like

1:05:47

bowls and,

1:05:49

you know, just odd shapes

1:05:51

and bags and things like that. So she's she's

1:05:54

only little so she's nervy, but

1:05:56

she's fearless when it comes to the dogs.

1:05:59

likes to knock him into shape.

1:06:02

So I'm hoping it goes well,

1:06:04

because Cosmo is my grand

1:06:06

dog

1:06:07

and so I want them all to get on as a family,

1:06:09

but you know families don't always get on.

1:06:12

And

1:06:14

my mum's out of hospital again, so

1:06:16

that was a bit of a worry as it always is,

1:06:18

but she's back home and I

1:06:20

stayed with her a couple of nights this week just to make sure she was okay

1:06:23

in her house. And of course she's

1:06:25

got, she had a skybox, you

1:06:27

know, and she watches lots of TV, like she's 85

1:06:31

and

1:06:33

like younger people don't really watch TV much,

1:06:36

but she does and it's a companion

1:06:38

I suppose. And but she got

1:06:40

a new sky, my brother

1:06:41

got her the skybox and all was

1:06:43

well, but it's too modern for her.

1:06:46

So she struggles and so I went to see her

1:06:48

and she didn't know how to work it and she had this tablet

1:06:50

that she'd been got so and the screen

1:06:53

brightness had gone down, but she just thought it

1:06:55

was broken.

1:06:57

And so she was a bit frustrated with

1:06:59

that.

1:07:00

But in the end, we go and we fix

1:07:02

it all and it's and then

1:07:05

by the end of it, she's much happier. So there

1:07:07

we are. It's

1:07:08

a funny old world, isn't it? I said to Liam,

1:07:11

who's Sheila's son came around

1:07:13

last night, just just

1:07:15

for us to eat and we were sitting there

1:07:17

and I was telling him about my mum and I

1:07:19

said, well, you're gonna have this in 25 years.

1:07:21

And he said, no, no,

1:07:24

you look after us. Well, you know, maybe not. I

1:07:26

mean, you know, men don't necessarily live as long

1:07:28

as women. So anyway, anyway,

1:07:30

I don't mean to be gloomy. This isn't I'm not being gloomy.

1:07:33

Really. I'm just kind of

1:07:34

rambling on.

1:07:35

I'm also going to get rid of a load of books. Sometimes

1:07:39

look around. I think I don't

1:07:41

I don't need these books. I've got a

1:07:43

great book about breath and breathing by James

1:07:45

Nester, for example. Am

1:07:47

I actually ever going to read that again?

1:07:49

No, I'm not. And I've got another one looking at staring

1:07:51

at the sun. I'm never going to read that again. In fact, there's

1:07:54

a whole bunch of books here I'm never going to read again.

1:07:56

So what I'm going to do is I'm going to put them in a box and

1:07:58

I'm going to take them to the local secondhand.

1:07:59

bookshop and I'm going to say you can have them

1:08:02

because I don't need any money for them but

1:08:04

I want them to go to people

1:08:06

who like books.

1:08:07

I nearly applied for a job in

1:08:09

a bookshop and thought about giving my nursing

1:08:11

up and would it be great to work in

1:08:13

a

1:08:14

bookshop? A

1:08:15

couple of things put me off.

1:08:18

I

1:08:21

work in a GP surgery in the town where my mother

1:08:23

lives and she's actually a member or a patient

1:08:25

at that surgery so that works

1:08:27

as a synergy there so that would

1:08:29

go and I'd have to find extra time to go and see

1:08:32

her. I'd be working two days for

1:08:34

I'd go right back to minimum wage. I'd

1:08:36

be about a third of what I earn now

1:08:39

and I

1:08:41

would then be the new guy and so 22

1:08:43

year olds would be telling me to do

1:08:46

things and honestly

1:08:50

could I could I put up with that? Tony

1:08:53

can you clean the toilet please?

1:08:55

Tony can you tidy the bookshelves up please

1:08:57

and don't be late Tony I noticed you've been late and

1:09:00

I noticed your ties are skewed.

1:09:02

Probably wouldn't wear a tie.

1:09:04

Tony your shoes are rather scuffed.

1:09:06

Tony stop talking to you know could

1:09:08

I really put up with that? I don't think so so

1:09:10

I've decided not to go although maybe one

1:09:13

day I will work in a bookshop and

1:09:16

and we take it from there. Anyway

1:09:19

this kind of peated out. Remember late-night

1:09:21

sleep radio if you like my rambles

1:09:23

you'll like definitely like that and

1:09:26

if you do fancy your

1:09:28

book of the poisoned rose which is about

1:09:30

set in the 1940s in a big

1:09:33

country house in Yorkshire and of course there

1:09:35

are all sorts of alchemical and supernatural elements

1:09:37

so if you wanted to check that out I'll inevitably

1:09:40

put links.

1:09:41

Hope you're all well thank you for your support. I

1:09:43

do love your support your comments and

1:09:45

your buy me coffees and sign

1:09:47

up on my patreon and just being there

1:09:50

and listening and saying kind

1:09:52

things about me it's lovely

1:09:54

so off I go to make

1:09:56

ready for Cosmo

1:09:58

Isn't

1:10:01

that so, dear? Isn't that so, dear? Isn't

1:10:04

that so, dear? Isn't

1:10:06

that so, dear? Isn't

1:10:09

that so, dear? I invite you to consider

1:10:12

becoming a Patron of the podcast.

1:10:15

Patrons perform a really useful task

1:10:17

for me in that they give me the wherewithal,

1:10:21

the finance through their contributions

1:10:23

to enable me to devote time to producing stories

1:10:25

for you. So it's actually really

1:10:28

helpful if you want to hear more stories. And

1:10:31

there is a big, on Patreon, there is a big

1:10:34

backlog of stories, a big library of

1:10:36

stories that you can access

1:10:38

by becoming a Patron. You can download them

1:10:40

as well, which is more difficult on podcasts

1:10:43

and on YouTube.

1:10:44

But if you want to become a Patron you get the double

1:10:47

whammy

1:10:47

of supporting my work, which enables me

1:10:49

to do more work. Imagine that. You

1:10:52

pay me to do more and

1:10:54

I do more work for you and produce more stories for

1:10:56

you.

1:10:56

I appreciate

1:10:59

it, so you get my love and gratitude. And

1:11:02

also you get access to a big backlog

1:11:04

of stories and members-only stories. Every

1:11:07

month I do at least one

1:11:08

members-only story. So it's kind of a really good

1:11:10

thing to do. And I would just like to invite

1:11:13

you to consider becoming a Patron.

1:11:15

It's hard to say links, but this is www.patron.com

1:11:22

www.patreon.com

1:11:22

That's

1:11:27

me. See you there.