A strong,
vibratory movement suddenly made all the bones in the head rattle and
the tongue wag, whilst from the jaws, as if belched up from some
deep-down well, came a gust of wind, putrescent with the ravages of
the tomb, and yet, at the same time, tainted with the same sweet,
sickly odour with which Lady Adela had latterly become so familiar.
This was the culminating act; the head then receded, and, growing
fainter and fainter, gradually disappeared altogether. Lady Adela was
now more than satisfied,--there was not a house more horribly haunted
in Scotland,--and nothing on earth would induce her to remain in it
another night.
However, being anxious, naturally, to discover something that might,
in some degree, account for the apparitions, Lady Adela made endless
inquiries concerning the history of former occupants of the house;
but, failing to find out anything remarkable in this direction, she
was eventually obliged to content herself with the following
tradition: It was said that on the site of No. -- Forrest Road there
had once stood a cottage occupied by two sisters (both nurses), and
that one was suspected of poisoning the other; and that the cottage,
moreover, having through their parsimonious habits got into a very bad
state of repair, was blown down during a violent storm, the surviving
sister perishing in the ruins. Granted that this story is correct, it
was in all probability the ghost of this latter sister that appeared
to Lady Adela.
Pages:
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66