Part 15 (1/2)

”'Nor need you have any dread,' he returned. 'I have no wish nor power to hurt you, but you must listen to my story. Once in fifty years I am allowed to leave my grave and revisit the scene of my tragical death, and this must always be on the 14th of April, which is the anniversary of the event.[4] I am also permitted to recount my story if I find anyone sleeping in this room who is willing to listen to me. Are you willing?'

[4] There is evidently some mistake here in the figures given by the ghost or received by the matron. If his death took place in 1741 (three years after landing in Georgia), his first spirit return was due in 1791, the second, 1841, and the third, not till 1891. It appears to have been antic.i.p.ated by sixteen years, if the dates given are correct.

A friend suggests that ”once _in_ fifty years” does not necessitate exact _intervals_ of fifty years.

”I replied that I should gladly hear what he had to tell, but would he allow me to ask him one question?

”He inclined his head in a.s.sent, and I said I had always thought that the spirits of the dead, if they were allowed to appear on earth, came with shadowy and skeleton forms. Why did he appear with flesh like a living man?

”'Ah!' he said, 'that is owing to the peculiarity of my grave. I am buried in salt.'

”' Have you anything more to ask?' said my visitor.

”'Nothing more at present,' I replied. 'I am ready now to hear your story.'

”'I will make it as short as possible and not detain you long. You have noticed my portrait in the gallery?'

”'Yes.'

”'And that of the lady opposite, my cousin, Lucretia Carbury?'

”'Certainly.' (Here the red door was violently shaken).

”'She cannot open it,' said Captain Carbury, 'it is sealed.'

”'When I went out to Georgia,' he resumed, 'in 1738, I was engaged to be married to her; we had been betrothed by our parents in our childhood, and family reasons made it almost a necessity that we should be united, but as we grew up neither of us was very anxious to fulfil the engagement, and, to tell the truth, I was glad of the summons to join my regiment. However, after three years in that distant colony, I came home, having made up my mind I would marry Lucretia and settle down on the family property--which could only be enjoyed by that means--for we were the only representatives of the family, and the property was so left by our fathers that only by marrying could we enter into possession. _Either by marrying or by the death of one of us; when the whole of the property would go to the other._ I knew that Lucretia was at the old house at Grantwich, and I came straight to her.

”'I had written to say when she might expect me, and she received me with apparent kindness and agreed to all my propositions about our marriage. I arrived late at night, and she let me into the house herself and got food for me. We supped together, and she pledged me in a cup, which I now know was drugged to make me sleep heavily.

”'I then retired to my room--this room, this bed, on which you now lie!

”'What I am now going to tell you has been made clear to me since; at the time I was conscious of nothing. As soon as I got into bed, I fell asleep, and whilst I thus slept Lucretia came through that door (pointing to the red door opposite), and stabbed me to the heart. I will show you the instrument with which she did it, if you like.'

”'Pray do,' I said, and he unb.u.t.toned his scarlet uniform coat and drew from his left side a slender dagger or stiletto.

”I looked at it with great interest and asked if I might take it in my hand.

”'Certainly, if you wish it,' he said, 'but I do not advise you to touch it. It is rusty now from the salt, but I a.s.sure you it was bright and keen when she drove it into my heart. The stroke was so cleverly aimed that I died instantly. Lucretia then made a signal, which was answered by the entrance of a man, and between them they carried my body through the door by which I entered to-night.'

”He paused, and I thought he looked more ghastly. 'Is anything the matter?' I asked.

”'I am thinking,' he answered, 'that I can show you the rest, if you will follow me, but I must tell you that when we leave this room and enter the gallery, it is possible the murderess will follow us. Shall you be afraid?'

”'Not in the least,' I said, 'I will follow you with pleasure, but you must allow me to put something on, as I am suffering from rheumatism, and am afraid of the cold and damp.'

”'By all means,' said Captain Carbury. 'I will wait for you in the gallery.'

”I then got up and put on my dressing-gown and slippers. Whilst I was doing so, I heard a rustling in the pa.s.sage as of a woman pa.s.sing slowly along. I found Captain Carbury, and followed him along the gallery without looking round, but when we reached the end of the gallery and turned to go down the first flight of stairs, I saw the lady with the black brows--whom I now knew to be Lucretia Carbury, the murderess--standing in the doorway, between the gallery and the pa.s.sage.

”'I do not think she can come any farther,' said my guide, and he opened the door leading from the staircase into the garden.