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Article OLD GREGORY'S GHOST: ← Page 3 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Old Gregory's Ghost:
than ever , and the company felt it even colder than before , and the butler gave the fire an extra stir . " They found him on the floor , " continued the host , " in a pool of blood . Re had cut his throat—there ivas a gash from ear to ear . The doctor said that life had been extinct for some time .
" Ihey searched his papers , and found out the address of his solicitor in London , for neither of his old servants knew it , nor where any of his friends or relations were to be found . The solicitor at once saw to the burial of the body ; but ever since then old Gregory ' s Ghost is said to walk here
on Christmas Eve , that being the night on which he destroyed himself . " Here the company felt it extremely cold , and drew so near to the fire that their chairs formed a ti ght semicircle . The wind howled louder than before . The faces
of all assembled were by this time quite white , —doubtless from the cold . For some time no one spoke . At last Mr . Puggings broke the solemn silence by asking : " Was there no reason assigned for the rash act ?"
« Why , yes , " replied Mr . Buffings . " It was always said ( though how it came out I don't know ) that be had a brother who had been abroad for some years and had turned up again in London , whom
Gregory had thought or hoped was dead that a large sum of money , which was let to be equally divided between them , had been monopolised by Gregory alone , who wickedly made out that his brother had died without wife or issue , although on
leaving England he had left a motherless infant daughter in his charge , whom he had almost driven to madness b y his brutal usage , and then incarcerated by a false name in a private lunatic asylum , having never revealed to her that she was
of his own kith and kin . But the wronged brother had managed to find out his still greater wronged daughter , whose liberation he first obtained , and then commenced proceedings to bring his unnatural brother to justice : and hence old Gregory ' s
rash act . . But as it is getting late , and most of you have been travelling and will be tired , I propose that we all go to bed , without waiting for the Christmas Waits , as we bad intended doing . " This proposition being agreed to , they
were provided with candles by the butler and retired to their several beds . Mr . Playfair ' s room was an ancient apartment , wainscotted with oak carved in a great variety of curious patterns , the furniture being of the same material , all
black with age , the hands that fashioned them having rested for centuries in their graves . The massive bedstead alone contained more timber than a modern contract builder could afford in the erection of " a capital messuage or dwelling house "
, between the foundation and chimney . Now , Mr . Playfair had been turning the story he had heard over in his mind , as he sat in the great old ami-chair by the side of his bedroom fire . He had got a nightcap on his headthe tassel on the
, top sticking up in the air about a foot above his brow , and giving him a Punchlike appearance ; a piece of red flannel round his throat , to prevent him taking cold ; and a long white nightgown covered the remainder of his body , from his neck
to his feet . As it was rather dismal to sit thinking of old Gregory ' s Ghost alone , in such a place , and at such a time , Mr . Playfair got into bed ; but alas ! not to sleep as he desired . For the very life of him , he
could not help thinking of the story he had just heard . The man , he thought , made away with himself , and in this house too , and if in this bouse , why not in this very room ? His blood ran chill at the thoughtand
, he was soon in a cold sweat . It was a a likely room , he thought , for such a deed —weird and spectral in appearance , though all was so massive in the construction . The more Mr . Playfair studied the matterthe more be persuaded himself
, that the fata ] deed was done in the room of which he was now the solitary inmate , nor was he re-assured when his ears caught the sound of some mysterious scratching , for which he could not otherwise account , directly under the bed which he was then
occupying . Scratch—scratch—scratch ! Mr . Playfair began to shake and shiver between the sheets . Scratch—scratch—scratch ! Mr . P . trembled until the ponderous oak bedstead shook under him , and its massive wooden canopy , with the Devil
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Old Gregory's Ghost:
than ever , and the company felt it even colder than before , and the butler gave the fire an extra stir . " They found him on the floor , " continued the host , " in a pool of blood . Re had cut his throat—there ivas a gash from ear to ear . The doctor said that life had been extinct for some time .
" Ihey searched his papers , and found out the address of his solicitor in London , for neither of his old servants knew it , nor where any of his friends or relations were to be found . The solicitor at once saw to the burial of the body ; but ever since then old Gregory ' s Ghost is said to walk here
on Christmas Eve , that being the night on which he destroyed himself . " Here the company felt it extremely cold , and drew so near to the fire that their chairs formed a ti ght semicircle . The wind howled louder than before . The faces
of all assembled were by this time quite white , —doubtless from the cold . For some time no one spoke . At last Mr . Puggings broke the solemn silence by asking : " Was there no reason assigned for the rash act ?"
« Why , yes , " replied Mr . Buffings . " It was always said ( though how it came out I don't know ) that be had a brother who had been abroad for some years and had turned up again in London , whom
Gregory had thought or hoped was dead that a large sum of money , which was let to be equally divided between them , had been monopolised by Gregory alone , who wickedly made out that his brother had died without wife or issue , although on
leaving England he had left a motherless infant daughter in his charge , whom he had almost driven to madness b y his brutal usage , and then incarcerated by a false name in a private lunatic asylum , having never revealed to her that she was
of his own kith and kin . But the wronged brother had managed to find out his still greater wronged daughter , whose liberation he first obtained , and then commenced proceedings to bring his unnatural brother to justice : and hence old Gregory ' s
rash act . . But as it is getting late , and most of you have been travelling and will be tired , I propose that we all go to bed , without waiting for the Christmas Waits , as we bad intended doing . " This proposition being agreed to , they
were provided with candles by the butler and retired to their several beds . Mr . Playfair ' s room was an ancient apartment , wainscotted with oak carved in a great variety of curious patterns , the furniture being of the same material , all
black with age , the hands that fashioned them having rested for centuries in their graves . The massive bedstead alone contained more timber than a modern contract builder could afford in the erection of " a capital messuage or dwelling house "
, between the foundation and chimney . Now , Mr . Playfair had been turning the story he had heard over in his mind , as he sat in the great old ami-chair by the side of his bedroom fire . He had got a nightcap on his headthe tassel on the
, top sticking up in the air about a foot above his brow , and giving him a Punchlike appearance ; a piece of red flannel round his throat , to prevent him taking cold ; and a long white nightgown covered the remainder of his body , from his neck
to his feet . As it was rather dismal to sit thinking of old Gregory ' s Ghost alone , in such a place , and at such a time , Mr . Playfair got into bed ; but alas ! not to sleep as he desired . For the very life of him , he
could not help thinking of the story he had just heard . The man , he thought , made away with himself , and in this house too , and if in this bouse , why not in this very room ? His blood ran chill at the thoughtand
, he was soon in a cold sweat . It was a a likely room , he thought , for such a deed —weird and spectral in appearance , though all was so massive in the construction . The more Mr . Playfair studied the matterthe more be persuaded himself
, that the fata ] deed was done in the room of which he was now the solitary inmate , nor was he re-assured when his ears caught the sound of some mysterious scratching , for which he could not otherwise account , directly under the bed which he was then
occupying . Scratch—scratch—scratch ! Mr . Playfair began to shake and shiver between the sheets . Scratch—scratch—scratch ! Mr . P . trembled until the ponderous oak bedstead shook under him , and its massive wooden canopy , with the Devil