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THE HARDGATE MYSTERY. A Tale of a Haunted House. By ROBERT BRIDOUT Angtls and ministers of grace, defend us Jie th»u a spirit of health, or ffoblia damn'J, Bring with thee airs from hear en, or blasts frun hell, Be thy intents wicked or charitob'e, Thou coin st in such a questionable fhape. La publishing the following experience in the form of a Christmas story, I have for very obvious reasons suppressed localities, names, and dates, but in every other respect I hav told a plain, unvarnished tale, embodying a simple record of facts to which many can tettify, but for which none can explain. jj5 N the spriug of 188— itfS3h| I was suddenly called to J r the North of England on afM f a mission which was I If r neither of a religious, I I sooial, nor scientific II character. I wac quar- tered at Ravenalilil, a small but interesting oountry town, bordering w* on the sea ooast, and ■possessing iMtiy interesting features to the student of history or geology, It was neoeetary that I should take up ny residence without delay, so after a hurri<d consultation with the partner of my woes, I decided to start at ouca. I arrived at my destination late one evening in the early part of April, after a long and wearisome journey, relieved, I must ooutess, during its latter half by the genial companionship and brilliant conversational power of one of the most charming and accomplished fellows I have ever met, and whom a oruel fate has prevented my ever meeting again. I drove to the Freernasond Arms, which I learnt was the leading hotel of the town, and where I subsequently found a very comfortable rest- ing place foro frame much fatigued by the exigencies of an exceedingly active life. The first two or three days were occupied in making preliminary arrangements for the fulfilment of the objects of my mission, and in pursuing those many inquiries which are embraced in the words house hunting," I could find nothing in dwellings of a character likely to suit me, and should probably have given up the search in despair or disgust-for I am not ondowed with a parochial brain-and should have been very well oontent to remain at the Freemasons' Arms but for the fact, trilling though it may appear, that I discovered that living at an hotel, even in a country town, was not quite so economical as residing in one's own home. Besides, I had my domestic circle to think of, to say nothing of a limited income. It so happened, however, in conversation with a gentleman whom I chanced to meet at dinner some ten days after my arrival, and to whom I had confided my troubles, I heard of a very good house to let in one of the most fashionable quarters of Ravenshill,and on very reasonable terms. So after gathering all the information I could respecting it, I made up < my mind to personally inspect "Hardgate," for such was the name of the house in question. On the following morning I proceeded to the office of the owner, who I found to he a splendid type of the old-fashioned highly respectable country solicitor. My interview with the man of law was brief but business like. Calling one of his clerks, he handed him a rusty key (larg. enough to fit a church door) from amongst a number of others, with instructions to show me over, observing in quite a fatherly manner to me when leaving Youll find it a nice old house. It has just been put in thorough repair, and I think you would be very comfortable there," to which I replied in studied terms of diplomatic polite- Mess. I accompanied my guide to Hardgata, which I soon recognised as a house that had seen better days. It was, as 1 had been led to understand, old fashioned, and in tolerably good repav, situated, as already implied, in the best part of Ravensbili, and com- manding on a olear day a magnif«;nt view of the Lincolnshire coast. It also possessfd what many would deem the dual advantage of beiaff in close proximity to one ef the most symmetrical ecclesiastical edifices in the country on the one hand and the residence in early boyhood of the Poet Laureate on the other. fiardgate had only one objeotion of a lerious character in my mind. It was too large. A fifteen-roomed house for a man with a small wife and two smaller children is not exactly the kind of residence one would select for comfort, or aa likely to afford the greatest freedom from draughts; but the rent, JE20 per annum, oombined with its situation, was too much for me, and, forgetting t!y barn-like appearance presented by its upper chambers, I decided to wire down for my wife to come over and give her consent to my taking it. In reality, however, the question of cboios pure and simple was almost Hob- Ionian in its character, so deeply drilled had I become in the vital study of domestic economy. After this confession it may appear super- fluous to add that no material objection was raised, and I forthwith became the yearly tenant of Ilardgate, and within fourteen days was comfortably ensconced there in the bosom of my family. A domestio had been engaged from an adjoining village, but as she could not enter upon her duties until the second week in May, I eo arranged my work as to be gene- rally at home early in order to gradually wean my wife from the strange and weird appear- and that the interior of Hardgate certainly presented. About a week after our installation a gentleman, for many years resident in Ravens- hill, called on us, and after exchanging custo- mary courtesies, he glanced round the room, and said.to me in an undertone: is So. I see you have taken the haunted house, What ?" I exclaimed in tones of derision. This house haunted ?" Oh, yes," he replied, smiling and that is the reason the place would never let." Well," I said, I don't care a peck of refuse wheat about its reputation, but, for Heaven's sake, don't tell my wife about it, for, as you can readily imagine, I am com- pelled to be a good deal away from home, and the bare suggestion would unnerve her." Oh, no," he said, HI won't do that, and it was very foolish on my part to mention the matter, but I had forgotten for the moment, and perhaps there's nothing in it after all," So the subject dropped, and it was not again referred to except by way of a joke when we parted. A few days after this conversation I had occasion to visit a neighbouring township, inaccessible by rail, and situated some fifteen miles from Ravenshill, and did not return until close upon midnight. On reaching the house I found my better half sitting up for me (a silly habit I in- variably discourage). She was in a high state of nervousness, not to say fright, and was not long in explaining the cause, which was that for the past hour or more she had heard someone walking about the empty rooms above her. The walking was accompanied by a repetition of peculiar noises, which she could neither appreciate nor understand. I laughed at what I naturally regarded as the vividness of woman's imagination, and, in order to pacify her, invited in from outside two custodians of the peace for the double purpose of making their acquaintance by the channel which my "Glenlivet" afforded (it is always as well to be on friendly terms with these gentlemen), and of perambulating in 3ompany with them the chambers in question. We did so, with, of course, the result of ( finding the rooms in the same state of empti- ness I had previously left them. This trifling incident was soon forgotten, md, with the advent of our domestic, my ibsence from home became more general. One evening, however, I was reading my aaper and smoking my last pipe preparatory to retiring to rest, when my interest was iroused by my wife saying to me in a very jonfidential manner, and with considerable seriousness— Do you know, there is something about this house I don't like." I smiled—a kind of sickly smile-and laid- Why, too large, I expect ?" "No, it is not exactly that, but I bear such queer noises, as though someone was walking about upstairs and groaning, and the doors open and close of their own accord, and most curious Bounds are heard." it is the wind," I replied. "You must expect to hfar mysterious noise* in an old house like this." But it isn't the wind," she asserted with increased emphasis. "Iain quite sure, for the servant hears the same thing, and have oomplained to me about it." "Great Scott," exclaimed one of my friends, here's I Bijins conte at lost." I I grew rather angry, indulged in a series of well worn platitudes about "super- ttitious nonsense,nineteenth century intel- ligence," old woman's fears," and so on, until, seeing 1 was disinclined to lend a willing sar to such apparent absurdities, the conver- sation waa changed and no further mention of the subject was made that evening, I was convinced that my method of rebut- ting my wife's statements bad tended to in- orease rather than allay her suspicions, and during that night I frankly confess I recalled more than once the remark made by my friend not many days before about the house being haunted. i I ought perhaps here to observe that I am both a cynic and a sceptio in all matters ap- pertaining to the so-oalled supernatural, and notwithstanding what I had heard about the industrious circulation of some idle rumour that the house was haunted, I was not in the least affected thereby, nor did I attach the slightest importance to it. Indeed, I should never have had occasion to reoaU it to my mmd bat for the faot that 1 had stu- diously to avoid its getting to my wife's ears, and especially after what she bad told me. But trouble* come not singly but in battalions; at least, so some writer has said. Not that I regard in any way as a trouble that which I have already related, but it so happened that our domestic arranged about this time to seriously scald her foot, which inoapaoitated her from active service for some days. I placed her under medical oare, and sent for her mother, who arrived on the evening following the accident, much fatigued by a long and lonely country walk, and was conse- quently very glad to get to bed, where it was fair to assume she soon fell fast asleep—but not altogether a sleep of peace, for about half-past one in the morning she was aroused by a loud noise in one corner of the bedroom, as if someone was breaking coal and shovel- ling it up—a noise peculiar in its regularity and almost fascinating in its power of arrest- ing attention. She got up, lighted her candle, and went to the corner of the room whence the noise pro- seeded. But it had ceased, i.e., it had stopped abruptly and entirely; so, laughing to her- self for being so easily disturbed out of what she afterwards desoribed as a beautiful sleep," she blew out the candle and got into bed again. Scarcely bad she done so when the noise was repeated, as it seemed, with increased emphasis, and continued for some two or three minutes, when it terminated with a sound such as is sometimes under peculiar circum- stances produced by the wind, and which may be said to resemble in some feeble degree the last dying groan of the rhinoceros. To say that the old woman was frightened would be assuming a fact which I am unable to vouch for; but that she had a feeling akin to superstitious antipathy to Hardgate was evidenced by the fact that after breakfast that morning she suddenly discovered that hpr daughter was not eo incapacitated as to require her further attendance. So, after inci- dentally detailing her experienceof the night.' she returned home, and it was onlv from a distant soarce some months afterwards I learnt that the old woman, to whom fear was a stranger, and to whom Hardgate was un- known, and Ravenshill almost an unexplored country previous to her visit, had religiously declared that not for all the gold of the Hindies would the sleep in that house again, which she ever after deolared had something wrong about it, but whether it was its archi- tecture, size, situation, or inmates, I could never accurately understand. The above incident may appear too trivial for such lengthy pourtrayal. It so appeared to me, but it was a link in a ohain of evi- dence, and from an unprejudiced and disin- terested channel; and, as I stated at the outset, this is a simple record of facts, and not an ordinary, vamped-up, orthodox ghost story, where, at the solemn hour of twelve every night in the year, may be heard the measured walk of the midnight goblin, the very sound of whose martial stride reverberates through the dim corridors of his ancestral home. There was no nonsense about the old ohappie who inhabited Hardgate. He meant business, as we shall subsequently see. About a fortnight after the incident above recorded, I was sitting up with some friends yarning," as seafaring men would say, when my attention was directed to a remarkable commotion going on in the room directly above-a room which I knew to be looked up and empty. The noise was as of someone moving furni- ture and hammering. I was well aware that the only occupants upstairs were the servant and my two little children, who slept in rooms adjoining one another. The hour—12.45 a.m.—rendered the cause more inexplicable. Quick as thought—the noise had caused all conversation to immediately oease — I turned to my wife and said: Isn't it about time that girl was in bed ? What in the world is she doing about at this unreasonable hour ?" It isn't the girl, my dear," she replied, with much earnestness; "these are the noises I am constantly hearing, and of which I have told you, but you take no notice, and now you can judge for yourself." Nonsense," I rudely exclaimed, rising from my chair, There is someone walking about now." There is certainly someone moving about," exclaimed one or two simultaneously. II Well, if you won't believe me, go up and see for yourself, and I'll bet you a pair of gloves the girl is fast asleep in her room." I couldn't refuse to acoept suoh a challenge from my wife, so upstairs I fljw, only to find I had lost the gloves. I was a trifle crestfallen on rejoining my friends, who had a good laugh at my expense, hinted that in some cases the grey mare was the better horse, and suggested a pair of Dent's best 6t six-buttoned and tan as the 4 only means of reinstating my authority at Hardgate. The laughter having subsided, the conver- sation tookaserioua turn. fI It certainly is very curious," said one. "There's no doubt as to somebody being about," said another; and a third politely ex- pressed it as his opinion that the servant girl was either playing us a trick, or else she walked in her sleep. For myself, while professing to treat the affair lightly and as capable of innumerable explanations, I began to regard the whole matter from a scientifically interesting point of view, and to fathom the thing to the bottom if possible was my firm determi- nation for while I knew full well "there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy," so if I could be persuaded of the existence of. a super- natural power, in proportion thereto would one's views on religion be shaken to their very foundations. The subject interested me -it fascinated me. m Here," thought T, is an opportunity of exposing on the spot the hollowness of the ghost theory, and ita twin sister, the Haunted House and so, with that self-assurance which all conceited men who think they are clever exhibit, I began to lay the flattering unotion to my soul that fame and a five- pound note were both well within my grasp, by enlightening the Psyohologioal Sooiety of my researches in the regions of the mysterious. But how often the oup has been dashed from the lips of the most confident is no part of my task to relate. The next day I examined all the rooms of the house in company with one of my friends of the previous evening. There was nothing that called for any particular notice. They were the ordinary rooms of an old-fashioned, well-built house, Every room that was not in ule-and there were many—we securely looked and took out the key. There were no cellars, the kitchens being on the ground floor. There were two flights of stairs, the one leading from the second or back kitchen into some empty rooms, and as they were not in use the entrance and exit from that staircase were closed, thus shutting off, as it were, one wing of the house. With this exception there was nothing to suggest any- thing of an uncanny character about the place. We made an external examination, only to find that the walls dividing it from the houses on either side were some two feet thick, thus effectually preventing the noise in one house being heard in the next. We searched the roof, thinking to discover a resting-place for either bats or owls, or other wanderers of the night, but without effect, and situilar success attended our efforts to discover the existence of rats. In short, the house, its condition, and situation, entirely negatived the several theories we entertained as to the possible causes for the mysterious noises heard. Having thus satisfied myself by the fulfil- ment of those primary conditions to an un- biassed intelligent inquiry, I settled down with a calm and unruffled spirit to pursue my investigations. It was, therefore, with a sense of grim humour that I found myself that eveni.v smoking and watching and waiting 'for the hour of midnight, for I had always understood that that was the hour when churchyards yawn and hell itself breaths forth contagion to this world." As there was no hot blood about exoept, perhaps, that coursing within my own veins, I con- tented myself with oold ale, and looking very much like that old fool Micawber, who was always waiting for something to turn up. I had not long to wait, although for eight days, or rather nights, I had patiently waited and watched in vain for a repetition of the manifestations, and I had almost begun to look upon the unknown inhabitant of Hard- gate as a mockery, a delusion, and a snare, whose fits and starts were wholly unreason- able, and quite out of plaoe in the daily routine of any ordinary, matter-of-fact, com- monplaoe ghost. While thus musing some- one knocked at the door of my room. Come in I shouted, and the handle of the door was turned and the door opened wide, and before I had time to realise it the door was closed again and latched. 1 rushed out, but found no one there or near, and no sooner had I returned to my room than a loud crash, as though a tray full of tea. things had been violently dashed to the ground, and, apparently, within a yard of my room door, was heard-a crash sufficiently loud to wake every inmate of the house. At this I laughed heartily, and thought if that was my ghost's best performance it was a very poor one, and certainly not worth sitting up so long for. Do what I would, however, I could not steel my mind from the fact that the latch on the door was one of those old- fashioned ones-by which I mean to convey that it was not an ordinary mortice lock, which may have all the appearance of being latched when it is not. It was of the kind that latched inside, so that when it was latched you could see it was so; and I confess that to see that latch lift, the handle turn, the door open and close without motive power, with the absolute knowledge I had that no one was near, was a revelation I had never before experienced. Deep into the silent watches of the night did I ponder on whatlhad heardand seen; for since I had taken the trouble to pursue my inquiries scientifi- cally I had learnt mu?h of the previous history of Hardgate, which I would fain have been left untold—at least, whilst resident there. The following night was what was known as one of my" pipe nights." In a country town, where the avenues for ordinary relaxa- tion ale necessarily limited, the few who are not mere machines, but only human beings, are thrown upon one another's resources for the greater part of the enjoyment of life, in- tellectual or otherwise, and so it came to pass that a very jolly circle of good fellows threw their places open to eooh other one night a week in that free and open manner charac- teristic of the true Bohemian. There were three unwritten rules which were always loyally abided by. No one was asked to come or go. Guests had always to help themselves (if they did not, no one else would), and when the host wanted to get rid of them, his dropping off to sleep was accepted as a polite iotimatiou that it was time to go. The conversation on these occasions varied, from a criticism of the revolutionary rhymes of Agrikla to the manufacture of Cheddar cheese, and not infrequently it would take a scientific turn, evidently with a view of poking fun at me, on the belief in the super- natural in the nineteenth century and its effect upon the mind of man. It was on such an evening that three or four of us were chatting together. Time was on the wing, and the fun bad been fast and furious, when the conversation turned upon what I humorously called my ghost, and which with equal humour had been christened "Binns," after that well-known song of Slade Murray's, "I'm the Ghost of John James Christopher Benjamin Binns." It's a very strange thing, Bridcut, that 'Binns "never turns up when we are here,"said one of my friends. I shall begin to think he's all a sham, Why don't you arrange for him to give us an exhibition of his powers? It is no good having a ghost without you can amuse your friends with his antics," and I be-came the subject of much good-natured banter, but I had comforted myself with the reflection that there are occasions when men who come to sooff remain to pray." Scarcely had the laugh subsided which my soeptioal friend's last sally had provoked, when a cold shudder was felt by everyone in the room, a feeling as though cold water was running down your back, a consciousness of a great draught somewhere, with an ina- bility to fix the locality; a general uneasiness which was unexplainaWe pervaded all present. It only lasted a few seconds, when from one corner of the room above came a loud succes- sion of hard knocks, precise, regular, and pro- nounced. Great (Zcott," exclaimed one of mv friends, if here's Binns' come at at last," but his humour was checked by the sound of heavy footsteps above, walking slowly and delibe- rately to the opposito corner of the room, where it seemed to throw down with a loud thud a burden of some kind, the fall of which literally shook the entire house, and this was followed by agonising and piteous groans as of a woman in distress, which were truly horrible—most horrible-to listen to and then it returned, stopping in the oentre of the room, and, as though possessed with a blaoksmith's hammer enveloped in three or four thicknesses of blanket, struck the floor half a dozen times with a force that no human agency could produce — with such force, indeed, that it smashed to atoms the globes on the ohandelier beneath, and then it abruptly ceased its ungodly wanderings, and all was quiet. My friends ceased to Icoff, and anxiously inquired if I did not think someone was playing me a trick. I replied by inviting them to inspeot the room from whence the noises had prooeeded, which they did, only to be farther puazled to find an explanation for what they had heard, and when they left shortly after they oom- forted me by saying they were glad I was not frightened, aa they would not sleep in the plaoe for a pension. Night after night I sat up and heard the same march across the room, the samegroaus, the same burden thrown down with a loud thud, accompanied, as it seemed, with a sigh of relief, and the same heavy strokes of the hammer, with the same effect upon the globes underneath, until after several expe- riences we were compelled to abandon globes altogether, and, strange as it may appear to the casual reader, I listened to this weird sound without a particle of fear, so interested had I become in the attempt to solve the mystery. Three things struck me as extra- ordinary in connection with this bedroom walk. 1. Why did it not come every night, and at the same time. 2. What force was it that was used to smash the globes on the chandelier under- neath ? 3. Why, preparatory to these manifesta- tions, did a cold shudder seize everybody in the room on every oocasion? With regard to the first, I have known it come at all hours at from eight p.m. to 2.30 a.m. I have known it every day for a fort- night, and cease altogether for an entire month. I have. with others, tried by means of a coal hammer to prodt1-* ".he Hras noise or volume of sound, but without effect. On every oogasion. a few seconds before its appearance, an indication of its uncanny pre- sence was afforded by a feeling akin to horror, which even strangers who had never heard of it would experience and oommenff upon, and it was highly amusing to hear people complaining of a sudden chill which did not exist, but which was always the pre- cursor to its appearance. This chilling sensation was not confined to human beings. A little terrier dog I had would suddenly commence to whine and howJ- and crouch as if asking for protection of any one near him. This was a sure signal for Mr. Binns's evening walk. Although I blush to have to relate it, I shut that same dog in one of the top rooms on one occasion, and on my going to release him in the morning I found him, to my astonishment and regret, cold and dead. But the most remarkable feature was that his neck was broken, and, apparently, with considerable force. But familiarity breeds contempt, as the Uncrowned King of Ireland could testify, and it was not at all astonishing that, regarding Binns as one of the household as it were, we grew by continued acquaintance with his various and varied performances a trifle callous, and, although it had another and more serious aspect, it was no novelty to hear my little boys oall out at nine or ten o'clock at night— IS Father t Binns is about; we can hear him upstairs." The casual reader will naturally pause and inquire how it was that children so young (they were only five and four respectively when these incidents occurred) should know anything about Mr. Binns; but their knowledge of his existence is explained by the faotthat,for reasons that they could never explain, they rigorously refused even to go to bed without a light constantly burning, and when the time came to put it out they were found crouched under the bed clothes at the foot of the bed in a cold, agonising perspiration, bred by an awful dread of something they could not explain. One evening, although all mention of this mysterious existence was studiously avoided in their presence, they rushed downstairs, fear and trembling mark- ing every feature of their little faces. All they could say was that they had seen some- thing, Even whilst playing in their nursery in broad daylight they have experienced a similar fright, and in order to wean them from any sense of fear, I acoustomed them to listen on my knee to the antics and popular performances of Mi. Binns, Who is Binns, father?" asked the eldest scion of the house of Bridcut one day. "Oh," I replied, "he's an old cbappie who lived here before we came, and he will keep messing about the place." Will he hurt us ?"asked the second branch of the family, He can't hurt any of us," I said. II Re is too frightened of us." Why," I continued, "either of you could frighten him out the house any minute." How P" they both simultaneously asked, and, ere I had time to reply, Mr. John James Christopher Benjamin Binns had commenced his usual ramble—this time about 9.30. He's come again, father," exclaimed the little ones. So he has, the old scamp. Now, watch how we'll settle him," and I picked up a stick from the nearest place, and, armed with this supposed weapon of defence, carried the children upstairs, whence the sounds proceeded, and cried out: if Now, Binns, old fellow, shut up that row t W hat in the world is the matter with you this evening P" The only reply I received was a loud and emphatic grunt-I can find no other word to describe it. For two or three minutes, from the foot of the attic stairs, I talked to this imaginary being in the most matter-of-fact way, concluding, I well remember, by say- ing:- I shan't have anything more to say to you, Binns. You are drunk." This observation was met by a succession of grunts, which my youngsters thought awfully funny. This was well, for I was enabled now to carry them to bed in peaceful satisfaction and security. The courage I exhibited in holding imagi- nary converse with the Hardgate Mystery was on a par with that of the schoolboy who whistled when going through a churchyard, I was like a rat in a corner, or like Parnell in Committee-room No. 15. I had nothing else to do but to be brave. It was my only chance. I don't know whether any of the thousand and one readers who will, doubtless, pore over this manuscript have ever considered how relative in its application is the word courage when applied to man. We have it on great authority that Conscience does make cowards of us all," while another great writer has emphasised the opmion, That there is no suol* things as courage in a man." Both are in my humble judgment equally correct and equally incorrect. Few men of high and lofty motive are ever courageous in their own defence. Put a so-called coura- geous man to walk along an unknown country road at dead of night, with no light, not even the stars of Heaven to guide him, and the simple rustle of the winter's leaves as they play along the hedgerow will urge him to quicken his steps and increase his hearty pulsation but give to the same man a dog to protect, a child to guard, and, above and before all, the woman he loves to defend, and he knows no fear, except the fear that he may prove unworthy of the honourable task. But I am digressing; the boy is waiting for copy, and I am reminded that it is Christmas Eve, 1890. As I have endeavoured to show, Binns was very soon regarded as a member of the house- hold, and his ordinary peregrinations exoited little or no comment. Some days he would be busy in one way; other days he would be busy in a diametrioally opposite direction. One day he would attempt a hornpipe, with the fire-irons as a mutioal aocompaniment; another day he would have the toothache badly, and groan and grunt in a fearful man- ner, but one day I am quite certain he came home, if not intoxicated, at least labouring under the influence of alooholic beverages. I arrived home one evening after a long drive, and, oblivious of the faot that I was entertain- ing guests unawares, looked, bolted, barred latched, and ohained the front door, whiclfy was of such strength and thickness as to make its existence felt whenever it was open or closed. I went upstairs, only to be agreeably surprised to findtbere two old friends, whom my wife bad been entertaining for the past houc or so. I immediately threatened proceedings in the court over which Sir James Hannen presides with such success, but was soon appeased by the joint aid of calm consideration and cold Scotch. We sat chatting over old times-whioh embraced blighted hopes and disappointed ambitions—when, at 2.30 (I had commenced to fall asleep), my friends rose to go, with the innocent observation that they thought it was about time, Binns had been away for at least ten days, but while we were in the act of saying good-bye the front door opener and closed with a terrible bang that shools the entire building. This was followed by the sound of a souffle as of two men engaged, in. mortal combat in the hall beneath. W ho in the world is that come in ? ex- olaimed my friends. No one," I said. fI I locked the front door when I came in." They doubted my statement, so we