WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.920 --> 00:00:04.160 Section ten of the Best Coast Stories. This is the 2 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:07.960 Liberyvox recording. All liberyvox recordings are in the public domain. 3 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:12.480 For more information or to volunteer, please visit liberywox dot org. 4 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:17.160 The Best Coast Stories The Rival Ghosts by Brander Matthews. 5 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:21.960 The good Ship sped on her way across the calm Atlantic. 6 00:00:22.519 --> 00:00:25.839 It was an outward passage, according to the little charts 7 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:29.079 which the company had charily distributed, but most of the 8 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:33.079 passengers were homeward bound after a summer of rest and recreation, 9 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:36.000 and they were counting the days before they might hope 10 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:39.079 to see fire island light. On the least side of 11 00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:42.320 the boat, comfortably sheltered from the wind, and just by 12 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:44.920 the door of the captain's room, which was theirs during 13 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:49.039 the day, sat a little group of returning Americans. The Duchess. 14 00:00:49.399 --> 00:00:52.039 She was down on the purser's list as Missus Martin, 15 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:54.799 but a friends and familiars called her the Duchess of 16 00:00:54.920 --> 00:00:58.799 Washington Square and baby vandren Cellier. She was quite old 17 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:01.560 enough to vote, had her sex been entitled to that duty, 18 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:04.400 but as the younger of two sisters, she was still 19 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:07.640 the baby of the family. The Duchess and Baby Vandreyn 20 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:11.079 Cellier were discussing the pleasant English voice and the not 21 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:14.599 unpleasant English accent of a manly young lordling who was 22 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:18.079 going to America for sport. Uncle Larry and Dear Jones 23 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:20.760 were enticing each other into a bed on the ship's 24 00:01:20.840 --> 00:01:23.319 run of the Morrow. I'll give you two to one. 25 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:26.439 She don't make four hundred and twenty, said Dear Jones. 26 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:29.959 I'll take it, answered Uncle Larry. We made four hundred 27 00:01:29.959 --> 00:01:32.760 twenty seven the fifth day last year. It was Uncle 28 00:01:32.840 --> 00:01:35.920 Larry's seventeenth visit to Europe, and this was therefore his 29 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:39.400 thirty fourth voyage. And when did you get in, asked 30 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:42.599 Baby Vandryn Celia. I don't care a bit about the run, 31 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:45.280 so long as you get in soon. We crossed the 32 00:01:45.319 --> 00:01:48.120 bar Sunday night, just seven days after we left Queenstown, 33 00:01:48.359 --> 00:01:51.120 and we dropped Anchor off quarantine at three o'clock on 34 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:53.840 Monday morning. I hope we shan't do that this time. 35 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:56.719 I can't seem to sleep any when the boat stops. 36 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:00.560 I can, but I didn't, continued Uncle Larry, because my 37 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:02.719 state room was the most forward in the boat, and 38 00:02:02.760 --> 00:02:05.239 the donkey engine that let down the anchor was right 39 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:07.359 over my head. So you got up and saw the 40 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:10.719 sunrise over the bay, said dear Jones, with the electric 41 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:13.000 lights of the city dwinkling in the distance, and the 42 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:15.400 first faint flush of the door in the east just 43 00:02:15.479 --> 00:02:19.159 over Fort Lafayete, and the rosy tinged which spread softly upward. 44 00:02:19.240 --> 00:02:22.479 And did you both come back together, asked the Duchess. 45 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:25.240 Because he has crossed thirty four times, you must not 46 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:29.439 suppose that he has monopoly in sunrises, retorted dear Jones. No, 47 00:02:29.639 --> 00:02:31.879 this was my own sunrise, and a mighty pretty one. 48 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:34.520 It was too. I am not matching sunrises with you, 49 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:37.960 remarked Uncle Larry calmly. But I am willing to back 50 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.000 a merry jest called forth by my sunrise against any 51 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:44.639 two merry jests called forth by yours. I confess reluctantly 52 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:47.280 that my sunrise evoke no merry just at all. Dear 53 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:50.199 Jones was an honest man and would scorn to invent 54 00:02:50.280 --> 00:02:52.960 a merry jest on the spur of the moment. That's 55 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:56.319 why my sunrise has the call, said Uncle Larry complacently. 56 00:02:56.680 --> 00:03:00.400 What was the merry chest? Was baby vandering celliers inquiry 57 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:05.599 the natural result of a feminine curiosity thus artistically excited. Well, 58 00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:08.520 here it is. I was standing aft near a patriotic 59 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:12.680 American and wandering Irishman, and the patriotic American rashly declared 60 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:15.560 that you couldn't see a sunrise like that anywhere in Europe. 61 00:03:15.879 --> 00:03:19.120 And this gave the irish Man his chance, and he said, sure, 62 00:03:19.159 --> 00:03:20.800 you don't have a marror till we are through with 63 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:24.560 them over there. It is true, said dear Jones thoughtfully, 64 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:27.280 that they do have some things over there better than 65 00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:31.840 we do, for instance, umbrellas and gowns, added the Duchess, 66 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:36.199 and antiquities. This was Uncle Larry's contribution. And we do 67 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:39.560 have some things so much better in America, protested baby 68 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:42.840 Bandit clear as yet uncorrupted by any worship of the 69 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:46.560 effete monarchies of despotic Europe. We make lots of things 70 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:48.840 a great delicer than you can get them in Europe, 71 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:52.879 especially ice cream and pretty girls, added dear Jones. But 72 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:56.319 he did not look at her, and Spooks remarked Uncle 73 00:03:56.360 --> 00:04:01.800 Larry casually Spooks worried the Duchess. Spooks I maintained the 74 00:04:01.800 --> 00:04:05.039 word ghosts if you like that better, or specters, we 75 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:07.479 turn out the best quality of spook. You forget the 76 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:10.240 lovely ghost stories about the Rhine and the Black Forest, 77 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:14.560 interrupted Miss van deren celier with feminine inconsistency. I remember 78 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:16.560 the Rhine and the Black Forest and all the other 79 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:19.680 haunts of elves and fairies and hobgoblins. But for good, 80 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:22.639 honest spooks, there is no place like home. And what 81 00:04:22.759 --> 00:04:27.120 differentiates are spook spiritus americanus from the ordinary ghost of 82 00:04:27.160 --> 00:04:30.360 literature is that it responds to the American sense of humor. 83 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:34.399 Tell irving stories, for example, the Headless Horseman. That's a 84 00:04:34.439 --> 00:04:38.000 comic ghost story, and Rid van Winkel consider what humor, 85 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:40.759 and what good humor there is in the telling of 86 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:43.439 his meeting with the goblin crew of Henry Hudson's Men. 87 00:04:43.959 --> 00:04:46.439 A still better example of this American way of dealing 88 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:48.920 with legend and mystery is the marvelous Tale of the 89 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:52.920 Rival Ghosts. The rival ghosts queried the Duchess and baby 90 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:56.480 van deren Celer together. Who were they? Didn't I ever 91 00:04:56.560 --> 00:05:00.000 tell you about them? Answered Uncle Larry, a gleam of approach, 92 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:03.079 joy flashing from his eye. Since he is bound to 93 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:05.600 tell us sooner or later, we'd better be designed and 94 00:05:05.639 --> 00:05:09.160 hear it now, said, dear Jones. If you're not more eager, 95 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:11.759 I won't tell it at all. Oh do Uncle Larry, 96 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:14.720 You know, I just don't on ghost stories, Pa did 97 00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:18.319 Baby Vander and Cellier. Once upon a time began, Uncle Larry. 98 00:05:18.759 --> 00:05:21.519 In fact, a very few years ago, there lived in 99 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:24.680 the thriving town of New York a young American called Duncan. 100 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:28.319 Eliphalit Duncan, like his name, he was half Yankee and 101 00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:31.120 half Scotch, and naturally he was a lawyer and had 102 00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:33.519 come to New York to make his way. His father 103 00:05:33.639 --> 00:05:35.759 was a Scotchman who had come over and settled in 104 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:39.319 Boston and married a Salem girl. When Eliphalet Duncan was 105 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:42.279 about twenty, he lost both of his parents. His father 106 00:05:42.360 --> 00:05:44.199 left him with enough money to give him a start 107 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:46.519 and a strong feeling of pride in his Cotch birth. 108 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:49.399 You see, there was a title in the family in Scotland, 109 00:05:49.800 --> 00:05:52.480 and although Eli Fladdet's father was the younger son of 110 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:56.160 a younger son, yet he always remembered and always bade 111 00:05:56.160 --> 00:05:59.360 his only son to remember that his ancestry was noble. 112 00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:02.360 His mother left him her full share of Yante great 113 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:04.959 and a little house in Salem, which has belonged to 114 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:07.800 her family for more than two hundred years. She was 115 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:10.560 a Hitchcock, and the Hitchcocks had been settled in Salem 116 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:13.839 since the year one. It was a great great grandfather 117 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:16.759 of mister Eliphalet Hitchcock, who was foremost in the time 118 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:19.839 of the Salem witchcraft craze. And this little old house, 119 00:06:19.879 --> 00:06:23.560 which left to my friend Eliphallet Duncan, was haunted by 120 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:26.319 the ghost of one of the witches. Of course, interrupted 121 00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:28.920 dear Jones. Now how could it be the ghost of 122 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:31.439 a witch? Since the witches were all burned at the stake. 123 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:34.439 You never heard of anybody who was burned having a ghost, 124 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:37.000 did you. That's an argument in favor of cremation at 125 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:40.519 any rate, replied Jones, evading the direct question. It is 126 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:43.560 if it don't like ghosts, I'll do, said baby van 127 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:46.720 Ra and Celia, and so do I added Uncle Larry. 128 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:49.480 I love a ghost as dearly as an englishman loves 129 00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:53.240 the lot. Go on with your story, said the Duchess, majestically, 130 00:06:53.240 --> 00:06:57.040 overruling all Extralli's discussion. This little old house at Salem 131 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:01.079 was haunted, resumed Uncle Larry. And by a very distinguished ghost, 132 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:04.279 or at least by a ghost with very remarkable attributes. 133 00:07:04.519 --> 00:07:07.360 What was he like? Asked Bibby vandern Cellier, with the 134 00:07:07.399 --> 00:07:11.879 premonitory shiver of anticipatory delight. It had a lot of peculiarities. 135 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:14.680 In the first place, it never appeared to the master 136 00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:19.120 of the house. Mostly it confined its visitations to unwelcome guests. 137 00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:21.759 In the course of the last hundred years, it had 138 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:25.439 frightened away four successive mothers in law, while never intruding 139 00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:27.759 on the head of the household. I guess that ghost 140 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:29.519 had been one of the boys when he was alive 141 00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:32.079 and in the flesh. This was dear Jones's contribution to 142 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:35.160 the telling of the tale. In the second place, continued 143 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:38.600 Uncle Larry. It never frightened anybody the first time it appeared. 144 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:41.879 Only on the second visit were the ghost yers scared. 145 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:44.759 But then they was great enough for twice, and they 146 00:07:44.839 --> 00:07:47.600 rarely mustered up courage enough to risk a third interview. 147 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:51.000 One of the most curious characteristics of this well meaning 148 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:54.160 spook was that it had no face, or at least 149 00:07:54.199 --> 00:07:58.319 that nobody ever saw its face. Perhaps he kept his countenance, wailed, 150 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:01.079 uried the Duchess, who was big to remember that she 151 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:03.800 never did like ghost stories. That was what I was 152 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:06.720 never able to find out. I have asked several people 153 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:08.759 who saw the ghost, and none of them could tell 154 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:12.240 me anything about its face. And yet while in its presence, 155 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:15.160 they never noticed its futures, and never remarked on their 156 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:18.879 absence or concealment. It was only afterward, when they tried 157 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:21.600 to recall calmly all the circumstances of meeting with the 158 00:08:21.639 --> 00:08:24.519 mysterious stranger, that they became aware that they had not 159 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:27.360 seen its face. And they could not say whether the 160 00:08:27.399 --> 00:08:30.560 features were covered, or whether they were wanting, or what 161 00:08:30.600 --> 00:08:33.840 the trouble was. They knew only that the face was 162 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:37.279 never seen, and no matter how often they might see it, 163 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:41.200 they never fathomed this mystery. To this day, nobody knows 164 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:43.200 whether the ghost which used to haunt the little old 165 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:46.000 house in Salem had a face, or what manner or 166 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:50.320 face it had. How awfully weird, said baby Vander and Cillier, 167 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:53.159 And why did the ghost go away? I haven't said 168 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:56.200 it went away, answered Uncle Larry, with much dignity. But 169 00:08:56.279 --> 00:08:58.600 he said it used to haunt the little old house 170 00:08:58.600 --> 00:09:01.720 at Salem. So I suppose it had moved, didn't it? 171 00:09:02.120 --> 00:09:05.559 You shall be told in due time. Eliphalat Duncan used 172 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:08.159 to spend most of his summer vacations at Salem, and 173 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:10.559 the ghost never bothered him at all, for he was 174 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:13.039 the master of the house. Much to his disgust too, 175 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:16.080 because he wanted to see for himself the mysterious tenant 176 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:19.240 at will of his property. But he never saw it. Never. 177 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:22.519 He arranged with friends to call him whenever it might appear, 178 00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:24.720 and he slept in the next room with the door open. 179 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:27.960 And yet when their frightened cries begged him, the ghost 180 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:30.720 was gone, and his only reward was to hear reproachful 181 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:33.559 sighs as soon as he went back to bed. You see, 182 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:36.039 the ghost thought it was not fear of eliphalet to 183 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:40.320 see an introduction which was plainly unwelcome. Dear Jones interrupted 184 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:42.919 the story teller by getting up and tucking a heavy 185 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:46.480 rug snugly around baby vandon Celer's feet, for the sky 186 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:49.360 was now overcast at gray, and the air was damp 187 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:54.080 and penetrating. When fine spring morning pursued, Uncle Larry eliphalat 188 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:56.960 Duncan received great news. I told you that there was 189 00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:59.720 a title in the family in Scotland, and that Eliphallet's 190 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:02.679 father was the younger son of a younger son. Well, 191 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:06.240 it happened that all Eliphallet's fathers, brothers and uncles had 192 00:10:06.279 --> 00:10:09.399 died off without mainly Chu except the eldest son of 193 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:12.279 the eldest and he, of course both the title and 194 00:10:12.440 --> 00:10:15.720 was Baron Duncan of Duncan. Now the great news that 195 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:18.679 Eliphallet Duncan received in New York one fine spring morning 196 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:21.159 was that Baron Duncan and his only son had been 197 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:23.759 yachting in the heavy days, and they had been caught 198 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:26.440 in a black squall, and they were both dead. So 199 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:30.000 my friend Eliphallet Duncan inherited the title and the estates. 200 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:34.240 How romantic, said the Duchess. So he was a baron, well, 201 00:10:34.440 --> 00:10:37.080 answered Uncle Larry. He was a baron if he chose, 202 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:41.600 But he didn't choose more fool he said, dear Jones, sententiously. 203 00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:44.399 Well answered Uncle Larry, I am not so sure of that. 204 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:47.960 You see, Eliphalat Duncan was half Scotch and half Yankee, 205 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:50.840 and he had two eyes. To the main chance, he 206 00:10:50.840 --> 00:10:53.320 held his tongue about his windfall of luck until he 207 00:10:53.320 --> 00:10:55.799 could find out whether the Scotch estates were enough to 208 00:10:55.879 --> 00:10:58.799 keep up the Scotch title. He soon discovered that they 209 00:10:58.840 --> 00:11:02.120 were not, and that the late Lord Duncan, having married money, 210 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:04.519 kept up such state as he could out of the 211 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:08.279 revenues of the dowry of Lady Duncan and Eli Fallat. 212 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:10.399 He decided that he would rather be a well fed 213 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:13.639 lawyer in New York, living comfortably on his practice, than 214 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:16.919 a starving lord in Scotland living scantily on his title. 215 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:21.440 But he kept his title, asked the Duchess, well, answered 216 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:24.399 Uncle Larry. He kept it quiet. I knew it, and 217 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:26.879 a friend or two more. But Eliphalet was a sight 218 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:29.919 too smart to put Baron Duncan of Duncan, attorney and 219 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:32.840 counselor at law, on his shingle. What has all this 220 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:35.759 got to do with your ghost, asked dear Jones pertinently 221 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:39.399 Nothing with that ghost, but a good deal with another ghost. 222 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:43.240 Eliphalet was very learned in spirit lore, perhaps because he 223 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:46.120 owned the haunted House at Salem, perhaps because he was 224 00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:49.279 a Scotchman by dissent at all events. He had made 225 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:52.080 a special study of the raids and white ladies and 226 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:55.440 banshees and bogies of all kinds, whose sayings and doings 227 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:58.759 and warnings are recorded in the annals of Scottish nobility. 228 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:01.960 In fact, he was acquainted with the habits of every 229 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:04.879 reputable spook in the Scotch peerage, and he knew that 230 00:12:04.919 --> 00:12:07.080 there was a Duncan ghost attached to the person of 231 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:09.440 the holder of the title of Baron Duncan of Duncan. 232 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:12.720 So besides being the owner of a haunted house in Salem, 233 00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:16.080 he was also a haunted man in Scotland. Asked they 234 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:19.600 be wandering celier? Just so? But the Scotch ghost was 235 00:12:19.639 --> 00:12:22.720 not unpleasant like the Salem ghost, although it had one 236 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:27.159 peculiarity in common with its Transatlantic fellow spook. It never 237 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:29.799 appeared to the holder of the title, just as the 238 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:32.120 other never was visible to the owner of the house. 239 00:12:32.759 --> 00:12:35.679 In fact, the Duncan ghost was never seen at all. 240 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:39.000 It was a guardian angel only. Its sole duty was 241 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:41.399 to be in a personal attendance of Baron Duncan of 242 00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:45.279 Duncan and to warn him of impending evil. The traditions 243 00:12:45.320 --> 00:12:47.519 of the house told that the Barons of Duncan had 244 00:12:47.559 --> 00:12:51.320 again and again felt a premonition of ill fortune. Some 245 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:53.679 of them had yielded and withdrawn from the venture they 246 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:56.519 had undertaken, and it had failed dismally. Some had been 247 00:12:56.559 --> 00:12:59.799 obstinate and had hardened their hearts and had gotten reckless 248 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:02.360 of defeat and to death. In no case had a 249 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:05.759 Lord Duncan been exposed to peril without fear warning. Then 250 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:07.759 how came it that the father and son were lost 251 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:11.440 in the yacht of the Hebrides, ask Dear Jones, because 252 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:14.679 they were too enlightened to yield to superstition, yet is 253 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:17.639 extent now A letter of Lord Duncan writurned to his 254 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:20.360 wife a few minutes before he and his son set sail, 255 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:22.720 in which he tells her how hard he has had 256 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:25.919 to struggle with an almost overmastering desire to give up 257 00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:28.399 the trip. Had he obeyed the friendly warning of the 258 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:31.519 family ghost, the latter would have spared a journey across 259 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:34.879 the Atlantic. If the coast leave Scotland for America as 260 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:38.000 soon as the old parent died, asked Bobby vanden Celeiar 261 00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:41.039 with much interest, how did he come over, queried Dear 262 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:44.240 Jones in the steerage or as a cabin passenger? I 263 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:48.240 don't know, answered Uncle Larry Calmly and Eliphalle didn't know. 264 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:50.960 For as he was in no danger and stood in 265 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:53.320 no need of warning, he couldn't tell whether the ghost 266 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:55.840 was on duty or not. Of course, he was on 267 00:13:55.879 --> 00:13:58.120 the watch for it all the time, but he never 268 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:01.000 got any proof of its presence until he went down 269 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:03.440 to the little old house of Salem just before the 270 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:06.120 fourth of July. He took a friend down with him, 271 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:08.519 a young fellow who had been in the regular army 272 00:14:08.559 --> 00:14:11.200 since the day Fort Sumter was fired on, and who 273 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:14.039 thought that after the four years of the little unpleasantness 274 00:14:14.039 --> 00:14:17.279 down south, including six months in Libby, and after ten 275 00:14:17.399 --> 00:14:19.759 years of fighting the bad Indians on the plains, he 276 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:23.000 wasn't likely to be much frightened by a ghost. Well, 277 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:25.399 Eli Faalet and the officer sat out on the porch 278 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:28.960 all the evening, smoking and talking over points in military law. 279 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:31.919 A little after twelve o'clock, just as they began to 280 00:14:31.960 --> 00:14:34.360 think it was about time to turn in, they heard 281 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:37.120 the most ghastly noise in the house. It wasn't a 282 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:40.080 shriek or a howl, or a yell or anything they 283 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:44.120 could put a name to. It was an undeterminate inexplicable 284 00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:47.080 shiver and shudder of sound which went wailing out of 285 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:50.039 the window. The officer had been at Cold Harbor, but 286 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:53.360 he felt himself getting colder this time. Any phallit knew 287 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:55.879 it was the ghost who had haunted the house. As 288 00:14:55.919 --> 00:15:00.159 this weird sound died away, it was followed by another shah, 289 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:04.559 blood curdling in its intensity. Something in this cry seemed 290 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:07.200 familiar to Eli Fallat, and he felt sure that it 291 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:10.759 proceeded from the family ghost. The warning wraiths of the Duncans. 292 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:13.960 Do I understand you to intimate that both ghosts were 293 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:18.200 there together? Inquired the Duchess anxiously. Both of them were there, 294 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:21.679 answered Uncle Larry. You see, one of them belonged to 295 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:23.600 the house and had to be there all the time, 296 00:15:23.919 --> 00:15:26.159 and the other was attached to the person of Baron 297 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:29.200 Duncan and had to follow him there wherever he was. 298 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:32.559 There was the ghost also, But Ellie Fallat he had 299 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:35.080 scarcely time to think this out when he heard both 300 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:39.240 sounds again, not one after another, but both together, and 301 00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:42.080 something told him, some sort of an instinct he had 302 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:45.759 that those two ghosts didn't agree, didn't get on together, 303 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:49.360 didn't exactly hit it off. In fact, they were quarreling. 304 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:54.480 Quarreling ghosts. Well, I never was, baby vandren Celia's remark, 305 00:15:54.919 --> 00:15:57.240 It is a blessed thing to see ghosts dwell together 306 00:15:57.320 --> 00:16:01.240 in unity, said Beard Jones, and the duchess added, it 307 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:04.879 would certainly be setting a better example. You know, resumed 308 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:07.879 Uncle learly, that two waves of light or of sound 309 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:11.120 may interfere and produce darkness or silence. So it was 310 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:14.320 with these rivals books they interfered, but they did not 311 00:16:14.440 --> 00:16:17.600 produce silence or darkness. On the contrary, as soon as 312 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:20.600 Eliphalet and the officer went into the house, there began 313 00:16:20.679 --> 00:16:25.480 at once a series of spiritualistics manifestations, a regular dark seance, 314 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:29.039 a tambourine was played upon, a bell was rung, and 315 00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:31.840 a flaming banjo went singing around the room. Where did 316 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:35.480 they get the banjo, asked dear Jones spectacally. I don't 317 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:39.240 know materialized it maybe just as they did the tambourine. 318 00:16:39.440 --> 00:16:41.679 You don't suppose A quiet New York lawyer kept a 319 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:44.440 stalk of musical instruments large enough to fit out a 320 00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:47.399 strolling minstrel troop, just on the chance of a pair 321 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:49.840 of ghosts coming to give him a surprise party. Do 322 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:53.879 you every spook has its own instrument of torture. Angels 323 00:16:53.879 --> 00:16:56.720 play on the harps. I am informed, and spirits delight 324 00:16:56.799 --> 00:17:00.720 in banjos and tambourines. These books of Eliphile Duncans were 325 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:03.759 ghosts with all modern improvements, and I guess they were 326 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:07.119 capable of providing their own musical weapons at all events. 327 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:09.839 They had them there in the little old house at Salem. 328 00:17:09.880 --> 00:17:12.799 The knight, Eliphalet and his friend came down, and they 329 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:15.200 played on them, and they rang the bell, and they 330 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:18.440 wrapped here, there and everywhere, and they kept it up 331 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:22.960 all night, all night, asked the Austrican Duchess. All night long, 332 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:26.960 said Uncle Larry, solemnly. And the next night too, Eliphalet 333 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:29.680 did not get a wink of sleep, neither did his friend. 334 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:32.319 On the second night the house ghost was seen by 335 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:35.039 the officer. On the third night it showed itself again, 336 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:38.000 And the next morning the officer packed his gripsack and 337 00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:41.000 took the first train to Boston. He was a New Yorker, 338 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:43.400 but he said he'd sooner go to Boston than see 339 00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:47.359 that ghost again. Eliphalad he wasn't scared at all. Partly 340 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:50.640 because he never saw either the Domicillery or the Titulius book, 341 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:53.839 and partly because he felt himself on friendly terms with 342 00:17:53.880 --> 00:17:57.559 the spirit world and didn't scare easily. But after losing 343 00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:00.240 three nights sleep and the society of his friend, he 344 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:02.759 began to be a little impatient, and to think that 345 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:05.759 the thing had gone far enough. You see, While in 346 00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:08.000 a way he was fond of ghosts, yet he liked 347 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:10.759 them best one at a time, two ghosts were one 348 00:18:10.839 --> 00:18:13.720 too many. He wasn't bent on making a collection of spooks. 349 00:18:14.119 --> 00:18:16.160 He and one ghost were a company, but he and 350 00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:19.039 two ghosts were a crowd. What did he do, asked 351 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:22.519 baby vandren celier. Well, he couldn't do anything. He waited 352 00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:24.880 a while, hoping they would get tired, but he got 353 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:27.799 tired out first. You see, it comes natural to a 354 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:30.279 spook to sleep in the daytime, but a man wants 355 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:32.880 to sleep nights, and they wouldn't let him sleep nights. 356 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:36.839 They kept on wrangling and quarreling incessantly. They manifested, and 357 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:39.640 the darks he anced as regularly as the old clock 358 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:43.079 on the stairs struck twelve. They wrapped, and they rang bells, 359 00:18:43.160 --> 00:18:45.680 and they banged the tambourine, and they threw the flaming 360 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:48.440 banjo about the house, and worse than all, they swore. 361 00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:51.839 I did not know that spirits were addicted to bad language, 362 00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:54.880 said the Duchess. How did he know they were swearing? 363 00:18:55.240 --> 00:18:59.759 Could he hear them, asked dear Jones. That was just it, responded, 364 00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:02.960 and he could not hear them, at least not distinctly. 365 00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:07.640 There were inarticulate murmurs and stifled rumblings, But the impression 366 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:10.119 produced on him was that they were swearing. If they 367 00:19:10.119 --> 00:19:12.519 had only sworn right out, he would not have minded 368 00:19:12.519 --> 00:19:14.680 it so much, because he would have known the worst. 369 00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:17.119 But the feeling that the air was full of suppressed 370 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:20.640 profanity was very wearing, and after standing it for a week, 371 00:19:20.920 --> 00:19:23.599 he gave up in disgust and went to the White Mountains, 372 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:27.240 leaving them to fight it out, I suppose, interjected Baby 373 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:30.839 Vanner and Cellier. Not at all, explained Uncle Larry. They 374 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:33.640 could not quarrel unless he was present. You see, he 375 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:36.160 could not leave the tittullia ghoest behind him, and the 376 00:19:36.160 --> 00:19:39.519 domicillary ghost could not leave the house. When he went away, 377 00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:41.720 he took the family ghost with him, leaving the house 378 00:19:41.720 --> 00:19:44.480 ghost behind now, spooks can't quarrel when they are a 379 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:47.559 hundred miles apart any more than men can. And what 380 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:51.400 happened afterward, asked Bobby Vandy and Cilier with the pretty impatience. 381 00:19:51.799 --> 00:19:55.039 A most marvelous thing happened. Eliphala Duncan went to the 382 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:57.519 White Mountains, and in the car of the railroad that 383 00:19:57.640 --> 00:19:59.880 runs to the top of Mount Washington, he met a 384 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:02.559 lassmate whom he had not seen for years, And this 385 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:05.640 classmate introduced Duncan to his sister. And the sister was 386 00:20:05.640 --> 00:20:08.319 a remarkably pretty girl, and Duncan fell in love with 387 00:20:08.359 --> 00:20:10.480 her at first sight, And by the time he got 388 00:20:10.519 --> 00:20:12.759 to the top of Mount Washington, he was so deep 389 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:15.680 in love that he began to consider his own unworthiness 390 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:18.039 and to wonder whether she might ever be induced to 391 00:20:18.039 --> 00:20:20.720 care for him a little, ever so little. I don't 392 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:23.400 think that it is so marvelous a thing, said dear Jones, 393 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:26.599 glancing at Baby Vander and Cilier. Who was she, asked 394 00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:29.359 the duchess who had once lived in Philadelphia. She was 395 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:32.599 Miss Kitty Sutton of San Francisco, and she was a 396 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:35.519 daughter of old Judge Sutton of the firm of Prixley 397 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:39.720 and Sutton, a very respectable family, assented the Duchess. I 398 00:20:39.759 --> 00:20:41.799 hope she wasn't a daughter of that loud and vulgar 399 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:44.799 old missus Sutton, whom I met at Saratoga one summer 400 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:48.200 four or five years ago, said dear Jones. Probably she was. 401 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:50.759