Speaker 1: The phantom Hag. The other evening in an old castle,
Speaker 1: the conversation turned to apparitions, each one of the party
Speaker 1: telling a story. As the accounts grew more horrible, the
Speaker 1: young ladies drew closer together. Have you ever had an
Speaker 1: adventure with a ghost? Said they to me. Do you
Speaker 1: know a story to make a shiver? Come tell us something.
Speaker 1: I am quite willing to do so, I replied, I
Speaker 1: will tell you of an incident that happened to myself.
Speaker 1: Toward the close of the autumn of eighteen fifty eight,
Speaker 1: I visited one of my friends, sub prefect of a
Speaker 1: little city in the center of France. Albert was an
Speaker 1: old companion of my youth, and I had been present
Speaker 1: at his wedding. His charming wife was full of goodness
Speaker 1: and grace. My friend wished to show me his happy
Speaker 1: home and to enter it me to his two little daughters.
Speaker 1: I was feted and taken great care of. Three days
Speaker 1: after my arrival, I knew the entire city, curiosities, old castles, ruins,
Speaker 1: et cetera. Every day, about five o'clock, Albert would order
Speaker 1: a phaeton and we would take a long ride returning
Speaker 1: home in the evening. One evening, my friend said to me,
Speaker 1: tomorrow we will go further than usual. I want to
Speaker 1: take you to Black Rocks. They are curious, old druid
Speaker 1: stones on the wild and desolate plain. They will interest you.
Speaker 1: My wife has not seen them yet, so we will
Speaker 1: take her the following day. We drove out at the
Speaker 1: usual hour. Albert's wife sat by his side. I occupied
Speaker 1: the back seat alone. The weather was gray and somber
Speaker 1: that afternoon, and the journey was not very pleasant. When
Speaker 1: we arrived at the Black Rocks, the sun was setting.
Speaker 1: We got out of the phaeton and Albert took care
Speaker 1: of the horses. We walked some little distance through the
Speaker 1: fields before reaching the giant remains of the old Druid religion.
Speaker 1: Albert's wife wished to climb to the summit of the altar,
Speaker 1: and I assisted her. I can still see her graceful
Speaker 1: figure as she stood draped in a red shawl, her
Speaker 1: veil floating around her. How beautiful it is, but does
Speaker 1: it not make you feel a little melancholy? Said she,
Speaker 1: extending her hand toward the dark horizon, which was lighted
Speaker 1: a little by the last rays of the sun. The
Speaker 1: afternoon wind blew violently and sighed through the stunted trees
Speaker 1: that grew around the stone carmelocks. Not a dwelling nor
Speaker 1: a human being was in sight. We hastened to get
Speaker 1: down and silently retraced our steps to the carriage. We
Speaker 1: must hurry, said Albert. The sky is threatening and we
Speaker 1: shall have scarcely time to reach home before night. We
Speaker 1: carefully wrapped the robes around his wife. She tied the
Speaker 1: veil around her face, and the horses started into a
Speaker 1: rapid trot. It was growing dark. The scenery around us
Speaker 1: was bare and desolate. Clumps of fir trees here and there,
Speaker 1: and furzy bushes formed the only vegetation. We began to
Speaker 1: feel the cold, for the wind blew with fury. The
Speaker 1: only sound we heard was a steady trot of the
Speaker 1: horses and the sharp, clear tinkle of their bells. Suddenly
Speaker 1: I felt a heavy grasp of a hand upon my shoulder.
Speaker 1: I turned my head quickly. A horrible apparition presented itself
Speaker 1: before my eyes. In the empty place at my side
Speaker 1: sat a hideous woman. I tried to cry out. The
Speaker 1: phantom place her fingers upon her lips to impose silence
Speaker 1: upon me. I could not utter a sound. The woman
Speaker 1: was clothed in white linen, Her head was cowled, her
Speaker 1: face overspread with a corpse like pallor, and in place
Speaker 1: of eyes were ghastly black cavities. I sat motionless, overcome
Speaker 1: by terror. The ghost suddenly stood up and leaned over
Speaker 1: the young wife. She encircled her with her arms and
Speaker 1: lowered her hideous head as if to kiss her forehead.
Speaker 1: What a wind, cried Madame Albert, turning precipitately toward me.
Speaker 1: My veil is torn. As she turned, I felt the
Speaker 1: same infernal pressure on my shoulder, and the place occupied
Speaker 1: by the phantom was empty. I looked out to the
Speaker 1: right and left. The road was deserted, not an object
Speaker 1: in sight. What a dreadful gale, said Madame Albert. Did
Speaker 1: you feel it? I cannot explain the terror that seized me.
Speaker 1: My veil was torn by the wind, as if by
Speaker 1: an invisible hand. I am trembling still. Never mind, said Albert, smiling.
Speaker 1: Wrap yourself up, my dear, We will soon be warming
Speaker 1: ourselves by the good fire at home. I am starving.
Speaker 1: A cold perspiration covered my forehead. A shiver ran through me.
Speaker 1: My tongue closed to the roof of my mouth. I
Speaker 1: could not articulate a sound. A sharp pain in my
Speaker 1: shoulder was the only sensible evidence that I was not
Speaker 1: the victim of an illucination. Putting a hand upon my
Speaker 1: aching shoulder, I felt a rent in the cloak that
Speaker 1: was wrapped around me. I looked at it, five perfectly
Speaker 1: distinct holes, visible traces of the grip of the horrible phantom.
Speaker 1: I thought for a moment that I should die, or
Speaker 1: that my reason should leave me. It was, I think,
Speaker 1: the most dreadful moment of my life. Finally I became
Speaker 1: more calm. This nameless agony had lasted for some minutes.
Speaker 1: I do not think it is possible for a human
Speaker 1: being to suffer more than I did during that time.
Speaker 1: As soon as I recovered my senses, I thought at
Speaker 1: first I would tell my friends all that had passed,
Speaker 1: but hesitated and finally did not, fearing that my story
Speaker 1: might frighten Madame Albert, and feeling sure my friend would
Speaker 1: not believe me. The lights of the little city revived me,
Speaker 1: and gradually the oppression of terror that overwhelmed me became lighter.
Speaker 1: So soon as we reached home, Madame Albert untied her veil.
Speaker 1: It was literally in shreds. I hoped to find my
Speaker 1: clothes whole and prove to myself that it was all imagination.
Speaker 1: But no. The cloth was tornorn in five places, just
Speaker 1: where the fingers had seized my shoulder. There was no mark, however,
Speaker 1: upon my flesh, only a dull pain. I returned to
Speaker 1: Paris the next day, where I endeavored to forget the
Speaker 1: strange adventure, or at least when I thought of it,
Speaker 1: I could force myself to think it a hallucination. The
Speaker 1: day after my return I received a letter from my
Speaker 1: friend Albert. It was edged with black. I opened it
Speaker 1: with a vague fear. His wife had died the day
Speaker 1: of my return. The end of the Phantom Hag