THE BLACK LADY OF BRIN TOR.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12689, 31 December 1906, Page 10

THE BLACK LADY OF BR IN TOR.

* Ev GUV i'OOTHBV. I have scon some curious sighte, and have taken part in some equally curious affairs, in the course of my career, but 1 fan safely assert that the. story I am going to tell you now equals, if it dors not excel, anything I have ever known. I haii just come from Eolith America, where I had been ranching tor a pood number of ve>arc-. mvl, having in+n | us ore successful than the majority of men who go in for that occupation, had returned to the Old Country with the intention of making it my home for the remainder of my existence. If you are- prepared to spend the money it would not seem difficult to find a house of the description you re- j (Jinre. Vet only those who have tried il know what a serious business it can be. One will be too large and without sufficient land, another too small ami with more land than you earn to be bothered with. My wife and f visited innumerable places, and at last were beginning to despair ot ever finding what wo wanted. Then, quite by chance, I happened to hear of the property with which this story is connected. It was necessary for mc to visit I'lvmonth in order to meet a friend who w;t* returning I mm Australia. The beauty of Devon is proverbial, and never prettier than in the autumn. After my long absence abroad, it b;id a. ch;irm for mc that I find it difficult to express in words. The dark red soil, the luxuriant hedgerows, the babbling brooks, and the vast solitude of Dartmoor appealed to mc with overwhelming tone. This was the county for mc, if only 1 could find the place for which 1 had been so long and we.irilv searching. While I was awaiting t\o arrival of my friend's vessel. I made it mv business to call on one of the leadmt; house sjgents in order to make enquiries. Alas for my hopes! Fie lind nothing on his books that I cared even to consider. I tried another, and yet ;\ third, but with the same result. There were houses in plenty in the town, but thov were useless: there were others in the immediate neighbourhood, but each ii.i.l so'r.e drawback. I bade tin , last agent "Good afternoon," «in<! returned t-o my hotel very di-appointed with my ill suocsr. That evening my friend arrived and. in the pleasure of welcoming him, I forgot for the time h-ein.g my quest, of a residence. I was nearer success, however than I imagined. (in descending to the coffeo-room next morning I found a letter upon my plate. It was from the first agont upon whom T had called on the previous day. Quito by chance, ho stated, he had happened to he;«r of an estate situated in a charming little village on the cdtic. of the nn-or. The horw was an old and picturesque one, and the property con-fi-ited ; of pome seventy acres. Somo slight repairs would have to lw> effected, for the reason that the house had no! been inhabited for some considerable time, the ownor being abroad and niiiibln to keep it up. In conclusion it was statrd that the estate -would be either let on leaAf* or sold outright. I ciiefully .studied the particulars enclc*v?d. and. as I did so began to feel that it really locked a.s if I had discovered what F wantwi. When my friend de'rciifled I told him the newe. and invited him to remain a <lay longer in order to come out with mc and inspect it. Ho consented to do w, and that afternoon we chartered a carriage and drove out. There are rcaeone why I etipprres the name of the village. They will. I expect, bo obvious to you. (Jive a dog a bad name and hang him. may apply as well to a property as to the canine race. Tho Hall, an the place was onllotl, was on the further pide of the village, and was on the A - ery edge of the moor. Tho agent h<ad d<«crilxHl it exactly when he had declared it to be a picturesque old building. It stood on high ground, and immediately behind it rose I tho stee-p sido of lirin Tor, crowned with enormous boulders that gave it a strangely wild appearance. The house itself was approached by a lengthy carI riage drive, and. as I learnt later, had Im-cii built in. tho daye of (Jeorge the Fiiwt. From tho first moment that I Miw it I liked it. We drew up at the steps and alighted. i presented the housekeeper with tho order to view, whereupon she examined it as if it were a banknote, for a thousand pounds, and sho was not quite certain ais to whether it was genuine. At last, however, she condescended , to admit us, ami we entered the large, isqu-iro. hall. It was paved, and I must confess did not present a very inviting appearance. The oak panelling, however, waa handsome, while tho grand was massive and finely carved. With no very good grace the old woman threw open the door of the room which I judged to bo the dining-room; thence we proceeded on our tour of investigation. Tho house, with the exception of the kitchen and a bedroom, was quite unfurnished, and certainly stood in need of repair. It possessed, however, I great possibilities and I felf, sure that when furnished and put in proper ord«T it would make a. charming dwelling. By the time our inspection w«s finished the afternoon was well advanced and, if we desired to get back to Plymouth in time for it behoved us to start at once.

That evening I wrote a long defcriptinn of what I had seen to my wife, inviting her to join mo in order tliat I micht liavo her opinion. Next day sho arrived. She provod to I*> n« charmed with it as I was. and by the end of the week following matters were in excellent trim for my lx>comin<2: its owner. A>- won »f the ivoeessary lea;al formalities had l»een complied with, my wife M-t off for London on furniture-buying thoughts intent, while I remained behind to hurry on the work that, had to !*■• completed before we could come, into residence. At la<st—it was the wcond week iti November, if my memory serves me—the fimiiuiro liegan to arrive. A makeshift bedroom was prepared forme, and 1 exchfiiigtd the hotel in Plymouth for my own nbode. For the next tew days my life was rot altogether a be:! of ropes. Ever\ ¥ - thiri£ had to ln> urr.w.tzoi], the servants were new, w liile tlui men nv(tiired t-'triet wijH'rvusioti to prevent them spending the part of their time, at the villain , mm. However, it w is all done at laft. an<l I felt that wlien my wife nave it the few finishing touches, w hi<-h only a woman can do, it Mould be us nearly as a man coul'.l wish to have )i:k home. It w;is on the day tliat my wifo arrive;! that the first curious cirVnmst.inee cecurred which it is the purpose of this to relate AV> hnd fin idled dinner end ivore in our drawingroom atfaire in general and wondering t}ie butler' wa.s going t.;> liriiifi in coffee. " I told him we would have it immediately ait.-r dinner." «iid my wife. I rani; the- b«'ll s\n<l almo-st iiinmxliatfly he appear<-d in answer to it. Ho looktxl round tlio room in surprise, as if h,« to find a third person present. " will have ooffoe. Simpson," said my wife. ■• Always let us have it as mumi alter dinner up pnt-t>ih\>." "You will mc, madam, but I tlioujzlit you were «-ngagod with a '.adv." " I havo >»v>n no lady.' . He looked at her in bewilderment. '" A lady <atno up the hall," he said, "j:'-t as you lr-ft the dining-room, and I tluuiiht sho rar.io in h«ro." 1 lt»oke<l at th<> nmn sliarply : apparently 111.' wiifS sclhl , . ''You must have it.' , I continued. " No. sir, f am quito suro T di<! not.. I .saw Ikt unite distinctly, .and would know her again anywliere. She e»"ome<l in jrreat t ion die, m) tli.it is why I did not disturb you. [ am very w>rry. >ir." Til , to in the coffee. W'lu-n ho l'cturncU 1 eskod iiiiu

to describe the person in question more minutely. I gathered that ahe was tall, ami'had a bountiful face, hut with a very sad expression. £I'g wae dressed entirely in black, and bad what he called, "a'Waok lace fihawl upon hor head. The man was deeply in enrnot. but I could nuke neither head nor tail of it. . • I yet us look round.' , 1 said. 1 am quite sure that tho hall door mc not been opened .-ince dinner, and it she is in the houso row we shall doubtless find "Accompanied by my wifo wo w«t off and vi-itef.l all the room? on tho groundfloor not omitting the servant- hall. Mv wife qm«tioned the irwwfc, b.it one mid ell tluit they had not been into tho hall *inco dinner. U<\ next tried all tho room* upstairs with, the HZ rUult. Simpson* n.ysUTions Sack ia<iy. if *>*»»;> jr ! that led thniMilli tho Mr-ibb,™ a side cntesho had met. ~ lady who !en,«l in distil. Accord. - to tli,. -n-irl's Ktury. she wa.« vrmgms. i.t hand". It w;is too dark for tho maid to ' M4 "Voii nreotiito. sure of what you are .savin"'- I ariked, whon Simpson \>roii«d*it tho isirl into my _»m*m<.v. •I am quite sure, *ir," was her reply. -I held the gate open for lier to pa* through." -Did she. speak to you? "Not a word. Mr! She just went by mc a< if she did not imv mc." 'Thus is really one. of the strangest things I «'W heard," I said to my wife. when wo were alone together. '1 wonder who the woman is, and by what right >Jn> trit.pai-.so.s on my ground*? It I meet ln-r, I .shall put, tba question to her.' , Chrisimas wa.s now drawing near, and wo had invited a large house party to spend the festive .season with us. Among the number wan a young fellow named Desborough. who had just got his troop in a Lancer regiment. We had placed him in a room in the bachelors' wing, which was the oldest portion of the house. Ho and I were the two first to reach the drawing-room before dinner. "I say, old man," he Vgan, "how many people have you got in the house?"' I told him. "Yo», hut who is the other one—tho lady with the sorrowful countenance, and a jolly pretty one at that?" '•There is no one else," I replied. "I have given you the nanus of all of them." •'Well, that's funny For I'll swear she wa« no housemaid, and I've seen your wife's maid." Are you sure you are not rotting me?' , "Perfectly sure Describe this mysterious individual to mc." "Well, I'm not much of a hand at that sort of work, but I know that she was jolly gf>cd-locking. with what looked like a lace mantilla on her head, and she seemed to be in rare trouble. Sho was wringing her hands and looked m) sorrowfully at mc that for a moment I was almost tempted to ask her what was the matter." ''Wait here a moment," I said. "I'll run upstairs and see if I can discover who ibis person can be." I did so, muttering as I went that I was Retting a little tired of the lady's visits to my Jiiouse. But though 1 searched tho bachelors' wing and such other rooms a.s I could enter no trace of her could I discover. I returner! to the drawing-room and informed Deeborough of my ill success. "Well, yon can say what you like/ he answered. 'I saw her plainly ac 1 can see you know." Thus the matter dropped for the time bein. My wife wae the next to be favoured with a glimpse of her. It wae Christmas Eve, and tho ladies had been down to the church to decorate £fie edifice, for the next day It wae almost dark when they started to return. My wife remained behind th party for about ten ininutte to efieciusa certain matters with tho Vicar. It was snowing heavily when she left thecluiieh, and the country looked indescribably beautiful in tho light of the full moon. Hor version of tile story is that ehe had jjiifct left the shrubbery and was passing along tlu path that ran at the foot of tho Terrace when she looked up and saw a woman, dressed in black, leaning with her hands upon it, looking down at her. She declares to this day that she was too surprised to be frightened, or to euy or do anything. Then thfc woman walked away from her, wringing her hands as if ebo were in great grief. Three minutes could not have elapsed before I had been told, ami was out on the Terrace in pursuit. 1 looked about, but there was no signot her. and. strangor still, there was not ii footmark other than my own upon the snow. The matter wae getting beyond mc. I could not make head or tail of it, Next day. after the morning service, T took the Vicar aside and asked him if he could give, mc any clue t-o the mystery- I told him the matter was getting serious. The servants declared that it was a ghost, and, in consequence, were threatening to leave mc. "Well, I will not dony," he said, "that something of this sort of thing has l>een village g'wsip for a great many years, and more than one person has laid claim to having seen. It. Personally. I have never done so. The story goes that it i« the spirit of a Spanish woman who wss cnoo the mistress of the house. [f yon will come into the church again I will (-how you a tablet to hor memory." I followed him, and discovered the inscription in question. It described her (tor reasons already stated I will not give her name) as being the wif of the owner of tho bouse, and also set forth the fact that she had died in the year 1782. f "There's not much to bo gained from that," I said. "But the coincidence is. to say the least of it. singular."' I then thanked him and rejoined my party. That evening was devoted- to the usual amusements associated with the season. I am afraid we are all very juvenile, and must hwve shocked the grave .Simpson. We playod Dumb Crambo, acted Charades, and nt last came to Thought Reading. In my turn I went out of the room while an experiment was preparing. The hall waA brilliantly lighted, and I give you my word that I had no thought of the mysterious lady at that nionwMit. tSudden'.y I looked up to fee her passing along the oo.nridor at the top of the great staircase in the direction of the bachelor's quarters. Seizing a hat and <c,nt I ran up the stairs just in time to see her turaiing the corner of the eorritior. I set off in pursuit. Sho was evidently making her way to a little door tint led by a flight of steps to tJie garden below. By tho time I readied it she had disappeared. But throwing oj* j n the door I saw her pare.ing swiftly along tlw> garden path towards the *ihuhbery. Donning my hat and drawing on my coat, I continued my chase, passed out of the wicket gate and turned into the narrow lan-e that led towards the Tor. It was the night of full moon, and was almost as light as day. Without leaving any track upon the enow s»he sped on at such a nato that I had great difficulty in keeping her insight. At List ehe reached the foot of the Tor and began tho ascent.. This wae more-thaai I lvad bargain**!' for. for it must bt> remembered that my feet were in evening drees klioou aitd tint tnow was lyinc inches deep upon the ground. However, having come to far, I was d.otormiiit*l to se< wtait the end of it all would, be. Stag-gt-ritig, falling. I began to climb, the black figure speeding on ahead of we, n<wr pa&eLog for a moment. At last it

roadiwl the sutrwriit arwl etood, while perJiatw 1 cotild have coautfvi twenty, niK»n tile topmost bouhkr. It made a "weird picture. I c:in a«jure you. Then sho rais<v] } U r arms abovo her head and fell through tho air to tho rocks nearly two hundred feet below. On my bonour it -was so rwil that I Rave a Rreat cry «6 I Raw it. I scrambled down to 8W if thoro was any tign of her, but thero -wths none. The tragedy ended with lvcr deatJi. T -went home erarcely af>l<« to believe the evidwnco of my sonw*. Next day I took De-.sborough up flic Tor with ir.e. and d<'scribe<l tlit> ereno to him. I believe lie thought I had dreamt it all. Wp etood at the fcoL and looked up at it. "By Jove! h would be a ghastly place to take a leap from." he taid. "'ls thnt a caw up there?" Ho pointed half way up tho face cf tho cliff. Thero certainly wae a cave tlicro. •'lVrliaps that is the due to the mystery.'' I crifd- "A man could be lowiM-rd to it from the top. As scon as tlie tniow goes J Ii have a look at it.' , A v.-eck later I t<v-k >everal of my men and a strong ro;K> and visited the Tor once more. Aiter having taken every jtrwaution lowered mc ovt-r t!io cliff till I reaelicl tlie narrow entrance to the cavo. T to stjiii-ezo in. ancl then lit a r:>ixllo w!:if!i 1 ha<l brought with mc. Thrr-o f,tei»i took m« into a fair-sizod cavern, and showed nt> strange and tf-rriblo a si ixht- as man lir.e ev<r .looked ujxin. Stn-tx-lietl out upon th<» floor was the skeleton of a man : Rcatterrsl round him were remains of books an:T what might once have been a blanket. I took up one of the books, and in>i<le the cijvcr found the name of tho man whose wife's tablet I had seen in The village church c.) Christniae Day. Later on I examined it carefully. Inside wae written: "I am dying of starvation. They will not let my wiTe bring mc fowl. I have destroyed the. psipors. Farewell, my beloved wife." Thus the mystery was solved. The poor remain's were, brought down from their long resting-place, and decently interred." Since then the Blnek Lady, as the village folk call hrr, has not been seen. Ido not pretend to account for it. I simply give you the story.