A TRUE GHOST STORY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 5, 31 October 1890, Page 19

A TRUE GHOST STORY.

(By the Rev. Father Edmund, C.P., in the Aye Maria. No doubt, there are ghosts and ghosts. I am no more a believer than the widest of my readers in Buch goblins, as the nursery-maid frightened us withal ; or, <»gain. in phoctoms of the kind we heard about in " creepy " tales at school. But the word " ghost " properly means spirit or soul ; and I do believe that departed souls are allowed now and ihtn, and for some good reason, to visit friends on earth, and under the same appearance as f o form, sometimes even as to dress, which they wore in this mortal life. I believe this because there is far too much evidence for the fact of socb apparitions to leave it an open question with any unprejudiced mind. But thofc who defend the existence of ghosts are generally under the disadvantage of not having seen one themselves. They can only speak from what they have beard or read. This enables the sceptic to jeer; and it is easy to raise a laugh on such a subject without ci her the wit or the amiableness of Byr n's lines: " Grim reader, did you ever see a ghost ? No ; but you've heard— l understand : be dumb. And don't regret the time you may have lost, For you have got that pleasure still to come." I deem it, then, no small gain to my own belief in these apparitions that / have seen one myself, and without further prelude I proceed to the narration. It was on the 11th of February, 1887. Our community here in Buenos Ay res, though smaller than usual at the time, was bravely carrying out our rule of rising at night to sing Office in choir. We follow here the custom of our North American province as to the hour of rising, viz., at two o'clock in summer and at half-past one in winter Fdbruary being a summer month in this part of the world, we had risen at two on the morning of the 11th, aod bad finished our Office at three ; but, according to rule, we had to remain in choir meditating till half-pn&t three— then bick to bed. Now, here I must make a confession, since my story positively requires it. Our chief superior, or provincial (as we call him — though the province, as such, is not yet form' d), had been away several months— having gene first to Home and then to the United States ; and we were eagerly awaiting his return. There was much disquietude among us about certain matters, and on this particular morning my own mind was unusually perturbed — so that, indeeiJl had great difficulty in attending to the Divine Office. la fact, if (he truth must be told, I had experienced for the first time (since becoming a religious) a severe temptation againsi continuing in commuuity life ; and h^d partially entertained it. Well, when Matins and Lauds, with the regular prayers wh ; ch follow according to our custom, w. re ov. r, I ju iged it a good move to go into the gardeu f jt a few minutes, to see if the fresh air would not calm me. As our house was then (it has been added to since), ths choir was close to the garden — being at the end of a corridor which led out into the garden. So, forth I went. The night was clear,though some light clouds ware in the sky. No moon, but light enough to distinguish the trees and the plots for some little distance. (Be it remembered we have no twilight here, as in the North ) I waa closing the door behind me, my hand still on the knob, when I perceived with seme surprise the figure of a Pas9ionist standing bareheaded about six yards from me, and on a patch of ground which had remained grassless, the stump of an old tree having been extracted there. This spot was round, and completely covered by the habit of its occupant. It struck me as singular that he had chosen that particular spot to st md on, since he must have wetted his feet in crossing the grass to eet to it. Besides, was it not Brother E., who Wrta too ill to rise for choir 1 He was the only religious not in attendance that night, and I knew that none had left the choir but mjself. It was the time of the " greater sileace," or I shoulu have remonstrated with him for thus exposing himself to further illness. But now, looking at the figure more closely, I saw that it was not Brother K. It was not tall enough for him, neither was the head his. The hair waa ot another colour, and the outline of the face, as far as I could distinguish it, was very different. Besides, 1 reflected, Brother K. could not have gone into the garden without passing the choir duor, which was wide open ; bo that we most ha^e heard him. Then . . . who icas it ? Here a feeliDg of awe came over me. Could it be my dt ar trieud the provincial ? Was be dead, and was t bia apparition meant to tell me so? (We had not even heard from him for an unusually long tim?. and wer* wonderiDg what could be the reason.) The figure stood facing westward, away from me; and I e*ught but the profile of the face, and that too indistinctly to be stare of the feat urec. But, for a minute, I thought it did look very like the provincial ; aud would have spoken but for feeling tongar-tied. The next minute, however, I reflected that it had not has height, and looked more like Brother A,, who had died in Buenos Ayres two years before, and for whom I had prayed a good , deal. Then, again, had it been h priest, 1 should have noticed the tonsure (the head being in a position to show it). Well, I shall never forgive myself for not speaking. The apDatition seemed waiung for me to do so, bat I was too long in sunmonmg courage. However, I did not retreat into the house. He was the first to move With a motion like that of a biid taking wing, tne figure shook itself out, dissolving from the head downward ; and the last thintj 1 saw waa the black rim of the habit vanishing off the ground — ofl the bare spot of earth, which gleamed out under the Bt<ii ii<h\ 1 walked down the steps and along tbe path for a conple of minuus before entering the Lous' 1 , and wh j n 1 got back to the choir my ledings ha 1 indeed calmed down. I felt how very foolish I had Keen to lit myself become so upset, ani spent the remainder of the time until h •If pint ttnee in lervent pi ayer and renewal of confidence in our Bl' R^e'l Lord and Lady ; resolving to go to confession wi bout deUy, and never ag.in io entertain for au instant the thought of giving up my religious vocation. A Itw days after came a letter from the provincial, explaining hia loag silence, and gladdening ua with the news that he was just

about to sail from New York. So that it certainly was not his gnost i nai seen—unless he had met with death on the voyage. But this possibility did not trouble me at all ; for the more I thought on the question, the more sure 1 became that the Bpirit was that of motner A.,— a persuasion which ga-hered confirmation in my mind irom tne happy arrival of the provincial in due time. Moreover, the tranquilizing effect of the vision made me attribu'.e it to the goodness ot our Blessed Mother, who had sent it, I felt sure, as a warning in a moment of doubt and unger. Now, if^ anyone consider what I saw the reault of "heated imagination, I answer that my imagination was not working *t all at tne time 1 first saw ihe apparition, and that it became chilled rather than heated. Equally at fault must be toe theory of " optical illusion in the case. Moreover, the way in which the phantom disappeared— withdrawing deliberately and reluctantly, rather than vanisning— made me certain beyond doubt that I had seen a spirit sustaining for a moment the appearance of a body. Probably I shall never know for sure who my visitant was until I die, but his presence Vi hlir m e«nory an indelible impression while this mortal