A WIERD STORY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIII, Issue 49, 10 April 1896, Page 27

A WIERD STORY.

THE HAUNTED WELL.

I WAS speading some months, a few yean ago, (sayi E' T. in thj Ga holic Standard and Ranso>twr) in the nnuataioom part of N>rth Walec, ne ir Battws-y-Coad ; I lodged at a farm-house at the foot of o ie of the mountains with a very worthy couple and their daughter ; I don't think I ever knew a more superBtitious race than the Wehh, their tales and legends are innumerable. I was repeaieily told by the farmer and his wife of an old ruinous hill, ha f-way up the mountain-side, and not very far from their farm, where there was a haunted well in the old courtyard, and that folk would not p las near it after dusk for any amount of money, especially as it got near to the time of Christmas, as there waa a story of some dreadful deed being committed there one Christmas Era m the last century. The hall belonged to a Welsh nobleman wbose family, from father to son, had lived there for generations with their retainers, but for many years it had been dese- ted and going to decay, the only rooms in preservation being the saloon or stateroom, the hall and front entrance, and two or three bedrooms on the upper storey ; the grounds all being grown over with thistles, rack grass and trees, a complete wilderness. There was an old moat, green and stagnant, and a drawbridge, falling to pieces with age' which admitted you into tbe ourtyard with this famous well in tba centre. This waa what I was told, for I had not as yet seen the plice but I determined to go there od Ohiistmas Eve, and see for mysell' the tiuth or falsity of these tales. It was new the beginning of Dicembar, so I had not long to wait. Mrs Morgan, the farmer's comely wife, also informed me that the last nobleman had been a d jwnng v it wicked man, that he and his jounger brother lived at the old hall with their widowed mo her till he c mmitted some atrocious deed and went abroad, bis mo'her die 1 of grief, and thj place bai been shutmsd and let fal i nto decay ever since, and he was never seen or heard of after. As I said before, I iottnled di covering for myself the iruth of these repoits, so when at last Christmas Eve ca-ne I said nothing to anyoie.but taki ga lantern, I ascended the mountain for about half way up, and came ia sight of some chimneys and wallg standing a'one in n piece of deserted ground that gave one the shivers to look a", it looked so ghostly ani awful ; I c-OLieed the dilapidated draw. bridge and en'ered the courtyard a litile before midnight, at which time the t-p ctre or spectres are said to appear As I was a little too soon, I mide my way into the hall and saloon to take a luok round all was silent as the grave, with ihe exception of the trees in the wilder Less of the gardm, moaning weirdly in the wind; the hall was iv perfect preservation, spacious and lofty, with a beautiful carved oak mantelpiece very , pen, evidently suited for the yule log in the years that had passed, and large dogs eaoh side of the hearth • toe arms of the family were emb bz ned over tbe m»otelpiec* but so eacruated with dust and black, it was bard to decipher them ; and at th ■ top of ihe huge oaken door, as you entered tbe hall was a nngt.ifice.t pair of stag's an'ltrs ; ai.d on one eidn there Wbi a cirved oak table and bench in front of it, woiib a good deal, if any oae dared to inter those haunted predicts and carry them cS • I then passed into the saloon, quite a stateroom, wan frtscoes on the wa Is and ctiling, and here and tt.ere a tattered puc- of Sitin drapery, curtain, i r the remains of chair coverings mo.h-eater, but of waat colour I could not make out; there were two or three crjcke 1 mirrors round the room in ancient oval g h framt b, and right over ibe maible mantlep-ece hu g the pclure c<f what mest have been occe a beautiful woman, hut the moth and rust had got into that and half-aaten r sway, though tbe expression in the eyes was wonderful. Ttien round the room were gilt sconces, and actually Ii saw in two (f them the remains of wax candles. I had no Lime t> investigate further, as the hour of midnight approached ; and besides the other parts of the hall looked quite ruinous add falling to pieces ' 8) I male haste into the courtyard, noticing as I went out what a handsome sUircseof solid oak still remained, with wide shallow steps, all of marble. I then stationed mjself in the courtyard near tbe well, behind a large arbutus trie, where I could watch what took pace. I had not been there many minutes when the hour of midnight struck from the old church of the village in the valley below I must confess to some feeling* of tiemor as the time drew near • the strokes seemed to quiver in tbe air, and as the lust faded away, the

hall that I had just left was all lighted up, and from the oppn door came three figures, a lady and two gen'lemen, she leaning on the arm of one on b«r right, and the other walking on her other side. All three wore the dress of people of degne a century or so back, kner-breeches and coats of rich brocade and velvet, their hair powdered ; and the lady had on a large ermine cloak, with hood closely pulled over her head, bat I could see how rich a drees she had on underneath. The two men were evidently at daggers drawn, and the lady was trying to make peace betwren them, but keeping fast hold of the arm of the one, and he held her hand tight with his other band. They walked slowly up and down two or three times, and then came nearer to the well. I could thus distinguish that the men were brothers from the unmistakable resemblance. Both had a high-born and diatinguiehed air— without any doubt aristocrats ; cot very joung—between thirty and forty, I should esy ; but the feature§ of one were quite distorted with rage and hatred. The otbar looked very sad and pale, but determined. The lady was simply beautiful, her features as though cut ia white marble ; but her eyes were truly marvellous, aad I could sse traces of tears on her cheek as she turned from one to the other of the brothers. She looked very frightened, too. At last the one who looked so hateful suddenly seised the lovers (as they andoubtidly were) as they clung together and hurled them with Samson-like strength into the well, calling out aa he did so, " There, neither of us shall htve her 1" then he turned and sped like lightening into the wood at the back of the old hall, and, ai the story goes, was never seen nor heard of after. There was an awfol splash as the lovers sank into the well, and then it was enveloped with a most peculiar lurid light for a minu'e or two, as it seemed ; then it went out, and all was in darkness. I was trembling from bead to foot, though my puck bad kept me up hitherto, How I got back that night to the farm I never knew, but I did get back ■id orept up to my room, quitt Baisfied now that the tale was truej aad I conld plainly make out that the two brothers both loved the ■anue lady, but that her affections were given, not to Lord Mordaunt, tne elder and master of the hall, but to his younger brother! Eustace ; and in jealousy snd rage he committed that awful crime I had just been the witness of, and not being able to rest he haunts tie place as a punishment, and, every Christmas Eve as it comes round, he ie compelled to act it over and over again. I told my landla ly the next morning, when she remarked on my taking my breakfast in bed, a thing I never did unless I was downright bad, and also on my haggard and ill-looks which she could not make out at all, nor account for, the whole story I have just written down. All that day, and for many succeeding days, until I was able to leave the place and return home, was I besieged by people far and near coming to aek about it, and sic me as somebody wonderful who bad ral the courage to do what nj one, young or old, haddarel to d > in that mountain aid j before ; it was a g>od th>n>£ for the farmer ani hia wife, as they had lodgers wiihout ceasing at their farm for long after, anxious to see for then-selves the wonderful old ruinous ball and well in the daytime ; though I never heard of any one venturing there after nightfall. Such is th 2 tale of tbe Hiunted Well, unvarnished and true.