The Lantern At Plumpton Hall.

into p iteous cries . Mrs . White was unable to account for this in any way whatsoever . The house had been carefully searched from top to bottom , and still nothing could be made of it . At last Mrs . White relieved herself by quitting the scene of so much unpleasantness . " Coming to a later date , say within the last ten years , Mrs . James Croasdale detailed to two Ulverstonians the following experiences : — 1 st . —One night , soon after they had taken up their abode at Plumpton , and not believing in the ghost at all , they were startled by a low moaning wind which seemed to fill the house , immediately followed by a pattering round the bed , more like the pattering of a flock of sheep than anything else she could

name . 2 nd . —When iu bed and asleep one night they were awakened by a sound as of some heavily falling weight , which resounded through the house . It seemed to be like the falling of a fifty-six pound weight from the ceiling to the floor of the hall , and startled them exceedingly . 3 rd . —As they were seated in the parlour opening out of the hall one calm dayin the broad lightthere came a most chilling windwhich made itself

, , , felt all round the room . The handles of the doors , cupboards , presses , and all that was in the room were also shaken round most violently , as though some unseen agency was endeavouring to open them . Mrs . Croasdale was firmly persuaded of the truth of all she related , and she told these things calmly and dispassionately , without any tincture' of exaggeration .

A relative informed me , that when a boy he was walking through the fields leading from Plumpton Hall to Next Ness , when they were covered with snow . When about half way across , he was struck with the print of a figure indented in the snow , which was exactly the shape of a man ' s body . Over it were sprinkled drops of blood ; by it was a smaller figure , evidentl y that of a clog . The most singular part of it all was that there were no footsteps near excepting his own . The question then arose in his mind , how had the marks come there ? and not being able to solve the problem , he brought his father and brother to look at it .

Now these things are authenticated by credible and reliable witnesses . The social positions of those who relate these marvellous facts are , an old lady , enjoying the esteem and confidence of the inhabitants of the village in which she lives ; the confidential clerk to one of the most influential merchants in the district ; and a matter-of-fact young man , of average intelligence , not likely to be scared by any hobgoblin stories or fancies . Laugh as we maywe cannot deny the fact that there are many so-called

, haunted houses in England , which possess mysteries of their own impenetrable to anybody . Plumpton Hall Dobby is one of the incapables of solution , aud as such it will possibly remain till the day when psychological laws come to be better understood among us . FURNESSIAN .