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Article OLD GREGORY'S GHOST: ← Page 4 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Old Gregory's Ghost:
and St . Dunstan carved upon it , seemed as though the Evil S pirit would at once liberate his proboscis from the tongs of the saintly smith , and the whole fabric was about to fall upon him , and crush bim beneath its ponderous wei ght .
Scratch—scratch—scratch ! again came the mysterious sound , louder than ever ; and then the noise suddenly changed to" Mew ! mew !"
Mr . Playfair began , to breath freely again . It was the cat , he thought—yes , it must be the cat . He listened again , and , screwing up his courage—which took a vast of doing , but there was no help for it- he got out of bedlit the candlestooped downand
, , , looked under the bedstead . Yes , there she was , sure enough , but showing no intention of turning out . Mr . Playfair , seeing he was likely to have a hunt , and the fire having died out , took the white coverlet off his bedand wrapped
, it round him like a Red Indian ' s blanket . Stooping down again , he first flung one of his slippers , and then the other , at the eat , which now flew out from beneath upon the bed , snarling savagely at him , as if it were the model for the crest of the
Macpherson clan . He then opened the door , and taking the poker from the fireplace , gave the cat a poke with it , upon which it took a jump , and was out of the room in a moment .
Mr . P . went and put down the poker , and stood to take breath . Happening to look in a more distant corner , he saw a si ght that made his " hair to stand on end , like quills upon the fretful porcupine . " For there , standing in that very room before him , stood the Ghost he so much feared to meet with .
The figure was entirel y draped in white , on its head was a great white cap , an awful l'ed gash extended across its throat from ear to ear , and its eyes , the largest that ever mortal saw , seemed to flicker slightly about though it never moved from the
, spot it first appeared on . Mr . p . stood transfixed , too paralysed wr a time to move a foot , but shaking * ad trembling in every limb like an aspen
, He was spell-bound , and stood gazing | n unutterable agony at the Ghost , while 'ne Ghost stood gazing at him .
Suddenly the wind gave a loud howl , the casement rattled as though a thousand furies were coming in , and it broke Mr . P . ' s spell . Giving a terrific shriek in his terror , he turned and fled in haste from the room .
Now , it happened that the cook and several more of the servants , unlike to Mr . Buffings and his guests , had sat up to hear the Christinas Waits , who invariably visited them during " the wee small hours ayont the twal" on " Christmas Day in
the morning . " They too , had been beguiling the time in telling all manner of Ghost stories , as was too common in those superstitious days . The Waits had been , sung their Christmas carol , had refreshmentsand departedunheard by Mr .
Play-, , fair , and the servants were retiring to their beds . Unfortunately , the cook had to pass by Mr . Playfair ' s room , and her nerves
being just then in a state of great excitement , she was not a little alarmed to see a figure clothed all in white , with a scarlet gash across its throat , rush out of Mr . Playfair ' s bedroom , j ust as she was about to pass the door . Certainly it could be
no other than old Gregory ' s Ghost . Setting up a fearful scream , she dropped the candle she was carrying , and fainted on the spot . Here was another surprise for Mr . Playfairwho had never heard her footsteps
, , nor seen her coming , until the mischief was done . But it was not to be the last ; for hearing something rushing upon him from behind , which he felt sure was old Gregory ' s Ghost in full pursuit , he felt very much relieved to hear a loud
bark , and feel a sudden jerk at the coverlet , which convinced him that his pursuer was only the clog which had annoyed him on bis arrival .
Now this , under ordinary circumstances , would have been quite bad enough ; but it was much better than the ghost . Yet poor Mr . Playfair was still in a dreadful state of mind , and his heart beat
like goodness knows what ; for here was the dog tearing at his night-gown and coverlet—the cook laid on the landing as still and deathlike as any corpse—and , for anything that he knew to the contrary , the ghost might pursue him at any moment .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Old Gregory's Ghost:
and St . Dunstan carved upon it , seemed as though the Evil S pirit would at once liberate his proboscis from the tongs of the saintly smith , and the whole fabric was about to fall upon him , and crush bim beneath its ponderous wei ght .
Scratch—scratch—scratch ! again came the mysterious sound , louder than ever ; and then the noise suddenly changed to" Mew ! mew !"
Mr . Playfair began , to breath freely again . It was the cat , he thought—yes , it must be the cat . He listened again , and , screwing up his courage—which took a vast of doing , but there was no help for it- he got out of bedlit the candlestooped downand
, , , looked under the bedstead . Yes , there she was , sure enough , but showing no intention of turning out . Mr . Playfair , seeing he was likely to have a hunt , and the fire having died out , took the white coverlet off his bedand wrapped
, it round him like a Red Indian ' s blanket . Stooping down again , he first flung one of his slippers , and then the other , at the eat , which now flew out from beneath upon the bed , snarling savagely at him , as if it were the model for the crest of the
Macpherson clan . He then opened the door , and taking the poker from the fireplace , gave the cat a poke with it , upon which it took a jump , and was out of the room in a moment .
Mr . P . went and put down the poker , and stood to take breath . Happening to look in a more distant corner , he saw a si ght that made his " hair to stand on end , like quills upon the fretful porcupine . " For there , standing in that very room before him , stood the Ghost he so much feared to meet with .
The figure was entirel y draped in white , on its head was a great white cap , an awful l'ed gash extended across its throat from ear to ear , and its eyes , the largest that ever mortal saw , seemed to flicker slightly about though it never moved from the
, spot it first appeared on . Mr . p . stood transfixed , too paralysed wr a time to move a foot , but shaking * ad trembling in every limb like an aspen
, He was spell-bound , and stood gazing | n unutterable agony at the Ghost , while 'ne Ghost stood gazing at him .
Suddenly the wind gave a loud howl , the casement rattled as though a thousand furies were coming in , and it broke Mr . P . ' s spell . Giving a terrific shriek in his terror , he turned and fled in haste from the room .
Now , it happened that the cook and several more of the servants , unlike to Mr . Buffings and his guests , had sat up to hear the Christinas Waits , who invariably visited them during " the wee small hours ayont the twal" on " Christmas Day in
the morning . " They too , had been beguiling the time in telling all manner of Ghost stories , as was too common in those superstitious days . The Waits had been , sung their Christmas carol , had refreshmentsand departedunheard by Mr .
Play-, , fair , and the servants were retiring to their beds . Unfortunately , the cook had to pass by Mr . Playfair ' s room , and her nerves
being just then in a state of great excitement , she was not a little alarmed to see a figure clothed all in white , with a scarlet gash across its throat , rush out of Mr . Playfair ' s bedroom , j ust as she was about to pass the door . Certainly it could be
no other than old Gregory ' s Ghost . Setting up a fearful scream , she dropped the candle she was carrying , and fainted on the spot . Here was another surprise for Mr . Playfairwho had never heard her footsteps
, , nor seen her coming , until the mischief was done . But it was not to be the last ; for hearing something rushing upon him from behind , which he felt sure was old Gregory ' s Ghost in full pursuit , he felt very much relieved to hear a loud
bark , and feel a sudden jerk at the coverlet , which convinced him that his pursuer was only the clog which had annoyed him on bis arrival .
Now this , under ordinary circumstances , would have been quite bad enough ; but it was much better than the ghost . Yet poor Mr . Playfair was still in a dreadful state of mind , and his heart beat
like goodness knows what ; for here was the dog tearing at his night-gown and coverlet—the cook laid on the landing as still and deathlike as any corpse—and , for anything that he knew to the contrary , the ghost might pursue him at any moment .