CHAPTER XLII
An Authentic Ghost Story part1
For some remarkablereason, ghostly legends were uncommonly rife, about this time, among theservants on Legree's place.
It was whisperinglyasserted that footsteps, in the dead of night, had been heard descending thegarret stairs, and patrolling the house. In vain the doors of the upper entryhad been locked; the ghost either carried a duplicate key in its pocket, oravailed itself of a ghost's immemorial privilege of coming through the keyhole,and promenaded as before, with a freedom that was alarming.
Authorities weresomewhat divided, as to the outward form of the spirit, owing to a custom quiteprevalent among negroes,—and,for aught we know, among whites, too,—of invariablyshutting the eyes, and covering up heads under blankets, petticoats, orwhatever else might come in use for a shelter, on these occasions. Of course,as everybody knows, when the bodily eyes are thus out of the lists, thespiritual eyes are uncommonly vivacious and perspicuous; and, therefore, therewere abundance of full-length portraits of the ghost, abundantly sworn andtestified to, which, as if often the case with portraits, agreed with eachother in no particular, except the common family peculiarity of the ghosttribe,—the wearing of a white sheet .The poor souls were not versed in ancient history, and did not know thatShakspeare had authenticated this costume, by telling how
"The sheeteddead
Did squeak and gibber in the streets of Rome."*
* Hamlet ,Act I, scene 1, lines 115-116
And, therefore,their all hitting upon this is a striking fact in pneumatology, which werecommend to the attention of spiritual media generally.
Be it as it may, wehave private reasons for knowing that a tall figure in a white sheet did walk,at the most approved ghostly hours, around the Legree premises,—pass out the doors,glide about the house,—disappear at intervals, and,reappearing, pass up the silent stairway, into that fatal garret; and that, inthe morning, the entry doors were all found shut and locked as firm as ever.
Legree could nothelp overhearing this whispering; and it was all the more exciting to him, fromthe pains that were taken to conceal it from him. He drank more brandy thanusual; held up his head briskly, and swore louder than ever in the daytime; buthe had bad dreams, and the visions of his head on his bed were anything butagreeable. The night after Tom's body had been carried away, he rode to thenext town for a carouse, and had a high one. Got home late and tired; lockedhis door, took out the key, and went to bed.
After all, let aman take what pains he may to hush it down, a human soul is an awful ghostly,unquiet possession, for a bad man to have. Who knows the metes and bounds ofit? Who knows all its awful perhapses,—those shudderings and tremblings, which it can no morelive down than it can outlive its own eternity! What a fool is he who locks hisdoor to keep out spirits, who has in his own bosom a spirit he dares not meetalone,—whose voice, smothered far down, and piled overwith mountains of earthliness, is yet like the forewarning trumpet of doom!
But Legree lockedhis door and set a chair against it; he set a night-lamp at the head of hisbed; and put his pistols there. He examined the catches and fastenings of thewindows, and then swore he "didn't care for the devil and all hisangels," and went to sleep.
Well, he slept, forhe was tired,—sleptsoundly. But, finally, there came over his sleep a shadow, a horror, anapprehension of something dreadful hanging over him. It was his mother'sshroud, he thought; but Cassy had it, holding it up, and showing it to him. Heheard a confused noise of screams and groanings; and, with it all, he knew hewas asleep, and he struggled to wake himself. He was half awake. He was suresomething was coming into his room. He knew the door was opening, but he couldnot stir hand or foot. At last he turned, with a start; the door was open,and he saw a hand putting out his light.
It was a cloudy,misty moonlight, and there he saw it!—something white, gliding in! He heard the still rustleof its ghostly garments. It stood still by his bed;—acold hand touched his; a voice said, three times, in a low, fearful whisper,"Come! come! come!" And, while he lay sweating with terror, he knewnot when or how, the thing was gone. He sprang out of bed, and pulled at thedoor. It was shut and locked, and the man fell down in a swoon.
After this, Legreebecame a harder drinker than ever before. He no longer drank cautiously,prudently, but imprudently and recklessly.
There were reportsaround the country, soon after that he was sick and dying. Excess had broughton that frightful disease that seems to throw the lurid shadows of a comingretribution back into the present life. None could bear the horrors of thatsick room, when he raved and screamed, and spoke of sights which almost stoppedthe blood of those who heard him; and, at his dying bed, stood a stern, white,inexorable figure, saying, "Come! come! come!"
By a singularcoincidence, on the very night that this vision appeared to Legree, thehouse-door was found open in the morning, and some of the negroes had seen twowhite figures gliding down the avenue towards the high-road.
It was near sunrisewhen Cassy and Emmeline paused, for a moment, in a little knot of trees nearthe town.
Cassy was dressedafter the manner of the Creole Spanish ladies,—wholly in black. A small black bonneton her head, covered by a veil thick with embroidery, concealed her face. Ithad been agreed that, in their escape, she was to personate the character of aCreole lady, and Emmeline that of her servant.
Brought up, fromearly life, in connection with the highest society, the language, movements andair of Cassy, were all in agreement with this idea; and she had still enoughremaining with her, of a once splendid wardrobe, and sets of jewels, to enableher to personate the thing to advantage.
She stopped in theoutskirts of the town, where she had noticed trunks for sale, and purchased ahandsome one. This she requested the man to send along with her. And,accordingly, thus escorted by a boy wheeling her trunk, and Emmeline behindher, carrying her carpet-bag and sundry bundles, she made her appearance at thesmall tavern, like a lady of consideration.
The first personthat struck her, after her arrival, was George Shelby, who was staying there,awaiting the next boat.
Cassy had remarkedthe young man from her loophole in the garret, and seen him bear away the bodyof Tom, and observed with secret exultation, his rencontre with Legree.Subsequently she had gathered, from the conversations she had overheard amongthe negroes, as she glided about in her ghostly disguise, after nightfall, whohe was, and in what relation he stood to Tom. She, therefore, felt an immediateaccession of confidence, when she found that he was, like herself, awaiting thenext boat.
Cassy's air andmanner, address, and evident command of money, prevented any rising dispositionto suspicion in the hotel. People never inquire too closely into those who arefair on the main point, of paying well,—a thing which Cassy had foreseen when she providedherself with money.
In the edge of theevening, a boat was heard coming along, and George Shelby handed Cassy aboard,with the politeness which comes naturally to every Kentuckian, and exertedhimself to provide her with a good state-room.
Cassy kept her roomand bed, on pretext of illness, during the whole time they were on Red River;and was waited on, with obsequious devotion, by her attendant.
When they arrivedat the Mississippi river, George, having learned that the course of the strangelady was upward, like his own, proposed to take a state-room for her on thesame boat with himself,—good-naturedlycompassionating her feeble health, and desirous to do what he could to assisther.
Behold, therefore,the whole party safely transferred to the good steamer Cincinnati, and sweepingup the river under a powerful head of steam.
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