The Heir of hte Crowests.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4538, 21 July 1883, Page 1

The Heir of hte Crowests.

Lord Crowest left a widow and three cbildren— two son* and a daughter. The eldest, the young Earl, was only six years of age. Wheu her hasbnod died, Indy Crowest ceased to reside at Crowest Court, the family seat in Warwickshire. She had a prejudice against the place, though it was the pride of the,neighbourhood, and she therefore readily consented to the suggestiod of the trustees that it should be let for a term of years. A tenant was forthcoming in the person of a wealthy Australian merchant named Palmer. This gentleman became highly popular in the district. He was a kind and generous host, a thoughtful neighbor. and a good friend to the poor. He had a nice wife and two pretty daughters, and his wealth naturally obtained for him admission into the charmed circle of the best country society. Crowest afforded capital shooting, and the Palmers always had the home full of rather oddly-assorted guests daring the autumn. Towards the end of October last year., s young subaltern named Charlie Bathurst was invited.for • few days. His regiment was stationed at a neighbouring town, and Mr Palmer, happening to hear that tbe young mm was a connection of the Crowest family—a distant cousin of tbe late Earl — goodnaturally asked him to come and make acqu iatauco with tbe ancestral estate, and more particularly with the' excellent preserves. Charlie Bathurst was a bandsome, blue-ejed lad of 20, who had a happy knack of iogratiating himself with everyone. He was very boyish, and his simplicity and high spirits soon won all hearts. His visit to Croweat was a decided success, and it was prolonged considerably beyond its intoned limits.. On the eveniog before the daj on which he was—after many false starts—to rejoin his regiment, the male guests were tea ted-round-the smoking-room fire before "retiring to rest, when, as frequently happens. townrd'a (he witching hour of midnight, the conversation turned upon the subj"ot of fUpernaturnl apparitions. Several stories were t<>ld pi a bli-od-eurdling tendency, and at length some, one asked, if Crowest Court did not possess ahaun{<!d room. . JV ."Uot that I know of," answered Jtfr. Palmer. "There was no ghoft included in the lease; at least,l-didn'tstipulate for one." ; ' • " I never heard of there being a ghost," interposed a neighbour who had been pre-. vailed upon to stay the night: but I have * a recollection of. hearing some atory about one of tho Tobias,;',./ "To be sure." ca^rly added another Inral magnate. "There is a legend that many years ago— at the beginning of tho last centurj—the eldest sin of the thon Lord Crowest ■ taui-abred a guest' in hia . sleep. Ever since, tbe room in winch the deed was committed ha'been kept closed, for it is said that qny heir to' the 'Croweat. who sleeps there wi'l never lire till morn- : ing." r " Nonsense! Absurd! An old woman's story," said Dr. Boulton-, a Cambridge Professor who had very cut abd dried opinions on both subject," " Very likely; lam only repeating what I have .heard," said the narrator, rather curtly. "Hts any heir of the Croweat ever died in the;roonj ?" inquired Charlie Bathurst, who had listened open-mouthed; "Ah! It would be interesting to know that," said the. Professor; who seemed personally aggrieved by the story. "Tbe old housekeeper might know. She has lived with the Crowest all her life. If sbe hasn't gone to bed we will ask her to step in," said Mr £ilmer. ring--1 ing the bell. x ■„"•' \ few minutes latpr'tlie^old Isdy curt j seyiug to the door.way^atber abashed by the company, and coughing at the tobacco smoke. The Professor immediately assailed her with question*-** 1 tackl«d her," to use her own expression—w|tb the

obj#et of proving that the itoiywtt • [1 co.i«.;! -a ravth : »i»n,ag evidently *•- ' yarded t!w hauu'ed chamber >is a nort of 1 . family distinction, she did her best to ■ maintain its character. She was forced | to admit, however, that no one had ever i died there within her reeollectiou; that i ,«he had never seen a ghost, nor been witness to any supernatural event in connection with the room; and finally she was brought to confess that the room was unaccountably damp, which was the chief reason of its not having been ultilised. "There ii no mystery whatever you see," laid the Professor, addressing the company when the housekeeper had left the room. "This is an instance of how ghosts are created, A room is shut up for sanitary reasons. It remains closed for a year or two, and then some idler, begins to wag his tongne, and gives wind . to a cock and bull story which soon j developes into a legend, I hope this will . be the last we shall hear of there being a haunted room at Crowest. You ought to make one of the ' servants sleep there, Palmer, and so put an end to this nonsenses. 1' " Perhaps the Professor would like to try the experiment," suggested one of the company .significantly., " I would without hesitation," said the Professor, with evident sincerity; " only I confess that at my age, even in the cause of civilisation, and . the enlightenment of my fellow-creatures, I shrink from sleeping in a damp room. Bheumatism makes a man a coward in such a case." "I will sleep there. By Jove ! I should like to/cried young Bathurst, eagerly. " I would give anything to see a ghost. I never had a real adventure in my life, and this will be something to talk about at mess, at all events." " Pooh! Ilonsense, my boy," said Mr Palmer, laughing, Jike the rest, at the young fellow's eagerness. " What is the good. Besides, you are going away tomorrow.'-. :" .■■ ;': > " Well, lean sleep there fcvnight. Do. letme Mr Palmer! Please do!" urged the lad, who seemed delighted at the pro*.' ipect.' '■■ -:- " ■-• i " But remember the damp. You will catch your death of cold." objected his ■ host. ;/• •'■■■-• " I can bare'a fire, I suppose ? Besides, what is, a,cold P" said the boy with sovereign contempt. ■ '■'. ' ■ •'• Well, you can do as you like, of course, and I will have the. room prepared at once," said Mi^Pnlmer, reluctantly for his hospitable soul was vexed at the idea of a ,• goest pausing an uncomfortable night, even at his own request. " There can be no risk. You are ■ not even the 1 heir of the Crowests." ''' "No such luck," laid the boy; " I wish I were." 11 Besides the story is a vulgar superstition," added , the Professor, convincingly. •Pbnmylword, it's a capital room.' sild the Professor, standing in the middle of it, and looking round approvingly. . " That fire has driven away the damp already." •• I hope so," said Mr Palmer, who was fussing about superintending all the arrangements. " Bat I shouldn't sleep here, my boy, if I were you. A room^ that hasn't been slept in for years can't be , healthy." " Well, here I am, and here I'm going to stay," returned the lad, taking up his stand in front of the fire with an amusing air of proprietorship. " I'll bet you a sovereign, Mr Palmer, I shall sleep as well as you do." The host laughed good-humouredly, and having exchanged "Good night" young Bathurst was at length left in possession of the apartment. He carefully locked the door, and then made a short' tour of inspection. He began to feel a little bit nervous now that he was left alone, for, to tell the truth, the ghost stories lie had heard had rather upset his nerves. His purpose of sleeping in the . room was a piece of boyish, bravado, aris* iug partly from love of adventure and partly from a desire to distinguish himself. He was rather "relieved, therefore, now that it had come to the point, to find nothipg inthe aspect of the room calculated to inspire alarm: He took the precaution.,, however, upon turning into bed, to place 1 Sunder his pillow a neat liltle revolver which, asanewly-fledged officer, ,he carried about with him as part of his person^Uuggaße.' Being thoroughly tired out with the exertions of the day, he soon became drowsy, and, in a remarkably short space of time, was sound asleep. Breakfast at Crowest, under the Palmar regime,'was a pleasant, dawdling meal, Which' lasted till midday. The next morning nearly every one had assembled round the table.at ten o'clock, but Charlie , Bathurst was on© of the absentees. The younger Sties Palmer pouted at this, for >he' cherished ,a sentimental attachment for .the lad, and-felt slighted at his being late on his last morning. But no one else thought anything of the circumstances | —or, indeed, noted it, fcr he was not: famous for. being,an early riser. In the middle of breakfast the poat-bag was brought in. and ajull occurred in the coaverft*ti.)n, broken only by desultory comments uttered by the different members of the party in reference to their correspondence. All of'a sudden tbe hostess looked up from a letter she was reading, aittd* uttered- an exclamation, which attracted general attention. "WhaUsit my dear?" inqaired her husband. ,>^ . ••This it dreadful! I have a letter from Lady Blanche Marchmond—you know who I mean, John ; the Earl of Lindo's daughter who :^ was so civil to. the girls last season—containing the most startling new. This is what she fays," and she proceeded to,read aB follow: — "Youknow, dear Mrs Palmer, that I am not a purveyor of scandal; but I cannot help tailing .you the latest, beoause it will interest you very much, as you are living at Crowest, and I am afraid there is | no doubt it is perfectly true, You know we all thought Lady Crowest very strange and considered-it odd of her to have preferred to live abroad so much, as she was left so well oil. There was always a mystery about her antecedents, but aa she was an American; nobody took any trouble to make inquiries. It now transpires tbat she has been married before, and wbat is worse, her first, husband has turned up. ' He went to the Crowest family solicitors, and wished to be heavily .bribed, but this was, of course, refused, and the affair is, know all over London. No one believes Lady Crowest wilfully committed bigamy; but, I fear she discovered that her husband was alive soon after she married a second time, and concealed the fact froia the Earl. People gay tbat the roan is a great scoundrel, and Lad v Crowcit is rather ttf be pitied; but • the most dreadful-part ofitisthe position of the Earl's poor; children. Here Mri Palmer came to tn abrupt .{op, *nd hvntfly folded up the letter,

|«pp»rently recollecting all of, a «udd a that there were young people present a*. the table. For the same reason, no discussion ensued, but tbe men exchanged glances. There had been vague rumors concerning .Lady Crowest for a long time and tbe news was more startling than surprising. ' ' "Who gets the title now, then?" inquired the Professor, in a matter-of-fact tone, and he turned another part of the paper he was reading. "Hum! Ha! Very sad. Very sad,?" murmured Mr Palmer, rather shocked at the Professor's bluntness. " I suppose it will go to the late Earl's brother ~ poor Jim," replied a local Squire, pleased to be able to supply the information. "Poor chap! He won't live to enjoy it long. He is paralysed, and has softening of the brain. His life isn't worth a year's purchase." " Any family," inquired the Professor, who always liked to thoroughly shift a subject. "No; not even married, nor likely to be, considering he is in a private asylum," returned the Square. . * '•Who, then, is the next .heir?" inquired Mr Palmer, with sudden jnterest. " Why—let me see ? I don't know much about the ramifications of the family, but it must be-rwby, of course ! It ha the young gentleman who is row staying in the house here—Mr Bathurst," said the. Squire, looking up with the air of a man who hjis made' a pleasing discovery. "My goodness me! Do you hear that, Professor?" said Mr Palmer, looking rather uneasy. "He is the heir to the Crowest, and he slept in that room last night. He doesn't seem to have come down yet. Here Jakes," he added, turning to the butler," goat once to Mr Bathhurst's room—the blue room in the north wing—aiid ask when he is coming down." "It is rather a singular coincidence, now you mention it," returned the Professor, evidently struck. • '• But, of course, the legend is all nonsence. He will tell us presently that he never slept better in his life," he added, in a reassuring tone. Bat almost before he had finished speaking, the butler returned, looking rather scared. He had just met one of the footmen, who was just coming to say that Mr Bathurst's room was locked on the inside, and he could not make him hear. ' " Come, some of you!" cried Mr Palmer, starting up, his ruddy face turning suddenly pale. " I hope to God no ill has befallen him." , Followed by several of his guests, Mr Palmer hurried to the corridor in which the young man's room was situate, and made a vigorous onslaught upon the panels of the door with his knuckles, at the same time calling the lad by .name. No answer being returned, a hurried consultation was held, and it was decided to burst open the door; but, fire this could be done, the housekeeper appeared with a duplicate key. With some difficulty the key on the inside was dislodged, and the door opened from without. The host was tbe first to enter the room, and, as he did so, he uttered an exclamation of relief. Tbe young man was apparently sleeping calmly, his face Carried into the pillow. But a closer inspection excited a dreadful suspicion, and it then transpired that the poor lad was cold and dead. On turning down the bedclothes, the cause of his death was at once revealed. By his Bide laid' his little revolver, which had evidently been discharged, for the white sheets of the bed bore a crimson stain. Of course, the painful tragedy was the resnlt of a pure accident, which might have happened to any one impudent enough to sleep with a loaded revolver under his pillow. The Professor, whose nerves were stronger than those of the rest of the party, proceeded to prove this to demonstration then and there. A sudden movement of the sleeper had caused a strain on this particular fold, which brought about the explosion of the weapon, with fatal re* suite. The poor boy's night shirt was scorched and blackened where the stain of blood appeared, showing that the muz zel of the revolver must have been almost touching his body when the fatality oc curred. , The Professsor's theory was... plausible enough, and, in fact, there seemed little doubt that the sad event had come about in the manner suggested;'yet there was not a person present who did not recall to miud the sinister fact that the poor young man had met his death in the room which was said to be fatal to the heirs of the Crbwests. „:-;.■ ,■■..-.; v , : .'; ■...■. ■•■•:■. ' "There will be an inquest, of course/ concluded thY Professor, "and then the cause of death will be so clearly proved, that to connect it with that absurd superstitution will be out of the question."— Truth.