A REMARKABLE GHOST STORY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10063, 9 June 1910, Page 7

A REMARKABLE GHOST STORY.

The newspapers m Lisbon devote ! considerable attention to what must ; surely be one of the most remarkable j 4 ghost stories" cf recent years. The j incidents|re!ated are said to have oc- j cjrred at residence, near Coimbra, of an elderly judge, a large rambling mansion, chosen by its present resident largely on account of its isolation. [v£The gentleman in question recently married a young wife, and it was just previous to the marriage that he rented the house, which was destined to prove so troublesome a property, and to which the couple retired soon afterwards. The old gentleman was a hiavy sleeper, but his young wife was alarmed by strange noises almost immediately after they had arrived at the placenoises of knocking upon windows, opening and shutting of doors, ar.d of footsteps alonfe' the corridor?-, ' which were audible only after all t lights had been putjout for the night, j For a time she said nothing to her i husband, fearing that he would only I laugh at her fancies, but when an j intimate friend of the family chanced to call, she confided to him her | fears and assured hun that if the I noises continued she would go ma! i The friend thereupon agrsed to • keep watch one night outside the couple's bedroom without sajing anything to the husband on the subject. Immediately the lights were out the strange noises were heard, and t the watcher felt assured that the \ footsteps were approaching him in the corridor. Suddenly the beJroum door was flung open by some mvk-;' ible agency, and the husband awoke to the sound of his- wife's screams. She had jumped terror-stricken from the bed, and outside in the corridor the husband found lh:ir friend hitting out wildly at some invisible object. All noisea had, however, ceased the moment the light was struck, and considerable explanation was required to convince the old man that nothing more serious than a ghost story was the cause of the strange scene. The following night the husband and friend watched together, and as soon as the lights were extinguished they were aware of the strange manifestations. Suddenly the husband lelfc a smart box on the ears, and hit out sharply in reply. His friend struck a light, and nothing was to be scan or heard. As.the match died down souDds were again heard, proceeding apparently from a room opposite tp the bedrojm. Th; two men°opened the door and rushed in, but; hardly had they entered than when the door was sbmraei behind! them, and they found it locked- A shrill scream of terror was heard from the wife, now alone in her bedroom, and, rushing at it with [all their force, the men burst open the door and ran into the other roorn, to find the woman in a awonn on the fiuor. The judge and his wife left the placa next day, unable to face the. unknown a:.d unseen terror again, and the young wife is stated to be in a ssrious condition a3 the re- ] suit of her terrible experiences. The police were informed of the matter and three men were set to watch for a night in the rnunted ; bedroom and along the coridor, but j shortly after the lights had been exi tinguished the man stationed in the i corridor was JJaeard wildly shouting, and the others,on going to his assistance, found him hammering wildly at the wails, qui'e insane. An ex. traordinary feature of the manifestations, if the newspapers may be relied upon, is that the servants, who have slept in another wi-ng of the house, have- never heard the slightest noise or witnessed anything 1 unusual until the , night when they were aroubsd by the strugßle in the beorcom.