I had seen and heard was continually recurring to my mind, and I puzzled myself in vain to account for the apparition. All my consideration served only the more to perplex me. One of the circumstances which occasioned me the greatest surprise in my reflections on the matter was, that so far as I could discover, no one but myself had heard the startling cries, or seen the unearthly figure, the former having been first heard by me at the distance of nearly half a mile, and the latter having passed along the turnpike road, on a night as bright as midday, in the close vicinity of two well populated towns; and even the turnpike-house—though not visible from where I stood—was certainly not five minutes’ sharp walking distant from the copse whence the figure at first appeared to emerge; while the shrieks and screams were loud enough to have been heard in that still night as far as the town itself. And yet no one had heard them!
As I mentioned the circumstance to everybody that I could get to listen to it, in the hope of finding some one who could throw some light on the matter, it is not surprising that several persons should have reminded me of the well-known circumstance that a waggoner had, some years before, had his brains dashed out when passing incautiously behind his load of timber, some of which projected beyond the waggon, and struck him on the head, and that this death occurred exactly at that spot on the road near the copse where the hideous figure I had seen first appeared to me.
Neither need it be doubted that many of these intelligent listeners left me with the full persuasion that I had seen the ghost of the unhappy waggoner dancing a supernatural polka, to an extempore air of his own composition, on the spot where he had left his brains.
One fact alone I obtained worth recording, which trivial as it may appear, and lightly as I then regarded it, will probably, to the philosophic reader, be found of some significance; and let any one who thinks it worth his while to follow me to the end of the story bear it in mind.
Among those to whom I mentioned the affair was the inspecting commander of the coast-guard on this station, a gentleman of much resolution and experience, with whom I had the pleasure of an acquaintance.
He heard my story with much interest, and remarked upon its singularity, adding, that, for some time past, he had observed a great reluctance on the part of his men to visit the stations on that beat; that they always applied to be sent in couples; and although he had not deemed it advisable to take notice of the fact, he had heard rumours of their having been terrified by unusual sights and sounds on those eastward cliffs. From the men, however, I could obtain nothing but evasive and unsatisfactory answers to my questions on the subject, and the result was that the mystery remained entirely unsolved.
CHAPTER III. HYPOTHETICAL.
Courteous reader, we are now about to part company, and I would fain leave upon your mind the impression that the last twenty minutes have been passed in the society of an honest and veracious narrator, to whom you may safely give implicit credence.
This character you say you are readily prepared to allow me, provided that I, on my part, and as a condition precedent, will prove myself worthy of the confidence reposed in me, by at once explaining fully and satisfactorily the circumstances I have related.
Alas! I regret to say that I am unable to secure my good character on these terms, for the simple reason that up to this moment no such full and sufficient explanation has been afforded me. But if you, most searching of cross-examiners, will proceed to inquire whether any idea has presented itself to my mind, by which so singular a phenomenon might possibly be brought within the compass of rationality, I will own that (oddly enough) after several months of perplexity a few words spoken by one whom, to the best of my knowledge, I had never before seen—whose voice I had never before heard, and shall in all probability never hear again, and with whose name I am unacquainted—threw suddenly a faint gleam over what had before been utterly obscure, and suggested the clue to a plausible solution of the problem. It might have been about seven or eight months after the event that I have related, that I was returning from the County Court at Axminster, late on a dark winter evening, and walking my horse up the hill which leads from that town to Hunter’s Lodge, when I was suddenly accosted by a man who appeared to have overtaken me. and who, touching his hat, seemed desirous of entering into conversation.
After a few remarks, he said: “Would your honour like to buy some good brandy?” On this strange question being put to me, I stopped my horse, and turning to the man, said: “Do you know, my friend, that you are putting a question which may get you into difficulty? How do you know but that I am a policeman or an exciseman?”
To this the man replied that he knew I was neither the one nor the other; that he well knew who I was, and entertained no apprehension of risk in making the inquiry: then drawing nearer, and assuming a very confidential manner, he assured me I might rely on the article being of the best description without the least smack of sea water, and that he would be able to procure me any quantity I might wish for within a day or two; “For,” added he, in conclusion, “we last week made a capital run just under Black Venn.”
Dear reader: If this little episode does not furnish you, as it did me, with some elucidation both of the brainless Waggoner’s Polka and of the nocturnal terrors which appear to have successfully scared the coast guard, your imagination is a less vivid one than I am willing to give you credit for possessing. For my own part, I will only add, that the mention of the singular name “Black Venn” (recalling, as it instantly did, the adventure of my moonlight walk), coupled with the accommodating proposal of my unknown friend, suggested to me the hypothesis, that the apparition was probably not a messenger from the spirit world, although in close connection with the world of spirits.