Page 61 - Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained Vol. 3

Ghosts and Phantoms 41

before the household went to bed, and with a person in mortal agony. She was too fright-
brief intermissions were heard until after broad ened to move, but she felt secure in the
day in the morning. Mary Ricketts could fre- knowledge that her brother and his servant
quently distinguish articulate sounds. Usually a were quite capable of handling any monster.
shrill female voice would begin, and then two
others with deeper and manlike tones joined
in the discourse. Although the conversation
often sounded as if it were taking place close to PAST wrongs doings began to form a chain of evil
her, she never could distinguish actual words.
at Hinton Ampner.
At last, Mary Ricketts appealed to her
brother, the Earl St. Vincent, to come to her
aid. Earlier, he had spent a few days at Hinton
Ampner and had heard nothing, but now the When her brother awakened the next
urgency in his sister’s letter convinced him afternoon, Mary quickly questioned him about
that whatever was troubling her was real—at the struggle that she heard the night before.
least to her and the servants. When the Earl The Earl St. Vincent frowned and shook his
St. Vincent arrived at the mansion, he had in head in disbelief. He had heard no shot nor
his company a well-armed manservant. The any of the terrible groaning.
earl was convinced that some disrespectful
pranksters had conspired to annoy his sister The earl himself was forced to experience
and her household, and he was determined to the frustration of hearing sounds that no one
deal out swift justice. Captain Luttrell, a else could perceive on the next day. He was
neighbor of the Rickettses, joined in this cam- lying in his bed, having just awakened from his
paign to exorcise the spooks. Captain Luttrell afternoon’s sleep, when he heard a sound as if
was familiar with the old legends of the area an immense weight had fallen through the
and had accepted the possibility of a supernat- ceiling to the floor. He leaped out of bed, fully
ural agency at work, but he had volunteered expecting to see a gaping hole in both ceiling
his services to determine the cause of the dis- and floor. There was not the slightest splinter,
turbances, regardless of their origin. nor had anyone else in the mansion heard the
crash. Even his servant, who slept in the bed-
The three armed men were kept on the go
room directly below, had heard nothing.
all night by the sound of doors opening and
slamming. Mary Ricketts’s brother became a The earl insisted that his sister leave at
believer in the world unseen. He soon con- once, and, because he was unable to stay at
cluded that the disturbances were definitely Hinton Ampner any longer, he ordered his
not the results of any human activity. Captain Lieutenant of Marines to the mansion to assist
Luttrell declared that Hinton Ampner was Mary in her moving chores and to maintain
unfit for human occupancy and urged Mary the nightly watch. Mary Ricketts gave notice
Ricketts to move out at once. to her landlord, Lady Hillsborough, and imme-
The Earl St. Vincent agreed with his sis- diately set the servants to work packing trunks
ter’s neighbor, but he realized that she could and bags. The night after her brother left, she
not quit the house so easily. She needed a cer- and the entire household heard a crash such as
tain amount of time to notify her husband and the one that he had described. The crash was
landlord of her decision, and the necessary followed by several piercing shrieks, dying
preparations had to be made to obtain a differ- away as though sinking into the earth.
ent house. He told Mary that he would stand To disguise her fear, the nurse flippantly
guard every night for a week, sleeping by day remarked how pleasant the sound was and
and watching by night.
how she would love to hear more noises such
The brother had maintained his vigil for as that. The unfortunate woman was troubled
about three nights when Mary was awakened with horrid screaming and groaning in her
by the sound of a pistol shot and the groans of room every night until the household moved.

The Gale Enc y clopedia of the Unusu al and Unexplained