OLD sAKxr.v. 30:V 



dire, (lis le maintenaiit, et pas l)it6t I'' There was no reply, 

 and as his nerves were eonsiderably shaken he hastily gathered 

 up his lantern and the furze he had chopped, left the barn 

 and hastened to the stable, where he attended to his cow and 

 beat a retreat to his farm-house which is close by. His 

 wife who was still up noticed his agitation, and on asking what 

 was the matter he told her what luid occurred. She laughed 

 at him, but nevertheless did not accept his offer to accompany 

 him to the ])uilding to see if she would hear or see anything 

 herself. He is accustomed to take a bowl of milk and bread 

 before retiring, but he acknowledged to the writer that, 

 although far from being a nervous man, his hands shook so 

 much that he had great trouble that night to eat his frugal 

 meal. He is positive that what he heard really took place, 

 and is confirmed in his statement by his old neighbours re- 

 marking that sooner or later they knew he would see or hear 

 something in the old barn that would be far from agreeable. 



The Animated Bedstead. 



Here is another story which was related to the Avriter 

 some years back by a gentleman residing at the Castel : — 



There is yet standing not far from Perelle Bay an old 

 house, one of whose rooms has the unenviable reputation of 

 being haunted. The owner died, as I shall relate further on, 

 and left the house with other pi-operty to some distant rela- 

 tions. They accepted the legacy and took up their residence 

 in the house. This was many years ago. For some reason 

 which they never divulged they closed up one of the bedrooms, 

 although they left its original furniture just as it was. After 

 a while they decided to remove to another parish, and let the 

 house to some other people, but reduced the rent on the under- 

 standing that the room which had been closed for many years 

 was not occupied. The undertaking was mutually agreed to 

 and the tenants moved in, but religiously left the room alone, 

 and made no attempt to disturb anything that was in it. For 

 a long period all went well and nothing troubled them. At 

 last the new occupiers of the house received a visit from 

 some friends Avho were going to stay with them a few days. 

 Being rathei* limited for accommodation, the host decided to 

 put two of the male friends in the haunted room, but said 

 nothing about its evil reputation. A new mattress and bed- 

 clothing were laid on the bedstead, an old-fashioned and very 

 lieavy maliogany affair, and the two friends were conducted to 

 the chamber, where they undressed and got into bed. They 

 slept well and undisturbed for a short time, when they were 



