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The Book of Dreams and Ghosts
·
Andrew Lang
227
THE
GREAT
AMHERST
MYSTERY
On
13th
February,
1888,
Mr.
Walter
Hubbell,
an
actor
by
profession,
"being
duly
sworn"
before
a
Notary
Public
in
New
York,
testified
to
the
following
story:--
In
1879
he
was
acting
with
a
strolling
company,
and
came
to
Amherst,
in
Nova
Scotia.
Here
he
heard
of
a
haunted
house,
known
to
the
local
newspapers
as
"The
Great
Amherst
Mystery".
Having
previously
succeeded
in
exposing
the
frauds
of
spiritualism
Mr.
Hubbell
determined
to
investigate
the
affair
of
Amherst.
The
haunted
house
was
inhabited
by
Daniel
Teed,
the
respected
foreman
in
a
large
shoe
factory.
Under
his
roof
were
Mrs.
Teed,
"as
good
a
woman
as
ever
lived";
little
Willie,
a
baby
boy;
and
Mrs.
Teed's
two
sisters,
Jennie,
a
very
pretty
girl,
and
Esther,
remarkable
for
large
grey
eyes,
pretty
little
hands
and
feet,
and
candour
of
expression.
A
brother
of
Teed's
and
a
brother
of
Mrs.
Cox
made
up
the
family.
They
were
well
off,
and
lived
comfortably
in
a
detached
cottage
of
two
storys.
It
began
when
Jennie
and
Esther
were
in
bed
one
night.
Esther
jumped
up,
saying
that
there
was
a
mouse
in
the
bed.
Next
night,
a
green
band-box
began
to
make
a
rustling
noise,
and
then
rose
a
foot
in
the
air,
several
times.
On
the
following
night
Esther
felt
unwell,
and
"was
a
swelling
wisibly
before
the
werry
eyes"
of
her
alarmed
family.
Reports
like
thunder
peeled
through
her
chamber,
under
a
serene
sky.
Next
day
Esther
could
only
eat
"a
small
piece
of
bread
and
butter,
and
a
large
green
pickle".
She
recovered
slightly,
in
spite
of
the
pickle,
but,
four
nights
later,
all
her
and
her
sister's
bed-clothes
flew
off,
and
settled
down
in
a
remote
corner.
At
Jennie's
screams,
the
family
rushed
in,
and
found
Esther
"fearfully
swollen".
Mrs.
Teed
replaced
the
bed-clothes,
which
flew
off
again,
the
pillow
striking
John
Teed
in
the
face.
Mr.
Teed
then
left
the
room,
observing,
in
a
somewhat
unscientific
spirit,
that
"he
had
had
enough
of
it".
The
others,
with
a
kindness
which
did
them
credit,
sat
on
the
edges
of
the
bed,
and
repressed
the
desire
of
the
sheets
and
blankets
to
fly
away.
The
bed,
however,
sent
forth
peels
like
thunder,
when
Esther
suddenly
fell
into
a
peaceful
sleep.
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