'Carolina!What'sthematter?'
'OBaptista!O,fortheLord'ssake!whereismymistress?'
'Mistress,Carolina?'
'Gonesincemorning-toldme,whenmasterwentoutonhisday'sjourney,nottocallher,forshewastiredwithnotrestinginthenight(havingbeeninpain),andwouldlieinbeduntiltheevening;thengetuprefreshed。Sheisgone!-sheisgone!
Masterhascomeback,brokendownthedoor,andsheisgone!Mybeautiful,mygood,myinnocentmistress!'
Theprettylittleonesocried,andraved,andtoreherselfthatI
couldnothaveheldher,butforherswooningonmyarmasifshehadbeenshot。Mastercameup-inmanner,face,orvoice,nomorethemasterthatIknew,thanIwashe。Hetookme(Ilaidthelittleoneuponherbedinthehotel,andleftherwiththechamber-women),inacarriage,furiouslythroughthedarkness,acrossthedesolateCampagna。Whenitwasday,andwestoppedatamiserablepost-house,allthehorseshadbeenhiredtwelvehoursago,andsentawayindifferentdirections。Markme!bytheSignorDellombra,whohadpassedthereinacarriage,withafrightenedEnglishladycrouchinginonecorner。
Ineverheard(saidtheGenoesecourier,drawingalongbreath)
thatshewasevertracedbeyondthatspot。AllIknowis,thatshevanishedintoinfamousoblivion,withthedreadedfacebesideherthatshehadseeninherdream。
'WhatdoyoucallTHAT?'saidtheGermancourier,triumphantly。
'Ghosts!TherearenoghostsTHERE!Whatdoyoucallthis,thatI
amgoingtotellyou?Ghosts!TherearenoghostsHERE!'
Itookanengagementonce(pursuedtheGermancourier)withanEnglishgentleman,elderlyandabachelor,totravelthroughmycountry,myFatherland。Hewasamerchantwhotradedwithmycountryandknewthelanguage,butwhohadneverbeentheresincehewasaboy-asIjudge,somesixtyyearsbefore。
HisnamewasJames,andhehadatwin-brotherJohn,alsoabachelor。Betweenthesebrotherstherewasagreataffection。
Theywereinbusinesstogether,atGoodman'sFields,buttheydidnotlivetogether。Mr。JamesdweltinPolandStreet,turningoutofOxfordStreet,London;Mr。JohnresidedbyEppingForest。
Mr。JamesandIweretostartforGermanyinaboutaweek。Theexactdaydependedonbusiness。Mr。JohncametoPolandStreet(whereIwasstayinginthehouse),topassthatweekwithMr。
James。But,hesaidtohisbrotheronthesecondday,'Idon'tfeelverywell,James。There'snotmuchthematterwithme;butI
thinkIamalittlegouty。I'llgohomeandputmyselfunderthecareofmyoldhousekeeper,whounderstandsmyways。IfIgetquitebetter,I'llcomebackandseeyoubeforeyougo。IfIdon'tfeelwellenoughtoresumemyvisitwhereIleaveitoff,whyYOU
willcomeandseemebeforeyougo。'Mr。James,ofcourse,saidhewould,andtheyshookhands-bothhands,astheyalwaysdid-andMr。Johnorderedouthisold-fashionedchariotandrumbledhome。
Itwasonthesecondnightafterthat-thatistosay,thefourthintheweek-whenIwasawokeoutofmysoundsleepbyMr。Jamescomingintomybedroominhisflannel-gown,withalightedcandle。
Hesatuponthesideofmybed,andlookingatme,said:
'Wilhelm,IhavereasontothinkIhavegotsomestrangeillnessuponme。'
Ithenperceivedthattherewasaveryunusualexpressioninhisface。
'Wilhelm,'saidhe,'IamnotafraidorashamedtotellyouwhatI
mightbeafraidorashamedtotellanotherman。Youcomefromasensiblecountry,wheremysteriousthingsareinquiredintoandarenotsettledtohavebeenweighedandmeasured-ortohavebeenunweighableandunmeasurable-orineithercasetohavebeencompletelydisposedof,foralltime-eversomanyyearsago。I
havejustnowseenthephantomofmybrother。'
Iconfess(saidtheGermancourier)thatitgavemealittletinglingofthebloodtohearit。
'Ihavejustnowseen,'Mr。Jamesrepeated,lookingfullatme,thatImightseehowcollectedhewas,'thephantomofmybrotherJohn。Iwassittingupinbed,unabletosleep,whenitcameintomyroom,inawhitedress,andregardingmeearnestly,passeduptotheendoftheroom,glancedatsomepapersonmywriting-desk,turned,and,stilllookingearnestlyatmeasitpassedthebed,wentoutatthedoor。Now,Iamnotintheleastmad,andamnotintheleastdisposedtoinvestthatphantomwithanyexternalexistenceoutofmyself。IthinkitisawarningtomethatIamill;andIthinkIhadbetterbebled。'
Igotoutofbeddirectly(saidtheGermancourier)andbegantogetonmyclothes,begginghimnottobealarmed,andtellinghimthatIwouldgomyselftothedoctor。Iwasjustready,whenweheardaloudknockingandringingatthestreetdoor。Myroombeinganatticattheback,andMr。James'sbeingthesecond-floorroominthefront,wewentdowntohisroom,andputupthewindow,toseewhatwasthematter。
'IsthatMr。James?'saidamanbelow,fallingbacktotheoppositesideofthewaytolookup。
'Itis,'saidMr。James,'andyouaremybrother'sman,Robert。'
'Yes,Sir。Iamsorrytosay,Sir,thatMr。Johnisill。Heisverybad,Sir。Itisevenfearedthathemaybelyingatthepointofdeath。Hewantstoseeyou,Sir。Ihaveachaisehere。Praycometohim。Praylosenotime。'
Mr。JamesandIlookedatoneanother。'Wilhelm,'saidhe,'thisisstrange。Iwishyoutocomewithme!'Ihelpedhimtodress,partlythereandpartlyinthechaise;andnograssgrewunderthehorses'ironshoesbetweenPolandStreetandtheForest。
Now,mind!(saidtheGermancourier)IwentwithMr。Jamesintohisbrother'sroom,andIsawandheardmyselfwhatfollows。
Hisbrotherlayuponhisbed,attheupperendofalongbed-
chamber。Hisoldhousekeeperwasthere,andotherswerethere:I
thinkthreeotherswerethere,ifnotfour,andtheyhadbeenwithhimsinceearlyintheafternoon。Hewasinwhite,likethefigure-necessarilyso,becausehehadhisnight-dresson。Helookedlikethefigure-necessarilyso,becausehelookedearnestlyathisbrotherwhenhesawhimcomeintotheroom。
But,whenhisbrotherreachedthebed-side,heslowlyraisedhimselfinbed,andlookingfulluponhim,saidthesewords:
'JAMES,YOUHAVESEENMEBEFORE,TO-NIGHT-ANDYOUKNOWIT!'
Andsodied!
Iwaited,whentheGermancourierceased,tohearsomethingsaidofthisstrangestory。Thesilencewasunbroken。Ilookedround,andthefivecouriersweregone:sonoiselesslythattheghostlymountainmighthaveabsorbedthemintoitseternalsnows。Bythistime,Iwasbynomeansinamoodtositaloneinthatawfulscene,withthechillaircomingsolemnlyuponme-or,ifImaytellthetruth,tositaloneanywhere。SoIwentbackintotheconvent-
parlour,and,findingtheAmericangentlemanstilldisposedtorelatethebiographyoftheHonourableAnaniasDodger,hearditallout。