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Blue Goethe's Treasure
Dy W. A. Sweeney
No doubt, because MoCossao was a Scotsman, the strange business of the oadaverous stranger in the village inn happened to him and would not. perhaps. happen to anybody; for though a man who kneI the exact commercial value of anything down to a sneeze, he had the strange gift of his race for frateniizing with witches and wer- loclrl and"'thlngs that go bump Ln the night." Years in the tar- llung outposts, among niggers and tigers, had done nothing w lessen his faith in kelpies, and to such lien it ia given. sometimes. to look an things denied to other men.
His gifts, however, could be at times a trifle disconcerting. Mc- Oossen. though a hard-headed man in business, as has been said. had a Celtic trick of reading omens and signs and portents into the most ordinary happenings. so that when spending a week-end with him. for “ample, you would find him re- garding you with a shake of the head when he caught you button- ing up your shirt on a Sunday with your left hand instead of your right. It is on record, even. that he turned as white as a. sheet once when a. friend of his whistled while passing a cross-eyed “Timon 0n I! wet Friday afternoon.
He was on leave from his teak torests and elephants, once, and. round about Christmas. he IWM himself, like many outposts‘ work- sra. rather; lonely. For this reason he decided to pass the seasonable period visiting a few historic coun- try spots in his native land, for he ivas a man interested in ancient architecture and its history. 8nd the gloomier and more tragic the history the more impassioned was McCossan. Thus it ivas Ciirwmas Eve found him in the lonely vil- lage in which Whither Heather Castle was situated.
He was sitting in a corner of the parlour of The Castle Arms, poii dering over his bee: and Whither Heather Castle, which he had just visited, when a stranger approached and stood beside him.
Now, McCossan was sure that a moment or two before there had been nobody in the parlour but him and the landlord, having got tired oi yawning in the opening through Ii-"hich he pushed the drinks from the main bar, had retired to some mysterious regions for more com- ylete repose. Yet, without hearing t sound MwCossan looked up. and more was the stranger standing
looking down on him. He was a pug. i-ndaverous, ciean-shaveri man of about sixty, dressed in a faded f ock-coat, black trousers innocent c.’ crease as those in the photo- graphs of our great-grandfathers, and wore an old-fashioned. low- crowned top-hat. At his neck ap-
"Yes." said Mac_ "I am interested in old houses and castles. Particu- ;arly if they have a reputation for being haunted. You are from these parts no doubt. and you pro- bably know a lot about it."
"I do," he replied. "Were W" poking for the treasure. too?"
"I didn't know there ~\\-as a treasure." said ‘Mac. interested. "Sit down, will you and tell me about it” '
He sat down and Mac clapped his hands for the landlord. He looked at the stranger iiiqiiirimly-
“A pint of ale," said the latter with decision.
"Yes." he said, after he had re- freshed himself. ',Whither Heath- er Castle has a treasure as well as a ghost. It has always had botl". -for centuries now. You know it was inhabited up till a few years ago?"
"That I know. Lord stivinhugh‘: family lived there."
“Precisely. You never heard of any crime connected with it in more or less recent times, I daresay?" he went ori. "No story of smother- lng_ or any such thing?"
‘N01’ said Mac. all interest now. He noticed the other iiad already finished the puit of ale and he called for another.
“For years-centuries." began the honey stranger, "the castle was haunted by the ghost of Sir Lance~ lot Stivinhugh, who perished in i542 with a dagger in his dia- phragm. He haunted the castle dressed in blue and was known as iiie Blue Spectre. The circumstan- ces surrounding his being con- demned to haunt the castle are worthy oi‘ your attention. In his lifetime he was incur-ably avaric- ious. Very fond of money. he was. He murdered his wife's father for his money, and afterwards smother- ed his wife. with a pillow. to get at a legacy due to her from an aunt,
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the Countess Anne of Swiggen. I place in the border country. After- wards he pillaged a few rich land- owners round about and then. having amassed a tidy pile_ as you can imagine, buried the lot in a secret hiding place within the castle grounds. Yes, I shall have another pint.“
Mao waited until he had re~ freshed himself anew and saw him Jght an old-fashioned clay pipe.
"The trouble began after centur ies." he continued, thoughtfully "When you don't know a thing ex- ists you don't miss it —and that was the wav with Sir Lancelot l-le‘ became discontented when they installed central heating in some ti the other castles and haunted houses in the region. I forgot to explain mat he wascondemned to haunt the castle because of his a- iarice and could have no rest un- ii‘. he had disclosed the hiding place or his buried gold. ‘ma lys- tem is quite common."
"I beg your pardon?" said Mc- Cossan in amazement.
"I said the system is quite com man," he repeated, raising his ioice.
"Well. by some means or other ne found out about central heat- ‘iig for the winter and cooling de- vices for the summer. and, as he was stifled in the family vault during the hot weather and shiver- ed like a jelly all during the winter. he ivondered. irritably, Why the deuce his descendants didn't do. like everybody else and lnstal these things. It didn't seem to occur to him that lie himself was to blame. for, as his miserlliiess even after Iie was a ghost had prevented him from disclosing the buried trees. ure. his descendants had hardly eiwuzh money to buy matches. not to speak of heating a castle." "Wil1 you have another pint?" asked Mac. faintly, as he noticed Eiis companions pot was empty a- gain. and he was regarding it with a fixed stare.
“I Will." he said. “Well. as time u-ent ‘fl-DO doubt the passing of the lvars had something to do ivzth it-he grew more and more petulant and got up to all kinds of tricks. for he was always full of cunning. If there was ice-cream in the kitchen in the summertime half of it was always missing and the cook never understood why. sir Lancelot had ri mind to speak to the occupant of the place - the late Lord Stlvlnhugh -but that gentleman aiawys passed him by without the slightest notice. No viorider, when he couldn't see him.
"Things were coming to a crisis with the Old man — I meal] [hg 131W SDectre - when one night he stood angrily by tho bedside o! '7; late Lord Stivinhugh and sigh- e . “The Wind's rising.‘ said Lord Stivinhugh. ‘I only hope it doesn't get bad enough to blow anything dorm. We can't afford it,’
"The Blue Spectre ground his teeth in annoyance at being mie- taken for wind, and Lady Stivin. hugh said:
" ‘The creaking of this rotten old hole is getting on my nerves, Her- bert. Can't you have it all oiled or something?’
"‘I would if I had the money for the oil.’ said Lord Btivinhugh. with a bitter laugh.
“You don't mean to lay we're as bad as all that?" gasped her ladyship. . “Worse! replied her husband. ‘The fact is, Matilda. we haven't a cent. The only thing I can think of to do is to try and sell this darned old barracks and I'm We in; to start tomorrow.‘
"Quivering with rage at being taken for a creaking noise sir Lancelot stood there (invisible to them, of course, for it was only on certain nights of the year -—Chirist- mas Eve, for example -that they could see him) and hissed at them like a serpent.
"The draughts are enough to blow your nose out through the back of your head,‘ grunted lord Stivinhugh, rising from his bed. with curses, to see to the win» dows.
"Choking with anger Sir Lance. lot went back to the family vault and, looking around his familiar anddismal dwelling place Wm.
to take some steps. From scraps of conversation lie had overheard it seemed decidedly improbable that Lordstivinliugh would ever find a buyer for Whither Heather Castle.
" ‘In which case.‘ said Sir Lance- lot. wrapping his shroud round him. preparatory to getting down for the night. '1 shall have to haunt a ruin and I'll be worse off than ever.’
"The simple solution was. of course. to show Lord Sllvinhllgh where the buried treasure was, but as I said. Sir Lancelovs avarice had kept him there haunting in acute discomfort for over four hundred years. and it was unlikely he would disgorge his gold now without a wrench."
Again Mac's strange friend pause-i and again he noticed he had con- sumad another pint. He waved silently to the landlord.
"As the winter progressed. how- ever," the narrator continued pry- aritLv. "he decided that his proa- ant conditions were intolerable, and that the cold would kill him if Ill had in pass the entire season there. and. seeing lord Btivliahu h wandering diaconsolsteiy thro h the cutie grounds one afternoon he waited till ha was a little way Off. and than. lrnoaiine dorm- oarthod an old moss-covered atone that disclosed the IQ! of one of the coffers he hfd buried about four hundred yaara before. It ie7
right in Lord ativlnhughb path,
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sud a little later he was tugging at it like an elephant uprooiing a. tree. and shou& hysterically for his wife. Sir Lancelot watched them with a certain amount of anguish but, lnywny, lg mum, 1°.- oim. soodbre w a miserable exis- tence." _
The strollers‘ paused and looked ai Mt-Couan fixedly. “And now," he said, "1 am coming to the most remarkable part oi the his- Wll’. You would think lprd Btiv~ nihuzh would have repaired the cutie with that fortune, installed central heating, eleetrle (gm, ma‘ so forth. Well, he did nothing of the kind. 8e hemmed and hawed Ind put things off when his wife mentioned the matter. Don't forget ha was a descendant of Sir lance. lot. The more lie thought ovar- it the more the idea of sharing si: "ill M95?! "W! M47 lflvinhfllh been!!! ‘distasteful is him. Ant gut are day fr“. t: “xhat he
"C was a I willful ides-duel he 8o Quietly onetim- fi 5Q Ill-h I Pillow. e0 lhe was having e up in the afternoon. llld 0! course. be was-never suspected. Milt that bl-Nilied the mu
pleas. Ill now
atrl Mac gazed ‘at him w-ondrhgly.
"May I ask how you know ail ibis?" he asked.
The other arose. buttoned his black frock coat, glanced down to I99 l-hli there was no more bee." iii his pot leant forward. looked into ‘Mac's eyes, and said:
"Because l am Lord Stivinliughb ghost," and stalked majestically from the bar parlour.
Well llcCossan sat pondering iii a profound Celtic amazement over all this for a while. and then look- ed up to find that the landlord was regarding him from behind his little opening. -I
“Had a good nap?" ho inquired cheerfully.
"Nan?" repeated Mwoeaan. “What do you mean-nap?"
-“'fliou at I saw you dozing." laid the laq .
U" MING at him and then star» Ii st the other pin-pot opposite hle- l0 414 till lwillvrd. W640!!!" 1v. 0M. somewhat pulaiod. caeia 6W. lifted it and carried it away.
"Didn't see that cam-r wt there," he murmured
New. reflected the bewildered
fiftieth. oomte the invincible “fir mush do 1 ewe you!" be
like! sleal- » 0a bee only the eea pin "
'1 rlhlid the landlord. noodles wards hla pot. ' TB
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