Regarding this extraordinary incident, as the only feasible explanation of the phenomena Eunice and I had seen, we could arrive at no other conclusion than that the house (once Wolsey Abbey) was haunted by the phantasms of the Abbess Hilda and the Monk Nicholas; and with such an explanation we have had to be content.
NO. XYZ EUSTON ROAD
THE LITTLE OLD WOMAN IN THE
HELIOTROPE SKIRT
Technical form of apparition: Phantasm of the dead
Source of authenticity: Personal experience of author
Cause of haunting: Murder
Of all the most annoying things in this world few are more so than missing one’s train, especially when it happens to be the last in the day.
This unpleasant experience happened to me one evening early in September 1895. I came into Euston just as the 7 P.M. for Northampton—the last train connected with Brixworth—was steaming out of the station—and so, willy-nilly, I had to remain in town all night.
“Where to put up,” now became the absorbing question. I wanted to be close to the station in order to catch the earliest morning train, but, although there were plenty of rich men’s hotels, there seemed a sore dearth of “go-betweens;” it was either five shillings the night or sixpence; Purgatory or Hell: I could see no place that suited ME.
At last after traversing many squares and the more respectable of the side streets, I retraced my steps, eventually alighting on a private and inconsequential looking hotel in Euston Road.