| FACING PAGE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “We both looked in the direction he indicated” | [39] |
| 2 | “Who is that tall, good-looking girl, stella, that i’ve seen following you into the building....” | [63] |
| 3 | “But there are other ghosts—if you like to term them so—that are more troublesome” | [82] |
| 4 | “I looked up, just in time to see the girl flash me a look of subtle warning” | [94] |
| 5 | “The thing came right up to the window, and then raised its face” | [101] |
| 6 | “What gives me the worst fright is a tree....” | [141] |
| 7 | “My god! there’s dick! He’s just behind you” | [167] |
| 8 | “I suddenly caught sight of a large eye” | [205] |
Twenty Years’ Experience
as a Ghost Hunter
CHAPTER I
I COMMENCE MY GHOSTLY INVESTIGATIONS IN DUBLIN
In starting a book of this sort, I believe it is usual to say something about one’s self.
I was born in the ’seventies. My father came from County Limerick, and belonged to the Truagh Castle O’Donnells, who, tracing their descent from Shane Luirg, the elder brother of Niall Garbh, the ancestor of Red Hugh, rightly claim to be the oldest branch of the great clan. He graduated at Trinity College, Dublin, was for some time vicar of a parish near Worcester, and died in Egypt, under mysterious and much discussed circumstances,[1] soon after I came into the world.
My mother was English; she belonged to an old Midland family, and only survived my father a few years.
Although I am generally known as a ghost hunter, needless to say it was not for such a career that I was educated, first of all at Clifton College, then at an Army crammer’s, and finally at Chedwode Crawley’s well-known coaching establishment in Ely Place, Dublin. There I read for the Royal Irish Constabulary, and, attending regularly, remained for a little over two years. I can safely say these two years were two of the happiest I have ever known, for my companions at that time were the nicest set of fellows I have ever met, and amongst them I formed many lifelong friendships.