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Animal Ghosts or Animal Hauntings and the Hereafter by Elliott O'Donnell
I CATS
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"It happened then in this wise. I will quote from my diary:--
"_Monday, October 11th_.--Dick--that is my brother-in-law--and I, at 11 p.m., were sitting smoking and chatting together in the study. All the rest of the household had gone to bed. We had no light in the room--as Dick had a headache--save the fire, and that had burned so low that its feeble glimmering scarcely enabled us to see each other's face. After a space of sudden and thoughtful silence, Dick took the stump of a cigar from his lips and threw it in the grate, where for a few moments it lay glowing in the gloom.
"'Jack,' he said, 'you will think me mad, but there is something deuced queer about this room to-night--something in the atmosphere I cannot define, but which I have never felt here--or indeed anywhere--before. Look at that cigar-end--look!'
"I did so, and received a shock. What I saw was certainly not the stump Dick had had in his mouth, but an eye--a large, red and lurid eye--that looked up at us with an expression of the utmost hate.
"Dick raised the shovel and struck at it, but without effect--it still glared at us. A great horror then seized us, and unable to remove our gaze from the hellish thing, we sat glued to our chairs staring at it. This state of affairs lasted till the clock in the hall outside struck twelve, when the eye suddenly vanished, and we both felt as if some intensely evil influence had been suddenly removed.
"Dick did not like the idea of sleeping alone, and asked if he might keep the electric light on in his room all night. Tremendous extravagance, but under the circumstances excusable. I confess I devoutly wished it was morning.
"_Tuesday, October 12th._--I was awakened at 11.30 p.m. by Delia saying to me, 'Oh, Edward, there have been such dreadful noises on the landing, just as if a cat were being worried to death by dogs. Hark! there it is again.' And as she spoke, from apparently just outside the door, came a series of loud screeches, accompanied by savage growls and snarls.
"Not knowing what to make of it, as we had no animals of our own in the house, but concluding that a door or window having been left open, a dog and cat had got in from outside, I lit a candle, and opened the bedroom door. Instantly the sounds ceased and there was dead silence, and although I searched everywhere, not a vestige of any animal was to be seen. Moreover all the doors leading into the garden were shut and locked, and the windows closed. Not wishing to frighten Delia, I laughingly assured her the cat--a black Tom--was all right, that it was sitting on the roof of the summer-house, looking none the worse for its treatment, and that I had sent the dog--a terrier--flying out of the gate with a well-deserved kick. I explained it was my fault about the front door being left open--my brain had been a bit overstrained through excessive work--and asked her on no account to blame the servants. I grow alarmed at times when I realize how easy lawyering makes lying.
"_Friday, October 21st._--On my way to bed last night I encountered a rush of icy cold air at the first bend of the staircase. The candle flared up, a bright blue flame, and went out. Something--an animal of sorts--came tearing down the stairs past me, and on peering over the banisters, I saw, looking up at me from the well of darkness beneath, two big red eyes, the counterparts of the one Dick and I had seen on October 11th. I threw a matchbox at them, but without effect. It was only when I switched on the electric light that they disappeared. I searched the house most carefully, but there were no signs of any animal. Joined Delia, feeling nervous and henpecky.
"_Monday, November 7th._--Tom and Mable came running into Delia's room in a great state of excitement after tea to-day. 'Mother!' they cried, 'Mother! Do come! Some horrid dog has got a cat in the spare room and is tearing it to pieces.' Delia, who was mending my socks at the time, flung them anywhere, and springing to her feet, flew to the spare room. The door was shut, but proceeding from within was the most appalling pandemonium of screeches and snarls, just as if some dog had got hold of a cat by the neck and was shaking it to death. Delia swung open the door and rushed in. The room was empty--not a trace of a cat or dog anywhere--and the sounds ceased! On my return home Delia met me in the garden. 'Jack!' she said, 'I have probed the mystery at last. The house is haunted! We must leave.'