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they looked at him with disdain, mixed with abhorrence, as men look upon a reptile; but on hearing what he said, they retired with him into an angle of the church which stands in the middle of the main street, where all the three stood debating for nearly an hour. There were hundreds of eyes saw this; for it was market-day, and all their motions were well-remembered afterwards. They were manifestly entering into some agreement, for it was noted that the fiery and impatient soldier, after turning several times on his heel, as if to go away, at length held out his hand to Tibbers, which the latter, after a good deal of hesitation, struck, as people do on concluding a bargain. They went through the same motion a second and a third time, and then it appeared that the agreement was settled, for all the three went away together towards the river which runs not above two bowshots from the spot where they were standing. They were seen to go all three into a boat by some people who were at that instant crossing the ferry to the market. The boat had a sail, and was managed by two seamen whom none of the party knew, and she immediately bore down the river before the wind.

I have been the more minute in these particulars, because they are the only ones known on which positive conjectures could be grounded. It was judged probable by those who witnessed the transaction, that, in order to get quit of the young man's insolence and upbraidings, Tibbers might have prof fered him a good part of his father's estate again, in order to enjoy the rest in tranquillity. But then these people knew nothing of the hideous discovery made, and which it is quite manifest could not then, nor ever after, have been revealed. But what strengthened the people's conjcture most, was this. The she

was known to be that day down at the village on the quay, five miles below the town, taking evi

dence on some disputed goods, and the greyhounds and terriers of the law along with him; and it was thought that, in order to strike the iron while it was hot, the parties had gone down forthwith to have their agreement ratified.

They did not, however, call either on the sheriff or any of the writers, nor has the young baronet or his friend ever been more heard of, either alive or dead, unto this day. Their horses remained at the hotel, which created some alarm; but no person could perceive any danger to which the young gentleman could have been exposed. At what time Tibbers returned to his own house, was not known; but it was nearly a week before he was discovered there, and then so frightfully altered was he in his appearance, that scarcely any person could have recognised him for the same man. He had, moreover, a number of wounds upon him. Strong suspi-, cions were raised against him. The common people were clamorous beyond measure; and the consequence was, that he was seized and examined, but nothing could be made out against him to warrant his commitment. In his declaration, he stated, that he had bribed the young man with almost every farthing he himself was worth, to go once more abroad, and not return to Scotland again during his (Mr. Tibbers's) life, and that he had gone accordingly. He stated farther, that he had gone and seen him aboard before paying him the money, and that Alexander M'Gill was with him when he left him; whether he went abroad with him he could not tell; but they had plenty of money to carry them both to any part of the known world.

There was a plausibility in this statement, as there was in every statement that Tibbers made. Still it was far from being satisfactory to the friends of the young gentleman. He could neither tell the name of the ship nor the name of the captain with whom they sailed, but pre

tended that they made choice of the vessel themselves; and he took no heed to either the ship or the master. A reward was offered for the discovery of the two boatmen. They were never discovered; and with this vague statement and suspicious detail of circumstances, people were obliged to rest satisfied for the present, presuming, that in the common course of events, the darkest shades in which they were involved would be brought to light.

They never have as yet been disclosed by any of those common concatenations of circumstances which so often add infallibly to the truth. But the hand of the Almighty, whose cye never either slumbers or sleeps, was manifestly extended to punish William Tibbers, though for what crime or crimes I dare not infer. The man became a terror to himself and to all who beheld him; and certainly, if he was not haunted, as the people said, by a ghost, or some vengeful spirit, he was haunted by an evil conscience, whose persecutions were even more horrible to endure. There were two men hired to watch with him every night, and his cries during that season were often dreadful to hear. These men did sometimes speak of sayings that tended to criminate him, more ways than one; but the words of a person in that state of excitement, or rather derangement, no man can lay hold of. By day he was composed, and walked about by himself, and sometimes made a point of attending to his secular concerns. But wherever he showed his face, all were struck with dumb amazement, an indefinable feeling of terror which words cannot describe. It was as if a cold tremor had seized on the vitals, and frozen up the genial currents of their souls. He was a Magur-missabub; an alien in the walks of humanity, from whom the spirits of the living revolted, and the spirits of the dead attached themselves.

But one day it so happened that this man of horrors was missing,

and could no where be found; nor could any one be found who had seen him, save a crazy old woman, named Bessy Rieves, and of her account the keepers could make nothing.

"Did you see aught of our master going this way, Bessy?"

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Aye, aye! the dead tells nae tales, or there wad be plenty o' news o' Willie Tibbers, the day. There wad be a sister an' a daughter, a baronet and a young gentleman, an' a poor harmless gardener-lad into the bargain; a huddled out o' sight to hide the crimes o' ane! Aye, aye, the grave's a good silencer for telltales, an' a deposit for secrets that winna keep; but a voice may come frae the grave, an' a lesson frae the depths of the sea to teach the sinner his errors. saw Willie Tibbers; an' I saw a❞ thae waitin' on him. He's in braw company the day! But he had better be in the lions' den or on the mountains of the leopard. Aye, he had better hae been in the claws o' the teegar than in yon bonny company. The pains o' the body are naething, but it is an awfu' thing to hae the soul sawn asunder! Ye may gang up the hill an' down the hill, ower the hill an' roun' the hill, but ye'll never find the poor castaway that gate. Gang ye to M'Arrow's grave the night, and note the exact spot that the moon rises at ; and when ye gang there ye will either find Willie Tibbers or ane unco like him."

The men took no notice of this raving, but continued the search; and all the domestics and retainers of the family were soon scattered over the country, and sought till the next night, but found nothing. That night the words of daft Bessy came to be discussed, and some of those present judged it worth while to take a note of the place, which they did. But M'Arrow's grave being on the top of the little hill behind the manse that bears his name, the rising of the moon was so distant that they said Mr. Tibbers could

not, without wings, have traveled to that spot. Yet, incredible as it may appear to you, nearly about that spot was Tibbers's body found, but so distorted and bloated that but for the clothes no one could have recognized it. I request you to pay particular attention to this. About forty-six miles from his own house, in the county adjoining ours to the southward, and on the lands of Easter Tulloch, there was a body found, which was clothed in Mr. Tibbers's apparel from crown to toe; but farther than this, no man could depose, or even say that there was a likeness between the body found and the one lost. However, the body was taken home and interred as the body of William Tibbers, and his two handsome daughters were declared joint heiresses of his property and great wealth.

The astonishment that now reigned among the country people was extreme, and the saying of old Betty Rieves caused the most amazement of all; and it was averred, without a dissentient voice, that spirits had carried off Willie Tibbers through the air, and tortured him to death, and strange lights were reported to have been seen that day he was lost; but you may conceive how this amazement was magnified, when, immediately subsequent to these alarms, it was confidently reported that the ghost of Tibbers walked, and had been seen and spoke with about his late habitation !

I never remember of any sensation like the one that prevailed in our district at that period. I had lived to see the war come to our doors, our chapel burnt, and our cattle driven off with impunity; but the consternation then was not half so great as at the period of which I am writing. I preached against it, I prayed publicly that the Almighty would moderate it; yet I thought that all this only made matters the worse. People actually left off their necessary labor, and gathered in crowds to gape, stare,

talk, and listen about ghosts, and of murdered people returning from the grave and the bottom of the sea, to which they had been sunk with a hundred pounds weight of lead at every foot, to wreak the vengeance of God on a monster of humanity.

Matters now went all topsy-turvy at Castle-Gower together. The heir was lost-totally lost; for he had never joined his regiment, nor been heard of at any part; and the next heir of entail arrived from Lower Canada to take possession of the titles and emoluments of the estate. The latter of these was much reduced, for all the land had been of late sold, except the entailed part, and that was considerably burdened. But now that Tibbers was out of the way, he had great hopes of reducing the late sale, and recovering the whole of the family property. Accordingly, an action was raised against the heirs of the late Mr. Tibbers, who defended, and the cause was tried in the High Court of Justiciary, among the records of which you will find it ; for I do not know the particulars, and can only define the feelings that prevailed here.

Mr. Tibbers's two daughters had retired to Edinburgh, to escape the confusion and terror that prevailed at home. They were amiable girls, and as much beloved by the common people as their father was hated. On the other hand, the upstart, Sir Thomas, as he now called himself, was a low-bred, vulgar, and disagreeable person, and was as much hated by the gentry as the commoners ; so that the feeling with us was wholly in favor of the two young ladies, and it is amazing what anxiety was manifested on their account. The people said they could not tell whether the defender's late father had played false in his trusteeship or not. His employers had judged otherwise, and, at all events, the lovely and innocent young girls had no hand in his guilt, but had been tyrannized over all their lives. All parties, however,

agreed in this, that if Johnie Gaskirk, who had acted as attorney for Mr. Tibbers all his lifetime, and knew of every transaction, stood as true to the cause of the daughters as he had always done to that of the father, they were invincible; but if he was bribed to take the other side, all was lost, and of this every one saw the danger; for the other party had been dangling with him and consulting him.

What side Johnie Gaskirk had resolved to take, will never be known. Probably the one that paid him best, had not an incident happened that turned the scale in favor of his old employer. I know nothing about law, or law terms, and the less, perhaps, the better. But the success of the plea turned eventually on the want of a duplicate of a disposition. The pursuers denied the possession of it, arguing, that the one produced by the counsel of the defenders was a forgery, and the latter could find no proof of its delivery. Three times there were cunning men despatched all the way from Edinburgh to our county town, 145 miles, to consult Johnie Gaskirk, but neither of the parties were much the wiser.

One night, however, as Johnie was sitting alone in his office with all the late Mr. Tibbers's papers before him, comparing dates, and taking notes, who should enter but Mr. Tibbers himself, and that in a guise hich would have struck any man dead, save Johnie Gaskirk, who seems to have had nerves of steel. But be it considered that this frightful apparition opened the door of the office and came in like another man. It was dressed in the deceased's every-day suit, the same in which the corpse had been found, but its features were what Johnie called "unco gast!

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"Lord preserve us! Mr. Tibbers!" said Johnie.

"Amen! if you be honest," said the apparition, standing straight up with his back to the door, and its eyes turned on the floor.

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Aye, aye! Ye war ay a queer man a' your days, an' had queer gates," said Johnie. "But this is the strangest manoover of a'. alters the case very materially."

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"Yes, in so far as that, if you dare to pursue your present plans, I'll hang you;" said the apparition. "That duplicate-Dare you for your neck, for you never set your soul at a farthing's value, deny the subscribing and delivery of that paper in this office?"

"A man may be allowed to forget a thing, ye ken, sir," said Johnie. "And truly, though I think it natural that there should have been a duplicate, else the transaction wasna worth a doit; yet I canna say that I remember aught about it."

"You do, you dog. It was signed by you and James Anderson, now in Montrose, and given to Mr. Baillie, who now thinks proper to deny it, and who has likely put it out of the way. But your three oaths will prove its existence. If you shuffle and decline doing this, I will first hang you, and then produce the paper in court to the proper authorities."

Having said this, the stern and haggard figure of William Tibbers withdrew, and left his little attorney in an indescribable state. He declared till his death that he was not frightened, believing it to be the real William Tibbers, but that he was awfully confused and stupid. When he learned, a few minutes thereafter, that the street door had never been opened nor unbolted, then did his flesh begin to creep, his hairs to stand on end, and he knew not what to think. The first idea that then struck him, was that the hideous figure was concealed in

his own house, an inmate of whose weening them at the time a little vicinity he little approved.

The ghost of Tibbers, or himself, continued frequently to be seen; for, till this day, I cannot calculate with certainty whether it was the one or the other. I certainly would have judged it to have been an apparition, had it not been for the most extraordinary scene that ever was witnessed in this or any other country; and of which I myself was an ear and eye witness, and even that was no decisive proof either ways. It was as follows:

There were some official men sent from Edinburgh to take a precognition relating to facts before our sheriff, to save expenses to the litigants. Fifty or sixty were summoned that day, but in fact the main evidence depended on the statement of Johnie Gaskirk, and it being that day quite the reverse of all his former statements, and decisive in behalf of the Misses Tibbers, the deputy advocate and the sheriff got both into a high fever at his inconsistency, and persisted in knowing from whence he had got his new light; insomuch, that after a great deal of sharp recrimination, Johnie was obliged to tell them flatly that he had it from very good authority -from Mr. Tibbers himself! They asked him if it was from his ghost: he said he could not tell; he took it for himself at the time. He came into his office and conversed with him, and brought facts clearly to his remembrance.

The sheriff and his compeers laughed Johnie Gaskirk to scorn; and the pursuers' counsel said they would have none of his dreamy evidence related at second-hand. If the said William Tibbers had anything of that sort to communicate, he must come into court himself, or answer by his deputy from the other world. The sheriff acquiesced, and granted rule, half out of spite at the equivocation of Johnie Gaskirk. The counsel wrote out the summons, of the words of which I have an indistinct recollection,

blasphemous. The name was three times called in court by the proper officer, who then read the summons aloud. "In the name of God and the King, we their liege subjects and lawful officers, warn, summon, and charge you, William Tibbers, to appear here in court, either in your own person or by proxy, to answer upon oath such questions as may be asked of you."

The man had scarce done bawling or the crowded assembly with laughing at the ludicrous nature of the summons, nor had a single remark been made, save one by Johnie Gaskirk, who was just saying to the sheriff, " Ods, sir, ye had better hae letten him alane. He was never muckle to lippen to a' his days, and he's less sae now than ever.",

Ere this sentence was half said, Tibbers stepped into the witnesses' bench! But such a sight may human eyes never again look on. No corpse risen from the vaults of a charnel house-no departed spirit returning from the valley of terrors, could present a form or a look so appalling. It is impossible to describe it. A shuddering howl of terror pealed through the house. The sheriff, who was well acquainted with Tibbers, flung himself from his seat, and on his hands and knees escaped by the private door, while the incorrigible Johnie Gaskirk called to him to stay and take the witness's evidence.

The entry is

A scene now ensued, the recollection of which still makes my heart cold. The court-room of our old town-house is ample, but illlighted. It was built in days of old, for a counsel chamber to the kings of Scotland. dark and narrow, and from the middle of this entry a stair as dark and narrow leads to what is still termed the ladies' gallery. The house was crowded, and the moment the horrid figure made its appearance, the assembly made one simultaneous rush to gain the door. They were

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