Thinking it was some stray cat that had got in through one of the
windows, I tried to entice it out, by calling "Puss, puss," and making
the usual silly noise people do on such occasions. No cat coming out and
the mewing still continuing, I knelt down and peered under the sofa. There was no cat there. Had it been night I should have been very much
afraid, but I could scarcely reconcile myself to the idea of ghosts
with the room filled with sunshine. Resuming my seat I went on with my
writing, but not for long. The mewing grew nearer. I distinctly heard
something crawl out from under the sofa; there was then a pause, during
which you could have heard the proverbial pin fall, and then something
sprang upon me and dug its claws in my knees. I looked down, and to my
horror and distress, perceived, standing on its hind-legs, pawing my
clothes, a large, tabby cat, without a head--the neck terminating in a
mangled stump. The sight so appalled me that I don't know what happened,
but nurse and the children came in and found me lying on the floor in
hysterics. Can't we leave the house at once?' "_Wednesday, November 30th._--Left No. ---- Lower Seedley Road at 2 p.m.
Had an awful scurry to get things packed in time, and dread opening
certain of the packing-cases lest we shall find all the crockery
smashed. Just as we were starting Delia cried out that she had left her
reticule behind, and I was despatched in search of it. I searched
everywhere--till I was worn out, for I know what Delia is--and was
leaving the premises in full anticipation of being sent back again, when
there was a loud commotion in the hall, just as if a dog had suddenly
pounced on a cat, and the next moment a large tabby, with the head hewn
away as Delia had described, rushed up to me and tried to spring on to
my shoulders. At this juncture one of the servants cautiously opened the
hall door from without, and informed me I was wanted. The cat instantly
vanished, and, on my reaching the carriage in a state of breathless
haste and trepidation, Delia told me she had found her reticule--she had
been sitting on it all the time!" In a subsequent note in his diary a year or so later Mr. Dane says:
"After innumerable enquiries _re_ the history of No. ---- Lower Seedley
Road prior to our inhabiting it, I have at length elicited the fact that
twelve years ago a Mr. and Mrs. Barlowe lived there. They had one son,
Arthur, whom they spoilt in the most outrageous fashion, even to the
extent of encouraging him in acts of cruelty. To afford him amusement
they used to buy rats for his dog--a fox-terrier--to worry, and on one
occasion procured a stray cat, which the servants afterwards declared
was mangled in the most shocking manner before being finally destroyed
by Arthur. Here, then, in my opinion, is a very feasible explanation for
the hauntings--the phenomenon seen was the phantasm of the poor,
tortured cat. For if human tragedies are re-enacted by ghosts, why not
animal tragedies too? It is absurd to suppose man has the monopoly of
soul or spirit." _The Cat on the Post_

In her _Ghosts and Family Legends_ Mrs. Crowe narrates the following
case of a haunting by the phantom of a cat:--

"After the doctor's story, I fear mine will appear too trifling," said
Mrs. M., "but as it is the only circumstance of the kind that ever
happened to myself, I prefer giving it you to any of the many stories I
have heard. "About fifteen years ago I was staying with some friends at a
magnificent old seat in Yorkshire, and our host being very much crippled
with the gout, was in the habit of driving about the park and
neighbourhood in a low pony phaeton, on which occasions I often
accompanied him. One of our favourite excursions was to the ruins of an
old abbey just beyond the park, and we generally returned by a
remarkably pretty rural lane leading to the village, or rather small
town, of C----. "One fine summer's evening we had just entered this lane when, seeing
the hedges full of wild flowers, I asked my friend to let me alight and
gather some. I walked before the carriage picking honeysuckles and roses
as I went along, till I came to a gate that led into a field. It was a
common country gate with a post on each side, and on one of these posts
sat a large white cat, the finest animal of the kind I had ever seen;
and as I have a weakness for cats I stopped to admire this sleek, fat
puss, looking so wonderfully comfortable in a very uncomfortable
position, the top of the post, on which it was sitting with its feet
doubled up under it, being out of all proportion to its body, for no
Angola ever rivalled it in size. "'Come on gently,' I called to my friend; 'here's such a magnificent
cat!' for I feared the approach of the phaeton would startle it away
before he had seen it. "'Where?' said he, pulling up his horse opposite the gate. "'There,' said I, pointing to the post. 'Isn't he a beauty? I wonder if
it would let me stroke it?' "'I see no cat,' said he. "'There on the post,' said I, but he declared he saw nothing, though
puss sat there in perfect composure during this colloquy. "'Don't you see the cat, James?' said I in great perplexity to the
groom. "'Yes, ma'am; a large white cat on that post.' "I thought my friend must be joking, or losing his eyesight, and I
approached the cat, intending to take it in my arms and carry it to the
carriage; but as I drew near she jumped off the post, which was natural
enough, but to my surprise she jumped into nothing--as she jumped she
disappeared! No cat in the field--none in the lane--none in the ditch! "'Where did she go, James?' "'I don't know, ma'am. I can't see her,' said the groom, standing up in
his seat and looking all round. "I was quite bewildered; but still I had no glimmering of the truth; and
when I got into the carriage again my friend said he thought I and James
were dreaming, and I retorted that I thought he must be going blind. "I had a commission to execute as we passed through the town, and I
alighted for that purpose at the little haberdasher's; and while they
were serving me I mentioned that I had seen a remarkably beautiful cat
sitting on a gate in the lane, and asked if they could tell me who it
belonged to, adding it was the largest cat I ever saw. "The owners of the shop, and two women who were making purchases,
suspended their proceedings, looked at each other and then looked at me,
evidently very much surprised. "'Was it a white cat, ma'am?' said the mistress. "'Yes, a white cat; a beautiful creature and----'

"'Bless me!' cried two or three, 'the lady's seen the white cat of
C----. It hasn't been seen these twenty years.' "'Master wishes to know if you'll soon be done, ma'am. The pony is
getting restless,' said James. "Of course I hurried out, and got into the carriage, telling my friend
that the cat was well known to the people at C----, and that it was
twenty years old.