This was the climax, the children shrieked with terror, and Mrs. B.,
falling on her knees, began to pray, whereupon the face at the window
vanished, and the herd of pigs, ceasing their disturbance, tore
frantically down one of the high roads, and disappeared from view. Similar phenomena were seen and heard so frequently afterwards, that the
B----s eventually had to leave the farm, and subsequent enquiries led
to their learning that the place had long borne the reputation of being
haunted, the ghosts being supposed to be the earth-bound spirits of the
executed criminals. Whether this was so or not must, of course, be a
matter of conjecture--the herd of hogs may well have been the phantasms
of actual earth-bound pigs--attracted to the spot by a sort of
fellow-feeling for the criminals, whose gross and carnal natures would
no doubt appeal to them. A lane in Hertfordshire was--and, perhaps, still is--haunted by the
phantasm of a big white sow which had accidentally been run over and
killed. It was occasionally heard grunting, and had the unpleasant knack
of approaching one noiselessly from the rear, and of making the most
unearthly noise just behind one's back. _Sheep_

Lambs and sheep, possessing finer natures than goats and pigs, would
appear to be less earth-bound, and, in all probability, only temporarily
haunt the spots that witnessed their usually barbarous ends. Most slaughter-houses are haunted by them--as, indeed, by many other
animals. A Scottish moor long bore the reputation for being haunted by a
phantom flock of sheep, which were always heard "baaing" plaintively
before a big storm. It was supposed they were the ghosts of a flock that had perished in
the memorable severe weather of Christmas, 1880. Here is a case that may
be regarded as typical of hauntings by sheep, presumably the earth-bound
spirits of sheep, overwhelmed in some great storm or unexpected
catastrophe. "_The Spectre Flock of Sheep in Germany_"

"During the seven years' war in Germany," writes Mrs. Crowe, in her
_Night Side of Nature_, "a drover lost his life in a drunken squabble on
the high road. "For some time there was a sort of rude tombstone, with a cross on it,
to mark the spot where his body was interred, but this has long fallen,
and a milestone now fills its place. Nevertheless, it continues to be
commonly asserted by the country people, and also by various travellers,
that they have been deluded on that spot by seeing, as they imagine,
herds of beasts, which on investigation prove to be merely visionary. Of
course, many people look upon this as a superstition; but a very regular
confirmation of the story occurred in the year 1826, when two gentlemen
and two ladies were passing the spot in a post-carriage. One of these
was a clergyman, and none of them had ever heard of the phenomenon said
to be attached to the place. They had been discussing the prospects of
the minister, who was on his way to a vicarage, to which he had just
been appointed, when they saw a large flock of sheep, which stretched
quite across the road, and was accompanied by a shepherd and a
long-haired black dog. As to meet cattle on that road was nothing
uncommon, and indeed they had met several droves in the course of one
day, no remark was made at the moment, till suddenly each looked at the
other, and said, 'What's become of the sheep?' Quite perplexed at their
sudden disappearance, they called to the postilion to stop, and all got
out, in order to mount the little elevation and look around, but still
unable to discover them, they now bethought themselves of asking the
postilion where they were; when, to their infinite surprise, they
learned that he had not seen them. Upon this, they bade him quicken his
pace, that they might overtake a carriage that had passed them shortly
before, and enquire if that party had seen the sheep; but they had not. "Four years later a postmaster, named J., was on the same road, driving
a carriage, in which were a clergyman and his wife, when he saw a large
flock of sheep near the same spot. Seeing they were very fine wethers,
and supposing them to have been bought at a sheep-fair that was then
taking place a few miles off, J. drew up his reins and stopped his
horses, turning at the same time to the clergyman to say that he wanted
to enquire the price of the sheep, as he intended going next day to the
fair himself. Whilst the minister was asking him what sheep he meant, J.
got down and found himself in the midst of the animals, the size and
beauty of which astonished him. They passed him at an unusual rate,
whilst he made his way through them to find the shepherd; when, on
getting to the end of the flock, they suddenly disappeared. He then
first learnt that his fellow-travellers had not seen them at all." So writes Mrs. Crowe, and I quote the case in support of my argument
that sheep, like horses, cats, dogs and all other kinds of animals,
possess spirits, and consequently have a future state of existence. I have not yet experimented with sheep, goats, or pigs, but I do not
doubt but that they are more or less sensitive to superphysical
influences, and possess the psychic faculty of scenting the
Unknown--though not, perhaps, in so great a degree as any of the other
animals I have enumerated. PART II

WILD ANIMALS AND THE UNKNOWN




CHAPTER V

WILD ANIMALS AND THE UNKNOWN


_Apes_

The following case of animal hauntings was recorded in automatic
writing:--

"I sank wearily into my easy chair before the fire, which burned with a
fitful and sullen glow in the tiny grate of my one room--bare and
desolate as only the room of an unsuccessful author can be. "My condition was pitiable. For the past twelve months I had not earned
a cent, and of my small capital there now remained but two pounds to
ward the hound of starvation from my door. In the moonlight I could
perceive all the bareness of the apartment. Would to God Fancy would
ride to me on this moonbeam and give me inspiration! 'Twas indeed
weird--this silver ethereal path connecting the moon with the earth, and
the more I gazed along it, the more I wished to leave my body and escape
to the star-lighted vaults. Certainly, from a conversation I had once
had with a member of the New Occult Society, I believed it possible by
concentrating all the mental activities in one channel, so to overcome
the barriers which prevent the soul visiting scenes of the ethereal
world, as to pass materialized to the spot upon which the ideas are
fixed. But although I had essayed--how many times I do not like to
confess--to gain that amount of concentration necessary for the
separation of the soul from the body, up to the present all my attempts
had been fruitless. Doubtless there had been a something--too minute
even for definition--that had interrupted my self-abstraction--a
something that had wrecked my venture, just when I felt it to be on the
verge of completion. And was it likely that now, when my ideas were
misty and vague, I should be more successful?