William Hope Hodgson

“ George Jarnock, who met me, told me his father was too unwell to rise, and would prefer that no one entered the Chapel unless he was about. He made an apologetic excuse that his father was inclined to be, perhaps, a little over-careful; but that, even before the 'thing' happened, his father had been just as particular, always keeping the key, and never allowing the door to be unlocked, except when the place was in use. And, as the young fellow told me, with something of a troubled smile, this attack upon the butler seemed to have justified his father's superstitious attitude towards the place. ”

“ Most extraordinary things have been happening there lately, and Mr. George Jarnock, the eldest son, wired me to come over and see if I could help to clear things up a bit. I went. When I got there I found that they've an old chapel with a fine reputation for being haunted. They've been rather proud of this, I could see, until, suddenly, quite lately, the ghost has started being dangerous - deadly dangerous, too - the butler being nearly stabbed to death in the chapel with a queer old dagger. It's this dagger that's supposed to haunt the chapel. ”

“ He had seen the butler struck, or, to be more correct, had seen the butler at the moment he was struck. He told me that if a horse had kicked the man he couldn't have been thrown further, or with more force. It was just as he was going in to put out the candles on the altar. The dagger had been driven right through him, the point appearing behind the left shoulder; and the doctor who had been called immediately had been put to it to remove the weapon, so forcibly had it penetrated the scapula. ”

“ I buckled on the plate armour, and after that I drew on the chain-mail. I don't know much about armour; but from what I've learned since, I must have put on parts of two suits. Anyway, I felt beastly. But I knew that the thing I was thinking of doing called for some sort of protection for my body, so I made the best of matters. Then I pulled on my dressing gown over the armour, and shoved my revolver into one of the side pockets, and my repeating flashlight into the other. My dark lantern I carried in my hand. ”

“ Dinner over, Carnacki snugged himself down luxuriously into his great chair, filled his pipe, and puffed for awhile, his gaze directed on the fire. The rest of us made ourselves comfortable, each after his own particular manner. A minute later Carnacki began to speak, ignoring any preliminary remarks, and going straight to the subject of the story we knew he had to tell.
"I've just come back from Sir Alfred Jarnock's place at Burtontree, in South Kent," he began, without removing his gaze from the fire. ”

“ Yet it seemed a strange thing for a man in this twentieth century to be listening seriously to such talk.
"One thing there was, however, that I pointed out to Sir Jarnock, in reply to his story of the care he had used through all these years to lock the ghost in by itself at nights, so that it could have no chance to work hurt on any, and that was that the dagger had not been used upon an enemy of the family, but upon an old and tried servant. Moreover, that the attack had not been made in the dark, but when the chapel was lighted up. ”

“ Instantly there was a loud thud, and something sang through the air, striking the bottom wall of the chapel. It was the dagger. I showed Jarnock then that the portion of the post had sprung back into its place, making the whole as thick as the one upon the right-hand side of the gate.
"'There!' I said, turning to the young man, and tapping the post. 'There's the invisible thing that uses the dagger, but who the deuce is the person who sets the trap?' I looked at him keenly as I spoke.
"'My father is the only one who has a key,' he said. ”

“ I don't think the old man is really insane. I believe it's more a case of hypochondria through dwelling too much upon his wife's death and being too much alone. Young Jarnock told me that his father would sometimes pray for hours at a time in the Chapel."
"But you've never told us just how you discovered the secret," I said, speaking for the four of us.
"Oh, that!" replied Carnacki. "I found, on comparing the photos, that the photo taken in the daytime showed a thicker left-hand gate-post than the one taken by flashlight. ”

“ You see, the lens had been uncapped all that while, so that the whole chancel had been, as it were, under observation. You all know something of my experiments in lightless photography, that is "lightless" so far as our human eyes are capable of appreciating light? It was X-ray work that started me in that direction, and now I had vague and indefinite hopes that, if anything immaterial had been moving in the chapel the camera might have recorded it. ”

“ It fitted perfectly, and the next minute I was in the dark, silent chapel, and the door locked behind me.
"I don't mind saying that I felt a bit queer. To stand there in the utter darkness, and not know but some invisible thing was coming for you, isn't as nice as some of you might think. Yet it was no use funking, so I switched on the light of my lantern and made the tour of the place.
"I found nothing unusual. The dagger hung demurely in its place above the altar, and for the rest, all was still and cold and very quiet. Then I wend down to where my camera stood, as I had left it. ”

“ He had just gone up the chancel to extinguish the candles on the altar when he was attacked. He had seen nothing, heard nothing - just been stricken down with tremendous power and hurled down the aisle.
"I felt very much mystified, but kept my mind open until I had examined the chapel. This I found to be small and extremely old. It is very massively built, and entered through only one door, which leads out of the castle itself; and the key of which is kept by Sir Jarnock himself, the butler having no duplicate. ”

“ He handed it round to us; and whilst we examined it, filled and lit his pipe, warning us, between puffs, not to make the story he had told us public. "You see," he said "young Jarnock and I made the trap so that it couldn't work, and I've got the dagger; so the whole thing can be hushed up, especially as the butler is on his feet again. But, all the same," he concluded, with a grim little smile, "I fancy the chapel'll never lose its reputation as a dangerous place - eh? Should be pretty safe not, I should think, to keep valuables in. ”

“ As for the old man, I recommended that he should have a decent male attendant. Best thing in such cases, you know."
"There's two things, Carnacki, you haven't explained yet," I remarked. "What do you think caused the two clangey sounds when you were in the chapel in the dark? And do you think the soft tready sounds were real, or only a fancy, with your being so tense?"
"Don't just know, for certain, about the clangs," he replied. "I've puzzled a bit about them. I can only think that the spring which worked the post must have 'given' a trifle. ”

“ Then I went up to my room for my stand camera, and whilst I was up there I took the impression, returning the key to its owner when I came back with the camera. I fixed my camera up in the aisle, and took a photograph of the chancel; then, saying I would leave my camera where it was, Sir Jarnock accompanying me and locking the door after us. He told me that any time I wanted to enter the chapel he would be pleased to let me have the key, but not after dark, for he was resolved that no other person should run the risk of the stroke of the enchanted dagger. ”

“ As the movable portion was bent lower, a section of the floor slid to one side, showing a long, shallow cavity, sufficient to enclose the post. I hove it down into the niche, and there was a sharp clang as some catch caught and held it. Then I went and wrenched the dagger from the dummy. I brought the old weapon and placed its hilt in a hole near the top of the post, where it fitted loosely, the point upwards. After that I went to the lever and gave another heave, and the post descended about a foot to the bottom of the cavity, catching there with another clang. ”