|
FEAR HAUNTS THE TURRET ROOM . . .
It is hard to say just what sort of noise it was.
I swung the lamp round and scanned the darkened chamber. I saw no one, of course, and nothing. It was then that my ears caught hold of it - a faint, energetic whispering, as of a voice struggling to make itself heard.
My scalp tingled with a sudden sense of impending danger.
"Who is it?" I demanded. "Who is there?"
All in an instant I spied a glimmer of movement, and was struck cold to see a strange, ghostly shape swimming in the air before me. The words it was whispering were but two, louder now, and repeated several times over in a desperate, pleading tone -
"Help me!"
My name is Eugene Stanley, and I had come up to Salthead and its fabled University to assist my uncle, Professor Christopher Greenshields, in the preparation of his latest tome. Little hint had I of the mystery and danger that awaited me there . . .
CHARACTERS
The Angler of Gorgon St. Nicholas
A mysterious gentleman of antique appearance, long resident in the shadow world
Mrs. Elspeth Baggot
Wife of the following
Mr. John Baggot
Landlord of the Brown Bear inn and public house, at Rheum
The Rev. Dr. Septimus Boldenough ("Old Baldenough")
Proctor of Salthead University; chief agent of university discipline and terror of college evildoers
Mr. Bounciful
Chief of mastodon operations and superintendent of Carker's Yard
Mr. Bradway
Landlord of the Magpie public house
Brendy
College scout to Charles Grimpen and companions on "C" staircase, Antrobus College; a smiling, goggle-eyed little fellow
Stephen Budge
Third-year man in Bearsnose College, and demonstrator in the natural sciences in the Plaxtonian Museum
Eustace Cornflower-Swift
Diminutive Antroban undergraduate, having no particular direction in life; a leisured young man and scion of a prominent local family
Daniel Dampe
A young medical student, of a jaunty air, in the Hospital of St. Mary Corpuscle
Madam Dorcas Dunferline
Cousin to Mr. Metropoll and specialist in the departed spirits sort of line, known as "the seer of Dalhousie Street"; a tall, striking-looking woman
Aubrey Filcher
Antroban undergraduate "going in for the law"; a burly, ox-eyed young man
Mrs. Fleay
Bedmaker assigned to the rooms of Charles Grimpen and his fellows on "C" staircase, Antrobus College; a tiny, wrinkled old woman
Fowles
Superannuated servant to Mr. Balthasar Timothy
Mrs. Amelia Greenshields
Wife of the following, and aunt to Eugene Stanley
Professor Christopher Greenshields
Hurlstone Professor of Classics in Antrobus College; husband of the preceding, and uncle to Eugene Stanley
Miss Juliana Gridley
An amiable and rather plain-spoken lady; cousin to Professor Winston Haygarth and guardian of his granddaughter Alice
Charles Grimpen
Antroban undergraduate reading history, and boyhood chum of Eugene Stanley; an affable, earnest young man
Dr. Hieronimo Gullet
Fierce-eyed little Doctor of Cartography and Master of Antrobus College
Captain Hammock
A nautical personage, master of the merchant trading vessel Sea Hound, and an acquaintance of long standing of Miss Gridley's
Mr. Hardy
A facetious single gentleman of independent means; neighbor to Professor and Mrs. Greenshields
Miss Alice Haygarth
A pretty young girl, granddaughter of the following, and ward of Miss Gridley
Professor Winston Haygarth
Burwash Professor of Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy in Antrobus College; missing now these two years
Hettie
Domestic in service in the house of Professor Haygarth
Mr. Lockwood Locke
Solicitor in the firm of Catskin, Chisel & Locke, and legal adviser to Professor Haygarth
John Loobey
Waiter in the Magpie public house
Robert Mallow
Antroban undergraduate of an antiquarian bent; a pale, bespectacled young man
Marmalade
Lemon-striped tabby cat residing in the house of Mrs. Rumble
Dr. Maynham Mars
The renowned college physician of Antrobus; very big, very dignified, and very exclusive
Martin
College scout to Professor Greenshields and others; slick-haired and ditto-tongued
"Meanwell"
Phantom postman residing in the shadow world; so named by Professor Haygarth
Mr. Metropoll
Chief barber and proprietor of a well-regarded tonsorial parlor frequented by college dons; a brisk, active little man
Miss Moonflathers
Domestic in the house of Madam Dorcas Dunferline, and her friend and confidante
Nicholas
Black gelding belonging to Professor Greenshields
Oates
Country-bred groom in the house of Professor Greenshields
"Otho"
Porter guarding the gates of Antrobus College, so named by the undergraduates; a spare little brown nut of a knotty old man, real name Scatchard
Mrs. Peachy
Housekeeper to Professor and Mrs. Greenshields
Goffy Popinjoy
A mastodon driver
Poppy
A lively little fawn-colored terrier, plucky and mischievous, residing in the house of Professor and Mrs. Greenshields
Mr. Quince
Junior partner, or foreman, in Metropoll's Tonsorial Parlor
Raisin
A young mastodon cow in the Popinjoy train, comely and bright-eyed
The Rev. Mr. Rowley
The rector of Misticot, near Rheum; a portly gentleman, bearing a marked resemblance to Father Christmas
Mrs. Rumble
Widow in whose house Eugene Stanley has taken rooms; a little squab woman
Mr. William Makewright Saturday
Celebrated author, now dwelling in the shadow world
Professor Jeremiah Scuttlewig ("Old Gig-lights")
Doddering Professor of Mathematics in Antrobus College; a frail, elderly don
Shivers
Confidential valet to Dr. Gullet
Mr. James Smiler
The sexton of Rheum; a gaunt and leathery little old man
Calisto Staggins
A lean, scowling fellow, with a wooden leg; suspected of being a resurrection man
Eugene Stanley
Young nephew of Professor Greenshields, and the narrator of this story
Marian and Tessa Stanley
Sisters of the preceding
Titus Tiggs
Young B.A. in Swinford College, reading to become a fellow in the area of metaphysical philosophy; considered a first-class man
Mr. Balthasar Timothy
A trim, small man, of a peppery disposition; descendant of the Hulkes of Anchorwick
Professor Windygate
Professor of Paleology in Antrobus College; a stout, heavy-breathing don
Dr. Frank Woolwine
Doctor and Professor of the Natural Sciences, with laboratory rooms in the Plaxtonian Museum; a grave, shiny-haired, secret-looking young man
Featured image: Detail from Two Men Contemplating the Moon (oil on canvas), by Caspar David Friedrich (Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden / Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden / Bridgeman Art Library)
|
