On 16th November, 1870, Mr. Shchapoff, a Russian squire, the narrator,came home from a visit to a country town, Iletski, and found hisfamily in some disarray. There lived with him his mother and hiswife's mother, ladies of about sixty-nine, his wife, aged twenty, andhis baby daughter. The ladies had been a good deal disturbed. On thenight of the 14th, the baby was fractious, and the cook, Maria, dancedand played the harmonica to divert her. The baby fell asleep, thewife and Mr. Shchapoff's miller's lady were engaged in conversation,when a shadow crossed the blind on the outside. They were about to goout and see who was passing, when they heard a double shuffle beingexecuted with energy in the loft overhead. They thought Maria, thecook, was making a night of it, but found her asleep in the kitchen.The dancing went on but nobody could be found in the loft. Then rapsbegan on the window panes, and so the miller and gardener patrolledoutside. Nobody!Raps and dancing lasted through most of the night and began again atten in the morning. The ladies were incommoded and complained ofbroken sleep. Mr. Shchapoff, hearing all this, examined the miller,who admitted the facts, but attributed them to a pigeon's nest, whichhe had found under the cornice. Satisfied with this rather elementaryhypothesis, Mr. Shchapoff sat down to read Livingstone's AfricanTravels. Presently the double shuffle sounded in the loft. Mrs.Shchapoff was asleep in her bedroom, but was awakened by loud raps.The window was tapped at, deafening thumps were dealt at the outerwall, and the whole house thrilled. Mr. Shchapoff rushed out withdogs and a gun, there were no footsteps in the snow, the air wasstill, the full moon rode in a serene sky. Mr. Shchapoff came back,and the double shuffle was sounding merrily in the empty loft. Nextday was no better, but the noises abated and ceased gradually.Alas, Mr. Shchapoff could not leave well alone. On 20th December, toamuse a friend, he asked Maria to dance and play. Raps, in tune,began on the window panes. Next night they returned, while boots,slippers, and other objects, flew about with a hissing noise. A pieceof stuff would fly up and fall with a heavy hard thud, while hardbodies fell soundless as a feather. The performances slowly diedaway.On Old Year's Night Maria danced to please them; raps began, peoplewatching on either side of a wall heard the raps on the other side.On 8th January, Mrs. Shchapoff fainted when a large, luminous ballfloated, increasing in size, from under her bed. The raps nowfollowed her about by day, as in the case of John Wesley's sisters.On these occasions she felt weak and somnolent. Finally Mr. Shchapoffcarried his family to his town house for much-needed change of air.Science, in the form of Dr. Shustoff, now hinted that electricity ormagnetic force was at the bottom of the annoyances, a great comfort tothe household, who conceived that the devil was concerned. The doctoraccompanied his friends to their country house for a night, Maria wasinvited to oblige with a dance, and only a few taps on windowsfollowed. The family returned to town till 21st January. No soonerwas Mrs. Shchapoff in bed than knives and forks came out of a closedcupboard and flew about, occasionally sticking in the walls.On 24th January the doctor abandoned the hypothesis of electricity,because the noises kept time to profane but not to sacred music. ATartar hymn by a Tartar servant, an Islamite, had no accompaniment,but the Freischutz was warmly encored.This went beyond the most intelligent spontaneous exercises ofelectricity. Questions were asked of the agencies, and to theinterrogation, "Are you a devil?" a most deafening knock replied. "Weall jumped backwards."Now comes a curious point. In the Wesley and Tedworth cases, themasters of the houses, like the cure of Cideville (1851), were at oddswith local "cunning men".Mr. Shchapoff's fiend now averred that he was "set on" by the servantof a neighbouring miller, with whom Mr. Shchapoff had a dispute abouta mill pond. This man had previously said, "It will be worse; theywill drag you by the hair". And, indeed, Mrs. Shchapoff was found intears, because her hair had been pulled. {205}Science again intervened. A section of the Imperial GeographicalSociety sent Dr. Shustoff, Mr. Akutin (a Government civil engineer),and a literary gentleman, as a committee of inquiry appointed by thegovernor of the province. They made a number of experiments withLeyden jars, magnets, and so forth, with only negative results.Things flew about, both _from_, and _towards_ Mrs. Shchapoff. Nothingvolatile was ever seen to _begin_ its motion, though, in March, 1883,objects were seen, by a policeman and six other witnesses, to fly upfrom a bin and out of a closed cupboard, in a house at Worksop. {206}Mr. Akutin, in Mrs. Shchapoff's bedroom, found the noises answerquestions in French and German, on contemporary politics, of which thelady of the house knew nothing. Lassalle was said to be alive, Mr.Shchapoff remarked, "What nonsense!" but Mr. Akutin corrected him.The bogey was better informed. The success of the French in the greatwar was predicted.The family now moved to their town house, and the inquest continued,though the raps were only heard near the lady. A Dr. Dubinsky vowedthat she made them herself, with her tongue; then, with her pulse.The doctor assailed, and finally shook the faith of Mr. Akutin, whowas to furnish a report. "He bribed a servant boy to say that hismistress made the sounds herself, and then pretended that he hadcaught her trying to deceive us by throwing things." Finally Mr.Akutin reported that the whole affair was a hysterical imposition byMrs. Shchapoff. Dr. Dubinsky attended her, her health and spiritsimproved, and the disturbances ceased. But poor Mr. Shchapoffreceived an official warning not to do it again, from the governor ofhis province. That way lies Siberia."Imagine, then," exclaims Mr. Shchapoff, "our horror, when, on ourreturn to the country in March, the unknown force at once set to workagain. And now even my wife's presence was not essential. Thus, oneday, I saw with my own eyes a heavy sofa jump off all four legs (threeor four times in fact), and this when my aged mother was lying on it."The same thing occurred to Nancy Wesley's bed, on which she wassitting while playing cards in 1717. The picture of a lady ofseventy, sitting tight to a bucking sofa, appeals to the brave.Then the fire-raising began. A blue spark flew out of a wash-stand,into Mrs. Shchapoff's bedroom. Luckily she was absent, and hermother, rushing forward with a water-jug, extinguished a flamingcotton dress. Bright red globular meteors now danced in the veranda.Mr. Portnoff next takes up the tale as follows, Mr. Shchapoff havingbeen absent from home on the occasion described."I was sitting playing the guitar. The miller got up to leave, andwas followed by Mrs. Shchapoff. Hardly had she shut the door, when Iheard, as though from far off, a deep drawn wail. The voice seemedfamiliar to me. Overcome with an unaccountable horror I rushed to thedoor, and there in the passage I saw a literal pillar of fire, in themiddle of which, draped in flame, stood Mrs. Shchapoff. . . . I rushedto put it out with my hands, but I found it burned them badly, as ifthey were sticking to burning pitch. A sort of cracking noise camefrom beneath the floor, which also shook and vibrated violently." Mr.Portnoff and the miller "carried off the unconscious victim".Mr. Shchapoff also saw a small pink hand, like a child's, spring fromthe floor, and play with Mrs. Shchapoff's coverlet, in bed. Thesethings were too much; the Shchapoffs fled to a cottage, and took a newcountry house. They had no more disturbances. Mrs. Shchapoff died inchild-bed, in 1878, "a healthy, religious, quiet, affectionate woman".
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