Famous Modern Ghost Stories
To ASHLEY HORACE THORNDIKE, LITT. D. PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY WHO GUIDED MY EARLIER STUDIES IN THE SUPERNATURAL The Imperishable Ghost INTRODUCTION Ghosts are the true immortals, and the dead grow more alive all the time. Wraiths have a greater vitality to-day than ever before. They are far more numerous than at any time in the past, and people are more interested in them. There are persons that claim to be acquainted with specific spirits, to speak with them, to carry on correspondence with
Harding--I call him Mister when addressing him, since he is worth thirty
millions or more, and he is old enough to be my father--Harding strolled
out to the first tee early this morning and stood with his hands in his
pockets watching some of the fellows drive off.
I should judge him to be a man of about fifty-five, or perhaps a year of
two older. He stands more than six feet, is broad of shoulder and
equally broad of waist, ruddy of complexion, clear of eye and quick of
motion. He is of the breezy, independent type peculiar to those who have
risen to fortune with the wonderful development of our western country,
and it is difficult to realise that he is a real live magnate.
His close-cropped beard shows few gray hairs, and does not entirely hide
the lines of a resolute chin. He looks like a prosperous farmer who has
been forced to become familiar with metropolitan conventionalities, but
whose rough edges have withstood the friction. His voice is heavy but
not unpleasant, and his laugh jovial but defiant. He reminds me of no
one I have seen, and I shall study him with much interest.
He was with Carter, who seemed well acquainted with him, and he greeted
each drive whether it was good or bad with a sneering smile. This told
me that he had never played the game, and that he had all of the
outsider's contempt for it. I knew exactly what he thought, for I was
once as ignorant and unappreciative as he is now.
To ASHLEY HORACE THORNDIKE, LITT. D. PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY WHO GUIDED MY EARLIER STUDIES IN THE SUPERNATURAL The Imperishable Ghost INTRODUCTION Ghosts are the true immortals, and the dead grow more alive all the time. Wraiths have a greater vitality to-day than ever before. They are far more numerous than at any time in the past, and people are more interested in them. There are persons that claim to be acquainted with specific spirits, to speak with them, to carry on correspondence with