The Lady herself , never for a moment suspected there was anything amiss .sx Brought up in the refinement of a school strictly observant of etiquette , with a scant knowledge of the scheming depths of human insincerity , and the length to which the blind passion of jealousy will go , she offered , in her unsuspecting nature and trustfulness of heart , a genial soil into which the harrowing teeth of the instruments forged out of jealous rage , plunged deeply .sx Watching his wife's movements secretly , he saw her go out from time to time for her daily walks , and at last , on one occasion saw that she took the road that would bring her past the place called Wood End , the house in which lived the old couple , Alan Irving and his wife , and by continuing her walk , would arrive at the low road , passing out of the wood by the side of the old ruins , the very place indicated by the note found in the glove .sx I ought to make it clear that the glove never reached the individual for whom it was intended ; the lady's movement towards the old ruins was not in any way the result of the message conveyed in the glove .sx The mis-carriage of the note was not explained until years afterwards , as you shall hear .sx That walk was the last the unhappy lady took and it led to the terrible affair that happened afterwards .sx That affair has been the one great secret of my life ; a secret I have nursed perhaps unwisely , for it has cost me many days and nights of keen anxiety and many close heart searchings .sx Now I ought also to make it clear that much of this I am telling you came out bit by bit at the enquiry when the affair was investigated .sx The glove and scrap of paper found in the pocket of the knight's coat , gave rise to surmise and theory totally wrong .sx The wildest stories began to spread , some so utterly unreasonable that their very absurdity should have been their own destruction .sx One story gained ground that the knight himself had murdered his wife and buried her body in some out of the way place deep in the recesses of the forest .sx How unreasonable that suggestion was , may be seen in the fact that it did not account for the links in the chain of evidence .sx Whatever may have been the temper of the knight , and however much his passions may have carried him away at times , this much is certain , he was not a murderer .sx That fantastic story has , however , gained such a hold on the minds of some of the people of the district , and is perhaps more generally believed than any other , that it has become the parent of the story told , with a careless disregard to the facts , that 'the headless lady , murdered by her husband , may be seen on certain nights driving her two white ponies,' and is generally referred to as " THE GHOST OF HUTTON .sx " If my story , when it is finished , does nothing more than clear the memory of the man from that base charge , it will have been worth the telling .sx Well , as I was saying , the Lady was seen to go towards the old ruins and the knight , carrying only his heavy walking-stick , went off across the park in the opposite direction and was seen to enter the wood by the west 'riding' as it is called .sx You know the track , it is the bridle path which brings you to the Robin Hood Well ; the spot where the famous Robin Hood , or Locksley , as he was known to his followers , and his band used to foregather and make arrangements to way-lay unhappy travellers along the road running through the forest .sx Every village around has its own peculiar story of that bold highwayman .sx The story of the adventure of Robin with the knight of Branksome and the rescue of the fair lady of Brougham , is one in particular .sx That story has interest for me , because it was my own grandmother who gave shelter to the lady at the special request of Robin , when he had rescued her from the band of raiders .sx There in that casket , is the brooch he gave my grandmother as a reward for her kindness in the matter ; and ever afterwards , when he rode that way , he would call and pay his respects to the proud woman .sx The well itself never runs dry ; not even in the hottest summer .sx Often we have been entirely dependent on its supply for our water in the summer time , when through drought the water in our own well has failed .sx It is said that the place is haunted ; I do not say it is not , but I have never seen a ghost there myself .sx I have , however , many a time watched the foxes , the vixen and her cubs , playing around the spot .sx It is a pretty sight , but you must be as sly as the creatures themselves if you want to see them at play , and must be sure to keep to windward of the place , or they will scent your presence even though a quarter of a mile away .sx I have spoken to those who say they have seen the ghost of Robin Hood standing , in the dead of night , dressed in his historic suit of Lincoln green , looking moodily down into the well , as if in deep meditation ; but as these reports have come mostly from game-keepers , I imagine there is some motive behind the story , for the boldest poacher might hesitate before risking an encounter with a ghost .sx The path the knight took , was that which led also to the outer Hall buildings where the horses were stalled and where the carriages were housed .sx The particular turnout of the Lady was usually a smart pair of white ponies of which she was specially fond , and which were therefore always kept well groomed and in prime condition .sx The trappings were of the very best , mounted in silver and kept in smartest order .sx The carriage was a little low style of conveyance much in use at that time among the nobility and gentry .sx Now it so happened I had to pass close to those buildings on my way home from Ellonby , and on the night in question , I noticed , as I passed , a light flickering within , but did not , of course , attach any importance to that at the time , except to think it might be one of the grooms attending to the horses after perhaps , a late run out with one of the family of the Hall , or with the Lady herself .sx I remember , however , that I thought I heard the sound of horses galloping in the distance and the faint sound of carriage wheels on the road .sx But , as I keep saying , my mind was filled with other quite more interesting matters .sx It would take me the greater part of an hour to walk the distance from the Hall buildings to the spot where that happened which I must now try to describe .sx CHAPTER III .sx I have told you I was in the grip of a strange fear ; not one of those sudden frights you experience say , when you almost tread on a pheasant or a hare , and the startled creature makes off with a whirr or scurry that for the moment will shake the strongest nerves .sx The fear that overcame me was one of paralysing dread of something unknown , something horrible , something that seemed to be the portend of death ; uncanny , unearthly , supernatural .sx I felt the whole place begin to swim ; not realising that the sickness was in myself .sx My limbs shook , my whole body was in a tremble .sx I can scarcely describe what exactly took place , for the memory of it all , even after the lapse of so many years , is too terrible to allow the thoughts to assemble themselves into any reasonable order , and to-night it comes back to me more vividly than ever .sx There was a scrunching of branches , as of someone scrambling through the undergrowth of brushwood .sx As I turned to look towards the spot from whence the sound came , there was a piercing scream , long , shrill and agonising , as of someone in mortal pain or fear .sx Simultaneous with the scream , there was the 'whinner' of horses and a plunging , breaking , crashing of shrubbery .sx It all happened so suddenly I could not tell it in the time it took place .sx At the moment when the shriek startled me , I saw the two well-known white ponies dash through the overgrown gateway , dragging after them the low carriage and , most awful horror of all , there , seated bolt upright in the vehicle , was the headless body of the Lady , the wife of the knight of the Hall .sx The vision is so deeply imprinted on my mind , I can see it all again as clearly as I saw it then and remember that I noted how she was dressed in white , and that the reins were so placed that she appeared to be actually holding them and driving .sx The ponies seemed to be possessed with as great a fear as my own , for they tore past me at a fearful rate , ears laid back , necks outstretched , nostrils extended and snorting ; pressing together in a frenzied gallop , as if under the power of some evil spirit .sx So rapid was their pace that the carriage bounced and swayed from one side of the road to the other , but still the gruesome figure in the carriage maintained its upright position .sx A sight more awesome , more appalling , more terrifying it would be impossible to imagine .sx The maddened ponies very soon carried the dreadful load out of sight , but for some time I could hear their hoofs clattering on the highway .sx The poor frightened creatures were evidently making for the Hall , and it was not until years afterwards , when the facts became known to me , that I learnt the equipage had indeed passed through the gates at the entrance to the park drive .sx From that moment all trace of the carriage , ponies and the tragic load was lost .sx I must not spoil the sequence of my story by telling you the end ; that will become clear when I have finished the narration of what is , without doubt , the most weird mystery of the time , and because the simple explanation of it has not been given , there has been laid the foundation of a ghost story that has frightened many of the stoutest hearted .sx I was too utterly terror stricken and dazed with fright to move or even cry out .sx I must have reeled and fallen in a swoon , and lain there in the roadway for some considerable time , for when I began to gather again my senses , it was long past midnight and a silence prevailed which only emphasised the horror that began to come slowly back to my bewildered brain .sx With a cry of utter terror I fled along the road in the opposite direction to that taken by the frightful vision I had seen .sx I have no very clear recollection of reaching home , but I must have arrived there , for the next thing I remembered , was my mother bending over me with a cup of something to drink and I call to mind how she said , as I opened my eyes , " Thank god he's better .sx " I was told afterwards , that I had rushed into the house , for the door was open , as they had been watching for me , and had fallen exhausted on the 'long-settee' in the kitchen , unable to speak a word in the way of explanation .sx They had carried me to bed , where I had lain for three days in a fever of delirium , babbling all the time of something no one could understand , until they began to fear my mind was unhinged .sx As to what was the cause , they could form no reasonable explanation .sx They had carried me up to bed , where I had lain for three days in a fever of delirium , babbling all the time of something no one could understand , until they began to fear my mind was unhinged .sx