
07/06/2025
This story first appeared in The Broadway Annual Christmas number, in December 1868
Summary:
John Lester and his sister, Clare, inherit Martingdale, a long-abandoned country house once owned by their relative, Jeremy Lester, who vanished four decades earlier. Soon after they move in, they hear midnight footsteps and other disturbances.
On Christmas Eve, they witness a ghostly replay of the past: Jeremy and another man quarrel over a cribbage game, duel outside, and Jeremy is treacherously killed. When the winter snow melts, the siblings dig where the apparition vanished and uncover Jeremy’s skeleton. A portrait later identifies the murderer, now an old man, who confesses before dying.
With the mystery solved and the dead properly buried, the hauntings cease; Clare leaves the house forever, while John remains, his family’s name and property finally restored.
This story first appeared in The Broadway Annual Christmas number, in December 1868 Summary:John Lester and his sister, Clare, inherit Martingdale, a long-ab...