The Bell Ringer's Ghost

In the small town of Wisbech in England, there is a house called the Elm Vicarage. It is a house that is used by the minister of the local church and his family. And it's haunted.

Hundreds of years ago there was a monastery where the house now stands. It is near the river. Today the area is safe. When the monastery was there, floods were a real danger. When a flood threatened, it was the job of one of the monks to watch the river. Before the water rose too high he was to ring a bell to warn the others. The monastery itself was often flooded. The monks needed time to get to higher ground.

One night the job of the bell ringer fell to a monk named Ignatius. While watching, he fell asleep. The floodwaters rose quickly and the sleeping Ignatius did not ring the bell. As a result, several monks were drowned. Ignatius was one of them. Since that time his spirit has haunted the area where the monastery once stood.

Ignatius is not an evil or frightening ghost. He is a helpful one. And he is usually quite polite.

People who have lived in Elm Vicarage first hear footsteps in the night. Only after a few weeks or months does Ignatius himself appear. In the beginning, the form is faint. Little by little it becomes clearer. The ghost seems to give people time to get used to him. The figure is that of a man in his mid-thirties. He has curly hair and a thin face. He is always dressed in a brown monk's robe and sandals. Those who have seen him say he looks worried.

The wife of the Reverend A. R. Bradshaw once bumped into the ghost. Do be careful," the ghost said.

Mrs. Bradshaw s most remarkable story was about how the ghost saved her from an evil spirit. One night she awoke with a choking feeling. She saw a black shape standing over her. Two powerful hands were around her throat. She couldn't move.

She couldn't even make a noise Her husband was asleep in the next room, but she could not call to him. Mrs. Bradshaw was sure that she was going to die.

Suddenly the spirit of Ignatius appeared. He pulled the hands away from her throat. He pushed the dark form away from her, and it vanished. Mrs. Bradshaw's throat was bruised and red, but otherwise she was unhurt.

Ignatius told her that she had been attacked by the ghost of an evil man that had been murdered in the room. He also told her that by good deeds he was trying to work off the guilt for having fallen asleep at his post. He said that one day he would find eternal peace. Then his ghost would not be seen anymore.