[EXPIRED] Young’s Yarns: “The House of the Beckoning Hands Legend”
Here is another Claiborne’s Yarns so appropriate for this Halloween season!
Somewhere along this coastline was once located the “House of the Beckoning Hands.” Many ghost stories are set along the North Carolina coast, but there is perhaps no more pitiful tale than `The Beckoning Hands,’ as related by Charles Harry Whedbee in “Outer Banks Mysteries and Seaside Stories.”
The tale begins with the construction of a beautiful stone house on a high bluff overlooking the Chowan River. The builder was none other than an infamous pirate. He perceived that his new home would be a secure hiding place, since it commanded a wide view both up and down the great river. It seems that the pirate had a young wife who did not approve of his lawless ways.
Soon after the house was finished, she and her daughter moved to Charleston, where they lived until the buccaneer’s death. Even as the magnificent edifice was being built, the pirate became the unhappy recipient of a strange curse. Legend tells that he kidnapped the only son of an old hag from Nags Head who was rumored to be a witch. It was not long before the boy was killed in attack by pirates. The old woman cursed the pirate and said that since she would never have grandchildren, neither would he.
Following the brigand’s death, his widow and her lovely daughter, Caroline, moved back to the house. In a few years, Caroline became engaged, and the ceremony was set for the bride’s home. As the service was about to begin, Caroline appeared atop the great stairs and coyly beckoned her groom to come catch her if he could. Taking to the innocent game, he bounded up the stairs, but his bride was nowhere to be found. That was the last anyone saw of Caroline as a living being. Her grief stricken mother soon moved away, and the house was closed for many years.
Before long, it began to be whispered that the old home was haunted. Children reported seeing a ghostly visage flitting from window to window on New Year’s Eve, always beckoning with white hands. The stone mansion became known as the `House of the Beckoning Hands.’
The mystery remained unsolved until modern times. A famous ghost hunter finally undertook to lay the matter to rest. While awaiting the apparition on New Year’s Eve, he fell asleep and had a strange dream. In his dream, he saw the long-ago wedding day. After Caroline beckoned to her groom, the investigator saw her run down the upstairs hall and trip over her wedding gown. As she put out her hands for support, a portion of the wall gave way, tipped her through, and then snapped back into place. Caroline was entombed alive in a secret room!
Startled awake by the intensity of his dream, the investigator ran upstairs. Sure enough, the wall opened just as he had seen in his dream. He beheld the pitiful figure of a small skeleton still anointed by a bit of bridal lace. The remains were given a Christian burial.
Perhaps Caroline’s spirit was at last laid to rest.
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