t night, he was coming across Lord Doneraile's park,
having been round to see that the gates were shut, when his attention
was drawn to the distant baying of hounds, and he stopped to listen, as
the sounds seemed to proceed from within the park walls, and he knew
there were no hounds kept on the estate. His young son was with him, and
also heard the noise, which was getting louder and clearer, and was
evidently moving rapidly in their direction. His first idea was that a
pack of hounds which were kept in the hunting kennels a few miles away,
had escaped and had somehow got into the park, although he had seen that
the gates were closed, and there was really no way by which they could
have entered. The baying of hounds, as if in 'full cry,' sounded closer
and closer, and suddenly, out of the shadow of some trees, a number of
foxhounds, running at full speed, appeared in the clear light of the
moon. They raced past the amazed spectators (a whole pack of them),
followed closely by an elderly man on a large horse. Although they came
very near, no sound could be heard but the baying of one or two of the
hounds. The galloping of the horse was not heard at all. They swung
across the grass at a tremendous pace, and were lost to view round the
end of a plantation. The park-keeper knew that all the gates were shut,
and that it would be impossible for a pack of hounds to pass out, and he
thought the mystery might be solved the next day. However, it never was
explained--by any natural cause. No hounds or horseman had been in the
park. The mansion was closed, Lord Doneraile being away, and no one had
the right of entering the grounds within the park walls. He heard later
that there was a story in the neighbourhood about 'the ghost' of a
former Lord Doneraile 'haunting' the park--and possibly the spectral
horseman was he. I questioned the man and his son closely about it, and
am convinced they were not deceived by hallucination, and that their
account is perfectly true."

To this account Mr. Span adds this note:--

"The apparition of hounds and huntsman was witnessed on an estate
belonging to Lord Doneraile, in the South of Ireland (Doneraile Park);
the man who told me the incident was coachman in the service of my
cousin, near Limerick. His young son confirmed his father's account, as
he also saw it.

"Yours faithfully,

"REGINALD B. SPAN."

To throw additional light on the matter Mr. Ralph Shirley,