Number 13 | A Ghost Story by M. R. James | A Bitesized Audiobook

[Music] hello and welcome to bite-sized audio on YouTube I'm Simon Stanhope actor audiobook narrator and curator of this channel on the channel you can hear my narrations more than a hundred to date and more to come of classic short stories mostly from the Victorian and Edwardian eras including vintage ghost stories detective stories and other classic Tales of mystery and suspense to accompany the narrations I've put a short profile of the authors in the video description as well as some general

background notes on the stories for those who'd like to know more if you enjoy this content please hit subscribe like share leave a comment if you'd like to and thank you for listening [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] number 13. by Emma James among the towns of Jutland vieborg justly holds a high place it is the seat of a bishopric it has a handsome but almost entirely new cathedral a Charming Garden a lake of great Beauty and many stalks is held accounted one of the prettiest things in Denmark

and hard by is fendered up where masks Stig murdered King Eric glipping on since Cecilia's Day in the year 1286. 56 blows of square-headed iron Macy's were traced on Eric's skull when his tomb was opened in the 17th century but I am not writing a guidebook there are good hotels in weeborg Priceless and the Phoenix are all that can be desired but my cousin whose experiences I have to tell you now went to the Golden Lion the first time that he visited weeborg he has not been there since and the fo

llowing pages will perhaps explain the reason of his abstention the Golden Lion is one of the very few houses in the town that were not destroyed in the Great Fire of 1726 which practically demolished the cathedral the Sonia kirka the radhus and so much else that was old and interesting it is a great red brick house that is the front is a brick with Corby steps on The Gables and a text over the door but the courtyard into which the Omnibus drives is of black and white wood and plaster the sun wa

s declining in the heavens when my cousin walked up to the door and the light smote full upon the imposing facade of the house he was delighted with the old-fashioned aspect of the place and promised himself a powerless at his Factory and amusing stay in an inn so typical of old Jutland it was not business in the ordinary sense of the word that had brought Mr Anderson to vieborg he was engaged upon some researches into the church history of Denmark and it had come to his knowledge that in the Ri

ggs Archive of vbog there were papers saved from the fire relating to the last days of Roman Catholicism in the country he proposed therefore to spend a considerable time perhaps as much as a fortnight or three weeks in examining and copying these and he hoped that the Golden Lion would be able to give him a room of sufficient size to serve a like as a bedroom and a study his wishes were explained to the landlord and after a certain amount of thought the latter suggested that perhaps it might be

the best way for the gentleman to look at one or two of the larger rooms and pick one for himself it seemed a good idea the top floor was soon rejected as entailing too much getting upstairs after the day's work the second floor contained no room of exactly the dimensions required but on the first floor there was a choice of two or three rooms which would so far the size went suit admirably the landlord was strongly in favor of number 17. but Mr Anderson pointed out that its Windows commanded o

nly the blank wall of the next house and that it would be very dark in the afternoon either number 12 or number 14 would be better for both of them looked on the street and the bright evening light and the pretty view would more than compensate him for the additional amount of noise eventually number 12 was selected like its neighbors it had three Windows all on one side of the room it was fairly high and unusually long there was of course no fireplace but the stove was handsome and rather old t

he cast iron erection on the side of which was a representation of Abraham sacrificing Isaac and the inscription one Bogue mosa cap 22 above nothing else in the room was remarkable the only interesting picture was an old colored print of the Town date about 1820 . suppertime was approaching but when Anderson refreshed by the ordinary ablutions descended the staircase there were still a few minutes before the bell rang he devoted them to examining the list of his fellow lodges as is usual in Denm

ark their names were displayed on a large Blackboard divided into columns and lines the numbers of the rooms being painted in at the beginning of each line the list was not exciting there was an advocate or sour a German and some Bag men from Copenhagen the one and only point which suggested any food for thought was the absence of any number 13 from the tale of the rooms and even this was a thing which Anderson had already noticed half a dozen times in his experience of Danish hotels he could no

t help wondering whether the objection to that particular number common as it is was so widespread and so strong as to make it difficult to let a room so ticketed and he resolved to ask the landlord if he and his colleagues in the profession had actually met with many clients who refused to be accommodated in the 13th room he had nothing to tell me I'm giving the story as I heard it from him about what passed at supper and the evening which was spent in unpacking and arranging his clothes books

and papers was not more eventful towards 11 o'clock he resolved to go to bed but with him as with a good many other people nowadays an almost necessary preliminary to bed if he meant to sleep was the reading of a few pages of print and he now remembered that the particular book which he had been reading in the train and which alone would satisfy him at that present moment was in the pocket of his great coat then hanging on a peg outside the dining room to run down and secure it was the work of a

moment and as the passages were by no means dark it was not difficult for him to find his way back to his own door so at least he thought but when he arrived there and turned the handle the door entirely refused to open and he caught the sound of a hasty movement towards it from within he had tried the wrong door of course was his own room to the right or to the left he glanced at the number it was 13. his room would be on the left and so it was and not before he had been in bed for some minute

s had read his wanted three or four pages of his book blown out his light and turned over to go to sleep did it occur to him that whereas on the Blackboard of the hotel there had been no number 13 there was undoubtedly a room number 13 in the hotel he felt rather sorry he had not chosen it for his own perhaps he might have done the landlord a little service by occupying it and given him the chance of saying that a well-born English gentleman had lived in it for three weeks and liked it very much

but probably it was used as a servants room or something of the kind after all it was most likely not so large or good a room as his own and he looked drowsy about the room which was fairly perceptible in the half-life from the Street Lamp it was a curious effect he thought rooms usually look larger in a dim light than a full one but this seemed to have contracted in length and grown proportionately higher well well sleep was more important than these vague ruminations and to sleep he went on t

he day after his arrival Anderson attacked the Riggs Archive of weeborg he was as one might expect in Denmark kindly received and access to all that he wished to see was made as easy for him as possible the documents laid before him were far more numerous and interesting than he had at all anticipated besides official papers there was a large bundle of Correspondence relating to Bishop Jurgen friese the last Roman Catholic who held the sea and in these they cropped up many amusing and what are c

alled intimate details of private life and individual character there was much talk of a house owned by the bishop but not inhabited by him in the tongue its tenant was apparently somewhat of a scandal and a stumbling block to the reforming party he was a disgrace they wrote to the city he practiced secret and wicked arts and had sold his soul to the enemy it was of a piece with a gross corruption and Superstition of the babylonish church that such a Viper and blood-sucking trollman should be pa

tronized and harbored by the bishop the bishop met these reproaches boldly he protested his own appearance of all such things as Sacred Hearts and required his antagonists to bring the matter before the proper Court of course the spiritual court and sift it to the bottom no one could be more ready and willing than himself to condemn Magister Nicholas Franken if the evidence showed him to have been guilty of any of the crimes informally alleged against him Anderson had not time to do more than gl

ance at the next letter of the Protestant leader Rasmus Nielsen before the record office was closed for the day but he gathered its General tenor which was to the effect that Christian men were now no longer bound by the decisions of Bishops of Rome and that The Bishop's Court was not and could not be a fit or competent tribunal to judge so grave and weightier cause on leaving the office Mr Anderson was accompanied by the Old Gentleman who presided over it and as they walked the conversation ver

y naturally turned to the papers of which I have just been speaking Harris convenience the archivist vibog though very well informed as to the general run of the documents under his charge was not a specialist in those of the Reformation period he was much interested in what Anderson had to tell him about them he looked forward with great pleasure he said to seeing the publication in which Mr Anderson spoke of embodying their contents this house of the bishop fries he added it is a great puzzle

to me where it can have stood I have studied carefully the Topography of el divor but it is most unlucky of the old Terrier of The Bishop's property which was made in 1560 and of which we had the greater part in the archive just the peace which had the list of the term property is missing never mind perhaps I shall someday succeed to find him after taking some exercise I forget exactly how or where Anderson went back to the Golden Lion his supper his game of patience and his bed on the way to hi

s room it occurred to him that he had forgotten to talk to the landlord about the omission of number 13 from the hotel board and also that he might as well make sure that number 13 did actually exist before he made any reference to the matter the decision was not difficult to arrive at there was the door with its number as plain as could be and work of some kind was evidently going on inside it for as he neared the door he could hear footsteps and voices or a voice within jotting a few seconds i

n which he halted to make sure of the number the footsteps ceased seemingly very near the door and he was a little startled at hearing a quick hissing breathing as of a person in strong excitement he went on to his own room and again he was surprised to find how much smaller it seemed now than it had when he selected it it was a slight disappointment but only slight if he found it really not large enough he could very easily shift to another in the meantime he wanted something as far as I rememb

er it was a pocket handkerchief out of his portmanteau which had been placed by the porter on a very inadequate Trestle or stool against the wall at the furthest end of the room from his bed here was a very curious thing the pope manto was not to be seen it had been moved by officious servants doubtless the contents had been put in the wardrobe no none of them were there this was vexatious the idea of a theft he dismissed it once such things rarely happen in Denmark but some piece of stupidity h

ad certainly been performed which is not so uncommon and the Stu P must be severely spoken to whatever it was that he wanted it was not so necessary to his comfort that he could not wait till the morning for it and he therefore settled not to ring the bell and disturb the servants he went to the window the right hand window it was and looked out on the quiet Street there was a tall building opposite with large spaces of dead wall no passes by a dark night and very little to be seen of any kind t

he light was behind him and he could see his own shadow clearly cast on the opposite wall also the shadow of the bearded man in number 11 on the left who passed to and fro in shirt sleeves once or twice and was seen first brushing his hair and later on in a nightgown also the shadow of the occupant of number 13 on the right this might be more interesting number 13 was like himself leaning on his elbows on the windowsill looking out into the street he seemed to be a tall thin man or was it by any

chance a woman at least it was someone who covered his or her head with some kind of drapery before going to bed and he thought must be possessed of a red lampshade and the lamp must be flickering very much there was a distinct playing up and down of a dull red light on the opposite wall he craned out a little to see if he could make any more of the figure but beyond the fold of some light perhaps white material on the windowsill he could see nothing now came a distant step in the street and it

s approach seemed to recall number 13 to a sense of his exposed position fall very swiftly and suddenly he swept aside from the window and whose red light went out Anderson who had been smoking a cigarette laid the end of it on the windowsill and went to bed next morning he was woken by the stupy with hot water Etc he roused himself and after thinking out the correct Danish words said as distinctly as he could you must not move my portmanteau where is it that is not uncommon the maid laughed and

went away without making any distinct answer Anderson rather irritated sat up in bed intending to call her back but he remained sitting up staring straight in front of him there was his portmanteau on its Trestle exactly where he had seen the porter put it when he first arrived this was a rude shock for a man who prided himself on his accuracy of observation how it could possibly have escaped him the night before he did not pretend to understand at any rate that it was now the daylight showed m

ore than the portmanteau it let the true proportions of the room with its three Windows appear and satisfied its tenant that his choice after all had not been a bad one when he was almost dressed he walked to the middle one of the three Windows to look out at the weather another shock awaited him strangely unobservant he must have been last night he could have sworn ten times over that he had been smoking at the right hand window the last thing before he went to bed and here was his cigarette en

d on the sill of the middle window he started to go down to breakfast rather late but number 13 was later here were his boots still outside his door a gentleman's boots so then number 13 was a man not a woman just then he caught sight of the number on the door it was 14. he thought he must have passed number 13 without noticing it three stupid mistakes in 12 hours were too much for a methodical accurate-minded man so he turned back to make sure the next number to 14 was number 12. his own room t

here was no number 13 at all after some minutes devoted to a careful consideration of everything he'd had to eat and drink during the last 24 hours Anderson decided to give the question up if his eyes or his brain were giving way he would have plenty of opportunities for ascertaining that fact if not then he was evidently being treated to a very interesting experience in either case the development of events would certainly be worth watching during the day he continued his examination of the Epi

scopal correspondence which I have already summarized to his disappointment it was incomplete only one other letter could be found which referred to the affair of Magister Nicholas Franken it was from the bishop Jurgen freeze to Rasmus Nielsen he said although we are not in the least degree he inclined to Ascent to your judgment concerning our court and shall be prepared if need be to withstand you to the uttermost in that behalf yet for as much as our trusty and well-beloved Magister Nicholas F

ranken against whom you have dared to allege certain faults and malicious charges have been suddenly removed from Among Us it is apparent that the question for this term Falls but for as much as you further allege that the Apostle and evangelist Saint John in his Heavenly apocalypse describes the Holy Roman Church under the guise and symbol of the Scarlet woman be it known to you Etc such as he would Anderson could find no sequel to this letter nor any clue to the cause or manner of the removal

of the cases belly he could only suppose that Franken had died suddenly and as there were only two days between the date of Nielsen's last letter when Franken was evidently still in being and that of The Bishop's letter the death must have been completely unexpected in the afternoon he paid a short visit to Halt and took his tea at becklund nor could he notice though he was in a somewhat nervous frame of mind that there was any indication of such a failure of eye or brain as his experiences of t

he morning had led him to fear at supper he found himself next to the landlord what he asked him after some indifferent conversation is the reason why in most of the hotels one visits in this country the number 13 is left out of the list of rooms I see you have none here the landlord seemed amused to think that you should have noticed a thing like that I thought about it once or twice myself to tell the truth an educated man I've said has no business with these superstitious Notions I was brough

t up myself here in the high school of vibo and our old master was always a man to set his face against anything of that kind he's been dead now this many years a fine upstanding man he was and ready with his hands as well as his head I recollect us boys one snowy day here he plunged into reminiscence then you don't think there is any particular objection to having a number 13. said Anderson ah to be sure well you understand I was brought up to the business by my poor old father he kept a hotel

in our house first and then when we were born he moved to Viber here which was his native place and had the Phoenix here until he died that was in 1876 then I started business in silk bar and only the year before last I moved into this house Then followed more details as to the state of the house and business when first taken over and when you came here was there a number 13. no no I was going to tell you about that you'll see in a place like this the commercial class The Travelers are what we h

ave to provide for in general and put them in number 13 why they'd assumed sleep in the street or sooner as far as I'm concerned myself it wouldn't make up any difference to me what the number of my rumors and so I've often said to them but they stick to it that it brings them bad luck quantities of stories they have among them of men that have slipped in a number 13 and never been the same again or lost their best customers or one thing and another said the landlord after searching for a more g

raphic phrase then what do you use your number 13 for said Anderson conscious as he said the words of a curious anxiety quite disproportionate to the importance of the question my number 13 why don't I tell you that there isn't such a thing in the house I thought you might have noticed that if there was it would be next door to your own room well yes only I happen to think that is I fancied last night that I had seen a door numbered 13 in that Passage and really I am almost certain I must have b

een right before I saw it the night before as well of course hair Christensen laughed this notion to scorn as Anderson had expected and emphasized with much iteration the fact that no number 13 existed or had existed before him in that hotel Anderson was in some ways relieved by his certainty but still puzzled and he began to think that the best way to make sure whether he had indeed been subject to an illusion or not was to invite the landlord to his room to smoke a cigar later on in the evenin

g some photographs of English towns which he had with him formed a sufficiently good excuse hair Christensen was flattered by the invitation and most willingly accepted it at about 10 o'clock he was to make his appearance but before that Anderson had some letters to write and retired for the purpose of writing them he almost blushed to himself and confessing it but he could not deny that it was the fact that he was becoming quite nervous about the question of the existence of number 13. so much

so that he approached his room by way of number 11. in order that he might not be obliged to pass the door or the place where the door ought to be he looked quickly and suspiciously about the room when he entered it but there was nothing beyond that indefinable air of being smaller than usual to Warrant any misgivings there was no question of the presence or absence of his portmanteau tonight he had himself emptied it of its contents and lodged it under his bed with a certain effort he dismissed

the thought of number 13 from his mind and sat down to his writing his neighbors were quiet enough occasionally a door opened in the passage and a pair of boots was thrown out or a bagman walked past humming to himself and outside from time to time a cart thundered over the atrocious cobblestones or a quick step hurried along the flags Anderson finished his letters ordered in whiskey and soda and then went to the windows and studied the dead wall opposite and the Shadows upon it as far as he co

uld remember 14 had been occupied by the lawyer a stayed man who said little at meals being generally engaged in studying a small bundle of papers beside his plate apparently however he was in the habit of giving vent to his Animal Spirits when alone why else should he be dancing the Shadow from the Next Room evidently showed that he was again and again his thin form crossed the window his arms waved and a gaunt leg was kicked up with surprising agility he seemed to be barefooted and the floor m

ust be well laid for no sound betrayed his movements dancing at 10 o'clock at night in an Hotel bedroom seemed a fitting subject for a historical painting in the grand Style and Anderson's thoughts like those of Emily in the mysteries of udolpho began to arrange themselves in the following lines when I returned to my hotel at 10 o'clock pm the waiters think I am unwell I do not care for them but when I've locked my chamber door and put my boots outside I dance all night upon the floor and even i

f my neighbors swore I'd go on dancing all the more for I'm acquainted with the law and in despite of all their jaw their protests ironed a ride had not the landlord at this moment knocked at the door it is probable that quite a long poem might have been laid before the reader to judge from his look of surprise when he found himself in the room her Christensen was struck as Anderson had been by something unusual in its aspect but he made no remark Anderson's photographs interested him mightily a

nd formed the text of many autobiographical discourses nor is it quite clear how the conversation could have been diverted into the desired channel of number 13. had not the lawyer at this moment began to sing and to sing in a manner which could leave no doubt in anyone's mind that he was either exceedingly drunk or raving mad it was a high thin voice that they had and it seemed dry as if from long disuse of words or tune there was no question it went sailing up to a surprising height and was ca

rried down with a despairing moan as of a winter wind in a hollow chimney or an organ whose wind failed suddenly it was a really horrible sound and Anderson felt that if he had been alone he must have fled for refuge and Society to some neighbor bag man's room the landlord sat open-mouthed I don't understand it he said at last wiping his forehead it is Dreadful I have heard it once before but I made sure it was a cat is he mad said Anderson he must be and what a sad thing such a good customer to

o and so successful in his business by what I hear and a young family to bring up just then came an impatient knock at the door and the knocker entered without waiting to be asked it was the lawyer in desabi and very rough-haired and very angry he looked I beg pardon sir he said but I should be much obliged if you would kindly desist here he stopped for it was evident that neither of the persons before him was responsible for the disturbance and after a moment's lull it swelled forth again more

wildly than before In The Name Of Heaven does it mean broke out the lawyer where is it who is it am I going out of my mind surely hey Jensen it comes from your room next door isn't that a cat or something stuck in the chimney this was the best that occurred to Anderson to say and he realized its futility as he spoke but anything was better than to stand and listen to that horrible voice and look at the broad white face of the landlord all perspiring and quivering as he clutched the arms of his c

hair impossible said the lawyer impossible there is no chimney I came here because I was convinced the noise was going on here it was certainly in the Next Room to mine was there no door between yours and mine said Anderson eagerly no sir said hey Jensen rather sharply at least not this morning ah said Anderson no tonight I am not sure said the lawyer with some hesitation suddenly the crying or singing voice in the Next Room tied away and the singer was heard seemingly to laugh to himself in a c

rooning manner the three men actually shivered at the sound then there was a silence come said the lawyer what have you to say here Christensen what does this mean goat heaven said Christensen how should I tell I know no more than you gentlemen I pray I may never hear such a noise again so do I said hey Jensen and he added something under his breath Anderson thought it sounded like the last words of the psalter omnis spiritos lauded dominum but he could not be sure but we must do something said

Anderson the three of us shall we go and investigate in the Next Room but that is her Jensen's room wailed the landlord it is no use he has come from there himself I'm not so sure said Jensen I think this gentleman is right we must go and see the only weapons of defense that could be mustered on the spot were a stick and umbrella the Expedition went out into the passage not without quakings there was a deadly quiet outside but a light Shone from under the next door Anderson and Jensen approached

it the latter turned the handle and gave a sudden vigorous push no use the door stood fast hair Christensen said Jensen will you go and fetch the strongest servant you have in the place we must see this through the landlord nodded and hurried off glad to be away from the scene of action Jensen and Anderson remained outside looking at the door it is number 13 you see said the latter yes there is your door and that is mine said Jensen my room has three windows in the daytime said Anderson with di

fficulty suppressing a nervous laugh bye George so has mine said the lawyer turning and looking at Anderson his back was now to the door in that moment the door opened and an arm came out and clawed at his shoulder it was clad in ragged yellowish linen and the bare skin where it could be seen had long gray hair upon it Anderson was just in time to pull Jensen out of its reach with a cry of disgust and fright when the door shut again and a low laugh Was Heard Jensen had seen nothing but when Ande

rson hurriedly told him what a risk he had run he fell into a great state of agitation and suggested that they should retire from the Enterprise and lock themselves up in one or other of their rooms however while he was developing this plan the landlord and two able-bodied men arrived on the scene all looking rather serious and alarmed Jensen met them with a torrent of description and explanation which did not at all tend to encourage them for The Fray the men dropped the crowbars they brought a

nd said flatly that they were not going to risk their throats in that Devil's Den the landlord was miserably nervous and undecided conscious that if the danger were not faced his hotel was ruined and very loath to face it himself luckily Anderson Hit Upon a way of rallying the demoralized force is this he said the Danish Carriage I have heard so much of it isn't a German in there and if it was we are five to one the two servants and Jensen were stung into action by this and made a dash at the do

or stop said Anderson don't lose your heads you stay out here with the light landlord and one of you two men break in the door and don't go in when it gives way the men nodded and the younger stepped forward raised his crowbar and dealt a tremendous blow on the upper panel the result was not in the least what any of them anticipated there was no cracking or rending of wood only a dull sand as if the solid wall had been struck the man dropped his tool with a shout and began rubbing his elbow his

cry Drew their eyes upon him for a moment then Anderson looked at the door again it was gone the plaster wall of the passage stared him in the face with a considerable gash in it where the Crowbar had Struck it number 13 had passed out of existence for a brief space they stood perfectly still gazing at the blank wall an early in the yard beneath was had to Crow and as Anderson glanced in the direction of the Sun he saw through the window at the end of the long Passage that the Eastern sky was pa

ling to the dawn perhaps said the landlord with hesitation the old gentlemen would like another room for tonight a double-bedded one neither Jensen nor Anderson was averse to the suggestion they felt inclined to hunt in couples after their late experience it was found convenient when each of them went to his room to collect the Articles he wanted for the night that the other should go with him and hold the candle they noticed that both number 12 and number 14 had three windows next morning the s

ame party reassembled in number 12. the landlord was naturally anxious to avoid engaging outside help and yet it was imperative that the mystery attaching to that part of the house should be cleared up accordingly the two sevenths have been induced to take upon them the function of Carpenters the furniture was cleared away and at the cost of a good many irretrievably damaged planks that portion of the floor was taken up which lay nearest to number 14. you will naturally suppose that a skeleton s

ay that of Magister Nicholas Franken was discovered that was not so what they did find lying between the beams which supported the flooring was a small copper box in it was a neatly folded Vellum document with about 20 lines of writing both Anderson and Jensen who proved to be something of a paleographer were much excited by this discovery which promised to afford the key to these extraordinary phenomena I possess a copy of an astrological work which I have never read it has by way of franti's p

iece award cut by Hans siebald bayam representing a number of sages seated round a table this detail may enable connoisseurs to identify the book I cannot myself recollect its title and it is not at this moment Within Reach but the fly leaves of it are covered with writing and during the 10 years in which I have owned the volume I have not been able to determine which way up this writing ought to be read much less in what language it is not dissimilar was the position of Anderson and Jensen afte

r the protracted examination to which they subjected the document in the copper box after two days contemplation of it Jensen who was the Bolder Spirit of the two hazarded the conjecture that the language was either Latin or old Danish Anderson ventured upon no surmises and was very willing to surrender the box and the parchment to the Historical Society of weeborg to be placed in their Museum I had the whole story from him a few months later as we sat in a wood near apsala after a visit to the

library there where we or rather I had laughed over their contract by which Daniel salthenius in later life professor of Hebrew at kernigsberg sold himself to Satan Anderson was not really amused young idiot he said meaning salthenius who was only an undergraduate when he committed that indiscretion how did he know what company he was courting and when I suggested the usual considerations he only granted that same afternoon he told me what you have read but he refused to draw any inferences from

it and to assent to any that I drew for him [Music] [Music] you've been listening to a bite-sized audiobook read by me Simon Stanhope if you'd like to help me to keep producing new content you can find links in the video description to my patreon page or to buy me a coffee another way to support me is through my bandcamp page bite-sizedaudio.bendcamp.com where you can hear my narrations of many more classic short stories and you can also purchase and download them to keep this recording is copy

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