The next morning the dying woman told her mother that she had been at home
with her children, saying, 'I was with them last night when I was asleep.'
"The nurse at Rochester, widow Alexander by name, affirms that a little
before two o'clock that morning she saw the likeness of the said Mary
Goffe come out of the next chamber (where the elder child lay in a bed by
itself), the door being left open, and stood by her bedside for about a
quarter of an hour; the younger child was there lying by her. Her eyes
moved and her mouth went, but she said nothing. The nurse, moreover says
that she was perfectly awake; it was then daylight, being one of the
longest days of the year. She sat up in bed and looked steadfastly on the
apparition. In that time she heard the bridge clock strike two, and a
while after said: 'In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, what art
thou?' Thereupon the apparition removed and went away; she slipped out of
her clothes and followed, but what became on't she cannot tell."
In the case just mentioned, Mr. Lang states that the nurse was so
frightened that she was afraid to return to bed. As soon as the neighbors
were up and about she told them of what she had seen; but they told her
that she had been dreaming. It was only when, later on, news came of what
had happened at the other end of the line--the bedside of the dying woman,
that they realized just what had happened.
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