Whistle and I’ll come to you by MR James. Part 1.
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Go to Part 2
‘Are you going away for the holidays, Professor?’
The speaker was sitting next to the Professor at dinner in St James’s College.
‘Yes, I’m leaving tomorrow,’ said Professor Parkins. ‘I’m learning to play golf, and I’m going to Burnstow on the east coast for a week or two to improve my game.’
Professor Parkins was a young man who took himself, and everything that he did, very seriously.
‘Oh, Parkins,’ said another man. ‘There are the remains of an old Templar church at Burnstow. Would you have a look at the place? I’d like to know if it’s worth going to see.’
‘Certainly,’ said the Professor. ‘I’ll make some notes for you if you like.’
‘There won’t be much left above ground. I think the place is quite near the beach, about half a mile north from the Globe Inn.’
‘I’m staying at the Globe, in fact,’ said Parkins. He sounded a little annoyed. ‘I could only get a room with two beds in it. I plan to do some work there, and I need a large room with a table, but I really don’t like the idea of having two beds in the room.’
‘Two beds? How terrible for you, Parkins!’ said a man called Rogers. ‘I’ll come down and use one of them for a few days. I’ll be a companion for you.’
Parkins gave a polite little laugh. ‘I’m afraid you’d find it rather dull, Rogers. You don’t play golf, do you?’
‘No. Very boring game,’ said Rogers, not at all politely. ‘But if you don’t want me to come, just say so. The truth, as you always tell us, never hurts.’
Professor Parkins was well known for always being polite and always telling the truth, and Rogers often amused himself by asking questions which Parkins found difficult to answer. Parkins tried to find an answer now that was both polite and truthful.
‘Well, Rogers, perhaps it will be a little difficult for me to work if you are there.’
Rogers laughed loudly. ‘Well done, Parkins!’ he said. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll let you get on with your work in peace, and I can be useful and keep the ghosts away.’ Here he smiled at the others round the table, while Parkins’ face turned a deep pink. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, Parkins,’ Rogers added. ‘I forgot that you don’t like careless talk about ghosts.
‘That is quite true,’ said Parkins. His voice got a little louder. ‘I cannot accept the idea of ghosts. It is the complete opposite of everything I believe. I hold, as you know, very strong opinions on this matter.’
‘Oh yes, we know that,’ said Rogers. ‘Well, we’ll talk about it again at Burnstow perhaps.’
From this conversation it will be clear that Parkins was indeed a very serious young man — quite unable, sadly, to see the funny side of anything, but at the same time very brave and sincere in his opinions.
Late the following day Parkins arrived at the Globe Inn in Burnstow, and was taken to his room with the two beds, of which we have heard. He unpacked his things and arranged his books and papers very tidily on the large table by the window. In fact, the table was surrounded on three sides by windows: the large central window looked straight out to sea, the right one looked south over the village of Burnstow, and the left one looked north along the beach and the low cliff behind it. Between the inn and the sea, there was only a piece of rough grass and then the beach. Over the years, the sea had slowly come closer; now it was no more than fifty metres away.
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