# Negotium Perambulans explained — Ghost Stories

> Chapter companion for Ghost Stories by E. F. Benson.

## What happens

The narrator returns to the isolated fishing village of Polearn after twenty years, recalling a childhood legend of a blood-draining creature that haunted the quarry-house. The story involves a wicked landowner who built a house on a desecrated church site, was drained of blood by a dark entity, and later a Mr. Dooliss who rebuilt the house, drank heavily, and met a mysterious end after smashing a church panel depicting the creature.

## Themes in this chapter

### Supernatural and Occult

The legend of a blood-draining creature that walks in darkness, the mysterious restoration of the smashed church panel, and the supernatural fate of Mr. Dooliss.

### Folklore and Superstition

The local legend of the 'Thing' that trafficked in darkness, passed down among fisher-boys and believed by the community, reflecting deep-rooted superstitions.

### Guilt and Retribution

Mr. Dooliss's drunken sacrilege in destroying the church panel is followed by his mysterious death, suggesting divine or supernatural retribution.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown Narrator

The narrator, now a successful barrister, returns to Polearn after twenty years and recalls childhood memories of the quarry-house legend.

### Aunt Hester

The narrator's aunt, who remained in Polearn and recounts the fate of Mr. Dooliss and the supernatural events surrounding the quarry-house.

### Mr. Dooliss

A drunken man from Penzance who rebuilt the quarry-house, smashed the church panel in a fit of fear, and later died under mysterious circumstances.

### Richard Bolitho

The vicar of Polearn, the narrator's uncle, who preached about the creature and confronted Mr. Dooliss after the panel was destroyed.

## Key lines

> it was the Thing, the Creature, the Business that trafficked in the outer Darkness, a minister of God's wrath on the unrighteous.

The creature was described as an entity that operated in darkness, serving as an instrument of divine punishment for sinners.

_The narrator recalls the vicar's sermon describing the supernatural being._

> There he lay a-dying, and him that had been a great burly man was withered to a bag o' skin, for the critter had drained all the blood from him.

The once large and strong man lay dying, shriveled to a sack of skin because the creature had drained all his blood.

_A fisher-boy recounts the legend of the landowner's death._

> I've settled your Thing for you, and your sermon too. A fig for such superstitions.

Mr. Dooliss boasted to the vicar that he had destroyed the panel and dismissed the supernatural warnings.

_Mr. Dooliss's defiant response after smashing the church panel._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ghost_stories_se/chapters/negotium-perambulans
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ghost_stories_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/ghost_stories_se/chapters