Louisa May Alcott's Christmas Spirits

While saving the life of his cousin James in a boating accident, Mike Traherne is injured and becomes confined to a wheelchair. Everyone expects Mike and James to inherit the estate of their uncle Jasper, but when Jasper dies, all are shocked to learn that he has disinherited Mike. Jasper had changed his will at the last minute and left everything to James. Only Mike and James know why, but they will not tell. Mike, who was adopted at birth, has fallen in love with James’ sister, Olivia Traherne, and she returns Mike’s love. However, Olivia’s mother does not want her daughter tied down to Mike, who is now penniless and in a wheelchair. When the holidays arrive, a small group of friends gathers at James and Olivia’s ancestral home, a former abbey said to be haunted by the ghost of an abbot whose appearance foretells a death in the house. On New Year’s Eve, the friends decide to tell ghost stories around the fire. Before the old year is out, the group receives a visit from the abbot’s ghost, who points to one of the Trehernes, predicting the person’s imminent death.