The Mystical Mason

My mother has a couple of friends, Ann and Arthur. Arthur was a dedicated freemason and, following a heart attack, he was told that he shouldn't return to his job for a while as a Customs & Excise officer for the local Ports Authority. Having spent about 25 years sailing around the docks at Great Yarmouth, he became increasingly bored with sitting around at home which, of course, didn't help his heart condition, so some of his pals at his local masonic hall, suggested he may like to spend a couple of hours each lunchtime just serving at the bar and once or twice a week staying there after his lunchtime shift to accept delivery from the brewery.

Arthur grabbed at the opportunity and on his first day, after the bar had closed to the members, he dutifully waited for the delivery from the brewery. The delivery driver turned up and restocked the cellars and then Arthur made a cup of coffee for them both and they settled down at the bar for a chat.

Within a few minutes, they noticed a gentleman coming out of the toilets. Arthur didn't recognise him so called across to him to ask what he was doing as the bar was closed. The gentleman totally ignored him and, rather than turn to the left to leave the building, he turned to the right and went through to the main function room. The delivery driver asked Arthur if he knew the guy. Arthur responded that he didn't and quickly rushed through to the function room to see what he was doing. There was no sign of him. Arthur assumed that he must have gone into the kitchen so he went in to check. Again, no sign of him. The fire doors leading through to the car park at the rear of the building were barred so it was evident that the man hadn't left via that route.

Completely flummoxed, Arthur returned to the bar and asked the delivery driver if the stranger had passed him. The delivery driver said not.

A few evenings later, Arthur and Ann attended a masonic function and Arthur told one of his mason friends (who had attended the masonic hall since it's construction in the early 1960s) what had happened.

"Oh", said the friend, quite calmly, "don't worry about him. That would have been Frank".

"Frank?" said Arthur, "Who on earth's Frank?"

"Frank Jones", replied the friend. "He was a mason here when the building was new. He used to attend just about every function he could with his wife but shortly after Frank retired in the 1970s, his wife died. They had no family and he became really depressed, so he was offered the job that you do now - waited for deliveries and did a bit of volunteer lunchtime bar work - just to keep him active. In effect, we became his family. He's been seen on several occasions. We think he probably runs through his 'locking up' routine following the lunchtime bar shift - checking the toilets are empty, the glasses are collected from the function room and the fire door in the kitchen is closed".

Arthur thought his friend was joking but the friend suggested that Arthur have a look at the various group photos hanging on the walls of the hall. Having had a good look, Arthur found he was easily able to pick Frank Jones out. It had most definitely been Frank he and the delivery driver had seen walking from the toilet through to the kitchen.

Arthur continued doing his voluntary bar work for several months until he was able to return to work but he never saw Frank again. Could it be that Frank returned just to check that 'new barman' Arthur was carrying out his duties efficiently?