If by day she exulted in a
haunted chamber, in the evening she paid for it by terrors at
walking about the house alone, and, when sent on an errand by my
mother, looked piteous enough to be laughed at or scolded on all
sides.
The gentlemen had more serious colloquies, and the upshot was a
determination to sit up together and discover the origin of the
annoyance. Mr. Stafford's antiquarian researches had made him
familiar with such mysteries, and enough of them had been explained
by natural causes to convince him that there was a key to all the
rest. Owls, coiners, and smugglers had all been convicted of
simulating ghosts. In one venerable mansion, behind the wainscot,
there had been discovered nine skeletons of cats in different stages
of decay, having trapped themselves at various intervals of time,
and during the gradual extinction of their eighty-one lives having
emitted cries enough to establish the ghastly reputation of the
place. Perhaps Mr. Henderson was inclined to believe there were
more things in heaven and earth than were dreamt of in even an
antiquary's philosophy. He owned himself perplexed, but reserved
his opinion.
At breakfast Clarence was quite well, except for the remains of his
sore throat, and the two seniors were gruff and brief as to their
watch. They had heard odd noises, and should discover the cause;
the carpenter had already been sent for, and they had seen a light
which was certainly due to reflection or refraction.
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