"'Jack,' he said, 'you will think me mad, but there is something deuced queer about this room to-night--something in the atmosphere I cannot define, but which I have never felt here--or indeed anywhere--before. Look at that cigar-end--look!' "I did so, and received a shock. What I saw was certainly not the stump Dick had had in his mouth, but an eye--a large, red and lurid eye--that looked up at us with an expression of the utmost hate. "Dick raised the shovel and struck at it, but without effect--it still glared at us. A great horror then seized us, and unable to remove our gaze from the hellish thing, we sat glued to our chairs staring at it. This state of affairs lasted till the clock in the hall outside struck twelve, when the eye suddenly vanished, and we both felt as if some intensely evil influence had been suddenly removed. "Dick did not like the idea of sleeping alone, and asked if he might keep the electric light on in his room all night. Tremendous extravagance, but under the circumstances excusable. I confess I devoutly wished it was morning. "_Tuesday, October 12th._--I was awakened at 11.30 p.m. by Delia saying to me, 'Oh, Edward, there have been such dreadful noises on the landing, just as if a cat were being worried to death by dogs. Hark! there it is again.' And as she spoke, from apparently just outside the door, came a series of loud screeches, accompanied by savage growls and snarls. "Not knowing what to make of it, as we had no animals of our own in the house, but concluding that a door or window having been left open, a dog and cat had got in from outside, I lit a candle, and opened the bedroom door. Instantly the sounds ceased and there was dead silence, and although I searched everywhere, not a vestige of any animal was to be seen. Moreover all the doors leading into the garden were shut and locked, and the windows closed. Not wishing to frighten Delia, I laughingly assured her the cat--a black Tom--was all right, that it was sitting on the roof of the summer-house, looking none the worse for its treatment, and that I had sent the dog--a terrier--flying out of the gate with a well-deserved kick. I explained it was my fault about the front door being left open--my brain had been a bit overstrained through excessive work--and asked her on no account to blame the servants. I grow alarmed at times when I realize how easy lawyering makes lying.