“Tortured with remorse and a victim to the orthodox fears of a murderer, my unhappy forefather took poison, commanding in his will ‘that the ballroom should never again be used for a frivolous purpose,’ an injunction which, until last night, has been faithfully obeyed. “The Wentworths, as you may naturally suppose, have kept the story strictly to themselves--the male heirs alone being usually acquainted with it. “I did not altogether credit the story of the haunting though my father swore he had seen the cursed apparitions. Moreover he told me that they appeared periodically--every night at 11 P.M. from the 20th to the 31st of December. He also warned me, and here I am much to blame, on no account to permit any outsider to be in the room, ‘for if you do,’ he added, ‘THEN, something terrible will happen.’ I own I was sceptical and bitterly I regret it now. I had never seen an apparition, and what my father told me he had seen, I attributed to Suggestion, the natural consequence of dwelling too much on the horrible details of the story. “Maud shared my scepticism and when she wanted to use the room, brought forward the most ingenious arguments to overcome my scruples. “I declared it was impossible--it would be sheer sacrilege. I was accused of inconsistency. I disbelieved! how then could there be any danger!--the injunction in the will was unreasonable and absurd. In short, I had no peace, I had to yield, so making the stipulation that we should first find out some means by which we could prove that there was no foundation for the story of the haunting, I reluctantly gave my consent. “Somewhat to my astonishment, Maud had already formed a plan for testing the room. She had heard me speak of you, you were a Wentworth; if you discovered anything we could rely on you to keep it secret--and so my wife suggested that you should be put in the room, ‘just to sample it.’ I hesitated, I did not speak. I suppose my silence gave consent: the rest you know. I won’t press you to tell me if you saw those beastly things, if you did the sequel only serves us right. Anyhow nothing can excuse my having sanctioned disobedience to that injunction in the will. “The fact and the nature of the haunting is a secret no longer--the cause none but a Wentworth shall ever know. “I need hardly enjoin you who are one of us to maintain silence on that point. “We shall shut up the house for a time, until, in fact, the worst of the affair has blown over--and--when we meet again, let us hope it will be under happier circumstances.” We never met again; within six months of my departure, both Robert and his son were dead--killed in a motor accident abroad. The property is now in the hands of distant, of VERY distant relations, and I feel no compunction in saying what I know about it. Only--if you repeat this to Mr. Elliott O’Donnell, please substitute fictitious names. BURLE FARM, NORTH DEVON THE HEADLESS DOG AND THE EVIL TREE