"The only mystery in the matter seems to be the mode in which a prosaic and ordinary dwelling was endowed with so evil a reputation. I was assured in London that it had had this reputation for twenty or thirty years. The family lawyer in P---- asserted most positively that there had never been a whisper of such a thing until the house was let for last year's shooting season to a family, whom I may call the H----s. I was told the same thing in equally positive terms by the minister of the parish, a level-headed man from B----shire, who has lived in the place for twenty years. He told me that some of the younger members of the H---- family had indulged in practical jokes, and boasted of them. One of their pranks was to drop or throw a weight upon the floor, and to draw it back by means of a string. Another seems to have been to thump on bedroom doors with a boot-heel, the unmistakable marks of which remain to this day, and were pointed out to me by our hostess. If there are really any noises not referable to ordinary domestic causes, it is not improbable that these practical jokers made a confidant of some one about the estate, who amuses himself by occasionally--it is only occasionally that the more remarkable noises are said to be heard--repeating their tricks. The steward or factor on the estate concurs with the lawyer and the minister in denying that the house had any reputation for being haunted before the advent of the H---- family. Yet he is a Highlander, and not without superstition; for he gave it as his opinion that _if_ there was anything in these noises, they must be due to Black Art. Asked what Black Art might be, he said he could not tell, but he had often heard about it, and had been told that when once set going it would go on without the assistance of its authors. He was quite clear, however that if there is Black Art, it came in with the H---- family." Mr. H----'s rejoinder, which appeared in _The Times_, was dated June 10th:-- _To the Editor of "The Times"_