"Lady Beltham, sir." "She does not live here?" "Not now. At this moment she is travelling." In the wake of the porter, uncle and nephew went through the rooms on the ground floor. As happens in all untenanted houses, the damp had wrought terrible havoc. The flooring, worm-eaten, creaked under their feet, the carpets had large damp spots on them, the paper hung loose on the walls, while the furniture was covered with a thick coat of dust. "Don't pay any attention to the furniture, Emile, it matters little; what we must first look at is the arrangement of the rooms. Why, there are iron shutters--I like that." "To be sure, Uncle, they are very practical." "Yes, yes; to begin with, when those shutters are closed it would be impossible from the outside to see anything in the rooms. Not even the least light." The porter proceeded to show them the first floor of the house. "There is only one staircase?" asked the stout man. "Yes, only one." "And what is the cause of the unusual dampness? We are far from the Seine; the garden is not very leafy." "There is a leaky cistern in the cellars, sir. Here is the largest bedroom. It was my Lady's." "Yes, one sees it has been the last room to be lived in." At this harmless remark the porter seemed very upset. "What makes you think that, sir?" "Why, the chairs are pushed about as though recently used. There is much less dust on the furniture. And--there's a print--look at the desk, there is a trace of dust on the diary. The blotting paper has been moved lately, some one has been writing there--why, what's wrong with you?" As he listened to the stout man's remarks the porter grew strangely pale. "Oh," he stammered, "it's nothing, nothing at all." "One would say you were afraid." "Afraid? No, sir. I am not afraid--only----" "Only what?" "Well, gentlemen, it is best not to stay here--Lady Beltham is selling the house because it is--haunted!" Neither of the visitors seemed impressed by the statement of their guide. The elder laughed a jolly laugh. "Are there ghosts?" "Why, sir, 'spirits' come here." "Have you seen them?" "Oh! certainly not, sir. When they are there, I shut myself up in the lodge, I can assure you----" "When do they appear?" "They come almost always on Tuesday nights." And warming to his subject the porter gave details. He got the impression first on one occasion when her Ladyship was absent. She had left some days before for Italy. It was Sunday, and then during Tuesday night while walking in the garden he heard movements inside the house. "I went to fetch my keys and when I came back I found nobody! I thought at first it was burglars, but I saw nothing had been taken away. Yet, I was not mistaken, furniture had been moved. There were bread crumbs on the floor." The young man roared with laughter. "Bread crumbs! Then your spirits come and sup here?" The uncle, equally amused, asked: "And what did Lady Beltham think when you told her that?"