to give my
unpleasant sensations a definite direction. There is, I think, something
most disagreeably disenchanting in the sound of one's own voice under
such circumstances, exerted in solitude, and in vain. It redoubled my
sense of isolation, and my misgivings increased on perceiving that the
door, which I certainly thought I had left open, was closed behind me;
in a vague alarm, lest my retreat should be cut off, I got again into my
room as quickly as I could, where I remained in a state of imaginary
blockade, and very uncomfortable indeed, till morning.

Next night brought no return of my barefooted fellow-lodger; but the
night following, being in my bed, and in the dark--somewhere, I suppose,
about the same hour as before, I distinctly heard the old fellow again
descending from the garrets.

This time I had had my punch, and the _morale_ of the garrison was
consequently excellent. I jumped out of bed, clutched the poker as I
passed the expiring fire, and in a moment was upon the lobby. The sound
had ceased by this time--the dark and chill were discouraging; and,
guess my horror, when I saw, or thought I saw, a black monster, whether
in the shape of a man or a bear I could not say, standing, with its back
to the wall, on the lobby, facing me, with a pair of great greenish eyes
shining dimly out. Now, I must be frank, and confess that the cupboard
which displayed our plates and cups stood just there, though at the
moment I did not recollect it. At the same time I must honestly say,
that making every allowance for an excited imagination, I never could
satisfy myself that I was made the dupe of my own fancy in this matter;
for this apparition, after one or two shiftings of shape, as if in the
act of incipient transformation, began, as it seemed on second thoughts,
to advance upon me in its original form. From an instinct of terror
rather than of courage, I hurled the poker, with all my force, at its
head; and to the music of a horrid crash made my way into my room, and
double-locked the door. Then, in a minute more, I heard the horrid bare
feet walk down the stairs, till the sound ceased in the hall, as on the
former occasion.

If the apparition of the night before was an ocular delusion of my fancy
sporting with the dark outlines of our cupboard, and if its horrid eyes
were nothing but a pair of inverted teacups, I had, at all events, the
satisfaction of having launched the poker with admirable effect, and in
true