by burglars. They got in through the
Green Room window, which was always left open during the warm
weather. We--my mother, your Aunt Deborah, and I--were awakened by a
loud shriek for help. Recognising Alicia's voice, we instantly flew
out of bed, and, summoning the servants, tore to the Green Room as
fast as we could.

"To our horror, Esther, the door was locked, and before we could break
the lock the ruffians had murdered her! They escaped through the
window and were never caught. My mother, your great-grandmother, had
that part of the house pulled down, and on the site of it she planted
the white garden.

"Though Alicia's earthly body died, and was taken from us, her
beautiful spirit remains with us here. It follows us about in the
daytime in the form of a sunbeam, whilst occasionally, at night, it
assumes her earthly shape. The house is what is generally termed
haunted, and, no doubt, some people would be afraid to live in it. But
that, Esther, is because they do not understand spirits--your Aunt
Deborah and I do."

"Do you think, auntie," I asked with a thrill of joy, "do you think it
at all likely that I shall see Aunt Alicia again to-night?"

Aunt Amelia shook her head gently. "No, my dear," she said slowly, "I
think it will be impossible, because you are going home this
afternoon."

CASE X

"---- HOUSE," NEAR BLYTHSWOOD SQUARE, GLASGOW.
THE HAUNTED BATH

When Captain W. de S. Smythe went to look over "---- House," in the
neighbourhood of Blythswood Square, Glasgow, the only thing about the
house he did not like was the bathroom--it struck him as excessively
grim. The secret of the grimness did not lie, he thought, in any one
particular feature--in the tall, gaunt geyser, for example (though
there was always something in the look of a geyser when it was old and
dilapidated, as was the case with this one, that repelled him), or in
the dark drying-cupboard, or in the narrow, slit-like window; but in
the room as a whole, in its atmosphere and general appearance. He
could not diagnose it; he could not associate it with anything else he
had ever experienced; it was a grimness that he could only specify as
grim--grim with a grimness that made him feel he should not like to
be alone there in the dead of night. It was a nuisance, because the
rest of the house pleased him; moreover, the locality was convenient,
and the rent moderate, very moderate for such a neighbour