t manifestation, and, as the
minutes sped swiftly by I began to fear that, perhaps, after all the
hauntings were only of a negative nature. As the clock struck two,
however, Scott gave an extra savage snarl, and the next moment came
racing downstairs. Darting along the passage and tearing towards me,
he scrambled up the overturned drawers, and, burying his face in my
lap, set up the most piteous whinings. A sensation of icy coldness,
such as could not have been due to any physical cause, now surged
through me; and, as I got out my pocket flashlight ready for
emergencies, I heard an unmistakable rustling in the cellar opposite.
At once my whole attention became riveted in the direction of this
sound, and, as I sat gazing fixedly in front of me, the darkness was
suddenly dissipated and the whole passage, from one end to the other,
was illuminated by a phosphorescent glow; which glow I can best
describe as bearing a close resemblance, in kind though not in degree,
to the glow of a glow-worm. I then saw the scullery door slowly begin
to open. A hideous fear seized me. What--what in the name of Heaven
should I see? Transfixed with terror, unable to move or utter a
sound, I crouched against the wall paralysed, helpless; whilst the
door opened wider and wider.

At last, at last after an interval which to me was eternity,
Something, an as yet indefinite shadowy Something, loomed in the
background of the enlargening space. My suspense was now sublime, and
I felt that another second or so of such tension would assuredly see
me swoon.

The shadowy Something, however, quickly developed, and, in less time
than it takes to write, it assumed the form of a woman--a middle-aged
woman with a startlingly white face, straight nose, and curiously
lined mouth, the two front upper teeth of which projected considerably
and were very long. Her hair was black, her hands coarse, and red, and
she was clad in the orthodox shabby print of a general servant in some
middle-class family. The expression in her wide-open, glassy blue eyes
as they glared into mine was one of such intense mental and physical
agony that I felt every atom of blood in my veins congeal. Creeping
stealthily forward, her gaze still on me, she emerged from the
doorway, and motioning to me to follow, glided up the staircase. Up,
up, we went, the cold, grey dawn greeting us on our way. Entering the
garret to which I have already alluded, the phantasm noiselessly
approached the h