ing to
me, I adroitly managed to introduce the subject of ghosts--then, as
ever, uppermost in my thoughts.

* * * * *

Well, he said, I can tell you of something rather extraordinary that
my mother used to say happened to a friend of hers at Glamis. I have
no doubt you are well acquainted with the hackneyed stories in
connection with the hauntings at the castle; for example, Earl Beardie
playing cards with the Devil, and The Weeping Woman without Hands or
Tongue. You can read about them in scores of books and magazines. But
what befel my mother's friend, whom I will call Mrs. Gibbons--for I
have forgotten her proper name--was apparently of a novel nature. The
affair happened shortly before Mrs. Gibbons died, and I always thought
that what took place might have been, in some way, connected with her
death.

She had driven over to the castle one day--during the absence of the
owner--to see her cousin, who was in the employ of the Earl and
Countess. Never having been at Glamis before, but having heard so much
about it, Mrs. Gibbons was not a little curious to see that part of
the building, called the Square Tower, that bore the reputation of
being haunted.

Tactfully biding an opportunity, she sounded her relative on the
subject, and was laughingly informed that she might go anywhere about
the place she pleased, saving to one spot, namely, "Bluebeard's
Chamber"; and there she could certainly never succeed in poking her
nose, as its locality was known only to three people, all of whom were
pledged never to reveal it. At the commencement of her tour of
inspection, Mrs. Gibbons was disappointed--she was disappointed in the
Tower. She had expected to see a gaunt, grim place, crumbling to
pieces with age, full of blood-curdling, spiral staircases, and deep,
dark dungeons; whereas everything was the reverse. The walls were in
an excellent state of preservation--absolutely intact; the rooms
bright and cheerful and equipped in the most modern style; there were
no dungeons, at least none on view, and the passages and staircases
were suggestive of nothing more alarming than--bats! She was
accompanied for some time by her relative, but, on the latter being
called away, Mrs. Gibbons continued her rambles alone. She had
explored the lower premises, and was leisurely examining a handsomely
furnished apartment on the top floor, when, in crossing from one side
of the room to the other, she ran into some