ined sufficient presence of mind to
effect a rescue, and the timid ones, thankful enough to survive the
explosion, had to be content on "half-rations till further orders."

But in spite of its association with such a martinet, and in spite of
her ghostly experiences in it, Letty loved the house, and was never
tired of singing its praises.

It was a two-storeyed mansion, with roomy cellars but no basement.
There were four reception-rooms--all oak-panelled--on the ground
floor; numerous kitchen offices, including a cosy housekeeper's room;
and a capacious entrance hall, in the centre of which stood a broad
oak staircase. The cellars, three in number, and chiefly used as
lumber-rooms, were deep down and dank and horrid.

On the first floor eight bedrooms opened on to a gallery overlooking
the hall, and the top storey, where the servants slept, consisted
solely of attics connected with one another by dark, narrow passages.
It was one of these attics that was haunted, although, as a matter of
fact, the ghost had been seen in all parts of the house.

When Letty entered the Admiral's service she was but a bairn, and had
never even heard of ghosts; nor did the other servants apprise her of
the hauntings, having received strict injunctions not to do so from
the Laird.

But Letty's home, humble though it was, had been very bright and
cheerful, and the dark precincts of the mansion filled her with
dismay. Without exactly knowing why she was afraid, she shrank in
terror from descending into the cellars, and felt anything but pleased
at the prospect of sleeping alone in an attic. Still nothing occurred
to really alarm her till about a month after her arrival. It was early
in the evening, soon after twilight, and she had gone down into one of
the cellars to look for a boot-jack, which the Admiral swore by all
that was holy must be found before supper. Placing the light she had
brought with her on a packing-case, she was groping about among the
boxes, when she perceived, to her astonishment, that the flame of the
candle had suddenly turned blue. She then felt icy cold, and was much
startled on hearing a loud clatter as of some metal instrument on the
stone floor in the far-off corner of the cellar. Glancing in the
direction of the noise, she saw, looking at her, two eyes--two
obliquely set, lurid, light eyes, full of the utmost devilry. Sick
with terror and utterly unable to account for what she beheld, she
stood stock-still, he