ism than sense,
perhaps--to a fine point, cherished a deep-rooted aversion to
innovations of any sort, and consequently abhorred motors. His house,
Eastover Hall, is three miles from the station, and lies at the foot of
a steep spine of the Chilterns.

The grounds of Eastover Hall were extensive; but, in the ordinary sense,
far from beautiful. To me, however, they were more than beautiful; there
was a grandeur in them--a grandeur that appealed to me far more than
mere beauty--the grandeur of desolation, the grandeur of the Unknown. As
we passed through the massive iron gates of the lodge, I looked upon
countless acres of withered, undulating grass; upon a few rank sedges;
upon a score or so of decayed trees; upon a house--huge, bare, grey and
massive; upon bleak walls; upon vacant, eye-like windows; upon crude,
scenic inhospitality, the very magnitude of which overpowered me. I have
said it was cold; but there hung over the estate of Eastover an iciness
that brought with it a quickening, a sickening of the heart, and a
dreariness that, whilst being depressing in the extreme, was, withal,
sublime. Sublime and mysterious; mysterious and insoluble. A thousand
fancies swarmed through my mind; yet I could grapple with none; and I
was loth to acknowledge that, although there are combinations of very
simple material objects which might have had the power of affecting me
thus, yet any attempt to analyse that power was beyond--far beyond--my
mental capability.

The house, though old--and its black oak panellings, silent staircases,
dark corridors, and general air of gloom were certainly suggestive of
ghosts--did not affect me in the same degree. The fear it inspired was
the ordinary fear inspired by the ordinary superphysical, but the fear I
felt in the grounds was a fear created by something out of the
way--something far more bizarre than a mere phantom of the dead.

The Colonel asked me if I had experienced any unusual sensations the
moment I entered the house, and I told him, "Yes."

"Nearly everyone does," he replied, "and yet, so far as I know, no one
has ever seen anything. The noises we hear all round the house have
lately been more frequent. I won't describe them; I want to learn your
unbiassed opinion of them first."

We then had tea, and whilst the rest--there was a large
house-party--indulged in music and cards, the Colonel and I had a
delightful chat about old times. I went to bed in the firm resolution of
keep