not expedient to dwell upon her--she plays a very minor part, if,
indeed, any, in the story. Martin Tristram merely thought her pretty,
and that, as I have said, fully reconciled him to taking up his quarters
in the house.

"He has, as you are doubtless aware, a weakness for vivid colouring, and
her bright yellow hair, carmine lips, and scarlet stockings struck him
impressively as she led the way to his bed-chamber, where she somewhat
reluctantly parted from him with a subtly attractive smile.

"Left to himself, Martin sleepily examined his surroundings. The room,
oak-panelled throughout, was long, low, and gloomy; an enormous,
old-fashioned, empty fireplace occupied the centre of one of the walls;
on the one side of it was an oak settee, on the other an equally
ponderous black oak chest.

"Heavy oaken beams traversed the ceiling, and the sombre, funereal
character of the room was further increased by a colossal and antique
four-poster which, placed in the exact middle of the chamber, faced a
gigantic mirror attached to grotesquely carved and excessively lofty
sable supports.

"Viewed in the feeble, fluctuating candlelight, the latter seemed
endowed with some peculiar and emphatically weird life--their
glistening, polished surfaces threw a dozen and one fantastic but oddly
human shadows on the boards, as at the same time they appeared in
bewildering alternation to increase and diminish in stature.

"Tristram hastily undressed, and stretching himself between the
blankets, prepared to go to sleep. Like yourself, and for a similar
reason, he never sleeps on his left side. Accordingly he occupied the
right portion only of the enormous bed.

"Why he did not fall asleep at once he could not explain; he fancied
that it might be because he was overtired. This undoubtedly had
something to do with it, as also had the remarkable noises--footfalls,
creaks, and sighs--that came from every corner of the apartment the
moment the light was out.

"He listened to these inexplicable sounds with increasing alarm until
the sonorous clock from somewhere outside boomed 'one,' when, quite
unaccountably, he fell asleep, awaking on the stroke of two from a
dreadful nightmare.

"To his intense astonishment and consternation he was no longer alone in
the bed--someone, or something, was lying by his side on the left-hand
side of the bed.

"At first his thoughts reverted to the young lady with the scarlet
stockings; then, a sensation of