ame very keenly defined in me whenever I heard
the creaking of the stairs.

"The stairs throughout the house had an infernal habit of creaking--one
after another--as if somebody was coming up or down. At first I thought
it was the rats that infested the old mansion in legions; but I
abandoned this idea after a few experiments which proved conclusively
that the creaking sounds could only be made by a person or thing quite
as heavy, if not heavier, than myself--then tipping the beam at one
hundred and eighty pounds.

"In the course of time I became personally acquainted with each stair in
the Queen Anne Street house, and especially with those in the main
flight. Business, or pleasure, often compelled me to keep late hours,
and on such occasions, on arriving home, I would naturally try to reach
my room as quietly as possible. With my shoes in my hand, and by a
series of agile leaps from one less noisy stair to another, I usually
succeeded in attaining the upper part of the house without much
disturbance.

"The annoying sounds occurred at all hours, but were of course more
noticeable at night. I am a light sleeper, and was invariably awakened
by them, and this, with the loud ticking of a grandfather's clock on the
first landing, usually banished further slumber, and I would arise at
daybreak, weary and unrefreshed. The clock was finally stopped, after a
heated discussion with my wife and sister-in-law, who regarded it with
something akin to reverence. It was indeed a venerable affair. I hated
the thing even when it was quiet, for it reminded me of a coffin set on
end, and I would pass it in the dark hurriedly, and with averted face.

"I do not think that either my wife or sister-in-law ever heard the
creaking of the stairs. If they did they never said anything about it to
me. For my part, I was silent, because I did not want to be laughed at
by my womenkind, and I knew also that if the matter reached the ear of
our only servant she would immediately take her departure. Help is not
easy to obtain in A----, and if it were known that our home was haunted
we would be obliged to do all our own drudgery in future.

"This state of things continued nearly a year. Occasionally, for a week
or two at a time, the creaking stopped altogether. In these intervals I
slept well and improved in every way, but when the disturbances returned
I became more depressed and gloomy than ever. My health was wretched at
the time, and I felt that