apparition," continued the prince, "had really a superficial
likeness to my deceased friend, and what was particularly striking, his
hair, which was of a very light color, was exactly imitated. Was this
mere chance, or how did you come by such a resemblance?"

"Your highness must recollect that you had at table a snuff-box by your
plate, with an enamelled portrait of an officer in a uniform. I asked
whether you had anything about you as a memento of your friend, and as
your highness answered in the affirmative, I conjectured that it might
be the box. I had attentively examined the picture during supper, and
being very expert in drawing and not less happy in taking likenesses, I
had no difficulty in giving to my shade the superficial resemblance you
have perceived, the more so as the marquis' features are very marked."

"But the figure seemed to move?"

"It appeared so, yet it was not the figure that moved but the smoke
on which the light was reflected."

"And the man who fell down in the chimney spoke for the apparition?"

"He did."

"But he could not hear your question distinctly."

"There was no occasion for it. Your highness will recollect that I
cautioned you all very strictly not to propose any question to the
apparition yourselves. My inquiries and his answers were preconcerted
between us; and that no mistake might happen, I caused him to speak at
long intervals, which he counted by the beating of a watch."

"You ordered the innkeeper carefully to extinguish every fire in the
house with water; this was undoubtedly--"

"To save the man in the chimney from the danger of being suffocated;
because the chimneys in the house communicate with each other, and I did
not think myself very secure from your retinue."

"How did it happen," asked Lord Seymour, "that your ghost appeared
neither sooner nor later than you wished him?"

"The ghost was in the room for some time before I called him, but while
the room was lighted, the shade was too faint to be perceived. When the
formula of the conjuration was finished, I caused the cover of the box,
in which the spirit was burning, to drop down, the saloon was darkened,
and it was not till then that the figure on the wall could be distinctly
seen, although it had been reflected there a considerable time before."

"When the ghost appeared, we all felt an electric shock. How was that
managed?"

"You have discovered the machine under the altar. You have also seen
that I