heir house at last were of the
ordinary poltergeist type that date back to the days of John Wesley. The
Slippertons had a fat and very stupid cook, whom I suspected of being an
unconscious medium; but they were so attached to her that they refused
to give her notice, as I strongly advised them to do. They told me that
although she was constitutionally unable to grasp a new idea, such as
the idea of a different pudding, she was entirely dependable, always
doing the same things in the same way and with the same results. And
while this confirmed my suspicions that she was a spiritualistic medium,
I recognised that she might have useful qualities as a cook.

The Slippertons stood it pretty well for a time. At first they were only
mildly inconvenienced. Things used to disappear mysteriously, and turn
up in unexpected places. Slipperton's pince-nez, for example, were lost,
and found inside the piano. And Mrs. Slipperton's "false front" would
be moved in the night from the dressing-table to the brass knob of the
bed-post, even after she took to pinning it to the toilet cover. Things
like that; irritating, but not really serious.

But the trouble increased, grew to be beyond endurance in the end. The
poltergeists, with that lack of imagination which always characterises
them, started to play the old trick of pulling off the Slippertons'
bed-clothes in the middle of the night--one of the most annoying of the
spirits' antics. And they followed that by experimenting with the heavy
furniture.

I was out of England when the trouble came to a head, and I heard
nothing of the later developments until after the Slippertons had left
the house. I happened to meet Slipperton by accident in the Haymarket,
and he took me into his club and gave me the whole story. Naturally,
I was glad of the chance to investigate, although I thought it very
probable that the phenomena would cease with the departure of the cook.
I determined, however, to go down and spend a week in the house, alone.
I was not dismayed by the fact that I should be unable to get any help
with my domestic arrangements, owing to the superstitious fears of the
villagers. I rather enjoyed cooking my own meals in those days.

It was fine weather in late May when I went down, and I regarded
the visit as a kind of holiday rather than as a serious investigation.
Nevertheless, from force of habit I carried out my inquiry in the
scientific spirit that is so absolutely essential in th