were always half closed, were now
wide open, and under the cheerful influence of the light which was thus
allowed to enter, the table and all its appointments had a much less
dreary look than before. Behind the urn sat Miss Knollys, with a smile
on her lips, and in the window William stood whistling a cheerful air,
unrebuked. Lucetta was not present, but to my great astonishment she
presently walked in with her hands laden with sprays of morning-glory,
which she flung down in the centre of the board. It was the first time I
had seen any attempt made by any of them to lighten the sombreness of
their surroundings, and it was also the first time I had seen the three
together.

I was more disconcerted by this simple show of improved spirits than I
like to acknowledge. In the first place, they were natural and not
forced; and, secondly, they were to all appearance unconscious.

They were not marked enough to show relief, and in Lucetta especially
did not serve to hide the underlying melancholy of a disappointed girl,
yet it was not what I expected from my supposed experiences of the
night, and led me to answer a little warily when, with a frank laugh,
Loreen exclaimed:

"So you have lost your character as a practical woman, Miss Butterworth?
Hannah tells me you were the victim of a ghostly visit last night."

"Hannah gossips unmercifully," was my cautious and somewhat peevish
reply. "If I chose to dream that I was locked into my room by some
erratic spectre, I cannot see why she should take the confession of my
folly out of my mouth. I was going to relate the fact myself, with all
the accompaniments of rushing steps and wild and unearthly cries which
are expected by the listeners to a veritable ghost story. But now I have
simply to defend myself from a charge of credulity. It's too bad, Miss
Knollys, much too bad. I did not come to a haunted house for this."

My manner, rather than my words, seemed to completely deceive them.
Perhaps it deceived myself, for I began to feel a loss of the depression
which had weighed upon me ever since that scream rang in my ears at
midnight. It disappeared still further when Lucetta said:

"If your ramblings through the old rooms on this floor were the occasion
of this nightmare, you must be prepared for a recurrence of the same
to-night, for I am going to take you through the upper rooms myself this
morning. Isn't that the programme, Loreen? Or have you changed your mind
and planned a