eated there for some time when I happened to
lift my eyes to the mantel above and saw, standing upon it, a letter
addressed to myself. I knew the handwriting at once to be that of Sir
Jeremy Buggam.

I opened it, and spreading it out within reach of the feeble
candlelight, I read as follows:

"My dear Digby,

"In our talk that you will remember, I had no time to finish
telling you about the mystery of Buggam Grange. I take for granted,
however, that you will go there and that Horrod will put you in the
tower rooms, which are the only ones that make any pretence of
being habitable. I have, therefore, sent him this letter to deliver
at the Grange itself.

"The story is this:

"On the night of the fifteenth of November, fifty years ago, my
grandfather was murdered in the room in which you are sitting, by
his cousin, Sir Duggam Buggam. He was stabbed from behind while
seated at the little table at which you are probably reading this
letter. The two had been playing cards at the table and my
grandfather's body was found lying in a litter of cards and gold
sovereigns on the floor. Sir Duggam Buggam, insensible from drink,
lay beside him, the fatal knife at his hand, his fingers smeared
with blood. My grandfather, though of the younger branch,
possessed a part of the estates which were to revert to Sir Duggam
on his death. Sir Duggam Buggam was tried at the Assizes and was
hanged. On the day of his execution he was permitted by the
authorities, out of respect for his rank, to wear a mask to the
scaffold. The clothes in which he was executed are hanging at full
length in the little cupboard to your right, and the mask is above
them. It is said that on every fifteenth of November at midnight
the cupboard door opens and Sir Duggam Buggam walks out into the
room. It has been found impossible to get servants to remain at the
Grange, and the place--except for the presence of Horrod--has been
unoccupied for a generation. At the time of the murder Horrod was a
young man of twenty-two, newly entered into the service of the
family. It was he who entered the room and discovered the crime. On
the day of the execution he was stricken with paralysis and has
never spoken since. From that time to this he has never consented
to leave the Grange, where he lives in isolation.